Success Advice
Mentally Strong People Do These 5 Things

You likely spend time thinking about your physical strength, thinking about how you can exercise or eat healthy. But what about your mental strength? Becoming mentally strong, according to psychologist and author Amy Morin, means that you “manage your emotions, thoughts, and behaviors in a way that sets you up for success in life.”
The foundation of mental strength is the ability to separate your identity from your emotions or the events in your life. Maybe you’re feeling lonely, or you fail an exam, or you email ten professionals and none of them respond. Experiencing these emotions and events can be challenging, but they don’t mean that you as a person are unworthy or a failure.
Mentally strong people have bad days and experience failure just like everyone else. The difference is in how they respond to these obstacles. The good news is that anyone can develop their mental strength.
Here are five habits of mentally strong people that you can work on adopting:
1. Stay grounded in your self-worth.
It’s natural to compare yourself to others. Social media makes this easier than ever. Maybe one of your friends got into an Ivy League college, your other friend is on vacation in Hawaii, and another friend got hired at Google. All while you’re alone in your room struggling to find a job or pass a class.
Know that your self-worth is not defined by the college you attend or a company on your resume or what other people say about you on social media. You are valuable because you are alive, and you are an important part of many different communities. Rather than focusing on what other people think of you, think about your own growth and how you can serve others.
2. Embrace and adapt to change.
For many people, the years from 18 to 25 are when some of life’s biggest changes happen. Many young people attend college, move to a new city, get their first full-time job, and become mature adults during this life phase.
But change isn’t all positive or easy, as the world collectively experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Change is often painful and disorienting. But it can also be adventurous and exhilarating.
Look for small opportunities to get out of your comfort zone, such as conducting career conversations with professionals you’ve never met, taking up a new creative hobby, or setting a challenging goal for yourself. These small steps will help you build the muscle of being resilient—or even comfortable with—change in all areas of your life.
“Mental toughness is a state of mind. You could call it character in action.” – Vince Lombardi
3. Focus more on the process than on results.
The Career Launch Method is intentionally designed to give you a concrete process for action. Your results—getting an internship or job—are not guaranteed, nor are they fully within your control. But if you change your definition of success from getting a job to following the process and building relationships, you’ll put yourself in the best position to achieve your goals.
This applies in school as well. Rather than worrying about what grade you get on an exam, worry about how well you know the material. This doesn’t mean that goals aren’t important motivators, because they are. But by building positive habits, you will build the resilience for when times are tough and set yourself up for success. You can control your actions. Direct your focus there.
4. Learn from mistakes.
One time in a job interview, I made an inappropriate comment about customers from a poor neighborhood. I was really embarrassed, and obviously didn’t get the job. But that experience taught me a valuable lesson to always speak about others with respect and professionalism.
Mistakes aren’t comfortable, but they are excellent teachers. It’s inevitable that you’ll make mistakes, but you should always ensure you intentionally learn from your mistakes. One way to do this is to develop a habit of journaling, and write down habits you want to practice or lessons you learn.
Many students avoid situations where they might make mistakes to keep failure at a safe distance. However, this habit will prevent you from learning and growing. Mistakes are an important and natural byproduct of taking bold action. You should try to improve when you make mistakes rather than try to avoid them.
You should also do your best to learn from the mistakes of others through your personal relationships and mentors as well as through books, videos, and podcasts. Take advantage of the many life lessons that have been learned and shared by others.
5. Offer support and gratitude to others.
There’s a powerful quote from Zig Ziglar, “You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.”
Adding value to other people’s lives—in school, work, and your personal life—is both the right thing to do and the best way to achieve your goals. When you are just starting out in your career, you might struggle to see how you can be useful to others. But by being curious, kind, grateful, and hard-working, you will soon find just how meaningful and beneficial it is to support others.
Success isn’t achieved alone, and neither is happiness. By trying to actively serve others and downplaying your own ego, you will build positive relationships that will benefit you for the rest of your life.
Success Advice
Why One-Size-Fits-All Leadership Will Always Fail (and What Works Instead)
The surprising truth about leadership styles that can make or break your team’s success.

