The Overlooked Aspect of Mental Toughness Young Athletes Must Learn
Mental toughness is something young athletes must learn. Although there is no conclusive evidence on the genetics of mental toughness, research shows that both nature and nurture play a role.
Given that we have no control over the nature of our children once they’re born, we must focus on the nurture. This is why mental toughness is something parents and coaches have to proactively build in young athletes.
With that said, the overlooked aspect of mental toughness that parents and coaches must teach young athletes is how to prove yourself wrong. That’s right. Proving yourself wrong is something non-mentally tough people never consider because they believe their self-doubt.
However, mentally tough people never believe the little voice in their head that says that they can’t. They hear the little voice, embrace the little voice, but learn to defeat the little voice.
Everyone has this little voice in their head that attempts to stop them from pushing through pain, fear, and worry. But the difference between mentally tough people and mentally weak people is that mentally tough people don’t let that little voice defeat them. Instead, they strive to prove that little voice of self-doubt wrong.
Furthermore, everytime a mentally tough person proves that little voice of self-doubt wrong, they get mentally stronger. That is why it’s best to teach this lesson to young athletes early on in life when the challenges are not as great. Then as they grow older and the challenges grow more difficult, their mental muscles have also grown stronger and more resilient.