Mental Health Training

Negative experiences start during childhood and continue throughout our adult lives. This is a normal part of life that we all deal with.

Too often though, our thoughts become negative as well. Even more troubling is when we start negatively talking to ourselves.

This negative self-talk is one of the most limiting behaviors one can deal with. Use these tips to help overcome it.

1.    Distinguish between negative thoughts and critical thinking.

We need to have a certain amount of self-critique; otherwise, we will never believe that we are doing something wrong.

However, it would be best if you recognized when that critiquing becomes negative self-talk. When you can distinguish between these, it will lead to a better situation.

2.    Accept failure.

If you like to beat yourself up whenever you fail, you are in for a steep road ahead. You will forget, and you will do it many times in your life. Embrace this as a gift rather than a burden.

Try to view failure as more of a lesson learned. Don’t tell yourself you are a failure; tell yourself that you just knew what doesn’t work.

3.    Repeat daily affirmations.

It would be best if you looked for affirmations that fit your current life situation. Use these as often as you can. Try repeating these affirmations every day.

You should even write them out on a piece of paper and keep them close. The idea here is to program your mind for positive thinking.

The more you keep at it, the more natural it will become. Ideally, those negative things you tell yourself, will eventually be taken over by your positive affirmations.

4.    Limit your exposure to negative people.

These people thrive on negativity and enjoy dragging others down with them. If you cannot avoid them altogether, spend as little time with them as possible. You already struggle with negative self-talk, so you don’t need them adding more negativity.

If you spend more time with positive people that build you up, your negative self-talk will naturally reduce.

5.    Learn to see the good in people.

If you are always thinking negatively of others, it makes sense that you will more naturally think negatively about yourself. Being more open-minded towards others will help you be more accepting of your own flaws as well.

6.    Negative thinking is a choice.

Even though you have been bombarded with it since you were a child, thinking negatively is something you choose to do.

Conversely, positive thinking is just as much a choice as negative thinking. Choose positive thinking.

This isn’t an easy, quick fix; it takes a lot of work and practice.

7.    So start now!

8.    Strengthen your self-belief.

Negative thinking often occurs due to a lack of belief in yourself.

When you strengthen your confidence, it will help you get through those times that bring you down.

Did you know that your body language can often display your anger before you do so verbally?

While you may know this, it is a fact that is often overlooked by many.

Which is why it is important to understand what non verbal communication is and how it can affect your relationships.

How many times have you stopped speaking to someone because they ticked you off?

Lots probably, this is a classic sign of nonverbal communication. Other signs of non-verbal communica>on include:

• The amount of eye contact you make with someone

• Your gestures

• How you sit or stand

• How close you position yourself to someone

• How loud you speak Have you ever been accused of sending mixed signals to someone?

This is when what you say and your actions just do not match. So the person on the other end is totally confused and are unsure of how you really feel.

Plus this can also lead to people not trusting you, as you never mean what you say.

If you tend to be more of an angry person then you may open make sharp gestures, talk loudly and prefer to sit alone. If you are in a rela>onship this is only going to send negative vibes to the other person.

You need to learn how to reduce your non verbal communication by improving your actions first.

This can be done by learning to speak in a softer tone of voice.

By standing closer to your partner and by making eye contact. Learn to control your gestures by not flinging your arms around or talking with your hands.

Many people are guilty of this without even realizing it.

You may want to practice in front of a mirror.

Then you can see if you tend to shift from leg to leg.

Or if you move your arms around like crazy. Maybe you always look down at the ground when speaking.

These are all items that can be improved on with a little practice.

Once you have this under control you will not come across as an angry person all the time. You may find that you even feel less angry yourself.

It is amazing that you can feel angry just because you know people perceive you in this way!

Keep in mind that showing your anger is not always done with words, but by your body language as well. Improving your body language will ultimately help you feel less likely to speak out in anger unnecessarily

You might not realise it, but deep down, everyone is afraid.

The big difference between you and all those people you can see who are successful is that they confronted their fears.

They worked through their issues to get ahead or went ahead despite them. If you don’t face your fears, you’re likely to miss out on a lot in life.

There’s no such thing as ‘the right time’ to do something. More often than not, the right time is now. Look your fears in the eye and dare them to stop you!

Someone once said that one of the saddest ways to sum up the experience is with could have, might have, and should have.

Don’t let that happen to you.

You have a choice between controlling or being controlled by your fears. Here are 4 top tips for overcoming your fears and achieving your goals.

