Are You Interested in Enhancing Your Mental Toughness?

Every time I think about the concept of Mental Toughness, I think of Michael Jordan. Because I have admired Jordan since my childhood, just like every other child and adult who enjoys sports.

These days, I'm watching “The Last Dance,” a 10-episode documentary series about Jordan's NBA season with the Chicago Bulls. Even though I'm not much into basketball, I think the documentary is excellent. I realized that I didn't know much about Jordan, one of the greatest athletes of all time, and I can say that it improved my perspective in this respect.

Jordan is arguably the best basketball player in history. According to critics, he is the best because he played in 6 NBA finals and managed to win the championship each time. In contrast, other legends like Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James lost.

Jordan has never lost. For many of us, he is the embodiment of mental toughness. And so nothing could stop him.

A legendary story is told about the greatness of Michael Jordan:

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“Flu Match”

In the 1997 NBA Finals, Jordan caught a stomach virus (actually food poisoning) and played the game while sick. And anyone who has had this disease knows how shitty it feels. I got it last year too and it made me miserable for a week. But that wasn't the case with Jordan. The man not only played in the match, but also scored 38 points. Even the healthiest NBA players don't have a single game where they score this high.

Michael Jordan's life journey was full of setbacks, difficulties and troubles incomparable to any other person. Of course, there was also the unique talents of Michael Jordan. But he also had great mental toughness.

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What is Mental Toughness?

The concept of “Mental Toughness” is a relatively new term. He comes from the professional sports community. Although it is not clear who coined the term, I can say that it has attracted the attention of the scientific community since the early 2000s.

In 2002, Graham Jones, Sheldon Hanton, and Declan Connaughton published “What Is This Mental Toughness Thing?” in the Journal of Applied Sport Psychology. They published an article titled and defined Mental Toughness as follows:

“Mental toughness is a natural or developed psychological aspect that allows you to: For example, a sports player is generally expected to cope; better cope with issues such as competition, education, lifestyle; or being more consistent and better than your competitors, especially those who are determined, focused, confident and able to control themselves under pressure.”

Simply put: Mental Toughness is our ability to get things done under pressure. In recent years, this concept has begun to attract more attention, as we are constantly faced with more pressure in every aspect of our lives.

Although some people act as if they invented this concept just now, its history actually dates back approximately 2000 years. You don't need to read a book on mental toughness to develop this thing either. Just do this exercise followed by the Stoic emperor-philosopher Marcus Aurelius:

Mental Toughness Means Indifference to Indifferent Things

But first, how about we go back to Michael Jordan? The word mental toughness came from the sports community, and Jordan was a prime example of someone who could perform under pressure. And no matter what, he did his job well. The documentary “The Last Dance”, which I am currently watching, is the best indicator of this.

But how do you think you and I, mere mortals compared to Jordan, can improve our mental toughness?

I don't know about you, but speaking for myself, being able to perform under pressure is something we can all do; especially in this last decade. We started 2020 with a pandemic and the world is changing rapidly. Who knew we would have to fight the epidemic this much? At this point, our mental endurance is the only indicator that can help us stay truly consistent.

While watching Michael Jordan's speech in the documentary, I realized something: Mental toughness is exactly the same as a Stoic concept I read before, which is expressed as “indifference to indifferent things.” Jordan's words and actions reminded me of this quote by Marcus Aurelius in the journal “Meditation”:

“To live one's best life is to be indifferent to indifferent things; “It is because he finds the power to do this in his soul.”

This idea is the first principle of Stoicism, as the respected academic Pierre Hadot wrote in his book “The Citadel: The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius” (a book about the philosophy of life of Marcus Aurelius):

“The fundamental principle of Stoicism is absolute indifference to something indifferent. This means that, in the first place, the only thing of value is morally better.”

Worry only about the things that are important to you. Everything else is just empty noise. Just shrug your shoulders. When you struggle with emotions or situations that stand in the way of your highest purpose in life, be indifferent to them.

The highest aim for Marcus Aurelius; It was moral goodness, as the Stoics preached. This is how Michael Jordan won championships. He was indifferent to everything else and nothing else could shift his focus.

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How to Practice Indifference?

I have been thinking about Stoic philosophy (stoicism) since 2015. I came to this day by reading the texts written by Aurelius, Epictetus and Seneca on classical stoic philosophy. All of these texts emphasize the importance of practice.

So what can you do if you want to become mentally stronger and more resilient?

You can practice indifference to some of the situations you encounter on a daily basis:

* When something small happens that causes internal discomfort, just shrug your shoulders.

* Say to yourself: I am indifferent to indifferent things!

* No matter what, your main purpose is; Know that your highest purpose in life is to be fulfilled.

* But avoid indifference to everything.

* Take seriously everything that relates to your highest purpose.

At this point, I would like to tell you a few situations from my real life and how I react to them, which is how I demonstrate practicality in my own life:

– The other day, an expensive lens of my DSLR fell on the ground and broke. So what did I do? I was indifferent.

– A reader gave me constructive criticism about one of my articles. So what did I do? I was not indifferent.

– An internet troll made a bad comment about one of my articles. So what did I do? I was indifferent.

– My mother was injured in her shoulder and did not want to go to the hospital due to the risk of coronavirus. So what did I do? I was not indifferent.

Actually, implementing this is very simple: Is the situation you encounter important? Give your full attention. Isn't it important? Continue. That's the idea. But this idea only works if you know what's important to you. In my experience, you can never become mentally tough and strong if you don't have a purpose or unique values ​​in life.

That's why it's so important to have core, unique values. If you know who you are, it's easy to live with yourself. You focus on a few important things in life; The rest is just noise.

I suggest you try this old method. This shouldn't be that hard because we all face challenges every day. And we can use these challenges to practice indifference.

I can't promise it will work instantly. But if you keep practicing, I can say that within a few weeks you will start to notice the positive effects on your mind. When your behavior and actions become more consistent, you will find that you become more mentally resilient and strong.

Darius Foroux