Climbing Up: Part 1

I’ve been thinking a lot about the ways I could improve my condition. I’ve already implemented some of them this week. I must admit, changing habits can be really hard. Abandoning some of the bad habits can be even harder. But as my willpower is gradually getting stronger, I finally believe in myself and my ability to truly change my life for the better.

I’ve been scrolling through countless posts on self-improvement, reading thousands of pages of self-help and psychology books and watching hours upon hours of video content for inspiration, motivation and personal growth. I decided to sum all of those up in series of posts, to help myself and other people achieve goals and live better lives.

Understand your condition.
This is absolutely crucial for people who are suffering from mental illnesses, but it’s also quite significant for any person trying to improve their life.
To people suffering from any mental illness — it’s not your fault. Your brain has a specific physical structure and neurochemical imbalance. It’s ok to feel bad. But it’s not ok to surrender.
You have to realize that you are loved, that you are important and that you can get better, no matter how hopeless you feel at given moment.
If you still haven’t — seek help. Today, there are many different techniques that can be used in treating your condition and your therapist can help you. If one technique doesn’t work, try a different one. Ask your therapist to inform you about your condition.
If you need to talk to someone, here is my email: andrew.james.us.420@gmail.com. Feel free to contact me whenever you need.

Meditate.
Mindfulness can be achieved through many techniques, but meditation is the most popular and probably most effective. There are many different types of meditation, but westerners have adopted and are most used to vipassana meditation, which is focused on observation of bodily sensations, contemplation and introspection. Even though vipassana is most popular type of meditation in the West, it’s important for you to find the type of meditation that suits you the most.
Meditation has many benefits including better focus and memory, more creativity and compassion, less stress and anxiety, denser grey matter in many different brain regions.
I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety and I can assure you: nothing (not even medication and psychotherapy) helped me like meditation. It can’t cure mental illness, it takes time for benefits to be experienced (about two months) but it can certainly help you cope with it.

Exercise and healthy nutrition.
Mens sana in corpore sano, „a healthy mind in a healthy body“.
Physical exercise can be helpful in few different ways. Sticking to a fitness regime can help you develop or strengthen your willpower. There are countless health benefits, such as weight control, decreased risk of many health conditions and diseases, including heart disease, high blood pressure, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, as well as certain types of cancer. Regular physical exercise improves mood, boosts confidence and improves self-esteem. It boosts energy, but also promotes better sleep. It can even have positive effects on your sex life.
Eating healthy is linked to physical exercise in promoting healthy lifestyle. Some fitness experts go as far as saying it’s seventy percent of weight loss. But it’s not only about weight loss, it’s about what you put in your body. If you include only quality nutrients in your diet, your body will surely thank you. I will write about health, exercise and nutrition in greater detail in future posts.

Feed and exercise your mind.
Be curious. Read. Watch mind expanding documentaries. Listen to people around you. Everyone can teach you something. Be humble. Travel. Learn about different cultures. Learn a new language. Study history, it can teach you valuable lessons and make you wiser. Learn how to code, it will teach you how to think.
The mind wants to be free. The only way to free our minds is through feeding them with quality information and constantly challenging them.

Be grateful.
By practicing gratefulness for positive things in your life, you can improve many of its aspects. Whether you’re grateful for your friends or family, for being able to have a fresh meal every day, for the ability to think and learn and grow or for just being alive, gratefulness could really improve your outlook on life. Firstly, and logically, you can learn to appreciate many of the things we would arrogantly call “small things”. They are actually extremely big and important things and many people are forced to live without them. Gratitude can improve both physical and psychological health, it can enhance empathy, reduce aggression, as well as improve self-esteem and mental strength.

I will discuss other personal-growth techniques in my future posts.
Excuse me for my bad English. It’s not my native language and I was writing this post in hurry. I will come back tomorrow and correct some of the mistakes, as well as provide sources for claims in this article.