Activity: Identify the top 5 influences that impact how you view the world
What are your top 5 influences and how do they affect your mood and thoughts? What can you do to be intentional about who and what is influencing you? Do this quick activity to find out!
Here’s a quick activity I like to do with my clients when they are feeling overwhelmed, lonely, or stressed out. It’s also a great way to check in with yourself to see what may be influencing your ways of thinking, your beliefs about the world and society, and your personal feelings of wellbeing and connectedness. We can’t always change who is in our life or what information comes our way, but we can boost up our defenses and supports against those negative influences that we have to deal with from time to time (or a lot!). Give it a try and let me know what you think in the comments!
5 Steps to Improve your Mood and Be Intentional with Influencers, Social Media, and your Relationships
Grab a pen and paper and take 5-10 minutes to do this mental health activity.
List the 5 influences that you take in the most. This may be the 5 people you spend the most time with or it may include news sources you follow, influencers you follow, or other forms of media or information that come into your life the most.
Example: You’re in a relationship, you have a roommate, you follow a podcast that is controversial and sometimes negative, you watch funny fail videos daily to relax, and you get caught up in a certain highly political news site almost daily.
Assign rank to each one in order, based on how much time or mental energy you spend with each influence.
Example: 1. Relationship, 2. Roommate, 3. Podcast, 4. Fail Videos, 5. News site
Assign each influence a rank on a scale of positive versus negative based on how it usually impacts your mood or thoughts.
Example: Relationship: 4 mostly positive, Roommate: 3 mix of positive and negative, Podcast: 2, you’re usually angry after listening, Fail Videos: 4 mostly funny, News site: 1 you’re always upset after listening.
Look closely at each influence and how much time or energy you spend with it and how it makes you feel or think.
Practice being intentional about your time and energy. If you notice something that is negatively influencing you, cut it out or limit it in your life (if you can). If it’s a relationship you can’t avoid or don’t want to terminate (like a roommate or family member) therapy may help you learn how to have a healthy relationship which can improve the positive impact of this influence.
If you notice something is positively influencing you, or you have decided to cut out the news site or podcast, or whatever else is negatively impacting you, you can replace it or add it to your top 5. One way to do this is to go into your online communities or social media and choose healthy and positive influencers, pages and communities to follow and get involved with. You can search: “health and wellness” or “mental health” or follow interests and groups based on your hobbies and values that are uplifting and supportive.
Being aware of your negative influences can help you to make wise decisions about how much time or energy you spend with them. You may want to catch up on news, gossip, or podcasts, but you can do it with intention so that you are not feeling awful afterward.
Want to add some positive influences to your feeds? Like and follow me on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook
Katie Lorz is a licensed mental health counselor in Tacoma, Washington.
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