On Building Mental Toughness…
Rock Bottom Was the Wake-Up Call
I had hit rock bottom.
Right before the pandemic, I was the heaviest I’d ever been—212 pounds. I remember standing in front of the mirror, sobbing, completely disgusted with how far I had let myself go. Honestly, it was probably more than that, because after a certain point, I stopped stepping on the scale altogether. I started deleting photos of myself, pretending I was fine, ignoring the real problem at hand—my mindset.
My confidence? Gone.
My self-esteem? Nonexistent.
I was prepping for my second ACL and meniscus surgery, getting ready to be married later that year… and then, of course, the world shut down. The pandemic flipped everything upside down.
But funny enough, one of the best things that came out of that time—aside from recovery—was TikTok.
Hours of scrolling through videos eventually led me to a post about the 75 Hard program by Andy Frisella. Something about it hit me instantly. The challenge. The structure. The discipline. It lit something in me I hadn’t felt in years. As a former high school and college athlete, that fire of competition and growth never truly leaves you—it just gets buried under life.
And let me tell you, this woke it up.
One of my favorite movies of all time is G.I. Jane—a woman who embodies pure resilience and grit. Watching her conquer the impossible always made me want to be that version of myself. So when I discovered 75 Hard, I knew this was it. I was going all in.
I started reading everything I could about mental toughness and found myself in the vortex of people who lived it—David Goggins. Jocko Willink. Michael Jordan. Kobe Bryant. Their stories became fuel. I studied how they executed under pressure, how they showed up no matter what, and how they refused to make excuses.
And that’s when everything clicked:
“You already know what to do. You just have to do it.”
Because let’s be real—when you want to change your life, there’s a 99.99% chance you already know what needs to be done. The workouts. The meals. The habits. The late nights. The early mornings. The real barrier isn’t knowledge—it’s your mindset.
That’s where mental toughness comes in.
I learned that mental toughness is a skill that’s earned. You’re not born with it—you build it. You are in complete control of your life, whether you want to believe it or not.
That realization hit me like a ton of bricks.
If I wanted change, I had to control what I could control—my emotions, my focus, my resilience, my discipline. No one was coming to save me.
So I showed up. Every day.
No shortcuts. No excuses.
And slowly, I built momentum. I started stacking wins. I began reaching levels I never thought I could, and the more I grew, the more I realized the work never ends. You just keep pushing—callusing your mind—and somewhere along the way, you become unshakable.
That’s the key to everything.
Everything you want in life is on the other side of becoming mentally tough.
Final Thoughts
If you’ve made it this far—thank you. Truly.
If you’re reading this and you’re struggling—maybe you feel stuck, lost, or like you’ve hit your own rock bottom—don’t stop here. Keep following along. Stay connected. This community is built for people just like you—people who want to rise, rebuild, and redefine what’s possible.
Follow me on Instagram @TheMentalToughnessRN for daily doses of Mindset, Toughness, Relentlessness, and No Excuses—the Core-4 that built the foundation for everything I stand for.
And don’t forget to subscribe to the MTRN Newsletter so you never miss new blog posts, tools, and mental toughness challenges designed to keep you evolving every single day.
This is just the beginning.
Welcome to the movement.
