Content

• To step
• Part 1 of 3: Being mentally strong
• Part 2 of 3: Being physically strong
• Part 3 of 3: Being spiritually strong
• Tips
• Warnings

In the event of a setback, some people no longer see it and they go into a downward spiral mentally. Others know how to turn the tide and even come out stronger. Everyone is in a difficult position from time to time, but some people seem to deal with setbacks more easily. Follow these directions to further develop your mental, physical and spiritual strength.

To step

Part 1 of 3: Being mentally strong

1. Remember that you are in control. You are in your shoes when you have the power over something and determine your own course. A weak person quickly feels powerless and helpless. Whatever circumstances you find yourself in, there are always things you can control and things that are beyond your control. The point is that you focus on what you can determine. Make a list of things that go wrong, and then list what you could do to improve each situation individually. Acknowledge the setbacks on the first list and then focus your energy on the second list: the action points that lead to solutions.
   • Studies of people with a high Adversity Quotient have indicated that those who are mentally resilient will always find an aspect in a given situation that they can control, and that they also feel responsible for taking action to to rectify something, even if his problem was caused by someone else. People with a lower AQ pass up opportunities for improvement, do not feel responsible and assume that they do not need to improve their situation because they did not cause it.
2. Make a conscious choice for a positive attitude to life. Some situations cannot be changed. Although it is very hard to live with such a situation, you can always stay in control by keeping a grip on your attitude to life. As Victor Frankl put it, "We who have lived in concentration camps can remember how men walked through the barracks to comfort others, and how they gave away their last piece of bread. Maybe there weren't many like them, but they delivered it. proof that everything can be taken away from you, except the last human freedom - to choose a certain attitude to life in any situation, to choose your own path. " Whatever happens, keep thinking positively.
   • If someone is ruining your life, don't be upset. Stay proud, stay hopeful, and remember that no one can take away from you your positive attitude towards life. "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent," US First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt once said.
   • Don't let a crisis or setback rule all aspects of your life. For example, if you have major difficulties at work, don't take it out on your partner if they just want to be helpful. By controlling your own attitude to life, make sure that the crisis you find yourself in does not spread like an oil slick. People with mental resilience will never turn a mouse into an elephant, nor will one setback lead to another.
   • If it helps you, memorize this prayer for inner peace of mind and say it when you need it: “Give me the inner peace to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things that I can change, and the wisdom to tell the difference. "
3. Rediscover your zest for life. Emotionally strong people consider every day a gift. They try to arrange it in such a way that they make maximum use of everything that the day has to offer. Remember that as a child you could get excited about the simplest things - playing with fall leaves, picking daisies, melting snowflakes on your tongue? Go back to those pure moments of happiness. Become that enthusiastic kid again. How strong you are mentally and emotionally depends to a large extent on how strong your zest for life is.
4. Believe in yourself. Look how far you've made it. Live from day to day, or even moment to moment, and you can survive all situations. It won't be easy, and you aren't invincible, so take it one step at a time. If you feel like you're about to collapse, close your eyes and take a deep breath. Remember this:
   • Don't listen to doomsayers. There will always be skeptics for whatever reason. Be deaf to their comments and prove them wrong. Don't allow them to demotivate you just because they themselves have lost hope. The world is practically begging you to improve it. What are you waiting for?
   • Think about the times you were successful. Use them as motivation on your life path. Whether it was a good grade for a paper, a nice meeting with someone or the birth of your child, let it inspire you to become a stronger personality. Being positive attracts positive influences!
   • Try, try, and keep trying. One day you will doubt yourself because you tried something and you were unsuccessful. Anyway, that's just one chapter of the book of your life. If something fails, you can of course give up and resign yourself to the situation. But it is better to see the situation in a broader sense, or from a different perspective, instead of giving up and giving up on yourself. Just try again. Because failures are just delays on the road to success.
5. Don't make a point of everything. Is it right that every little thing that annoys you horribly - a colleague asking a question, a motorist cutting you off - is so disconcerting? Ask yourself if and why such an exasperation is worth the excitement. Try to define a few values ​​that are important to you and don't worry about anything else. As singer and hip-hop pioneer Sylvia Robinson once said, "Some people think that tenacity makes you strong - but sometimes it's letting go."

