Professional Documents
Culture Documents
6 BOOK COLLECTIONS
The 3 Main Reasons To Better Use Your Time Now ! – Marc N.
Make a list of all the obstacles preventing you from spending quality time with your
family. ......................................................................................................................................... 9
Make a list of all the possible rewards from spending quality time with your family. ............. 12
Make a list of internet based activities and games that can be done with family. .................... 17
Conclusion................................................................................................................................. 18
Make a list of all the possible rewards volunteering can bring to you and your life. ............... 27
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The 3 Main Reasons To Better Use Your Time Now ! – Marc N.
Conclusion................................................................................................................................. 37
Visualize what is your vision of a perfect day and a perfect life? ............................................ 46
What are some of the things I can do to achieve personal development? ................................. 48
Conclusion................................................................................................................................. 55
d. Use a Planning Tool ( faire un fichier pdf avec mes tools free prefers) ........................... 66
a. Motivation: ................................................................................................................................................. 76
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The 3 Main Reasons To Better Use Your Time Now ! – Marc N.
Yourself is the most precious gift of all. How are you treating your gift? There
are many things you can do to become a better person. In this course, we
discuss a few aspects of how you could become a better person.
For starters, you can maximise your family time. Family is one of the strongest
support systems you can have. Having a good bond with your family can really
make a huge difference to your life. We all don't spend as much time as we
should with our families. So the first part of the course is about how we can
spend more time with our family, its benefits and how this habit will reward our
life.
The second part is about volunteering. Many of us live about in our day and
forget our role to contribute to helping others. There are lots of benefits to
volunteering and lots of tips about how you can start volunteering discussed in
the second part.
The third part of the course is about personal development and growth. What is
life if you don't grow? There are numerous things you can do to help yourself
develop and grow.
The last part of the course is about time management. Time is one of the most
essential assets you have. If you learn how to divide and manage your time, you
could become a very productive person with lots of achievements.
Overall, the different parts in this course are designed to help you become a well
rounded, improved and refined person from many aspects such as personally,
family wise, socially and time wise.
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The 3 Main Reasons To Better Use Your Time Now ! – Marc N.
Introduction
The Dictionary definition of family is; a basic social unit consisting of parents
and their children, considered as a group, whether dwelling together or not. The
modern contemporary world has seen the evolution of this word family to mean
a group of people (not necessarily related by blood) who gather at a particular
home and spend most of their time there. They always end up together as the
day goes on, and eventually forget about everyone else they used to associate
with.
On the other hand, Time in this instance simply implies to a point of time as
measured in hours and minutes or the indefinite continued progress of existence
and events in the past, present and future regarded as a whole.
The modern culture tends to work against family time with social forces
working to keep us apart. This requires individuals to put in more effort into
spending time together. The media especially social media has made one on one
communication almost impossible with people more concerned about
maintaining their virtual friends and virtual lives more than spending time with
their families.
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The 3 Main Reasons To Better Use Your Time Now ! – Marc N.
The work structures have also become more fluid in today’s society with more
organizations walking away from the ‘eight to five’ system into a ‘work
wherever you are’ system so long as maximum productivity is attained. This
can either mean more time to spend with your family or family time converted
into work time. The lack of structure may seep into your sleeping routine and
before you know it you find yourself low on sleep, constantly drained and in
need of down time just to be by yourself.
The saying men are from Mars and women from Venus can be applied in this
instance because spending quality time has a different meaning to both genders.
For most men, watching a game, talking about their favorite sport and politics
or simply being in the same room drinking beer and exchanging a few words are
the constituents of quality time together.
For women, spending quality time requires much more. It means undivided
attention, where all focus is on her. You have to be there for her and with her.
There can be no distractions from phones, TV, emails or any other thing.
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The 3 Main Reasons To Better Use Your Time Now ! – Marc N.
Many people confuse sharing space with spending quality time. Just because we
live together does not mean we are spending time together. An example is when
your children keep asking for something acting like they are desperate for your
attention when in real sense ‘you just spent the entire day together’. While you
might have been physically present, you mind may have been far away and you
might not have been involved in the here and now and tried to know what’s
happening in the child’s life.
Use the definition of quality time to calculate how many hours you spend with
your family per week. It is important to make sure you spend quality time
collectively as a family while also trying to allocate special quality one on one
time to allow family members to open up to you about things that may be
personal to them or to do with them interests are only enjoyed by them among
the other family members.
Evaluate how much quality time per week do you spend collectively as a family
and how much personal quality time you spend with each member of your
family/partner.
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The 3 Main Reasons To Better Use Your Time Now ! – Marc N.
or holidays. Many agree that family time is of great value but incorporating it
into their daily routines still proves to be difficult for various reasons such as;
Work schedules – someone has to put food on the table. This sometimes
means crazy schedules leaving the parents with barely enough time for
themselves and just enough to keep the family afloat and functional.
Some parents may also have different work shifts meaning that they are
barely in the house at the same time.
Homework – The kids always have homework to do, after this it is eat, go
to bed and wake up tomorrow to repeat all this all over.
