July 2, 2025 • 23 mins
Summary
In this episode of Breast Cancer Reimagined, host Shannon D. Silva shares her personal journey of navigating breast cancer and the importance of mental toughness. Through a story about learning to ride a Boosted Board, she explores how vulnerability can reveal strength. The episode emphasizes the significance of character strengths, particularly those related to wisdom, in building resilience during challenging times. Listeners are encouraged to engage in practical activities to enhance their mental toughness and reflect on their experiences.
Key Takeaways
- Moments of vulnerability can reveal our greatest strengths.
- Mental toughness is about resilience, not perfection.
- Embracing challenges is essential for growth.
- Taking control of your care empowers you.
- Staying committed to goals helps navigate tough times.
- Believing in yourself is crucial for coping.
- Character strengths support mental toughness.
- Creativity helps find solutions to challenges.
- Curiosity drives informed decision-making.
- Perspective allows us to see the bigger picture.
Activities
1 - Wisdom Strength Reflection Journal
- Pick One wisdom Strength to Focus on: Creativity, Curiosity, Judgment, Love of Learning, or Perspective.
- Recall a Challenge – Think of a time you used this strength to solve a problem or learn something new.
- Describe the Experience
- What happened?
- How did you use the strength?
- What did you learn?
- Repeat this process for each of the wisdom Strengths, reflecting on different experiences.
- Bonus: Look for Patterns – Which strengths felt natural? Which ones stretched you? How can you use them more?
This activity is great if you want to:
- Become more aware of your own strengths.
- Identify concrete examples of your men.
2 - Set an Intention for Growth:
- Choose one wisdom strength (Creativity, Curiosity, Judgment, Love of Learning, or Perspective) that you want to use to boost your mental toughness right now.
- For the upcoming week, commit to a simple, intentional action to apply that strength more often.
Not sure which strength to focus on? These questions will help:
🔹Feeling stuck? How can creativity help you brainstorm new solutions? Creativity
🔹Facing a problem? What questions can you ask to learn more? Curiosity
🔹Making a choice? How can you weigh your options more carefully? Judgment
🔹Want to grow? What new ideas can you explore? Love of Learning
🔹Feeling down? How can you step back and see the bigger picture? Perspective
This activity is great if you want to:
- Actively work on building your mental toughness.
- Create positive change through small, focused actions.
3 - Share Your Insights:
- Consider discussing the concepts from this episode with a friend, family member, or within a support group.
- Talking about these ideas with others can help you solidify your own understanding and potentially gain new perspectives.
This activity is great if you want to:
- Feel more connected and supported.
- Help or inspire others.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
The story you tell yourself about your breast
cancer journey shapes yourentire experience, whether
you've been recently diagnosedor are in the midst of treatment
.
Breast Cancer Reimagined isyour podcast for writing this
new chapter of your life.
Hi, I'm Shannon, your host, andI'm so glad you're here.
(00:25):
As a proud two-time breastcancer survivor, I'm on a
mission to help women like youreimagine how you navigate your
breast cancer journey by helpingyou shift your mindset,
activate your strengths anduncover deeper meaning in your
journey.
I'm creating future episodes toaddress your unique challenges,
(00:45):
but I need your input.
What are your biggest questionsor struggles when it comes to
your journey?
Share them with me bycompleting the Google form
that's linked in the show notes.
Your voice matters and togetherwe can create something truly
powerful.
I can't wait to hear from you.
Create something truly powerful.
(01:06):
I can't wait to hear from you.
Hello, hello.
Welcome back to Breast CancerReimagined.
Hi, I'm Shannon, your host, aproud two-time breast cancer
survivor.
I am so glad you are here.
Welcome to episode 11, unlockyour mental toughness Wisdom for
navigating breast cancerchallenges.
What if the moments you feelmost vulnerable are actually
(01:32):
your greatest displays ofstrength?
It's a concept I've beengrappling with, especially after
a day.
That was meant to signal areturn to normalcy, but instead
it involved a minor mishap, abit of embarrassment and a
surprising label that made merethink everything I thought I
(01:52):
knew about being tough.
I'll give you some context thenI'm going to play an audio clip
so that you can hear this storyunfold in its raw, unedited
form.
So this story took place on May2nd 2019.
It was my first day back towork from medical leave, and
(02:13):
while I was on leave, my husbandtaught me how to ride a boosted
board, which is an electricskateboard.
