Why Regret Is a Useless Emotion And What To Do Instead 

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Regret is a load of baggage that you lug through life. And it doesn’t get any lighter as the years go by.

Let’s lighten things up a bit with this GenuLines look at some alternatives.

Why Regret Is a Useless Emotion And What To Do Instead 

So you’re feeling sad, sorry or disappointed over something that you did or did not do. This is the textbook definition of regret.

And regret can cause terrible feelings of guilt, sadness, and even depression.

man feels regret

In its extreme, anxiety can soon turn into anger or resentment. You can be so unhappy with your lot in life that you begin to take that anger out on others.

Although regret is a common emotion, it’s pointless.  You can’t go back in time and change past decisions.

When you live in your regret, you’re wishing for a new outcome from an old script. This a functioning level of insanity, but insanity nonetheless.

And it can cause emotional and sometimes physical distress.

Regret can also play a major role in impacting happiness. If you feel regret you may be hard on yourself; almost to the point of severe self-pity.

A big problem here is that you cloud your ability to trust in yourself.

You’ll continue to defer to the past as opposed to looking toward the future. Basking in regret will leave you blind to the good in front of you.

Although it seems easy to wallow in regret, it’s self-harming.

How to Combat Regret 

Acceptance is the key to overcoming your regret. Trying to change the past is impossible and only results in frustration.

So it’s important to make peace with your previous decisions and move forward. Take responsibility for your actions and learn how to make better choices in the future.

Making the best of your bad choices shows maturity and positive thinking. Once you make a decision it’s done.

Instead of worrying about the past, why not find something positive in your present. This involves asking yourself some questions:

 What can I do to make this situation better?

 How can I adjust my attitude to see the positive?

 What can I currently change?

These questions can help you analyze your current situation and look for the best. This will turn your negative disposition toward the positive.

Being able to overcome feelings of regret can make you a stronger person. You’re embracing positivity as opposed to living in the past.

One way to turn your regrets into an opportunity is to think about any good that’s resulted. Have you grown as a person?

Have you learned a valuable lesson?

These questions will help you to further see the good in your past. Yes, regret can be frustrating and painful.

But you have the power to keep it from controlling you.

JohnK 12-4-2023

chiforyourself.com

Stick figure hears about regretOverheard: “Never regret anything you have done with a sincere affection; nothing is lost that is born of the heart”

 Basil Rathbone

Article image by @felipepelaquim on Unsplash

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The Every Day Choice Between Staying Stagnant or Progressing

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Choice is something you’re faced with most every day. And sometimes a choice is the difference between a big gain or a setback.

Make it a positive result with the help of today’s GenuLines look at making choices.

The Every Day Choice Between Staying Stagnant or Progressing

Ever wonder what day-to-day life should look like when it comes to success?. When you’re formulating plans for success, is it more of a general idea of what your life is going to become?

Or is it a structured plan with daily or even annual goals?

A choice of doors

An important key toward success is realizing that every day, you can be making a progress toward becoming more successful.  But you need to be able and willing to take full advantage of that.

Rise.. and Shine?

When you get up in the morning, you have a full day ahead of you. Lots you can get done.

Any or all of it can move you to the next level. Or it can leave you where you are right now.

Each day is a new chance to do things you want to do to improve. That could mean tending to your relationships or getting something accomplished at work.

Either way, the day is full of opportunities for you to advance.

Better Days Ahead

Realize that every day there’s something you can do to improve. Even on days when you’re just going to relax and recharge, at least you’re doing that with the intention of regaining energy for a better performance later down the line.

On days that you’re not recharging, you need to boost any aspect of your life that needs it. Something that a lot of people struggle with is getting back on track after they’ve fallen off the productivity wagon.

They seem to feel as though it’s the end of the world, and they’re not going to be able to go any farther. This causes so much disruption in their success plans.

They stop all progress, assuming that they’re not able to recover.

