Self-Sufficiency Promotes A Healthy Mindset

‘Happiness belongs to the self-sufficient.’ Aristotle.

 

A healthy mindset is the key to live a happy life. If you seek fulfillment or meaning, you have to do everything in your power to ensure that you adopt the right mindset. You must align your thoughts to what you want to achieve.

 

The greatest battle always occurs in the mind. What you allow in your mind determines whether you will succeed or fail. To have a chance to make significant accomplishments, you must be in control of thoughts and your emotions. You must be able to shut out negativity and distance yourself from anything that diminishes your confidence. It is only once you develop a positive attitude that you can win during life’s greatest battles. Only then can you have a healthy outlook on life, with the promise of endless possibilities.

 

Why you should be more reliant on yourself.

 

‘Self-sufficiency is a deep-rooted sense of completeness and stability.’ Dr. Steve Taylor.

 

Self-dependence weans you from being overly reliant on other people for your happiness and success. Being incapable of doing certain things for yourself gives other people too much power over you. It leaves you vulnerable. This is why people form unhealthy attachments to certain things or certain people. Never give people room to hurt or manipulate you by showing them that you cannot fully function without their help. Take responsibility for your life and make decisions that are best for you. You can take control of your life by acquiring skills that help you be more self-sufficient. 

 

For example, if you are too dependent on your partner in a romantic relationship, having them do everything for you, will be difficult for you to recover if that partner leaves your life. It is the same logic for reliance on drugs or alcohol. Once you remove them from the picture, you may fail to cope with certain things. If you are too dependent on your job, what happens when you get retrenched or when you cannot perform the duties you used to? What if the only solution available is resigning? What will you do then?

 

Self-sufficiency allows you to bounce back from any form of adversity. It may not prevent bad things from happening to you, but it gives you the strength to pick up the pieces and move on with your life. It gives you control over your emotions and how you react to negative circumstances. Above that, it helps you deal with failure more healthily. You get to be more compassionate and patient with yourself when you make mistakes, instead of beating yourself up and condemning yourself as a failure.

 

The link between independence and mental health.

 

Being confident makes you feel good about yourself. It boosts your self-worth when you know you can achieve anything you set your mind to. This promotes a healthy self-image. Instead of cowering back and living life in the shadows, you step out and do whatever it takes to make your mark.

 

Having that sense of self-worth and knowing that your life is meaningful promotes good mental health. The knowledge that you have the skills to make meaningful contributions in the workplace will make you confident to take on more tasks that challenge you. You become motivated to discover more of your potential. You volunteer to do the heavy lifting because you know that you have the strength for it. 

 

People who center their life on other people’s thoughts and opinions often pay for it mentally. They have little confidence in themselves and their abilities and often rely heavily on other people for guidance. This leaves them dissatisfied as they live according to other people’s standards instead of their own. Such people hardly make big decisions without consulting others, leaving room for self-doubt to rear its head. This leads to frustration and depression, as they fail to live up to their potential. It happens often that such people lose out on opportunities to do great things because they were more concerned with what people would think or say. 

 

Being self-reliant allows you the control you need over your destiny. You become bold enough to stand for what you believe in and cannot be swayed from your path. Even when the people around you doubt you, being self-sufficient gives you the confidence to give your most daunting dreams a shot. You take more risks, applying yourself to things that you would normally be too afraid to try. You do not give audience to the fears and insecurities of others when you have faith in your strength and capabilities. It is this attitude that leads to great accomplishments. It motivates you to aim higher and achieve more goals until success is a guarantee. 

 

Self-sufficiency has roots in self-acceptance. When you are sure of yourself and fully aware of your strengths and weaknesses, you learn to embrace who you are. Your shortcomings cease to make you feel inadequate. You develop a healthy self-image, viewing yourself as a person worth attention and respect. Self-love is a vital ingredient to overall health. Placing a high value on yourself teaches others to value you. 

