If you want to invest in yourself, then it’s time to challenge yourself. Challenging yourself is the foundation of personal development. Because challenging yourself creates opportunities for personal growth, it is important to be mindful of how a challenge affects you. Both large and small challenges can impact who you are and how you see the world. Challenging yourself means putting yourself in uncomfortable situations. You may not have all the answers right away or know what to do. The challenge is to learn and grow, not necessarily to master everything you try. Each learning experience boosts your self-esteem. According to a School of Psychology International study, there is a strong link between self-esteem and resilience. Challenging yourself helps build a stronger, more resilient you. Choosing how to challenge yourself is a personal choice. Not everyone will feel challenged by the same things. If you already know how to play the piano, learning to play isn’t a challenge. But if you can only plunk out a few notes, learning to play your partner’s favorite song might be the perfect challenge. Here are some ways to challenge yourself to invest in your body, mind, and creativity. Body Challenges Staying healthy through physical activity is a way to invest in yourself. In a study published in the Journal of Preventative Medicine and Public Health, researchers found that physical activity influenced multiple aspects of quality of life, especially in social and emotional areas. Whether you are already physically active and looking for variety in your challenges or just starting a fitness plan, consider these challenge ideas:
Planking is a full-body exercise that builds core muscle and strength. It can also serve as an opportunity to practice mindfulness and focus. Challenge yourself to increase the length of time you can plank or doing a plank more often during your day. No matter what your workout routine is, try adding five more minutes to your time. Run an extra half mile, so more sit-ups, or hold a yoga pose longer. Or try taking the stairs instead of the elevator. You might want to start with one trip a day then build to using the stairs more often or for longer climbs. Mind Challenges Keeping your mind active and engaged is good for your mental and emotional health. According to researchers at Harvard Health, challenging your mind helps improve your memory, too. Are you tired of crossword puzzles and Sudoku? Try these mind challenges instead:
Learning another language can be very challenging. It can also expand your knowledge about a different culture. There are many classes available online for foreign languages; health care workers can learn medical Spanish, anyone can learn conversational Italian, or you can even learn computer language by studying how to code. Imagine a friend is coming to visit from out of town. Where would you take them in your city? Plan a tour that highlights more than the usual tourist spots. Getting to know your city better is an exercise in expanding your knowledge and creativity. You can also learn a new word every week. Pick a word that you can make part of your conversations to build your self-esteem by increasing your vocabulary. Or try reading a news story about something you aren’t familiar with or don’t usually read. Learning more about an unusual topic is also a challenge for your mind. Creativity Challenges Not everyone enjoys painting or learning a new dance. You can still challenge the artist within you by:
Have you tried eating by yourself in a fancy restaurant? This challenge builds creativity as you find ways to keep from looking bored and lonely. How do you present yourself? What story do you tell yourself about why you are there? While it may feel uncomfortable, eating out by yourself builds self-esteem and helps you find creative ways to manage your feelings. Skip the take out and create something from all the leftovers in your fridge instead. You might discover a new casserole you like! Or attend a cultural event that you usually wouldn’t. Imagine yourself as one of the performers or presenters. Dream about what your life would be like if you were a part of a different culture. Challenging yourself in big and small ways is an investment in yourself. You can expand and strengthen your body, mind, and creativity by trying something new.
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You’ve probably heard someone tell you that you need to invest in yourself. But it can be difficult to know what this means, or how this should apply to your life. Also, investing in yourself can look and mean different things to different people. Set Goals As weird as it may sound, just taking time (because remember, time is money) to sit down and write your goals is an important part of investing in yourself and your future. Setting goals shows you care about where you are heading and that you’re not just letting life take you for a wild ride. Make sure you invest a little extra time in your future, and create these goals as SMART goals which include lot of details for you to aim for. Take Time To Build Yourself Up Investing in yourself doesn’t always mean looking towards the future, it also means you should take some time and work on the most important person in your life, yourself. What do you struggle with? Is it confidence? Emotional intelligence? Once you find one of your weaknesses, spend some time working on it, as even this is an investment in you. Not only will taking time for yourself make you feel better about yourself, but it will also put you in a better place to achieve the goals you may have written for your future. Take Care Of Your Body You are only given one body in this life. And although we can do numerous things to change the way our body looks on the outside, you really need to worry about how your body is on the inside. Investing in yourself means investing in your health. Start working out on a regular basis, even if you can’t work out every day, set a weekly goal and stick to them. This also means you need to eat healthy, even if it costs a little more. This may seem difficult, especially when things like donuts taste so good, but remember, this is an investment in the future you, and if you want it to come to fruition, you must put in the work now. Don’t Stop Learning According to Live Science, every time we learn something new, our brain creates new cells. But if we stop learning, our brain stops creating new cells. In fact, one study found that while our brain is learning, the grey matter in our brain grows 2-3% larger than its regular size. But when subjects in the study stopped learning new tasks, the grey matter returned to its original size within a few days. So besides just setting goals and taking care of your health, try to learn something new daily. Invest in your education. This doesn’t mean that you have to go back to school to get a new degree but consider downloading one of those word of the day apps or maybe trying to learn a language you’ve never learned before. Who knows, you might just have fun and learn something interesting along the way! When people think of the word investment, they often think of money, or capital. But investing in yourself doesn’t mean you necessarily give money to yourself, rather it means you spend money towards making yourself the person you want to be. This can be in the realm of setting future goals, emotional advancement, making healthier choices, or even taking steps to learn something new. Also, you don't always have to spend money; borrowing a book from the library is free and there is tons to learn just from reading. Also, reserving time to do internet research can be free as well by going to the library. Overall, investing in yourself is one of the most crucial things you can do in this life, after all, yourself is the one person you will always have to spend time with, so you might as well make yourself the best person you can be. March is here, can you believe it?!! There's not much I don't believe can happen these days.
As you may know, for the entire month of February I posted a new blog article. To be honest, that was a little much but I really wanted to focus on self-love; how self-love is the key to overcoming the inner naysayer. February is the month of love so why not focus on self-love? For the month of March, we going back to the usual - weekly blog posts. However, this month will have a theme as well. March with be the month of Self-Investment. We will talk about what it means to invest in yourself. Here's a hint: It doesn't always involve money. The first post will be up tomorrow, March 2nd, then I will post every week on Monday for the rest of the month - as usual. Happy March!! |
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