This is far from the truth. Just as each day is a new chance to progress, it’s also an opportunity to get back on track.

Good Days Bad Days

You start every day with a clean slate, and from there you can shape the day any way you want.

If sometimes you don’t have a productive day it’s okay. Everyone has their bad days.

What you can’t do, though, is just sit there and mope about it. Wake up the next day committed and with a plan to get yourself back on track.

JohnK 11-27-2023
chiforyourself.com

stick man hears about choiceOverheard: “We must all make the choice between what is right and what is easy”

~Professor Dumbledore
 

 

 

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5 Behaviors You Don’t See In Highly Successful People

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Successful people aren’t always on their best behavior. Sometimes they show their less than attractive sides.

But GenuLines wants to tell you about some tendencies that won’t show up in their daily inter-actions

5 Behaviors You Don’t See In Highly Successful People

Everyone has a different interpretation of what success is, or what it means to them. But, when you break it down, most everyone can come to an agreement on it’s meaning.

Success is accomplishing a goal, or attaining a meaningful purpose.

That may be a loving relationship, or it could be a form of artistic expression. It might be career advancement.

Regardless of what the goal is, true success is never an an easy upward, or stable journey. The world’s most successful people are aware of this fact.

And they often have behavioral traits which set them apart from the rest.

picture of bad behavior

If you’re struggling to achieve what you want in life, you may want to consider starting with an inward look. This might mean a shift in your mindset to bring you in line with how successful people behave.

When you work with great leaders and executives you notice what does and doesn’t work in the long-term. It’s not so much personal habits or intrinsic characteristics that determine success.

Instead, it’s about your behavior.

What does behavior mean? It’s about how you communicate and how you react to stressful situations.

It’s also about how you interact with the people around you.

Add to that the attitude you have in dealing with clients and colleagues.

It’s how hard you work. And whether you’re disciplined, and focused.

You may know some dysfunctional people who have gained success. But these behaviors will catch up with them.

Here’s a look at 5 behaviors that you won’t see in highly successful people.

Panic

High pressure and stressful situations in the business world are a common occurrence. Things don’t always go according to plan, and they often go horrifically wrong.

It’s just part of the territory.

What highly successful people don’t do is panic. If you can’t override that adrenaline spike and stay calm during a crisis, you’re not going to last long.

Fanaticism

While passion is a massive driver in success, you can take it too far. Become a fanatic and your energy and passion starts to work against you.

The result? Flawed reasoning, poor decision making, and a skewed perception of reality.

Laziness

When you’re driven to achieve greatness, you have one fundamental truth: it’s going to be a long haul. And it’s going to be a lot of hard work.

That’s why highly successful people are so disciplined, and highly focused. A lot of people are slackers, and quite simply, it’s why they don’t go on to achieve great things.

Naivete’

Okay, so we may all start out with a wide eyed, gullible approach in the business world. However, the sooner you turn skeptical the savvier you become.

And the better your chance at succeeding. Why is this true?

Suckers don’t succeed.

Highly successful people question everything. And they tend to trust, verify, and consider the source.

Oversensitivity

Thin skinned people don’t make great leaders, nor do they tend to be highly successful. They drive themselves crazy with every little criticism.

And they don’t obsess over every comment that offends or upsets them. That’s why seriously great business leaders often have a sense of humility, and a good sense of humor.

While life may be serious, you can’t take yourself too seriously.

JohnK 11-20-2023
chiforyourself.com

stick man hears about behaviorOverheard: “Behavior is the mirror in which everyone shows their image”

~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Article image by Sebastian Herrmann on Unsplash

 

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Create A Vision of Who You Want to Be

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A vision for your life is like a roadmap. It takes you from point A to point B and beyond.

Today GenuLines gets behind the wheel to show you a few points along the way. .

Create A Vision of Who You Want to Be

If you’re unhappy where you are in life, it could be you are not creating the right vision about yourself.

viewfinder helps visionThink back to recent thoughts you had. Were they negative thoughts or feelings like you’ve hit a roadblock?