 

Being self-sufficient contributes to your overall well-being. You develop a healthier image of yourself when you have control over your emotions, thoughts, decisions, and actions.

 

Being able to rely upon yourself- to admit that you and you alone handle your life- is a considerable step toward self-confidence and realizing your dreams. It is in your best interest, as it promotes a healthy mindset.

 

Self-Sufficiency Helps You Stay True To Your Purpose

If you asked some people today the reason why they stopped pursuing their dreams and the life they once believed in, you will learn from the answers why independence and confidence in oneself are important. You will discover that some stopped because they felt no one believed in their dreams or, they couldn’t get financial support until they felt they were now behind time. Some will also tell you that they’ve been let down enough to stop believing in the possibility of their goal coming true. Others will also tell you that the people they looked up to disappointed and killed the fire that once burned within them. One thing is common from the listed and similar answers; they did not believe they could do it themselves or that they could succeed in getting the life many people have failed to sustain. 

 

The big question following the scenarios is, what if you didn't have friends, family, or community from whom you expected to get models and support among other things? What would your excuse be? Would you just let life pass you by while you bury yourself in self-pity? Life will always be complicated and people won't always live up to our expectations. That is the reason we speak of self-sufficiency, one's ability to sustain themselves without the help of others. This does not relate only to monetary issues but mental, emotional, and behavioral issues as well. Where one has full control of all these aspects of their life, nothing can stand in their way. Living life the way they understand and want it gets easier. Below is how self-sustenance can help you stay true to your purpose:

 

1.  You define the world in your terms – self-sustenance allows you to create your world of possibilities not limited by other people's doubts and pessimism. The inherent mental strength in independent people allows them to question, filter, and use information and thoughts in a way that empowers them. They do not follow others blindly. Consequently, the only limits they have are those they set themselves. If you set yourself on a path of independence with this much inner strength, the only external influence that manages to bring about change in your life will always take you a step closer to your dream. 

 

2.  Immunity to peer pressure – sometimes people fail to live life to the fullest because they give in to pressure from their peers. Peer influence has led many to adopt questionable lifestyles and out of character as they try to fit in or be as "successful as others". By so doing, they abandon the path that is meant for them, a life that completes them, just for instant gratification. A sense of independence, self-sustenance, and valuing your unique qualities will help you understand the importance of choosing a path different from that of your peers. As a result, you remain at peace with progressing at your own pace, where seeking validation and support from friends would divert you or slow you down.

 

3.  Being in charge of your life – self-sufficient people do not need others to feel complete. They are psychologically and financially able to run their own lives and only allow other people in willingly. Thus, they control whatever happens in their lives rather than being controlled by circumstances. This much charge over your life makes it easier to stay on track because you do things the way they suit you and your dreams. It is almost impossible to be a pushover or have others use you for their gain if you know what you want and how or when to get it. Your priorities are in order and you limit other people’s access to you.

 

4.  Functional relationships – independent people with a purpose have relationships too. However, they are intentional in forming them. Most importantly, they do not establish or maintain relationships just to please people and try to fit in. Rather, they choose friends according to the value they bring into their lives. This keeps away distractions especially from unnecessary squabbles, gossips and bad influence et cetera. Where success is concerned, it is better to keep your inner circle smaller and more strategic. How many unhealthy or unpurposeful relationships have you kept at the expense of your peace or other valuables only because those people contribute something you think you need at that moment?

 

5.  Staying focused on your goals – although self-sufficient people do meet challenges too, they are more prepared to deal with them and keep moving. The psychological wellbeing aspect of self-sufficiency enables them to filter information healthily while it keeps them optimistic. Their mental strength helps them believe in their dreams and have confidence in themselves. To add to that, their ability to take care of themselves means they are free from pressure to do things a certain way and within a certain period even when it is working against them. All these keep the mind clear and focused on what matters.

