13 Things mentally strong people don’t do
A reflection of Amy Morin’s book
Dear climate darling,
It has been a while since my first article about a book review. In this process, I have been finding my path, the way that I like to communicate and express myself. Sometimes I feel that the online world has a calling for me:
Who would I like to be on the internet? What do I want to share? Am I the kind of person who shares knowledge or hates the life of public people?
Please, don’t take me wrong. This is my perspective, you can do what makes sense to you. There is a sentence I use to guide my life, which is very important to me: “There is no right or wrong. There is just the path that guides you in the direction of your goals. So, which way are you going to pick?
Having a clear goal allows us to invest in what truly matters to us. In my case, I decided to be everything that God created me to be. So, I am committed to reading interesting books, studying hard, and giving my best at work to be a powerful tool in God’s hands to support him in the world’s transformation.
My mission is to transform the world through love ❤ (reading my article Humanamente Deus to understand my cosmovision).
The last book I read and would like to talk about was 13 Things People Mentally Strong Don’t Do, written by Amy Morin. This wonderful guide was a recommendation from my English teacher, Soraya Quirino, and I would love to share a little bit of what I learned. Let’s go?
Below are the titles of each of the chapters in Morin’s book, highlighting what mentally strong people don’t do:
- Waste time feeling sorry for themselves
- Give away their power
- Shy away from change
- Focus on things they can’t control
- Worry about pleasing everyone
- Fear taking calculated risks
- Dwell on the past
- Make the same mistakes
- Resent other people’s success
- Give up after the first failure
- Fear alone time
- Feel the world owes them anything
- Expect immediate results
I don’t want to spend the entire article talking about each chapter, but I will give you some thoughts to encourage you to read all the books. Some lessons impacted me quite a bit,and I would love to go a little bit deeper into three points :)
Develop mental strength
Developing mental strength is about improving your ability to regulate your emotions, manage your thoughts, and behave positively, despite the circumstances. It is crucial to be aware of these three steps:
- Thoughts: Identifying irrational thoughts and replacing them with more realistic thoughts.
- Behaviors: Behaving positively despite the circumstances.
- Emotions: Controlling your emotions so your emotions won’t control you.
Exchange Self-Pity for Gratitude
While feeling sorry for yourself is about thinking “I deserve better”, gratitude is about thinking “I have more than I deserve”. Experiencing gratitude requires some extra effort, but it isn’t toooo hard. Starting by simply acknowledging a few things you feel grateful for each day is a powerful way to create change.
You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them. (Maya Angelou)
Study something that you are passionate about!
First, write down your definition of success. Maybe you don’t want to be famous like a public television actor, a big house is nonsense for you, and a car is just a tool of capitalism to pollute the atmosphere and accelerate the climate crisis. Maybe your definition of success is peace, a lot of trips, meeting new people, and having the craziest, coolest, and most intense experiences (this is my definition of success rs).
Dear reader, we are entirely capable of defining what is important in our life, what our mission is, and what are the next steps that we need to take to achieve our goals! If you need a little help, start asking yourself:
What am I passionate about?
The answer is key to support you in finding your own path ❤
Last but not least, remember that you are unique. And although acquiring mental strength is a personal journey, you don’t have to go it completely alone. Please, ask for help when you need it and surround yourself with supportive people!
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Amanda Costa is a climate activist, young adviser to the UN Global Compact, founder of the Sustainable Perifa Institute, and presenter of #TemClimaParaisso?, a program about the climate crisis. Graduated in International Relations, Amanda was recognized as #Under30 in Forbes magazine, TEDx Speaker, LinkedIn Top Voices and Creator and in 2021 she was deputy curator of Global Shapers, the youth community of the World Economic Forum.
