Stop doing the same things you did in 2023 which impacted your mental health negatively

How are you feeling? It’s a new year, the old year is gone and the new year has started and you might be one of those that’s thinking new year but same old story………. Stop, don’t do that its not helping you and those around you.

I have had several conversations with people who are already thinking that though it’s a 2024 it’s the same challenges of 2023.

How can you make it different so that you improve your mental health and change your actions and outlook?

You may have heard this before, that to change something, it starts with you and honestly it does……………………

I would like to share three things that help me when I start thinking that it’s a different year but the same old story.

1.    Choose  Who You Spend Your Time With

The people you hang around with can have a big impact on your mood and what you do. If you are feeling the same challenges you experienced last year in this new year then you need people around you who can lift you up. And yes sometimes those people may tell you things that you do not want to hear to get you off the funk you are in but don’t shut them down, embrace it. I have friends who are not afraid to tell me the truth, I know I can trust them and they are doing it with love. I don’t want to just have people around me who massage my ego, I want people who can tell when I am wrong but can also encourage me. Avoid negative people who are always saying things that get you down. Don’t to be afraid to spend less time with people who are not positive.

I hope this helps you change the pattern of 2024 and I would love to hear from you if it helps you.

There are other things you can also do but I want to keep it short so you can focus on just these three for now.

2.    Make A Plan

Do you know that putting your thoughts on paper makes things much clearer. This is not the same as the journaling. In our work life we are involved with so many different plans, marketing plan, budget plan, promotional plan to name a few. A plan helps you to do things differently to make a change so it does not become the same old story day in day out. I recently spoke to someone who was feeling a bit down because they were not getting the reward from all the effort they were putting in a project that they started last July. I encouraged them to make a plan of what they can do differently in different time periods. Make a weekly plan and extend it to a monthly plan. It helps you to focus and on what works and what does not. As it your plan you can adjust as days go by if something is not working. If you do something and it does not work, change how you do it next time, it’s your plan.

3.    Start Journaling

Writing down your thoughts, what you did and what you are hoping for helps your mental

health. For anyone who does not know what journaling means it’s almost like keeping a diary but so much more. I got myself a big notebook without dates so that I can write down the dates and time when I write in the book and I am not forced to write in it everyday or feel guilt because there is a blank date when I did not write in it. I capture my lows and my highs by this I mean if something does not go to plan, I write it down, when things work out better than I expected I write it down. At a later date you get more understanding and are thankful that at that particular time things did not go to plan. Life can be like a puzzle you see bits and pieces but not the whole picture. Later when things unfold  you see the bigger picture which at the time you could not see. I regularly go back to what I wrote a month or a week ago and read what I had written and sometimes I see a promise or something I had hoped for had gone better than I expected and I feel encouraged. Things are much clearer at a later date than they were before.

Happy New Year

Majendi