1.    Baby steps

2.    You don’t have to do it alone

3.    Accentuate the positive

4.    Take control of the story

https://mentalhealthtraining.info/

Learning to be assertive is one of the essential life skills you can develop.

Studies have shown that being assertive can lead to a whole host of benefits, from increased self-confidence to better relationships and improved mental and physical health.

Before you start, it’s important to understand what being assertive means. Psychologists define assertiveness as being able to express yourself effectively and stand up for your point of view while respecting the rights and beliefs of others.

The basis of assertiveness is mutual respect and honesty. Assertive communicators are straightforward and know how to set and maintain healthy boundaries.

Their relationships value and promote trust.

If you’re serious about living an authentic life and succeeding in reaching your goals, learning to be assertive is crucial. Think about how you feel about your life right now.

Are you satisfied with your personal and professional situation?

Are you conflict avoidant?

Do you worry about what other people think of you?

If you’re not happy with where you are now, the good news is that assertiveness is a habit that can be learned just like any other.

With practice and commitment, you can change your mindset and live a life more aligned with your true values and aspirations.

Try these tips for introducing a more assertive approach into your life:

·       Decide what your priorities are and stick to them.

·       Work out your individual boundaries.

·       Develop a positive open posture and look people in the eye when you speak to them.

·       Use positive ‘I’ statements about how you’re feeling instead of blaming or finding fault with the other person.

Be especially wary of feeling tempted to say, ‘you always’ or ‘you never.’

Get comfortable with saying ‘no’ to things you don’t want to or can’t do. Keep it simple and non-emotive and don’t feel you need to add an excuse or explanation.

·       Only use ‘sorry’ when it’s appropriate for the situation. You don’t need to apologize for saying no.

·       Offer alternative suggestions to proposals you don’t like.

·       Look for compromises.

·       Be honest and direct about your feelings, thoughts, and intentions.

·       Consider writing a script for a situation that feels awkward. Rehearse being confident.

Try to keep your focus on the impact of the situation and finding a way to work together to find a mutually satisfying solution.

Above all, being assertive means staying in your power, accepting that you have control over how you approach the situation and your feelings about it.

Assertiveness won’t get you everything you want all the time, but you will feel in control and deal much better with situations that would have previously been stressful. 

https://mentalhealthtraining.info/

One Thing You Can Do To Be More Giving 

We’ve become a very consumer-oriented society.

That wasn’t always the case though. Going back just 2 or 3 generations, it was a lot more common for people to give a portion of their income to a cause.

Most often this was in the form of a donation to the local church, but it didn’t end there.

Neighbors would come help out when there was a barn to be raised. Women would get together and help out if one of their own got sick.

And no matter how lean the years were, if someone needed a roof over their head or some warm food in their belly, you helped out. It was called being “neighborly”.

We don’t do much of that anymore, do we? 

That doesn’t mean we can’t work on being more giving. There are thousands of charities supporting all sorts of worthy causes.

And one of the easiest ways to work on being more giving is to find a charity you believe in and start supporting them. 

Let’s talk about how you can support that charity. Money is of course the obvious answer.

While I have yet to come across a charity that couldn’t use more funds, it’s by no means the only way to help out though. If you can give a few dollars great, but if you can’t that’s ok. 

Give your time instead. Call them up and see if there’s something you can help with. If they are local, go over and volunteer.

If they aren’t maybe there are some skills you have (like web design or photography for example) that they could utilize. Or there may be some grunt work you can do for them online. 

And let’s not forget about helping spread the word about the charity and everything they do. We are all so connected these days via social media, blogs and email.

Share your story and why you are choosing to support a particular group or cause. Help spread the word and get others involved. It’s a wonderful way to be more giving. 

Once you get started, it’ll be easy to be more giving in all aspects of your life. Once you make that first small donation, you find that it is both easier and more rewarding to give to a good cause than you imagined.

And you’ll find that spending your time and energy on a good cause is much more rewarding than spending your weekend watching Netflix. Before you know it you’ll find yourself helping out an elderly neighbor or volunteering to help in the local soup kitchen. 

Here’s your assignment for the next few days: 

Find a charity or organization you can support. Then do just that. Give monetary support when you can, but also give your time.

Volunteer or if that’s not possible, help spread the word about the organization by sharing some their work on your favorite social media sites or emailing some interested friends about them. 

Are you a procrastinator?

Were you the kid that would study for a big test the night before and get

homework done on the way to school?

