Sometimes we let our external world influence us so much that we end up getting controlled by it rather than being in the driver’s seat ourselves. Mood-swings are tolerable if they spurt once in a blue moon, but when it becomes a regular phenomenon, we need to find ways to be more focused towards what we want instead of being ruled by our circumstances. Sometimes extremely little things can boost our moods and tune our mind-frequencies to feel better and more motivated.
1. Music
Proven to be a great mood-lifter, music can really influence your mindset and improve your mood. So listen to your favorite music. Whenever you feel low, listen to an upbeat tune which will help you feel energized. It is the easiest go-to method for instant gratification. That’s why music plays one of the most significant roles in our workshops "Transform Mind, Transform Life"
2. Laugh Out Loud
– Again, an instant mood-changer. Learn to take a jibe at your own self once in a while without being too self-deprecating. This way you tend to become more accepting of your present realities and feel light-hearted enough to know that you can turn it all around for the better.
3. Eat Better
– When your mood takes a toll make sure you don’t stress-eat. Eating healthy is a tried and tested method to make you feel better about yourself and helps in boosting your mood. Fruits like kiwi, bananas, plums etc. are high in serotonin and hence can naturally give you the required push to feel better and more importantly give you an impetus to make healthier choices even when you don’t feel like it.
4. Smile
– Even if you don’t want to, even if it does not come naturally to you, SMILE. Look at yourself in the mirror and smile in all your glory. Smiling can organically make you feel great. It tends to naturally make you happy. It will automatically affirm your mind as to how your circumstances are attuned to your happiness and hence influence your mood.
5. List
– When your mood is in the gray-area, make sure you go up to a mirror, look at yourself and list down the things you love about yourself. This is a great start to changing your mood. Start with listing physical features you love about yourself. Keep this exercise on a roll all day long by silently listing in your head your emotional features that you yourself find quite admirable. Slowly, make this exercise external and mentally list down the things that you love about your surrounding area and the people you are with. If you can, try to actually tell someone else what you love and admire about them. And see how the tension dissipates!
6. Talk
– Seek a heart-to-heart session with your best friend or someone you can trust with every minute detail from your life. Talking about your problems with someone else makes you feel less burdened. But the condition is that while your friend can listen to you till the end of time, if you really want to change your mood, you need to be able to listen to your confidant’s advice as well. It gives you a certain sense of objectivity and pulls you back to being practical instead of being impulsive.
7. Happy Place
– Everyone should have a metaphorical happy place which they can access ever so frequently in order to feel better about themselves and their lives. It could be something as silly as just walking out of your office and taking a walk outside for five minutes, to watching something on Netflix and immediately feeling better. Find your happy place and adhere to it in order to manage your mood.
8. Activity
– One of the simplest tools to boost your mood is to be active. And by activity I don’t just mean regular workouts. Whenever you face an obstacle which has the power to bring you down, instead of giving such negativity more potency, just get up and, for a significant period of time, engage in some physically taxing activity. Like go out for a swim, dance it out, play a sport you love or if nothing go out for a jog or a walk, but be physically active and you shall see your anxieties melt away. If you can’t engage yourself in something time-taking then just do small things like organizing your office-desk and papers or completing any pending work. Or if you are at home, then cleaning your house or cooking or baking or anything which will help you get off of your couch and get moving.
9. Express Your Feelings
– When things seem out of hand learn to express your feelings by writing it down in a journal (without holding back) or confronting the source of your discomfort but with graciousness and respect in place of aggression and anger. If you make your confrontation aggressive it will only add fuel to the fodder and make things worse instead of giving you a closure.
10. Little Things
– Mood can be so easily influenced that sometimes doing little things goes a long way. So do those little things which can make you feel better about yourself. If you are a stress-er then learn to relax and meditate for a few minutes or carry along yourself your favorite essential oil and smell it whenever you feel like the anxiety is unbearable. Help someone else in their work or assist the elderly or just be ready to give your support to someone else who is in dire need of it. Do these helpful deeds without having for someone else to ask you for your assistance. Be proactive!