Five Essential Life Skills You Should Know

Adaptive behaviors are age-dependent skills that allow us to engage successfully in activities of daily living throughout our lives. We can also think of adaptive behaviors as skills that allow us to be flexible when change occurs in our personal lives or careers. Consider these five life skills for dealing constructively with changing circumstances in daily living.

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Stop and think to avoid misinterpretations. Give yourself time to analyze situations thoroughly. View actions and circumstances from different angles and perspectives to gain an accurate understanding of what has happened. If people are involved, communicate your concerns and ask questions to get information that might not be apparent. This will allow you to make informed choices.

Think long-term. Ask yourself "What if?" questions. Think about the consequences of dealing with a situation in various ways. Ask, "What will I lose?" and "What will I gain?" "How could this choice affect my family, friends, self, and future well being?"

Prepare for change with continuous learning. Change is a constant in everyone's life. The skills needed to meet various needs will change throughout all stages of life. We will continue to need updated knowledge in such areas as self-care, relationships, parenting, and financial.

Look beneath the surface. Welcome challenges. Every challenging situation brings the chance to grow wiser and more skillful. Somewhere, someone has successfully dealt with the same situation. Even circumstances that seem most devastating carry within them the seed of a new blessing. Those who search for these blessings will eventually find them.

Become clear on your values. the principles that guide your actions. Then look at your needs: those things that must be met in ways that remain true to your values. Ask yourself this question: "Is my reaction an attempt to meet a personal need in a healthy manner, or is it a creative solution to some other problem?" Then ask, "Is my choice of action in keeping with my core values?"

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Quick Tips on Setting Your Life Goals

If you want to succeed, you need to set goals. Without goals you lack focus and direction. Goal setting not only allows you to take control of your life's direction; it also provides you a benchmark for determining whether you are actually succeeding.

Set goals that would keep you motivated. Ask yourself why your goals are valuable and important to you. You can use this motivating value statement to help you if you start to doubt yourself or lose confidence in your ability to actually make the goal happen.

Set relevant goals. Goals should be relevant to the direction you want your life and career to take. By keeping goals aligned with this, you'll develop the focus you need to get ahead and do what you want. Set widely scattered and inconsistent goals, and you'll fritter your time – and your life – away.

Set time-bound goals. Your goals must have a deadline. Again, this means that you know when you can celebrate success. When you are working on a deadline, your sense of urgency increases and achievement will come that much quicker.
  
Frame your goal statement positively. If you want to improve your relationship with your kids say, "I will hold on to our good memories and create more memories by having more trips or play time with them".

Make an action plan. Don't forget to plan all of the steps that are needed along the way. By writing out the individual steps, and then crossing each one off as you complete it, you'll realize that you are making progress towards your ultimate goal. This is especially important if your goal is big and demanding, or long-term.

Source: UNSPLASH

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Four Best Practices for a Happier Life This 2018

Are you looking forward to having a happier home this 2018? Well, this is not impossible to achieve. You just need to make some mini moves - not resolutions - that will make your life easier this year. Read up!

Take Control of Your Tech - From constantly checking email to the endless buzz of a new Facebook notification, our tech devices can easily control our lives. Instead, make 2018 the year where you take control of your tech. For an easy way to start, resolve to stop using your phone as your alarm clock. Studies have found that the blue light emitted from electronics can have a negative effect on sleep, and that keeping your phone next to your bed makes you more likely to check your phone within just five minutes of waking up. Rather than encourage your family’s tech dependence, try setting up a charging station in the living room or kitchen. This attractive bamboo charging dock will keep phones and tablets out of the bedrooms, and in a spot where you can easily find them.