Divorce – Divorce or separation always mean that the children are
constantly operating from two homes. Creating time where both parents
are available for the child is sometimes impossible.
Technology – especially mobile phones. We are living in a world where
your phone is everything. Everyone is always glued to their screens doing
God knows what trying to keep up with the rest of the world but your
family.
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The 3 Main Reasons To Better Use Your Time Now ! – Marc N.
solution to address the issue. For example, psychotherapy and counseling can
help you with emotional problems. Delegation and time management can help
you with always being busy etc.
The first step in overcoming obstacles is to identify them.
Some might view time spent with family as a waste of time that could otherwise
be put into use doing other ‘productive’ things like work and get more money.
This notion is far from the truth as time spent with family is like a precious
jewel that stays embed in the memory forever.
having a discussion with them so they too can understand and know how to best
deal with situations of life.
always finds time to spend with the family regardless of how busy you are, your
child will grow up knowing that this is the right way and in future emulate this
with their own families.
The list is highly personal and subjective as your priorities and preferences are
unique to you. So feel free to state the things that truly fulfill and satisfy you
when you spend quality time.
Encourage your family members to do their own list and keep it in a visible
space so that you could see it when you feel like skipped family time.
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The 3 Main Reasons To Better Use Your Time Now ! – Marc N.
Different families enjoy doing different things, what works for one might not
work for all. It is important to find an activity that your family enjoys doing and
make a tradition of it. For example, a family’s idea of spending time together
may involve a day in the backyard, grilling meat and bonding over drinks while
the children run around playing. Another family’s idea of spending quality time
together may be spending a whole day out in the beach. You do not have to wait
for such big days that involve meticulous planning to have quality time with
your family. A little adjusting here and there may go a long way.
Family calendar
This can go in two ways; if you are the type of person who is always busy and
probably has the next three months of life planned at all times then it is time to
reassess your commitments and prioritize time for the family as it is equally
important. Think about the things you could take off the calendar or do in less
time and replace these with family time doing this that you enjoy with loved
ones.
If you are the type of person who never plans for anything but at the same time
find yourself too ‘busy’ for family time, then you could embrace the calendar
and start planning for family time. Set time aside for family; could be family
hour, weekend getaway or something as simple as helping your kids with
homework or cooking with your spouse.
Make sure at the beginning of the week that you mark any important family
occasions (son’s soccer match, Daughters’ rehearsals, etc) and schedule your
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The 3 Main Reasons To Better Use Your Time Now ! – Marc N.
week around it. Make sure those family slots are locked away and known to you
so that you don’t miss out on family time.
Dinners as a family
Food brings people together. Food makes people happy. Food makes people
closer. Why not have more mealtimes together as a family? Home cooked meals
give even more time to catch up on the day’s activities before you sit down and
enjoy the food. Eating together shows oneness and unity. Committing to this
every single night might be difficult because of various reasons. You could
however try eating together two or three nights a week and see how you
progress from there.
Family hour
In a family where everybody is always busy doing their own thing, setting up a
‘family hour’ may be helpful in spending time together. You could choose a
time that is most convenient for everyone probably in the evenings. During this
hour, all phones are kept away and the TV is shut off. You can then all talk
about the day you had or spend this time doing a fun activity. With only one
hour to bond, there is still plenty of time to do other housework and for the
children to do their homework or have their own ‘me’ time.
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The 3 Main Reasons To Better Use Your Time Now ! – Marc N.
this doing something that you enjoy brings the family closer and constitutes
quality time spent together.
Make a list of movies and board games that is commonly enjoyed by many
members of your family members.
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The 3 Main Reasons To Better Use Your Time Now ! – Marc N.
there is a strain between their parents and this impact negatively on any family
time that has been planned.
Spending quality time together with your wife is an essential part of keeping a
family happy and connected. This quality time can be as little as just 20 minutes
of an entire day but it will go a long way in having a healthy family. What
matters is that you keep this constant enough to keep the relationship feeling
good. As a couple, you should not spend all your free time with your children
such that you lose all touch with each other.
Your children are important but so is your relationship with each other. If your
closeness as a couple no longer exists chances are that you will not stick
together. In case you end up separated or divorce, it is the children that suffer
the most.
“It’s not so much about where you go or what you do, but how you make each
other feel while doing it. As a man, it’s your responsibility to lead the way and
create a mood where you both enjoy spending time together. One of the easiest
ways to do that is to focus on trying to smile, laugh and joke around more than
you usually do. When you do that, you will find that it’s much easier to spend
quality time together without getting bored, frustrated or ending up in an
argument.” Dan Bacon, Author of the Modern Man.
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The 3 Main Reasons To Better Use Your Time Now ! – Marc N.
this can be true, there are ways you can use technology to work for you and
make family time more fun and pleasurable.
Instead of using your phones as a way to avoid talking to each other, you can
use it to document and capture memories of the time spent together as a family.
You can upload photos and videos of fun family times on twitter, facebook and
Instagram, That way both sides win; you get have family time and still maintain
your virtual social life.
The internet can also be a source of endless fun ideas and games to play as a
family. You can research and learn from other people how they make family
time work for them. With new ideas and change of games, family time becomes
more fun instead of being a ‘boring, monotonous and mandatory time that you
have to spend with your family’.
