Keeping your mind in shape is crucial for business success. Here’s a look at what mental fitness means and how you can achieve it.
Mental health and fitness are in the spotlight as the perils of today’s hyper-connected world threaten to impinge on wellbeing. This can be particularly true among business owners and entrepreneurs.
What is mental fitness?
Mental fitness is not the same as mental illness, which includes depression and anxiety. Instead, just as you can be physically healthy but not physically fit, you can have mental health but not mental fitness. Today’s ‘always on’ world makes people feel overwhelmed and out of control, lowering resilience and impinging underlying happiness.
When you feel overwhelmed, write down the triggers and use them to discover any recurring habits that might be hurting your sense of wellbeing.
Mental fitness is increasingly threatened by a negative compare and despair mindset. As people play out their daily lives on social media, it can be easy to go online, compare yourself to others and feel bad. Overcoming this requires a deeper understanding of yourself and what you want. Once you’re clear on this, you’ll stop comparing yourself to others.
Five strategies to help with your mental fitness
Managing your mental fitness requires time and self-care. Here are five ways to keep mentally fit.
- Know yourself and stop comparing yourself to others
- Know your core strengths as a person.
- Value yourself, and then others will value you too.
- Pace yourself. Notice your wins and celebrate both small wins and large ones.
- Find your voice and own it. Be the leader of your life and your business.