20 Questions To Find Your Core Self
Building and uncovering your true sense of identity is one of the hardest yet most crucial things we can take our time to figure out.
Having this identity means that you, as a person, know yourself better in terms of what you want, what drives you, what aspects you want to grow, and where your goals lie. With this knowledge, you are much better able to steer and direct your actions, and thus your life path, in a way that aligns with the values and goals that you have clarified for yourself. In short, taking the time to know yourself ensures that you make more aligned choices and, in the end, live life in accordance with your true self and what feels right to you. You are living your own life for yourself, as opposed to following others' definitions of success or happiness.
It is not about becoming fully self-sufficient or completely independent from others, as interdependence is always beneficial and healthy. Rather, it is about having a comfortable and assured footing in who you are as a person and knowing what you truly stand for.
The questions below are timeless and can be used to navigate and shape your personal journey or exploration. These questions are in no specific order of importance and do not need to be answered in their written order. Spend some time pondering each question, noting what comes to mind, and identifying what resonates as true. There is no pressure of right or wrong answers here; the only correct answer is one that feels truthful and genuine to you.
CORE QUESTIONS
Describe your current self in 3-5 words. Are you happy with that description, or would you like to change it in some way?
What are your top 5 values as an individual, and are you living in accordance with those values?
What are your top skills and strengths?
What are you truly passionate about, and what makes you feel fully immersed?
Which activities do you find fun and consider to be your hobbies or side interests?
Are you more of an extrovert or introvert, and how could you organize your life so that it would better suit those needs?
Who are your main inspirations and why?
Which people in your life matter most to you, and how can you further nurture your relationship with them?
What are some of your short and long-term goals in the following categories: Career/academics, health, relationships, finances, and spirituality.
In which areas and how specifically would you like to grow or improve as an individual (Health, career, academics, spirituality, relationships, finances, etc.)?
At what time of the day do you find that you function or work best, and what changes in your current lifestyle could you make to assist those preferences?
Would you consider that you are managing your time well?
What are some of your main fears or worries which are currently holding you back from exercising your true potential?
What are you ashamed of or feel insecure about?
Do you concern yourself a lot with how others view you or think of you?
What were some of your biggest mistakes that you’ve made, and what were you able to learn from them?
Up to this date, what are some of your proudest accomplishments and also some of the biggest failures?
Since one year ago, how have you changed or grown as a person?
If you continued going down your current path, where do you imagine yourself in 1 year, 5 years, or 10 years?
How do you want people to remember you? What kind of impression do you want to leave behind?
FINAL THOUGHTS
I hope that you find these questions useful and that you find them helpful in your journey of personal discovery and growth. You can always return back to these questions whenever you feel that you have fallen slightly out of touch or out of alignment with yourself and in doing so will make sure to get yourself back on the right path once again.
Thank you for taking your time to read this 😊
New Year 2023 - Making It Your Best Year
A new year is here and with that many new opportunities, experiences and memories to be made. In order to make the best use of this year, it is crucial to take some time to plan it out, consider our wishes and wants and take the opportunity to make it a year based on our design.
Each year, made up of months and weeks represents an opportunity for growth and change, to step into the shoes of who we want to become - To start living in a direction that feels more aligned with our true selves.
I hope you are excited for this year as much as I am where prosperity, progress and good health will be abundant for all. If you are interested in your own development, join me on this journey of growth to set foot into the new year with good energy and intention.
Wishing you a Happy New Year and that you keep finding my posts useful and interesting to read.
ADVICE ON GOAL SETTING
At the start of the year is when most people set their annual goals or at least in some form make a plan for the upcoming year. Regarding this goal setting, I wanted to provide you with some general goal setting advice which you can use for mapping out and following through on your own goals which you set yourself for 2023. I hope you find them useful 😊
Focus on achieving one goal at a time, instead of juggling 10 different ones
Be realistic with the goals you set yourself in terms of the time frame you expect to achieve them in
Additionally its beneficial if your are passionate and invested in the goals you set yourself, as you will be much happier and motivated during the execution process, ultimately helping you follow through until the end
Consider how will you measure the progress you make towards your goal (This will be different depending on the type of goal you have)
Split the goals you set based on different categories to make it a more balanced approach (Examples: Health, Career, Personal, School, Relationships etc.)
