{"id":335957,"date":"2025-12-09T06:49:51","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T06:49:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/uncategorized\/the-key-to-mental-toughness-three-tips-from-madam-pele\/"},"modified":"2025-12-09T06:49:51","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T06:49:51","slug":"the-key-to-mental-toughness-three-tips-from-madam-pele","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=335957","title":{"rendered":"The Key to Mental Toughness: Three Tips from Madam Pele"},"content":{"rendered":"


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This time last year, I was facing a difficult challenge that would test the limits of my physical and mental endurance.\u00a0 Knowing this, a good friend sent me a note of encouragement.\u00a0 Within it she shared a key secret to developing mental toughness that ultimately helped me succeed. \u00a0It was the kind of guidance that can help us as leaders deal with the many challenges we face on a daily basis.\u00a0 I\u2019ll set the context, and then tell you what she said.<\/p>\n

\"Mental<\/h2>\n

The Muscle and the Mental<\/h2>\n

This week, the women\u2019s edition of the Ironman Triathlon World Championship race takes place at Kailua-Kona, on the Big Island of Hawaii.\u00a0 The disciplines and distances of the sport are challenge enough: \u00a0a 2.4-mile swim, followed by a 112-mile bike ride, capped off with a 26.2-mile marathon.\u00a0 To even race at Kona, most had to qualify by reaching the podium in a previous race.\u00a0 Those on the start line have already proven they have the muscle to get it done.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But it takes more than muscle to succeed at Kona.<\/p>\n

Swimmers are beset by currents and rolling ocean swells that require extra effort to navigate.\u00a0 The bike course undulates through sun-scorched lava fields and ascends the flanks of a volcano.\u00a0 All the while, incessant headwinds slow racers to a crawl, and fickle trade winds threaten to blast them off the road.\u00a0 The marathon wanders along the hilly coast as temperature and humidity reach for triple digits.\u00a0 Late in the run, racers descend into the \u201cEnergy Lab,\u201d where the wind subsides, the roads become eerily quiet, and runners are left alone to roast in the heat, basted in their doubts.<\/p>\n

This triple threat of sea, sun, and wind combine to sap energy and willpower for ten or more hours of racing for most competitors.\u00a0 Kona\u2019s reputation as one of the toughest races from a list of very tough races is well-deserved.\u00a0 Finishing well doesn\u2019t just require muscular fitness, it calls for a tremendous amount of mental toughness.<\/p>\n

My friend, Jodie, has raced on this island three times.\u00a0 The third time she finished top-ten in the world for her age group.\u00a0 She has proven that she has both the physical and mental muscle to succeed in this challenging environment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So, what did she have to teach me about mental toughness in her note?<\/p>\n

Meet Madam Pele<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Knowing that I was preparing to face these conditions last year, she shared an insight that helped me immensely.\u00a0 Here are her words:<\/p>\n

\u201cMadam Pele is not out there to defeat you.
She is out there asking you to bring the best of yourself.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Observe the simplicity and beauty of this statement.<\/p>\n

\"ImageJodie starts by giving the challenges a name.\u00a0 In Hawaiian tradition, the islands were created by the goddess Pele.\u00a0 Like the volcanoes that dominate the land, Pele is known to be mercurial, powerful, intoxicatingly attractive at times, but also mercilessly fierce at others.\u00a0 Many racers credit her for the often difficult, sometimes unpredictable conditions on race day.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In sharing her idea for building mental toughness, Jodie did the same.\u00a0 Giving the challenge a name personifies it, turning it into something we can form a relationship with. \u00a0In naming the challenge, we move from being a victim of something beyond our control, to a participant in a conversation about what lies ahead.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s Not a Fight<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Second, she removes the idea of confrontation.\u00a0 The phrase \u201cmental toughness\u201d engenders a sense of conflict.\u00a0 Webster<\/a><\/strong> defines \u201ctoughness\u201d as the \u201cthe quality of being strong and not easily broken.\u201d\u00a0 When we want to be tough, we are inclined to adopt a combative approach to the challenges we face; we prepare ourselves to \u201cbattle it out.\u201d\u00a0 But Jodie\u2019s words suggested something entirely different.<\/p>\n

Her idea is that it isn\u2019t about combat, it\u2019s about partnership.\u00a0 It\u2019s not an attempt to wear us down, it\u2019s an opportunity for us to grow stronger.\u00a0 We can think of our \u201cPele\u201d in the same way as we might a coach who programs tough workouts, or a teacher who gives difficult homework.\u00a0 The challenges they assign are not attempts to bring us to failure, but encouragement for us to reach farther and dig deeper.\u00a0 In the process, we develop greater capacity, add new skills, and become more capable versions of ourselves.<\/p>\n