Make a list of internet based activities and games that can be done with family.
There are many games that are designed to be played by family, look for
suitable games such as trivia quizzes, puzzles, scrabble etc and much more and
make sure to play those together often to build a competitive spirit.
Getting your children’s attention during family time may prove to be a task as
with every notification ping from their phone they will want to check. It is good
to know that there are apps available to control your child’s use of their phone.
The FamilyTime parental control app puts parents directly in control how their
teens use their Android devices. With this app you can simply lock the child’s
phone and enable the family to enjoy a fun Family Time.
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The 3 Main Reasons To Better Use Your Time Now ! – Marc N.
Conclusion
Family time is so crucial to personal growth and health. The people we become
later in life is directly influenced by the kind of upbringing that we have.
Research shows that children who receive a lot of love, praise and
encouragement develop to be more successful than those who are neglected and
often criticized by their parents. The best way to establish an open
communication environment in the home is by having family time. It is by
talking and listening that we get to know that people are different and learn to
accept people as they are. This helps children cope well in school and even
better as adults when they have to face different cultures and diversities.
There is a fine line between positive social engagement and a strong family life.
Parents must recognize that their children need alone time too for their own
personal development. Not all free time can be family. Being too involved in
the child’s life may be seen as meddling and may bring forth a negative output.
Everyone needs their own space to just breathe, reflect and develop into their
own person.
Do not put too much pressure on it. No one likes to feel pressured to do
anything, not even your kids. It will take time for a family to feel comfortable
with family time without forcing it. You should try different approaches before
you settle on one that works for you and your family. Just like each family has
their own traditions, family time means different things to different people.
Regardless of how you interpret it, the important thing is to set time aside to
spend with your family getting to know each other and having fun together as
family is forever.
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The 3 Main Reasons To Better Use Your Time Now ! – Marc N.
Walk the balance between positively being engaged with your family and
giving them enough freedom and space.
Realize and remember the benefit of spending quality time with your family and
think of ways you can do that. Brainstorm and make a list of activities, places,
games, things etc that you would like to do together.
Try to encourage your kids to do with you things that they normally do with
their family such as going to movies, etc.
Try to make the best out of your family quality time. Enforce your family
values while having fun, with positive love and affection. Avoid making family
time dreadful and always give them something to make forward to.
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The 3 Main Reasons To Better Use Your Time Now ! – Marc N.
PART II : VOLUNTEERING
Introduction
Considered as an altruistic activity, volunteering is all about getting involved in
services for the sole purpose of benefiting an organization, a group, or even a
single person either as a group or an individual without social or financial gain.
Volunteering is widely known to better human life as it is intended to promote
goodness.
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The 3 Main Reasons To Better Use Your Time Now ! – Marc N.
Volunteers who can do such play a big role in organizations that require such
skills. Many people do not know where to turn to or how to deal with their
problems and so volunteers can listen in and give them advice. Some
organizations also train volunteers to acquire such skills. These skills will also
benefit them in other parts of their lives.
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The 3 Main Reasons To Better Use Your Time Now ! – Marc N.
Prison Visitors
As much as prisoners are locked in, they still need to keep in touch with the
outside world. Prison Service therefore has an initiative of recruiting prison
visitors who play a role of connecting the prisoners with the outside world. Such
visitors are encouraged to be friendly and give the prisoners the moral support
they deserve.
Fundraising
Volunteers who can do all these are largely relied on by many organizations
who need their work to travel across the wider community. Some organizations
would appreciate volunteers who are already skilled to tackle this range of
activities. Quite a number of organizations also provide training so that the
volunteers can be able to develop these skills.
Environment Conservation
There are a lot of opportunities that can help you volunteer in terms of
conserving your local environment. Some of these opportunities involve
practical work including creating wildlife habitats, planting trees, and
constructing footpaths among many others. This can help you learn a lot about
conservation and wildlife.
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The 3 Main Reasons To Better Use Your Time Now ! – Marc N.
DIY Projects
Magistrates
Benefits of Volunteering
Getting to know the benefits of volunteering is also one of the steps that will
lead you to know and find the best volunteering opportunities that can work
well with you. So here are 7 benefits that will make you not to even think twice
about volunteering;
Confidence gain
In most cases, volunteering might require you to try something new that will
lead you up the steps of achievement. While trying out something new, you gain
a lot of confidence that will help you explore better opportunities and achieve a
lot of stuff that you never thought you could imagine.
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The 3 Main Reasons To Better Use Your Time Now ! – Marc N.
Making a difference
Volunteering helps you to make a real difference because in the process, you
will be impacting a lot of lives positively. Individual people, communities, and
organizations will definitely feel the change you’ve brought on board.
Networking
While volunteering you can meet a lot of people and make a lot of friends. It is
however not just about friends. You can also make real connections with great
people while expanding your networking web. This will help you a lot in future.
Sense of belonging
Only your friends and family do not total up your social scope. Volunteering
will enable you to widen your social scope and make you feel like a part of a
greater community out there. This will genuinely give you a sense of belonging.
