Nick: Young Entrepreneur Lifestyle Podcast, episode number 11.
Hello, and welcome to the Young Entrepreneur Lifestyle Podcast, the show where we help you build a life and a business on your terms. I’m your host, Nick Palkowski, and in each episode, we’ll be learning from a mentor, speaker, and serial entrepreneur, Peter Voogd. Peter, thank you so much for joining us on this episode of the podcast.
Peter: Glad to be here and excited, as always.
Nick: And, Peter, I know this is a topic that I personally am very excited that we’re going to be talking about, because it’s one that I think is so important for any entrepreneur’s life, and that is mental toughness. So what do you actually want to cover on today’s podcast?
Peter:I want to talk about what mental toughness really is, how to develop it, and obviously, the benefits of mental toughness for somebody’s business, future, peace of mind, family, and happiness. So overall mental toughness, what it is, and give them some steps on how to make the most of it.
Nick: Yeah, so when you say “mental toughness,” what does that look like in real life? What does that actually mean to an entrepreneur?
Peter: So here’s the question you have to ask: what do you do when nothing goes your way? What do you do when everything that you’ve planned fails, and you feel like your back’s against the wall, and your business is failing, something goes wrong, and then there’s a family emergency or a death in the family, just everything goes wrong? What do you do at that point, when you’re squeezed? And that is mental toughness.
What do you do in crucial situations? Dan Kennedy taught me that high tolerance for pressure is a skill successful entrepreneurs need and are paid highly for. So that’s when you figure out your mental toughness thing, because when you’re pushed back, your back’s against the wall, and as the economy gets tougher, I do want to stress the importance of developing it, especially at a young age, and how revolutionary it could be for your future, for your career, family, income, and your influence that you have on others.
So here’s what I’ll say to start off. Mental toughness is only developed over a period of time. It’s years, not days or weeks. It’s months of pushing yourself, not weeks. And only built through really tough times. It separates the men from the boys, the women from the girls, and people that exercise this, Nick, and persevere, ultimately succeed at a higher level than everybody else, and most people really give up before they actually succeed, and all they have to do is keep going.
So here’s an example, and we’ll go from there. It’s like being in front of a firehouse, and there’s water coming out. You’re sitting in front of the hose, and water keeps gushing out, and it keeps gushing out harder and harder. You either get pushed to the side, or you do what? You take it, right? So think of mental toughness as you’re just taking more and more and more and more, and what happens when you do, is you build your capacity and you build your strength for challenge. So you either become a mentally tough person, or you give up.
So that’s the analogy I’d like to use, whereas the more you take on, the bigger you want to become, the more water’s coming out of that fire hose. And if you can’t handle it, you get pushed to the side, then it’s tough to develop mental toughness. If you keep going and you keep pushing, eventually, you’ll build your capacity, and your mental toughness will rise. Does that make sense?
Nick: It does, and I can definitely see why mental toughness is so important to an entrepreneur, why they need it, why it helps you succeed, but how do we actually go about developing it? What are some things you can specifically do to actually increase your mental toughness?
Peter: Yeah, good question. So one is just take on more to become more.
Nick: Okay.
Peter: Instead of saying, “I’m going to do school, or I’m going to work,” do school and work. “I’m going to start this business or I’m going to do this.” No, start the business and do this, and do something else. So challenge yourself. But I think the first thing is take on more to become more. Try to take on more and expand your capacity at every chance you get.
When I think about me being busy or me taking on a lot, I think of Steve Jobs. He was running Pixar and Apple at one point. So if someone’s complaining about them being busy, I’m like, “Wait, wait. Steve Jobs ran two billion dollar companies at one time. Are you really expanding your capacity?” Right? So it’s that perspective.
But another thing I’d say, too, is realizing it’s an investment of persistence, Nick, is a big perspective flipper. So understand that mental toughness is really an investment in your future. It’s no month, no week, and no books or seminars can help you. That’s the problem people don’t realize. They think by listening to this, or going to a seminar, they’re mentally tough now. No, it’s purely an investment. It’s like buying a bond or watching grass grow. Right? It happens slowly. So take on more to become more, and realize this is an investment in persistence.
The next thing is, responding versus reacting. Okay? Your reaction influences people more than you realize, especially yourself and your confidence. So don’t react, just respond with intelligence. So all great leaders stay even emotionally, and you really can’t tell if a successful person’s having a good or bad day. Now, if someone’s not mature enough, and they don’t have mental toughness, when something doesn’t go their way, what do they usually do, Nick?
Nick: They get upset, they get flustered, or they get angry, or you’re able to tell that something’s different and something’s wrong.
Peter: Exactly. And you know someone’s not mentally tough if they show a lot of emotion when things don’t go their way. I’m not saying emotion’s bad, but one of my mentor’s, Isaac Tolpin, told me that when you’re in a leadership role, you don’t want to show you’re tired, you’re hungry, you’re frustrated, because people will lose respect for you subconsciously. People want strong leaders and strong entrepreneurs around them. So how quickly do you adapt and adjust to challenges?
