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Finding Your North Star

Finding Your North Star

Do you have your own definition of good mental health? Have you ever thought about this? What are your guiding principles?

 

 

According to the UK Mental Health Foundation, good mental health is:

  • The ability to learn
  • The ability to cope with AND manage change and uncertainty
  • The ability to form AND maintain good relationships with others
  • The ability to feel, express and manage a range of positive AND negative emotions

In which of these areas do you excel? And which one needs some development? Does this resonate with you?

I’m a big fan of wellbeing personal audits since all of these ‘abilities’ once brought to your conscious awareness, can be trained, and refined. Accountability helps balance the current trend of victimhood.

You probably know how important it is to get clarity about the future you are aiming your brain towards. Aiming your mind and body towards better mental health seems like time well spent, don’t you think?

With that in mind, I’ve adapted the MHF definition into an easy exercise to help you do review your own needs. I suggest you write out your answers as it has a stronger imprint on the sub-conscious mind.

  • Is learning new things important for you? Is it easy? What would make it easier?

 

  • How adaptable are you to change and uncertainty? Where in your life, would you like to grow more flexibility and how would the ‘future you’ benefit from doing this?

 

  • Do you easily form new relationships? And how do you nurture longer term relationships? Where could you better connect with others?

 

  • Are you comfortable with your full range of emotions? With which emotions do you need to get more comfortable? Which ones do you want more of and which ones do you need less of?

 

  • Are you being the best you can be so that any time, any place anywhere you shine? Which aspects of your personal growth do you prioritise?

  • Is your ‘north star’ shining from the constellation called
    thrive?
Boredom Matters

Boredom Matters

“I’m bored.”

Means “I don’t know what to do”?

Which implies “I need to know what to do”?

And therefore “please help me to avoid this feeling of uncertainty.”

TIME is the commodity and EMOTION is the currency; when we have time, we want to fill it will good feelings. And we can.

Yet a cruel outcome of fast-fix good feelings is ‘learned helplessness (“I’m bored – fix my feelings”)’ nourished by passive feel-goods like TV, social media, sugar, alcohol …

Phew!
Anxiety is dissolved by passive feel-goods. But not for long because we never resolve the nagging feeling that we dislike ‘that boredom space’.

Such a shame!
So many people feeling miserable and trapped within the solutions of quick-fixing profiteers.

Because!
Our brains are so easily trained, wired and re-wired.

Rewired by passive learning (the less aware we are of the boredom programming, the easier the acceptance).

Rewired by active learning and creative engagement with boredom to experience new and novel handling of uncertainty:

problem solving – how will I make that old sofa more comfortable?
creation – what kind of meal can I make out of these ingredients?
imagination – what will my garden look like if I dig up the flower bed?
experimentation – which windowsill has best suited my house plant?
exploration – let’s visit that woodland walk I heard about.
discovery – which food upset my digestion?
role play – how does it feel to pretend to be like my favourite calm person?
learning – which thoughts motivate me most?

Boredom!
Provides training ground for THRIVING through adapting and adjusting to difficulties and disappointments. Thriving brains know more conscious CHOICES.

Boredom!
Also provides training ground for SURVIVING through having our attention controlled by someone else. Surviving brains revert to auto-pilot and can’t make conscious choices.

Boredom!
Is a curious description of a state of human consciousness where there is space to be trained into helplessness and survival behaviour, or it is a space to build resourcefulness and resilience for a thriving future.

Thrive!
Let your children – and your own inner child – handle boredom actively …

NEW! DIGITAL CALM-CONFIDENCE KIT

NEW! DIGITAL CALM-CONFIDENCE KIT

Created in 2010, these fun, easy to follow brain training activities are ideal for young families and primary classrooms.

Instant Calm – Belly Breathing
Quietly Clear – Building Confidence
Brainy learning – Balance Body & Mind
Brain balance – Finger Play
Personal power – Heartful
Choose feelings – Spinning Feelings
Perfect peacefulness – White Feather
Brain boost – Eyes Around
Chaos to calm – Glitter Ball
Power up – Power Pack
Reassure an anxious mind – Finger Chat

Welcome to these practical activities that help you minimise stress and create feelings of calm and confidence. You will find increased self-esteem
and smarter thinking are very pleasant by-products.

This kit will train your nervous system to be calmer and to stay calm and confident in challenging situations. Practising them regularly will mean that you’ll get better at being able to do them whenever you really need to.

There are 11 fun activities for you to experiment with, each one is proven to help develop resilience. CLICK HERE

All Our Yesterdays!

Exclusive chat with artist Alexander Millar.

 

Excerpt of an interview with the artist Alexander Millar in which he describes finding his flow out of a ‘dark night of the soul’ as he left window cleaning to take steps towards global success.

Hear how his desire and self belief kept him focused on a career that includes having owned a 5th Ave (New York) art gallery.

Alex describes how he communicates with his own unconscious mind and how he found peace with how life works.

He also shares his strategies for using imagination and NLP to remain a creative success story.

Filmed during Covid19 lockdown.