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A positive mindset brings positive things

During my PhD in 2016, I started a community-based organisation - Nourish Mental Health INC focused on Mental Health awareness and health promotion. Since then I've been able to knock out some decent runs and I'll be running a Melbourne marathon this year on 10 October 2021 to raise awareness for Mental Health. I think sometimes people with good intentions can be just as effective as raising a sum of cash. It affects endless amounts of people, friends, family members, partners, maybe yourself. Instead of donating $$ you just reach out to people and ask them how they're doing when you're there purely to listen to that person and offer support. Try to be positive and optimistic, let's start getting each other excited about the possibilities that are in front of us, spread as much good vibes and love as you can.

Sam Ovens

There's a reason why Steve Jobs didn't have any furniture in his house.

The reason why he did that is because it's painful to look at walls in a house without furniture and different things in different places.

Immediately, your mind goes to work, and it thinks, "What could I put here? What I put there? What could I buy and put there?"

It takes a lot of discipline to just leave your house empty and learn to appreciate it with nothing in it. That's why Steve Jobs did it. He was training himself to think clearly. He had the discipline to just leave his house blank.

By doing this, he was able to build his discipline and his focus. That's one of the main reasons why Apple products are so good and why Apple as a company was so successful.

Not because they did more. Not because Steve Jobs worked more hours or anything like that.

It's because he really learned to focus, and he understood that less is more. You want to learn to starve your mind of distractions and feed that focus. This is the most powerful skill in the world.

That sounds good in theory but how do you actually do that?

Because for 24 years a dark force plagued my existence.

I had hopes, dreams and desires to do something with my life but every time I entertained the thought or tried to take action the dark force would hold me back. One side of me wanted to improve but as soon as I tried acting on it I could feel a monster behind me breathing down my neck. It had me in its grips.

For years I wondered what this dark force was that was haunting my existence.

Only to find out that it was me.

I had met the enemy and the enemy was myself.

The voices, emotions and pain I would experience when I tried to take action on my dreams were all self-made. They were the stories I told myself throughout my life and they were all victim stories designed to escape responsibility and pain.

For 24 years I had wiped responsibility under the rug and avoided the pain. Now it had turned into a monster that held me back from the very thing I wanted to do.

I had to face the music.

I had to look the monster dead on in the eyes and face it once and for all.
Most people think pain is a bad thing and they try to avoid it and numb it any chance they get. I believe that pain is a teacher. If you stop dodging it and just sit with it, it will tell you exactly what you need to do.

My pain taught me everything... I started cleaning up my life and taking responsibility for things. I stopped lying to myself and I started to face the truth regardless of how painful it was. For the first time in my life I faced my dark side.

I decided to quit my job, drop out of college and start my own business. The challenge of entrepreneurship acted as a catalyst for self improvement. It forced me to face my dark side and grow into a better person.

I was able to move out of my parents garage in New Zealand to a penthouse in Manhattan. This year Forbes put me on their "30 Under 30" list with a net worth of $65,000,000 and last month I was able to retire my parents in the Caribbean as a way to thank them for supporting me through times when nobody else would.

I played the victim and it gave me nothing.

I faced my dark side and it gave me more than I could possibly imagine.

Now that you understand the lesson...

How can you apply this to your life right now?

How can you use this advice to make a positive change like I did?

Well... Here’s a list of six things to do starting now:

1. Face your dark side. Be brutally honest with yourself, go to the places in your mind that you've been too afraid to explore. Ask yourself if you're truly happy with your life and who you are and don't sugar-coat it. The rawer the truth the bigger the transformation.
2. Define what you want. Spend some time by yourself and figure out what you really want with your life. Dream big and make the picture as detailed as possible.
3. Suspend your disbelief. As soon as you dream big with your life the voices will creep in and give you 100 reasons why you cant do it. Ignore them, they're lies.
4. Start making a plan to achieve the things that you want in life. If you don't have a plan you will become a part of somebody else's plan.
5. Start taking action towards your goals. Pay special attention to the resistance, pain and voices that go through your head when you're faced with challenges. Don't hide from the pain, let it be your teacher.
6. Ask yourself this questions every day: Am I inventing things to do to avoid the important? Whatever your inner procrastinator is pulling you away from - flip the poles on it. Use it as a compass to guide you to the things you need to be doing.

I hope this helps you on your journey!

Did you find this post valuable?

If so, I have good news!

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More importantly… I show you how you can do the same even faster than I did by applying methods I learned from my journey.

