Episode 133: 100% Mettle: Coach Matt Thomann’s 9 Core Topics for Positive Toughness

In Episode 133 of The Mental Mettle Podcast, Coach Matt Thomann breaks down his framework for **100% Mettle**—the ability to recognize your strengths and limitations in adversity while embracing the repetition of positive actions that demonstrate real growth and change.Every coaching session Coach Thomann delivers centers on this idea. Growth doesn’t happen in a vacuum; it requires adversity. Recognizing both your strengths and your limitations in the face of that adversity is crucial for seeing where you are and where you want to go. But recognition is only the start—it takes consistent repetition to make lasting change.  With individuals, teams, staffs, and groups of all kinds, Coach Thomann uses 9 core topics to help people forge a positive version of toughness—100% Mettle:1. **Focus on Controllables**     Rooted in Bandura’s self-efficacy: belief → motivation → success → happiness. Learn to separate what you can control from what you can’t and build your mindset around what’s truly in your hands. (See Ep. 63)2. **Values / Shared Values**     Going beyond “family, faith, and friends” to include values like work ethic, fairness, responsibility, security, and independence. Clarify your personal values and create shared values for your team. (See Ep. 46, Huey Built – Prairie Central)3. **Voice (Self-Talk)**     Your inner voice can be a precursor to anxiety and depression. Learn why negative self-talk isn’t “normal,” how 3rd-person self-talk helps, and how to turn your inner Saboteur from a Hater into a Wingman. (See Ep. 64)4. **Confidence**     Building evidence-based confidence instead of fake hype—having “enough” proof to trust yourself in big moments. (See Ep. 28 with Hallie Mitchell)5. **Mind–Body Connection**     Understanding fight-or-flight, long-term stress, and telomere shortening, plus how to activate the parasympathetic system and vagus nerve to handle pressure better. (See Ep. 37 with Megan Gilmore, Ep. 65)6. **Growth Mindset**     Based on Carol Dweck’s work—how you approach challenges, effort, criticism, and comparison, and how to shift from a fixed to a growth mindset. (See Ep. 69)7. **Perspective**     Using creativity, metaphors, objects, and images to see yourself and your situation differently—because new perspectives lead to new actions.8. **Conflict Resolution / Team Toxins**     Drawing from John Gottman’s research and the “Four Horsemen” (criticism, defensiveness, stonewalling, contempt) to identify and clean up the patterns that quietly damage teams. (See Ep. 27)9. **Gratitude**     Using Seligman’s research to build positivity, fight anxiety and depression, and deepen grit through giving, receiving, and practicing gratitude—for others and for yourself. (See Ep. 76, Ep. 85 – Monthly Challenge)In this episode, learn how these 9 topics fit together to build 100% Mettle—a durable, positive form of toughness you can apply in your life, work, and teams.Subscribe to The Mental Mettle Podcast and start forging your 100% Mettle today.Subscribe for more episodes and insights from top coaches and leaders!For more information about Mental Mettle CoachingContact:  [email protected] a free coaching session with Coach ThomannOrder The Mental Mettle Podcast GearThe Mental Mettle Podcast | Official Gear | BonfireMental Mettle Links