by admin | Jun 6, 2022 | Life
Workaholism – Does personal development justifies workaholism?
Working on our personal development is a great initiative – but have you heard someone telling you that you might be suffering from personal development burnout? Or becoming a workaholic in a not-so-positive way?
Workaholism, by definition, is a compulsive need to work. For some, work is nourished in the womb of life. Upon birth, work brings something important to their life. Like birth, there is necessarily labor, oftentimes painful. Whereas, others are still searching for what work means for them.
If you are searching for what “work” means for you, you must read David Whyte’s thought-provoking definition: “Work, after all, is intimacy, where the self meets the world.”
Positive workaholism vs. Negative workaholism
The positive workaholism and negative workaholism are often confused. However, if you think you are a workaholic because you love to work on personal development – and if your statement is true then you are more likely a positive workaholic.
Positive workaholism refers to a positive, fulfilling work-related state of mind that is characterized by rigor, dedication, and passion. If you are really into your work then you are a positive workaholic. In other words, not just your skin is in the game; it’s your soul that is in the game.
Whereas, negative workaholism has always been about burning out; you put your foot on the gas pedal and do not let up until your engine catches fire. Self-love, contrary to popular belief, is overrated. Things you do during self-love, such as eating comfort food and watching F.R.I.E.N.D.S., are unhelpful; pushing yourself during difficult times may be hard for you, but in the process, a new you will arise and evolve.
Being a positive workaholic entails acknowledging that you cannot rely on your past achievements and must therefore think about the future to see what you can accomplish.
You must keep going
Passion is both the love and the pain of our existence. You can’t just pick one without the other. Some people, such as burned-out activists and overcommitted helpers, drown in their sorrowful struggles, forgetting how much they love what they do. Others, such as daydreaming artists and wannabe entrepreneurs, seek out superficial rewards such as fame, fans, and fortune without going through the pain, and thus miss out on the super-rich fulfillment of soulful work.
The large majority of individuals are feeling the walls that stop them from understanding what life is all about, or they are drinking their worries away. But that is not how life works, so you must jump in and flap your hands around until you learn how to swim. You must keep the faith. Workaholics, hustlers, and GaryVee types represent that group of people who aren’t concerned with what the other person is doing but are concerned with what they are doing.
Concluding thoughts
Even if personal development provides valuable ways to help you get through challenging times, if you consider yourself becoming anxious, frustrated, and trapped in a cycle of guilt, it’s time to recover, reevaluate, and transform what you’ve been doing so that it works for you. After all, this is your personal development, not anybody else’s. It must work for you.
This brings us to the last note, a practical reminder for you: “To begin with, we take only those steps which we can do in a heartfelt fashion, and then slowly increase our stride as we become familiar with the direct connection between our passion and courage.” — David Whyte
by admin | Jun 6, 2022 | Health, Mind
When is Stress a Good Thing?
People think about stress as bad, something they need to learn to cope with, a culprit for many health issues. But, did you know that stress can have a positive effect on your life?
Keep reading to understand why sometimes working long hours and going through tough times can be good for you.
The Difference Between Good and Bad Stress
Saying stress is good or bad is an incomplete statement, because it misses the explanation. Chronic stress is a bad type of stress, which can take a toll on your physical and mental health. Prolonged feelings of tiredness, high blood pressure, anxiety and other symptoms of chronic stress require treatment and care.
Moderate stress puts you in a state of high responsiveness and helps you deal with various situations, so your problem solving-skills can emerge.
Good stress feels like excitement and triggers the reactions in your body even if there isn’t a real threat. It is the type of stress that occurs in particular situations, and its effects stop once the situation passes.
Check the following section to understand the potential benefits of stress.
Healthy Stress Benefits
The easiest way to illustrate what healthy stress is, is using a work or school deadline example. Before the deadline exceeds, you are in a state of great alertness, focused, and motivated to complete the task.
Healthy Stress Helps you Cope with Infections
When you feel stressed, the chemical reactions in your body are different from what is happening while you relax. A sudden and short-term stress, like a deadline, causes low production of the stress hormone. It further induces the release of a chemical that improves your immune system.
Think about it for a second, were you ever sick before the deadline? Or do you get sick as soon as you hand over the paper? Once the stress passes, your body relaxes, and your immune system doesn’t get a booster dose.
It is the primary difference between chronic and healthy stress. Chronic stress weakens you and can compromise your immune system, while healthy stress maintains your immune response.
Healthy Stress Strengthens You
Going through occasional episodes of stress helps build resilience towards situations you cannot control. In the long run, it can help prevent chronic stress.
Healthy stress teaches you how to overcome different obstacles, and which point of view to take on troublesome situations. It will train you to build an automatic response and reduce the stress over similar situations in the future.
For example, the first time your boss gave you negative feedback, you felt blue and were stressed out. Next time, you can use it as a tool to upgrade your skills!
