5 Exercises To Maintain Your Mental Toughness

What do we mean exactly when we say “mental toughness?” What is the association between physical exercise and the resilience of your mind? The body and the mind are closely related and one certainly affects the other. 

 

Mental toughness is a measure of your ability to bounce back from setbacks. If you don’t take care of your body, you will lack essential cognitive skills such as creativity, the ability to focus and memory recall.

 

Have you had bad days when everything seemed to go wrong? You decide to go for a walk and in no time, you notice that something in you is changing - you feel lighter, you are able to see things from a different perspective and concerns diminish.

 

1. Walking to achieve Optimal Mental Strength

 

Walking at a constant, steady pace promotes wonderful changes in your brain. Many studies encourage walking less than thirty minutes a day to reduce certain mental problems, avoid depression and enhance the quality of your life.

 

The simple constant and regular movement during this half hour set our heart “in motion”. You will flood your body with oxygen and in particular your brain. Walking releases tension and will help to bring those calm brain waves into play! These allow us to attain that level of consciousness which allows us to be more receptive to the world.

 

2. Smile, a wonderful Therapeutic Exercise

 

You might surprise yourself and even fail to believe when you smile it is therapeutic and will fill you with positivity. Simply smiling will make a real difference to your mental state. You only need to smile and your brain sends you back a torrent of endorphins.

 

It is as if you reconnect or regain a perspective on reality. This will allow you to disconnect from everyday stress. For this reason, do not hesitate to smile every day. When you feel exhausted, just smile in the mirror. See yourself and perceive what is happening inside of you.

 

3. Deep breaths 3 times a day

 

Stress leads to unbalanced and accelerated breathing and prevents the brain from getting the right amount of oxygen that it requires. In addition, any situation of stress or anxiety releases cortisol, which is a hormone that in high doses can negatively impact your mind and body.

 

To avoid problems with stress be sure to participate in deep breathing exercises.

 

• Three times a day practice your deep breathing for 15 minutes

• When you breathe in count for 5 seconds. Hold your breath for 7 seconds and then exhale for 8 seconds

• Keep doing these deep breathing exercises and you will see great improvement

 

4. Stretches in the Morning

 

Morning stretches will help you to maintain your mental strength as you learn to “relax” your body. In other words, it will provide your body with relaxation, elasticity, resistance and more.

 

Get up a little earlier in the morning and start with some gentle stretching exercises. They should focus on your neck area, shoulders, hips and lower back.

 

5. Lifting Weights

 

You will find it very therapeutic to participate in simple resistance exercises. The aim with these exercises is to reduce anxiety. To release negative emotions such as worry, apprehension and fear spend around 10 to 15 minutes each day lifting weights.

 

This moderate intensity resistance exercise will not only allow you to gain stronger muscles, but will also help you better channel rage, frustration, anxiety and other negative emotions. When you use all five of these simple exercises you will have more agile mental strength day after day! In addition, you will be prepared to face daily challenges.

 

Techniques For Reprogramming Your Subconscious Mind

There are many exercises you can do to unleash the power of your subconscious. However, it is recommended that you choose just one to start with. The goal is to be fully focused and to avoid dispersing.

 

1. Mental visualization

 

The subconscious is very sensitive to the power of images. It has no temporal notion and evolves in an eternal present. This means that when you imagine that you have accomplished a goal, your subconscious will not distinguish between what will be achieved in the future, and the desire already fulfilled. 

 

This representation will trigger the same physiological effects in you as reality. You will therefore feel positive emotions which will strengthen your winning mindset. There is a ripple effect where your subconscious will be even more stimulated.

 

Each day spend about 10 minutes visualizing positive scenes of what you want to accomplish in your life.

 

Here are some visualization examples, if you need some inspiration:

 

* An exciting job

* A beautiful house

* Holidays in dream destination

* Constructive and healthy relationships

* Anything you want to manifest in your life

 

To increase the power of visualization even further, be sure to emit strong positive emotions. By doing this consistently, you will eliminate everything that slows you down on a daily basis (fears, worries, doubts ...)

 

2. Positive affirmations

 

Positive affirmations are short sentences, which you send to your subconscious, to direct your thoughts towards the goals you want to achieve. All the affirmations that you repeat to yourself over and over again will transform your life and shape your mind. Your thoughts will become a powerful tool in creating your reality.

 

In order for exercise to work and provide fast results, you must follow these few rules:

• Affirmations should be positive and formulated in the present tense. Your subconscious, as mentioned earlier, has no notion of time and simply recognizes the present moment. A future or negative formulation will therefore have no effect, since it is not compatible with your subconscious.

