On Being Mentally Tough
My take on mental toughness is that it will look different for each individual in each sport. It is not something that you can type into Google and up pops a list of the top 5 super-specific ways to build mental toughness. Now don't get me wrong. Training with the Navy Seals is a great experience. I'm sure it would help build mental toughness because, let's be real, those ladies and gentlemen are as tough as they come. Suppose you want to develop the long-lasting mental toughness to help you reach your goals and push through when the going gets tough. In that case, you need to take a personalized approach, one that is specific to you.
Go ahead and take a few moments to define what being mentally tough means to you.
Once you have an answer, I want you to close your eyes and visualize what mentally tough looks like and clarify what actions this includes being. For example, suppose you are an ultramarathon runner. In that case, mental toughness might look like dealing with the highs and lows that inevitably come with racing for hours on end. It is unrealistic to expect to stay mentally fresh for 10+ hours. so how will you deal with feeling like you will never finish or the overwhelming exhaustion that comes with racing for so many hours?
On the other hand, a sprint swimmer might be racing for less than a minute. Staying mentally tough in a race that only lasts 25 seconds will look quite different, and that is okay. This isn't a one size fits all kind of process.
Once you have your own working definition of mental toughness and know what mental toughness looks like to you, I want you to start brainstorming the ways to get from where you are now to what being mentally tough is for you. Envision what steps you will need to take. Maybe you have been struggling with mental consistency over long runs. Instead of seeking out distractions like running with friends or listening to podcasts, embrace being uncomfortable. Distractions can be great for helping push through training. Still, in reality, they do very little for helping build mental toughness for race day unless it is a technique you plan to use during your race.
We so often think of training as physically getting our bodies ready to cover a certain distance, race at a high-intensity level, or go as fast as we can for x amount of seconds or minutes. We do all of this training, and we approach it primarily from a physical perspective. Suppose you are not utilizing your training time as an opportunity to train for the mental side of competition. In that case, you as missing out on an excellent chance to build mental toughness and work on your mindset. The athletes I work with know firsthand that I frequently suggest trying out mental training first. How often are you going into a workout where the intent is to make yourself as uncomfortable as possible? Or to practice shifting your attention if you notice it start to wander to something that is not productive?
I've been coached by several different coaches growing up as a swimmer and competing in triathlon as an adult. I've never actually been told that a workout's objective was to help my mindset or my mental game precisely. I've been told to see how long I could hold a specific pace or that my long ride helped my legs get used to being in the saddle all day. We so often miss that these physical objectives so easily overlap with goals for mental training. If you're trying to hit a pace for as long as you can when you're running, there is absolutely a mental aspect to it. If you're consistently approaching training situations from the perspective of is this helping me get physically better and helping me reach my physical goals, and not acknowledging that there is a mental component, you are selling yourself short.
One of my personal favorite tools for building mental toughness or bridging that gap from where you are currently to where you want to go is through the use of imagery. One of the reasons I like imagery so much is that you can visualize whatever scenarios you choose. Those of you not very familiar with imagery can be defined as creating or recreating images in one's mind. Simple as that. You get to choose what you use imagery for. Suppose you live somewhere flat and have a hilly race coming up and are worried about staying tough on the hills and not giving up a lot of time. In that case, you can imagine yourself running up those hills strongly and fast in your mind. Imagery is really cool because the more you run through a scenario in your mind, the stronger the image becomes. Just by imagining yourself doing something, it is slowly tricking your brain into thinking you have done it.
Mental toughness is something that comes from experiences, both good and bad. I frequently hear sentiments that dealing with adversity makes you tough, and I generally agree with this statement. Adversity can look like a lot of different things, though. It can be going through a divorce, losing a loved one, getting fired and finding your way again, etc. Adversity can also be getting outside and training on bad weather days. It can be finishing a race where seemingly everything that can go wrong does go wrong. I encourage my athletes to seek out challenges in their racing and training whenever possible, so they are more prepared when inevitably something goes wrong during a competition. You can't prepare for everything, but you can prepare your mind to handle the unexpected and be mentally tough. Just like physical training, it takes practice.