SUBTLE WAYS TO TALK TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH It’s not easy to find mental health care. Opening up to your friends and family about how you’ve been battling with your mental health may be even tougher. Starting the dialogue, on the other hand, has a number of possible advantages, the most important of which is enhanced family support and reassurance. This extra support could make a tremendous impact if you’re suffering from anxiety or despair. Unfortunately, societal stigmas have made it difficult for people suffering from mental illness to get help. In an ideal world we should all be proactive in watching out for one another. Even well-intentioned family members or friends fail to check in, sometimes due to a lack of knowledge of mental health issues, and other times due to their own anxieties and life challenges. However, if you’re willing to start a conversation with your loved ones about your problems, try these subtle ways to talk to friends and family about mental health and help them understand and support you better. Environment Matters It’s not simple to open up. If you decide to talk to your friends or family about how you’ve been dealing with mental health concerns, you should do it in a setting that seems as natural to you as possible. There are a few things to keep in mind while you express your problems: Location: Ensure that you and anyone you select to open up can access the place you specify. You may choose the area in which you are the centre of attention without it being too noisy. Taking these elements into account in advance may help to limit unneeded distractions or interruptions. Privacy: Consider also how privately you want to have this debate. For some, it should be very controlled and silent, which means it can be most convenient anywhere in a home. For others who are more concerned about negative answers from their loved ones, a public space may be considered like a local park or in a picnic zone close by. Timing is Everything: Make sure you have sufficient time in the setting to open up and possibly allow your family to remember to answer and ask questions. If you have limited time in any place that you choose, the conversation will be pressured and stressed. Now that you’ve set the perfect environment, let’s address the elephant in the room… How to do you broach the subject? Speaking Up It’s frightening to take the risk of being vunerable.  It is important to be mindful that this can open you up, to receive far more support from people. You will show the importance of the topic if you take your time and speak from your experience. Don’t Sugar Coat It It is necessary to communicate  specifically about the impact on your life of your mental health difficulties. Being direct, though difficult helps remove the desire of others (who can be less aware) to talk clichéd or to minimise your comments about mental health. How Do You Need Them To Help You It can be difficult to know what your “ask” is before you start the conversation, but thinking about your goal ahead of time will help you acquire the aid you need. Do you want them to offer you more emotional support? Simply listen to you without interrupting or offering advice? It could be as simple as asking them to assist you with co-payments for your therapy or medicine. The options are limitless. Knowing what you want to get out of the talk can provide structure and direction, which can be both grounding and healing.

Top 10 Inspirational Sayings about Success Sayings and quotes about success can have a powerful effect on you. If you take the time to think about the deeper meaning behind the words, you’ll realize how easily you can apply these sayings into your own life to achieve the success you desire. Here are the top ten inspirational success quotes, as well as some self-reflection questions to ponder: I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life, and that is why I succeed.– Michael Jordan Every failure brings an opportunity for growth and sets you up for future success in a new effort. For example, failing at one job may bring you the opportunity to enjoy great success in another. Learning from failure will lead you to greater achievement. It is no use saying, “We are doing our best.” You have got to succeed in doing what is necessary.– Sir Winston Churchill Too often, people use “I did my best” as an excuse for not doing what really needed to be done. Plan and prepare appropriately for the task at hand so that you can do what is required to succeed. Using this results-oriented strategy will help you accomplish your goal. We are told that talent creates its own opportunities. But it sometimes seems that intense desire creates not only its own opportunities but its own talents.-Eric Hoffer Try new things to spark your passions and develop your talents. You may actually have talents that you’re completely unaware of. When you desire something with a fiery passion, your mind will push you to take action and persevere until you’re successful. We were born to succeed, not to fail.-William Barclay You were put on the Earth to succeed in your pursuits. When you use your God-given gifts, abilities, and strengths to fulfill your purpose, success is within your grasp. Success is not the key to happiness – happiness is the key to success.-Herman Cain When you’re happy with your life and you enjoy every moment of each day, it’s easy to feel the joy of success in the smallest accomplishments. Live joyfully and your positive attitude will attract greater successes. Success doesn’t come to you – you go to it.– Marva Collins You need to take action to achieve your goals and get what you want out of life. Once you define exactly what you want, design a plan of action steps to get you there, and then follow your plan. You must do the thing you think you cannot do.-Eleanor Roosevelt This quote is to challenge you. You must overcome your fears that are holding you back in order to become successful. A great leader’s courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position.-John Maxwell Believe in yourself. Know that you can achieve anything. Put your mind to it and be passionate about that which calls your name. Forget about the consequences of failure. Failure is only a temporary change in direction to set you straight for your next success.-Denis Waitley When you fail, opportunities open up to help you succeed. You may need to start your task anew or change your route, but each failure brings you closer to success. Success is not measured by what you accomplish, but by the opposition you have encountered and the courage with which you have maintained the struggle against overwhelming odds.-Orison Swett Marden No matter how tough a situation may be, don’t give up easily. When you persevere through great odds and overcome many challenges to achieve your goal, success is even sweeter! Self-Reflection Questions: When I suffer a setback, do I still persevere toward my goal? Do I bring passion to my endeavors? Have I designed my action plan to reach my goals? Have I taken swift action to get where I want to be?