 

The Importance Of Self-Sufficiency

Self-sufficiency as a way of life is not farfetched. It is just about people choosing to take full responsibility for their wellbeing including their financial, physical, and psychological needs without the help of others. This doesn’t mean that they do not need other people. Rather, contributions from others are limited as the person claims full control over their life. However, the ability to navigate through life with minimal ‘supervision’ and aid is demanding. In a world that is characterized by oversharing, exploitation in its various forms, indifference, and a poor economy et cetera, it takes a lot of discipline and mental strength to keep a level head. 

 

While many dread this path less traveled, it is proving to be the best for many who still pursue a decent and fulfilling life. Not everyone is cut out for this fast-paced life where people want quick results, 'freedom', money, and the picture-perfect kind of life. Highly publicized as the seemingly perfect moments of this 'high life' may be, it is often not a true representation of reality. Even if it was, what would be the meaning of life if we let others set the pace and define it for us? That is where self-sustenance comes in to enable us to get the life we would miss if we were to be less assertive in our way of life. It paves a way for the following:

 

1.  Control – self-reliance allows people to live and interpret life on their own terms. The ability to reason, assess situations and effectively make decisions, which they derive from the psychological part of independence, helps them retain their sanity even in the most challenging situations. People who are mentally weak and are emotionally immature are often controlled by circumstances and whoever they rely on. This makes following their dreams difficult as they allow themselves to be tossed to and fro. In some cases, it is as bad as having a partner dictate to the other how often they should leave the house, who they should talk to, and the type of career to pursue among other things. This leads to nothing but wasted lives and it happens when people lack confidence in themselves. They don't believe they can be anything more valuable without the other person. Being in charge of your life also protects you from exploitation.

 

2.  Peace of mind – the satisfaction people get from learning to be content with what they have as they do things at a comfortable pace keeps them at peace with themselves. Some people lack peace not because they don’t have enough to keep going. Instead, it is usually as a result of using others as their standard of success or they allow their acquaintances and family to put pressure on them. They feel like they have failed when they can’t keep up. Mental and emotional independence enable people to appreciate their unique journeys and handle delay, pain, and misfortune better. Also, mental and emotional maturity keep people from magnifying their problems, which minimizes anxiety.

 

3.  Staying true to your purpose – it is nearly impossible to know your purpose and stick to it if you rely on others for a sense of self and well-being. People who lack self-confidence and often seek validation are easily swayed to the side. They question their actions and the validity of their dreams which makes it easy for them to only have confidence in things that have been done or approved by the people they look up to or their peers. Living one's purpose requires the determination to live a unique life and being prepared to walk alone sometimes.

 

4.  Growth – in any area of life, there is no better way of learning than being hands-on. The same applies to personal lives. The best way to learn and grow is by being actively involved. First, it allows you to test your abilities and discover your strength by applying your skills and trying new things. This helps you know what to do to achieve your goals. Second, it allows you to test your strategies and make your mistakes which helps you improve your strategies and learn to deal with failure and other challenges.

 

5.  Discipline – self-discipline is one of the ways that are commonly used to identify people who have responsibilities. It is rare for people who have never handled responsibilities at a personal level to have self-control and willpower. Those who do probably have big plans for their lives and are planning to be self-reliant. Attempts at self-sufficiency force one to be disciplined especially financially and socially, which is a commendable character trait. 

 

6.  Healthy relationships – independent people often have the most genuine and successful relationships. This is often the case for friendships and romantic relationships. The goal is to find friends or partners they like and understand. It is not a secret that some get into these relationships seeking security and other benefits. Relationships formed on such a shaky foundation are often imbalanced and eventually turn sour.

 

7.  A sense of freedom – favors can be more binding than people realize. People can easily be manipulated by or made to feel they owe the person who did them a favor. It can also give such people a certain level of dominance especially if you keep going back to them for support.

