It's crazy how time flies so fast and never stops for anyone. December/January is the time when people reflect their past year and set their goals and priorities for the new year. No matter what your goals or challenges for this year may be, I believe that we would need to have the right values to start the year right. I have thought of some values which I would really like to hold on to this 2020, and I would like to share them. So this is how you could live your best life.
How to Live You Best Life in 2020
1. Always live in the present.
You are never ever going to get the same moment twice. Whether you are with your partner, your friends or family, treasure each and every moment. You will never know what will happen ahead, so dive deeply into that conversation, genuinely care and take interest in the person in front of you, feel everything and enjoy it. Be in the present. Even when you are spending time alone, make it a quality one. Think about what you are thinking, feel the emotions you are feeling; you are never going to have this same "you" back.
2. Self-awareness is the key to everything.
From personal development, career development, improving emotional intelligence and communication, to becoming successful, etc. Becoming aware of yourself is also the first step to know yourself. If you are not self-aware and you don't know yourself, how do you know your career pathway? How do you know the kind of person you would like to marry? How do you become successful if you are not self-aware and you don't know yourself? So, you can start by cultivating more self-awareness by recognizing and acknowledging your emotions, knowing why do you feel a certain way, for instance, "Why do I feel jealous? Is it because I'm really inadequate? Insecure of myself? How am I going to resolve this issue of my own? By observing my self-talks? Etc."See, it starts from becoming aware of what we are feeling (which can be hard and admit it, we fail to acknowledge our feelings or intentions at times).
3. Keep negative self-thoughts away as they ruin your life.
According to the National Science Foundation, an average person has about 12,000 to 60,000 thoughts per day. Of those, 80% are negative and 95% are repetitive thoughts. If we repeat those negative thoughts, we think negative way more than we think positive thoughts.
Sometimes we don't even realize that we are thinking that much of negative thoughts. We have talked about self-awareness just now. Another way to be more self-aware is that you could be more aware of your thoughts. Catch your thoughts, know what you are saying to yourself. Your self-talks will shape your subconscious, and if they are mostly negative, you are subconsciously shaping yourself in a negative way, thus affecting your self-esteem, self confidence, self-concept and so on. I know this is hard, but we have to learn to catch what we are thinking and restructure or rationalize the thoughts. For instance, you may think "This project has failed. I am a failure." Restructure the thought to "Failing this project does not mean that I am a failure. It's just another way to know that this does not work and I should try out another way."
4. Your physical and mental health come first.
I had been living an insanely hectic life for years. Working and volunteering almost everyday, slept late every night, with little fun, exercise and rest, thinking I didn't need them. I thought I was expanding my capacity to achieve more. Boy, I was so wrong about it. My physical and mental health broke down after that 5-6 years. It was a terrifying experience. Only after experiencing darkness I realized how important it is to look after our physical and mental health. Most people do not care about their health until they have experienced something bad, just like I did. Seriously, I wish no one would follow my path back then. You know what to do. Schedule time for exercise and rest to keep yourself on top of the game. Live a healthy lifestyle. Your body is like your machine to live life and achieve more, so keep it in tip-top condition.
5. Always develop yourself.
If you have read my other posts, you would realize that I always emphasize on developing ourselves. Indeed, this is one of the most important values that I think everyone should have. We are born with so much potential that we don't even know.
Believe in your infinite potential. Your only limitations are those you set upon yourself. - Roy T. Bennett
Always seek to improve yourself, gain new knowledge and skills, and challenge yourself. Go refine that piano playing skill, learn more about that topic that you are interested in, master your leadership skills; there's so much to learn and develop. I have always loved this quote:
The greatest gift you can give someone is your own personal development. - Jim Rohn
Not only if you love yourself, but if you love those around you, develop yourself.
6. Be resilient when things get tough.
God did not promise us a smooth-sailing life. However, he has overcome the world for you and he walks with you. Here is what the Bible tells us:
In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I (Jesus Christ) have overcome the world. - John 16:33
As much as we want our lives to be awesome in 2020, surely there will be some unavoidable challenges and setbacks that we need to go through. Yes, life may be full of adversities and setbacks, yet they are not meant to pull you down. They are meant to help you grow as a person.
Challenge and adversity are meant to help you know who you are. Storms hit your weakness, but unlock your true strength. - Roy T. Bennett
Why is that some people are able to bounce back and find a way to defeat adversities? This is because in their mind they know that instead of dwelling in despair they have the chance to rise up stronger after each fall. Yes, even though they may feel all kinds of difficult emotions and have all kinds of thoughts just like we do, but they do not dwell in them for too long. They take time to reflect, process and move forward. Want to know more about how they do that? Read my post on how to overcome setbacks here: 6 Practical Ways to Overcome Setbacks in Life.
In a nutshell, here is how you could live your best life in 2020 by holding on to these values:
1. Always live in the present.
2. Self-awareness is the key to everything.
3. Keep negative self-thoughts away as they ruin your life.
4. Your physical and mental health come first.
5. Always develop yourself.
6. Be resilient when things get tough.
I hope this is able to give you some insights. Do share with me if you have anything else in mind. :)
Sincerely Yours,
Kim
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