A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Be brave.—Lao Tzu Beginning a new venture—whether it’s heading back to school or beginning a new career—often comes with mixed emotions. You might feel excited—and ready—to begin anew and to make new connections; while you might also feel anxious about encountering new and unfamiliar challenges. No matter what’s on your mind, you deserve a clean slate as you embark on change. It’s common for people to experience fears and anxieties, negative feelings and emotions, and to feel overwhelmed and stressed, but don’t fret, you can tackle these feelings head on. Here are three tips to help:
- Take action. Stressful situations affect all of us from time to time, yet these challenges do not need to hold us back. Choose to start your new endeavor by bravely taking action and confronting stressors directly as they arise.
- Find your unique strengths. Being conscious of who you are, being true to yourself, and acknowledging your assets and abilities takes a lot of the uncertainty out of life. Harness your own personal power to wrestle with whatever stressors are getting in the way of your progress.
- Give yourself a thumbs-up daily. Deliberately choose to be brave in confronting challenges every day. Give yourself a mental thumbs-up every time you do!
And don’t forget, there are supports out there, ready to help you—the Steve Fund is one of them—if any of the challenges you are confronting seem too big to face alone.
We wish you a happy Spring 2019, and encourage you to get excited about setting some goals that matter to you. And don’t be surprised if you exceed your own expectations throughout the year!
Be well,
Anuja Khemka
Executive Director
Self-Care Blog Series: A version of this blog post originally appeared in our January 2019 newsletter edition.
