Between work, family, friends and everything else that we all have in-between, it is often hard to commit to other aspects of our life- one of them being the importance of our own mental health. We are on such a kick right now with eating clean, scheduling time to exercise, and even committing to the newest line of skin care routine- so why do we allow ourselves to put our mental health on the back burner? We do this, even when we know enough and realize that if we are not taking care of ourselves emotionally and/or mentally that we cannot fully commit or engage in any other area to the potential that we wish.

So for the everyday person, struggling to just make it through the day, here are some tips that may be able to get you started and allow you to check in yourself on a daily basis:

REGULAR SELF-CHECKS:
We weigh ourselves to\”check\” to see if we have lost or gained weight…well, I try not to do this anymore. I will be damned if the scale is going to dictate the day I am going to have. So, regular self checks should be a priority. Good mental health keeps you balanced, happy, and healthy overall.

STAY BUSY- BUT RECOGNIZE IF YOU ARE TOO BUSY:

Being too active or not active enough can both lead to poor mental health. Stay active and busy with work, hobbies, family and friends. If you feel you are too busy or overwhelmed, practice saying \”no.\” It is ok and healthy to set limits and to model what this looks like.

MAKE REAL CONNECTIONS:

Nothing is worse than having a packed schedule, including a social schedule with tons of people in your life, yet you find yourself unfulfilled in this area. Assess who in your life is true, genuine and who brings out the best in you. In our highly technological world, it is easy to equate \”cyber friends\” with real ones. While its fine to have friends on social media, where is your time being spent the most? Cultivating relationships and friendships that are not rewarding? We all need real and substantial relationships with loved ones.

FIND SOME PASSION:

This doesn\’t have to be in the form of a romantic relationship. We, as humans, can be passionate about many things. Jobs, people, animals, activities…all of these can be the source of passion. When we allow the robotic nature of the everyday grind to take over, we often lose our feelings of purpose, feeling alive and feeling motivated. There is balance in doing what we need to do and what we like to do. Personally, I have spent a long time fulfilling the role of doing only what I need to do. I lost sight of what makes me happy, what brings me joy…its an incredible feeling when we learn the balance of such. It is even more of an incredible feeling when rough patches hit us and the road seems long and dark, to have faith and a clear mental picture regardless of what lies ahead.

Happy Monday…prepare your food for the week, workout, get to work, and check in with yourself!