In life, there are times when you need to be mentally sharp, to make good decisions fast.

In those times you need to be mentally strong. That means managing your emotions, adjusting your thinking, and choosing to take positive action whatever your circumstances.
But like any physical strength, mental strength doesn't just happen. It has to be developed.

Here are 15 effective ways to become more mentally strong:

1. Focus on the moment.

The challenges that come along from time to time are a test of our willingness to stretch and change. The worst thing you can do is to ignore the situation or procrastinate in developing solutions. The challenge is here and the difficulty is now. Focus your energy on the present moment; don't lose what is right before you. When you focus on the moment you come to realize where you have the most power to make things right.

2. Embrace adversity.

Mental strength gives us the ability to see the obstacles in our path as stepping stones. When we encounter struggle, and we all do, we can be inspired by the knowledge that it's not a dead end but a path to deeper knowledge and understanding.

3. Exercise your mind.

Just like your muscles, your mind needs to be exercised to gain strength. Growth and development take consistent work, and if you have not pushed yourself recently, you might not be growing as much as you can. Mental strength is built through lots of small wins, maintained through the choices we make every day. To gain stamina, take on a daily task that stretches your mental endurance.

4. Challenge yourself.

Albert Einstein once said, "One should not pursue goals that are easily achieved. One must develop an instinct for what one can just barely achieve through one's greatest efforts." Underestimating yourself and playing it safe hold you back from success. When you believe in yourself and your abilities, you often can go beyond the imaginable.

5. Respond positively.

You cannot control everything that comes your way, but you are in absolute control of how you react to everything that comes your way. What happens to you is important--but not as important as your response. Incredible progress can happen in your life and leadership when you take control of your reactions.

6. Be mindful.

Mindfulness means taking control of your focus and being intentional about what you give your attention to. Whether it's an emotion, a thought, a belief, an impulse, or something in the environment, mindfulness calls us to approaching everything with a curious, nonjudgmental, open, and accepting attitude. To be the most resilient and mentally strong, make the time to be mindful so you can focus on what you truly want.

7. Don't be defeated by fear.

To be resilient and mentally strong means knowing how to deal with fear. When you enter frightening situations with the awareness that it's an opportunity for you to grow, trust outweighs fear.

8. Be aware of self-talk.

We're often so busy worrying about how we talk to others that we sometimes lose track of the way we talk to ourselves. Make a point of being as positive and supportive of yourself as you are of others, because when times get tough you have to be able to believe you can make it through. Replace self-doubt with positivity.

9. Rid yourself of CAN'T.

When you feel like you can't do something, keep your focus positive. You just have to do it. The mentally strong weed out the words like can't, never, and should--replacing them with can, could, and when.

10. Stumble toward success

Winston Churchill once said, "Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm." Perseverance gives you the ability to face any difficulty, any challenge, any setback without being defeated. It's better to have a lifetime full of small failures that you learned from rather than one filled with the regret of never having tried. https://josephifeanyiblog..com/2018/11/15-habits-to-making-you-mentally-strong.html

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