On the first guide of the Peak Performance Newsletter, we will be discussing:

• Why this guide will change your life for the better.

• Why laziness is only a symptom of poor mental health, not the root cause.

• How to take action right now.

Since you are seeing this post right now, either you have received access to this free mental health guide or was already an occurring subscriber of the newsletter. Either way, you’ll be benefiting a lot from this guide as I have the upmost conviction that you’ll be able to transform your mental health within the following three weeks of taking action consistently.

To get the most out of this post, please read through all of the way to the end to fully understand the concepts that we’re discussing today.

Just a reminder, you won’t be expecting this guide to be a “secret, INSTANT, life changing magic pill” so don’t get your hopes up.

But rather, it is a series of habits that will not only change your mental health right now, but also for your entire LIFE if you stick to these practices consistently.

I do have to point out, because this guide is so lengthy. It will be prone to some grammatical errors along the way. I’ve tried to correct the majority of them to improve your reading experience but there will be probably some that I have missed, so please bear that in mind.

This will be my most life-changing post so far.

Quick Note:

I primarily target my audience towards young men like my-self in these weekly posts, but this mental health guide is not subjected towards only men and can be helpful to both men and women alike.

Ok, so now that you have made it this far, I’m assuming that you are willing to commit to this guide and take the steps necessary to improve your mental health and overcome laziness.

But first, here are some necessary DISCLAIMERS since I would be reminiscent if I do not point these out in explicit detail. (I also don’t want to get sued) I urge you to stop what you’re doing and review these disclaimers until you are fully sure that you should proceed with the mental health guide.

Do not proceed with the mental health guide if you don’t match with the (first) following conditions below.

What this mental health guide is FOR:

1. It is for individuals who are experiencing chronic laziness and wish to use the mental health habits suggested in this guide to become mentally healthier and thus reach their goals faster.

2. Depending on the severity of an individual’s own mental state, it can be seen that this mental health guide will be able to alleviate or completely treat common issues such as generalized anxiety, excessive worry, and mild depression.

It should be taken onto account that you will have to go through the action steps mentioned later in the guide for at least 3 weeks at most if you want to see comparable results.

3. It is for individuals who do not wish to seek medical attention from a licensed professional for (x reason).

The appeal of this guide to offer a less resistant method for you to diagnose and treat yourself accordingly using the mental health habits mentioned later in the guide.

What this mental health guide DOES NOT DO:

1. I am fully aware that assessing someone’s mental health is a very complicated and intricate matter that should be discussed with a medical professional. However, I am using the word “Mental Health” as an umbrella term to help fix an ASPECT of mental health that is within a vacuum.

2. By no means is this mental health guide supposed to treat more “serious” issues such as childhood trauma, PTSD, Schizophrenia, or any other illnesses revolved around that category. I highly recommend that you seek a medical professional if you acknowledge that you are dealing with these mentioned above.

On the other hand, I will be discussing topics in the near future related to Psycho-cybernetics and childhood trauma, but it should not be a pure substitute for professional help. It is only meant to benefit those who are currently struggling from it, but it should not be taken as gospel and it up to the reader’s interpretation of their own situation.

It should be also mentioned that the aim of this mental health guide is to combat the negative side effects of the modern world, such as video games, junk food, and other highly stimulating effects. This mental health guide will be most effective if you also do not engage in any of these habits above since it would be like going upstream as a result.

“While you are trying to swim upward towards a sought-after direction, the constant pressure will push you back down in the end”.

Ok, so now that you have agreed with the following disclaimers, those who are able to or willing should proceed with following parts of the mental health guide.

I won’t try to waste anymore of your time since I really want you to achieve great results from following this guide. So, without further ado, let’s get into the logistics of how this guide will improve your mental health.

This is my proudest post yet.

Let’s go!

Why this Guide will change your life for the better:

(Chapter 1)

First, I want to explain to you the concept of “mental health”.

I believe that mental health is often rarely talked about even in the self-improvement space, although it is getting better through the use of better resources, etc.