• Your emotions should be in line with your statements. Whatever words you say, make an effort to feel the corresponding emotions. Your subconscious will be more inclined to believe it.

• Be regular and diligent. Affirmations only work if you repeat them several times a day. Make them part of your morning or evening routine so you don't forget them.

 

3. The influence of your environment

 

Your subconscious follows the same relentless logic as a computer. It is indifferent to the nature of the environment in which you live. He is simply content to form his beliefs blindly on the basis of all the information received and heard. If you are constantly exposed to negative thoughts, or live with people complaining all day long, your plans and mood will suffer.

 

Surround yourself with good energies and agree to sort out your relationships. Leave room to welcome new people who match your values ??and your current outlook. Focus on people that pull you up and energize you.

 

It is important to be consistent and diligent to see the results of your programming. As soon as you start to experience positive results it will provide you with the motivation to do more. Stick to your daily sessions, and know that these changes are long lasting, powerful, and worth investing in.

 

The Power Of Your Subconscious Mind

You have two minds which are your conscious and subconscious. Your conscious mind deals with your daily interactions with the world. It provides you with information via your 5 senses:

 

* Sight

* Sound

* Touch

* Smell

* Taste

 

You have thoughts swirling around in your conscious mind all the time you are awake. These thoughts can be negative and harmful to you or positive and empowering. The way that you react to a specific situation is partly due to your conscious mind and a lot to do with your subconscious mind.

 

Your Subconscious Mind

 

You store all of your beliefs and life habits in your subconscious mind. Some of these beliefs and habits serve you well and others hold you back in life. A belief that tells you not to leap off of tall buildings is clearly something that you want to hang on to. But a belief that tells you that you are never going to be successful is something that you want to change.

 

Your subconscious mind allows you to do many things on autopilot. For example, you don’t need to use your conscious mind to remind you to breathe, do you? If this was the case you would never be able to sleep as your conscious mind shuts down during sleep.

 

But your subconscious mind can also work against you as it will push you to do other things on autopilot that are not helpful such as drinking too much alcohol or doing drugs. It can also produce negative thoughts in your head based on your past. If you want to achieve a goal but failed in the past with this then it can tell you that you will not be able to do it.

 

You can Reprogram your Subconscious Mind

 

The good news is that you are not stuck with all of the negative beliefs and habits that exist in your subconscious mind. You can reprogram your subconscious to empower you rather than hinder you. This all starts by controlling what enters your subconscious from your conscious mind.

 

It really is a “garbage in garbage out” scenario. If you continually feed your subconscious with negativity through the thoughts in your conscious mind then your subconscious will work against you. Your subconscious mind does not distinguish between positive and negative thoughts. It just accepts what your conscious mind feeds it.

 

The same is true for limiting beliefs. Maybe you were told as a child that “money doesn’t grow on trees”. This is a classic saying that many people tell their children. The problem here is that this can lead your subconscious to hold the belief that money is always going to be difficult for you.

 

Control your Thoughts

 

If you want to develop a winning mindset then you have to control your thoughts. You want to ensure that only positive and empowering thoughts permeate through to your subconscious. Your conscious mind is the gatekeeper to your subconscious and if you focus on something often enough with your conscious mind then this will feed your subconscious.

 

So, if you keep experiencing negative thoughts in your mind then you need to neutralize these with positive thoughts. For example, if you receive the thought that you cannot do something then counter this with a positive thought like “I can do anything”. After a while your subconscious will change this negative belief.

 

Why You Need A Strong Reason WHY

If you have a winning mindset then you will always be looking to set new goals for yourself to improve your life. You know that setting challenging goals will move you out of your comfort zone and help you to grow as a person. Achieving the goals that you set will reaffirm the belief in your subconscious mind that you can do anything.

 

The problem is that when you set challenging goals for yourself, they will not be easy to achieve. They wouldn’t be challenging if you could achieve them without breaking a sweat, would they? This means that you are in for some tough times ahead in the pursuit of your goals.

 

You need a strong WHY

 

Before you start working on your challenging goals you need a strong WHY. This is the real reason (or reasons) why you are pursuing the goal in the first place. Nobody wants to lose weight because they want to fit into their old clothes, they want to lose weight because they will look so much better and attract a lot of attention.

 

So when you are writing your WHY statement (yes you need to write it down) it is essential that you are completely honest with yourself. The best way to find out the real reason why you want to achieve a goal is to ask yourself why you really want to achieve it.

 

Your subconscious will not lie to you. It will tell you that you want to earn an additional $50,000 over the next year because you want to impress your partner, your family or your friends for example. The money itself is not that important. It is the power that the money will give you that is the driving force. You need to write this in your WHY statement.

