Can you teach mental toughness?
Yes and no, the characteristics of mental toughness can be taught, but each person must take control of their mind and make decisions that are in alignment with overcoming obstacles, staying calm under pressure, pushing through the pain, and mental fortitude.
Let see what you can do to teach and or facilitate toughness in your organization.
There is always an attempt to manufacture mental toughness by yelling, screaming, and berating an athlete. I use words like fortitude, tenacity, resilience, determination, will, unwavering, steady resolute, resolve, steadfast, relentless, unshakable, unbreakable, unflappable, and fixed.
The reality is mental toughness is all of the above and then some. It is everything you don’t see and can’t explain. Here at Souletics, we certainly use our testing and Artificial intelligence (AI) to assess mindset. But I want to be certain mental toughness when it is resolute is something you can’t explain; it is very nuanced. Someone may cry, even complain but still be mentally tough. They may stay accomplish the goal! Let me go further!
Mental Toughness and Injury
It is when an elite athlete has a severe injury and promises they will never play again, and he or she has said they do not want to play every again while in the surgery room. A day later and just a day out of surgery, they are starting the rehab! It is the fire that will not die.
In 2004 I wrote a book title “Don’t Stop The Swagger,” the Portuguese translation is “Nao Deixe o Fogo Se Apagar.” a different translation “Don’t Let the Fire Die.”
In this book, I talk about my journey from youth sports, high school, college, and to the pros and then finding myself dealing with an injury during my first professional season. The reality is I never quit, and I never allowed the circumstances, difficulties, and struggles of life to extinguish the fire. I took that athletic mindset and applied it to all facets of life.
Mental toughness is not allowing the circumstance to deter you. Sometimes conditions are out of our control, so we must choose to control what we can. In athletics, what we can control is our decisions, training, and mindset.
Your mind is the key to developing mental toughness. Let me repeat it, your decisions and your choices are the keys to teaching yourself mental toughness.
For some people, mental toughness is being calm, composed in certain situations. This is a component but not necessarily the exact definition.
A Story about the illusion of mental toughness
What if I told you some people that appear mentally tough are, in fact, overly confident based on individual environmental factors. An appearance of calm is not necessarily mental toughness. For example, let’s take a highly touted quarterback Ryan from an upper middle class financially stable environment with two stable parents. He carries a 3.70 GPA and is highly recruited and has been offered a scholarship to Alabama, UCLA, USC, and Cal since his sophomore year. Ryan has spent the majority of his summers at high profile QB camps, which gave provided a level of exposure that most are not afforded. He is loved by his high school head coach, community, and staff for his calm demeanor on campus and in class.
The Illusion of Calm and Composed
On the other hand, another athlete, James, is from a decent neighborhood and is a 3-star recruit. He is not the favorite amongst coaches or his QB. His head coach doesn’t like his attitude and thinks he is a hothead.
James has big-time ability but has been unable to get the exposure to elevate himself to the next level. James is a decent student carrying a 3.35 GPA in college core classes. During the game, James is competitive, fiery, and gets frustrated when the quarterback looks him off during passing plays. This frustration has caused a rift between his coach, even ging so far as his coach questioning his mental toughness. During one of these exchanges, James and his coach almost came to blows when his coach told him he wasn’t mentally tough enough.
These situations may seem clear cut, but the reality is Ryan has rarely been tested with adverse circumstances in his life. His calm, composed nature is confused for mental toughness, but in fact, it is a confidence that everything will be ok, everything will work out no matter what because it always has. Once Ryan got to college, the elite level of competition weighed on him, and he ended up transferring after his freshman year.
Upon further investigation James was dealing with quite a bit; his father and mother were hard-working people. His mother came down with a sickness to which neither of their medical insurance coverages would cover.
The Depth of Mental Toughness
While his sick mother was in the hospital, his father took a job 3 hours away that required his father to be away from home for four-nights out of the week.
James was left to care for his younger brother that was currently in the 8th grade. His routine included waking up every morning to fix breakfast, sending his little brother off to school. James would then go to school, go to practice, and then meet his brother at home after picking up dinner and completing homework. To add to the stress James had to deal with the occasional phone call the insurance company looking to collect some form of payment.
