What Does Mental Toughness Mean To You?

Doing what has to be done, when it has to be done as well as it can be done...all the time

To me, toughness is associated with ability to withstand, respond to, and/or recover from adversity. So, mental toughness is talking about somebody's ability to mentally deal with adversity on a cognitive/emotional level.

Mentally tough people don't succumb to doubt, emotion, or inner negativity, they aren't swayed by other people's words or actions, and they don't allow initial failure to be the final result.

Examples:
Polarizing figure though he may be, I think you could say Tim Tebow (while in college) was one mentally tough SOB. He didn't seem to ever be defeating himself, he sure as hell didn't care about other's perceptions of him (VERY outspoken about faith, ministry, etc), and you can point to "The Promise" as an example of someone who refused to let an initial setback determine the final outcome.

I think Alex Smith has A LOT of characteristics of a mentally tough person, too. He's been trashed by coaches, fans, media, teammates, EVERYONE. Throughout his career he has consistently owned up to his faults, worked as hard as he could to be his best, and worked to overcome the adversity placed before him. I think there were absolutely moments where he was defeating himself early in his career, but I'll always think of him as someone that just kept chopping wood, so to speak.

Our QB this year was NOT a mentally tough person. Not his fault, his mother and father are dead and he's living with his two alcoholic uncles now, he's over come A LOT to be a reasonably healthy person. For him, he's trying to prove himself to our coaches, hypothetical college coaches in the future, his girlfriend, everyone. He's constantly frustrated with himself and using negative phrasing towards himself. He's absolutely a work in progress, he's too volatile. Sometimes adversity makes him rise to the challenge, sometimes it pushes him off the cliff.


If you want a pretty awesome take on this from poetry, consider Invictus by William Ernest Hensley:
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

mental toughness is learning how to condition your mind to think confidently and be able to overcome frustration and doubt, allowing you to be more consistent while remaining focused, confident, resilient, and in control under pressure. fatigue and physical demands often play a factor in sports as they can serve as obstacles that must be overcome and can be the points of frustration & doubt and they may often lead to a lack of focus, reduced resiliency, and even loss of confidence.

some 'buzz words' might be confidence, composure, compete, refocus, next play, reload, concentrate

I like that riggs, not sure I buy it 100% but that turns into a nurture vs nature debate.

I do feel some kids are born with toughness and some are not. I think natural born toughness or lack of it can be affected by the way the child is reared.

Mental Toughness = Striving forwards under pressure regardless of adversity to achieve your goals

Being able to perform at high levels mentally and physically while under a high degree of physical, mental, emotional, and social stress.