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 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.
How Emotional Intelligence Can Empower Physicians To Be More Effective
The FBI requires agents to take annual physicals, including a treadmill test every few years. That year was my time for the examination. Dr. General (his first name, believe it or not) hooked me up so he could follow my heart and lung responses. I was panting along at...
Here are three scientific reasons why emotional well-being is key to your success
I chased achievements in the hopes I would find contentment, but as hard as I worked, the good feelings never lasted. I needed to rethink the meaning of happiness because motivational talks and yellow stickies filled with inspirational quotes left me as overwhelmed and burned out as before.
How The Right Values Help Increase Your Wellbeing
Following clearly defined values makes a powerful impact, and it ripples into even wider circles because values are how we define our world. They are the foundation upon which we base our judgments on what is critical in life.
4 Strategies To Help Leaders Figure Out What Matters Most and Share With Others
We get to choose the person we become, so it is critical that we take time to figure out what matters most. We are at our best when we consciously make decisions and choices based on a life of values, purpose, and meaning.
3 Surprising Reasons Your Addiction to Outrage Is Ruining Your Life
The real problem is that people have become less tolerant of those with opposing opinions. Our difference in beliefs hasn’t changed over the years; it’s how we feel about the people with whom we disagree.
4 Authentic Ways To Develop Resilience When Life Gets Hard
We deal with stressful situations daily, knowing that giving up is not an option. We all fight our battles and need the resilience to land on our feet when confronted with anxiety, stress, and hard times.
Reasons Why We Need To Break Out Of Comfort Zones And Easy Choices
As an FBI agent, one of the first things I learned was that the real threat to my existence didn’t dwell in dark and dangerous places. Instead, it was complacency that could lead to my extinction.
Here Are 4 Egotistical Behaviors Avoided By A Successful Leader
Besides a lack of empathy and an exaggerated sense of importance, egotistical people don’t know how to get out of their own way because they’ve never thought about anyone but themselves and their enlightened attitude about how the world works.
4 Practical Ways Leaders Can Improve Engagement and Well-being
A recent Gallop Poll indicates that “fewer than one in four U.S. employees feel strongly that their organization cares about their well-being, the lowest percentage in nearly a decade.”
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.
