Personal Development Archives - Page 4 of 23

Unlock Your Creativity

Whether you have a job that requires you to be creative, or you want to see just how creative you could be, there are many reasons why you might be thinking about unlocking your creative genius. There are several ways that have been shown to help promote creative thinking, but remember that not everything works for everyone and you may have to experiment to find out what works for you.

Have a nap

Taking a nap or just sleeping on it for the night can work wonders on your brain and creativity. Some people spend hours in one day thinking about a problem or considering ways to be more creative with a certain project. By going to sleep, resting your mind and body and then waking up the next day, you can magically unlock some extra creativity and solve your problems.

Talk to other people

This isn’t necessarily stealing other people’s ideas, but just talking to others can help you to think of new and creative ideas. You don’t have to speak to people you spend a lot of time with – in fact, it can be more useful to connect with those you wouldn’t otherwise chat to. At work, spend time in the kitchen during your lunch break trying to chat with other colleagues about their work or the projects they have been working on. Outside of work, chat to others whenever you can – you never know what may spark some creativity!

Read

The more you read, the more you learn. The more you learn, the more your mind will be stimulated and able to think more clearly. You don’t have to read books about creativity in order to promote creative thinking. Even by reading newspapers and magazines, you can find inspiration where you never guessed it.

Keep working

You don’t have to work non-stop all the time, but it’s not such a great idea to stop doing everything altogether. When you’re taking time off work, don’t allow yourself to sit at home doing nothing at all as this can soon stifle your creativity before long.

Stay healthy

Keep yourself hydrated, eat good foods and exercise on a regular basis. Not only will this keep you happy, but you might start to notice yourself becoming more creative or taking on creative projects with more ease. Start small and build your way into a healthier lifestyle.

Job Seeking – Dealing with Negativity Through a Positive Attitude

We read a lot about being positive and maintaining a positive attitude to things. Sometimes, when you read those sort of articles you are left thinking that it’s not okay to have negative thoughts or to react to something. If you are a job seeker then you will invariably face rejection and your instinctive response isn’t to think “that’s great” is it?

I am a great believer in focusing on the positive and projecting a positive image to the world. But is is okay, in fact it is more than “okay” to be disappointed or annoyed by that rejection email or telephone call.

“Their Loss” or “sounds like a lucky escape” is my better half’s response when I get the dreaded rejection after an interview. Whilst I always know that it’s intended to focus me in a positive way I am sure that any job seeker will be able to tell you that it can be disheartening. This is especially so when you get nonsensical feedback such as I received recently that “you didn’t give any examples of XYZ” during the interview to which my response if I had been able to give it to the interviewer was “you didn’t ask any questions around XYZ.”

That reaction to a disappointing outcome is potentially negative isn’t it? But it’s how we react after the initial reaction and process it that matters.

So, allow yourself to have a negative reaction and then you need to focus yourself on the next opportunity that you are pursuing. The following are some ideas on how you can do this.

The best way to eliminate negativity is to develop a positive attitude. Your thoughts and outlook on life have a profound effect on how you live your life. They are also contagious and affect those around you. You can’t have both positive and negative in the same space. So why not focus on turning the negativity into something more positive?

You will find you have more energy and enthusiasm when you have a more positive attitude. People will want to be around you more, and will be more positive as well, leading to a cascade effect. Negativity tends to bring you down and steal away your energy. It can also cause health issues over time. Some ways you can develop a more positive attitude are:

Read Books about Positive Thinking

There are many books out there that can teach you about how to develop a positive mindset and eliminate the negativity in your life. Reading is not only a great way to learn, but it helps your brain build more connections which keep it healthy for a longer time. You can even find many very good books on this subject in your local library and read them for free.

Affirmations

Affirmations are a way of reprogramming the negative thoughts you tell yourself – and in many cases, you may not even be aware that you have them. By doing affirmations, you can change these negative thoughts into positive ones. You can start thinking better of yourself.

Meditation

Meditation is a great way to help eliminate negativity and turn it into positive thinking. It also reduces stress. Because you get past the conscious level, you can really help reprogram your mindset with meditation. If you combine this with the affirmations, you can increase the results.