Avoid setting too many goals per category per year as that may make it seem over whelming to follow through and keep track of everything
When starting out with your goal, always keep in mind why you wanted to reach this goal in the first place
In order to visualize your goals more, its might be helpful to construct a physical mood/ picture board which visually represents the goals you want to reach and can also be displayed in your room for your own reference
Consider how you will keep yourself accountable for reaching your goals (Examples: Tracking your progress on a physical tracker, partnering up with a friend, using an app etc.)
It is also really important to be specific with the type of goal you want to reach so that you exactly know at what point you have reached your goal
Set a time frame in which you want to reach your goal
If you are planning on working through a larger more difficult goal, break it down into smaller sub goals which are more manageable
To keep yourself additionally motivated, consider setting yourself a reward for reaching a goal of yours
In order to keep track of your goals, it also helps to write them down somewhere, either on a piece of paper which is then displayed or on your phone - Somewhere where you can clearly see them
23 QUESTIONS TO PLAN YOUR 2023
Which 3-5 new habits do you want to establish this year and how will you implement them into your lifestyle?
Which habits and routines will you carry through into 2023 from 2022?
Which habits do you want to quit in the new year?
Which 5 main goals do you want to set for your professional/ work life?
Which 5 main goals do you want to set for your personal life?
How will you keep motivated and accountable for seeing your goals through until the end?
How will you manage and deal with potential setbacks throughout the upcoming year?
Which relationships do you want to strengthen this year and which ones do you want to cut off?
How can you implement more of the activities which energize you and less of the ones which drain you of energy?
Which new skills or knowledge do you want to acquire?
Which books do you want to read?
Which places do you want to visit or travel to?
How will you take care of yourself in the following year?
How will you minimize your main time wasters?
How will you optimize your work and make your use of time more efficient and effective?
How will you make sure to have fun throughout the year?
Which mindsets do you want to adopt for 2023 and which ones do you want to leave behind?
In what ways do you wish to grow as an individual, in terms of what do you want to improve about your current self?
Where do you see yourself at the end of the year (What are you doing, what have you achieved, which people are a part of your life?, where are you on your personal journey, what struggles have your overcome)
How do you want to feel by the end of 2023?
What are you looking forward to or excited about in 2023?
If you had to describe your ideal 2023 in 3 words, what would they be?
What do I want to remember the year 2023 for?
CONCLUDING WORDS
This blog post represents the first post of 2023, where we discussed all things regarding making 2023 your best year yet and how to effectively plan it as well as set goals. I hope that you have found this topic valuable and interesting, because I certainly did find it useful and will be using these questions for myself. If you have not yet made a review of 2022, here you can learn about how to do just that.
In this new year, I wish you all so much success, prosperity, good health and so much laughter and new memories to be shared.
As always, thank you so much for reading and stay curious!
Reflecting On The Year 2022
The eventful year of 2022 is starting to come to an end and with that it is good to take time to pause and retrospect back on what has happened and how we have grown as individuals. So much can happen within a year so it is important to acknowledge the improvements, achievements, changes and progress we have made in our lives.
I encourage you to take the time to reflect, it does not have to be a long and complex process, but ultimately one that can benefit you in the long run.
Hope you enjoy the read and happy holidays to all of you 💛
WHY ITS IMPORTANT TO TAKE TIME TO REFLECT
The reason why why should bother to reflect on the past year are many, but I think fore mostly, reflecting gives us a time to slow down and really think through our thoughts and ultimately decide wether we are moving our life in the direction we want to be going in. It allows us to simultaneously asses what are the aspects we are doing well on and also plan for the future year in terms of considered what we would still like to improve on and where our future goals life
Reflecting is a useful use of your time because it allows you to asses the core reason for why you do the things you do and also considering wether there is a smarter and more efficient way of doing things.
