Improve your performance and get it done!

Mental toughness and a strong mindset make all the difference.

Throughout our lives we are faced with situations where we need to make a real effort and get something done whether that is a piece of work or an exam or a promise to a friend.

We can all find that this can be a struggle. That is normal. Responding to challenges or doing something important or valuable can carry its own source of stress and pressure.

There can be factors like fatigue or we can't actually do what we said we would do or we don’t have the resources we need.

One of the most important reasons is how you are dealing with this in your head. That is, it could be your mental approach to what is happening.

This is called Mental Toughness. It is not describing how macho you are. It is a proper psychological concept which describes a continuum with mental toughness at one end and mental sensitivity at the other.

Just because we see someone else “getting on with it” doesn’t mean that they don’t also struggle. 

Their mindset or mental toughness enables them to manage the things that might get in the  way of “getting it done” that others don’t seem to manage. Both can be equally skilled, knowledgeable, experienced etc but it will be their mental toughness which influences whether they do it or don’t do it.

So…when you have mental toughness this means you have a sense of “can do” and will get on with it; you are clear about what you want to do and prepared to make an effort; you are open to doing new and difficult things and you have self belief to deal with any challenges

On the other hand, you may be mentally sensitive. You think that you are not sure you can do it and you don’t feel up to making the effort. It all seems too difficult and when you tried before it didn’t work and you don’t trust in your skills and knowledge anyway.

In fact mental toughness has 8 components. Each is a continuum. We all sit on these continuums. The extent of each can shape how we respond to dealing with activity that might be important to deliver.

The research does show that mental toughness explains a significant amount of performance difference between individuals. The good news is that we can learn from that. If we are self-aware about our mental toughness /sensitivity we can develop strategies and approaches what help us to manage those aspects that get in the way of us doing things.

This is true for all of us. Understanding our levels of mental toughness/sensitivity are fundamentally important in working out how we can perform better when needed.

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