“Kick your bad mental habits and toughen yourself up!” This is Amy Morin’s motto, author of “13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do.” In this SAFETY4SEA article we narrow them down in 10 dos and don’ts after having already broached the matter of difficult co-workers and how they drain us of the mental strength we need, in previous Opinion Article. How do we therefore face toxic coworkers rationally and keep our feelings in check?
In particular, developing mental strength is considered to be a triple approach; it’s about “ruling” one’s thoughts, behaviors but also emotions. A good way to understand what mentally strong people do is to follow Amy Morin’s lead and further examine what they do not do!
Here is a quick guide on how to stay strong and confront a difficult co-worker:
Dos
- Re-evaluate priorities:
One of the biggest struggles in life is managing priorities. It is important that people set goals which boost confidence and motivation in order to carry through their daily routines. And of course, by that, we mean adding two main goals to their mental to-do list:
- Surround yourself with people who want to be happy
- Spend as much time as you can doing something you love to do.
- Welcome challenges
There are four main reasons to embrace new challenges and they are all about personal development:
- Grow your skills
- Grow your value
- Grow your relationships
- Grow your job satisfaction
- Give without expectations:
“Kindness is the ultimate strength,” says Gary Vaynerchuk, Belarusian American entrepreneur, author and speaker.
- Ask, “What can I do to help you today?”
- Give your full attention to the person in front of you
- Help someone who is struggling with difficult feelings
- Rule your Mind
Taking control of our mind increases happiness, while decreases stress, forms better relationships, creates new opportunities, and subsequently brings success.
- Eat and sleep well:
Those who don’t get enough sleep may often not recognize the toll it is taking on their cognitive function and mental well-being.
Back in our industry, IMO recently approved revised guidelines on fatigue, to assist all stakeholders to contribute to the mitigation and management of fatigue, which poses significant risks to safety and health of seafarers, operational safety, security and protection of the marine environment.
Don’ts
- Waste time over unproductive thoughts
Focus on positive energizing thoughts by stopping feeding negative thoughts and let the weight rely on non-toxic thoughts. For example, turn the thought “I’ll never get promoted”, into “I have not had been promoted a long time”.
- Let stress possess you
Try traditional relaxation methods such as meditation, which place a central emphasis on breathing, assisting in eliminating the production of stress hormones in the body.
- Give up
Failure is acceptable, it is the foundation for success. Therefore, it is imperative that one is tenacious, keeps improving and growing from the person was yesterday and will not give up on something that is important for the future.
- Expect immediate results
Success does not happen overnight! Mentally strong people are patient people who strive to maintain professional competence by improving their skills, knowledge and abilities and this of course takes time.
- Fear of being alone
Finally, in order to be mentally strong, you need to value and enjoy your personal time. Being alone does not mean being anti-social. There are a handful of benefits that emerge once you learn to embrace solitude, with the most important being to get in touch with your own emotions!
