6 Mental Health Signals that You Are Sane

 

 

Many great thinkers throughout human history have asserted that less than 15% of people are truly “self-actualized.” That means that only a fraction of us are making the most of our potential and our mental capacities!

Being conscious of how we process our daily life can be a big factor in maintaining our mental health.

Over the years, psychology has revealed to us that people can only acknowledge the harsher realities about themselves in small, gradual doses. As a result, we construct defenses to keep too much reality from rushing in at us all at one time! This is healthy and normal. After all, nobody is perfect. That’s part of the beauty of being human.

by Dane Findley

How to Have a Strong Mind

Hopefully, as we travel along on life’s journey, we become increasingly brave about exploring who we really are. This bravery can help us to enjoy sustained mental health.

Here are six ways to know if you’re poised to engage all of the intellect, compassion, and creativity that lies within you!

Mental Health Signal #1: You Are Seeing Yourself Objectively

You are developing the ability to see yourself realistically and in proper context.

This is harder than it sounds. Often, how we experience ourselves is not how other people experience us.

Mental Health Signal #2: You Are Recognizing Your Own Patterns

You recognize patterns in your life, especially as it relates to your own behavior and choices. This, too, is not always as easy or quick as it sounds.

Mental Health Signal #3: You Are Tuning-In to Others

Many people become bored or frustrated if a conversation goes too long without being about themselves. Some people can last 2 hours. Many cannot last two minutes.

“…ironically, the more knowledgeable you become about yourself,
the less threatening it becomes to discover new imperfections”

As you do The Work of personal growth, you begin to realize that you are responsible for how you feel and other people are responsible for how they feel. As you mature, your ability to accurately determine what someone is feeling strengthens. You find you can use these powers of empathy for much longer periods without becoming restless.

Over the last 200 years our environment has changed outrageously. But — and it’s a big but — our human physiology remains comparatively unaltered, so in a sense we haven’t yet developed the coping skills to deal with all the noise, distractions, and craziness.

The problem with the rat race is that it has a tendency to be detrimental to our psyches, our physical health and to our relationships. This is especially true for those of us over the age of 40. In a sense, everyone in the developed nations over age 40 has the same challenge: how to age successfully, gracefully, and with nobility. That is, how to enjoy increased prosperity while at the same time improving our physical health and deepening our relationships.

Fortunately, there are solutions. In fact, I compiled solutions into a new book, The Numinous Journey — the book is just one of five items in the new Longevity Lifestyle Kit.

By utilizing principles of Success Psychology, the Longevity Lifestyle Kit ensures that any new, positive habits you acquire will “stick” (instead of having you start out with good intentions and then falling back into the same old habits).

 

“The Numinous Journey really spoke to me.
Definitely a book to read to get you to think about why and how people live their lives.
I identified with being on auto-pilot;
I already knew this but had not fully admitted why this was bad for me in the longer term.
It also made me think about how how people really engage (or fail to engage) in conversations
as well as how I can take baby steps to make my life more fulfilling”
                                            ~ Nicky Hirst, Marketing Manager

The final section of The Numinous Journey helps you to crystalize everything you’ve learned about yourself and hold dear, and then utilize this new awareness into creating a life map — a map that will help you to navigate this next phase of your life, so that your journey is passionate, joyful, and rich with meaning and purpose. This next phase of your life can be your most fascinating yet!

“…the opening chapters of The Numinous Journey are so powerful, I defy anyone truly interested in self-improvement to read no further! Compelling and wise, without thinking that you have just been put straight and told off!

Dane complements his prose with those influential in both western and eastern philosophy, providing the reader with a wonderfully balanced view — sage advice and quotes that inspire and enlighten!

Chapter 6 is so vital. In discussing our eternal desires for that which lies outside of us, Dane reinforces the ancient philosophy: ‘all that we seek is within us.’

Chapter 7 reminds us of the foolishness of waiting to live, really live, until… until what? It is a sad indictment that so many start to live only when faced with a life-limiting illness!

Chapter 8 is about finding true inner peace. Mindfulness and meditation is no dark art. All that you seek is here. Priceless!

The closing chapters are a firestorm of brilliant advice and tips to (kindly) hammer home major — yet achievable — goals that will introduce you to paradigm shifts in family life, work-life and performance. The formula for creating meaningful, positive change is here …and it makes sense!

Being a man in his late 40s, I feel so fortunate to have read The Numinous Journey. As a psychotherapist I help others to walk their emotional fires — as I also walk my own — and this book could hardly have arrived at a better time!

