What is Mental Toughness? Mental Toughness Defined

How many times have you heard someone say “just toughen up” or something similar? While it is easy to say what does mental toughness really mean?

According to Wikipedia it is defined as:

“Mental toughness is a collection of attributes that allow a person to persevere through difficult circumstances (such as difficult training or difficult competitive situations in games) and emerge without losing confidence.”

At one time being told to toughen up was thought of as being cliché. The view on mental toughness has now changed. Who isn’t leading a more stressful life these days?

Life can really throw you a curveball at any time and it is important to have that mental toughness to deal with any situation. How you deal with a stressful situation is directly related to your mental toughness.

Having mental toughness is an asset when it comes to all types of situations including sports, facing an emergency, dealing with a major injury, and more.

For example a marathon runner needs mental toughness to overcome the pain of running so many miles. They have to dig deep and find the strength to keep on going, even when their body is screaming at them to stop.

When a person can get through these barriers they are often the people who will succeed in life. They have trained themselves both physically and mentally to keep going. This is what makes the difference between being good at something and excelling at it.

Learning to push through and deal with whatever life throws at you is possible for anyone. You just need to be prepared to train your mind and body to do this.

Research has shown that as a person ages they do become tougher. A senior person may have a weaker body due to their age, but mentally they can be super tough!