My husband was riding one, andI thought it would be really fun
for me to have a new hobby andwe could ride together.
I also wanted to learn to ridebecause it was something that
really required me to be in tunewith my body.
I wanted something to help meto just be present in the moment
(02:37):
and not always in my head, andwhen you ride, you have to be
present, otherwise you riskfalling.
So remember this point aboutbeing present and not in my head
.
It's going to come into play inthe story, and riding was so
exhilarating, and once I feltcomfortable and pretty confident
(02:59):
, I was thinking about whetheror not.
I wanted to commute to and fromthe shuttle stop on my boosted
board, and that was about afive-mile round-trip adventure.
To help me decide, my husbandtook me on a dry run so that I
could get just an experience ofwhat it would be like to commute
at least to the shuttle stop onmy boosted board.
(03:20):
And then he said something thatchanged everything.
He said imagine having thatfeeling every day on your way to
work.
And I said, yes, I want that.
And that's when I decided that Iwas going to commute to and
from the shuttle on my boostedboard and I also decided to
(03:43):
shave my head and get a tattoo.
There's a picture of the tattooin the show notes, and I'll
share more about the tattoostory and my decision to shave
my head in a future episode.
So this audio clip that you'reabout to listen to is the story
of my first day returning towork on my boosted board.
It led to a powerful lessonabout what it means to be tough.
(04:07):
Here goes.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
And then comes the day for me to go back to work
and I was excited, I was ready.
I was still a little nervousbecause I didn't know what to
expect.
But I got all ready, had all mygear on, I get to campus and I
had never ridden my skateboardon campus and it's huge and I
wasn't sure where to go.
And so I asked someonedirections and they shared okay,
(04:33):
go this way.
So I'm going that way.
But then I got a little turnedaround because I see all these
arrows on the ground.
I'm like, okay, which way to go?
And my electric skateboard.
I use a remote control to makeit go forward and to brake.
And so for some reason, once Igot a little flustered and
turned around it was my firstday riding this to work I
accidentally stopped my remote,but my body wasn't prepared to
(04:55):
stop because I didn't mean to doit.
So next thing, you know, it'slike I'm falling and it's like,
oh my gosh.
And I just fell.
And then some people startrunning over and I'm so
embarrassed and I just fell.
And then some people startrunning over and I'm so
embarrassed and I said, I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm like, oh my gosh
.
And so I got up and then Ilooked at my hands and my hands
are all bloody and I realized Iforgot to put my gloves back on.
I just didn't have my routinedown, so my hands are all bloody
(05:16):
and I put my gloves back onbecause I don't want to look at
bloody hands.
So I put my gloves back on andI sing and I dance when I ride
on my skateboard.
So I'm like singing and I'mdancing and I get to work and
some of my coworkers didn't knowI was coming back that day but
I roll into the office on myskateboard, shaved head,
bleeding.
It was just pretty traumaticand fun.
I wanted people to know that Ifell and that I hurt myself.
(05:47):
But this time I told everyonethat came into my view that I
fell off my skateboard and thenI showed them all of my road
rash and for me it was really atest of being vulnerable,
because I felt vulnerable inthat moment.
But then I realized I'mcourageous, I am so brave.
I sent my husband pictures ofmy road rash and then when I
came home he looked at it andhe's like turning my hands
(06:10):
around and looking.
And then he looks at me in theeyes and he said you're tough.
And I thought, oh my gosh, Inever thought of myself as tough
.
And the interesting thing is Ihad shared with a colleague that
story about how my husband saidI'm tough.
And she said, of course you'retough, you beat cancer.
(06:30):
And I thought, oh, like I justdidn't put that together.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
Okay.
So after hearing that story,what's the first thing that
comes to your mind when youthink about what it truly means
to be tough?
When I fell off my boostedboard, I felt tough because I
got hurt and I had the road rashto prove it.
I also felt tough because I gotup and I kept going.
(07:00):
But what I realized was I feltphysically tough, but falling
off my boosted board also helpedme to realize that I was
mentally tough as well, becauseof how I responded to the
situation, and this helped me tosee that I was mentally tough
when navigating my breast cancerjourney too, but I just didn't
(07:21):
see it at the time.
Being mentally tough during yourbreast cancer journey isn't
about being a superhero whonever feels scared or sad.
