Tag Archive for GenuLines

5 Signs You Need to Improve Your Resilience

October 2, 2023 John Uncategorized No comments

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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

Finding Success Helps You Build Confidence

September 25, 2023 John Uncategorized No comments

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You’re expecting great success in whatever you’re doing. But, when it comes to confidence that’s something else again.

Today we look at a GenuLines yardstick to help you measure up.

Finding Success Helps You Build Confidence
We’ve all experienced a time in our lives when our self-esteem was on the skids. The common thread in these experiences is a lack of confidence.

Think about a job you didn’t like. I’m guessing it wasn’t about your lack of knowledge.

A more likely reason is that you didn’t have the confidence in your ability to do the given tasks.

handshake of success

A strong sense of self and self esteem is essential to overcoming adversity. Success in this area builds your self-confidence.

Success Strengthens Your Self-Love
When you reach a goal, you’re proud of your accomplishment. You know your story and you’ve experienced the challenges firsthand.

You’re better able to endure. And this strength fuels your confidence that you’ll do what you intended to do.

Success Makes You Self-Reliant
Let’s use the life versus lemons example. You take lemons and create, say, a profitable lemonade stand.

You understand that you have power and the capability to overcome most anything.

Success Means Taking Risks
Success forces you venture out of your comfort zone. You act on opportunities that you may have passed on before.

Walking into new ventures despite the fears and the unknown requires absolute confidence. You have no idea if you’ll sink or swim.

Yet, taking that first step into the ocean is a brave move.

Failure
Many people shy away from taking on new tasks because they’re afraid of failure. They believe they’re unable to overcome a challenge.

Get into the mindset that no challenge is too difficult to overcome. Over time, this mentality will lead to ultimate self-confidence and power.

The journey of finding success in itself requires confidence. Sure, it’s easy to take what’s given to you, but is that building your inner strength?

Successful people fight for what they have and go out and get what they want. Through your efforts, wins and accomplishments, you develop a heightened sense of awareness.

This will enable you to continue reaching ever higher levels of success.

John K. 9-25/2023
chiforyourself.com

stick man hears about successOverheard: “Success is the sum of small efforts – repeated day in and day out”

~ Robert Collier
 

disclaimer for success

4 Key Ways to Regain Control of Your Life

September 18, 2023 John Uncategorized No comments

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These tough times may leave you thinking you’re out of control of your life. GenuLines respectfully disagrees.

And we’re offering some tips on putting you back in the driver’s seat.

4 Key Ways to Regain Control of Your Life
power switch control

There are times when it seems our lives are spiraling out of control. Nothing seems to go right, and you feel like you can’t get a grip on reality and a foothold on stability.

Reasons for this include overwork, stress, trauma, or depression.

There are a lot of ways you can work toward getting control of your life. GenuLines narrows it down to four key steps.

 

 

1) Use the power of no
Part of how we become overworked and overstressed is by agreeing to take on far more than we can handle. You often want to please everyone or you don’t want to let those that are close to you down.

You’re taking on more responsibilities than you could ever handle.

You can’t allow yourself to feel guilty for saying no to something you can’t do. If the person who asked you to do it cares about you, they’ll understand.

Don’t bite off more than you can chew and say no when necessary.

2) Don’t be afraid to break the mold
You can’t let others dictate what you do. Same for the choices you make, or what makes you happy; you have to do things your own way for yourself.

At times what you want to do will line up with something someone else has done in the past. At other times, the path you’re walking will be unconventional.

Don’t be afraid to step into uncharted territory. Take the path less traveled, or make your own path in life; do what makes you happy.

3) Take care of yourself
One of the most important steps to regaining control of your life is taking good care of yourself. Your mental and physical health are more important than anything.

Make sure you give yourself a few days to unwind each week. And what’s most important, make at least one of those days is set aside for yourself.

Use that day to do what makes you happy, relaxes you, and allows you to recharge your battery.

4) Turn this into a learning experience
There are two ways to look at trying times in your life. You can mope and look for pity, or you can learn from your mistakes and turn those times into a learning experience.

You can learn a lot from your errors and failures and with each one, you become more resilient. .You’re optimistic approach helps you power through the hardship. You come out on the other side a better and stronger person.

When you feel like your life is spiraling out of control, your situation can seem hopeless. You can and should work to regain control.

There are many ways in which you can work to better yourself, regain stability, and regain control, but we focused on the top four reasons we find absolutely essential to regaining control of your life.

If you find yourself still struggling or feeling hopeless, seek help. A professional can help guide you through it and offer you support.