Additionally retrospecting on the past allows us to see how we have progressed and grown as individuals, which can for many be quite motivating for pursuing future interests
22 QUESTIONS TO REFLECT ON 2022
Below I have made a list of some useful questions which you can use for your personal yearly reflection. Feel free to add your own and adjust it to your needs.
What were the highlights of the year for you?
What are you proud of yourself for?
What was your biggest most memorable accomplishment this year?
Who is the person that you could not have gotten through this year without?
Which activities energized you and which ones drained you of energy?
Which habits helped you and which ones held you back?
What challenges did you overcome?
How do you want to optimize/ improve about some of the activities/ hobbies which you did through the year?
What skills do you learn or improve on?
What is your favorite memory from 2022?
What were the biggest time wasters for you in 2022?
What were the most fun memories of 2022?
What were the best uses of my time this year?
What is something you can do today which you could not have done a year ago?
Which mindsets do you want to let go of for the new year?
What got in the way of your success or achieving all of your set goals?
Who are the best people you met throughout the year and why?
If you had to describe the year 2022 in 3 words, what would they be?
Which one of your personal qualities turned out to be most useful this year?
What are the most important learning lessons you have learned?
Was there something you did for the first time in your life this year?
Which worries of yours turned out to be completely unnecessary in the end?
What are you grateful for in the year 2022?
I hope that the year 2022 brought you many beautiful memories and valuable experiences and that todays post helped you acknowledge and write them down. Take some time for yourself towards the end of each year and you will start to see how it can help you achieve a greater sense of calm and satisfaction for the year which has passed while allowing you to plan and visualize the year ahead that will be ripe with opportunities.
Within the next post I will be talking about planning and setting the foundations of your 2023 goals, so stay in tune for that.
Thank you so much for reading.
Listening To Your Intuition
Recently the topic of intuition grabbed my attention, as I feel it can be a very useful subject, however it is not talked about nearly enough as it should be.
Most of us are vaguely aware of our intuition and what it is, but often times we just disregard it, ignore it and say that is is better to always listen to our heads than our hearts. But is that right?
This is what we will be exploring in todays post, as well as how to become more aware of your intuition so that you can make the best use of it.
Enjoy the read <3
WHAT IS INTUITION?
Have you ever had a moment where you felt like something wasn't quite right, but you couldn't explain why or how? This is our intuition at play, a hidden force or instinct that guides us through life.
Intuition can be defined as our innate inclination for a particular behavior. It is often referred to as a “gut feeling” because often we can feel the innate sensation in our gut region.
In other words, intuition is a natural tool that allows us to know something without prior analytical reasoning. It is based on past experiences that allow us to form an conscious (although sometimes not noticed) reaction or decision, such as what we feel like having for lunch today.
There is often a battle of rational thinking and intuitive thinking, but if we can use both of them to the best of our ability, it can greatly benefit our decision making abilities and our levels of happiness in life.
WHY IS YOUR INTUITION USEFUL?
Now we understand that each of us have intuition, where some of us are better are listening to it than others, but in any case it can be a very useful tool because our intuition is unique to each of us.
Intuition is grounded in the present moment, meaning that it directs us towards what feels right to us in the current moment.
This allows us to make decisions that are likely to feel more in line with our true values and intentions. Of course when it comes to decision making, there has to be a certain level of thought or rationality put behind them, but listening to our intuition is also a must.
With better decision making, we are able to feel a greater level of happiness because we are making the right decision for us that feel right to us.
TUNING IN TO YOUR INTUITION
Listen To Yourself
Occasionally spend some time in silence to listen to yourself. Listen to both your body and mind, how do they feel? What are they trying to tell you? What do you want? What do you actually need?
These are all important questions to ask yourself. The answers are important because they are unique to you. If no answers come immediately, that is totally normal, keep pondering those questions over time and answers will emerge in some form or another.
Raise Awareness
Once you have taken some time to listen to your thoughts and emotions, become increasingly aware of them. Notice how they feel, how you fee about your own thoughts, think about why you react the way you do. Question everything you do and try to understand why.
