May is Mental Health Awareness Month. During this time millions of people, from around the world, will be fighting the stigma against mental illness, educating the public, and sharing their stories.

As a leader, it is important to recognize and understand mental health and the impact it has on your team. I have found that offering health & wellness programs to employees is extremely successful and if you can include an incentive that is a plus. Everyone likes to work a little harder if they get to win something. Whether it be group exercise classes, a nutritionist, or healthy living tips, people appreciate having it at their fingertips. Healthy & happy employees lead to successful organizations.

But what can you do to improve your mental strength daily? We can’t predict the future, so how can we best prepare ourselves to face challenges as they come our way? There are so many ways to build mental strength but let me give you a few ideas that work for me and I have seen work for others.

• EXERCISE – Yes once you get past the initial curve of conditioning, exercise can be one of the most amazing mental strength builders. A lot of people prefer group exercise, and I am super envious of them, for me, I like to be alone, get a sweat on and reflect on “how” I am going to win the day
• READING – spending quality time reading, reflecting, and simply escaping the chaos of the day, it’s a simple proven way to quiet your brain
• PRAYER – getting a good prayer in is an amazing doubt reliever and leaves you feeling spiritually nourished – for that matter anything spiritual works well
• NUTRITION – getting good and healthy nutrients into your body to fuel your energy level is one of the most important things you can do to stay strong
• FAMILY – stepping away from the grind and focusing on what may be most important to you allows you to reset your priorities and see things more clearly
• GRATITUDE – practicing gratitude and staying positive in the moment is a de-stressor and fills our head with good vibes
• SLEEP – we all need our rest, and sometimes in the most challenging of times, we get less because we are worrying, when in fact we need our usual amount

Today, we have the challenge of letting doubt and fear seep into our daily lives. All around us, we are under attack – our jobs, our kids, our family, our friends, and society at large. We hear more about the bad that can happen or is happening than the good. The exercises above are just some ways that we can work daily to overcome the fear and negativity that is being thrown our way.

This month, I challenge you to a few things. Reflect on what you do daily to overcome fear, uncertainty, and doubt. If you are comfortable, share those exercises with someone in your life, it might help them tremendously. Go into situations with an open mind. You never know what might be happening in their life so be understanding. Take the time to learn something new about mental health and how it is impacting your community.

bFearless & bWELL