Mental Health & Mindset
With Calathea Accounting
This year has been a particularly challenging year for everyone. We have had a worldwide pandemic to deal with which has thrown up new obstacles that we have never before faced.
The consequences of job uncertainty, anxiety around the virus and the fact that we have been unable to see our close family and friends has really taken its toll on many people’s mental health.
Mental health is something I feel strongly about having had many close family and friends suffer with poor mental health at times. I have also suffered with it at times throughout my life and it is something that my children struggle with on a regular basis.
Now, more than ever, we have to prioritise our mental health and really take stock and evaluate things to ensure that the current negativity that surrounds us doesn’t affect us too deeply.
To me, mental health and mindset go hand in hand. Some even describe mindset as the foundation to our mental health with our mindset being a collection of thoughts and beliefs that shape our view of reality.
If we have low mental health, then a consequence of this, is usually that our mindset leaves us feeling anxious, lacking in confidence and constantly self-doubting.
Whereby the opposite is that if we have a strong, robust mental health then our mindset is usually very positive, confident, willing to try new things and push ourselves to experience life outside of our comfort zone.
A positive mindset can impact on our life journey hugely.
You have most probably heard of the terms fixed and growth mindset. Carol Dweck defines a growth mindset as ‘people believing that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hardwork’.
Whereas with a fixed mindset, people believe that their abilities are unchangeable.
A growth mindset is essential for success. To be able to keep all opportunities open, you need to believe in yourself and have the confidence in your abilities to learn, develop and grow.
I love learning! I am always doing a new course, or studying a new qualification or even taking part in a new challenge of some sort. I thrive on the adrenaline that pushing myself to accomplish something new, gives me.
Some might say that I need to slow down and take it easy but we only get one life so I want to live it feeling fulfilled and challenged to grow, as that is what makes me tick.
I think this year more than ever, to enable us to push ourselves through this uncertain, negative time we need to set ourselves new challenges and goals to bring more positivity into our lives. The adrenaline that our bodies creates when we take part in something new and exciting can fuel you onto achieving endless possibilities.
A new challenge can be something very personal and individual to you. It doesn’t have to be a huge gesture, it can be something small that you have wanted to do, take part in or complete for a long time.
Setting small, achievable goals pushes us forward towards the life that we want to live.
One of my favourite quotes is…
‘If you do what you’ve always done, you will get what you’ve always got.’
To do better, we need to push ourselves to make a change for a positive outcome. When we start achieving the small goals that we’ve set ourselves, the amazing feeling you get from the achievement then pushes you on to achieve more and more. This increases our mental health and ensures that our mindset becomes more robust.
Yes, it takes dedication and hardwork but if you find something that you are passionate about then the discipline to keep going, to keep having your end goal in sight when the motivation has run out, will be what keeps you going because discipline not motivation is what is needed for success.
Motivation fades but having the discipline to keep going even when it’s hard, will keep you on the right track to achieve your goals.