Healthy Stress is a Mental Workout
Low doses of healthy stress help keep your mind sharp. The nervousness you feel in your stomach activates some brain activities that wouldn’t be active if everything was alright.
Healthy stress improves the connection between brain cells, similar to what lifting weight does to your muscles. If you lift too much weight, you can get injured. Low weight doesn’t have any effect on your muscles.
It is the reason you are more productive when you feel stressed and why you make fewer mistakes when you work under strict, last-minute deadlines.
Balance is the Key
If you feel the excitement every day and you work under a lot of pressure for a long time, it isn’t healthy stress. It is chronic tension that only lowers your achievements and compromises your health. But, occasional roller coaster rides and unexpected situations are good for you!
Can you recognize good from bad stress? How often are you stressed? Please share your thoughts on healthy stress in the comments!
by admin | Jun 6, 2022 | Mind
SELF CONTROL: THE POWER OF BEING SELF POSSESSED
To suffice, we’d term self-control or self-possession as self-discipline. It’s a term used to describe a person’s ability to control themselves, the power to restrain rash responses and behavior, as well as to keep unhealthy attitudes and impulses in place.
As other people may say, this quality of character is not a negative or restrictive trait. Self-control becomes one of the most powerful methods for self-improvement and task achievement when it is available and used carefully and in common sense.
Self-control is essential for managing obsessions, fears, addictions, and impulsive behavior of some sort. It allows you to take command of your life, your actions, and your reactions. It strengthens your bonds with others, cultivates patience and tolerance, and is an important tool for achieving prosperity and happiness.
BENEFITS
So what makes self-possession such a powerful trait if developed to its maximum potential?
- You develop a strong sense of self-discipline and willpower to tackle the hard tasks and life obstacles.
- You can easily address your fears and weaknesses
- You develop patience with life and people
- You’ll never be lazy; thus you achieve more
- You improve your social life as well as your personal life
HOW TO HARNESS SELF CONTROL
1. ALTER YOUR BELIEFS
Recognize the emotions and values that cause you to act out of control. What attitudes and emotions trigger automatic instincts and reactions? Is it someone around you?
Reduce impulsivity and rash responses by identifying these feelings and opinions, attempting to clarify them, and determining if they are rational and attractive.
2. VISUALIZE
Visualize yourself exercising self-control and discipline in your actions. Imagine yourself behaving professionally, with self-mastery and restraint in one of the situations where you normally act out of control.
Keep this picture in mind, but ensure you don’t obsess.
3. PRACTICE
By this, I mean being self-disciplined. If you focus on improving and growing your willpower and self-discipline by appropriate workouts, it will increase significantly over time as small efforts build to become significant leaps. This is the most crucial step in the development of this delicate attribute.
4. PRACTICE AFFIRMATIONS
Repeat one of the affirmations below for a minute or two several times a day, particularly when you need to demonstrate self-control: I am fully in command of myself, I can control my feelings and thinking, Self-control gives me inner power and propels me forward, My emotions are under my influence, My actions are under my control, I’m learning to regulate my feelings, I am the mastermind behind my life’s maser, My capacity to regulate my emotions and thoughts is improving day by day, and Self-control is pleasurable and enjoyable.
5. IDENTIFY
With this last step, figure out where in your life you need to improve your self-control. Or else, where do you find yourself missing the mark?
What areas of your life do you find yourself deficient in this ability? Is it Overeating and junk food consumption? Shopping addiction, Excessive abuse of drugs, Gambling, binge-watching, and so on.
This way, you can set accurate goals on the tasks you’re aiming to achieve, and this way you can achieve more accurate results.
BOTTOM LINE
I’ll throw it straight to you; nothing worthwhile is going to come easily and so is your ability to control yourself. It takes time, so be patient and consistent.
by admin | Jun 6, 2022 | Mind
Pros and Cons of Being a Psychologist
Do you want to study psychology and help others deal with their emotional struggles? Does the idea of wearing an invisible cape and having the superpowers of helping others deal with their emotional stress fascinate you? Guess what? You’re not the only one dreaming of having those magical healing powers!
According to Psychology Degree 411, psychology is one of the most popular majors chosen by students today. But studying a popular major like psychology isn’t all about understanding others.
In fact, according to the study of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, psychology is achieving a positive outlook, indicating that around 14% job growth may be seen for psychologists by 2026. Hence, if you’re passionate about having a successful future profession, psychology may just be your dream job!
But wait – would you consider some factual data to be enough for deciding your future profession? We guess not! Therefore, we’re here to help you make the right decision with a few pros and cons of being a psychologist. Let’s start exploring them, shall we?
Pros:
● Becoming the Helping Hand:
The most crucial benefit of being a psychologist is the ability to help others. Being a psychologist and focusing on your work with dedication means you’ll make a real difference in the lives of others.