Taking on a challenge
Volunteering is a great way of taking on a challenge since you will be trying out
something different that will enable you to achieve personal goals. While taking
on the challenge, you will find a great opportunity of using the skills you always
had. Through this kind of practice, you will be able to discover a lot of hidden
talents.
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The 3 Main Reasons To Better Use Your Time Now ! – Marc N.
It is just fun
Many people have their own reasons why they are volunteering. Whatever the
reason, the fact is that they are having a great time while participating in such
noble work. It is simply fun!
Health benefits
Career Booster
Volunteering helps you to become more innovative and acquire more skills.
This helps you increase the chances of widening your career prospects. Such
kinds of experiences benefit both you as an individual and the employer.
Making a Difference
Volunteering makes a difference in the community through the services you are
providing. This helps you employ civic responsibility which will create change
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The 3 Main Reasons To Better Use Your Time Now ! – Marc N.
for the better. You will also become proud of getting yourself involved with
something that is bigger than yourself. A lot of things would have not been in
good shape if we had no people sacrificing their time and skills volunteering to
a greater course that will help the community.
Giving back
People have various passions in life. Whether these passions are directed to
towards animals, people, or the environment, it is still important to give back.
Let your passion create a positive change that the world will feel.
Any act of kindness, whether big or small, can have a great impact on
someone’s life. You will find that just by teaching an individual or a group of
people English; you are actually helping them help more job opportunities that
will drive away poverty. If someone could be able to learn the English language
because of you, that would be a score both on your side and their side.
Coming into contact with people on a daily basis whether volunteering abroad
or in your local area helps you to see the world in a whole new dimension. You
will see people in a different view learn about their everyday struggles and
different cultures. This will help you love people better and even exchange ideas
in a more meaningful way.
Inspiration
Breaking away from your usual routine and volunteering will help you to put
others first while putting your life in order. Through helping others, you might
just stumble across brilliant ideas that you would want to use to help your
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The 3 Main Reasons To Better Use Your Time Now ! – Marc N.
community. This will also help you discover yourself more and have a clear
view of that inner calling that gives you a lot of satisfaction.
Quiz:
This short Volunteer Personality Quiz will help you identify the kind of
volunteer activity that best suits you. When you have finished the quiz, add up
your answers.
a. Active
b. Enthusiastic
c. Creative
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The 3 Main Reasons To Better Use Your Time Now ! – Marc N.
d. Organized
3. If you could have lunch with any of these groups of individuals, which
would you choose?
a. Environmental Studies/Biology
b. History/Political Science
c. Fine Arts
d. Math/Computer Science
6. When faced with a problem, what is the first thing you usually do?
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The 3 Main Reasons To Better Use Your Time Now ! – Marc N.
b. Gather information to try and find out what caused the problem.
c. Visualize the problem, and how you may be able to solve it.
a. Camping
9. Which item would you rather receive as a gift for your birthday?
a. Sports equipment
d. New computer
a. Professional athlete
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Learning more about the organization that you are volunteering for will help
you improve your job application chances. Through you being there, take time
to learn about the organization’s aims and goal, how it operates, and its
structure. This can prepare you for a job interview when one arises.
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The 3 Main Reasons To Better Use Your Time Now ! – Marc N.
Make a list of causes you are passionate about. It could be a certain minority
group, a disease, certain age group, animals, the environment, etc.
While you are at your volunteering place, ensure that you demonstrate skills
which are more intangible. Show your ability to work as an individual or in a
team, listening, paying attention to detail, and even displaying your leadership
skills. You can also show that you have a great personality and are comfortable
when it comes to talking to people.
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The 3 Main Reasons To Better Use Your Time Now ! – Marc N.
Stay connected
When you stop volunteering, you don’t end your communications. Keep the
communication going. The least you can do is telling them how much you had
fun while volunteering there and also appreciating your time there. You can also
send them Christmas cards and know how they are doing.
Build relationships
Build good relationship with you volunteer coordinators and all those who your
work with by creating personal relationships with them. Try to meet them over
coffee and learn more. This way they will know you at a personal level and will
find it great to work with you. You will be several steps ahead of everyone else
when you succeed in building such relationships.
Be committed
Any functional organization loves people who are consistent, reliable, and
committed. Just show up when you are always needed and ensure that you can
be able to communicate accordingly when you cannot make it.
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A lot of people (55%) do not include volunteer work in their resume according
to a survey that was done by LinkedIn most probably because of a
misconception had by many professionals that volunteering is not very relevant
in their professional work experiences.
Make a list of any previous volunteer work you have done in the past and
update your resume’ accordingly. If you are interested in a certain job
oppurtnity, find out possible volunteer work you can do related to that job
posting so you could boost your resume.
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The 3 Main Reasons To Better Use Your Time Now ! – Marc N.
Each contact in your phone serves as an opportunity. Look through your contact
list, find out how you can reach out and expand your network.
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Make a list of new skills you would like to develop and test out. Don’t confine
yourself by what you think you know about yourself.
The job market is fiercely competitive and this might make it difficult for you to
get noticed. Highlighting your volunteer work will help a great deal as it will
increase the chances of you getting noticed. Your hiring manager will be able to
see that you can be greatly committed and compassionate.
