Train your mind like you train your body

Humans are complex organisms powered by a mind of extraordinary reach. Our brains weave thought, memory, and imagination into the fabric of our daily lives. Yet, like the body, the mind cannot thrive if neglected. When we fail to give ourselves what we need, both physically and mentally, we drift out of balance, and the whole of us suffers.

The world is rich with advice on keeping the body strong, eat well and move often. But what about the mind? Mental well-being is just as vital, though it often slips quietly into the background.

Here are some tips for keeping yourself mentally fit:

Balance Meaningful engagement with appropriate rest

Engagement

• Know what brings value and meaning to you and live accordingly: If you’re not doing this your emotional and mental wellbeing have an expiration date.
• Don’t be a passenger, drive the bus. You are in control of your life. If it doesn’t feel like that, then make active choices to effect change.
• Have realistic expectations: Aim for a daily baseline of contentment and satisfaction that will allow you to recognise the good and deal with the bad when it happens. Emotions are temporary states that drive behaviour. Don’t expect to be constantly happy, sad or otherwise. If you do you are setting yourself up to fail.
• Expect bad things to happen: Life goes up and down, don’t kid yourself otherwise. You can and will come through. Know how to lean-in to yourself and have others in your sphere who you can lean on too if needed. Embrace adversity, it helps us change for the better. Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional.
• Be fair: The worse you are to others the harder you will be on yourself. Others can move on from you, but you are stuck with you.
• Sometimes be prepared to admit you have walked through the wrong door – it’s better than spending your life in the wrong room.
• Seek out mental stimulation outside of work. Try something new, learn a language, play some music, do a puzzle, take on a challenge. Choose your mental stimulation wisely.
• Do at least one thing each day which gives you a genuine sense of achievement – even if it’s only leaving clean dishes on the sink.

Rest

• There are different types of rest. Learn what kind of rest you are missing out on and address that. If you don’t get proactive about that you will still be taking rest at sometime, and guaranteed that will be very inconvenient
• Self-care is an ongoing practice and looks different for everyone – whether it is a daily walk or a weekly review of your budget, find it and do it regularly. Acknowledge that self-care will look different and will evolve throughout your life. Be willing to change when things stop being effective.

Relationships – with yourself and with others

• Your relationship with yourself is the most important one in your life – you have to live with you. Get to be on good terms with that voice in your head and develop a positive dialogue.
• Our relationships with others shape your relationship with yourself. Cultivate relationships with intention.

Have perspective

• Zoom out and look at the big picture at least once a day. Don’t beat yourself up over things that really do not matter. Perspective is the answer to most fears.
• Perspective also allows you to recognise what does matter and then you can focus your attention where it will be best applied.

Talk about it!

Mental Health isn’t anything to do with an individual’s strengths or weaknesses of constitution, or their worth as a human. We are a product of our environments, beliefs, education and role models. That will equip each of us with a different set of strengths and vulnerabilities – and that’s a good thing.

If a child is struggling, you would try and point them to someone who could help them. We are all living life for the first time and in that sense we are all just big kids. So, if you are struggling, why not acknowledge when you have reached the limit of your resources and point yourself in the direction of someone who can help you figure out the new resources you need.

If not, you are cheating yourself out of the one life you get.