Your Mental Health Checklist

Mental wellness is a critical goal that isn’t achieved by accident. When we really take a closer look at it, we understand the importance of being thoughtful, intentional, and as precise as possible about achieving and maintaining it.

Just as someone might pay attention to the smallest nuances of an intricate machine because they want to get the most out of it, that same energy should be applied to our mental wellness. Here are a few items to add to your mental wellness checklist!

• Recognize Joy – Joy is one of those things that takes a thousand forms for a thousand different people. But one thing is sure, when it’s connected to something healthy and positive, joy has a measurable effect on our mental and physical health when we find it and embrace it.

• Practice Self-care/Self Preservation – This sometimes means just saying “no.” This can be hard for people who are always seen as “givers.” While it’s important to be supportive and present in the lives of friends and loved ones when they’re facing crises, it’s also important to “not own someone else’s stuff.” Learning how to set limits, not over-commit, or allow yourself to get overextended – without feeling guilty about it, is still a “must-learn skill,” for many.  

• Cultivate and Maintain Healthy Relationships – Having your “Whole” or support network of people who mirror your values, support your healthy pursuits, and can be counted on to relate to you in a transparent, authentic, and respectfully truthful way is essential. There truly is “strength in numbers,” when those numbers are made up of people who genuinely care about you. (1)

• Ask for Help When You Need It – This is one of the greatest things you can do to maintain your mental wellness. No one has all the answers. Being able to admit when you don’t have the answers, and then committing to finding help can be freeing. Whatever it is that is worrying you is only compounded if you convince yourself, that you’re the only one that feels that way, or that you’re the only one that can save the day for you.  

• Get Regular Exercise – Not only does regular exercise promote good physical health, it’s also tied to sound mental health. When you exercise, especially when it’s something you enjoy, the neurotransmitter dopamine, is released into the brain. Dopamine is the “feel good” hormone, because it makes you feel good. You can feel it when you’re doing other things that you enjoy such as eating a favorite food (moderately of course). And dopamine is the “good hormone” that keeps on giving.

“Dopamine creates a cycle of motivation, reward and reinforcement. When we exercise, dopamine tells our brain that this is a pleasurable experience and that we should keep engaging in this activity.” (2)

• Practice Kindness and Gratitude – Truly being kind, respectful and showing gratitude are vitamins for the mind, soul and spirit. Authentically practicing those things with others, not just family and friends, truly puts others at ease and generally creates an environment that is more relaxed and pleasurable while you’re in it.

Interactions that include respect and regard tend to leave more positive feelings between those involved and bring the body’s levels of stress down. Most everyone responds quicker and more positively when they feel valued at some level. There really is a lot of power in an honest “thank-you” when someone is helping with even the smallest thing.

• Finding and Aligning with Your Purpose – Everything in the Creation is both intrinsically connected and has a purpose. In our quest to Master the Art of Living, we have found that discovering and pursuing our purpose brings an important focus, discipline, and drive to live deep, truthful, and authentic lives.

Our mental and physical wellness is tied to a wholistic and healthy partnership with the planet and its inhabitants. Each of us has a unique role in maintaining this “Whole.” And each of us has responsibility to discover what that is and implement it.

There are a variety of things that one can add to or subtract from their mental wellness checklist. This list is in no way all inclusive. The key is to find those things that resonate with you, are sustainable, make you excited to implement them, and give you some measurable, observable growth.