5 Benefits of Creating a Life-Changing Self-Care Routine Self-care is simple. It’s all about tuning in to your needs – mentally, emotionally and physically – and doing things on purpose to take care of yourself. It’s about setting boundariesand putting YOU first. When was the last time you actually allowed yourself to slow down and do something that recharged you? Life can be busy and chaotic, and we rarely give ourselves a moment to rest. We end up putting our needs on the last rung of the ladder and we struggle because of it.Making self-care a part of your daily life is one of the best things you can do for your overall health and well-being. Here are 5 life-changing benefits to making self-care a priority. More Productive: When you start making self-care a priority, you automatically become more intentional with your time.You learn to scratch the tasks or commitments that don’t align with your values and say yes to those that do.Instead of pushing yourself to the point of exhaustion, you begin to watch for signs that you’ve reached your limit and you simply stop. Self-care allows you to refresh and recharge so you can accomplish your to-do list in a much more efficient way. Better Caregiver: It’s very hard to care for or give someone else your time and energy when you are running on empty. Self-care allows you to fill your cup first and recharge your batteries, so you have more to give to others when the time comes. No matter if you have small children or you’re taking care of an aging parent, the concept is the same. In order to operate at 100%,you have to make time for your own needs before anyone else’s. You’ll be much more compassionate and giving when you intentionally make yourself a priority. More Gratitude:Practicing gratitude, in itself, is apowerful form of self-care that can bring about many positive changes to your life. You’ll feel happier, more confident and less likely to put much thought into what you don’t have. You start appreciating the small things that used to go unnoticed and make more time to reflect on what’s truly important. You become more aware of the blessings in your life when you intentionally startmaking yourself a priority. Improved Physical Health: Through self-care, you take on a more proactive approach to your health and wellness. You begin seeing the importance of an active lifestyle as well as listening to your body when you need to relax and recharge. Nourishing your body with good food and taking yourself to the doctor on a regular basis are also part of a healthy self-care routine that can boost your immunity and keep sickness and fatigue at bay. You’ll find your energy levels will begin to skyrocket and your mood will improve as well when you make self-care a priority in your daily routine. Self-Love: What areas of your life could use a little more love and compassion? Self-care helps you to become much more aware of how you treat yourself inside and out. When you start taking care of your mind and body, it will be easier to see how you’ve neglected yourself over the years. It opens your eyes to the negative self-talk, unhealthy eating habits, and bad coping mechanisms you’ve allowed yourself to rely on. That awareness is key in bringing about more self-love into your life.  These are just a few of the many benefits of making self-care a priority in your life. It doesn’t take a lot of time, effort or money to begin, just a simple decision that you are going to start putting yourself first from this moment on. You might also seek the help of a personal life coach to develop a self-care strategy.

