It is hard to stay mentally sane these days as more and more personal matters continue to arise in our lives. Matters such as added tasks and expectations at work, stressful business problems to solve, and handling personal problems with people, family, debt, and bills.
The list goes on forever about what makes us not mentally stable on a daily basis. We tend to forget that we are far more important than the problems we face.
Our mental health along with our other health categories such as physical, spiritual, and emotional health oftentimes become abandoned and not catered to which causes 7x more stress than the little things that we like to make, “Big” things.
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Fun Fact About Tough Times DUring Pandemics
It is highly important, especially after the major epidemics that have been continuing over the past few years, to stay as healthy as possible in every area, for the benefit of yourself and the people & things you care about the most.
Here in this article, you will discover exactly how to do just that. With each positive or negative habit that affects your mental health, we will dive into examples of how to incorporate it into your daily life.
Even if you were to incorporate 5 simple positive habits into your daily routine, you are still 5% better than what you were yesterday and doing better than 98% of the population who is not.
Research shows that emotional & mental health are skills that must be learned in order to experience the true results of positive enhancement in your life through everything that is happening around you. Let’s go over them, shall we?
How to be mentally successful?
Save Your Precious Time
Spend focused and dedicated time with family and friends.
Research shows that adults who are more socially connected are healthier and live longer than their more isolated peers. Imagine what you are able to receive when around others who you care about, or care about you.
You are able to receive emotional support, advice on projects you are working on or a goal you wish to attain, feedback on an already completed assignment, you are able to find laughter, you feel protected when around the ones who care about you, you feel love, compassion, sympathy and far more others that help you get through the times.
There are things that you just can’t find that add peace, comfort, and happiness in your life being with others than being alone. 60 minutes a day with your spouse, your kids, a family member, or a friend without any t.v, any phones, or distractions will give you the opportunity to live better through hard times and provide that peace you always dreamt of having for your mental health’s sake.
Catch from Lost Times
Catch up with some good, positive, successful people using social media or telephones.
Although there are many disadvantages to social networking and telephone convos, such as conveying inauthentic expressions on feelings, lack of emotional connection at times, and decreased face-to-face communication skills; there are plenty of pros as well.
The pros include the ability to talk with someone too far to drive to, immediate gratification from hearing a familiar voice, comparing your life to theirs to learn some things on what you can work on or learn what you are doing better at & gives you a sense of feeling valued by talking with someone who you respect who also shares the same towards you.
Spending 15 minutes a day talking and catching up is all that is needed to train your mind into reaching out and forgetting about the problems you may be facing.
Express Your Vivid Side
Express yourself and your feelings in the most appropriate way.
According to science daily, when you put feelings into words, you are activating the prefrontal region in your brain and seeing a reduced response in the amygdala.
The amygdala is in connection with the neural system for processing fears. In other words, if you are able to communicate your feelings effectively and commonly, then you will see reduced anxiety, and nervousness, also known as “fear” from those stresses that you face on a daily basis.
Every day seeks to speak with someone you trust that you can be open with. If you have no one, then practice it on social media in your “quote on quote” friends list or Facebook groups.
No More Liquor or Weed
Drink less alcohol or none at all.
This one may sound like common sense but pay close attention here. Alcohol has a profound effect on the structural complexities of brain activity. It blocks chemical signals between brain cells that promote traits that we hate to see in others such as impulsive behavior, terrible memory, and slow reflexes. Backed data from hazeldenbettyford.org.
We also have no alcohol to impair motor skills and increase negative judgment which will cause you to think more negatively and openly about problems that you are currently facing.
Every day, drink less and less alcohol until you can get to zero cups. For example, if you drink 2 bottles of wine a day, drink one, then half, then one quarter which will eventually get you to none a day. The same for beer, and or shots of liquor.
You’ll see improvement in your mental health and a spike in happiness.
Coffee Kills So Does Caffeine
Reduce your coffee intake.
Science shows proof that coffee contains caffeine which can cause nervousness, and anxiety from increased awareness, insomnia, headaches, increased heart, and breathing rates, and may also reduce eating healthy.