Leadership has always been as much about people as it is about performance. Ken Blanchard, in his influential book, “The One Minute Manager”, put it simply: different strokes for different folks. (more…)
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What Every New CEO Must Do in Their First 100 Days (or Risk Failure)
Your first 100 days as CEO could define your entire legacy, here’s how to make every move count

When Tim Cook took over from Steve Jobs at Apple, the world watched with bated breath. Jobs wasn’t just a CEO; he was a visionary, an icon, and a legend of innovative leadership. (more…)
Entrepreneurs
The Leadership Shift Every Company Needs in 2025
Struggling to keep your team engaged? Here’s how leaders can turn frustrated employees into loyal advocates.

In workplaces around the world, there’s a growing gap between employers and employees and between superiors and their teams. It’s a common refrain: “People don’t leave companies, they leave bad bosses.”
While there are, of course, cases where management could do better, this isn’t just a “bad boss” problem. The relationship between leaders and employees is complex. Instead of assigning blame, we should explore practical solutions to build stronger, healthier workplaces where everyone thrives.
Why This Gap Exists
Every workplace needs someone to guide, supervise, and provide feedback. That’s essential for productivity and performance. But because there are usually far more employees than managers, dissatisfaction, fair or not, spreads quickly.
What if, instead of focusing on blame, we focused on building trust, empathy, and communication? This is where modern leadership and human-centered management can make a difference.
Tools and Techniques to Bridge the Gap
Here are proven strategies leaders and employees can use to foster stronger relationships and create a workplace where people actually want to stay.
1. Practice Mutual Empathy
Both managers and employees need to recognize they are ultimately on the same team. Leaders have to balance people and performance, and often face intense pressure to hit targets. Employees who understand this reality are more likely to cooperate and problem-solve collaboratively.
2. Maintain Professional Boundaries
Superiors should separate personal issues from professional decision-making. Consistency, fairness, and integrity build trust, and trust is the foundation of a motivated team.
3. Follow the Golden Rule
Treat people how you would like to be treated. This simple principle encourages compassion and respect, two qualities every effective leader must demonstrate.
4. Avoid Micromanagement
Micromanaging stifles creativity and damages morale. Great leaders see themselves as partners, not just bosses, and treat their teams as collaborators working toward a shared goal.
5. Empower Employees to Grow
Empowerment means giving employees responsibility that matches their capacity, and then trusting them to deliver. Encourage them to take calculated risks, learn from mistakes, and problem-solve independently. If something goes wrong, turn it into a learning opportunity, not a reprimand.
6. Communicate in All Directions
Communication shouldn’t just be top-down. Invite feedback, create open channels for suggestions, and genuinely listen to what your people have to say. Healthy upward communication closes gaps before they become conflicts.
7. Overcome Insecurities
Many leaders secretly fear being outshone by younger, more tech-savvy employees. Instead of resisting, embrace the chance to learn from them. Humility earns respect and helps the team innovate faster.
8. Invest in Coaching and Mentorship
True leaders grow other leaders. Provide mentorship, career guidance, and stretch opportunities so employees can develop new skills. Leadership is learned through experience, but guided experience is even more powerful.
9. Eliminate Favoritism
Avoid cliques and office politics. Decisions should be based on facts and fairness, not gossip. Objective, transparent decision-making builds credibility.
10. Recognize Efforts Promptly
Recognition often matters more than rewards. Publicly appreciate employees’ contributions and do so consistently and fairly. A timely “thank you” can be more motivating than a quarterly bonus.
11. Conduct Thoughtful Exit Interviews
When employees leave, treat it as an opportunity to learn. Keep interviews confidential and use the insights to improve management practices and culture.
12. Provide Leadership Development
Train managers to lead, not just supervise. Leadership development programs help shift mindsets from “command and control” to “coach and empower.” This transformation has a direct impact on morale and retention.
13. Adopt Soft Leadership Principles
Today’s workforce, largely millennials and Gen Z, value collaboration over hierarchy. Soft leadership focuses on partnership, mutual respect, and shared purpose, rather than rigid top-down control.
The Bigger Picture: HR’s Role
Mercer’s global research highlights five key priorities for organizations:
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Build diverse talent pipelines
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Embrace flexible work models
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Design compelling career paths
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Simplify HR processes
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Redefine the value HR brings
The challenge? Employers and employees often view these priorities differently. Bridging that perception gap is just as important as bridging the relational gap between leaders and staff.
Treat Employees Like Associates, Not Just Staff
When you treat employees like partners, they bring their best selves to work. HR leaders must develop strategies to keep talent engaged, empowered, and prepared for the future.
Organizational success starts with people, always. Build the relationship with your team first, and the results will follow.
Entrepreneurs
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