Listen here.
Mental health is something that is really important to me, and has been a big part of my own personal development journey.
Some of you may be asking, what exactly does mental health encompass. and that's a fair question because each person might look at their own mental health in different ways.
As it stands in a general sense, mental health encompasses your emotional well-being, psychological well-being, and social well-being. More simply, mental health is a broad state of well-being that everyone should strive for or be working towards.
Emotional Well-Being
All three areas are very important to me, starting first and foremost with emotional well-being. This is essentially your ability to both manage and communicate your emotions and even more importantly to me, both having and finding your purpose.
Just that one area alone could feel overwhelming to tackle, and I agree; especially if you're just starting out on your mental health journey.
If that is the case, I highly encourage you to listen to my previous episodes as purpose specifically is something I discuss a lot. I just completed a four episode series on Taking the Time to Learn Yourself which would be a great place to start!
Going back to emotional well-being, a big part of this is going to be how you were raised. Gender could also play a huge role in this. Often times, boys are told not to cry or express their emotions, especially if they're sad or upset. This can definitely cause issues as they grow up if they don't take the time to properly learn how to express their emotions.
Even women, although it is more acceptable for us to cry, there are many of us who don't want to be seen as weak and therefore force ourselves to hold in our emotions which can then lead to bigger issues in the future.
A big thing that can help with learning how to express your emotions is journaling, which I know I've mentioned as a tool before. That's only because it can be a really powerful tool as it has been for myself.
Get into a habit of taking 10-30 minutes a day to just write about your day, the things that happened, and how they made you feel, can help you learn how to express your feelings and then be able to communicate them to others.
Psychological Well-Being
When it comes to psychological well-being, that includes the ability to problem solve, think clearly, have resilience, and how to learn and grow.
This is definitely a broad category. Problem solving alone can be a great area of difficulty for some. However, I think that starts with being able to think clearly. Nothing can be done properly if you aren't able to think clearly. If stress, anxiety, or depression are looming over your mind, the ability to think clearly is already gone.
In this sense, psychological well-being builds off of emotional well-being. Having the ability to control your emotions will help you have a clearer mind and therefore clearer thoughts. Once you are able to think clearly, you will be able to use your resilience to begin learning how to get better at problem solving.
I wouldn't say that problem solving is a skill that people are born with, and maybe I'm wrong about that. I know for myself, it has been a big thing I have been working to improve on throughout my mental health journey. However, what I do know about myself is that I have a strong desire to learn and grow. Since that part of my psychological well-being is so strong, it definitely makes up for the other areas when they may be lacking.
Social Well-Being
Lastly, social well-being. This is mostly about building connections and relationships with those around you. I touched on this a bit in the first episode of my Taking the Time to Learn Yourself series titled Building Your Foundations in 2026. which you should check out after this one if you haven't already.
But when it comes to building those relationships, a big part of that is going to be knowing how to communicate properly and effectively which is going to encompass both emotional well-being and psychological well-being. Once you're able to communicate effectively, it's important to find those like-minded people around you who have similar interests in order to build your community. These people will be there to help you on your journey, as you will be for them.
It's A Continuous Journey
All of this takes time. As I mentioned throughout, each of these areas build on each other to encompass mental health, which is why mental health is a lifestyle.
These are things you constantly have to work on and work at. As humans, we are constantly growing and evolving. It's important that you continue to work on your mental health as you go through different phases in your life, because they will all bring different lessons and challenges that you will have to learn how to handle. But that's okay!
Figure out ways you can help yourself work on your own mental health and incorporate them into your routines. These will look different for everyone since each persons journey and starting point with their mental health will be different, but I really encourage you to see it through. Don't feel the need to compare your journey to others because that will only make it more difficult. Just remember where you started and continue from there.
Remember, taking care of your mental health isn't a one-and-done, it's a lifestyle!
0 comments