It's about activating yourstrengths to navigate the ups
and downs with resilience and aproactive spirit.
Think back to last week.
(07:43):
What's one time you had to pushyourself, either physically or
mentally, and you were surprisedby what you could do.
Think of being mentally toughas including these four elements
.
Number one embracing challenges.
(08:04):
So that means seeingappointments, treatments and
changes in your body not just asobstacles, but also as steps on
your path towards healing andgrowth.
Number two taking control,believing you have the power to
make informed decisions aboutyour care, build a strong
(08:26):
support system and manage yourwell-being.
Number three staying committed,keeping focused on your goals,
whether that's getting throughtreatment, spending time with
loved ones or finding moments ofjoy even when things feel
overwhelming.
And number four believing inyourself, trusting in your
(08:52):
ability to cope, adapt and findinner strength throughout this
experience and find innerstrength throughout this
experience.
So we've talked about what itmeans to be mentally tough
embracing challenges, takingcontrol, staying committed and
believing in yourself.
But how do we actually developmental toughness?
(09:14):
Let's unlock a powerful secretto building mental toughness our
via character strengths,especially those nestled within
the virtue of wisdom.
Character strengths are thepositive parts of our
personality that contribute toour fulfillment and are
(09:34):
considered morally good.
Our character strengths cansupport us in boosting our
well-being and also innavigating and overcoming
challenges.
Now VIA identifies 24 characterstrengths, organized under six
virtues.
There's a list of the 24character strengths and six
(09:57):
virtues in the show notes.
The wisdom strengths are whatwe're going to focus on now, and
they include creativity,curiosity, judgment, love of
learning and perspective.
So how do these wisdomstrengths help us build mental
(10:20):
toughness?
They help us to navigatechallenges, to understand
ourselves and the world and tomake thoughtful decisions that
support our growth.
Think of them as powerful toolsthat enable us to navigate
breast cancer with greaterclarity and resilience.
Now let's explore each of thewisdom strengths and how they
(10:44):
support mental toughness.
I'll also include an examplebased on my Boosted Board story.
So the first one is creativity.
When faced with the unexpectedtwists and turns of breast
cancer, creativity allows us tothink outside the box.
It helps us find novelsolutions to problems, to adapt
(11:10):
our approach when things don'tgo as planned, and also to even
reframe negative situations in amore constructive light.
So reflect on your breastcancer journey.
Maybe you creatively found waysto manage treatment side
effects or discovered newsources of joy during a
(11:30):
difficult time.
That's your creativity fuelingmental toughness, dueling mental
toughness.
In my story, I used mycreativity to turn an
embarrassing fall into a momentof fun and vulnerability by
singing and dancing my way backto the office and openly sharing
my story with others.
(11:54):
Let's move to number twocuriosity.
A curious mind is an engagedmind, so curiosity drives us to
seek information and tounderstand the challenges that
we face and to explore differentways of coping During breast
cancer.
This might look like activelyresearching your diagnosis,
(12:18):
asking questions to yourhealthcare team or exploring
different support resources.
This proactive engagementfueled by curiosity empowers you
and builds mental toughness bymaking you feel more informed
and in control.
In my story, I was curiousabout navigating the campus for
(12:41):
the first time, and then I gotreally curious about why I fell,
and that's when I realized thatI accidentally stopped the
remote and that's what made mefall and I got road rash because
I forgot to put my back on.
Number three, judgment, or alsoknown as critical thinking.
(13:03):
Mental toughness requiresmaking sound decisions,
especially under pressure, andjudgment helps us to think
things through, to weighdifferent options and to avoid
impulsive reactions based onfear or anxiety.
It allows us to evaluateinformation more objectively and
(13:27):
to seek advice when needed andmake informed choices about our
well-being and our path forward.
This thoughtful decision-makingis a cornerstone of mental
strength.
In my story, I made thedecision to get up and keep
going, and also I made thedecision to put on my gloves
(13:50):
because I didn't want to ridelooking at bloody hands, and I
also made the conscious choiceto be open and vulnerable about
the fall, and I also made theconscious choice to be open and
vulnerable about the fall.
I told everyone that I saw thatI fell off my skateboard and
that I showed them my road rash.
Number four love of learning.
The journey of building mentaltoughness is often one of
(14:14):
continuous learning and growth.
