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I have written a couple articles about mental
toughness before, but it's always good to revisit the subject with
some more life and coaching experience under my belt.
Mental toughness is a big subject. It encompasses
everything about your mind that can have an influence on how you
excel in sport and in life. That's a lot of mind-stuff. How you react
to the unexpected; how you deal with competitive egos in your face; how
you look at yourself first thing in the morning; how you process
information about the world and make sense of it in the brainy goop
that we call ourselves.
Serious stuff! But when you talk about mental
toughness you can't just limit it to sports. Mentally tough people =
mentally tough people regardless of the field of their pursuit. I
haven't read a bunch on the subject lately, so here's a relatively
unfiltered list of what constitutes mental toughness from my
perspective as a full time coach and trainer, husband and father,
with a twenty-two year old BS in Psychology.
Approach new situations with a
flexible mind and recognition of
your own preconceptions. Boom. You know you don't know everything, so
you can't really be surprised.
Roll with the unexpected.
If you're giving a presentation and the lights go out, you move the
party to the local McDonald's and continue onward. Stuff happens,
everyone knows it. But how you react to it is what counts. If you're
racing a triathlon and get a flat tire, you don't throw a fit and
break your bike in half - you change it. Even if it takes you thirty
minutes. Don't give up.
Remain centered and focused.
Other competitive types may try to throw you off with gamesmanship.
It's part of the competitive world and you may do it to, consciously
or not. Don't let a competitor bait you into unwise moves ruled by
emotion. As far as mental toughness within competition goes, you need
to know your strengths and play to them, not to someone else's tune.
Stay on task with your goal whenever anything pr anyone tries to
interfere.
Defeat isn't the end for you.
You have lost before. You'll lose again. Your ability to absorb these
and move onwards with your race; career; life is what counts. Michael
Jordan has a quote about missing 9,000 free throws or something like
that. You get the point.
Believe in yourself.
An ability to recognize where your talents lie, with a somewhat
realistic assessment of how talented you are. Really knowing that
you're good at something is empowering, and will generally help you
become even better as you believe in your ability, in that skill and
other things. None of us is good at everything but we're all great at
something. Recognize this.
Deal with the discomfort.
Almost everyone is in pain in the last few miles of a marathon, or
gets tired at some point in an Ironman. The front of the pack often
separates not on their physical ability, but their mental ability to
deal with temporary physical states (like pain, or fatigue). With a
strong mind you can overcome.
Channel your inner Wolverine. A
friend gave me this one. :) He's angry, he's got claws, and he heals
very, very quickly. Sometimes you just gotta break out a little
Wolvie.
Crap rolls down hill.
It also rolls over
you. Anyone in the business world knows that one. As an
athlete you will also experience your share of crap. Crappy workouts.
Crappy days. Crappy equipment. Crappy training partners. Crappy
races. My goodness, the world is full of crap. But you're teflon,
baby. Let it roll on down. Move on to that hill over yonder.
When things go wrong, keep moving
on. "Don't give up" is a powerful and simple
statement. What other options do you have? Is there another way? Is
there any way? What do you have to do to make things go your way?
Find it. Do it. This is the mental toughness that carries people
through situations where weaker minds crumble.
Things aren't always your fault.
Mentally tough people also tend to be drivers and doers with a
predisposition to strong internal locus
of control. That's a funny way of saying that it's easy to start
to think you can make things happen by just doing your best. Some
things are just out of your control and there is nothing you can do
to change that. Sometimes there is a competitor out there with a better
idea; a higher V02max, or slightly better taper coming into his
A-race. See the two rules above and move on.
Mental toughness can be learned via good thought
habits and self monitoring. The easiest way to start the process to
becoming mentally tougher is to tell yourself it's going to be a good
day when you wake up. And then don't let anyone or anything take that
good day away from you. Do that every day for a few years and you've
got it.
There is more to the overall idea, but I hope this
gets you going.
Marty Gaal, NSCA CSCS, is a USA Triathlon coach. He
has been working with endurance athletes since 2002 and is the
co-founder of One Step Beyond. He enjoys mental toughness in the
morning with a nice cup of coffee.
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