More Good Mood Food Elevated mood and positivity are married together for eternity. One without the other cannot survive. While the two enjoy each other’s company, it is not easy for them to find each other. If you want to remain in a good mood, it is important that you feed it with the perfect food as that would aid you in leading a happier and a more fulfilling life. However, there are no set ingredients or recipes for this food; it tastes the best when discovered by your own subjective choices. How you treat yourself is connected to how you feel, react and grow. So, make sure you discover and feed your mood the right way so that it behaves well and stays married to positivity. What is ‘Mood’? ‘Mood’ can casually be understood as a temporary state of mind or feeling which can have either a positive or negative valence. ‘Mood’ is a less intense and specific impression as opposed to emotions and feelings which are more event-specific. It is a personal impression but can be ascertained by others with a simple emphasis on a person’s behaviour and posture. Positive Mood When a person feels good on no particular day and is all happy and smiling, we can interpret that the person is in a good mood. The cause of a good mood, however, is very difficult to ascertain since it can be a consequence of a good night’s sleep, absence of stress, a good morning text or just by having the bus ready when already in a hurry. Starting the day with the right mood can have manifold advantages inclusive of better problem-solving skills, better social interaction and a more productive day.  Negative Mood Negative moods can occur for no reason in particular and can last for hours, days or weeks altogether. A lazy morning, personal stress, familial problems or no reason to be happy can all contribute to a negative mood. This state of being can have a lot of negative consequences depending on the intensity as well as the duration. Lack of productivity, failed social relationships, isolation, difficulty in coping with immediate surroundings can be some by-products of a negative mood which can also be compiled with depression, anxiety, poor self-esteem and aggression. Are Mood Swings Bad for Us? Having mood swings makes us humans. Absolute control over mood is not only a difficult task but a compulsive disorder as well. Since a change of mood can occur as a result of very small and insignificant quotidian activities, it is absolutely okay to have mood swings. However, if your mood swings have a strong impact on your daily life, it might be time to work on it by altering your sleeping habits and eating habits. Additionally, since mood swings are subjective and an extension of your personality and life, they can be helped by a personal assessment. How to stay in a good mood? Staying in a good mood should not require constant efforts on your part. We are all affected by our surroundings and react to them but following some positive habits can lift our spirits without it being a strenuous task. Some of these include: A proper sleep schedule Going for a brisk walk Unloading your emotions Eating healthy Thinking about the good things in life Laughing a little more Listening to happy music Being generous and loving to people Following the above activities would surely help you have a better sense of control over your mood and take charge of your activities. Conclusion Know yourself better by analyzing your mood swings and feed them with the right food whenever required. Once you are able to control your mood in certain ways, you can be sure of having a happy and a fulfilled life with good social relationships and apt productivity. It is okay to have variations in how you feel owing to an eventful life, just nourish your mood the right way and you will stand no chance of having a miserable or difficult life. Once in control, you can have stability, healthier relationships and a promising future all to yourself since your mood is one of the major determiners of your behaviour and productivity. You might also hire a mindset coach to assist you maintain a positive attitude at all times.

How to Move Past the Guilt of Investing in Yourself We usually consider it worthwhile to invest in everyone and everything around us except for ourselves. If we consider the pros of investing in ourselves, it might be the best investment made that would help us and those around us.However, the sad truth is, taking care of others has etched so deeply into our psyche that looking after ourselves feels criminal. Self-care should be everyone’s priority but why do we feel guilty about investing in ourselves and can we move past this guilt? What is the source of your Guilt? In order to deal with the guilt, we need to identify its source first. It is possible that it has multiple origins. Childhood trauma is often the primordial reason why we feel guilty when we indulge in self-care. For some people, it is the result of failed relationships with parents, siblings, partners or even friends. Most emotional turmoil forces us to blame ourselves for unwanted outcomes. At the end of a relationship, many people convince themselves that their selfishness ruined their paradise. There could be other reasons as well.Once you are able to isolate the source of your guilt, the whole process of overcoming it via various means would become easier. This will allow you to embark upon the healing journey. Why is it important to understand Self-Worth? Self-worth is the value that you see in yourself. It is the acknowledgment of the fact that you are worthy. A rendezvous with self-worth is possible only when you accept every ounce of yourself. You might have to sit on a roller-coaster ride to discover it but it will be worth it. Self-worth, in both private and professional life, is your true best friend. It is important because it is the pillar on which your self-esteem stands. Not only does it enable you to trust yourself more, making you a better judge and a leader, it also allows you to demand the love that you deserve. Ask yourself a simple question, if you don’t think that you are worth the efforts, how will anyone else see it? Losing self-worth creates a Doppler effect that affects all spheres of life. What can you do to detach yourself from Guilt?First, you need to acquit your past. We often feel guilty about investing in ourselves when we have been blamed for not doing enough for others. Once you make peace with all those past instances where you were made to believe that you were lacking, you wouldn’t feel out-of-place while taking care of yourself. If your guilt is coming from the fear of not being enough for others because you were nurturing yourself, you need a new perspective. Even during a flight emergency, we are encouraged to put the oxygen mask on our mouths first and then proceed to help others. Life is no different. You can only share the joys of life when your cup is full. If you are not taken care of, you won’t be able to look after your loved ones as well. Conclusion – Investing in self is not optional but essential! You must realize how important you are as a person and how you deserve all the happiness for yourself. Those who are truly concerned with your well-being will always encourage you. They want to see you flourish and thrive. On the other hand, toxic people would never allow you to become the best version of yourself. They will always ask you to compensate for their shortcomings by blaming you for everything that goes wrong. They will trap you by making you feel guilty for being your own person. These are the people that should not matter to you. Investing in yourself is the best investment you can ever make. It is not optional but essential. Your self-worth determines who you are. The more you invest in yourself, the more positive changes you will witness in your surroundings. This leads to a chain reaction. When you are content with yourself, when you are working on yourself, you inspire others as well. So, without feeling guilty, subscribe to that self-help podcast, hire a life coach, go for a blissful walk, book yourself a spa, go for a massage or take a break and plan a holiday. You deserve it!

