Mental Strength is Earned – Techniques to Try
Written by Tricia Moore
Just as with our training sessions, mindset training and tools are trainable for every single person. We train our bodies with purpose, what about our minds? Consider for a moment…
- An individual has 80,000 thoughts daily.
- 90% of these thoughts are ones we have had before.
- 80% of these thoughts are negative.
- The mind is naturally lazy; we are on autopilot when thinking the majority of the time.
When we are learning a new movement, we are activating our muscles with purpose, and through muscle memory, we learn a new skill. Mindset training works the same. We can exercise our mind for health, wellbeing, and peak performance but it begins with awareness.
How to Get Started Improving Your Mental Game
If improving upon your mental game, earning mental strength, and being able to accept adversity with open arms something you truly desire, you need to make mindset training a priority, just as you do with or monitoring your nutrition, and hitting your workouts on a regular basis.
Below are a few exercises to try out and apply to begin training your mindset:
Reframing
“Reframing” is a psychological technique that challenges the mind to develop a practical growth mindset and develop self-competence, manage irrational self-talk, and the ability to acknowledge the small wins and take lessons from what we as individuals see as a failure. Reframe your tasks today. Reframe the conversation. Flip the switch on the usual suspects. It’s cold outside? Awesome, the sun isn’t boring you today. The state shuts your indoor operations? Awesome, we are going outside. We have options. It’s how we see things.
Reading
Reading is mind nutrition. It activates your neurons in a similar way a workout activates your muscles. Reading with the purpose of learning gives us new knowledge and opens us to possibilities.
Try these suggestions:
- Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck
- Atomic Habits by James Clear
- The Mindful Athlete by Geroge Mumford
Downtime
This could mean getting a new journal and writing, or simply looking up journal prompts. Or, you could incorporate more mindful practices such as daily walks, drawing, playing board games, solving puzzles, taking bike rides, or yoga into your lifestyle. This list is not meant to be exhaustive. 🙂 Play. Think. Ponder…
When trying and applying the exercises above, use the same model as you would in class. Think – mechanics, consistency, intensity. The emphasis here is mastering the practice of mindset training, with the ultimate goal of consistency. And, no matter what direction you choose to embark within your mindset journey, there is no wrong turn. Investing in your mindset is an investment in discovering a better version of yourself. And, don’t we all want to get just a little bit better?