We hear a lot about physical fitness. Every town has at least one gym. You see people jogging around, and television infomercials are filled with the latest workout program or gadget to help you get into shape. There is no question that physical fitness is important.
But what about psychological fitness?
Physical fitness can be measured in terms of weight, body fat, muscle tone, strength, flexibility, stamina, endurance, etc. How does one measure psychological fitness?
But what is “thinking”? And how do we exercise it to become more psychologically fit?
The first thing to recognize is — to quote Albert Einstein — “we cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” Psychological fitness requires a different kind of thinking than the kind we might be familiar with, especially if we are not psychologically fit.
The content of our internal dialogue is often terribly illogical, irrational, inaccurate, invalid and faulty. But that doesn’t matter. As the mind hears itself talking to itself in these ways, it accepts what it hears, factual or not.It is up to our critical consciousness to question what we might be telling ourselves and to then make adjustments to more reality-based thinking. We have to begin talking to ourselves more realistically, more accurately, more truthfully. If we happen to fail in some endeavor and then start telling ourselves we are no good, the mind says “OK.”
But those generalizations are not accurate. We may have failed in one specific task, but that in no way means we are a complete failure in life!
To fail at one thing does not equate to failing at everything.
Just as being overweight is often a springboard to get physically fit, depression, anxiety, stress, anger and generally poor interpersonal relationships can be a springboard to get psychologically fit. And, just as a coach or trainer is helpful in starting out with a physical fitness routine, so too is a counselor or therapist conversant in psychological fitness a good idea.
Our goal at Talkspace is to provide the most up-to-date, valuable, and objective information on mental health-related topics in order to help readers make informed decisions.
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