In Malaysia, the lockdown due to Covid-19 has been almost a week. How have you been? I hope it has been enjoyable and a peaceful one to you amidst the outbreak of Covid-19. Yes we have been bombarded by news on our social media and that might have cause us anxiety and stress. However, we could still choose to not let these news affect us especially how we feel. Let's intentionally take time to place our focus elsewhere. With a cup of tea by my side and a dog on my lap, I thought of sharing about what I think we could do to develop ourselves during the Covid-19 lockdown.
I believe that God has allowed this lockdown to happen for a reason. Maybe it is to redirect you from a place of uncertainty/being unproductive to somewhere better. Maybe for others it is a time to rest and restore. Perhaps it is to equip you to do his will. Whatever it may be, it is good to utilise the extra time that we have at home to pause, think and reflect on our lives. Here's what you could do.
4 Ways to Develop Yourself During the Covid-19 Lockdown
1. Improve relationship with yourself
Having intrapersonal (relationship with yourself) skills are all about self-awareness and controlling your own internal attitudes and inner processes. Your relationship with yourself is the most important relationship you are in and will be in. Now that there's plenty time for you to be alone, let's start by cultivating some self-awareness. Knowing yourself is vital in directing the path of your life, because if you do not know who you are, how do you know what do you want in life? Here are some questions you could ask yourself honestly:
1. How have I been lately?
2. What are some of the thoughts and feelings that I have recently?
3. How have these thoughts and feelings shaped my beliefs/values?
4. Are they destructive or constructive thoughts? How can I make them constructive?
5. What do I intend to do with my life? In 3 months/1 year/3 years?
“Loving ourselves works miracles in our lives.” – L. Hay
Loving ourselves starts with being self-aware, discovering who we are and accepting ourselves. Here's how to love yourself - Love Yourself: 6 Steps to Self-Love
Another set of questions that I like to ask my clients, for you to reflect on yourself and discover who you are:
1. What is my personality like
2. What is my passion in life/What I really would like to do in life
3. What are my core values
4. What is my personal vision statement
5. What are my interests
6. What do I dislike
7. What are my strengths
8. What are my weaknesses
Time to reflect and write them down! It took me a few months to finalize it, because it is a journey of discovery and these facts about you will always change. It serves as a good reminder and will help to give you a boost of confidence when you need it. I find it useful during tough times, when I'm lost and in my moment of weakness. As I look at the things that I wrote, it reminded me of who I am and what is the direction I should go in life.
If you aren’t good at loving yourself, you will have a difficult time loving anyone. You will doubt yourself, and have low self-esteem and confidence, which affects your quality of life. Yet, we could always choose to do something about it and not succumb to the victim mentality. Building a positive relationship with yourself also helps you to build your relationships with others.
2. Improve Personal Relationships
For many of us this is the time for us to stay home with our families. For me, my family are the people I spend the most time with in my life. With them, we are the freest and truest version of ourselves. During this lockdown, I spend my time at home with my family everyday. I believe that as time goes by I will come to know more about my siblings weird habits and some of their remarkable strengths. I will come to know what are my parents dreams and fears. Perhaps some of you are away from your family during this lockdown. Don't hesitate to give them a call to check in and spend some quality time with them. Not just with your family, it is also a good time to check in on your friends as well, even though you could not see them face to face. Send a text to them or give them a video call when you are thinking about them!
3. Cultivate Good Habits
This period of lockdown is a good time to cultivate some good habits. According to a 2009 study published in the European Journal of Social Psychology, it can take anywhere from 18 to 254 days for a person to form a new habit and an average of 66 days for a new behavior to become automatic. It's time to utilise the free time that you have to perhaps form a new skincare routine for better skin, or perhaps something simple but impactful like some morning habits such as drinking a cup of water first thing in the morning, reading for 30 minutes a day, working out and so on. For me, I have decided that on the first day of the lockdown I would like to develop this habit back - devotion (worshipping God, praying and reading the Bible) every night before bed.
4. Learn Something/Master Some Skills
Now that we have time, let's use it to flaunt those cooking skills, master those guitar playing skills, writing skills, gardening skills, and etc. Pick up something fun such as learning about psychology, marine biology, programming or even digital marketing. Instead of watching a no-brainer show on Netflix all the time (yeah I'm talking to myself too), watch a documentary. Read a self-help book. Allocate some time such as 1 hour to do this daily, and see yourself growing into a more knowledgable and all-rounded person.
If you are alone at home, here is something that might interest you - Solitude: 7 Powerful Benefits of Spending Time Alone
In a nutshell, here are 4 Ways to Develop Yourself During the Covid-19 Lockdown:
1. Improve relationship with yourself
2. Improve Personal Relationships
3. Cultivate Good Habits
4. Learn Something/Master Some Skills
I hope this is able to give you some insights! Stay sane and stay safe!
Sincerely Yours,
Kim
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