3 Things You Can Do Every Day to Build Mental Toughness
“Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go” — William Feather
Too many of us look at mental toughness, or grit, as something that we either have or do not have. Wrong. Mental toughness can be trained daily. The steps to becoming mentally tough are simple but not easy, and the fight is unrelenting.
There are countless ways to develop your grit, but the three that I have found to be most effective and that you can do daily are as follows:
1. Practice Daily Discipline
You should have daily disciplines that fit two criteria: they are simple to carryout and give you an immediate sense of satisfaction once completed. A few examples include, making your bed, brushing your teeth, and folding clothes. The only reason that these tasks do not get completed is because you didn’t feel like doing them.
2. Embrace Discomfort
At first, it does not matter if you like to be uncomfortable. You should put yourself in some sort of uncomfortable situation everyday. There are two ways you can do that: get in cold water and/or do a hard workout. Simply put being cold sucks and hard workouts are painful. Mark Divine (SEAL ret.) says that, “Pain is your body’s way of telling you that security is threatened because something is out of whack. However, when you consistently experience the personal growth that accrues from deliberately putting yourself out of balance, such as with hard workouts, you begin to embrace the temporary pain for the reward it brings.”
3. Perform Simple Tasks Exceptionally Well
Lastly, do the most basic tasks like your life depends on it. Best put by Admiral McRaven, “If you cant do the little things right, you’ll never do the big things right.” One example, drive without your telephone as a symbol that you can solely focusing on driving. Second, drink water. Start your day with one glass of room temperature water and drink water regularly throughout the day. If you feel tired, sick, or nauseous, you’re fine, you just need to take a knee and drink some water.
How Can You Put These into Practice?
To get started, pick two tasks for either your daily disciplines, embracing discomfort, and performing simple tasks exceptionally well. Write those two tasks down and then do them every single day religiously. Nothing should stop you from completing those tasks. Set an alarm, write notes, or tell a buddy to keep you accountable. If you forget, onward, but do not give in until you make it 30 consecutive days of tasks completed.