As we head into August, it’s time for a health check: how’s your mental state?
Many of us are struggling. Maybe you are, too. If you’re facing financial stress, worries about the virus, work demands, another round of remote learning for your children…you might find you’re not your best these days.
Embracing an endurance mindset can help. An endurance mindset takes the long view. It helps you build the mental toughness to get through periods like our present calmer and stronger.
World-class athletes know mental toughness is the secret to their best performance. Marathon world record holder Eliud Kipchoge has said, “The world is actually full of challenges and we need to challenge ourselves.” And the great Muhammad Ali said “I don’t count my situps. I only start counting when it starts hurting, because they’re the only ones that count.”
Champions look at pain differently than other people. They understand that pain is part of growth and essential to becoming their best selves. An endurance mindset helps you embrace challenges with the right attitude, so that you come out stronger and more accomplished on the other side.
So, how do you build an endurance mindset? I think it boils down to these five things:
- Choosing positive self-talk over negative.
- Building up your self-confidence like you build your muscles, with regular exercise.
- Focusing on what you can control.
- Accepting setbacks for what they can teach you.
- Believing that something positive will come because of your endurance. Galatians 6:9 says “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
Understand that you don’t develop an endurance mindset overnight. You cultivate it over time by digging in each and every day.
Stay positive. Stay healthy. Stay safe. And if I can help, please reach out.