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7 Things To Avoid For Better Mental Health

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Chakshu

Need to avoid for mental health

 

1. DON’T JUDGE YOURSELF FOR EVERYTHING

Overthinking is a trap all of us, mostly the sensitive types, wish we could escape.

Self-judgment involves fear- it poisons the present, this very moment.

Judgment, you sabotaging your happiness or the relationship you have with yourself and other people, most often happens subconsciously.

So how can you judge yourself less?

Judging yourself, when it comes down to it, is about pointing out and over-stressing over things you don’t like about yourself, your life, a certain circumstance, or a situation.

Constant judgment can easily be compared to being at war with yourself at times. It’s beating yourself up, tearing yourself apart, thinking you should be or do something different from what you are.

We tend to judge others by the same measures we adjudicator ourselves. And mediate others through measures, values, which are significant to us. We tend to forget that it is not up to us to dictate values.

2. DON’T EVALUATE YOURSELF BASED ON LOOKS ONLY

It’s natural for humans to judge ourselves and that’s a big reason why we have survived. We are instinctively hard-wired for survival, when we see encounter something new, unknown, we go into fight-flight-freeze mode, and are unable to see what’s behind the appearance. So, we judge.

The key is to pause before we act out of this mode.

Few things we can do:

1. Learn to love and feel good about yourself, oftentimes the instinct of judging others comes from wanting to feel good about ourselves.

2. Believing everyone has a reason to look/be the way they are (just like we are) someone with a crooked face may have met an accident or not so well a well-dressed person may have a hard time surviving.

3. DON’T TOLERATE NEGATIVE PEOPLE

Negative people will discourage you and they will try to drag you down with them to the dark side. As Robert Tew once said, “Don’t let negative and toxic people rent space in your head. Raise the rent and kick them out.” The problem with negative people is if you hang around with them enough, and listen to them long enough, they start impacting your thinking. You soon realize that instead of thinking positively, you are thinking negatively. Negative people are not only negative, they’re also great at discouraging you, and giving you negative feedback. Positive people will tell you can do it and will give you positive reinforcement which is what you need when you have doubts. Joel Osteen once said, “You cannot hang out with negative people and expect to live a positive life.” 

4. DON’T FEEL BAD FOR SAYING NO

If someone is asking you for something. And you feel like if you say no, they’re going to hate you. So, you’re tempted to say yes, even though you don’t want to. Ever been there? We all have.

But if you say yes, you’re going to be frustrated with yourself. And you’ll likely feel resentful … even though you could have just said no.

And research shows that this not only creates a cycle of awful feelings but also does real damage to your relationships. Yes, being “too nice” can cause legit problems. Saying no now also allows you to avoid having to cancel on people later on when you’re at your wit’s end and can’t bear to do one more thing. Cancelling makes you appear unreliable and flakey whereas saying no in the first place is much easier for all involved.

5. DON’T LOOK OUTSIDE FOR VALIDATION

Be your boss. Not being able to confront people or disagree, changing your thoughts and beliefs because someone else either approves or disapproves and ascribing your self-worth to the approval of others — all are examples of reliance on external validation.

“If our life plans or even just short-term goals are guided by external criteria…without a true understanding of what it is that we want or what fulfils and satisfies us, then we end up at minimum disconcerted and unhappy, and at worst, with a midlife crisis or severely depressed,” said Dr Risa Stein, professor of psychology at Rockhurst University in Missouri.

Perhaps, an unhealthy reliance on external validation is especially common among high achievers.

6. DON’T GLORIFY OVERWORKING

Burnout is a gradual process that tends to creep up on you. By actively paying attention to your stress levels you can lower the chances of burning out. There are three main signs that you may be experiencing burnout:

  • Physical – You’re tired and drained all the time, your appetite has changed drastically, you feel more susceptible to illness…
  • Emotions – You’re more irritable, finding it hard to be motivated, feel like a failure, don’t find the same satisfaction over things you used to enjoy…
  • Behaviour – You’re isolating yourself from people, taking advantage of food, drugs, or alcohol to feel better, procrastinating…

Work-life balance involves achieving and enjoying something daily in different aspects of your life; namely work, family, friends, and self.

7. DON’T COMPARE YOURSELF WITH FRIENDS

The first step to stop comparing yourself to others is to realize that comparisons are often negative and that most of the time they do not help.

You should think about why you feel the need to compare yourself to others and think of how that may be impacting you. By realizing these things, you’ll be able to move forward and stop wasting your time with comparisons.

Conclusion

Instead of feeling jealous or like it’s a competition between you and whoever you are comparing yourself to, you should just be happy for the success of others. You should instead turn that emotion into inspiration and/or motivation.

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