Psychological and Emotional Strength
By vishwa on Inspiration, Training
March 6, 2017
Why is psychological and emotional strength so important? In gym parlance, for example, why do you think people give up on their hopes and succumb? In other words, say you want to shed fat and you get to know that it requires several months of commitment. Alas! You cannot commit to the plan ahead not for several months, but, unfortunately, you give up within few weeks. In these 12 years of operating and coaching in the gym I repeatedly ask myself—why is that people quit so easily?
The significance of psychological and emotional strength
I am forced to believe that people fail turning up to the gym or perform physical activity on a long term because they lack psychological and emotional strength. The physical pain they confront in the gym isn’t tolerated, and they feel and sense that pain is the enemy. A normal soreness also rings alarm bell to them. They feel uncomfortable and naïve. They are unaware of the pain.
Likewise, to belong to the elite group of any sport you can excel by exhibiting vast reserves of psychological and emotional strength. For example, powerlifting, Olympic lifting, sprinting, long distance running, etc. On a similar note, performing excellently in the gym (getting buffed or shedding fat) also requires lot of mettle.
On a similar note, it also implies that you have to face the pain and come out of the comfort zone. Nothing’s possible if you dwell in the comfort zone. Roy T Bennett rightly said, “You never change your life until you step out of your comfort zone; change begins at the end of your comfort zone.” He also affirms that we need to take risks and rather not lie to ourselves and make excuses to stay in our comfort zone. Above all, understand that physical activity is nourishment to the physical body. Just as you require reading and studying to stimulate the mind, you have to energize your body. Or the body will rot sooner or later.
Whether you want to excel in your sport or you want to just outperform yourself, you have to have immense mental strength. It can be your gym, dojo, athletic endeavor, etc. Without mental strength you cannot journey forth for a long distance.