6 Things Every 20s Should Spend Time On
Our 20s fly by fast, and we definitely want to make sure that we did the decade some justice. Are you where you’re supposed to be? Did you worry about the right things? The best way to prepare for these questions, and answer them the best way you can, is to ensure that you spend time on what truly matters and what will help you in the future. So if you’re wondering what things to invest some time in, here are some of it.
- Creating Connections
Forming a solid mainstay of people exposes you to more opportunities, and increases your potential for success both in your career and personal life. So start building connections as early as possible, because you’ll never know when you’ll need them. Remember, your 20s is all about utilizing what you have today, and structuring your future.
- Nurturing Your Body
Exercising, washing your face at night, and applying sunscreen may not be on top of your priority list, but it should be. General healthcare is something you’ll be glad you considered doing in your 20s later in your life. After all, you won’t be able to replace or trade in your body. That is your body, and you will live in it for the rest of your life.
- Nourishing Your Mental Health and Well-Being
Although physical health is important, investing some time to nourish your mind should also be done. Challenge it, and be conscious of what you’re exposing your mind to daily. Our mind, just like anything else, has the characteristics of a muscle: You use it, or you lose it – and as long as you’re using it, it’ll remain fit and healthy.
- Furthering Your Education
Education is one of the invaluable resources you’re unlikely to every regret having. Money and time is well spent when it’s used to broaden your knowledge, especially if you’re honing skills essential to your career path. Try out different things, and find where your passion truly lies. Once you’ve found it, find ways to make a career out of doing it, and if you need to further your education to achieve it, do it.
- Establishing Meaningful Relationships
Your 20s is the perfect time to drop fair-weather friends, and make time for those who will really stick around. As you mature, so should your relationships. So stop wasting time on people who will be harmful than helpful in your pursuit of reaching your goals.
- Travelling
This is the time where you’re full of energy, and have the mobility to indulge your wanderlust. Although it may require some money, do it. Experience new countries, cultures, and challenges. You’ll surely learn things that you can take with you, and apply to your life as you return home.
Spending time and money on things that really matter is the best way to spend your 20s. So start investing on the aforementioned things now, and see how it’ll be beneficial both for you career and personal life.
A Guide to Boosting Your Confidence before Your Job Interview
Landing your dream job is tough, but acing an interview is tougher – both requires perseverance and an indomitable will. But aside from these, you need a good strategy to successfully win over your interviewer. These are the reasons why it pays to be prepared for an interview for a job. Don’t let the anxiety and terror of undergoing an interview take over you. Instead, boost your self-esteem using the following tips.
- Gain Control Over Your Nervous Tics
Whether its nail biting or feet tapping against the floor, we all give in to our nervous tics when faced with circumstances that threaten our comfort. So before leaving your house for an interview, ensure that you get your tics under control. You certainly wouldn’t want to end up doing them in front of your potential employer.
- Avoid Overthinking
It’s only natural to imagine and overthink the result of your interview when you have no idea what will be its outcome. But instead of doing this, pull yourself back together and regain your confidence. Also, learn to embrace the fact that you’ll never know how worse the interview could get, and whether or not you’ll land the job later on.
- Listen to an Upbeat Music
On your way to your interview, make sure that you listen to an energy-boosting music. Sing along to the song as you drive to help you release some tension. Doing so will help in the circulation of your blood so you’ll be more alert throughout the interview.
- Practice Answering Interview Questions Aloud
Knowing that you’re walking into an interview informed about the company, the responsibilities of the position you’re applying for, and anything else you’ll likely be asked instantly boosts your self-confidence. So prepare yourself for this by rehearsing your answers aloud prior to your interview. Have a family member or a friend act as your interviewer, and ask them to give a constructive feedback afterwards.
- Imagine Acing the Interview and Getting the Job
Close your eyes for several minutes, and imagine yourself confidently answering the interview questions thrown at you. Think of how the interviewer is focused on you, and how well you present yourself. Finally, imagine yourself shaking the hand of your potential employer as he or she offers you your dream job. Doing all these will guarantee an instant self-confidence boost.
Although interviews are done to assess a person’s character and skill, remember that it’s not a comprehensive picture of who you are and what you can achieve. So whatever the outcome of interview is, leave the room with your head held high especially if you gave it your best shot.
Workplace Bullying: Why It Needs to Be Addressed
For one, the office is considered to be someone’s second home. However, when this place becomes a “home” of verbal abuse and offensive non-verbal behavior brought about by fellow employees, then the company’s success is threatened by workplace bullying. Although this term encompasses a large array of circumstances, it is simply the biggest factor for every affected employee’s productivity.
It is said that no matter how high paying the job is, employees who are unhappy of their colleagues will jump right off the boat without second thoughts. Workplace bullying has become a social problem in fact, in an online survey in 2012 by JobsCentral, about 24% of Singaporean employees perceived themselves as victims of this while its nearby country, Malaysia, have problems in recognizing the parameters of getting bullied which, in turn, make companies unaware of the anti-bullying programs they should be implementing.
