Enigma of Mental Endurance

i have always

been inspired by mind over matter

i grew up listening to stories of

ordinary people

doing extraordinary things using sheer

willpower

stories that inspired me and left me

wondering

how they overcame their inner fear and

galvanized their strength

to achieve the impossible were they born

with mental endurance

or did they develop it can i raise the

bar higher

and reimagine the limits of what my body

can do can i set my sights higher

and go further than i’ve ever been

before

in my journey to do the ironman i

decoded

the enigma of mental endurance

the iron man is the most grueling

one-day endurance event in the world

and comprises of 3.8 kilometers of

swimming

180 kilometers of cycling

42.2 kilometers of running all to be

done within 17 hours

and i was nudged into doing the ironman

when 35 years into my army career

i suffered a professional setback

a setback that i had not anticipated

and i wasn’t prepared for a setback

that set me back in my confidence left

me with low self-esteem

and sliding to a point of no return

in a last bid attempt to salvage

my self-esteem i at the age of 58

decided to do the ironman and i knew

that time it would be my salvation

from professional rejection and that

became my driving force

the sheer magnitude of the iron man is

very intimidating

and the naysayers around me were plenty

and i had to start by convincing myself

that i can do it because i believe

every battle that you win has to be

fought twice

the first time in your mind and the

second on the field

i vowed to give it my all and i

commenced my trading

three weeks into my training i realized

that the journey is going to be long and

hard

and there may be times when i’m tempted

to quit

and to overcome that i took to social

media

and went and pledged that i’m going to

do the iron man

and by doing that i put at risk my

reputation

my esteem my name and left myself with

no window to escape

we are always more willing to endure

something if it is linked

to a larger purpose in life and i linked

my doing

iron man to the larger purpose of my

redemption of self-esteem

18 months of formidable training

where the temperatures in the summer

touch 44 degrees

the claustrophobic pollution that makes

breathing difficult

the maddening traffic which is dangerous

restricting my cycling

and the shortage of time because i had a

9 am

to 5 30 pm job a sensitive appointment

which i could not compromise on

and so i realized that i needed to come

with an out of box solution

to carve out a practical

training schedule and i did

i started getting back from work and

running

and swimming at night from seven to ten

o’clock

i would also run on a set on a sunday

afternoon

when the sun was at its highest

and i realized cycling from 2 am on a

saturday night

to 9 00 am on a sunday morning was the

best way to

beat the heat the sun the pollution and

the traffic

the rides were growing and there was

many a time when i almost dozed off on

my bike

but since i had linked it to a larger

purpose

i completed the rights and i didn’t

realize that time

but all this odd our training was

actually

helping me enhance my mental endurance

and prepare me to take on tasks which

are difficult

most of us don’t understand what mental

endurance is all about

but it’s all about how we respond

when faced with a difficult situation

it’s the how that’s important

and this how can be boosted

by willingness and by optimism

willingness is the ability to accept

what is happening to you and willingness

can be

enhanced if what is happening to you

is going to benefit you so we are more

willing to endure

a difficult situation when we know that

at the end of it

we will be benefited optimism on the

other hand

is a thought about the positive outcome

of what you’re enduring

and optimism can be enhanced by

visualization

during my training whenever i was low

when my morale was low when i was low on

optimism

i used to use the technique of

visualization

i would visualize myself completing the

event

i would visualize myself running down

the red carpet to the finish line of the

iron man

and the clown the crowd applauding me

and the announcer

announcing my name vikram you’re an iron

man and that would

motivate me and get back my optimism

everyone athletes sports persons

performers have bad days but what

differentiates

world-class athletes from others is

their ability to bounce back

after a defeat

and this is something that they train

for for years

even if it’s a small plan like talking

to yourself

one word of encouragement and i used a

lot of this technique

when i faced any setback in my training

i would talk to myself i would say

vikram

you can do it you can ace it

you can come out stronger you’re the

best

these words of encouragement that you

give to yourself

generate a positivity within you which

enhances

mental endurance

it was a hot sultry humid

afternoon on a sunday when i was doing a

35 kilometer run