Consequently, in talking with James, he felt like he had a shot to go to college and eventually play at the pro level because he had seen guys with similar abilities reach the professional level. He felt like he was losing his opportunity due to no fault of his own. This QB seems dead set on not throwing him the ball because he too believed his coaches’ conclusion. This situation just caused him to press during games instead of letting the game come to him, and the additional friction with the coach made matters worse because the coach would bad mouth him to evaluators.
The result was James ended up going to a mid-major and being drafted in the 4th rough and playing for three years before an injury.
In reality, James had more mental toughness than Ryan. Still, when looking from the outside, most people without three-dimensional thinking and cultural awareness would not be able to notice those things you cant see.
So the answer is yes, you can teach mental toughness, but the ultimate test will be judge be how you handle adversity in those difficult times.
How do you teach athletes mental toughness?
You identify and teach the characteristics of mental toughness. Additionally, what mental toughness looks like in gameplay and life. Have a level of grace because playing style and or differing players may react unexpectedly in certain situations. Each circumstance is nuanced you must be culturally, racially, and socially aware, but be clear of your expectations.
Here are our criteria:
- A mentally tough athlete does not allow fans to interrupt focus. This means:
- No verbal exchanges with fans
- Never argue with fans
- Do not engage in any negative conversation
- Never allow taunts of fans to distract or tempt you to harm engage them
- If fans threaten, harass, or touch, you have the self-control to move away and contact your team representative.
- Responsibility od teams are to report back to the player what they plan to do to the fan and how they will protect the player in the future
- Always play hard
- Does not get into prolonged exchanges with opposing players
- Bounces back from defeat with improved play in some area
- Consistency
- Practices well
- You are self-motivated
- Criticism – as a player you can take criticism
- Composure – you will learn to handle adversity with calm, and thoughtfulness
- Confidence
- Execution of plays
- Understanding of opposing team tendencies
- Do not engage with refs unless you make a positive comment or calculated correction during a timeout
How do you teach a child mental toughness?
You can teach a child mental toughness. Teaching a child is much easier than teaching an adult. The best way to teach a child would be by example. You must exhibit the characteristics of mental toughness, and your child will learn from you.
Is mental toughness learned or innate?
In certain aspects, mental toughness can be passed down. As certain cultures and people have gone through a tremendous struggle, opposition, and triumph. It is possible that this will teach or set an example of resilience or learned determination within those descendants.
It should be noted that based on research form Lee Crust in “Mental Toughness in sport” in order to understand mental toughness there must be a “Qualitative and quantitative approach to the study of mental toughness and all developments should be measured.
Does mental toughness take a long time to develop?
It takes time to create a diamond. Diamonds are created under pressure. As athletes continue to grow, they will be placed in more high pressure, stressed environments that require them to grow mentally or fade. So over time, athletes and people can become more mentally tough.
Are you mentally tough if you cry after a loss?
Yes, you are still mentally tough if you cry after a loss. Tears can be a sign of strength! In many cases, tears are the result of someone that genuinely cares and is hurt by the loss. The most crucial action is what you do hours after or a day after. Are you still practicing hard and doing everything you can to prepare for the next event.
More on mindset and peak performance for athletes.
Can you teach mental toughness?
Yes and no, the characteristics of mental toughness can be taught. Still, each person must be willing to control their mind and make decisions that are in alignment with overcoming obstacles, thriving under pressure, and pushing through the pain.
Is mental toughness learned or innate?
The truth is mental toughness is not something you have but preferably something you do. The traits of mental toughness can be innate as they were passed down after seeing family members overcome struggles. But in this case, it would still be a learned skill as a child may have witnessed their parents, grandparents, and others overcome the odds, so they learned this same powerful trait.
How does mental toughness affect performance?
A lack of mental fortitude is the enemy of elite athletes. Lacking mental toughness causes many athletes to quit, give lackluster effort, and give in before the game is over. You cannot realize your athletic potential without a high level of mental toughness.