How to Build Elite Mental Toughness | Ken Rideout & Dr. Andy Galpin
In a Nutshell
Elite performance comes down to consistent, maximal effort—trying harder is the one factor that reliably translates across all levels when skill, diet, and other variables fall short. Mental toughness is developed by repeatedly choosing discomfort: showing up and competing even when scared, exhausted, or unmotivated, rather than avoiding hard situations. This habit of pushing limits shapes identity, earns trust from others, and makes coping with real adversity (like a family health crisis) more effective than retreating into victimhood.
These notes were generated by AI and may contain inaccuracies.
One of the most common questions received when coaching the world's most decorated athletes across sports like baseball and football is what makes them different. The consistent factor across all elite performers is that toughness translates. While skill practice, diet, and other factors work for most people, they don't always translate at the highest levels. What always translates is trying harder.
"Even the best in the world try harder. Like that is your quickest, most consistent path to getting better."
More effort tends to win. There are exceptions when someone is overtraining and needs to back off, but the starting point should be figuring out what hard really is.
Through years of training, there has never been a feeling of having done too much in a given week. There have been feelings of exhaustion and being destroyed, but never a sense that more could not be extracted. After the Mongolia race, a couple of weeks were needed to feel normal again due to being run down, but that involved a week of extreme racing every single day.
The message conveyed to children is that it doesn't matter if someone is good, bad, or indifferent—what matters is who is trying the best. At any sporting event, spectators can identify which kid is the savage, who is trying the hardest, even if they are not the most skilled. That level of effort is free and available to everyone.
Anyone can be the person at work who comes in early and stays late. This behavior can be faked for a week or two, but it cannot be sustained every day unless someone truly believes that is who they are. By showing up consistently, even on days when internal belief is lacking, the external reflection to the world becomes one of toughness.
The world reflects back exactly what is put out. Consistently projecting toughness and daily showing up leads others to believe it and reflect it back. People may comment on toughness while internally there are feelings of fear, but the external behavior shapes perception.
Pretending not to be scared and pretending to want to try the hardest leads to action. At the end of the day, what matters is what someone does, not what they think. When someone tries super hard, others want that person on their team. Conversely, when someone pretends during a tackle and gets bypassed, everyone notices the lack of effort, which creates an emptiness that feels worse than the discomfort of trying.
A UFC fighter who had won seven or eight fights in a row and was positioned for a title fight experienced bad luck, bad timing, and injuries. His career ended while still young and hyper-competitive. During post-fight analysis after his final competitions, he revealed that the hardest part had become getting hyped up for fights. He expressed that he just did not care anymore.
This was recognized as a major red flag because that fighter needed intense, life-and-death self-talk to enter competition. Three fights later, he retired. The revelation was that he had never gotten comfortable being uncomfortable.
The concept is not about becoming comfortable with the discomfort itself, such as feeling like one could drop dead at every step during a race. Instead, it is about being comfortable knowing the discomfort is coming and doing it anyway. This includes waking up wishing the race would be canceled or praying for a power outage before a boxing match, yet still showing up.
Being comfortable with discomfort means having all the scared thoughts and insecurities while maintaining internal comfort in the knowledge that participation will still happen regardless. It is not comfort with potentially getting knocked out—it is comfort with betting on oneself to show up no matter the circumstances.
The way to develop this comfort is through experience by continually putting oneself in competitive situations. Avoiding competitive processes and simply going to work and returning home means missing important life lessons about handling real adversity.
When a wife was diagnosed with cancer, the initial period involved crying, feeling like victims, and feeling like there was a death sentence. After several days, the approach shifted to leaning into the situation and preparing to fight back rather than getting beaten down. This mentality was communicated as someone coming to fight, requiring a decision to either get beaten or fight back.
The wife agreed and underwent a mastectomy that went well without needing harsh chemotherapy. Recovery is underway. The belief is that while the situation would have occurred regardless, the competitive mentality made coping easier and likely rubbed off. The approach with children involves getting close and saying that when things get hard, they should show who they really are and be tough. Regardless of the outcome, the family will leave together, get donuts, and love will remain, but the experience will be more rewarding if the hardest effort is given.
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