As competitive stakes rise and athletes push physical limits, there is a higher premium placed on the mental glue that holds it all together under pressure. This quality of “mental toughness” has two important aspects, which produce high performance: intelligence and resilience. The mentally tough athlete has the intelligence to identify the how and why of what they are trying to achieve, and the resilience to adapt and evolve to the challenge this task presents. Excellence requires toughness to overcome adversity, as well as the challenge of rising to the demands of higher levels of performance.

Twenty-five years of coaching and counseling led me to develop 11 Keys to help structure the process of becoming mentally tough. These Keys require an understanding of the principles and character traits that underlie the development of specific skills. Here are a few examples of  “11 Keys to Mental Toughness”:

Take Total Responsibility for Yourself

An athlete’s maturity level will dictate how to structure the development of these Keys, but this Key is foundational. It is beyond setting and keeping goals and learning to focus attention. Responsibility dictates the ownership of experience and the development of an internal locus of control. It means becoming responsible for victories, defeats and disassembling excuses and blame along the way.

Positive Self-talk

Self-talk influences your internal environment. It is your inner voice that helps you problem solve, assess risk, regulate emotions, and make decisions. Self-talk can also stimulate positive mental states that serve execution. You get to choose how the coach in your head sounds.  Mentally tough athletes choose a positive and productive voice.

Be In “Player Mode”

In my experience as an athlete and as a coach, I have come to identify three distinct states that are related to the quality of performance. These states or “modes” are driven by three different processes and require athletes to develop the skill of self-awareness and an elementary knowledge of how their brains works. Athletes driven by fear are in “Survivor Mode”. Waves of emotions drive “Emotional Mode”, while execution and flow drive “Player Mode.”  Learning how to attain or shift up to the optimal “Player Mode” of performance is a mental skill athletes must master.

Reflect On Your Goals

Goals without active reflection on their meaning and adjustment for progress often do not work. Unless you make time for reflection, schedule demands and technological distractions limit your opportunities. Without this Key, “burnout” can occur because it is in the process of reflection that we come to know that for which we are grateful. With out gratitude, entitlement rears its head.

Believe In Yourself

Belief in self is linked to the athlete’s path and purpose, and provides the fuel of passion. Without passion, you will not do the little things in tired moments. Belief in the self provides immunity to doubt, self-sabotage, and the need for approval. Belief in self also motivates the athlete to work from strengths, rather than being driven by fear and trying to be perfect.

Know What to Do With Your Emotions

Failure is often due to a faulty plan or ineffectively dealing with adversity. The first is a mistake of intelligence, the second a lack of resilience.
Athletes react to situations regardless of how present they are. This emotional reflex does not require thought, therefore a thoughtful response to the situation matters most. If your reaction is always your response, then this implies inflexibility. Mentally tough competitors learn that some reactions come from an unconscious level. There are some reactions you “expect” and some you are unaware of because they exist on a level you may not have access to until you meet the moment.
If you are not conscious of your reactions, you will not be in control of your choices. Control your emotions or your emotions will control you.

No Surrender

Develop a philosophy of “always finish what you start—with your best.” Quitting requires you to give up what you have control of: attitude, effort and focus. When you choose to quit you suffer the loss on a different level, because quitting is not a momentary process. The effect ripples into the future because you must let go of motivation and meaning before you can rationalize the option of quitting.

Mental toughness is a process and can always be improved. Developing a structure and philosophy of meeting the moment will help you to be at your best when it matters most.