The new year is not just entering a new year of your life. It is another year of possibilities and opportunities where you can achieve your New Year's resolutions. But let’s not forget, it involves challenging your mental and physical health in the New Year. So, consider this your cue to begin your new year with a new mindset. Here are five mental health tips that will help you start afresh this new year!
Avoid Abandoning Repetitive Resolutions
You may find yourself making the same resolution year after year. It means that you would like to achieve that resolution but haven’t quite achieved it yet. Maybe you make some progress towards it, but if it resurfaces as a resolution again, it means there is some work to do. Do not abandon it, give it the attention it needs to make it achievable, and even sustainable in the years to come. This is one of the mental health tips that’ll push you to move forward even on days when you feel your resolution seems difficult to achieve.
Improve Your Mindset
Your thoughts influence your feelings. These feelings drive your behaviour and actions. So, once you have your New Year’s resolutions in place, you need to start attaching positive, motivating thoughts to them. This is one of the mental health tips that you can implement in the following two ways:
- Write down all your positive thoughts associated with your resolution. Put them on index cards or post-it notes and stick them in places where you can read them every day.
- Connect positive thoughts to your New Year’s resolution to stay on track this new year and achieve that goal!
Make Your Mental Health a Priority
Mental illness and mental distress are pretty real, and let’s face it, no one is immune to them. Your brain gets changed by trauma, life events, medical and environmental conditions, social impacts, and world events. So, you need to take care of your mental health, and it should be one of your priorities too.
One of the major mental health tips here is to prioritise activities in your life that make you feel mentally better and refreshed. They need to alleviate you from any, anxiety, or distress you may be experiencing.
Stick To A Sleep Routine
Poor sleep can impact other areas of your life and your ability to function. So, develop a bedtime routine! Pick the time you’d like to fall asleep and start your routine an hour before. Spend a little time doing a relaxing activity like reading, working on a puzzle, or journaling to keep your brain quiet before you sleep. Keep the electronic screens out of sight as a part of your sleep routine. As you practice this routine daily, your brain will slowly become trained to sleep at the right time.
Remember to Relax
One of the mental health tips to remember all year long is not to devote all your time to your work life. Make sure you set aside time for your hobbies and genuinely relax and engage. Whether it is gardening, knitting, or collecting coins, you have endless options. They’ll help you take a moment for things and bring you joy in a healthy way to re-centre, ground, and soothe yourself.