It’s back-to-school season and we’re all gearing up for the new fall term. Parents are preparing their kids to hit the books and grown-ups are embarking on projects that start revving up as soon as summer’s over.
It’s a new beginning and we can enter it armed with a positive attitude and tools designed to maximize our success. Whether you’re a career person, high school or university student, or a parent, here are five tips for success in the back-to-school season:
Mindfulness: Starting a mindfulness meditation practice has many potential benefits. It can help you be more aware of your feelings and needs and because of this, you can start making better choices in your life. It can reduce your stress, boost your mood and strengthen your focus – all of which will improve your performance, whether you’re at school or at work.
Self-compassion: People tend to beat themselves up at the drop of a hat. Self-compassion enables you to be kinder to yourself. It can help you give up perfectionism and have more realistic expectations of yourself. When you can eliminate the negative self-talk, you boost your motivation and energy and success is much more likely.
Ruthless compassion: This is an attitude of tough-love toward yourself and others. You can be kinder to yourself, but that doesn’t mean you should let yourself off the hook when there’s work to be done. You can be caring toward others, but that doesn’t mean you should waste your time putting up with someone else’s bad behavior or waiting for them to change. Ruthless compassion is a balanced attitude. You care about others while maintaining strong boundaries; you hold yourself accountable while forgiving your mistakes.
Work ethic: Like Einstein says, genius is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration. Everyone needs to invest time, energy and effort into achieving their goals. The more consistently you work toward these goals, the more likely it is that you’ll get there. When you develop a solid work ethic, it will maximize your potential over the entire course of your life.
JOMO, or the joy of missing out, is the ability to focus on things that are more important than immediate fun or excitement. The joy of missing out comes from doing things that are more meaningful in the moment – like spending time with loved ones, for example – or from putting your attention toward long-term goals that will bring real happiness and fulfillment. When you embrace JOMO, you can be your best self and live your best life.
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