The Boston Celtics Hall of Fame center, Bill Russell, is often quoted as saying “Concentration and mental toughness are the margins of victory.”  By definition, mental toughness is the ability to keep focus and stay strong in the face of adversity. Research has long supported the belief that mental toughness is a key to consistent success in sport, business, the military, and life in general.  A study recently published not only confirmed mental toughness as a heavy contributor to success, but also revealed that people with higher levels of mental toughness are happier, better socially adjusted, get less depressed, and believe their life has meaning and purpose (Mahoney, et al., 2014).  These all seem like good reasons to amp up our mental toughness.

Here are 5 strategies used by mentally tough people.

Take Control.  Rarely can you completely control a situation or event.  Even if you can’t control what happens, but you can control your reaction. Mentally tough people keep their cool when the pressure is on because emotional outbursts seldom result in anything positive.  So don’t waste effort and emotion on things you cannot control, but rather identify what you can control and give that focused attention and committed action.  You can’t control the weather, but you can control what you wear to face the elements.

Manage Expectations. While it is important to have high hopes, potholes on the road to success are common occurrences.  Mentally tough people expect things to go wrong.  So when they do, don’t be surprised, and even more importantly be prepared to make changes and adaptations.  Which brings us to our next strategy…

Be Flexible.  Possessing the flexibility to not only expect that changes will be necessary, but the wherewithal to change strategies to fit unanticipated events allows mentally tough individuals to maintain momentum with little loss in energy, determination or progress.

Remain Resilient.  Resiliency is the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; to adapt to stress and adversity.  Mentally tough people consider the past a great learning experience–not a prediction of the future. When failure occurs, and it will, learn from it, and move forward with your newly acquired knowledge.

Proper Perspective. There are two kinds of people in this world: Those who wish it were easier and those who wish they were better.  Circumstances most people view as a disaster, mentally tough people see as an opportunity.  The next time you encounter a challenge, don’t focus on the problem but rather seek solutions.  Happiness is not found in complaining about problems, but rather in overcoming them.

 

Reference

 

Mahoney, J., Gucciardi, D., Ntoumanis, N., & Mallet, C. (2014).  Mental toughness in sport: Motivational antecedents and associations with performance and psychological health.  Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 36, 281-292.