This weekend, call someone you haven’t spoken to for a while. With home working and many events and celebrations canceled, we don’t meet as many people as we normally do. We don’t notice the lack of contact from day to day, but it does weigh us down.
You need to make an effort to contact someone, and they will appreciate the opportunity to talk to you. If there is anything they need, and you can help them with, even better.
Today is my birthday, and I always use that day to look back and review my year. It has definitely not turned out the way I expected one year ago! Some things didn’t happen as planned, but many other things have happened that I’m grateful for.
I encourage you to also regularly take stock of what has happened in your life. Focus on the things you are grateful for. Write down some sentences starting “I am grateful that…”
If you cultivate a gratitude mindset, the turmoil of life has less effect on you, and you’ll be happier and healthier.
After a long period of bad news, we’re now also seeing glimmers of light. Two of the coronavirus vaccine candidates have shown surprisingly good results with a 90%+ efficiency, and there are another ten vaccines in the final testing phase before approval.
Make sure you appreciate it when you hear good news. If you have a daily news habit, set your intention to find a positive story before you start reading. News stories on death and disaster, unfortunately, get the most clicks, so there are more of those. But the positive stories are there, too. Look for them.
Your medical system might not always offer you the best option if you suffer from anxiety or depression. Some systems have been known to prefer having doctors prescribe pills instead of working on the underlying issues. That might be because traditional psychotherapy can take a long time, and it is cheaper to simply give the client a psychoactive drug.
You might have to look for an alternative yourself. I recommend the method I use and teach: Regenerating Images in Memory, RIM. My clients have always experienced a clear improvement within the first three sessions, and many have needed no more than that. You are welcome to schedule a free call with me to hear more about how I work. Click here to find an available time: https://vester.li/i04
You might have heard about the placebo effect: Some people get well even though they are given a dummy pill that consists simply of starch and sugar.
Unfortunately, the positive effect has an evil twin: The nocebo effect. This causes people to experience symptoms even if given an inactive pill. They are so convinced they are given medicine with serious side-effects that a sugar pill will also cause symptoms.
Both effects show the fantastic power of our minds. We can think ourselves well, and we can think ourselves sick. Be careful to tell your mind you are well or getting better. It helps.
Today is World Kindness Day. The idea is to highlight good deeds in the community and focus on the common human trait of kindness. There are organized events and celebrations in some countries, but you can also celebrate kindness yourself – today and all other days.
Humans are a cooperative species and our basic instinct is to be kind to one another. There are billions of small acts of kindness happening every day all over the world. It is unkindness that is the exception. Unfortunately, the exceptions are what is reported in the news.
Start each day with an affirmation that you will be kind to someone that day. That will prime your brain to be on the lookout for opportunities to demonstrate kindness, and will make you notice the kindness others show you.
To help you make positive changes in your life, it is a good idea to keep a success journal. At least once a day, write down something you succeeded in doing. Maybe you took a walk during your lunch break, or read a chapter in a book you meant to get around to, or cleaned out a drawer in your cabinet.
Occasionally flip through your success journal and notice all the successes you are accumulating. I recommend a physical book – the act of moving a pen over the page reinforces the experiences in a way that tapping on a keyboard doesn’t.
Today is St. Martin’s Day. We don’t celebrate the day here in Denmark, but we do celebrate St. Martin’s Eve with roasted duck. I love cooking and prepared the usual feast for my family.
Even if you don’t love cooking as I do, it’s a good idea to be able to cook something. Cooking is not hard, it gives you a feeling of accomplishment and it’s a great activity to do with a friend or partner. And cooking your meals yourself is much healthier than eating take-away.
Notice the positive things in the world. I know that almost every president-elect in the history of the United States has promised to be the president for all Americans, but that was still a good and inspiring speech.
Listening to uplifting messages raises your spirit and gives you the energy to make a positive difference for yourself and the people around you. Listening to negative media pulls you down. Be careful what you listen to.
Research shows that the more emotional resilience you have, the less likely it is that you will be bullied. You also bounce back from all kinds of negative experiences faster.
One way to build up resilience is by noticing the positive difference you make. You can volunteer your time or money to help others, but you can also add to your resilience by noticing how you are making a difference to your pets, your garden, or your potted plants. You are making the work a better place if you pick up garbage in your neighborhood. There are lots of ways to do good deeds.
At the end of each day, reflect on the difference you made that day. Building up a series of positive experiences is completely within your control.
