are you a mentally strong person?

How much does mental strength play in your day-to-day activities?

Do you believe mental strength is important?  Even more importantly, do you believe mental strength is just as important as physical strength and health?

I came across Cheryl Conners coloumn, that was taken from Amy Morin, a licensed clinical social worker and writer, who wrote an article, "Mentally Strong People: the 13 things they avoid."

This article really spoke to me because I am finding myself having to put a lot of these actions into play in my own life in order for my business to get off the ground, and for me to be sure I'm grounded just as a human being. There have been many times when I've wanted to cry and give up with my new endeavor, but crying and giving up will only get in the way, set me back, and get me off my goal so I am having to fight with everything in me to stay the course, look fear in the face and tell it to move over.  I'm having to tune out the naysayers and those who don't understand what I'm doing at all.

I'm sharing these bullet points with you because I hope they will help you to continue in your endeavor regardless of the cost, and more than anything I hope you will gain more mental strength along the way.

MENTALLY STRONG PEOPLE DO NOT...

1. waste time feeling sorry for themselves.  This is very important to realize.  When trying to start or run a business, there really isn't time to feel sorry for yourself.  Things happen to us in life.  Learn from it and move on.  They don't play the victim role, and rarely will you hear them say, "whoa is me."  Rarely will you see them dwelling on the they've been mistreated.  If anything, they are the ones who will see the glass half full and find ways to make their circumstances better.

2.  take responsibility for their actions and don't sit around blaming others for where you are.  Realize the part that you've played and if you don't like the outcome, then do something about it so you don't continue getting results that you don't like due to your behavior.

3.  give away their power. Mentally strong people avoid giving other's the power to make them feel bad or inferior.  I would like to add that mentally strong people take praise and hype with a grain of salt too because if a person has the power to make you feel good with their praises, they also have the ability to make you feel bad with their criticism.  However, mentally strong people are able to see constructive criticism for what it is and take it and leave what doesn't apply to them.

4.  shy away from change.  They embrace change and realize what Whitney English, Creative Entrepreneur says, "The key to a well-designed life is constantly editing what works and what doesn't."

5.  worry about pleasing others.  Someone who is mentally strong strives for kindness and fairness; they also seek to please others when it's appropriate, but are unafraid to speak up if they have to.  They can withstand the possibility of someone getting upset and know how to navigate the situation gracefully.

6.  fear taking calculated risks.  Taking calculated risk is very different than jumping head first into something foolish.  A person who has mental strength is able to outweigh the risks and benefits and will fully assess the potential downsides, and even the worse-case scenarios before they take action.

I will share the rest of the risk after Christmas with you.  For now ponder on these and examine yourself.  If you find that you don't have these qualities or you have some, but not all.  Start now and make 2014 the year of making it happen.... "it" being you become a mentally strong person.

And remember these two things:

1.  The key to a well-designed life is constantly editing what works and what doesn't.

2.  Every failure is a chance to improve.






xo, Angela blog subscription  | twitter | facebook