Nov 09
9
8 great ways to a new you
With much of the media hype focusing on our appearance and how we look on the outside we very often forget our own feelings and what really is happening on the inside. In the constant strive to achieve the ‘ideal’ physical shape and perfect body, messages from the media, are conveniently forgetting to remind us about our own inner self and the feelings we carry round with us on a daily basis. These messages are further reinforced by our peers. Becoming more self aware is an important element of your self development and personal growth.
1. You are doing your best
We are all too quick to criticise our own output in a strange desire to seek some sort of acknowledgement from our peers that we’ve performed really well. Regardless of whether your behaviour has the desired effect and you receive the necessary compliment it is only your assessment of your performance that really matters; if you’ve worked hard and done your best there’s nothing else you can do. Remember with every task you undertake, regardless of the result, you will always have done your best based on the skills, knowledge and resources you have at your disposal.
2. Make your life easier
Many people will follow a strange principle of taking on extra work in an attempt to gain the approval of colleagues and managers. They seek to become recognised as hard working among their peers. The real effect of this is to provide you with work overload resulting in higher stress levels due to the additional pressures of yet more impossible deadlines.
If you are guilty of this, I suggest you stop taking on the extra workload with immediate effect and approach all your own work with a structured written plan. Each job you undertake break it down into smaller, more manageable, tasks. The number of times I’ve had to emphasis this when tutoring engineering students who were preparing and planning their assignments and project. The following statement is what I quote to them every time:
“How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!”
This really does sum up that by breaking your work down into easier and smaller tasks, it affords you more clarity and a higher likelihood of achieving a successful outcome.
3. Give yourself credit
Giving yourself the credit you are due has been covered in more depth in an earlier post, “How to give yourself credit.”
4. Start to believe in yourself
There are so many people who struggle to believe in themselves and recognise the skills they possess. This is a direct result of their lack of confidence and low self esteem.
If you’ve been brought in an environment where you were constantly encouraged to try new things, make mistakes and break a few things you will be unperturbed about trying something new and risking the embarrassment of making a mistake. In fact your mistake will merely be seen as a temporary setback and one of your many learning experiences.
However, if you lived in an environment full of criticism you’ll struggle to make the necessary steps forward without the confirmation of those around you. Taking on a few small straight forward tasks that you can complete successfully, without too much trouble, will help raise your confidence levels. Try this, be patient with yourself as you build your confidence.
5. Positive thinking
Your self talk, to be more precise, your negative self talk is one of the most destructive elements you possess. Those messages you continue to send to yourself on a daily basis eat away at your self esteem and confidence; they’ll keep you in check and prevent you making any notable success.
Start today with a firm commitment to begin with positive self talk; when you find yourself correct yourself immediately with a positive affirmation such as, “this is not like me, I am a positive thinking person”. Allow yourself the time to make the changes, be patient!
6. Plan your way with goal setting
Goal setting is generally associated with the life coaching process, however you don’t need to be working with a life coach to use it. The process is fairly straight forward but does need to be practiced on a regular basis. If you are unsure what is involved with goal setting please refer to an earlier post “Why is goal setting important.”
7. Calm down and take your time
Many people are very easily irritated, it’s a wonder they’ve not already had a nervous breakdown. With a more relaxed attitude and calmness of mind they could very easily respond with a more appropriate behaviour. The reason for their anger is within themselves. They are angry with themselves and what they can’t achieve, however they continue to vent their anger onto others and blame them for their misdemeanour.
Learning to relax and adopting a change of language and vocabulary will encourage a more socially acceptable behaviour. Practice these changes in situations where you are in full control of your emotions before you try the more challenging scenarios. Be reasonable with yourself and allow yourself a few mistakes; the changes you experience will enhance your life and those around you.
8. Whatever happens learn from your experience
Whatever happens with everything you undertake, whether it’s a success or otherwise, always take it as a learning experience. This applies for simple straight forward or more complex experiences, whether it’s having to wait in a queue at the supermarket or it’s the theft of your car. Take the positive from the experience; for instance in the queue at the supermarket ask yourself, “what am I learning from waiting in this queue?” Or if you lose your car, “what have I learnt from my car being stolen?”
I’m not saying it will be easy to reflect on the negative situations and take a positive attitude; however you will benefit from the changes and with some practice the changes you make will become easier, eventuality becoming second nature.
Follow these eight great ways to a new you, add them to your Personal Development Training and you’ll soon be enjoying the benefits of new thought processes and attitudes towards how you present yourself. Record your progress in your journal diary and watch the new you appear!
Thank you for reading this post, please let me know what you think and share your experiences. While you’re here please take the time to sign up for the newsletter or alternatively you may prefer to subscribe for regular updates in your favourite reader or by email.
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