Meditation is a great way to gradually become more aware of yourself as you are focused on yourself here and now in the present.
Additionally journaling and various visualization exercises are also useful in raising your intuition as they give you time to realize your wants and needs, who you are and identify your core values in life which lead you.
Experiment More
Next, take time during your everyday or during weekends to escape your usual routine. Try something new that you have been wanting to try for a while now. Perhaps a long lost hobby, a forgotten interest or a newly discovered passion. Notice how you feel about doing these things. Do you enjoy it? If not, why?
Take this time to also lean into any neglected interests you may have, that may not have been expressed before. This refresh might just be what you need to re-ignite your intuition.
Find something that you enjoy and something that feels right to you. Notice how you feel. What does your intuition say?
Find Inspiration
Surround yourself with inspiring media, people, works of art, music, podcasts, books and information. Learn new things and try out something that grabs your attention.
By finding something that inspires you, you not only raise your level of creativity, but it also excites you and urges you to keep experimenting, learning and following your heart with what guides your interest- Your intuition.
I hope you found this article on your intuition both interesting and useful, as I am trying to deliver this information to you in the most compact yet interesting and useful way.
If you have any specific ideas for that you would want me to write about, let me know on my Instagram (thriving_taya)
Thanks again for reading :)
Finding Your Ikigai
A while back, I had read the book called “ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life”, written by Francesc Miralles and Hector Garcia, which inspired me to write a couple of words on the topic of the so called “ikigai”, in terms of what it is and how it can help us improve and reshape our lives.
I enjoyed the book due to its simplistic style of writing and it was also a short yet impactful read so I would suggest it to plenty of other people for them to give it a go.
The main idea behind the book and the concept of ikigai is about helping you find your true purpose in life, a purpose that feels aligned with your interests and how those can help the world around you.
So if that sounds like something you would like to learn more about - which is something that I think anyone could benefit from - then you have come to the right place.
WHAT IS AN IKIGAI?
Ikigai is a Japanese concept that means your ‘reason for being.’ ‘Iki’ in Japanese means ‘life,’ and ‘gai’ describes value or worth. Your ikigai is your life purpose or what truly lights you up on the inside. It’s essentially what brings you joy and inspires you to get out of bed every day.
It’s also important to highlight that the traditional Japanese philosophy focuses on finding your purpose in life while the adapted westernized version of the ikigai has made it a method of finding your dream career.
Japanese psychologist Michiko Kumano (2017) has said that ikigai is a state of wellbeing that arises from devotion to activities one enjoys, which also brings a sense of fulfillment.
The Westernized version of ikigai says that your dream career has to include the following aspects:
What you love
What you’re good at
What you can be paid for
What the world needs
A visual representation of what makes up your ikigai
WHY BOTHER DISCOVERING YOUR IKIGAI
Gives you a greater sense of what you want in life
Better decision making (More time and money saved)
Makes it easier to say no to things and to say yes to the right opportunities
Better use of your time if you roughly know what you are after
Finding the best balance between doing what you love, what is useful to the world and what you are also good at
Can make meaningful contributions to the world sooner
Can increase your expertise and understanding in a field by focusing more on it
Being able to plan ahead for potential future struggles and issues that may arise in your field
HOW TO DISCOVER YOUR IKIGAI?
STEP 1: Answer the 4 fundamental questions
What you love:
What are your interests and passions (broad and niche)?
What are your favorite past time activities/ hobbies?
What do you enjoy/ not enjoy about your work and hobbies?
Do you feel a sense of being absorbed/ flow state during your work and hobbies?
Do you feel excited about your work and hobbies?
What you’re good at:
What are your top personal strengths and skills?
Do people ever come to you for advice with what you do?
Do you ever receive compliments for your work?
Do you find that that you excel at what you do?
Are your hobbies and profession intuitive to you or does it take more time to learn?
What you can be paid for:
Are other people making a career/ getting paid for the same work and hobbies you do?