So I would tell people, just respond with intelligence versus react with emotion. Does that make sense?
Nick: Yes, it definitely does.
Peter: And then another thing–there are not a ton of tips I want to give; I want to keep it simple–but welcome challenges. Eighty percent of success is emotional strength and mental toughness, and the only way to become mentally tough, like I said, is taking on more, not less. So you’ve got to be careful about what you put in your mind, careful about the right books. Don’t just live in books, but you’ve got to get work done.
So people are so caught up in personal growth, I always like to say, “Learning is easy. Implementation is hard.” That’s why so many people learn, but so few implement. So you can’t get mentally tough by learning all day long. You get mentally tough by what? Doing, applying and implementing what you learn, but the perspective here, Nick, is when you have bigger goals, the second you set bigger goals and take on more, challenges will arise, and you’ll be tested to see if you deserve that success.
So what I tell people is, “Welcome challenges.” Most people lower their standards when they get disappointed, and that’s a guaranteed way to fail. When you’re disappointed, get more disciplined. Does that make sense? That only comes with persistence, and with this perspective, you’re going to have better thoughts. I’ll tell you, good thoughts and actions can never produce bad results, but bad thoughts and actions can never produce good results.
So if you don’t discipline your disappointment, you’re going to have a rough ride as an entrepreneur. So I try to turn my disappointment into drive and curiosity, that way I understand that I am building my mental toughness, I am taking the right approach, I am responding versus reacting, and I’m eventually going to build my mindset to a stronger level. Does that make sense?
Nick: Yeah, it definitely does. I love that, that really what you need to do is lean into those challenges, and almost get excited when some of those challenges come your way, because it’s a new opportunity for you to expand your mental toughness, a new opportunity for you to build new skills, and kind of reach a new level in your life and your business.
Peter: A hundred percent. And if you’re not failing, you’ve got to fail faster, because the more you fail, the more successful you’ll become, so I like that you brought out that point.
Nick: Oh, that’s awesome. So Peter, do you have anything else for us on mental toughness?
Peter: I would just really study what mental toughness is, and realize that it’s an investment in persistence, and if you can respond versus react and welcome challenges, realize that it takes months and years, not weeks, seminars or classes. So I think what I want to tell people is it’s buying a bond. You’re investing in your future. So not only practice what you really want to get better at, practice makes permanent, but practice average, and you’ll be average.
So just practice being mentally tough. Start responding to things the way a successful champion would respond versus how you usually would. Study those who you feel are mentally tough, model the best in the world, and just become aware that every choice you make, you’re either becoming mentally tougher or weaker, and it’s those moments of decision that really make that difference.
That’s what I’d tell them about mental toughness. If you have any questions, of course, let us know. I’m definitely excited. I’m just think about it now, Nick, for the next couple of podcasts. I have so much stuff to cover that’s helping, that I think people are going to be mindblown. So definitely subscribe, and I’m excited to keep adding value.
Nick: Oh, and I’m very excited for these future podcasts, too, and if any of our listeners out there do have a question, you can actually leave a voicemail for Peter by going to youngentrepreneurlifestyle.com/question, and you’ll be able to just click the button on the computer, and record right through your computer mic, and we’ll get that message and we’ll play your question on the air, and you can have Peter answer the question there live. So that’s one way that you can ask any question that you have, especially about mental toughness or anything else.
But Peter, what do we have coming up for our next episode of the podcast?
Peter: I’m going to talk about failure, and the best ways to approach failure, and how to use failure to your advantage so you can really have a competitive edge over everybody around you. So I’m excited for that, and hope people are ready.
Nick: Are you committed to being your best? Are you looking to make a difference in your life and the lives of those around you? It’s time for you to become a game changer. The Game Changer System for Excellence is the premier community for young professionals and ambitious entrepreneurs, created by Peter Voogd.
To learn more about the Game Changer System for Excellence, go to youngentrepreneurlifestyle.com/gamechanger. The world has enough followers. Be a game changer.
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And thank you for listening to this episode of the podcast. And now it’s time for you to go out and start working on the mental side of your game. You know, the mental side of business is truly the most important side of business. Without that mental toughness, it’s going to be hard for you to succeed as an entrepreneur, so it’s time to start working on your mental game, on building that mental toughness.
If you’d like to let us know what you’re doing in order to increase your mental toughness, and also go to the show notes and get all the resources we have available there, all you need to do is go to youngentrepreneurlifestyle.com/011 for episode number 11. If you’d like Peter to answer a question on a future episode, all you need to do is go to youngentrepreneurlifestyle.com/question, and you can leave a voicemail question right there on the webpage just using your computer microphone.
So until next week, it’s time for you to go out, to increase your mental toughness, and truly live life and business on your terms.