This year, Mental Health awareness week is focused on anxiety and how it impacts our lives.

I want to offer you a sustainable shift in perspective that will enhance your life – and maybe even save it!

Some one in eight people globally (970 million) live with a mental health issue, of which anxiety and depression are the most common.

Achieving mental wellness and sustaining it long-term requires an action-focused mindful approach to you and your wellbeing.

It is a choice you make every day, and it will be the best asset you ever invest in.

Our mental health is directly connected to our physical health and with a healthy mindset we can live with more vitality.

What does wealth mean to you?

Is it based on monetary value or your wellbeing and how do you measure it?

Victor Frankel in his book ‘Man’s Search for Meaning’ mentions research from John Hopkins University which asked participants what they considered was important to them.

Of these, 16 per cent of the study’s participant said it was important to them to make a lot of money – but 78 per cent said their first goal was finding meaning and a purposeful life.

These stats are very encouraging indeed, especially in building ‘,ental wealth’.

A purpose for life means different things to different people, and is it about doing things your way, instead of understanding what works for you?

Not everyone is the same and the same things do not work for everyone. It is important to try new approaches to wellbeing, whether it is counselling, the gym, joining groups, attending Men’s Sheds or Henen Sheds, online activities, something else, or a combination of these – the main thing is to take action.

Consider this: only a small population in the world achieve financial wealth, and the same is true for mental wealth.

Having worked in mental health services for two and a half decades, I have experienced a lot and learned so much about the importance of consistency and healthy habits for your wellbeing.

It is important to prioritise your wellbeing, and this is something we need to get better at; when you create wellbeing activities in your daily life, you can show up your best self.

We are fortunate to live in a beautiful part of the world that allows us to be active, contribute to our community, and access education and opportunities.

We need to invest in ourselves!

Think of your mental state as your house. You build it bit by bit; you have good days and bad days; you know what you need to do to build it, and setting good foundations is key to the success, upgrading and renovating when needed.

The foundations of your wellbeing are similar. It is what you practice daily that leads to success.

The five ways to wellbeing can be an essential part of this. Connect, learn, give, take notice and keep physically active.

If you implement these, the Public Health Agency states that this will keep you well, safe and hopefully free from harm.

Building a house, however, does not make you wealthy – it is what you invest in outside of your home that creates wealth.

The same applies for your mental wealth. It is in everyday practices in addition to meeting your basic needs that contribute to this.

You can take responsibility for your mental health and wellbeing, and we all can achieve mental wealth if we truly invest in ourselves.

With global suicide at an all-time high, according to the World Health Organisation over 700,000 people die by suicide every year.

That’s one person every 40 seconds in the same amount of time it takes to write and send a short message, or to pay a bill online.

The World Health Organisation also states that 280 million people in the world are impacted by depression; people of all ages are impacted.

Your health is truly your wealth and this includes your mental health, potentially even more so.

We deserve better. It’s not good enough to just survive with our mental health; we should thrive with our mental wealth!

That higher level of mental wellbeing allows us to achieve our potential, find our purpose and do it passionately.

It’s time to build resilience to allow us to overcome any challenges that we are faced with.

Emma Weaver is the founder of Mental Wealth International, an organisation supporting businesses to achieve better mental health and wellbeing within the workplace.

The organisation has worked within the construction industry, tech companies and fitness industry.

Emma has over two decades of experience working in the mental health and wellbeing sector.

In addition, Emma is an international best-selling author and an international speaker, She uses her voice to champion ‘mental wealth’.

Emma is a two-time TEDx speaker, and has also curated two TEDx events in Enniskillen.