We all struggle with our mental health from time to time. For many of us out there, it is even more than this.
Finding a way to improve our mental health doesn't always seem easy. We can end up feeling as if we are stuck in a bad place with no way to make progress or move forward. The problem is that this often ends up as a vicious cycle too. We feel rubbish so we don't do much, then we feel more rubbish because we aren't doing much!
264 million people suffer from depression worldwide. So for many, this vicious cycle will be a familiar story.
Why is this happening? Naturally, there are many different reasons and contexts behind depression. One concept is pretty common, however, and that is the one we want to focus on in this article. This idea of being stuck in a "rut" that you can't get out of.
Story of The Conqueror Virtual Challenges
The Conqueror Virtual Challenges hit the market in 2016. It was started by founder and CEO Adam who decided that he wanted to challenge himself to get out of a rut of low motivation, no exercise, and little progress. He felt motivated by the thought that he could add up all of his exercise sessions, calculate the distance, and see if that distance would reach right down to New Zealand.
When he went to the app store to find an app to help with this, he was stunned by the fact that no such thing existed yet. And so, The Conqueror Virtual Challenges was born.
Since its debut, The Conqueror has helped over 850,000 people globally with their lifestyle goals. There are currently plenty of different virtual challenges available, with 5 special THE LORD OF THE RINGS routes in partnership with Warner Bros. Consumer Products.
The Setting of Concrete Goals
In Adam's story, what helped him finally get off that couch was setting a goal he could visualize. Getting away from repetitive, grey office work life was much easier when he could think of his goal of New Zealand.
Virtual challenges from The Conqueror now aim to help others to do the same. It is the concept of goal setting that is one of the first ways we can see that virtual challenges would help those struggling with their mental health.
When we introduce a goal into this scenario, it can help to break this cycle over time. Imagining something positive and real that we can work towards helps shift our focus to forward-thinking rather than ruminating.
Joining a Community of Like-Minded Others
Many of the stories we can see on The Conqueror's social media pages focus on success stories of mental health improvement. Lots of people out there are keen to share their stories of how completing a challenge has given them a lift in their life.
What's interesting is that it is this very community of like-minded others that is one of the main contributing factors to that success. Connection is a huge part of dealing with mental health struggles, and creating this virtual community was a stroke of great insight from the creators.
We know we can't do the hard stuff alone. Luckily, when you are doing a virtual challenge, you don't have to.
Seeing Progress
When The Conqueror asked their virtual challengers, they found that over 70% of the people using the app think that the concept of seeing constant progress is their main motivator for continuing with their challenge.
Seeing ourselves make progress is a big benefit for our mental health. When we are down, sometimes all we can see is the negative stuff. We think about all the things we haven't done and haven't achieved.
When we get out there and start making progress, things can change really quickly. Being able to see exactly what progress we have made right in front of us helps even further.
Having Fun!
Finally, it appears that The Conqueror Virtual Challenges are helping users with their mental health simply by encouraging them to have a little fun.
In the app's initial metrics, more than 50% answered that improving their mood and/or mental health was their main goal in completing their virtual challenge. An increase in mood is a huge factor in exercise and The Conqueror has harvested this in a powerful way.
Combining interesting and exciting routes with daily exercise is a great way to keep things fresh and fun. There is something about walking through your local park and virtually seeing the sights of Niagara Falls right in front of you.
Sometimes adult exercise options are really lacking in that sense of fun. When we are children we focus on fun and play to get our bodies moving, why would we forget that as adults?