Get Ambitious!
Start by challenging yourself. Perhaps there is something you are interested in trying. Engaging in a novel experience releases dopamine creating a feeling of pleasure and reward. According to Brainworld Magazine, unfamiliar activities force the brain to consider alternate perspectives and make connections with previous knowledge. For the most satisfying results, focus on an item on your bucket list or learning a new skill.
Learn from Failures
Periodic failures go hand-in-hand with tackling challenges,. Expect them. Don’t think of them as time wasters, but as learning what doesn’t work. The value in making mistakes is that you are unlikely to repeat them if you experience them firsthand. Other benefits are:
- Failure promotes analytical thinking. Determining where the process went astray allows you to come up with a different course of action.
- Failure makes you more resilient. If you look at failure as a learning process, you will less likely to be discourgance aten more likely to take on future risks.
- Failure makes you consider other possible approaches which requires creative thinking.
Work Efficiently
Start with a plan for the day or a TO DO list. Be aware of the things you do that waste your time. Eliminate and or limit them. Here are a few:
- Reading the news
- Checking/responding to email
- Scrolling through social media
- Online shopping
- Procrastinating
Time Saving Tip:
Donna Shalala, former Congress woman and Secretary of Health and Human Services, once stated that she saves time by only looking at mail one time. If any action is required, it is taken at that time.
Failure is so important. We speak about success all the time. It is the ability to resist failure or use failure that often leads to greater success. I’ve met people who don’t want to try for fear of failing.
Ask for Help
During you trials and tribulations, be sure to ask for help. When you do this, you let the hleper know that you value their opinion and trust their expertise. By providing support, the helper gets a sense of purpose and feeling of good will. Now you are the one spreading happiness to others. Read more on the happiness of helping others.
Enjoy the Present
Celebrate progress. Don’t wait until the goal is attained. That time is short-lived. By then you will be moving on to something else. Try to enjoy the headway you are making while you are doing it. Once you acknowledge that you are making strides toward your goal, you will experience positive emotions and satisfaction.
I always tell people if you want to know the secret of happiness, I can give it to you in one word: progress.
It’s Your Move
Complete the sentences below. Then decide which one(s) you would like to make monthly goals. Track your progress using a calendar to check whether or not you achieved the desired behavior that day.
- I want to __________ (be specific) by ____ (time limit) using ____________ to measure my progress.
- When meet failure: Acknowledge it, Analyze it, Create an Alternate Approach, and Try Again.
- I will ask _______ for help.
- I will work efficiently by eliminating this unproductive behavior__________from my day OR Limiting _________ for __ minutes at ____ time of the day.
- I will enjoy the process by savoring the moment – paying attention to what I see, hear, smell, and feel while I am working toward my goal.
