Mental Strength 101: Warrior Mind Podcast #297

Over four years and going strong!  With over 300,000 downloads from over 9 countries and 5 continents’…. this is the Warrior Mind Podcast.

In this episode of the Warrior Mind Podcast I going to talk about mental strength, what is it and can it be developed to assist you in achieving peak performance.

What is Mental Strength?

A good place to start is defining what mental strength is.  Again, until recently there have been many descriptions of what mental toughness is.

Then in 2012 after numerous case studies and research Clough & Strycharczyk developed this widely accepted definition of mental toughness.

“Mental Toughness is a personality trait which determines in large part how people deal with challenge, stressors and pressure …. irrespective of prevailing circumstances.”

Firstly, recent research has led us to understand that Mental Strength is a personality trait. It has also emerged as a plastic personality trait.

When we talk about plasticity, we mean it is not necessarily fixed but instead is capable of change. That change may come about unplanned for example, as a result of coaching activity or a targeted experiential activity such as work experience.

Not so long ago it was generally believed that personality traits were fairly fixed attributes. We now know that all are plastic – some to greater extent, others to a much lesser extent.

That is good news if we are trying to help people and organizations change.

Secondly, Mental Strength determines in large part how individuals perform when exposed to stress, pressure and challenge.

This means that Mental Strength is able to explain how many individuals perform in the face of adversity and it will explain this for most if not all. But it is not the whole of the explanation. There may be other factors at play which affect different individuals in different ways.

Although it is a key personality attribute, our personality is made up of many traits. Other traits may also be important in explaining behavior in response to pressure. The combination of traits might sometimes be significant. For example, it is quite possible that a

Mentally Strong introvert may behave differently to a Mentally Strong extrovert, but both are Mentally Strong. Similarly, a Mentally Sensitive extrovert may use their extroversion to counter the impact of lower than average interpersonal confidence.

We know there is a link between Mental Strength and performance. This helps to explain why, when looking at two people with similar backgrounds and experience, one may succeed and the other fails when placed in the same situation.

Enjoy this podcast on mental strength 101.

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Next, we have purposely used the term “deal with” not “cope with”. Mentally Strength individuals deal with the world around them and tend to deal with it positively. Although challenging they see it is a world full of opportunity and have the confidence to take problems and challenges head on. This differentiates it from resilience which is a more passive quality.

Finally, if we look at the last part of the definition, “irrespective of the situation”, it is about responsibility and accountability. This means that when an individual is faced with adversity and things did not go well, do they accept responsibility for their actions and do they remain accountable for the ways in which the situation was dealt with?

Those that are more Mentally Strong will hold their hands up and say “well, something went wrong and I could have had more help, but I know in the end it was down to me”. For the Mentally Sensitive, they are more likely to respond saying “Something went wrong, I could have had more help, it wasn’t my fault it was the fault of others/the circumstances etc.”

The other notion deals with the idea that “I am different at work than I am at home etc.” There is an element of truth in this. The dynamics in different environments, if different, will enable people to behave differently. But the evidence is generally that your underlying Mental Strength is constant where you go. Different environments have different rules and expectations and that explains to a large extent why you behave differently.

For instance, one of the Mental Strength components is emotional control. If you have low emotional control it can mean that, at home, when angry you are likely to express that emotion. You probably would not do that at work when the same situation arises because you know the rules in the workplace are different and the consequences, such as losing your job, might be more severe. At home you are unlikely to get the sack. So you moderate your behavior but you are still the same person inside your head.

Request an Introductory Consultation right now if you wish to learn additional information on expectations, confidence and acceptance.

Do you have the courage to start on the path of self-mastery?  Contact Me about The Warriors Quest.  It will transform your life forever!

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