Short messages on Positive change from Respect Yourself, the guidance site for young people to help make good decisions in life.
Some changes will be a challenge. If you can move past your resistance and embrace change as a new adventure, you may end up happier and better off as a result.
Gaining perspective in your life is an important exercise that you must purposefully develop. By experiencing other peoples’ perspectives, speaking with older relatives and volunteering, you can start to get a more rounded view of the world in which you live.
What types of work do you dread doing? Are there things that you consistently avoid or put off until the last minute? Take note of training and skill deficiencies that you may have.
When you think about your strengths, list areas in which you excel. What types of work do you find most rewarding, and what training do you have? If you are not sure about this, think about the types of things that others often ask you to do.
Accept that you may instinctively be (at least initially) resistant to changes. It has no bearing on the change being good or bad; it is simply a typical human response to something different.
Changes occur in our lives at regular intervals, whether we are aware of them or not. Life is not static, nor are we meant to be; change is part of our very nature, welcome or not. Change is inevitable and essential.
Volunteering is unique in that it gives you a very pure opportunity to connect with people that you may never have met otherwise. You can learn about yourself through relationships you never would have forged if you hadn’t volunteered your time. “Giving back” reaps perspective.
There are countless people all over the world who are in need of assistance, and volunteering your time and energy enables you to perform a selfless act that simply helps others. Becoming a volunteer is a wonderful way to gain perspective in your own life.
Instead of spending time criticising yourself, try to take an objective approach to understanding your personal journey. Performing a SWOT Analysis (Strengths / Weaknesses / Opportunities / Threats) is a great way to retrain the way you think about yourself.
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate: it is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that frightens us most. Greatness is not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. Letting our own light shine gives other people permission to do the same.