   Don't try to take things personally. To protect your peace of mind, you should not let other people influence you too much. Whenever a situation arises where someone is pressuring you to make you do something that makes you uncomfortable, or that makes you doubt yourself, take a few deep breaths to focus yourself. Then let them know what you need, whether that's a moment to think about things or whether they need to respect your saying no.

   
   
6. Focus on the people who are most important to you. Spend time with friends and family, and with others who are positive and supportive. If no one has time for you, make new friends. If you aren't friends, help others who are worse off than you. Sometimes when it seems like we can't improve our own situation, we find strength in improving someone else's situation, which also gives a new perspective or our own life.
   • There's no question about it - humans are social animals. Scientific research indicates that a good social life makes an important contribution to our emotional and physical health. If you find that you find social situations difficult, it is worth seeking help. This is a start:
     • Start a good conversation with someone
     • Don't worry too much about mistakes - that's not all there is to say about you!
     • Get over a broken relationship
     • Get over shyness
     • Pretend you are outgoing
7. Find a good balance between work and leisure, rest and effort. Sounds easy, doesn't it? It's incredibly underestimated because it's so deceptively difficult. Either we work too hard and we are always on the road, or we walk the edges too much and hang on the couch listlessly, while the opportunities are there for the taking. A good balance between work and relaxation, rest and activity ensures that you can enjoy every phase. The grass will not look greener on the other side, because you will not be limited in your work or in your relaxation.
8. Be grateful for what you have. Life is difficult, but if you look closely you will find endless things for which you can be grateful. Be happy with what you have, even if what made you happy is no longer there. The joy you get from the world around you gives you the strength to get through the darkest hours of your life, so be aware of what you have and enjoy it. Sure, you might not get that new shirt (or whatever you want), but at least you can read and have this computer, and the Internet. Some people cannot read, do not have a computer or a roof over their heads. Think about that.
9. Don't take things too seriously. Charlie Chaplin knew a thing or two about comedy. He famously said: "Life is a tragedy when you zoom in, but a comedy when you zoom out." You easily get caught up in your own little dramas, keeping you in your own circle. But take a step back and see your life in a bigger perspective, look at it more philosophically, naughtier and more romantic. The endless possibilities, the absurdity of life - you will realize with pleasure how happy you are.
   • Because, let's face it, just life nicer is if you don't take it all that seriously. And while having fun and being happy isn't all you can achieve in life, it's important, isn't it?
10. Remember that nothing is final. If you are in the middle of a painful or sad period and you can't change that pain or sadness, take a step back and let it happen. If you are in a long period of trouble, remind yourself that it will all pass.

