52 Small Changes for the Mind by Brett Blumenthal lays out a year-long series of weekly small changes to improve your overall mental wellbeing. It’s not specifically geared towards people dealing with mental illness, but there are plenty of common sense, realistic ideas that could be useful for anyone.
Each of the book’s 52 chapters is devoted to one type of small change. The author explains why each change is helpful, adds a research-based factoid, and gives practical tips for implementation.
The book was very easy to read. The text was in short, easy-to-digest chunks, which is always nice given my concentration isn’t that great. It’s visually interesting, using the same colour scheme as the cover.
Some ideas were activities to incorporate, such as daily reading, mindfulness-related practices such as setting intentions and being mindful of gratitude, and putting healthy things into your body like green tea. Others involved attitude changes, like being open to new experiences, not comparing yourself to others, and silencing your inner critic. Many suggestions were doable on your own, but some involved interpersonal interaction, like having deep discussions and asking for help.
At the end of the book, there’s a tools and resources section with assessments and worksheets.
Sometimes books in this genre can be a little too rah-rah cheerleader-ish for me. A pet peeve of mine is books that say you just need to choose to be happy and everything will be rainbow and unicorns. This book was none of those things. It was realistic, down-to-earth, and practical, which pleasantly surprised me. There’s nothing new and earth-shattering here, but sometimes simplicity is the best way to go.
52 Small Changes for the Mind is available on Amazon (affiliate link).
You can find my other reviews on the MH@H book review index or on Goodreads.
Simple can be so good sometimes 🙂
Yes!
I will have to check this one out.
I’ve read many books like this and they are very helpful, my trouble is in the consistency. I always tend to kind of just phase out of doing what is good for me, even small little changes.
Yeah it’s so easy to get into a pattern and stay there.
This sounds just the sort of book I need. I have added it to my ‘want to read’ list!
You’ve convinced me to add it to my list! And your line about rainbowr and unicorns made me chuckle in agreement.
Sounds exactly like my kind of book… love a bit of self help!
That’s a nice book review Ashley – down to earth and practical and simplistic 🙂
Why be complicated when simplistic will do? 😉
Precisely – but sometimes even we simple ones forget eh 🙂
True!