Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary. Use the 4C’s of Mental Toughness
Okay, it’s true that John Keating didn’t add the line about mental toughness when talking to his students in the movie Dead Poets Society. However in terms of making their lives extraordinary it may have perfectly plausible for him to do so. Albeit with a creative edge, he instructed his boys to dance to their own tune and be the very best they could be. He encouraged their curiosity and gave them the confidence to explore the world. He implored them to seize the day.
Those people with Mental Toughness generally have the confidence, drive, commitment and self control to seize the day and make their lives extraordinary.
The 4C’s of the mental toughness personality trait as defined by Clough and Strycharczyk form the pillars that support the MTQ48 psychometric measure. Consisting of 4 words namely:
- Control
- Commitment
- Challenge
- Confidence
each describe an important component of mindset and mental toughness.
Control refers to your self-esteem and your belief that you call the shots in your life and that you manage your emotions when doing so. If you are high in control you believe you make a difference and are good at planning and organisation. For you the cup is always half full and while problems exist you expect them and work through them. You are adept at managing your emotional response to situations, especially those that can become difficult or inflammatory, because you are difficult to provoke or annoy. You generally deal well with bullying behaviour.
Commitment refers to your reliability and the extent to which you make and keep promises, both to yourself and others. Targets generally excite you and you will set personal best goals and do your utmost to achieve them. You focus well and are rarely distracted.
Challenge is your “drive” and describes the extent to which you see challenges, change, adversity and variety as opportunities rather than threats. If you are high on challenge you take risks, like problem solving and can more easily manage changes in organisations, relationships and locations.
The final C stands for Confidence, which is your self belief and the extent to which you believe you have the ability to use your knowledge skills and experience to complete tasks and situations to a high standard. You also stand your ground when required and argue your corner, not allowing others to dominate.
Taken together, strengths in all four indicate that you are mentally tough and likely to be higher performers, more engaged, better at managing stress and anxiety and have a greater sense of wellbeing.
O captain my captain I salute your mental toughness.