How do you define your own values?

At the heart of it, values are what matters most to you. Things like being creative, having integrity, or being kind are all values.

It can be hard when you first sit down to think about values to come up with a list without a guide. You will find many value lists online.

Once you have identified your top five values, it is worth thinking about how closely you are living to those values right now. If you find things are not matching up, think about why that is and what you can do to get back on track. Values may shift a little across your life, but your core values will generally be your guideposts as you move through different stages.

Steve Hays, co-founder of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy shares: ‘Values are like a compass: they help us navigate through the challenges of life’.

5 questions to define your values

Try asking yourself these questions to get started on your values quest:

1. Who do I admire and why?

2. What am I passionate about?

3. When am I at my happiest or most fulfilled?

4. What would I stand up for, even if it was unpopular?

5. How do I want to be remembered by the people I love?

These questions will help you dig deeper on what really matters to you.

To make things simple, consider breaking your life into quadrants: work, relationships, leisure and health. Take the time to outline how you would like to show up in each area of your life, then for each of these domains reflect on:

1. The challenges you faced last year.

2. The wins you had.

3. What you want more of in each area.

4. What you are grateful for.

5. What you need to let go of.

If you see a gap between what you want your life to be like and how you are actually living, think through what obstacles might be getting in the way and what action you can take to close that gap.

Using this information, set a simple intention for each life zone that will provide guidance for your year ahead.

Done well, reflection exercises help you get clear on your values and your personal circumstances so you can set intentions for the year ahead that are meaningful to you.

How to give a compliment

The best compliments are specific rather than general, says Smiling Mind. Rather than saying ‘good job!’ or ‘nice one!’, think through what you would like to say.

• Make it personal to your workmate by highlighting what skills or qualities they showed, and when and how they displayed them.
• Be authentic. Use words and body language that is typical for your relationship with that person.
• Keep the compliment to the point. Brief, specific compliments will appear more genuine that lots of general praise.

Go ahead and give a compliment today. It is the gift that will cost you nothing.

What is more, even small amounts are harmful.

“Half of all alcohol-attributable cancers in the WHO European Region are caused by “light” and “moderate” alcohol consumption – less than 1.5 litres of wine or less than 3.5 litres of beer or less than 450 millilitres of spirits per week,” says WHO.

While 1.5 litres of wine may seem a lot, over a week it is less than one and a half glasses per day, or around one “home pour” in a regular wine glass per day.

Dr Carina Ferreira-Borges, Regional Advisor for Alcohol and Illicit Drugs in the WHO Regional Office for Europe, says, “It does not matter how much you drink – the risk to the drinker’s health starts from the first drop of any alcoholic beverage. The only thing that we can say for sure is that the more you drink, the more harmful it is – or, in other words, the less you drink, the safer it is.”

If you are looking for a non-alcoholic drink, there is no shortage of alternatives to lemonade and cola. ‘Functional’ beverages promise mental and physical benefits beyond quenching your thirst and the niche newcomers to the market are nootropics.

Nootropics are a broad category of so-called “smart drugs’ with cognitive benefits. Some are only available on prescription but others you can buy as supplements, and it is these that are also added to drinks.

Some common ingredients you will find in nootropic drinks include the herbs ashwagandha, ginkgo biloba, guarana and chamomile, anthocyanins (flavonoids), enzogenol (pine bark extract), and L-theanine (an amino acid found in black and green tea).

How healthy are they?

The claims are not all hype. Evidence does suggest that the ingredients in nootropic drinks can improve cognitive performance, memory and learning, or aid relaxation, although studies tend to be small with larger studies needed to confirm the findings.

However, benefits are still unclear. Connecting an ingredient to its supposed health benefits can be problematic, says Debbie Fetter, an assistant professor of teaching nutrition at University of California, Davis. Plant-based compounds exist alongside other compounds, and their interactions can boost, neutralise or diminish each other’s effectiveness. She says untangling any single ingredient’s role, and then recreating that effect in a beverage, is difficult.

Too much caffeine can cause headaches, increase anxiety, make you restless and impair your sleep.

Sugar content varies between the drinks too. Some are sugar free, others are low in sugar, while some provide nearly 30 per cent of an adult’s maximum daily sugar intake. It is worth checking the labels if you are looking for a low sugar option.

It is unlikely you will come to any harm with natural nootropics, although medication interactions and health complications are possible, and the long-term effects of regularly drinking them have not been well studied. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, it is best to avoid them.

Are coffee and tea nootropic drinks?

Yes. Most of us have nootropic drinks every day in the form of tea and coffee. Over 30 per cent of world drinks coffee regularly, while even more drink tea regularly.

Caffeine, found in coffee and tea, is classified as a nootropic because it can increase alertness, energy and concentration. Green and black tea also contain L-theanine, an amino acid that may affect the levels of certain chemicals in the brain, including serotonin and dopamine. These influence mood, sleep and emotion, as well as cortisol, which helps the body deal with stress.

Benefits of floating

Floating in water, in a pool, a lake or calm ocean, can bring numerous physical and mental health benefits.

• Less “doing” more “being”

To float, you need to move as little as possible – just a tip of the hips, or slow swing of your wrists. This slow movement can help you get out of your head and into your body, and into the present moment.

• It is meditative

Floating, once you trust the process, can be an immensely meditative act, where you can focus on your breathing, or the feel of the water, or the clouds above, without need to achieve.

