How to Be Mentally Healthy and Happy – [20 Proven Tips] on

Although it can be difficult to tell when a person is going through a rough patch, it is very important to take care of our mental health.

Our state of mind can adversely affect our physical state and emotional soundness.

Hence these 20 proven tips on how to be mentally healthy and happy are here to provide you with all you need to float to the top when it feels as though you are drowning in pools of despair.

How to Be Mentally Healthy and Happy Always

It can be hard figuring out how to be mentally healthy and happy, especially because we live in a fast-paced world.

It can sometimes feel like everyone around you is moving on with their lives, growing into adulthood, finding stable jobs, and making all the right moves while you are stuck in the same position, watching life pass you by.

These reasons and more can have you becoming overly critical of yourself.

You may begin to see yourself as being not good enough and enter into a stage of dissociation and depression.

Dissociation can feel as if you are observing your own life from a stranger’s eyes. It feels as though you are not in your own body and floating above people and situations, like a ghost.

Not to fear, it does not have to be this way permanently. Here are some proven tips on
how to be mentally healthy and happy always.

1. Cultivate A Habit Of Positivity:

One cannot just snap one’s fingers and get out of a sour mood or a depressed state. Yet, when you painstakingly put the building blocks in place, you will find that you easily climb over difficult moments, rather than drown in them.

What we focus on is what we see and how we talk about our world is how we will see it. If you focus on darkness, all you will see is darkness but if you focus on light, the case is different.

When trying to figure out how to be mentally healthy and happy always, we must be cognizant of the fact that our brain is a machine and we can train it to follow certain commands.

Our brain is built to spot threats and hold on to the negative things in our environment, this is a survival tactic that helped prehistoric man survive on predatory earth where dangerous creatures lay await in every turn.

But in today’s fast-paced and less predatory earth, this biological conditioning of holding on to unpleasant moments fuels stress and anxiety. So with the understanding that noticing and holding on to the negative is a natural predisposition, you must work towards training your brain to be positive.

This is one of the good mental health tips. Do not take it the wrong way, this does not mean that you should fake a smile and pretend to be happy. It means that whenever you find yourself holding on to the bad, remember the good. Choose to appreciate the little yet big things you take for granted. This will go a long way in rewiring your brain.

2. Shower Yourself With Endless Kindness:

We are often our own biggest critics. The leniency, forgiveness, generosity, and love we pour into others, we tend to not give to ourselves.

Constantly talking down to yourself, calling yourself by all the intuitive names you can think of when you make a mistake and other such habits can take a toll on you, mentally and physically.

You do not have to be punched physically for your body to take a hit, it already gets a daily knockout from your thoughts. Never call yourself ugly or stupid, even as a joke.

How can I improve my mental happiness? Remember to thank yourself each passing day for surviving everything that has come your way. Daily life can be very demanding and the problems and pressures can seem unending.

To live a life that is worth your while, never give up on a smile. Treat your insecurities, your doubts, and your shortcomings with nothing but mildness. Always shower yourself with the magic of endless kindness.

3. Adopt An Attitude Of Gratitude:

The world has become an erupting volcano, so if you were to look for things to complain about, you would go on forever.

But what about the simple yet priceless gifts of life, the ability to breathe without machines, to go to the bathroom with ease, to be able to see, touch, taste, smell, and feel. To have someone who cares about you despite all. The simple gifts of life can be where you find the most appreciation.

You may not be where you want to be, but the journey is far from over. The more you give gratitude the more you will find reasons to live a happy life.

4. Be Your Biggest Fan:

In 1902, Charles Horton Cooley propounded the sociological theory of ‘The Looking Glass self’ which states that, at a certain stage in life, man develops something known as a “self”. This self is formed through interpersonal interactions with people in one’s immediate environment. This environment involves the family, the school, peer groups, and religious institutions.

What this is trying to say is that how you perceive yourself depends on how you believe people perceive you which in turn confirms what others think about you.

This means that you may become someone afraid of loss, embarrassment, failure. You may think your achievements do not matter, or worse, that you are not worth a grain of salt.

One of the best habits to improve mental health is to sweep up other people’s opinion of you and toss it in the trashcan. Be your own biggest supporter and know that nobody’s opinion matters but your own.

5. Material Things Do Not Equate Happiness:

When looking into how to be mentally healthy and happy always, it is important to understand that material things do not equate to happiness.

But do not take just my word for it, trust in research and facts. A perfect example can be seen in studies carried out on lottery winners.