All these play major roles and factors in your daily life that contribute to additional problems especially if you are already under a lot of stress.
Like myself, most people drink hot coffee because it goes down smooth and makes you feel warm inside.
Or drink cold coffee because it is extremely refreshing. We don’t drink it to get high anymore or feel a rush of energy.
We drink it out of pure habit. Instead of drinking coffee and turning it into a bad habit, replace it with a good habit such as green tea with less caffeine, or hot chocolate.
Or if you drink your coffee cold then replace it with bottles of freezing cold water.
I will guarantee you better daily performance. Must I go into the benefits of water?
30 minutes of Freedom
Take a walk in a scenic environment.
There are several benefits of just walking 30 minutes a day. you may have heard them all especially if you are an exercise junkie. Allow me to give you some golden nuggets that you did not know.
Benefits of walking
Some common benefits of walking in scenic environments include:
dramatic mood increases,
enhanced creativity as you gaze and analyze what’s around you,
lowers the risk of lung cancer,
the skin will look younger along with increased vitamin D levels from the sun,
you’ll also have more fun and feel like you made progress for the day.
Being able to go outside even if you just stand there and look at the sky, clouds or sky will give you hope for the future and allow you to be a lot more conscious that you are true; alive & well.
Every day, starting with just 5 minutes, walk down the street of your house or job, then walk back. Then come back to tell me about it in your journal. This makes for my next point.
Journaling
Journaling your thoughts, finding your purpose and meaning.
Journaling for peaceful mental health is the goal when you journal whether you want to believe it or not. When we actively journal we may not say that is what it is for, we may not even know why we journal or atleast the science behind it all.
But essentially when you write, that is what you are improving.
Your mental state of mind. According to WebMD, journaling helps control any symptoms associated with stress, anxiety, depression, and loneliness. If done correctly you will be able to get a better handle on your problems, fears, and concerns.
As there are several ways to journal, one of my favorite ways to journal is by creating my own questions about life, who am I, where did I come from, what can I do in this world and where am I going?
As these are the 5 hardest life questions in the world that no one can answer yet.
Believe me, if you just take on one question per week and work on it every day you will begin to open up your mind in a whole new way and release negative thoughts, understand your journey in life, reveal your vision, and break down complicated goals.
Now you know what my next point is about.
Goal Setting
Set Realistic Goals.
Goal setting is one thing, but a realistic setting is another. It is highly important to write down not just all of your life goals, but the goals that you know can most certainly be achieved.
Those are the ones you want to tackle first. Here’s why. Goals provide direction and focus. They instill vision. It gives you a sense of purpose and personal satisfaction.
Realistic goal setting assists with maintaining motivation, especially during setbacks. It also prioritizes change. Inc.com says that 92% of people DO NOT reach or attain their goals.
Reliableplant.com says about %70 fail to achieve the goals they have set out for themselves without the proper tools.
However, if given the right journal, and proper step-by-step guidance backed by an accountability partner, you have a 20% chance to reach the success of every single goal rather than 8% who do not have the right tools to attain them.
This may seem small in the grand scheme of things, but if you had a chance to make great success with 8% or 20% odds of reaching it, which one would you choose?
In conclusion, get you a journal, get an accountability partner, set realistic goals, and see a drastic decrease of stress associated with mental health issues.
Always Be Working Out
Keep active for 47 minutes a day.
As most of us know, daily exercise is extremely important. For the most common reasons such as being in shape, keeping joints mobile, staying away from being overweight, and keeping young.
However, what it actually does is, prevents strokes, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes, regulate heart and blood flow for increased oxygen, boost your moods, provide bursts of energy, and improve oxygen to the brain to increase memory and productivity.
It also taps into your creative energy which allows for increased cognitive skills and overall happiness after realizing how smart you truly are.
These are just 10% of the benefits of exercising every day.
Do your research and learn the rest of the 90% to get motivated. But why 47 minutes per day and not the commonly known number 30? Because everyone does 30 minutes.
