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Welcome to MindStrong Monday.
Where each Monday I will be bringing to you tips, tools, strategies and stories that you can use to build your mental strength, overcome your challenges and perform at your best every day.
I thought I would start with three ways in which you can build your mental strength.
Now there are loads of different ways in which you can do this, and it is almost up for debate but these are just three ways in which I found to be common ways to build that mental strength.
Let’s dive straight in.
I looked up the definition of mental strength or mental toughness, and there are so many different variations of it, with a range of different studies that were done on it. But the most common answer that came up was the ability to overcome challenges and the idea of building mental resilience and doing that over and over again.
Which leads onto the first areas.
Failing more.
It is a non-negotiable for being able to progress. If you’re not willing to fail and you’re not willing to step into something where there is a chance you are going to fail, then you’re never going to learn how to get better, you never learn the tools in order to overcome your challenges.
Ultimately its the mindset of being willing to go into this place where you are just not doing well. You have to be willing to lose, and all of the athletes I’ve spoken to one on the podcast one thing they tend to have in common is that they’re willing to try something and if they don’t succeed then they learn.
A coach who spoke to me about the idea of the ‘learning pit’. You stand at the top of the cliff and have to be willing to jump into the pit where it is chaotic, it’s ugly, full of failure.
But when you climb out of the pit on the other side, and you will, you’ll have found new skills that allowed you to get out of that situation through your experience.
So jump into the pit.
Number two is self-care
For us as athletes, this may lean more towards the physical but it will also link into the mental as well.
I truly believe if your body feels good in your mind feels good. If you are over tight, if you’re stressed and you feel that tension building up in your body. If you allow that tension to build, and build, and build, and then break so you want to use self-care to manage this (even though it sounds very fluffy).
I took up yoga and I teach yoga-style movement to help allow the boy to feel and move better.
So whether it is stretching at the end of a day, taking a few moments to breathe consciously, even mediate.
It could be sitting down and enjoying a book, going out for a walk in nature. Something that allows you to slow down and reset.
Look after your emotional state too. Have you been seeing your friends? Have you been seeing your family? Having those connections and relationships are great ways of maintaining your mental and emotional state by allowing us to feel like we are a part of something.
Number three is consistency.
Staying consistent in what you allows you to see the change over time. Being mentally strong isn’t a one time thing. It’s about being able to do it again, and again.
Your habits, routines begin to create a way in which you are, ultimately turning into a personality trait over time.
A couple fo ways to stay consistent are:
Writing it down.
Make a plan. By seeing it written down you’re more than likely to stick to it.
Work with someone else.
By bringing someone else into your goals you can each hold each other accountable.
Building a routine of working hard, restoring, working hard and restoring. You’ll begin to see the change as you’ll be in the best place, body and mind, to perform.
You’ll change from having huge peaks and troughs, big highs and lows, to a nice consistent wave of shallows ups and downs. This consistency in routine will spill over and into whatever you are working towards.
After all, those who are mentally strong are those who do it on a consistent basis.
Find out more at
Instagram – @lewishatchett
Podcast – lewishatchett.com/podcast
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