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Over the years I have come to realize how important mental health is. If you want to have a successful life, mental health plays a crucial role in it. What is the point of having everything that you ever wanted but you consistently feel fatigue, numb and hopeless?
Mental health impacts how we feel, think, behave and relate to others. Of course, how we feel, think, behave and relate to others is a huge part of becoming successful in life . Therefore it is very important to prioritize mental health in our lives.
The reason why I say that ‘we need to prioritize mental health’ is that we get so busy with life that often the most important person in your life is forgotten or overlooked.
Who is that important person in your life? It’s YOU.
We get so busy providing, taking care of others in our life that in the process we don't have time for ourselves.
You prioritize mental health by learning to prioritize yourself. When I say that, I’m not talking about being selfish but more on the practical things that you can do in your life to help you have a better mental health.
Even so today the world is changing in a fast pace whereby uncertainties have risen from world economies to job instabilities and the incorporation of AI into the workforce.
Uncertainties can cause anxiety which can take a toll on our mental health. Whatever the case is, learning to prioritize mental health is also about seeking for professional help when needed.
In this article I will share with you three ways that I have learned in terms of prioritizing mental health in my own life.
- Prioritize yourself by making time for yourself.
When was the last time you did something that you really enjoyed and had a lot of fun doing it? If the answer is “you are not sure” for long period of days, that means you haven’t had time for yourself. Time is the most precious asset we have, simply because we can’t get back the time that has been spent.
Learn to give time for yourself by planning every week, what you want to do for fun and enjoyment. The goal is for you to smile, relax and be completely engaged with the activity.
Ask yourself these questions, I believe these questions will help you to plan activities that you enjoy.
What makes you happy? What makes you smile? What makes you laugh a lot?
What do you enjoy the most?
For me it worked out to be reading a book. I love reading books, it helps me to unwind and I enjoy the process of learning something new. I also appreciate how each authors have their own writing styles.
2. Love yourself
When I mean love yourself, I don’t mean to be selfish but what I mean is that be less critical about yourself. You are unique and different from others and you have to learn to appreciate your own uniqueness. Appreciate your strengths more then your weaknesses.
Sometimes we can get bogged down by fully focusing on our weaknesses, although it is important to improve with weaknesses whether be it a habit, skill or a trait, but don't forget to appreciate yourself more for your strengths.
I have often shared this in my trainings and motivational talks, one of the reason why people struggle with self esteem is that, they don’t really take the time to appreciate themselves in terms of their uniqueness and strengths.
One of the things that I would suggest you to do is that, write five things that you appreciate yourself for daily.
When I did this, it helped me to become more confident about myself and also reminded me about the strengths that I have. The more I appreciated myself, the less critical I was about myself.
3. Forgive Yourself
In life, everyone makes mistakes whether be it a wrong decision, a word that you should have not spoken, you said no to an opportunity and so on. Part of life is the learning process that we go through on a daily basis.
We never stop learning, of course life is the best teacher after all, simply because we never forget the lessons we learned through life experiences and circumstances and they stay with us for a longer period of time.
I remember during my college years, I went for an interview at a big company. Prior to the day of my interview, I didn’t do proper preparation in terms of understanding what were the services that they were offering, facilities that existed in the complex and so on.
At that time I really wanted that work. I remember during the process of the interview, I was asked a couple of questions and one of them was regarding the facilities that they had and I was not able to answer the question properly and because of that I was rejected.
That experience had stayed with me for a long time in my life simply because I realized that I should have prepared better. I had to learn to forgive myself for not preparing properly for the interview. Of course later on, I did receive a better opportunity at another place.
It may be that you are hanging on to your past for too long, past mistakes, past regrets, past disappointments and so on. Remember what has happened in the past cannot be changed, but we can always learn and improve from our mistakes.
So in conclusion, I would like to sum up by saying pay attention to your mental health because it makes a lot of difference in your life. Always be open to learning and understanding yourself better. If need be, seek professional help.
There is this website that I came across that helps you to do a free assessment in terms of your mental health. Give it a try today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/tests/health/mental-health-assessment
You can follow me on my Linkedin www.linkedin.com/in/jobthecoach
Youtube https://www.youtube.com/@jobthecoach9225
Job Manikkam is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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