6 Weeks to Mental Strength: Quiet the Inner Critic, Build Resilience
Mastering Positive Intelligence for Calm, Clarity and Confidence
What if your brain’s default setting was working for you, not against you?
Not just to help you focus, but to feel better.
To stop spiralling. To silence that relentless inner critic.
To shift from stress to strength, even under pressure.
A couple of years ago, I was offered a 6-week Positive Intelligence training with Stanford lecturer and coach Shirzad Chamine. It was free, accessible, but most importantly, transformative.
That’s when I realised just how much energy we waste in self-sabotaging thoughts and how much better life gets when we learn to retrain the brain.
Because mental fitness isn’t a personality trait. It’s a skill.
And it can be trained like a muscle.
The framework is called Positive Intelligence (PQ) and it’s grounded in neuroscience.
If you want more clarity, emotional resilience, and calm, even in chaos, this could change everything.
Here’s how it works.
What is Positive Intelligence?
Chamine defines your Positive Intelligence Quotient (PQ) as the percentage of time your mind is serving you rather than sabotaging you.
There are two main mental forces at play:
Your Saboteurs – those inner critics, perfectionists, avoiders, controllers, pleasers… they trigger stress, self-doubt and procrastination.
Your Sage – the calm, creative, grounded part of your mind. It generates empathy, curiosity, clear-headed decisions and purposeful action.
The idea is simple:
The more time you spend operating from your Sage brain, the stronger your mental fitness.
The stronger your mental fitness, the less stress hijacks your day, even when life is messy.
Why This Matters
For people over 50, the midlife brain is already under pressure:
Hormonal shifts impact cognition and emotional regulation.
The invisible load of caregiving, career pivots and health concerns add to the mental noise.
And let’s be honest, our inner critic didn’t exactly go into retirement at 50.
This is why mental fitness matters just as much as physical fitness.
Not in a vague “think positive” kind of way but through daily, structured mental training.
How to Build Mental Fitness in 6 Weeks
You can think of the Positive Intelligence protocol as brain gym for grown-ups.
Here’s how to follow it, one week at a time:
Week 1: Get to Know Your Saboteurs
Take the free assessment at positiveintelligence.com
Then ask yourself:
Where do these patterns show up in my work, relationships, or health habits?
What’s one area where I sabotage myself most?
Awareness is the first win.
Week 2: Intercept the Inner Critic in Real Time
Start labelling your saboteur voices when they pop up:
“There’s the Judge again.”
“That’s the Avoider talking.”
Do short 10-second “PQ reps” — focused attention on your breath, fingertips, or ambient sound — to shift mental gears.
This interrupts the saboteur’s hold and rewires your brain over time.
Week 3: Strengthen Self-Command
Set a timer for 3 PQ reps per day:
Rub your fingertips together with eyes closed and focus only on sensation.
Listen to one sound in the room with full presence.
Inhale and exhale slowly, three times, anchoring your awareness.
Each rep is like a bicep curl for your brain’s calm centre.
Week 4: Activate the Sage Perspective
When facing a challenging moment or situation, ask yourself:
“What’s the gift or opportunity in this challenge?”
“What else could be true?”
“How might this look from someone else’s perspective?”
This reframes daily stressors and trains you to think with your values, not your fears.
Weeks 5–6: Use the Five Sage Powers
These are like mental superpowers. You already have them. You just need to use them intentionally:
Empathise – with yourself first.
Explore – approach problems with curiosity, not judgment.
Innovate – brainstorm without censoring.
Navigate – let your values steer your decisions.
Activate – take focused action, minus the overthinking.
Choose one of these daily and let it shape how you move through the day.
Final Step: Integration
By now, your saboteur patterns are quieter. Your default state is calmer.
But mental fitness is never ‘done’.
Continue:
15 minutes of PQ reps daily (ideally split across the day)
Weekly reflection on Sage vs Saboteur moments
Weekly check-in: Where do I feel clearer, stronger, calmer?
What if you could have a personal coach in your pocket to help you reset your mind, build resilience, and get back to calm in under 60 seconds?
Starting today, you can, with Shenmag’s very own PQ GPT:
One Last Thought
You don’t need a perfect mindset.
You just need a trained one.
This practice doesn’t eliminate life’s stress.
It simply makes you better at facing it — grounded, wise, unshaken.
For women entering their Third Act, that’s not just resilience.
It’s power.
Curious to try this for yourself?
Start with the Saboteur Assessment, and find out what is your top three.
Your brain is not the problem.
But your habits may be.
Build new ones, on purpose.
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This is a very educative piece, well presented.