On a day dedicated to checking in on our loved ones, I want to share one of the most valuable pieces of advice I've received about maintaining my own mental health: that is, learning to bridge the gap between my purpose and how I spend my everyday time.

Maintaining mental health is, of course, extremely complex, but one of the common challenges people face, which has certainly impacted me in the past, is a lack of purpose or, more often, a lack of time to be able to dedicate to that purpose.

In the hustle of our daily life, it can become easy to be torn between what we want and what we actually have to do.

It's entirely normal that we have to allocate a significant portion of our time to essential but low-priority or low-value tasks like commuting, household chores, etc. But this can easily wear on us and impact our mental health unless we learn to bridge the gap between these two aspects.

For me personally, walking and training for my next charity walk has become a significant part of what motivates me every day and keeps my mental health in alignment. So, I now openly embrace mundane activities I used to honestly dislike, like vacuuming, mowing the lawns, walking my dog or doing the shopping, because I know that the more I do of these, the more I contribute to my step count and contribute towards my overall purpose of achieving more charity walks and raising awarness for important causes.

There is real power in making small changes and shifts like this that gradually align your actions with your priorities.

I am sure there are countless ways that all of us can do similar things in our lives.

On a day when we are encouraged to check in with others, don't forget to check in with yourself as well.