Tip Scare Yourself Tougher Search Skip to content Menu Menu follow us Store Articles Community Loyal-T Club Loyal-T Points Rewards Subscribe to Save Search Search The World s Trusted Source & Community for Elite Fitness Alpha LifePowerful Words Tip Scare Yourself Tougher Here' s why you need to do a few things that scare the crap out of you by Eirik Sandvik April 2, 2018June 8, 2021 Tags Motivation, Opinion, Powerful Words, Strong Words, Tips Two Pathways to Mental Toughness 1 – Do something physical that you re not used to doing If you've mostly been strength training, there's no real challenge in lifting anymore. Max effort lifts and high rep work to failure are obviously mentally challenging, but they're likely too familiar to really boost your mental capacity. If you're mainly into strength training, this can mean completing a marathon or a shorter distance race as fast as you possibly can. If you've been pushing your strength limits for a long time, pushing your limits with endurance work, will increase your mental toughness. This is hard, but still an "easy" pathway. Because, even though it's challenging, you're used to pushing your limits physically. 2 – Get out of your MENTAL comfort zone This means doing something you're really afraid of doing. When you face what you're most afraid of in life, you'll grow, and the effect will spill over to other areas. Once you conquer a fear, your inner voice will say: "If I did THAT, I sure as hell can do THIS." It simply increases your confidence. One example for me was skydiving. I'd been scared of heights all my life. The thought of jumping out of a plane was ridiculous. It also came with a real risk of actually dying. But I did it and the best part was the jump out of the plane and journey to the ground. It was awesome! The worst part was the flight and the time prior to it. Because just the thought of doing it was paralyzing, not the actual act of doing it. Do something that scares the shit out of you and it'll increase your mental toughness. Get The T Nation Newsletters Don' t Miss Out Expert Insights To Get Stronger, Gain Muscle Faster, And Take Your Lifting To The Next Level related posts Alpha Life The Reason So Many Bodybuilders Die Early A lot of relatively young competitive bodybuilders have died recently, but they're only the latest in a long, grim line. Here's why it might be happening. TC Luoma September 14 Pharma Growth Hormone Fact and Fiction The mainstream media would have you believe that hGH is the holy grail of ergogenics, but is it? Living Better, Pharma, TRT Bryan Krahn April 9 Alpha Life Tip Inadequate Sleep and Thyroid Function This should scare you into bed early. Health & Longevity, Living Better, Sleep, Tips Susan Birch June 21 Alpha Life 5 Reasons Why You Should Never Compete So you want to compete in bodybuilding, huh? Read this first so you don't embarrass yourself. Bodybuilding, Opinion, Strong Words John Romano September 30