What does it mean to be "strong?"  Most people immediately think of physicality, picturing Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson or other strongmen.  What about other strengths?  

As we celebrate the birth of one of the most important Americans, Martin Luther King Jr., we have to recognize strength of character as a way of being strong.  King, as most people know, led the US civil rights movement to obtain full rights and fair treatment for black Americans. His nonviolent protests, belief in the goodness of all people, and a desire for harmony is what ultimately cost him his life.  But, his impact and legacy will never be forgotten.

The ability to weather life's downturns and yet sustain the ability to perform well comes from emotional fortitude.  About one-half of this important strength is due to one's genetics.  Surely Dr. King had a genetic endowment that gave him the strength to persist against threats of violence.  The other 50% of emotional fortitude has been attributed to upbringing and life events that, in some people, cultivates emotional fortitude.  One of my favorite examples of this is a man named Ronald McNair.  McNair grew up in abject poverty in racially-segregated South Carolina in a home without electricity or running water.  McNair eventually earned a PhD in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was the second black American astronaut in space.  Tragically, McNair died at age 35 when the space shuttle Challenger exploded on liftoff in 1984.  See this wonderful video animation of Ronald McNair's life from the series StoryCorps narrated by his brother and you'll feel proud to be a human being.

Ronald McNair must have had an amazing genetic endowment and, if you watched the video, you would also know he had an amazing family who supported him and his interests.  This combination of drive and adverse events is often the recipe for the development of emotional fortitude.  Post-traumatic growth occurs when people gain emotional strength after a particularly severe event.  No one wishes to have a traumatic experience and yet increasing one's emotional fortitude is a highly valuable life skill.  

The key question is: how can one build emotional fortitude without suffering through poverty or trauma?

SIX was built expressly to guide users to increase their emotional fortitude.  It does this by continuously measuring which experiences are most valued neurologically.  The SIX app does this by using the 4 Ps: Personalization, Participation, Prediction, and Prevention. 

SIX maps experiences that generate high social-emotional value in the brain to users' calendars. This shows each user exactly what brings him or her the most value personally and privately. The brain's emotional value network, which I named "Immersion," is a metabolic investment in experiences that demonstrates the importance of particular events.  When people get six or more peak Immersion moments a day for several weeks (called Key Moments in the SIX app), this strengthens pathways in the brain that improve the ability to be present and emotionally open--two core factors that improve emotional fortitude.  This is how SIX is personalized.

SIX also gives users a clear goal--six Key Moments per day--to make it easy to participate in growing emotional fortitude.  The app shows users when they reach new levels of expertise, "leveling up" as they become more emotionally fit.  By gamifying the building of emotional fortitude with clear goals, SIX sustains the long-term participation needed to grow emotional strength.  

An AI assistant in SIX uses data on Key Moments to predict users' mood and energy when the day starts.  It will even offer suggestions on things  individual users can do to abort low mood and low energy days and move towards truly thriving every day. In peer-reviewed research SIX data predict mood and energy with 98% accuracy.  These insights--available after only one week of use--can prevent people from having bad days.  They can even prevent the symptoms of depression before they escalate.  This is how SIX predicts people's performance and prevents negative outcomes.  

By leaning into the 4Ps, SIX helps users live happier, healthier, and longer lives.  In addition, those who experience more positive moods are pleasant to be around and, as a result, have greater satisfaction with life as we have previously discussed. 

By all accounts, Martin Luther King Jr. and Ronald McNair were extraordinarily charismatic people and elevated the lives of everyone they touched.  All of us should seek to have a positive impact on those around us.  You can make this happen when you have built up your own emotional fortitude.  Download the SIX app today as the first step to building the high-impact life you want.