7 Surefire Ways To Become Mentally Stronger

6 min readAug 18, 2018

There is one certainty in life and that is, things don’t always go to plan or work out as we want them to.

When we have experiences that we were not expecting, those experiences can derail us and even cause us stress, discomfort or prevent us from following our dreams if we’re not careful.

This is why being mentally strong can help us deal with life’s unexpected events. It can be dealing with loss of employment, a relationship breakdown, death of a loved one, or not knowing what we want to do in life. If we’re mentally strong, we’ll be able to handle anything that comes our way.

One of the biggest advantages of being mentally strong is that we’ll be able to remain calm under pressure. When we’re stressed, flustered, frustrated or angry, we tend not to make the best choices or decisions, which can lead to more issues or challenges down the track.

Becoming mentally strong is not an end state or destination. It is an ongoing process of continual learning and growing.

Here are seven simple but practical ways that can help you become mentally stronger so that you’ll be able to deal with anything that comes your way.

1. Read biographies or autobiographies. Biographies or autobiographies, especially of those who have overcome major adversities in life, can be inspiring, uplifting and provide us the motivation to continue towards what we want in life, especially when things may be getting difficult.

2. Identify your behaviours and patterns. We tend to do most things habitually and oftentimes, why we do some of the things we do may not be so obvious to us. Therefore having mentors or coaches who can point out things we are not be aware of is extremely beneficial. We cannot improve something about ourselves if we are not aware of what they are. Attending training events or seminars focused on personal growth and self improvement can also be very valuable.

3. Practice stillness and releasing techniques. A lot of the stress we experience is due to external conditions or factors we experience in life. It can be dealing with other people or our environment whether it is at work, at home or in social situations. All these external experiences can generate negative emotions such as resentment, anger, jealousy and also cause us a lot of mental turmoil. All that noise is not good for us.

Therefore being able to quieten our mind through a regular meditation practice and apply releasing techniques such as emotional freedom technique or tapping, the Sedona Method or just being able to focus on our breathing several times during the day, can all be extremely helpful.

4. Clarify your values in life. We all have things that we consider to be important to us. They can make up our values or what we tend to place more importance on. As we are exposed to so many messages or distractions each day, by clarifying what we consider to be important to us, we start to filter and block out things that are not relevant or meaningful to us. This can be a great way to focus on things that do matter to us most and eliminate things that are of a lower priority or importance.

5. Consider multiple perspectives. When something that we deem to be bad happens to us, it is very easy to look at it from a negative point of view. However if we can start looking at things from multiple perspectives, we’ll almost always be able to reframe any experience we have. We must learn to deal with the unexpected.

One way to do that is to ask this question every time something you consider to be bad happens; What’s the opportunity that this experience is bringing me? By asking a better question, the chances are high that we’ll get a better answer.

6. Practice gratitude daily. If you’ve got food, shelter and clothing, you’re better off than the most people in the world who don’t even have the basic human needs. Therefore we really should put things into perspective. Just because we did not achieve some success that we really wanted, it does not mean that our life is terrible or bad.

Practicing being grateful for the life we do have and for the things we can enjoy daily is a reflection of our level of awareness. Most things are never disastrous. If we’re able to wake up every day, then that is something we certainly should be grateful for. Those who practice gratitude daily can appreciate the smaller or simpler things in life without waiting for some major accomplishment to make them feel happy.

7. Immerse yourself in continuous learning. Our learning should never stop. The average adult reads less than two books a year. There is so much to learn about ourselves, others and the world. With the technology available today, we have an abundance of options on how we can learn. Information is available on-demand, at our finger tips so there is really no excuse for not being able to learn anything we’re interested in.

This was best described by Eric Hoffer, an American social philosopher who said, ”In times of change, the learners will inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.”

Those who are mentally strong are able to respond better to life’s challenges without getting sidetracked or losing perspective of what’s really important in life. If you ever feel yourself getting off track or slowing down due to external circumstances, the points mentioned above can be a helpful reminder on how to claim back your power.

Question: What is another way that can be used to become mentally stronger?

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