How to Develop Mental Toughness Personal Development

It’s relatively easy for most people to become physically tough through some exercises and a good diet. But it’s extremely difficult for most people to also become mentally tough and develop resilience. Now, what is resilience? A general dictionary defines resilience in many ways as, ‘Ability to recover quickly from misfortune; able to return to the original form after being bent, compressed, or stretched out of shape. A method to quickly recover from disruptions and misfortune without being overwhelmed or act in a dysfunctional or harmful way.’ The word resile is derived from the Latin word ‘resilíre,’ which means ‘to leap back.’

Society, circumstances, and bad experiences can often destroy people as not everyone is blessed with natural resiliency. Emotional resilience is partially inborn but it can be further enhanced and developed as this article will show. By learning resiliency you can successfully adapt to difficult and Herculean life experiences. And you can gradually overcome adversity, bounce back from setbacks, and thrive under extreme pressure without losing your marbles. For example, losing your job suddenly for no fault of yours can wipe you out emotionally if you are not resilient. But if you are resilient you can simply turn it into a blessing in disguise to change your life for the better.

Here are some ways to become mentally stronger and as a result more successful in life.

Act as if you are in complete control – This is a thinking trick that gives you mental strength. Ignatius, a Spanish priest once said - Pray as if God will take care of all; act as if all is up to you. Most successful people believe that good luck always plays a role in their success. They test this by jumping into action. This means they don't wait for good luck to drop on their lap or worry about being attacked by bad luck. They pretend as if success or failure is completely within their control. By not wasting mental energy worrying about what wrong might happen to you they put all their effort into making the right things happen. Remember, you can't control good or bad luck, but you can definitely control yourself and your actions.