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Practice Mindfulness And Boost Your Self-Esteem

Awareness, Mindfulness, Positivity, Wellbeing / My Holland

It happens to the best of us. We initiate or get involved in a project or some undertaking, put in tons of effort, time and energy and it goes haywire resulting in a lot less success than what we had anticipated. Short of committing Harakiri or going out of our minds and cutting out paper dolls, we go down into a spiral of self-recrimination, despair and absolute dread of trying again. Our self-esteem sinks so low, we’re scared sh-t we’d do worse or even completely fail compared to others who would have done better. Look at what the research studies say: Take consolation in the news that the recent surveys show mindfulness could help us build and secure our self-esteem, the kind of self-esteem that stays with us regardless of how big or small our successes are in comparison to other people around us. Thanks to Christopher Pepping and his associates at Griffith University in Australia, who after conducting a study among undergraduate students, have found that these following four aspects of mindfulness have a powerful influence to raise our level of self-esteem: Having an attitude that is not judgmental toward our thoughts and emotions. This helps us to have a neutral and more receptive attitude about ourselves. Putting a label on our personal experiences with memorable words. This would tend to prevent us, or at the very least divert us from getting obsessed by critical thoughts and emotions. Living in the present moment. Even our wise old folks used to say … “Be happy. Live in the moment.” Doing this helps us to avoid getting trapped in self-critical thoughts and feelings related to what we had done in the past or intend to do in the future. Allowing thoughts, emotions and feelings to enter our hearts and minds, being conscious of them but without reacting, one way or another to them. When these thoughts and feelings pop up, be aware of them, just don’t let anything prod you into reacting or responding to them.. This will eventually help you in managing them better. These results published in The Journal of Positive Psychology did support the researchers’ hypothesis that those with the foregoing mindfulness skills had higher self-esteem. And to further validate this, a subsequent study was conducted which had one group of students participating in a fifteen (15) minute mindfulness meditation while the other half of the respondents were asked similarly for fifteen (15) minutes to read the story of a certain fly-trap plant. When all participants had completed the questionnaires that rated their degree of self-esteem and mindfulness before and after the process, it was found that those who were into mindfulness meditation had a higher level of self-esteem versus those students who read the plant story. So, are you feeling low? Are those “I’m so stupid!” and “Those 5th graders are smarter than I am!” thoughts creeping up on you? Start helping yourself today. Try practicing these four dimensions of mindfulness and help get your self-esteem up there.

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Qualities of Mentally Strong People

Brain, Emotional Intelligence, Positive Psychology, Positivity / My Holland

Not a day goes by without challenges that test our mental toughness. As we overcome these, new trials arise. Don’t be annoyed if you see happy people who seem to have no worries. Newsflash: They have problems too, but they’re not negatively affected by these. Why? They are mentally healthy. The good news is you can be like them. Keep in mind that to be mentally strong, you’re going have to change your beliefs, behavior, perspective and outlook. You can best decide what other areas in your life need a little tweaking. For now, here are some qualities of mentally tough people that you may not be aware of. They Have a High Self-Esteem Mentally healthy people have an excellent yet factual opinion of themselves. They’re confident, even though they’re not perfect. They believe in their abilities which they continue to improve while seeking new ones to master. When they encounter problems, they focus on finding solutions. For them, life is not a series of problems, but a series of problem-solving! Don’t take your skills and strengths for granted. List them down and you’ll realize you have more than what you thought you had. They Are Emotionally Healthy Mentally tough people never waste their energy wallowing in self-pity. Life might have dealt them a bad hand. But, they make the most of what they have or the circumstances they’re in. They never feel sorry for themselves. Emotionally healthy people control their emotions, especially fear, sadness and anger. In the face of adversity, they boldly rise to the challenge. And when they pursue their goals, they do so with passion and determination. They Are Not Afraid of Failure Mentally tough people are always ready to take a leap of faith into the great unknown. They don’t listen to naysayers who may include their family or others close to them. If they believe something is worth doing, they’ll forge ahead fully committed. It doesn’t matter to them if they fail. What matters to them is they tried. They Are Not Afraid of Rejection The fear of rejection is one significant deterrent for many people. But, mentally healthy people like great salespersons don’t take it personally when they’re told “no thanks”, “another time perhaps” or even simply waved away. They are self-assured, mentally and emotionally. In the aftermath of rejection, they simply move on with their confidence intact. They Stick To Their Dreams Mentally healthy people are unwavering when it comes to their aspirations in life. They view challenges as mountains to surmount. They expect hardships and obstacles but do not avoid them. Aware that there is no easy road to success, they stay the course. At the end of the road, they know they will achieve their goals in life. They Never Stop Learning Socrates said that admitting one’s ignorance is the beginning of wisdom. Benjamin Franklin and others have said something similar but the point is this – mentally tough people don’t pretend to know everything. Despite having degrees, they continue to seek knowledge by reading books and other publications, searching the internet or enrolling in formal courses. Mentally tough people learn from their mistakes, failures and rejections. They treat these as guides for their future actions. Ask any successful person. They’ll tell you that experience, good or bad, is always a great teacher. Wrapping Up If you want to be mentally healthy, you have to take seriously the qualities you just read. With just the right effort and determination, you’ll achieve that mental toughness you desire.

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“Do Women Make Good Leaders?”

Emotional Intelligence, Engagement, Goals, Leadership, Motivation, Positivity, Productivity / My Holland

Women are often underestimated in the world of business. Some countries mark the month of March as National Women’s History Month. The UN celebrates the International Women’s Day every 8th of March where the said day recognises and celebrates the achievement of women. So what better way to mark this day than by discussing a popular debate topic – do women make good leaders? At the lowest levels of workplaces across the globe, over half of employees are women, but as you move up the organisational ladder, the number of women drop off dramatically. In fact, at the very top of the tree, as few as 4% of organisation leaders are female. There are lots of discussions and claims out there about the way in which leadership between men and women differs. Traditionally, women are nurturing, empathetic and emotional. How do these traits and qualities translate into the world of business and leadership? Do they set us back or do they drive us forward? One Harvard Business Review (HBR) survey looked at 16 key competencies that make a good leader (including taking initiative, developing others and inspiring/motivating colleagues). The 7,280 results from the public and private sector companies proved the usual stereotypes – women rank higher than men in the so-called ‘nurturing’ competencies, such as building relationships. No surprises there. But what was also interesting, was that women also excelled outside of the traditional ‘female’ strengths. Women were rated higher than men in 12 of the 16 competencies, and were rated overall better leaders by their peers. When it comes to two of the traits – taking initiative and driving for results – men are often assumed to be better at these, but it was women who topped the poll. With the exception of the ‘ability to develop a strategic perspective, ’ in which men trumped women, women are highly regarded in leadership roles, because – not in spite – of their emotional and empathetic tendencies. Women are often underestimated in the world of business. They can face sexism in the workplace, but also a lack of self-belief. Tradition places men at the top of organisational structures, but the tide is changing … slowly but surely. Studies like this, and many more, prove that people within business rate women as strong leaders. Having the respect of those you work with is half the battle. Qualities such as being emotional are not viewed as negative traits by them, but as a positive in forging relationships with colleagues and more importantly, driving and achieving results. Let’s hope that not only the businesses out there take note of this, but women themselves. We need to have self-confidence to be able to go for the big jobs without fear of rejection or inferiority. Our traditionally ‘female’ traits do not have to be a barrier to success – they can be our reasons for success.

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Positivity

Practice Mindfulness And Boost Your Self-Esteem

Qualities of Mentally Strong People

“Do Women Make Good Leaders?”

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