 Hola, amigos. Hey, I didn't see you there. This video was made possible thanks to Babel, the number one language learning app in the world. Spending 10 to 15 minutes every day learning a new language comes in handy when we meet new people and are able to travel again. For me, I really wanted to communicate in Spanish. I can't wait till we can safely travel again and then get to have more conversations with people from all around the world. One of the cities I'd love to check out is Barcelona. Babel has seriously made learning so much easier. The courses are handcrafted by over 150 language experts. It's a science-backed approach, which means you learn much more effectively. Learning a language is not only about learning, but also about showing respect for the culture. And Babel's local experts infuse all of the courses and experiences with local insights. Plus, Babel teaches using real-life situations and dialogues. University studies have also shown that 15 hours on Babel are equivalent to a semester of a college course. Click on the description link below and Babel will give you six months free when you sign up for a six-month subscription, so you can start speaking a brand new language in just three weeks. Thank you, Babel, for sponsoring this video. Hasta luego! Before we start, we want to let you know that we're so grateful for all the support that you've given us. Our mission is to make mental health and psychology more accessible to everyone, and you help us do that. So, thanks again. Now let's begin. All of us hope to be the best versions of ourselves, right? Sometimes we can stress about achieving our goals, and the overwhelming pressure can stop us in our tracks and leave us unmotivated or stressed. Most of us think we need to start with big changes in order to improve our lives and mental health. But what if I told you some simple, small actions you could put into place that could cause some real change? It's the small things that add up and can make a real difference with time, and some with no time at all. So, here are seven small changes that will improve your life and your mental health. Number one, put your phone on silent and face down. Social media can be on our minds quite often. With our attention being pulled from one place to the next, it's best to slowly peel back our distractions and focus on the present. That means you browsing endlessly like a wide-eyed zombie on social media is a habit undeserving of your time. Leave the zombie look to the horror movies, not your phone screen reflection. Try leaving your phone on silent always. If you need it for work, leave it off when you aren't expecting a call and on the weekends. When you enter a room or go out for dinner with family or friends, put your phone away or face down so the bright glow of your screen won't bother you with a notification. Our phones have a way of causing a bit of undue stress on us. Social media can be unhealthy. Emails from work can distract us when it's the weekend. And those random notifications beside our apps? They aren't even real notifications. Who cares if my long lost cousin Larry posted a new video? He posts them all the time! Number two. If you set your alarm, place it opposite your bed. Do you often wake to the sounds of birds chirping in a sweet morning breeze? The smell of a fresh cup of coffee and splendidly cooked eggs. That's right, splendidly. What pleasures. No? You wake up to the sounds of that horrid alarm tone that was once set to sound peaceful. Hmm, you naive little you. And what is it you smell? Not fresh coffee, but dirty socks and last night's takeout pizza. Hmm, pizza. But the point is, our mornings aren't always the greatest to wake up to. That's why sleep is so blissful. But we can't sleep all day. Oversleeping can have a negative impact on our mental health. Which is why, if your sleep schedule is off, you'll likely need an alarm to kick things into gear. If you use an alarm in the morning, it's best to place it near the opposite wall from your bed. Keep it as far as possible while still in your bedroom. Or if you don't have anywhere to be, or you work nights, and make sure your schedule is on track, then wake naturally. I know, kind of contradicting, right? But if we don't need to be somewhere, we should give our brains the relaxing reset it needs, then wake up naturally. But if we're doomed to often sleep in, go ahead and set your alarm, and then put it somewhere far across the room, on its own comfy little pillow. That way, you'll have to force yourself out of bed to turn it off in the morning. Jump starting the awakening process. You can't drassily hit snooze if you're already up and walking, right? Number three, carry a bottle of water with you. Always. Eight cups a day, yay. Yep, that's right, Psy. Eight cups a day. Yup, eight cups a day. That's what they always say and hey, I wouldn't have it any other way. You can even try it today. What do you have to say? Sorry. I was giving myself a little rhyming challenge. That was very nice. I can't stop once I've started the rhyming process. No, it's cool. It's very important that we stay hydrated throughout our day. Drinking plenty of water helps our mood and our memory. Not enough water and we feel mentally foggy and unalert. So try keeping a bottle by your side at all times. This will remind you to drink when you get the chance, and you may realize you've been more thirsty than you thought. My solution? That water bottle by your side? Drink up and drink a lot. Number four, allow yourself to say no. We oftentimes feel pressured into doing things that we don't want to, or we feel guilty if we don't do someone a favor. You only have so much energy to expend in a day. And guess what? I'm fully giving you permission to say no. You don't have to feel guilty every time you turn down your buddy's bowling invite or invitation for our night out with pizza. I mean, pizza is pizza. It sure is good, but you want to talk those tonight. The truth is, we can feel good when we develop confidence and make our own decisions. One way to gain confidence? Stand up for yourself. I know doing a favor is a good thing, but if you're often taken advantage of or simply don't want to do something, say no. And once you do so, allow yourself not to feel guilty, and simply do whatever it is that you want to do. It's tacos for you tonight. Number five, keep a journal and share your ideas. We can often bundle up our feelings tightly, and then shove them into the cold, dark freezer at the back of our minds. You know, like that leftover smelly pizza from this morning? But it's important to get any strong thoughts out in some way. Good or bad. So who are you going to tell these thoughts? Yourself for starters, but not in your head. Get them out in words. Research published in APA's Journal of Experimental Psychology generally found that expressive writing reduces suppressed and intrusive negative thoughts and can improve our working memory. This freed up mental room can allow us to use our cognitive resources to focus on other things and improve how we handle stress. So start writing your thoughts down, or share your ideas and thoughts with someone you feel comfortable with. You can even write down what you're grateful for each morning in a journal to start your day with positivity. Expression leads us to feel better about ourselves and freeze up some space in our mental room, even our old mental freezers. Number six, replace the bad thoughts with good ones. By acknowledging them first. It's best to express what's bothering us by talking to someone or journaling and sorting out these problems on paper. But if unnecessary worries find a way inside your mind, try acknowledging them and then consciously allow yourself to move on. This can be tricky for a lot of people. We tend to ruminate and worry about things that generally won't harm us in the long run. We can be watching a movie with a worry lurking in the back of our minds, or the pain from a harsh comment still weighing down on us. Take a moment, take a breath, acknowledge what you're feeling, and then distract yourself. Lay your feet out. Your favorite scene is coming up. Take a potato chip. How salty. Start up a conversation and tell your friends about how much you enjoyed those tacos last night. Sorry, I must be hungry. Then number seven, think before you react. Someone just said the most annoying thing to you, and you can't help but scream. But you can help it, can't you? And while the odds are, you won't scream. But you sure feel like it. Before you go on to reacting angrily from a bad mood or rude comment, take a moment to consciously question it. How will your reaction change the scene? Your words hold power in many situations. Or better or for worse, you can worsen a situation or improve it. It only takes a moment to decide which will it be. So which small change will you enact first? Do you like pizza or tacos? Share with us in the comments. We'll miss you if you don't. If you found this video helpful, don't forget to click the like button and share this video with someone who might need it. Subscribe to Psych2Go and hit the notification bell icon for more content like this. And as always, is that it? Do you want to say it? Okay. Thank you for watching. We'll see you real soon.