Embracing Pain  Arwa Qutbuddin  | Personal Development

8 top self-improvement tips that will help you live a happier, more productive life

After being stuck at home for weeks with little to fill your time other than school assignments, you may well be beginning to slip into a state of existential angst and boredom.

For advice on how to stay optimistic, both during this trying time and in future, Young Postturned to Dr Sylvia Kwok, convenor of the Positive Education Laboratory and an associate professor at City University’s Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences. Here are her top tips for maintaining a happy, healthy mindset.

Develop your interests

Spending time on activities you enjoy or are good at does more than just make you feel good. It empowers you with a sense of freedom to express your emotions and motivates you to keep working on building your skills, says Kwok.

You should be careful and not push yourself too hard when pursuing your goals though, or you might lose interest in them, she adds.

Self development is a lifelong process. It is a gateway for people to evaluate their abilities and excellence, consider their aims in life, and set goals to realize and maximize their potential.

This self development podcast channel will help you to identify the skills you need to set life goals which can enhance your employability prospects, raise your confidence, and lead to a more fulfilling, higher quality life. Plan to make relevant, positive, and effective life choices and decisions for your future to enable personal empowerment.

Although early life development and early formative experiences within the family, at school, etc. can help to shape us as adults, personal development should not stop later in life.

This self development podcast channel contains information and advice that is designed to help you to think about your personal development and how you can work towards goals and your full potential.

Develop a growth mindset

The way you perceive your successes and failures can affect your well-being, which is why it’s important to develop a growth mindset. This is the belief that you’re capable of improving. One of the ways you can strengthen this mindset is by overcoming challenges. This isn’t always easy, but can be made easier if you anticipate these challenges as you set your goals and think of ways to overcome them ahead of time. You should also be ready to adjust your plan when an unexpected challenge arises, says Kwok.

Another key to having a growth mindset is being able to ask for help when you need it. “Remember, you can’t do everything by yourself,” notes Kwok. “You can always reciprocate others’ kindness by offering to help them in return.”

Lastly, Kwok says acknowledging your accomplishments can help strengthen your growth mindset, and that even the smallest achievements deserve a pat on the back.

She suggests rewarding yourself with prizes such as handmade medals that you can display in your room to remind yourself how far you’ve come.

Set ‘smart’ goals

Having an aim does not only gives you a clear sense of direction in life, but also promises a sense of achievement each time you get closer to your goal.

Kwok says you first need to set “smart goals”. These are goals that are concrete, sensible, and time-sensitive. She adds that thinking about the steps you need to take to reach your goal and writing them down, will help you achieve them.

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