Article: While you may wish that you never had to face challenges, the reality is that challenges are simply a part of life. Be mindful of how each person is facing some sort of obstacle in their lives currently. You are not the only one who is facing difficult challenges. Find challenges as a way to get more connected with other people. Through common struggles, you may feel greater bonds. Try to find meaning and value in the challenges that you have faced and are facing now. Often long after you've faced something difficult, you can find value and purpose in this experience. For example, let's say you had a set-back and failed an exam. After that, maybe you tried even harder to do well in the class. It changed your thinking about how to approach studying. Resilience helps to give you strength. It motivates you to keep going and not give up. Challenges in life, work, and relationships may make you want to give in and give up. Try to stay strong and remember your strengths. Write down three strengths in your personality, work, and life that make you resilient. Write a few sentences that are encouraging and self-affirming about your strengths. Find a role model that can help you focus on the positives and build up your motivation to keep going. Reach out to friends, family, or mentors that have faces bigger hurdles and overcame them. They are likely to have wisdom. When you face a big challenge, you may get bogged down by all the things in your way. You may feel overwhelmed by how seemingly insurmountable the situation may feel. Try to break down the big picture into smaller and more manageable steps. Consider creating a timeline for each the small steps that can eventually lead to the big steps. For example, let's say you want to apply for college, but aren't sure about all the things you need to do in order to get this done. Create a checklist of all the things you need to send or have completed for your application. Then create a timeline for how and when to accomplish each task. Appreciate each completed step as a goal you've reached. See that as something to be proud of. Each step should be meaningful and uplifting as you make progress toward your ultimate goal.
Question: What is a summary of what this article is about?
Accept challenges as a part of life. Find resilience through challenges. Focus on the small steps as much as the big picture.
Article: . Write them down, prioritize them, and read them regularly. Then set your goals based on them. Thinking about future positive and negative possibilities enhances motivation, expectation of successful goal completion, and commitment to self-improvement. Thinking about a positive future helps you imagine a reality where you are the best self you can be, while imagining a negative reality results in an awareness of what might happen if you do not meet your improvement goals. Imagine a miracle happened overnight and when woke up in the morning you were exactly how you want to be. Everything you wanted to improve about yourself happened in the middle of the night somehow. How are you different? How does it feel? Who is around you? What are you doing? Imagine what it would be like to live life as this completely improved self. Based on what you imagine, you can begin developing goals. Perhaps you imagined yourself as being confident and physically fit. What do you think would have needed to happen for this to occur? It is important to be specific in your goals, and to know which goals are a top priority. Identify your assets (honest, hard-working, loving...etc.) and your liabilities (angry, overweight...etc.). This may help you identify the areas in which you want to make the most improvement. Prioritize your list of goals. Rate each goal from 1-10, 10 being the highest priority for you. Focus on this goal first. Receiving feedback about what to improve upon helps individuals' performance on tasks, and enhances goal-achievement. Thus, asking others ways you can improve will help you develop specific goals and motivate you on your journey. Start by asking your significant other or family members ways they think you can improve yourself. Make sure you only ask individuals whom you trust and those that will take your feelings into consideration (rather than belittling or criticizing you). You might be surprised by their answers. Talk to a trusted confidante such as a therapist, a religious leader or even a "sponsor" in a 12 step group. Having an outside party helps reduce self-deception and denial. We sometimes have a problem of being either too hard or too soft on ourselves, but talking to others can help us form an accurate picture of ourselves if we are to improve. Pick which suggestions you can apply to yourself and to practice those suggestions. If a certain set doesn't seem to work, try another! Nothing works for everyone. You need to find what works for you! SMART goals are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound. For example, your goal could be to lose 20 pounds (specific, measurable, attainable) in 3 months (realistic, time-bound). Try this online resource for creating SMART goals at GetSelfHelp.Co.UK. Break down each goal into smaller goals. For example, if your goal is to lose 20 pounds you will need to develop a plan which will include smaller goals such as: lowering daily calorie intake, exercising 3-5 times per week, and limiting sugar intake. Instead of making grand goals, start by establishing little goals that achieve the grand goal. For instance losing 50 pounds may seem like a daunting task but something like no chocolate for a week may be more viable. Information can be gathered from books, articles, friends, family, and professionals. It is amazing how much information will find you when you are ready! Think about ways you have made similar positive changes in the past. If you haven't, think about how others have achieved what you want. Talk to people who are in your same position and ask for help. For example, if you want to lose weight, you could sign up for Weight Watchers and go to groups at the center.
Question: What is a summary of what this article is about?
Define your core values Imagine what it could be like in the future. Determine what needs improvement and what doesn't. Get feedback. Make SMART goals. Seek out information on how to pursue that change.
Article: When you get to work, spend five minutes with your to-do list thinking about your day. Think about how you are going to accomplish your tasks for the day. Every hour force yourself to refocus. Look at how you spent the past hour and ask yourself if it was productive. Commit to making the next hour productive. When the day ends, ask yourself how your day went. Was it productive? How can you change to make tomorrow more successful? If you know how to do your job like the back of your hand, then it will require less energy. Knowing what you are doing will allow you to excel at your work. Although you should still challenge yourself to new things and continue to outdo yourself to build your skills, contribute to your company, and to keep yourself from getting bored. Seek further training to help you master your job if you can't get things done because you don't have the right skills or knowledge. A big reason for procrastination is because you are dreading to do something. Force yourself to do things in bursts. Force yourself to start a chunk of something even if it is just for five minutes, then stop if you need to. Once you start making progress on something, you will be more motivated to keep going and working on it longer and longer until it is finished. Turn your phone off and clear your desk to avoid distractions that encourage procrastination. Do challenging tasks before lunch when you are the most motivated. Focus your time and energy on what you can control. Don't worry about and stress about what is beyond your control. If you start getting worried about what a coworker is doing or stressing about another department, it will just waste your own time. You will feel more empowered and be more effective at work if you just focus on what is in your control. In order to be an effective worker, you have to be an efficient worker. Stop multi-tasking. Focus on one task at a time. If you try to do ten things at once, you won't complete anything. Work in a team to accomplish tasks faster and to bring new ideas to projects. Working with others and asking for help when you need it will help you be a more effective worker.
Question: What is a summary of what this article is about?
Check in with yourself. Know how to do your job well. Stay motivated to avoid procrastination. Worry about what you can control. Work efficiently. Collaborate with your coworkers.