This throbbing issue should be addressed from all levels of the organization in order to keep a healthy working environment but before that, it is important to carefully understand why this isn’t a thing to be ignored and overlooked:
- It negatively affects employee engagement
Research suggests, in general, that an uncomfortable or hostile work environment make employees less engaged (in any way), less productive and worse, less likely to stay. In turn, professional relationships are inevitably affected by means of poor treatment towards their coworkers (offenders) and after some time of being bashed, they might also turn out to be doing the same according to psychologist, Dr. Mantell.
- It can lead to health-related problems of employees
Employees who feel disrespected and stressed by the thought of it, tend to skip work for health reasons such as headache, stomach pain or somatic symptoms. It can also lead to depressive and burn out symptoms not only to the one being bullied but also to someone who witness it. This can create a bigger problem especially if the employee has no close friends at work that he/she can seek support to. According to research, a support from supervisor such as offering light work load or inviting a stress management program can make a great help.
- It can result to high turn-over rate
High attrition rate is not only inconvenient in terms of looking for an equally competent employee but it would also slow down the operations of the department. Training a new employee usually take some extensive amount of time while you allow room for errors along the process, too. After all, losing a human asset is not worth the ignorance of workplace bullying.
Habits You Should Learn To Break From Now On
Acquiring a new knowledge, skill or habit? Pretty easy. Unlearning them? No it isn’t. In most cases, it is challenging to break habits because they already form a part of someone’s routine or system—-they are even considered a comfort zone. Some habits are good like exercising every day or reading a good book before sleep while some are bad, or should we say, are not doing us any favors. While most of them are not that detrimental to your well-being, chances are, they might hold you back from the kind of career, relationships, health and happiness you have longed for.
Breaking plenty of them is never easy and fast—it is a learning and progressive process. But the great news is, regardless of what age you are or where you at in life, there is absolutely no other time like today to start releasing certain habits that do you no good in the long run.
- Taking “No” for an answer and letting it go, just like that. Of course there are things in life you have absolutely no control of (which is an important life lesson by the way), but when it comes to matters that you truly care about like career, relationships or dreams, don’t just take the first “no” you get from someone or something. You should try to give it another shot by asking again or doing something better. You will never know what could change if you ask again, or exhaust all the possible means before waving the white flag.
- Checking your phone when you’re out with people. Whether you’re having dinner with a date, friends or family, it is not good to keep on checking your phone. Show the people you’re with that you are present in the moment and that whatever is so interesting on your phone can surely wait—when you get home.
- Stalking or spending much of your time on social media. Browsing through your news feed or checking out latest photos on Instagram about your friends’ amazing getaways, life events or luxurious purchases can be a little source of motivation but the more you get details of their lives, the worse it can make you feel about your own. It’s better to put down your phone and start living your life by making things happen.
- Waiting for the so called “The One”. There is nothing wrong with the virtue of waiting, but it shouldn’t be taken literally. If you are someone who isn’t open to giving someone or yourself a chance to go out, have fun and date, then “the one” won’t magically appear on your door step. Life is about taking chances, and so is love.
- Arguing with your parents. By the time you reached the adult age, you will learn to accept the reality that parents can be a pain in the ass at times but acting like a stubborn and spoiled teenager isn’t going to do you good. Your parents are not getting younger and they aren’t going to be around forever, so treat them good and respect—above all. Learn to compromise and apologize, when needed.
Best Early Morning Habits
If you want to be successful then you have to make the most out of the time that you have. We’re each given equal amounts of hours in a day but we’re not putting in the same efforts. It’s ironic to find that most of the less fortunate ones have more time to sleep and sit around doing nothing while the successful ones are always trying to stretch their time and hardly have an extra hour for rest. No wonder we’re all created equal but we don’t all of us end up the same way.
The following are only some of the best early morning habits of the successful ones among us in Singapore:
Making the bed
It doesn’t matter if you have a paid help or none. Getting up early and being able to make your bed as soon as you wake up gives you your first accomplishment of the day. This sets the tone to a productive day ahead as being able to accomplish one task makes you feel ready to take on another and the rest. Studies have also shown that those who are able to consistently make their beds as soon as they get up end up with more productive days.
Eating your healthy breakfast
Take it from Spongebob – breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Skipping your breakfast is not a good idea nor is it a healthy one. In fact, you should eat your breakfast as if it’s a feast for a king. That means you eat the most quantity of food in your first meal of the day followed by lunch and the least on the dinner. Make sure that you eat a balanced breakfast, too. Have some fruits and veggies on the side with some source of protein and carbs.
A moment for meditation
Taking a 15 to 20 minute break for your meditation is good for your soul and mind. It is said that you don’t really gain anything from meditating but what you get rid of are a lot. You get rid of your anxiety, fears, negativities, and that senseless chatter in your mind. Meditating in a day makes you feel refreshed and gives you a sense of more control and awareness of self. You’ll find your days go through smoother as compared to those days where you’re easily irritated, anxious, and hot-tempered.
Regular exercise
Your eight to five office schedule may not really give you enough opportunities to move your body. Keep physically fit and don’t let those fats take some room around your waist by doing your regular physical exercise. You can wake a bit earlier and go out for an hour of jogging, biking, or swimming. You can do your own set of physical trainings, too, by following some aerobic programs. You only need at least two and a half hours of vigorous physical activity in a week. This can mean even less than thirty minutes of physical activity every day. So what’s your excuse?
