Tim Don: “The man with the halo” – using mental toughness to reach your goal

Mentally tough – the man with the halo

We have already discussed the topic of “mental toughness” in our previous articles, where we primarily focused on practice. We were particularly interested in the use of mental techniques from mental training. Here we want to pursue the theory behind “mental toughness”, demonstrate what characterises a mentally tough person and why working on your mindset is good for your health.

What is mental toughness?

Mental toughness is a concept from sports psychology that in recent years has received more and more attention from fields other than sport. We know from sports psychology and sports science that mental toughness is a central construct entailing psychological factors that positively affect the performance and success of athletes. Various studies show that mentally tough people outside of sport perceive demonstrably less stress, exhibit fewer depressive symptoms, have fewer problems sleeping, are happier with their lives, and generally, their mental state is better too. Are you wondering what makes a mentally tough person stand out?

Perceiving their personal surroundings as controllable and perceiving themselves as influential and competent are characteristic for mentally tough people. Additionally, they remain engaged under adverse conditions and see difficulties as natural challenges resulting in their own personal development. Mentally tough people are accordingly highly resistant to stress and also frequently see difficult situations in life as an opportunity for personal growth. Mental toughness, then, is a sort of personality trait that makes it possible for us to convert even high stress and pressure into an opportunity. This is exemplified by the story of Tim Don – a British triathlete and duathlete and three-time Olympian, who won the Ironman championship and holds the world record for an Ironman race with a time of 7:40:23.

Tim Don – “the man with the halo”

In 2017, Tim Don, the fastest Ironman athlete in the world, broke his neck training for the Ironman World Championship in Kona/Hawaii. Instead of a surgical intervention, four screws were drilled into his skull to stabilise his neck, and a halo fixator was secured over his entire back. A medical halo resembles an instrument of torture and is not even remotely like what we usually imagine a halo to be. Despite immense pain, Tim Don never thought of giving up, and fought. In doing so, he hit his limits, both physical and mental, on several occasions.
 

“I would rather try and fail than never fail at all.”
(Tim Don)


For Tim Don, as an elite athlete, mental toughness was not a foreign concept. But as he recovered and rehabilitated, the term gained a whole new dimension. Tim Don came back mentally tougher from his seemingly impossible situation. You can find out how in the film documenting the entire time from his accident to his comeback.

 

“No matter what challenge you have in life, it’s all about the perspective. His perspective is not that I am stuck in this halo, it’s that I’m lucky to be alive and I’m going to use this opportunity to train harder and smarter than I ever have before.”
(Franko Vatterott)


This quote from his manager exemplifies the character trait of mentally tough people described above – people who remain committed under adverse circumstances and who perceive difficulties as natural challenges. As Tim Don mentioned in 2018, in an interview with Red Bull, precisely this trait appears to have helped him to achieve the seemingly impossible. In the interview, he gave the following tips that helped him and could also help others to ride out difficult situations in life:

  • Never give up

  • Focus on the process, not the goal

  • Allow yourself time to grieve – and then move forward

  • Look for the positives

  • Be adaptable

  • Find your motivation

  • Give your day purpose

  • Set a milestone goal


These tips may sound banal and obvious at first but, as the film makes clear, are actually anything but. Even a mentally tough athlete like Tim Don found it difficult, in the time after his accident, to see the positive in his situation and to look ahead. However, with the help of his wife and entourage, he managed to accept his situation over and over again, to make the best of it and keep moving forward.

“They say: ‘you start here, you finish here to get success.’ It’s not like that; that’s bull. It’s like this: you’re going round and around and around and then you make it. Maybe it’ll take me a few more turns to get there but I still believe I’m in a position where I can come back and win races.”
(Tim Don)


Tim Don’s story is an example of how important it is to work on your mindset and to be aware day in, day out, that you are not at its mercy, however unfavourable the situation may seem right now. The way in which you think about a situation affects both how you deal with it and the state of your health. Over the next few days, pay attention to how you perceive and interpret different situations in your life. Is your glass more half empty than half full? Then try to change your perspective and take the time to identify a few positive things in the current situation. If you successfully find at least one positive aspect, then focus on how you feel about it. Take your time and be patient with yourself.

 

References:

Brand, S., Gerber, M., Kalak, N., Kirov, R., Lemola, S., Clough, P. J. et al. (2014). Adolescents with greater mental toughness show higher sleep efficiency, more deep sleep and fewer awakenings after sleep onset. Journal of Adolescent Health, 54, 109-113.
Brand, S., Gerber, M., Kalak, N., Kirov, R., Lemola, S., Clough, P. J. et al. (2014). «Sleep well, our tough heroes!» - In adolescence, greater mental toughness is related to better sleep schedules. Behavioral Sleep Medicine, 12, 444-454.
Gerber, M. (2011). Mentale Toughness im Sport. Sportwissenschaft, 41, 283-299.
Gerber, M., Brand, S., Feldmeth, A. K., Lang, C., Elliot, C., Holsboer-Trachsler, E. & Pühse, U. (2013). Adolescents with high mental toughness adapt better to perceived stress: A longitudinal study with swiss vocational students. Personality and Individual Differences, 54, 808-814.
Gerber, M., Kalak, N., Lemola, S., Clough, P. J., Perry, J. L., Pühse, U. et al. (2013). Are adolescents with high mental toughness levels more resilient against stress? Stress and Health, 29, 164-171.
Haghighi, M. & Gerber, M. (2018). Does mental toughness buffer the relationship between perceived stress, depression, burnout, anxiety, and sleep? International Journal of Stress Management.
Jin, L. & Wang, C. D. C. (2018). International students’ attachment and psychological wellbeing: the mediation role of mental toughness. Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 31 (1), 59-78.
Mutz, J., Clough, P. J. & Papageorgiou, K. A. (2017). Do individual differences in emotion regulation mediate the relationship between mental toughness and symptoms of depression? Journal of Individual Differences, 38, 71-82.
Müller, S. (2019). Mentale Stärke und real-life Stress: Der Effekt mentaler Stärke auf die kardiovaskuläre und emotional-affektive Stressreduktion von Polizeiangestellten. Masterthesis. Zürich: ZHAW.
Stamp, E., Crust, L., Swann, C., Perry, J., Clough, P. & Marchant, D. (2015). Relationships between mental toughness and psychological wellbeing in undergraduate students. Personality and Individual Differences, 75, 170-174.

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