{"id":11035,"date":"2019-09-09T06:00:48","date_gmt":"2019-09-09T10:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=11035"},"modified":"2019-09-06T08:43:09","modified_gmt":"2019-09-06T12:43:09","slug":"do-this-to-be-mentally","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2019\/09\/do-this-to-be-mentally.html","title":{"rendered":"Do This Simple Thing to Be Mentally Stronger"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-large wp-image-11038\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2019\/09\/boat-647049_1920-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"boat-647049_1920\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" \/><br \/>\nWhat does a Navy Seal platoon commander tell his men to help them stay strong? And what do Army Rangers say to their team\u00a0that helps them\u00a0\u00a0endure difficult training? The answer might surprise you because it is not what you\u00a0might think. It\u00a0has to do with mental toughness that we all want to develop and involves something called the facial feedback hypothesis. Simply put, this involves smiling&#8211;using a physical response to amplify or even create an emotion. Making yourself smile is a physical response. Smiling makes you happier. It also can increase feelings of safety and effort. And your physical facial expression influences your mood and thoughts.<\/p>\n<p>Think about it &#8211;when you get exhausted, you frown and that makes you even more tired. You become demotivated. But when you smile, it impacts your emotions in that it tricks your mind into thinking you can do it. This increases endurance. And the cheer up attitude lends to grit. Attitude gets you through difficulty and creates mental strength. Laughing and having fun through a touch task or difficult road works to promote endurance.<\/p>\n<p>Now, you aren&#8217;t laughing inappropriately during difficulty but maintaining a sense of humor, a positive attitude and an optimistic outlook. Often, faith can help a person do this. It&#8217;s being grounded in reality but believing you can tolerate distress and make it through challenges.<\/p>\n<p>This idea of facial feedback can influence even things like going to a party. Let&#8217;s say you dread having to make small talk and interact with strangers at a party. If you force yourself to smile, you will actually enjoy the party more. A behavior that accompanies an emotion, exerts an influence on your experience. So your smile is telling your brain something positive.<\/p>\n<p>To be mentally strong, be positive. Laugh! Smile. If it works for the military, it can work for you. Humor and positive attitude are coping mechanism found to help both veterans and even surgical patients. Smiling\u00a0helps to tolerate stress. It&#8217;s not the only thing that creates mental toughness, but it is one thing you have control over to begin to build resiliency in your life. So give it a try! Smile!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What does a Navy Seal platoon commander tell his men to help them stay strong? And what do Army Rangers say to their team\u00a0that helps them\u00a0\u00a0endure difficult training? The answer might surprise you because it is not what you\u00a0might think. It\u00a0has to do with mental toughness that we all want to develop and involves something&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4100],"tags":[4488,4489,4490,1642,2088],"class_list":["post-11035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health","tag-laugh","tag-mental-strength","tag-mentally-stronger","tag-positive-emotions","tag-smile"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Do This Simple Thing to Be Mentally Stronger<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2019\/09\/do-this-to-be-mentally.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Do This Simple Thing to Be Mentally Stronger\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What does a Navy Seal platoon commander tell his men to help them stay strong? And what do Army Rangers say to their team\u00a0that helps them\u00a0\u00a0endure difficult training? The answer might surprise you because it is not what you\u00a0might think. It\u00a0has to do with mental toughness that we all want to develop and involves something&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2019\/09\/do-this-to-be-mentally.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Doing Life Together\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-09-09T10:00:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-09-06T12:43:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2019\/09\/boat-647049_1920-1024x682.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda Mintle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@drlindamintle\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Do This Simple Thing to Be Mentally Stronger","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2019\/09\/do-this-to-be-mentally.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Do This Simple Thing to Be Mentally Stronger","og_description":"What does a Navy Seal platoon commander tell his men to help them stay strong? And what do Army Rangers say to their team\u00a0that helps them\u00a0\u00a0endure difficult training? The answer might surprise you because it is not what you\u00a0might think. It\u00a0has to do with mental toughness that we all want to develop and involves something&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2019\/09\/do-this-to-be-mentally.html","og_site_name":"Doing Life Together","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/","article_published_time":"2019-09-09T10:00:48+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-09-06T12:43:09+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2019\/09\/boat-647049_1920-1024x682.jpg"}],"author":"Linda Mintle","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@drlindamintle","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2019\/09\/do-this-to-be-mentally.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2019\/09\/do-this-to-be-mentally.html","name":"Do This Simple Thing to Be Mentally Stronger","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2019\/09\/do-this-to-be-mentally.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2019\/09\/do-this-to-be-mentally.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2019\/09\/boat-647049_1920-1024x682.jpg","datePublished":"2019-09-09T10:00:48+00:00","dateModified":"2019-09-06T12:43:09+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#\/schema\/person\/1e16a9c7332cfcc5b5d89e4ba3a36142"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2019\/09\/do-this-to-be-mentally.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2019\/09\/do-this-to-be-mentally.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2019\/09\/do-this-to-be-mentally.html#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2019\/09\/boat-647049_1920-1024x682.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2019\/09\/boat-647049_1920-1024x682.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2019\/09\/do-this-to-be-mentally.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Do This Simple Thing to Be Mentally Stronger"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/","name":"Doing Life Together","description":"Relationship Doctor, Mental Health, Emotional Wellness, Relationship Advice &amp; Entertainment","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#\/schema\/person\/1e16a9c7332cfcc5b5d89e4ba3a36142","name":"Linda Mintle","description":"It is rare that a trained academic who speaks passionately to the heart of people providing real answers to real life problems is so relatable. Dr. Linda\u2019s fun personality and expertise comes through whether she\u2019s helping her audience stress less or make peace with their thighs! Dr. Linda has her Ph.D. in Urban Health and Clinical Psychology and is a national expert on mental health. She has specialized in the treatment of eating disorders, anxiety, depression and pain management. With 30 years of clinical experience working with couples, families and individuals, she brings her common-sense approach to people who want to live in positive mental health. Dr. Linda is also a bestselling author with 21 book titles to her credit, a radio host of the Dr. Linda Mintle show, professor, national speaker, winner of the Mom\u2019s Choice Award, a national news consultant, featured writer for Beliefnet and hosts her own website. Her academic appointments keep her abreast of current research in her areas of expertise. Her media experience includes seven years as the resident expert for ABC Family\u2019s Living the Life television show and regular appearances on network television and radio. It is often said that being with Dr. Linda is like having coffee with a friend. She makes the complicated issues of relationships and mental health easy to understand and applicable to everyday living. The ease she has with people, coupled with her clinical training and experience makes her a sought-after speaker on college campuses, conferences and special events. Whether she is doing a TV skit with Tim Conway or discussing teen violence with Queen Latifa, Dr. Linda will entertain, educate and integrate faith and mental health in everyday living. Check out her latest book Hope and Healing for Anxiety, a whole-person approach to eliminate anxiety. .","sameAs":["https:\/\/drlindamintle.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/x.com\/drlindamintle"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/author\/lmintle"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/419"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11035"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11035\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11039,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11035\/revisions\/11039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}