Think Yourself Resilient: Harness Your Emotions. Build Your Confidence. Transform Your Life.
James Elliott and Combat Fuel
Before I discuss Think Yourself Resilient let me introduce myself and my relationship with Combat Fuel. I first met Bez, the Founder and Owner of Combat Fuel, whilst working as the Army Mental Resilience Coach out of Army Headquarters in Andover. We bonded instantly, recognising in each other the desire to create a better experience for our fellow servicemen. Bez and I, often spoke about mental health, the development of resilience and how it affects us both. We have worked together, for each as friends for the last 5 years, helping each other to grow, from introductions, to speaking well of each other in a room full of opportunities. There is a mutual trust and respect for each other, one which those with drive can see in each other”
James Elliott author bio:
James Elliott is an accredited psychotherapist and resilience coach with over six years coaching experience, from National League Rugby teams to Special Forces Operators and vulnerable veterans. He was selected to be an instructor in the British Army’s first ever Army Parachute Jumping Instructors platoon, where he became the second in command of the Mental Resilience Training Program (MRT) currently on offer within the military.
He delivered the programme across the entirety of the British Army, including Special Forces and soldiers on testing deployments. James Elliott is no stranger to the practical application of mental resilience himself, including operational service within Afghanistan, and three Guinness World Records for feats of endurance and playing a high level of competitive rugby.
Now as a civilian, James runs training and support for vulnerable veterans, performance coaching for the Paralympic Rowing Team, mental resilience training for Scottish and Derbyshire Police, along with several keynote speaker roles, most notably at FitXpo in Liverpool and of course the author of Think Yourself Resilient.
Simple ways to build mental resilience every day:
A small insight into my book ‘Think Yourself Resilient’ It is important to understand, that mental resilience is not a single act of bravery and graft. It is a culmination of daily habits. To assist with the daily building of emotional resilience, here are a few simple techniques that you can apply to your every day and why.
1 – Exercise.
Physical activity is very important for the brain. You don’t have to be attempting a world record run every time you exercise but any form of exercise that pushes you out of your comfort zone, will elevate your heart rate and release the reward hormone – dopamine.
Once the activity is finished you will feel a sense of achievement and this exercise will help stimulate your nervous system to return to a state of homeostasis, where your hormones are in balance, giving you a feeling of peace.
2 – Journaling.
Your emotions are not factual pieces of information, but rather, survival responses learned through observation and lived experiences in childhood. That means that often the emotions that you are feeling are not relevant to the situation that you are currently in.
We see the world through a bias and therefore, being able to remove this bias is key to managing our stressors and adversities more effectively. To do this, give your subconscious a voice, in the form of written word. Writing down your challenges allows us to see them more calmly and rationally, it allows us to remove that survival bias and decide how to move forward and tackle the problems that we face.
3 – Breathe.
Fill your lungs, diaphragm and stomach with air and let it out in a controlled and rhythmic way. This stimulates your vagal nerve, which calms your body and puts you into a relaxed state, which in turn, calms your mind. Being resilient means remaining calm and controlled and free thinking in challenging times. Keep your body calm, keep your mind calm.
4 – Choose your regrets carefully.
You must remember, that picking what you want to achieve, is actually the easy part. Choosing a life that means pursuing that and therefore letting other things slide, is the difficult part. If you want to be a competitive athlete, then that means you will be unable to attend every social event. You want to study? That means less time watching TV.
You can have anything that you want, but you cannot have everything that you want. Choose your regrets, very carefully.
Where can you get the book then!
You can purchase James’ book Think Yourself Resilient now!
