When people asked me my thoughts on starting a business, one thing I would always say is that you have to have the right mindset.
That was my nice way of saying - you have to be mentally tough, you have to be able to keep your shit together in hard times, you have to be resilient, you can't let your critics affect you - and you can't sabotage your own potential with self doubt and imposter syndrome.
Then I realised - building your mental strength is essential for more than just business, it's essential to living life.
Mentally tough people treat their mind like a muscle - they train it to be strong AND take care of it through recovery.
4 Ways to Build Your Mental Strength:
1. Practice mindfulness. Become in-tune and self-aware of your own strengths, weaknesses, feelings, triggers. 2. Be open to new experiences and willingly put yourself in situations that feel uncomfortable. 3. Look to find the positives before the negatives, talking kindly and productively to yourself. 4. Have strong core values that guide your choices. Back yourself by knowing what drives you.
4 Ways to Practice Recovery:
1. Feel what you need to feel (vent when you’re angry, cry when your sad, frustrated, overwhelmed, happy, you don't even need a reason) 2. Don’t dwell too long on negative feelings. 3. Learn your own mechanisms for working through difficult emotions effectively and efficiently (write, talk to a friend, make an action plan, deal with this issue and then move on). 4. Escape. When your mind won't stop running away with you I suggest diving into a good book and embrace the distraction.
I would love to hear your thoughts on mental strength. How do you train your mind to deal with everyday and extreme challenges? What recovery do you do to take care of your mental state?