I think reason why is because the term “mental health” is so vague in most people’s minds. What is mental health? What does that really mean? Physical health is more visible since if you break a leg, then you’ll be wheeled to the hospital with no hesitation at all.

But when your mental state is broken, then most of us just start to scratch our heads and then ignore it.

Although it is a more subtle and vague side of our human needs, it is still undoubtably a fundamental part in our livelihood. The quality of your mental health means everything to who you are as a person, since in the end we’re just a brain attached to a meat suit.

If the mind starts to get weak, then the rest of the body will follow suit. That is why it is so important that you prioritize your mental health the same way that you prioritize your physical health.

I think that it is so important that there’s literally have been zero so posts so far on my newsletter addressing your physical health since I believe that it should be less sought after for most people. Yes, I agree that your physical health is indeed important but there are already countless resources telling you on how to improve upon it.

But rather, it is more of the hidden war that we’re playing against our own minds that can take down even the most physically capable individuals.

“Without the mind, the system will begin to fail”.

(Chapter 2)

So, you’ve seen the guide so far, but you still might have some doubts or limiting beliefs that this advice would work. Well, I’m here to destroy those limiting beliefs so that you’re able to commit to these practices more effortlessly.

You might be thinking “What is so special about this specific guide, what makes it different from all of the other guides that promised results but didn’t show it?”

Well, the answer lies in how the guide is structured. You see, you will be preforming 3 specific habits in particular that will give you the greatest ROI in terms of improving your happiness and overall mental health.

These habits are the following, Gratitude Journaling, Meditation, and Exercise. Okay sounds pretty simplistic, but why only 3 habits?

Sure, you can eventually add on more once you’ve become more consistent with the first 3, but these are the ones that really stand out in front the rest if you are just starting off as a beginner.

The reason why I have so much faith into these practices is because I have done them consistently myself in my first years of my self-development journey. Although I had a natural talent of being more disciplined than most people, these habits helped me stay on track and get to a point where I am now so that I’m able to tackle the more “advanced” aspects of self-improvement.

Reason being? It was because these mental health habits allowed me to perform at higher base of happiness and mental wellbeing.

The other reason is because I’ve learnt the majority of this information from the course, “The science of Well-being” by Yale University. I did not come up with this system myself, but I was able to take some points from it and synthesize it in a way that would be digestible to myself and my newsletter audience who is reading this guide right now.

But I do highly recommend that you review the original source material, since it does address some other practices that I left out for sake of it being too convoluted for it being a beginner’s mental health guide.

It does go further in depth about the science of mental health itself, hence the course name, the science of wellbeing. Feel free to check it out when you have time since it is a very valuable source of education. I’ll link it at the end of this guide for anyone who wants to look into it further.

Why laziness is not the root cause, but rather the symptom of poor mental health.

I want to ask you a question.

How hard is it to do the hard tasks when you are depressed or sad? Pretty hard right? But how hard is it to do the BAD, comfortable habits when you're sad or depressed? Not that hard at all.

Now imagine how difficult the hard tasks would be if you were only 10%, 20% happier? You could visualize yourself crushing those challenging tasks with ease compared to when you were before. It is because the newfound happiness or mental wellbeing gave you a new a baseline to act upon.

When you have good mental health, you usually do not indulge in the bad habits like video games, drugs, junk food, and social media because you DO NOT need to. You could if you want, but you don’t need it.

It’s because you’re more mentally well that you do not need the sense of comfort from the bad habits like before.

Let me reiterate the title since I believe that it is important to understand, “Laziness is not the root cause, but rather a symptom of poor mental health”.

That being said, when you have this emotion or feeling that you are not able to perform hard task, that is literally your body or your mind saying that you do not have the mental wellbeing necessary to accomplish a task. Addressing laziness or procrastinating as a symptom is especially important if you want to fix your mental health, since you have to focus on your wellbeing instead of looking at the issues at face value.

How can I assess my Mental Health?

