Mental toughness and grit are the some of the most significant keys to success in life. However, in order to foster this mindset, you need to do something difficult every single day.
It can be easy to get in a routine and to be comfortable with where you are at. However, if you want to achieve great things, then you must put yourself in the position to do a task that might seem impossible every day.
By doing something that is uncomfortable and out of your norm you are building toughness that will transition into other aspects of your life. This attitude will grow and so will your mental toughness.
When your mental toughness grows you can leap to new heights and take on new challenges!
Why Do Something Difficult in the First Place?
Often times we avoid adversity at all cost. We park close to the office so we don’t have to walk far, we always choose the flattest paths on our runs, and at the first sign of difficulty, we give up.
It is a natural human tendency to preserve yourself when things get tough. In order to survive, our bodies are programmed to give up when things seem to be hard.
Unfortunately, the only way we can accomplish tough goals is by building resiliency. We need to harden ourselves and allow tough times to make us stronger.
This can be very hard to do. It is not easy to willingly put yourself through some sort of struggle daily.
However, if you want to build mental toughness then you need to do something difficult every single day.
Doing something difficult forms a strength within you that cannot be broken. It allows you to withstand true challenges and overcome them.
One of the biggest factors in determining success is your determination to keep going. The way that you keep going is through mental toughness. And the way you get mental toughness is by doing something difficult every single day.
Furthermore, if you can do this on a consistent basis you will develop a path that leads towards success!
Building Mental Toughness
So what exactly is mental toughness? Mental toughness is the ability to keep going when facing adversity.
This intangible skill is paramount to getting where you want to go in life. Whatever goal you are chasing is going to be difficult.
However, you must keep going. Keep trekking forward. Keep fighting the good fight.
Unfortunately, building mental toughness in our day-to-day lives can be difficult. We spend hours behind a computer and are likely not to face anything difficult in terms of personal growth.
Sometimes the most difficult thing we face during the day is the 30 minutes of traffic that we have to sit in.
In general, our lives are fairly comfortable, so we need to do something difficult in order to feel a sense of accomplishment.
Mental toughness is built by doing hard things repeatedly. We must be constantly challenging ourselves to build the mental toughness we desire.
However, how can you do this?
3 Ways to Do Something Difficult
1. No Cheat Meals for 75 Days
If you want to do something extremely difficult and challenging, try having no cheat meals for 75 days.
No fried foods, no sweets, no bread, no alcohol, and no food items that you identify is bad for you. You cannot cheat at all on the diet.
You can build mental toughness by sticking to a diet for 75 days. While most diets only call for you to stay consistent for 30 days, this is not enough time to truly build a habit.
However, if you do not cheat on a diet for 75 days you will build mental toughness. You will have to say no to things consistently, even when your friends try to persuade you.
This will be hard, but it will make you better. Your body will look better, your mental clarity will be increased, and you will be in a completely different mindset.
Challenge yourself and you will be amazed!
2. Start Your Day with a Hard Workout
One of the best ways to do something difficult is to start your day with a hard workout. There is nothing on this planet that will consistently humble you like a hard work out, especially first thing in the morning.
By getting up before work and hitting the gym, hopping on your stationary bike, or going for a run, you will have accomplished something hard before your day has even begun.
Furthermore, you will get addicted to the feeling you have of accomplishing something before most people’s alarms have gone off.
Whether you do CrossFit, Running, or any other form of training is unimportant. What is important is that it is hard!
The way we build confidence and mental toughness is by overcoming difficulty. Make sure your workout is hard. Make sure you are pushing yourself to do 1 minute longer, 5 lbs. heavier, or 10 steps more than you did the day before.
Spend the first 45 minutes to an hour of your day pushing yourself to new heights and new limits. Do something difficult!
3. Take a Cold Shower
Nothing feels better than taking a hot shower. The warm water soothes you and feels amazing.
However, if you really want a mental toughness challenge that doesn’t take a lot of time, try taking a cold shower. When you willingly turn the knob to cold and allow the freezing water to pour over you, you will be doing something difficult.
It is uncomfortable to stand in cold water. However, it will test your mental toughness.
You are going to want to quit. You are going to want to turn the water back to hot, but don’t let yourself!
Stand in the cold water and embrace the adversity. Allow your mind to control what you are doing and face the adversity head on.
At first this is going small task is going to see impossible. However, over time you will see how something hard can be accomplished with incremental steps.
Start off by alternating 30 seconds cold and 30 seconds hot. Do this for a few rounds.
After two weeks switch to alternating 45 seconds cold and 15 seconds hot. Eventually work your way into doing something difficult such as taking an entire shower with cold water.
Trust the Process of Doing Something Difficult
You are going to need to have faith that doing something difficult will pay off. Doing something difficult will not provide you with instant gratification.
In the moment you are going to hate it and want to give up. However, if you hold on and stick through it you will get a sense of accomplishment that is unparalleled.
So what are you going to do today that is going to challenge yourself? Take 1 minute and make a commitment to yourself to build that mental strength in yourself. You are worth it!
Live Simple Now is a lifestyle website dedicated to helping those looking to Live Their Best Life! Feel free to email us at livesimple@livesimplenow.com with comments, questions, article topics or submissions. We publish two articles each week, 52 weeks a year. Sign up today to follow via email, or follow along on Facebook.