Those are ordinarily average people. Be 1% better than everyone else and you are automatically extraordinary.
Positive Self Talk
I am Affirmations & Positive Affirmations
I Listen to I am Affirmations the first 15 minutes of my day and throughout the day while it plays in the background. Now there isn’t much research that shows why I am affirmations work so excellently. However, there is a lot of backed research that explains why Self-Talk is so important.
Here is why. Whatiscodependence.com discovered that our thoughts are influenced by feelings and feelings are influenced by our thoughts as well as our choices and actions.
It is proven that positive thinkers are more optimistic, confident, and successful in the long run than those who do not do positive self-talk and that is where I am affirmations come into play.
Now they don’t necessarily have to be I am affirmations, they can be positive affirmations, money affirmations, love affirmations, or success affirmations.
But some form of self-talk is a must if you wish to stay sane through it all. Again, the best time for this to work is really all day. Imagine how many times you talk to yourself throughout the day.
So I normally play my affirmations for 15 minutes, the first couple nanoseconds of waking up in the morning, and the last 15 minutes before I go to sleep and I let it play while I am sleeping, just for added benefit.
I play them in the car on my way to work, in my office while working, during reading, eating, working out, or relaxing.
You can literally wash out all negativity if done every day for a minimum of 66 days which is now the 20th-century fact of how long it takes to break a habit, proven by healthline.com and several other sources.
How to Re-position Your Life Overnight
Listen to meditation, spa, or classical instrumental music throughout the day.
Instrumental music, also known as binaural beats, offers amazing benefits that increase your mental health and state of being.
If done at least once or twice a day during times you feel not yourself, webmd.com confidently stands by these benefits from its years of research and studies. I also practice these and stand by it as well.
You can expect increased creativity, & cognitive enhancement, reduced anxiety and improved moods, smoothly entering and exiting Zenful meditative states, improved sleeping habits, as well as increased focus, attention and memory retention.
These are just a few, but if you need help maintaining your mental health and distraction from throwing someone out of a 72 story window, then I suggest you get on this bandwagon immediately.
Get Good Nights Rest
Get at least 6 hours minimum to 7 hours of sleep.
Sleep deprivation is caused by a lack of adequate sleep and quality sleep. Technically, anything less than that is considered going down a path of being sleep deprived which will lead to further mental health problems which will, in turn, affect your entire body.
By not instilling good habits of healthy sleeping, you will find many problems that lead to the disruption of happiness, inner peace, and mental health issues such as the inability to concentrate, increased risk of depression, and severe mood swings according to better health org.
Understand that without adequate sleep you will feel that your personal problems are a lot bigger than what they are due to a lack of awareness, alertness, and perception of the matter.
Sleep is important. What I tend to do is schedule exactly 8 hours of sleep within my schedule from the time I wake up. My bedtime is 9 pm and I wake up at 5 am.
I ensure all my work is complete before 9 pm, anything that is not done will be carried over into the next day. It is okay if I don’t end up sleeping until 9:30 or even 10 pm because my body is still at rest, my brain is not thinking hard, and my heart rate and brain activity have decreased dramatically which is what we want.
Stretch daily
Oftentimes we struggle to do any kind of self-care let alone bodily care due to our busy lives. However, it is highly advised that you do so because each and every day we get older and stiffer from the amount of stress we put on our bodies.
From working out, going to work, physical labor, walking everywhere, driving everywhere, and even doing simple tasks around the house.
The recommended time for stretching is 30 good solid minutes. 30 minutes gives you enough time to use 10 seconds for each stretching exercise you do for every limb of your body.
My favorite time to stretch is first waking up or 30 minutes before bedtime. I stretch with class. What i do, so it isn’t boring and awkward stretching in your underwear or bathrobe is, I use yoga or meditation while using breathing exercises.
This eliminates the lack of motivation to even stretch in the first place. With this, you can look forward to your stretching sessions.
Why stretch?
Here’s what stretching does for you and why it plays a role in your physical and mental health. According to extensive research done by Healthline, stretches increase flexibility, range of motion, increase blood flow to your muscles, helps heal and prevent back pain, calm your mind, and focus your attention elsewhere.
