How to Be Mentally and Emotionally Strong
Understand what it means to be emotionally resilient., Learn about emotional regulation., Identify specific areas that you would like to change., Acknowledge your strengths., Consider your past experiences., Determine if you have an addiction that...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Understand what it means to be emotionally resilient.
Being emotionally and mentally strong, or resilient, means adapting well to things like stress, trauma, adversity, or tragedy.Resilience is not something you are born with — it is a process that can be learned by anyone, and is found in ordinary people.Being emotionally strong doesn't mean you don't experience pain or suffering — resiliency is often learned when one is faced with an extremely painful situation.
What it does mean is that you learn to rebuild or "bounce back" from these experiences.To develop resiliency, you will want to focus on building particular skills, such as: making plans and carrying them out, developing confidence and a positive view of yourself, learning to manage strong feelings and impulses, and learning to communicate and problem solve efficiently. -
Step 2: Learn about emotional regulation.
Learning to manage your emotions is another important part of becoming emotionally and mentally strong.
You may not be able to control what life throws at you, but you always have a choice about how you react.Again, this is something that is not innate; anyone can learn to manage his or her emotions productively., Before you can build up your mental and emotional strength, you will need to take an inventory of your strengths and challenges to determine what you would like to change.
Make a list of as many of your strengths and challenges as you can think of.
Once you have finished your list, figure out how to turn each of your challenges into a goal that you can work towards.
For example, you might have included on your list of challenges that you have difficulty asserting your needs.
If you want to work on this issue, you would say that your goal is to become more assertive., In addition to identifying areas for change, you should take time to celebrate your strengths.
Read through the list of your strengths and congratulate yourself for these positive traits.
Giving yourself a little pat on the back now and then will help you to stay focused on your positive qualities and help build up your mental and emotional strength., The reason why you might be feeling like you lack mental or emotional strength may be linked to something that happened to you in the past.
Whether this thing happened just a few months ago or when you were very young, it may be affecting your mental and emotional strength.
Research has shown that children who are abused, neglected, or otherwise endangered are more likely have emotional and mental issues, which may cause them to abuse drugs or attempt suicide.Try to determine if negative childhood experiences may be contributing to your mental and emotional states.
Consider how and why those experiences may have affected you the way that they have.
You may need to talk to a therapist about your childhood experiences in order to fully understand them, deal with them, and move on. , An addiction to drugs, alcohol, sex, or something else may be damaging your mental and emotional strength.
If you think that you are addicted to something, seek help to get rid of your bad habits.
You may require treatment if your addiction is severe.
Talk to a therapist or a doctor if you think that an addiction may be damaging your mental and emotional strength. , Journaling can help you to understand what may have caused you to experience these challenges, and it is also a great way to relieve stress.To get started with journaling, choose a comfortable place and plan to devote about 20 minutes per day to writing.
You can start by writing about how you are feeling or what you are thinking, or you can use a prompt.
Some prompts you might use include: “I feel powerless when…” “My biggest challenge is...” “If I could talk to myself when I was a child, I would say…” “When I am feeling low, the nicest thing I could do or say to myself is…” , Without help, it may be hard to figure out why you feel you are struggling and determine the best way to deal with your feelings.
A licensed mental health professional can help you to understand your feelings and help you work through them.
Keep in mind that feeling mentally and emotionally fragile may be part of an underlying mental health condition that requires treatment.
Talking to a therapist can help you understand what is going on and decide on the best course of action. -
Step 3: Identify specific areas that you would like to change.
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Step 4: Acknowledge your strengths.
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Step 5: Consider your past experiences.
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Step 6: Determine if you have an addiction that requires treatment.
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Step 7: Track your thoughts and feelings in a journal.
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Step 8: Consider talking to a therapist.
Detailed Guide
Being emotionally and mentally strong, or resilient, means adapting well to things like stress, trauma, adversity, or tragedy.Resilience is not something you are born with — it is a process that can be learned by anyone, and is found in ordinary people.Being emotionally strong doesn't mean you don't experience pain or suffering — resiliency is often learned when one is faced with an extremely painful situation.
What it does mean is that you learn to rebuild or "bounce back" from these experiences.To develop resiliency, you will want to focus on building particular skills, such as: making plans and carrying them out, developing confidence and a positive view of yourself, learning to manage strong feelings and impulses, and learning to communicate and problem solve efficiently.
Learning to manage your emotions is another important part of becoming emotionally and mentally strong.
You may not be able to control what life throws at you, but you always have a choice about how you react.Again, this is something that is not innate; anyone can learn to manage his or her emotions productively., Before you can build up your mental and emotional strength, you will need to take an inventory of your strengths and challenges to determine what you would like to change.
Make a list of as many of your strengths and challenges as you can think of.
Once you have finished your list, figure out how to turn each of your challenges into a goal that you can work towards.
For example, you might have included on your list of challenges that you have difficulty asserting your needs.
If you want to work on this issue, you would say that your goal is to become more assertive., In addition to identifying areas for change, you should take time to celebrate your strengths.
Read through the list of your strengths and congratulate yourself for these positive traits.
Giving yourself a little pat on the back now and then will help you to stay focused on your positive qualities and help build up your mental and emotional strength., The reason why you might be feeling like you lack mental or emotional strength may be linked to something that happened to you in the past.
Whether this thing happened just a few months ago or when you were very young, it may be affecting your mental and emotional strength.
Research has shown that children who are abused, neglected, or otherwise endangered are more likely have emotional and mental issues, which may cause them to abuse drugs or attempt suicide.Try to determine if negative childhood experiences may be contributing to your mental and emotional states.
Consider how and why those experiences may have affected you the way that they have.
You may need to talk to a therapist about your childhood experiences in order to fully understand them, deal with them, and move on. , An addiction to drugs, alcohol, sex, or something else may be damaging your mental and emotional strength.
If you think that you are addicted to something, seek help to get rid of your bad habits.
You may require treatment if your addiction is severe.
Talk to a therapist or a doctor if you think that an addiction may be damaging your mental and emotional strength. , Journaling can help you to understand what may have caused you to experience these challenges, and it is also a great way to relieve stress.To get started with journaling, choose a comfortable place and plan to devote about 20 minutes per day to writing.
You can start by writing about how you are feeling or what you are thinking, or you can use a prompt.
Some prompts you might use include: “I feel powerless when…” “My biggest challenge is...” “If I could talk to myself when I was a child, I would say…” “When I am feeling low, the nicest thing I could do or say to myself is…” , Without help, it may be hard to figure out why you feel you are struggling and determine the best way to deal with your feelings.
A licensed mental health professional can help you to understand your feelings and help you work through them.
Keep in mind that feeling mentally and emotionally fragile may be part of an underlying mental health condition that requires treatment.
Talking to a therapist can help you understand what is going on and decide on the best course of action.
About the Author
Patrick Mendoza
Enthusiastic about teaching crafts techniques through clear, step-by-step guides.
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