Mental Health Monday – The Power Of Positive Self-Talk
Happy Monday! The hardest day of the week to think positively. We’re all tired from the weekend. Our internal clocks trying so hard to reset to coincide with those early…
Man using scissors to remove the word can’t to read I can do it concept for self belief, positive attitude and motivation.
BrianAJackson/Getty ImagesHappy Monday! The hardest day of the week to think positively. We're all tired from the weekend. Our internal clocks trying so hard to reset to coincide with those early alarms. And once again we are asking ourselves why do we keep insisting on staying up late on Sunday nights. If there was any day of the week we'd most advocate for a half day, it would be Mondays.
But that's not the case. Monday is here again. And more than ever it's important to keep a positive perspective on the world around us. In fact, just the mere act of thinking positively has more benefits to a person than an extra hour of sleep on a Monday morning. And not just on our mental health, but our physical health as well.
Mental & Physical Health Benefits Of Positive Thinking
We're always hearing the Tony Robbins of the world telling us to think positively. That it will improve our lives in some way. But how, exactly? In more ways than we might realize. The Mayo Clinic reported that the mental health benefits of positive thinking include a lower rate of depression and better coping skills during times of stress.
The Clinic found even more benefits to our physical health. Including greater resistance to illnesses, better cardiovascular health and even reduced risk of death from respiratory conditions, cancers and infections. As researchers continue to study the effects of positive thinking, they have found that adopting this simple habit can actually increase our life span.
So what does it mean to think positively? Well, it means to focus on what's good around us rather than finding what isn't so great. Self-talk is one place where changing to the positive can have a huge impact. This means not putting ourselves down when we make a mistake, or not insulting our abilities or how we look. Positive self-talk starts with never saying something to ourself that we wouldn't feel comfortable saying to someone else.
So the challenge for this mental health Monday: if you say something unkind about yourself, say three kind things to make up for it. Adopting this simple habit can help us feel better mentally and physically. And it's the easiest way to remind ourselves of this universal basic truth: "I'm worth it".
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