The Best Mental Health Counseling: Seven Steps to Stress-less Success

1) Create a life vision and visit it daily

What I mean by a life vision is this: Where are you going? Where are you going in life? And what are you doing all this for? What’s the target? Many people don’t have this target or vision in their lives. They’re just in motion. They don’t really know where they’re going. That’s not necessarily the worst thing in the world, but oftentimes what happens to people who don’t have a destination or a target, is that they burn out. They don’t have any purpose for doing what they’re doing. Additionally, when I say visit your vision daily, it’s to really think about it and visualize your vision. It would be great if every morning you gave a couple minutes of thought, or meditation, and visualized your vision; meaning that you actually see yourself living in that fully fulfilled place, wherever it is and in all parts of your life, not only just your world of work but your health and relationships, all parts of your life.

2) Live from the goals that reinforce your vision

If you have goals but they’re not in alignment with your vision, or they don’t reinforce your vision, then somehow there are some wires crossed and you won’t fulfill either your vision or your goals. When there are wires crossed, we oftentimes have what we call a values conflict. And a values conflict can be extremely draining and extremely stressful. It’s time for you to get clear, about your vision and to set the goals that are in alignment with your vision so they really help support and reinforce your vision and help you fulfill your vision. Write them out, and then check in with them occasionally to make sure that you’re actually living in alignment with them.

3) Learn and implement your personal boundaries

When you really break it down, boundaries are really about knowing what to say “Yes” to and knowing what to say “No” to, and being very clear about where there needs to be a “Yes” and where there needs to be a “No.” Of course, then you need to make sure you follow through with your boundaries. Some boundaries may be boundaries you just have with yourself, and some boundaries might be boundaries you have with other people, events, situations or scenarios. Boundaries are designed to help keep you in balance and to help keep you healthy and energized. That’s the whole purpose of boundaries. If you want more balance and less stress in your life, clearly defined boundaries and implementing those boundaries will help get you there.

4) Participate in supportive communities

I can’t emphasize this part enough. We aren’t designed to do life by ourselves. We’re social beings, yet so many people get into a certain lifestyle pattern and they don’t invite other people in to help them or to support them. I want to encourage you to look at your support system and to really evaluate it. This is a great time to take a good look and really inventory your life. If your support system that’s lacking, then it’s a great time to start beefing that up, because you’re going to find that your support communities will really help you to not only achieve your goals, but they’ll also help you with things like boundaries. They’ll help you with things like creating a powerful vision. They’ll remind you and help hold you accountable, and they’ll help you to see your blind spots, those areas that you might not otherwise be aware of.

5) Feed your mind, body, heart and soul

Feed your mind with good thoughts, positive thoughts and with images of success and happiness. Feed your body and take good care of it. Feed your body good food, regular exercise and rest. Make sure your body gets the maintenance that it needs. And your heart, how do you feed your heart? Let me ask you this: What is it that really gets you passionate? What is it that really lights you up more than anything else? Whatever that is, that’s your heart energy. Make sure you’re feeding yourself with that heart energy, that passion that may be totally unique to you, but yet it’s passion for you. And then your soul, what is your spiritual path? What feeds you spiritually? For some people it might be something as traditional as going to a church service. For other people it might be practicing yoga. For others it might be dancing or singing or writing. And for even others, it’s going out in nature or watching a sunset. Whatever it is for you, make sure you feed that part of you. Make sure you feed all these parts of you.

6) Keep what is most important most important

There’s an old saying that goes like this: The most important thing about the most important thing is to keep the most important thing the most important thing. I know that may sound like a bunch of doubletalk, but it isn’t. What this is referring to is what it is that you truly value. This is what defines your boundaries and reinforces your vision and your goals. If there is something you truly value but you don’t protect, it’s then easy to lose track of your values and get led astray. Know what it is that’s most important. Know what it is that you truly value, and then keep and maintain that. Make sure that most important thing is kept the most important thing for you.

7) Consciously breathe, smile and laugh

Breathing is something that we take for granted. We have become a culture of shallow breathers. I discovered this for myself as result of practicing yoga. One of the primary emphases of yoga is on breathing. I personally realized how unconscious I had become about my breathing. But by practicing yoga I began to really tune into my breathing and how big of a difference, a profound difference, it’s made in my life to be a conscious breather. I encourage you to do the same, whether you take up yoga or not. And then there’s smiling. When you smile, you automatically release endorphins, which are the “feel good” neuro-hormones. Smiling will always make you feel good. And laughter, I believe, probably speaks for itself. Laughter is such a wonderful medicine. Laughter is actually probably one of the best natural medicines we can ever engage in.

There you have it: The Seven Simple Steps to Stress-Less Success! NOW, go do it…live it..and love it!