Developing Mental Toughness: Strategies to Improve Performance, Resilience and Wellbeing in Individuals and Organizations

Praise For Developing Mental Toughness, Third Edition Developing Mental Toughness Contents About the contributors Acknowledgements 01 Welcome to mental toughness The structure of this book Four fallacies about mental toughness 02 A brief history of mental toughness The Greeks and the Stoics Mental toughness and stress The AQR stress model The genesis of a modern-day understanding of mental toughness What, then, is mental toughness? The beginnings of mental toughness research The qualitative approach The psychometric approach Mental toughness in the 21st century 03 Developing the 4 Cs model Preliminary field research Development of the four-factor model Moving the model forward 04 The psychometric debates How do you measure something that cannot be observed? What makes a good psychometric questionnaire? A research tool or an applied tool? 05 The measures and their psychometric development The MTQ48 The MTQPlus The MTQ4Cs Frequently asked questions 06 Control Life control Emotional control Are high levels of control always a strength? The psychological context of control The power of attributions Am I lucky or just mentally tough… or both? The control of emotions 07 Commitment Goal orientation Achievement orientation Are high levels of commitment always a strength? The psychological context of commitment Goal-setting 08 Challenge Risk orientation Learning orientation Are high levels of challenge always a strength? The psychological context of challenge A reflection on challenge 09 Confidence Confidence in abilities Interpersonal confidence Are high levels of confidence always a strength? The psychological context of confidence 10 Independence and interplay Digging deeper and understanding nuance in mental toughness What do we mean by independence of scales? Interplay between scales – digging deeper 11 Mental toughness and its relationships with some key models, ideas and challenges Mindset Learned optimism Hierarchy of needs Mental toughness, emotional intelligence and compassion Mental toughness and creativity Mental toughness and risk Thinking errors – are the mentally tough less prone to error? Summary 12 Mental toughness and the world of work Issues and outcomes Factors in the world of work – how can these valuable outcomes be achieved? Mental toughness and HR activities Summary 13 Employability Employability – what is this concept? Employability – what does this mean and where does mental toughness play a part? Employability factors – what does a good attitude entail? Self-employment, enterprise and entrepreneurship 14 Mental toughness and the world of education Primary education Secondary schools Further and higher education Some broad conclusions 15 Mental toughness and sport Competitive sport: The uncertainty lab Sport performance and mental toughness The 4 Cs and sport Developing mental toughness in or through sport Case studies 16 Mental toughness and its links to physical and mental health Mental toughness and physical health Does mental toughness impact on the development of physical fatigue? Do lower levels of mental toughness potentially reduce the likelihood of people participating in exercise? Recovery from injury Mental toughness and diet Mental health Mental toughness and sleep Mental toughness and the Covid-19 pandemic 17 Can mental toughness be developed? Introduction The research psychologist’s perspective The practitioner’s perspective Developing mental toughness – guiding principles 18 Using the mental toughness model for coaching and mentoring Is there evidence for mental toughness and its effectiveness in coaching? How can a coach apply the mental toughness model in their work? The GROW coaching model Mental toughness and its application to coaches Summary 19 Positive thinking Learning to think positively Banishing negative thoughts Reframing negatives into positives Mindfulness 20 Visualization Visualizing success The psychological context of confidence development Positive psychology and mental toughness 21 Anxiety control and relaxation Introduction The Laura Mitchell relaxation method Other relaxation techniques The role of fitness The role of diet Biofeedback 22 Attentional control Understanding attentional control Attentional control and mental toughness Some simple tips, tools and techniques that work Interruptions and distractions Conclusions 23 Goal-setting How goal-setting works Aspects of goal-setting A psychological perspective on goal-setting 24 Developing people and organizations Optimizing the opportunity that mental toughness brings to this perennial challenge EF References and further reading Index