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