Wednesday 1/23/19

The other day on the board there was a quote that said: “Get comfortable with the uncomfortable.” With the upcoming CrossFit Open, I found myself even more needing to get into the mental toughness mindset. Those Open workouts will challenge us all to dig deeper, work harder, and cheer each other on as we enter the inevitable “pain cave.”

I started to think about the question and do a little bit of research, taking a look at various articles, in an effort to define or find out – what creates mental toughness? How can we improve our mental toughness? And what traits do those with immense mental toughness have? 

In my opinion, mental toughness is cultivated, I don’t believe those who have extreme mental toughness were just born that way without having to work extremely hard to amplify that skill. And it is a skill! The good news is that we can all improve ours. There is nothing holding us back from creating mental toughness within ourselves. Whether it’s in the box, our work life, or parenting. We all need some mental toughness improvement. So here are 5“C’s”  – or traits that kept presenting themselves when I was doing my digging around on mental toughness: 

The first is Control. You must believe and know that you are in control of your life and destiny. Your actions, your consequences. Our successes or failures in life are totally within ourselves. Another big word here would be “accountability”. The second is Challenge. Those with mental toughness look at challenges as an opportunity, not necessarily a looming obstacle. Third is Commitment. To practice this, we can start and finish tasks. Maybe it’s the wall ball challenge you signed up for? Possibly the unfinished project at home? If we finish that small task we started, that helps build our mental toughness. The fourth C is Confidence. Easier said than done right? But we must watch our internal dialog. The things we say in our head should be kind and encouraging. The last one is to Celebrate each other’s successes. In CrossFit and more pronounced during the Open, we see our Helo members celebrating each other and cheering one another on, and that also demonstrates a kind of selfless mental toughness – encouraging others to succeed even if it means you may place behind them – for the overall betterment of the whole group. 

A recent example that I observed of a member demonstrating some mental toughness was Missy during a particularly tough wod.  It was a wod that had rope climbs and ended on the rower. She just did not quit. Even though she knew she wasn’t going to make the time cap – she just kept on it. It was very impressive on that day. 

Overall, we can all cultivate mental toughness and by using these 5 C’s, become better friends, athletes, co-workers, and succeed in any area of our lives. 

Thanks for reading! 

Sincerely,

Coach Jess