If you often wonder why some people navigate through life so easily despite all the challenges, difficult situations, and pain they face, know that this is not because they were born under a lucky star. These people have high levels of mental strength.
Building mental strength requires commitment, sacrifice, getting rid of bad habits, negative thoughts, and self-destructive emotions, and adopting positive habits, thoughts and emotions. If you can’t relate to this, it’s very likely you’re allowing your unhealthy thoughts and unproductive behavior to sabotage your best efforts to achieve happiness and success.
So, if you want to build your mental strength and achieve your goals make sure you identify and then eliminate the bad habits that keep you from reaching your full potential.
Following are 11 things that mentally strong people don’t do:
1. Think the world owes them anything.
It’s easy to blame the world for your problems and failures, but the truth is, no one is entitled to anything. Mentally strong people don’t wait for the world to give them what they think they’re owed. Instead, they focus on their own abilities and merits and what they can offer the world themselves. They set their goals and work hard to achieve them.
2. Avoid making changes.
Undoubtedly, there’s nothing that makes you feel safer and more comfortable than when you’re in your comfort zone. But, avoiding making changes in any aspect of your life because you fear the consequences and the discomfort which is usually involved in experiencing something new is totally wrong. In this way, you fail to reach your full potential, improve the quality of your life, and feel better about yourself.
Mentally strong people don’t shy away from change. Whether it’s changing their job, kicking a bad habit, or leaving a toxic relationship, they’re always willing to make a change and move forward in life.
3. Give up after failure.
Failures are a part of life, and these people know this the best. It’s normal to feel discouraged and embarrassed when you fail to accomplish what you wanted and things don’t turn out as you planned. Yet, this doesn’t mean you should stop trying to get where you want to be in life.
Mentally tough people don’t let failure be an impediment to their happiness and success. They see failure only as an incentive to try harder to reach their full potential and accomplish their goals.
4. Repeat the same mistakes.
The reality is that we all tend to make the same mistakes over and over again. Instead of learning from them, we cover them up. Well, people who are mentally strong never hide their mistakes. Instead, they acknowledge and turn them into opportunities for personal growth. They commit to do better next time and move on.
5. Indulge in self-pity.
Whether we’re struggling with health issues or financial problems, we all face sorrow and hardship in life. Yet, feeling sorry for yourself won’t solve your problems. Mentally tough people are perfectly aware of this. Instead of indulging in self-pity, they put all their energy and attention into finding a solution to their problems.
6. Focus on things they can’t control.
Oftentimes, we all worry about things that are beyond our control. We worry about what others think and say about us. We worry about the choices and decisions other people make. We waste our time and energy on something we can’t affect.
Well, mentally strong people don’t. They devote their efforts only to things they can control and change. They know that they can’t keep problems from happening, but they can control how they prepare for them.
7. Please others.
The reason behind people-pleasing is the fear of being rejected. The thing is, we are all different and it’s totally fine if someone doesn’t accept or agree with your opinions and attitudes. It’s not your job to make others happy by thinking the way they do and agreeing to do whatever they tell you.
By pleasing others, you can easily lose sight of who you really are, of your values, needs, and interests and you let your self-worth become dependent on other people’s perceptions of you.
Mentally tough people understand that living an authentic life requires acting in accordance with your moral and social principles, even when your opinions and choices aren’t popular.
8. Hold others accountable for their happiness.
It’s easy to blame other people for your problems, but you should know that by shifting the blame onto them, you give away your power. If you think something like, “My boss always makes me feel like nothing I do is ever good enough,” you give him/her power over you.
Mentally strong people know that they should accept full responsibility for their actions and for their thoughts and feelings as well. In this way, they build their mental strength and have a complete control over their lives.
9. Hate other people’s achievements.
Mentally tough people know that resenting other people’s success can make you doubt your own potential. That’s why they never compare their success with that of other people, let alone envy them. They have confidence in their own abilities, focus on their talents, and firmly pave the path to their success.
10. Fear calculated risks.
Whether it’s emotional or financial one, people are often afraid to take risks. Yet, just because something looks scary to you, it doesn’t mean it’s risky. It’s wrong to make choices and decisions based on your fear because this is not an accurate way to analyze risk.
Mentally strong people balance their emotions with logic to calculate risk wisely. This helps them make the right choices and achieve their full potential as well. So, next time when you want to check if a situation is risky, try to think about what the potential benefits and costs could be as well as what’s the worst thing that could happen. This will certainly help you make the right decision.
11. Fear to be alone.
Having me-time in today’s fast paced world is pretty difficult. But, time to yourself is very important for building mental muscle. Mentally tough people always make sure they set aside time to reflect on their thoughts, choices, and progress, and create plans and goals for the future.
