Are you leaving your mental health unchecked?

by | Oct 16, 2018 | Mental Resilience

Hi, my name is Clare and I know what happens when you leave your mental health unchecked…sounds like an opening intro to a support group right? Well in honor of World Mental Health Day last week (I wrote this post on the 10th of October but due to a series of unfortunate events, it’s taken a few days extra days to get to you), and the fact that around 1 in 3 working Aussies experiences some kind of mental health challenge, I want to reach right out to you to put your mental health firmly on top of your agenda this month…

In this post I’m going to show you how to:

Spot the signs, get your mental health back on track or, develop a mental health practice that allows your mind to thrive…

OK, full disclosure here, mental health is truly dear to my heart. In fact, it’s the part of my life that set me on the path I’m on today. If I hadn’t pushed my mind beyond its limits I wouldn’t have experienced some serious mental health challenges like depression, anxiety and break down.

I sit in front of you today (well actually from an airport lounge in Kuala Lumpur – long story, it’s coming at your shortly), as a business owner, leadership coach and facilitator of wellbeing programs but more importantly, as someone that now takes extreme care of their mental health. I realised some time ago, that if you don’t have your (mental) health then you don’t have anything. And today, a strong and resilient mind is crucial if you are to perform at your best and, more importantly, create a positive impact on those around you. As Leaders, we simply can’t afford to leave it unchecked and, in the same way we have a physical health practice, we need to develop a mental health practice if we are to success and be fulfilled in todays world.

So, if I’m preaching to the converted – AWESOME! Or, if you are feeling a little mentally fried, decision fatigued or struggling to get clear thoughts for that important piece of work that has you on a deadline, then you just might want to read on.

Or simply, in honour of World Mental Health Day last week, indulge me and just take a moment to tune in to spot the signs that might signal that your mental health is not on track or, gain some inspiration to turn your mental health practice up a notch. I guarantee you your mind will love you for it and it might just make a big difference to you or the people around you – your team or loved ones.

Read on to test how healthy your mind is right now and, for my personal mental resilience strategies that have transformed the health of my mind and that of many others.

3 things you can try right now to get your mental health back on track or explore new ways to cultivate a healthy mind:

1) Spot the signs

In my case, when my mental health is not up to scratch then I start to get a foggy mind. I struggle to form clear thoughts quickly, I get tension headaches, I have a twitch in the eye and sometimes I feel overwhelmed by how much I have on my plate which can leave me in a state of panic or mild anxiety.

If I’m feeling like this there are a couple of steps I take to get myself back on track:

  • Take a moment to tune into what some of these signs might be for you and just note them down or acknowledge these thoughts in your head
  • Scale how bad things are right now out of 10, ‘0’ being my mind is terribly unhealthy right now, I’m experiencing lots of symptoms, ‘5’ being – it’s been better I have a few symptoms and sights, ‘10’ being my mind is really healthy and firing right now
  • If you gave yourself a lower score ask yourself – what am I not doing or what could I be doing, (that I might have been doing before) to keep my mind healthy or, decide which practice (below) that you would like to try
  • Create some actions steps – ask yourself; what could I take action on right now or in the next 24 hours to increase my score
  • Take the action and observe the results within 24 – 48 hours

2) Get your mind back on track with mindfulness

Here are some simple mindfulness based exercises that myself and our clients embed into their daily routines to cultivate a healthy mind. Here, Jaye Carcary our meditation teacher shares 3 examples of simple practices you could try right now.

3) Turn your mental health practice up a notch with gratitude

Our brain has something called a ‘default mode network’ (way of thinking), and it tunes towards a negative bias. Largely because we are a hard-wired as a species to stay alive, so we are much more attuned to potential negative experiences than positive ones. This can lead us to get stuck in negative thinking loops. And, as they say, what we focus on we get! So to really nurture our minds, we have to overcome this default mode network and practice attuning to positive experiences, if we want to start creating a more abundant and positive mind and mindset.

Here are 3 simple practices that myself and our clients follow in order enable this.

Our aim is to produce valuable content that helps you make a positive difference to your health and wellbeing. Therefore, please do give us feedback on whether you found this post useful via info@clarety.com.

To your health and happiness,

Clare Robinson
Founder & Head Coach

P.S. Here are 3 ways we can help you personally or, the people within your company, take advantage of what’s coming:

  • Join our next ‘Energised Leaders’ Coaching Program
    Do you struggle with your mental health and know your mind could be working in a better way? Do you want to develop a strong mental health practice and other healthy habits? Just hit reply to this email with ‘ENERGISE’ in the subject header and we’ll send you all the juicy details.
  • Request your complimentary workplace wellbeing ideas worksheet?
    Are you a leader tasked with improving the wellbeing of the people in your team or business? Reply with “WORKSHEET” as the subject and we’ll send you our top 5 Proven ways to improve the wellbeing of your people without spending a dollar
  • Work with me and my team privately
    If you’d like to work directly with me and my team in your business to support you through a major leadership challenge or to develop a healthier workplace culture, then reply to this email putting PRIVATE’ in the subject line, tell me a little about your business and what you need some support with and we’ll get back to you asap.

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