Before I attended the Mental Toughness Taster Day, I was sent an e-mail asking me to complete a short questionnaire called the MTQ48 “a high quality psychometric measure used to assess Mental Toughness”.
It’s made up of 48 questions which have been designed to assess the four key components of Mental Toughness, known as the 4 C’s: Challenge, Commitment, Control and Confidence.
The questionnaire was developed in collaboration with Professor Peter Clough from Manchester Metropolitan University and Dr Keith Earle a Senior Lecturer at the University of Hull.
It took me about 8 minutes to complete and it was easy and simple to do.
My overall mental toughness score was 8 out of 10. Which I was really pleased about!
The report goes on to give a breakdown of what that means, which I've included below.
I was surprised at how accurate it was; certain things did jump out at me, which I know are true!
I am very “comfortable in many different social and work contexts”, I think I always have been since a young age. I’ve done a lot of independent travel and that gives you confidence in yourself as you’re the only person you can rely on. You’re the one making the decisions, deciding where to go, what to do, and most importantly who to trust. I love meeting and talking to people from all walks of life. I’m happy talking to a homeless person as I would be talking to Royalty; it’s not an issue for me. I think making small talk and making other people comfortable in your company is a skill that everyone can develop.
I have no problem doing things on my own, my thought process being, why should I, not do something, because no one else wants to do it with me! Why should I miss out on opportunities because other people are scared, or not interested, or they’re happy living in their bubble, in their comfort zone. Don’t get me wrong, I love it when people want to get involved. But it takes a certain type of person to want to go and run five and half marathons across the Sahara desert!
I believe strongly I am in “control of my life” and that I am responsible for my own destiny. I’m the one with the power to decide what I want to do and how to do it. I believe everyone has this ability but when I look around me and when I talk to people, many are scared and afraid of taking this control and using it. So people go with the flow, they follow the crowd, they do what their friends are doing or what they think people will perceive as cool or fashionable. But what ends up happening is they miss out, they miss out on life, and they miss out on really living and having different experiences because they don’t want to take responsibility for their destiny and future.
One of the reasons for Tough Girl Challenges is to inspire people to take control of their life and their decisions. To encourage them to dream big and to decide what they really want and for them to go for it! To follow their dreams, to live life to the fullest and to do more and be more.