JohnK 9-18-2023
chiforyourself.com

stick man hears about controlOverheard: “Only you can control your future”.

~Dr. Seuss
 

 

disclaimer for control

Top Ways to Identify Your Strengths

September 11, 2023 John Uncategorized No comments

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What are your strengths? Are you uncertain how to answer the question? Get some clear answers with this GenuLines look at finding those strengths.

Top Ways to Identify Your Strengths
Lion symbolizes strength

We all have unique strengths and unique weaknesses. This is part of what makes us, well, unique.

And it’s what makes teamwork so important in a working environment.

This way it’s possible to leverage the individual strengths of many different people. The result is a well-oiled machine.

The problem is many of us actually don’t know our own strengths. We’re unable to be objective in analyzing our skills

Our ego or our self-doubt kicks in to prevent us from finding out what we’re good at. So how do you find where your strengths lie?

Ask People
One approach is to ask people what they think your strengths are. Now, you don’t want to take anyone’s word and leave it at that.

But when you start noticing patterns in the responses there could be at least a bit of truth.

Look at Your Experience
Another way to find your skills is to look at your own experience. If you’ve spent a lot of time on a particular career path, you may have gained specific abilities related to that.

And they may open your eyes to strengths you weren’t aware of.

Asses Your Weaknesses
Another good way to find your strengths is to look at your weaknesses. In other words, as you drop the things you’re bad at, it should leave the things you’re good at.

Look at your own career. Let’s say you’re a web designer – do you work better with the code, with the layout or with the artistic part?

Which of these is your skill and which is the weak link?

Look at What You Love
As a general rule, you’ll tend to enjoy doing the things you’re very good at. So if you want to know what you’re good at, try to spot the times when you’re the most engaged and the most switched on.

Try Lots of Things
There’s a good chance that the thing you’re good at is something you haven’t even considered yet. That’s why it’s important to broaden your experiences.

Give yourself more leverage in finding your strengths and skills.

JohnK 9-11-2023
chiforyoursef.com

stick figure hears about strengthsOverheard: ” Rudeness is a weak imitation of strength”

~Eric Hoffer
 

 

disclaimer for strengths
 

How to Fight For What Is Yours

September 5, 2023 John Uncategorized No comments

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An old saying tells us to pick our fights carefully. We’re not suggesting violence. But there are times when you can be more combative and GenuLines shows you how to do that.

How to Fight for What Is Yours

Everyone has needs which at some point will collide with others. In such cases, you may need to fight for what is yours.

There are ways to handle the situation and not get too overheated or out of control.

chess pieces fight

 

Always be respectful of others’ feelings. There is nothing wrong with fighting for what you deserve.

But keep in mind that others are going to try to fight for themselves.

That could cause you to become angry with them.  And you might  say something disrespectful in the heat of the moment.

 

Stay Calm
Try to remain calm and remember that the other people are trying to get the same as you.

Along those lines, always present your case based on the facts. Don’t introduce false information to try and sway the decision makers to your side.

When you have the facts on your side, you can reference them and where you found them.

Be ready for any counter-arguments from others fighting for what you want. Preparation will help you know what to say when they present those arguments.

And you’ll be able to prepare an answer ahead of time.

Sticks And Stones?
Never revert to name calling and don’t make the situation personal. In most cases, what you’re fighting for has little to do with peoples’ personalities.

So it has no place in the discussion.

For instance, you may be competing with someone for a promotion at work.  If you start attacking them on a personal level, it’ll likely backfire on you and you’ll look bad.

Make Room
Let other people speak. If you interrupt people before they speak their minds, you may not get the full story.

You may jump to incorrect conclusions. By allowing others to finish what they have to say, you can present a more appropriate argument.

Expect the same when you speak.  And ask to speak without interruption.

Above all, try to remain calm throughout the process. You’ll exude confidence.

That can strengthen your position when others are getting hotheaded. You’ll be the bigger person.

And that could give you the advantage.

JohnK 9-4-2023
chiforyourself.com

 

stick man hears about fightsOverheard:  “He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight”

~ Sun Tzu
 

 

disclaimer for fights

 

 

Are Your Self Limiting Beliefs Bringing You Down?

August 28, 2023 John Uncategorized No comments

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It seems as though you’re going through life with the emergency brake on. Your efforts are cancelled out by limits of one sort or another.

Your beliefs could be the problem, and GenuLines has a closer look at how this is happening.

Are Your Self Limiting Beliefs Bringing You Down?

