Nine Habits You Need to Adopt For Improved Mental Health
| 3 min read
As we move from one phase of life to the next, it can feel as if everything is changing all the time: where we live, what we look like, what we do and the people we surround ourselves with.
Yet we carry habits with us from one phase of life to the next. In the process of all this change, we may be bringing habits with us that are hurtful to mental health.
Balancing the stress and anxiety of adulthood takes an army of coping mechanisms. These habits all should help breed a healthier, smarter, and ultimately, happier you.
Here are nine habits to work into your life to boost your mental health:
- Be honest: We learn from a young age the importance of truthfulness. There is an importance in being earnest to ourselves and others. Telling the truth has shown to ease mental health burdens significantly.
- Forgive others: Holding grudges is potentially damaging and can drag on your mental health. Be like a goldfish: have a short memory and move forward.
- Make your own rules: If something makes you happy and doesn’t affect others, why not try it? Apply a simple mentality to all things: Do what you love and love what you do.
- Create a routine: Find ways to make small routines in your life. It could be a morning ritual like starting with a workout, walk, shower or meditation. It could also mean unwinding at the end of the day with the same self-care activity. Give yourself stability within your day to ground yourself.
- Get enough sleep: The importance of rest is so often overlooked, especially among younger adults. Getting enough sleep has multiple physical and mental health benefits.
- Own your identity: Know who you are. Spend sufficient “me time” establishing your beliefs and try to live up to them every day. About 77% of millennials say the beginnings of adulthood are a time to determine your identity…but it’s never too late to start, no matter where you are in life.
- Avoid having regrets: Focus on the now. Use the past as an opportunity to adjust your life moving forward. Express your feelings, stay in touch with the people you care about, travel and let yourself be happier.
- Drink more water: Add a couple glasses of water to your daily routine, especially if hydration is hard for you. Your gut, your skin and your brain will thank you!
- Be yourself: Try something new, have faith in yourself and embrace all that you are. There are few things worse than going through your entire life pretending to be something you’re not.
Looking for more mental health ideas? A Healthier Michigan is ready to help:
Photo credit: Getty Images
