I write this article for myself because in the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic, I find that many folks are not prepared to handle daily difficulties. Whether it's not having toilet paper, being along for extended periods of time, or even dealing with a direct death in the family.
The problem here is that we always tend to attempt to nurture our feelings during times of crisis. This is like trying to stock up on water after a drought has started - you're in trouble. My belief is that folks never care to build mental toughness outside of a crisis period.
Having mental fortitude gives you the ability to navigate through adversity, confront failure, and thwart negativity.
Why mental fortitude is important.
First, we should understand the value of having mental fortitude. Mental Fortitude gives you the ability to be the rock for yourself and the people around you during intensely difficult times.
You become an anchor for yourself
“If you can keep your head when all about youAre losing theirs and blaming it on you,If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,But make allowance for their doubting too; ”— Rudyard Kipling, If
Kipling's quote discusses the value of keeping your cool in difficult situations. When all odds are against you, and adversity is mounting, mental fortitude gives you the ability to ground yourself in the decisions you make. It gives you the confidence to make decisions and, more importantly, take action during times of crisis.
Mental fortitude gives you the wherewithal to keep pushing forward. It gives you the foundation to push forward when everyone else panics and tries to buy all the toilet paper.
You become an anchor for others
Most importantly, with mental fortitude you becomes an anchor for everyone else to latch onto. Your are the beacon of cool, calm, and collected action during difficult times. If you invest in building the mechanisms that turn you into the penultimate version of yourself, others will look to you as their hope for seeing their way out of a difficult time.
Things you can do to strengthen your mental fortitude.
Mental fortitude is not something that comes naturally. You must continuously practice on developing yourself into a person that has a clear mind to manage through difficult periods. It's a continuous process to build yourself into that character.
Below are a few things you can do to strengthen your mental fortitude:
Accept
Accept what is in your control and what is not. A typical meditation technique is to recognize that you can change the things that you have control over, and to accept your situation during with things your have no control over.
For example, here are things you can control
- How someone's negative remarks affect you.
- What action you can directly take to improve your situation and those around you.
On the contrary, there are things you do not have in your direct control
- The coronavirus spreading across the globe.
- The actions that other people take.
Accept the things that you can control, let of the thing you cannot control and just treat them as known variable in your overall equation.
Reflect
The process of continuous reflection gives you the superpower to recognize your own faults, weaknesses, and strengths.
Here are some things that you can do today to help you reflect more deeply on who you are:
- Journaling help you clear your head at the end of the day. Take 15 minutes each day to recap the day, any feelings that arose throughout the day, and plan for the following day. If possible, use good ol' fashioned pen and paper - it forces you slow down and think through your thoughts before writing them down.
- Meditation teaches you the concrete methods of clearing your brain and focusing on maintaining a clear mind. Headspace does a particularly amazing job and teaching you the brass tacks of meditation. This skill is particularly useful when you need to clear your head and think straight in times of crisis.
- Productivity methods teach the processes that are important to keep your priorities clear and capture. There are 2 primary things that are critical for any productivity system: Track your todos and keeping notes.
- If you prefer analog systems, check out the bullet journaling method.
- However, if you prefer more digital methods, check out this article on how to build your own productivity system.
- Weekly Reviews is a process wonderfully crafted in David Allen's GTD (Getting Things Done) system. This creates a way for you to sit down at the end of each week to clear out any lingering items floating around in your head. Dedicate 2 hours each week to sit down with no distractions and work through a checklist to clear out get yourself back to a healthy starting point each week.
Each of the methods above are tools in an overall larger toolbox. Use the methods that work for you and adapt each method to fit your needs.
Practice scenarios in your head
The stoics philosophy is an ancient Greek method that prioritizes virtue, tolerance and self-control. Stoicism helps you accept the world for what it is and use mental models to give you a better understanding of yourself, others, and the world around you.
Most of all, Stoics would consistently go through a process of mental simulations that put you in difficult scenarios and practice how you would handle them. This article outlines a few key Stoics practices you can adopt in your daily life.
Do hard things
Doing new things and practicing difficult things help you realize how well you can perform when facing new and difficult challenges.
In times of non-crisis, take the time to learn new skills that you're entirely unfamiliar with. Learn to code, pick up carpentry, or learn how to knit. Continuously learning from a position of complete ignorance allows you to get comfortable with tackling problems when you have limited information.
But most of all, it teaches us discipline. Discipline is the foundation of showing up every day and doing the hard work necessary to build yourself into a better version of yourself.
Start Today.
Finally, there’s a proverb I love: "The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the next best time is now." Even as we find ourselves in the throws of a great epidemic, these tactics help us build the mental toughness to keep pushing forward when times are hard.
Be tough. Be strong. Be resilient. If not for you, then for those around you.
Also, play with dogs. Often.