Effective habits on how to become a mentally stronger person
How can you become a strong minded person? What are the habits of strong minded-people? What are their main characteristics? Life challenges, personal problems, financial issues and all the other struggles that we can possibly encounter in our life, they can threaten our well-being and our happiness. Becoming a strong minded person and discovering what makes their strong personalities stand out from the rest of the crowd is the focus of this post. Here you’ll be able to understand and find out the habits and characteristics that make someone a strong minded person.
Have a healthy body and mind
One of the first steps to become a strong minded person is to eat healthy and to be active. Having a diet full of good nutrients such as proteins, vitamins and healthy fats and being fit are all good tools to boost blood flow and keep your mind sharp. A sharp mind is what a person with a strong mindset needs in order to be productive and awake to challenges. Besides, if you think about it, if you are feeling tired or lazy you will probably feel frustrated, and if you feel frustrated you will probably be less likely to be able to control your emotions. Lack of sleep can also add some negative effects such as weakening your brain functioning and making it difficult to perform well and being productive. So make sure that you have your beauty sleep! One last tip is to do mindfulness meditation daily, even if it’s only for 5 minutes, as according to scientists it can produce positive emotions, help you to acknowledge your fears, releases stress, improves concentration and working memory.
What is working memory? How do I improve it?
Working memory is the ability to hold a small amount of information temporarily whilst performing cognitive tasks. One of the main habits to build, in order to improve your working memory, is to break down a big chunk of information into steps. A good example I can share is when I teach ballet to my students, some of the steps can be quite difficult for them to learn so I tend to break it down into 3 movements instead of being one whole one. Using this method will not only make it easier for them but also will help them not feel overwhelmed, like it happens often in a very technical discipline like ballet. A good technique to promote your working memory is to use “ The memory palace” which was used by the Greeks and Romans as writing down information at that time was not an option. The process is to select in your mind a place which is familiar to you and choose for example 5 pieces of furniture in each room and place on each of them one memory. This method is used to keep a piece of information in our memory for a longer period of time or forever. Using your visual memory is one of the most effective ways to remember visual information, vocabulary, spelling etc. Some other tips I would share to improve your working memory is to reduce stress through physical exercise/meditation, drink alcohol in moderation, stay hydrated and read out aloud.
Live in a free-clutter space
In order to be a mentally strong person it is important to have a well organised and tidy home/office because we can’t expect our mind to be balanced when our surroundings aren't. A clear space is a clear mind. That doesn’t only mean to do a big decluttering once a month but to clean as you go. If you had a snack before you leave the room, take the rubbish, plate etc with you and get rid of it. That will make your life much easier, it will increase productivity and you always have a neat home/office which will also be pleasant to see and smell (too much rubbish can produce unwanted smells).
Check out the post “How to achieve a work life balance: a life full of happiness”
Being emotionally resilient
People who understand and face their emotions, analyse their feelings and think about the best ways to express them are emotionally strong people. They are not scared or ashamed to show their emotions but they have a good sense of control over them. In fact as they never suppress their emotions and they open up about their feelings, they never blow up. They deal with situations, address issues and they don’t allow themselves to be stuck in the past. Of course that also means that they keep their distance from toxic or narcissistic people who are so centred in themselves that it is a waste of energy and effort reasoning with them. That’s because emotionally strong people will walk away from confrontation or conflict as they can see that it is a waste of time and in the long run not productive. If you are an emotionally resilient person you are likely to be a strong minded one too.
Be productive and improve your time-management skills
Possessing great time-management skills is an important characteristic of strong minded people as it helps to give you more of a balance in your life. If you can manage your time well you are less likely to be stressed, to rush in the morning to get to work, to struggle to get your tasks done and to have no time for yourself and to relax. To add, strong minded people are so focused that they have that eagerness to get everything done and they won’t procrastinate. They write down all their goals with the intention to complete their tasks and keep track of their achievements so they can keep the motivation going.
Check out the post "How to be more productive: 10 simple perfect habits"
Surround yourself with people that they respect your values
Strong minded people are able to tell when someone is their real friend, if someone is using them or if a member of the family or their partner is taking advantage of them. They can clearly see when someone is using them or if a relationship is toxic. From my personal experience I would say that it is nice to have empathy for people, to be a good friend and to respect the people around you but don’t let people step all over you and make sure you set boundaries. Sometimes when you are too generous, some people can really abuse/take advantage of your kindness and your caring nature. Strong minded people are also not people pleasers because they are very confident people. They are not afraid to say “no” to an invite or a request because they understand that disappointing people or hurting their feelings is not your responsibility. It is not your fault if you are unable to go out dining with your friends, to go to the dentist with your mother, to go to the hairdresser with your sister or to bring your child to their piano lesson. In short don’t say yes when really you want to say no. Especially with narcissistic people, they will always expect you to do everything they ask for and demand attention and they will try to make you feel bad if you don't do what they ask for by playing the guilty card. Don’t fall into this trap because if you are a strong minded person, you would always stand up for yourself and protect your emotions first.
Be clear about what you mean
It is a really powerful tool to be a great communicator, to be clear and transparent in what you want to say and this also makes you a mentally strong person. You always know where you stand with a strong minded person because they are not afraid to share their thoughts and they’re always confident in what they believe. They will not only be able to communicate with people in a concise, empathetic and clear way but also they are great listeners. Because of that they are able to gain people's trust and respect.
Don’t blame other people for your life struggles and problems
Mentally strong people don’t moan, become depressed and blame the people around them for their problems. I always believe that some of the life problems we bring to ourselves. It is not your fault if you ended in a bad and abusive relationship but it is if you stay in it especially if other people (children) are being affected. It is not your fault if your boss doesn’t appreciate you but you can try to sort out the matter by talking to them and if the situation is not improving look for another job, learn a new skill (I did that whilst I was unemployed) to maybe start a completely new career. We are all capable of doing things, to improve our life and it is the decisions that we make today that will shape our future. Strong minded people are aware that nothing comes easy in life, that sometimes things don’t always turn out the way that we want them to be and that it is crucial to take actions. Mentally strong people don’t panic but they are always ready for a challenge and they can handle stressful situations with smoothness and class. But the most important thing is that they accept that not every part of our life can be controlled but instead we can adapt, we can work harder, nourish our potentials and focus on the things that we can control. We can work in being more productive, we can improve our performance and we can learn to control our emotions.
I hope that you found this post helpful and that my advice will help you becoming the strong minded person that you wish to be. Also if you would like to ask some questions, share your own experience, or just leave a short comment down below, I would love to hear from you. Also don't forget to Subscribe if you don't want to miss any future posts and have free access to premium content!
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