I get it. You want to learn how to strengthen your mental health, but you never seem to find the time. And if you’re honest, you aren’t really sure what you need to do anyway.
But fret not…as today, you’re in luck 🙂 Because I’m sharing with you one powerful tool that’ll strengthen your mental health in 10 minutes a day or less.
It’s Important to Work on Your Mental Health Daily
We know what we need to do physically to stay in shape and get stronger. For example, exercise for 30 minutes five times a week or do 10,000 steps a day.
But what do you need to do to strength your mental health?
I believe we should view our mental health like we do our physical health. In other words, we know we should do something most days to keep our bodies fit, strong and capable. So, why not do the same for our mind?
I now treat my mental health, in the same way I do my physical. By doing something most days to keep it fit, strong and capable.
Daily psychological exercise, if you like 🙂
And that’s what we’re digging into next.
The Powerful Tool You Need in Your Life
The powerful daily exercise I’m talking about is journalling. Or, in other words, writing down your thoughts and feelings.
I personally think about this as a writing exercise rather than journaling though. In fact, I like to call it my daily brain dump.
Why? Because I think we’ve attached a lot of unnecessary pressure to the word ‘journalling’. And this pressure can stop us from using this powerful mental health tool.
What do I mean?
Well depending on where you look, journalling can feel like it needs to be perfect. Something you do in the prettiest notebook, in the most beautiful handwriting, with some creative doodles surrounding it—and of course with no mistakes…!
On the other hand, daily writing or a daily brain dump has a lot less ‘perfection’ attached. It can (and should) be messy. It doesn’t need to make sense. And you might even bin it afterwards! In other words, there’s so much less pressure to be perfect—when I think about writing my thoughts and feelings in this way.
Why is that important? Because perfection can hold us back.
There’s nothing perfect (in a good way) about the thoughts and feelings we have!
So, why would we ever think that capturing them on paper needs to be perfect?
Whatever you want to call it though—journalling, writing, a brain dump—the important thing is that this powerful tool is a simple, cheap and quick (if you want it to be!) way of strengthening your mind.
And it can honestly be as easy as asking yourself these two questions:
- What’s on my mind?
- How am I feeling?
Then, writing down one or two sentences for each.
More details on ‘the how’ a little later. First, we’ll talk about why it’s so beneficial to work on your mental health this way.
The Benefits of Journalling
Here are some benefits of journalling that might surprise you and even motivate you to try it.
Journalling or daily writing on your thoughts and feelings can:
- Help you accept rather than judge yourself, your mind, and your day-to-day experiences.
- Reduce anxiety.
- Stop obsessive thought cycles.
- Regulate emotions and improve your mood.
- Offer you a clearer perspective of something that’s happened.
- And even strengthen your physical health!
Next up, is three steps you need to follow to start feeling these benefits in your life.
How to Strengthen Your Mental Health in 10 Minutes a Day or Less
Step 1 – Grab a pen and notebook, or a piece of paper. And set a timer for 10 minutes.
Step 2 – Write “What’s on my mind today?“. Then jot down anything that pops into your mind.
Step 3 – Write “How am I feeling today?“. Then capture on your paper anything that comes to mind.
Bonus Tip – Try not to worry about it being neat, making sense, or spelling/grammar—easier said than done I know. But remember, these thoughts and feelings are for your eyes only. If you want to, you can even bin them afterwards.
The important thing is to get your thoughts and feelings out and onto paper.
Do this powerful exercise regularly, and over time, you’ll strengthen that beautiful mind of yours.
So, why not grab a notebook or scrap of paper now? And write a couple of sentences about what’s on your mind and how you feel. You’ve got so much to gain.
Looking for more insight and tips on writing about your feelings? You might like this post.
(Photo by Cristian Escobar on Unsplash)
