Steeling-  a quality (such as hardness of mind or spirit) that suggests steel  ..     noun  \ ˈstēl \

• nerves of steel

“I speak quickly, steeling myself for a mean reply”

The word steeling is found in Colson’s Whiteheads article. This word is located on the third page and paragraph of the article. “It saw you steeling yourself for the job interview,slowly walking home after the late date tripping over non existent impediments on the sidewalk”. When I initially saw the word, I didn’t have any firsthand idea of what it meant. After looking up the definition, I saw that it relates to doing something in a difficult situation. In other words, its a mental preparation for something that might or about to happen.