Mental Fitness Mondays: Are Mentally Fit People Happy All the Time?

11th May 2026

The simple answer is no.

Sometimes people ask me, "If you’re mentally fit, are you happy all the time?". The simple answer is no. Nobody is.

If you never experienced sadness, frustration or flatness, you wouldn’t recognise happiness when it arrived. It would just feel like normal. Feeling a range of emotions is part of being human. It’s also part of being mentally fit; in fact the Four Core muscles model includes emotional regulation as part of the core muscle of Self Care.

The other morning, I woke up feeling a bit flat; not miserable, just lacking spark. That happens; what matters most is what we do with that information.

Let’s imagine two people.

The first person, whose mental fitness is a bit depleted right now, wakes up and doesn’t feel great. Maybe they’re tired, a bit run down, or simply not in the mood. They might try to push through and ignore it, or they might get cross with themselves: “What’s wrong with me? Pull yourself together.” Maybe they write the day off completely, convinced it’s already ruined, or worse - they spiral into worry, assuming something is seriously wrong. I recognise all of this because I’ve done it myself.

Now, let’s picture the second person, who currently feels more mentally fit. They notice how they feel without judging it and get curious rather than critical: “I wonder what this is about?” They tune into their body and ask what’s needed - is it rest, or a bit of movement? Do they need to lift themselves with action or soften with kindness? Maybe they change their environment, step outside, or speak to someone they trust. They make choices that feel wise and kind rather than reactive. They communicate clearly if they need to change plans or slow down, and crucially, they don’t see feeling low as a personal failure or the start of a downward slide.

I gotta feeling

So no, mentally fit people aren’t happy all the time. But they are happier more of the time, because they don’t torture themselves for feeling human. In fact, a meta-analysis of 79 studies by Kregel et al, found that psychological health (mental fitness) is associated with less emotional inertia (emotions shift more readily) and less extreme variability in emotional states.

In more every-day words, in our mentally fitter moments we can shift out of a lower or bad mood more easily, and we have fewer of them in the first place. Sounds worth it to me! And the great news is that if you choose to make your own mental fitness a priority, you'll get to have more happiness too; just not all of the time.

Coaching Reflection:

What do you tend to do when you wake up feeling flat or low?
Which response, critical or curious, feels most familiar to you?
And what might “wise and kind” be like in you today?