There is Always More<\/strong><\/h2>\n

And third, implicit in Madam Pele\u2019s question, is the idea that we have greater capacity than we often give ourselves credit for.\u00a0 It can help to recognize that through natural selection, humans have become superb endurance athletes.\u00a0 We may not be as strong or as fast as other mammals, but we are supremely well adapted to keep going mile after mile despite brutally hot conditions [1].\u00a0 In my view, as that physical ability evolved, we must have developed the mental capacity to go the distance as well.\u00a0 We were made, mentally and physically, to endure.<\/p>\n

But even when we think we have reached our limit, we aren\u2019t finished.\u00a0 In one experiment, subjects were directed to pedal an exercise bike to exhaustion.\u00a0 At the bike\u2019s set resistance, on average they lasted an average of only 12 minutes.\u00a0 Moments after they had quit, researchers directed them to pedal for five seconds as hard as they could; the riders were able to produce three times the power that they did in the longer test [2].\u00a0 Clearly there was more left in the tank, despite believing they were done.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

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When someone stops because they are exhausted, they still have plenty of energy left over. – Samuele Marcora, Professor of Exercise Physiology <\/a><\/span>Share on X<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

If the muscles were still capable, it must have been the mind that made them stop, having reached some perceived limit of performance.\u00a0 To push that line farther out, it can help to convince the mind that we are not as exhausted as we thought.\u00a0 Strategies for doing this might include any of these:<\/p>\n

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  • Set short, attainable goals; ten more miles may seem impossible, but certainly the next light pole is doable<\/li>\n
  • Count paces; how hard can it be to run one hundred more steps?<\/li>\n
  • Recite song lyrics or poetry; pick something light, fun, or energetic; if we can still sing, how hard can it really be?<\/li>\n
  • Repeat a mantra; a steady flow of positive affirmation can convince us we really can go on<\/li>\n
  • Smile and encourage other racers; smiling relaxes the body, and often others will return that encouragement to you<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    When the road gets long and the finish line seems impossibly far, remember that Madam Pele knows that we have it within us to continue.\u00a0 These are the times to try to relax, focus on achievable short-term goals, and keep moving.\u00a0<\/p>\n

    One last pro-tip:\u00a0 In the midst of the struggle, if you can find the energy, look up.\u00a0 Chances are you will catch Madam Pele smiling.<\/p>\n

    Building Mental Toughness \u2013 The Takeaway<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    Whenever challenges appear, Jodie\u2019s note gives us three ways to cope with them.\u00a0 Give them a name and start a conversation with them.\u00a0 See them as opportunities to learn and grow, and look for ways to do that.\u00a0 And remember that as tough as things seem to be, there is always more to give; we were born to endure.<\/p>\n

    For me, the day ended up being even more difficult than I expected.*\u00a0 For the first time in thirteen of these races, I seriously considered quitting.\u00a0 But somewhere during the slog into the Energy Lab, with fragments of my racing hopes littering the slopes of the volcano, Coach Pele seemed to be talking to me.\u00a0<\/p>\n

    She reminded me that she wasn\u2019t making it hard so that I would quit.\u00a0 Quite the opposite.\u00a0 The challenges she threw at me were a display of her confidence in me.\u00a0 In her not-so-gentle way, she was pointing out that the first and greatest challenge is overcoming the limitations I place on myself.\u00a0<\/p>\n

    She was reminding me:\u00a0 You always have more.\u00a0<\/p>\n

    Wherever you are on your leadership journey, whatever your challenges, and whoever your Pele is, talk to her.\u00a0 I believe she has the same message for you, too.<\/p>\n

    To everyone getting ready to swim out to the start line in Kailua Bay this week, congratulations, and good luck.<\/p>\n

    And when you see her, tell Coach Pele I said, \u201cHello.\u00a0 And Thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Lead On!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

    * Interested in more?\u00a0 Jodie shared another insight into mental toughness last year, when she challenged me with just two words.\u00a0 They ended up helping me through the toughest race I had ever experienced; maybe they can help you, too:\u00a0 How to Overcome Adversity with Two Simple Words<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

    [1]\u00a0 Brains, Brawn, and the Evolution of Human Endurance Running Capabilities<\/a>, Lieberman, et. al., p. 78.
    [2]\u00a0     Running and the Science of Mental Toughness<\/a>, Mariska Van Sprundel.
    Image Credit:\u00a0     Pele<\/a>, by D. Howard Hitchcock, c. 1929, public domain.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n