It’s that glorious time of year when people pack the gym and try to go vegan for the first time in their lives. The New Year rings in a list of items to improve in our lives. This is the year to lose the weight. This is the year to pay off our remaining debt. The year to be a whole new us. Or if you’re like my students, this is the year to go viral on YouTube (as the one who grades their opinions, I assure them a backup plan would be nice). Yet, we never see our mental health as fluid and improvable. Yet, who among us couldn’t use improvement in our mental wellness?
What if we have high goals for our mental well-being and create intentional steps to reach those goals through the year? Some of us might have key areas that need to improve. Others might need new challenges. Regardless, there are still ways to gain a new level of mental health.
Setting Goals for Areas of Mental Improvement
- Know your problem areas. For some, our mental deficits (whether an official diagnosis or just a weakness) have plagued us our whole lives. For others, we might not realize that certain attitudes and behaviors are only an effect of an underlying problem. If that is you, PsychCentral has great self-report quizzes. These are NOT for diagnostic purposes, but for self-reflection and knowing yourself better.
- Create an action plan. Well, now that you know an area of improvement in your mental health, it’s time to take action. PsychCentral also has a great resource directory for those working on self-improvement.
- Recreate an action plan. You will try some activities and hate them or you won’t be any good at them. Or maybe you change the focus of your goal. Expect and plan to change the action plan as you go.
- Prioritize your health. Losing weight often means eating healthy and exercising. Improving your mental health will also require time, energy and effort.
- Retake tests. The only way to know how much we’ve grown or improved is to assess ourselves. Retake the same quizzes you first took and see what your results are, now. The key element in this is self-honesty. Don’t take the quizzes around others, or give the answers you want to be true (or the ideal you in the ideal situation). Choose the options that are mostly true of you most of the time.
- Celebrate & maintain. If you’re not where you used to be, that is cause for celebration! If it takes a long time to see progress or if you lose some growth, don’t lose heart or give up. Just start at the top of this list and work through them, again.
Setting Goals for Areas of Mental Strength
- Find your strengths. In case you have somehow missed out on the sea of self-assessments out there, take a few moments to discover your strengths in intelligence. This is different from the personality assessments– it really doesn’t matter which Star Wars light saber you would be (I’m a “death saber”, just FYI). A good one to try is Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences. This focuses on what type of intelligence you have, rather than how intelligent you are.
- Look for activities marked by our strengths. Now that you know what type of intelligence you have, you can look into certain activities and hobbies that you should be naturally adept in performing. Bear in mind, you should be adept at these hobbies, but that doesn’t mean you’ll enjoy all of them.
- Find activities you enjoy. Try a few of the activities, but count on not actually enjoying all of them.
- Prioritize these activities. Once you find activities that highlight your natural mental strengths, set aside some time to work on your mental health. Just 5 minutes can help (although, for many of us, this would mean any crossword puzzles will take a week to finish).
- Have a way to assess growth. How will you know you’re getting better? Crossword puzzles get finished faster or with fewer hints, or without it showing errors (for those doing one online).
- Never stop. Just like any strength, you have to maintain your growth. People don’t stop going to the gym after they hit their goals.
Last Thoughts…
- Get help. As I mentioned, some of use may have more serious problems. Perhaps you knew it was there all along. Or maybe you took a quiz and realized for the first time that you have a problem. This doesn’t make you weak or mean that you can’t improve. This means that seeking professional help is a part of your action plan and your therapist can help you with the rest of the steps. Personal trainers are used by many people. I’ve used group classes at the gym to keep my focus. Help is not a bad thing.
- Don’t negate your strengths. Even if you have a more serious problem or an official diagnosis, this doesn’t mean you have no strengths. Everyone has strengths and you can always improve yourself.
What goals have you set for yourself? I have a strong intrapersonal intelligence, which means I know myself well. Sadly, this will never be on an exam. Ironically, one of the goals I’m working towards is my self-care. I’ve decided to dedicate some time every week to yoga. No matter what your goals are, this is something we can work on together!