Do you currently make a good living/Will you eventually make a good living from the work you do?
Have you noticed people wanting to buy what you do or make?
Is there a healthy level of competition regarding your work and hobbies?
What the world needs
Would you say your work and hobbies are in a high demand currently? What about the future?
Picture the next year, 10 years, and 100 years — will your work still be valuable?
Are you solving either a social, economic, or environmental problem?
STEP 2: Narrow it down
Based on your answers, write down a list of career opportunities that sound exciting and interesting to you and write down how your ideal day would look like (What you would be doing)
STEP 3: Learn about it
Learn about those career paths either through reading more about that specific career, educating yourself through online platforms or by asking someone who has the job you want to do, how their day looks like and what kind of benefits and struggles they face.
STEP 4: Try it out
After learning, put your ideal career/ ideal day into practice. Try it out and see wether that is actually something that you enjoy doing? Would you do it everyday? Would it be too intense or would you get bored?
Ask yourself what did you enjoy about it? What was less enjoyable and why?
Also consider how could you tweak your ideal day/ career to make it even more enjoyable to you?
Reflecting On The Year 2020
Although many of us would agree that 2020 certainly was a weird and unpredictable year, full of different setbacks and unimaginable experiences, what f instead of dreading 2020, e decided to look back on the year of 2020 and see all the ways in which we have grown and everything we have achieved for ourselves and for others.
Reflection in this way can be such a powerful tool and habit, as you will see below. I encourage that you take time to reflect on yourself and your own life at least once a year, however, if you are able to do it on a monthly or weekly basis as you see fit, then that can be even more effective if done with the right reason.
Do not underestimate the power that a simple quiet time spent reflecting can hold; it can literally be life-changing in the long run.
WHY SHOULD WE TAKE TIME TO REFLECT?
Remembering the most memorable and important events that happened
Often so much happens to us in a single year, that without taking time to reflect on it, we are likely to miss on everything that happened and in the end just forget about it all. With reflection, you can strengthen your memory as well as be so much more grateful, for realizing all of the beautiful things that happened to you and shaped you into who you are today
Very useful for setting future goals
Through reflection, we are able to see all that we have achieved in the past year and also all things that we perhaps did not achieve yet with which we are immediately able to see all of the things and areas which we have to work on for the next year. Furthermore, you are able to look back on the mistakes you have made and the wrong decisions you took, from which you can learn and not repeated them again in the future.
Being able to see progress and improvements
One great aspect of reflection is that you are able to step back in time temporarily and acknowledge all the areas in your life for which you have improved at, learned something new, or got to experience a novel sensation. As was discussed in my previous post on motivation (Losing Motivation? Here Is How To Get Back On Track), we are also much more likely to be motivated if we see progress in the things we do, and reflection turns out to be great for that.
Temporarily slows the passing of time
When we are busy with our occupations, we seem to just lose track of time, and days weeks and months seem to just pass by in one collective blur, but through reflection you take your time to pick apart separate events that occurred in different times of the year, allowing you to stop the rush of time, even if just for a little while
Seeing if you are actually headed in the direction you want to go in
So often we continuously do things either out of habit or routine even though they are either not beneficial to us or no longer meaningful to us. When we take time to reflect on what we spend our time doing in the previous year, we are able to decide whether we are spending our time well, and foremostly intentionally - in other words, if we are headed towards the goals which we set ourselves.
20 QUESTIONS TO REFLECT ON 2020
Here are a couple of questions that you could use as a guideline in order to reflect on the past year. Feel free to answer as many of them as you need and also use some of your own.
If you make good use of this exercise, it can yield you a lot of positive changes and life lessons.
What are some of the best lessons you learned during last year?
What are some of your most memorable moments that happened?
What difficulties and challenges were you able to overcome?
What did you do for your personal growth?
What did you do for your academic/ career growth?
What new positive habits did you start?
What were your biggest achievements and accomplishments?
What were you able to learn about yourself?
What were some of the best decisions you took?
What were some times you made mistakes and failed?
How did you react when you made the mistake or experienced failure?
