Is there a way to develop mental strength?

So whether it's by diet or some form of training can I develop my mental strength?

 

Become a Mod for a forum site...that'll test you.

 

Face small challenges, and progressively build up.

 

Join the military if you're eligible.

 

Mental pushups and lunges.
Once you're good at that, you can throw in some mental heavy lifting to build your mental bulk.
Don't forget to include your regular mental cardio though, since mental strength isn't worth much without general mental fitness.

 

Listen to David Goggins. He talks about mental strength and fortitude a lot.

 

It's gotta be at your own pace.
As someone that got into martial arts because of a lack of confidence some of the things suggested (join the army, spar, etc) would have been too much in the early stages of my life and would have been counter productive.
I needed baby steps (just stepping over the threshold of a dojo/gym was a big step for me) until I had the maturity and foundation to tackle harder things (competing full contact, black belt grading, teaching, etc).
You have to step out of your comfort zone just far enough to be a challenge and to push you but not so far it's too much and sets you back.
Geoff Thompson (Google him) set out a 'fear pyramid' with something tricky but do-able at the base and then successive steps up the pyramid to something truly challenging at the top. Such a pyramid will be different for everyone depending on where you start ad want to get too.
In an ideal world martial arts would be taught and structured in this progressive way but many aren't and you have to create this sort of progression yourself.

 

Depends on your situation. When I took my black belt test, it was pretty much a dive off the deep end and my first degree test, at the time, was one of the most challenging things I've had to experience. I'm a bit older now, tested for higher degrees, but looking at it relatively, my first degree test is what I look back onto when I have to dig deep nowadays. Before taking my board exam, getting hit playing rugby, I always look back at that. The wiser way to do it is to progressively adapt yourself, so build up the stresses. Specificity of adaptation is a exercise physiology principle but for our purposes is appropriate.

Stepping out of your comfort zone doesn't just have to be in martial arts. When I got a job working at the admission office in college, I had to step out of my comfort zone. Calling prospective students, getting hung up on, cursed at by uninterested parents, etc. When I came back home that summer after college, my parents thought that I had a shift in my maturity and personality for the better. Wasn't a pain in the butt for them but I wasn't confident at the time. And that job in college prepared me for the future. Mental strength can be built up through physical exertion but also just change of scenery.

 

I read this and was thinking about an answer.
Mental strength development for me is accomplishing "stretch goals". Things that you think are possible but will drive you out of your comfort zone. Which a few above have kind of suggested.
If we only operate in our comfort zone, then we never reach our potential.
If we have really complex, impossible goals then we do not develop positive coping strategies and do not become resilient.
Stretch goals just push us past the point where we feel like we can't accomplish a task or activity, and then prove that we can. By that we learn that we can challenge our unhelpful thoughts and beliefs that tell us to stop when things get hard.
Sometimes it's hard to scaffold these challenges because we are inherently doing things we are not sure we can do. I think this is where good coaching is essential. For example, I remember not feeling like I could compete in a tournament against someone at one point but my coaches were insistent that I could keep up with the opponent. With their support I won. This helped me develop mental strength that I could perform well against a higher standard of competition. This increased my mental strength.
Essentially, work out what you are afraid of doing and develop a systematic way to reach a higher standard and prove you can accomplish a goal. Increased confidence to do the difficult is mental strength development.

 

Forest's book of life advice is a classic!

 

Mental book but a great read.

 

Meditate...regularly

 

While I really want to agree with this, I've known a fair number of people who meditated regularly and had very fragile minds.

 

Regularly and real meditation. Not just sitting there quietly on a comfy pillow listening to music for 5 or 10 minutes and calling it meditation.

Standing meditation like Santi Shi for 15 to 20 minutes a side will do it quite nicely too.
Note, also with no music...

 

A diet rich in the following things: oily fish, broccoli, dark chocolate, nuts, seeds, berries, eggs, vitamin C, and coffee. All of these are proven "brain foods".

There are also foods to avoid that can impact your mental state. Practically any sugared or sweetened drink (fruit juice, soda, energy drinks, coffee loaded with sugar), as well as almost anything loaded with white flour or sugar (breads, donuts) can dull your mind. Definitely limit daily intake of alcohol and avoid non-prescribed psychoactive substances.