January 2019
January Mental Health Challenge:
Gratitude is a wonderful way to shift your perspective from a negative frame of mind to a more positive way of thinking. Try to list at least three things you are grateful for each day, and take notice of your mood before and after each practice. You may start to develop an appreciation for those small joys that come up throughout the day, and giving less attention to negative thoughts.
January Mental Health Tip
January is often a time for new beginnings. It is a time that we often set goals for ourselves. In a lot of cases these goals are forgotten or given up on after a short while. When setting goals it is important to make them small so that they are not overwhelming. It is okay to want to accomplish something big in the upcoming year but start with that first small step. Then celebrate when you accomplish that first step. That way you will feel more motivated to continue. For example if you would like to get in shape this upcoming year don't aim to go to the gym daily or lose 20 pounds. Instead aim to go for a ten minute walk three times a week or to lose one pound. Then be proud of yourself when you are complete your goal and set your next goal.
Another important tip is to set SMART goals. SMART goals stand for specific, measurable, attainable, reasonable and timely. For example you may decide that you want to go on a vacation. If you were to turn this into a SMART goal you would say I want to go to say Paris for two weeks in the summer of 2019. It would be important to consider if this was possible based on how much money this would cost, whether you would have the vacation time available, and whether you could be away for two weeks. If those three things were possible then you could make this a SMART goal and then break it down by saying that you would save a certain amount of money each month so that you would have the amount needed by the summer.
Goals and celebrating accomplishments are important and give us something to work towards. We wish you all the best with accomplishing your goals.