Top Seven Questions to Ask Yourself When Planning for Success When you want to plan to succeed, sometimes the most important thing to do is to really know yourself inside and out. In order to do so, there are some important key questions that you should ask yourself, not necessarily in order of appearance in this article. The answers will help you to pave the way to your success! What am I passionate about? If you don’t know what you are passionate about, then you need to stop right now and figure that out. If you spend your life working toward something that doesn’t spark your passion, then you are going to have a hard time motivating yourself to succeed. Where am I right now? Be honest with yourself when answering this question. Evaluate where you are in life and how close you feel to achieving your goal. Don’t use it as a way to get down on yourself. Simply figure out where you are and how far you have to go before you are where you want to be. Consider the resources you have and what you need to acquire and then consider what that knowledge might mean. Where do I begin? It’s hard to get started without knowing where you’re going to begin. To establish the point where you are starting, take the knowledge you’ve learned from asking yourself the first two questions and consider the most logical point to begin. Evaluate your goals and dissect them from the top to the bottom, until you find yourself able to answer this question. What is my end game? If you don’t know where you want to end up, you might never figure out where to start. Think carefully about where you want to end up and what your end game looks like. Use visualization techniques to help you pave the way to success. What can’t I do by myself? Every goal starts out huge, and there are ways that other people can help us to get where we want to be. Whether it’s through offering resources or simply being there to provide moral support and accountability, there are ways others can help you and you should think about how. Why did I choose this goal? Every goal is unique, especially when it comes to why the person setting the goal has chosen it. What are your personal motivations behind choosing this goal? What do you specifically hope to achieve by following this goal through to its fruition? Do you want to make the world a better place? Improve the lives of the elderly or disabled? Pinpointing this will help you to shape your mission statement and stay motivated! What are my obstacles? Knowing your obstacles before you even begin is a great way to face your fears and consider ways to overcome the challenges that might get in the way of your success. Addressing these early on ensure that you have a plan to fall back on when the time comes, ensuring that you are able to overcome them and succeed! You might also seek the assistance of a life coach, who can aid you in achieving success.

How to find motivation when you are burned out? Amidst this global crisis that is causing mayhem and has consumed the attention of everyone, I wanted to write about burnout and my personal experience with this. I recently suffered burnout by not exercising enough self-care and under playing the three major things that had happened in my life in the last 5 months. One was moving from my family home of 15 years to another home, the second was my ex-husband moving to another country and leaving me as the sole carer to our two kids and third was that my divorce was eventually finalized after a lengthy legal process.  Even if you love your job and believe that you are coping adequately, it’s still possible to experience burnout from time to time. Burnout is the mental and physical exhaustion you experience when the demands of your work consistently exceed the amount of energy you have available. It has been called an epidemic of the modern workplace and life as we know it in this digital age. Most of us want to have a successful career and earn a good income for ourselves and our families which requires lots of hard work and effort. This single-minded pursuit of success sometimes results in us taking on too much of work without even stopping to take a break. When you reach this point of exhaustion where you work without taking care of your brain and body, you will experience burnout. And as you can imagine, this can be very detrimental for your body. I was so physically and mentally exhausted at the peak of my burnout, that I found myself sleeping until late afternoon over a period of several days unable to get out of bed. Burnout often stems from a lack of understanding about what it takes to achieve peak performance. We tend to assume that it requires trying harder or performing better than others which may get you short-term results but is unsustainable. To perform at your best over the long term, you need regular opportunities to restore your mental energy. A walk in the park or lunch away from your desk are simple examples of things you could do to allow some mental energy restoration. Personally, I love walking with my dog in the woods. What are the 5 stages of burnout? One thing to note is that every person experience burnout differently. Despite this, in most cases there are 5 key stages of burnout that you can experience. First, there’s the Honeymoon phase when we take on a new task and we experience a high amount of job satisfaction. This is where we commit to working hard and our energy goes mostly into that. Next there’s the Onset of stress phase, when you start to become aware that some days are more difficult than others. Your enthusiasm starts to waiver and you start to experience some symptoms of stress. The third stage of burnout is Chronic stress. This is where you start to lose motivation and experience stress on an extremely frequent basis. The fourth stage is when you enter the Burnout phase where your symptoms are so critical that you find it impossible to continue as normal and need some intervention to relieve the stress. The final stage of burnout is referred to as Habitual burnout. This is where the symptoms of burnout