Opinion: Mental Toughness Doesn’t Just Pertain to Athletes

You would think the first thing that comes to my mind when I think of my swimming was the successes — the fun practices, the moments I finally got that time I had been pursuing for what seemed like ages, the high school records that bear my name or the medals hanging on my wall.

Surprisingly, those memories — while they may be my favorite swimming memories — weren’t the first ones to pop into my head.

Instead, I thought about what happened before the successes, the trials I faced before I won that medal or broke that high school record.

The dreaded slumps, the mental weakness and the days I didn’t want to leave my bed for practice.

We all have those, don’t we?

All of us face these obstacles, whether in sports, school or in life. You’re not alone. We’ve all been through this at one point. It’s normal, and you don’t have to stay there.

There is always light at the end of the tunnel. Seriously … I’m speaking from experience here.

Mental toughness is a term typically reserved for the sports world, but it actually pertains to much more as it is required for perseverance in school, work and life. According to Mental Toughness, Inc., mental toughness is defined as, “the ability to resist, manage and overcome doubts, worries, concerns and circumstances that prevent you from succeeding.” 

Mental toughness plays a vital role in sports, but it is also something college students should learn to develop as they study. 

Everyone struggles with metal toughness. It’s those moments when we don’t believe in ourselves or let doubts about our abilities sneak in. 

Alan Goldberg, a leading sport psychologist, addresses this specifically when he says, “In practice, swimming is 95% physical and 5% mental. In competition, swimming is 5% physical and 95% mental.”

Can’t the same be said for exams or other big projects? By the time we get to that test or project, if we’ve done our best to learn, we are more than capable. We need to believe in our abilities. 

If you can’t put aside your insecurities and doubts and worries, your performance will suffer. 

Mental toughness doesn’t come overnight, it requires training yourself in practice and in the classroom to silence negative self-talk and be positive.

What you say to yourself matters. 

When you begin to entertain negative thoughts such as, “This is too hard” or “I don’t want to do this” or “I’m going to fail” you sentence yourself to a less-than-best outcome. 

When negative thoughts invade your brain, your muscles and brain react to that thought, whether you realize it or not. This leads to swimmers standing on the blocks with tight muscles and a sluggish reaction time and students freezing on a test, not being able to remember what they have learned.

Kirk Mango, a hall of fame gymnast, emphasizes this. 

“Attitude and belief about what one can accomplish are essential to any possibility of achieving anything,” he says.

If you don’t believe you can do it, you won’t. It’s as simple as that.

So, maybe you have been stuck in a vicious cycle of negative self-talk. Does it really make that big of a deal?

Yes, it does. Let me give you a personal example. When I was a senior in high school, there was a high school record I had been pursuing since my freshman season. Time after time, I fell short. 

There was a pattern. I would get ready for my race, think about the time I needed to get and then I would beat myself down with internal doubt.

It was when I learned how to reframe those negative thoughts into positive ones that I finally achieved my goal. All it took was confidence.

Developing your mental toughness is vital for your success. Here are a few steps that will help you start believing in yourself, and, in turn, help you achieve your goals. 

1. Practice positivity in the classroom. What you do in class, you’ll do on the test. Guaranteed.

2. Reframe negative thoughts into positive ones. Instead of thinking, “This assignment is so hard, I can’t do it,” tell yourself, “This is a challenge that will help me prepare for my future job.” It can be hard at first, but reframe that negative thought as soon as it gets into your head.

3. Take a deep breath. When insecurities bombard your conscience, it can be easy to feel stress. Take a deep breath and remind yourself that you are ready for this. 

4. Write down your goals. Don’t just write them down, however. Next to each goal, write an encouraging note to yourself, reminding yourself you are capable.

5. Surround yourself with positive people. There is nothing that will drag you down faster than a negative person. Who you hang out with is who you will be like.

6. Come up with a mantra. This mantra can be an encouraging phrase or Bible verse that you say to yourself when you’re losing your focus or when taking a test. It can help you remain positive.

7. Smile! Smiling has been proven to release negative energy from your body. SMILE. 

8. BELIEVE IN YOURSELF. A lot easier said than done, right? Maybe, but the more you practice believing in yourself, the more you will. 

 This is how you accomplish your goals.

Duran is an opinion writer. Follow her on Twitter.