Love of learning motivates usto acquire new skills, knowledge
and strategies that can help usnavigate challenges.
This might involve learningmore about stress management
techniques, learning new copingmechanisms or even simply
(14:35):
learning more about ourselvesand our own resilience.
This ongoing pursuit ofknowledge strengthens our
ability to navigate breastcancer.
In my story, I learned theimportance of having a routine
to make sure I always had mygloves on when I was on my
electric skateboard and let metell you, I never forgot to put
(14:57):
my gloves on again after thatmistake.
Number five perspective.
Having perspective allows us tostep back from our immediate
situation and see the biggerpicture.
From our immediate situationand see the bigger picture.
It helps us to keep things incontext and to understand that
challenges are often temporaryand we can even find meaning in
(15:19):
difficult times.
It helps us to keep things incontext and to understand that
challenges are often temporaryand find meaning even in
difficult times.
This strength can also involveseeking wise counsel from others
or drawing on past experiencesto inform our present challenges
(15:43):
.
Perspective provides a sense ofhope and helps us maintain a
balanced outlook, which is vitalfor mental toughness.
In my story, I shifted fromfeeling embarrassed to really
seeing the fall as anopportunity to be vulnerable and
(16:03):
brave.
But, most importantly, myhusband's comment you're tough
helped me to see a newperspective on what it means to
be tough.
By consciously cultivating andutilizing these wisdom strengths
our creativity, curiosity,judgment, love of learning and
(16:28):
perspective Love of learning andperspective we equipped
ourselves with the mental toolsnecessary to navigate breast
cancer with greater resilience,control and belief in our own
strength.
Now let's put this into practice.
I'll walk you through threeactivities to help you build
(16:50):
your mental toughness.
The first activity is calledthe Wisdom Strength Reflection
Journal the Wisdom StrengthReflection Journal, and here's
how it works.
So step number one is to pickone wisdom strength to focus on
(17:13):
Again, creativity, curiosity,judgment, love of learning or
perspective.
So you pick one of those wisdomstrengths to focus on.
Step number two is to think ofa time you use that strength to
solve a problem or learnsomething new.
Strength to solve a problem orlearn something new.
(17:37):
Step number three is just todescribe the experience.
What happened, how did you usethe strength that you chose in
step number one and what did youlearn?
Step number four is to repeatthe same process so that you can
go through it with all fivewisdom strengths.
A bonus step is, after you'vegone through all five of the
(17:58):
wisdom strengths, reflect onwhat you've written and just
look for any patterns.
You might want to ask yourselfwhich strengths felt natural,
which ones stretched you, howcan you use them more?
And this activity, the WisdomStrength Reflection Journal, is
(18:22):
a great activity if you enjoyjournaling.
It's also helpful if you wantto become more aware of your own
strengths.
You want to become more awareof your own strengths and also
if you want to identify concreteexamples of your own mental
toughness.
The second activity is calledset an intention for growth, and
(18:45):
step number one is to chooseone of the wisdom strengths that
you want to use to boost yourmental toughness right now.
And step number two, for theupcoming week, commit to a
simple intentional action toapply that strength more often.
So to help you figure out whatstrength you might want to focus
(19:09):
on, I'm going to share a fewquestions to help you figure out
what strength you might want tofocus on.
I'm going to share a fewquestions to help you decide.
Feeling stuck, creativity may bethe strength you want to focus
on.
How can creativity help youbrainstorm new solutions?
Facing a problem?
Curiosity can help.
(19:32):
What questions can you ask tolearn more?
Making a choice?
The strength of judgment canhelp.
How can you weigh your optionsmore carefully?
Want to grow?
You can use your love oflearning.
(19:55):
What new ideas can you explore?
And lastly, feeling down, youcan tap into the strength of
perspective.
How can you step back and seethe bigger picture?
Now?
This activity Set an Intentionfor Growth is really a great
(20:19):
activity if you want to activelywork on building your mental
toughness, and it's also reallyhelpful if you want to create
change through small, focusedactions.
And the last activity is calledshare your insights.
So consider discussing theconcepts from this episode with
(20:42):
a friend, a family member orwithin a support group, because
talking about these ideas withothers can help you solidify
your own understanding andpotentially gain new
perspectives.
