The 4 Cs, the building blocks of resilience and mental toughness
Resilience, mental toughness and grit are buzz words describing an attitude that seemingly everybody is striving to achieve. But what do they even mean? Some common definitions: being able to cope with stressful situations, the ability to bounce back after a setback, and the ability to be mentally flexible in the face of challenges. My favorite definition is from psychologist Dr. Salvatore Maddi, the founder of the Hardiness Institute. He describes hardiness as:
A pattern of learned attitudes and skills that helps in turning stressful circumstances from potential disasters into growth opportunities that do not only merely maintain, but also enhance performance and health
Isn’t that great!! Resilience is not something you are born with, it is made up of skills and attitudes that can be learned! What are those skills and attitudes you ask? They start with what Maddi identified as the 3 Cs of stress hardiness, but with recent studies on the importance of relationships I have added a 4th C. The 1st 3 Cs are: Control, Commitment and Challenge. The 4th is Connection. It is from these attitudes that skills are built and used.
Let’s take a closer look at the Cs.
Control: I’m sure you have heard it before, focus on what is in your control, not what is outside of it. Doing this helps us identify where to put our energy, and focusing on what is in our control we can develop a better plan of action. As athletes these are some of the things that are out of our control: the weather, the course, what other athletes are doing, intrusive negative thoughts. What is in our control: what kit we wear, which races we register for, our preparation and pre-race training, our nutrition, our mindset, and the stories we tell ourselves with motivational self talk. Focusing on what is in our control allows us to believe that we can turn a stressful situation into a growth opportunity.
Commitment: Here we focus on what we are committed to. It stops the descent into despair when things go wrong. In racing, are we committed to finishing the event? Or are we committed to doing our best? The commitment will impact on a decision to not finish the race (DNF) if everything is seemingly going wrong. It is the commitment that will influence how and when we decide to train.
Challenge: How we view a stressful situation will greatly affect how we respond to the situation. Think of your reaction to saying “This situation is a problem……” What came up for you? Now, say to yourself “This situation is a challenge…..” Do you notice a difference in your reaction? For many, a problem seems insurmountable. A challenge acknowledges that hard things will happen, but it can be worked through. Our response to a challenging situation will require mental flexibility, creativity and perhaps changing a course of action.
Connection: Humans are social creatures. We rely on others for our health, comfort and safety. Several academic studies highlight the importance of social support. For some examples see here, here and here. Social support, even when just thinking about these relationships, reduces our stress reactions. All forms of social support help us face challenges. Through support our confidence can grow, our problem solving abilities are enhanced, and our stress reactions are reduced.
Let’s put these concepts in action, my real life example is from my last Ironman in 2016 when I had just learned these concepts. A little background. I didn’t feel well physically in the weeks leading up to the race, prior to the start of the race I changed my goal from a specific time to simply finishing the race. Race day was wet, rain was our constant companion after exiting the swim. I finished the swim, got on the bike and things went downhill quickly. I had no energy, I felt like I had a parachute attached to me, no matter how hard I pedaled there was no umph in my legs. Within the first 10 miles I knew finishing the race was not going to happen. At this point I very consciously turned to the 4 Cs.
Control: out loud I told myself what I had control over. Both hearing it and saying it helped get me out of my head. I had control over nutrition, what I focused on, and I also controlled if I kept going or stopped. That control ended on an out and back climbing a hill when my gears stopped working.
Commitment: I had already changed my goal from finishing in a certain time to just finishing. Out on course I had to re-evaluate what I was actually committed to. I decided I was committed to my health and simply doing the best I could.
Challenge: instead of seeing this as a problem I very consciously decided this was a challenge. This simple shift prevented me from getting overwhelmed. When overwhelmed I do not make great decisions. My challenge was how do I get back to transition while performing as well as I could.
Connection: I focused on the connection with my wife and my parents, all of whom came to the race. I tried to think of what they would say to me out on course? I knew they would say that my self worth is not decided by finishing, that my health is more important than any finisher’s medal I may get. Out on the course I had connection with the other athletes, and many of my teammates who were racing, all of us cheering for each other. Once I did make it back to transition, I had connection with the volunteers who brought me to the medical tent, and the medical staff there who took care of me, got me warmed up and made sure I was not in any significant medical distress. Although Ironman is an individual event, it is not completed alone.
I would love to hear from you, how do you see these concepts fitting into your experiences? How have you used control, commitment, challenge and connection in your life?
