6 ways to stay mentally strong in the face of challenges
The day to day is full of situations that demand that we stay mentally strong . From asking for an increase to preparing for an exam or a competition, going through the management of a breakup of couples, no adult person is unaware of this kind of challenge that tests our ability to deal with complex problems.
Now ... how can we get to keep a cool head in these contexts? Fortunately, there are some psychological tricks that predispose us not to avoid problems and to direct all our actions towards the achievement of objectives. Let's see what they are.
Creating a problem-resistant mindset
The strategies and exercises that you can see below are ways of training to become mentally strong, which means doing our part to think and make decisions constructively , instead of taking refuge in oneself and hoping that everything goes well by pure luck.
You can alternate these simple exercises among them, or focus on those that best suit your needs. Of course, you must bear in mind that the effectiveness of these strategies depends on you, and that if you do not want to assume certain sacrifices to change, they will not work. To reach the objectives, at least, you have to leave the comfort zone.
1. Practice Mindfulness
Mindfulness is a set of exercises and a style of thinking very linked to the different millenary forms of meditation. However, beyond the traditional value of this kind of habits Mindfulness has shown to have the power to modify our way of thinking and perceiving things.
In particular, it has been seen that it serves to lower stress levels and that also allows to better support physical pain, among other advantages. In the same way, it helps to avoid relapses in episodes of depression.
The effectiveness of Mindfulness has made it a tool increasingly used in elite athletes, to help them manage anxiety, and in nursery schools, to train children to better manage their care, something that in adults can also serve , for example, so as not to get distracted from the objectives and avoid procrastination.
- Related article: "Mindfulness: 8 benefits of mindfulness"
2. Search for allies
Having people who give support even for short periods has spectacular effects on mental performance and also on the ability to maintain determination to achieve a goal. It does not matter if these people are willing to give advice or not, the important thing is your company .
3. Adopt a distant point of view
Faced with the most difficult and complex problems in which it takes to make decisions due to the great amount of emotions that are linked to this process, adopt the point of view of an external observer helps choose the best option . The idea is to visualize oneself as if it were a fictitious third person, someone who has all the necessary information to know what happens but who is not so emotionally bound to the events.
In fact, it has been proven that raising the situation that one experiences by referring to ourselves in the third person helps to reduce the anxiety that, in excess, can paralyze us.
4. Orient your thoughts towards victory
There are many ways of thinking about a challenge or a problem, but there is only one way to do it so that we become mentally stronger and more capable of achieving our goals. The trick is in always keep in mind that our goal is to win Do not lose with dignity or make a conservative effort to avoid putting too much into play.
In fact, although there are only two possible outcomes in a game (win or lose), it has been seen that facing the challenge thinking about avoiding defeat is not the same as doing it aspiring to victory; in the second case the chances of success are greater.
5. Rest well
No one can maintain mental strength if he does not rest properly. The simple fact of sleep the recommended hours and disconnect from time to time It allows the brain to rest and face problems more effectively. Otherwise, the attention problems and the little fluidity of the memory can complicate the achievement of the objectives.
- Maybe you're interested: "7 psychological signals that indicate you're not getting enough sleep"
6. Fantasea with the fulfillment of the objective
Daydreaming by recreating in our imagination what is experienced in obtaining what is wanted helps us to achieve that goal, since keeps motivation high .
In addition, if we not only imagine the victory but also include in this "mental simulation" the process by which we have obtained it, we will be overcoming a good part of our fears in the imagination, so that at the moment of truth we will be more secure of ourselves and we will have foreseen more possible problems and our reactions to them.
