14 Easy Habits that build Mental Strength

Mental strength is your mind’s ability to keep working towards your goals regardless of the obstacles that stand in your way.

When life gives you lemons, what do you make of them? Complain about their sourness or just add a hint of sugar and enjoy the lemonade? You may have no control of the circumstances surrounding you but you can definitely control how you react to them. Mental strength is a set of skills that you can develop with practice. With each constructive decision you make, managing your feelings and thoughts becomes more automatic.

Cultivate habits that bring you greater success and peace of mind.

Try these suggestions for harnessing your strengths:

Gaining Wisdom

Many people who have experienced hardship have also reported a heightened appreciation for life and deepened spirituality. At times it takes a painful tragedy to teach you the greatest lessons in life. People leave. Let go of co-dependency. Circumstances change. Let go of too much reliance on a particular object or a work place. Increase your sense of self confidence and self worth by trying new things.

Interacting with Others

“Right now, someone you haven’t met is out there wondering what it would be like to meet someone like you.” ~ Unknown

Be authentic in the way you communicate with others, recognize and appreciate their value and be generous with kindness. Perceive obstacles and deal with them not only as temporary incidents that can be overcome but as actual opportunities to reach your goals, are just a few of the roads on the way to respect and admiration

Cultivate gratitude. List the blessings in your life and recognize how much you depend on others. Think about the services you receive from those around you like the teachers who taught you how to read and farmers who grow your food. Gratitude, like mindfulness or yoga, is an awareness practice that helps train our mind into positivity and directs our attention. Gratitude makes us more resilient and flexible, and also offers a way to frame and learn from everything that unfolds in our lives.

Other Mental Habits

‣ Muster up your courage. Growing stronger requires taking risks. Give
yourself credit for taking the plunge even if your first effort winds up
being just a trial run. Keep your sights on what you have to gain when
you push yourself to speak in public or try a new sport.

‣ Focus on integrity. Align your actions with your values. Think through
the long-term consequences of your decisions. Are you allocating your
time in a way that serves your purpose in life?

‣ Tolerate discomfort. Uncertainty and setbacks are a part of life,
especially when you tackle challenges head on. Enduring a temporary
rough patch can be the first step toward a brighter future.

‣ Delay gratification. Impulse control is one of the most important skills
associated with happiness and high achievement. The secret is to
distract yourself from temptations so you can put them in perspective.

‣ Learn from the past and know that there is hope for the future. Whether you feel strong or weak today, ask yourself these questions:

• Who or what has caused greatest stress for me in the past?
• How did I overcome?
• What have I learnt from my most traumatic experiences?
• What/Who helps and what/who doesn’t?

Answering these questions will make you more hopeful for a better tomorrow.
You’ll be better prepared to handle any circumstances when you reinforce your inner strengths. A positive mindset is what it takes. Step forward and take action to deal with your problems of today; meet the demands of daily living; but also know when to step back and rest/reenergize yourself.

Do you have more to add? I would love to hear your stories in the comments below.