The Mental Strength School
Become wiser, stronger and happier every day.
Take control of your mental health once and for all with proven, practical and cutting edge practices to transform your mind for the better.
Have you seen the stats on mental health these days?
It’s not great.
Let me give you a preview.
We have more abundance, convenience, and opportunity than ever before. They say humans have never been so lucky.
So why doesn’t it feel that way?
We’re more anxious, stressed out, and lonely than ever. And the rates of depression and low self-worth are climbing each year.
In fact…
THE STATISTICS ARE STAGGERING.
- Stress is considered a national health crisis in the US, with 33% of people reporting feeling extreme stress daily
- An estimated 85% of the world’s population struggles with low self-esteem
- 13% of US adults currently take medication for depression
- Stress and mental health conditions are increasing worldwide, with 1 in 5 expected to develop a mental health condition (likely anxiety or depression) at some point
- More than 75% of people under 30 report feeling daily anxiety about the future
- In a 2022 study, 45% percent of people of people reported that they have not felt true happiness for more than two years and 25% of people don’t know, or have forgotten, what it means to feel truly happy
All these factors point to one thing — not enough mental strength to meet the challenging times we live in.
WE NEED MENTAL STRENGTH SKILLS TODAY MORE THAN EVER.
We’re confronted with increasingly challenging, stressful, and uncertain times. From climate change events, the looming threat of war, to the soaring cost of living and economic instability. Meanwhile, technology is constantly forcing us to adapt. We don’t even know if our jobs will exist in two years.
And that’s on top of your personal challenges. Conflicts, illnesses, heartbreaks, losses, juggling ageing parents, childcare and workloads.
BUT HERE’S THE GREAT NEWS…
It’s not our challenges that define us – it’s how we respond to those challenges.
Even in the darkest corners of human experience, we also find unshakable resilience and human thriving. We see examples of people who rise to challenges — acting with courage, wisdom, integrity, and love.
We see people who flourish, create positive change, and even some who undergo profound transformations and spiritual growth.
There’s a way to stay strong no matter what the world throws at you. A way to go from feeling stuck in cycles of stress, self-doubt, and insecurities to feeling calm, confident, and connected to purpose.
It’s all inside the Mental Strength School…
Have you ever wondered…
WHY it sometimes feels like you have a battle going on inside your head?
WHY you feel a nagging disconnect between your high-achieving life and the insecurity and stress that plague you on the inside?
WHY no matter how much you accomplish, you still feel like it’s never enough?
There IS an explanation.
You see, the human mind is a double-edged sword.
The mind can do many wonderful things – but it also has a shadow side. Because of the way the mind has evolved it falls into predictable unhelpful patterns. Patterns that can drag you down, hold you back, and cause suffering.
Does any of this sound familiar?
Our mind can haunt our inner world with hurtful words. It puts us down, tells us we’re not good enough, ruminates on our problems, plays out our fears and anxieties, and zones in on the negative aspects of others, ourselves and life. It never lets us be satisfied, whispering, “You need more, more, more!”
The most insidious thing about these negative mental-emotional patterns is that you assume there’s something wrong with you for having them.
But the truth is there’s nothing wrong with you.
You’re merely being pulled around by old conditioned thinking patterns that you don’t know how to recognize or change yet. And all the changes you try to make in your external life to take away to stress and insecurity (trying to look better, achieve more, find the one or get new things) won’t work— unless and until you treat the cause. Your state of mind.
Without mental strength, what happens?
- Your performance at work deteriorates and relationships suffer
- Your mood plummets
- You play small, never realising your potential or going for your heart’s deepest longings
- You break down, feel helpless or fall apart in the face of challenges
- You get stuck in addictive behaviours and harmful habits that slowly erode your vitality and well-being
Living like this, you can’t be the person you really want to be or have the positive impact on the world you want to have — instead you’re overwhelmed and bogged down by all of your troubles.
In short, your authentic self and true potential get drowned out again and again while you stay busy trying to find a fulfilment that never quite comes.
AND WHEN WE’RE UNFULFILLED, WHAT DO WE DO TO FEEL BETTER?
We get busier, overspend, distract ourselves, work longer, and scroll for hours. Then, we waste even more time cobbling together short-term fixes that often actually pull us further from our strength in the long run.