 

Cleanliness is Next to Stresslessness

It may seem like a no brainer for some and a surprise for others, but stress is highly associated with clutter. While living with depression can often increase the risk of clutter, studies have shown that the more clutter you are surround in, the more stressful an experience you will have. Living and working in a clean environment is a surefire way to begin eliminating stress from your life. Whether it’s just tidying up more regularly or doing a major overhaul of your clutter, the moral of the story is the same. Less mess equals less stress. 

 

It can be frustrating for many to keep up on household tasks. This is especially true for people who live with others and have varying standards of cleanliness. A good way to address this issue is to assign those you live with specific tasks that you can work on so that the stress of cleaning up after others is eliminated as well as the messes themselves. 

 

If you find that you are struggling with people who don’t want to help you keep your environment clean, sometimes the best way to handle it is to take responsibility for yourself and yourself only. Clean your own dishes, do your own laundry, and claim a space for yourself that you can easily maintain without the interference of others. This will help you to wash your hands of a problem that can sometimes seem to have no solution. 

 

If you find it difficult to keep up on household duties and maintaining a clutter free environment, don’t worry. You’re not alone. You could very easily begin to improve. Take small steps at first in putting a system in place that you can maintain. If things are bad, start one room at a time until completion and have a plan ready to keep it maintained. Set rules for yourself using charts and planners and alarm reminders so you know that on a certain day you will be dusting and doing regular household upkeep.

 

Once everything is deep cleaned, then maintaining that standard can be as little as ten minutes per day if you break it up into a routine. Then once a month you can begin to do a deep clean so it gets easier and easier to stay on top of the clutter. 

 

Everything can benefit from having a good system in place. This can be especially true for motivated and busy people. If you are having a hard time juggling your responsibilities and tend to put cleaning at the bottom of the list, you’re not alone. However, it would significantly reduce the stress that you are experiencing if you move cleaning up on your list of priorities and develop a regular schedule for your daily routine that includes making sure that the spaces where you spend the most time are as clean as possible! 

 

How to Use Routines to Clear Your Mind and Reduce Stress

Routines are highly underrated. Most people who are portrayed in the media as having a good work ethic and who have high standards for their lives and environments are often teased as being neurotic or obsessive over details that don’t seem to matter. However, if you pay attention to the people around you, the more organized you are, the more you are able to get accomplished in the least amount of time with the least amount of stress. 

 

One mistake that obsessively organized people make is in sweating the small details if things don’t work out the way they anticipate the first time. Some people forget to leave room for error and may become even more stressed out if things don’t go exactly according to the plan. 

 

The act of getting organized and following the routine that you set for yourself is to reduce the stress in your life, not to cause it! Fortunately for us all, there is a middle ground that we can utilize. And the key thing to remember is that we have to be realistic in our goals and leave ourselves enough wiggle room that we can easily overcome unforeseen bumps in the road.

 

While it’s important to stay flexible, it is also important to keep up on the habits and routines that you are creating. When we build a habit, it is a way for our brains to get used to a new activity that can be stressful at first, but will ultimately be chalked up to autopilot. This takes much of the stress away from the activity itself because our minds already know what is coming and our bodies are used to the challenge, making it a comfortable part of daily life, even if the activity itself is not a particularly enjoyable one. 

 

Good habits do not have to be enjoyable for us to begin finding comfort in them. In fact, even doing unenjoyable things in a routine way can begin to feel satisfying. Even if we do not like the activity, like cleaning or taking out the trash for example, we can still feel a sense of accomplishment in doing them. We are rewarded in our brains for upkeep of a good habit, and once we get it over with then we don’t have to worry about it anymore. At least until the next time.

 

It causes incredible stress to the body to dread activities that are a constant part of daily life. Most times it is far healthier to accept that they are inevitabilities and to train ourselves to deal with them promptly and efficiently so that we can move on to doing the things we really enjoy. 

 

Accepting the things we must do and forming habits and routines around them takes the pressure of dread and anticipation away and frees up your mind for the things that really matter, like spending time with your friends and family and getting your personal goals accomplished. So embrace the power of routines today!

