Thank you for being here.

When you think of the phrase creating healthy habits

for yourself, you probably think of eating healthy,

exercising, and getting to bed on time.

These are all great things to do for your physical health,

but what about creating healthy habits

for your mental health?

Keeping a healthy mind is just as important

as keeping a healthy body, because one can easily

influence the other.

If you wanna know more about good mental health habits,

here are six surprising habits

that make you mentally strong.

Number one, you are in control of your emotions.

Did a recent argument with a friend leave you feeling hurt

or upset 'cause of what they said?

Have your parents ever told you that you need

to do a better job on your chores

when you thought you were doing a good job already?

In both of these situations, it's understandable

that you may feel upset, anxious, annoyed,

or even outright angry.

And that's okay.

Feeling these kinds of emotions doesn't make you weak,

it's perfectly normal.

It's when you don't allow those negative emotions

to take control of you, that makes you mentally strong.

For example, while arguing with your friend,

you didn't take your anger out on them

and chose to keep calm even though you were upset

at the time.

Or maybe when you're sad, you don't let that heaviness

drag you down and keep you from moving forward.

You try to move past your emotional hurdles.

You recognize these negative emotions

and choose to acknowledge them.

In doing so, you're able to calmly process them

and work through them leaving you with the ability

to respond to most situations with a clear head.

Number two, you question your thoughts and beliefs.

How does questioning thoughts and beliefs

make you mentally strong though?

When you think critically about your thoughts and beliefs

you're challenging yourself.

With the internet at our fingertips

there's so much information to take in and explore.

This can be overwhelming when you're trying to keep up

with what's true and what's lies, or what's just a rumor.

It can be really easy to blindly accept everything you hear

as truth.

Mentally strong people make a habit of questioning

or thinking critically about things they come across.

Whether it's something a close family member told them

or a news article they saw.

Questioning things that you read or hear gives you a reason

to dig deeper allowing you to learn more

and gives you the opportunity to learn about

different people's perspectives.

By doing this, it gives you control

over how the information affects you.

Have you ever wanted to increase

your own level of happiness?

And would you like to do something in particular

to help raise your joy and wellbeing?

Or maybe you've always wanted to experience

an Ivy League education without the commitment.

Yale University is offering an online course

called the science of wellbeing, where Dr. Santos

reveals certain misconceptions about happiness

and recommends tips for increasing happiness

such as savoring our everyday experiences

and appreciating them while they happen

as well as encouraging random acts of kindness.

These are all just small snippets

of what the course has to offer.

If you like the tips from this video

and wanna learn more about how to increase

your own wellbeing and productivity

then you should check out the science of wellbeing.

We also mentioned that over 3 million people have enrolled

and it's the online equivalent

to their most popular on-campus course.

The course is completely online, self-paced,

and the best part yet, you can earn a certificate

from Yale upon completion.

So make sure you click the description box below

to check out the course.

Number three, you have healthy boundaries

in place for yourself.

Do you feel like a doormat for people to walk all over?

Do you drop everything you're doing to help out a friend

or family member when they need a favor?

Creating healthy boundaries for the people in your life

is a good habit for mental strength.

According to an article from Psych Central

boundaries are a measure of your self-esteem.

When you create healthy boundaries

you're letting others know how to treat you

while allowing you to be your best self.

When you don't have boundaries it's easier to always say,

yes to people.

You let your friends frequently vent

all of their problems to you,

or you let that one friend poke fun at you a little too much

while wanting to be there for others

and help them isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Always being available at everyone's back in call

can put unneeded stress on you.

You can't pour out of an empty cup.

By not setting healthy boundaries there's a good chance

that eventually your cup will run out.

To stay mentally strong it's important to create boundaries

with those around you, so that you don't drain yourself

of all of your mental and physical energy.

Number four, you actively learn from your mistakes.

Have you ever said something that wasn't nice

born out of anger, or frustration?

Or have you gotten a lower grade on a test

than what you were expecting?

You might dwell on situations where you weren't acting

your best and focus on them.

Obsessing over things you've done in the past

only adds more stress to your plate.

When you start to think about what happened

figure out why it happened

and make a plan for how to improve on it next time.

This will make you mentally stronger

because it shows that you're choosing to grow

and learn from past mistakes.

Number five, you limit your time on social media.

How many hours do you spend on social media a day?

Social media is a huge part of our society

and our daily lives.

It can be a great way to connect with friends and family

and is filled with endless memes and cute cat pictures.

But there can be risks to scrolling through Instagram.

Apps like Facebook and Instagram

make it easy to compare your life to others.

Those glossy filtered photos

and the posts about their happy lives

can make it look like the grass is greener on their side.

And an unhealthy game of comparison can start in your heart.

According to a study, how long do use of social media sites

and apps, maybe linked to symptoms of depression?

When exposed to all of that social media,

you can start to think you aren't good enough

or be envious of the things you see people doing online.

Limiting your use of social media

can help you avoid this harmful comparison game

whether you give yourself an allotted amount of time

to check social media each day, or you only check at night,

or in the morning.

Limiting your time on social media

can help make you mentally strong.

And number six, taking time for yourself.

Do you have long days at school or at work?

Do you often choose to do more work

than what is asked of you?

Are you constantly on the go and feel like

you have to be doing something to stay productive.

Going above and beyond and keeping up on productive tasks

is great.

But if you don't pay time for yourself to recharge

your mental health can take a hit.

According to an article from Psych Central

downtime allows your brain to restore attention

and motivation.

It promotes creativity, strengthens memory,

and can even make you more productive in the long run.

When you take a little time out of your busy day

to go for a walk, read a book, or even just lay on the couch

and watch your favorite TV show.

You're allowing your mind to take a break and recharge.

Just like you sometimes need a nap after lunch

to boost your physical energy

your mind needs rest too.

Do you practice any of these habits to stay mentally strong?

If so, have they helped you?

Or do you know someone who could benefit from these habits?

Let us know in the comments below,

we'd love to know your thoughts.

A huge shout out to Coursera for sponsoring this video

and offering a Yale University course to our viewers.

Don't forget to hit the subscribe button

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Thank you for watching and we'll see you next time.