Listen, I love a good splurge or achieving a big goal as much as anyone. But new things and achievements don’t solve my low self-esteem if that underlying problem is caused by my thinking pattern that says, “I’m not good enough so I need to do more and be more to be enough.”
That’s why investing in learning how to become mentally stronger has always been my favourite way to invest my time and money. It pays me back massive returns in my life at every level.
And that’s why becoming mentally strong isn’t a nice to have. It’s a must.
Welcome to the Mental Strength School.
The world’s leading online mental strength training platform and practice community.
Using mindfulness-based mental strength training techniques, this school teaches you how to liberate yourself from the inside out and build a resilient mind.
Within the training community, you will:
- MASTER YOUR MINDSET
Learn how to unwind anxiety, stress, and low self-worth by defusing negative thinking patterns and shifting to a more empowering mindset. - REGULATE DIFFICULT EMOTIONS IN HEALTHY WAYS
Allowing you to be non-reactive and strong, no matter what happens. - UNLOCK PEAK PERFORMANCE
Using powerful techniques, you’ll trade mental clutter, overwhelm, and stress for peak performance and a calm, clear, and focused mind. - REWIRE LIMITING BELIEFS & NEGATIVE THINKING PATTERNS
Using evidence-based tools, you’ll shift limiting beliefs into empowering, supportive, and uplifting thinking patterns. - TAP INTO UNSHAKABLE RESILIENCE
Instead of feeling crushed, defeated, or hopeless in the face of adversity, you’ll rise to your challenges, stay connected to purpose, and take empowered action. - BECOME YOUR MOST AUTHENTIC SELF & LIVE WITH WISDOM
Let go of being pushed around by unhelpful mental-emotional patterns and learn to be pulled by a powerful sense of purpose and wisdom.
You’ve tried piecing together different strategies to find optimum mental well-being or get to the next level. But it’s been haphazard and inconsistent. A seminar here, a book there, a retreat here, but it hasn’t got you the deep, stable, and lasting change you need.
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING
"Melli is a leading authority on the topic of mental strength. Her methods have been forged in the heat of life experience along with decades of contemplative practice. I highly recommend her, both as a person and as a leader and innovator".
"Melli is one of the world's leading experts in the field of mental strength. Her groundbreaking work is changing lives and has the power to change how we think about mental health".
We’re only going to be able to realise our true mental strength when we practice mental strength. Make it a habit. Hardwire it into our bones, brain, and being.
Mental strength is not something some people are born with and others are not.
Mental strength is a SKILL.
One you can learn. And I’d love to teach it to you.
I KNOW THIS BECAUSE
I LIVED IT.
Hi, I’m Melli. I know what it’s like to struggle.
At seventeen, I was Exhibit A of someone whose mental struggles had brought them to their knees. I was in deep depression and had an eating disorder. Eventually, things became so dark that I thought about taking my own life.
But reading a book in my school library, I found the insight that changed everything.
It said that, “mental strength is a skill.”
Just like lifting weights can make you physically stronger, I suddenly understood that I could train my mind to be mentally stronger.
I soon found out the truth of this for myself. I started a meditation course days later, where I also learned stress reduction methods. And together, these tools dramatically reduced my suffering.
My eating disorder and depression disappeared in just a couple of months of consistent practice.
Over time, I continued to learn all kinds of mental strength skills that profoundly changed the state of my mind and the quality of my life.
After years of completing my own mental strength training, which fuelled my passion for helping others, I went on to become a certified meditation teacher (doing what was then the most comprehensive training in the world) and became certified in teaching various emotional intelligence modalities.
I went on to teach mental strength and mindfulness to thousands of people worldwide.
I also co-founded mindfulness.com and the Mindfulness Summit. The summit is a not-for-profit project that has so far raised over $750,000 for mental health charities around the world.
And after 15+ years of teaching mindfulness and mental strength practices, I distilled and synthesised the best of what I learned from the fields of mindfulness, positive neuroplasticity training, stress reduction tactics, and peak performance psychology into the deep resilience method. A one-of-a-kind mental strength training method that develops both wisdom and mental fitness in tandem.
The most rewarding part of my life has been watching others use this method and experience the same kind of breakthroughs I did.
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING
“Melli is simply the best when it comes to teaching mental strength. Melli’s expertise, passion, and dedication make her the leading authority in the field of mental strength. If you're looking to cultivate resilience, improve your mental health, and live a more fulfilling life, Melli is the guide you need. A woman of great integrity, who embodies what she teaches, there are few people who have had such a positive impact on my life.”
