Why Mental Health is Important

Summary

Maintaining mental health is crucial for making better life choices, managing anxiety, and achieving success through clarity and mindfulness.

Abstract

The article emphasizes the importance of mental health over physical appearance, arguing that a healthy mental state is fundamental for making logical choices and improving life satisfaction. It suggests that our actions, which are the result of our choices, are deeply influenced by our mental well-being. The text highlights that anxiety often stems from our thought processes rather than the actual tasks at hand, and it can be mitigated by writing down tasks and focusing on them one at a time. Clarity of goals and a clear plan are presented as keys to overcoming dissatisfaction and achieving success. The article also discusses the significance of mindfulness, being present in the moment, and how practices like meditation can lead to a more energetic and focused life. The conclusion reiterates the value of understanding the brain's workings to enhance productivity and the importance of living in the present.

Opinions

The author believes that while physical health is important, mental health should be the primary focus for a fulfilling life.
It is the author's opinion that our choices and, consequently, our actions are heavily influenced by our mental state.
The author suggests that anxiety is often a result of our brain's attempt to keep us in the 'comfort zone' rather than a true reflection of our capabilities to complete tasks.
The article conveys the opinion that success is contingent upon having clear, written goals and a plan to achieve them.
The author expresses that a lack of clarity and dissatisfaction with life can lead to a negative emotional loop, which can be broken by taking action towards change.
Mindfulness and presence in the moment are highly valued by the author as essential for a better quality of life.
The author shares a personal experience of how meditation improved their life, suggesting that mindfulness practices can have profound effects on energy levels, mental clarity, and productivity.

Why Mental Health is Important

People nowadays are focused on having a good body and building the best shape. Truly, it is good to take care of your body. But for me, I believe that it is more important to build a calm and healthy mental state. You may wonder, having a healthy mental state? Who cares!

Most of us are unhappy with certain decisions in our life. And as you may have guessed, our choices depend mainly on the state of mind when we have committed those choices.

Importance of choices

Our life is basically composed of actions. Waking up is an action, go for a walk is an action. Therefore, everything we do is basically an action. And these actions add up at the end and form your day.

These actions are derived from your choices, you hear the alarm rings in the morning, now you have two options either you wake up or you hit the snooze button. Based on your choice you will perform an action. That is why you need to keep a healthy mental state throughout the day, so you can pick the logical choice.

Anxiety and mental state

Sometimes, we become overwhelmed by the number of tasks we have to do. Actually, the issue is not with the number of tasks it is about your way of thinking. Your brain tricks you and gives you imaginary ideas that it is impossible to finish the tasks before the deadline. You may ask why? It is because your brain wants you to survive. Our brains act stupid sometimes, it considers the tasks as an incoming danger. Hence, instead of pushing you to do it, it tries to keep you on the safe side which is called The Comfort Zone.

An optimal solution for this problem is to list all that is inside your mind on paper. And start working immediately. You will be surprised that what you have to do is not hard and it can be done quickly if you focus on it.

Clarity is the key to success

All people have the same 24 hours, and most of us share the same circumstances. Then why can’t we become successful? It is because we lack clarity. The majority live the day for the sake of living. If you don’t have written goals and stated goals, then how on earth can you change and improve your life?

One of the main reasons for anxiety and a chaotic mind is dissatisfaction with life. You keep blaming everything each day and continue dreaming to have the life that you want without doing some effort. Instead of whining about your life and be held on the negative emotional loop, start doing something about your situation!

Have a clear plan about what to change in your life, and each day try to pursue that plan. Believe me, while keep adding changes to your life you will feel much better and negativity will vanish over time. What you should focus on is the process, not the result. Keep track and make notes of the changes that occurred recently in your life and you will realize the tremendous difference before and after the process of improving.

Mindfulness

Mindfulness is basically to be aware of the present moment. Another factor of having poor mental health is to be stuck in the past or the future. We always underestimate the importance of the present moment. In fact, it is the only available moment for us. You can’t travel to the past or foretell the future. Actually, your future is based on the present moment, so start acting and stop thinking too much! If you become blind and start thinking only about the future, then let me tell you, you won’t go anywhere and your life will be the same as before.

There are many exercises that might help you to become more present. In my case, I have tried 10 minutes of meditation twice a day for 3 months. And I was so surprised by the results, my energy level increased, I had a clear mind which is unusual for me, also I was able to pursue a side project that I was procrastinating for ages. In addition, I managed to build good habits while I was trying to stick to meditation. Sadly, I stopped meditation after the 3 months and my life returned to its normal flow again. But that showed me how can a mindful activity shifts your life for the better.

Meditation might not be the thing for you. There are various exercises that lead to the same goal. It depends heavily on you, some people feel present when they clean the dishes. While others get the same feeling when they go out for a run. You just have to find whatever practice that leads you to become more aware of the present moment.

Conclusion

Trying to understand how your brain works can improve your productivity level a lot. And having a calm and peaceful mind is something worth doing the effort for. Whenever you feel sad about the past or overthinking about future opportunities, do your self a favor and start thinking about the present moment, because it is what truly matters.