You’re not moving forward in life, why is that? The answer could be self-limiting beliefs.

Self-limiting beliefs relate to our abilities, skills, looks, motivation, and other personality traits.

Self-limiting beliefs are often self-identified. This means that they are beliefs that focus on oneself rather than the world in general.

But self-limiting beliefs may also be about other people or the world.

note tells of limits

What Are Self-Limiting Beliefs?
Self-limiting beliefs include: I do/don’t I am/am not:

These beliefs define us by things we are or are not. “I am an accountant.”

These types of self-limiting beliefs may also connect to things you tell yourself you do or don’t deserve.

“I don’t deserve a raise because I’m a bad accountant.” Self-limiting beliefs come from the self-image.

Typical I can’t self-limiting beliefs are statements that begin with I can’t. “I can’t do this because… I can’t learn that because…”

Value Beliefs
Value beliefs usually come from norms laws cultural restraints and other conditions.

But, not all these are mandatory, and some are limiting. “I must clean my house every day until the floor shines.”

This is a very limiting value belief about cleanliness.

Others will/are: these are beliefs based on how other people perceive us or what they will do based on our actions. These are often guesses about other people’s behavior, and they are often wrong.

These self-limiting beliefs are wrong. We view people through our own mind rather than through their perception.

We don’t have accurate ideas of how other people think because we have not lived their experiences.

How Do Self Limiting Beliefs Affect Your Life?
We’ll refer to Psychology Today. We’re told that limiting decisions in our lives prevents us from becoming who we wish to become.

Self-limiting thoughts do this by affecting our decisions.

There have been several studies in this area over the years. They looked at what we perceive, our emotional state, and how we perform.

All showed ties to our self-belief system. Self-limiting beliefs turn into self-limiting actions.

Often people with self-limiting beliefs will not even attempt to test that limit. For example, people who think that they are not attractive will never attempt to ask for a date.

If you think you’re too old to get a new jobs you won’t try to find a more satisfying one.

You can see how self-limiting beliefs can bring you down without you even knowing. Self-limiting beliefs are controlling your decisions every day.

4-Steps To Eliminating Self Limiting Beliefs
The lucky thing about thoughts is that you are in complete control of them. Anytime you have a thought, whether it’s positive or negative, you can change it.

Psychology Today has a four-step process to end self-limiting beliefs. Let’s take a look:

1. Write the limiting belief down.
Find out how strong each belief is and what emotions they make you feel.

2. Acknowledge that they are beliefs and not truths.
Many people struggle with this step, but the reality is a belief and not a fact. Many self-limiting beliefs are limitations based on fictional ideas we have about ourselves.

When you realize that these are not real limits, you free yourself to act against them.

3. Try on a different belief.
This may take some practice, but over time you’ll be able to change your belief system. An example from Psychology Today was changing a self-limiting belief about handling money.

Instead of saying, “I am not good with money and that is why I have financial difficulties.” You would change that belief to “I am experienced with money because of my past. ”

“I’ve learned how to handle my finances.” These simple tweaks in your internal dialogue can help you change your actions.

4. Take different action.
The final step is to take action on your new belief as if it were true. If you’re trying on the belief that you are a successful artist, you may enter your first art show.

Scary? Sure.

But it’s also a big step in overcoming negative and self-limiting beliefs.

JohnK 8-28-2023
chiforyourself.com

stick man hears about limitsOverheard: Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision for the limits of the world.

~Arthur Schopenhauer
 

 

disclaimer for limits

 

Is Brain Fog Killing Your Focus?

August 21, 2023 John Uncategorized No comments

banner on focus

When you experience brain fog, you’re in a sort of prison.  You’re not sure what to do next.

The focus of this GenuLines message is that you can do a lot to free yourself from the fog and get moving again.

Is Brain Fog Killing Your Focus?

You’re at work. You feel like you’re having to fight through cobwebs to get your thoughts straight.

Or sometimes you find it very hard to concentrate or focus for long stretches.

These are signs of brain fog. This can kill your productivity and ability to focus.

So, what causes brain fog, and what can you do about it?

man lacking focus

What is Brain Fog?

It’s a feeling of being somewhat confused or disoriented. Forgetfulness is very common, too.

When your thoughts are hazy or lazy, slow to come together, or when you can’t seem to concentrate, you have brain fog. In more severe instances, it can lead to feelings of depression and unhappiness.

You lose your ability to find inspiration in life.

Brain fog is a slowing or impairment of your cognitive functions. These control your ability to plan, organize, remember, and solve problems.

