Discipline, is the short boring answer.
I'm by no means a stable person (quick check of my post history probably reveals that) and I've had a ton of legitimate shit happen. My solution/strategy isn't anything revolutionary.
- Wake up at 6am, drink two pints of water, take a shot of ginger extract and have a coffee. I don't check the internet or any mass media.
- Daily meditation immediately after coffee. There's plenty of literature on this, I vary between styles, but focus on what feels like a form of mindfulness. I intensely focus on each part of my body (how your chest rises when you breathe, weight of your arms, etc) and then spend a few minutes focusing on all of my body at the same time.
- Morning exercise - I'll take a 20 minute run in the morning, followed by another 15/20 minutes of core exercises.
Only after exercise do I allow myself to check e-mails or whatever, and then I'll just slump into the day. Generally I have an action-item list from the night before, with everything I want to get done for the day. But I've found that the way my day starts is absolutely critical for my mental health the rest of the day.
The rest of what I do is fairly obvious and less rigidly time-specific;
- Daily exercise 60 minutes. This is on top of cardio in the morning, mainly weights / strength training.
- Commit to reading one chapter of whatever book I'm currently on.
- Therapy. 100% depends on the professional you work with, and how you frame/understand the goals of that kind of work.
- Limiting/deleting social media. I have dummy accounts I use to keep track of certain events, but I don't engage with it otherwise.
Other than that, it's probably just a whole long list of books I've read over the years that continue to give me insights.
I've had some seriously dark moments, and I'm genuinely surprised that I'm still living and breathing at the age I'm at. Not only that, but I'm doing well. As little as 8 years ago that would've been inconceivable to me.
If anyone needs a chat, happy to talk.
