5 New Year Resolutions For Your Mental Health

In a few days we’ll say goodbye to the year 2021. Every end is a great opportunity for self-reflection. We can see what was good and also what could have been better. We can think about what we are grateful for, what brought us joy, and what made us sad. All these thoughts coming at the end could help us form a new beginning. We can use our self-reflection to decide what should or needs to be changed and what should be the same in the upcoming year. And here comes the time for New year's resolutions!

New year resolutions can be a powerful and motivational tool that could help us take care of ourselves! In this article I would like to talk about the resolutions which could be beneficial for our mental health.

‘I will try to improve the quality of my sleep.’

Sleep deprivation negatively affects our mental health. You might be more stressed, have trouble concentrating and feel weak. Sleep deficit is also bad for our physical health. If you want to do maximum for your mental health, try to improve the quality of your sleep. For tips on how to do that read this article on VOS blog.

‘I will continue/start reflecting on my life regularly.’

Self-reflection is really important for our mental health. It allows us to be in touch with our inner self, to see if and what bothers us and help us solve problems and crises. Thanks to self-reflection you can also see how you managed to overcome some troubles and use the same approach next time. There are many ways you can reflect on your life. Try to write a diary, if that’s too hard for you, try to focus on what's important and write things you’re grateful for that day or just simply what you think could be useful for you. I also recommend you to use the VOS app, it is a complex and amusing tool designed for self-reflection.

‘I will take a break when I need it.’

It is great to be productive and work on your career however it’s important to know when you need a break and take. If you know how and when to relax you can be more productive back at work. Avoid burnout, learn to rest, take care of yourself and enjoy your free time! Here is a nice article talking about the importance of a break at your workplace and it also explains how you can ensure it. However, it’s not always working you need to take a break from. Sometimes you need to cut off your social media or people. Stay in touch with yourself, recognize your needs and find a suitable way to address them.

‘I will ask for help when I need it.’

Life can be tough and it is important to know we can get help when we’re struggling. It may sound simple but when we face some troubles we can feel ashamed, weak, and disappointed because we’re not able to deal with it alone. It’s completely understandable, most of us hate to feel powerless. But we need to realize that asking for help doesn’t necessarily mean that we can’t do it alone. It could just make our troubles lighter or show us other options and make our suffering shorter. And even if we’re sure there’s a problem we can’t solve by ourselves, by getting the help we are making the step forward to ending our misery. There come times when we need someone and that’s completely okay! If you feel like you could use some help, ask for it.

‘I will focus on my physical health.’

Our mind and our body are connected. If you are tired and sick you will probably have a bad mood as well and feel weak. It’s hard to feel good mentally when your body is not healthy. Try to focus on your physical health and take care of it as much as you can.

These ideas for new year resolutions are quite wide and may not suit everybody. You can specify or modify them as much as you want in order to get the resolution that you could possibly keep and which could make your mental health better. I wish you all the best in a happy new year!