Quit Smoking in 60

10/10/2023

Have you ever wondered if you had what it takes to succeed? You are not alone.

Attached are some useful reminders.

16/05/2023

There’s no getting around it.

Stress is and will always be part of our day-to-day life at college/university.

But we don’t have to suffer from it constantly. There are ways to relieve stress.

If you or anyone you know at the University of the West Indies or any other university or college can benefit from this, let me know in the comments. I’ll be happy to share more information.

15/05/2023

Would you like to reduce your anxiety and stress, especially now that another semester is just around the corner?

Comment YES, and I’ll prepare something for you.

19/12/2022

First-year university student, what could you do if you get stressed or overwhelmed?

The first thing to remember is that everyone gets stressed and overwhelmed.

What is important, though, is how long you stay in that state because the longer you stay in the states of stress and overwhelm, the less time you will have to go after your goals, especially your academic goals.

I remember an incident that caused me to be overwhelmed, and it involved driving in Florida.

I don’t like driving, but I drive because I must.

What made matters worse was that I live in Jamaica, so driving in the US requires a change in mindset. I also rely on my telephone’s GPS to get from one place to the next.

This particular morning, after updating my phone, something happened, the phone would not turn on, and that meant no GPS!

I was STRESSED.

I tried to calm myself down from panic and got written directions from the computer.

I got on the highway, I-95, and everything worked for the first 20 minutes, then detours!

Of course, I chose the wrong direction and immediately knew it.

More STRESS, and I tried to talk myself down by telling myself, “Ok, you can read, you can read, you can read."

Imagine, I spent seven years in graduate school and had to remind myself that I could read!

The speed on the highway was way above my comfort zone, and to read and drive that fast was a challenge.

Heart pounding and palms sweating, I chanted, “I can read, I can read, I can read ….”

In those moments, reminding myself that I could read helped me find my way to my appointment ... eventually.

Here are three of the biggest lessons I learned from that incident:

Lesson 1 - Remembering what you already knew how to do helps in recentering;

Lesson 2 - Ask for help. I could have asked my sister to use her phone's navigation, but I tried to do it on my own;

Lesson 3 - Keep going in the direction of where you want to go; eventually, the forward movement will take you to your goal.

What have you had to talk yourself through lately? Let me know in the comments - I would love to hear your story.

PS If you want to learn more, I am launching a new training on how to master your first year at university. Click the link below to be placed on the waitlist.
https://bit.ly/universitystudent

09/12/2022

How to Manage Your Time Effectively

When you started university, you wanted to be efficient and productive, but as you go through your days, you can't help but feel frustrated, overwhelmed, and disheartened.

From the moment you wake up, you feel stressed and overwhelmed by the volume of work and the limited time to complete everything.

After a day of not feeling like you've accomplished enough, you settle in for the night only to have reoccurring thoughts about failing and not being enough repeated through your head.

Let's face it, you did not start university, only to end each day as you started it, with feelings of stress and overwhelm.

What you really want is to be fully prepared beforehand for all your lectures, make the dean's list and get more involved.

So if you want to see real progress in managing your time as a first-year university student without all the stress, you need to plan, prioritize, and practice.

Let's dive into 3 strategies that helped one of my clients go from overwhelmed to productive.

1. Use Sunday to plan. Do a "brain dump" of all the tasks that need to be accomplished in the upcoming week. Have a "Week At A Glance Planner." Fill your scheduled classes in first. This will allow you to see where there are opportunities to plan for assignments and other school-related preparations. A Weekly Planner will help you to see your week at a glance.

2. In the spaces where there are no scheduled classes, prioritize and schedule time-sensitive tasks and do them first.

3. Practice taking small, consistent actions each day until the tasks are complete.

Doing all three means, you can manage your time effectively and get things done without all the stress.

Will you try this out? Why or why not?

PS If you want to learn more, I am launching a new training on how to master your first year at university. Check my Bio to learn more.

07/12/2022

02/04/2013

Progress

Ricardo is a reporter at The Gleaner Company who has been a smoker for more than 20 years.