7 tips for building mental toughness

Have you ever wondered what makes some people more successful in life than others? 

While many things contribute to a person’s success, top performers tend to share one particular thing in common. It’s not necessarily their talent or intelligence, although they may have that in abundance. More often than not, it’s their mental toughness. It’s what may separate the extraordinarily successful from the just-skating-by. 

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Mental toughness is the ability to stay focused, positive, and competitive, despite failure or mistakes. It gives you strength and resilience to keep moving forward even when things aren’t going the way you’d hope. People who are mentally tough have a growth mindset, meaning they see challenges as an opportunity to grow and learn rather than getting dragged down. 

Mental toughness helps you be a more effective person (Mahoney, 2014). You can be a better leader, student, performer, friend, and more. When you are mentally tough, you can:

• Enjoy better self-esteem and well-being: Mentally tough people believe in themselves and are more liked by their peers. They have fewer concerns and more self-confidence in difficult situations, like switching to a new school or job. Mental toughness is also linked to lower stress and depression symptoms and more life satisfaction (Lin, 2017).

• Improve your athletic performance: Athletes who score higher on mental toughness demonstrate more endurance and stick-to-it-iveness. During competition, they are less stressed and don’t let their emotions distract them (Kaiseler, 2009; Stamatis, 2020).

• Improve your GPA and academic performance: Mentally tough students are less likely to skip school and are more focused and engaged during class. They have higher grades and perform better on memory tests (Lin, 2017).

• Achieve more of your goals: Mentally tough people are committed to achieving their goals. They are more consistent and focused, making them more productive since they get to work without hesitation instead of waiting for motivation to strike. Because they trust in the process, they become more resilient and confident, both when facing big challenges and the little everyday ones. And when they encounter problems, they are more resourceful in finding solutions (Lin, 2017). 

Research shows you can develop more mental toughness throughout your life (Lin, 2017; Stamatis, 2020). Try these strategies for developing mental toughness:

1. Define your long-term goals

One thing that sets mentally tough people apart is their ability to set goals and create plans to make them a reality. This involves sitting down and defining your goals, then creating a clear, actionable plan for achieving them (Rice, 2016; Kaiseler, 2009). For example:

• Is your goal to strengthen your friendships? Make a plan to call a friend every week or organize a monthly get-together with friends. 

• Is it working out more often? Choose days you want to work out, and then schedule your workouts ahead of time.

• Do you want to get stronger? Create a plan that allows you to gradually add more reps, weight, or time to your workout. 

• Are you gunning for a specific promotion at work? Make a plan with your manager for how you will demonstrate your readiness for that new role.

2. Spend time in the mental gym

Mental strength grows just like the physical kind: with regular, consistent practice and increased effort (Kaiseler, 2009). Push yourself just a little further whenever the opportunity arises. Write one more page of your novel, squeeze in an extra rep at the gym, or take one more walk around the block. 

Each time you flex that mental muscle, the more powerful you feel and the easier it becomes the next time—because you’re making it a habit. The effort you’re putting in makes you feel more in control and more masterful until, eventually, the hard work becomes a reward itself.

3. Seek out mental toughness role models

From elite athletes to Fortune 500 CEOs, plenty of successful people have done interviews and shared how mental toughness contributed to their success, including Tom Brady, Michael Jordan, and Steve Jobs. Serena Williams calls mental toughness her greatest strength and even has a MasterClass on the subject!

So, learn from the people you admire. Read or watch interviews with those who have mental toughness or seek out people in your life who embody these traits. 

4. Develop routines

Routines are a core component of mental toughness training (Poulus, 2020). Routines can give you a series of steps to focus on and complete. When you have a routine you trust, all you need to focus on is completing each step, rep, and task. There’s no room to doubt yourself or let fear, laziness, or boredom creep in. You’re too busy focusing on the routine. 

Over time, as you start to see results, your trust will grow as well, helping you continue to trust your process moving forward.

5. Flip your perspective

When you experience a setback, see it as an opportunity to learn and grow. What went wrong? How can you change things for next time? Setbacks are part of the process, not a judgment on your value as a person. Sticking with it when it’s tough can make all the difference.

6. Practice positive self-talk

While feedback is useful, criticism that is too negative or overly harsh can be demotivating, especially when turned inward on yourself. People who value mental toughness develop habits of positive self-talk, such as (Rice, 2016):

• Repeating personal affirmations

• Reminding yourself of your accomplishments and abilities

• Cheering yourself on with a personal pep talk

7. Use visualization to stay focused

Visualizing yourself achieving your goals can set you up for success. By visualizing yourself crossing the finish line, publishing your book, or celebrating with friends all around you, visualization meditation keeps you focused and helps you see the path toward your desired outcome. When you can see it, it’s easier to keep working toward it (Rice, 2016).

In one study, people were advised to imagine lifting a heavy object during a strength training exercise. This simple visualization measurably increased their muscle activity and strength, whether they were trained athletes or total newbies (Slimani, 2016).

Developing mental toughness can help you develop psychological skills and personality traits that make you more successful every day and in stressful situations. You’ll be more resilient, more focused, and more confident. You can make a plan to implement these strategies today.

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Every article on Health Guide goes through rigorous fact-checking by our team of medical reviewers. Our reviewers are trained medical professionals who ensure each article contains the most up-to-date information, and that medical details have been correctly interpreted by the writer.

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Current version

April 21, 2022

Written by

Amelia Willson

Fact checked by

Felix Gussone, MD

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About the medical reviewer

Felix Gussone, MD, Ro

Felix Gussone is a physician, health journalist and a Manager, Medical Content & Education at Ro.