Mental Toughness is a personality trait which determines, in large part, how people respond to challenge, stress and pressure, irrespective of their circumstances.
Mental Toughness comprises four components, the 4C’s of Control, Commitment, Challenge and Confidence.
In this article I will look at the two sub-elements of the Commitment component of Mental Toughness.
Goal Orientation
Goal Orientation is about setting clear and achievable goals before dashing off into action. Those with high Goal Orientation will take time to identify where they are going, how they will get there, how long it will take them and the repercussions of their actions before engaging in action.
Goal Orientation isn’t about prolonged introspection and procrastination, it’s about being clear about what one is committing to, prior to actually committing.
Goal Orientation ensures both, that energy is being used appropriately and that the journey is sufficiently waymarked to measure progress.
Achievement Orientation
Some people call this, “stickability”; being focussed and determined, not to be confused with being blindly stubborn.
Those with high Achievement Orientation tend to be tenacious and do whatever it takes to keep their promises, both to themselves and to others and will self-sacrifice to achieve their goals.
Achievement Orientation in action looks a bit like “grit”
Some people are low in both Goal Orientation and Achievement Orientation, some people are high in one or the other and some people are high in both.
Those low in both Goal Orientation and Achievement Orientation don’t really set objectives and don’t have much to achieve.
Those low in Goal Orientation but high in Achievement Orientation tend to set few objectives, but make a point of seeing them through.
Those with high Goal Orientation and low Achievement Orientation enjoy setting objectives and planning what will happen however, often give up easily in achieving them.
Those high in both Goal Orientation and Achievement Orientation not only set (often ambitious) objectives, but maintain focus and determination in achieving them.
If you would like to evaluate your overall Mental Toughness, your 4C’s and each of the eight subcomponents, do not hesitate to contact me at boblarcher@boblarcher.com
I help people to develop their interpersonal skills, usually within a leadership or teamwork context. If you are looking to develop your leadership, I might be able to help. I’ve been doing this for almost 40 years; roughly four thousand days of seminars, workshops, conferences, coaching, offsites, webinars, etc. – put back-to-back that makes almost ten “full” years.