Just do it!

Mental toughness is one of the big x-factors in sports, and in any performance environment. The subject has been playing through my mind for the past few weeks, triggered by my own experiences in my new profession, and by my work with my rowing crew for whom the racing season has just started.
When I think of a mentally tough person, I see someone who just does what it takes to reach the aspired goal. Mental toughness includes a lot of things, like emotion regulation, control over one’s own focus and physical and mental endurance, which implies other things like tolerance for pain and control over body movement.
If you lack mental toughness, you create a barrier between you and your goal. You want something in your sport, and to get it you have to work hard, experience pain and practice (and fail) before you are there. You think things like “this will hurt a lot”, “I might overdo it, and burn out”, “tomorrow I will train again, so if it doesn’t happen today, I have another shot”.
The feeling I always had about being mentally tough was that you do something even though you don’t feel like it, or even dislike (hate) doing it.  But maybe this is incorrect. This insight came to me as I was climbing the stairs to my apartment on the fourth floor.
A few weeks ago, I made a deal with myself to always take the stairs, unless the elevator in our building happened to be on the floor I was on (which is almost never, for some reason). This deal stemmed from my desire to keep an eye on my fitness, and do small things to keep it up. Most people I know would always take the elevator, and when they hear that I almost always take the stairs, they give me a thumbs-up. So, on this small aspect of my life, I am mentally tough. How does this work?
I made a deal with myself, based on a higher goal, and now every time I am confronted with the stairs/elevator, thoughts about whether or not I feel like climbing the stairs, or even the possibility that I have a choice, do not even come to mind. So, I don’t feel any inner conflict and all the negative emotions that go with that. I automatically think of the deal I have with myself and I just do it. And the great thing is, I always feel good about myself when I’ve reached that last step. Plus, I feel happy when the elevator happens to be on my floor, I got a bonus!
If you are able to break down your training into small deals with yourself, and stick to your deal, you are mentally tough. The important thing is to keep your deal simple and small. I’m sure I would not keep it up if my deal was: if the last traffic light is green when I approach, bike at max speed the last kilometer, park bike as fast as possible, take stairs and jog down the hall. Small and simple leaves no room for doubt, thinking you have a choice and deciding whether or not you feel like it. Because your deal is so small and simple you’ve already started doing it before you start thinking.
To conclude, in my opinion, mental toughness is not doing stuff you don’t want to do, it’s not leaving room for the negative thought cycle. Just do it!