First before you do any of the action steps in this mental health guide, it is important that you actually know what state your wellbeing is at currently. This is a crucial step within the guide since it will help you assess your own areas of improvement that you can work towards. The following mental health practices is designed to help you tackle these mental health deficiencies. So, whatever problem you are experiencing right now (Anxiety, mild depression, or procrastination), you are able to prioritize one habit over the other.

Before proceeding with guide, take the NHS self-assessment so that you can see where you are in terms of your mental health. At the end of the test, it will show you a score. Write down your score and keep it in a safe place for later.

My promise is that if you fully commit to this guide and apply the mental health practices for at least 3 WEEKS, then you will have a significant decrease in your depression and anxiety symptoms.

That is the promise that I will be able to withhold, but in exchange, promise to yourself that you will take the time to follow through with this guide to the end. It is a commitment yes, but so is everything that is worthwhile in your life.

“If you are unable to commit to anything in the long-term, then you won’t be able to accomplish anything that is worthwhile”.

Let me give you a brief description on how gratitude journaling, meditation, and exercise can lead to better mental health, since it is important that I describe the mechanics on how it works.

(Chapter 3)

Gratitude Journaling:

Gratitude journaling is when you take either a piece of paper (I would recommend this option) or write it online, and you list what you are grateful for on that day.

For example, “I am grateful for this water bottle” I am grateful for this meal that I had today” “I am grateful for being able to afford these clothes” etc.

These phrases seem meaningless at first on the surface, but it can really transform the way that you look at the world once you are consistent in it.

Let me explain.

When you are gratitude journaling, it is not really about what you’re writing down that makes the most impact, although it does help. But rather, it is the state that it puts you in the rest of the day.

When you are in a state of gratitude, it is hard to be depressed, irritated, or sad. Because you will suddenly look at the world in a whole different perspective than before.

Before, you probably looked at it in a black or white perspective. You wake up, eat, work, come home, and repeat the cycle. But once you get into the habit of gratitude journaling consistently every morning, then you start to appreciate the little things in life that actually bring you fulfillment and meaning.

With gratitude journaling, the world becomes the vibrant place that it once was when you were a kid. When you admired the animals and the nature in this world, the trees, and the possessions that you have that used to give you meaning.

You look at the world in a way that should leave you in awe. For example, you write that you’re grateful for the nice weather today or that you’re grateful for crushing the hard task that you were about to put off.

You start to find meaning in the little things that you once thought were meaningless. That’s powerful.

By seeing life as an adventure and something that we should admire, it puts your brain in a positive state that cannot be filled by negative emotions.

You don’t have to only have gratitude for your possessions or the world, but also for other people as well. For example, you could say, “I’m grateful for Sarah stopping by to talk to me today, I appreciate the kind gesture”. Or perhaps you can be grateful for people that you don’t even know, for example “I’m grateful that the mailman delivers my mail on time, I respect the dedication that he puts into his craft”.

By doing this, you are showing appreciation towards people and in return they are also in a positive mood by your actions. Everyone wants to be appreciated, but not everyone gets to be appreciated. The sense of feeling important is a deep desire that rarely gets fulfilled nowadays.

You can be the one person who shows that you’re grateful for the effort that they put in and in doing so, they are now reinforced to work even harder through the concept of a positive feedback loop.

Gratitude Journaling is powerful because it not only affects your own mental well-being, but the mental wellbeing of other people. The skill of gratitude would be an amazing asset to have.

With all of that being said, how are you even able to be in a depressed mood if you applied gratitude in that way?

Meditation:

Meditation is the breathing practice that is revolved around bringing your mind back to the present moment. Meditation has been regarded as one of the most useful tools for improving one’s mental health but in addition has a profound effect in improving your emotional control. This is why you might say many athletes such as fighters like Jiri Prochazka who have used meditation as a way to calm themselves before a fight.

This demonstrates that Meditation can be incorporate for mental but also physical situations that require it.

To fully understand the meditation process, we must split the cycle into 4 stages.

Stage 1: Focusing solely on the breath.

