Loud Speaker, an organisation from Liverpool that offers confidence boosting workshops to young people, has provided their top tips on fighting the doom and gloom during Blue Monday.
The third Monday in January is known as Blue Monday and is said to be the most depressing day of the year.
But Loud Speaker Directors Calvin Eden and Oba Akinwale want to change that. Taking resilience as the key trait to work on, they’ve provided easy tips to change your mindset.
Whilst January is no doubt a difficult month for some, being just after Christmas and an often cold and gloomy month, there’s no reason why the start of the year can’t be used to work on key skills to overcome the feelings of anxiety, depression and low self-esteem.
Loud Speaker empowers young people – predominantly aged 14-19 – to speak up and speak their best, helping them to articulate themselves in interviews, when on stage or have confidence when on stage and ultimately, believing in themselves to proactively go for their goals.
Being available when young people need this support most, Loud Speaker delivers exceptional, motivational and relatable workshops, when young people are setting their aspirations and shaping their career paths.
Having helped over 100,000 young people across the UK, Loud Speaker which was created in Liverpool continues to help students in Hugh Baird College, Childwall Sports and Science Academy and Calderstones School.
Loud Speakers top tips for attacking Blue Monday with a positive and confident attitude are:
1. The key to resilience isn’t seeking out a company like us at Loud Speaker to make yourself more resilient; it is coming to the realisation that you are already resilient and figuring out/reflecting on where your personal resilience comes from.
2. Without knowing you, we know that you have endured difficulty. But by definition of you now sitting here reading these words – you are resilient. You are trying to win!
3. You need to figure out what brought you to the party… Who/what has helped you bounce back from adversity in the past. At Loud Speaker, we believe that the tools we use to bounce back largely fall into a few key areas…
– People – friends, family, relationships that you care about, support services. It is vital that we speak to people – you’re not the first person to go through this, but it will feel like you are.
– Purpose – your goals, what makes you value yourself. Understanding what you want to achieve in the short, medium and long term will help you stay optimistic when things go wrong.
– Presence – the vast majority tend to dwell on our mistakes, failures and difficult moments. It’s easy to feel as if everyone else is winning, but we’re struggling. While it’s important to set goals for the future, and learn from the past – the most important thing you can do is try to enjoy each day as it comes.
Calvin explained: “The connotation of Blue Monday gets into people’s minds and makes them feel that that particular day is especially challenging, more so than any other day! But it’s all a marketing ploy. If you think about it, every Monday is a fresh start to the week and a chance to work on yourself and your goals. Don’t let your Monday be ‘blue’ just because it’s been dubbed that!“
Oba added: “When it comes to tackling the feelings of feeling down, resilience will be your best friend. Dig a little deeper today to realise that your resilience is already inside of you. If you’re getting up each day, tackling any issues that arise, going to work, uni or school, and pushing forward, you are already showing resilience amidst a month that is known to be a little more depressing than usual, as well as a day that’s been named Blue Monday.”
Loud Speaker visits organisations, universities, colleges and schools to work with people of all ages to find their voice and use it with confidence.
