A recently growing trend that has a lot of potential behind it is brain health! To many, brain health is becoming the new self-care. While taking a bubble bath and enjoying a face mask has its perks and can make you feel more relaxed and centred, taking care of your brain has many longer-lasting effects.
Additionally, looking after your physical health is a high form of self-care, as well. Both mental and physical wellbeing are key for those trying to unlock their full potential.
In this article, we will be going over how looking after your physical and mental well-being allows you to be the best version of yourself. On top of looking after your mental and physical being, I believe that maintaining balance as much as possible will also allow you to thrive in life. Let’s begin with physical health.
Physical Health
This is no secret, maintaining good physical health will leak out into every other aspect of your life in an extremely beneficial way. Taking time each day to move your body, even if it is just 10 minutes, will help in various aspects.
Making time to be active every day can:
- Improve mood
- Boost energy and focus
- Combat health conditions and diseases
- Promote high-quality sleep
- Boost libido
- Increase cognitive function
- Regulate blood pressure
- Increase better brain function
- Enhance creativity
- Reduce anxiety symptoms
- Reduce depression symptoms
- Improve confidence
- Increase longevity
Remember, doing 5 push up is better than doing none. Doing 1 minute of jumping jacks is better than doing none. Doing 5 minutes of yoga/stretching is better than doing none… My point is, always give that extra 1%!
However, if you really wish to unlock your full potential, you will need to push yourself as much as you can. Push yourself every single day and your life will change, I promise! Doing this can also have a great effect on your mental health as well, which we will go over next.
Mental Health
Caring for your mind is equally as important when looking to unlock your true self. You cannot live freely or authentically and become the person you know you are deep down until you put in the work to heal your inner world.
This can feel like an uphill battle, and to be quite blunt, it is. There is no 1 remedy that will fix everything. Focusing on your mental health is an ongoing task that (in my opinion) never truly ends. Creating a comfortable and pleasant space in your head will help you get to where you want to be in life.
Focusing on your mental health can be done by:
- Meditating (mindfulness)
- Keeping a positive journal
- Decluttering your home
- Looking after your physical health
- Taking mood-boosting herbs and nootropics
- Pursuing passions
- Bonding with loved ones
- Trying new things and experimenting with hobbies
- Taking social media breaks
- Feeding your body with nourishing whole foods
- Moving your body daily (eg, yoga or dancing)
- Creating a realistic well-being routine
- Getting lots of high-quality sleep
- Spending time outside
Partake in a collection of actions and you will notice a lot of positive changes in your mental state very quickly. If you really struggle with mental health, you may have to start small in order to remain consistent while looking for guidance from professionals.
If you do fall through on a plan to improve your mental health, that is totally okay as long as you get back up and keep trying. The best advice I can give you here is to try multiple things simultaneously instead of rooting for that one change to fix all of your problems for you. It will almost never be easy, but it will always be worth it.
Finding a Balance
The ultimate key to success; finding a healthy balance between it all! You will never unlock your true potential if you are completely obsessed with your physical health but are neglecting your mental health! Vice versa. I cannot stress this point enough… It can be hard navigating through life when you are trying to balance everything. Remember, finding a complete balance is impossible. However, just do your best in this area and it will help. Mindfulness is a very effective tool when searching for balance.
I find it very helpful to keep a steady journal where I record what I am doing and why I am doing it. This way, I can look over my journal entries and see any patterns I am unconsciously stuck in that do not serve me.
When you analyze your life from an objective perspective, you can see what changes need to be made in order to thrive.
Perhaps you could begin by sitting down and writing your priorities down, eg, family, work, friends, hobbies, etc. From here you can see where helpful adjustments can be made and then focus on how to put these adjustments into action! Evaluating your life and what you want out of your time on Earth is the best place to start when finding balance.
Closing Thoughts
The time we have is so terrifyingly finite and tomorrow is never promised. Instead of letting that discourage you, try to switch your perspective and find ways to make it encourage you! You owe it to yourself and those around you to show up and be the best you that you can possibly be!
This is your life and it is time you take control of it. When we focus on ourselves, our lives become easier as a whole. Additionally, when we give ourselves the attention we need, we can watch the world around us get brighter. True change starts from within!
Sometimes, a little bit of change can create the biggest of changes in our lives.