 

Meditation as a Way to Reduce Stress and Improve Your Life

Meditation is all the rage these days. So many people are taking advantage of its benefits and allowing it to work in their lives to create true change. For those who are skeptical about how sitting still in the quiet can help them, it may seem like a waste of time to sit around and be inactive for long periods of time when they could be going out there and getting things done. 

 

While it is fair to think so, the truth is that being still and completely quiet is something that is often missing from our daily lives. It can be impossible to give ourselves a chance to reflect on the things that are happening to us in the moment, which can sometimes lead to the wrong choices being made or inaccurate snap judgments occurring. 

 

However, when we utilize meditation as a way to improve ourselves and let go of things that can continue to trouble us, it can truly open our lives up for better possibilities. Stress is often a result of not having enough of a chance to sit back and smell the roses, so to speak. Relaxation can be a great way to improve your health and state of mind, particularly if you are the kind of person who rarely slows down. Meditation is a way to force yourself to make the time you need to make to let your mind shut down for a quick reboot so that your processing power is even more powerful. 

 

For the naysayer, meditation can prove to be productive as well. It doesn’t have to be a situation where you are simply sitting still on the floor wasting your time. It can actually be a great way to improve yourself and find solutions to problems that are plaguing you or your work. Meditations can be guided toward self-improvement, achieving success, and problem solving. Meditation can help us to focus on the things that we care about most and relax our minds enough to come up with the answers to very difficult questions and situations that might seem impossible. During the quiet of meditation, it is common for the mind to finally give us an alternative approach to a problem that we may be having. Something that might otherwise be impossible to figure out under stress.

 

It can be common for people to dismiss the idea that meditation can help you, but both scientific studies and successful people in all fields will say the same thing. Meditation works, and it can be an incredible tool for anybody who is seeking to better themselves and benefit their lives.

 

How Exercise Can Help You Avoid Stress and Improve Your Life

For many of us, the idea of exercising is more stressful than just about anything else. It has become a joke for many people to imply that going to the gym is an impossible task and that they are simply content with their inactive lifestyles. While this can be fair, it is also dangerous and mentally destructive to remain too stagnant. Physical activity is one of the key ingredients in creating a healthy and stable life. There is a reason why people dread exercise; many people are caught up in cycles of depression and self-destructive behavior and habits that often prevent them from making any improvements in their lives. 

 

However, breaking through that depression is incredibly important. All of us deserve to live comfortably and stress free lives. However, when you are actively avoiding the tasks that will physically prevent you from being overwhelmed by stress and negative feelings and a sense of shame or low self-worth, whatever stress you might feel on average will be compounded. 

 

We can all agree that it is important to stay healthy. And that being an active person, within your capabilities, is crucial. We even encourage the elderly and disabled to engage in range of motion exercises. Not because we want them to feel foolish, but because it truly improves their quality of life and can lower the stresses that they may experience on a daily basis. 

 

If you’re the type of person who can enjoy the merits of exercising then you may already understand how powerful its benefits can be. Not only does exercise help your brain to produce feel good chemicals that can be natural preventatives for depression, but knowing that you are taking care of yourself is a great way to get rid of stress you may never have realized was there. Not only that, but being able to say you are taking steps to be the best self you can possibly be is a great way to find confidence within yourself and understand more about the things that you value most.

 

Exercising may not be for everybody, but it is beneficial for everyone. There are exercises that everyone can do. If you find yourself having knee trouble, consider looking into low impact exercises that will help you to improve your muscles and stay fit with the situation you must deal with.

 

Overall, staying fit has been cited as one of the cheapest cures for depression. While we can’t call it a cure officially, it is safe to say that it absolutely doesn’t hurt. Just be sure to be kind and forgiving of your body and of yourself when you are starting out. We all have different levels of performance that can and do improve over time. Be patient and treat yourself with love, as this is the most crucial step to take in living a stress-free life! 

