HOW TO PREPARE FOR MENTAL TOUGHNESS?

“Chinkee, how can I prepare myself to face life’s challenges?”

This is a continuation of my earlier blog how to develop a winning mindset. If you missed it, please click here https://on.fb.me/1w2AQll

Everything starts in the mind. You’re reading this blog because your mind told you so. You’re wearing that red shirt because you’ve thought of it first. Unfaithfulness, negligence, timidity, addictions, and even the good stuffs–it all starts in the mind. Whether it’s a minor or major decision, it passed through our mind. We think a lot and how we think will reflect on how we react.

Our mind is the battleground. Like what I’ve said in my previous blogs, you can never win in life with a defeated mind. So we should be very careful on how and what we feed our minds.

What is mental toughness by the way? “Mental toughness” is keeping strong in the face of adversity. It’s the ability to keep your focus and determination despite the difficulties you encounter. It is the voice at the back of your mind that tells you to keep going, keep pushing, and keep trying, even when the going gets tough.

Developing your mental toughness can help you be more emotionally resilient; push you to go further and harder, and build armor to persevere against the bullets that life fires your way.

As you prepare for mental toughness, think of these things:

Think about possibilities rather than impossibilities.

When you start thinking and believing that it may be possible, then automatically it becomes possible. Then, you will start to make the impossible very possible just by believing that it’s a possibility.

Don’t let the impossibilities hinder you from benefiting the possibilities. Make the impossible possible!

When doubts fill your mind, think about the solution rather than the problem.

After thinking more of the possibility and making the impossible possible, then you’ll surely focus on the solution and not on the problem. Focusing on a problem will not help you to get rid of it, but will affect your motivation negatively. When we magnify our problems by focusing on it more, we just attract more of it.

Problems are inevitable. You’ll encounter different kinds of those, but the good news is God will not give us a problem that is beyond our capability.

“No trial has overtaken you that are not faced by others. And God is faithful: He will not let you be tried beyond what you are able to bear, but with the trial will also provide a way out so that you may be able to endure it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13

Think about the opportunity rather than the difficulty.

I remember one story of two sales agents. They were selling slippers. They were from different companies. One day, they were asked to sell slippers on a tribe up on a mountain. Agent A called his boss and told him this; “Boss, bad news, walang nagsusuot ng tsinelas dito. Hindi uso e. Hindi tayo makakabenta dito.” Agent B excitedly called his boss and told him this; “Boss! Good news! Lahat sila dito naka-paa! Mauubos ang mga benta nating tsinelas!”

“What is the difference between an obstacle and an opportunity? Our attitude towards it. Every opportunity has a difficulty, and every difficulty has an opportunity.” -J. Sidlow Baxter

When you see difficulties piled on top of difficulties, you should be looking at a mountain of opportunities! You should be looking at a situation in which you can truly make a difference.

When you look at a problem, but see opportunity instead, you become a powerful source that transforms grief into greatness.

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” -Winston S. Churchill

Think about learning from the mistakes rather than blaming the mistakes.

Everyone makes mistake. You would learn from your mistake if you’ll not get busy denying and blaming it. Take every failure as a teaching moment that will better you as a person.

Congratulate yourself for whatever growth you’ve gained from dealing with each difficult situation you encounter and each mistake you make. Remember that these things add value to life (as long as it’s not intentional) as much as the more pleasant experiences we all value. Be glad that you always have the opportunity to learn from your mistakes in one way or another.

Preparing for mental toughness is a process and it’s not something you can conjure overnight. It takes a lot of patience and a conscious effort to become tougher mentally. You may waiver from your own strength and knowledge, but you can be assured that with God’s strength and grace, you can never go wrong.

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13

THINK. REFLECT. APPLY.

What has your mind been busy with lately?
Are you thinking about the negative or the positive?
Are you ready to think like a winner to be a winner?

-Chinkee Tan, Filipino Motivational Speaker

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• 5 TIPS TO FINISH STRONG THIS YEAR
• Why God Gives Us Challenges