Do you need help in building toughness within yourself? In this podcast episode, Jim and Tyson interview mental toughness expert Steve Magness. They discuss the misconceptions about resilience and how to build true toughness. 

True Resilience

Steve talks about the thing people get wrong about resilience. Many people think resilience means putting your head down, grinding through anything and not letting emotions get in your way. But, resilience really is navigating discomfort and uncertainty and figuring out ways to decide what is best for you. Navigating new territory is scary and many people get anxious or scared if they don't know what to do. Steve shares that if you do something repetitively in which you are putting yourself in uncomfortable situations, your brain will adjust. It's all about looking for easy ways into that space.

True Toughness

Like resilience, many people get true toughness wrong. Toughness is about developing inner strength in order to choose doing something that is difficult. Whether it be lifting weights or running a marathon, there is an inner strength that is needed in order to decide if you are going to do it. There are ways to foster toughness within people and Steve speaks to law firm owners on how best to do it. One thing is giving staff a sense of autonomy, in which people feel they can actively contribute to their teams. Another thing is competency, in which staff have a path to grow and learn.

Staff Connections

It is so important to make and keep connections, especially while working virtually. It is easy to feel isolated when working from home and working with people who you never see face to face. Steve provides some insight on how to maintain these relationships. Before virtual work became the norm, there were water cooler talks and coffee breaks where people would get together and get to know one another on a personal level. Since most of that has gone away, Steve emphasizes the importance of finding ways to bring those in between moments back. One way is to spend 5-10 minutes at the beginning of meetings to share updates on what is going on in your life. Maybe ask a colleague how their vacation went or what they got up to on the weekend.

Take a listen to learn more!

1:30 Steve Magnus discusses the misconceptions about resilience.

3:13 How controlled stressors can help build mental toughness and resilience.

14:39 How leaders can foster internal confidence and toughness.

21:37 Tips on how to foster connection and belonging in the virtual workplace.

Jim's Hack: If there is something that you're struggling with, look at the people who have succeeded at doing that thing and do what they do. 

Steve’s Tip: Get outside for a couple minutes, even if it is to just look at something natural. Getting outside has a restorative ability to your cognition. It will help get rid of some of that fatigue and help you perform better.

Tysons Tip: Think about how you work and where you're working. Think about reconfiguring things to a way that makes more sense for how you operate and it may help you work more efficiently.

Links mentioned

Book: Do Hard Things: Why We Get Resilience Wrong and the Surprising Science of Real Toughness by Steve Magness

🎥 Watch the full video on YouTube here.