INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — With the new year now underway, one local health group wants people to focus on their mental well-being.

Mental health professionals with the Community Health Network suggest in addition to setting New Year’s resolutions surrounding physical fitness, consider picking up a resolution about mental fitness.

Licensed Mental Health Counselor Kimble Richardson at Community Fairbanks Behavior Health says when coming up with resolutions, it’s important to ask yourself three questions:

• Is it relevant?
  • Is the goal something you personally can control?
• Is it realistic?
  • Is the timeframe you want to accomplish something realistic?
• Is it specific?
  • Is the goal something that can be measured?

Richardson also suggests the last step in any good resolution is checking in to see if it’s accomplished.

“If you meet a goal, celebrate, right? Treat yourself in some aspect,” Richardson said. “(If you fail,) was it relevant, realistic, or specific enough — maybe just try it again? Or maybe it’s not important anymore. OK, so you have options and to be flexible.”

According to the counselor, some good starting points for mental health-based resolutions would be goals like growing one’s mindset, mindfulness or self-comparison.

Above all else, Richardson says goals are meant to be fluid.

“I think having flexibility (is important),” Richardson said. “Not having a static…mindset that tells you that it’s negative or pessimistic — let’s leave that behind 2024, shall we?”

Another way the health group is suggesting to check-in on mental health is to look for “glimmers.”

According to Jennie Voelker — a licensed clinical social worker — glimmers are the opposite of triggers. They are the little moments in life that may make someone feel joy or calm.

She says they are different for everybody.

“Mine this morning was my first sip of coffee — It was delicious,” Voelker said. “For a lot of people, it’s related to nature. It could be a sunrise or sunset. It could be the smell of lavender or just feeling the warmth of the sun. For some people, it might be their child’s laugh. Or even just a smile from a stranger.”

To experience more glimmers, a person may need to shift their mindset to be more open to seeing them.

Voelker says glimmers won’t eliminate all stress from someone’s life, but it could be a step in the right direction this new year.

“They do kind of flip our nervous system to be more calm and balanced,” Voelker said. “If we’re doing it over and over and over again, it builds up and we make better choices. We are more able to regulate our emotions and there are all kinds of other health benefits as well and mental health benefits.

She also recommends journaling glimmers or just sharing them with someone to recognize them more.

To hear more from Voelker during her Daybreak interview, watch the video below.