Shift your focus to a life that you want or a person that you want to become. If you want to have a life similar to an idol of yours, read about how that idol has become a success and use that as a guideline to help you accomplish something similar.

When you create a positive image within your mind, it will set up neural pathways to help you reach your goals. The more you reinforce this mental image the more pathways you’ll create.

 

If there is information available online that can help you with your vision, use it to your advantage.

Finishing Touches

Determine your vision and then the steps you believe will help you get there. Finally, continue to imagine that vision  on a daily basis.

Your brain will get so used to this vision it will become a subconscious process.

This is not to say you can’t alter your plan or your vision. There may be something you thought you wanted, but as you progress, you find this not to be the case.

There’s nothing wrong with that.

If this happens, create another vision and move on from there. Your brain will form pathways for this new vision.

If your vision is fine but the plan is not getting you where you need to be, don’t be afraid to make changes with it. Plans are only guidelines.

You can change as needed. This can happen when new information comes to light along the way, information which wasn’t available when you got started.

People Gonna Talk

Be prepared for criticism as you create this new vision for yourself. It’s yours and yours alone.

People may not understand what you’re trying to shoot for. Hold to your beliefs and prove them wrong.

Your critics are not the ones who have to live with the vision you make for yourself. You’ll find when you reach your goals those same critics will suddenly be on your side.

They’ll even claim to have been there for you all along.

It’s annoying, but that’s how people behave. It’s not worth the aggravation.

Just move on with your vision and let them think whatever they want.

JohnK 11-13-2023
chiforyourself.com

stick man hears about visionOverheard: “Be brave enough to live the life of your dreams according to your vision and  purpose instead of the expectations and opinions of others”

~ Roy T. Bennett
 

 

 

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What Is Information Overload?

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Information is an indispensable part of life. The problems show up when there’s way too much of it.

If it’s time to lighten up a bit then think about these GenuLines pointers and do some offloading.

What Is Information Overload?

Have you ever started something new – a new job, a new sport, even a new game and you’re trying to learn the information and it feels like your brain might explode? That’s an exaggerated symptom of information overload.

But, most people are experiencing it daily from normal life due to fast access to information via the internet.

information overload books

 

Information overload can cause the following symptoms:
Headache
Stress
Moodiness
Overweight
Cardiovascular issues
And more…

 

 

Plus, often it can cause problems in interpersonal relationships and work relationships. The reason is that most information overload is a choice you make.

You choose to be on social media all day; you choose to watch every single news station and every single pundit on TV talk about whatever is the topic of the day.

It’s Like Drinking Water from a Fire Hydrant

Anytime you want to learn something, it’s tempting to start gathering tons of information. And due to the net, it’s easy to get drawn down into the rabbit hole of unending information.

It becomes hard to determine what information is good and what information is bad.

It Leads to Poor Information Filtering

When you’re bombarded with so much information, your brain can’t filter it properly. Your brain does something called twigging, which means that instead of filtering information in terms of importance it just generalizes all information as being the same.

This is terrible for decision making.

It Leads to Bad Choices

If you can’t properly filter information to determine what is true, what is right and what is wrong, you’ll have a hard time making the right choices. The information overload causes you to choose wrongly on any number of issues, because with so much noise going on you can’t determine what is right.

It Harms Your Relationships

Information overload can harm your relationships. If you’re always reading your smartphone, looking at social media and not being present in your life, it can hurt intimacy.

If your partner and friends are complaining, take heed.

It Leads to Black and White Thinking

The world is not black and white. The world is colorful, black, white, gray and everything in between and more.

The same can be said for a lot of issues. There are very few issues that are either right or wrong, black or white.

If you have too much information at your fingertips and are rating everything the same, it’s easy to see things as black and white, which can make it hard to negotiate a happy life and successful business.

