In this episode, I break down what toughness really means—the ability to not give up or give in to something difficult while continuing to function effectively. I explore the different types of toughness: physical, mental, and psychological, and why developing toughness expands what's possible in your life.
I then provide practical methods to develop both physical and mental toughness: hard training, challenging workouts, cold plunges, multi-day fasts, and putting yourself in psychologically difficult situations. I break these into three levels—daily discomfort, controlled adversity, and real stakes—because toughness isn't something you have, it's something you practice. Life will test you, and being tough means you'll be ready.
Links for Show notes:
"Mental Toughness and Individual Differences in Learning, ...A Systematic Review" (2017) in Frontiers for Psychology
Adopt-a-Pet.com
Dave Kovar
https://www.kovarsystems.com/articles-and-resources/who-is-dave-kovar
Freakonomics "Upside of Quitting"
https://freakonomics.com/podcast/the-upside-of-quitting-3/
David Mitchell
Find Dave Mitchell on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dmitch442/?hl=en
Royce Gracie
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royce_Gracie
Rickson Gracie
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rickson_Gracie
Douglas Wong
https://www.whitelotuskungfu.com/about-masterwong.html
Rigan Machado
https://www.theacademybeverlyhills.com/instructors/rigan-machado/
Jack Seki
https://budoshin.com/about-bjj/budoshin-lineage/jack-seki/
Swiss Cadet Study "Systematic review- Mental toughness across domains"
Iron Man Triathlon
Tabata App
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/tabata-pro-hiit-interval-timer/id346432063
Juice Fast
Seishiro "Henry" Okazaki
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seishiro_Okazaki
Danzan Ryu Ju Jitsu
Sig Kufferath
https://www.danzan.com/HTML/PEOPLE/kufferath.html
Bernice Jay
https://www.danzan.com/HTML/PEOPLE/bernicejay.html
Toastmasters
Music “Disambiguation” by Robel Borja https://open.spotify.com/artist/7j0DUZ79z4e
This episode was directed and presented by Dave Meyer, editor & coproducer by Ryan Turner, producer & marketing Robbie Lockie, music kindly provided by Robel Borja.
