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The Olympics are underway, and already, Australia is off to a great start. To win gold, athletes of all sports don’t put all their eggs in one basket and only rely on their physical strength. In fact, their mental resilience is also a weapon in their arsenal. But how do we all build the mental fitness of an athlete?

Building The Mental Fitness Of An Athlete

The Olympics are underway, and already, Australia is off to a great start. To win gold, athletes of all sports don’t put all their eggs in one basket and only rely on their physical strength. In fact, their mental fitness is also a weapon in their arsenal. American Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps once said: “I think everything is possible as long as you put your mind to it… I think your mind really controls everything.” However, you may be asking: how do these athletes build such strong mindsets, especially when the world is watching? How do they control their internal anxieties and apprehensions?

Mental health is just as crucial as physical health. A 2019 Ipsos study found that 4 in 5 Aussies believe their mental health is just as important as their physical health. Mental health has also become a major focus for the International Olympic Committee, which unveiled its Mental Health Action Plan in 2013. Therefore, mindset and mental well-being are just as crucial as physical health for an athlete. But how does the average person like you and me build the mindset of an athlete?

Why Good Mental Wellbeing Is Essential

We can all have the mindset of an athlete. Just because we’re not on a gold medal odyssey doesn’t mean we can’t see mental resilience as essential to our health. We use mental resilience in every part of our daily lives: at work, at school, and at home. As such, being mentally resilient will help us overcome daily challenges and adapt to change more swiftly and effortlessly.

An athlete may need to quickly change their strategy because an opponent upended their original plan. Equally, if their plan didn’t go as they expected and they lost their sporting event, they must demonstrate strong mental resilience to overcome their missed success. But why can’t we transpose that mentality to our daily lives? The answer is: we can! We all must be mentally resilient because we may miss a sale, lose out on a promotion, or make a significant mistake. In reality, these situations and more may happen to us all. Keep reading for advice on how to build mental resilience…

How To Build Mental Resilience Like An Athlete

According to Health Direct, there are many ways you can build greater mental fitness…

  • Take care of your self-esteem: Know your worth. You don’t need to be egotistical, but start thinking about what you’re good at and think positively about these abilities. From there, your confidence should grow, as will your self-esteem. Push back on imposter syndrome and believe in yourself.
  • Don’t see help as a weakness: We don’t know everything, and that’s okay. However, if we all act as if we do and fail to ask for help, we’re precluding integral learning and forcing an avoidable mistake. So, don’t see asking for help as a weakness. Reaching out when you’re stuck will also enable you to learn new skills, making you feel more positive about yourself.
  • Understand your stress and anxiety levels: Much like the above point, if we’re too proud to ask for help or reach out when the going gets tough, our mental health will suffer. Ultimately, poor mental health will result in poor mental resilience. So, get to know yourself; how much stress and anxiety can you handle? That will help you build a new mindset and indicate when you need time out.
  • Most importantly: create strategies for when your mental fitness is drained: Most athletes are not 100% mentally fit all the time; they, too, will feel mentally depleted. So, when you feel down, stressed, or anxious, build strategies to overcome these mental challenges. This will bolster your mental fitness and help you overcome psychological roadblocks when they arise.

What Happens When Our Mental Fitness Is Not Performing

If we’re not mentally fit, we may feel:

  • Attacked: When approached or quizzed on an issue, we may feel attacked because we cannot regulate ourselves emotionally. This mindset is not helpful because, in most cases, it’s constructive feedback. So, if your body language and reactions show that you feel attacked, you’re not helping yourself or those around you. That is if the feedback is warranted and not unreasonable.
  • Unable to problem-solve: When faced with a mistake, we may become overwhelmed and struck by guilt, fear, disappointment, and a plethora of other emotions. When this happens, we’re at a fork in the road. We can either show mental resilience, trust in ourselves, and find a solution. Or, we’ll figuratively collapse from the pressure and be unable to overcome the challenge. So, if our mental fitness is depleted, we may struggle to conjure our problem-solving skills.
  • Inundated with negative feelings: When our mental fitness is at rock bottom, we may become inundated with feelings of anxiety and stress that may progress to low self-worth and even depression. We can quickly spiral, but strategies to overcome these situations are tactics we all need. When you feel anxious, perhaps do some physical, breathing, or yoga exercises. That should take your mind off the anxiety-inducing thought. If you’re struggling to get past these feelings, consider calling your at-work EAP like Converge or contacting your GP.

Being Mentally Resilient Will See Better Outcomes

Picture this: you’ve been working hard on a project that has entailed many late nights and mounting pressure. During the project, you missed an essential part purely because you were too tired and drained. When quizzed on why you missed this crucial section, you felt attacked, and your confidence was at an all-time low. No matter how you shape it, this scenario is relevant to many of us.

If you’re at peak mental fitness, you’ll feel more resilient and ready to fix the mistake. Remember, everyone makes mistakes. So, understand that your reaction and ability to overcome this knock-back will demonstrate your resilient character and problem-solving abilities. As the YMCA says: “the mental aspect of sports is often cited as the differentiating factor between champions and contenders.” Therefore, be an Olympian in your everyday life, take care of your mental fitness, and strive for greatness!

Let Converge Support Your Mental Fitness Journey

As a major next-generation employee mental health and wellbeing provider, we may be your workplace EAP. You may not know this, but we have many support streams available – from general mental health support to nutrition and lifestyle coaching. So, reach out to your HR team to see if Converge is your EAP, and if so, book an appointment today via our website or the Converge App. We’ll help you accomplish the gold medal for mental resilience.

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