"Amazing tools that helped me overcome stress, anxiety and fear. Melli guides you into a very kind space of self-awareness and personal growth. I loved how the course is presented and particularly enjoyed the mindful meditations that came with it. Thank you for helping me go from confusion to clarity, I feel much stronger and resilient now."
"I would recommend this programme for anybody that wants to find a sense of peace and happiness in their life. It gives a sense of hope that you can transform into something that will give you more happiness and satisfaction in the life that you have."
"I feel I have a greater sense of resilience, I am not getting stuck in rumination and am more easily able to bounce back when I notice my thoughts and emotions are affecting me. This has given me the space to be more present with my friends & family, experience more joy, wonder, and gratitude, gain perspective and get more sleep! I would recommend it to others who would like to feel mentally stronger."
"My mind and my heart are sort of more working on the same team now, instead of pulling me in two different directions. I now have tools and practices that support me as I learn to better navigate my own life. Melli O'Brien is a really really competent and encouraging and friendly guide. She won't steer you wrong."
"I am enthralled when I listen to Mellissa speak because there is a delightful mixture of gentleness and incredible power that comes through her message. She has intelligent ideas, a strength of experience, and a driving passion to help the world in an area that is most neglected - the mind. If we tuned in to her message, we would make profound changes in our lives. She is a speaker that must be heard".
"The tools given by Melli in her incredible mental strength training course is an investment in myself that I’ve made. The benefits keep expanding into more areas of my life than I realised. I am able to address that negative talk I so often engaged with, through the simple exercises offered in the course that are so powerful. I have gained a new relationship with my mind that I can now work with so much more easily".
"Being mentally strong is not just a luxury but a necessity in these times we are living in. For me to be able to make a difference, make my business and my life everything that I want it to be, stay resilient in the face of the many setbacks I face as an entrepreneur, I need to keep my mind resilient, positive and purposeful. Melli’s mental strength coaching gives me the support to do that".
Your mind can be your worst enemy or your greatest strength. I’ll show you how to train it to be stronger.
This is not about motivational talks, positive thinking, or fluffy new age concepts.
This is a cutting-edge, evidence-based approach to mental strength training that gets real, sustained results. The tools and techniques you’ll get in this community combine the disciplines of mindfulness, positive neuroplasticity training, peak performance psychology, resilience training, and cognitive therapy.
The Mental Strength School is about proven, practical, and repeatable mental strength skills that you can take and use in your life immediately. To…
- Feel happier
- Rise to your challenges
- Enjoy better relationships
- Make moves in your career or business
- Achieve optimal mental strength
- Become your most authentic self & live with wisdom
… and ultimately be a force for good in this world.
Think of this as your one-stop shop to get a comprehensive, meticulously vetted, skillfully-structured, ongoing mental strength training program that will give you the unshakable inner strength you need to step into the best version of yourself.
Here’s how it works
The school will train your mind to become stronger in a simple, sustainable and enjoyable way.
The path? Daily ACTION.
The technique? Develop both emotional intelligence and wisdom leading you to the highest form of mental strength – DEEP RESILIENCE.
You’ll unlock ONE mental strength masterclass and evidence-based daily training tool every month. By learning at a sustainable pace, with repetition over time, these practices will become your default mode. That’s what we’re aiming for.
We want mental strength to become an ingrained habit.
Like brushing your teeth or answering the phone when it rings.
While I’d love to promise instantaneous results, you know that…
True change doesn’t happen overnight, but over time.
Doing one small thing daily WILL create big meaningful changes in every area of your life.
Trying to rewire your mind through one giant leap per year, or force a huge change all at once, doesn’t work. We simply can’t integrate transformation that fast. It’s like trying to learn a language in two days, never speaking it again, and expecting to be fluent.
To become mentally strong, you need consistent, repeated, and skilful practice with a competent guide to support you. Then you can go from beginner to capable, and then eventually onto mastery.
That’s why, with this carefully curated and designed curriculum, you’ll build your emotional and mental strength bit by bit to get the most powerful, lasting change. Day by day and year by year. Getting stronger every day.
DEEP RESILIENCE
When most people think of mental strength, they think of pumped-up self-talk, toughness, pushing through, or positive thinking. While these strategies might lift you in the moment, they don’t create true, lasting and stable mental strength.
