Why We Love It:

If so, this book is exactly what you need to help you develop mental toughness, intellectual resilience, and improve your performance in every area of your life. Not everyone will be able to reject all of Amy Morin’s list of 13 negative mental habits consistently, but even recognizing them can help you grow:

1. Don’t Waste Time Feeling Sorry for Yourself
2. Don’t Give Away Your Power
3. Don’t Shy Away from Change
4. Don’t Waste Energy on Things You Can’t Control
5. Don’t Worry About Pleasing Everyone
6. Don’t Fear Taking Calculated Risks
7. Don’t Dwell on the Past
8. Don’t Make the Same Mistakes Over and Over
9. Don’t Resent Other People’s Success
10. Don’t Give Up After the First Failure
11. Don’t Fear Alone Time
12. Don’t Feel the World Owes You Anything
13. Don’t Expect Immediate Results

Understanding how these mental habits create emotional and habitual obstacles can change the way we approach setbacks in work and life. We all face challenges, roadblocks, and challenges on the road of life. Learning to treat failure as a lesson can open up opportunities for learning and growth. And adopting the habit of looking for and embracing our power, instead of feeling powerless, can make us agents of change in our lives and the lives of others.

Favorite Quotes:

“Developing mental strength isn’t about having to be the best at everything. It also isn’t about earning the most money or achieving the biggest accomplishments. Instead, developing mental strength means knowing that you’ll be okay no matter what happens. Whether you’re facing serious personal problems, a financial crisis, or a family tragedy, you’ll be best prepared for whatever circumstances you encounter when you’re mentally strong. Not only will you be ready to deal with the realities of life, but you’ll be able to live according to your values no matter what life throws your way.” – Amy Morin

“Deliberate practice is more important than natural talent. Although we’re often led to believe that we’re either gifted with natural-born talent or we aren’t, most talents can be cultivated through hard work. Research studies have found that after ten years of daily practice, people can surpass others with natural talent in chess, sports, music, and the visual arts. After twenty years of dedicated practice, many people who lack natural talent can gain world-class achievement.” – Amy Morin

Book Jacket Summary:

Everyone knows that regular exercise and weight training lead to physical strength. But how do we strengthen ourselves mentally for the truly tough times? And what should we do when we face these challenges? Or as psychotherapist Amy Morin asks, what should we avoid when we encounter adversity? Through her years counseling others and her own experiences navigating personal loss, Morin realized it is often the habits we cannot break that are holding us back from true success and happiness. Indulging in self-pity, agonizing over things beyond our control, obsessing over past events, resenting the achievements of others, or expecting immediate positive results holds us back. This list of things mentally strong people don’t do resonated so much with readers that when it was picked up by Forbes.com it received ten million views.