5 Ways To Cultivate Your Inner Strength
We talk a lot at Etté about finding your ‘Inner Lift’, your ‘Inner Strength’. But what does that mean in practical terms? Why is it important? And how do you find it?
Here we take a deep dive into what we consider five of the best ways we can lift ourselves up both physically and emotionally, especially on those days when we need reminding the most, so we can stay strong even during challenging times. That inner strength helps us to be patient. It helps us overcome laziness and control our habits. It boosts self-control and self-esteem. It helps us make important decisions and ultimately, persevere on the right path.
What is Inner Strength?
Let’s begin by looking at the definition. Psychologists use the term ‘inner strength’ to refer loosely to a wide range of mental and emotional resources such as behaviours, skills, and attitudes, that keep us stable and adaptable in life. In other words, your inner strength is knowing you have the equipment and tools to handle life's challenges. It’s doing the right thing, the right way. It involves carrying out tasks and making decisions without concern about what people around you think. It is the focus needed in order to achieve your most important goals.
In a nutshell, inner strength is:
- Ability to withstand obstacles and difficulties
- Retention of self-discipline and willpower
- Energy and an abundant resource to carry on
Now we know that the elusive work/life balance doesn't actually exist. But we also know, that by making your well-being your top priority, you will find a life flow that you can control and maintain in a much more efficient way and as a result, harness that inner strength.
Here are our top tips to harness inner strength:
1. Be your own best friend
Start paying close attention and embracing all the small joys of yourself. When you actively spend time watching yourself make noticeable breakthroughs on goals you’ve set, there is nothing more rewarding. It will give you the strength to do it again and again. You’ll naturally want to keep doing those things that are helping you progress.
2. Train yourself mentally, not just physically
Take time to check in and mentally nourish yourself with the power of meditation. Whether that be a walk, or listening to a guided voice, your mind will become mentally clearer to achieve your goals. Your mind and body are much stronger than you think. They will always, always give you what you need, when you need it, but only if have the right, positive mindset. Feeding your mental health is equally as important as your physical, if not more so. Without a strong mindset, you may not want to train physically. It will get you through all of life's demanding times.
3. Practice remaining calm in difficult situations
What would the most empowered and confident version of yourself do? Panic and fear bombard the mind whilst weakening the soul. Constant preoccupying thoughts are the worst culprits for not letting your inner strength come to the forefront. Choices that are aligned with making the most self-loving actions will in turn, continually strengthen your inner lift. When you feel you’re losing self-control, think about replacing thoughts with calm, controlled perseverance. Have a trigger point to come back to - it will help you achieve whatever you've set out to do.
4. Decide, commit, and act
Everything is created twice. First in the mind, then in reality. Being strong relies on the efficient use of energy. When you create thoughts in your head, decide on them and commit. You will find any indecision just zaps you of all energy. Learning to be decisive is like flexing a muscle. Understand that you’re the curator and architect of your life. Act on your decision and if you’re in limbo, focus in on it more to get to that decision faster.
5. Don't let fear make decisions for you
Fear and doubt will constantly tell you that they’re protecting you, when in fact, all they’re doing is holding you back from achieving all that you want out of life. If you feel something might go wrong, first consider all the pros and cons. Are you identifying true risk or being fearful of the unknown? If fear is keeping you from the next steps in your life, then you are actively allowing it to defeat you. Don’t hinder your growth.
If not now, when?
Inner strength is an important skill. Without it, no one would start anything or dare to get to the finish line.
We’d love to hear your top tips for cultivating it too.