How's your head going?
Mental fitness is a goodie. You would already know how to train and eat our way to physical fitness because we learn that from school but what about elevating our mental game? Read on for three things you can start doing today:
Mental agility
Fine tuning your emotional intelligence is understanding yourself better. Embracing how you actually feel without judgement.
How?
Accept the disappointment or negative emotion. Don’t lie to yourself about how you feel
Gather data. After you ID a feeling, ask yourself: what it might be telling you? Give yourself the opportunity to figure out what to do about it.
Be specific. The clearer you are, the more those feelings help you know what problem to address.
Put it differently. Perspective to see that you are experiencing nervousness. But you’re not the same as it.
Tap into your vulnerability
What many see as weakness is actually a superpower.
One of the most courageous choices you can make is to be vulnerable. That’s when you let your guard down, exposing and expressing your truest feelings—anger, sadness, fear, shame, all of it—despite the judgment or pushback or hostility you think you might receive as a result. It can be really hard to do.
How?
Build strength by asking for help.
Be upfront with those around you, keep it real.
Aim for excellent, not perfect. Perfection is driven by what other people think. It’s veneer is an armor against people finding out what’s inside you. Strive for excellence instead of perfection and forgive yourself if you fall short.
Write down the negative narrative in your head and read it back. Perspective. They are just thoughts!!
Crank up the resilience
Resilience keeps you going, but not by "hardening up” or turning off emotions.
When times are tough we need to recalibrate and thrive—whether you’re coping with the loss of someone you love, learning a new skill or struggling with a challenging personality in your life —that’s resilience. Adjusting, adapting. Use internal skills when something is pushing you off balance.
How?
Reframe the issue you’re facing as a challenge, not a problem. Framing matters.
Be curious. How can I make this setback better for tomorrow?
Remember that everyone makes mistakes. Highs and lows are normal and happen to everyone.
This info references sections of an article written by:
Mike Kessler a multimedia journalist based in Los Angeles who has covered science, culture, crime, and sports for ESPN, Outside, and many other outlets.
Marty Munson is the health director of Men’s Health and an avid ice swimmer.