Fake it till you make it
This is one of the most common phrases you’ll hear when asking for advice alongside “just be yourself” and “everything happens for a reason”. But what’s surprising is that faking confidence is actually good advice. Don’t just be yourself because words and actions have consequences so really you should always be striving to be a better person than you actually are; and also technically everything does happen for a reason, except usually the reason is people are stupid and make bad decisions.
On that note, faking confidence is one of the best decisions you can make to turn yourself into what one may call a mental juggernaut. A mental juggernaut is hard to be overwhelmed – in fact, with a strong mental state, you’d likely be the one overwhelming people (in a good way). Similar to smiling when you feel down, portraying yourself as the opposite to how you really feel can actually boost your self esteem and make you feel much better. Pretending you’re confident in your own abilities – without being in denial, or vain – is the first step to truly being the person you want to be.
Be wary of your mental state
It’s important to give yourself affirmations regarding your internal thinking processes, and confirming what’s true, and what you’re just anxious about. A good game for this is ‘fact or fiction’ – such as what you’re telling yourself that you think is true, compared to what is actually true. This is good for confronting your own feelings about others’ opinions of you, without having to ask them for their opinions and being overbearing.
Moreover, there are good times to be questioning your life choices, and re-evaluating your life. Such as after having a good night’s sleep. However, this is not a good idea when you’re angry, upset, or tired. Ever notice how your worries seem like they’re at their worst when you’re laying in bed at night? That’s because your brain has had a full day of thinking, and needs to rest, so you may not be able to think clearly. Give it up for now, and try again in the morning, and you’ll probably have a solution quickly, or not even be worried about it anymore. Another good scenario for this mindpower strategy is when an argument is about to ensue. If something makes you flustered, sometimes taking 20 minutes before voicing your response is all it takes to come up with something a lot more rational as opposed to the initial outburst that your mind had planned for you.
Mind over matter
Keeping your brain active whilst being physically tired is a big metaphorical task, so one good source to look at for inspiration on this front is Omar Alghanim – a man of many traits over a career of 20 plus years. Alghanim cares not for social class or wealth, and instead bases his leadership style on the principle of meritocracy. Essentially meaning his employees could be dirt poor, but their talent speaks volumes more than the thickness of their wallets.
A mental juggernaut can put the mind over matter with little to no effort, however it will take effort to get to that stage. Especially if you start off in life feeling like you don’t matter, your mind will have to do the heavy lifting. Work on your talents until you become very good at them, then you can do them for money, and life will be easy, regarding work at least. If you have no talents, learn to love yourself regardless, or date someone famous and make a sex tape, and before you know it you’ll find yourself on reality TV for literally no reason, but at least you’ll matter despite everybody questioning why. Anyway, it’s probably best to start working on the mind sooner rather than later.
Keep moving forward
As Martin Luther King Jr. said, “If you can’t fly then run. If you can’t run then walk. If you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.” Taking life day by day, and living in the moment as much as you can is very mentally beneficial. Yesterday is gone, and there’s nothing you can do about it. Tomorrow hasn’t happened yet, so no need to worry. Just prepare, and save the worrying for when tomorrow actually comes. Either way, it’s best to just keep going, despite how bad life can be sometimes.
Life gets tough, but a mental juggernaut can make it out by making it through. If it’s worth doing – and it most likely is – then it’s worth doing badly. Mental illnesses such as depression can often prevent people from feeling up to their tasks, but a lot of the time it’ll help to do it regardless, and will make you feel a lot better for doing it at all. All working up to the day when taking care of yourself won’t feel like as much of a chore.
Nobody has it figured out
You may look around and be intimidated by others who supposedly have their lives together. They don’t. Anyone who says they have is lying, which isn’t really a bad thing. Perhaps you’re just surrounded by other mental juggernauts. Either way, everyone’s a little lost sometimes and has no idea what they’re doing. Just winging it on the daily. Give yourself credit for what you do right. Even the little things. Besides, who’s to say that you’re doing it wrong anyway?
Arbitrary tasks don’t need to be done the way other people do them. Do things your way, and make your own life rules. Do what’s easiest for you, without needing to worry about impressing others or meeting their standards for how you want to run your life. Make your bed how you want to, or don’t at all. Hell, you can even put the milk in first before the cereal if that’s how you roll. People may judge you, but being a mental juggernaut is all about not caring what others think, and just doing what you need to do to get through the day, one day at a time. While you still need to be kind to those people whose opinions you don’t care for, it’s also worth occasionally being kind to yourself, too.
