How To Forge Bulletproof Mental Toughness
6 years ago, 13 of us ran, swam and worked out for 52+ hours straight during the SealFit Kokoro camp. We got yelled at and didn’t get enough food.
And we loved it.
Here’s the story and the 7 lessons I learned to help you bulletproof your mind:
What is Kokoro?
Run by former Navy Seals
52hour crucible with no sleep
Hours of ‘surf torture’ in the Pacific
1000s of pushups, burpees and squats
Countless bruises, cuts and pulled muscles
And a night ruck which had us all hallucinating
Here the lessons:
Clarify your Purpose
When you’re faced with obstacles, you’ll need to know your Why.
Getting in and out of the freezing Pacific made several participants quit.
But when you know your purpose, you’ll overcome whatever life throws at you.
Learn to set micro-goals
Big tasks are scary and you’ll procrastinate.
Knowing we had to do 1 burpee + 1 broad jump for 1 mile was daunting.
But when you focus on just the next action, the tiniest step and get that done, and then the next, you’ll master the big tasks.
Focus on your teammates
There are times when you feel sorry for yourself.
When my feet were bleeding, I focused on how I could help my teammates instead.
Life gets easier when you shift to helping your team rather than thinking of yourself. They’ll do the same for you.
Invite adversity into your life
Seek out challenges, then when life gets tough, you’re prepared.
No one made me sign up for Kokoro, but I knew the event and the training would shatter my comfort zone.
We don’t know when we'll be tested, but you can prepare yourself.
Find something bigger than yourself
Often we're too focused on ourselves.
Knowing my children were watching fuelled me, I wanted to set an example for them.
Connect your goals and mission in life to something bigger than yourself to build a legacy.
Being physically strong makes you mentally tougher
Going to train outside in the freezing Scottish rain in February, made me stronger and tougher.
Find an event you need to train for and commit to a plan. Then execute it no matter the conditions.
Shatter the limits society or your own mind sets for you
We often believe our own BS about having done enough.
My arms were shot after 600 pushups. But then we ended up doing 1000 in 45mins.
Don’t listen to mediocrity. Become obsessed. You’ll love what you’ll uncover.
How to forge mental toughness:
Clarify your Purpose
Learn to set micro-goals
Focus on your teammates
Invite adversity into your life
Find something bigger than yourself
Being physically strong makes you mentally tougher
Shatter the limits society or your own mind sets for you