The findings of the study reveal that after a relatively brief period, lottery winners are not much happier than they were before their wins.

This does not mean you should abandon all material things, shave your head, go set up home at the mountain top, and live as a monk.

It is just a reminder that all you need is enough to cover food, clothing, and shelter. Remember the previous tip on how to become mentally happy: adopt an attitude of gratitude.

How to Be Mentally Strong and Happy

Now, more than ever, it has become important to know how to be mentally healthy and happy because of the world we live in.

You need to be able to bounce back from adversity and be resilient.

You do not need to be rigid and uncompromising like a mountain but to be able to bend with the wind without being yanked from your roots, just like the bamboo.

Here are tips on how to be mentally strong and happy.

6. You Do Not Need A Partner To Be Happy:

From Valentine’s day and its endless bells and whistles tailored to couples to the love songs of Lionel Richie and Whitney Houston.

It can seem that without an absence of a romantic partner who we will always love or who will always look for us, our lives can be nothing but a meaningless wasteland where no spark can ever fly even if it were to have a pair of wings.

While being in a healthy, stable relationship can boost your happiness, it does not mean that the absence of a significant other equates to sadness.

Singles who have worthwhile pursuits and friendships are reportedly more fulfilled than people in toxic or unsuited relationships.

Also, expecting your partner to be perfect at all times and straight out of the pages of your favorite fairytale will strain and eventually collapse your relationship.

No one of blood or water is responsible for your happiness, you are. And you must learn to be happy with yourself before you try to be happy with someone else.

7. Lose the Dread For Aging:

Oh no! You have discovered a strand of grey hair on your head or wrinkles in your skin, the world is ending and it only goes downhill from here, right? Wrong!

As opposed to the widespread belief, studies have proven that people become happier with age.

Yes, happier. This is because senior persons experience more positive emotions and less negative emotions than younger persons or middle-aged persons.

Despite the losses that come with aging, it has been proven to be the happiest time in the lives of many people. Do you know what that means? It means the best part of your life is yet to come.

8. There Are Genetics Of Joy At Play:

Genes also play a role in a person’s expression and feeling of joy. That means some people are naturally happier than others.

These genetics of joy account for about half of your happiness. 10% of your happiness is determined by life circumstances while the remaining 40% is determined by your choices.

So next time it feels like your life circumstances are about to pull you underwater, remember they only account for 10% of your happiness and the remaining 40% depends on you.

9. Perception Is Everything:

Most times you can be in a sour mood all through the day where it feels like every single person and every single situation has been specially designed to yank absolute and lasting exasperation out of you.

How can I become mentally healthy?

This is where perception comes in. A priceless tip on how to improve mental health is to understand that perception is everything.

Look back at your bad days and ask yourself “Did I have a bad day or a bad five minutes that I dragged out throughout the day?”

10. Take The Good with The Bad:

It is famously said that tough times do not last, tough people do and you may be tired of hearing that. You may have been through tough times and now, you are open to experiencing nothing but good times.

This is where you must remember the ancient Chinese philosophy of dualism called yin and yang. This shows what looks to be two opposing forces that may be complementary and interconnected.

Plainly said, there exists good in bad and bad in good.

Moments where you thought you lost a great opportunity, were there to prepare you for a bigger one, to teach you to appreciate what is coming or to save you from an unforeseen peril.

Death teaches us to appreciate life, sadness to appreciate joy, and loss to appreciate what we have.

No moment, when you look back at it, can ever be completely bad or perfectly good. Find inner peace knowing this is the way of the world for everyone.

Top 10 Tips To Maintain Your Mental Health

Looking into how to improve mental health is a great step towards enriching your life and taking the reins over your mind and emotions.

Here are the top 10 tips to maintain your mental health.

11. Seek The Energy You Wish To Keep:

One of the excellent habits to improve mental health is to be in the company of joyous people. Surround yourself with people who exude positive vibrations.

Human beings can be like sponges when it comes to emotions.

If you are constantly around Debby downers who see the glass as half empty all the time, you will soak up those emotions and drip negativity like a dirty sponge.

Enrich your life with positive, hopeful people; people who do not talk down on you or make you feel unseen and unheard; people who support your dreams and goals and want you to be happy over anything else.

12. Be Happy for Others:

One of the good mental health tips is to be happy for others.

When your friends or others achieve new milestones, do not see it as a reason to beat yourself up by comparing your lives.

Each one of us has different journeys and like trees, we bear fruits in different seasons.

If you get carried away with feelings of dejectedness or jealousy over another person’s fruits, you will fail to receive sunlight and also be too distracted to water your tree.

