Brick By Brick: Mental Fortitude‍

This one is going to be quick. Honestly, I could be thinking about this all wrong, but this is how I make sense of it in my brain.

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I had someone ask why I included Mental Fortitude and Resilience in the things that are needed for the Brick By Brick mindset for goals.

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They do sounds similar, BUT there is a distinction.

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There was a book I read (listened too) that described the difference between being robust and being anti-fragile. 

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Robust means that you are strong. You can withstand a lot of “damage” before you break. Anti-fragile means that the “damage” actually makes you stronger.

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That is how I think about the difference between Mental fortitude and resilience. I do think they are both necessary though.

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Think of mental fortitude as the fortification you put up around your will power. And in this case your will power would be resilience. 

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Yes, you need your will power to grow and be able to resist and even get stronger as things are being thrown in its way. 

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BUT

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I think that if there is a strong fortification around your will power, that will help your will power get even stronger in the process and more able to excel in the future.

Lets use the weight loss analogy. 

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To me mental fortitude is when you tell yourself “NO, I am not going to eat that. I am creating healthier habits.” 

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That instant gut reaction of “NO” is powerful and helpful. When someones asks if you want to get ice cream on a Tuesday night, and your gut reaction is NO. That is super powerful.

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However, the fortification can be breached. Your walls sometimes crumble and the castle of will power is attacked straight on.

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When someone asks you to get ice cream on Wednesday, and you say “yes!” that is when resiliency needs to come into play…

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But more on that next week.

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Moral of the story is that Mental fortitude is different than resiliency. It is the walls that you build up around what you are trying to accomplish. I believe bigger walls lead to better outcomes, but walls that are overpowering can also lead to you being a stick in the mud.

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Like anything else in life, it is a balance.

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You want your walls high enough to block small ice cream sized attacks, but not so big that you make everyone in your life hate you because you haven't sniffed a french fry in 4 years.

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Yours in strength,

Nate

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