Mastering Mental Health In 11 Easy Steps
Mastering Mental Health In 11 Easy Steps
Get in the right head-space by mastering mental health with the following simple tips:
1. Set Goals – There are two types of goals you should set: 1) short-term, easily achievable goals; and 2) long-term goals that will require more discipline and dedication. Every time you reach a short-term goal, you’ll get that feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment that will keep you working toward the long-term goal.
2. Invest in Yourself – You are worth investing your time, money, and effort in! Find things that make you happy and be willing to spend money on them. Invest time in learning, growing, and improving both personally and professionally. Be willing to be a bit selfish if it will enhance your quality of life.
3. Get Uncomfortable – Comfort is the enemy of progress. The moment you start feeling comfortable, that’s when you stop changing. Growth is painful and uncomfortable, but it’s vital for everyone. Stretch yourself; say yes to things you aren’t 100% certain you can do. Throw yourself in the deep end and you may be surprised to find you can swim.
4. Never Stop Learning – Education serves two purposes: 1) it keeps your brain flexible and young, and 2) it makes you better at your profession and passion. Knowledge is so important—you can never learn too much. Every new piece of information or tidbit of knowledge you acquire will make you more well-rounded intellectually. You never know when that information will come in handy, or could be the solution you needed for a particularly tough problem. Don’t just study for the sake of it—be laser-focused on educating yourself in things that you will use.
5. Sleep More – If you’re not getting a solid 6 ½ to 8 hours of sleep at night, your brain and body will suffer. Not only will your attention and focus wane, but your body may misinterpret sleepiness signals as hunger pangs, leading to a higher risk of snacking and overeating. Plus, it can reduce muscle repair, energy replenishment, and overall organ function. A good night’s sleep is the key to a happy, healthy body!
6. Exercise – I cannot stress highly enough the importance of a good daily workout. Exercise keeps your muscles, joints, and bones moving fluidly, prevents stiffness and inflexibility, encourages better posture, boosts your metabolism, combats fat storage, increases overall fitness, and motivates you mentally and emotionally. Best of all, there is a cathartic feeling to exercise—it feels amazing to push, pull, and lift your worries and stressors away.
7. Reduce Toxin Exposure – We could talk all day about toxic chemicals and substances and their harm to your body, but in this case we’re talking about toxic people and environments. Toxic people flood your life with negativity, and may hold you back from reaching your full potential. If you’re in a toxic environment—a city you hate, a dead-end job, or a house that’s falling apart—get out! If you’re unhappy where you are and need to move, move! Your short stay on this planet should be a positive experience free of toxic people and in pleasant environments.
8. Be Happy With What You Have – Stop chasing things you think you want or need, but learn to be happy with what you already have. The pursuit of material wealth and treasures is exhausting, endless, and absolutely pointless. By being happy with what you have, you’ll be more at peace. The shift in your perspective will change the energy you project into the world and those around you.
9. Accept Yourself –We are our harshest critics! It’s so easy to get mired down with self-judgment and self-recrimination. Time to stop. Easier said than done, I know, but it’s important to start the process of changing our inner monologue (self-talk) to a more positive one. Find the things about yourself that you can love. For example, I am blessed with the ability to change people’s lives and love helping and serving others. This is something I am happy about, and it helps me to accept the things about me that may not be as good, such as my need for my own time as a natural introvert. There will always be good and bad—it’s time to start focusing on the good and accepting the bad as another aspect of the good.
10. Get Used to Failure – Not only is failure a normal part of life, it’s a very IMPORTANT part. Failure teaches us what we need to learn, and helps us to find the aspects of our personalities and skillsets that require strengthening. Like muscles grow stronger from the catabolism caused by heavy weightlifting, so too we become stronger by learning from our failures. Your first ANYTHING will suck—accept it. Anything you do for the first time is more likely to fail than succeed. But with time, persistence, and patience (three characteristics very uncommon in our current western culture of instant gratification), you will get better. To master anything, you must stick at it.
11. Go Forth and Conquer Without Regret – Start something new. Make a change in your life. Move countries. Commit to something “just because”. Travel! You cannot overestimate the importance of seeing things outside of your “bubble”, and money on travel is never wasted. The “worst that could happen” rarely (if ever) does, and the potential rewards are much, much greater than you can perceive. Open your mind. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Life is happening, whether you like it or not–you may as well like it–so go out there and live it.
Mastering mental health can often seem like simple advice, but can be tough to follow! The journey of self-improvement never ends. All we can do is try our best every day.
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