HEALTH + WELLNESS
HEALTHY MIND, HEALTHY LIFE cont.
Measure your success
Not trying to come across all‘ motivational team-building day’(* shudder *), but goal setting is a really effective way of working out whether you’ re getting enough out of your work. First, write down all of your aims and aspirations, then go through them one by one making notes about how you can achieve them. Just the act of writing them down will focus your mind on what you really want to accomplish and how you can set about doing it. More focused you = more motivated you = happier you = happier everyone else around you.
Retrain for a different job
Retraining is a big step and one that most people quickly dismiss as impossible if they even dare to think about it, but according to research, between 20 and 40 per cent of people are unhappy in their jobs. Follow-up studies have reasoned that unhappiness at work can lead to stress, weight gain, a weaker immune system, relationship difficulties, insomnia and depression – all of which are a strain on you and a strain on your employer. The bottom line is if you really don’ t like your job, it’ s well worth getting some advice about other roles and companies that could benefit from your skill set.
Go a day without complaining
What with thoughtless memes and outright trolling, there’ s a lot of ugliness that’ s thrown at people by people that don’ t even know said people these days. It’ s not good, for anyone, so flip it and start upping your positivity quotient. OK, there might not be any tomatoes left in Tesco, the weather might be grey and dreary, or Monday morning might fast be approaching, but every time you complain, you’ re heaping a big dollop of negative energy not just into your life, but into the world overall. Complaining breeds complaining, so before you start waxing lyrical about your peeves, stop and try to think of a way to solve the problem – there will be other tomatoes; you’ re lucky to have a warm, dry home; and, Monday marks a fresh week full of fresh opportunities. If you can’ t solve it, move on, it’ ll free your mind of the stress.
Volunteer
Volunteering isn’ t all about soup kitchens and helping the homeless these days, and although they’ re fantastic ways to reach out to people who are less fortunate, working that closely with vulnerable people doesn’ t suit everyone. If you’ re handy with knitting and crochet, make warm clothing for mother and baby shelters; if you’ re a professional, find a school that needs motivational speakers, or mentor a young person interested in your industry; if you’ re an animal lover, donate a few hours of your time to a shelter … seek and you will find lots of opportunities to make a really significant difference to someone else’ s life, which, in turn, will give you wonderful peace of mind.
Speak up
It’ s all very well being appalled at how badly the trains are running, or shocked that you’ ve found out your favourite cosmetics are tested on animals, but in order to make change happen, you need to take positive action. When petitions that you support pop up on your social media feed, sign them; if you really
SEEK AND YOU WILL FIND LOTS OF OPPORTUNITIES TO MAKE A REALLY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE TO SOMEONE ELSE’ S LIFE, WHICH, IN TURN, WILL GIVE
YOU WONDERFUL PEACE OF MIND
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