 

Retreating from Social Media to Reduce Stress

Going dark on social media seems sometimes like the person doing it is punishing those around them for being a distraction or for disagreeing with what they do. However, it is actually healthy to disconnect every once in a while, and allow yourself to fully experience the range of your surroundings without having technology distracting you from the world around you.

 

To unplug can be a very rehabilitating experience. We are sometimes so consumed by our negative situations that we are unable to focus on the things that matter most to us. When that becomes an issue, one of the best ways to resolve it is to allow ourselves the opportunity to disengage from raining sources without feeling obligated to give more to others than we are able to do comfortably.

 

Social media can often be a draining experience for us. We are forced to compare our lives to the lives of other people who may have had more opportunities and who have accumulated more wealth. However, studies have proven that there is no faster way to low self-esteem than to compare ourselves to other people. 

 

It is a mentally, emotionally, and physically draining experience. We envy those around us even if we try to tell ourselves that we are happy for their success. And in fact, the fastest way to reduce stress can be to actually accept that everybody leads different lives and has different opportunities and try to find some genuine peace in knowing this. If you can do your best to be happy for other people and their successes rather than comparing their lives to the ways you feel you are failing or have failed, then this will reduce a huge burden of stress from your shoulders. 

 

Sometimes, it can also just be refreshing to be away from social media drama. People are constantly putting their opinions out there for the world to see, inviting and sometimes even provoking heated conversations about controversial topics. Politics, religion, and other personal issues can be flaunted and trumpeted, causing major stress for people who are simply hoping to catch up with the people in their lives they may have lost touch with. 

 

We can be reminded of all the things that we wish we had and that we are aspiring toward. It is discouraging at times to find yourself caught in a cycle of wishing for more than what is currently possible, or assuming that other people in your life are better off than you are or may ever be. But that is a trap that is perpetuated by social media, where everybody puts their best faces forward and is selective about the details they put online. Then again, some people put all their dirty laundry out there, and that can be stressful too!

 

In either case, avoiding social media for a few days can be a great way to recharge and limiting your time on these networks can be a good trick to keep in mind for those days you need to destress and recharge!

 

How to Turn Your Stressors into Success

One of the fatal flaws of the human race is a woeful lack of self-reflection. Many people haven’t stopped to think about how true it is that to know thyself is the source of true power. Instead, we too often go from day to day without the knowledge of the things that are most stressful to us, causing us to suffer from a severe disadvantage. We are pawns that can be so easily controlled by our emotions. The chains that tie us to our failures are often right in our own hands. Our minds and feelings can work against us. We are our own worst enemies. 

 

That being said, we can easily begin to help ourselves to learn how to deal with stressful situations and people. If we are our own worst enemies, we can also learn how to be our own heroes as well. If we learn how to cope with our issues and become better people as a whole, then it can be easy to see that our best bet in life is to learn the ins and outs of our own personalities if we are going to succeed.

 

For example, it can be difficult to succeed if we don’t know the things that we are vulnerable to. Some people will seek out these vulnerabilities and use them against us as a way to maintain power and control over a situation that we are involved in. if you do not want to be controlled then the easiest way to figure out how to avoid it is to know everything about yourself. Don’t advertise your emotions to others. Simply learn who you are and how you are affected by the situations that you find yourself in. 

 

Put on a poker face so to speak and learn what hurts you the most. Learn about the things that make you the angriest. Learn about how you react to provoking emotional stimuli. Learn how you can control these fatal flaws so that you are not constantly at the mercy of your emotional self. And if you are already there, then more power to you. 

 

The less affected you are by outside stimuli, the easier it is going to be for you to achieve your goals and dreams. And the less likely you are going to suffer from needless additional stress. If you can learn how to look away from situations that might otherwise stick in your gullet and cause you to feel irritation and stress, then you are going to have a major advantage. 

 

We can all benefit from knowing how to keep ourselves in check emotionally and otherwise, so learn who you are and you will be that much closer to becoming the successful person you want to be!