Written by: Hamsah Smadi, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Ambitious people usually strive to reach their predetermined goals, by putting all the energy, effort, skills, time, and money needed to succeed. There is a common pattern of thinking that to be successful you should spend long hours at work and perhaps skip mealtimes and rest time. Many people believe that success and excellence depend on making continuous effort without interruption or stopping. Which in return may make them neglect some parts of their life like: family and sport in order to be able to focus on career goals for example. Reality shows that this is not considered as the best success model to follow.
In their book “Peak Performance”, Brad Stulberg and Steve Magness show by real life examples of the most successful people in the world that many scientific studies indicate the idea that when a person is mentally and physically exhausted, he becomes less giving and less able to achieve a goal or resist stress and tiredness.
And according to these same studies, people who fulfill their different human needs are better able to continue in any activity and achieve impressive results. Not only that, but the brain becomes stronger and more active and is able to make more effort in the upcoming periods of work, and this is in short, the growth equation: (effort and stress + rest = growth and success).
So, if you want to be a high achiever here are some golden rules you can follow:
1. Balance is a keyword. We play different roles in our lives, you can be a parent, pursuing a career as a doctor and practicing hobbies or sports. You can be a daughter, a mother and a manager. Balancing your roles by managing your time effectively and efficiently through allocating your time and effort will bring you the feeling that you are enjoying your life and making success at the same time.
2. Stress is a double-edged sword. A reasonable amount can be a source of motivation and achievement. While too much stress is a source of feeling burnt-out and is energy draining. The key is to define your aim behind each activity you do to decide if it is worth it to bear the stress accompanied by it. Another way is to stop multitasking, and instead focus on one task at a specified time so you can achieve more desired results and avoid as much unsolicited stress as possible. The third tip is to take short breaks between tasks so you can take a few deep breaths and recharge.
3. Do not compare yourself to others. Each one of us has their own story, circumstances, personality type, life goals and level of motivation. If a partner or colleague can work 4 hours continuously without stop and still feeling good, you don’t need to do the same. Do what is best compatible with your goals, level of stamina and personal characteristics.
4. Get enough sleep. It is not new to say that having healthy sleeping pattern should significantly affect your ability to be more active and present while doing your work and delivering your tasks. Enough sleeping hours can be different to different people but generally experts say you need about 6 – 8 hours of sleep each night.
5. Do not mix work with other personal activities. When you are having lunch break do not check your emails nor make business calls. When you are at work eliminate distractions and any personal chats or taking care of personal issues, so you keep focused and organized.
6. Do some priming activities before start working on an important task. Priming basically means exposing yourself to a stimulus that helps to influence your performance positively. For example before an important meeting, task or decision you can listen to your favorite song that uplifts your mood and makes you feel good. Another example is reminding yourself of a past successful experience when you achieved a goal or purpose, you can use sticky notes to write your best traits that led to the previous success, and use this as a reminder to yourself.
And above all surrounding yourself with positive relationships and fulfilling your physical and emotional needs will definitely aid you to reach wherever you want to be.
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Hamsah Smadi, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Hamsah Smadi is a certified positive psychology coach, who holds an MBA in Marketing and has worked as a university lecturer for several years. She has been always interested in studying human behavior and has given many workshops on positive psychology topics and coached dozens of people through individual coaching sessions, helping them identify their strengths and how to use them in the right balance to: achieve their goals, cope with difficulties, overcome obstacles and achieve their life goals.
As a loving mother of three active kids and a survivor of Fibromyalgia, she coaches mothers – especially with chronic illnesses such as Fibromyalgia – and help them manage parenting stress and feelings of guilt and inadequacy by focusing on strength points rather than weaknesses and turning motherhood into a more enjoyable role.
She has a published book titled: A Black Hole: The Journey of Self-Exploration from Chaos to Awakening in Arabic. In which she put the most important tools of positive psychology and ways to use them to improve life and achieve well-being.
