From dreams shattered to new beginnings: What mental strength really means and how toughness is forged

A girl of 10 was on the verge of joining the national Olympics in gymnastics when diagnosed with a rare movement disorder which inhibited her balance. Despite all of her movements limiting her she continued to graduate top of her class, went to law school, became a poet and later an author, became a speaker, and founded her own NGO.
How did she do it? How did she watch her childhood and dreams crushed and muster the strength to build new ones? Was she lucky? Was it fate? Did money solve all of her problems?

Mental strength
We all face tough times, a moment that shakes us, an illness, a financial setback, or the loss of a loved one. How do we get through it? When the ground beneath us starts to tremble, what can we hold onto to regain poise?
The one thing that got her through every bruise, every rejection, every failure? Mental strength.

What it is
Not the strength we go to the gym for, the one that is built quietly and it begins with the courage to face reality without flinching. And this is not blind optimism, It is knowing that although one door can be locked or slammed shut another can be opened and unlocked.

A CEO who acknowledges a market crash and doesn’t waste time sulking but seeks better methods. An athlete who accepts an injury doesn’t focus on frustration but on rehabilitation. This willingness to push through setbacks is the foundation of mental strength.

When it is built
When hardship arises it is easy to complain, blame, or shut down, but these things keep us stagnant. When we focus on starting again with a fresh perspective, redrawing plans based on new realities and choosing not to quit we are refusing to stay stuck. Each small action becomes proof of movement and this transforms tough situations into comeback stories.
And this is exactly how the girl in our story transformed her life. By not dwelling on her failures and setbacks and focusing on what she could do better she was able to climb the ladder and achieve success. This movement, sometimes forward sometimes sideways and sometimes even backwards kept her moving and kept her out of the grips of despair and dejection.

How to build it
A tough mindset is built when we continue showing up though tired, sticking with discipline when it feels dull and trying again after failures. These moments might look small but they forge the mental armour you’ll need later. By the time real storms hit, toughness is already woven into who you are.

How to retain it
The hardest fights often occur within the mind, manifesting as constant self-doubt and a fear of failure. If you let those voices win, you’re finished before you’ve even begun.
Do you think if she's succumbed to the voices of shame and failure that whispered to her she would have achieved any of her goals?

And this is why mental strength is your greatest asset in life
The girl in our story who lost every battle, but was able to achieve victory in the war is the author of this article.
Success never belongs to the person who had the smoothest path. It belongs to the those who persisted even when life tested them the hardest. Your greatest asset is mental strength: to face reality, to act when it is hardest and to master your ow thoughts. Tough times will come but a tougher mindset always wins.

Ms. Alma Chopra, a renowned motivational speaker , disability rights activist and life coach.