Self Improment
Introduction
It is every parent's dream to provide a good life for his or her children. Being a 35-year-old single father of three children with a salary of 50,000 dollars per year, life is not easy. I am trying to save for my children’s college, save for retirement, and pay my bills. There are many challenges in life that require me to find a better paying job. However, I have realized that for me to achieve the objectives I have in life, I must develop the right mindset. As such, I developed the plan below to improve my life, which mostly involves developing a positive mindset.
Improving my life would include relinquishing and letting go of things I cannot control. The main point here would be to empower myself to change the things I can manage to change and ignore the rest. It would be a bad idea to expend energy trying to control other things. In letting go of things I cannot control, I can develop a positive visualization of my life and children that would increase the possibilities of achieving a good and successful life. Human beings create their realities through their intentions and thoughts. As such, it would be important to note the objectives and goals that can help in improving our lives.
The moment after divorce is always challenging to both men and women. Since I am taking care of my children and trying to save for retirement, there are high chances that I will develop stress within the way. According to Dan Gardner, nobody knows what the future holds. Despite hoping for the best, the chances are that the situation can get worse (Gardner, 2011). As such, it would be important for me to get connected with how and why things will happen. Connecting with the two will help increase my energy level, overcome setbacks and adversity, and think more clearly. Getting connected with one’s why helps in discovering their life’s purpose, which changes their lives for the better.
The situation would also require me to have mental discipline, which can be achieved through meditation and mindfulness. Having a mental discipline will play a great role in guiding me in the right things to do in the challenging times. It will be important for me to be aware of my emotions, react with empathy and compassion, and slow down my heart rate and activities through presenting the present moment. Meditation will be important since it will help lower the risk of depression, and at the same time help me develop better stress management. The main reason behind this is to avoid chronic anxiety. In Emotional Intelligence, Goleman says how divorce can lead to depression and sadness to individuals (Goleman, 1995). Since I have the responsibility of taking care and providing for my children, I will put efforts towards fighting long periods of pessimism and sadness. Meditation will help me focus on the positive things in life, rather than showing incessant hostility and unremitting tension to the children. The low finances will be required to do the important things in our lives. As such, taking part in meditation will help me avoid the risk of getting chronic anxiety diseases such as peptic ulcers and heart diseases that will use a lot of money.
I will move towards a better life by showing confidence in all the things that I will be doing. Confidence is a very important aspect of the human lives. However, many people struggle to find confidence, with the lack of confidence making it difficult for many people to become successful. It will be important to note that my children will be looking up at me. Being confident will also inspire confidence in them, which will help them in realizing that things are under control. Gaining the confidence of these children will help me find success. It will be important for me to know how to show confidence to my children, which can be done through body language, behavior, how one speaks, and what one says.
I will improve my life by learning how to open up. The sad thing is that despite many men going through problems, they are always unwilling to open up or articulate their emotions. It is always important for one to learn how to share and verbalize their doubts. As a divorced father who is trying to improve his life and that of his children, articulating my problems to professional counselors will play a great and important role towards improving my life. Sharing my insecurities, worries and doubts will be the first step towards achieving a better life.
Conclusion
In conclusion, improving my life will require me to have a positive mindset, which will be achieved by learning how to maintain a positive outlook by filtering the negative. Filtering the negative messages, including those found in the media and social media, can change everything. It will be important to tell myself a better story, which will help me in picking the correct message.
References
Gardner, D. (2011). Future babble: Why expert predictions fail and why we believe them anyway. London: Virgin Books.
Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional intelligence. New York: Bantam Books. New York : Bantam Books
