- Distinguish between your outer and inner worlds. Just because your outer world is mayhem – a crazy relentless pace with competing priorities and conflicting demands – it doesn’t automatically have to mean a similarly crazy inner world. Take control. Get in the driving seat.
- Acceptance. If the reality of your life is not as you would like, do everything you can to change the aspects you have any control over and accept those you can’t.
- Take a breather. Stop. Breathe. Count. Slow breath in for 4, hold for 7, even slower breath out for 8. Several times a day. In the shower, on your way to work, prior to a meeting, during a meeting, on the phone, watching TV, answering emails, sitting at your desk, grabbing your coffee. The quickest and easiest way to activate the part of your brain that soothes and calms, restores perspective, and replenishes energy.
- Define your own success. Don’t be a sheep! Most of us feel some kind of pressure to conform to other people’s expectations or standards of success. Find your courage and use it to be honest with yourself (and those around you) about what YOU want for your life. What does success mean to you; what has most value, meaning and appeal to YOU? Identify and follow your own path.
- Notice and choose what and to whom you give your attention. Is it on and with the issues and people that really matter? Getting and giving full attention in the age of the information economy is a huge challenge. Competing demands can place you at risk of burnout and compromise your productivity, creativity and quality of decision-making. Download a mindfulness app today!
- Get into your own ‘operating rhythm’, one that lets you attend to and balance all aspects of who you are in life, not just the work part of who you are. Look at your schedule and earmark time for all aspects of what you need to flourish. Get the essential exercise, family, social, personal admin etc. planned each week ahead of time, and get the holidays / special occasions booked months in advance. There’s no guarantee they will all happen, but your chances are certainly better.
- Switch off – literally. Ditch the devices when you walk through the door at home (at least for a set period). Constant digital connectivity interferes with other more important things (and people) we need to be getting on with , and is strongly linked to a multitude of negative mental health consequences such as declining attention spans, trouble concentrating, difficulty focussing, disrupted sleep patterns, lower quality and quantity of sleep and weight gain. The more people are connected the more isolated, anxious and agitated they feel.
- Be a bit kinder in what you tell yourself about yourself, watch where you let your mind and self-talk go. No good can come from the tendency many of us have to doubt ourselves more than we probably should. So turn down the inner critic and amp up the voice of self-compassion.
- Get more sleep! It’s the best tonic for our mood restoration, physical health needs, memory consolidation and replenishing the energy sources available to us… and too many of us are neglecting it. Experts agree, we need between 7 and 9 hours sleep per night. Are you getting enough?
- Be ‘wise selfish’. Looking after yourself is not a luxury it’s a necessity.