Also, you’re doing yoga and meditation if you try it my way, which we already know the benefits to. Trust me, try it my way and you’ll thank me later.
Start Reading More
Read anything positive for 30 minutes a day.
Reading is one of the most overlooked habits of the day. Again due to our busy lives, we rarely read anything that is good for our brain.
I am talking about good material that you can learn from and actually implement whatever you learn. Most people tend to read things that do them no good such as social media posts, news articles, wall posters, text messages, advertisements, road signs, and billboards while they’re driving to work.
The problem with these things is that, because our brains are so sophisticated, they tend to stay in our short-term memory, eventually crossing over to long-term memory.
We start to have flashbacks of these things that are not important. Of course, we do not want to remember or think about these waste of time materials, but we can’t help it.
We have developed bad habits. Let’s focus on taking at least 30 minutes a day reading something positive that will hopefully stick to counteract the negative nonsense we feed ourselves.
Here’s why reading is important and vital for your mental health.
For starters, reading helps improve brain connectivity, increases comprehension, empowers you to emphasize with other people, reduces stress, gives you a wider perception and a higher viewpoint of life, and prevents cognitive decline as you age.
What I tend to do during my day is, the first 2 hours of my morning I spend it listening to a podcast while I’m on my way to the office, when I get to work, I read something that serves my vision in life and realistic goals, and when I get home, I read for as long as I can about my next researched topic for my blog post that I plan to write next for you.
All these help me check the box off in my “to-do” list for the day. Yours might be different but figure out how to squeeze it in your day. No more “10 minutes” a day common nonsense you hear people say. Let’s be extraordinary. Let’s read and succeed.
Spend Alone Time
Take yourself on a date and splurge on yourself.
Last but not least, the moment you have been waiting for. Finally something good. Lol, hopefully, that isn’t what you just said.
Honestly, this is something most people don’t do. In fact, most people may overdo it and call it a “Me” day and just buy stuff.
But that is not what I am talking about. I am talking about taking yourself out as if you would go on a date with someone. Treating yourself nicely, eloquently, and being self-reserved and humble. Take a day, one day out of the week where you do everything right.
You wake up and pray or meditate, you kiss the kids before they are off to school, instead of going to Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks you go to a local “new” never been to, coffee shop, sit down and smell your coffee, sip it just right instead of taking gulps, then drive to a beach or park, and sit on the grass as you pet the squirrel that comes up to you because you are so feeling yourself right now.
Then you are in Nirvana mode, at your most Zen state of being and no one can tell you anything. I’m sure you see where I am going with this.
Your day has to be so different from the rest that you become wow’ed and surprised by what just happened after your day is over. It has to be that good. That is treating yourself.
That is your goal. By doing this you will begin to appreciate your time, your value, get to know yourself more, and forget about all the added stress that should never bother you as it does but for some reason, every day, you let it.
Try this and write in your journal about it and tell me what happened that day by sending me an email through the reach the author section.
Final Thoughts to be Mentall Successful During a Pandemic
It is essential that you practice these healthy habits that increase your happiness and inner peace because you are far more important than being stressed, depressed, and a mess.
A recap quickly.
Ensure you:
Spend focused & dedicated time with family and friends, Catch up with some good, positive, successful people using social media or telephone, Express yourself and your feelings in the most appropriate way, Drink less alcohol or none at all, Reduce your coffee intake, Take a walk in a scenic environment, Journaling your thoughts, finding your purpose and meaning, Set Realistic goals, Keep active for 47 minutes a day, I am Affirmations, Listen to meditation, spa, or classical instrumental music throughout your day, Get at least 6 hours minimum to 7 hours of sleep, Stretching daily and Read anything positive for 30 minutes a day.
If you enjoyed this read please be sure to share it with people who you know need to hear it, or people you don’t know who you wish to learn this!
I challenge you to join our Facebook group and randomly blurt out your favorite mental health trick. I want to know!
Until next time,
Keep Self-Healing
C.J. Perry