6 Keys to Teaching Mental Toughness

Coaches talk about it all the time and players strive to achieve it: mental toughness.

Mental toughness goes hand-in-hand with Emotional Intelligence (see previous post). Here are 6 keys elements of teaching, learning or practicing mental toughness:

1. Flexibility- the ability to absorb the unexpected and remain level-headed. If something isn't going well or doesn't turn out as expected, they remain flexible in their approach and look for new ways to solve the problem.

2. Responsiveness- ability to remain engaged, alive and connected with a situation when under pressure.
 

3. Strength-  ability to exert and resist great force when under pressure and to keep going against insurmountable odds. They find the strength to dig deep and garner the resolve to keep going, even when in a seemingly losing game. They focus on giving their best and fighting hard until the end, with persistent intensity throughout the game. "While this is tough, I am a whole lot tougher."

4. Courage and ethics- doing the right thing for the team. They suppress the temptation to cut corners or to undermine others so they come out on top. They have the courage to make the hard but right decisions for the team.

5. Resiliency. - ability to rebound from disappointments, mistakes and missed opportunities and get right back in the game. They have a hardiness for enduring the downs of a situation. They remain optimistic in the face of adversity and quickly change when necessary.They resolve to make things better and are experts at figuring out ways to do more with fewer resources.

6. Sportsmanship-  don't let the opponent know when he or she has gotten them down. "Chin up" mentality. The behavior exhibited after losing sets the tone for others. Mentally tough athletes support their teammates and their roles through good times and bad.

-Christine M. Riordans , the dean and a professor of management at the Daniels College of Business, University of Denver