Mental strength takes a long time to develop.
It is the daily practiceof pushing yourself to grow stronger, maintaining realistic optimism, and setting healthy boundaries. Mentally strong people don’t dothings like waste time feeling sorry for themselves or give away their power to other people.
Psychological, intellectual, and emotional strength is, in many ways, the ability to perceive reality for what it really is, and then manage your emotions about those observations in a healthy, productive manner.
Mental strength is revealed by both what we do and, at other times, by what we dont do.
Here are 7 signs of a mentally strong individual…
1. Healthy self-esteem.
Sometimes high, healthy self-esteem is confused withnarcissism (symbols of status: fake self-confidence, disrespectful behavior, looks, money, power, fame, ability to manipulate others)and vice versa.
A mentally strong person is neither falsely self-confident nor timid.
You are aware of and accept your strengths and weaknesses. You have learned to accurately self-evaluate and self-validate, so that you are neither dependent on praise from others nor devastated by rejection.
2. Proactivity instead of passivity or reactivity.
You recognize that you are responsible for your own life. If there is a problem, you can weigh your options and make a decision.
In comparison, a passive person usually feels overwhelmed or disconnected, to the degree where he or she feels paralyzed and incapacitated to take any action. Similarly, a reactive person simply automatically reacts to things instead of consciously making decisions.
Passive or reactive people are rarely aware that they are making decisions in their life. Proactive people are mindful of their emotions, thoughts, and motives. You enjoy living your life, even if it is challenging.
3. Adaptability.
Adaptability is one of the most useful character traits to have. Mentally strong people are able to adapt to change quickly and stay reasonable in a problematic or unexpected situation.
It also means being able to adapt when things go wrong, as they tend to do in life. You have the confidence that you will be fine because you are adaptable; you think about situations, but you dont obsess or worry about them because you know you will be able to deal with it when it happens.
4. They accept the consequences of their choices.
They take responsibility for their actions and the effects of their decisions. They don’t ignore hurts or pains that occur as a result, and they don’t adopt a “victim” role by blaming others for problems they cause themselves. They are also self-compassionate toward themselves during hard times, knowing they are making an effort to do their best in any given circumstance.
5. They deal with their pasts; they don’t bury them.
They can recognize and deal with emotionally distressing events in their pasts, as well as recognize that their pasts may be affecting their current functioning. Symptoms of “burying” emotions or traumas can include overeating, eating disorders, alcohol or drug use, or other compulsive or problematic behaviors. Mentally strong people seek professional help or find some other way to metabolize their pain such as connecting with trusted loved ones, journaling, or seeking out healing via self-care. By being able to process these events and disappointments or traumas, they do not accumulate into larger-scale problems later in life.
6. A rational, present mind.
You see reality as it is. You are good at accurately conceptualizing reality by using reason, logic, observation, and common sense. In comparison, irrational people, even if they are highly logical, can only come up with conclusions or connections that kind of make sense to them but are objectively terribly short-sighted or simply ludicrous.
You are able to maintain a high level of awareness, where you can accept the situation as it is without deluding yourself or being unable to regulate your emotions.
You know how to be in the present moment without being stuck in the past or constantly worrying about the future.
7. They deal with reality for what it is and deal with challenges directly.
Mentally resilient people take stock of facts, research, and feedback from professionals and loved ones. They do not mentally alter history or reality, nor believe revisions to events that have happened. Dealing with reality often includes planning and seeing the situation clearly and frequently conferring with others so they are prepared for the consequences of their behavior and for whatever life throws at them.
