Glossary of mental strength

Systems and people that do not merely survive strain but grow stronger through it.

A state that follows long overload at work: exhausted, detached, and less effective.

Still being able to decide and make a difference under pressure, instead of freezing or merely reacting.

Deliberately reading a situation differently in order to feel and act differently. Often called reframing.

The strategies people use to respond to strain: problem-focused or emotion-focused.

The hormone that mobilizes the body under strain, and whose daily rhythm gets thrown off by sustained pressure.

Why the quality of decisions can decline after making many decisions in a row.

Staying able to act in an environment of permanent availability and information overload.

Noticing feelings, placing them, and steering their influence on what you do.

The belief that abilities can be developed through effort.

How small, regular actions become automatic behavior through repetition.

The feeling that your success is undeserved and that sooner or later you will be found out.

Regularly writing down thoughts and experiences to sort them and draw conclusions.

The available reserve for deciding clearly and leading others under sustained pressure.

The expectation of whether outcomes depend on your own actions or on outside circumstances.

The tendency to weigh losses more heavily than gains of the same size.

Declining concentration and decision quality after prolonged mental effort, often called mental exhaustion.

The active restoration of mental performance after strain.

The capacity to withstand strain while remaining able to act.

Thinking clearly under pressure, acting with focus, and getting back to work quickly after setbacks.

The brain's ability to change through experience and repetition throughout life.

An organization's ability to keep functioning through disruption and to learn from crises.

The demand to be flawless, which tips between drive and paralysis.

The felt expectation that you have to deliver a good result in a specific situation.

The research field that studies what makes people strong and able to act.

Being able to switch perspectives and strategies when the situation demands it. Also called mental flexibility.

A team's shared confidence that questions, mistakes, and concerns can be raised without penalty.

Expecting good outcomes while seeing and planning for the risks, instead of denying them.

Staying stable under strain, or finding your way back to action after a setback.

Clinging to patterns of thought and behavior even when they no longer fit.

Thoughts that circle without leading to a solution. The opposite of reflection.

The question of what keeps people healthy and able to act despite strain.

Noticing what is going on inside you before it decides what you do.

The belief that your own actions can make a difference.

Leading yourself the way you would lead others: with a goal, a structure, and honest feedback.

Deliberately examining your own thinking, feeling, and acting, and drawing conclusions from it.

The overarching ability to steer attention, feelings, and impulses toward a goal.

The basic trust that the world is comprehensible, manageable, and meaningful.

Staying effective under stress without the strain leaving lasting marks.

The difference between holding on out of principle and holding on out of conviction.

When chronic stress becomes the normal state, and why it works differently from acute pressure.

The ability to keep acting when information is missing or the situation is ambiguous.

The demand to think positively in every situation, even when the situation calls for something else.

The relationship between arousal and performance: too little holds you back, and so does too much.

Why unfinished tasks stay on your mind, and how a plan puts them to rest.