The U. This effort—one of the largest psychological interventions ever attempted—holds lessons for anyone who wants to strengthen their mental muscles. Read the whole story: TIME. APS regularly opens certain online articles for discussion on our website. Effective February , you must be a logged-in APS member to post comments. By posting a comment, you agree to our Community Guidelines and the display of your profile information, including your name and affiliation.
For more information, please see our Community Guidelines. Rather than pin their failures or successes on outside forces, the mentally tough have more of an internal locus of control. They don't see themselves as simply passive observers in their lives. Instead, they believe that they have an active role in creating their own victories. Commitment is another one of the four major factors identified by Clough and his colleagues.
Consider how athletes are able to power through exhaustion and pain to reach the finish line. The mentally tough are dedicated to seeing it through, even when it's hard and even if they think they might fail.
Many of the best performers suggest that competition, and the inherent success and failure that comes with it, is one of the critical components that contributes to their mental toughness. The lesson from the world's top athletes is that even though setbacks are hard, sticking to your commitments helps you gain the lessons and experience you need to succeed in the future.
It teaches you about your strengths, makes you aware of your weaknesses, and helps you realize that obstacles and even failures don't spell disaster—as long as you dust yourself off and keep going.
Simply working on your goal may help contribute to a mentally tough attitude over time. Mahoney and his colleagues found that by exerting more continuous effort, people are more likely to feel a sense of mastery, achievement, and productivity, all of which make the pursuit of the goal a more positive experience. When things are challenging or even unpleasant, pushing forward and attaining that feeling of accomplishment can give you the mental strength to keep going.
World-class athletes do not reach the top of their game all on their own. In most cases, they spend a tremendous amount of time with peers who provide support, training opportunities , and a positive environment for personal and professional development.
Friends, family, colleagues, and even your competitors can also help contribute to a "never say die" attitude. Look to people you admire to help instill these feelings of hard work, determination, grit, and positivity. Seek out people who are going to contribute to your success and encourage you to achieve your goals. Find mentors and look to people who exude mental toughness to help inspire the development of this mental skill in your own life. Mental toughness certainly has a strong genetic component, but research on some of the world's strongest athletes suggests that it is also a skill that can be developed.
Look for ways to apply some of these lessons learned from mentally tough athletes to different areas of your own life, whether you are trying to find the strength to stick to a difficult workout routine or succeed in a challenging job.
As Winston Churchill once proclaimed, "Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts. Get exercise tips to make your workouts less work and more fun. Clough P, Strycharczyk D. Kogan Page Limited; Mental toughness and individual differences in learning, educational and work performance, psychological well-being, and personality: A systematic review. Front Psychol. Hyseni Duraku Z, Hoxha L.
Self-esteem, study skills, self-concept, social support, psychological distress, and coping mechanism effects on test anxiety and academic performance. Health Psychol Open. Developing mental toughness: Perceptions of elite female gymnasts. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology. The mental health of elite athletes: A narrative systematic review.
Sports Med. You can handle anything that comes your way and where others see obstacles, you see opportunities. How you define the challenge in front of you changes everything. Many of us are better at creating lists that feed our doubts than we are at creating lists that build up our strengths. Affirmations are powerful messages that can help influence your feelings of competence and confidence.
Craft a list of positive and powerful statements that will fuel your confidence on race day. Every thought you have is a message you are sending to yourself about whether or not you feel like you are confident and capable of accomplishing your goal.
You have to believe you can do this. You use failures as feedback and carry what you learned into the next competition. You have the ability to imagine the future and the ability to change your expectations of that future. The ability to see success in your mind helps you to believe you are capable of success in your life. When you use imagery, you create the opportunity to mentally rehearse how you want to feel and what you want to do during your performance.
When you recognize that you are engaging in thoughts that are detrimental to your performance, you need to learn how to stop them and switch the track. Don't take things personally or waste time wondering Why me? Instead focus on what you can control. Strength under stress.
Maintain resilience in the face of negative pressures by developing your capacity to deal with stressful situations. Preparation for challenges.
Life and business are filled with everyday demands, the occasional crisis, and unexpected twists. Make sure you have the resources to withstand the professional and personal crises that you'll sooner or later be facing. Keep your attention on the long-term outcomes to stay steady in the face of real or potential obstacles.
The right attitude toward setbacks. Complications, unintended side effects, and complete failures are all part of landscape. Mitigate the damage, learn the lessons that will help you in the future, and move on. Don't worry about pleasing others: That's a hit-or-miss proposition for anyone but the worst sort of waffler. Instead, make a concentrated effort to do what is right and to know what you stand for.
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