Establishing healthy habits - like eating a healthy diet, getting plenty of sleep, and participating in regular exercise - can also go a long way to improving how you feel. Similarly, getting rid of destructive mental habits, like engaging in self-pity or ruminating on the past, can also do wonders for your emotional well-being.
— Amy Morin
Mental health is a continuum, and people may fall anywhere on the spectrum.
There will always be obstacles and challenges that stand in your way. Building mental strength will help you develop resilience to those potential hazards so you can continue on your journey to success.
Creating time to reflect on your life could be the key to reaching your greatest potential.
Whether you want to exercise more often, or you're hoping to become debt-free, real change happens in stages. Slow and steady progress is great - as long as you're taking steps in the right direction.
Although circumstances may change in the blink of an eye, people change at a slower pace. Even motivated people who welcome change often encounter stumbling blocks that make transformation more complicated than they'd originally anticipated.
Conscientious people are self-disciplined, hard workers who spend the least amount of time on Facebook.
Pick friends who make poor choices, and you could get dragged down fast. But, if you choose friends who inspire and challenge you to become better, you'll increase your chances of reaching your goals.
If you quit every time you face a new challenge, giving up can change how you view yourself. You may begin to think you're weak or that you're a failure because you can't seem to stick with things long enough to see positive results.
Choosing to avoid uncomfortable feelings offers immediate short-term relief, but avoidance can lead to long-term consequences.
We all have vulnerabilities that can sidetrack us from reaching our goals. Recognize the times when you're most likely to give into temptation, and make it harder for a single moment of weakness to sabotage your best efforts.
Resilient people aren't afraid to admit they have weaknesses. Whether an effective leader acknowledges problems within an organization, or an individual recognizes areas in need of personal growth, resilient people use failure as an opportunity to spot their weaknesses.
After a hard day, choosing to do something to help you feel better - as opposed to staying in a bad mood - is a healthy skill.
Most of us are never educated about feelings. Instead, we're expected to learn socially acceptable ways to deal with feelings by watching the people around us. But the truth is, many people don't role model healthy ways to deal with feelings.
Stress impacts the way we think, feel, and behave. It often leads to a negative, self-perpetuating cycle that is hard to escape.
Striving for success is healthy - but believing you need to succeed the first time around may backfire. Mentally strong people believe failure is part of the process toward a long journey to success. By viewing failure as a temporary setback, they're able to bounce back and move forward with ease.
Acknowledging the unproductive thoughts and ineffective behavior that you've tried to ignore can be uncomfortable. But, stepping out of your comfort zone and choosing to proactively address bad habits will skyrocket your ability to create long-lasting change.
You certainly can't prevent all mental health problems - factors like genetics and traumatic life events certainly play a role. But everyone can take steps to improve their mental health and prevent further mental illness.
Building mental strength is about learning to regulate your thoughts, manage your emotions, and behave productively despite whatever circumstances you find yourself in.
Whether you aim to lose 20 pounds or you want to launch your own business, mental strength is the key to long-term success. After all, you need fierce determination and tenacity to reach your greatest potential.
The busyness of life can keep you running from one activity to the next. If you never step back to consider whether all those activities are really how you want to spend your time, you could miss out on building the kind of life you want. Devote at least 10 minutes each day to examining the bigger picture in your life.
Mentally strong people don't shy away from change - nor do they expect immediate results.
Although we may think we're masking our insecurities or portraying ourselves in the most favorable light, our behavior on social media reveals more than we might think. It's not just what we post on Facebook that reveals information about our personalities - it's also what we don't post that can be quite telling.
Examining your behavior on social media could give you insight into your own personality as well as how others perceive you. You may think you're presenting yourself in a certain light, only to discover other people view your behavior completely different.
Whether you're dealing with a recent breakup, a fallout with family, or a failed business venture, be aware that your emotions could affect your spending habits. Uncomfortable emotions can increase the chances that you'll behave recklessly, which may have a negative impact on your bank account.
Quitting because you don't want to be uncomfortable will prevent you from growing.
