I’ve seen the term “mental toughness” being tossed around and written about for years but hadn’t looked into it at length. A cursory overview showed that the word “tough” was being used instead of or synonymously with the word “resilient.” THAT’S a word that resonates with me. Let’s go with that.
Darwin is often misquoted as believing that “only the strong survive” or in “survival of the fittest.” These statements have been perverted into a belief in the supremacy of physical toughness or strength. Where are those dinosaurs again?
“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” – Charles Darwin
Responsiveness to change results from resourcefulness, flexibility and adaptability on your part. It requires the desire to question, learn and grow.
How are you doing with this?
This is a subject explored over and over on deeper levels in my client coaching groups, but for you and I, here, I’ll keep it short and sweet.
Regardless of what life throws at you, your ability to outlast and attain even greater resilience, in the end, requires a minimum of these three ingredients.
1. You got through it (whether you got past it is another story).
Recognize that you have experienced challenges before. During which you may have declared, “I don’t know how I’m going to get through this. But somehow you did. Give yourself credit for those successes.
2. You found happiness again.
You found your way back to a smile again. You allowed yourself to enjoy
life. The lotus must climb through and above the mud to reach the sun.
3. You did it with the support of other people.
You must realize and accept that the cultural belief in “doing it by yourself”
can be very harmful in this instance. It robs you of resources.
We learn best through experience tempered by the wisdom of those who have
gone before us an succeeded. There’s no reward for reinventing the wheel
when you could lean on others and cut your suffering time substantially.
I recorded a video on these three ingredients if you want to watch it here.
Darwin is often misquoted as believing that “only the strong survive” or in “survival of the fittest.” These statements have been perverted into a belief in the supremacy of physical toughness or strength. Where are those dinosaurs again?
“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” – Charles Darwin
Responsiveness to change results from resourcefulness, flexibility and adaptability on your part. It requires the desire to question, learn and grow.
How are you doing with this?
This is a subject explored over and over on deeper levels in my client coaching groups, but for you and I, here, I’ll keep it short and sweet.
Regardless of what life throws at you, your ability to outlast and attain even greater resilience, in the end, requires a minimum of these three ingredients.
1. You got through it (whether you got past it is another story).
Recognize that you have experienced challenges before. During which you may have declared, “I don’t know how I’m going to get through this. But somehow you did. Give yourself credit for those successes.
2. You found happiness again.
You found your way back to a smile again. You allowed yourself to enjoy
life. The lotus must climb through and above the mud to reach the sun.
3. You did it with the support of other people.
You must realize and accept that the cultural belief in “doing it by yourself”
can be very harmful in this instance. It robs you of resources.
We learn best through experience tempered by the wisdom of those who have
gone before us an succeeded. There’s no reward for reinventing the wheel
when you could lean on others and cut your suffering time substantially.
I recorded a video on these three ingredients if you want to watch it here.
That’s all for now.