So this particular activityShare your Insights is a great
activity to do if you want tofeel more connected and more
(21:05):
supported, or if you want tohelp and inspire others, or if
you want to help and inspireothers as we close out this
(21:26):
episode, let's quickly summarizethree key takeaways.
Use your via wisdom strengthsto actively build your mental
toughness in your breast cancerjourney or for any challenge
that you're facing.
Number two reflect on your ownexperiences using these wisdom
strengths to recognize yourexisting mental toughness and
feel more confident.
And number three evenunexpected moments like a fall
(21:53):
can teach you powerful lessonsabout your mental strength if
you take the time to think aboutthem.
Now it's your turn.
Which of these activities willyou explore this week?
The Wisdom Strength ReflectionJournal?
Or maybe you want to set anintention for growth?
(22:13):
Or maybe you want to share yourinsights.
I encourage you to pick oneactivity and practice it
throughout the week.
If this episode resonated withyou, hit, follow and share it
with someone who might need tohear this today.
Also, join our Breast CancerReimagined podcast Facebook
(22:38):
group so we can support eachother.
The link is in the show notes.
Next time on Breast CancerReimagined, we're unlocking one
key skill to handle any fearduring your breast cancer
journey.
Don't miss episode 12.
And don't forget to subscribe.
I'll talk with you in the nextepisode.
(22:59):
Thank you for joining.
The story you tell yourself about your breast
cancer journey shapes yourentire experience, whether
you've been recently diagnosedor are in the midst of treatment
.
Breast Cancer Reimagined isyour podcast for writing this
new chapter of your life.
Hi, I'm Shannon, your host, andI'm so glad you're here.
(00:25):
As a proud two-time breastcancer survivor, I'm on a
mission to help women like youreimagine how you navigate your
breast cancer journey by helpingyou shift your mindset,
activate your strengths anduncover deeper meaning in your
journey.
I'm creating future episodes toaddress your unique challenges,
(00:45):
but I need your input.
What are your biggest questionsor struggles when it comes to
your journey?
Share them with me bycompleting the Google form
that's linked in the show notes.
Your voice matters and togetherwe can create something truly
powerful.
I can't wait to hear from you.
Create something truly powerful.
(01:06):
I can't wait to hear from you.
Hello, hello.
Welcome back to Breast CancerReimagined.
Hi, I'm Shannon, your host, aproud two-time breast cancer
survivor.
I am so glad you are here.
Welcome to episode 11, unlockyour mental toughness Wisdom for
navigating breast cancerchallenges.
What if the moments you feelmost vulnerable are actually
(01:32):
your greatest displays ofstrength?
It's a concept I've beengrappling with, especially after
a day.
That was meant to signal areturn to normalcy, but instead
it involved a minor mishap, abit of embarrassment and a
surprising label that made merethink everything I thought I
(01:52):
knew about being tough.
I'll give you some context thenI'm going to play an audio clip
so that you can hear this storyunfold in its raw, unedited
form.
So this story took place on May2nd 2019.
It was my first day back towork from medical leave, and
(02:13):
while I was on leave, my husbandtaught me how to ride a boosted
board, which is an electricskateboard.
My husband was riding one, andI thought it would be really fun
for me to have a new hobby andwe could ride together.
I also wanted to learn to ridebecause it was something that
really required me to be in tunewith my body.
I wanted something to help meto just be present in the moment
(02:37):
and not always in my head, andwhen you ride, you have to be
present, otherwise you riskfalling.
So remember this point aboutbeing present and not in my head
.
It's going to come into play inthe story, and riding was so
exhilarating, and once I feltcomfortable and pretty confident
(02:59):
, I was thinking about whetheror not.
I wanted to commute to and fromthe shuttle stop on my boosted
board, and that was about afive-mile round-trip adventure.
To help me decide, my husbandtook me on a dry run so that I
could get just an experience ofwhat it would be like to commute
at least to the shuttle stop onmy boosted board.
(03:20):
And then he said something thatchanged everything.
He said imagine having thatfeeling every day on your way to
work.
And I said, yes, I want that.
And that's when I decided that Iwas going to commute to and
from the shuttle on my boostedboard and I also decided to
(03:43):
shave my head and get a tattoo.
There's a picture of the tattooin the show notes, and I'll
share more about the tattoostory and my decision to shave
my head in a future episode.