Sticking to good habits can be hard work, and mistakes are part of the process. Don't declare failure simply because you messed up or because you're having trouble reaching your goals. Instead, use your mistakes as opportunities to grow stronger and become better.
Just because you're struggling with self-discipline doesn't mean you have to raise the white flag and declare your self-improvement efforts a complete failure. Instead, work to increase the chances that you'll stick to your healthier habits - even when you don't feel like it.
Rather than make excuses for their failures, resilient people learn from each mistake. They identify skills, ideas, and life lessons that can be gained from each failed opportunity.
Sometimes people think that regulating their emotions means trying to act as if they don't have feelings. But, that's not the case. A realistic view of emotions shows that we're capable of experiencing a wide range of emotions, but we don't have to be controlled by those emotions.
Everyone has the ability to increase resilience to stress. It requires hard work and dedication, but over time, you can equip yourself to handle whatever life throws your way without adverse effects to your health. Training your brain to manage stress won't just affect the quality of your life, but perhaps even the length of it.
Being ill-prepared and unequipped to deal with life's inevitable challenges leaves us vulnerable to the dangerous effects of stress.
Being a top performer - whether it's in business or on the athletic field - requires grit and tenacity, as well as the continuous desire to become better.
Time and energy are finite. You only have so many hours in a day and so many days of your life. The solution to using your time wisely isn't about exerting more energy - eventually you'll run out of steam. The key to reaching your greatest potential is about working smarter, not harder.
Mental strength is not the same as mental health. Just like someone with diabetes could still be physically strong, someone with depression can still be mentally strong. Many people with mental health issues are incredibly mentally strong. Anyone can make choices to build mental strength, regardless of whether they have a mental health issue.
Mentally strong people overcome setbacks with confidence because adversity only makes them better.
Most people fill their schedules with work, and leisure only happens when there's time left over. But it's impossible to live a rich and full life without doing things that give you joy. Forget about productivity once in a while and give yourself permission to goof off.
Being stuck in a rut can kill your creativity, stress you out, and zap your productivity. Doing the same thing over and over again causes your days to blend together.
Trying to change before you're ready isn't likely to be productive. For example, most New Year's resolutions don't last because people spring into action without being prepared for the work it's going to take. Forcing change based on a date on the calendar, rather than a true readiness to transform, can be a setup for failure.
Narcissists - people with an inflated self-concept and a strong sense of uniqueness and superiority - seek attention and affirmation on Facebook.
Friends have a big influence over how you feel, think, and behave.
Since self-control is vital to reaching long-term goals, befriending people with willpower could be the secret to success. Whether you're tempted to skip that workout at the gym, or you're considering blowing this month's budget, spending time with a disciplined friend could boost your motivation to maintain healthy habits.
The greatest things in life tend to happen outside our comfort zones, and doubting your ability to step outside of your comfort zone will keep you stuck.
Impulse decisions can often be our downfall when it comes to sticking to good habits. Do something to buy yourself some time when you're experiencing those 'moments' of weakness, and often, the urge will pass. If you keep the cookies in a box in the basement, you might find it's not worth the effort to go get them.
Rather than dispute their shortcomings or hide their mistakes, resilient people are authentic. Their humble, self-aware approach assists them in developing strategies to become better.
Resilient people recognize that no matter how bad the circumstances are, their situation could always be worse. They don't allow themselves to exaggerate how terrible their problems are, and they don't run around predicting how much worse things are going to get. Instead, they view failure with an accurate perspective.
Even though your emotions aren't wrong, that doesn't mean you have to stay stuck in a particular mood. You can certainly choose to make changes that will influence the way you feel. If you want to change the way you feel, change the way you think and behave.
Proactively working to develop mental strength increases your resilience to stress and reduces the toll it takes on you both physically and mentally.
Acting tough is all about developing an attitude and a persona that says, 'Look at how great I am.' But often, that tough exterior is meant to hide self-doubt. Mentally strong people invest more energy into working on their weaknesses rather than trying to cover them up.
Truly successful people don't rise to the top by acting tough; they become better by growing stronger.
