Build Resilience and Overcome Challenges: 10 Ways to Use the Mental Health Warrior Challenge Coin

Unlock your inner strength and become a mental health warrior with the power of the Mental Health Warrior Challenge Coin! In this episode of the Mental Health Warrior Program Podcast: No Surrender, I'm Bruce Schutter, and I'll guide you through the creation of this coin and 10 ways to use this empowering tool each day.

You will learn how this coin can be integrated into your daily routine to set a positive mindset and reinforce resilience. Through morning affirmations, centering meditations, and even playful decision-making, we explore how this small token can make a significant impact on your mental well-being.

We'll also dive into powerful techniques such as box breathing, task prioritization, and boundary setting, all reinforced by the coin's presence in your hand, your pocket, or on display at your desk. Discover the "empowerment gesture" that symbolizes personal triumph, and learn about mindful eating practices to foster gratitude. Plus, celebrate your daily achievements with the coin as a reminder of your strength and progress.

I'll share my own experiences and favorite resources, including books, podcasts, and blogs, to further support your journey. Embrace the challenge and find out how you can tap into your mental health warrior power today! 

Chapters

• 0:00 Mental Health Warrior Challenge Coin
• 9:28 Utilizing Mental Health Warrior Challenge Coin
• 15:55 Unleash Your Mental Health Warrior

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hi everybody, bruce Shooter here with the Mental Health Warrior Program Podcast no Surrender. Now, one of the things is, if you're watching this on the YouTube part, you can see visually I am holding one of the Mental Health Warrior Challenge Coins in my hand. If you're not, and you're listening to this this coin is something I created. It is about the size of a silver dollar and it is a way to have this program or the Mental Health Warrior Strength, come with you each and every day and I want to talk about I thought it would be exciting today to talk about 10 different ways you can use this coin to build your strength, to get through challenges and, every day, just to have that support that comes with you. So that's what we're going to talk about today. I'm going to hold this coin here and put it in my pocket because there's another way you can use it. But let's first quick introduce and remind you thank you for joining us on the Mental Health Warrior Program. And I mentioned no surrender because, again, the warrior and you and I, we're not going to surrender to our mental health challenges or to life's challenges. We are going to triumph over them and we are going to do that fueled by the power of our emotions, by our mental health. So let's jump right into this, because one of the things is with the program, and if you've seen the site you will see I have nine different books filled with tools and solutions that support this new self-help approach we are building as mental health warriors or following, however you want to say that. And one of the neat things I thought was it's fantastic to have all that information and to have the books, but what can I do when I'm out and I can't carry the book around or I just need that really discreet support. You know I'm struggling, but it's not something where I want to break open a book, take out a pen and paper and underline some chapters. That's totally understandable. That led me to create and design the Mental Health Warrior Challenge Coin, as I mentioned. I'll hold it up here again. Everybody that's visually watching this can see if I can get it to focus. But this coin is a nice heavyweight coin. It's about the size of a silver dollar. It's in a couple different metals and on the front we've got the warrior, the symbol with the helmet, and it says Mental Health Warrior. And on the back of each coin, as you can kind of see here. What we've got is warrior wisdom. Now, in the one I'm holding, the warrior wisdom states I am stronger than my challenges. Fantastic advice. We can follow each state too.

Speaker 1: 2:37

Now, one of the first things is how can we use this coin? I mean, it's great to get the coin, but what do we do with it? So I thought I'd give you some suggestions we have a little fun with this of different ways I use the coin and that could hopefully show you some ideas you might want to use in your own life. So, first off, one of the things is we start the day out and I like to grab the coin because I'm going to take it with me. Remember, this coin is bringing portable motivation with us each and every day. Saying I am a mental health warrior, so I grab that coin. I like to keep it right there on the bedside. Grab the coin.

Speaker 1: 3:14

One of the first things I do is it reminds me to do a morning affirmation. Now, that is simply repeating a statement to build a nice mindset or an approach, however you want to call that for the day. And in this case, I like to repeat and remind myself the warrior creed, which is bend, not break Now. I find that important because in the past I definitely broke with my mental health challenges of bipolar disorder, alcoholism, anxiety disorders, ptsd. Those challenges would break me. My new game plan and the new way as a warrior is the biggest way I win is by bending, not breaking. So this coin, when I grab it before I throw it in my pocket, go on to the day, it reminds me to say that affirmation, and I do. I say, bruce, you are a mental health warrior and you're going to bend, not break, when challenges pop up. Now, that'll carry me through the day. That's a good start to the day and it builds a great mindset we can all use. So there's the first one.

