Wellbeing expert shares six powerful secrets to help you become the best version of yourself

These are unprecedented times that we are all are facing. We all have gone through some kind of emotional & mental whirlwind as we saw our lives radically changing. 

Therefore, in these difficult times, there is even a greater need to understand ourselves and people. Most of us already know that we should take regular breaks, exercise and maintain our focus, but yet, few of us actually do it.

The key is to know where to begin. 

1. Accept responsibility 

Life is a series of problems and decisions. So, how do you solve a problem?

First, you need to accept the problem. Or, in other words, take responsibility for it. This might sound idiotic but unfortunately, most people don’t do this and instead try and shift the blame. 

Accept that we will face disruption in our businesses, that our liberty of moving freely will be restricted, that working from home will have its challenges. 

And whilst, you cannot control what life throws at you, you can, however, control how you react to these events and the actions that transpire. This will give you the control in managing your problems and will be the first step in helping you look into useful solutions. 

We are wired to resist change. Acceptance is not defined as doing nothing. One of the main reasons as to why we are dealing with mental wellbeing challenges is our continuous self-talk which says “things should be different.”

2. Increase your awareness

Why is this important?  

Because any decision we make (for ourselves, for our company, for our family, team members) is based on unconscious thoughts and feelings. Over 90% of our beliefs, intentions and motives are not even in our awareness.

If you are not aware your life will happen by accident.  

If we want our life to happen the way we want to then it’s important we continuously examine what we believe to be true. We ultimately are responsible for the meaning we create in our lives. 

How do you increase your awareness?:

1. Meditation is a great tool to increase your awareness because it helps put some “space” between the event and your reaction. The simplest way to start is to practice box breathing (inhale for 1,2,3,4 - hold for 1,2,3,4 - exhale 1,2,3,4 - repeat 5 times). There are plenty of meditation apps out there that could also help you get started.
2. Journal. Before you go into thinking this is for hipsters, think again. There are multiple benefits to journaling: improved sleep, improved immunity, increased self-esteem, increased sense of happiness. Journalling helps increase our self-awareness by thinking about the day past. What did we wish we did differently? What behaviours, what language, what emotions, what thoughts?

3. Give yourself clarity 

People want certainty but that is unrealistic.

What you can give yourself is some clarity based on all of the information you have available.  

Ask yourself these following questions:

• What is happening right now? 
• What is going to happen in the future? 
• What is my response? What am I going to do? How can I exercise my initiative 

4. Who do I want to be in these challenging times?

Knowing who you want to be is crucial because you will cultivate a sense of power, guidance, internal security that will allow you to navigate these challenging times and build relationships with people you care about. 

Ask yourself...

• In these difficult times, what would I like my family to say about me? 
• What would I like my team to say about me? 
• What would I like my senior leadership to say about me? 
• How would I like to respond to the situation? Who do I need to be to get through this? 

People can’t live with change if there’s not a changeless core inside them. The key to the ability to change is a changeless sense of who you are, what you are about and what you value.  

5. Planning & taking action

By now you should have identified who you want to be and from this, you should outline and set clear, actionable goals. 

For example, if I want my family to say I am more caring, how can I make that happen? Taking the time to thank, appreciate and offer support at any given time is all it takes.

Maybe you realised that you want to be more entrepreneurial - turn that idea into a business after all.

Maybe you realised that you are too stressed, or have no time. Here is where you can create a plan to work around these problems in order to fulfil your objectives.

If you have no time, how can you make more time? How can you be more productive? Is there anything you can give less time too? Perhaps, you can start by just spending an hour a week on your goals. 

Every Sunday, make a schedule where you put these goals in first. Then live that schedule, day in, day out. Make that commitment to yourself and rearrange as needed when unexpected things happen.  Being more organised in this way will help you remain in the driver's seat. 

6. Review

Write in a journal at the end of the day: 

• What do you appreciate about your life, yourself and others? Gratitude is essential in helping you have meaning and put things into perspective. It also releases certain chemicals in your body that help creates a sense of peace. 
• How can you improve? On all of the goals you have identified how well did you do out of 10 and what could you do better? You're not alone if things didn't work exactly to plan - that's where you will need to adapt your plan to work better and smarter.

Just imagine if for the next 3 months every day you would be more caring, more entrepreneurial, more courageous. Where do you think you will be? How much more meaning, what level of relationships would you have? 

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About the author: 

Patricia Bloj has spent most of her career in the corporate world where she experienced first hand the challenges of a pressurising working environment which lead to burnout. Now, as an entrepreneur, she understands the lonely challenges of working on building a business. She has therefore focused on building her resilience and working with other people and organisations to help them in their wellbeing challenges. For more advice, Patricia is happy to offer a 30 min free phone call to help anyone with their wellbeing patricia@metanoiawellness.com www.metanoiawellness.com.