Deep resilience is different.
Deep resilience acknowledges that humans have two kinds of intelligence that need to be developed in order to be mentally strong: 1. Emotional intelligence, and 2. Wisdom.
Together, these valuable traits can improve not only our success, relationships, health, and mood but they also lead to true fulfilment, meaning and purpose, and unlock the full potential and power of the human spirit.
What you get each month
A Mental Strength Masterclass
Each month, you’ll receive a 30 to 60-minute masterclass from me that you can watch when it’s convenient for you. I’m distilling all my knowledge and experience in mental resilience and bringing it to you in practical ways. Each month will have a new focus topic and masterclass, and will contain both theory and experiential practice. I carefully craft a 12-month plan each year to give you a comprehensive, well-rounded, and deep mental strength training.
A mental strength skill to practice daily
Each month, you’ll receive a new 15-minute meditation audio. But this is more than just a meditation. These audios are a carefully crafted blend of positive mindfulness, positive neuroplasticity training, emotional intelligence and stress reduction tactics, peak performance psychology, and more.
Before long, you’ll have a library of meditations to choose from to train and rewire your mind in targeted ways — focusing on the patterns you most want to change.
Live coaching and Q&A sessions
Every second month, you’ll be able to jump on a live 90-minute coaching call with me and ask any questions you may have and get coaching and support. This is also a chance to practise together as a community and share stories and connect.
Printable Practice Sheets
You’ll get your weekly practices in a printable format to keep with you or pin to your wall to help remind and motivate you as you build your mindfulness rituals. Some months you’ll also get mini workbooks for written exercises.
The Most Cutting-Edge Mental Strength Tools & Materials
You get exclusive access to the cutting-edge, proven tools and techniques I’ve been testing and researching for over two decades (and continue to stay at the forefront of). You’ll get these tools delivered to you and at a deliberate pace so you can learn, grow, and stretch your mind in sustainable ways.
Access to a Supportive Community
We learn better together. To give yourself the best chance for success, surround yourself with others who are also focused on their growth. You’ll have access to a big-hearted and supportive Facebook community of mental strength enthusiasts to share ideas, wins, and ask questions.
Topics We’ll Cover over the Next Few Months
From Anxiety to Empowerment
A cutting-edge technique to stay calm in any crisis.
30-Day Mindfulness Challenge
Reach ninja-level focus, calm, and presence with a month of mindfulness practice
Master Difficult Conversations
Learn to navigate conflict in healthy and skillful ways.
Uplevel Your Stress Response
Lower your stress levels, perform at your peak, and feel more empowered when life comes at you.
Start with WHY
Define your core values and craft your mission and purpose statement.
Hardwiring Happiness
How to use positive neuroplasticity to change your mind and transform your experience.
THE WORLD IS ALWAYS COMING AT YOU WITH NEW CHALLENGES.
But now you have somewhere to go. Anytime. Anywhere. To find your strength. Give you a routine to support you through it all. And a community that has your back.
- Because you’ll always be living in a fast-paced, demanding, and ever-changing world, you’ll need to up your game to thrive.
- And in the hard times, you’ll need a refuge, a place to find advice, feedback, and support so you can stay strong and rise in these ever-changing times.
- Because it’s hard to do it alone. Changing your thought patterns, navigating the world, staying resilient in hard times, and waking up to your authentic self. It’s difficult to stay consistent, motivated, and on track. You need support and motivation to keep you going.
- Because strength is something you need to be there exactly when you need it. When you’re faced with that new challenge and need to make that big decision, have that difficult conversation, when you fail, fall, and falter. This school is exactly what you need for support, guidance, and empowerment whenever you need it.
What's it like to be a member
of the Mental Strength School?
Within the first month
You’ll notice an immediate shift in your ability to manage your mind more skillfully. This is often a time of excitement and enthusiasm.
After the first month of doing the mental strength practices daily, you’ll start to feel calmer, more confident and in control, as those negative thoughts won’t be pushing you around so much. Students tell us they experience a sense of lightness and relief within weeks.
After 3 months
You’ll start to see some significant shifts. Your loved ones will likely notice the difference — and even say so. You’ll start to gain a steady sense of inner strength from the mindfulness and mental training practices, and feel more connected and alive. Your emotions and thoughts are much better regulated and you’ll experience more peace and freedom of mind.
