KCBD NewsChannel 11 LubbockHow to keep a healthy outlook

President's Prescription

How to keep a healthy outlook

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By Karin McCay - email
By Jordyn Nelson - email

Comparing our successes and failures with those of others is inevitable, but too much of it can lead to a caustic mind-set.  Here are tips to keep an emotionally healthy outlook:

  • Set specific goals. Everyone has dreams, but not everyone sets goals.  Accomplishing a series of doable small goals builds genuine self-confidence and enables the accomplishment of larger goals.
  • Play to your strengths.  Not everyone is made to run a marathon or become a concert pianist.  Know your own abilities and work to enhance them.  Family, friends, and co-workers are often good sources of perspective.  Understanding your natural competencies and striving to use them also builds self-esteem.
  • Track your successes.  It's often easy to lose sight of what you've done.  We'll if you're focused on what you've not yet achieved.  So log your achievements to help yourself along your path to success. 
  • Count your blessings.  Rather than focusing on what others have that you don't, reflect on those things you have that others don't.  This gives you a balanced lens through which to view your life.

From the Texas Tech Health Sciences Center, I'm Dr. Tedd Mitchell, and this is the President's Prescription.