Carve Out a Space for Yourself - If it’s nearly impossible to find a space that’s just for you inside your own home, make this the year you claim a spot. Find an area to devote to your favorite hobby, and you’ll be more inclined to spend time doing what you love. Even if you can’t dedicate an entire room to your yoga practice, claim one corner of your family room for your mat, blocks, and soothing music. If the mat’s hiding in the closet, you’ll forget to take it out, but when it’s there waiting for you when you get home from work, you may just find 15 minutes for yourself. If you want to read more, create your own reading nook out of your most comfortable armchair and a small side table. Want to play guitar more often? Get a wall hook to hang the instrument where you’ll see it every day. You’re more likely to pick it up, even if it’s just for five minutes, when it’s stored out in the open.

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Cut Down on Chemicals - If you’re still using cleaning sprays that are loaded with chemicals, try replacing some of the store-bought sprays with homemade solutions. We’ve developed and tested 10 all-natural recipes that can be used to scrub every single inch of your home—and the ingredients are likely already in your kitchen. For a versatile disinfecting spray that can be used on most surfaces, combine equal parts white vinegar and vodka, add lavender and lemon essential oils, then dilute with water, says Becky Rapinchuk of Clean Mama. Each of these recipes takes less than a minute to mix up, and you’ll never have to worry about breathing in harmful fumes or wiping your countertop with chemicals.

Sync Up Your Family’s Schedules - Between piano practice, after-school clubs, and business dinners, coordinating everyone’s schedules can feel like a full-time job. Instead of doing it all yourself, let your family sync their own schedules—both in real life and virtually. In the entryway or kitchen, set up a shared calendar where each family member can add their own events. On the way out the door, it’s easy to spot what time basketball practice is that afternoon. And when your day gets busy and you can’t recall the start time, that’s where Cozi comes in. This free family organizer app lets multiple family members share one master calendar. You can set up reminders, appointments, family dinners, and even shared shopping lists, helping your family stay in sync even on busy days.

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Three Steps to Welcoming Change Positively

New years are always associated with new beginnings or changes. While these are often positive in nature, they are welcomed by most people because of the adjustments that come with them. Do you find yourself in such a dilemma? Here are some tips that can help you pull through.

Expect change. Like it or not, change will happen. It's inevitable. Anticipate it and make yourself ready for it. Also, expect all kinds of change to happen - from positive to destructive ones. This will help you plan your actions when change dawns upon your life.

Make the best out of it. One of the best ways to welcome change is to establish friendship with it. Yes, it could be difficult to handle but you must take the change that will come in whatever form. Doing so will improve your character bit by bit.

Be calm in the midst of change. There are things you wouldn't be able to understand no matter how hard you try. Instead of being angry and fearful, be relaxed while go through difficult changes in your life. But be observant of the life lessons it's teaching you.

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Steps to Overcoming the Pain of Divorce

Many say that going through divorce is much more painful than enduring the death of a loved one. Feelings of fear, guilt and shame experienced by the divorcees and their children make the event even more painful. Do you find yourself in similar situation? Here are some tips that will help you survive the pains of divorce.

Avoid denial. Accept the loss. Face the reality of it and painful feelings that come with it. Pain is a natural phenomenon by which we know that's something is broken and that it needs to be fixed. Understand that experiencing pain is normal.

Realize that the pain is temporary. You must believe that this stage  will pass and that you will get free from the pain through a step-by-step process. If you're able to get over the pain in a healthy manner, a mature version of yourself will be born soon after.

Invest your pain wisely. Use the pain you feel to grow in different areas of your life. In fact, you can support and help other divorcees or their children to become better people while you're in the process of mending your broken heart.

Give yourself enough time to heal. Total healing from pain may take years but it will not take forever. Some divorcees recover sooner compared to others because they're more intentional in searching for ways by which they can improve their situation.

Forgive and let go of the past. Unforgiveness will keep you tied with the past. Decide to forgive your ex-partner and other people who have hurt you during the divorce process even though they didn't ask to be forgiven. Pick up the lessons the past taught you and forget about the pains that resulted from it. Keep your eyes fixed on the good things that will happen in the future.

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