                                      ~ Bob Brotchie, Anglia Counselling

Mental Health Signal #4: You Are Receiving Feedback More Gracefully

Some can hand out constructive criticism generously. However, they become very defensive if anyone challenges their version of things. Ironically, the more knowledgeable you become about yourself, the less threatening it becomes to discover new imperfections.

Mental Health Signal #5: You Are Managing Anxiety Consciously

You’re continuously finding healthier ways to manage and “metabolize” anxiety. In modern life, everyone feels anxiety every day (in both big and little ways). How we “self-medicate” our general anxiety varies greatly: television, jogging, codependency, romance novels, heroin, sugar, meditation, oxycontin, beer – the list is almost endless. Some methods serve us better than others. Just as a plant uses the process of photosynthesis to turn the sun’s radiation into sustenance, so can humans take anxiety and use it as fuel for increased clarity and personal expansion.

Mental Health Signal #6: You Are Being Happy with What You Have

Of course, you still have dreams and goals. Nevertheless, you’re also learning to be content in the present. You feel less and less like that person for whom nothing is ever enough, or the person who will only be happy “once this happens” or “once this is in place.” You are finding it easier to relax in-the-now, with exactly how things are in this moment.

How to Get Smarter

• ▸ are you on a vigorous journey of personal growth and insight?
• ▸ what positive things have you learned along the way?

Eventually, a lesson that the brightest among us will learn is: that relationships are what really matter. Experience also will teach us that the more healthy relationships we have, the more prosperity can enter our lives. It’s the law of attraction at play in the universe.

While reading 28 Best Friends I got an a-Ha! moment — realizing that sometimes we experience unhealthy or unproductive relationships that affect our well-being. It is imperative to connect with the ones that matter and Dane profiles how to get it done beautifully and strategically in his book. Hands down, the book has the most effective tools in connecting with the ones that matter and eliminate the “junk” that affects us, preventing us from growing and living our best lives! For good friends and good times make Dane’s book your weekend read and improve your life!

                                            ~ Doina Oncel, Solutions Specialist for Non-Profits

Also included within the Longevity Lifestyle Kit is a companion guide that provides you with the simple tools you need to help you assess the current quality of your “tribe” — the people who surround you in your daily life. The exercises included within this guide are revelatory! Purchase the guide separately, or save money purchasing the complete Longevity Kit — all 5 life-improving items bundled together, for the low price of $14.95.
 

28 Best Friends:
A Unique Social Experiment ~ Companion e-Guide, $4.95
 

 
This e-Guide help make the healthy relationships in your life more reciprocal and abundant. It has been proven that healthy relationships are the key to improved mental health.

“…ultimately, it all comes down to your relationships.
Healthy relationships are what are most responsible
for bringing joy and prosperity into your life.
I use the 28 Best Friends guide as my ‘recipe’
for cultivating the relationships in my life that matter most!
I feel so energized about bringing more of myself
to the time I spend with my close friends and family.
As a read through the guide, I started wondering,
“Would I be in my friends’ 9-givers list?”
I hope I add something meaningful to their lives,
so hopefully the answer is yes!”

                  ~ Jared Knickmeyer, Estate Homes Sales Specialist
 

What you need to get started are:

1. a positive attitude
2. a relationship list
3. and a relationship action plan

This e-Guide will help you to craft the above 3 things — it’s an easy process that is both fun and fascinating!

28 Best Friends is an important part of a puzzle that any individual needs to put together for a successful life. Regardless of the length of your life, these steps will make your time on earth pleasurable for yourself and others around you.

This booklet is very hands-on, specific and logical. After the first reading, you might feel that the content is obvious and common sense. And it is! Things become obvious and common sense once someone puts them in the right order and presents them pedagogically.

The list of “questions to ask” provides solid grounding and opens your mind to reflect. I read that part several times to see if it fits my situation and life. After a while I realized that the questions got me thinking in the right direction. This is a great effect of this booklet. It helps you to reflect over your tribe. What more can be done? How can I expand? How can I contribute even more and better?

Do the exercises, even if your first reaction is not to. The effect after doing that is mind-blowing. Regardless of your tribe being super small or metropolitan. You need to see it on paper.

A pleasurable read! There were so many gems for me to collect. Dane writes accessible yet simplified, and has a great sense and feeling for the topic. These skills come from life experience as well as having produced a lot of material in the subject. The content, length, composition and design is just perfect!

                                                  ~ Shahram Khorsand, Sales Manager / CareFusion Sweden

If living a happy and healthy life is important to you — especially as you age — then you must pay attention to the relationships in your life.

Designed to help you do exactly that, 28 Best Friends: Your Own Social Experiment! is a practical companion guide to The Numinous Journey eBook. Both of these products are included within the new Longevity Lifestyle Kit!