Well, this is not really the case because volunteering provides you with a
platform of going through extensive training that will help you acquire new job
skills.
Volunteering is also a platform where you can build skills you already have
making you become more efficient in the community of organization you are
serving. For instance, if you’ve been holding a successful sales position, you
can testify to yourself that you’ve been improving in your communication,
public speaking, and marketing skills.
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It makes you happy as it simply feels good. Research shows that one who
helps the other might become happier than the one receiving help.
It helps you impact people’s lives positively while building stronger
connections in the community.
It helps you deal with stress in a better way.
It’s good for both your career and business.
It makes you live longer as it strengthens your immunity and decrease
stress levels.
It also helps you find more meaning in your life making you live a
fulfilled life.
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Conclusion
As much as volunteers need platforms to access opportunities, they also need
continued support so that they can also focus on their individual needs while
making the most of the experiences they are going through while volunteering.
This type of support requires partnerships from various local councils and other
sectors with various organizations which coordinate volunteering work. This
will break a lot of barriers therefore giving a chance for everyone to participate
in this great initiative that can help them largely transform their lives while also
transforming the lives of others.
Realize the social and civic responsibility you have to look out for those who
need help. Help that you can easily offer by sharing the gifts that were given to
you by God such as your time.
By offering your time and effort to those who need it, you can invite lots of
miraculous blessings to your life.
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Don’t limit your scope and be open for opportunities that can present
themselves. It is quite possible to land a job as a result of your volunteering, be
open to the possibility and build a volunteering resume.
Pick something that you are passionate about. You could be passionate
about the cause or you could be experienced enough to help those who
are currently passing through what you already once passed through.
Look for something that suits your skill set, matches your availability and
schedule as well as caters to your interests and fulfils your personal needs
for satisfaction of helping out and making a difference.
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For you to achieve personal development, you must decide to take a conscious
journey towards personal growth. Personal growth therefore refers to various
techniques you choose in an effort to become a better you. You can make steps
to be a “better you” by changing your bad behaviors and habits and also
improving your actions and reactions.
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Here’s why;
i. Self- awareness
Have you ever sat down and asked yourself the question, “Who am I?”
Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to answer this without being confused or
needing some time to think about it first? Personal development is the only
way you get to know who you are, what your attractive qualities are, what
your weaknesses are and what areas you are currently working on
improving. You get to know your values, what you cannot stand, where you
are, where you want to be and what you are doing to get there. This way, you
package and brand yourself in a manner that you are able to sell yourself
positively and be ready to seize moments and opportunities that align with
your goals and desires.
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know where to place your investments. There are people in your life that bring
out the best in you without you having to try. Such are gems that you need to
hold on to. On the other hand, you will find that there are people you keep in
your life who are poisonous. Just like poison, they are lethal and might kill you
before you know it. Focus more energy on your gems and give less to your
‘poison’; that way you get to stay on top of everything, reach your full potential
and get more from life.
Personal development adds more meaning to your life. There are so many
fulfillments in going after what you want. Consciously knowing where you are
and where you are headed to makes it easier for you to decipher time-wasters
and only focus on what will lead you towards achieving true happiness and
satisfaction.
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We are all born with a sense of purpose, however, along the way, we couuuld
forget our purpose in life. Make a list of the certain things you would like to
leave a mark on or the aspects you wish to make a difference in. For example,
you wish to teach your kids to be functional adults. Part of your life purpose
could be being a healthy role model to your kids.
iv. Clarity
Personal development gives you more clarity than you can imagine. You know
where your focus is and are able to effectively increase your strengths and work
on other areas of yourself to win in life. We all get distracted and lose focus on
the important matters. Personal development enables you to realize when you
are distracted and gives you the space you need to reflect and come up with
strategies to overcome the distraction so you are back on track. Clarity and
focus come only when you are fully committed to the journey of self-discovery.
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v. More motivation
When you have clearly outlined goals and a timeframe of when you want to
achieve said goals you become more motivated to reach the finish line. Strong
will can move mountains. Personal development gives you the willpower you
need to want to conquer all despite the challenges that may arise along the way.
Each day brings you closer to where you want to be and challenges faced only
fuel you to want to get to your destination even more.
You have to know that personal development will not stop bad things from
having. Life is still tough and unfair sometimes and you never know what
tomorrow holds. This journey will however equip you with the necessary tools
to overcome all adversaries and emerge on the other side looking back and
smiling at how far you have come. It also teaches you to appreciate the
‘process’ and the experiences you end up getting along the way. With personal
development, you can face challenges head on and minimize their negative
impact because of your will to fight back.
The ultimate goal of personal development is for you to reach your full potential
and be happy. This can be achieved once you set yourself on a conscious-living
path and become a self-realized person.
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There are actions that you take unconsciously then choose to ignore. Before you
realize it, they become part of you and start making you unhappy and
inadequate. It is critical that you bring the unconscious actions to your
conscious and become self-aware if you want to have any hope of become a
better version of yourself.
Preparing before you embark on the journey means that you are met with fewer
challenges as most of the risks had already been accounted for in your plan.
