New Year Tips
As we enter a new year it’s a time where we hear lots about new years resolutions. 2020 was a year like no other and it’s important to take time to reflect on the year that’s been, reflecting on what’s been good, what’s been difficult and thinking about all we have learnt. There maybe things we have learnt that we would like to take into the new year. There may also be things we’d like to leave behind. What’s important for our overall wellbeing is that we approach our hopes and dreams for this year with self-compassion and allow ourselves to heal from a difficult year.
Below our team at Woking Mind share some of their top tips for keeping mentally healthy this coming year:
- Have realistic expectations. It’s important not to set ourselves up with unrealistic expectations which make us feel like we have failed if we haven’t met them. There is no such thing as perfect. When we learn to set ourselves realistic expectations and revel in the imperfect, we feel happier in ourselves.
- Set yourself healthy boundaries. Setting ourselves healthy boundaries is essential for building healthy relationships and a healthy life. It takes time to develop healthy boundaries in our lives. Visit Psychcentral for their 10 tips for implementing healthy boundaries into your life here:
- Prioritise and tackle things one at a time. Keeping a notebook of the things we need to do is a great way to organise ourselves and prioritise what needs our attention first. When we set ourselves priorities and tackle things one at a time it helps us to work smarter, increases our productivity, helps us to remember more and in turn helps us to feel like we have been effective which makes us feel good.
- Start a gratitude jar. Creating a feel-good thank you jar is a great way to focus on the things that we are thankful for. You can also fill it with anything that might uplift your mood. Think about quotes that inspire you, a favourite song or an encouraging word someone has said to you. To make a gratitude jar visit our website here.
- Laughter is good medicine. When we laugh our bodies release endorphins which are feel good hormones that boost our mood and may promote feelings of togetherness. Seek laughter wherever you can through family, friends, comedy and podcasts.
- A simple morning exercise to reveal the wonders of life. For every sound you hear, every sight you see, every flavour you taste, imagine you are experiencing it for the first time. You can’t help but feel some wonder in life’s simple pleasures.
Download our tips in a printable format:
You may also find the following online resources helpful:
New Year Theme For Yourself:Mental Health Foundation.