As we age, life can present different challenges to our mental state, from career stresses to family worries. Unfortunately, there isn’t a cure-all solution when it comes to managing your mental well-being – different solutions will work for different people.
However, there is a lot we can learn from the teachings of psychology that can be transferred into everyday life, helping us to navigate our day-to-day challenges.
Here are three ways you can give yourself a boost each day.
(1) Speak to yourself kindly.
We all have an internal dialogue, but especially when life gets on top of us, this voice can become unhelpful. It can constantly remind us of the negative things and bully us into having a pessimistic and defeatist outlook. Although it’s difficult at times, making a conscious effort to catch these negative thoughts when they crop up is a great way to get a handle on your internal dialogue and start to challenge these unhelpful feelings.
One approach you can take to start re-tuning your internal dialogue is by writing things down and journaling. When you don’t feel up to sharing your thoughts with someone else, getting them out on paper can be a great way of looking at them from a different perspective. Consider how you would speak to a friend who has come to you with these thoughts and try to apply this sensitive voice to your own feelings.
(2) Do things that make you happy.
Taking care of yourself isn’t just about eating, sleeping and exercising properly. A great way to feel more positive about yourself is by doing more of the things you love. That could be something as simple as having a nice cup of coffee, or perhaps something more adventurous like planning your next holiday. Either way, making more time in your daily routine for things that make you happy will have a positive impact on your mindset and ultimately your well-being.
On those days when you perhaps don’t feel like helping yourself and trying to do something constructive feels impossible, don’t put unnecessary pressure on yourself to try and do lots of different things you enjoy. Dedicating just one minute to a useful activity is better than doing nothing and will encourage you to get into the habit of supporting your own well-being each day.
(3) Create a personalized toolkit.
As we mentioned before, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to managing our well-being. It’s important for everyone to find the things that work best for them. This will likely come with a bit of trial and error, but over time you’ll be able to develop a wellbeing toolkit that you can call upon on a regular basis. The toolkit will be made up of things that you find can help you to feel in a more positive frame of mind.
For lots of people, mindfulness is a very useful tool. There may be some misconceptions around the practice, with some people thinking it’s all about meditating and trying to clear your mind. But there are so many different ways we can be mindful in our everyday lives, from walking, to eating, to doing an internal body scan. Ultimately, it’s nigh on impossible to completely block out any thoughts from coming into our head, but being mindful is all about noticing them when they do and averting your attention back to your chosen activity.
This can help you to feel more present in whatever you’re doing while also helping to reduce feelings of anxiety.
Stay on top of your well-being.
It can sometimes feel like a daunting task to get a handle on your well-being. But making small changes to your daily routine can make a big difference in the long term. Keep these suggestions in mind and see whether they can make a more positive impact on your mindset.
