"A tougher runner isn’t one who is blind with ambition or confidence, but one who can accurately assess the demands and the situation."
"Toughness is about embracing the reality of where we are and what we have to do. Not deluding ourselves, filling ourselves with a false confidence, or living in denial."
"Research consistently shows that tougher individuals are able to perceive stressful situations as challenges instead of threats."
"Rather, those who can see situations as a challenge developed the ability to quickly and accurately assess the situation and their ability to cope with it. An honest appraisal is all about giving your mind better data to predict with."
"A stress response prepares us for action."
"Our appraisal of a situation as a threat or as a challenge depends on the perceived demands of that stressor versus our perceived abilities to handle them."
"Embrace reality. Accurate appraisal of demands + accurate appraisal of our abilities."
"A key component of real toughness is acknowledging when something is hard, not pretending it isn’t."
"Whenever we set our expectations too high, we’re more likely to enter the “freak-out” stage of our toughness pattern. Instead of going big, set just manageable challenges."
"When people chose goals that reflected their true selves, not their public selves, they were more likely to follow through."
"When you judge yourself solely by what place you came across the finish line, it provides zero actionable information on how to improve in the future. Judging yourself by how much effort you gave or whether you executed your plan offers a road map for what can be worked on during the next go-round."
"If you feel tired, fatigued, or anxious, you can learn how to navigate that. But knowing that you might sell yourself short gives you the power to do something about it, and to readjust as stress or fatigue mounts."
"Before we get to the point where we need to bounce back off the turf after a brutal tackle, we need the right frame of mind. Our biology is already primed and biasing us in a particular direction before facing any sort of challenge. What direction we end up going is largely up to how we see ourselves and the world around us."
"When we lack confidence or belief, our insecurities and doubts have room to grow."
"Confidence appears simple: believe in yourself."
"When our confidence is low, our toolbox shrinks."
"When our confidence is high, we are able to cope with the demands of the event. We can manage our fears and doubts, quiet the negative voices, and redirect our focus to the task at hand."
"Confidence is a filter, tinting how we see the challenges before us and our ability to handle them."
"Self-esteem correlates well with a number of important factors related to health and well-being, including life satisfaction."
Written by Famous Author : Steve Magness
Do
Hard Things: Why We Get Resilience Wrong and the Surprising Science of
Real Toughness