This is the same with personal development. Having a plan increases your
chances of everything going right in your life.
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If you have more than one goal at a time, then you have to prioritize them in an
order such that what matters the most to you is placed at the top.
Without setting a deadline, you are just another dreamer who hopes for a better
tomorrow but when tomorrow comes, all you have is your hopes and nothing
tangible. Wanting a better tomorrow is the first step. The next one is asking
yourself “what can I do to make tomorrow better?” and actually doing it before
tomorrow comes. Be realistic with your plans and the time frames. You have to
remember that Rome was not built in a day. There had to have been a plan and
commitment towards the plan.
Another aspect that you should consider during the planning phase is your
strengths. As you seek to add more to your skill set and attitude, remember
those good qualities that you already have and do not lose them along the way.
Ever heard of the phase, “use what you have to get what you want?” Well, you
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can apply it here. The skills you have can be used to develop the skills you
have. For example;
If you are good at marketing, you can use this knowledge to help build on
branding techniques as you already know the needs of your consumer.
If you are a responsible person who is accountable for their actions, you can
build on this to build on leadership skills.
As you are embracing your strengths, be sure to let go of your bad habits with
the same vigor so that there is room for the new skills you intend to learn.
Finally, remember to always measure your progress and even reward yourself.
Even a small progress is still progress. This should not be taken for granted but
instead should act as a motivation to be better.
Make a list of your strengths. Start brain storming. Think of the aspects in life
you seem to be doing well in. What makes you do well in these aspects? These
are your skills and strengths.
You can ask your friends as well to get some external insight. What are some of
the things your friends think you are good at? You can get surprisingly
unexpected answers!
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If people call you lazy then chances are that you really are because you are not
meeting the set expectation of being actively involved in your daily activities.
When you are lazy, people around you are forced to do your portion of the
work. While you might think that this puts you at the winning end of the deal,
you are losing a lot. Laziness is discouraged for health reasons, both physical
and psychological. As a lazy person, you cannot make any decision or achieve
any goal. Assuming an active role in your life might be all the difference you
need to improve your quality of life and make you feel like you have achieved
milestones. To overcome laziness, you can look for a role model and try to
emulate their actions.
Try to incorporate 7-10 minutes of exercise in your day. Getting your blood
flowing energizes you and is one of the effective “anti-laziness” techniques. If
you want to get motivated for cleaning the house, watch videos of people doing
that. Often getting in that spirit by watching others do the things we are too lazy
to do can energize us.
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o Overcome procrastination
Procrastination affects so many people. Some are aware that it affects them
while other people are too trapped in blissful ignorance to even realize it.
Procrastination can make you miss a lot of opportunities in life. In the famous
letter of the Earl of Chesterfield to his son in 1749, he wrote;
Know the true value of time; snatch, seize, and enjoy every moment of it.
No idleness, no laziness, no procrastination: never put off till to-morrow
what you can do to-day.
This quote has been rephrased time and time by famous people including Mark
Twain and Oscar Wilde. They must have been onto something, right? Those
who procrastinate will realize that it makes you use more time. Keeping a task
in your mind and thinking about doing it but postponing it can cause mental
exhaustion.
The hardest part is always the beginning, so just force yourself to get started.
Tell yourself you will work for 10 to 15 minutes then take a break. Often the
case is that you will find yourself in the flow state and you don’t feel that initial
resistance that you had.
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o Anger management
As a human being, getting angry is normal but is can affect you in negative
ways. Prolonged anger can raise your blood pressure causing you to react in
emotional and physical ways, impacting on your relationships with others. You
have to assess how anger affects your life, what your common triggers are and
learn how to control it in good time. Since we cannot prevent anger from
occurring, we can try managing it in healthy ways like for example, when you
feel wronged, you can learn to express your feelings when they are still
manageable instead of waiting until they snowball into feelings of enragement.
Whenever you feel angry, count to 10. This gives you time to reevaluate your
reaction. Whenever you feel angry about something, ask yourself, will it matter
in a week? In a month? If not, let it go
The first step towards overcoming addiction is realizing that you have a
problem. Having the will to stop using drugs is the second step. Alcohol and
drug addiction impacts negatively on your life. No situation is hopeless, with
the right treatment and support as well as a strong willpower to change. You can
avoid relapsing by doing meaningful stuff like trying new hobbies, getting
involved in your community and doing other things you love.
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It is always a good option to seek external help and support group for addiction.
Find the nearest support group for overcoming addiction. You are not alone.
o Be positive
There are optimists and pessimists. You will find that people tend to gravitate
towards optimists are they are more enthusiastic and positive about life. When
you are negative then you will attract such kind of people which may lead to
stress and even depression. Optimism and positive thinking is a key component
of stress management. Eliminating negative self-talk could be all you need to
finally be able reap more from life.
o Be responsible
Being responsible entails doing what needs to be done when it needs to be done.
How do I become more responsible? Well, you could start by being more
accountable in terms of your actions and finances; recognize what’s happening
and stop blaming others when things do not work out as planned and practice
healthy self-focus among others. Being responsible will earn you respect from
others and reduce the chaos in your life. It also raises your self-esteem and
improves your relationship with people around you.
