Self-care refers to any activity that we engage in to maintain and nourish our health, including mental, physical and emotional wellbeing. While it may seem like an obvious concept, self-care often gets cast aside for more pressing priorities such as work, family and the everyday pressures of life. There are many reasons why you should prioritise self-care and we’ve listed six of the most important below.
Improves moodInvesting time in your own care can have a major impact on your mood, leading to greater optimism and positivity. It will help you to feel happier, more satisfied and better able to cope with the challenges that life throws you way. Even taking a small amount of time per week to nurture your physical, emotional and mental health can be hugely beneficial on your mood.Helps relationshipsSelf-care helps you to be the best person you can be, which in turn as a positive impact on your relationships. Taking regular time to invest in your personal health allow…REMOVE THE FEAR OF MISTAKES
When you start a new project or take on a new task in your life, do you spend a lot of time worrying about making mistakes?
In my first job out of university, I took a position that involved traveling to customer sites to implement fairly complex software systems. I had very little experience compared to the other consultants who performed the same role. My company was billing out my time at very expensive rates so the customer’s expectations were very high.
Inevitably, there were times where I messed things up; usually due to lack of experience. In some cases the mistakes would impact other parts of the business, cause down time or delay project deadlines. Obviously the client would not be happy in these circumstances.
Almost 100% of the time I was able to turn a stressful situation like this into a win for both myself and the customer. Here was the simple process:
Take Ownership: I made sure that the client knew I was taking full respo…4 Positive Benefits to Trying New Things
What does it mean to try something new? For some, it may mean learning a new sport. For others, it could be trying a new food. Whatever it means to you, the principle is the same for everyone: Trying new things opens your world, eyes, and heart to new possibilities, and that’s a great thing. That’s the overarching benefit of trying new things, but here are four other specific benefits.
Growth Comes from NewWhen you step out of your comfort zone and into the wilderness of the unknown, a crazy thing happens. You learn and grow as an individual. It may not always be easy or comfortable, but it certainly will expand your mind and make you aware of the possibilities life has to offer – whether that be something thematic like your personality or something smaller like picking up a pair of rollerblades.
Courage BoostCourage is defined as the ability to do something that frightens you. Chances are, you may be a little frightened by the idea of trying som…
What Motivates People to Pass Content On?
If you know what motivates people to pass your content on, you have a much better chance of getting them to keep doing so in the future. Why is it that people are willing to continually pass on content from certain sites to friends, while not at all for other sites?
These are some of the main factors in play when it comes to why people pass on certain pieces of content.
Thinking Emotionally Rather Than Logically
Really great marketing gets people to take action by having them think emotionally rather than logically.
For example, if a video gets someone really shocked and outraged about some political position, they might post that video on their Facebook wall without necessarily double-checking any of the facts in the video.
It wasn't necessarily that the video presented shocking facts, but the fact that they managed to get the watcher in an outraged emotional stage.
If you can get your content to really get people fired up, they'll often be much more willing to pass it o…
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DISSOLVE YOUR SELF DOUBT
All of us have great skills and abilities that we have been born with or that have come to us very naturally. Some people tap into these talents and use them to create exciting opportunity in their lives. Many people, however, never fully express themselves and their own capabilities and they pay a great price for it.
Take a close look at anyone who has suppressed themselves in at least one area of their life. They had a talent of some sort but decided not to pursue it any longer for one reason or another; failure, ridicule, pain and so on. In essence, they gave up on a dream.
What you will notice is that people who have gone through this kind of experience tend to carry some kind of burden with them. There is a part of them that always wonders what might have been if they had not given up on their dream. The entire dilemma has been caused by one root issue and it debilitates huge numbers of people all of the time. That issue is self doubt.
Whe…
Tips For Turning Your Favorite Hobby Into A Successful Work-At-Home Business
Many of us dream of the possibility of creating a successful business right from our homes, one that is sustainable and we can run without ever leaving the confines of our humble abode. Alas, there are numerous businesses which begin and end with these great ideas each year. But some people have the know-how to create a business, which can effectively be operated from home and they have learned the secrets to doing it profitably.
Some of the most innovative of the work-at-home-business ideas revolve around the craft business. Many people are interested in having a home-based craft business; furthermore, some have been able to parlay this fun activity -- which others just see as extracurricular fun -- into a business that grows and thrives, increasing in sales each year. Those in the craft business will tell you that having a business sense is imperative, and it is even more important when you run a home-based craft business to love what you do and to let that love…
Choosing Your Happiness
Are you happy?