• It is immersive

“Aquatic immersion” is the fancy term for being in water. Floating brings many of the benefits of playing or swimming in water, without the need for rigorous exercise.

Aquatic immersion is shown to increase blood flow to the brain and arteries.

• It is (a bit like) cold water therapy

You do not have to subject yourself to an ice bath to gain benefits of cold water immersion. Just being in a cold swimming pool or natural lake or ocean can help.

Officially, cold water therapy or cold hydrotherapy is the practice of using water that is around 15 degree Celsius for health benefits.

Research is limited, as most studies used only small groups of people, but overall evidence is positive especially in terms of benefits to your immune system and mental health.

So next time you are in water, take a break from swimming, roll onto your back, and float it all away.

How to float

• Lie on your back on top of the water
• Pull your shoulders back – this helps lift your chest, abdomen and legs
• Breathe normally – holding your breath affects your buoyancy
• Keep your body flat and straight, but you can spread your legs and arms like a starfish
• Push your chin and pelvis (hips) up. If you lift your chin up, your legs will follow and come up to the surface
• RELAX! You cannot flat with tense muscles

Tomatoes are full of health benefits. Eaten raw in salads, they provide a rich source of vitamin C, folate, magnesium, zinc and potassium all of which are essential nutrients and minerals.

Vitamin C is a health all-rounder. It supports your immune system, helps increase iron absorption and promotes healthy skin. Potassium helps with blood pressure control and heart disease prevention, while folate is important for normal cell growth and function. Magnesium is thought to help in post-muscle recovery.

Cooked tomatoes (think roasted or in soup and pasta sauces) come into their own as a major source of the antioxidant lycopene. The heat of cooking makes lycopene easier for your body to absorb. Lycopene is linked to brain health, possibly reducing the risk of dementia, heart health as well as lowering cancer risk, for example in prostate cancer studies.

Finally, tomatoes are a great source of both water and fibre, making them an excellent gut health option.

Tomatoes come in a variety of shapes, sizes and colours and flavours so get curious and start exploring today!

Self-compassion has three parts:

1. Mindfulness. Notice your experience or your thoughts without judgement: ‘I’m having a hard time with this’.

2. Self-kindness. Treat yourself as you would a friend.

3. Common humanity rather than isolation. Embrace imperfection as part of the human experience and understand that your suffering is shared by others.

Self-compassion is not self-pity, or selfish. It would not make you stop ‘trying’. It does, however, allow you to respond kindly to yourself in moments of difficulty. Self-compassion increases your ability to meet challenges and has been shown to increase physical and mental wellbeing, create a sense of safety in the workplace, and increase your sense of purpose and meaning.

Think of switching from an inner critic to a coach and see how it helps you rise to the challenge rather than becoming paralysed by self-doubt.

Self-compassion is simple to learn. One of the best things about it is that you can access it in the moment; you do not have to set aside time each day to ‘work at it’. There are several steps to increase your access to self-compassion.

1. Physical touch.

This might be as simple as placing your hand on your opposite forearm in a signal of care. Feel the warmth of your hand. You could bring your right hand to your heart. Gentle touch coupled with a mindful statement ‘wow, this is tough’ can have a powerful calming effect.

2. Get to know your emotions.

Often, we are not that great at knowing how we feel. Start to explore the language of feelings. Instead of stopping at ‘I’m angry’, see if you can sense what might be underlying that. Maybe you are frustrated or embarrassed or even sad. Growing your self-awareness is an important skill.

3. Practise mindfulness.

Check in on your inner experience. Note your thoughts without judging them or yourself.

Dr Mark Leary, professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University concludes, “Just about every measure of psychological well-being we have seems to be associated with self-compassion.” You cannot argue with science!

Dr Tra Brach, psychologist and mediation teacher, shares an easy to remember tool for mindfulness and compassion: RAIN

Recognise what is happening

Allow the experience to be there, just as it is

Investigate with interest and care

Nurture with self-compassion

This can help you move from feeling stuck to a state of feeling safe and secure.

When a nonrecyclable is mixed in with recyclable items, it affects the recycler’s ability to recycle any of the batch, leading to more materials going to landfill. If in doubt, leave it out of your recycling bin.

These items do not belong in the recycling bin, says Planet Ark, but are frequently found there. This does not mean some of them cannot be recycled elsewhere, just not in the kerbside bin:

• soft plastics (like bread bags and bubble wrap)
• food waste
• food containers with food in them
• crockery
• nappies
• clothes/fabric
• polystyrene
• CDs/DVDs/videos
• window/drink glass
• batteries
• mobile phones
• paper towels

And do not put your recyclables into a plastic bag. They cannot be sorted and are manually removed, with the whole bag sent to landfill. Put your recyclables into your bin loose.

Items that cannot go in your recycling bin may still be recyclable. Items such as mobile phones, printer cartridges, televisions, computers, whitegoods, paint and more may be able to be dropped off at a recycling depot.

Check your local area or google recycling in your local area.

As your confidence and momentum grows, generally you want to build up to about half an hour a day of exercise, five days a week. It does not have to be all in one session, you can split it into three 10-minute stints. Perhaps you will do longer on the weekends when your work demands are not so high. The key is small, sustainable steps.

So embrace being ‘good enough’ and get out there!