One of my goals to ensure my personal growth this year is to listen to at least one podcast per day. And to ensure I am really "absorbing" the lesson, I'd like to document and share some of the insightful podcasts, as well as articles & videos (why limit myself to podcasts!) I've come across the month :) Hope you'll find them insightful too!
"2) A Crisis Doesn’t Change People; It Amplifies Who They Already Are"
"People who thought they were extroverted realized they were introverted. People who believed they were introverts discovered they were actually quite extroverted. In both cases, people realized that much of what they thought was their personality was merely molded by social pressures."
I really resonated with some of the life lessons from the article, especially the life lesson above.
Having a lot of quiet time during the lockdown, I was able to properly reflect and was not able to "distract" myself by going out.
I did the 16 personalities test and found out that I am now an introvert. (Though, a borderline one). This will probably surprise me if it was a year ago. I somehow find myself appreciating quiet time on the weekend more now. This used to scare me - and I realised that I was afraid of idle time, or free weekends without a plan, because I wanted to be actively engaging in something, to distract myself from problems I was facing. I've been allowing myself to feel bored at home and I find that my random drive to do something usually comes out when I'm bored at home.
My current persona! I took the test a year ago and I was a Protaganist.
PS I don't swear by personalities tests, but I do enjoy taking personalities tests to try to understand myself better and read on about nsights and tips helpful for self-improvement.
"We're spending three times longer on the apps that don't make us happy."
Now that we're in lockdown again, I realise my screen time has been increasing, which is inevitable. Work is done on screen. Communication has to be done on screen. Most of my hobbies (eg: blogging, reading) are done on screen.
(I am trying to find the meme that has been going around Facebook...it basically depicts how we spend both our workday and wind-down time staring at the screen)
Listening to this TED Talk made me more self-aware on how I'm spending my screen time. I believe that not all screen time is making us less happy - the danger starts is when we start deriving an unrealistic benchmark based on what we see on our screen. When we start comparing ourselves with others through what we see on social media.
This falls under this list as I was really inspired and amazed by this Youtuber. How she takes action on her curiosity. This video is also insightful, especially on the tax part of owning a company. Do check it out :D
I struggle in exuding confidence, especially because I've decided to go on a career/industry switch in 2020 - I always feel that other people can do better than me. I allowed my inner voice to tell me that "I am not good enough" or "I need more experience". I feel that if I start showing I am confident, does it mean that I am being arrogant and complacent?
If you're like me, this article/podcast is worth reading/listening to :) The article/podcasts helped me see the difference between exuding confident, and exuding "arrogance".
"According to Psychology Today:
Confidence is a belief in oneself, the conviction that one has the ability to meet life's challenges and to succeed—and the willingness to act accordingly."
"Confidence is knowing you don’t know everything and having the humility to recognize that other people's good ideas won’t dull your shine."
The article also suggested some key actions you can take to build up your confidence. Definitely will be mindful to try out these tips!
"The conviction that you have the ability to meet a challenge begins with being super clear about what challenge you’re there to meet. Before an important interaction, ask yourself: What’s my role in this, and what am I expected to influence or deliver?"
My personal next steps: Always understand my purpose and expectations on you at a particular time/event. Listen intently! Ask questions!
Communication is more important than ever, especially now that we are all working remotely. I've always preferred follow-up in person when I don't get reply because when you communicate in person, you have your body language and tone of voice to set things straight without sounding like you're being overly desperate/accusing. However, as in-person communication is now
I like how to article outlined clear, tangible steps you can take to follow-up. Definitely will be practising these steps when I encounter these situations!
Now that we all are working remotely, we should have had more time to ourselves, right? Since we save time commuting, getting ready to work etc. Despite so, I sometimes find myself not knowing where all these extra time went - I am still producing the same amount of work/output despite having more time to myself. This article is a reminder to all these teeny tiny time traps in our every day life that may seem teeny tiny but is actually not!
"Time trap #1: Technology interruptions break our hours into confetti
Technology saves us time, but it also takes it away — this is known as the autonomy paradox."
This articles also reminded me of the value of time, which I think we often overlook. The opportunity cost of time.
"Time trap #3: We undervalue our time
Because of a cultural obsession with money, many people protect their money in ways that are counterproductive to time affluence."
I've to admit, I'd rather save money than save time. For example, I'd rather spend about one hour to go out and grab food, rather than paying for delivery services to get the food delivered to me. Time for me to reflect on how can I better spend my time if I were to spend money to save those time. Would I be wasting that extra time away if I do so? It's time to reflect!
Homemade ramen from scratch!
I realise I spend a lot of time cooking, baking, and going out to grocery shops to hand-pick my ingredients. But this is a part of my time I don't regret spending at all - simply because I find cooking/baking/grocery shopping a way for me to wind down and relax :) I also get a huge sense of accomplishment from these tasks!
I received a 360 feedback from one of the intern I work with at work stating that I say sorry too much - a lot of time when it is not required.
If you're like me - I'd highly recommend you to read this article. It outlines why you shouldn't say sorry all the time, and it gives tangible actions you can adopt to overcome this. (Spoiler alert: they even suggested a Google Plugin to help you overcome this problem!)
I am trying to be mindful of when I use "sorry". It's definitely not easy, as I realised that saying sorry has someone became a habit to me. But definitely something I have to work on!
Let's face it - working from home is hard. There are days when you really don't feel like doing anything at all.
I really like the tips given by the article. I swear by the little rituals and routines. Nowadays, I'd brew my own cup of coffee in the morning and this little ritual really do give me that satisfaction and strength to start a day, even if it's just a little bit :P
Or petting my dog first thing in the morning
Time to time after a long day of work, I'd reward myself with a little treat.
The article mentioned something about identifying trigger points - I think I'm at the stage where I'm unsure what my triggers are, because time to time I feel as though I fall in a slump for no reasons at all. There might be a reason that I am not aware of, something for me to be mindful of.
--
That's it for this month's round-up of good reads/podcasts/videos :D
Personal reflection: I realised that I tend to find "how-to"s articles/videos/podcasts insightful. Wonder if I'd continue this trend in the coming months.
No comments :
Post a Comment