in preparation to my ironman

because it was warm i had crafted

a careful hydration plan and

also an electrolyte intake plan

about 30 kilometers into my run i

started to cram

i was cramping in my stomach and my

chest

and i fell on this deserted road

i was happy that the road was deserted

because i didn’t want to see

anybody to see me in that condition but

i was

also alarmed because i knew this could

lead

to a cardiac arrest fortunately

a minute into the cramps the spasms bust

and i could sit up i had

tried to recommence my run but i

couldn’t i started to walk

and having walked a little distance

i tried to jog synchronizing my

breathing with my running

and i slowly managed to gain some

momentum

and i completed the other run

and this event was then forgotten in the

run-up to the iron man

i’ll take you now to the event first of

july

2018 klagenfurt austria

i had just finished my 3.8 kilometer

swim

i had nourished myself hydrated and i

was

strong on my cycle to do the 180

kilometers

cycling ride 150 kilometers into the

ride

i started feeling extremely low on

energy

my eyes began to blur i couldn’t see the

road

the inclines i had already covered an

elevation of 6000 feet and the inclines

had taken their toll on my

energy cycling ahead was becoming

impossible and visions of my quitting

started coming to my mind

and in this i suddenly got to remember

what happened to me

on that sunday when i had cramped

and taking a leaf out of that i tried to

coordinate my breathing

with my peddling and as i did that

i managed to gain momentum and 15 to 20

minutes

into this momentum i got magically

transported

and connected with my mother who had

crossed over four years ago

i could see her face looking down at me

smiling

egging me on i had tears in my eyes

which was streaming down my cheeks

i felt that surge of power coming to me

and i moved as i moved ahead

and i completed the ride that incident

changed the outcome

of my event i was intrigued

i started to research and find out what

had happened to me

and i was surprised to find that lot of

athletes had written about

how they got meditative when they were

running

how they meditated when they

synchronized their breathing

with the fall of the feet

meditation enhances mental endurance

meditation calms the mind meditation

releases endorphins which are happy

hormones

meditation enhances focus

and if you can combine running with

meditation

then you can get the benefits of your

physical endurance being built by

running

and your mental endurance being enhanced

by meditation

mental endurance plays a significant

role in everything that we do

whether it’s dealing with a difficult

boss whether it’s an unpleasant

relationship

whether it’s looking after aged parents

even when you’re dealing with teenage

children

so build mental endurance and for that

i want to share a few points that you

can look at

firstly connect with your why

connect with why you are enduring

whatever you are

how does it play a role in your life

and when you connect to your why you

will find it enhances mental endurance

meditate it it’ll calm you

it’ll make you happy and it will enhance

your mental endurance

yoga magically is excellent for mental

endurance

and it generates a positivity and a body

stamina

learn to thrive in disparity

step out of your comfort zone do new

things

take on new challenges go to places

you’ve not been before

all this enhances mental endurance

stretch yourself try to physically seek

discomfort and when i say that

when i was running at those orders in

the afternoon

or at night when i was cycling it helped

develop my mental endurance

you can do it too in a simple way when

you go to shower on a winter morning

don’t turn on the hot water stand in the

shower and turn on the cold water for

one minute willingly accepting what is

happening to your body

it enhances your mental endurance

maintain unwavering positivity

when you meet a negative person don’t go

down to their level

try and bring them to your positive

level

you are what you eat try and eat

food which is rich in vitamins and

protein

if your body is well nourished your mind

will

make you perform to your optimum

do not list do not let stress overtake

you

when you are stressed look for what

makes you happy

look at what hobby you have and include

more of that in your routine

when you do stuff which makes you happy

it lowers your stress

and lastly indulge in exercises of the

mind which will enhance your mental

endurance

because just like you increase your

physical endurance

you can also increase your mental

endurance by playing chess

doing sudoku or doing crossword

our journeys may be different but we all

weather the same storm

build mental endurance to tackle

rejections

and setbacks in your life when faced

with adversity

look at the look for the calm place in

your mind

and fill it with willpower

be focused be persistent

be consistent and adopt a never said i

attitude thank you