Why 10 Out Of 10 Mental Toughness Burns Founders Out: Here's How I Scored

Mental toughness is measurable. Most founders have never been shown how.

In this episode I break down the four factors that make up mental toughness using the MTQPlus framework from AQR International, and I run through my own scores in real time so you can see what the data actually looks like on a person.

Most of the founders and executives I work with arrive at the same point. Burnt out. Overwhelmed. Unable to attack the way they used to. They assume it is a mental performance problem. It rarely is on its own. Mental performance without the physical capacity to hold it is a short road to breaking.

There is a distinction that matters here.

Resilience is acute. Mental toughness is chronic.

Resilience is what happens in the moment and then stops. Mental toughness is a long term practice, and unlike most of what gets sold in this space, it is measurable and trainable.

The framework splits into four areas with eight subscales underneath them.

Commitment: achievement orientation and goal orientation

Challenge: risk orientation and learning orientation

Confidence: confidence in abilities and interpersonal confidence

Control: emotional control and life control

I go through each one and show you my numbers. Where I score high. Where I am exposed. Why 10 out of 10 is not the goal, and why the people sitting at the top of that scale are often the most susceptible to burnout, because they cannot pause, step back, or see anything outside the one thing in front of them.