Blue Monday is Coming...

🤜🤛 You Don’t Have to Do It Alone

You are not designed to be on your own.

There is strength in numbers, and to get through Blue Monday, you might need all the strength you can get.

Even though I recognise there’s value in time in isolation, when you’re experiencing January blues, it is important to draw close with your family and friends.

“You’d be surprised how quickly the mind goes soggy in the absence of other people. One person alone is not a full person: we exist in relation to others.”
- Margaret Atwood

If you don’t know where to start with valuing community this season, here are 5 ideas to get you going:

• Pencil in a dinner date with friends

• Ask an old mentor to join you for a drink

• Find yourself a running buddy

• Join that book club you keep hearing about

• Consider visiting your local retirement home

Protect yourself and surround yourself with a supportive community.

Don’t do it alone.

🥾 Get Outside

There are many benefits to getting outside. Lifting your mood is one of them.

Don’t just take my word for it!

UK charity Mind found that time in nature can do wonderful things for your mental health.

To hear how nature benefits your mood and a list of activities that you may want to consider, check out their website here.

📓 Pen + Paper = Peace

What’s this?!

Michael talking about journaling again?!

Yep! But there’s good reason for it.

When things feel dark or overwhelming, journaling can help you get perspective.

It’s one of the reasons that my mental health is still manageable a decade after I was initially diagnosed with depression.

Journaling helps me to experience mental clarity.

If you find yourself wrestling with negative self-talk this Blue Monday, write it out.

I’ll often find that once I see those insults that I’ve directed at myself written out in-front of me, I realise just how untrue they are.

Writing things out helps me to get a truer perspective on my situation, and it’s often far better than I was making it out to be.

Don’t believe me?

Try it for yourself!

🫙 Gratitude

This tip is not just for Blue Monday, but for life.

The practice of gratitude will make you more content with your life.

There are a number of practices that you can implement to practice gratitude daily.

Take a look at this Harvard Health article if you need some ideas.

One of my favourites is the Gratitude Jar.

This is an idea that I first heard about from Patrick Regan OBE and his book Brighter Days.

It’s simple: each day, scribble something that you’re grateful for.

Eventually, you’ll have a jar full of things that you’re thankful for!

And then when you’re feeling down, open the jar and read through them.

It can help you to see the beauty in your life when everything feels hard and ugly.

🛁 Treat Yo’self

Let’s finish on a fun one.

There are times to treat yourself and Blue Monday is one of them.

Whilst being financially responsible, what are the ways in which you can treat yourself this Blue Monday?

Here’s a few ideas you could consider:

• Eat some fancy food

• Listen to some of your favourite tunes

• Play that computer game you enjoy

Or why not do all of the tips at once?!

Go for a walk, take a friend with you, find a bench to sit and journal 10 things that you’re grateful for.

And on the way back, treat yourself to a hot chocolate to warm you up!

Whatever you end up doing this Blue Monday, make sure that you take care of yourself.

I’ll catch you next week!

✍️ What I’m Working On

I’m still working on my first video content to help you get wiser in a new medium!

If you want to be the first to see when I inevitably upload a video, subscribe to my YouTube here.

But something else that’s coming up is…

The opportunity to meet me in person!

I’ll be in London for Ali Abdaal’s and Sahil Bloom’s live event on the evening of Friday 26th January 2024, and it’d be great to see you there!

You can find the event here:

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😊 Thank You!

Thanks for checking out this issue of the WISER Newsletter. If you have any feedback, I would love to hear it!

Simply reply to this email, and I will get back to you.

Alternatively, just DM me on social media. You can find me here:

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Catch you in the next issue!

Thanks,
Michael

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