How to Become Mentally Tough
Anyone who knows David Goggin’s story from 300lb “loser” to Navy SEAL just has to be impressed.
Talk about a mentally tough guy!
However the degree to which he pushes his body isn’t necessary for you to become tough. You don’t need to run so far and long that you are literally uncontrollably peeing blood down your leg.
What you can do is move in his direction of how hard you are willing to push yourself and you will reap the rewards.
We live in an increasingly soft world that wants to make you weak and dependent… are you going to let that happen?
When people ask me “how do I become tough?” What they are really asking me is “Brian I’m afraid I won’t fight back,” or “I’m afraid I will crumble under pressure.”
And YES you want to find out the answer to that ASAP!
If you follow the tips on how to become mentally tougher that I give in this article and video you will find the answer for yourself.
What Getting Tough is NOT
We have all seen those videos of martial arts instructors lining their students up and punching them in the face to make them tougher.
Well this is ass-hattery at its finest.
1st off you cannot toughen up the head.
You can’t toughen yourself up against being knocked out or staggered.
Don’t give me no blah blah blah. I’ve studied and continue to be immersed in neuroscience for over a decade.
Every time you get hit in the head you demyelenate nerve clusters in your brain.
This is the foundation of what causes TBIs (traumatic brain injuries).
And every time you get hit in the head it becomes easier to get knocked out from a future blow to the head.
Now at some point every martial artist should put on the gloves and get popped in the face a couple of times so they know that it isn’t that big of a deal. But repeatedly sparring with head contact will lead you to winding up with some serious issues.
Some people like pain / getting hit…
There is a form of mental illness called borderline personality disorder in which often people who suffer will inflict self-harm in the form of pain.
Cutting, hitting, and inflicting pain upon themselves.
THIS IS NOT NORMAL!
Never compare how tough you are to someone who has a mental illness and needs professional counseling.
Pain in a fight…
When it comes to pain in a fight that isn’t really something I would spend too much time worrying about.
1st off the pain you feel will be significantly blunted or you might not even feel any at all.
Your body releases endorphins (endogenous morphine) which is a pain-killer.
2nd pain isn’t what makes people freeze anyway… it is fear and not being used to dealing with an adrenaline dump.
You can learn how to overcome that in these articles / videos – How to Control Fear part 1 and How to Control Fear part 2.
What Being Mentally Tough IS
Toughness is a self-belief that is earned by pushing through discomfort.
Toughness is being able to do what you don’t want to do. It is not giving up.
It is being the kind of person who can persevere through hardships.
Toughness is mental and not to be confused with physical resilience.
Physical resilience are things you have little control over.
If you are born Brock Lesnar you will just be harder to physically hurt…
You can increase your muscular size, tendon thickness, and bone density to a limited degree which has multiple benefits… so start lifting weights ASAP.
But you can’t go from a 5’9″ 145lbs to 6’4″ 240lbs… ain’t happening.
Anterior Midcingulate Cortex
Recently science has discovered an area of your brain where will-power and your ability to face challenges and even how you feel about pushing through those challenges lives.
It is called the anterior midcingulate cortex.
People who have larger a larger anterior midcingulate cortex describe facing challenges as, “I am ready!”
Whereas people with smaller ones describe facing challenges as, “I can’t” or “it’s too hard.”
Overweight people usually have smaller ones while people who have lost weight have larger ones…
Why is that?
Because, when you make yourself do something that you don’t want to your anterior midcingulate cortex grows larger.
Resisting high calorie junk food is a form of doing something you don’t want to do. Therefor the people who lost weight grew their anterior midcingulate cortexes.
AND of course, they became tougher. More able to face future challenges.
THIS is mental toughness.
Simply do things that you don’t want to do. Face challenges.
Each time you face challenges your anterior midcingulate cortex grows bigger and you become mentally tougher!
We live in a soft nation where people are offended at the slightest thing. Woke culture has grown-ass adults acting out like 4-year-olds.
You see people get into arguments on social media and say the most hurtful things that they would NEVER say to someone’s face.
Drills to Become Mentally Tough
Before we get into specific drills remember the following rules:
Adhere to a Diet Plan
As mentioned earlier people who had lost weight grew larger anterior midcingulate cortexes because they held strong when they wanted to cheat on their diet.
Now I’m not suggesting you never get to enjoy junk food or birthday cake or ice cream or whatnot. 80-90% compliance on a diet will yield amazing results.
Just remember that every time you say “no” it will get easier because you are developing mental toughness.
Cardio
Cardiovascular exercise is a great way to develop both health and mental toughness.
I personally do not enjoy doing exercise that makes me breathe hard but I do it anyway. That helps build my mental toughness.
If you enjoy doing cardio then doing cardio really doesn’t develop more mental toughness because you aren’t making yourself do something you don’t want to do.
So here is what you can do…
During your normal cardio pick a 30-60 second window of time and go near all-out to where you are pushing into discomfort. If you are jogging then go on a 80% sprint. Same for rowing, exercise bike, etc.
Just push harder than you want to… that is the key. It doesn’t have to be for more than 30-60 seconds.
Cold Shower / Plunging
Cold plunges have become all the rage but I’m not going to go buy one more thing to own… I’m too much of a minimalist.
Cold showers will do just fine.
Here is what I do. At the end of a normal shower I will begin turning the water cooler and cooler until I find a spot that I don’t want to go past…
Then I go just past that.
I turn all sides of my body for about 20-30 seconds. That should be enough time to build mental toughness.
Remember it is not about ‘how cold’ or ‘getting used to the cold’ it is about just going past what you want to.
Disclaimer – these practices should be perfectly safe for otherwise healthy people but you are always encouraged to use your own best judgement. There is always a risk involved with exercise or temperature exposure. If you are uncertain the check with your medical professional.
Summary
Toughness is not doing stupid dangerous things.
Mental toughness is pushing through discomfort.
You can do that with safe things that are merely uncomfortable such as a chilly rinse in the shower or pushing hard in a cardio session.
Ideally you would do these things at least a couple of times per week if not almost daily.
Think 2 cardio sessions per week with 30-60 seconds of them being unpleasant. And perhaps 2 showers per week that you turn the water to the cold side for 20-30 seconds.
Those numbers have not be scientifically tested to be the ultimate best most amazing protocol… at this point there isn’t anything like that. Just push yourself briefly on a regular basis.
Don’t go overboard because every stressor has to be recovered from. So no hour-long cold shower or daily super hard cardio… you will get sick a lot if you push that much.
Also there is no reason to go full-on Spartan mode. You don’t need to eliminate your creature comforts or enjoyment from life. You just need to regularly push into discomfort.
And of course, mental toughness is a skill… it resides in an area of the brain. If you practice it you will get better and if you stop then your mental toughness will diminish over time.
And finally, mental toughness alone does not win fights. You still need skill, tactics, aggressiveness, and other attributes.
So come train!
Until next time,
Brian
