Mental Fitness: Four Tips to Help Get Your Day Off to a Better Start

Physical fitness gets plenty of attention—for good reason. A healthy body can help prevent everything from heart disease through to diabetes. Although just as important, mental fitness doesn’t always receive the same consideration. One simple way to build mental fitness is adopting a morning routine that sets your day up for success.

Morning routines are powerful. They set the pattern for the rest of the day. A stress-filled morning often spirals into an anxious afternoon. In comparison, starting the day with a focused routine can help create a sense of calm and confidence that makes the rest of the day seem more manageable. A consistent morning routine can also help to prioritise physical and mental fitness for the rest of the day. Everyone’s ideal morning routine will be different, so the following suggestions should be considered a starting point, rather than a prescriptive stepby-step guide. Experiment with what works for you, and remember that consistency is key.

Suicide is the leading cause of death for Australians aged between 15 and 44 years of age, and men are three times more likely to die by suicide than women. Workers in construction and other trades— including welding—are even more at risk. Tradies are 70% more likely to die by suicide than their behind-the-desk counterparts.

One in five Australians will experience a common mental illness within a 12 month period. The three most common mental illnesses affecting Australians aged between 16 and 85 are anxiety disorders (at 14%), depressive and bipolar disorders (at 6.2%), and substance use disorders. Of the one in five Australians experiencing a mental health disorder, only 35% seek professional support.

Despite these alarming statistics, mental fitness definitely isn’t something that tradies talk about at smoko or after knocking off. According to Gus Worland, Founder of Australia’s leading mental fitness and suicide prevention foundation, Gotcha4Life, strengthening mental fitness is vital.

“Mental fitness is so important to me. There are so many people taking their own lives—around seven men per day and two women per day. Suicide is the number one way for men to die,” said Worland.

“The ‘old school’ Aussie bloke mentality of ‘she’ll be right mate’ just doesn’t cut it anymore—particularly when subtle little changes in your day-to-day routine can make such a difference.”

“We all need to be role models—for our own children, for our apprentices and employees, for anyone who looks up to you. We all need to get out of our comfort zones and try something different like these changes to your morning routine.”

Worland believes that the most important aspect of creating a morning routine that builds mental fitness is consistency.

“It’s all about consistency at the end of the day. It’s not just about every now and then—it’s about committing to a new routine for at least a month, and seeing how you feel at the end of that.”

“The morning routine that you commit to might be really simple. You don’t have to make huge changes. It’s just about using that time when you first wake up in the morning to set yourself up for a great day,” said Worland.

1. Buy An Alarm Clock

Worland’s first tip is simple: buy an alarm clock.

“We wake up in the morning, hit snooze, and immediately pick up our phone. From the minute we open our eyes, we’re flicking through our notifications, reading emails, replying to texts, looking at Facebook – all while we’re still lying in bed,” said Worland.

“The ‘old school’ Aussie bloke mentality of ‘she’ll be right mate’ just doesn’t cut it anymore— particularly when subtle little changes in your day-to-day routine can make such a difference.”

~ Gus Worland (Founder and Director of Gotcha4Life)

When we check our phones, we’re inviting a whole flood of stimulation into our brain. We’re confronted with a range of issues that seem to all simultaneously demand our immediate attention. This can be particularly confronting if you’re in a relaxed state, such as that after sleeping. Instead, Worland suggests that we maintain that relaxed state for as long as possible.

“Go and buy an alarm clock – that way, you don’t even have to have your phone in your bedroom. I do this myself, along with all my kids. Of a night, my whole family leaves their phones all lined up on the kitchen bench charging—it’s great!”

“We all want to get ahead of things and make sure we’re on top of our inboxes. We’re all committed to our jobs. But, we aren’t sleeping enough as it is, and as soon as we wake up, the drama starts. We’ve got to start looking after ourselves a bit better. No job is paying you from the minute you wake up. So, take some time for yourself in the morning and start your day off right,” said Worland.

“Freddy Fittler [head coach of the New South Wales State of Origin team] gets all his players to do this. Mobile phones are taken off all the players. Freddy wants them to talk, to make eye contact, to get to know each other—to build a real team. It’s impossible to do this with a mobile phone in hand.”

“We’ve become addicted to mobile phones, and they are a necessary evil. We just need to stay away from our phones for the first five minutes of our day—it gives us all a much better chance of getting through the day with less stress,” said Worland.

For more information, visit: menshealthweek.org.au

Plus, reaching for your phone as soon as you wake up is a surefire way to derail your morning routine. Before you know it, you’ll have spent half an hour on Instagram and be rushing out the door to get to work.

2. Breathe

“Get out of bed. Go to the toilet. Then, come back and sit on the edge of the bed. While seated, breathe for a minute – in through the nose for five seconds, out through the mouth for five seconds. Do that for a minute. It should take about five breaths. Nice and easy,” said Worland.

When you’re stressed or anxious, your breathing is usually fast and shallow, rather than slow and deep. This is the body’s natural response to stress. Taking some deep breaths can actually help to stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system, which helps to produce a sense of calm.

3. Drink Some Water

“Put a glass of water next to your alarm clock before you go to bed at night. While you’re sleeping, you’re getting more and more dehydrated. So, you need to start hydrating as soon as you wake up. Take a minute or so to drink a glass of water,” said Worland.

Hydrating actually helps increase our cognitive function and gives us a clearer mind. It can improve your mood and energy levels, and even balance out hormones and emotional responses—all in less than a minute.

4. Make Your Bed Lastly, get up and make your bed.

It might seem small and inconsequential, but making your bed can help to set the tone for your entire day. It can make your physical space feel less messy and cluttered, which impacts on your mental space.

As retired US Navy Admiral William H. McRaven once said, “If you make your bed every morning, you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride, and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another. And by the end of the day, that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed.”

Further Information If you’d like further details, or are keen to run a mental fitness program at your organisation, contact Donna South (National Manager Membership & Marketing, Weld Australia) on d.south@weldaustralia.com.au or 0409 609 031. Weld Australia has partnered with Man Anchor and Gotcha4Life to help build the mental fitness of Australia’s welders.