Today’s post is a bit special. l have been receiving a lot of great feedback, and getting a lot of appreciation for my posts, for which I am very grateful.
So today I gathered some of the GOLDEN nuggets from my previous blog posts for you.
These are the very cornerstones in a healthy, balanced AND successful life. So, without further ado, here comes my 7 powerful life lessons. Enjoy!
1. LIVE IN THE MOMENT AND BE PRESENT.
By being fully present you can improve the well-being of not only you but also the people around you. They will feel more connected, heard, valued. Being present will also improve your own well-being. You see, once you really tune in with others, it will improve your concentration and focus. Once you focus on the other person, your presence improves. Your mind is not wandering here and there, but you are present HERE and NOW, in this moment. You will have more clarity of mind. This is how being really present has a calming effect on yourself, too.
When we’re working, we tend to be living in the future. “Once I get this finished, then I need to do that.” We’re always in the next moment. Try to change that from now. Say often to yourself: “Here and now!” And forget about the next moments. The best moment of your day is RIGHT NOW!
2. PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR EMOTIONS.
It is the emotions you have that shape the quality of your experience! As the saying goes: “You name it, you tame it”. Naming an emotion means you activate the thinking areas of your brain, and the emotional regions calm down at least a little bit. Naming an emotion gives you more sense of control. Once your emotion has a name, you are more familiar with it. You can talk about it.
3. EXPRESS GRATITUDE.
Gratitude is the king of emotions when it comes to happiness. The core of gratitude is to understand that things are not self-evident and granted. Everything you have is a gift. Your health. Your relationships. Your job. Expressing gratitude is a powerful way to boost the well-being and efficiency at your workplace. So to improve the workplace environment, you could tell your colleague: “Thank you for working here. It’s good to work with you because I know I can always trust the quality of your work. You working here makes this a better place to work.”
4. EMBRACE YOUR FEAR AND ANXIETY.
Invite your fear in. Yes, you heard me right! Invite it in like a friend! Trying to push away your fear, suppress it, or deny its existence will only make it come back even stronger. Have the attitude: “Welcome fear, my friend. I’m listening. What do you want to tell me today?”. If you pay really close attention to your anxiety, you’ll notice it for what it is: just passing sensations and thoughts. Just look at the anxiety as it is. Changing sensations and thoughts coming and going.
5. BUILD ON YOUR WORST SCENARIO.
What would you do once your worst fears were true? Now that you have lost face, job, friends, health, and you are sitting somewhere abandoned, alone, as an outcast, what will you do? Whatever happens, remember this: your life is made of short moments. Those moments change all the time. There will be bad moments. There will be good moments. Your life goes on.
6. HIGH INTENSITY RELAXING.
With all the information bombardment and hassle we’re exposed to every day, it makes sense to cut it off completely every now and then. And just focus on relaxing. Not doing ANYTHING else. If I think of it as high intensity relaxing, the message gets across my thick skull: “Your job is to relax. Nothing else is important right now.”
Please remember that burnout is often not caused by too much work but by INSUFFICIENT RECOVERY. You can handle incredible amounts of stress if you just RECOVER regularly and deeply. The usual stress management tactics are of course helpful, but if you want to try something really powerful, I suggest you give high intensity relaxing a try.
Someone giving you a hard time? Take a deep breath. Relax. Don’t say anything. Just be quiet for a few moments. Remember – people can’t think properly when they are emotional. Their thinking areas in the brain are not functioning properly. All the energy is consumed in emotional areas. So forget all facts and reasoning for a while. Just listen. Tune in. Breathe.
That was it. 7 simple but POWERFUL lessons. These lessons have been very helpful not only for me but many people that I been helping over the years. And I hope it gives you the same inspiration and strength that it has given me. As an added bonus, I have also created a printable checklist for you.
You can just print it out, put it on your desk next to your computer or why not on your fridge. This way you’ll see it often and you can remind yourself of these lessons when life comes in the way. Remember that it all starts with YOU. So go ahead now and download this FREE checklist that I created for you.
Ps. I would appreciate hearing how it is going for you. So please go ahead and leave a comment here and share your experiences. And if you liked this post share it with your friends and loved ones. I am sure it will be helpful for them too.
/Jarkko
Originally published at www.jarkkorantanen.com