It Can Lead to Mental Issues Like Depression

When you get to the point of information overload, a lot of people experience mental problems such as short-term memory issues and even depression. If you find that you’re just feeling mixed up a lot, forget appointments and aren’t doing your best at home or work, consider information overload as a potential culprit.

Information overload can even lead to tragedy when texting mixes with driving.

Who knows how much money is lost in overall productivity due to information overload.. You can do your part by trying to limit information overload for yourself and your family.

You can also encourage co-workers and employees to avoid multitasking and focus training on smaller topics rather than broad ones.

JohnK 11-6-2023
chiforyourself.com

stick man hears about information Overheard:  “…a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention…”

~Herbert A. Simon
 

 

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5 Steps To Living Your Purpose

You’ve nurtured your purpose for a long time. But you’re not sure if you’re really living it.

Let GenuLines help you take the guesswork out of this puzzle.

5 Steps To Living Your Purpose

You’re working hard to achieve your dream life. It could be that you’re aiming for a promotion at work.

Or you’re trying to get your business off the ground. If you’re finding success a bit of a struggle you may need to find your life’s purpose.

Finding your purpose is like finding a magic key. The key helps you align everything you do and focus on getting to your best life now.

Here are five steps to help set you in the right direction.

purpose spelled out

Look Within

Too many people look to others for the answers. Too many people follow a path that’s not theirs.

Only you can know what your dream life looks like. The answer to your life’s purpose lies deep within you.

You have to tune into it.

Journaling can be a helpful tool to allow your subconscious to speak your truth. Or meditation, or brainstorming.

The important thing is that you look into your own heart.

Trust Your Intuition

Learning to trust that inner voice that tells you that the conventional way of doing things isn’t right for you.

Whether it’s a college degree or a selling technique:

If it doesn’t feel right, you don’t have to do it!

Find your own way of living your life, and you’ll be much more likely to feel content and to be successful.

Get Friendly With Fear

Many people choose to live safe, conventional lives. They’re too afraid to do things in a different way or to take a chance.

Fear of the unknown is understandable. But you can choose to face your fears and to meet challenges head-on.

Deciding to live your own life according to your values and your passion means many things. One of them is being able to look fear in the face and step out of your comfort zone.

Don’t Be Bound by Your To-do List

It’s easy to become a slave to the never-ending checklist of things you need to do before you can live your purpose. You only get one shot at life.

Have a look at your current list of tasks. How many of them will move you closer to living your best life?

How many can you delete or delegate to someone else?

Know That You Already Have What You Need

One of the most important things to know is that you don’t need expensive courses or workshops, or the right suit or car.

You already have everything you need to start living your life’s purpose.

It’s all within you. What matters is what you do with it.

And today is the best time to start!

JohnK. 10-30-2023
chiforyourself,com

stick man hears about purposeOverheard: “The soul which has no fixed purpose in life is lost; to be everywhere, is to be nowhere”

~Michel de Montaigne
 

 

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How Do You Tell Others About Your Failure?

Your failure is a personal setback. But what happens when you have to share it with others?

These GenuLines  pointers can help point you toward answers.

 

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How Do You Tell Others About Your Failure?

You know what sucks about failing at something? The thought of having to tell people about it.

We’ll use driving tests as an example.

Let’s say you’re going to tell people you’re taking the test. They might respond with words of encouragement.

You may even get written cards. Of course this is a nice gesture and it’s coming from a nice place.

Unfortunately though, it also means that if you don’t pass you then have to tell them.

They may feel as though they have to send you more cards the next time you try.

child failure to stand up

Telling people about failure makes it real. And unfortunately it’s often enough to prevent us from wanting to try in the first place.

Here’s how to change your approach.

Do You Tell People Your Goals?
Some schools of thought suggest we shouldn’t be telling people our goals in the first place. Researchers have looked at what happens when we tell people our goals.

They found that we become less likely to attempt them when we do that.