What was something that got in the way of your success last year?
In what ways are you a different person compared to the previous year?
How did you take care of my physical and mental health?
What were some of the most valuable resources you had?
Who were the people last year, who made the biggest impact on you?
What beliefs, mindset or attitudes did you let go of from last year?
What are 5 things that you are grateful for from last year?
What projects, promises or work did you leave unfinished last year?
What advice would you give yourself one year ago?
Qualities Built For Success
WHAT IS SUCCESS?
Success means different things for different people. For some, it means endless money and fame, while for others it may mean raising a family well or being able to be independent in today’s world. The key take away here is that each of us has to define what success means for us. There is no "correct" definition of success as we all like different things and are at the end of the day, very different people, but if you don't define what success means for you - what you consider to be enough for yourself - then how will you know when to stop? When will you have enough and be satisfied?
While I do not necessarily believe in labelling success as a single point in time or a final goal we have in life, but instead that we should rather try and make every day a small success that would contribute to our long term goal of success. If we just focus on the end goal, our happiness will depend on whether we reach our definition of success or not, instead, if we focus on the process of attaining that level of success and make sure that we make the majority of our days are a "win", then our satisfaction levels will be much more stable.
However, to reach the success that we defined for ourselves, we need to either have or develop certain qualities that will contribute to our success, no matter how we defined it in the first place. This is why I have composed together a list of the 15 most crucial qualities you have to put into practice in order to achieve your idea of success.
QUALITIES NEEDED TO SUCCEED
DRIVE AND PASSION
Passion and drive go hand in hand for a good reason. Passion is having an intense burning desire or interest about something, while having a drive, means that you are intensely motivated about something, which is why when we combine the two together, they form the very essence of our reason for existing; Our purpose in this life.
Having a drive and a passion for something means that you are highly dedicated to pursuing that idea or whatever it may be. You are motivated to try and do everything in your will to pursue this interest and to avoid any unwanted roadblocks. Being passionate about something gives you the very reason for waking up every morning because you want to pursue that deep craving as soon as possible. It is a cure for procrastination since it reduces the amount of motivation needed for you to start doing something, as well as making you feel fulfilled and satisfied since you are spending your time on something that you care deeply about.
PERSISTENCE
Nothing great and big in life ever came quick. There is really no such thing as "overnight" success because all of these seemingly instantaneous bursts of success once required some input of work in the first place, which is where persistence comes into play.
Persistence is the ability to be resilient and consistent with something, no matter how many setbacks we experience in the process. What makes the difference is not whether you do something once, but how often you repeat that action. For example, eating one low-calorie meal will not make you lose weight in the long run, however cutting back on let’s say 100 calories each day consistently, will lead to a much more noticeable and in the long term, a more sustainable result.
While it is hard to initially start doing something, it becomes much easier to keep that action continuous and regular once it is a part of our routine and once we gain enough motivational momentum to keep going forward, even when it may not be easy. Turn your actions into a habitual routine and being persistent with something will be a much more effortless process.
BEING ACTION ORIENTATED
While planning and thinking things though are essential to making good decisions and making sure you are headed in the right direction, what makes the difference at the end of the day is whether you take action and do something. Being proactive can be one of the most difficult things to do, but is one that surely pays off in the long run. Without it, nothing would ever get done, and the world would remain unchanged.
I believe it is best to both plan things in advance and have the ability to assert action and create change. The right balance of those two forces creates an incredible amount of momentum that not only drives you in the right direction but also makes sure to get you there.
TIME MANAGEMENT
They say that time is our most valuable resource; it can’t be created or controlled, but only spent. So this only means one thing: We are in charge of how we spend our time. And As Henry David Thoreau said: "It is not enough to be busy. The question is: what are we busy about?". While being busy is commonly mistaken for being productive, the key difference between them is that when we are productive we are intentionally choosing to do work that is of most importance to be done at the moment and will also provide the most value to us.
