It’s that time of year again. Time for our annual refuel on faith and optimism for a better year. For some it’s financial: “This is the year I finally make great strides in my career!” For others it’s health: “This is the year I finally lose that weight!” We have a kind of spiritual or mental reset at this time but as the days go by; as the weeks go by, we slowly lose this enthusiastic grip on life and many simply let go and the cycle starts all over. Regardless of which areas we struggle with, they all stem from a lack of mental fortitude.
I think mental fortitude can be best described as having the mental strength to do what we know we need to do in spite of adversity, uncertainty, or how we feel. It’s the foundation of attributes like courage and confidence. For instance, take a kid who wants to learn how to ride a bicycle. He’s afraid because he is uncertain of the outcome—he very likely will land on the ground with a couple of scrapped elbows. But in spite of this (mental fortitude), he gets on the bike (courage), and learns how to ride it (confidence). It’s a seemingly simply process but our brains tend to overanalyze things and oftentimes we just make excuses.
At its core, mental fortitude is about taking ownership of our lives. We can only really grow or change when we operate with the mindset that we are solely responsible for our lot in life. Life is neither fair nor easy but at the end of the day, no government program or family aid can fix our problems because the vast majority of them are rooted in the fundamentals of our being, i.e., confidence, courage, perseverance, mental fortitude.
I’ve struggled with speaking my mind for as long as I can remember. Like most people, it’s almost always because of the fear of uncertainty: “How will they react?” “What if they say ‘no’?” “What if she rejects me?” etc. etc. I’ve gotten better with age but I still struggle and the most significant areas in life I struggle with can be directly tied to not speaking my mind or not communicating effectively, which is the result of a lack of courage and confidence; a lack of mental fortitude. This is what I strive to improve upon this coming year. I share this with the hope that it helps—even if just a little—anyone who reads it.
The future looks bright.
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