are fully integrated and embedded into your daily life, often causing significant physical and emotional problems. How long does it take to recover? The time to recover from burnout mostly depends on the person and their ability to respond to the intervention. Some people will recover from burnout within a few days or a week. Others can take weeks to get back on track. If you’re motivated to take better care of yourself and eliminate burnout from your life, chances are that you can do so without any problems. It will require commitment from your side, but it’s certainly worth it! Motivation when burned out One of the best things that you can do when you are burnt out is to motivate yourself and improve the way you take care of yourself. Most of the time being burnt out can have a negative impact on your personal life, hygiene and the way you connect with others. Thankfully, if you stay motivated you can improve all of these, while also lowering the amount of burnout you experience all the time. Once you understand the early warning signs of burnout and know what the causes are, it will be easier to take steps to deal with the issue. We also recommend that you work in increments, split tasks so things won’t be as demanding. Sharing some of the work with others, delegating or outsourcing can also help a lot. It’s crucial to take breaks as well, because your body and mind need to relax a bit, you can’t be stressed out and working all the time. In fact, you need to have a life outside of work and unplug as much as possible. For some people it can be going out with others, there are also persons that have a hobby and other forms of recreation and relaxation. Also, if you want to motivate yourself when burnt out, ditch all the bad habits. And you can go even further by improving your daily routine and cleverly taking it to the next level. Try to be more focused on positive things and you will be incredibly impressed on how your life can change. Conclusion As you can see, getting motivated when you experience burnout can be very difficult. But the best thing you can do is to make as many changes as you can earlier on, in order to improve your situation and proactively try to prevent this from happening. Take breaks, be more organized, sleep at least 7-8 hours a night, have a life outside work and focus more on taking care of yourself. All these things can actually make a huge

Stress Free Home “If you ask what the single most important key to longevity is, I would have to say it is avoiding worry, stress, and tension. And if you didn’t ask me, I’d still have to say it.”                                                                                                          -George F. Burns WHAT IS STRESS? Stress is a reaction of your body or brain to any change that requires a response. It can affect you mentally, physically, or emotionally. Every individual reacts differently to stressful consequences. Everyone experiences stress in their lives in different ways. Maybe what affects me would not harm you or does not give you stress. So the first thing is you should know about your stressors or hot buttons. You must understand what situations or consequences provide you with stress. CONSEQUENCES OF STRESS When someone has stress in their lives, the first reason we think about is a financial loss or the loss of someone you love. You cannot have a clue about how stress can affect your mental and physical health. The most common reasons for the stress we find are loss of a job, the death of your loved one, divorce, and many others. Stress can lead you toward depression and anxiety. Currently, COVID-19 is spreading speedily around the globe. This is the reason for today’s stressful life. HOW TO COPE UP WITH STRESS Anxiety and fear of any disease can be frightening for people. These days, every person is affected by the stressful situation which is happening due to the COVID-19 pandemic. People are not well aware, and they are just getting influenced by the information they get on media or from anyone in the surrounding. People do not have authentic information about the coronavirus, they are just spreading whatever they are listening from others. Constant hearing about anything can make you stress in anyways. According to recent research, it is highlighted that women who are suffering from stress, there is a risk of developing dementia, which is a brain disorder. Dementia can not only affect your memory, but it can also change your thought process and your behaviour. Here are some tips and tricks to cope up with stressful situations or behaviour. SAY WHAT YOU FEEL First and foremost, if you are dealing with stress, anxiety, or any other disease, you should share this with your family. This is the most crucial act which we lack in our society that we do not want to talk about stress or depression. POSITIVITY Positivity is an essential factor that one can have in their personality. It varies from person to person because not every individual can deal with negative attitudes. So, it would be best if you tried to stay as positive as you can and do not let negativity affect you. MEDITATION Meditation is another weapon that you can use in living a stress-free life. There are different exercises for a mind that can be done by a person who is passing through this phase. Meditation keeps your mind and soul relaxed and calm. BE ORGANISED Another reason for having a stressful life can be mismanagement in your life. If you are well-organised in your life, it does not make you panic in the last moment or stressful situations. Everybody should have time management; you should know what things you have to do when and how. FINAL SAY Stress itself is not an illness, but if you have stress for a more extended period. It can lead you to some serious condition. Stress is something that anyone can experience, but it is different for every individual to cope up with this. It’s only you who can know your stressors and their solutions to deal with it. You could also seek the help of a mindset coach to help stress out.