So this audio clip that you'reabout to listen to is the story
of my first day returning towork on my boosted board.
It led to a powerful lessonabout what it means to be tough.
(04:07):
Here goes.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
And then comes the day for me to go back to work
and I was excited, I was ready.
I was still a little nervousbecause I didn't know what to
expect.
But I got all ready, had all mygear on, I get to campus and I
had never ridden my skateboardon campus and it's huge and I
wasn't sure where to go.
And so I asked someonedirections and they shared okay,
(04:33):
go this way.
So I'm going that way.
But then I got a little turnedaround because I see all these
arrows on the ground.
I'm like, okay, which way to go?
And my electric skateboard.
I use a remote control to makeit go forward and to brake.
And so for some reason, once Igot a little flustered and
turned around it was my firstday riding this to work I
accidentally stopped my remote,but my body wasn't prepared to
(04:55):
stop because I didn't mean to doit.
So next thing, you know, it'slike I'm falling and it's like,
oh my gosh.
And I just fell.
And then some people startrunning over and I'm so
embarrassed and I just fell.
And then some people startrunning over and I'm so
embarrassed and I said, I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm like, oh my gosh
.
And so I got up and then Ilooked at my hands and my hands
are all bloody and I realized Iforgot to put my gloves back on.
I just didn't have my routinedown, so my hands are all bloody
(05:16):
and I put my gloves back onbecause I don't want to look at
bloody hands.
So I put my gloves back on andI sing and I dance when I ride
on my skateboard.
So I'm like singing and I'mdancing and I get to work and
some of my coworkers didn't knowI was coming back that day but
I roll into the office on myskateboard, shaved head,
bleeding.
It was just pretty traumaticand fun.
I wanted people to know that Ifell and that I hurt myself.
(05:47):
But this time I told everyonethat came into my view that I
fell off my skateboard and thenI showed them all of my road
rash and for me it was really atest of being vulnerable,
because I felt vulnerable inthat moment.
But then I realized I'mcourageous, I am so brave.
I sent my husband pictures ofmy road rash and then when I
came home he looked at it andhe's like turning my hands
(06:10):
around and looking.
And then he looks at me in theeyes and he said you're tough.
And I thought, oh my gosh, Inever thought of myself as tough
.
And the interesting thing is Ihad shared with a colleague that
story about how my husband saidI'm tough.
And she said, of course you'retough, you beat cancer.
(06:30):
And I thought, oh, like I justdidn't put that together.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
Okay.
So after hearing that story,what's the first thing that
comes to your mind when youthink about what it truly means
to be tough?
When I fell off my boostedboard, I felt tough because I
got hurt and I had the road rashto prove it.
I also felt tough because I gotup and I kept going.
(07:00):
But what I realized was I feltphysically tough, but falling
off my boosted board also helpedme to realize that I was
mentally tough as well, becauseof how I responded to the
situation, and this helped me tosee that I was mentally tough
when navigating my breast cancerjourney too, but I just didn't
(07:21):
see it at the time.
Being mentally tough during yourbreast cancer journey isn't
about being a superhero whonever feels scared or sad.
It's about activating yourstrengths to navigate the ups
and downs with resilience and aproactive spirit.
Think back to last week.
(07:43):
What's one time you had to pushyourself, either physically or
mentally, and you were surprisedby what you could do.
Think of being mentally toughas including these four elements
.
Number one embracing challenges.
(08:04):
So that means seeingappointments, treatments and
changes in your body not just asobstacles, but also as steps on
your path towards healing andgrowth.
Number two taking control,believing you have the power to
make informed decisions aboutyour care, build a strong
(08:26):
support system and manage yourwell-being.
Number three staying committed,keeping focused on your goals,
whether that's getting throughtreatment, spending time with
loved ones or finding moments ofjoy even when things feel
overwhelming.
And number four believing inyourself, trusting in your
(08:52):
ability to cope, adapt and findinner strength throughout this
experience and find innerstrength throughout this
experience.
So we've talked about what itmeans to be mentally tough
embracing challenges, takingcontrol, staying committed and
believing in yourself.
But how do we actually developmental toughness?
(09:14):
Let's unlock a powerful secretto building mental toughness our
via character strengths,especially those nestled within
the virtue of wisdom.
Character strengths are thepositive parts of our
personality that contribute toour fulfillment and are
(09:34):
considered morally good.