 

When you are writing your WHY statement ask yourself how you will feel when you have achieved your goal. Visualize that you already have the extra money or that you have already lost the weight. How do you feel about this? Make these feelings strong by imagining yourself walking into a room with your pockets stuffed with money or your new sexy figure.

 

What will be the reaction of your friends or whoever it is that you want to impress? Write down all of the emotions that you experience in your WHY statement. This is very important and will go a long way to help you to achieve your goal.

 

Refer to your WHY statement every day

 

When you get out of bed in the morning you need to read your WHY statement. If it is very strong then it will inspire you for the day ahead. It is essential that you start the day off in the right frame of mind and a strong WHY statement will certainly do this for you.

 

You do not have to read your WHY statement out loud if you don’t want to, reading it in your head is OK. The most important thing is that it inspires you and evokes strong emotion so that you will be chomping at the bit to get started.

 

As you pursue your challenging goals then there will be obstacles that you have to overcome to progress. Some of these obstacles are likely to be major ones that you have never encountered before. If these things overwhelm you, it will be easy for you to lose your motivation. Get out your WHY statement and inspire yourself to carry on.

 

Want Do You Really Want?

People that do not have winning mindsets usually don’t know what they want. If you ask them what they want from their life you will get a blank look and you will see their mind churning trying to provide a somewhat intelligent answer.

 

If you don’t know what you want then you will get what life throws at you. Unfortunately, most people live their life this way. Why do they do this? Because it takes effort to work out what you really want. And most people do not want to put in any effort to change their lives for the better.

 

People with Winning Mindsets always know what they want

 

A person that has a winning mindset will always know what they want. They will know where they are going to be in a year’s time, five years, ten years and so on. Not only do they know what they really want but they have a plan to get it. 

 

They take the time out to look at the different aspects of their lives and identify the improvements that they need to make. This can be anything from acquiring new skills, becoming healthier, getting a better home or car or improving their relationships.

 

People with winning mindsets know the power of asking themselves the right questions. They know that asking questions about their life will stimulate their subconscious minds and provide them with the answers that they need. They use the answers that they receive to set new goals.

 

You can do it too

 

Find a quiet place with no distractions and take a pen and paper with you. Look at the different aspects of your life and ask yourself searching questions. You can take a look at the following areas of your life:

 

* Your business or career

* Your money

* Your health

* Your relationships

* Your skills

* Your contribution to the world

 

The areas of your life that you want to identify are entirely up to you. You know yourself better than anyone else does. Once you have identified these areas it is time to ask yourself the right questions to discover what you want.

 

So, you could ask yourself “am I happy with my current business or career?” If the answer is “no”, then ask yourself why this is the case. You might find that your business or career is not providing you with enough income for example. So, write down that you want to increase your income.

 

Go through this process for all of the different aspects of your life that you want to work on. When looking at your health you may decide that you need to lose some weight and for your skills you may need to learn how to be a good public speaker. It doesn’t matter, just write everything down.

 

Identifying what you really want

 

When you perform this exercise, you will probably end up with a number of things that you want to do to improve your life. People with a winning mindset know that they can’t take on too many new goals so they examine each item to see how badly they want it.

 

So, if you wrote that you want to increase your income ask yourself how badly you want to do this. Then imagine having achieved this already and notice how you feel about this. Go for the things that conjure up the strongest feelings within you.

 

Tips for Removing Negativity from Your Life

There is no reason that negativity is a drain. Most people will surely avoid negative people if as much as possible and will reduce their contact with them to an absolute minimum. But it can also be a downward spiral. So, what would do if you're suffering from an excess of negativity that's maybe even leading you into depression?

 

1. Be grateful more often

 

Gratitude is a powerful weapon against negativity.

 

It's pretty much it's opposite and once you learn to be grateful more often then you'll find that your negativity struggles to cope with your new found gratitude.

 

At first, just say "thank you" more often. Ideally out loud but at least in your head.

 

And if find necessary things to be grateful for - the air you're breathing, the clothes you're wearing, anything!

 

If possible, keep a gratitude journal and write down at least three things that have happened during the day that you're grateful for. This will help put your mind in the right place to sleep.

 

2. Get more exercise

 

Exercise releases endorphin into your body.

 

These are a natural "feel good" mechanism that acts faster, better and safer than any drug (prescription or otherwise), and they are generated when you exercise.

 

Exercise doesn't have to mean going to the gym or pool or even jogging.

 

It can be as simple as leaving the car at home for short journeys or parking a bit further away from the store entrance.

