It’s the mentally tough who realize that
every individual is the master of his or her own mind, not the other way
around. The mentally weak are thrown around by every whim of their mind.
Just because a thought arises, they assume it must be valid and worthy
of dwelling on or obsessing over. This regurgitation of the same
counter-productive thoughts causes needless pain, anxiety and
depression. The mentally tough do not allow their own thoughts to be the
cause of harm to themselves and others.
Increasing our mental toughness is critical, because our success
and contentment in life is determined by our mental activity. The
mentally tough accept and embrace the following beliefs:
Thinking is the grand originator of our experience; we can’t
feel anything unless we think it first.
We become what we think about most of the time.
We are always the thinker, producer and creator of our own
thoughts.
It easy to see how important the application of mental toughness
is in the sports world. If I’m a baseball player and I struck out the
last time I was at the plate, I’d better not be thinking or dwelling
on that as I step into the batter’s box the next time. If I do, I’m
in trouble. In any case, it’s just not going to help me.
In our own lives, there are an unlimited number of things that we
can dwell on at any given moment that simply don’t help us. Negative
things. Insecure and fear-based things. Thoughts that don’t get us
anywhere and don’t accomplish anything except to make us feel worse
and sap the joy out of living.
What are some other characteristics of the mentally tough? For
starters, they practice thought recognition and resistance on a daily
basis. Recognition means awareness of what you’re thinking about
before your thoughts have a chance to build momentum. Resistance means
putting the breaks on a runaway thought and slowing it down, just as you
would if you had to stop a runaway train.
When I recognize a runaway thought, I practice resistance by
saying, "CANCEL!" Sometimes I shout it (to myself silently- it
would be a bit embarrassing if anyone heard me saying it under my
breath). I say CANCEL to myself many times a day. I simply refuse to
start going down a road that is going to lead me into the dumps. Why
should I? At times I may also say something like this in addition to
CANCEL "There is nothing I can do about the situation right now,
and thinking this way and getting myself all upset is not helping
things- the situation or me." At times, when I’m lying in bed
just before I fall asleep, troubling thoughts will pop into my head. If
I follow these thoughts and give them my attention and energy, I might
as well forget about sleeping. Instead, I practice thought recognition
and resistance, and I mentally lead myself to a good night’s sleep.
You can find multiple examples of mental toughness in both fact
and fiction. General Dwight Eisenhower, commander of the D-day invasion,
was once asked what would have happened if the invading troops were
beaten back at the beaches. He replied, "That would have been bad,
but I never allow my mind to think that way." That’s mental
toughness. In Gone With the Wind, Scarlet O’Hara said, "I’m not
going to think about that now. I’ll think about that tomorrow."
That’s also mental toughness. These people realize that thinking is an
opportunity to shape reality from the inside out, and they are
discerning about which trains of thought to follow.
I’m not suggesting that recognition and resistance is denial. If
a certain thought is consistently arising and you can’t seem to let it
go, it may be worthy of further analysis and a decisive resolution. One
of the best ways to figure out if you should pursue your thoughts is to
write them out and get them organized and clarified. For more
information on how to do this, see this link for my previous newsletter
on "Melting Mental Snowballs": http://www.trainrightinc.com/November%202001.htm
What I’m suggesting is a very high percentage of our thoughts are just
garbage and they ought to be dismissed quickly and not given any of your
continued attention and limited energy.
In addition, I’m not suggesting that people who have a diagnosed
chemical imbalance in their brain are mentally weak. Some folks need
some extra help in the form of medication to resist their thoughts.
However, just about all of us can benefit from becoming mentally
tougher. Nowadays, most physicians, in addition to prescribing
medication, are using similar cognitive therapy techniques to teach
their patients how to help themselves long-term by resisting their
negative thoughts.
Practice recognition and resistance and see for yourself how it
affects your attitude and general health!
About the Author
Kevin
Stacey helps companies and professionals achieve maximum productivity
and effectiveness through stress management and time management
training. He is available to speak on these topics.
For more information visit http://www.TrainRightInc.com
or call 1-800-603-7168.