The reason for this is that telling people goals gives us a sense of ‘release’ and allows us to get some of the reward. When you tell someone you’re going to quit smoking, that then makes you feel a sense of relief.

Now you don’t actually have to give up smoking for real!

If you take this position, it may make more sense not to tell people about your goals. That way you won’t have to come clean about your failures.

The best scenario for most people will be to tell a small select group of people.

Wear Your Failure Proudly
The next step is to change the way you think about failure. Many of us approach failure as though it is the end of the world.

In fact though, failure only means we’ve tried something brave and it makes us stronger. Some of the most successful people in the world failed countless times to get to where they are now.

Telling people you failed in itself is a victory in as much as it takes courage. Don’t go shy and avoid the topic or make excuses (people see through that anyway).

Be proud and say something went wrong. If you struggle to do this, then you might want to reassess why you’re doing things in the first place.

You’ gotta want it!

JohnK 10-23-2023
chiforyourself.com

stick man hears about failureOverheard: “”You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don’t try”

~Beverly Sills
 

 

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Moving On Might Be the Best Thing You Can Do

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Moving on is like escaping gravity. You want to but you can’t seem to do it.

It’s a big decision, and GenuLines is here with help. .

Moving On Might Be the Best Thing You Can Do

Believe it or not, there’s a lot of power in letting go and moving on. I know it doesn’t feel like it.

man moving on

 

At this point you may be focusing on what happened in the past.

You’re thinking that if you were to keep dwelling on what happened, You might be able to figure it out.

After all, things might fall into place. That way you would see the rhyme and reason for the negative things that happened in the past.

 

Repeat Offender?
It’s likely that this isn’t the first time you’ve thought this way.

Focusing on the past isn’t going to help you. Life can suck big time. You don’t need a graduate degree to understand that.

But your life isn’t a complete disaster.

Sure, you may feel frustration in certain areas of your life. Nobody’s immune to this.

You need to have a clear direction for your life. If you do you’ll realize that it’s not so bleak. Look for bright spots.

Discover them and understand that these areas of light are areas of optimism in your life.

Outta Here
Focus on these and move on. Focus on the fact that you have a measure of control. Given enough time, your area of control in your life could grow. Put your focus there.

As the old saying goes, “Where attention goes, energy flows.”

Taking ownership of your life demands a lot of your attention. Don’t let the things you can’t control drain it.

I’m talking about people in your past. And  situations in the past.

Plus those people you cannot control.

Focus on your area of competency, which is your choice to respond to things going on in your life. This is your area of control.

The more you focus on it, the more competent and self-confident you become.

This enables you to become a more responsible and powerful person. Focus on these.

Then move on from what you’ve been wasting your time, attention, and emotional energy on.

JohnK 10-16-2023
chiforyourself.com

 

stick man hears about moving onOverheard: “I can’t go on. I’ll go on”

~Samuel Beckett
 

 

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You Can Create Self-Supporting Habits For Success

Your success can be built on a dream. But you’ll need the right tools to do it.

The builders at GenuLines show you how your habits can get the job done.

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You Can Create Self-Supporting Habits For Success 
Have you ever wondered how successful people get where they are? And often, so young?

Okay, we can’t all be Steve Jobs.

But there is untold potential within you.

You need to learn to create self-supporting habits that will help you achieve success. Your behaviors are determined by your habits, so everything that you’ve achieved so far and everything that you will… is down to your habits.

ideas turned to success

Self-Supporting Habits For Success:

• Pursue Your Passions

We humans generally seek stability, especially when it comes to a career. But those people who go big are willing to pursue the things that interest them.

People work harder when they love what they’re doing.

• Find A Mentor

Having a mentor is one smart way to steer your way to success. There are different types of people you can turn to for mentorship.

They may be a parent, teacher, or someone within your career. Or a famous person whose books you turn to for advice or guidance. yourself.

