This phrase has been following me for a while. I may go as far as saying it’s been haunting me. I’ve been thinking about these two words for months and I wasn’t quite sure if it was actually “a thing”.
Does that ever happen to you? Some concept comes in your head and you wonder where the heck this idea came from. You may even think you’re the first one to have this thought, but a simple Google search will probably show you otherwise. That’s one of the things I kinda enjoy about this moment of our lives. The internet has made even the most outlandish topics accessible. I understand that this is good and bad, but we’re focusing on the good now – the part that doesn’t make you feel like you’re absolutely crazy for thinking up a term like “mental wealth”.
I came to this phrase after a few conversations on the podcast kept ending with our overall idea of the importance of stillness and spending time with self. Sometimes, we downplay time with self because we think it might be selfish, or because we need people. And at different times this may be true. but spending time alone and really tuning into self is important.
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What is Mental Wealth?
According to this website mental wealth is “about how we can tap into our thoughts, feelings and emotions to re-frame how we are viewing our life. It’s about identifying our strengths, having compassion for ourselves and others and learning how to be our best selves. Above all, it should help to make us feel more happy too”.
We all know that we should be prioritizing mental health and our overall mental wellness, and mental wealth is how we tap into that. It is a continuous effort to prioritize your truth, your feelings, your passion and your purpose. It is much more than singular self-care practices. It is about continuous action to prioritize your needs in each moment.
What does it look like for you to prioritize mental wellness? Whatever it looks like currently, mental wealth is asking you to take it to the next level.
This website outlines that “mental health is the physiological functioning of the brain and nervous system. Mental wealth is how successful you are at managing the content of your mind”. So, technically mental health is about the absence of mental illness. Many times in the context that we use it, especially on social media – we’re talking about how we manage our triggers and everyday stressors that could potentially lead to any kind of physiological imbalance (so for example, finding ways to cope with disappointments in an effort to prevent mood disorders like depression). However, it also means managing your diagnosed mental health illnesses and/or physiological imbalances – staying on top of your meds or other coping mechanisms you’ve outlined with a medical professional.
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Okay, but what really is mental wealth
Mental wealth is not only about being able to manage the content of our minds, but also being able to identify our own shortcomings. The truth is, we all know when we’re feeling a little “off”. When something feels a little out of whack, and we don’t really feel like ourselves. What mental wealth calls us to do is lean into that moment and sit with the discomfort and discontent for a second and try to map your way out of it or around it.
It calls us to not only be reactive (so not just checking in when you feel something is off), but to be proactive. To be on a continuous loop where we are making space for our thoughts, feelings and needs. It doesn’t call us to be delusional though, we are aware that our needs probably can’t be met in every moment and that sharing our feelings doesn’t always mean that they will be validated by the person we are sharing with – and it provides us cushions for that. It might be in the form of a lesson – we know not to do/say certain things to certain people or it might just be that we don’t need this relationship at this point of our growth and development.
Mental wealth calls us to listen to our inner being and get back to self, while working towards being a better version of ourselves. It’s a commitment we make to ourselves everyday (or as often as we remember).
So, what does it look like?
There’s no one size fits all approach to anything when it comes to our lives. Life is dynamic, and every stage of life (even if you and a friend are going through similar experiences) will be different for us all.
What it looked like for the in the past few months was coming to the realization that I could be more. Not just “doing more” – I wasn’t concerned that I wasn’t busy enough. I was concerned that I needed to be doing a bit more work on the legacy I want to leave behind. We generally know where we want to be, or where we’d prefer to be, so we should take the time to assess where we are and where we want to be. I did not feel like I was on the right path so I took an hour or so one evening to write in my journal (it may be a physical journal for you, or your phone, or just going through some things in your head). I made a plan for:
- how to spend my “free time” – whatever time I had after/before my 9-5 job
- how I would work on growing this blog, and recommitting to this passion
- what my physical wellness looks like now and how I can improve it (including how I would fuel my body)
- rest and prioritizing rest
- recognizing burnout
- finding space for self (how do I define “me time”and how can I continue to learn to enjoy my own company)
- making space and time for nurturing friendships
- working on a morning and evening routine (I am the kind of person that really thrives on a routine, especially a morning routine. So every few months I take a look at my routines and whether they are still working for me
I also started putting time limits on social media apps after this podcast interview, just to monitor how I am using my time a bit more and seeing where I can maybe stop scrolling Instagram at midnight and go to bed instead 🙈.
If you’re not sure where to start with this kind of reflection. Take a look at the post below for a blueprint on how we can start checking in with self.
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Debrief your week
Takeaway
So, what should you be taking away from this blog post. The principal thing I hope you take away from this is that you need to make the time to tune into self. To be intentional about assessing how you are showing up for others and how you are showing up for yourself.
As we take the time to prioritize mental wealth and this continuous check-in with self, we will shed this “yes people” approach and be more mindful of setting boundaries and barriers – respectfully- for all spheres of life. We have all heard the term, you can’t pour from an empty cup, so you cannot be all things to all people all the time. Saying no…and meaning it…needs to become apart of your vocabulary. We know that folks expect to hear “yes” when they ask anything, and we also expect to hear “yes” when we’re in their position, but there are other options. Even if it ends up being a “yes”, it doesn’t have to mean right now.
One major thing that has shifted for me since trying to focus a bit more on mental wealth, is that I’ve found my voice a bit more. I used to be very afraid of ruffling feathers and wanted everyone (especially my coworkers) to see me as dependable – the person they could come to at all times. But after continuous introspection, this wasn’t serving me. What would that label of “dependent” even mean? It meant that I was pretty much exhausted meeting everyone’s needs except my own. Creating boundaries for me didn’t always mean verbalizing my feelings to people, sometimes it meant taking a break from some friendships and adding blocked time to calendar so even if unexpected meetings were added to my calendar I would have some buffer time in between.
Take time for you. Listen to what you need in every moment and protect your peace ♡