Speaker 1: 4:19

Now the second one, second suggestion on how to use this is you can use the coin and you can focus on it Because, again, remember, it's a tangible item so we can pull it out of our pocket and we can hold it in front of us. And sometimes I like to grab it right before, let's say, I'm going to go into a meeting or make a phone call. Again, just need a few seconds with it and I stare at it and what I do is I call this a centering meditation. So I center myself before I get into that emotional environment or that big phone call, that big meeting, any of those things. I prep for it. Now, remember, I'm not going to break, but I'm also going to build the mindset and use the coin and just stare at it for a couple seconds and remind myself, bruce, you are a mental health warrior and you can handle this. And that centering slows everything down, puts everything in a calmer place Fantastic way to go forward now into the next challenge, and this could be any type of challenge. Remember, this coin is very versatile and you can use it for any challenge throughout the day. So, first, we start our day with a morning affirmation. Secondly, we use the coin by staring at it for a few seconds, centering meditation, before we go into challenging times.

Speaker 1: 5:36

Now, it's a coin, so I'm going to make the third one kind of funny here. I'm going to try this on camera, but it's a coin. What do we tend to do with coins? We have a decision to make. We flip the coin, as I just did. Luckily I didn't drop it, and you could say front back, heads, tails. Here's what my decision is. Now I would not and do not suggest you do this when you are faced with a very big decision. This is just to inject a little bit of humor, and maybe you have just a little bit of indecisiveness. Maybe you're thinking what do I want for breakfast? I have two choices Take the coin out, flip the coin, let it help you pick. Now it may sound funny, but this keeps us from being stuck in moments of indecisiveness. And it's a little bit of humor because again you flip that coin, you're letting it to chance, but we're letting it to a good chance with a good mental health warrior coin. So that's the third one. Now the fourth one.

Speaker 1: 6:34

Let's say we're going through our day here. We still got the coin. We grab it out of our pocket, or it's sitting right there. We take it and we just use the coin to remind ourselves reflective journaling. Now, journaling does not have to mean we need to pull out a giant notebook and write for hours. What I'm saying is we want to just take a little pause in the day and reflect on how things are going. You just want to jot a few notes on a piece of paper. If you have a notebook here with you, it's great, but I like to use the coin to remind me. It's almost like I ask permission to journal just for two minutes and I say, okay, I'm going to put the coin there and I'm going to do a little bit of journaling on how the morning went. Now, that's important because I want to reinforce, and I want you to also reinforce, what you've accomplished so far in the day, and that's why this little journaling it's a little bit of reflective journaling. So you might say how did I do the last hour? How did that meeting go? How did the morning go? Take a few minutes, just one or two. Use the coin as a prompt to say I'm in a journal, how did I do as a mental health warrior? And you can even throw down some suggestions. Oh, I could use this for the rest of the day. Oh, I handled these things. Now I'm ready for my next meeting. So there's our fourth idea Use it to prompt you for reflective journaling. Now, number five is we're getting to some real power here. So we're walking along and we're feeling down. Depression creeps in Now. In my case, bipolar sends me into depression for no reason. It just says everything's bad. Or my anxiety maybe says oh, look at all the stress and anxiety because nothing's going right. Well, again I grab the coin. This time, though, I'm viewing it as a gratitude token. This coin is a reminder to me to say look at what you've accomplished, look at what you can be thankful for. Now your head's telling you everything's going bad, everything is negative. I want you to take the coin, look at it and think of things you're grateful for. It's a great way to dispel or take away the power from that depression or anxiety. I like to call it see the truth or the gratitude. Now, gratitude and truth, we are saying I'm grateful for or I am recognizing these things in my life, and if you just find a couple of them, which I know, they're there. And again, we're breaking that hold that depression or anxiety is trying to exert by using the coin as a little gratitude token, reminder things are good. So there we go. We got number five. Now, let's say, we're moving on through that day and we get into a stressful situation. Now, remember, I've still got my coin in my hand, got it in your pocket Again. However, you want to hold on to it and all of a sudden, you're in that stressful situation. Now, remember, I've still got my coin in my hand, got it in your pocket Again. However, you want to hold on to it and all of a sudden you're in that stressful situation. This is where you can use breathing. Now.

Speaker 1: 9:28

You've often heard you can use mindful breathing, paying attention to your breathing Again, not something that you even have to announce very subtle. You can do box breathing. You can do numerous types types. The idea is to focus on your breathing just for 15, 20 seconds. Again, you can even be standing in a group of people and do this, but I like to use the coin clinging to it as a reminder saying okay, mindful breathing. Now I'm holding the coin, I use it to focus on my breathing.

Speaker 1: 10:02

The coin is that texture, that visual reminder, just like we're visually focusing on slowing our breathing. We can do box breathing. You can do four in, hold it for four, four out, things like that. The idea is to regain control. It's a combination of something tangible in your hand alongside that mindful breathing. Great technique that works. You can use it anywhere.

Speaker 1: 10:27

Used it the other day in the grocery store line because I got in line and all of a sudden, 10,000 people got in line. I got a little nervous with the anxiety. Grab the coin, use a little mindful breathing Again works wonders to stop the negative thinking and to keep us centered. So that's number six. Now we've still got four more. That's why this is so exciting with this coin and the neat ways you can use it. Remember, it's a tangible as well as a visual reminder.

