A happy, healthy mindset is made up of productive thoughts, beliefs, and values, and attitudes necessary for personal development and healthy relationships.
Are you inclined to believe you could use a healthier attitude toward life? Would you consider approaching things differently if you knew how?
Cultivating a healthy, happy mindset involves finding ways to grow from your unhealthy thoughts instead of letting them control your life. Unfortunately, the worries and cares of modern life can sometimes make it difficult to maintain a healthy lifestyle, much less a healthy mindset.
Shifting your thoughts is not always easy. It takes work! There is no one size fit the mold. We are unique individuals, so what works for you may not work for your buddy next door. In as much as this process can be challenging, there are some actionable tips that have proven instrumental in cultivating a more beneficial mindset in my clients’ lives and mine.
Believe in Yourself
Always believe in yourself! One of the most significant actionable tips in cultivating a healthy, happy mindset is to believe in yourself. People who believe in themselves are actionable people who breed confidence and courage. They care about themselves enough to know they deserve a good life and are worthy of great success. Confident people are affluent thinkers that endorse ideas like Henry Ford’s notion that your mindset profoundly influences your ability to succeed. Individuals who embrace a healthy growth mindset establish goals and rise to the occasion. Anything is possible when you believe. Go for it!
“Whether you think you can or think you can’t–you’re right.” -Henry Ford.
Embrace self-acceptance
A critical factor in your well-being is self-acceptance. Self-acceptance is the embracing your whole self, of both your positive and negative traits. In order for us to embrace ourselves we must learn to love, forgive, and accept ourselves completely. Choose self-acceptance over self-doubt. Envelope self-compassion. Okay, you’ve made a few mishaps and squandered a few opportunities. Who hasn’t? Forgive yourself for your mistakes. What do you gain by holding a grievance against yourself? Learn from your mistakes and move on. You owe yourself the compassion you so freely give to other people.
Life will continuously present challenges and people will periodically disappoint you. Worrying about things beyond your control will likely lead to immense self-critical, fixating on your disappointments and inadequacies. Rather, learn to embrace and acknowledge that the uncommon you and imperfection in others is the element that makes us individuals. We all have something unusual about us: flaws, peculiarities, and weirdness—our imperfections. So drop the approval addiction and embrace yourself. Love and accept yourself completely for who you are. Remarkably, you are you, and that’s your superpower.
Check in with yourself.
Promote a healthy mindset and nurture personal growth by checking in on yourself. Checking in with yourself simply means pausing to kindly bringing yourself into awareness of what is happening with and around you in the present moment. The mind in turn is strengthened and learns to lean upon itself. This not only fosters self-regulation and offers you the opportunity but also reset and refocus your thinking. Additional benefits of checking in with yourself include: enhance positive energy, increase productivity in the workplace, and decrease stress levels.
Build a supportive healthy network.
Healthy support networks are critical, especially when you have a rough time in life and are not in the right headspace. People with healthy mindset are aware of the impact of fostering healthy relationships, so they make it a habit of letting go of toxic individuals. Surrounding yourself with high functioning individuals with a healthy mindset helps you feel connected, supported and fosters hope. Humans have an innate ability to share others’ emotions, be they positive or negative. So rather than spending time with people with a sour patch attitude, try surrounding yourself with positive, supportive people you can depend on to give sound advice and constructive feedback. On another note, people often join support groups programs, talk with mental health professionals, or even personal/mindset coaches for additional support. It’s essential to vocalize your thoughts and emotions in safe places.
Be positive. Speak positively.
Positive thinking usually starts with positive self-talk. Being mindful and attentive to the words you speak can keep your thoughts positive, ultimately doing wonders for your mental health. Positive thoughts not only promotes a healthy mindset, but also help fosters personal growth. Our negativity bias makes it easier to focus on the negative more than the positive. Be intentional about creating positive vibes for yourself instead of allowing negative things in life to dampen your mood. Be selective of the music you listen to, the television shows you watch, and the news media you entertain. Most importantly, be attentive to what you’re thinking and keep your mind occupied with beliefs that serve you.
