How to use "Instead" to gain, regain, maintain and increase "Mental Lift"

I find "Instead" effective in gaining and maintaining "Mental Lift" - being, living, hoping, surviving, coping, healing, doing better, improving, enjoying, learning, creating, sharing. How can it help you too?

During the past year I had a very memorable and breathtaking flight, over the beautiful Lake Varese and surrounding mountains, in a glider. I was intrigued by how a glider's design enables it to use rising air, or thermals, to achieve "Lift" and transform its “Altitude” into “Thrust” or Speed to overcome its “Weight” and “Drag” and glide from one thermal to another over long distances without an engine.

Experiencing "Mental Lift"

I was struck by how glider flight provides a very fitting metaphor for living, life and coping with everyday challenges such as transitions, relationships, financial pressure, grief or loss which often escalate into downward mental health spirals towards more serious mental health concerns such as depression, addiction and even suicide. Especially though-provoking was that a glider pilot can even utilise obstacles in its surroundings such as mountains or ridges, as additional sources of lift.

This lead to a realisation – my natural design as a human provides me with everything I need to overcome the Weight and Drag of experiences in my past, Turbulence of unforeseen challenges, even people or other problems that at times draw me into a downward mental health spiral.

The Power of "Instead" for "Mental Lift"

It enables me to obtain, regain, maintain or increase the effect of "Mental Lift" as a result and to utilise experience, experiments and situations as resources to achieve what I want - "Instead of" what I don't want. This is apart from the normal “Mental Lift”-boosts we can gain from external sources such as friends, family, community, music, art, nature or sport etc.

In a glider you operate and touch the controls very lightly as even a small change can have a big effect on the glider which also turns out to be true about “Instead”. “Instead” is not magic, it is simply a word, but powerful enough to create significant “Mental Lift” and switch my perspective and attitude quicker and easier from past/problem-focused to future/solution-focused. I used “quicker” and “easier” because it initially, and sometimes might take more time and effort but does become easier with practice.

“Instead” allows me only enough time to face, acknowledge and briefly analyse the problem to determine - what I want instead of it, and more importantly why that is valuable and to imagine the difference that would make to me and the people in my life. The mental picture of that hopeful, meaningful and desirable outcome becomes and consumes my focus and activates and drives me to take small steps or improvements towards it rather than spending valuable time and effort on the problem. If I take a step that doesn’t work, I try something different in the next step.

“Instead” helps me to view a problem as a situation of opportunity and hope. Along the way I can even scale my progress to compare, gain confidence from, and celebrate how far I have already progressed and what small step I might take next to move me one point further up the scale towards my desired outcome.

I invite you to book a free "Mental Lift" discovery call with me if you would like to explore how to gain, regain, maintain or increase “Mental Lift” in your life. I am so convinced about the effectiveness of “Instead” and Solution-Focused Coaching that I offer a money-back guarantee if you should experience no value at all from our work together.

The Mental Lift Program™ and Support Group

Please also consider joining the pre-launch waiting list of my upcoming webinar where I will be launching and introducing "The Instead Mental Lift Program™ and Support Group” with the purpose of helping people obtain, regain, maintain or increase "Mental Lift", do better, improve and avoid mental health issues through compassion, support and solution/future-oriented conversations based on proven, evidence-based principles and foundations of Solution-Focused coaching.

The Instead Coaching "Mental Lift Program"™