Our character strengths cansupport us in boosting our
well-being and also innavigating and overcoming
challenges.
Now VIA identifies 24 characterstrengths, organized under six
virtues.
There's a list of the 24character strengths and six
(09:57):
virtues in the show notes.
The wisdom strengths are whatwe're going to focus on now, and
they include creativity,curiosity, judgment, love of
learning and perspective.
So how do these wisdomstrengths help us build mental
(10:20):
toughness?
They help us to navigatechallenges, to understand
ourselves and the world and tomake thoughtful decisions that
support our growth.
Think of them as powerful toolsthat enable us to navigate
breast cancer with greaterclarity and resilience.
Now let's explore each of thewisdom strengths and how they
(10:44):
support mental toughness.
I'll also include an examplebased on my Boosted Board story.
So the first one is creativity.
When faced with the unexpectedtwists and turns of breast
cancer, creativity allows us tothink outside the box.
It helps us find novelsolutions to problems, to adapt
(11:10):
our approach when things don'tgo as planned, and also to even
reframe negative situations in amore constructive light.
So reflect on your breastcancer journey.
Maybe you creatively found waysto manage treatment side
effects or discovered newsources of joy during a
(11:30):
difficult time.
That's your creativity fuelingmental toughness, dueling mental
toughness.
In my story, I used mycreativity to turn an
embarrassing fall into a momentof fun and vulnerability by
singing and dancing my way backto the office and openly sharing
my story with others.
(11:54):
Let's move to number twocuriosity.
A curious mind is an engagedmind, so curiosity drives us to
seek information and tounderstand the challenges that
we face and to explore differentways of coping During breast
cancer.
This might look like activelyresearching your diagnosis,
(12:18):
asking questions to yourhealthcare team or exploring
different support resources.
This proactive engagementfueled by curiosity empowers you
and builds mental toughness bymaking you feel more informed
and in control.
In my story, I was curiousabout navigating the campus for
(12:41):
the first time, and then I gotreally curious about why I fell,
and that's when I realized thatI accidentally stopped the
remote and that's what made mefall and I got road rash because
I forgot to put my back on.
Number three, judgment, or alsoknown as critical thinking.
(13:03):
Mental toughness requiresmaking sound decisions,
especially under pressure, andjudgment helps us to think
things through, to weighdifferent options and to avoid
impulsive reactions based onfear or anxiety.
It allows us to evaluateinformation more objectively and
(13:27):
to seek advice when needed andmake informed choices about our
well-being and our path forward.
This thoughtful decision-makingis a cornerstone of mental
strength.
In my story, I made thedecision to get up and keep
going, and also I made thedecision to put on my gloves
(13:50):
because I didn't want to ridelooking at bloody hands, and I
also made the conscious choiceto be open and vulnerable about
the fall, and I also made theconscious choice to be open and
vulnerable about the fall.
I told everyone that I saw thatI fell off my skateboard and
that I showed them my road rash.
Number four love of learning.
The journey of building mentaltoughness is often one of
(14:14):
continuous learning and growth.
Love of learning motivates usto acquire new skills, knowledge
and strategies that can help usnavigate challenges.
This might involve learningmore about stress management
techniques, learning new copingmechanisms or even simply
(14:35):
learning more about ourselvesand our own resilience.
This ongoing pursuit ofknowledge strengthens our
ability to navigate breastcancer.
In my story, I learned theimportance of having a routine
to make sure I always had mygloves on when I was on my
electric skateboard and let metell you, I never forgot to put
(14:57):
my gloves on again after thatmistake.
Number five perspective.
Having perspective allows us tostep back from our immediate
situation and see the biggerpicture.
From our immediate situationand see the bigger picture.
It helps us to keep things incontext and to understand that
challenges are often temporaryand we can even find meaning in
(15:19):
difficult times.
It helps us to keep things incontext and to understand that
challenges are often temporaryand find meaning even in
difficult times.
This strength can also involveseeking wise counsel from others
or drawing on past experiencesto inform our present challenges
(15:43):
.
Perspective provides a sense ofhope and helps us maintain a
balanced outlook, which is vitalfor mental toughness.
In my story, I shifted fromfeeling embarrassed to really
seeing the fall as anopportunity to be vulnerable and
(16:03):
brave.
But, most importantly, myhusband's comment you're tough
helped me to see a newperspective on what it means to
be tough.
By consciously cultivating andutilizing these wisdom strengths
our creativity, curiosity,judgment, love of learning and
(16:28):
perspective Love of learning andperspective we equipped
ourselves with the mental toolsnecessary to navigate breast
cancer with greater resilience,control and belief in our own
strength.
Now let's put this into practice.
I'll walk you through threeactivities to help you build
(16:50):
your mental toughness.
The first activity is calledthe Wisdom Strength Reflection
Journal the Wisdom StrengthReflection Journal, and here's
how it works.
So step number one is to pickone wisdom strength to focus on
(17:13):
Again, creativity, curiosity,judgment, love of learning or
perspective.
So you pick one of those wisdomstrengths to focus on.
Step number two is to think ofa time you use that strength to
solve a problem or learnsomething new.
Strength to solve a problem orlearn something new.
(17:37):
Step number three is just todescribe the experience.
What happened, how did you usethe strength that you chose in
step number one and what did youlearn?
Step number four is to repeatthe same process so that you can
go through it with all fivewisdom strengths.
A bonus step is, after you'vegone through all five of the
(17:58):
wisdom strengths, reflect onwhat you've written and just
look for any patterns.
You might want to ask yourselfwhich strengths felt natural,
which ones stretched you, howcan you use them more?
And this activity, the WisdomStrength Reflection Journal, is
(18:22):
a great activity if you enjoyjournaling.
It's also helpful if you wantto become more aware of your own
strengths.
You want to become more awareof your own strengths and also
if you want to identify concreteexamples of your own mental
toughness.
The second activity is calledset an intention for growth, and
(18:45):
step number one is to chooseone of the wisdom strengths that
you want to use to boost yourmental toughness right now.
And step number two, for theupcoming week, commit to a
simple intentional action toapply that strength more often.
So to help you figure out whatstrength you might want to focus
(19:09):
on, I'm going to share a fewquestions to help you figure out
what strength you might want tofocus on.
I'm going to share a fewquestions to help you decide.
Feeling stuck, creativity may bethe strength you want to focus
on.
How can creativity help youbrainstorm new solutions?
Facing a problem?
Curiosity can help.
(19:32):
What questions can you ask tolearn more?
Making a choice?
The strength of judgment canhelp.
How can you weigh your optionsmore carefully?
Want to grow?
You can use your love oflearning.
(19:55):
What new ideas can you explore?
And lastly, feeling down, youcan tap into the strength of
perspective.
How can you step back and seethe bigger picture?
Now?
This activity Set an Intentionfor Growth is really a great
(20:19):
activity if you want to activelywork on building your mental
toughness, and it's also reallyhelpful if you want to create
change through small, focusedactions.
And the last activity is calledshare your insights.
So consider discussing theconcepts from this episode with
(20:42):
a friend, a family member orwithin a support group, because
talking about these ideas withothers can help you solidify
your own understanding andpotentially gain new
perspectives.
So this particular activityShare your Insights is a great
activity to do if you want tofeel more connected and more
(21:05):
supported, or if you want tohelp and inspire others, or if
you want to help and inspireothers as we close out this
(21:26):
episode, let's quickly summarizethree key takeaways.
Use your via wisdom strengthsto actively build your mental
toughness in your breast cancerjourney or for any challenge
that you're facing.
Number two reflect on your ownexperiences using these wisdom
strengths to recognize yourexisting mental toughness and
feel more confident.
And number three evenunexpected moments like a fall
(21:53):
can teach you powerful lessonsabout your mental strength if
you take the time to think aboutthem.
Now it's your turn.
Which of these activities willyou explore this week?
The Wisdom Strength ReflectionJournal?
Or maybe you want to set anintention for growth?
(22:13):
Or maybe you want to share yourinsights.
I encourage you to pick oneactivity and practice it
throughout the week.
If this episode resonated withyou, hit, follow and share it
with someone who might need tohear this today.
Also, join our Breast CancerReimagined podcast Facebook
(22:38):
group so we can support eachother.
The link is in the show notes.
Next time on Breast CancerReimagined, we're unlocking one
key skill to handle any fearduring your breast cancer
journey.
Don't miss episode 12.
And don't forget to subscribe.
I'll talk with you in the nextepisode.
(22:59):
Thank you for joining.
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