Be impeccable and intentional with your words. Spoken words have profound meaning, and without judgment about ourselves, we can improve our lives every day. In a New York minute, it can motivate you or bust your bubble. So, a simple mindset shift may deliberately require a refreshed vocabulary.
Eat Healthy and Exercise
Nutrition and exercise play a crucial role in promoting mental wellness. Research have shown that regular exercise coupled with eating well-balanced nutritious meals enhances mood and boosts confidence. Interestingly, one would assume the physical changes in their physique would attribute to boosting confidence, which is key to mental wellness. Instead, it was the immediate, endorphin-fueled positivity from exercise that made a world of difference.
Your body absorbs everything your mind feeds it. Therefore, a healthy eating plan that provides all essential nutrients will help prevent any deficiencies that could trigger unhealthy mental health conditions; subsequently, improving your mental health by reducing symptoms of anxiety, depression, and other mood-related disorder, subsequently improving confidence and cognitive function. As a result, when you provide your body healthy, nourishing foods and get adequate rest, you feel better overall. Hence, your mentality, as well as your body, feels rejuvenated.
Develop an attitude of gratitude
Gratitude changes your perspective on how you go through life. Gratitude leads to greater significance in life, better coping skills, and healthier connections. When you regularly practice being grateful, it’s difficult to be negative. Practicing gratitude creates moments where you can experience greater well-being and permits you to have a prevalent habit of hunting for the good stuff in your life. So, in everything, give thanks. A grateful heart is said to be a magnet for miracles.
Laugh out Loud
Laughter is good for the soul and creates a merry heart. A good laugh has been proven to positively affect the body, mind, and spirit. Getting a daily burst of good laughter is remarkably essential to humanity. Laughing can shift an unpleasant experience into a pleasant one subsequently brightening your mood for the rest of the day. At times, a good laugh is all it takes to recharge your mindset, making your response to stress less intense.
Get adequate sleep
Sleep is essential to your well-being because it is significantly interrelated to your mood, emotional response, productivity, and mental health. Quality sleep is key in keeping alert to what the day may throw your way. It has been well-advised sleep is an under-appreciated factor that significantly contributes to mental health, bolsters stress responses, and improves your relationship with others. Highly functioning people focus on managing a healthy mindset know their emotional response, focus, stress level, and memory are impacted when they don’t get sufficient sleep; therefore, they prioritize quality sleep.
Run your race at your pace.
The race is often not given to the swift or the strong, but to those who endure to the end. Slow growth is still growth. For instance, the runner who completes a marathon and the walker who completes a marathon both completed the marathon. They both both finished, they are both marathoners. Societal norms can often leave us feeling pressured to live up to specific achievements on a stringent timeline. Why rush through life and miss out on the treasure moments? Who says you have to go to college right after you graduate from high school? Often people feel the rational next step after college is to get married. What’s wrong with traveling the world and just enjoying life as is for a season or two. Enjoy your journey and do what’s best for your personal development and mental well-being.
Build your emotional intelligence
Becoming aware and learning to processing your emotions are essential tools of cultivating a happy, healthy mindset. Your feelings are temporary; however, they are very real and can run amuck on you if you let them. Emotionally intelligent people are aware and very conscious of their emotional state and those of others. Learning to control your emotions, whether positive or negative, allow you to act rationally with a clear head when responding to situations beyond your control. Emotionally intelligent people learn how to control their emotions, so their emotions don’t handle them.
A healthy mindset requires recognizing strong negative emotions and doing something productive with them. Situations in life will arise that will ultimately challenge your mindset. When this occurs, take time to recognize your emotions, feel them, and change them accordingly. The quality of your emotions primarily determines the quality of your mindset.
Wrap Up
Conclusively, you are totally up to YOU! You hold all the keys, and you possess the power to grow into your own happy, healthy mindset. An optimistic, healthy attitude doesn’t happen overnight; it takes time, patience, courage, and consistency. So be intentional, consistent, and welcoming during this transition. Incorporating these tips in your daily living can help you adopt a healthier mindset while living your best life. A happy, healthy mindset yields a comfortable, healthy lifestyle.