Written by Dr Steve Harris

eta CEO | www.steveharris.co.za

1. What is mental toughness?

We all need improved mental toughness

This conclusion of the first edition of Mental Toughness: Mastering your Mind was based on the outcome of my PhD thesis. I used the South African Springbok Rugby Team as the target group to conduct research on mental toughness (Harris, Mental Toughness: Mastering your mind, 2014).

It’s for the Springboks and my clients

I have since found that the mental toughness needs for international sport performance is similar for my clients and me. I am rediscovering how we all need ‘international sport” mental toughness’ to help achieve performance and manage setbacks in all aspects of our life. Life, like international sport, can be hard.

Become proactive and manage setbacks

Being mentally tough helps one cope with life and it also helps one be proactive, which gives choices for managing challenges.

I contend that mental toughness can also provide you with a unique and sustainable competitive advantage.

Neuropsychologists claim we contend with the challenges of others by being instinctively competitive. However, this instinct alone doesn’t give us a unique and sustainable benefit in this modern era.

I believe that if you take on the approaches exposed in my model of mental toughness and use them in your life, you will most likely: outmaneuver the competition; be able to create the results that you want; attract the opportunities, relationships, health and wealth you are seeking; and ultimately create power and influence in your world. You’ll be able to ‘punch above your weight’, so to speak.

On the other hand, if you do not do anything with this knowledge, despite knowing it, I believe your chances of success in sport or work and relationships are relatively slim because you will rely mostly on natural abilities.

My definition

Mental toughness is the ability to manage your mind so that it directs your energy to the right place, at the right time, for the right reason. This enables you to operate at your highest potential, consistently, despite your circumstances. It means giving your finest possible performance, regardless of what is going on within and around you.

Essentially this means you do not waste energy on issues that have no bearing on your priorities, nor waste energy on emotional reactions that may simply be expressions of neurological baggage.

The development of a mental toughness competitive advantage goes beyond the notion that a killer instinct combined with a high pain threshold are the most important mental components necessary for success.

The trick or secret to mental toughness is that there is neither trick nor secret. I have a healthy skepticism for anything claiming to contain a secret. My opinion is that quick fixes or oversimplified solutions to developing mental toughness, or achieving success for that matter, insult our intelligence. Neither mental toughness nor success is contained in a quick fix. I favour developing improved mental toughness through a systematic approach of learning and practicing the seven mental toughness components.

2. Coaching and how mental toughness can assist you in being a better coach?

As a coach mental toughness applies to both you and those you coach. Of course you will get anxious and feel panicked under the pressure of tough times. Note, that your biggest challenge is to channel these feelings into appropriate action without panic. Your tribe is very aware of your example and if you become unhinged they too will lose trust in the planned outcome and the methods you want them to apply. The problem with the lows (and we all have them) is they have a greater effect on the group than the highs. It’s the coach’s job is to maintain the emotional wellbeing of the group on an even keel. It starts with mental toughness.

3. Mental toughness in everyday life

One of the most significant applications of mental toughness in everyday life is to use it to limit entropy or energy leakage.

If you consider the seven components of mental toughness the following leakages become apparent:

• Lacking passion, planning or practice
• Poor management of arousal and impulse control
• Unable to regulate energy intensity
• Not enough self-belief, negative conflict, poor teamwork
• Insufficient curiosity and courage
• Not developing appropriate acumen or ability
• Struggling with integrity, not enough grit  

4. Practical Exercises to improve mental toughness

I want to address these as an antidote to potential leakages:

• Discover what you are passionate about and match your passion to a need in the world. It sounds simple and in my mind it is but I realise for some it will take some voluntary work and experimentation. Don’t stop once you are in touch with your passion. Develop a personal strategy to help passion manifest into reality and make your life challenging, happier and sustainable. Now follow the three rules of success. (Repetition, repletion and repletion ) Obviously repeating what works! Repeating a flawed plan makes you perfect at what does not work
• Get in touch with your composure. Practice mindfulness and use it as a mechanism to transcend inappropriate knee jerk reactions.
• Plan and implement some short wins. These are mini gaols and cation plans you can succeed in, tick off and gain momentum towards implementing what you are passionate about.
• Watch a baby or a toddler and use their fascination for life to rediscover and reinvent your curiosity and in many instances courage!
• Engage in deep learning both formally and informally. Don’t only learn for the qualification add learning for a deeper understanding. Use existing states of acumen and ability as a scaffold for accessing greater heights and understanding.
•  Do what you say you would do, be an example of your claims. Apply grit to overcome and transcend your setbacks and obstacles. When the obstacle is immobile. Sure it’s ok to quit not grit. This does not mean give up, it means like the example of flowing water -flow around, under or over obstacles and when necessary change the way you apply your passion.

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