Mental fitness for 2019
The leaders on Operation Transformation are all set to lose weight, but one of my goals with them is to encourage them to start focusing on their mental and emotional fitness. I invite you to put mental tness on your agenda for 2019. If the foundations to physical health are nutrition, rest, cardio and strength training, then imagine these tips as foundations for your mental tness.
1. THE INNER COACH
Life is about relationships and the most powerful relationship is the one you have in your head! Is your internal voice a poisoned parrot or a nurturing coach? If you think you are unlovable, worthless, helpless, scared or awed, then challenge these core beliefs. Don’t accept the harsh internal critic. Work on this voice; it’s what keeps negativity going. Tackling this critical voice will change your world. Imagine your inner voice as a coach, and not as a critic, on a daily basis.
2. HEALTHY BOUNDARIES
Know when to say yes and no to keep healthy boundaries with family and friends. Good relationships with family members, friends or others are important. Accepting help and support from the people who care about you and will listen to you strengthens resilience.
3. EMOTIONAL HEALTH
We all get powerful emotions but some people struggle when their fear, sadness or anger is so powerful it overwhelms them. So often strong emotions are driven by irrational thoughts that we can change. Try this next time you have a strong emotion. Ask yourself, what am I feeling? What am I thinking? Stop, take a deep breath and ask yourself if there is another way you can think about this? What would you say to a friend who had this thought? Will this really matter in a year’s time? What would be the wise thing to do right now? How can I move from a mindless to a mindful response? 4. BE YOUR REAL SELF IN 2019
Be your real self. Accept who you are. In my practice, I see too many people who neglect their real self and put on a mask. In the gap between this front and your real self resides negativity, stress, depression and anxiety. If you close this gap and put your energy into your real self, you will lead a life of contentment, authenticity and happiness. 5. BE IN THE PRESENT
Mindfulness is the practice of being in the present. If low mood is about being stuck in a negative past, and stress and anxiety is about being stuck in the future, then mindfulness is about now. The present is the best gift we can give. There is growing evidence to support the use of mindfulness in many areas; stress reduction, chronic pain, anxiety, depression and, more signi cantly, in preventing depression relapse. However, we do not need an ‘issue’ to get the bene ts of mindfulness. When mindful, you work from the standpoint of compassion, curiosity and acceptance towards yourself and your experiences. Mindfulness o ers many ways to deepen your awareness, insights that can anchor you in the present and help you to keep things in perspective.
6. TAKE RISKS, SAY YES AND SEIZE OPPORTUNITIES
Sometimes in life, opportunities happen and we have a ‘choice point’. What have you done at the ‘choice points’ in your life? Stepped back or stepped up? Re ecting over time you might notice a pattern. What is your pattern? Taking a risk means being more fearless about trying something new. Instead of giving in to worry about what could go wrong, they think, ‘Isn’t that interesting? I’d like to give that a try.’ The more you do this, the more you open up the door to your con dence.
Remember, change is constant, so embrace it. Try using this question to motivate you in 2019: what would you do if you were not afraid? See alustforlife. com for some free resources to help you do this.