۳ Top Mental Toughness Books

Resilience has a clear synergy with the concept of mental toughness. The latter also refers to “prospering under pressure, not just surviving” (Clough et al., 2021, p.33)

While much of the literature regarding mental toughness focuses on performance in sports and the workplace, it applies to any life domain, determining how we respond in all challenging environments (Clough et al., 2021)

There are many books exploring the content and factors involved in mental toughness. We have chosen three that represent a deep and diverse understanding of the fascinating subject and our research into the subject (Sutton, 2019)

۱. On Mental Toughness – Harvard Business Review

From the library of Harvard Business Review’s “۱۰ Must Reads,” this book collects ideas and best practices on the subject of mental toughness in the workplace

Each chapter is from a different author and covers various topics, including rebounding from career setbacks, extreme negotiations, and the challenge of leadership

Particular favorites include Graham Jones using sports to help readers understand how to leverage the pressure, use the competition, and reinvent themselves. Another, by Alia Crum, rejects the popular notion of stress being irredeemably bad and replaces it with the recognition that it connects us with the most challenging aspects of our lives and can even be enhancing

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۲. Mental Toughness: The Mindset Behind Sporting Achievement – Michael Sheard

Despite being over 10 years old and focusing on mentally tough performers in sports, this is a valuable deep dive into the concept and has insight across all aspects of our lives

Join Michael Sheard for a fascinating journey into the mindset of athletes at the limits of performance. Key elements include understanding mental toughness and how to measure, build, and maintain it

In his conclusion, Sheard discusses the concept’s innateness versus its plasticity, or ability to develop in response to challenging experiences and an appropriate mental outlook

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۳. Developing Mental Toughness: Strategies to Improve Performance, Resilience and Wellbeing in Individuals and Organizations – Doug Strycharczyk, Peter Clough, and John Perry

Perhaps more than any other book in the list, this one by mental toughness researchers and experts Peter Clough, Doug Strycharczyk, and John Perry answers the following key questions

• Does mental toughness really exist
• Can it be measured
• Is it useful
• Can mental toughness be developed

In doing so, the authors offer profound insight into the concept and provide interventions and approaches for use by ourselves or our clients to build a mindset and approach geared toward delivering our best performances most of the time

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