You might be at a point where you feel like you are flat-lining in life. Doing the
same thing over and over again becomes boring and tedious. May be its time
you learnt a new skill or developed a new hobby to jumpstart yourself. Do not
limit your skill set to your current job as expounding on these will open you up
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Make a list of all the possible skills you wish to deelop. For each skill, write a
number of ways in which you can start practicing this skill to enhance it.
o Empathize more
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Empathizing with people will make them open up more and make it easy for
you to navigate difficult crowds, Developing this skill makes people gravitate
more towards you.
Letting go of the ghosts in past can be very difficult but it’s not worth
everything you will miss out on by focusing on matters that cannot be changed.
Focus on the now and the future, especially the now. Accept the past for what it
is and find a way to make your present better.
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It may be unpleasant but try to brainstorm some of the key unpleasant moments
in your life that are affecting your functioning and well being till now. Analyse
why these moments have influenced your emotional trauma. Then try to forgive
the person or yourself and make peace with it.
Are you the type of person who is constantly a victim of circumstances? You
need to take control of your life as this is the only way you can shape the
outcomes. Be a doer and accept the negative consequences of your actions then
find a way to deal with them.
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Try to calculate how much of your day do you spend doing purposeful tasks that
contribute to your life purpose and your goals and how much time do you spend
in doing non productive stuff such as watching TV or surfing through social
media. Ensure that you have an actie role in your life by having the majority of
your tasks contributing to your goals and life purpose. Take responsibility of
your time.
So you have the plan and a clear outlook of what you want to achieve; go ahead
and pen it down. Putting your personal development plans in writing is a great
idea. This way you are able to clearly see your achievements and see where you
are not doing so well. Ask yourself why and what you can do to go back on
track, write this down and see how the new advanced strategy works for you.
Conclusion
Sometimes we are too pre-occupied with our day to day activities to do any
work on the ‘self’. It is important to sit down and ask yourself ‘what am I
becoming?’ and ‘is it a better version of myself?’ Such questions are valid as it
is common to hear people accusing their jobs or their lifestyle to suck them dry
leaving them with nothing to give. No matter how much you want to climb up
the ladder both socially and career wise, make sure that you do not lose yourself
for when you reach at the top and find that you can barely recognize yourself all
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the wealth and social status will not matter. You will be missing one key thing;
happiness. Only you are in control of your happiness. Only you can decide to
make the necessary changes so that you are more satisfied with yourself. There
is no right or wrong time to begin the journey towards personal development.
The time is now. The greatest achievers in life are a proof that personal
development is important and is the greatest gift that you can award yourself.
Find out what you wish you improve about yourself. Write a list of things you
love about yourself and the things you are good at. Then write another list of
things you wish you could change about yourself.
Make a list of your short term and long term goals. What would you like to
achieve in the next 12 months? What would you like your life to be in 5 years?
Your Goals should be SMART.
Specific- You should have a specific goal rather than a general statement.
Measurable – There should be a way to measure whether you have achieved the
goal or not. Saying I want to be good in French is not a SMART goal. It is
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important to state how good you want to be with a measurable factor such as
deciding a certain level of vocabulary
Attainable – The goals should be achievable and not impossible or you would
be discouraged.
Relevant – Your goals should be relevant to your life purpose and what you
wish to achieve in life.
Time-bound – Open-ended goals are bound to remain dreams rather than goals.
References
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/personal-development.html
http://www.myrkothum.com/what-is-personal-development/
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i. Missed deadlines.
ii. Poor work process.
iii. Poor work quality.
iv. Poor professional notoriety and a slowed down career.
v. Higher feelings of anxiety.
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from fatigue and boredom. Know how to complete function proficiently and
rapidly without giving up quality. Keep long- and short-term views in mind.
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Write a list of each task that you want to accomplish that day. Break down each
task into a set of small sub tasks. Try to allocate specific times of your day to
each of the subtasks. Have a solid plan but be flexible to modifications.
i. Personal disorganization
If you don’t get organized, you will waste plenty of time deciding what
the next task is that you have to perform and how you are going to
accomplish it.
If you’re not clear about your goals, you cannot effectively accomplish
them.
If you don't delegate your tasks appropriately, you'll end up doing things
that others can do better, faster. And that is severe time theft.
v. Lack of concentration
Bad communication skills can result in wastage of time if you are unable
to convey your message to others, or make then understand what you
mean. Work on your communication skills.
vii. Interruptions
viii. Meetings
Always keep the meetings brief, these will take a lot of time. Many
people are in the habit of wasting time by prolonging the meetings.
Beware of such people don't let them waste your precious time.
ix. Procrastination
When you are concentrating on an option that is other than you ought to center
around as indicated by your priorities, you are procrastinating. Identify reasons
for procrastination and manage these to increase your productivity and to save
your time for other important/urgent tasks with higher priority.
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Identify the time thiefs in your life. Find out which activities suck hours from
your day without you noticing. Set up a plan to overcome the time thiefs.
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iv. Revise and refresh your list on daily bases and judge your
performance.
