Mental Toughness How do we obtain it? Make it stronger?

Many young people ask these

questions of me each day and I wish it was a simple answer. I wish you could be mentally tough
by figuring out a magic solution of phrases or training programs. But it is not that simple. Being
mentally tough requires you to keep competing when your mind wants you to quit. Humans have
a safety switch in our brain that tells us to stop in order to prevent us from hurting
ourselves. We are natural born survivors built to conserve our energy, store food, and just
simply live to survive another day. There are times you can actually shut that part of your brain
off. When you do this, you realize your body is ten times stronger than your brain will let it be.
Training programs in the Special Operations world helps you tap into this mindset, but often your
life experiences and habits can build a mental toughness and resilience that no one can beat.
Here is a top ten list of common denominators in many people I know who have accomplished
great things in their lives and continue to keep moving onto bigger and greater goals:
Daily Persistence / Focus Never Stop! Do what you have to do every day even when you are
tired, feel lazy, etc. It does not matter if it is physical training, studying for a test, working to a
deadline, or just getting out of bed every day with a positive attitude do it no matter what. Make
MOVING a habit. You may find all you needed was a good meal and hydration to give you the
energy required to stay focused and finish or start a new task.
No one becomes mentally tough overnight. It takes a lifetime. Some of the toughest people I
have met in my life know they have some level of toughness, but still say they have to work at it
every day. In the Navy SEAL Creed, there is a line that says, I have to earn it (the trident) every
day.
Stay Motivated: Why do you put yourself through painful training, long hours working or
studying? You have to answer this question not me. It is no ones job to motivate you, it is all
SELF-MOTIVATION that keeps you moving. Have goals that you see each day getting closer
and closer one step at a time into fruition. Prepare mentally for the weeks, months, or even
years required to get to where you want to be one day.
Have a quote that resonates with you There are many great motivating quotes to get and
keep you going. Here are some of my favorites when I need that extra affirmation:
1 Mental Toughness is finding the fuel when the tank is empty. (My favorite it sums up
what mental toughness is in so many ways)
2 You miss 100% of the shots you dont take.
3 If you are going through Hell keep going.
4 Never Quit.
5 Go for it now the future is promised to no one.
These are basically performance cues used by sports psychologists at every level of
performance. There are many, many more to find online. Find one that works for you. Find a
poster / make a poster see it every day. Say it when you need it.

Train to Compete Not Just Survive: In relation to special ops training programs, athletic
events, or even business this is the biggest difference in those who graduate training or
succeed and those who do not. You should try to be in the type of shape and mindset that will
allow you to win or be in the top 10% of the class in many events at least some. Too many of
us, in general, just get by each day putting in their time and barely living. Knowing that you are
stuck in survival mode is a realization that can be the first step to learning how to change your life
and compete for the first time in your life. I developed this saying, shortly before I ran a
marathon for the first and last time. My goal was to finish a 26 mile run. I saw a skinny kid from
Africa warming up and I realized he was about to run the same race as I was but his goal was to
drop a minute off his best time. My goal was to survive the event. Who has a better chance and
finishing the race? The kid who was in competition mode not me. I succeeded with my goal
and was able to use the Complete not just Survive quote many times that day and ever since in
my life.
Dissociation Training: There is a fine line between mental toughness and stupid, but when it is
a life or death situation, there is no stupid method if it keeps you alive. Basically, how much pain,
discomfort, and even fear can you play with? That is an immeasurable element of
success. Dissociation refers to being able to take instructors yelling at you, cold water freezing
you, sand chaffing you, and exhaustion slowing you AND not let it get into your head. There is a
bit of find your happy place in these dissociation skills, but you still have to be focused on the
mission at hand and not just be some zombie who cannot follow orders stuck in some Zen
state. Maybe it is just being SO FOCUSED on the mission at hand nothing else matters. That
is why I put Daily Persistence and Focus as the #1 trait.
You can practice this skill with mundane, monotonous, long workouts like long runs, rucks,
swims, high repetition pyramid PTs that can get pretty boring if you do not have an ability to think
of something else besides counting reps, miles, and time.
Laugh: Finding humor in what happens to you daily is one of the best ways to get through the
daily grind. Find humor in what challenges you. You would be surprised when going through a
stressful event how a humorous comment or action will lighten the mood and keep you focused
on the task at hand. In a group setting, finding humor and laughing can bond a team together
like nothing else. By yourself, you have to laugh as it will help change your mood, gather
yourself and get over any negative thoughts you may be having at the time.
Know your Weakness Make it a Strength: You have to have a level of internal awareness
and realize there will be things you are not naturally good at doing. I have found that when
working on my weaknesses that I have to check in and use a certain level of mental toughness to
keep going than if working on something I was naturally good at doing. For instance, prior to
SEAL training, I was a powerlifting football player whose idea of long distance running was
anything greater than 100 yards. It took me years, to get my running times down to where I
could actually compete or at least stay in the middle of the pack of my class when doing beach
runs. Running was something that I had to check in mentally each time I ran, where-as the
calisthenics and swimming were not something that challenged me as much. Even this day,
running is something I have to focus on to stay in the pack.

Plan your Dive Dive Your Plan: In training, we learned how to Dirt Dive. This is a simple
walk-through of a mission where we take each phase of the mission step by step and discuss
how we achieve the desired outcome. Discussing and creating contingency plans is one of the
outcomes that helps us to be immediately flexible in case something goes wrong. Create
different routes for you to achieve your goal. There may be 34 different ways to get from point
A to point B. Consider every possibility and dont get discouraged if your original plan
fails. Move onto plan B or even plan C. STAY FOCUSED ON THE END GOAL.
Big Goals with Sub-Goals: We all want to be successful in what we do. One event in my life
that I knew was going to be a kick in the nuts was Hell Week a 120+ hour evolution at SEAL
training that requires everything out of you to complete. You eat every six hours with little or no
sleep breaks the entire week. I knew if I broke up the week into twenty 6 hour segments, it
mentally seemed more obtainable that one 120+ hour / 5 day event. Parallel this in the business
world by keeping track of weekly, monthly, quarterly goals and the next thing you know your
annual projections can also be obtained even if you have to change course to get there. But you
wont know to change course if you do not assess. Remember you get what you inspect, not
what you expect.
Stay Positive: Positive thinking and planning goes a long way. If it is not in the schedule or
plan it does not exist so make sure you stay positive with your planning and actions. You will
always have negative thoughts and doubts that pop into your head every now and then. A trick
to quit having obtrusive, negative thoughts is called Name it and Tame it. The next time a
negative thought or doubt pops into your head or spoken by another on your team, give it a silly
name like dumbass. Then tell yourself out loud so you say it and hear it, I cant think about
dumbass anymore. This may take a few rounds of practice, but it works to help you stay
positive. Naming a thought takes away its power and shows you that you have control of your
fears and anxiety. That is powerful.
This mental toughness top ten list works for me and many people I consider successful,
motivated, and mentally tough that I interviewed for this article. I hope this list helps you. By no
means are mental toughness tips and attributes limited to my top ten list. There are countless
ways to build your mental toughness and resilience that will help you stay motivated, thinking
positive, and handle stress / adversity throughout the rest of your life.
Hang in there and never, never give up.