With the New Year just around the corner, most of us must have already started thinking of hitting the gym, losing weight, eating healthier, meeting new friends and much more only to make drastic physical changes for a better tomorrow. But come 2020, it’s time to make promises to ourselves not only to improve ourselves physically but mentally as well because a strong restful mind can go a long way in achieving one’s future goals.
So focusing on mental health should be our utmost priority in the coming year and to put your mental health above everything else, these 5 New Year’s Resolutions are an absolute necessity:
1. Give your cellphone a rest
There is no denying the fact that we have surely become addicted to technology. Whilst there are many positives about the use of mobiles phones and social media alike, we all know that amount of baggage it brings to the table. Many of us only get more depressed and anxious from our social media feeds and once we start comparing our lives with the people who’re seemingly “more content”, there is no going back. So to put an end to this we must promise ourselves to take a break from cellphones. Take breaks, even if it’s for limited times. Resolve to check your feeds once every two hours. And stop altogether after 6 p.m. We don’t realize it right now, but this can actually prove to be much more beneficial than we anticipate.
2. Learn how to meditate
Meditation can help in a variety of ways. Research suggests that meditation reduces stress levels. It helps you be more effective in getting things done. And it can get you out of time pressures and help put a pause on the moment. That helps you realize what is really important and allows you to slow things down. There are numerous ways of learning meditation. Learning meditation can be a quick process especially with the use of new applications and YouTube videos. Dedicating only 20 minutes a day to meditation can drastically improve the quality of one’s life.
3. Get a planner
Now this might sound stupid but organizing your day to day stuff can actually help reduce stress levels by quite a lot. We often forget things and stress out when we do so. Hence to avoid such a situation, it is only necessary that we start planning our stuff. And what better way to do so than by getting a planner. Too much things in our head makes our anxious so it’s better if we get it out of our heads and actually pen it down on a paper (or a digital tablet).
4. Start Helping Others
One of the most effective way of helping one’s own self is to reach out and help others. There is no denying the fact that the satisfaction one gets from becoming a source of comfort and happiness for another person is second to none. Helping others is a great way to get out of your own head, your own troubles, and connect with other people and cultivate relationships. Perhaps the single strongest predictor of happiness, according to social science, is called pro-sociality – connecting with and to others. Helping is a wonderful connector. Simply helping a friend carry a heavy bag or helping a coworker in completing a task is an example of how simple and uncomplicated this can be.