TL;DR

  1. Go back to the basics of healthy habits
    • Good eating habits
    • Exercise
    • Restful and quality sleep
    • Social connections (see post on attachment)
  2. Bonus Habits to further enhance mood
    • Meditation
    • Journaling
    • Sunlight/Vitamin D supplements
    • Cognitive Behavior Therapy

It is VITAL that you do not overlook these seemingly small habits that have HUGE influence on your life.

All of these habits appear small but have quite the depth to them.

For example, take eating health:

  • Do you know how to ready nutrition labels?
  • Do you know how many calories you need per day?
  • Are you getting the right about of vitamins and minerals from the right foods?
  • Are you eating foods that increase your blood sugar levels, and causing you to feel like shit?
  • When was the last time you ate a vegetable?
  • Are you getting enough fiber?

Even friendships have depth:

  • How do you provide value in a relationship?
  • How do you maintain and grow in a friendship?
  • How do you date?
  • How do you organize meetups that your friends will want to do the same for you?
  • Can you use your friends as a therapist?
  • Do your friends have your back?

It fucking surprises me how people overlook these seemingly essential and vital aspects to life.

More than likely, people feel like shit because (1) they eat like shit (2) they have zero social connection or hobbies that engage with the world (3)

We think the way we feel, and if our body feels like shit, then we will think shit, and if we think shit, we start acting like shit (CBT explanation)

My Personal Experience

I won’t go too deep into this because I feel like I’ve covered it so much all ready.

There was a point in my life where I had a really deep depression. I felt like a loser, and I did not recognize myself. I thought that I had wasted my life, and I often wondered if I should continue trying at all.

Ultimately, I was lacking many of these basic foundation blocks that keep me sane. I was away from family, gave up exercising and meditation to focus more on work, and even started sleeping less to focus on work (I know, fucking stupid, but I was emotionally dedicated to climbing the corporate ladder), and I didn’t have any friends. I felt fucking awful.

I promise you, BECAUSE I AM SPEAKING FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCE that depression largely goes away when implementing the above habits. When you do those habits, you’re left with the root of what’s really bothering you–(in my case, it was simply being away from family). And when the solution presents itself, it becomes so easy to fix.

I specifcally think that the TM + CBT combination is ABSOLUTELY AMAZING for overcoming not just depression, but automatic negative thoughts as well. Honestly, it’s the fucking best, and I can’t believe TM + CBT are not commonly mentioned as a common remedy.

But all of this