Mental Toughness: Make the Most of What Life Throws at You
I recently had the opportunity to speak to an animal health class at Black Hawk College East Campus about my career path and swine diseases impacting the global pork industry. As I shared my story and looked out at the faces in the auditorium where I once sat years ago, I hoped they heard one thing loud and clear: Keep your mind open to opportunity and be tough. You never know what life will throw at you.
It’s great to know what you want to do some day, but we don’t always get to control how life shakes out. That reminded me of something Matthew Rooda of SwineTech shared during an interview that’s been stuck in my mind since.
“Life isn’t always going to be exactly what you want it to be,” he said.
When Opportunity Knocks
When I was sitting in those seats, my first job out of college wasn’t even thought of yet. I couldn’t have predicted how saying yes to the National Swine Registry would grow me so much as a person and help me develop a voice and get my start in animal agriculture.
I think that’s why Rooda’s point resonated so much with me. I was a hard-working, driven young woman in college with ideas of what I thought my life would look like. But if I’m honest, it’s turned out far different and far better than I could have imagined. While it was far from perfect, I can truly say I have found purpose and enjoyment in every step of my career path.
Mental Toughness
I credit my parents for helping me develop a “be tough” attitude as a kid. Scrape your knee? Be tough. Boy breaks your heart? Be tough. Mess up on a test? Be tough. When things didn’t go “my way,” my parents didn’t coddle me and get upset about it (that I saw). They reminded me to get up and keep moving forward. They helped me understand that life is not always fair but that doesn't mean we give up.
That lesson was one I learned over and over again while competing on the livestock judging team at Black Hawk College East Campus. For me, that looked like surviving freezing cold judging workouts, overcoming homesickness, moving beyond mistakes and staying focused when temptations try to distract you from your goals. Being the only girl on a team of boys didn’t hurt either. I learned to shut a lot of noise out (just kidding, kind of). Making your mind up ahead of time that you’re going to persist is key.
There’s no doubt you earn mental toughness. As a mom, I now see how important those mental toughness lessons were in my life and are today for my kids. Our two oldest children are passionate about wrestling and running. Mental toughness is key in these sports because at the end of the day, it's all on you. You won’t come out on top every time, but that ability to stay tough mentally, to forge ahead and persistently chase your goals, is absolutely what will make or break you in the end.
You Can’t Control Everything
But I think it’s equally important to realize just because you work harder, it doesn’t mean you’ll see the outcome you hope for. Rooda believes we have to equip kids at a young age with these lessons. For example, if you're not mentally tough going into junior high and high school, it will make that portion of your life very difficult.
“When you go into junior high and high school, you can't decide at that point how big you are going to be, how developed you are going to be, or how socially connected you're going to be,” Rooda says. “It's kind of like you threw something into a hat and you just kind of draw your name and hope it lands in the right spot and you work on it.
“Then you go to college, and again, you don't have a lot of control. You get into the workforce, and you don't have a lot of control again either. Rarely in life will you have control over your physical abilities, intelligence, or the position you're sitting in.”
Life isn’t always going to be exactly what you want it to be.
“You need to take ownership of what you say you're going to do and be who you say you're going to be and go from there,” Rooda adds.
We won’t always be able to predict where our path will take us. We won’t be able to control our abilities and talents or those of our opponents. But we can decide what matters most to us on the inside and be consistent about the kind of person we want to be.
More from Farm Journal's PORK:
Every Decision is an Investment
Why You Should Prioritize People
With Age, I've Gained A Little Perspective
Beyond Face Value: How Will You Get to the Next Level?
Trust, Trash and Faith: A Few Things I Learned from Darrell Anderson
