Mental Health Awareness Month Day 21.
Keep one small promise to yourself each day.
It may seem like I’m going back to my list of 31, but I’m not. Maybe I will return to those remaining 12 things. Maybe I won’t. But talking about what is pressing on my mind now seems more important than what was on my mind at the beginning of the month.
After being hospitalized twice, I have wondered what makes that experience helpful and safe. There are many factors. One thing I tried to incorporate a couple months ago was to choose one thing to do daily no matter what. In the hospital, all the patients on the floor would gather with a tech, and we would check in twice a day. Once in the morning and once at night. In the morning, we would set a goal for the day, and in the evening, we would share whether or not we met our goal. Not only did we set a goal each day, but we said it out loud in front of our peers. And at the end of the day, we had the accountability of saying yes or no in front of our peers as well. Usually in the hospital, your goal was different each day. Because generally you are only there for a week or so, and you have things you must do before you can be released.
Two months ago I signed up for a 30-day journal journey. I started journaling daily because I wanted to write according to those prompts I received each day. After 3 days of completing the prompts, I decided I didn’t like them, and I didn’t want to do them. I was kind of disappointed with myself because I am the queen of starting and not finishing things. And here was one more thing I had begun and not accomplished. Before I got too frustrated, I took a step back and asked what the purpose of the prompts were in the first place. I have journaled since I was a child. I wasn’t lacking in what to write about. I was just missing the discipline to do it every day. It occurred to me that I signed up for the prompts to motivate myself to write in my journal daily. I quickly stopped using the prompts (and I stopped feeling guilty for not using them) and continued journaling each day.
When I journal today, it will be 61 days in a row that I have journaled. All because a couple months ago I decided to keep a daily promise to myself to do so. It has helped me go from sleeping and/or watching shows/movies all day to being more productive every day. A month ago I started writing specifically for my book. Today will be 30 days of meeting my daily word count. And as you well know, if you’ve been following these daily MHAM posts, 21 days ago I started posting on social media every day in honor of Mental Health Awareness Month.
Keeping at least one simple promise to myself every day has turned me into being more content with myself. I hated that I didn’t journal every day. And I hated that I wanted to write a book, but I wasn’t writing a book. There are lots of other things I need and want to do. But having just one tiny daily goal has helped me stay out of the deep dark hole while giving me purpose. And it has the power to help me accomplish many other things. #heber #dailygoal #dailypromisetoyourself #createahabit #journaling #journaler #writer #writeabook #powerofhabits #mentalillness #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #mentalhealthawarenessmonth #mentalhealthinthetimeofcorona #coronavirus #covid19 #corona2020 #letsbereal #31in31at31 #agamutofgrey #lifeisbeautiful #may2020 5.21.20
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