Unpacking Mental Fitness

Mental Health has been THE topic for a while now. And I am often asked if mental fitness and mental health are the same. 

I believe that mental fitness is an operating system for mental health. 

“That is a big claim!” 

Mental Fitness also referred to as “Positive Intelligence” is based on 4 core scientific disciplines; cognitive psychology, performance science, neuroscience, and positive psychology. 

It is based on a Stanford study that included over 500,000 participants from 50 countries along with hundreds of CEOs and world-class athletes, Stanford students.

The study used factor analysis and concluded that there are 10 ways all human beings self-sabotage and 5 modalities or as the study calls them “sage powers” all humans share that if we strengthen them we can command our emotional and mental states.

Currently, it is being used as a tool in companies like Google, Microsoft, CBS, HP, Yale University, and thousands of clients worldwide.

“What is Mental Fitness?”

Mental Fitness is our ability to respond to life’s challenges with a positive mindset rather than a negative one. 

“That’s too generic and a positive mindset is becoming a trend and a loose term that turns me off! I  just don’t get what it means” 

The 10 ways all of us self-sabotage with and are responsible for negative emotions like fear, stress, anxiety, guilt, shame, blame, etc… 

These emotions are located in regions of the left brain that are responsible for our survival. Negative emotions push us to achieve, but leave us exhausted, unhappy, and more importantly not realizing our full potential. 

If we manage how we self-sabotage, we would operate from other regions in the right brain that are responsible for positive emotions; empathy, joy, love, compassion, etc... They are also home to our intuition and creativity.

So, when we say mental fitness is our ability to face life challenges in a positive mindset, we mean literally shifting our brain from one side to the other and using different muscles to process the situation.

“So, when I am in a challenging situation I need to shift my brain? Isn’t this absurd? How do I shift it anyway?”

Yes when you face a challenging situation, you need to shift your brain. It is the “self-command” muscle and it needs to be trained to handle more challenging situations. This is why it is called mental fitness. It’s like going to the gym for your brain muscles.

When you experience negative emotions, shift your brain by directing all your attention to a physical sensation; like the sound of your breath and let go of any thoughts you might be having. This way you are giving signals to your brain that there’s nothing “wrong”, so the survival brain can give way to the creative and intuitive brain.

“If I am self-sabotaging and that successful, then this seems unnecessary.”

Yes, being motivated by negative emotions like fear and stress can make us achieve, but at what cost? Is it your health? Your relationships? Your happiness?

As children, we developed survival mechanisms based on the character traits we were naturally good at. Over time, we started overusing these traits and turned them into self-sabotaging mechanisms like the avoider, the controller, the hyper-vigilant, the hyper-rational, the hyper-achiever, the pleaser, the stickler, the restless, the victim. The master of them all is the Judge; judging ourselves, others, and circumstances. 

Alternatively, you can lend your natural gifts and talents to your creative and intuitive brain. This will directly positively affect your performance, relationships, and wellbeing. You will not only achieve, but you can create for yourself a sustained state of joy. 

By celebrating our strengths, pre-empting our saboteurs, and activating our sage muscles we are able to lead life challenges in a calm clear-headed manner and take laser-focused action towards what we want to achieve.

For contemplation: Can you identify how you self-sabotage?