I cannot overemphasize the fact that your mental health is very important to your total well-being. If your mental health is messed up or if you take it for granted, it will negatively affect all other areas of your life. It is your responsibility to care for it so that you can be better off. I want to remind you of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) definition of mental health as “a state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realize their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community.”
Your mental health helps you to know what you have as a person. That means if you don’t take care of your mental health you will not realize your abilities. Your abilities are your skills, talents, or powers that you possess. Your abilities are inherent. That is, they are inside you right now. In other words, everything you are capable of becoming is inside you right this moment. But you will have to grow up to make the most of it. Unfortunately, some of us don’t know what we have and as a result, we are not using it at all.
The apostle Paul told us that God has given us the grace to do certain things well (Rom 12: 6). Everyone has something within them that they are capable of doing well. Remember in the parable of the talents in Matthew 25, Jesus taught us that God gave three people talents according to their several abilities. That means our abilities differ from person to person. You are different from every person on the surface of the earth. Your abilities set you apart from others. It makes you to be in your own class.
“Sometimes, feedback can be given in the name of criticism. You must learn to look beyond the criticism, take what is valid to you, and discard the rest.”
That implies without sound mental health, you cannot do life to the best of your ability. You will struggle to make any meaning out of your life or effectively maximize your potential. This is how crucial your mental health is to your progress in life and destiny. If you don’t take care of your mental health you cannot focus on doing a good job. You cannot build capacity for effectiveness.
Poor mental health will affect your relationship with others. It will prevent you from making sound decisions. It will result in a lack of productivity. It will cause poor work engagement. It will prevent you from realizing your ability. Also, it can result in depression, anxiety, and personality disorder, among others.
“…without sound mental health, you cannot do life to the best of your ability.”
What does it mean to realize one’s ability? It means to know what one is capable of doing based on what one has and then go on to use it to the best of one’s capacity. That means one can underestimate and undervalue what one has and not effectively put it to good use to get the best out of it. However, poor mental health can get in the way and when that happens, one will not be able to realize one’s potential.
The following is worth considering if you want to realize your abilities…
Explore to discover your abilities: Many of us have different abilities that we have not tapped into at all. The reason is that many of us are busy pursuing money or wanting to make ends meet at the expense of our purpose. God has given us the ability to excel in a worthwhile cause. Do you know your strengths? Do you know what you are capable of? Do you know your talents and skills? Do you know what you are good at? Where do you excel the most? What do you feel at home doing? What energizes you? What problems do you want to solve? What are you passionate about? I want to encourage you to reflect on what you are good at. Also ask yourself what others are asking you to do for them. Think about where your interest lies.
Don’t compare yourself: One of the worst things you can do as a person is to compare yourself. In the scheme of things, you have no equal. You are in your own class all by yourself. Unfortunately, many of us don’t see our uniqueness and giftedness because we are busy comparing ourselves with others. The day you stop comparing yourself is the day you will start living. The apostle Paul said that those who compare themselves are not wise (2Cor 10: 12). One of the symptoms of poor mental health is self-comparison. There is no way you can rise above your environment if you are busy comparing yourself.
Don’t be afraid to try something new: Fear is one of the things that stop people in their tracks. The fear of failing has stopped many people from trying something new or doing something different than what they have been doing. You will not effectively know yourself, what you possess, and what you can do if you don’t learn to try something new. Keeping to the status quo will not cause you to remain in the same spot, it will cause you to start regressing. In other words, if you are not moving forward it means you are going backward, not necessarily staying in the same place.
“The day you stop comparing yourself is the day you will start living.”
Learn to collaborate with others: If you want to fully realize your abilities, you must learn to work well with others. You must know that you cannot do everything by yourself. You can’t succeed alone. You cannot make it without the effort and the input from others. God did not design any of us to live without one another. God said it was not good for one to be alone. It is important to learn to partner with others and learn from them. You can learn what to do from one person and what not to do from the other. If you don’t learn to team up—cooperate and collaborate—with others, you will miss out on and not benefit from the grace, anointing, blessing, power and potential they carry.
Use what you have: It is not enough to have something but if you want to realize your ability, you must put it to use. You don’t get better at what you don’t put to use. If you are not using your abilities you won’t know how far you can go with them and how well you can use what has been given to you. You cannot be lazy, hesitant, or start making excuses. You have to engage.
Leave your comfort zone don’t live there: Everyone loves comfort, but if we want to grow and realize our potential we must be willing to leave our comfort zone. A comfort zone is a psychological state or physical space where a person feels safe, relaxed, and in control. It’s a situation where one is not challenged, and typically avoids risk, what is unfamiliar, or doesn’t move toward a new experience. Staying in the comfort zone can lead to stagnation, missed opportunities, a lack of excitement, growth, and fulfillment.
Use feedback well: If you want to grow, then you must be open to feedback. Be willing to ask for it and be ready to use it to improve yourself. I know it can be difficult but only a small mind will dread feedback. Sometimes, feedback can come in the form of criticism. You must learn to look beyond the criticism, take what is valid to you, and discard the rest. One of the reasons people dread feedback is because they have equated it to criticism, but they are not the same. While “criticism often focuses on what’s wrong and can feel judgmental, feedback is constructive, aimed at improvement, and tends to offer both praise and guidance for growth. Effective feedback can help motivate and empower you to improve, while criticism can sometimes lead to discouragement or defensiveness” (Anon).
“You are different from every person on the surface of the earth. Your abilities set you apart from others. It makes you to be in your own class.”
Develop a positive attitude: Attitude matters if you want to realize your potential. You must take care and be mindful of it. It can make or mar your destiny. Some people are just proud and high minded in the way they see themselves. We must be careful not to allow our confidence to turn into arrogance and then become unbearable to deal with. People with poor attitudes will not work well with others and can’t grow in their personal development.