At this stage, the objective is to erase any thoughts that could be clouding your mind and to focus only on the breath. Whether it’s the sensation of breathing or the sound of breathing, make sure that you only focus on one thing. The aim of the game is to get your mind back to the present moment, NOT to keep your mind constantly in the present moment.

If you find yourself struggling with keeping your mind in the present moment, that’s okay. The purpose of this practice to struggle so that you’re able to maintain a more present state of mind in the future. Think of it as doing bicep curls for the brain each time that you get distracted and then focus back on the present moment.

Stage 2: Losing Focus.

At stage 2, it is inevitable that your mind will begin to drift off into different thoughts at some point in your meditation session. You might start to think about random events that happen in your day or the past, seemingly forgetting that you’re even meditating at this current moment. The period of time that you drift off into space will vary on the level of experience of each person.

Say for example, someone who has just started meditating recently will lose focus far longer than someone who has been meditating quite consistently over a long period of time. It’s all based on experience.

Stage 3: Realizing that You’ve Lost Focus.

At stage 3, after some time of drifting off, you were able to come to your senses and snap back at the present moment. The important not to mention about this stage is that this realization will only occur for maybe even 2, 3, seconds per occasion. It is a short time frame but is essential for you to get back into the present moment.

Stage 4: Coming back to the breath.

At stage 4, after you had the realization, then this is the adjustment period where you will try to come back to the present moment again. The difference between stage 1 and 4 is that with stage 1, you are already in the present moment while in stage 4, you are now coming BACK to the present moment. Very similar not quite the same, this 4th stage caps it back to stage 1 where the cycle repeats again.

Now you might to thinking to yourself “What is so important about meditation that you would put it in this mental health guide. Well, I’m glad you asked, I’ll let you in on a little secret based on my own experience with meditation.

I won’t lie to you, but out of the 3 habits listed in this guide (maybe perhaps exercise but we’ll get into that later) it has the longest duration of time to actually take effect.

This means that it will take longer to see results with meditation you would with say gratitude journaling. It is not necessarily the habit’s fault but it’s because we are literally the most stimulated that the world has ever been in all of human history.

Think about it that for a second. Of all of human history, there has never been a time where we can receive constant high dopamine, highly stimulating information in practically only 5 or so seconds.

This is the information age, and for better or for worse, it is still undeniable that our attention span has rotten away because of it.

To be completely honest, I believe that most people will struggle with meditation the most in this guide out of all of the 3 habits mentioned. You thought that I was going to say exercise, maybe that’s the second contender but with the rate that our dopamine receptors are frying away, it’s safe to say that most people will start at maybe 3 to 5 minutes of meditation at the very beginning.

Obviously, there’s no shame in start off small at all. My dopamine receptors were fried as well so I had to start with 3 minutes for the first few months of my self-improvement journey.

Exercise:

The last habit of that you’ll be doing in the mental health guide is exercise. As you all may know by now, exercise is a great way to improve your mental health, activate your endorphins that releases dopamine, and overall, your quality of life.

Quick disclaimer:

I will be doing future posts breaking down topics surrounding physical health and performance in explicit detail, but there would be WAY too many concepts to cover if we were to explain it fully in just this one post.

Instead, the purpose is to get you into the habit of exercising but leaving out the specifics for another time. Fitness alone is a very convoluted topic to discuss, so I won’t be able to do it justice if I overwhelm you with all of the “specifics” in this post.

I’m not saying that fitness should be complicated, but there are some concepts that you should apply before starting out for your “ideal results”. But, like I said before, I’ll discuss that in detail in future posts.

For right now, we should only focus on just starting.

(Chapter 1: How to start Exercising)

This is a beginner’s guide, and we all start on different paths of our fitness journey. So, it is important that we gain the consistency to actually exercise rather than overthinking it at the beginning.

We not exercising so that we can get in shape and then lose it a week after. Exercise should be a lifetime hobby that you should enjoy instead of it being a short-term commitment.

Ok, so what should we do to begin exercising?

As a complete beginner, it is crucial that you do not experience decision fatigue over the different steps of the fitness spectrum. It would be easier for me to just tell you to search up a workout routine on YouTube, and while that is a beneficial form of exercise, I believe that you will stick to this routine better if I attach my own Beginner’s EXERCISE TEMPLATE onto this mental health guide.

