Mental strength is a choice and a discipline, not an innate quality bestowed upon the lucky. Build your own, and success will naturally follow.
We all reach critical points in our lives where our mental strength is tested. It might be a difficult friend or colleague, business challenges, a dead-end job or a struggling relationship.
Whatever the challenge, you have to be strong, see things through a new lens and take decisive action if you want to move through it successfully.
It sounds easy. We all want good friends, good jobs and good relationships. But it isn’t.
It’s hard to be mentally strong, especially when you feel stuck. The ability to break the mould and take a bold new direction requires extra grit, daring and spunk that only mentally strong people have.
It’s fascinating how mentally strong people set themselves apart from the crowd. Where others see impenetrable barriers, they see challenges to overcome.
When Thomas Edison’s factory burned to the ground in 1914, destroying one-of-a-kind prototypes and causing $23 million in damage, Edison’s response was simple: “Thank goodness all our mistakes were burned up. Now we can start fresh again.”
Edison’s reaction is the epitome of mental strength — seeing opportunity and taking action when things look bleak.
There are habits you can develop to improve your mental strength. In fact, the hallmarks of mentally strong people are actually strategies that you can begin using today.
1 They’re emotionally intelligent
Emotional intelligence is the cornerstone of mental strength. You cannot be mentally strong without the ability to fully understand and tolerate strong negative emotions and do something productive with them. Moments that test your mental strength are ultimately testing your emotional intelligence (EQ).
This story is from the March 2018 edition of Entrepreneur Magazine South Africa.
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This story is from the March 2018 edition of Entrepreneur Magazine South Africa.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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