Building Mental Toughness

Most people believe that you are either born tough or you aren’t. They resign themselves into thinking this. They are wrong. Mental toughness can be learned, it can be built. It’s like a muscle. If you work out your muscles then you are going to grow them and they will get stronger.

During my college wrestling career, I was not the most technical wrestler nor the most athletically gifted, however, what I did have was mental toughness(with thanks given to my roommate-who took great pleasure in toughening me up). Here are some ways in which you can mental toughen yourself up.

When you have lost your first match and have to go again, then you have to learn how to forget about your last event. Focusing on it will not help you. You are focusing on the past and not on your present. Get rid of any negative thoughts floating around in your head. Part of being mentally tough is not letting the negatives get to you. There will always be something that you don’t like in your life. You don’t have to start liking it but you should not let it affect you or your performance.

Always be pushing yourself. You will be amazed at what you can do if you let yourself do it. Don’t let yourself be one of those people that always stop themselves short. For example, let’s say that you practice for 30 minutes at a non-stop frenzied pace when you start to get tired. Others will stop, but not you. They will say they are tired and that they can’t possibly go on. You don’t have to be that person. You can go on. Try working out for just a minute more. Then after you find that you can workout for 1 more minute try adding another one. In doing so, you will find yourself working out longer and harder than anyone else in the room.

You will have days where you don’t feel like pushing yourself, you are only human, I had plenty of those days. However, on those days I would imagine that my opponents are working out. This would bother me because I never want my opponents to workout harder than me. So I would get off my lazy bum and work out.

Building mental toughness also includes pain management. Learn to work through the pain. That said I must also say this: There is a difference between being hurt and being injured. You can work past being hurt but you should never try to work past being injured. It will only lead to more injuries.

For example, if you have a sore muscle from working out, that is a being hurt. You can easily work past it. If you dislocate your elbow, on the other hand, that is being injured. You should not try to fight through that pain. In fact, you should be seeing a doctor. If you can manage your pain in your matches then you are going to do a lot better. Imagine you showing your opponent that you are unaffected by their attempts to hurt. You will get into his head and throw off his game.

These are just a few ways in which you can build mental toughness

By: Vince Licari

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