Before defining your goals, few key features ought to be remembered. The first
thing is to be particular about the tasks at hand to avoid confusion and fuss.
There ought to be some substantial proof of progress. The following item in the
line is to be realistic about the assignment to be finished in a time you have set.
Based on your strengths and weaknesses, use this information to maximize
your chances of completing the tasks you have planned. Assigning goals for
every minute of the day is unrealistic always incorporate breaks to fresh your
mind. Completion of plenty of tasks in a day will be impractical to achieve
which will lead to failure of the goals and all the time management effort will
go in vain. Likewise, determine when you intend to work and how long it will
take to accomplish every objective.
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Stick to your timeline while keeping in mind that few tasks will take longer
than planned. To genuinely be effective they should be particular, measurable,
achievable, realistic, and have a timeline in which they should be accomplished.
c. Set Priorities
The initial step to effective time management is to prioritize your tasks. In other
words, deciding which task is most important/urgent and should be completed
first.
However, we tend to give the urgent ones a chance to command our lives.
Specialists distinguished our tasks into four quadrants in their Time
Management Matrix: urgent, not urgent, important and not important. While
tasks that are both urgent and important must be done, it is widespread we very
spend less time on tasks that are not important just to gain time to focus on tasks
that are not urgent but important.
Focusing on these important tasks allows you to increase control over your
time and possibly reduce the number of important activities that do become
urgent.
Making "to do" list is the easiest way to prioritize your tasks. It depends on your
work nature or lifestyle that whether you need a daily, weekly or monthly to-do
list. Just be careful not to allow list-making to get out of control and don't keep
multiple lists at the same time. Arrange the items on your "to do" list in order of
priority (both urgent and important). You can set priorities by categorizing it to
low, medium or high priority tasks, or you can rank them numerically, or the
other way is that you can use a color coding system too. Your goal is not to
mark items rather your goal is to mark item according to their priorities. Having
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a prioritized "to-do" list allows you to say "no" to activities that may be
interesting but do not fit your priorities. Such activities may be distracting and
may become a hindrance to your high priorities tasks.
Categorize each task in your day with a priority rank. Give your time to the
tasks with the highest priority rank.
d. Use a Planning Tool ( faire un fichier pdf avec mes tools free
prefers)
Time management experts recommend using a personal planning tool to
improve your efficiency and productivity. This software can help you with
efficiently managing your time in a systematic and organized way. Examples of
personal planning tools include pocket diaries, electronic planners, computer
software, calendars, wall charts, index cards and electronic notebooks. Writing
down your tasks and schedules can free your mind to focus on your priority
tasks. The key is to find one appropriate planning tool according to your need
and use that tool consistently to make your life easier. Some essential reminders
while using a planning tool are:
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Next, you need to understand why you are procrastinating. Primary reasons for
Procrastination are as followed:
Procrastination can turn into an instilled habit that is hard to stop. You
should work to battle the practices that have prompted procrastinating
previously faithfully.
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Telephone
Unexpected Visitors
Meetings
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i. Set aside a specific time to reply to your mail and e-mail, but
don’t let it accumulate to the point that it becomes extremely
difficult to manage.
ii. Turn off instant messaging features on e-mail.
Family obligations
i. Avoid Multi-tasking
Perception is that multi-tasking is the best option to get work done in less time,
but recent psychological studies have shown that multi-tasking does not save
time. In fact, the opposite is often true. You lose time and attention when
switching from one task to another, resulting in a loss of productivity. Multiple
unfinished tasks can give you a panic attack too which will lower your
productivity and put you under more pressure. Routine multi-tasking can also
lead to difficulty in concentrating and maintaining focus when required.
a. Motivation:
Managing your time will give you all the more extra time. This should be your
primary motivation for time management. Discover something that will
motivate you to achieve your goals in the allotted time. Reward yourself for
achieving your goals. The most challenging thing in time management process
is to drive yourself to execute your scheduled plan.
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j. Stay Healthy
The care and consideration you give to yourself is an essential investment of
time. Planning time to rest, or do nothing, can enable you to revive physically
and mentally, empowering you to achieve goals more rapidly and effortlessly.
Learn to manage time according to your energy levels by scheduling priority
tasks during your peak time of day, the time your energy level and
concentration are at their best. Poor time management can get along with
crankiness, fatigue, and illness. To lessen pressure, you should compensate
yourself for a time management achievement. Take time to recognize that you
have accomplished a significant task or challenge before moving on to the next
activity. Scheduling time to relax can help you stay physically and mentally
healthy and sound.
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Urgent but not important tasks Buying Halloween customs for upcoming party
Important but not urgent tasks- Studying for a test due next week
The majority of your tasks should be on the important but not urgent tasks.
Haing lots of urgent and important tasks adds stress on you. It also results from
poor planning and poor time management. You should try to eliminate the non
urgent and non important tasks category from your life as they don’t contribute
any value.
If you made it this far I commend you. You're already investing in yourself
which is a key factor in creating success. It's sad that most people these days
won't even take the time to read an E-book that has the potential to change their
lives, but thankfully that's not you, so seriously, You Rock!
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