Mental Toughness by Tyler GarnsLast week I had the fortunate experience of taking my son's scout troop on a 50-mile backpacking trip in Yosemite. Truly one of the wonders of the world. That place is amazing.But there was something about that trip that I can't get out of my mind. During the trip we ascended over 9200 ft. To put that into understandable terms, that's 1.7 miles straight up (not counting all the traversing). That's a LOT of climbing and it ain't easy.The boys complained. A LOT! I wanted to strangle a couple of them. :) But they trudged on and despite their whining, and the pain, and the danger (getting to the top of Half Dome is a bit sketchy), they made it.And when it was all said and done, they thanked me for pushing them to do it. They realized they had accomplished something difficult and they were proud of it.But what all that comes down to for me is "mental toughness". Those boys are 20 years younger than I am, they're in better shape, and their bodies recover much more quickly. They wanted to give up, not because their bodies couldn't handle it, but because their minds weren't strong enough to keep pushing their bodies.In business, we fight the same battle. There are days that kick us to the ground. There are days we think we can't go on. We consider throwing in the towel.Are we mentally tough enough to continue on?What does being mentally tough mean to a business owner?It means being able to face your bleak reality with optimism and faith.It means being able to effectively prioritize and delegate when everything seems to be crumbling around you.It means being able to focus on the long term goal while executing on the short term projects that get you closer to the goal.It means recognizing when you're doing stuff just to do stuff and you're not actually doing the right things.This month in the US we celebrate independence day. It's a good time for all of us (whether you're in the US or not) to recognize the the mental toughness our forefathers had to create the life we have now.Let's learn from that mental toughness, apply it in our businesses, and use it to stay focused on our plan to double sales.TylerP.S. Here are a couple of picture from Yosemite. On the left I'm roasting trout on a stick. On the right I'm standing on top of Half Dome.***Note from Z: Tyler is my teacher in the area of marketing, you can learn more here.