What successful people are able to do is learn from the mistakes they make. The latter is powerful, what greater motivation than turning failure around.

• Dreams Become Goals

Yes it’s important for you to pursue your passions. But don’t forget that you can use your dreams to set your goals.

• Make Lists

What good is having goals if you don’t have an action plan to achieve them? The key is breaking your goals down into the steps it will take to achieve them.

Creating processes is the key to creating success.

• Be Health Conscious

This might not seem like something of great importance, but… without your health you are nothing. So, eat the right types of food and be mindful of your portions.

Regular exercise a good night’s sleep are very important, too.

• Be Honest

You may think of successful people as ruthless and maybe even underhanded, but in all honesty… honesty is vital. Show principle in every action,

Be fair (not only with the world, but also with yourself),. This allows you to create a vision for your life that will be consistent with your values and ideals.

Don’t compromise when it comes to integrity,. Don’t sacrifice your peace of mind for anything (or anyone).

Honesty is the key here. And it underscores the rest of the self-supporting habits on your list.

• Self-Discipline

When you come right down to it, the list above is useless without self-discipline. The ability to control yourself is one of the most important qualities that you will develop.

And it’s a habit that goes hand in hand with every success in every aspect of your life.

Each of these habits will help you develop as a person and grow the desired results. The habits that you have as of now are what got you where you are today.

But if you want to keep growing and improving then it’s time to build on those habits. So become more focused and driven.

Your success is in your hands.

JohnK 10-9-2023
chiforyourself.com

stick man hears about successOverheard: “Habit is stronger than reason”

~George Santayana
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5 Signs You Need to Improve Your Resilience

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Need a little more resilience in your life? It could come in handy during tough times. Today we’re offering you some “tough love.” from GenuLines. 

5 Signs You Need to Improve Your Resilience
sculpture lacks resilience

 

Successful people are resilient in some shape or form. If not they would never overcome failure.

You might see yourself as resilient, and in many ways, you could be right.

But if the following descriptions fit you, then your resilience may be falling short . Here are five signs that mean you need to improve your resilience.

 

 

1. You’re afraid of failure
Failure is a natural part of success. You may fail several times before you succeed in something.

In fact it may even be necessary before you see that success.

Being able to face your failures is a part of being resilient. If you let all your unsuccessful attempts keep you down you may never try again.

Being afraid of failure may be a sign that your resilience is not as strong as you think

2. You let negative thoughts keep you down
Resilience is a sign of mental fortitude. You can survive challenges without pervasive thoughts discouraging you from trying.

Negative thoughts also impact your mental health. And they can lower your perception of self-worth.

If you’re prone to constant negativity you need to work on your positivity. Positive thinking is a tenet of resilience and can help you find success.

3. You don’t learn from your mistakes
Growth is an important factor in resilience. Improving your skills and abilities will lead you to success.

How can you ever grow as a person if you keep making the same mistakes over and over?

Take a clear look at your mistakes. Don’t place blame.

You’ll improve yourself. And, you’ll grow.

Don’t pretend your mistakes never happened or you’ll be unable to avoid them the next time.

4. You lack confidence
Resilient people are confident in their abilities. even without success on the first try. Confidence gives you the willpower to try new and intimidating things.

If you’re too afraid to try, you’ll never succeed.

5. You don’t take responsibility for your failure
It’s easy to place blame on outside factors that you have no control over. You won’t always have power over everything, so you have to take every situation for what it is.

By acknowledging what you can control and change, you take agency in your life. Admit it if something didn’t go right because of something you did.

Don’t always blame others for your mistakes.

Resilience gives you the power to overcome challenges. Without it, you’ll be more prone to give up.

If you find that some of these signs describe you, then you may need to take steps to improve your resilience.

JohnK 10-2-2023
chiforyourself.com

stick man hears about resilienceOverheard: “Fall seven times, stand up eight”

~Japanese Proverb
 

 

disclaimer for resilience