Alveena Ahmad
Mental health is often debated among people but what’s not often discussed is a clear definition of mental strength. Mental strength is needed to regulate our emotions, manage our thoughts, and behave in a positive manner despite the circumstances around us. Developing this mental strength requires us to find the courage to be bold enough to create our own definition of success. But mental strength is more than just willpower; it is about establishing healthy habits and devoting our time and energy to self-improvement.
In general, we have developed beliefs about ourselves, our lives, and the world. These are the beliefs that influence our thoughts, behavior, and emotions. But we waste our brain power ruminating about things that are not in our control. This drains our mental energy quickly and leaves nothing for creative endeavors. So we need to develop our mental strength without which we cannot succeed.
Following are the ways that you can start doing in order to make yourself mentally stronger:
1. Name your feelings:
To be mentally strong, you need to be aware of your emotions. You need to pay attention to how these emotions can affect your choices and you end up making irrational decisions. Therefore, give a name to your feelings when you are feeling sad, anxious angry, etc. Don’t be scared to acknowledge these feelings and you will see their intensity decrease.
2. Regulate your emotions:
Just naming your emotions won’t do the job; you also need to know how to deal with them. You need to develop the skills to regulate your emotions. These skills will not let you get absorbed in habits that might make you feel better at that moment but are not good for you otherwise. Find out the skills that work for you. These skills can include spending time doing some exercise, meditating, painting, reading, etc. These are the strategies that can help you to focus on what is good for you.
3. Pay Attention to your thoughts:
Your thinking affects your behavior and if you do not think right, it can rob your mental strength. Instead of thinking that you cannot do something remind yourself that this might be a chance for you to get out of all troubles. Just by changing your thoughts from negative to positive, you can bring a drastic change in your life.
4. Do hard things:
Once you change your thinking to positive, then you need to do hard things in order to prove to yourself that you are stronger than you think. You need to establish a healthy lifestyle by practicing gratitude, exercising, getting enough sleep, and eating right. You need to surround yourself with people who inspire you the most and it will keep your mind and body at best.
5. Adopt good habits:
Whether you keep feeling sorry for yourself, resent other people’s success, or eat unhealthily, you allow these bad habits to rob your mental health. These are the habits that keep you stuck in your life. But once you replace these habits with good ones, you easily move forward with your goals.
Just like any other process, building mental muscle takes time and requires dedication. But once you are able to build it, it makes your life easier and happier.
