7 Lessons to Being a Mentally Strong Man

You have a tendency to waver in your mind. You want to be a stronger, more decisive, determined man. But where do you start the journey to developing this mentally strong mindset?

Here are 7 lessons I have learned in my personal journey that have helped me develop a stronger masculine mindset.

Enjoy the read!

BE YOU AND STAY YOU

As men, we have difficulty being mentally strong because we waver about who we are. For many of us, this is because we are chasing ideas that are not aligned with our true selves. Too often the ideas in our heads are based upon what others think we should be rather than who we really are.

We chase opinions, validation, and the expectations of others. These tend to come from influential people in our lives. This includes parents, spouses, coaches, bosses, friends, and people we respect. We desire to please them and measure up to their standards. Unfortunately, many times this causes us to leave who we are and chase after something that is not authentic. This can lead to frustration and a lack of confidence. With this incongruence within, it will be impossible to be mentally strong.

We must rid our minds of these false ideas. To do this I found it essential to understand how I have been designed in personality, strengths, gifts, and abilities. This is the foundation of who I am. A good place to start this process is by following the steps outlined in this previous post – Living Life in the Sweet Spot of Your Unique Design.

In addition to understanding our design, we need to think through our beliefs and values. Take the time to write all of this down. Think it through and narrow it down to develop the idea of who you really are.

With this information, it is time to renew our minds. Sort through the ideas in our heads. Hold on to those that are true and reject those that are not.

For me, I read through this information regularly. I find the repetition helpful. It reprograms my mind which had been operating with false ideas formed over many years. It takes time and hard work to change our thinking.

This is the man we must stay true to in thought and action. This is our core. With this established, we lock it into our minds and do not allow anyone or anything to deter us from walking true to our selves.

We must be willing to learn but unwilling to become something we are not. We must know ourselves and stay true to this but at the same time, continually work to make ourselves better.

So make sure you are solid about who you are. Rid yourself from chasing ideas that are not aligned with you. This is an essential step to being a mentally strong man.

LIVE ON MISSION

The mentally strong man is the man on mission. We need to determine our mission and pursue it with our entire life. I believe every man is designed in a specific way to impact the world. It is our responsibility to figure out how we are designed and the impact we are to have. From this, we can begin to build our mission.

In my experience mission builds on the first step of who you are. Because when you know how you are designed and who you are, you begin the process of understanding your mission.

So, put in the work to discover your mission. Then, establish a daily routine to strengthen yourself to accomplish that mission. Make this mission a priority and you will grow stronger and gain confidence. You will be a man that knows who he is, why he is here, and where he is going. You will have direction and purpose. This is a powerful step in becoming a mentally strong man. So, start your journey to living as a man on a mission.

PUSH INTO HARDSHIP

The mentally strong man routinely pushes himself into doing hard things.

I have discovered a large majority of men chase comfort. Too often, we listen to the voice in our mind that yearns for the comfortable. Comfort is our enemy. Comfort takes life from men. As you gravitate toward comfort, you become fat and weak. Comfortable men are weak men physically, mentally, and spiritually. The man that chases comfort will never be the mentally strong man.

The mentally strong man pushes past comfort and past the limits set in his mind. This man will pursue hardship, knowing it will make him a better man. He does not cower. He confronts it head-on and leans into it.

So what hard things are you avoiding right now? You need to start doing these things today. If you do not, you will continue down a path that will not end well. You will become everything you never wanted to be as a man. You cannot allow that to happen. You must routinely push yourself into hard things. This habit will make you a mentally strong man.

PUSH THROUGH FEAR

The mentally strong man moves forward in boldness without fear. Fear of failure is one of the many fears that hold men back. We create reasons in our minds as to why or why not to do something. These keep us from being successful in life. Fear creates obstacles in our minds and keeps us from becoming stronger men. We must fight against fear.

Never sit back when you sense fear. Instead, push forward doing what you know you should do. Make things happen. Pushing into areas of fear develops boldness and courage. As a man, God created you to be bold and courageous. Develop this by fighting fear.

So pick a place of fear in your life and push into it. Do the thing you fear most that you know will make you stronger. Start growing by pushing through fear. You will become mentally stronger.

DO – BE A MAN OF ACTION

The mentally strong man does the things he knows he should do.

We need to do them whether we think we are ready or not. We need to push ourselves to spend less time planning and more time doing. I am not saying planning does not have its place. However, we learn so much more when we DO.

I have discovered that I complete far more by doing things BEFORE I think I am ready. While others are still thinking about it, I am doing it and learning as I go.

DOING is the only thing that changes things. Planning, thinking, talking about it changes nothing. Many times these things are just different forms of procrastination. Do not fool yourself. You are changing nothing until you are DOING something different. Be a man of ACTION. The mentally strong man is the man that is DOING.

IGNORE FEELINGS

Learn to ignore “what you feel like doing.” Your feelings cannot have a say in what you do. A life led by emotions is a life that drifts without direction and purpose. This life will end in disaster. We naturally drift into areas that are bad and destructive. It is our nature to fall into places that destroy us rather than strengthen us.

Our feelings are often our enemy. We need to approach feelings that way when it comes to our daily discipline. Our feelings are out to destroy what we are trying to build. Are we going to let that happen? We cannot. We need to be men that do not back down. We need to beat those feelings into submission by doing the very thing we do not feel like doing.

Be a man that ignores feelings and instead lives a life full of self-control and discipline. The man that controls his feelings is a mentally strong man.

THE MOST DETERMINED MAN WINS

The victory in this life does not always go to the most talented men. Success is most often found by men that do not give up. These men are not deterred by hardship and difficulty. Instead, they drive harder when faced with adversity. They continue to learn and apply their new knowledge. They are full of determination and grit.

What I have discovered is there are few men like this. Being this way will make you better than 90% of the men in this world. If you push yourself to the next level, you are on your way to becoming the top 1%.

So we need to be men that work at what we want every day. We will see victories in our lives. We will be mentally stronger men.

Begin Today

Brothers, these are a few lessons I have learned that have helped me become stronger mentally. What about you? Which ones hit home? Don’t wait. Begin today to get after it and take action. Our world needs men that are mentally strong. Get on that path and be that man!

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In your corner,

“As Iron Sharpens Iron, so one man sharpens another. “