Thank you for completing the My Mirror Check-in.
Your result from this check-in suggests you could benefit from further developing your psychological resources* and tools to improve (or maintain) your wellbeing. We recommend utilising some of the tips and strategies listed below to help you progress through the experiences in ‘Own your Truth’ with more balance, mindfulness and connection.
Remember, our My Mirror registered psychologists are available up to 21 hours a day, 7 days a week for individual support tailored to you and your specific needs.
The following suggestions have been well researched and proven to improve psychological wellbeing and resilience.
Eat well
Eat a balanced and healthy diet and develop healthy eating habits. You might not know this, but a balanced diet is a baseline essential to have both your physical and mental health in order! Maslow’s hierarchy of need stipulates that this is essential to be attended to before we move towards meeting emotional and self-growth needs. The later rounds in the course will provide you with further specifics on optimising this.
Get enough sleep
Try to have a regular sleep routine and get at least 8 hours, switch off devices at least half an hour before bed and schedule in some ‘wind-down time’. Sleep is absolutely essential for our psychological and cognitive functioning, and emotion regulation. The amount of sleep, and quality sleep provides an emotional buffer and can help resource us to respond rather than react.
Get moving
We all know that exercise helps to promote fitness, energy, good sleep and reduce stress. Exercise also releases endorphins and makes us feel good! Try scheduling in at least 30 minutes of exercise a day. Go for a mindful walk or do a yoga class or do something active with a friend to increase motivation and connection. This might sound obvious but much like diet and sleep, this is a prerequisite for psychological functioning and resilience.
Handling worry
Avoid getting stuck in negative thinking cycles and remember thoughts are not facts. Check-in with your thoughts and worries regularly by asking yourself the following questions: What am I worried about? Is there anything I can do about this? Am I overestimating the likelihood of this happening? Am I overestimating the cost or how bad it will be? Or, am I underestimating my ability to cope? If the answer is yes to any of these, think of an alternative and more realistic way of approaching the worry.
If you think you can do something about the worry, read our problem-solving suggestion below. If not, try using mindfulness strategies to let the worry go.
If you find that your worries or a specific concern is persistent and getting in the way of moving forward, or you would just like more guidance on applying these strategies, speak with a My Mirror psychologist to help you put this issue behind you and grow as a result.
Try problem-solving
Dilemmas and barriers inevitably come up in life and sometimes there is no such thing as a perfect solution! Try problem-solving by listing all possible solutions and their pros and cons, and select the BEST – but not perfect – solution. Remember, sometimes two heads are better than one so it’s often a good idea to talk over a dilemma with someone you trust. This could be a parent, sibling, close friend or professional guide.
Consider your values
One of the biggest traps we fall into is making decisions based on inflexible expectations we have of ourselves or we think are held by others. When making decisions or commitments, consider what is important to you. What are your guiding values and what creates meaning for you in your life? At first glance, this might not seem to be a very powerful technique but once developed this can form your internal compass and have a significant impact in unexpected ways.
Connect with people
Research suggests that connection is one of the most protective factors to psychological wellbeing. Spend time with friends, family and connect to your community. Try helping someone in need or writing a letter or making a phone call, just because. Remember to ask for help when you need it.
Be mindful
Connecting with the present moment using mindfulness promotes resilience, self-awareness, productivity, reduces stress and helps us to fully engage with the things that we are doing. It also helps us to become more aware of ourselves and our ability to respond rather than react. Being in the present moment may sound trivial, but in order to truly grow effectively, it is imperative to be self-aware and mindful.
Have you ever driven home on complete auto-pilot and arrived without any recollection of the journey itself – this is the opposite of being mindful. Being mindful is about fully engaging with the present moment, noticing but not getting stuck on thoughts and emotions whilst noticing your surroundings. Take some time to stop, be present and pause. Try focusing on your 5 senses to help you to connect to the present moment. You might also like to check-out some guided mindfulness exercises on apps like Headspace, Smiling Mind and Calm.
Be grateful
Expressing gratitude has been proven to reduce stress, increase optimism, positive mood and life satisfaction and improve things like our sleep and physical health. Over the next week, consider keeping a record of at least one thing you are grateful for each day, and why, or let someone know that you are grateful for them.
Relax and have fun
You need a balance of activities and often taking the timeout to relax and have fun actually makes us more productive. When you’re stuck in your head or stuck on a problem, or are striving to achieve, it’s common to neglect to put aside time for this powerful technique. It sounds counter-intuitive but taking some time out, often makes us more effective and productive during the time in.
Give yourself permission to relax and do at least one thing per day that gives you joy or makes you smile or laugh. Look back on your list from Round 1 and try to schedule in one of the things you identified.
