Now that we know the benefits of being mentally tough, as discussed throughout the 8 Factors of Mental Toughness article, let’s look at what we can do to improve our resilience to stress, change and life challenges.
There are 6 interventions that are proven to enhance the mental toughness/fitness of individuals.
Six Interventions that support an individual to develop Mental Toughness
These interventions all help an individual to develop the capability to deal with stress, pressure and challenge. These are all tools we can start to build into our lives, ideally with guidance from a mental health practitioner like us.
1 Positive thinking – affirmations, think three positives, turning negatives into positives, gratitude journaling etc
2 Visualisation – guided imaging, practice visualising desired professional and personal desired outcomes, etc
3 Anxiety control – relaxation techniques, breathing, walking, exercise, caring for a pet etc
4 Attentional control – focus, dealing with interruptions, time boxing
5 Goal setting – SMART, balancing goals, how to deal with big goals, segmenting, etc
6 The MTQ-Plus Questionnaire + related feedback – people respond to the feedback via guided selection and adoption of techniques
What attributes effect an individual’s mental toughness performance improvements?
- Your approach: How you approach the task, your motivation and your interests
- Your reward: What will you get if you get involved?
- Your support: family, colleagues, and friends: How you interact and draw on those around you?
- Your state of mind: What is happening inside your head; are you in a state of clarity and able to rise to the challenge?
Why bother developing Mental Toughness?
Mentally tough people enjoy the following 6 attributes:
1 Self Awareness – the ability to recognise own emotions and how they affect thoughts and behaviour.
2 Self-regulation – the ability to recognise own emotions in healthy ways, take initiative, follow through on commitments, and adapt to changing circumstances.
3 Social skill – the ability to deal effectively with a range of people.
4 Empathy – the ability to understand others, especially when making decisions.
5 Self-motivation – being driven to achieve.
6 Enhanced physical health and improved recovery from trauma and illness.
Take the first step to developing Mental Toughness
Get Mentally Fit’s, Principal Psychologist, Emily Johnson is an accredited facilitator of our Programs and Services that implement effectively customised interventions. Having the ability to reliable measure an individual’s personality traits allows us at Get Mentally Fit to skilfully achieve this.
Contact us to enquire into undertaking the pro-active step of identifying and implementing appropriate interventions that can effectively enhance your mental fitness.
