In this edition of the Big 4 of Mental Toughness, we'll talk about the underrated element of positive self-talk.
We are what we repeatedly do, excellence is not an act, but a habit. Our behaviors come from our mind and the positive words we fill with it. Our psychology and physiology are very intertwined. Life is a heaven or a hell depending on what you make of it and what your mindset is like.
It does not mean you are a hapless polly anna, whispering that things are fine when they are falling apart. You have to acknowledge any negative feelings you may be experiencing, but choose at any given moment how you will respond. Starve your fears, feed your courage. Replace anger with calm, collected clarity; apathy with hope, and suffering with humor.
However you think internally, will manifest externally in your behaviors and attitude. Your sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems are intertwined as with your mindset. When you jazz yourself up, laugh in the face of absurdity, your cortisol drops, blood vessels dilate, breathing slowly, and those calming elements will reinforce your calm demeanor.
It's easy during the current state of affairs to be stressed and out of sorts, feeling that all the things we are seeing are out of our control. We take ownership, control and self-regulation when we put ourselves in the driver's seat of our own emotions and in charge of our own feelings, instead of letting them run us. Every moment we take that initiative, we become the masters of our fate and the captains of our soul, each and every moment.
Whether it's in a workout, in your job, or in any stressful situation in life, how you practice is how you play. You'll rarely rise to the occasion as much as you will sink to the level of your habits. You get one life, make it one you enjoy instead of a series of moments you regret having.
~ Harrison
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