Knowing how to manage your time is a skill that we spent the majority of our lives learning, adjusting and improving. No one can be in control of their time all the time, because there are always unexpected events that come up, but there certainly are people who have found what time management techniques work for them. There is no single "formula" for the best time management, because everyone schedules, occupations and lives look different, so you have to find what time structure works best for your lifestyle.
Ask yourself: How many hours per day will I intentionally dedicate to doing ....? How long can I really stay focused in a single working period? How often do I need to take breaks from working? How much time will I spend working, in comparison to the time spent on leisure activities and socializing?
These are all questions that are individual to us all, so its the job of every individual to find what balance of work and leisure works best for them. Take it hour by hour, day by day, and really think about how you are spending your time and how you could improve that because after all, don't we all want to do more valuable things with our time?
EVALUATION
This is a crucial step, but one that is either neglected or under-appreciated. The ability to evaluate means to take a step back, put things into perspective and readjust your route. It is to make sure that what you are currently doing makes sense and that it aligns with your long term goals. So often, we spend our time lost and secured within set routines that provide comfort and familiarity in our lives, but without us even realizing it, those routines could actually be hindering our process in the long run.
Only when you truly take a step back and take time to slow down, is when you can begin to analyze what you are doing. Sometimes you just have to slow things down in this fast-paced world, to see a clear picture behind the blurry lines.
While evaluating and reconsidering the things you currently do, can be a time-consuming process, it certainly is one that is worth it in the long run.
ADAPTABILITY
I this ever-changing world, the only constant is change. The world around us is constantly changing, evolving and transforming - faster than it has ever been. What is the best way to deal with these changes? Become adaptable. Learn how to turn setbacks into positive experiences and find out how to create opportunities for yourself. Do not become too fixated on only one thing, as nothing stays forever, so its best to spread your feet wide apart on solid ground, to get a good scope of everything. This way you are less affected by the ongoing changes around you and you also gain more perspective as to where you could potentially find opportunities.
Even evolution proved it to us: Those who didn't adapt, simply just did not make it out alive. It is the same situation today, except everything is happening at a faster rate. Learn to become agile and flexible in this ever-changing world can be one of the useful qualities you can master.
GOOD COMMUNICATION
Being able to speak is one thing, but being able to communicate well is a whole another topic. While it is much easier to just keep our mouth busy talking the whole day, it is much harder to be an effective communicator. To be an effective communicator means that your listener fully understands what you are talking about and that you are able to communicate your message in an efficient manner, without wasting unnecessary time.
Here are some tips on how you can become a better communicator:
Define ahead of time, what it is you want to to tell that person
Think through what you are going to say, before saying it
Be straightforward and use language that both you and your listener will understand in the context
As you are speaking, ask your listener if what you are saying makes sense, or whether you need to repeat or clarify something
GOOD LISTENER
While it is an important skill to know how to communicate efficiently, it is just as important to know how and when to listen. If we don't listen to what other people are saying, we not only appear arrogant and impatient, but are also more likely to transmit our message across incorrectly, when it is our time to speak, and thus inefficient communication results. Listening to others allows cooperation to build and new ideas to be generated while your mind is opened to the ideas of other people.
Learn when it is the right time to speak up and make your voice heard but also be aware of when it is best to stay low and listen to others around you. Both you and your listener will benefit from this.
SOCIAL NETWORKING
They say that our personalities are determined by 5 of the closest people in our lives, which is why it is important that we consider who we are hanging out with? Who are we spending our time with? Ask yourself: Are the people I hang out with inspiring me? Challenging me to grow and improve? Supporting me? If you mostly answered no, you might want to reconsider your social circle.
Your social circle is so vitally important because humans by nature are social animals, where we need social interaction and mixing with others. This doesn't mean that you necessarily need to have an overwhelming number of friends with whom you hang out with on a regular basis, but it can just mean having a couple of really tightly knit close friends with whom you get along well and spending time with them do you and them well.
Not only that, but having more social connections makes your life easier in many ways. You are exposed to more foreign opportunities, and you have more mutual security as the more good friends you have, the more helping hands you have when you need help. But most importantly, social connections make your life worth living. The ability of people to experience and view your work and share experiences with each other gives you a sense of belonging, support and appreciation - which are all feelings we as humans crave.
