Developing Mental Muscle

“Remember, the mind is your best muscle. Big arms can move rocks, but big words can move mountains.” – Rocky Balboa

Anyone that knows me knows that I love Rocky.  All six of the movies, yes there are six – plus two installments of Creed.

I have been a fan since I saw my first Rocky movie when I was a teenager and have seen all of the Rocky movies multiple times (at least double digits).  My kids were “forced” to watch Rocky and all my friends have heard about how GREAT all of the movies are.  Why are they great?  They contain simple but important life lessons that we all need in order to be better human beings. 

I recently saw the newest installment in the Rocky Balboa series Creed II.  As always, I loved it.  I loved it because it is a story of perseverance and developing mental toughness to overcome obstacles in life.  The power of developing mental muscle. 

What does it mean to develop your mental muscle? 

To me it means working on little things daily in order to be prepared for the big things when they happen.  Just like lifting weights and doing pushups every day will make your arms stronger, working on certain “mental reps” will make your character and resolve stronger when the challenges of daily life descend upon you.

What steps can you take to grow that muscle?

Practice your mental focus.  It is easy to get distracted by the little things that happen around you everyday.  Clients, patients, and team members all have their little problems that can derail you from the things that you want to do.  Practicing focus and living consciously will help you filter out the less important things around you and allow you to concentrate on the task at hand.

Practice self-awareness. Often we want to blame our problems on those around us instead of taking personal responsibility.  The truth is, the more you look inward and learn about yourself, the better you will be at handling outside influences and issues.  Knowing yourself well, embracing your morals and studying your mind will set you up to make quick, accurate decisions.  You will already know the answer to many questions because you know what you ultimately want.

Work on strengthening your strengths.  We tend to focus our work on weaknesses instead of strengths.  We spend time worrying about the things that we do not do well.  Instead, focus on your strengths and getting stronger. If you are great at client communication, work to get better at it. If you are weak in an area, you can spend a little time improving that skill, but don’t go overboard.  If you are just not that great at orthopedics, for example, give those cases to someone else that excels in that area.  There is nothing in the manual that says you have to be good at everything; in fact , if you work on trying to be good at everything, you will be only be average. If you work on your strengths, you can achieve excellence.

Let go of negativity.  No one ever became great by thinking negatively.  Separate yourself from your negative thoughts and negative people.  You have control of your brain, so keep it from taking you down the path of negativity.  If you feel stuck in a negative thought loop, ask for help.  We all have our moments of feeling negative, so talking to a trusted friend or mentor may help you work through those negative thoughts and develop more positive alternatives. 

Above all remember to honor and develop your mental muscle. Working on your mind will lead you to more success than you ever thought possible.

And, don’t forget to watch a Rocky movie!  Think of me when you do….

Dr. Julie Cappel