Do the thing you fear most and the death of fear is certain

~Mark Twain

Mental Strength is an ability to regulate our emotions, thoughts and act positively despite our situations and experiences we go through. When we talk about Mental Strength, we must remember that there is nothing like people being Mentally Strong or Mentally Weak.

All of us are strong and weak in varying degrees, like physical strength, mental strength seem to occur naturally and there are various factors that influence the ease and development of Mental Strength.

Factors that influence the development of Mental Strength

Genetics – Genes which is usually the reason behind mental health disorders.

Experiences – that influences your thoughts and understanding fo this world, people around you and the perception of your Self.

Personality – personality traits have an influence on how realistically you think and how positively you behave.

Basis of Mental Strength

Our thoughts, behaviors and feelings work together when it comes to Mental strength. Those who are anxious of social situations, avoid starting conversations with people around, and they interact less.

This leads to the self thought of being socially awkward, as a result anxiety increases, and they start to avoid people more. It is perpetuating cycle and isolate themselves eventually. So developing mental strength depends on three factors

Thoughts – You must learn to identify irrational thoughts and replace it with more realistic thoughts.

Behavior – You must behave positively, despite the circumstances.

Emotions – You must know to control your emotions.

What is Mental Strength and What is not?

When we talk about Mental Strength, there are lot of misconceptions on what we believe to be the characteristics of Mental Strength, here is the truth about Mental Strength.

Being Mentally Strong doesn’t mean you should act tough, or pose a tough exterior or become like a bot, it’s about acting according to one’s values.

Mental Strength doesn’t mean you should suppress or ignore your emotions, but to develop an awareness of your emotions and understand how they influence your thoughts and behavior.

Mental strength is not about pushing the physical limits of your body to prove that you can endure pain. Mental Strength is about admitting that you don’t have all the answers and asking for help when needed.

Mental strength is about being a realist, that is thinking realistically and rationally, it’s not about positive thinking, because being positive always is equally damaging as being negative always.

Mental strength is not about looking for happiness all the time, but analyzing the situation and making decisions to reach your full potential.

Mental Strength is different from Mental health, one can be mentally strong even if they experience depression, anxiety and other mental health problems. Mental strength is your ability to stay calm and focus on the situation, even if it demands a stressful response.

Benefits of Mental Strength

Being mentally strong is easy when all goes well in your life, but you can realize your mental strength only when you experience unexpected and inevitable events that life throws at us, like failures, loss of job, death of loved one and conflicts.

When you are mentally strong you will be well prepared to deal with challenges in life., some of the benefits of increased mental strength are

You will have the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties and toughest situations, you will be able to handle problems more efficiently and effectively.

You will experience increase in confidence and peace of mind, and mostly realize what is important in your life.

You will experience enhanced performance both physically and mentally, you will be able to reach your full potential.