Happy New Year 2017!!! I hope you managed to get a well deserved rest over the Christmas period and that you are ready to start the year with a bang. Here at The LJ Project we are excited for you to step into this fresh beginning with hope and expectancy. Your past doesn’t have to define you, regardless of what it is that you have been through. Undoubtedly there will be tough times that you will have to go through this year, there will be obstacles and ongoing trials. How you navigate the trials and how you control your mindset is what will be important. Attitude is such a key to well being. I’m not perfect at it, no way, but I find that if I approach a problem with a positive attitude, the trial is easier to deal with.
The Mental Health Foundation believe emotional wellness to be ‘a positive sense of wellbeing which enables an individual to be able to function in society and meet the demands of every day life; people in good mental health have the ability to recover effectively from illness, change or misfortune.’
So how can you build your emotional resilience? When 2017 throws you a punch in the face, or knocks you to your knees, how can you respond well? Here are my top ten tips to stay emotionally healthy throughout this year.
1) Stay accountable – find someone you love and trust who can be your go-to person.
2) Journal your thoughts and feelings – spend time writing down all the things that are bothering you and get them all out of your head and onto paper. Rip the paper out of your journal and throw it away if necessary to symbolise – it is done.
3) Seek professional help – if you have baggage, or stuff that is weighing you down, seek help from a professional. Your GP may be able to refer you to counselling on the NHS. Or you can go to www.counselling-directory.org.uk and find a therapist in your area.
4) Exercise and eat well – a healthy body, can equal a healthy mind.
5) Spirituality – why not make 2017 the year that you connect with your spiritual side? For me that involves practicing the Christian faith. Believing in a higher power than myself is comforting.
6) Sleep – Try and get into a good sleep routine. if you have got into bad patterns of going to bed late and lying in till late, reset your body clock by setting an early alarm, not snoozing it and your bound to feel sleepy at a sensible hour, repeat for two weeks to break the cycle.
7) Be generous – When you give generously it has a knock on affect on your mood.
8) Think positive – what is the fair and realistic way of looking at this situation? What would a friend say to you? Negative thinking can send you on a negative spiral of self loathing and loneliness. Try and think about what you might say to a friend if they were in your shoes.
9) Try not to worry – worry doesn’t solve any single situation. Worry is only hurting you. Try to write an action plan on how to tackle each specific worry, what are you going to do? When are you going to do it? How are you going to do it? Schedule it, and then change the focus of your attention.
10) Forgive – learn to let go, hold short accounts with people. Holding on to stuff only hurts you.
Throughout January there will be a series of blogs to help you entitled ‘NEW YEAR, NEW YOU’ to help with your emotional, mental, spiritual and physical wellbeing. So why not subscribe using the box below so that you don’t miss a single post.
2017 is set to be a big year for the LJ Project as my team and I continue to eliminate the negative stigma attached to mental health, one individual at a time.
I am cheering you on 100%
With Love
LJ X
