How to Nurture Your Mental Health as a Writer

by Ben Grant

Mental health is a state of psychological and social well-being in which a person realizes his abilities, effectively resists life's difficulties and stress, carries out productive conscious activities, and contributes to the development of society.

First of all, this is realized due to the stable, adequate functioning of the psyche, as well as the basic mental cognitive processes: memory, attention, thinking. 

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How to raise and maintain your mental health?

Proper nutrition

I need to eat as needed. Our body receives the necessary nutrients and energy from food. The need for them depends on age, gender, lifestyle, health status, and many other factors.

The formula is simple: you need to eat as much as the body requires and expends.

Energy is spent on basic activity (breathing, digesting food, thinking, heart function, etc.). The average daily energy requirement is 2,000 kcal for women and 2,600 kcal for men.

Eat balanced. In nutrition, it is important not only the energy received but also that it comes from different nutrients and the proportion of these substances is balanced. Each nutrient plays an important role in the body, and different product groups contain different basic substances, vitamins, and minerals.

Today, many are trying, for example, to reduce the number of carbohydrates consumed, which can cause a deficiency of some important nutrients. 

Eat varied. A varied and balanced menu should include products from different groups, but you need to vary products within groups. For example, different vegetables and fruits contain different and different quantities of vitamins and minerals. If you eat varied, you can get the necessary nutrients, the body will be more healthy and will work better.

Very often routine and habits become the cause of a uniform diet. The diet needs to be reviewed from time to time so that it is not the same all the time. Nutrition can turn out to be monotonous because a person consciously decided not to eat certain foods or he doesn’t like them. In this case, you need to carefully monitor that the necessary nutrients still come from other sources. 

Physical activity

In order for you to go write every day and not lose your skills, you need moderate to high-intensity physical activity for at least 60 minutes a day; Physical activity lasting more than 60 minutes a day will bring additional benefits to their health.

Manage your emotions

Remember all your successes. In fact, I think this method is the most effective. Retrieve at least three examples of your personal success. Remember something related to the current task and work.

Example: Instead of being nervous about your poorly written text, better remember that you have achieved success in the past, and how the publication liked your article, book, etc.

Interestingly, according to research, this strategy works especially well in women. The next time you feel that you are losing control of your emotions, remind yourself of the things that you are proud of in your life.

Know your weaknesses

Each of us has our own emotional weaknesses, our own “vulnerabilities”. Some react violently even to light criticism or become furious when they think that they are laughing at them. Others cannot stand it when they reject their ideas. Still, others are inferior, driven by guilt, desire to please, or fear of scandal.

Knowing your weaknesses makes it easier for you to recognize when the other side is aiming at them. This, in turn, allows you to control your natural response. If you do not like being reproached for being disorganized, and you are aware of this, then you can prepare in advance for a meeting with such accusations. If someone claims that you are scattering, just brush aside his words.

If you have been verbally attacked because of poorly written text, try to look at your opponent as a person who simply does not know how to behave. Believe me, it will be easier.

Learn to smile

Be grateful for everything that is in your life It is simply amazing what a positive effect we get when we start saying "Thank you!" for everything that is in our life. Thanks for the gift of life. Thanks for the delicious food. Thanks for the smiles of relatives. It is in your power to make a supernatural and very powerful change in your life for the better, and I urge you to do it right now: Be grateful even for the most seemingly negative situations that arise in your life. Sickness, pain, and loss are some of the most powerful teachers we have at our disposal. They point us to our mistakes and wrong choices. They show in which direction we should grow and work on ourselves. They show the power that is within us. And besides, such negative things remind us how incredibly expensive and valuable our life is.

Change the mindset

●      Learn how to engage in internal dialogue

Tell yourself, “I can do better,” or “Next time I will do better,” or something like that. According to a recent study, this is an effective way to increase productivity and begin to make more efforts to solve the problem.

The main thing is to believe what you say. After all, this is not magic, but hard work on oneself

●      Turn negative thoughts into neutral ones

Do not torture yourself in trying to make bad good in a second. Go towards it gradually. 

How to stop being afraid of failure

●      Remember: failure means you do not standstill

Mistakes are not made by one who does nothing. If you fail, this is a sure sign of movement toward the goal.

●      Think of failure as an experience that helps you become better

Most likely, you will not make the mistake again. You will find your weaknesses and the next time you will do it differently. What if it fails again? So, you will gain experience again. And so on until you reach what you are going to.

Adhering to all of the above tips, you can succeed not only in writing books as an author but also in life.

Ben Grant finished his study last year but is already a true expert when it comes to presenting a text in a creative and understandable manner. Now he’s a writer for TropicHealthClub. Ben is thirsty for knowledge and is always on the lookout for tips to share with his readers.