DEALING WITH DISTRACTIONS
In today's distraction-filled work, one of the most worthwhile and searched for skills is your ability to stay focused and keep your brain concentrated on a task, without getting sucked into the plethora of social media feeds that consume our days. Many studies are confirming that on average, we are spending more than two hours every day on social media platforms. Mindlessly scrolling through these infinity pool networks where there is a never-ending content supply, does us more harm than we may initially think.
Using too much social media on the daily has been shown to negatively impact our self-esteem, our ability to talk and make social connections in real life, increase our levels of stress and anxiety, as well as potentially expose us to cyberbullying.
It seems as though social media will not be disappearing any time soon, as each year there are more social platforms being generated and more users joining every day, so it comes down to us to keep a healthy relationship with it. This also means that we know when and how to unplug from social media, to get actual work done and not get distracted every time we get a notification or an alert. Staying focused for long periods of time is steadily becoming a more difficult task, so those who develop their ability to do so, are on the right path.
CURIOSITY AND WILLINGNESS TO LEARN
Through the process of transitioning from a child to a teenager and then into an adult, we often lose the drive to learn about the world us, as we get occupied with work and other time fillers. Deep down we all have a desire and curiosity to learn about this world we live in, it is just often masked by daily occupations. It is important to nurture that need by reading, listening or viewing content that interests us and expands our knowledge in those fields.
If we have the drive to learn, it means we are proactive and have the want to acquire information about our environment. The more you learn, the easier it is for you to adapt to exterior circumstances and make more well-informed decisions, since you generally know more. All in all, a good quality to have.
CRITICAL THINKING
Critical thinking is defined as our ability to reason, where we have to question and verify all of the incoming information and be rational with how we choose to view this information. It is more based on analyzing and solving problems instead of relying so much on our instinct and intuition. It puts you into the perspective of a judge or critic, where you have to determine what makes sense and what doesn't in the context.
This is important in today’s world because it allows you to step into a more proactive mindset where you are actively analyzing all of the activities you do, instead of just doing things out of habit or routine. It allows you to discern the real from the fake, in terms of information and news. It enables you to make wiser decisions and most importantly, it broadens your perspective on things as you have to filter all of the incoming information.
SELF RELIANCE
It is nice to rely on others every so often, but if that becomes too much of a habit we may all of a sudden be let down when we can no longer rely on someone. Finding good people to rely on is becoming quite a challenging task with everyone living such busy lives, which is why at the end of the day, the only person who you can truly rely on, is yourself.
Learn to not blame others for your current situation as more often than not, it is your own action and decision that have brought you to where you are today. Self-reliance means holding yourself accountable and being responsible for your actions, where you know that your work output is a result of your own self-reliance instead of the reliance on others.
CONFIDENCE
A while back I read a quote saying "The most beautiful thing you can wear is confidence" which many times I have found to be true. When you are comfortable in your skin and yourself, you have a different energy about you and people just view you differently. Approaching life with confidence means that you are not afraid of problems but rather view them as challenges. It makes you more susceptible to making new social connections, as people are naturally more inclined to talk to people who are outspoken and confident; confidence is often attractive. Not only do you attract more people, but you also attract more potential opportunities your way, as we have previously mentioned that more social networking brings you more opportunities.
By being confident you also inspire others to be confident, which as a result also does good for them. Be confident to the extent where you are self-assured but not boastful, and you will see how your life takes a different turn.
OPTIMISM
As Dr Seuss said, "Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened". Here the main take away is that in life we can always choose how we want to look at the situation; We can either complain and be negative about something, or we can choose to look at something through a positive lens and treat is an opportunity. This shift in mindset can be the greatest change-maker in our lives.
By being more positive and optimistic, our perspective on life shifts and everything else from work, social connections, opportunities and mental attitude, as a result, changes too.
It doesn't take much, but it certainly does have an impact on all aspects of our life.