Mental strength is just like any other skill: It takes time to develop.
In her book “13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do,” psychotherapist Amy Morin writes that your genetics, personality, and life experiences all play a role in your mental strength.
Since we know what mentally strong people don’t do, we asked Morin about the key habits they do follow.
Here are nine things mentally strong people do every day.
This is an update of an article originally written by Steven Benna.
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1. They monitor their emotions.
People often assume mentally strong people suppress their emotions, Morin says, but they are actually acutely aware of them.
“They monitor their emotions throughout the day and recognize how their feelings influence their thoughts and behaviors,” she says. “They know sometimes reaching their greatest potential requires them to behave contrary to how they feel.”
2. They practice realistic optimism.
Having a positive outlook all the time is impossible, and too much negativity is counterproductive.
Mentally strong people “understand that their thoughts aren’t always true, and they strive to reframe their negativity,” Morin says. “They replace exaggeratedly negative thoughts with a more realistic inner monologue.”
3. They solve problems.
To put it simply, “mentally strong people refuse to engage in unproductive activities,” Morin says. Instead of sitting there complaining about your bad day at work and wishing bad things wouldn’t happen, evaluate why something went wrong and fix it. Learn how to calculate risk and move forward from there, she says.
