How to Develop Mental Fitness

 

Picture this: You are on vacation for the next couple of days. No distractions, no commitments… and yet, you wake up at 6:00 am for a 5k run.   While on vacation.   Crazy, right?   You might wonder why anyone would choose to do that during precious leisure time.   Well, there's a reason…   How you do one thing is how you do everything.   You can skip a few workouts and nothing will happen. But that's not the point. This isn't about physical fitness. It's about mental fitness.   If you quit when it's hard, eventually you'll quit when it's easy.   That's why I work out on vacation. Get out of bed when it's dark outside. Keep the routine even when it is inconvenient. Because that's how you build resilience (and as a bonus, a six-pack at 43 :-)) And resilience makes you unstoppable in every aspect of life.   Leaders Who Embrace the Hard Path Look at any successful leader, and you'll find someone who consistently does hard things.   Sara Blakely practiced public speaking in elevators despite her fear, years before Spanx made her a billionaire. Every day, she'd force herself to speak to strangers in enclosed spaces, building the confidence that would later help her pitch to buyers.   Indra Nooyi worked night shifts while climbing the corporate ladder at PepsiCo, refusing to take the easier path. She'd study company reports at 3 AM, preparing for meetings while others slept.   David Goggins transforms himself from a 300-pound pest exterminator to an elite Navy SEAL and ultra-marathon runner, proving that our limits are often self-imposed.   These leaders understand something crucial: greatness lives outside our comfort zone.

The Science of Doing Hard Things Recent research from Stanford's Resilience Project shows that facing regular challenges actually rewires our brain for better stress response and decision-making.   In his book "The Comfort Crisis", Michael Easter demonstrates how our sheltered, temperature-controlled, overfed, under-challenged life may be contributing to many of our most urgent physical and mental health issues. Dr. Peter Attia shares a similar discovery in "Outlive.”   The conclusion is clear: Being too comfortable is not good for us. We are meant to do hard things.   Whether it's for our physical or mental health, leveraging the power of discomfort can dramatically improve our health and happiness.   If you want to get fit, your muscles will ache or you'll be out of breath.   If you want to lead, you’ll have to face uncomfortable situations that will make you anxious. If you want to improve your mental health, you'll need to answer some hard questions and work through painful emotions.   Discomfort is the price you pay to change and grow.   The Career Impact When we think about your career, avoiding things like hard conversations, speaking up, asking for what you need, or going the extra mile will stifle your growth.   Think about the costs:   Not having that difficult conversation means your team's performance keeps suffering Avoiding public speaking limits your executive presence and influence Playing it safe in meetings reduces your strategic impact Accepting poor performance sets a precedent you'll have to live with   If you have no desire to keep growing and increasing your impact and fulfillment, maybe this isn't a problem for you.   But if you are the kind of person who wants to do and be more… Doing hard things should become a habit.   How to Do Hard Things There are many ways to train your “hard things” muscle on purpose.   Tim Ferriss sleeps on the floor one night every month. Tom Bilyeu does intermittent fasting where he doesn't eat for 3 days. I wake up at 6 am when it is still dark outside and go for a 5k run. Every week.   The kind of 'hard' doesn't matter, as long as it is hard for you.   To be honest, convincing yourself to do hard things isn't an easy mindset shift to make. Our brains are wired to keep us comfortable where it is safe, they are not wired to push us towards growth.   But hey, that just means it's a shift worth making, right?   Here are three powerful reframes that can help you embrace challenges:   1. "I'm the kind of person who..." I am the kind of person who works out on vacation now… but it didn't start that way. No, I was a couch potato for the majority of my 20s. For 3 years I tried to get into shape, but I couldn't make anything stick. It was too hard.    And then in 3 months I hit my first 5k run.   What changed?   I stopped thinking ‘I can’t do it” and started telling myself "I'm the kind of person who works out 3 times every week." I didn't believe it at the beginning, but over time I had to take action to justify this belief to myself.   2. "If not now, then when?" One of the excuses we all use when we want to avoid hard things is "I'll do it tomorrow", or next week or when… and the result is always the same. It never happens. We use procrastination to avoid hard things.   Whenever I'm in this situation I ask myself: if not now, then when?   The goal is not to get you to commit to a future date. It's actually to question your excuse. It's a reminder that there will never be a good time, so you might as well buckle up and do it.   3. "What's the cost of not doing it?" This is about facing the long-term consequences of avoidance. When you're tempted to postpone that crucial conversation with an underperforming team member, ask yourself: What's the real cost of delay? To your team's morale? To your leadership credibility? To the company's results?   This is how I convinced myself to: Take my first cold plunge. Start a business. Workout on vacation But more importantly, this is how you can keep challenging yourself and stretching the limits of what's possible.   Real Impact in Your Career Doing hard things isn't just about personal challenge - it's about building the resilience required for executive leadership.   Every day, senior leaders face decisions that test their resolve:   Being the first to point out flaws in a popular strategy Making necessary but unpopular decisions about team structure Leading through uncertainty during reorganizations Giving honest feedback to those above you Taking on complex, messy projects others avoid   Each of these moments is an opportunity to strengthen your leadership muscle.

Your Next Steps Doing hard things requires practice, but it's a skill you can develop.   You can start with small things like keeping one promise you make to yourself this week or month. And as your discipline grows, you'll eventually become unstoppable. You'll do things most people dream of, but never achieve. And that is why it will be worth the effort.   I believe in you and I'm rooting for you. Maya   P.S. What's the hard thing you've been avoiding? Maybe it's time to face it head-on.