Very often brain fog is the result of poor lifestyle and dietary choices. You can wind up with imbalances in hormones and nutrient levels.

Causes of Brain Fog And How to Address Them

Lack of sleep is the prime contributing factor to fogginess. Your brain can’t restore neural connectivity that regulates memory and learning.

Chronic sleep deprivation can impair motor functions. Same for the ability to reason. If you’re feeling foggy, examine your sleep habits.

Make adjustments that guarantee you at least seven hours of rest each night.

Dehydration is also a leading cause of brain fog. Your brain is about three-quarters water, and when you don’t have enough, it can have a significant effect.

Even a small amount of dehydration can cause problems.

You may experience confusion, impaired mental performance, and disorientation. Be sure to get enough liquids, especially water, throughout your day to stave off the mental fog.

Poor eating habits can also affect concentration or clear thinking. Your brain needs energy to work well, but you won’t find it in refined carbohydrates.

They’ll leave your brain feeling sluggish. Instead, try more fruits, vegetables and lean proteins and plant- based food.

There are other contributing factors to mental fog, too. They include stress, inactivity, hormone level changes, and certain types of medications.

Add to the list various medical conditions. If you suspect you have any of these, you should talk to your doctor.

One thing you can do to help clear your mind and refocus is take a brisk walk. You can try changing your environment or engaging in a stimulating conversation.

Final Thoughts

Clearing away the fog can be a simple matter. You can eat better, get more sleep, and drink plenty of water.

For a quick pick-me-up in your day, it’s good to challenge your mind to something new or different for a short period.

Then again, clearing your brain fog may be a little tougher, so find some strategies that work best for you. Work on recognizing when you start to feel foggy.

And be proactive about addressing this before it becomes a bigger problem.

JohnK  8/21/23
chiforyourself.com

stick man hears about focusOverheard: “It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light”

~Aristotle Onassis
 

 

 

disclaimer for focus

 

 

 

The Importance of Resilience: The Survival Skill

August 14, 2023 John Uncategorized No comments

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A big part of any survival plan is resilience. It’s crucial to endure a situation until you can get the upper hand.

Let GenuLines help you in the process as we look at this quality called resilience.

The Importance of Resilience: The Survival Skill

Failure is always an option. In fact, failure is inevitable,

Every successful person has had their fair share of failure. It doesn’t matter how many times you fall, only that you get back up again.

The ability to recover after failing a task is resilience.

runners show resilience

Why is resilience important? Well, there are several reasons:

● Protection from overwhelming experience
Without resilience, every obstacle that you face can be daunting. Developing mechanisms for handling these difficult experiences makes them a little less scary.

● Handling stress
Stress isn’t all bad. It pushes us to act and make decisions in life.

Instead of stress being something to hold you back, you can use it to draw motivation and push you forward.

● Mental wellbeing
If you’re resilient you won’t let failure get you down. Repeated failure at a task can be draining.

Resilience gives you the mental toughness needed to maintain a strong psychological balance.

● Realistic mindset
Without resilience, we tend to have a different world view. One that doesn’t seem so intimidating.

Resilience can help you see the world for how it is. An often unnerving, threatening, and even terrifying place.

But it’s okay for the world to be a scary place. As long as you have the psychological capacity to handle it. you don’t have to bend reality to feel more comfortable.

● Make the best of a bad situation
Failure is not the end; it’s an opportunity. Failure teaches us to learn from our mistakes. We can use that knowledge to move forward more in a more efficient way.

If we don’t learn from our mistakes we can never improve and do better the next time.

● Improve the way you value yourself
Being able to bounce back from a bad situation can help improve your self-worth. You won’t see yourself as someone ill equipped to handle bad situations.

Resilience can make you feel strong powerful and worthy.

Relying on yourself isn’t always easy. But to do it time and time again proves that you don’t always need someone else to do something for you.

In turn, you’ll see yourself as someone who can succeed regardless of the challenge.

Remember, resilience is a skill that you can cultivate and grow with training.

Next time you find it difficult to pull yourself up from failure, do it anyway.

See how being resilient can change your entire mindset.

JohnK 8-14-2023
chiforyourself.com

stick man hears about resilienceOverheard: It’s not the strongest of a species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most resilient and responsive to change”

~Charles Darwin
 

 

disclaimer for resilience

The Impact Of Bad Habits On Your Work

August 7, 2023 John Uncategorized No comments

Your bad habits can make their way into your work. This doesn’t bode well for things like promotions and raises.

