Use these 6 steps to increase mental toughness for any aspect of your life. No one is born mentally tough, it must me learned. Your mind is no different than any other muscle, it must be trained and exercised in order to function at a high level. 

STEP 1: Find your challenge and write it down. 

Choose something that will actually challenge you and push your limits. Something that takes you outside of your comfort zone but also something that interest you enough for you to stick with it. Do your best to mix it up try something you’ve never done before.

For Example: If you are a seasoned runner, then challenging yourself in the pool or on a bike is going to be more beneficial for building mental toughness than running another marathon.

If you only focus on challenges you have mastered you will be doing yourself a serious disservice in the mental toughness department.

That might sound counter intuitive but the reasoning is simple. Mental toughness is created when you accept new challenges, face frustrating setbacks and overcome them. Overtime this process builds your confidence and momentum; which will allow you to take on even bigger challenges and start a cycle of growth. 

Go big or go home when you’re setting your sights on a new challenge. 

STEP 2: Be Mindful.

If your mind is stuck in the past, worrying about something that happened last week, you will never have the energy required to face the challenge in front of you. Thats why being mindful is so crucial to increasing your mental toughness. 

Time is your most valuable resource, don’t waste it on things out of your control. Focus on the things you can change and live in the present moment. 

Be grateful. A gratitude list/journal is a good starting point to becoming more mindful. Every morning write down a few reasons why you’re grateful. It could be something as simple having clean water. The key is to do it everyday and make a habit of it.

STEP 3: Steady and Deliberate.

As I explained earlier, mental toughness is created by taking on new challenges, facing setbacks and overcoming them. Easier said than done. For beginners the hardest part of the process is facing the setbacks and failures and still being able to continue forward. 

Many of us were taught growing up that failure was bad and should always be avoided. It’s something I have had to “un-learn” over the years after realizing it was a bullshit way of thinking. Failure is often a much better teacher and learning experience than success. I have learned more valuable lessons from failing at challenges than I have from the ones I accomplished easily. 

If you chose the right challenge your persistence will eventually be put to the test. Keep grinding, this is where the magic happens. Stay in the moment, focus on the task in front of you and be steady and deliberate, day after day!

STEP 4: Have a Sense of Duty. 

Having a sense of duty is one of the most powerful ways to increase mental toughness. It also happens to be one of the simplest and easiest ways and there’s no catch for this one. With that being said, you will reap more benefits with this one after you have a firm grasp on being mindful. 

Whatever challenge or task you are working on, do it like it is your job! If you run after work for an hour, during that one hour your profession is a runner. Chances are low you’ll ever receive a paycheck from being a runner, but if you’re spending your time doing it, don’t half ass it! Time is your most valuable resource. 

Your day might start with you being a husband or a wife. Then when you leave the house you may become an accountant or salesperson. If you go to the gym after work then you become a weightlifter, before returning home to where you started. 

Throughout the day all of us are required to wear different hats (do different jobs). The problem is when you try wearing multiple hats at the same time you will end up with half-assed results and never reach your full potential. 

Having a sense of duty helped me big time during the Jackalope Jam 100k. I showed up to the race with the mindset that this race was my job for the day. Nothing else mattered. During the race when my mind started drifting away thinking about my real estate business I would take a few breaths, and remind myself that right now, THIS IS MY JOB. Everyone has a job and today this is mine.

STEP 5: Get Rid of External Motivators. 

I learned the power of this one during my first Ultra-Marathon, the Brazos Bend 50. I had never ran without headphones so the day before the race I made a playlist on Spotify, filled with songs like “eye of the tiger” and “don’t lose yourself”. When I showed up to the race, I quickly realized I had no cell service. Therefore, I had no music. 

To put it simply, I freaked out. I had no clue how the hell I would get through 12+ hours of running with NO MUSIC! Long story short I made it through and finished the race and I realized that having the right mindset was much more important than having external motivators, like music. 

If you are the kind of person who “has to have” music to pump you up for the gym. Then this one is for you. Go to the gym without them for once, embrace the quietness and find the fire within yourself. 

If you are a runner, you could even take it a step further. Leave the headphones at home AND spray down your shoes with the water hose before you run. Nothing beats a pair of soggy socks/shoes for building mental toughness, at least for me anyways. 

When you begin to pursue lofty challenges, curve balls will be thrown your way. You might as well train and prepare for those uncomfortable situations so they won’t throw you off course.

STEP 6: There is No Finish Line.

It doesn’t matter if you’re  just starting out on your fitness journey or if you’re an olympic qualifier. Never look at success as a permanent place. When you complete a new challenge, briefly celebrate but don’t get wrapped up in the success or allow it to make you complacent. You should constantly be looking forward to bigger challenges to increase mental toughness even more!

If your goal is to complete a marathon. When you cross the finish line, your mind will be quick to tell you that “you have finished” and that “you can ease up now”. It is crucial that you do not listen to that voice and instead you go back to the drawing board and start preparing for the next challenge. 

Don’t sell yourself short, always strive to do more because there is no finish line! 

What step did you find most beneficial to increasing your mental toughness?

Do you have any tips or tricks that you have found helpful? Feel free to share them!