 

Or you could deliberately go out for a walk! That works nicely so long as the weather isn't too inclement.

 

3. Eat healthily

 

Comfort food is often anything but comforting.

 

It may be something you eat that gives you a quick sugar high, but that's soon followed by the negative side of eating food that's not exactly healthy.

 

Cut down on excess sugar.

 

Gradually cut down on the caffeine (it's not a good idea to remove caffeine from your diet in one swoop).

 

Make slightly healthier choices when you eat - even if that means reading the labels. A good rule is not to eat things where you don't understand several of the ingredients and wouldn't add them if you were making the recipe at home. So if you don't keep high fructose corn syrup, or it's artificial partner aspartame in your kitchen, don't buy products with them in.

 

4. Hypnotize yourself

 

Negativity isn't something you've chosen to do.

 

It's something your subconscious mind has developed as a protection mechanism for you.

 

And - just as you can't tell your nails to stop growing - it's not easy to remove negativity or depression at a conscious level.

 

Hypnosis works by working with your subconscious mind to subtly change your behavior and reduce the negativity in your life.

 

It's easy - all you do is listen to a hypnosis recording (easier and more flexible than visiting a hypnotist) and let it work its magic.

 

3 Ways To Improve Your Mindset

Occasionally life has a way of making us feel so small and breaking us down. Maybe you ultimately make a decision that you were all set to make an important transformation in your life but something or someone threw you off your high horse before you got going. 

 

Some people are not able to really put their wheels in motion while others are inexorable with their main goals in life. The truth is your mindset is usually what really makes the difference. Learning how to manage your thought patterns is what is going to keep you on the move when things fail to go as planned. Here are 3 ways to improve your mindset:

 

Start Off Your Day Strong

 

Your day’s effectiveness is normally determined in the first few morning hours. If you start checking the Facebook newsfeed and email when you get out of bed, you will start to drift down to the unknown. Front load your morning with an activity that will give you a positive mental focus. A brief brainstorming or workout session will help in keeping you right on track.

 

Take Control of What Goes In Your Head

 

Are you filling your mind with the awesome stuff or reading tabloids? You will never really understand how much of an impact this can have on your reality until when you’ll read Darren Hardy? The Compound Effect. Don’t mind making fun of yourself to get your point across. Learn to be proactive and disciplined about the things that you allow to go through your mind. We cannot make changes to our DNA, nonetheless, we can opt to be more and more vigilant about what sort of information we choose to consume.

 

Practice Gratitude

 

Recall what you are grateful for time and time again. Focus on the positive things that life has to offer as opposed to its negatives. Now this is not always easy but people are encouraged to keep trying. Think about how fortunate you are and keep a journal for the opportunity to fulfill your dreams each and every day. Have in mind that it is you who’s going to determine your reality. As such be grateful for that opportunity.

 

So, there you have it. The above three strategies have helped establish an amazing positive momentum in the lives of very many people. Come to terms with the reality that obstacles are inevitable and know your journey of finding your best self as well as improving your mindset. 

 

5 Things Successful People Do To Improve

Have you ever wondered why some people succeed so much in what they do in life while others do not? Well, here are 5 things successful people do to improve. Try them out and you will become an icon in your community in no time.

 

1. They set goals persistently. 

 

You cannot improve in anything you do unless you set some targets and achieve them. Successful people understand that you can never be too good at what you do or too successful in your trade. You always have a goal to achieve. You always have to do something that no one before you did. Steve Jobs had this type of mentality and look at what he built. Apple is now the most highly valued company in the world. 

 

2. They have the right networks. 

 

You cannot succeed alone. You need a network of people who know things that you do not know. You should listen to their expert advice, analyze it, and then implement it if it makes sense. Do not rely on your wisdom in everything you do because you cannot know everything. Get a good accountant, a professional lawyer, an excellent human resource manager, and a strategic thinker among others. Start connecting with the high and mighty in your society because they have the ability to make or break business deals. 

 

3. Take responsibility for your actions and learn from your failures. 

 

You will never be successful if you do not accept responsibility for your actions even if it is just in private. Without doing so, you would never learn from your mistakes. Instead, you would blame others for your failures and doing that will cost you many good friends. If you learn from your mistakes, you can correct them and even prevent them in future. You can build stronger relationships with those around you and generate better ideas than you did before you took responsibility for your actions. 

 

4. Family is everything. 

 

People who succeed focus on their families incessantly. They have to groom the heirs to the family fortune so that their effort to build this fortune does not go to waste after they die. Knowing that someone will take over their businesses motivates them to work harder so that they can hand over a strong and prosperous estate. By doing so, their name will live forever and their grandchildren and great grandchildren will hear stories about them.