Part 2 of 3: Being physically strong

1. Eat healthy. One of the biggest barriers we have to overcome on the road to stronger physique is healthy eating every day. Who does not know: a visit to the snack bar is tempting, while we had promised ourselves a healthy meal of broccoli and fish. What if we convinced ourselves that healthy eating every day is vital? Would we change our eating habits?
   • Focus in particular on eating fruit and vegetables. Supplement this with lean proteins, which can be found in chicken, fish, dairy, nuts and beans.
   • Know the difference between complex and simple carbohydrates and always try to opt for the complex carbohydrates, which are usually absorbed more slowly and contain more fiber.
   • Prefer healthy fats. Unsaturated fats, such as olive oil, and omega-3 fatty acids, which are found in salmon and flaxseeds, when used in moderation, are good for your health. Avoid unhealthy fats such as saturated and trans fats.
   • Vary your diet. Nutrition is not only there to give you muscle mass. Enjoy it, it will make you a more pleasant person and it will make you fitter.
2. Exercise. Getting strong is more than doing strength training. Getting strong is using your body to burn fat, build muscle and improve your stamina. There are endless exercises you can try to target every muscle in your body, but most importantly, exercise becomes a habit. Exercise every day for at least 30 minutes, even if those 30 minutes consist of 20 minutes of walking the dog and 10 minutes of "stretching"!
3. Work with weights. Building your muscles will help you stay strong, but getting strong is the hardest part. With weightlifting you break down your muscle tissue, after which it repairs and strengthens itself. For optimal muscle strength you work on your entire body. You don't want to look like a bodybuilder who pays so much attention to his biceps that he can't get to his legs.
   • Build muscle in your chest
   • Build muscle in your thighs and legs
   • Build muscle in your arms and shoulders
   • Build muscle in your torso
4. Get enough sleep. To rebuild muscle, reduce stress and maintain emotional balance, an adult needs between 8 and 10 hours of sleep. You never become a Jerommeke on 4 hours of sleep a night. And if you don't sleep well or long enough one night, make up for your sleep deprivation the next night.
5. Do not engage in what are called bad habits, such as cigarettes, alcohol, or other drugs. Everyone understands that smoking cigarettes, using drugs and drinking too much leads to ill health. And yet we seem to be able to tell ourselves that things are not too bad, or for the sake of convenience we forget the harmful effects of alcohol and drugs at the end of the day. To help you make wise choices, here are some statistics that put nicotine and alcohol in a different perspective:
   • Some 13,000 people die from smoking in the Netherlands every year. And smokers die on average 13 to 14 years earlier than non-smokers. Not only do you throw cigarette butts, but you also throw nearly a fifth of your life in the trash.
   • Alcohol is involved in 49% of murders, 52% of rapes, 21% of suicides, 60% of child abuse and more than 50% of road fatalities.

Part 3 of 3: Being spiritually strong

1. Join a power greater than yourself. Whether that is one of the Semitic religions (Christianity, Judaism, Islam), or just the power of the universe, realize that spirituality concerns you and your own beliefs completely and exclusively. You don't have to believe in God to believe in a greater spiritual reality. Explore your own beliefs and those of others, and experience them in a context in which you you recognize the most.
2. Always ask questions and never stop learning. Become "strong" spiritually and spiritually active are not necessarily the same. Someone who is spiritually active agrees with a belief or belief but does not question the usefulness or principles of that belief. The spiritually strong person does ask questions about sacred texts, examines certain behavior and always looks for answers, both within as Outside the frameworks of his faith.
   • A spiritually strong Christian, for example, has no problem arguing with an atheist about the orthodoxy of the Bible. He will see it as a learning moment, an introduction to a different perspective. His conviction is usually reinforced by such a conversation, and if not, then doubt is considered calm and thorough.
3. Never negatively influence someone's beliefs. Imagine if a neighbor or a complete stranger came up to you and told you that your beliefs were completely unfounded, only to impose their beliefs on you - all without your permission. How would you feel? Probably not too good. Well, that's exactly how people feel when people want to convert them to their faith. Balance your own faith with the people around you by imposing it on them as little as possible.
4. Look for what makes your life worth living. Most religions and spiritual schools believe in the idea of ​​blessings, which means help (or approval) from above: from God, or the universe. What are you blessed with?
   • Try to do this exercise for a week so that you become aware of who and what makes you happy. Search for the blessings of one for seven consecutive days:
     • Family member
     • Neighbor or neighbor
     • Friend
     • Colleague from work
     • Stranger
     • Child
     • Enemy
5. Give love wherever you are. Spiritual strength ultimately boils down to the principle that higher powers are a mystery, but that charity is self-evident. Change the world for the better by giving love. This can be done simply by feeding the homeless, or giving up some of your own wealth to get someone else out of poverty; giving love brings us all closer to understanding the mystery that connects humanity.

Tips

• You will make a mistake from time to time, but you can handle that. The difficulties you want to get over now won't be that important in a few years. You might look back on it with some humor by then. Just do what you have always wanted to do and don't let doomsday thinkers put you off, but fight for your ideals if you have to!

Warnings

• When times are tough, we are more vulnerable than ever, and it is tempting to do things we would otherwise never do. You may be desperately looking for an opportunity to get out of a situation or to justify that situation, but it is never to your advantage to take the easiest path. Don't be fooled by the seductive anesthetic of alcohol and drugs, among other things. If you want to escape your hassle, immerse yourself in whatever gives you something to hold on to, such as music, literature or art.