Everyday Champions

Mental Toughness has very much been in the limelight the last couple of weeks.

Novak Djokovic realising his dream of an Olympic gold medal, Léon Marchand winning two swimming gold medals in less than two hours, Katie Ledecky winning her 13th medal making her the most decorated American female athlete, Teddy Riner winning his third gold medal in Judo, Simone Biles throwing amazing back flips to become America’s most decorated gymnast, Mijain Lopez winning his 5th consecutive gold medal in wrestling, Tatiana Weston-Webb becoming the first woman to score a perfect 10 in surfing …….

However, we shouldn’t forget that Mental Toughness is not just for elite athletes.

You may not be on a hot tennis court with a 120mph tennis ball with you in its sights, you may not be on a Tatami struggling to get an Ippon and you may not be trying to stay upright on a very narrow beam.

Your daily challenges may just be a “storm in a teacup” for some, but when you are in your storm, it can easily become your personal hurricane.

We all need a certain level of Mental Toughness to help us to take on and face up to our daily challenges, problems and difficulties.

Being more in control of your life decisions and your emotional response can only be good

Being more committed to achieving your goals can only be good

Being more willing to take on challenges and learn from them can only be good

Being more confident in your skills and your interactions with others can only be good

Mental Toughness is an attitude; it’s the attitude that gives the Confidence to take on a Challenge and the Control to meet Commitments.

Often confused with Resilience, Mental Toughness is more than “facing up to and bouncing back from challenge”; it has a proactiveness to it that leads to “seeking out challenges”

Mental Toughness allows people to be assertive rather than aggressive, intrepid rather than reckless, disciplined rather than dogmatic and determined rather than stubborn.

Forget the images of pumped-up males with bulging biceps & triceps

Forget the images of terminators with the emotions of a plankton

Forget the images of clenched fists and a stiff upper lip

Replace those images with doctors, nurses, teachers, project managers, hotel staff, job seekers, recruiters ……. all those “ordinary” people who must face up to difficult challenges daily.

Understanding your Mental Toughness leads, not only to higher performance but also to greater ambitions and better wellbeing.

Mental Toughness is an attitude, it’s about “what goes on in your head” with regards to your Confidence, your Control, your Commitment and your Challenge.

You may feel confident in what you are doing but lack the commitment to see it through or challenge yourself more.

You may be taking on challenges but lacking the self-control to choose the “right” challenge.

Understanding your “superpowers” that you can build on and your “Achilles tendons” that could let you down will help to identify the aspects of your Mental Toughness that you need to develop.

If you want to be the best you that you can become, the champion “you”; understanding your Mental Toughness is an essential first step.

I’ve been helping people develop their Mental Toughness for over 40 years now; when I started working with “difficult youth” in the early eighties it was called Character Building, when I was coaching a canoe team to victory in the late eighties it was called Personal Development and when I was working with youngish future aerospace executives in the early nineties it was called Personal Effectiveness.

We all have a certain level of Mental Toughness and we can all grow & develop that level and it’s not a question of going to the gym, the swimming pool or the local Judo club – Mental Toughness is in your head, not in your muscles!