It’s nothing to be proud of, but we all have our moments of procrastination. Here’s a simple little life hack to stop procrastinating and getting stuff done. You’ll be pleasantly surprised how much more productive this will make you. 

Make a To-Do List

To-Do lists stop procrastination better than anything else I know. Get out a piece of paper and a pen, or download a free app on your phone and make out your list.

Start by jotting down everything you need to get done today. As you work your way through each item on your list, cross it off. It’s a great feeling, isn’t it? 

This simple way of doing it will make a huge difference, but we can do even better. Here are some easy tips to help you make the most of your to-do list:

• Write your list the night before. You’ll be ready to get going first thing in the morning. 

• Do something quick and easy first. Get it done and cross it off the list. This will set the tone for your entire day. 

• Avoid tasks that take hours to complete. Instead break them up into smaller chunks or baby steps that you can get done and cross off. 

• Work on more difficult tasks earlier in the day while you have the energy to get through them. Save the easy stuff for late afternoon when possible. 

There’s one more “rule” and it’s the most important one.

Do not stop until you’ve crossed every single item of your to-do list. Get everything done you possibly can. Yes, it’s not always possible to do what you set out to do today because you’re waiting on a part to ship or a report from a colleague.

It’s fine to move a task to another day when there’s a valid reason. Aside from that though, keep working until each item on your daily to-do list is crossed off. 

Here’s your assignment for the next few days: 

Before you go to bed at night, make a to-do list for the next day. Check items off the list as you get them accomplished. Add to your list as needed, but make sure you get everything on the list done before you go to bed at night. 

It only takes a few days to get in the habit of just getting stuff done. Stick to your to-do list to keep procrastination at bay. 

One Thing You Can Do To Simplify Your Life

When did our lives get so complicated? We need calendars, reminders and apps just to get us through the day.

Our houses are bigger, our cars are fancier and our jobs more complicated. How would you like to make one little tweak to simplify all sorts of things in your busy daily life? 

When you think about it, the hardest part and what makes it seem too busy is the fact that we constantly have to think about what to do next and make decisions.

That gets tiring. From what I’ve read it sounds like there is a finite amount of decision making we have to work with every single day. In other words, once we’ve used up all our decision making for the day, we’re no longer able to make smart choices.

That explains the urge to just lay on the couch and watch whatever is on TV after a long, hard day. 

The solution is to establish routines. Once you get into a routine your day suddenly doesn't seem as chaotic anymore. You know exactly what you should be doing next and can do half of it on auto-pilot.

Try it and see if having routines for big chunks of your day from the time you get up to the time you go to bed (bedtime routine anyone?) makes your life easier. 

Here are a few ideas for routines and good habits worth getting into. 

• Pick one breakfast dish and stick with it for a while. Switch to something different when you get tired of it.  

• Simply your wardrobe. Then pick out clothes the night before.  

• Come up with a morning routine to get the day off to a smooth start. 

• Plan your meals once a week.  

• Have a grocery shopping day. 

• Set up a cleaning schedule. 

• Set aside a day for running errands.

• Set up auto pay for as many bills as possible. 

• Use a calendar to keep track of everyone's schedule and appointments. Consider using an online version like Google calendar that will sync across multiple devices. 

• Create alarms and reminders for anything important. 

• Pick a time and day to work out.  

Next take a look at what you do at work. How can you take what you’re doing there and break it down into routines? Write them out and start getting into your work routines. 

Here’s your assignment for the next few days: 

Pick one or two routines and work on those. Don’t try to change too many things at once. Pick your routines and stick to them until they become a habit.

Then add something else to simplify your life. Before you know it, you’ll move through much of your day without having to think about, leaving valuable brain space to focus on the important stuff. 

Our lives have gotten so hectic, haven’t they?

There never seem to be enough hours in the day to get everything done. And then there are the constant interruptions. The phone rings, there’s a new email or text message, a colleague walks in the office. Our day sometimes feels like nothing more than one interruption after another. 

Add to that the superficiality of being surrounded by media and ads and it’s no wonder we crave a simpler and more spiritual life.

While we can’t change our surroundings, there is a hack we can utilize that will help us be calmer, more centered and more spiritual - starting our day with a spiritual activity. 

Start your day of with a prayer, some meditation, reading your bible or writing in your journal. Pick something that feels right for you. It doesn’t have to be faith-based. Spirituality is so much more than believing in a particular faith. 

