All too often we feel as though it’s the end when we are stuck in a mental rut, we feel as though there’s no way of getting out of this feeling and that we are stuck in this experience forever. Well, I have good news for you – that’s not the case. I am constantly preaching about how important it is to look after your body, keep yourself healthy to allow a better quality of life for yourself and although I have integrated it in a few blog posts here and there, I want to put greater emphasis on how important it is to look after your mental health in this blog post.

I was recently in a bit of a mental rut – Allowing the smallest of things get to me, uni to get the best of me and instead of actively trying to fix it, I allowed it to consume me which in turn it affected different aspects of my life. After really being sick of feeling like this I started brainstorming ways to improve how I feel and take control, here’s how I helped myself get unstuck.

Youtube Videos

I was at the point where I was willing to do and watch anything that could possibly spark some sort of inspiration inside of myself – the first thing I did was search for motivational videos. This lead me to the worm hole of Tedx Talks by many incredible psychologists and their different ways of approaching these slumps and bumps in life.

Pride is such a big thing when it comes to people being right and wrong. A person would rather not admit that they were wrong and find ways to actively fix their behaviour then admit it and find solutions to create a better quality of life for themselves both physically and mentally. It lead me to realise that although there were so many external things affecting how I felt there and then and waiting for those to change, I needed to get up and change what I have control over, realising this was a game changer for me.

Podcasts

I get very tired of being on my phone or looking at a screen so a podcast was the next best thing for me – although it’s on my phone, I can set up a playlist, put my phone aside and take it all in without the distraction of social media and the internet. I like to just get up in the morning, whilst I get ready for the day pop on a podcast of interest whether it’s motivational or about nutrition, it’s a great way to learn and get different perspectives on similar topics.

The first two things are easy to do, right? Just hop onto your phone and laptop and watch/listen to people talking, however this next thing has to be the most difficult of all because it requires the most effort – Practice.

Practice

One thing that kept coming up from every podcast and every video I watched was persistence. Persistence is the key to everything. Put it this way; it’s better to eat well for 5 out of 7 days of the week for the entire year rather than perfectly for two full weeks out of the year. The same applies for your mental health, practicing what you preach for one or two day’s won’t make a difference for the rest of your life. It’s something that you need to consciously make an effort to do every single day and hopefully, it’ll become second nature for you.

Here are some simple tips to practicing a healthier mentality:

1. Don’t worry about things you can’t control, other people’s actions and other people’s responses, their negativity, anger has nothing to do with you so don’t concern yourself with it.
2. Wake up with a proactive mindset instead of saying ‘what does today have in store for me’ say ‘What can I give the world today’?’ From the minute you wake up, you set the tone for your day. YOU have control over how you’re going to handle the stresses and the obstacle that need to be overcome and in summary, ou determine how your day is going to be, not anyone else unless you allow them to.
3. Be selfish. Ask yourself, ‘What can you do selfishly, to be selfless?’ It sounds a bit counter productive but hear me out, I heard a great example that went like this; if a plane was going down you need to put your gas mask on first, why? Because you can’t help someone else put their mask on if you’re dead. Now think of that in life terms, you can’t pour from an empty cup so look after yourself first so you can fill yourself up and begin to share with others.

I know how difficult it can be to try and pull yourself out of these mental ruts and i’m nowhere near to perfecting it but we all have to start somewhere. You have to WANT to start somewhere to make a change in your life. When I was going through this all I wanted was to read something like this blog post that could set me on the right path and that’s why I am making this for you – in the hopes to inspire you to actively change your mental path for the better.

Always remember that any step that you take to change your life for the better is a step in the right direction, even if it is just making your bed in the morning or watching a motivational video!

If you have some tips that you use to help you get out of these funks, please comment them below! I believe that every person has some ideas and ways that we could benefit from.