For those of you who know me well, one of the things I am very passionate about is coaching individuals to develop their mental toughness.
I loved this article recently written by fellow Executive Coach Darren Whysall and thought I would share it with you.
Mental toughness is a term most commonly associated with the sporting arena and many of us begin to learn about this quality as children on the sports field, in the gym hall, or practicing drills in a swimming pool. We might not have known it as mental toughness then, but rather as resilience. But resilience and mental toughness are not the same, yes they are closely related but there are some differences.
1. Resilience is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as “the ability to recover quickly from difficulties”. This describes an ability to “recover from an adverse situation”, or to “bounce back”. However, neither imply that the person has a positive feeling or outlook about the adverse situation.
2. Mental Toughness as defined by leading authorities on mental toughness Professor Peter Clough and Doug Strycharczyk describe Mental Toughness as: “a quality which determines, in some part, how effectively individuals perform when exposed to stressors, pressure and challenge....irrespective of the prevailing situation”.
The difference here is mindset. We often describe those people who have been faced with an adverse situation and have just gritted their teeth and got on with it as resilient. However, they are resilient because they have had to be resilient not because they have chosen to be. Whereas a person who is mentally tough adopts a positive approach to adversity and challenge. Rather than bouncing back only to find themselves some time later in exactly the same situation, the mentally tough bounce forward and future-proof themselves through questioning their contribution to the setback or challenge.
We might usefully think of the difference in terms of the phrase “survive and thrive”. Resilience helps you to survive and mental toughness helps you to thrive
In simple terms mental toughness is best understood as an equation:
DOES IT MATTER?
Absolutely, whilst those from the sporting arena most commonly grab the headlines for being mentally tough, the complexity of today’s fast paced and uncertain business environment requires leaders to develop the same psychological skills as our sporting heroes. It’s not just a matter of a leaders’ knowledge or ability to grit their teeth and get on with it that sets them up for success, but also an ability and attitude to deal with the pressures and stressors that are symptomatic of today's business environment. Research also shows that mental toughness and the development of psychological skills is also significant in:
Improving Mental Health and Wellbeing - more contentment, better stress management
Improving Behaviour - more engaged, more positive, more ‘can do’ attitude
Improving Performance – up to 25% variation in individual performance (physical, emotional and mental)
HOW CAN WE DEVELOP MENTAL TOUGHNESS?
There are numerous psychological skills that can help us develop mental toughness, here are five ways that can help get you started:
1. Be Brilliant at The Basics – When you master the basics, in times of increased pressure, stress and uncertainty you are less like to be robbed of good judgement, your flexibility, creativity and ability to deal with the unknown. Great leaders are not great because they have knowledge of the latest leadership techniques and theories, they are great because they have mastered the basics e.g. self awareness, judgement, trust, communication and humility.
You can start to get brilliant at the basics by asking yourself. “How clear am I as to what the fundamentals of my role are that I should be focusing on MOST of my time?” This, however, is just the start. Developing a daily habit of asking yourself, “How well did I focus on the basics in my role today?” will help you to continually develop yourself and achieve your goals.
2. Escape Your Mind Traps – Although most of us don’t spend time thinking about our thoughts, increasing your awareness of your thinking habits proves useful in developing mental toughness. Exaggerated negative thoughts such as, “I'm not good enough,” hold you back from reaching your full potential. These mind traps can spiral out of control before we know it.
You can escape your mindtraps by catching negative thoughts and replacing them with thoughts that are more productive. Productive thoughts don’t need to be overly positive, but should be more realistic. A more balanced thought might be, “I have some areas to develop, but I have plenty of strengths to help me.” Catching and replacing negative thoughts requires hard work, but the process is instrumental in helping you become your best self.
3. Increase your Focus – If there is one factor that underpins a person’s ability to perform at their best, whatever their occupation, whatever the situation, it’s their ability to focus and control their focus of attention effectively. In football the penalty takers are generally more successful if they can block out unwanted distractions, such as the barracking of the crowd, the behaviour of opponents and sometimes the (unhelpful) advice from teammates. They focus their attention, albeit for a short period of time, on the one thing that matters - a good contact between the boot and the ball, exactly the same principle applies in work. Learning to sustain attention - to concentrate - is essential.
You can develop your focus through thinking of situations where interruptions cause problems for you and then identifying ways in which you can minimize interruptions. For example, doing the most important tasks first or by limiting your inputs e.g. switch off your smart phone and give social media a rest!
4. Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable – When you choose to take a risk and step outside of your comfort zone you open the door to learning and growth. But it's not easy taking the first step. One way to get comfortable being uncomfortable is to expand your comfort zone. For example, If you start feeling a little anxious when talking to someone new, try to stay with it a little longer than you normally would before retreating to comfort. If you stay long enough and practice often enough, it will start to become less uncomfortable
Another way you can begin to learn how to get comfortable being uncomfortable is to try taking a cold shower for 1 minute every morning for a week. Now you are probably thinking “Not a chance”, but the principles of this activity are similar to the social situation above but with a bonus of additional health benefits. These include, increased focus, improved circulation, it stimulates weight loss and also relief from depression.
5. Reflect Daily on your Progress – Today’s fast paced and uncertain world doesn’t lend itself to making much time for quiet reflection but if you want to improve your mental health, wellbeing, be energised, engaged and improve your performance you should make reflecting on your progress a daily habit.
Try with just 10 minutes a day. This is by far the most difficult step. So if 10 minutes seems impossible, start with 3 minutes. But start somewhere. You could start by asking yourself the following questions at the end of each day:
What ONE thing did I learn about myself today that I am most grateful for?
What ONE thing have learned about others today that I am most grateful for?
What ONE decision could I have made today that would have made my life easier?
What ONE simple action could I take tomorrow that would be of value to myself and/or others e.g. family, friends, colleagues, my organisation or society?
SUMMARY
If you're a leader and want to become more effective, develop mental toughness. Not only will you be more focused, efficient and productive you'll pave the way for others in your organisation to follow suit.
REFERENCES
Deloitte (2020). Mental health and employers Refreshing the case for investment. Available at: https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/uk/Documents/consultancy/deloitte-uk-mental-health-and-employers.pdf Accessed: 13/02/2020
Strycharczyk, D. and Clough, P. (2017). Developing Mental Toughness. 2nd Edition. London: Kogan Page.
Want to know more about how you can develop your Mental Toughness? Contact Michelle on 0412047590 or via email michelle@bakjacconsulting.com
Michelle Bakjac is an experienced Psychologist, Organisational Consultant, Coach, Speaker and Facilitator. As Director of Bakjac Consulting, she is a credentialed Coach with the International Coach Federation (ICF) and a member of Mental Toughness Partners and an MTQ48 accredited Mental Toughness practitioner. Michelle assists individuals and organisations to develop their Mental Toughness to improve performance, leadership, behaviour and wellbeing.
