TEDxVictoria - Dr. Sean Richardson - Mental Toughness: Think Differently about your World

Dr. Sean Richardson takes lessons learned from the professional athlete's locker room to provide an overview of the subtleties of human brain & behaviour function to facilitate overcoming the normal & predictable human barriers to success.
Filmed at TEDxVictoria on November 19th 2011.

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[Fullsendfilosophy]

Mental toughness is something that is really important to me. I am a wrestler and mental toughness is 85% of the sport, and I love mental toughness, I love to embrace the grind, I love the glory rush from the mental toughness when I get my arm raised.

[riskaanggraeni]

I used to believe that success was about ability, mostly, in academic but then I realized that efforts and mental toughness that make all things possible. I learned the hard way to grow, to accept failure and it hurts. Success is about constant growing. It's a great talk, doc! Thanks.

[craw]

Very powerful speech for those who are open to learning from it. Speaks to me on so many levels. The piece about anxiety and desire for instant gratification (and in some cases - instant validation) is huge. So much fear and inaction because of perceived failure when the failure is... not having the situation go how you want NOW. Not having the recognition that you desire NOW. I love these TedTalks that teach you to look inside yourself. I will try to be more patient. Thank you so much.

[zackroloff]

Thank you for this talk Dr. Richardson. This is something that I have shown my athletes at times when they think what they are doing is all for not. They often come to me asking "what will I gain out of this, " and in the past I would respond with some kind of elaborate explanation to give them that instant gratification. Now, however, all I say is "just wait." I can see the gears start going immediately, and some get frustrated, but those who are truly mentally tough come back to me later and simply say they understand. This talk is something I come back to every so often when I need to hear it myself as well. In my opinion, mental toughness is the foundation for every successful athlete, business person, or any career you can think of. Thanks again Dr. Richardson, and well done.

[sophiesun]

When our CEO/Founder summarized why he grew his company 300+ times bigger than where he started 16 years ago, he pinpointed at his tenacity, a persistence to push forward until success regardless of failures and difficulties. And I believe that is what you called "Mental Toughness". And "to do nothing" is also what Chinese philosopher Laozi said thousands of years go. You bring new understanding to the ancient wisdom. Thank you for the great speech!

[khanumsarah]

I am in tears of relief after watching this. Fear of failure has been such a problem of mine... Not any more. Thank you

[nancygreenwald]

I am a dispute resolution professional. Much of what Dr. Richardson discusses can help people understand how to approach conflict, both personal and business. Thank you for your 3 principles, summarized at the end. Wonderful talk.

[adriancline-bailey]

I cannot tell you how spot on EVERYTHING you have said here is sir-dude. I've been listening to ALL of the Sounds True Series on Self Compassion and the one thing that stands out is that that negative voice should be treated with a kind voice. As if, they said when a child is in trouble, we would speak words of love, kindness and support. Also what Jordan stumbled upon, in his no fear of failure mindset. Being aware that this is teachable, learn able, gives me hope and the reigns.

[Koseiku]

An excellent speech by an eloquent speaker. And indeed embracing failure is pretty much the safest route to success. It actually is the only way to follow high ambitions that might even seem unrealistic. Even if you can't reach the stars - in trying to do so you will at least reach the moon. Failing while giving 100%.

[ZackGomez]

I love TED Talks. I have learned so much from them. If I didn't watch them, I wouldn't have found out that by boosting physical, mental, emotional and social resilience, we can boost our lives by 7 minutes, which in the bigger picture, could add up to 10 years of our lives. I am all for living longer. Aren't you?

[arunkannan]

Very close to the ancient Indian philosophy of Karma Yoga. Effort without attachment to results. Very good speech.

[adriancline-bailey]

I cannot tell you how spot on what you say in this video. I've been listening to the sounds true series on self compassion and the one thing that stands out is that that reptilian negative voice should be treated with a kinder voice. As if, we're talking to a child, we wouldn't criticize a young kid. Also what Jordan stumbled upon, in his no fear of failure mindset. Being aware that this is teachable, learn able, gives me hope and the reigns.

[libelulangel]

This was exactly what I needed. I'm stuck in a failure mindset, and I've never been able to find the key out of this. I lost so much time wondering what I could do, not taking action? This is going to stop. It's going to be hard, but it will be worth it. Thank you again!

[iwnunn]

Since I discovered Ted talks I've become somewhat of an addict. There's so much useful information and skillful presenters. I rate yours as one of the best. I always go to the comment section to see what others think. Along with some very insightful thoughts, you always find the ones who are needlessly negative. I noticed that you only responded to the positive ones and ignored the negative ones. I assume refusing to give them power. Not a lot of people can do that. Brene brown had a difficult time after her first Ted talk. You have a great spirit. I enjoyed watching you.

[kcable]

Self Brutal Honesty is the best Policy for me. One the or maybe thee bravest thing you could ever do too yourself i recon.

[TheMahirahmed]

The power of delaying instant gratification is an incredible indicator of future success. 

[dannyrosenberg]

i need this more than anything else in my life

[skas]

Thank you so much for mentioning the parts of the brain responsible for the emotion of fear. Most videos on fear, anxiety, and getting through uncertainty only provide inspirational phrases and nothing on how the body generates fear and what you can do about it. Excellent video, very informative.

[Rcuwomen]

As a parent it just killed me to see my kids fail at anything, but that was MY problem and I had to deal with it to let them grow into better adults. I wanted them to learn that when they fail, they had to just work harder at it, or even be creative and find a new way to get it accomplished.

Sheryl

[TheSportingMindset]

Fantastic talk, I am a sport psychologist and one of the biggest issues I work on is fear of failure. If athletes and coaches can accept that failure is ok and use this as an opportunity to grow, success will come.