A Fit Girl’s Guide to Building Mental Toughness

Hey loves,

Today’s blog post is part 4 of my series on skills that we as fit girls can develop in order to be successful both in fitness and in the real world. Today’s skill to develop is mental toughness.

Check out parts 1, 2 and 3 on the previous skills like self-discipline, passion and resilience for more education on these success-guaranteeing skills.

In this post, I am going to go over what mental toughness is, why it’s important, real life examples of it, 10 ways to build it and finally, I’m going to share quotes, videos and affirmations to inspire you to start developing it today.

Beautiful woman wearing red punching gloves in a boxing pose

What is mental toughness?

Mental toughness is a personality trait that determines how one handles challenges, stress and pressure irrespective of their current situation.

“A mentally tough individual sees challenge and adversity as an opportunity and not a threat, and has the confidence and positive approach to take what comes in their stride (Strycharczyk, 2015).”

Being mentally tough requires us to be self-confident, to trust our inner selves and to be able to keep fighting and pushing forward even when it looks tough.

“Mental strength involves developing daily habits that build mental muscle. It also involves giving up bad habits that hold you back (Morin, 2017)”

Despite what some people believe, mental toughness is a trait that we develop, not one that we are born with.

Why is important?

Mentally tough people do the following:

They deliver more and are more productive.

They are more content and satisfied.

They are more engaged and positive.

They aspire to do/be/learn more.

They can manage stress better.

“Behaviorally, they are more likely to adopt problem-focused coping strategies to effectively manage stress, and make use of positive techniques such as motivational imagery and self-enhancing humor (Lin,2017).”

They exhibit more cognitive inhibition which allows them to stay focused on tasks.

“Cognitively, they exhibit greater inhibition which allows them to commit to current tasks (Lin,2017).”

They have higher psychological wellbeing.

“Emotionally, mentally tough individuals are able to maintain greater levels of control and confidence under stressful situations, which might lead to better psychological well-being (Lin,2017).”

These individuals have better outcomes in sports, education and mental health.

“The findings suggest that MT is associated with various positive psychological traits, more efficient coping strategies and positive outcomes in education and mental health (Lin,2017).”

Examples of mental toughness:

Pushing forward after failure.

Coping with loss of a loved one.

Coping with loss of employment/studies.

Dealing with heart break and/or end of relationship.

Being mentally strong would mean rising above these types of circumstances and coming out stronger than before.

Famous mentally tough celebrities:

Swiss tennis player and 7 time Wimbledon winner Roger Federer lost his first Wimbledon matches for the first three years.

Roger Federer holding trophy with woman next to him

American tennis player Andre Agassi lost his first three Grand Slam Finals.

American pop artist Lady Gaga was dropped by her label at 19 years old but came back stronger later throughout her career and rose up to superstar status.