Mental strength is a secret superpower.
You can have all the money and power in the world, but if you crumble at the first sign of adversity, it won’t do you much good.
So you may be wondering how you can tell if you, or someone else is mentally strong.
Here are 4 lesser-known traits that will help you know for sure.
1) They seek and welcome feedback
We’ve all experienced how hard feedback can be to receive.
As a child, we were scolded by our parents.
As an adult, you might have been criticized by your boss, perhaps even in front of your colleagues or clients.
No matter the age, it’s never pleasant to hear criticism about yourself, or how something you didn’t wasn’t so great.
We all want to conserve a positive self-image and be accepted for who we are, without needing to change.
However, mentally strong individuals are able to handle the discomfort of hearing an opinion on their performance, skills, or even character.
They understand that this is not just unavoidable, but also incredibly useful for moving forward in life and becoming the best version of yourself that you can be.
I used to hate hearing criticism or negative feedback about myself. I would get so worked up whenever a performance review at work was coming up, and I was terrified of what my boss would tell me.
If there was anything negative there, I would be crushed. I always tried to be a great person and as a perfectionist, I had incredibly high standards for myself.
But as I’ve grown, I’ve learned to be more mentally resilient, and now I actually truly enjoy getting feedback.
I’d rather know for a fact where I stand, rather than just hoping that people are happy with me, and having that little voice of doubt saying “But what if…?” at the back of my mind.
I’ve also learned that most issues are quite easy to fix, and people will judge you by your willingness to grow and not even remember the mistakes you made in the past.
2) They celebrate other people’s wins
The world is becoming increasingly more competitive, and boy can we feel that around us!
Open social media and you see accounts upon accounts all trying to get your attention. I’ve even started to get the feeling that everyone is competing against one another, even though nobody will admit it.
Who had the best vacation, the most grandiose wedding, the most satisfying relationship, even the greatest personal growth.
Mentally strong individuals are ones who are able to see past it, and resist getting sucked into this way of thinking.
They understand that the world is a place of abundance, and that one person’s success is not a threat to everyone else. Rather, it is a great benefit, as uplifted people can uplift others, and the world is a much better place to live in the more people are happy and fulfilled.
Therefore, mentally strong individuals celebrate other people’s wins.
I can say that scrolling through social media didn’t used to be a particularly pleasant experience for me.
I’d get easily triggered into feeling envious of everyone who seemed to have it better than me. I was neck-deep in the whole competitive mindset, and it was eating away at me.
Eventually, I grew so exhausted of this that I decided to look at things differently, as I described above.
Now, I know that just because someone else achieved something great in their life, doesn’t mean I won’t — on the contrary, it’s an amazing source of inspiration for me, and I celebrate that persons’ win along with them.
3) They spend time alone 
They say there is power in numbers, and that is definitely true. It’s much easier to create enormous change if you have the power to move thousands of people.
This applies to even the tiniest thing in our daily lives. We go to restaurants, parties, and events with a group of friends, or at least with a good buddy.
It’s almost like we as humans are scared to spend time alone.
As I thought about this, it occurred to me that this is a way of masking insecurity. We think that if we are alone, we must look like loners or losers, and we’re afraid we won’t have anyone to talk to or have a good time with.
These are valid concerns, and indeed a natural part of being a human.
But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned to be comfortable spending more time on my own, and I can say it has improved my life immensely.
I like going to events that are not really most of my friends’ cup of tea, so I have difficulty finding someone to go with.
A few weeks ago, there was an event I really wanted to go to, but I couldn’t convince anyone to tag along. So I said “to hell with it,” and went alone — even though it involved flying, booking a hotel alone, and showing up at the event with nobody by my side.
I actually had a fantastic time, and met a few people who I hope can become good friends one day.
I know I still have a lot of room to grow, but I’m proud to say this is proof that I’ve become a more mentally strong person.
4) They take ownership
Mentally strong individuals are people who are not afraid to take ownership — of their mistakes, their responsibility, and also of their past.
We all have things in our lives that we regret, or that we would rather not deal with as it’s uncomfortable.
But think about how much energy you spend running or hiding from these things.
And think about what you could accomplish if you invested this energy into more purposeful things instead.
Part of taking on this mindset is realizing that the opposite is like being an ostrich who hides their head in the sand.
If you make a mistake, not taking ownership isn’t going to fool anyone. Most likely, it’s pretty clear who was involved, and who has responsibility.
The people who are able to step up and own that are the ones that earn people’s respect — and who demonstrate great mental strength.
At the end of the day, people won’t judge you for the mistakes you’ve made, as it’s human to be wrong and make bad decisions.
What truly shows others your character is what you decide to do next.
Want to become more mentally strong?
Now you know 4 lesser-known traits of mentally strong individuals.
You probably relate to at least a few of them on some level. But most people definitely have room to grow on at least a few accounts.
You’ve been able to see from my own experiences that I’ve shared above that I did a LOT of growth myself. I didn’t use to be mentally strong at all — but I’ve been able to make huge leaps forward, and my life is so much better and happier for it.
How did I do it?
One thing that really helped me is an eye-opening video by Ideapod co-founder Justin Brown. He helped me realize how my life wasn’t aligned with a deeper sense of purpose, and this was leading to a lot of frustration, listlessness, and dissatisfaction.
With a technique he learned from a shaman in Brazil, he helped me melt away these feelings and find more inner strength than ever before. I’ve never felt so happy and free in my life, and I know it will only keep getting better.
You can get started on the same journey too, as soon as today.
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