What happens then? Always celebrate others, you too will be celebrated.

13. Sweat The Stress Away:

Exercise is an excellent avenue to let go of pent-up frustrations and boost your serotonin levels. Serotonin is your body’s happy chemical that boosts the feelings of joy.

Exercising also releases endorphins.

These two chemicals will aid peaceful sleep, reduce those feelings of sadness, anxiety, and tensions, all the while making you look great. A win-win situation, is it not?

You do not have to splurge on a gym membership, especially if you are self-conscious or too busy. You can achieve great results at home.

Go to YouTube to stream your home workout videos of choice or download some of the many workout apps on your app store.

You can also invest in a yoga mat, weights, and some gym wear to get you excited about each workout session.

14. The More You Meditate, The Less You Agitate:

Meditation is another immensely rewarding activity to improve mental health. Meditation and mental health have a positive history.

Meditation provides mental health rewards which include but are not limited to heightened confidence and self-awareness, reduced levels of anxiety and stress, clarity, and inner peace.

Does mental health bring happiness?

Yes, mental health brings true peace of mind. The type that cannot be bought and has no need for the presence of a distraction to exist.

One of the best benefits of good mental health is that it grants you a state of perfect clarity and true inner peace despite a lack of material things or accolades.

Meditation also has beneficial impacts on the body, such as stronger pain tolerance and self-control.

15. Familiarize Yourself With Some Signs Of Good Mental Health:

What are the five signs of good mental health? Five signs that show you have good mental health include;

1. You feel good about yourself but not in a vain way that makes you regard people as beneath you.

2. You take things as they come, understanding that there are things outside your control. You neither gloat when you win or give up when you do not.

3. You have healthy relationships with people. This does not necessarily mean romantic relationships but healthy friendships and work relationships as well.

4. You are not a people pleaser. You understand it is not your job to sacrifice your happiness to satisfy someone else’s demands and that some people will dislike you no matter what you do.

5. You take breaks to indulge in the things that make you happy.

16. Sleep Is Golden:

You may be surprised to find out just how much sleep can determine our quality of life, from our moods to the way we feel about ourselves and others, to our efficiency level and body weight.

The average adult needs 7-8 hours of sleep every night.

If you struggle to sleep every night or most nights, contact your doctor to book a checkup, you may have a sleep disorder that needs treatment.

17. Keep A Journal:

Journaling is one of the excellent activities to improve mental health. Writing down details about your day is a fantastic way to gather your thoughts and understand your emotions.

If you are uncomfortable leaving details of your personal life in a journal then you can rip out and dispose of the pages afterwards.

It is the process of jotting them down that counts.

Shop online for a journal and have it delivered to you or purchase one at your local convenience store and get the journey towards a freer mind and a less stressful headspace started.

18. Ditch Your Phone To Find Yourself:

Many of us may claim not to have an addiction to our phones, yet struggle to fathom any derivable joy from a weekend without our phones.

In today’s world, social media has made it easier than ever to have access to other people’s lives.

These can prevent us from having time to connect with ourselves or grow ourselves to the level at which we need to be.

Take an hour or more away from your phone, as many days in a week as you can. Read a book, take a walk, participate in a hobby that allows you to connect with yourself.

Losing your cell phone addiction is another habit to improve mental health.

19. Let Bygones Be Bygones:

It is impossible to talk about how to be mentally healthy and happy without mentioning letting go of grudges.

Holding a grudge, however, deserved, can feel like tying one end of a rope to a rock and the other end to your heart.

It will weigh you down and if you do not let it go, it will pull you under into a place of unrest, agitation, and depression.

You do not have to reconcile with someone who hurt you and let them into your life. You can end your relationship with them without harboring any ill towards them.

When you let go of grudges, you are not doing it for them, you are doing it for yourself because they are not worth it.

A great way to let go of a grudge is to address a letter to your offender. Write out all they did to hurt you and what you have to say to them.

You do not need to send it out to them because after writing it you will feel a sense of closure. You can rip up the letter or keep it somewhere private.

20. Seek Out Professional Assistance:

There is no longer much stigma against therapy. When you feel like you can no longer carry on as you have, remember that life is much happier when you learn to cope with your struggles.

Try out a few therapy sessions and see how it improves the quality of your life while keeping in mind that you are under no obligation to continue attending these sessions

This brings us to the end of our 20 proven tips on how to be mentally healthy and happy. Do share these tips with others who will no doubt benefit from these tips.