Speaker 1: 10:57

So here we go. That's where we're going to use it now, as a visual reminder for number seven. So we're going to call this a visual cue for boundaries. Now, what the heck do I mean by that? Put it on your desk. I'm going to use this coin to remember to work on projects one at a time, or to separate them If they've all become merged, almost like a big pile of paper which sometimes appears on my desk. And I got this big pile of 27 project notes and everything else. I use the coin, place it in the middle and use it as a visual cue to slow down and separate the projects, put them in the order I want to work on them, perhaps stack all of them except one and just have that one piece of paper. Again, we're using the coin the Mental Lawyer Challenge coin as a visual cue to set some boundaries or direction for what we're going to work on next. That goes a long way to keeping us from getting overwhelmed, getting flustered and keeping anxiety at bay.

Speaker 1: 11:57

Now, number eight. Okay, this is where we're back to Remember. I said it was tangible. Now, this is the best one and probably the easiest one. You probably expected it as number one, but it's empowerment gesture. It's in your hand. That's what I call it empowerment gesture. It doesn't mean you're handing it to somebody, you're kind of handing it to yourself and reminding yourself. I am clinging and holding this coin. I feel the weight, I feel it in my pocket. I don't even have to pull it out and just holding it. By holding on to something like that, I feel empowered Because I remind myself I went to the trouble, in my case, of picking up this coin this morning. Bring it with me, because I'm a mental health warrior. I am taking action throughout the day. I am embracing my emotions. I'm also triving over my challenges and any life challenge that comes up. And by doing that, this reminder of, yes, I remember to bring it and yes, I'm holding it in my hand it's a reminder to you that you are a mental health warrior and you can triumph, and that is very, very powerful. So that's a great one to use all the time.

Speaker 1: 13:02

Now again, we talked about tangible and visual One of the things. There's got two more left and we're going to wrap up the day with them Because, let's say, at this point we've gone through the day, we are triumphing and we have some things left. We're at dinner time Now. One of the things is this is another spin, kind of like I said, use the coin as a reminder to build a gratitude list earlier Great way to get yourself out of depression or to stop anxiety. You're sitting down for a meal. Put the coin out in front of you, put the coin on the table and remind yourself look at this fantastic food you're eating. Now. Even I like to cook and not everything comes out perfect, but even if it's not the best recipe, I cook something. I'm learning, I probably did a good job and eventually it comes out pretty good. All of those things. We're going to call that mindful eating, and this is from a mindful eating token with the Mental Health Warrior Challenge coin. It's reminding me to pay attention and be not only grateful but to really enjoy the food and who I'm with and the company. So turn that meal into a very, very positive experience Again, building that strength by reminding ourselves every day about all the great things we have in our life, and this coin being that cue that visual or tangible cue to remind yourself of that.

Speaker 1: 14:27

The last one, last one is really important. Grab that coin before you're about to put it away. Now, like I said, I put it on the bedside or maybe I leave it on my desk. I put that coin down and I'm putting it aside and I'm reminding myself to celebrate your achievements, because a lot of times the day has been hectic and we've been flying through it. Now we're triumphing. But I ask myself just for 30 seconds, as I put that coin down and you can do this too to celebrate your achievements, because I certainly know in the past well, frankly, I didn't have a lot of achievements because I gave up control on my challenges, but today I celebrate them and I take that moment with that coin, as I'm placing it down there, to celebrate each step forward I took today and that gets me ready for tomorrow, and you can do that too, because every step forward is going to build that foundation for success. So I hope you enjoyed this and I hope you had fun. I'll hold this up again. I'm not very good at visually centering it.

Speaker 1: 15:27

You can go to the website bruceshootercom. You can go to Mental Health Warrior Program and there's our store, the Mental Health Warrior Challenge Coin. Any of those words typed into a search engine, you'll find it. You can pick up your coin for yourself, for your team, for your group. And these 10 are just the start of what you can do and the power this coin gives you. Plus, while you're out there, don't forget to check out the rest of the program.

Speaker 1: 15:55

We've got nine books to guide you on your path and help you really build your power that you can tap into with the coin.

Speaker 1: 16:02

We've got other free things. You've got the podcast that you're listening to, other episodes, got a blog with articles to allow you to read some things and give you more tools and more strength each and every day. So I hope you enjoyed this and again, thanks for joining me, as I have a little fun with coin one mental health warrior challenge coin, and we came up with 10 ways I use it in the day, which I do, and the power I get from each of those, the support, the strength it gives me well, it's amazing. I hope you find the same and I want you to feel that power as a warrior each and every day. You should feel that because you are on the path to triumph and you have the power to change your life, which you are doing right now. So I'm going to sign off on that positive note. Have a great day, bruce, signing out, and we will talk more next episode about other ways to unlock your mental health warrior power. Bye.