Many obstacles will present themselves that will challenge your mental strength and ultimately, your ability to be a high-performing entrepreneur. It’s tempting to search for external tactics as a solution, but becoming mentally tough requires you to go inward.
Failing to address your internal world, which is more commonly called our beliefs will place you on a guaranteed trajectory of falling short of your goals. This will happen because there are self-defeating lies quietly steering our decisions on a daily basis. Left unattended, these self-defeating lies will cap your potential.
If you’re wanting to become mentally fit, it starts with unraveling the threads of your belief system and reframing them in a positive manner. Here are 5 common beliefs that stop you from becoming mentally tough.
1. “I don’t have a choice”
Whether it’s with our exercising habits, pursuing a new business, or a multitude of other activities, there is always a choice.
Often times, “I don’t have a choice” is usually code for procrastinating on making a tough decision that you don’t want to make or go through with.
Even if you feel the situation is out of your control, there is something that will always be one-hundred percent under your control and that is the way that you choose to respond to the situation.
Being mentally tough doesn’t exempt you from overwhelming situations, it means to have the awareness to recognize that you control your responses to situations and can still salvage the situation into something that helps you grow.
2. “It’s not the right time”
Whether taking the first step to building that dream business or that dream body, many people, unfortunately, delay taking action because of timing. But if not now, then when?
Waiting for the right time to start something is a sure-fire way to never make it a reality. Time is the ultimate non-renewable resource that isn’t coming back. Act with a sense of urgency and have an unapologetic bias for action.
3. “I need to be more happier”
Just as someone goes on a treasure hunt to collect rare jewels and treasures, I went on a happiness hunt collecting external things to fill my happiness jar.
Unfortunately, a happiness jar can’t be filled by external things. Happiness doesn’t need to be pressed on pause until you reach a certain body weight, revenue goal, or any other external metric.
Happiness is continuously in play because there is always something to be grateful for.
4. “Life wasn’t supposed to be this way”
Waking up one morning, realizing and dwelling that you’re 15 pounds overweight or in a career you loathe isn’t going to change the outcome. The only thing dwelling and traveling to the past wishing for different decisions is going to bring is more regret and negative emotions which lead to an even unhealthier you.
Displaying mental toughness is reframing the situation into one of growth potential. You can see the extra 15 pounds and joyless career as necessary obstacles in your path to growing and becoming a better version of yourself.
You can dwell and still be in the same scenario or you can accept, move on, and get to work.
5. “I’ll do it when I feel motivated”
You most likely won’t feel like exercising sometimes, opting for the salad over the donuts, going to bed at 10pm, or working on the weekends, but you have to think long term.
We all have off days where emotions are in the gutter and energy levels are nearing empty. Just as the weather fluctuates, your levels of motivation will do the same. Needing high levels of motivation to perform will serve as your anchor to falling short of your goals.
Performing well despite how you feel comes down to establishing systems that keep you going on those tough days.
Mental strength is not only learning how to stay emotionally intelligent during high-stake situations, but it’s also learning how to shift your perspective and thinking, despite the present circumstances.
Ultimately, being mentally tough comes down to not wasting your precious mental bandwidth on things out of your control and that doesn’t serve your vision.