You can register here for free: https://www.consulting.com/free-training

Science

Tracing trends in human violence through 6,500 years of war:

Nowadays, people's mental health is getting affected by the pursuit of body perfection. Body embarrassment, the fascination with body perfection and negative behaviour makes us our body hate. People should be confident about what they have and thankful for having a life. Being a human, we have better things to do with our time. We, humans, feel real happiness only when we are doing things which you really want to do in your life. For example, a girl from childhood was very good at painting and want to be a painter. Later, she realised it's tough to make a living out of it, and dropped the idea of becoming a painter. She died peacefully at the age of 86 but before dying, she would be more proud of herself if she tried for at least 5 years to become a professional painter in her whole life. So, we all should be doing those things which we really want to do in our life before we die and can give a meaning to our life.
By Dr Shivam Sidana

Dr. Harsh Vardhan

The World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH), founded in 1948 under the aegis of WHO and UNESCO, is the largest global alliance of mental health professionals, national health associations, NGOs, policy experts, and other institutions.
I was part of the inaugural ceremony of the World Congress of Mental Health, organised by the WFMH, at The Ashoka, New Delhi today morning.

The recommendations of WFMH World Congress for Mental Health invariably have a global impact. These congress have previously also been held at Athens, Capetown, Beunos Aires and Cairo.
It is a matter of pride for India that this most significant biennial global event in the field of mental health is being held here for the first time ever in the SAARC & South East Asian Regions.

It's also a gracious occassion when a ceremony is inaugurated by our august President, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, himself.

Over the years, World Mental Health day has focused on various aspects of mental health including Women and Mental Health, Children and Mental Health, Mental Health and Human Rights, Mental Health and Aging, Effect of trauma & violence, Relationship between physical and mental health, Reducing risk of Mental Illness & Su***de, Depression awareness, Schizophrenia awareness, Dignity in Mental Health with various events across the world. The theme for World Mental Health Day this year was “Mental Health in Workplace”.

I wish the WFMH World Congress for Mental Health my best in their effort for mental health awareness and hope their message helps everyone live a healthier life.

9 News

A Current Affair challenged one family to a digital detox for one week to see just what impact seven days without a screen could make.

| http://9News.com.au

AJ Bell London Triathlon

endurancecui.active.com Join me at AJ Bell London Triathlon on August 4, 2018!

Mental Health Australia

MENTAL HEALTH STORIES

Breakthrough treatment for schizophrenia gets PBS listing
Australians with Schizophrenia will have a better chance at accessing breakthrough treatment, with the anti-psychotic drug REXULTI listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme from Sunday.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2017/09/30/new-treatment-for-schizophrenia-listed-under-pbs_a_23228530/

1400 drugs on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme to get cheaper from October 1
Australians battling breast cancer, Parkinson's disease and psoriasis will save hundreds of dollars a year on medicine as a wave of 1400 drugs become eligible for extra subsidies under the pharmaceutical benefits scheme from Sunday. But the biggest benefits are set to go to up to 285,000 Australians with schizophrenia who will get access to a drug that costs $1700 for $38.
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/1400-drugs-on-the-pharmaceutical-benefits-scheme-to-get-cheaper-from-october-1-20170928-gyqmuz.html

ACT Mental Health Week extended to month-long series of free events in Canberra
Extra demand for mental-health services, particularly for LGBTIQ people suffering as a result of the same-sex marriage survey, has resulted in the extension of Mental Health Week in the territory. Mental Health Week will now be a month-long series of free events.
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/act-mental-health-week-extended-to-monthlong-series-of-free-events-in-canberra-20170929-gyrmzb.html

Depression and anxiety on the rise amongst drug users: report [Audio]
The latest drug trends survey has again shown mental health problems are growing amongst drug users.
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/depression-and-anxiety-on-the-rise-amongst-drug-users-report/9009616

Securing the rights of our children – 7th SNAICC National Conference
There is no greater evidence of our failure to address Indigenous disadvantage in Australia than the fact that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children represent one in every three children living in out-of-home care.
https://croakey.org/securing-the-rights-of-our-children-7th-snaicc-national-conference/

One episode of postpartum depression raises likelihood of more
Depression after giving birth is rare among women with no history of psychiatric disorders, but once “postpartum depression” occurs, the odds are much higher that it will happen again after subsequent births, researchers say.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-postpartum-depression-recurren/one-episode-of-postpartum-depression-raises-likelihood-of-more-idUSKCN1C433G

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder prevention project underway in regional cities
A multi-million-dollar project aiming to raise awareness and curb cases of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will be rolled out in two regional Australian locations.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-03/project-underway-to-prevent-fetal-alcohol-spectrum-disorder/9001350