From helping people with traumatic troubles to supporting them during mental illness, your job will give people tremendous support to keep going and do better!
● Exploring Different People:
Do you love meeting new people often and exploring the thoughts tumbling in human minds?
Well, psychology may be just the ideal profession for you!
Since emotional and mental issues can occur at any age, psychology helps you explore all kinds and ages of people. With this exposure to different ages and groups of people, you will have a broader perspective.
● Better Career Choices and Salary:
As mentioned earlier, the demand for psychology as a profession is consistently growing.
Do you know what that means? Yes, the higher the demand, the higher the chances of better salaries. But wait! You don’t only benefit from choosing a popular profession in terms of a better salary, but also for the career you love.
With various career choices falling in the field of psychology, you always have multiple options.
● Consistent Personal Growth:
With the study of psychology teaching you the thoughts and meaning behind people’s actions, you can easily adapt to different circumstances in life.
Hence, you don’t only help others but also improve yourself by developing critical thinking, better communication, etc.
Cons:
● No Time-Set To wear Your Cape:
Yes, you heard it right! Unfortunately, being a psychologist often means that you can’t take off your superhero cape even with flexible work hours.
You may have to offer your services to patients during off-hours in their critical time. Are you ready to be the 24/7 superhero who needs to keep a check for the cue?
● Stressful Study:
Did you think that reading people’s minds was as easy as eating pie?
Well, it’s not bad to take things easily, but you also need to be prepared for the rigorous psychology courses you’ll have to study.
From studying to managing people’s problems, your job can be very stressful.
Eventually, you may end up bringing stress home after you relieve others from it!
● Pouring the Right Amount of Emotions:
Being a professional in psychology means understanding your patients without being attached to their struggles emotionally.
After all, you need to stay sane for future patients and your personal life, right?
Therefore, it can often be tough to pour the right amount of emotions with different patients. If you’re up for magic tricks, learn one that helps you be emotionally available without over-identifying with your patients.
Conclusion:
Psychology is all about growing individually and helping others grow mentally and emotionally.
Similar to other majors, psychology is a detailed profession that requires extreme focus and passion. So are you passionate about being the helpful shield people need in today’s emotionally draining lifestyles?
by admin | Jun 6, 2022 | General, Mind
Preserving Your Inner Child – Yes, I’m Serious!
You know how when you’re a kid everything is an adventure. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a ten year old that wants to be a pirate or a teenager that reads Hemingway for the first time and wants to travel through Africa.
That adventurous spirit, the need to learn, touch, smell, the need to jump that fence or rollerblade in an empty pool – that is what you’ve been missing!
I know, I know, you’re an adult now and you have responsibilities, a job, a couple of hungry mouths. But is that a good enough excuse to stop exploring the world and having fun?
Let’s talk responsibilities
As an adult, It is perfectly normal to leave behind the easy-going life you had. You have a family now and a job that takes up a great deal of your time, not to mention day drinking is out of the question. There is also social pressure from your peers and your parents. You can see the look in their eyes that says “You’re too old for that!”
Sure, but It’s also your responsibility to never stop being curious about life. That means to not stop exploring yourself, as well. It’s a necessity to allow yourself to be adventurous, spontaneous, and sometimes even silly.
Childlike manner
The life of a kid is always fun because every day is a new day, everything is new in general. You have the energy, you have the time, you have no responsibilities and there are companions to do it with. You can jump rope, laugh out loud practically everywhere you go, you can run down a hill and feel like you’re flying.
You can chug down an ice cream cone and have your face looking like Frosty the Snowman without a care in the world.
You haven’t done that in a while, have you?
It’s Time To Start Doing It!
Keeping in touch with your inner child is a must for your personal health and well-being. The stress of everyday life is something we all face and search for ways to take the steam off. Start with simple things. Take a day off just for yourself, maybe don’t get up early in the morning, don’t take off your jammies, eat ice cream for breakfast.
For the more devious people, you can try not doing the things you usually do just for a day – If you smoke, don’t smoke, If you drive, don’t drive. You couldn’t do them back then, try them now.
Try to remember all the silly things you used to do when you were a kid and just do them. Don’t think about what people would think, just have a you-day all day.
What It Can Do For You
The benefits of this experiment are plenty. It will make you feel better in general. It’s like a pause button for your brain to stop pumping out stress-related thoughts. The psychological release you would feel is a must If you don’t feel like you’re living your best life.
It’s quite common to think about all the things in your life that have changed. Taking a childish day could help you appreciate your life, the people in it, and, most of all, yourself. So, don’t think too much about it. The next opportunity you get, just hop on your bike, ride to the creek and get on that tire swing. Sure you can fit in it, don’t worry.
Life shouldn’t be a chore, especially when It’s this short. You deserve to feel like a kid at least once more.
