2Habits That Will Make You Mentally Strong

1BE OPEN AND TRUTGUL ABOUT VOUR E;OTIONAL STATE

This behavior is so basic that it's quite simple to overlook.

You may now be pondering the following:

I believe I'm fairly forthcoming with my emotions...

Maybe. But I'm willing to guess you're not quite as open about your feelings as you'd like to think, especially the really unpleasant ones.

Imagine, for instance, that you and your husband had a heated dispute the night before. One of your coworkers also asks you how you're doing as you arrive at work this morning. You reply, "I'm good," without giving it a second thought. How are you?

This is a perfect example of emotional dishonesty.

Right about now, you're probably asking yourself:

I mean, I'm aware that the argument this morning is the reason I'm not feeling great. Since discussing personal matters at work is generally not suitable, I simply didn't want to say anything about it.

Do you actually know how you feel, first of all?

You realize you're upset, I'm sure, on some nebulous, surface level. But particularly what feelings are you experiencing?

Do you feel angry, for instance? If so, what kind of anger—frustrated, irate, or mad—do you feel?

Or perhaps you're hurting... What sort of hurt, though? Do you feel depressed or let down? Are you sorry or ashamed?

Perhaps, and this is much more likely, you're feeling

I doubt you really grasp how you're feeling with any sort of granularity unless you managed to squeeze in a therapy session before work this morning or did some heavy self-reflective writing before night.

My second argument is that, even if discussing your marital issues in-depth at work is wrong, it doesn't follow that you shouldn't express your feelings at all.

You may have said, for instance, the following in response to your coworker's query:

Although yesterday was quite stressful, I'm doing okay.

Not too bad, but last night, Jesse and I had a difficult conversation that I'm still trying to make sense of.

Here's why it's important:

Despite the fact that you may be intellectually aware that you're not feeling well,

Fortunately, by being open and honest with yourself and others about your challenging emotions, you can communicate to your brain that these feelings are not harmful despite how unpleasant they may be.

This does not imply that you should spend the day fawning over every coworker and Starbucks barista you come across. However, spending 3 seconds genuinely acknowledging your feelings rather than denying them is a potent method to gradually increase your mental fortitude and emotional resilience.

2REFRAIN FROM MINDLESS TIME TRAVEL

Too much mental time travel is the main cause of emotional pain.

Time travel in the mind Which is that?

We have the incredible capacity for mental time travel, which allows us to imagine the future or mentally relive the past.

Additionally, the ability to mentally travel through time, picturing possibilities in the future and recalling events from the past, is essential for anything from creating bridges and rocket ships to getting everything you need at the grocery store.

However, just like every technology, mental time travel has both good and bad uses.

Reflect on it

Although a welding torch is an excellent tool for heating objects, you probably shouldn't use one to create hot cocoa.

Although toenail clippers work great for trimming toe nails, you should probably also use one to split firewood.

Everything depends on utilizing the appropriate instrument for the task, whether you're attempting to prepare hot cocoa, cut your toenails, or reduce your anxiety.

Unfortunately, it's simple to use a tool that works well in a lot of scenarios in every situation.

No matter how skilled you are at using Excel to build everything from financial models to recipe books, attempting to write a novel in the program would just lead to further stress and aggravation.

As a risk assessor for your organization, no matter how skilled you are at imagining potential issues in the future, sitting in bed at 2:00 am and thinking about all the negative consequences of not getting enough sleep tonight is not a particularly effective strategy for reducing anxiety and falling asleep.

You therefore cannot assume that, despite your success in some areas of your life, employing mental A few

Just focus on the radio's music for the entire 30 seconds while you are at a stoplight rather of thinking about your fight with your partner last night.

Practice focusing your attention on the experience of running and being outside while out for a run rather than worrying about how your work presentation could go tomorrow.

Always keep in mind that time travel is a tool. Use it carefully; don't just use it.