As you’re becoming a middle-aged person, it’s imperative to keep an eye on your physical and mental health. While it is important to keep your body active, it’s also crucial to maintain mental hygiene in every stage of your life. This is especially important in the middle age, since it’s the preparatory stage for the old age.
In other words, keeping your mind fresh will improve the overall condition of your body, as well, in addition to regular physical exercise. Here are some effective tips that will help you reach those objectives over the course of years.
Firewall your self-respect
When you’re satisfied with your health, your professional achievements and the overall quality of your life, self-respect is firm and stark.
However, during the rollercoaster ride called life, we often come across various obstacles. We overcome some of them without paying too much attention to them, while others block our progress.
Even though you might eventually deal with such more demanding issues, they can shake your self-respect. In turn, it can have a negative impact on your overall mental condition.
Because of that, it’s vital for the quality of your life to firewall your self-respect. This is the key defending mental mechanism that has a direct impact on your social and professional life.
When you’re feeling down, it’s important to do things that you’ve always been good at. For instance, if you once played a musical instrument well, start playing it all over again. The same goes for any activity that you once were proficient in.
By “reminding” your brain that you can actually do something well, you’ll make your mind feel better and protect your self-respect. Also, you can try and take up some new hobbies to boost your self-esteem.
Handpick your friends, but keep socializing
As we’re getting older, the number of people we keep in touch with is reducing. At least that’s what the usual tendency in our lives. When we’re younger, we’re more likely to meet new people at school, university or via other people. From our twenties to our forties, the number of contacts we have is people usually decreases, so most of people in their forties make social contacts at work or among relatives.
However, we can maintain exciting social life even in these life stages, but it’s important to fulfill two major prerequisites to achieve that goal. The first one is to handpick your friends and the other one is not to “sign out” from social activities, but take part in them. Since a significant portion of elderly people in the UK feel lonely or isolated, it’s important to make an effort in the earlier stages of life to develop social skills and keep in touch with the people that make your life better.
As for handpicking friends, you might have noticed that some once-positive people you’ve known for ages have slipped into rumination. They sometimes behave like real emotional leeches and take your positive energy. In order to keep you mind fresh, you should start seeing them less frequently. Also, when you’re meeting new people, try to insulate yourself from such personalities.
The results of the study conducted by Office for National Statistics in 2015 and published by the Guardian show that people in their forties already feel lonely and isolated. To avoid falling into the abyss of loneliness, it’s important be as socially active and mobile as it gets, but always keep a good eye on your mind and don’t expose it to negative energy.
Nurture your freedom
When you start your own family, both your social and natural roles change. Now you’re in charge of another human being, and you’re also a member of a family. Although both partners have to cope with many new obligations, they should also support each other in nurturing bits of their own personal freedom. In line with that, find a time slot in one week where you’ll commit to things you like to do. It will help you recover from everyday stress and generate positive energy for new challenges.
What’s more, some people aged 30-40 already have to take care of their parents or other relatives. If you have children of your own and have to look after your old folks, you could burn out from exhaustion, let alone if both partners are in the hammer and the anvil, in that sense.
Therefore, it’s good to know that there are many British carers that take good care of elderly people, helping them to stay independent in their everyday lives. If you manage to meet your parents’ demands daily without having to do each and every thing in person, it will mean a lot for your mental health.
Do mental exercise through reading
Another important prerequisite for healthy mind is mental exercise.
You can often see middle-aged and elderly people doing crosswords, or reading books, but modern middle-aged Britons might not be doing that in twenty years’ time. The results of research published by The Bestseller show that the adult British people don’t have time to read books. While this isn’t such a bad thing when your mind and body are still young and fresh, it might become an issue when you reach your 50s and 60s.
If you don’t work on reading and other problem-solving habits, you probably won’t have patience and will to develop those skills in the old age.
Because of that, try to read whatever you can, no matter how busy you are. For instance, reading a magazine or an e-book on your mobile is a good start. You don’t have to read Dickens or Shakespeare, but it’s important to read something if you want to keep your mind in good shape.
Conclusion
As you’re progressing from your twenties to your forties, you’ll be facing a set of different social and private challenges. Some of them are health-related issues, while others are potential mental difficulties. If you want to prepare your mind and body for that period, it’s important to start working on your habits on time. Regardless your current age, follow our guidelines, but add some flavors of your own, as well, to keep the quality of life high in every stage.
About the author
Anne Harris is an HR specialist working for londonlive-incare.com. She eagerly shares her knowledge with her audience on various blogs. When she isn’t writing or attending wellness conferences, she likes to pack her rucksack and ride her day away on her bike or spend time with her friends.
