Build A Mind So Strong It Scares People
I was recently listening to a podcast titled “Build a Mind So Strong It Scares People.” In it Alex Hormozi was reflecting on the death of his mother. As he was processing the feelings that he was going through, he asked himself
“How can I use this loss to make myself better?”
In this process he ended up defining the 4 components that make up Mental Toughness.
“I see the ability to describe the components of mental toughness as the first step to improving them.”
I found the ideas in this model to be timeless and useful for anyone who wants to succeed in business and life. Here are my notes and screenshots from what I learnt:
What is “Mental Toughness”?
““Bad” would mean “something which happened which you wish hadn’t happened.””
The 4 Components of Mental Toughness
(1) Tolerance
“How much tough stuff can you go through before you crack?
HIGH TOLERANCE = It takes a lot to rock your boat.
LOW TOLERANCE = Anything can set you off.”
By the way - people are less tolerant when they haven’t slept or haven’t eaten.”
(2) Fortitude
“How upset do you get when you snap?”
(3) Resilience
“Once bad shit happens to you, and you start acting out, how long does it take you to stop acting out?”
(4) Adaptability
“Are you better or are you worse after the bad stuff that’s happened?
HIGH ADAPTABILITY - You let the hard times beat the strength into you.
MEDIUM ADAPTABILITY - You stabilize to your former baseline.
LOW ADAPTABILITY - You let the hard time beat the strength out of you.
What Would Be The Traits Of The Most Mentally Tough Person In The World
They just keep improving endlessly. Life happens for them, not to them.
What Would The Traits Of The Most Mentally Weak Person In The World?
How Do We Become Mentally Tough?
Bad things happening are a fact of life. The only thing we have is our response to those bad things. So in order to improve our mental toughness, we have to:
Improve Tolerance: by first admitting that we were not strong enough to withstand whatever hardship we went through.
Improve Fortitude: Once we recognize that our behavior changed, we can give ourself the opportunity to demonstrate strength by not acting out.
Improve Resilience: If we have acted out, we can reverse course and get back to baseline so fast that it seems like nothing bothered us.
Improve Adaptability: We can ask ourself “how can I let this bad thing serve me? In what universe would this bad thing occurring be the beginning of something better?”
Become:
See you next Sunday.
👋 I’m Harsh. I collect useful ideas to win in business and life.
Here’s where I spend most of my time:
iDeals Virtual Data Rooms – building a $1B business by helping dealmakers close deals faster
M&A Community – uncovering personal stories and strategies of M&A, private equity, and investment banking leaders
Happy Ratio – growing a food company the hard way: profit-first, purpose-led
Marcellus Investment Managers – evangelizing long-term investing to build financial independence
Harsh Batra
(LinkedIn)