Overall, the aim of this guide is to give you the best actionable results to start transforming your life for the better. Sure, this won’t be the most “ideal” or “optimal” exercise template, but the purpose is to be consistent in the habit instead of overstressing about how to maximize muscle growth.

(Chapter 2: Exercise Template Structure)

This beginner’s template will be structured as a full body, 6x a week, consisting of bodyweight movements and minimal equipment.

You might be wondering “Why full body, wouldn’t you overtrain from doing full body more than 3x a week?”

I designed this to be a full body routine because you will get more value and results out of the time that you do have to exercise. Say for one day that you miss the exercise session, well it’s okay because all of your muscles will be stimulated by the full body session that you did yesterday or the day after.

This way, you get the most bang out of your buck and thus more consistent in the exercise habit. I left off Sunday as a rest day in case you need it.

It should be advised that you should exercise within your own physical capabilities. So, if you feel any strains or extreme muscle soreness, then it is absolutely okay for you to take the day off if needed.

Adjust the routine accordingly to suit your own fitness level, although I have kept it in mind to not be as taxing and suited for a beginner level. You do not need any gym equipment and is bodyweight friendly except for some slight exercise accommodations that you can substitute with equipment that you can find lying around the house.

The length of the full body session will be roughly 30-100 hr. depending on the individual’s fitness level. This gives enough time for your motor neurons to adapt and adjust to the new stimulus that it has been given to recover properly.

The goal is to complete at least 30 minutes of this full body routine 6x a day to gain the most results out of this guide. Go on your own pace during the workout and take some time to catch your breath if needed.

With that being said, here is the (Beginner’s Full body, 6x a week spilt, that can be done with your bodyweight and a backpack)

Check out my workout template: 'Beginners Full Body Split (Bodyweight) ': https://strong.app.link/qjrXpKaQ9Qb

(You should be able to view the workout template without downloading the strong app, although you may need to if you want to log the exercises in it.)

How to Take Action Right Now.

Ok, so I’ve broken down everything that you need to know so far about how to improve your mental health (In the beginner’s stage of course)

Now with the full understanding and commitment that you have, I am certain that you will be able to carry out the actionable steps that is needed to improve your mental health.

I want to make it as easy as possible to complete these habits every day.

I think that I’ve rambled on for long enough, so here are the steps that I layered out to do it.

The key for this entire mental health guide is having a dedicated HABIT TRACKER.

Take this habit tracker I’ve made for you, download it, and go print it out right away. (You could also draw it on a notebook if you prefer it that way)

(I’ve used paper in the beginning of my own self-improvement journey, but I figured that this would be more convenient for you)

This habit tracker will act as an accountability partner for you to actually stick to your mental health practices.

As you can see, it will be structured in 3 habits, gratitude journaling, meditation, and exercise. You don’t have to follow it in that specific order, but I noticed that it has the best optimum results for most people.

Here are the ground rules on how to execute this in the best way possible.

1. The habit tracker is laid out in the course of approximately 3 weeks, the amount of time that you are able to see visible progress in your mental well-being.

2. You ‘re objective is to tick every single one of those boxes for completion at the end of the day.

Now, read this very closely since it is absolute imperative that you follow this guideline carefully.

For you to tick one box in the habit tracker, I want you to drop the barrier of entry so low to where it will be impossible for you to miss even a single day.

So, for example, gratitude journaling. I want you to only write down 1 line of gratitude, 3 minutes of meditation, 10 pushups and so forth, and you get to tick the box for that day.

You might think, wait a minute, how am I supposed to get any progress if I stoop so low?

We’re training for consistency, not immediate results. By doing this we are preparing ourselves to foresee failure.

Sure, on a good day you will be able to do much more than that, but realistically, how many good days will you have in a row? Not enough to be consistent that is.

