L is for Learning!

Learning new things and broadening our skills is one of the greatest ways to build our mental health, because doing tasks that stretch our abilities can help us develop thinking and activities that will help us cope in tougher times.

Learning is always full of risks. When we try something new, there is the chance that we will 'get it' right away, or we might not. To learn something new, we have to be prepared to mess up or to miss the mark at first. If you are scared of failure this can stop you from trying new things. If you see failure as a weakness in yourself, then your self esteem will crash if you mess up.

Changing our perception of learning is key to getting past that fear. 

We need to accept that failure is a necessary part of learning, not a negative consequence! If we are ready and expect that failure is a part of learning, then we will be less likely to turn back after the first failure. Learning from failures is just as important as being rewarded for successes.

If you don't 'get it' first time round, you have a choice whether to give up or to go again. Choosing to keep going in the face of failure is one of the greatest ways to build resilience and perseverance. If you can try again when you fail and stick at something to get better, then you will find it easier to recognise and enjoy your improvements, and these things are vital skills for building your mental health.

Exercises and activities to build mental health through learning:

A simple activity to show how much failure can be useful us is to think back to a time when we personally failed at something, and think of what you learned from that experience. 
Say for example you took your driving test and failed first time. If you failed, you get feedback on why you failed, and this teaches you to avoid those mistakes when you take the test again, and as a result you may end up being a more careful driver than if you had passed first time, as you are aware of those mistakes and you are more careful not to make them again as a result.

Another exercise to help put learning hurdles into perspective is to draw 5 hurdles on a page, with a finish line at the end. Write a goal at the finish line: something that you would like to achieve, that is realistic but needs some attention to get to. Write down the hurdles or barriers that could prevent you from reaching that goal (these could be outside circumstances, practical issues or your own internal barriers). Spend some time thinking about actions to use to overcome each hurdle, and write these down.

This sort of exercise can help build problem solving abilities and actions that we can use when encountering barriers to learning, and help us to overcome those hurdles rather than give up at the first problem!

We hope you found this post helpful and informative, as always please follow us on Facebook for more information about our events! Thanks for reading!