I took a Jocko (he's a famous navy seal) quote and made it my mantra, it's similar.
He said "Be tougher."
To paraphrase the context: mental toughness is a choice, and if you aren't as tough as you want, you just have to be tougher. Choose it. In each moment when you are tested.
Thanks for your comment. For a while I had been wondering why I couldn't focus, wasn't able to accomplish some simple long term goals, etc. Be tougher was my fix, and your comment expands on some ideas in a way that makes sense to me.
As other commenters have pointed out, environment and context of an individual are often stronger than the individuals themselves. I thought I was tough, resilient and mindful. Then the pandemic came and I couldn’t choose not to feel stressed and distracted.
I think it's different for everyone, and I think finding what piece is preventing you from moving forward is important. For some people, they just _want to want_ something, rather than actually wanting it. Identifying that you don't actually want something can help you move forward. Whether that means building the skill of "cultivating the ability to do things you don't want to do", or just abandoning a task in favor of doing things you actually want - either is usually fine. Most people just stop at "I am unable to move forward with this thing because I am an unmotivated person."
He said "Be tougher."
To paraphrase the context: mental toughness is a choice, and if you aren't as tough as you want, you just have to be tougher. Choose it. In each moment when you are tested.
Thanks for your comment. For a while I had been wondering why I couldn't focus, wasn't able to accomplish some simple long term goals, etc. Be tougher was my fix, and your comment expands on some ideas in a way that makes sense to me.