LaRae Quy was an undercover and counterintelligence FBI agent for 24 years. She exposed foreign spies and recruited them to work for the U.S. Government. As an FBI agent, she developed the mental toughness to survive in environments of risk, uncertainty, and deception. Faced with stressful and fast-moving situations, she needed to move through barriers if she was to succeed.
Secrets of a Strong Mind Online Course
Based on real-life experiences and backed up with psychology and neuroscience, Secrets of a Strong Mind online course is 8 short modules of 5-minute videos.
It will help you to develop the mental resilience to overcome any challenge with confidence.
Are You Mentally Tough?
Mental toughness is believing you will prevail in your circumstances rather than believing your circumstances will change. It’s managing your emotions, thoughts, and behavior in ways that set you up for success in both business and life. Get your Mental Toughness Score – see where you excel and what areas need attention.
Secrets of a Strong Mind: How to Build Inner Strength to Overcome Life's Obstacles
A former FBI counter-espionage agent offers field-tested methods for readers to develop mental toughness. She provides a curated package of tools and techniques to help them realize they are capable of far more than they believe to be possible.
Mental Toughness for Women Leaders: 52 Tips To Recognize and Utilize Your Greatest Strengths
Grit
If we want to create the next generation of leaders, we need to enable people to have the courage to move, not into “safe places” but into “brave spaces” where they enter uncomfortable conversations. A “brave space” doesn’t protect people from arguments, or the discovery of information that could change their mind. Instead, it allows people a place that’s safe enough to explore differences of opinion.
Why You Need Mental Toughness
Grit Under Pressure
Grit is an intrinsic desire to go beyond what you can easily accomplish with talent or skill.
Grit Under Pressure
- A deep sense of purpose because you believe your work is worth it.
- Purpose boils down to understanding how you can give your talents and skills back to the world.
- Motivation to go beyond what you can easily achieve with talent.
- Success is often where people stop on their way to being who they truly want to be.
- Conditions don’t have to be perfect to start if you pursue something that answers your “why” and is important to you.
- Great lives respond to a higher calling and purpose.
- Purpose is the linchpin of grit.
The Right Mindset
Mental toughness is not something you’re born with, it’s a mindset you can develop.
The Right Mindset
- Attitude is the difference between a mentally tough champion and a whiny wimp.
- Negative emotions make us uncomfortable but without discomfort, there is no change and no growth.
- It’s not a lack of fear that creates a strong mind; it’s how we deal with negative fear-based emotions.
- The greatest mental toughness weapon we have is our ability to choose one thought over another.
- Mental toughness requires positive thinking. Positive people know they will prevail in their circumstances rather than hope their circumstances will change.
When Life Sucks
Mental toughness gives you the ability to be comfortable with discomfort while producing inner confidence.
When Life Sucks
- Stability is a shut-off valve for the brain. You only learn when there’s uncertainty.
- Petri dishes full of new experiences will help you anticipate what it feels like to fail so you can respond and not react when the stakes are higher.
- Left in darkness, fear will grow and sabotage your efforts to move forward.
- The only difference between a rut and a coffin is their dimensions.
- Wisdom is understanding that we’re not sure we have all the right answers.
- Success won’t make you confident; confidence will make you successful.
- Shit Happens. Life is hard. Pain is inevitable. Growth is optional.
LaRae’s Recent Posts
How Resilience Helps You Take Control of Your Emotions
It’s far too simplistic and childish to divide our emotions into two piles: good and bad. If we try to judge them, we lose our ability to be aware of them. We avoid destructive emotions because we don’t want them, and we may feel ashamed to acknowledge a negative reaction.
How Emotional Intelligence Can Empower You To Be More Resilient
It is possible to handle the onslaught of long hours, high pressure, and one crisis after another before it leads to burnout. The key is tapping into our emotional intelligence.
6 Effective Ways To Grow As A Leader Without Getting Burned Out
Burnout may be a bit like true love—hard to define, but when it smacks you in the face, you know you’ve been hit. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines burnout as a phenomenon driven by chronic unmanaged stress.
How Authentic Leaders Make A Greater Impact With Self-Awareness
Like it or not, the more you know about yourself, the better and faster you can adapt to the changes that happen in business and life. Change is inevitable, and the better you can handle it, the quicker you’ll land on your feet and move on. Self-awareness is not self-absorption. Self-awareness assumes that you’ll collect information and insights about yourself so you can make improvements.
Here’s How to Overcome Adversity And Come Out A Winner In Life
A runt of a Shetland pony named Socks helped teach me how to overcome adversity. We lived on a remote cattle ranch in Wyoming, and my grandfather bought him for me when I was four years old. Socks had a hard and dry little heart; he only wanted to terrorize his rider....
How To Have Hard Conversations and Not Let Your Emotions Take Over
We may enter into a difficult discussion with a colleague; they may begin to feel frustration and anger like we do. It’s a downward spiral that feeds on itself. Emotions are contagious because they spread through a network of mirror neurons, tiny parts of the brain that allow us to empathize with others and understand what they’re feeling.
How To Make The Science Behind Positive Thinking Work For You
Our mindset and how we stay motivated to find the positive is formed early in life. How we deal with not getting the red ball in the second-grade playground can set the pattern for dealing with disappointments later in life. Not to worry, though! If the pattern you’ve adopted over the years is no longer working for you, science gives us lots of tips on how to be more positive.
6 Ways You Can Reduce Anxiety And Make Gratitude A Stronger Emotion
We hear more about indignation than gratitude because moral outrage has become popular. One of the most popular headlines today is: Where is your moral outrage at—? Fill in the blanks to suit the topic of the moment. We look for reasons to be insulted by some injustice.
The Multi-Tasking Myth and 4 Tips To Help You Focus
Science has proven that multi-tasking comes with a steep price. That is not good news for those pressured to do many things during our day. While multi-tasking does not help our productivity, there are hacks to help us through the never-ending-to-do list.
How To Cope With Moral Injury In The Workplace
We experience moral injury when we face situations that violate our core values. Moral injury happens when there is a disconnect between the ethical principles we live by and the reality of what is required of us or what we are experiencing.
Are YOU Mentally Tough?
See how YOU Score
Mental toughness is believing you will prevail in your circumstances rather than believing your circumstances will change. Find your Mental Toughness score - see where you excel and what areas need attention.