Attitude is everything.

How we see the world determines our response to people and the events that come our way on a daily basis.

Our response to those people and events — good or bad — determines whether we will live each day high in spirit or downtrodden, moody, and depressed.

Even though life is full of trials, mentally resilient people have found a way to go through those hurdles without getting crushed or overwhelmed.

Why?…

Because they have learned to handle difficult situations in a certain way.

Everyone faces some trials every once in a while. Nevertheless, met face to face with the mental attitude of resilient people, you will learn how to manage the outcomes of those situations, and regain control of your life.

Mentally resilient people make a habit of these five attitudes to living a great life — even in the face of trials and difficulties.

1. They follow things through

One of the reasons we have a lot of failures in life is the fact most people don’t follow things through. They don’t because they can’t.

They begin the project but, unfortunately, decline to follow through after encountering a few crises.

It’s heartbreaking that most people give up too soon. Even when the journey of life has never promised anyone a smooth ride.

The trough and crest of life are both parts of the same journey.

Yet, the majority of people give in at the slightest persistence of crisis.

Mentally resilient people know that crises are part of the journey of life and most are temporary. And so stay through the thick and thin of them. Consequently, they outlive tough circumstances. And come out better than when it all got started.

2. They focus on their work than on their status or attainments

Nothing feels better than becoming a star player in your industry or league. Nobody wants an end to come to the influence, fame, love, and respect that comes with such accomplishment.

Let’s take writing on Medium, as an example: Becoming a top writer could be one of the greatest miracles that can happen to a writer on the platform.

Imagine you are as successful and influential as Tim Denning, Darius Foroux, Anthony Moore, or Sean Kernan.

That will be the most amazing feeling you can have as a writer.

Well, even though they love the status, mentally resilient writers will rather concentrate on doing the work of writing than pleasuring over their celebrity status.

They don’t allow their achievements to get into their head and impede their progress. Instead, they keep investing their time, effort, and resources to getting better on their crafts — to maintain the height of success that’s earned them the celebrity status.

3. They don’t brag about their plans

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels

Intentions are always lofty. Discussing them with others makes you look like the most visionary guy in the room.

However, no one has ever built a plausible reputation on what he’s going to do.

My experience before becoming a writer on Medium is a good example:

When I discovered Medium and found out I could be a writer there, I bragged about how I would rock the platform like crazy — even while I was yet to publish a story.

Telling some of my friends about my yet-to be-attained success makes me feel like one Tom Kuegler on dark skin.

Eventually, I started writing; and it was a whole different experience than I expected. My early experience as a writer on Medium was humiliating.

If they were in my shoes, mentally resilient people will take a different approach. They’ll keep their intentions to themselves. And rather than brag, they would:

Google about Medium to get in-depth knowledge of what the platform is about;
Research on what it takes to be successful on the platform either by finding out from articles written by the successful writers on the platform or find helpful answers on Quora;
Read a couple of stories both from top writers and from newbies to have a taste of the ingredients that make some articles sell more than others;
And then apply the lessons in writing their articles.

In other words, rather than brag about where they hope to be, mentally resilient writers will spend that time planning, researching, and brainstorming on how to get there and succeed. That’s why they prefer to be quiet than boasting about their plans — even when they are sure they will succeed.

4. They manage their attention

Attention is the new currency. Unfortunately, most people don’t know this.

What you give attention to, you have permitted space in your mind. And whatever takes any space in your mind, takes a piece of its valuable resource.

For instance, if you allow an unfavorable thought and dwell on it, that thought will drain your energy and get you exhausted without achieving any favorable outcome.

Because mentally resilient people get their energy to withstand daily crises from their mental store, they can’t afford to allow any adverse energy into their psyches.

For that reason, they surround themselves with people and activities that inspire them or challenge them to aim for something higher.

In this article, Tom Kuegler identifies 5 of those people and why you need to surround yourself with them.

5. They are visionary and purpose-driven

Most average people are impulsive. They embark on missions without defining the aim. They pursue goals that are not in keeping with their life objectives.

Because they never defined the aim, they give up on the project at the shortest persistence of difficulty. And so end up abandoning the project, disappointed with the hand life has dealt them.

The approach of mentally resilient people is different.

They sit to consider their why before they embark on a mission or a project.

And because they think through before they embark on the task, they patiently manage the tendencies of the outcomes, give it their best till they finish the mission, or complete the project.

Conclusion

Our outcomes in life partly depend on what happens to us and hugely how we respond to them.

And, however tough life gets for everyone, mentally resilient people tend to have an adventurous and uplifting experience — courtesy of their unique approach to daily life circumstances.

Life is good when you learn to approach it with mental resilience.

This article was originally published by Joshua Idegebre on medium.