No really, I’m serious. Can you say with 100% certainty that you’re TRULY HAPPY? Or are you like most other people, just getting by? Are you waiting for the end of your day so you can slump home, veg in front of the t.v., and forget about work? Are you working toward some fuzzy, future goal in the hopes of one day finding fulfillment?
We’ve all been there. At some point or another, we’ve all hit a rhythm of trudging along, head down, getting through it. But some of us stay in that trench for far too long.
However, that’s just one story. You can choose to write a new one in which you’re bright-eyed, enthused about life and fulfilled by your endeavors.
Here are 3 easy ways you can leave the grey days behind and live a much happier life.
1. Define Your HappinessWhat brings you joy? Is it being in good physical condition? Does falling in love do it for you? How about beautiful adventures in exotic locat…
Learning to Trust Yourself More!
You may have a difficult time trusting yourself. Don’t despair. You are not alone. It is something that many people experience, and find difficult to overcome. When you lose trust in others, you start to lose trust in yourself.
To help you overcome this problem, you need to focus on key aspects of trust. The first is to have faith in your accomplishments. If you pass off your accomplishments as not being that important, when you need to rely on them, they won’t be there for you. That is sure to interrupt the process of trusting yourself.
You also need to trust your instincts. You won’t always be right, but you will be more often than not. An instinct is something you feel strongly about and does not come only from experiences. They come from something internal that no one can truly explain. It’s part of that inner voice that is telling you what to do. You need only listen. How many times have you said to yourself that you should have listened to your ins…
6 Traits of a Great Leader in the Workplace
When we think of leadership, we sometimes think of epic moments like George Washington crossing the Delaware, or Martin Luther King Jr. speaking on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. But what makes a leader great in a less epic venue, like work?
CommunicationA good leader at work is a good communicator and clearly spells out expectations. Not only that, they foster good communication between their team. A great leader goes above and beyond leveraging chats, emails, and texting groups to bring their team together around workplace issues. They don’t just offer tools for networking—they help develop a sense of how to communicate effectively.
EmpathyA good leader in the workplace cares about their employees and shows it. Remembering the details of their lives and asking follow up questions (in a non-invasive way) about spouses, children, parents, and life events shows that they care about their employees and view them as more than just human chattel.…
Communicating More Effectively
Learning to communicate effectively means that you first must first learn how to be assertive. The other options of communicating are passiveness or aggressiveness – both of which tend to alienate those you’re trying to communicate with.
When you learn to communicate effectively by flexing your assertive muscles, you’ll experience a boost of self-esteem and a personal confidence which will help you succeed in all areas of your life.
You’ll learn to be less resentful or feel inadequate or guilty about your decisions and will experience more freedom in your life. But, most of all – the way you communicate will improve your relationships, both at work and at home.
Assertiveness means that you’re able to express your thoughts and feelings without anger and in an appropriate and honest way. You’ll be standing up for your rights as a thinking and valuable individual and others won’t be confused about your beliefs and opinions.
Some techniqu…
Fear of Failure, or Fear of Success?
Did you know that more people are afraid to succeed than they are to fail? There is one big reason for this, and it may surprise you when you learn about it.
When people fail, they can find all kinds of reasons or excuses as to why they failed. Others will even chime in as to why the person failed. They will say things like, “it wasn’t meant to be.” Another common one is, “your heart wasn’t in it.”
When people succeed, however. There are no excuses. The steps they took, worked. Perhaps it was a fluke that it worked. But what if it happens again? Then, there is no way out of it. Failure has an escape plan; success does not.
The reason people are afraid of success is it forces them out of their comfort zone. They now have to solidify their game plan and continue on the successful path. They can no longer tell people it can’t be done because they did it. It’s proven.
How do you overcome that fear of success? You plow through it. If you ever saw the movie Caddyshack, Ty…
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Visualizing Your Success is a Habit
Get into the habit of visualizing your success. Now sitting around and daydreaming in generalizations about it is not what we mean. You need to visualize specifics. To return to the basketball example, daydreaming about being carried off the court on your teammates' shoulders is just daydreaming. Picturing in your mind how you will work a play if your opponent makes a particular move, picturing your exact response to it, is visualizing specifics. If you run through specific moves in your mind, you will be prepared when the need for those moves arises.
Don't be afraid to use your imagination to visualize new and better ways to accomplish things, as well. Here in your mind, you can try doing things in ways that are different from the usual. This is a creative process - you may have heard of creative thinking. Training yourself to think creatively is largely learning to let your imagination work on methods that are different from the "way things have always been done." It's bre…
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