Everyone has situations in life that require inner strength to get through. You may feel like you don’t have that kind of inner strength. Here are 15 ways you can find the inner strength you need in your life.
Inner strength is staying power and resilience. It involves courage and tenacity to withstand difficulties. Studies show that inner strength is essential for good mental health and a sense of wellbeing. It’s a huge component is healing.
How to find strength from within
There are many ways to cultivate your strength from within. These 15 suggestions are just a few of the many ways to grow more resilient and tenacious.
1 – Find hope
When you possess hopefulness, you feel more optimistic about your life. You expect good things to happen in your life. This expectation of good things allows you to have confidence and calm in your life. When people lose hope, they worry about all the bad things that could happen. Spreading hope gives the people around you a sense of peace. Hopeful people are more involved with helping others because they possess the confidence to spread their positive attitude.
2 – Don’t dwell on your past mistakes
Everyone makes mistakes. Beating yourself up about your past mistakes is never productive. It traps you in a cycle of guilt and shame. Cultivating inner strength means you can admit your mistakes and move on. You can learn from your mistakes so you can avoid doing the same thing again.
3 – Decide to have a different view of challenges
Inner strength affects many areas of your life. It equips you to view life and its challenges with mental toughness. Mental fortitude helps you view challenges as opportunities to grow and find new solutions. You don’t let hard things get you down but rise to the occasion. When you think about people you know who are successful, no doubt you’ll see people who have gone through a lot of setbacks and hardships just like you. Most of these people have in common that they possess an inner resilience and the ability to not give up in the face of challenges.
4 – Learn to be courageous
Courage doesn’t mean that you aren’t afraid, but it’s the choice not to allow your fear to rule your life. Courage means you do something despite your fears. Getting stuck in a negative attitude that tells you that you can’t do things causes you to be more passive. You’ll be less apt to try new things out of fear that you’re going to fail. Don’t allow fear to prevent you from stepping out of your comfort zone. Whether it’s taking a new job, choosing to be a stay at home mom, or moving to a new location, cultivate the courage to help you gain strength from within.
5 – Cultivate your faith
Faith helps you get through difficult times by giving you a sense of inner strength and peace. Faith in something outside yourself helps you overcome your fears and feelings of inadequacy. Knowing you can pray and pour out your heart to God gives you a sense of peace and confidence in life.
6 – Take responsibility for your actions
When you have inner strength, you’re not afraid to admit or take responsibility for your actions.
You’re secure enough to say, “I messed up.”. It can be hard sometimes to be honest with yourself and others, but it’s actually freeing. Taking responsibility for your actions helps you have mental toughness. So, if you make a mistake, you admit it and then move on. You’ll be stronger for it.
7 – Find a community of people
Gather with a group of people who will support you and challenge you to grow. Finding community is essential for gaining inner strength. As you live life with others, you learn to help them and receive help. You learn how to listen to other’s thoughts and find ways to communicate your thoughts and ideas. When you isolate yourself from others, you lose out on the dynamic of shared experiences. You’ll find valuable friendships and have a sense of belonging.
8 – Resist fear
Today, fear is a huge driving force behind many people’s decisions. Fear is never a good motivator. Fear negatively impacts your mind and health. In fact, studies show that fear contributes to heart disease, autoimmune diseases, anxiety, and depression. Having inner strength gives you the ability to step out to face challenges rather than to give in to fear.
9 – Free up your mind
Learn to remove negative thoughts from your mind. Frustration overwhelms your brain and weighs you down, so you can’t think straight. It distracts you, so you can’t get things done. Practicing mindfulness can help you focus and become more decisive. Focus on what’s good and true. Other ways to free up your mind include
- Reading
- Exercise
- Trying a new hobby
- Journaling
- Breathing exercises
10 – Get physically fit
Your mind and body are connected. Have you ever noticed how athletes possess an inner mental strength that helps them overcome physical challenges? Athletes not only need a strong body, but they need mental toughness to win. They find strength from within by cultivating their inner strength from within. Making your body strong by eating a healthy diet and exercising doesn’t seem like it will do much for your mental strength, but it will boost your inner strength. You’ll feel better physically to overcome challenges in your life better.
Inner strength qualities
Finding strength inside yourself involves growing in character qualities. Here is a list of the unique qualities of those people who possess inner strength.
- Courage: You are willing to face scary situations, not in the absence of fear, but despite your fears. You attempt difficult things even at personal risk.
- Curiosity: You want to learn about new things. You ask questions to understand better. You don’t assume you know everything, but you’re willing to learn from others.
- Kindness: You seek others’ welfare. You’re ready to help others in need.
- Love: You choose to show love to others different from you as well as those like you.
- Intelligence: You value learning and understanding. You aren’t intimidated by new ideas.
- Creativity: You have the ability and desire to come up with new solutions to problems. You look for unusual solutions that no one else has thought about or tried.
- Gratitude: You find things to be grateful for every day rather than complaining about what isn’t right. You make an effort to thank the people in your life who have helped and inspired you.
- Leadership: You step up to lead when necessary, whether it’s at home or work.
- Prudence: You choose wisdom over recklessness.
- Humor: You can laugh at yourself. You know how to use humor to defuse arguments or division. You don’t take yourself too seriously.
- Humility: You know it’s not all about you. You know your limitations and like to acknowledge other people’s successes and strengths.
- Integrity: You can be trusted. You will do what you say you will do. You keep your promises.
- Teamwork: You can get along with people to get a job done. You can keep your ego in check enough to follow another person’s leadership.
- Spirituality: You have faith and believe that something bigger than yourself is overseeing the world.
- Persistence: You don’t give up when things get difficult. You have tenacity.
Final thoughts on finding strength from within
Everyone needs inner strength to face the challenges in life. You may feel like you don’t have enough strength to face difficulties. These suggestions can help you grow in inner strength. It won’t happen overnight. Inner strength takes time, and it’s often gained through hardships or making mistakes. Some of the most successful people are those who have faced defeat but didn’t give up.
They found inner strength within by getting back up and trying again. You are stronger than you think, so don’t give in to fear or anxiety. Find ways to cultivate curiosity, courage, moving past your mistakes, and getting physically fit. All these things can help you grow in inner strength to become the person you want to be.