Spend time with positive people

Try to eliminate or limit contact with people who tend to have a negative mindset. Sometimes you can’t completely break off contact with them, especially if they are family or people you work with, but as much as possible try to spend time with positive people. Not only will you find it easier to be positive around them, but you may learn new ways to help yourself be more positive.

Your New Year 2019! Your Life!

As we approach 2019 and 12 new chapters wait to be written I wanted to take the opportunity to wish all my connections a very Happy New Year for 2019!

As we head into the New Year take some time over the next few days to think about what sort of life you want in the coming year.

There’s a growing number of people struggling with their work-life balance. A large percentage of people feel that their job demands that they should be available 24/7 since they can check in from anywhere using their smartphone. This type of constant availability takes a toll on both a person’s mental and physical health. Humans need to socialize, relax, and care for themselves to stay happy and healthy.

Here are four simple ways to improve your work-life balance:

Unplug
It’s easier said than done, we know, but avoid checking your phone for work matters after hours. This constant checking may have become a habit you wish you’d never started, and if you are honest, practically all work-related matters can wait until the next day. It’s key to unplug from work when you get home each evening and on the weekends. Let your coworkers know you won’t be returning emails, calls, or texts regarding work after hours so that they can prepare for this change.

Work Smarter
If you can’t seem to get all of your work done within the allotted 40 hours, you aren’t alone. An alarming number of Americans work more than 50 hours a week, every week. Before you go to your boss to ask for a reduction in your workload, take a careful look at how you are spending your time. Track it for a few days and see what’s causing you to stay late each night and come in early each morning. You will no doubt be surprised by the ways you can change or eliminate distractions and other time-wasters.

Take a Stay-Cation
Another vital way to get your work-life balance in order is to make use of all of your vacation days. A large number of US workers lose essential time with their family or with themselves because they don’t take all of their vacation days, or in worst cases, don’t have any vacation days at all. If you feel uncomfortable about using all your holiday in one long vacation, schedule the occasional day off here and there to enjoy “stay-cations.” Breaking it up like this will give you the mental health days you need while ensuring you don’t come back to an overwhelming mountain of work.
Train Your People
Many of us grew up hearing, “If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.” Unfortunately, this gets ingrained to the point where we feel we can’t delegate any tasks lest they end up back in our laps in worse shape than before. If you have employees you manage or freelancers you outsource to, take the time to train them well. Make sure they know exactly how to do things. Of course, this will take time upfront. But, once they understand your requirements, you’ll be able to hand off more work and give yourself some slack.

As we head into the New Year take some time over the next few days to think about what sort of life you want in the coming year.

Here are four simple ways to improve your work-life balance:

Unplug
It’s easier said than done, we know, but avoid checking your phone for work matters after hours. This constant checking may have become a habit you wish you’d never started, and if you are honest, practically all work-related matters can wait until the next day. It’s key to unplug from work when you get home each evening and on the weekends. Let your coworkers know you won’t be returning emails, calls, or texts regarding work after hours so that they can prepare for this change.

Work Smarter

If you can’t seem to get all of your work done within the allotted 40 hours, you aren’t alone. An alarming number of Americans work more than 50 hours a week, every week. Before you go to your boss to ask for a reduction in your workload, take a careful look at how you are spending your time. Track it for a few days and see what’s causing you to stay late each night and come in early each morning. You will no doubt be surprised by the ways you can change or eliminate distractions and other time-wasters.

Take a Stay-Cation

Another vital way to get your work-life balance in order is to make use of all of your vacation days. A large number of US workers lose essential time with their family or with themselves because they don’t take all of their vacation days, or in worst cases, don’t have any vacation days at all. If you feel uncomfortable about using all your holiday in one long vacation, schedule the occasional day off here and there to enjoy “stay-cations.” Breaking it up like this will give you the mental health days you need while ensuring you don’t come back to an overwhelming mountain of work.

Develop Your People

Many of us grew up hearing, “If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.” Unfortunately, this gets ingrained to the point where we feel we can’t delegate any tasks lest they end up back in our laps in worse shape than before. If you have employees you manage or freelancers you outsource to, take the time to develop them well. Make sure they know exactly how to do things. Of course, this will take time upfront. But, once they understand your requirements, you’ll be able to hand off more work and give yourself some slack.