Pick something and spend the first 15 to 30 minutes of your day working on your spirit. Brew a cup of coffee or tea, find a comfortable spot and enjoy this daily routine. Stick to it each and every day and do your best to have some quiet time. This may require getting up a little earlier so you can have that time before the kids wake up. Believe me, it is time well spent. 

Focusing on your spirituality first thing in the morning does two important things for you.

1. By setting aside time early in the morning, you won’t get interrupted (fingers crossed) and no matter how hectic the rest of your day goes, you have these few moments for yourself.

2. It sets the mood for the rest of your day. You’ll find yourself becoming a more spiritual person throughout the rest of your busy day by focusing on it as soon as you wake up. 

Not only will these few minutes lift you up, they will carry you through the rest of your busy day. Give it a try and you may just find yourself being calmer, more centered and happier than before. 

Here’s your assignment for the next few days: 

Pick an activity you can do for a few minutes in the morning that is spiritual. Read the bible, a motivational book, do some meditation or try journaling. Start your day off with 15 minutes of doing something to nourish your soul.

Make it a daily habit and watch how it will transform the rest of your day. 

Think about the various people in your life. Who strikes you as the most open-minded? I find that more often than not it’s children.

Kids are the most open-minded beings. That’s because they are constantly learning and constantly have new ideas thrown at them. 

Here’s a simple hack you can do to stay just as open-minded as a kid. Emulate them and never stop learning.

That’s easily said, but how do you actually put in into action? 

There are plenty of opportunities to learn new things all around you. You can start by reading some books or watching documentaries on topics that interest you. If you have a community college or even university in your area, check into their continued learning programs. You might find some great classes to check out.

If you enjoy listening to audiobooks, look into sites like Audible.com. Not only do they have plenty of fiction and nonfiction audio books, they also have “Great Courses” which are series of University lectures that have been recorded. 

Another option may be to pick up a new hobby. It’s fun and educational to learn a new skill. Get into gardening, work on your woodworking skills, or pick up knitting. Or how about a painting class? 

Let’s not forget your professional life. I’m sure there are all sorts of programs, courses and certifications you can look into that not only help you to constantly learn and keep an open mind, but also get you ahead in what you do for pay. 

Learning a new language is another great option. Not only will it help you communicate in a new way, most language courses also teach you quite a bit about the culture of the country or region the language is spoken in.

As you start to learn, try to reach out to some native speakers and learn even more about their culture and their day-to-day lives.

The internet is making it possible for us to have conversations and make friends with people across the globe. 

Speaking of the internet, it is an amazing resource at our fingertips for learning just about anything.

YouTube in particular is very helpful when you’re learning a new craft or skill. Check it out and make it a habit to keep on learning. 

Here’s your assignment for the next few days: 

Pick one new thing you will start to learn this week. It doesn’t matter if it’s a class, a book, a course, a new language or a new hobby.

Just pick something and start learning about it. 

Going out and talking to people we don’t know can be quite the daunting task. It gets even worse when there is a crowd of people or we’re expected to impress the people we’re meeting.

Yet it seems so easy and effortless for “outgoing” people. They strike up a conversation with the person next to them with ease and seem to make friends no matter where they go. 

We on the other hand agonize about what to say, how to not sound stupid and before you know it we’ve talked ourselves out of walking up to someone and saying hi. What if I told you that there is a simple hack you can do that will help you become more outgoing. It’s simple, but it does take a little effort on your part.

Are you ready? 

It’s practice. Yep, you heard me, practice makes perfect. The idea with this hack is that you strike up a conversation every single day. Ideally this will be in person and in real life, but even chatting online can have some benefits.

Make sure though that you don’t spend all your “practice” time talking to people online. For many of us introverts typing or texting a conversation, be it on a social media site or via text messages, is easier than speaking in person or on the phone. 

If that’s you, make an effort to talk to someone either on the phone or in person.

Strike up a conversation with strangers as you wait in line at the grocery store. If that sounds too scary, start by chatting with the cashier. He or she pretty much has to talk to you and be nice so it’s an easy conversation to start. 

Talk to people as you come across them throughout your day. If you find you haven’t talked to anyone new today by late afternoon, go run an errand or go for a walk with the main purpose of finding someone to have a little chat with.

Before you know it all this practice will pay off and you’ll find you’re becoming that outgoing person you’ve always wanted to be.

Conversations become easy and it’s effortless to meet new people. That’s a big change from one little life hack. 

Here’s your assignment for the next few days: 

Come up with a list of 10 places or situations where you can practice talking to people. Then start making it happen. Pick one per day to begin with or strike up conversations as you come across people.