We’re raising this issue with a GenuLines look at what can go wrong,.

The Impact Of Bad Habits On Your Work

social media habit

Some of the bad habits you’ve developed over your lifetime are causing you problems at work. And You may not even realize it

If you’re not aware that you  have any of the following habits they could be affecting your job (or business)

Lack of Sleep

Say you have the bad habit of staying up late because you see yourself as a night owl. You do this even though you have to get up early to go to work.
 
What’s more, not sleeping enough at night can also cause health problems. Among these-cardiovascular disease.

Not Eating Breakfast

You don’t have to eat a giant breakfast at the crack of dawn to be healthy. But at some point during the morning you should eat something – even if it’s a banana with some peanut butter on it.
 
If you don’t eat when you’re hungry, you can weaken your body and make your brain unable to focus.

Constant Email Reading

Even at work you should not check your email all the time. Checking email (and social media) is a trap that might take you down a rabbit hole of no return.
Instead, set a timer to check your email and social media or any other communication channel. You can do this three or four times a day at set times.

Sitting For Long Periods of Time

You can’t always help it, but if you sit for work then go home and sit some more, you’re making a big mistake. This can impact your health and make it hard for you to do your job at all.
Find ways to move around the office more. Take small walks or volunteer for the food runs.

Complaining About Everything

This can be a habit that sneaks up on you. You may not even realize that you’re doing it. .
To stop doing this, recognize the behavior. Say something nice instead of something negative.

Comparing Yourself To Others

This can be a big mistake. You have no idea what the person has experienced in their life or what happens to them at home.
 
This habit can erode your confidence. It can cause you to second guess yourself and make you look incompetent.

Thinking You’re a Great Multitasker

Here’s some news for you; no one is good at multitasking. If you’re trying to multitask – even if it’s required at work, it’s going to be hard to get things done . 

Multitasking Can Result in Mediocrity

Do what you can to get out of that situation. Do your best work by keeping your mind on one thing at a time.

If you can replace these habits with good habits, you may end up becoming irreplaceable at work. Or you might boost your business to the next level.

The main thing you want to do is to at least recognize which bad habits you have. Then you can plan to combat them with good ones.

JohnK 8-7-2023
stick man hears about habitsOverheard: “All people are the same; only their habits differ.”
~Confucius
disclaimer for habits

Why Stress Is Terrible For Problem Solving

July 31, 2023 John Uncategorized No comments

You know that stress can be bad for your health. And it can make a big problem even bigger

Start downsizing that problem with a GenuLines look at how this happens.

Why Stress Is Terrible For Problem-Solving

Got a challenging problem that’s stressing you out? Is it preventing you from working to the best of your abilities?

Man feeling stress

 

Then take a lie down!

Lying down on the job might sound like the worst thing you could do when you have a problem. But it’s one of the very best options of all.

Let’s take a look at why…

 

 

Neurochemistry And Problem-Solving

Your brain reaches a different state when necessary. And it uses different neurochemistry to get there.

When we’re stressed, our body assumes that we are in immediate danger. It responds by putting us in the ‘fight or flight’ mode.

This means you’re flooded with norepinephrine, dopamine, and cortisol – stress hormones.

They have many effects on the body. From contracting our muscles to clotting our blood (helps us survive injury). to taking blood and energy away from digestion and immune functions.

And these give you intense focus.

You get ‘tunnel vision’ so that you can escape from the threat you’re facing. This is very useful if you need to keep your eye on the terrain while a leopard chases you.

But it’s not very helpful when facing the kinds of problems you encounter in the office.

Creativity and Problem-Solving

To be specific you have to be able to think outside the box and to make connections between disparate ideas. That’s why you’re actually at your most creative in a relaxed state – even when you’re close to sleep.

The hypnagogic brain produces many creative works and scientific breakthroughs. And, by definition, this happens right before dozing off..

In fact, studies show that sitting in a more supine position increases creative thinking.

Likewise, the color green alone is enough to help us increase creativity. That’s because we associate it with being in natural environments.

Even alcohol can help increase creativity in some circumstances. It’s a depressant that puts us in a subdued state (though GenuLines is not recommending that you do this.)

Next time you’re faced with a difficult problem, remember this. Your stress will only make it tougher to find the answer.

So relax, take a breather, and come back to it when you feel calmer!

JohnK 7-31-2023

chiforyourself.com

 

stick figure hears about stressOverheard: “Adopting the right attitude can convert a negative stress into a positive one.”

– Hans Selye

 

 

disclaimer for stress

 

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