If you hop on social media or watch TV, a common topic you will hear about is inner strength. What does it mean? How do you develop your own? What can having inner strength do for you? Let’s find out the real story of inner strength and why it is essential for you.
Qualities Of Inner Strength?
- Drive and determination
- Will power
- Ability to keep going even in hard times
- Courage
- Bravery
- Tenacity
- Toughness
- Trusting in your judgments and decisions
Only The Strong Survive
Inner strength is an integral part of being a resilient person. It helps you deal with all of the challenges that life brings. Merriam-Webster dictionary defines strength as “the quality or state of being strong: the capacity for exertion or endurance.”
Inner strength can be compared with perseverance. The ability to endure or keep going. I know you have heard the phrase, “Life is tough; get a helmet.” Tapping into your inner strength armor will take you much further than a helmet.
Developing skills of inner strength takes practice. Depending on temperament, each person can adjust and deal with life changes to a varying degree. The environment, personality, and cultural background can all impact a person’s inner strength. The ability to be tough and keep going is a learned behavior and natural personality. The beauty of it is that everyone can develop this skill or ability. It is free for anyone. It just takes practice.
For The Health Of It
Developing inner strength may help you add peace and serenity to your life. You may also notice fewer feelings of stress. This is because developing inner strength increases self-reliance and self-mastery. Decreasing the feeling that life is out of your control or that everything is happening at you or to you, increases a sense of peace for many.
Making inner strength gains is good for physical and mental health. According to a study, our results showed an association between durable inner strength and being non-depressed, and that inner strength independently impacts depression.
This goes in line with findings that inner strength is associated with mental health (Nygren et al., 2005) and is a mediator of the relationship between diseases (among them depression) and self-rated health (Viglund et al., 2014) as well as being mentally strong is a completely natural way to stay mentally well (Inner strength – associated with reduced prevalence of depression among older women, Erika Boman, et Al., 2015).
Strength Training
Working on believing in yourself, trusting yourself, and being courageous is part of developing and enhancing inner strength. Take advantage of opportunities to use inner strength. When a challenge comes up in life, tell yourself, “I am strong, and I am capable. I can handle this challenge.” The more you learn to use these skills, the easier drawing upon inner strength becomes when it is needed. Start small. Work on being resilient and resourceful in small fidelity situations. Then you will be ready when it counts.
Use It Or Lose In
The more you use your newly forged inner strength skills, the better you will get at being a mentally strong person. Inner strength is developed with frequent use, just like any other skill. Use it or lose it.
Victory Lap
Celebrate. Yes, give yourself credit for working on these new skills in your life. You may hit bumps in the road, but the idea here is to get up if you fall. Keep getting up and keep getting stronger. You will amaze yourself. Life will feel more manageable in some ways. You will be better prepared to handle the unexpected. Be proud of yourself. Be proud of your inner strength.