MENTAL TOUGHNESS: HANDLE DISCOMFORT
Think about this for a second: those that can stay in the zone of discomfort the longest, will win. This isn’t easy but it’s the core of mental toughness. Mental toughness comes from honing your ability to handle discomfort, this might be pain, fatigue, distraction, finances, stress, heartache, etc. If you have more mental toughness, then you will be able to last in these difficult situations longer and have more success than those that cant.
However, mental toughness is not something that you are born with. Mental toughness has to be learned, practiced, and used regularly. And it’s different than physical toughness. Physical toughness is what your body can do, how much it can take, how strong it is, etc. But what stops your body from performing? It’s your head! Think about someone like David Goggins. Sure he physically can handle a ton of discomfort but it’s his mind that controls that! When you feel pain or discomfort, your head is trying to protect you from pain or injury. You will be “told” by your head that you are pushing too hard, you are going too fast, that it’s too heavy, that you will get hurt, that people will laugh at you. All these comments are to keep you from ANY TYPE of discomfort.
It’s easier just to be comfortable right where you are right? I mean get to where it’s ok, then just sit there. But this isn’t how the world works. It constantly changes so you need to be able to adjust as it does. And if you want to attain ANYTHING, then you need to be able to push towards that “thing”. Maybe it’s weight loss. Or maybe muscle gain, or a physical look. Is it a job, or a competition? Do you want to escape from a situation, or change your current position or feels? You need to be able to control your mind and drive forward. Use your Mental Toughness regardless of the things that are happening.
You have the opportunity every day you are in the gym here at INFERNO, or when you are on our ZOOM Virtual Classes, to practice this. First, just deciding to get in your car, or to turn on the computer is the first test. {CLICK HERE IF YOU WANT TO DO AN IN-PERSON OR VIRTUAL CLASS WITH US} If you do that, then you get to the next test, and that’s the workout. You WILL be tired, and you will feel your muscles burn and you will hear the voice tell you to stop or slow down or take a break. This is the test right here. What will you do?
The way you improve your mental toughness here is to tell yourself to do one more rep. You won’t want to. You will think you can’t. But you MAKE yourself do it anyway. Don’t chalk up, or walk away from the bar. Or even justify that if you take 2 big breaths then you will be ready. You just tell yourself to PICK UP THE BAR!
This will be tough. It might even hurt a little. But this is where that toughness starts. If you do this, the more you will soon see that you can test yourself outside the gym also. Maybe you study for an extra 10 minutes. Or maybe make yourself not eat that last cookie that’s sitting there. It can be trying something new no matter what your head or others are saying will happen. These are the practices, and the ways you build that mental toughness. You will soon see that you will have more success in all areas because you will have a much higher threshold of tolerance with the discomforts. And when life throws a REAL difficult thing at you, you will be able to use that mental toughness to make it through!
Mental toughness is the single item that will determine your success in everything you do. It comes from being able to hone your ability to handle different states of discomfort, of all types. Those that cant handle these states of discomfort the longest will see others that cant drop off and fail. Eventually, almost by simple attrition, you will be in the top group. It’s something that needs to be practiced regularly and when you develop these skills, success will soon follow!