Habits of the Mentally Strong: Meditations on Manifesting Your Best Self

Here are 18 things mentally strong people do.

1. They practice gratitude.

Counting their blessings, rather than their burdens, helps mentally strong people keep life in proper perspective. Their choice to be grateful shines through in their mood and behavior.

2. They retain their personal power.

Mentally strong people don’t give negative people power over them. They refuse to blame anyone for holding them back or dragging them down.

3. They accept challenges.

Mentally strong people view adversity as an opportunity to grow stronger. With each obstacle they overcome, they gain confidence in their ability to become better.

4. They focus on the things they can control.

Mentally strong people stay productive and effective by focusing on the things they have control over. Rather than waste energy worrying about whether the storm will come, they invest their efforts into preparing for it the best they can.

5. They set healthy boundaries.

Creating healthy emotional and physical boundaries gives mentally strong people the room they need to grow. Even when they may disappoint others, they’re willing to say no.

6. They take calculated risks.

Mentally strong people balance their emotions with logic so they can calculate each risk they face. They’re willing to step outside their comfort zone and seek opportunities that will help them reach their goals.

7. They make peace with the past.

Mentally strong people reflect on the past so they can learn from it, but they don’t dwell on it. They refuse to live a life of regret and they let go of grudges.

8. They learn from their mistakes.

Rather than beat themselves up for their mistakes, mentally strong people focus on learning from them. They accept full responsibility for their behavior and choose to move forward in a productive manner.

9. They create their own definition of success.

Rather than resent other’s good fortune, mentally strong people feel free to share in their joy. They recognize that other people’s achievements don’t diminish their own. 

10. They view failure as an opportunity for growth.

Failure is often part of any long journey toward success. Mentally strong people accept that and they choose to use each failure as an opportunity to grow wiser.

11. They set aside time to be alone.

Mentally strong people take time to be alone with their thoughts. Whether they write in a journal, practice meditation, or sit silently and reflect, they know a little solitude is essential to their well-being.

12. They accept full responsibility for their lives.

Mentally strong people create opportunities for themselves. They don’t waste time waiting for the world to give them what they think they’re owed.

13. They practice perseverance.

Mentally strong people know that the best things in life are worth waiting for. They exercise patience and persistence as they strive for their goals.

14. They modify their unhealthy beliefs.

Mentally strong people refuse to allow self-limiting beliefs to restrict their potential. They understand their minds can be their best asset or their worst enemy.

15. They expend their mental energy wisely.

Instead of complaining about things they can’t change or rehashing something that happened yesterday, mentally strong people devote their energy to productive tasks. They don’t waste limited resources, like time and energy, on things that aren’t helpful. 

16. They practice realistic optimism.

Mentally strong people talk to themselves like a trusted coach. They refuse to believe pessimistic predictions but they also don’t allow themselves to become overconfident.

17. They tolerate discomfort.

Mentally strong people aren’t afraid to endure a little pain. Whether they keep running when their legs are tired or they resist instant gratification, they practice self-discipline even when it’s uncomfortable.

18. They stay true to their values.

Mentally strong people keep their priorities in line with their beliefs. They’re courageous enough to live according to their values, even when it’s not the popular choice.

-from Amy Morin, for inc.com

My challenge to you this next week is to take the initial steps to fulfilling a strong mind, a mind every bit as capable of achieving greatness as those who’ve come before.

I’m so grateful for your readership: it’s a hell of a gift for which I am forever thankful. Please feel free to reach out, I’d love to hear from you!

I’ve taken a few months off writing — so desperately needed!– and am just now getting back into the swing of things. Perhaps winter had frozen the muse, but she’s back and with renewed ferocity.

Midterms are thundering our way like a rogue wave and my arms are projected out sideways from the overinflated floaties on which I meditate to maintain buoyancy!

Filling scholarships, writing grant papers, and begging for change, cash, loose coins, whatever I can get my hands on with starry eyed glances towards Naropa University — what future can be so bright as those Interdisciplinary Studies in Boulder — can anyone say Buddhism and Literature!

Ah, see how steeply I tumble into the grumble-rambling that feeds my (our) daily thoughts. The conscious mind, the id, the ego, all those wild voices vying for the spotlight. Alas, I ramble again.

Without further hold up I hope you have a wonderful weekend and look forward to hearing from all of you wonderful readers, writers, dreamers, thinkers.

Weekend Meditation

A good traveler has no fixed plans
and is not intent upon arriving.
A good artist lets his intuition
lead him wherever it wants.
A good scientist has freed himself of concepts
and keeps his mind open to what is.

Thus the Master is available to all people
and doesn’t reject anyone.
He is ready to use all situations
and doesn’t waste anything.
This is called embodying the light.

What is a good man but a bad man’s teacher?
What is a bad man but a good man’s job?
If you don’t understand this, you will get lost,
however intelligent you are.
It is the great secret.

-Lao Tzu,

from the Tao Te Ching

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