Cultivate Your Mental Toughness with Mindfulness and Healthy Daily Habits
What comes to mind when you hear the term mental toughness? This is a tool we can build and strengthen with regular practice to consistently feel good in our minds and bodies. It’s cultivated through our routines, learning to manage our emotions, recognizing our needs and creating healthy daily habits.
In my work as a leader, presenter and coach I am often asked how to create healthy practices, and about the necessary components of effective morning and nightly routines. I love this question. The best suggestion I can offer is to pay attention to five key areas that will ensure you’re strengthening your mind and body:
Sleep
Mindful Rest
Mindful Fuel
Mindful Movement
Mindful Connections
Strive to build healthy habits around each of these areas daily, and you will see and feel significant improvements in how you feel, inside and out. For example, one step you can take to ensure more restful sleep is to limit your caffeine consumption to the morning. This can have a tremendous effect on better quality of sleep. Another example is to build a daily habit of stretching, doing your favorite workout, or taking a walk outside.
One of my favorite habits for connection is journaling each night before I go to bed. Research proves that journaling greatly reduces stress. It’s how I prep my mind before sleep. You can also write and schedule your ‘to do’ list before bed to support better sleep.
Managing our emotions is another key component of mental toughness. It’s an impactful way of creating a life filled with more peace, less stress and increased calm. To succeed at this, we must resist attaching to negative thoughts. Notice your improvements and journal about your efforts and results. Celebrate your wins.
By taking time to reflect on the things you do each day to build better habits in these areas, your awareness and mindfulness strengthen and you will experience amazing benefits in your mind and body.
Moment of Introspection & Leadership:
The way we make positive changes in our lives is through our awareness. When you prepare for your day with mindfulness in each of the areas I mention above, you will feel more calm and joy in your life. I encourage you to embrace your curiosity and start conversations with others about their favorite habits when it comes to sleep, fuel and rest. This can be a rich source of inspiration and connection.
Remember, we have more control over our day when we take time to prepare and ensure our needs are met. Measure your mental toughness by capturing your top three daily wins each night. This will help you begin seeing patterns in your days that make you feel good, and highlight the habits that support you best. As you begin to feel stronger in your mind and body, you will notice that even your decision making is more aligned with your goals and aspirations!
“The more we control our mind, the more our inner peace increases and the happier we become.”
— Geshe Kelsang Gyatso
REFLECTIVE & DISCOVERY QUESTIONS FOR THOUGHTS & JOURNALING
What habits do you live by that make you the most proud right now?
If anything was possible and nothing was impossible, what would you start today that would make you feel good?
FOR YOUR TEAM DAILY HUDDLE
What is our best habit as a team? What do we do daily as a team that supports you the most?