How are you doing?
You probably get asked that question all the time. It’s a typical way to start a conversation, and most of the time we shoot back a quick response like, “I’m fine! How are you?” and they respond in kind. But when is the last time you answered that question honestly? When is the last time stopped and asked yourself how you were doing, and more importantly, gave yourself an honest answer? Do you ever take stock of your mental health, check in about where you are headed physically? What about taking stock of your relationships?
If it has been awhile since you have taken stock of your life, your health, and your habits, don’t worry! As adults we usually get so caught up in the hustle of our everyday life, chores, and errands, that we forget to stop and take an honest look at what we are doing, how well we are doing, and how well we actually feel about what we’re doing. All three are important for general wellness, but incredibly important for anyone in mental health or addiction recovery when you’re attempting to navigate your life into a healthier direction. It’s pretty common to just float along in your day to day without noticing what habits you have created, fallen in to, and are reinforcing, but over time, these habits make up the bulk of your life!
How to start
So how do you start? One of the simplest ways to take stock is by giving yourself a simple score in a few basic categories that tend to support health overall. However, feel free to add any category that meets your needs more specifically! Think about the past two weeks, and be as honest as possible. This only works if you’re able to be honest about where you are!
In the last two weeks, did you:
- Drink enough water?
- Get enough sleep?
- Eat well?
- Get enough exercise?
- Connect with someone?
- Get enough time outside/exposure to sunshine?
- Make plans for yourself?
- Limit scrolling/tv watching?
- Do something fun for yourself?
(save this graphic to your phone for a quick reminder to check in regularly!)
Give yourself a score between 1 and 10, with a score of 1 being “I have never in my life neglected this more” and a 10 being “I have recently been the poster child for doing this well.” Most of your scores will fall somewhere between these two, and it should quickly give you a sense of where you’re crushing it and where you could use a little boost. If you gave yourself mostly 7-9 in every category, first ask yourself if you’re being totally honest, because most of us have at least one area that is being neglected. Then ask yourself if you need to add a new category to take stock in that is more specific to what is going on in your life right now. Maybe you need to review your emotional regulation skills, your ability to be mindfully present, and how often you reached out for help from someone you trust. Whatever you choose, make sure you are giving yourself an honest score. As you make this a part of your ongoing mental health stock check-ins, you’ll be able to see your progress with clear feedback instead of just assuming that everything is fine.
Identify the lows
The next step is to take the category with the lowest score and find one small thing you can tweak to boost your score in a few weeks when you check-in again! James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, writes, “A slight change in your daily habits can guide your life to a different destination.” He also uses the analogy of a pilot making a tiny change in the heading—just 3.5 degrees—can lead the plane to lane in an entirely different location, the difference between New York City and Washington DC, hundreds of miles away. The point is that even tiny shifts add up over time, so don’t get overwhelmed thinking you have to overhaul your entire life in one day!
Keep checking in
Finally, it is important to review regularly! If you were on a road trip and headed in the general direction of your destination, you would still need to check in from time to time to make sure you were on track towards your final stop. The same applies with your life trajectory, but so often people neglect to check in with themselves unless some major catastrophe happens that forces them to stop and take notice. Regular check-ins can help head off major derailments before they begin! Make it a new habit at least once a month, or once a week if you can, to ask yourself how the past days or weeks went for you. How did you feel? How could you have better supported one of the health categories? How can you move forward, more in alignment with what you actually want for yourself and your health?
If you liked this and want to learn more, check out this James Clear speech on YouTube. If you want more support to help you calibrate and actually reach the goals and dreams you have for yourself, give Centered a call! We have a wide variety of program options to fit the needs of any client—whether it is full time partial hospitalization, which provides 30+ hours of intensive care and guidance from our mental health team to help you overcome addiction, alcoholism, or mental health issues, a slightly less strenuous intensive outpatient program with 10-15 hours of support each week, or a loose outpatient program designed to give you anywhere from 1-4 hours of support weekly for those who feel they are already on the right track and just need a little guidance to stay there.
Finally, we also provide a totally flexible, totally customizable Education Only program which allows you to create the exact right fit for you—no insurance oversight dictating how you get help. Clients in our Education Only program work with our team to curate access to as many groups as they want to fit in to their busy life schedule, and from anywhere on the planet. Those with hectic travel schedules due to work or family obligations don’t have to miss out simply because they can’t commit to remaining within the state of Georgia—they can easily participate in our virtual Education Only program and get the same level of education, compassion, and support from our team.
If you have questions about our program, check out our FAQ page, or give us a call today at 800.556.2966.
