BEING LESS STUPID #12 - Mental Health
Four Habits For Better Mental Health, The Case for Emotional Fitness, 59 Ideas for Better Mental Health
👋 Hello
When we think of health, we immediately think of exercise and diet. One important ingredient we all overlook is our mental health. Many of us struggle with our emotions. Growing up, no one teaches us how to handle our emotions. We were told to suppress it or deal with it in private and alone. Knowing how to deal with our emotions and taking care of our mental health will help us live a less stupid life.
1. Four Habits Everyone Needs For Better Mental Health by Nick Wignall
Mental health is built and maintained through the cultivation of healthy, consistent habits:
Be curious about your own mind.
Be compassionate with your suffering.
Be flexible in your behavior.
Be assertive about your values.
2. The Case for Emotional Fitness by Nick Wignall
To deal with our emotions, we need better habits. Nick writes "Emotional Fitness means committing to consistent habits and exercises that strengthen your mental and emotional health."
Better Relationships. Instead of losing your temper or using the silent treatment after an argument with your spouse, what if you could confidently tolerate your own frustrations and insecurities and resolve disagreements respectfully? What if you could learn to tolerate other people’s difficult emotions and bad moods instead of reacting to them defensively?
Better Work. What if you could feel the urge to procrastinate and ride it out instead of running away from it—getting back to work rather than wallowing in cheap distractions and self-criticism? What if you could leave the stress and frustrations of work where they belong and come home relaxed and at peace?
Better Moods. What if you could move on quickly from difficult moods without getting lost in them for hours or days on end? What if you could observe your painful emotions with curiosity and balance rather than immediately running away from them and then losing yourself in unhealthy coping strategies like stress-eating and alcohol?
Better Self-Talk. We all fail and screw up sometimes, but what if you could respond to your own mistakes with self-compassion and gentleness instead of self-judgment? When things are tough, what if you could talk to yourself like you talk to a good friend instead of beating yourself up?
Better Health. What if, after falling off the wagon for a couple days with your new diet, you could calmly pick yourself up, get back on the diet, and avoid any self-sabotage and defeatist thinking? What if you could find your way to the gym each morning regardless of whether you felt motivated or not?
3. 59 Ideas for Better Mental Health by Nick Wignall
Nick wrote 59 ideas that are essential for cultivating better mental health. Below are a few that resonated with me immediately.
When you try to control your past you give up control of your future.
Falling off the wagon isn’t the problem; it’s the rolling around in the mud that gets you.
Worry is an addiction to the illusion of control.
Emotional stability comes when you learn to subordinate your feelings to your values.
Cultivate a healthy skepticism of your own thoughts.
You can think your way into almost any type of suffering, but it’s action that will get you out.
Be kind, especially to yourself.
Habits are the soul of mental health.
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