Does this sound familiar to you: “Every day I wake up, I don’t feel like waking up.”
“Things don’t get better even as time goes by.”
“I keep making an effort but it’s all in vain.”
“Everyone seems to be having a better life than me.”
“Depression is an illness but for me it’s normal.”
“I don’t feel like doing anything, it’s not worth it.”
“Sometimes I just want to disappear.”
These are just some of the phrases both young teenagers and adults are plagued by in modern society.
It’s what I want to address today so that I can help all the people that need help, even just a little.
Trust me, I’ve been there too.
Here’s a quick background story about me:
I was born in Chennai, India in the year 1996, but my family moved to the UK in 1997. I spent the majority of my life growing up in Birmingham, United Kingdom.
At a young age, I was diagnosed with delayed speech and high functioning autism. For those of you who don’t know, it’s where the person has a hard time with communication and social interaction, and displays unusual repetitive behaviours.
You can just imagine how hard it would be for me to make friends or even talk normally to other people when I was a kid.
For many years I was bullied. I was bullied for being the “weird nerdy kid” and “the kid with the goofy teeth”.
Sometimes I wondered if I even had ADHD, because I also did not get along well with most teachers. Often I was sent out the class for disruptive behaviour.
I would even sometimes fight back against the bully and and got detentions and suspensions for it when I stood up for myself (A story for another time). God knows how many times I got in trouble with the school for this.
My parents would be called into the school to collect me and I would usually get punishments or disciplinary actions at home, such as having my Nintendo GameCube and GameBoy confiscated for a week or so.
I had a hard and difficult life as a child, often feeling like an outsider and feeling like I don’t belong in the school, or even life. Growing up in a South Asian household, I would be compared to other children who were supposedly “better” than me just because they scored A’s and A*’s in their GCSEs (Qualifications every student has to take in the UK).
A combination of different childhood experiences had shattered my self-confidence and self-esteem and this is something I struggled with deeply growing up. I was also a shy and introverted child growing up.
I knew deep down I was different to the other people around me. This was evident when I had strong interests in subjects like Pokemon, Super Mario, Marvel and DC superheroes, and movies / video games in general. I was deeply into my hobbies of gaming and watching movies.
I owned various gaming consoles growing up, from the Nintendo GameCube, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and most recently, the Alienware gaming computer.
This also meant I couldn’t relate to most people, simply because my interests and hobbies were niche and different. So you can imagine just how difficult it was for me to have a good social life. Except, my social life was virtually non existent in my school days.
There were even times where I was around negative influences. Toxic friends who were addicted to pornography, drinking excessively, gambling and drugs. Half of my problems stemmed from simply associating with these toxic influences.
There were countless days where I felt anxious, depressed and even having suicidal thoughts.
I love my family and they did the best they could with what they know, and they may not know any better.
But I felt like I needed more help from them at times.
I lacked a strong role model in my life.
Someone to guide me in all areas of my life and take me under their wing.
Some people think I live a perfect life based on the content I’ve been posting on my social media but it’s far from perfect in reality.
Social media doesn’t highlight the negative aspects of life such as financial difficulties, unemployment, mental health, injuries, physical health problems (cancer, diabetes, surgeries) and relationship problems etc.
It’s easy to fall into the trap of comparing yourself to other people’s highlights and seemingly perfect lives. I understand all too well how social media can negatively affect someone’s mental health and self-esteem. But remember, social media doesn’t always reflect the full picture.
Here’s why comparison is the thief of joy, and why you should avoid comparing yourself to other people.
Think about the examples of celebrities who had seemingly perfect lives, only for their lives to be either cut tragically short, or they face other problems.
For example, Paul Walker was an actor who looked like he had it all. Good looks, charm, charisma, money, fame, status, and living the dream lifestyle. The Fast and Furious movies were a huge blockbuster hit. But his life was tragically cut short at the age of 40 in a fatal car accident.
Chadwick Boseman was another actor who looked like he was living the dream. Good looks, money, fame and status. The Black Panther movie was a huge success for Marvel Studios. However, Chadwick’s life was tragically cut short at 43 due to cancer.
Let me ask you this question. If you’re the type of person who compares yourself to other people (even subconsciously). Would you still want to trade places with people who are “better” than you? Imagine if you knew beforehand that Paul Walker was going to die at 40 or Chadwick Boseman would die at 43.
Would you still want to trade lives with them?
Probably not right? This is why it’s important to always put everything into perspective and to be grateful for all the blessings you have in your current life. Gratitude along with mindfulness is super important for mental health.
Everyone’s on a different and unique journey and people accomplish different milestones at different points in their life. Remember, you cannot compare apples and oranges and certainly, you shouldn’t compare your life to someone else’s.
Focus on your own personal growth, refrain from getting jealous of other people and remember to engage in self-care practices to protect your mental health.
I’ve faced many challenges and problems in my dating life, career and I’m still working on trying to overcome them. If you haven’t achieved “XYZ” in life, please don’t beat yourself up over it. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.
But later on this blog post, I will discuss how I’m at a happy place right now.
How I Became A Much Better Person Now
Before I go deeper into this section, I just want to make sure you understand.
This is about being comfortable with who you are and living a life that’s authentic to yourself, rather than who you think you should be.
Often times men hear the labels “alpha male/beta male”, “giga chad”, “high value/low value”, “jamoke”, “red pill”, “pick-up” etc. thrown around or are told how we’re “supposed” to be.
The problem with all these labels is it traps your mind into absolutes. Everything in life is a grey area. Not all people are the same, think the same, etc.
We hear about online spaces and forums that radicalise men into misogynistic violence against women, and in the process, damaging their mental health by giving them unrealistic body standards and ideals.
Online spaces such as Reddit, Twitter (X), TikTok and Facebook are exposing young adults to harmful language and damaging concepts which puts women in danger.
I would instead suggest people to drop all these labels and to focus on being your best authentic self that feels right for you and to always treat people with kindness, empathy and compassion.
Protect your mental health and protect the lives of other women and always ensure they’re safe and comfortable first. Always get consent first and have honest and clear communication.
Everybody’s life and beliefs are different and what works for one person may not work for another, which is absolutely okay.
It just means you need to find another strategy that will work for you.
There are a lot of things and issues about myself that I’m still working on.
I still have goals I want to achieve.
I still have bad habits I want to replace or eliminate.
I still have new experiences that I want to experience for myself.
But…
If I were to compare myself to 2 or more years ago, there has been a ton of positive changes.
I’m no longer the Baz that I was ashamed of years ago.
I’m no longer the Baz that doesn’t love himself or wants to exchange lives with guys that are so-called “better” than me.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m still working on myself, I’m still far from where I want to be…but at the same time, I’ve gone far from where I was before.
I also cut off any toxic influences who were detrimental to my wellbeing. My life dramatically improved once I cut ties with people who had bad habits and toxic personality traits.
And I want to share with you some things I did that have helped me, and can possibly help you too.
Get Your Mental Health Score
Before you do anything, I want you to get assessment.
It’s better if you consult a professional about this, but if you don’t have the means, go to this link – NHS Self Assessment (assets.nhs.uk)
This link will bring you to the NHS Self-Assessment.
You can find out quickly if you have depression or anxiety, or both, for FREE.
This is to make sure that you know if and how much you need help on this.
If you score with high levels of depression and anxiety, then this article probably wouldn’t be enough, and I would highly recommend seeking professional help to address these deeper issues.
I went and saw multiple therapists over the years and applying what they’ve taught me has helped me a ton.
But if it’s on the lower side, you can apply the lessons and action steps in this article, and improve your mental health by a ton.
The Two Most Common Mental Health Problems
There are two common mental health problems that are affecting many people in modern times, – Depression and Anxiety.
Depression is an abnormal feeling of sadness or lost of interest in the activities you enjoy.
Anxiety is an abnormal feeling of fear, dread, uneasiness, and restlessness.
Those are the most common definitions.
And these two are sadly very common nowadays.
We all grew up with watching cartoon characters like Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh who was constantly depressed and down on himself.
The character of Eeyore is symbolism for depression and pessimism.
But just because depression and anxiety are common, it doesn’t mean that they should stay in your system for a long time.
The most important thing is to treat them as soon as possible so they won’t affect your life negatively for the years to come.
That should be your biggest priority right now if you know for yourself that one or both of these two is stopping you from living a normal or healthy and happy life.
If you decide to ignore them, you’ll have a much harder time living a healthy and happy life. You won’t be able to be productive at school and / or work.
You won’t have a good time with your friends or family, you won’t be able to focus on what you’re doing.
If you are suffering from one or two of these problems right now, please know that they have a solution and treatment. You don’t have to suffer from them forever.
There is light at the end of the tunnel. I managed to turn my life around despite the hardships I faced in my childhood and teenage years.
With all that being said, let’s discuss the most powerful and effective ways to not only overcome depression or anxiety, but also to vastly improve your mental health in the next coming months and years…
Have An Attitude of Gratitude
Let me ask you, when was the last time you felt grateful for something in your life?
If I would guess it would either be a long time or never at all.
You see, most people, especially in the Western world, always want more, or always want what they can’t have, or always want more stuff, more achievements, more money than the people they know.
There’s nothing wrong with improving your financial situation or achieving your lifelong goals, go ahead and do your best…
BUT the trap that so many people get into is that they always want more, more, MORE. It’s never enough for them.
“It’s not enough that you have money for your commute, you have to buy your own car. It’s not enough to buy your own car, you have to have a Ford Fiesta. It’s not enough to have a Ford Fiesta, you have to have an awesome car like a Lamborghini to show off to everyone you know.”
See what I mean?
What most people don’t realize nowadays, is that we have a TON of great things to be grateful for.
If you’re able to read this article, you’re already super lucky compared to many people from other countries (Ukraine, Israel, North Korea, Russia, Syria, and Sudan to name a few). You have a good smartphone or computer/laptop, you have an internet provider at home, and you’re able to read, write, speak, and understand English!
Those are already 3 things to be grateful for.
If you really think about it clearly, even just for today, you will be able to find things you’re grateful for.
That delicious breakfast you had this morning, being able to play football with your friends, being able to go outside, your dog or cat with their cute paws touching you…
This might be simple things, but the simplest things in life often brings the most happiness and satisfaction on a person’s life.
If there’s only one thing you can take from this article, please let it be this – “Have an “Attitude of Gratitude.”
Be grateful for everything in your life.
It could be a lot worse and even the so called “better than you” people have problems and challenges they’re facing in their own life which they won’t always talk about on their social media. No one is living a perfect life and everybody is on a different timeline. Some people happen to find love early, some people happen to find their purpose early. For others, it happens much later on and that’s totally okay. You’re not “behind” in life.
ACTIONABLE STEP: Get a piece of paper right and list down 5-10 things you’re grateful for. It could be anything simple like being alive today to any big achievement like getting that promotion at work or getting those high grades in school.
You don’t have to overthink it, just write what comes to your mind. Think of one or two things that you’re thankful for today that happened to you or anyone else. It can be anything, as long as you feel grateful for it.
If that felt good, the next step would be to purchase a notebook off Amazon and start writing down all the things you’re grateful for and do this for three days. If it feels great by the end of that period, then gradually increase the number of days until eventually you find yourself writing all the things you’re grateful for every single day and see if you notice any improvements in this period.
FOR MEN:
You can watch the short film “Red Pill” directed by Will Dolan to understand the dangers of labels like “alpha, beta, red pill, black pill, pick-up” and how this type of mindset can put other women in danger and lead men astray into a downward spiral with their mental health and wellbeing.
“Red Pill” Short Film: https://www.firewoodpictures.co.uk/red-pill?fbclid=PAAaa5is1WC5q8ANIeZGt1b6p-oH0ZnMkeXR5Sf4alvTCk8Z26JuMyqGvrTF4_aem_AQTCda3lSo-EbTDAbKEQCF_RBztwCcAkSiaT_5SdmRuRp8Bric6MmiYkcBnQPUjTADI
ACTIONABLE STEP: Write down healthy attitudes and mindsets towards people and express ways in which you can always be your authentic self. Trust that the right people will gravitate towards you when you stay true to yourself and treat others with kindness and compassion.
For men, If you are in groups related to “pick-up, game, dating, red pill” etc. I would encourage you to distance yourself from those types of environments and focus on being authentic and genuine in your interactions. Treat women with kindness, respect, empathy and try to understand their perspective. You want to ensure that they’re safe and comfortable first and avoid engaging in any behaviors that will make them uncomfortable or even worse, put their life in danger.
The red pill forums and groups often preach toxic ideas that will only reinforce your insecurities and cause more harm than good. Always show kindness, empathy and respect towards others, and focus on being authentic in your interactions. It will be more beneficial for your mental health in the long-term as well as the safety and wellbeing of others.
Add Meditation As A Consistent Habit
When you think of Meditation, what comes to your mind? Is it a bunch of Buddhist monks sitting down and breathing deeply? Is it the yoga class full of people that you wonder if you should join?
There are good reasons why meditation is a habit that many successful people do on a daily or weekly basis.
Meditation has so many benefits that you might be missing out on.
Just a few of these benefits include reduced stress, reduced anxiety, increased self-awareness, increased attention span, and reduced chances of memory loss.
These benefits would make any person’s life better, no matter how old they are.
Let’s think about it, all we really need for meditation is a quiet space. We may or may not use apps or a timer. We just need to sit, relax, breathe deeply, and repeat this for a few minutes. If our mind wanders, then we just have to focus on the next breath.
Meditation is one of the easiest things to do in theory, but it’s hard for a lot of people. People usually aren’t used to sitting still, people nowadays are busy with school, work, or even wasting time scrolling social media, watching Netflix, playing video games, or anything else that wastes a lot of time.
People aren’t used to just sitting still and being alone with their own thoughts. But we desperately need to do this more often.
Remember that it’s hardest at the start, the first time you do it. Your first attempt will be frustrating, your mind will wander all over the place. But as you do it more often, after weeks and months, you’ll find it wonderful.
There’s different forms of meditation you can do and I would suggest finding a strategy that works for you. For me, I practice the ‘Gayathri Mantra’ along with breathing exercises for 20 minutes daily.
ACTIONABLE STEP: Find a comfortable and quiet place right now, sit down, either at a chair or a floor that’s not too hard, put your hands on your knees either face down or face up, close your eyes, breathe deeply and exhale deeply, then repeat the breaths.
Do this for only 1 minute. Why one minute? Because you want to try it first. You don’t want to overwhelm yourself and do 5 or more minutes on your first try.
Keep doing this everyday for 1 minute, then as you get used to it more, add 1 minute, the keep adding minutes until you reach about at least 15 minutes, then keep meditating daily or 5-6 times a week as much as you can. Let the compound effect work its magic for you.
Accept The Challenge
When was the last time you challenged yourself? Imagine if life didn’t have any challenges at all, it would be a boring life ain’t it?
Challenging yourself is one of the fastest ways to “level up” in life. If you’ve ever played video games, then you know that your character almost always completes a challenge before they go up one level. Whether it’s beating a final boss or completing a time challenge or quest, these challenges are designed to make the character stronger, faster, and wiser.
You can say the same for real life. Every successful person you know has gone through and surpassed countless challenges in their lives. I would confidently say that they would never reach the level of success they have right now without those challenges.
Life also would be very boring if we don’t encounter challenges in our lives. There’s a saying that “God won’t give you any challenge that you couldn’t handle” and that’s true. Also God or the universe usually gives you challenges that will force you to grow quickly as a person.
But here’s the catch – most people don’t challenge themselves at all. And if you do challenge yourself regularly, you may even outgrow the people around you in no time.
ACTIONABLE STEP: Think of one small challenge you want to do that you think will immediately benefit you or give you a small win you need.
Here are some examples:
- Talk to a stranger for 1 minute
- Read 3 pages of a book
- Write in a journal for one page
- Learn 2 words of a foreign language
- Jog for 5 minutes
- Do 10 push-ups in your room
- Say hi to a woman you think is kinda cute
You can do these for a while, a few times a week. As you do it, keep making it more difficult. For example #1, you can talk to strangers for 2 minutes, then 3 minutes, then 5 minutes, and so on.
Keep leveling up and keep finding new challenges for yourself.
Get Physical!
You can’t get mentally healthy if you don’t take care of your physical health.
There’s a good reason why many people who go to the gym feel better about themselves after. And why most people who eat mostly fruits and vegetables in one meal, reportedly feel lots of energy after.
There are 3 Components of Physical Health – Diet/Nutrition, Exercise, and Sleep.
The first component is Diet/Nutrition.
For your diet/nutrition, you already know that the healthiest foods are fruits and vegetables, but I urge you to do your own research. There are lists like the “100 Healthiest Foods” which you can read about.
In the UK alone, there are as much as 25.9% obese adults and another 37.9% who are overweight but not obese.
Those numbers are shocking.
Even if you’re not overweight, you can still get a lot of benefits from eating healthy. If you start right now, in 5-10 years, you’ll be healthy compared to most people your age, especially around 30-50 year olds.
But here’s a caveat: This doesn’t mean that you should completely give up all the tasty unhealthy foods you love.
It’s okay to eat doughnuts, chocolates, ice cream, cake, cookies, and all that sweet stuff, but this time you should do it in moderation. Once in a while is okay but not all the time.
The reality is most people overeat unhealthy food, and that leads to quick weight gain and health decline.
Food is similar to the gas or fuel that we put into our cars. What happens if we put bad fuel into them? Our cars get broken easily and quickly.
But if we put good and high-quality fuel into our cars, it will give us the best mileage and performance that it’s capable of.
The food that you eat every single day will have an effect on your body whether you like it or not. You should choose to eat mostly good and healthy food to take care of your body and make it function to its full potential.
A quick search will say that if you eat fruits and vegetables every day, you can reduce the risks of heart disease, digestive problems, or even cancer.
Choose to eat more healthy food every day and your body will thank you for it.
The second component is Exercise.
This is another common sense fact – exercising more will make you much healthier quickly. Even just walking 1000 more steps a day will have a great effect on your health.
If you’re like most men, you’ve heard that going to the gym will make you so attractive to women. There is some truth to this, but there are loads of other benefits when you go to the gym and lift weights.
Aside from the obvious benefit of building muscles, going to the gym will make you more confident, improve your memory, energy, and sleep, reduce your stress, improve your heart health, and improve your longevity/life span.
Those are a lot of benefits that will make the monthly gym membership worth it.
Also, it doesn’t have to be just lifting weights. You can do other forms of exercise.
You can do sports like football, basketball, volleyball, tennis, swimming, badminton, etc.
You can do martial arts like MMA, boxing, muay thai, wrestling, BJJ, judo, karate, etc.
You can do triathlons or Spartan races.
You can do yoga, gymnastics, or calisthenics.
You can do hiking, wall climbing, or parkour.
You can simply walk 7500-10000+ steps per day.
There are a lot of types of exercise you can choose from. You can be healthier and learn new skills at the same time.
I personally did MMA, Muay Thai & Kickboxing for martial arts, I played squash, badminton and Kabaddi at University which is a combination of tag and wrestling. I also do some cycling in the park too.
Find what works best for you and pursue that.
The third component is Sleep.
It’s scary to think that in 2022, 14% of Brits only sleep around 5 hours a night or even less. We already know that the average person needs around 7-8 hours of sleep a night.
Lack of sleep can lead to many problems in the future, including heart disease, kidney disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, or even depression.
On the other side of the coin, once you get enough sleep every night, you’ll lower the risks of all the previous mentioned bad effects, along with reducing stress and improving your overall mood.
You’ll also do much better at school or work when you get at least 7 hours of sleep a night.
Sleep is one of the basic needs of humans, and it’s sad to see that many people nowadays are having trouble getting enough sleep.
Remember also that everyone has different needs even when it comes to sleep. There are some people that can survive with only 6 hours, while others need as much as 9 hours. This is speaking for most adults.
It also varies with age, younger boys need much more sleep.
One tip that I can give you is to stop using your phone or any electronics 1 hour before bedtime. The blue light from your phone will make it harder for you to fall asleep sooner. I always activate dark mode and night shift mode which activates before 9PM.
I also use a sleep app “Sleep Cycle” which monitors your sleep and helps me to fall asleep sooner. This can be downloaded off the App Store.
So those are the 3 Components of Physical Health that you must improve if you want to improve your mental health too.
ACTIONABLE STEP:
Diet/Nutrition – For your plate, for at least half of it, put more fruits and/or vegetables. The rest of the plate you can put whatever you want.
Exercise – Pick one activity and do it between 2-4 times a week. You can start small and do it for only 5-10 minutes a day.
Sleep – Pick a sleep schedule and go to bed consistently during this time, even on the weekends. Adjust your schedule according to your schedule at school or work. For 1 hour before bedtime, you can read a book, write on a journal, meditate, or just lay on your bed with your own thoughts rather than using your phone. Go to the App / Google Play store and download the “Sleep Cycle” app onto your phone.
Socialize!
Every single human needs connection with other humans to survive.
There was a Ted Talk that says that your relationships are the #1 key to being happy.
Unfortunately, in 2023, 1 in 10 Brits reported not having even one real friend.
It goes without saying that spending too much time alone can lead to even more depression. It’s also a big reason why many men are opting for suicide.
Loneliness is a silent epidemic for men now. Imagine you’re having problems right now and you have nobody to talk to about it. Imagine also you got promoted at work or you got a perfect score in your exam at school, and you have nobody to celebrate it with.
If you’re one of these people, then you need to put yourself out there more often. You need to meet and spend time with more people.
You may have been bullied, or other people betrayed you, or you have been treated badly by other people in the past, I know this really hurts…
But there are good people out there, and the truth is you need to make an effort or you will never meet these people who can be a good influence in your life.
You can either have friends in real life or online. There’s value to both of them. I myself have plenty of online connections whom I can connect with well and have good meaningful conversations with.
I assure you that if you have friends who are a good influence and who will support you through good and bad times, your life will be 100x better.
ACTIONABLE STEP:
Talk to one stranger a few times a week. You will realize that everyone has their own story and not everyone is a bad person.
Also, join one social event per month at least. This is the quickest way for you to meet like-minded people.
Join Facebook groups of your interest and connect with the people there. Either from posting on the group or commenting on other people’s posts. If you and the other person vibe well, you can take it further into the DM’s. If they’re local to you or nearby, schedule plans on meeting up with them.
Get Some Sun And Be Around Nature
People who go outside more often are on average happier than people who stay inside all day. Our ancestors spent all day outside and during those times, depression and anxiety were most likely minimal compared to today.
Sunlight has numerous benefits for humans. The Sun gives us Vitamin D which is good for our bones, muscles, blood pressure, brain, and immune system.
Sunlight also improves our sleep quality. It helps us sleep better when bedtime comes.
Just exposing yourself to the Sun (without getting sunburned) has numerous benefits, and it’s totally free and natural.
This goes hand in hand with spending time in nature.
Spending time in nature can improve our mood, blood pressure, and concentration. It also helps us produce more dopamine which is the hormone that produces happiness.
Now you don’t have to go to a forest right now, you can just spend more time at the nearest park for about an hour or two, and you’ll already experience the benefits of nature.
ACTIONABLE STEP:
Get at least 10 minutes of sunlight in the middle of the day. On your rest day, you can visit the nearest park or public garden and spend your morning or afternoon, enjoying the nature and the view.
Develop Positive Habits
Do you have good habits, or do you have bad habits? Most likely, you may have some bad habits that could be having a negative impact on your mental health.
If you’re someone who’s smoking weed, cigarettes, drinking excessively, having a victim mentality instead of problem-solving, watching pornography, or staying up late on your mobile phone. Chances are, this will negatively compound over time and it will be detrimental to your mental health.
I’m not saying to never drink, as chances are the majority of people reading this will be social drinkers and that’s absolutely fine. What I am saying is to eliminate any habits that have no benefit to your life in the long-term. I personally do not drink any alcohol myself but for social drinkers, they can limit their alcohol consumption to only 2-3 drinks on a night out.
The problem only comes with excessive consumption and excess amounts of alcohol can have a negative impact on relationships, career, finances and in turn mental health.
Your habits will determine how your life is going to be for the next few decades. If you want to have good mental health, one of the first steps you can take is to start building good habits whilst eliminating bad habits.
I have written a separate blog on habits in more detail which you can refer to: How To Build New Habits Permanently And Stick To Them Easily.
The Power of Kindness
Do you remember the last time you were kind to someone? Most likely, you felt good about yourself for being kind to another human being.
Studies show that people who spend time and money on helping others are happier.
If you believe in the golden rule or karma, it makes sense. What you do to other people will come back to you, most of the time even more than what you did.
So if you did acts of kindness regularly, then other people will also do acts of kindness for you.
This can even help you meet more potential friends.
Even if you did a very small act of kindness, such as giving food to a homeless person, that act will have a ripple effect on the world, and you contributed to making the world a better place.
Being kind will help boost your self-esteem, which will also make you happier.
Even as you watch the news of people hurting others, remember that humans are innately kind, and many people are kinder than you think.
ACTIONABLE STEP:
Do one act of random kindness a week. You can give food to a nearby homeless person, you can volunteer for an hour, you can help an elderly person with their groceries, you can pick up someone else’s trash and throw it in a trash can, you can give a compliment to a friend or stranger, you can smile at a stranger especially someone who looks sad, etc.
Conclusion
This might be the most important thing you do for yourself. This might change your life for the better forever.
Mental health isn’t a joke, millions of people suffer from poor mental health every day.
I urge you to do the action steps in this article consistently and watch your life slowly get better.
The final action step I want you to take, only if you have the means to pay for it, is to consult a mental health professional.
It might be a Therapist, Psychologist, Psychiatrist, Counselor, etc. This can be the biggest investment you can pay for.
Also, if ever the mental health professional is not a good fit for you or you don’t like them for any reason, you’re allowed to find someone else.
It took me a few times to find a therapist who was a good fit for me.
That’s all and my friend, I really hope your mental health will be better after you read this guide and apply it to your life.
Thank you and remember, you matter. The world needs you.
May the best be with you.
Written by Baz Kannan. Edited by Kevin Pinili.
