This is not an easy subject for us to discuss.
It is a shame that there is still a stigma attached to mental illness
I personally feel it is even harder for men to talk about as well.
I have always been a jovial sort of a guy.
As you will know, if you’ve read or listened to much of my other material,
I was a larger guy and I played into the ‘big and jolly’ stereotype.
I did find myself becoming depressed in my mid-20s and I didn’t really know why or what to do about it.
Fast forward a couple of years and I was doing my certification with Mac Uni
I also became self-employed full time.
This led to anxiety for a number of reasons,
I no longer had the security of even a part time coaching wage coming in,
I worried about getting enough clients and about giving them a good service.
There’s was loads to worry about.
I was also struggling with my self confidence as well.
I finally sought out a therapist and committed to a course of therapy,
I also started using the Headspace app and meditating regularly.
Another thing that was a massive help to me was the book
Confidence 2.0 by Rob Yeung and I would heartily recommend it.
He tells us that ‘confidence is not one thing’
“It’s not a single quality that you either do or don’t have”
He uses a table in his book showing the types of inward and outward confidence that I found very helpful;
I spent a long time struggling with either ruminating about the past or worrying about the future
I learned more about mindfulness and started working on living in the present.
I clawed my way out and I also learned that I need to pay more attention to my mood in the winter!
Like many people, I am adversely affected by the lack of sunlight.
Things that have helped me enormously are;
- Daily meditation
- Reading the Daily Stoic
- Going back to amateur musical theatre – I had given all that up when working as a coach
- Playing more sport, I now belong to a local cricket team
- Making time with friends and loved ones a priority
I am definitely now a more rounded individual and I am much happier.
If you are struggling then I would urge you to reach out to someone.
If you would like to reach out to me, then please do so, I will send you some resources that have helped me.