At 6 months
You have a solid foundation of mental strength training under your belt, and are using tools to rewire the way your mind operates on your own. You can not only let go of unhelpful thoughts and emotions, but lead your life from states of wisdom, certainly, strength, and love. These skills are starting to feel familiar, easier, and even starting to become effortless. You’re starting to default to a place of strength and noticing lots of benefits in your life: decreased stress, better relationships, improved performance and overall better quality of life and mood.
After 9 months
You’ll have neural rewiring so significant that if we scanned your brain, we could see structural changes. This is because of neuroplasticity — the ability of the brain to change and rewire according to how we use it.
But here’s what we hear from participants. Now, mental strength becomes your default mode— How you live, work, deal with challenges, relate to others, and how you feel has all been shifted in really profound ways and there’s no going back.
How you live, work, relate, and feel has all been shifted in really profound ways and there’s no going back.
Now continue these practices for longer — say two years.
Now you’re getting into the territory of mastery, where you start to awaken to profound states of inner well-being and resilience and connectedness to deeper dimensions of yourself and life.
And from there, you can keep growing.
And growing.
Becoming stronger, wiser, and more fulfilled every day.
Becoming more and more of a force for good. An island of sanity, wisdom and love in this world.
And that’s really what this is all about. If you think it’s about just mental strength, you’ve missed the point. This is about living a truly meaningful, fulfilling life. And being a part of a movement toward creating a peaceful, sustainable, and loving world.
That’s a vision I’m working towards. A stronger world.
I invite you to join me on journey — as we walk the path together towards making that vision a reality — now’s the time.
Questions people asked before saying “YES!” to The Mental Strength School:
Who is Mental Strength School for?
The Mental Strength School is for anyone looking for simple, doable practices that you can implement over time. It’s for you if you’re looking to manage stress, heal unhelpful mental-emotional patterns, evolve as a person, and operate at the top of your game.
How does the school work? What does it look like?
Once you join, you get instant access to your first set of tools and the first masterclass. You’ll find everything you need in the training portal to get started.
What’s your refund policy?
When you join, you’ll be billed monthly. You can cancel your monthly subscription at any time, no questions asked. After that, you won’t be billed for the next monthly cycle. If you choose the annual subscription, you can cancel within 15 days, no questions asked. After that, there are no refunds.
How much time do I need?
Life is busy, we get it. The monthly format offers you the flexibility to learn when it’s best for you. Each monthly masterclass will be 30-60 minutes and the daily practice is 15 minutes each day. This will give you the maximum impact for the smallest investment of time and to see the best results.
Do I need to meditate?
To get the optimal results, yes. But I will be guiding you every step of the way. When you invest just 15 minutes daily, you’ll rewire your brain for resilience, happiness, and optimum mental well-being. Committing to a meditation habit is essential to creating the lifelong changes in mental strength that the Mental Strength School can give you. Just like you exercise your body to stay fit, here we are exercising your mind to get stronger.
I’m struggling. Is the Mental Strength School going to be enough for me?
The training you’ll receive at The Mental Strength School will give you a lot of value and support; however, if you’re struggling with some big challenges and you’re looking to fast-track your mental strength journey, I recommend completing Headstrong first. This will teach you the Deep Resilience Method. Then circle back to the school for long-term maintenance and support.
What if I’m still not sure or have questions?
Need help joining or have more questions? Get in touch. Someone from our team is happy to help! Support at melliobrien.com
Join us, and take the first step to a stronger, happier and wiser you
You buy one I give one. We're unlocking human potential together
My life’s work centres around unlocking human potential. But not everyone has an equal opportunity to realise their potential. Nearly 3 in 4 children in Australia’s remote areas lack access to education up to the 10th grade. This lack of opportunity means that, through no fault of their own, these children will most often be unqualified for many of today’s jobs – and may miss out on the chances we all take for granted.
If anyone needs their potential elevated, it’s these kids. That’s why with every Headstrong (or coaching program) purchased, I immediately give a child in remote Australia one month of access to online educational resources.
This project by Dot Com Mob (through B1G1) sets up technological education centres in Australia’s most remote regions with the fewest scholastic opportunities. These innovative centres give children access to online and electronic educational resources, helping close the gap in their education. I believe everyone deserves a chance to elevate their potential.