Success and Freedom

Why You Need Mental Strength

Picture someone you consider mentally strong. What does he or she look like? Often, people picture professional athletes or Navy SEALs as the most resilient. But you don’t have to have a World Series game or your life on the line to benefit from increasing your mental strength.

Whether you’re leading a company or just want to be a better parent, building mental muscle will help you reach your goals. When you’re mentally strong, you become the best possible version of yourself. Building mental strength is the key to greater life satisfaction, enhanced performance and increased resilience. It’s about creating the kind of life you want and being bold enough to live according to your values. What could you accomplish if you were willing to risk rejection? What could you achieve if you pushed yourself to your mental and physical limits? How much could you do if you put your time and energy into the things that truly matter? A strong and resilient mind allows you to answer these questions with a confident anything.

How to Maintain Mental Strength

Building mental strength is one thing; maintaining it is another. Just as your physical muscles atrophy if you don’t exercise, your mental muscles weaken if you aren’t giving them a workout. It takes ongoing practice and dedication to maintain your mental strength.

It’s important to monitor your progress and keep an eye out for bad habits that could rob you of mental strength. It’s also essential to set healthy boundaries with people who might try to sabotage your efforts.

Set aside time to reflect on your improvements. Are you challenging yourself to grow stronger? Have you grown complacent and comfortable? Remember that no matter how strong you become, there’s always room for improvement.

Just because you’re mentally strong in one area of your life doesn’t mean you’re invincible. We’ve seen elite athletes resort to using performance-enhancing drugs that ultimately tarnished their legacies, and successful people who fell prey to get-rich-quick schemes. Stay vigilant at all times to avoid common traps that drain your mental strength.

Becoming mentally stronger won’t guarantee success. But it will help you learn from your mistakes and rebound from failure. The more mental muscle you build, the easier life’s inevitable challenges become.

Being Strong vs. Acting Tough

Despite the advantages mental strength can offer in your personal and professional life, most people don’t pay much attention to their mental muscle. In fact, many people don’t know what it means to be mentally strong.

Acting tough is about surviving, while being strong is about thriving.

Quite often people misconstrue being strong with acting tough. Acting tough is about surviving, while being strong is about thriving. Rather than just getting through tough times, mental strength is about turning those tough times into opportunities for self-growth.

Don’t mistake kindness for weakness either. Mentally strong people are sensitive, kind and caring while also being bold enough to live according to their values.

Acting tough…	Being strong…
Masks your insecurities Denies pain Makes you believe you’re indestructible  Suppresses emotions Turns you into a controlling person Focuses on your reputation Pretends failure isn’t an option	Addresses weaknesses Recognizes shortcomings Strives for self-control Acknowledges emotions Learns from pain Focuses on character Believes failure is part of success

We all have a choice. Every morning, we can choose to stick to our normal routines, follow our cravings and let our emotions dictate whether we work out, stick to our diet or abandon our goals. Or we can choose to be better than we were yesterday, even when it’s uncomfortable or even painful. Take the first step, and then another. Eventually, your mind will begin to strengthen and see the difficult choices as opportunities for growth. Which will you choose?