The art of mental toughness in young people

We live in a turbulent world. The past couple of years seem to have been particularly dynamic and unpredictable and the consequences for all of us have been enormous. One of those consequences is that we are seeing disturbing amounts of anxiety and depression in young people.

As parents and educators, we want young people to be happy and successful in life regardless of their chosen path, but we also want them to be able to cope with any uncertainties, challenges and difficulties they might encounter.

We are subject to stressors and pressure almost every minute of the day. It is how we respond to stress and pressure that matters – and we all respond differently. We know that we can place two young people in a seemingly stressful environment and that one may sink while the other may thrive. Mental toughness is a term that has been long talked about but often misunderstood.

So what is mental toughness?

Mental toughness is the ability to navigate and overcome obstacles, uncertainties, worries, concerns and circumstances that prevent us from succeeding or excelling at a task or towards an objective or a performance outcome that we set out to achieve irrespective of circumstances.

Becoming mentally strong takes deliberate practice, intention and being present. It requires identifying bad habits and making a point of learning new habits to replace them. And sometimes it simply means learning to seek challenges to create new learning pathways.
Everyone has the power to leverage their unique strengths and talents during uncertain and challenging times.

Developing mental toughness is not about eliminating weakness but learning how to deal with and overcome it. A crucial part of developing mental toughness is learning to recognise these tendencies and taking action to correct them early on.

No one is perfect, but when we focus on the right things, we can develop a mental toughness worthy of life’s biggest challenges.

A model of mental toughness

Many students face pressure every day and unless schools have a curriculum that enables them to learn the right skills to manage adversity and challenges, they are very much left alone to find it.

In my work developing the SCARFE™ model of mental toughness, I’ve structured mental toughness into six distinct areas:

1. Self-efficacy: having high levels of self-belief
2. Commitment: being able to stick to tasks
3. Attitude: seeing challenge as an opportunity
4. Relationships: the ability to build and maintain positive relationships
5. Focus: the ability to remain on task
6. Emotional agility: believing that you control your destiny.

Let’s unpick each domain…

Self-efficacy

Self-efficacy is the belief that we can achieve any desired goal through our actions. When we believe in our ability to perform a task – whether it’s preparing for an exam, facing a competition or mastering a new skill, we are prompted to act. How?

• Teach self-verbalisation. Encourage students to verbalise any task aloud and provide feedback on their effort. Research shows this leads to problem-solving successes and higher self-efficacy, alongside the development of the desired learning strategies and understanding of content.
• Give students a goal. Giving students a goal you wish them to achieve can have a bigger impact on self-efficacy because it indicates your belief in the student’s capabilities. Encourage students to compare present performance against a goal and against previous performance.
• Encourage students’ affirmations. Affirm students’ personal competence in the school environment by having them write self-affirming statements consisting of brief reflections on their most important values, strengths and relationships. Affirmations of beliefs remind students of their higher goals, deeper values and most importantly for self-efficacy, highlight credible evidence of students’ personal adequacy and efficacy.

Commitment

Commitment is the extent to which we follow through with our promises and work hard to deliver on them, whether these be promises to ourselves or others. Commitment entails dedication, motivation, ability to work hard and bear infinite fortitude.

• Boost curiosity. Ask questions to elicit thinking in our lessons and show enthusiasm and joy when we discover new things with our students.
• Foster a growth mindset. A growth mindset encourages students to take on challenges they can learn from – to find effective ways to improve, be resilient and make progress. (Yeager and Dweck, 2012). ‘It’s not just about effort. You also need to learn skills that let you use your brain in a smarter way … to get better at something’ (Yeager, 2012). Growth mindset applies to all learners.
• Build tolerance of failure and vulnerability. Failure often allows student to examine what worked or what didn't even more so than success. Encourage critical and analytical thinking skills together with self-acceptance.

Attitude

We know that being smart is important, but according to research from Stanford University, your positive attitude may help more than your IQ. Anyone can work to develop a different mindset and by fine-tuning your attitude to better adapt to change, you can become more growth-oriented over time. How?

• Thoughts are not facts. Teach students that their thoughts are a passing mental event, rather than necessarily a reflection of fact.
• Black and white thinking: black and white thinking is a thought pattern that makes students think in absolutes. Encourage students to reframe their thinking.
• Reinforce effort. Focus on reinforcing the effort that students put into their work and the process that goes behind it and not just outcomes.

Relationships

Building positive relationships is very important for our own sense of wellbeing. We are sociable creatures and connecting with others will help us to feel better about life and ourselves in general. How?

• Teach students how to communicate well. Listen attentively and encourage students to ask questions.
• Give positive reinforcement that shows you know them well. Make feedback tailored and related to their particular needs.

Focus

Focus helps us to get started on something and sustain our attention and effort through its completion. Focus is very important for many academic tasks. How?

• Help them start. Getting started requires an understanding of what is expected, the ability to ask appropriate questions for clarity and the skill to redirect one’s attention from a previous involvement.
• Get rid of distractions. Encourage students to eliminate distraction and focus only 20 minutes at one given time.
• Teach perseverance. Teach students that persistence and grit are needed when a task becomes boring, when it is interrupted and when one needs to change strategies. This requires sequencing, wilfulness and the ability to learn from experience.

Emotional agility

Emotional agility is a process that enables us to navigate life's challenges and obstacles with self-acceptance, clear-sightedness and an open mind. How?

• Give it a name. Encourage students to label their thoughts and emotions.
• Teach positive coping strategies. These will help students adopt effective responses.
• Encourage self-acceptance. The opposite of control is acceptance; not acting on every thought or resigning oneself to negativity but responding to ideas and emotions with an open attitude, paying attention and allowing oneself to experience them.

Mental toughness is the ability to navigate difficult circumstances, allowing students to flourish in this very fast-paced and imperfect world while moving forward with optimism and confidence.

Final thoughts…

‘Your mental toughness is equally made of persistence, commitment and motivation and remember, the toughest opponent of all is the one inside your head.’ (Gilda Scarfe)

No one is born mentally strong; it is something we develop. That means we can build it by incorporating the six domains mentioned above. Rather than being paralysed with fear, self-doubt and lack of confidence when things go wrong, we can develop mental resilience to perform effectively without compromising wellbeing.

No one is perfect, but when we focus on the right things, we can develop a mental toughness worthy of life’s biggest challenges.

About the author

Gilda Scarfe is the CEO and founder of Positive Ed, an educational consultancy using research to design, implement and evaluate wellbeing, mental toughness in education.

For the past eight years, Gilda has developed the SCARFE™ Model for Mental Toughness to provide a practical approach for educators, parents and other stakeholders to prepare children to flourish. Her work is rooted in the concept of mental toughness, what it looks like in young people and how to develop the skills needed.