Instead, we are training ourselves to prepare for the bad days Aswell, when we do not feel like doing any hard tasks. But the barrier to entry is low enough to where anyone on their bad day can crank a couple of pushups and get to tick the box that way.

Now, of course we don’t want to stay at this level forever. And it is encouraged that you do more than what is necessary if you want to see the best results. You should only use it as a failback safe in case you don’t feel disciplined enough to operate at your best.

If you do feel motivated, then the new baseline should be as followed: 5 lines of gratitude journaling, 5 minutes of meditation, and 1 full body session of exercise.

If that begins to feel too easy, increase the difficultly from there. There’s no point in staying at the same spot since it will not allow you to progress further.

So, if you’re able to take on this challenge, I challenge you to do 12 lines of gratitude journaling, 20 minutes of meditation, and 6 full body workout sessions completed in a week worth.

That being said, only do if you are mentally capable enough to do so.

Aim to have no missing spaces in your habit tracker so that you get to tick the box every day. But, in case you do, own up to it and use that as accountability to work harder next time.

Once you are officially done with the 3 weeks of these mental health habits, I urge you to take the NHS score again and see how well your symptoms of anxiety and depression has significantly dropped after doing these habits.

If you are not taking the piss and your symptoms has gone even worse, then I have failed as a self-improvement writer, and you should never take my advice ever again.

But, with that being said, I have full confidence you will emerge as a better and more importantly, mentally happier person that you were before.

If that is you, then I am blessed to have such a drastic change in someone’s life quality with the work that I am putting it here today.

It truly means a lot as a writer for someone to have benefitted from my advice and took the imitative to change their lives for the better.

That is the greatest gift that I can receive as someone who is dedicated to improving the lives of young men like myself who have fallen down the deep pits of the modern world, the life of quiet desperation but no inevitable wins gained.

Now, before you go, I have more one request for you, the reader.

If this mental health guide has positively impacted your life in any way shape or form, I ask of you to please share it to someone who could also benefit from this guide the same way that you have.

Someone that you may know who is also experiencing chronic symptoms of laziness, procrastinating, and unhappiness. Send this to them so that they can get the same opportunity that you had to change your life for the better.

That is my only request, to see if many more lives could be changed by the work that I do here on my newsletter. It would truly give me a lot of purpose and fulfillment from the advice that I share here today.

“In a world that tears men down, I am here to build them back up”.

Author’s Credits:

And with all of that being said, that is the wrap to my first ever guide on the Peak Performance Newsletter.

I really hoped that you’ve enjoyed my first guide, but definitely not my last as there will be more coming soon in the future.

It does take a lot of time and effort to make, since I’ve been writing nonstop for the past 3 days. So, it would be greatly appreciated if you commented or replied on what you’ve thought about this guide and what I can improve in the future.

So, by all means, like it and share it to any threads that could benefit from this type of education.

Also, I apologize in advance if there are some grammatical errors in this guide. I tried my best to correct most of them, but there will be some lurking around due to how long this post is.

Another thing I want to say, if you have read this entire guide from top to bottom, then I must say that you have a godly attention span that rivals the majority of the population.

So major respect to you for that remarkable feat, go pat yourself on the back for even making it this far in the guide. I understand that it is very long, but I wanted to bring the best information on the table to improve your mental health.

I wrote this guide for the people who are willing to commit their time and effort in making a change, rather than some BS, clickbait posts where I give you some basic advice that doesn’t really help the reader at all.

I mentioned at the beginning of the guide that my sole inspiration in creating this was based on the life changing education that I’ve learned in the course: The science of well-being by Lurie Santos from Yale University.

This is where most of my information came from though I re-organized it in a way that is best for my readers, but I have to give credit where credits due. Again, I highly recommend that you check out the 30-day course if you want to look into some additional information.

Once again, this is my most life changing post by far and I can’t wait to do more of these in the future.

But until next time, I’ll see you in the next post 😎 (My hands need a break from all the writing)

Credits and Resources:

 The Science of Well-Being | Coursera

This is the meditation app that I personally recommend for your mediation sessions, (Available on IOS and Android)

NHS Self-Assessment: