How to Prioritize Your Mental Health Goals in the New Year

With the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, it’s easy to forget about self-care. Once the busyness of the holidays subsides, and the new year begins, it’s important (and not just in the new year) to take care of our health goals which includes our mental health. This is just as important as New Year’s resolutions of hitting the gym or eating better. Mental health is often overlooked but it’s important to take time to set achievable, measurable and personalized to you mental wellness goals that will help you thrive in the new year.

1. Prioritize Self-Compassion and Resilience Building

In a world that celebrates wins and perfection, it’s easy as humans to push ourselves too hard and we set unrealistic expectations on ourselves that only leads to stress and anxiety. Treat yourself with kindness when things don’t go as you wanted them to. Don’t criticize yourself, but rather speak words of positivity and affirmation to yourself. Set a goal of being kinder to yourself when things don’t go as you were hoping.

2. Monitor Progress and Adjust Mental Health Goals Throughout the Year

Mental health goals require ongoing attention and the ability to adjust accordingly throughout the year. Tracking progress regularly is important. By tracking and reviewing your progress, you can adjust your goals and make necessary changes to keep things on track. You might want to set quarterly check-ins with yourself. If your goals or targets are not being met, adjust them to make them more realistic. Forgive yourself and be flexible if you’re not on the path you were hoping for.

3. Spend Time Outdoors

Nature and sunlight help to calm the mind and uplift our spirits. Prioritize getting outside and reconnecting with nature, whether it’s just a 10 minute walk around the block or a hike after work. It’s liberating and grounds us when we are in nature to simply smell the fresh air.

4. Practice Gratitude

When you practice gratitude, this improves our mental health in a positive way. It increases feelings of happiness. Writing down 10 things you are grateful for each day shifts your mindset and forces you to focus on the good things, no matter how small they may seem. Make dedicated time to actually write them down. You can do this before bed or when you wake up in the morning. If you don’t feel like you can force yourself to do this practice during these times, maybe take 5 minutes during your lunch to complete this task.

5. Make Time for the People You Love

Connecting with close friends or family members is important for our well-being. Schedule a “phone call date” to actually make it happen. If you want to grab a coffee with your sister, don’t just say it but actually book it in your calendars. Make a goal of reaching out to one friend each week to see how they are doing.

6. Join a Club

Choose a way to connect with community that isn’t home or work. You can join a book club or cooking class, or a bird watching group, something that interests you. This can lead to you meeting new people and becoming good friends. It’s easy to sit on the couch and watch a Netflix series every night after dinner but it’s also a great idea to get out there and meet new people.

7. Meditate

It’s worth sitting quietly with your thoughts, even for five minutes per day. There are so many meditation apps this day and age. You can search Youtube meditation videos. Meditation has so many benefits, especially mental health benefits for our mental health goals, to be able to calm you, clear your mind and help you to breathe easier.

8. Drink Water

Hydration is key to great skin. It’s necessary to keep you alive. When you don’t drink enough water you feel it in your body. Once you start drinking water regularly, you start to feel the positive effects of this and you feel so much better. Aim to start with drinking one cup of water per day when you first wake up and then slowly increase from there.

9. Start a Regular Self-Care Routine

You do not have to start a beauty product regimen every morning and night. It can be something as simple as making yourself a cup of tea before bed each night. Carve out a few minutes each day at the end of the day or the beginning of you day to do something for yourself. It might be a good idea to add this reminder to your calendar each day. It may be a small ritual but it’s adding to your cup. You are worth your time and effort.

10. Start Journaling Regularly

Start with five or ten minutes each day to process your emotions, patterns and ideas. If you feel pressured setting a time limit on your journaling time, then don’t and just spend whatever amount of time you need journaling. You don’t have to write about anything specific or you can write about how your feeling. Sometimes it’s good to just “brain dump” and write down exactly what is on your mind in the moment. You can simply just write the same word over and over again. What matters is that you are writing something and just letting out your emotions.

Take the steps now that you need in order to be prepared in the new year to prioritize your mental health goals. Make the items actionable and specific. Here’s to a new year and a new you! Sign up for a 365give program and start your giving journey today!

For more ideas on how to prioritize your mental health goals in the new year and how you can make a positive impact on the world, take a look at these past blogs:

Patty Benfeito

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I am a mom of 2 amazing teenage boys, I work in the healthcare field in Human Resources. I love spending time with my partner, Tim and our kids. I enjoy reading, going for walks, spending time at the beach and hanging out by the fire pit delighting in bonfires in the summer months and going for long country drives, stopping to grab an ice creram somewhere along the way. My passion in life is to help others and be the change we want to see in the world and hence why I am a part of the 365give.ca team and movement.

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