Learning To Reflect

At this time of year we all tend to be a little more reflective as we think back over the year that has gone and ponder what is to come. I know I have certainly found myself reflecting on the experiences, challenges and opportunities that 2018 has presented and am looking forward to hopefully securing a new role as a Learning and Development Manager early in the New Year.

Sometimes when we reflect we can focus on the negatives and that can be worthwhile if we look at the learning from those experiences. However, we also need to ensure that we reflect on the positives as well and again take the learning from them into the year ahead. But how do you become more self-reflective or if this is a new idea for you how do you start?

Being self-reflective simply means that you look inside yourself to find out what you could do differently. When you are more self-reflective, you tend to have strong emotional intelligence, act with integrity always, and be a lot more confident due to that. To become more self-reflective, you may want to do some self-reflective exercises.

Positive Affirmations – It may help to write down as many positive affirmations as you can on strips of paper. Put them in a jar. Whenever you need to think positively about yourself, just pull out one of them and focus on what it says. You don’t really have to write them down, though; you can tell yourself positive affirmations about any situation that is currently happening in order to relax and look inward.
Meditate – The practice of meditation where you sit and empty your mind for a period will help you become more mindful. The act of clearing your mind will bring things to your mind that you need to attend to later. But, for now, when you meditate, take a few minutes to think of nothing and to totally clear your mind of everything but your breathing method.
Create a Vision Board – One way to reflect is to create a vision board about your hopes and dreams. You can even create one after the fact of something that happened, as a way to process the event and work through any issues that occurred.
Ask Yourself Questions – “What could I do better next time?” It doesn’t matter what the situation is, but if you can ask and answer this question, you’re going to give yourself great insight – especially if you remember this when you’re in a similar situation.
Keep a Bullet Journal – A bullet journal is where you write down just words to remember what happened instead of sentences. When you need to reflect on something, you can look back at past entries. When you need to reflect on the future, you can project positive entries.

These exercises can help you look into yourself in a different way. You’ll feel more competent, useful, and grateful in life when you do these self-reflective exercises designed to look inside your mind in a gentle and positive way.

The Importance of Good Self-Care

In my previous post I touched on the importance of good self-care and I want to explore that a little more. The evidence from my research shows that people who have high self-confidence tend to take really good care of themselves.

They are good at self-care and make it a priority in their lives. This can feel strange to some people who weren’t taught that growing up, and it can seem self-centered. But the truth is, it’s not. You have to take care of yourself because honestly, you’re the only one who really can.

Your Happiness Depends on It – You are the only person who truly knows who you are, what you want, and why. Essentially, every single one of us is alone with our own thoughts, morals, and actions. They affect us the most when we put ourselves last. If you want to be happy, you must not just be good to others but be good to yourself too.

Your Health Depends on It – When you are focused on self-care, you’re also focused on being healthy, eating right, exercising, and staying hydrated. Being healthy means that you take care of yourself and put your health needs before the wants of others, or even your own destructive wants. It’s the highest form of self-love.

You Can’t Help Others Unless You Help You First – By now you’ve heard the story that the flight attendant shares if you’ve been on a plane or watched a movie. If the oxygen mask comes down, you must put yours on first before you can take care of someone else’s mask. The reason is that without oxygen you will pass out and you can’t help anyone if you’re not there. If you’re not putting yourself as a priority for the things you need in life, you won’t be good for anyone else.

You Become More Likable – It may seem counter-intuitive but when you practice self-care, people tend to like you more. That’s because you will have a different attitude. You’ll seem well rested, well fed, and relaxed. Plus, when you are happy, it spreads like wildfire and makes others happy too. People like people due to how they feel when they’re around them.

You’re Worth It – The main thing to remember is that you are worth the self-care that you give yourself. You should take care of yourself as well as you would any child, an aging parent, or friend. You’re your best friend and your best advocate, and sometimes the only one who can make the choices.

When you want to be more self-confident, taking care of your needs is the first step. When you are happy, healthy, and less stressed out because you give yourself the time and effort you need, you will simply be happier. When you are happier, you will appear more self-confident and more people will gravitate toward you because of that.