 

5. Take care of your body, mind, and spirit. 

 

You cannot be successful if your body is unable to handle the pressure that comes with working hard. You have to keep it healthy with exercise and a healthy diet. You also have to have a sound mind for you to make the right decisions at the right time. Doing so is impossible if you have too much stress. Finally, you have to be in good spirit for you to think clearly. You also cannot enjoy life or interact with others positively if you are in a bad mood persistently. Take care of yourself so that you can expand your wealth and enjoy it while you are at it. 

 

5 Ways to Stay Dedicated to Success

To succeed in life, you have to do your best at all times but sometimes, staying dedicated becomes difficult. This is not a sign of defeat, on the contrary, feeling demotivated along the way whether because of sheer exhaustion or setbacks is almost inevitable and you will need a little boost. The following are 5 ways to help you stay dedicated to succeed.

 

1. Set Attainable Goals

 

Setting goals gives you a short-term motivation and a long-term vision. It also helps you to organize your resources and time so that you can make the most out of your life. Write down your goals with a pen on a piece of paper as according to research, writing them down by hand and connecting the letters manually engages your brain more actively. Typing them involves less mental connection.

 

2. Break down the goals into smaller pieces

 

A major source of stress in life comes from the feeling that there are impossible number of things to do. If you try to do the whole project at once, you will certainly feel overwhelmed. To avoid this, you should break down the project into realistic steps and focus on completing each at a time.

 

Success in each step triggers the reward center of the brain releasing a feel good chemical known as dopamine. This makes you feel motivated and inspires you to take another step.

 

3. Find a Social Support Network

 

Create a group of people who can help keep you on track. They can be family friends or relatives who can guide you and help you develop new skills. You can also reach out to them when you are feeling demotivated, listen and share ideas.

 

4. Exercise

 

Any form of exercise from yoga to aerobics elevates your mood and increases feel good chemicals in the brain. Exercising also acts as a type of meditation focusing the mind on a particular task and clearing any doubts as well as lowering stress. These elements combine and produce motivation feelings to carry forward.

 

5. Reward yourself

 

When you get the expected results, reward yourself in some way. For some tasks, taking a few minutes break will do while others you can treat yourself to a dessert or a cup of coffee. For more demanding project, you can reward yourself by doing something enjoyable like taking a vacation, going to a cinema or even buying yourself something then move on to the next project.

 

10 Habits of Successful People

Nearly all successful people have similar habits. If you are not keen enough, you may never notice these habits. So, do you dream to become successful one day? Well, here is how…

 

10 Habits of Successful People 

 

1. Decisive 

 

The decisions that you make, whether small or big, will affect your success in life. It's important to make sure that these decisions complement your values. If you are unable to make the right decisions, then you will find it very difficult to live a successful life. 

 

2. Responsible 

 

Being responsible means taking control of the events happening in your life. It’s the difference between success and failure. Your actions will influence your success, so be more responsible. 

 

3. Focused 

 

Focusing on the goals that you set will help you become successful within no time. Without focus, you will be unable to do important things that will set your life on a new path to success. All I can tell you is focus.

 

4. Wake Up Early 

 

Most who are successful in life, cultivate a habit of waking up early. If you have difficulty with waking up early, you should try different techniques like finding an alarm clock, avoiding light or screen an hour before retiring to bed etc. 

 

5. Avoid Distractions 

 

There are a number of distractions in your life that can lead to your failure in life. For instance, drugs, bad company, social media and much more. To avoid distractions, make sure that you work on completing the items on your to-do list before your work day ends. 

 

6. Patient 

 

Patience pays. To become successful, you have to practice patience. If you do your things hurriedly, chances are that you won't do them the right way and you will become a failure. Take your time to attract success. 

 

7. Listen More and Speak Less 

 

Those who are successful use most of their time listening instead of speaking. By listening more and speaking less you have time to digest what you are listening to make sound decisions. 

 

8. Respectful

 

In most disciplines, respect is the key to success. Without respect, you won't be able to taste success no matter how hard you try. 

 

9. Always Make The First Move 

 

Be bold in life and always make the first move and avoid being after the crowd. Always be ahead of the pack if you want to taste success. 

 

10. Manage Time Well

 

Time is money. So, if you don’t manage your time well, don’t expect success to come on a silver platter. 

 

Conclusion

 

To sum it up, becoming successful is without a doubt one of the most coveted achievements today. However, as you can clearly see, it requires a fair share of effort although it's still possible. If you keenly stick to the 10 habits outlined in this post, you can make your dream of becoming successful a reality.