7 Habits

Treating psychological trauma and fortifying your emotionalresilience with commitment, practice, and positivity.

By Doc Brady

for Superb Emotional Health

Treat the psychological

like the physical.When we are cold, we grab a jacket. When you are physicallyhurt, you treat the wound. Being responsive to our body'sneeds is instinctive for almost everyone. Respecting yourpsychological needs, however, is often less reflexive but neverless important. Be proactive about your psychologicalwell-being. These seven habits can help you live a happier,more emotionally healthy life.

Never Fear

FailureDo not allow failure tosteal your motivation.When things do not go asyou had hoped, ratherthan dwell on theoutcome, return to theinput. Make a list ofeverything you did thatwas within your controland then create a strategyto make improvementswherever possible.

Doc Brady

Find Meaning

in LossWhether an experience ispositive or negative, take thetime to derive meaning andpurpose from loss or trauma. Thisprocess takes time, but usingsuch events to fuel your future isa healthy way to engage with thegrieving process. Rather thanletting an event stagnate you, useit to push you forwards. Findvalue, even if you may havelacked it before.

Doc Brady

Don't BroodReliving unhappy momentsin our mind over and overagain nearly never providedadditional insight. Instead, itjust makes us feel worse. Nomatter how tempting itmight be to live in thedistressing memory, chooseto distract yourself withtasks the demand yourconcentration until thedesire passes. Try games likeSudoku or watch anengrossing TV show.

Doc Brady

Build

Self-EsteemSome days we feel better about

ourselves than others.

However, when you are down,

it is easy to allow that sensation

to snowball until you feel truly

awful. Think about your

self-esteem as an emotional

immune system and nurse it

back to health with

self-compassion. Write what

you would say to a friend to

express love and support, and

then email that to yourselfDoc Brady

Ease Pain

from RejectionRejections hurt badly, and acommon side effect is that we lookto find fault in ourselves thatcaused it. The best way to reviveyour self-worth after beingrejected is list your positiveattributes, and then write a shortessay about how one or two ofthese characteristics is importantto you. You have a lot to offer theworld. Remind yourself of that.

Doc Brady

Beat Back

GuiltExcessive guilt demands thatyou face it head-on. More thanjust uttering an apology, youneed to show sincere empathy.Make sure the person you hurtcompletely understands theextent to which you feel thepain that your actions causedthem. Once you have expressedthis effectively, you are muchmore likely to make peace withthem and with yourself.

Doc Brady