Making Mental Health an Intention—All the Time

Taking care of ourselves, especially mentally, is more than a one-month occurrence. It’s a process.

We’re at the end of Mental Health Awareness Month, and in looking at my socials, it’s been good to see more open conversations. There is still a stigma associated with speaking about mental health struggles, and one of the best ways to counter that is by having the space to hold difficult conversations with others.

With the many stresses and strains we face, there are times when we feel we can’t turn to others to help face them.

But having these chats, with professionals and with trusted friends, remain crucial to our well-being, regardless of the time of the year. Our struggles don’t hew to the structure of time.

The internal problems we face can’t be—shouldn’t be—solved by ourselves. It’s difficult to see ourselves in full. We miss things, we miss cues, we have biases to wrestle with. Picking up the phone, calling a friend, and saying, “hey, do you have five minutes to talk?” can mean the world. Conversations like that can help you see another dimension of yourself that may have been hiding in plain sight.

Giving Ourselves a Gift

Talking with trusted pros and friends also, perhaps crucially, gives us something valuable—emotional versatility. Those people hold space for us to be ourselves, and to be truly seen. The space gives us the opportunity to be less rigid, more supple in our thinking, in our way of being in the world.

The game of rigidity, being who others think we should be, rather than who we truly are, has gotten so many us of off our own game. Why not make now the time to get back into the game you want to play? The person you want to be?

What steps are you taking to improve your mental health? Who are you reaching out to? And if you haven’t reached out to a friend lately, maybe you should.

Let me know in the comments—how do you check in yourself, and with others?

I’m Richard Taliaferro. I’m a certified career and health coach, trained in habit change, specializing in helping mid-stage professionals gain clarity on their career and health journeys. I invite you to click on the link, and let’s talk about how I can support you.