Salam, do you have any advice on how to build mental toughness? I feel like reaching many of my goals lies on the other side of me being too easy on myself 🙁 I don't know how to accomplish my goals anymore, but I also got burnt out in the past and am afraid of repeating patterns that may lead me to be too hard on myself. I dont know if fasting is the solution? Any islamic advice on building mental strength to follow through with your goals?
Alaikumassalam wa rahmatullah,
There are tons of articles online on this topic, and personally I am highly skeptical of them all. A person who supposedly has no mental toughness will get all the strength and focus they need if they take 20 mg of methylphenidate. Usually when a person is unable to focus on their goals it is because of an underlying problem, such as depression, anxiety and hyperarousal from trauma, or conditions like ADHD (there is adult ADHD, it’s not just limited to children).
So you could try finding articles online on these issues. But if you have something like depression, then no amount of productivity-enhancing practices may be able to help. Depression can be genetic and run in families, it causes extreme fatigue, demotivation and inability to focus, so unfortunately without getting treatment a person is not going to get far regardless of how hard they try.
Best wishes.