Having the skills to keep good emotional health is significant if we want to succeed in our lives. For example, as we’ve seen during the pandemic, the world of life is less predictable than ever, and it’s especially important to adjust our emotions when we are faced with tough situations. 【小题1】 So our ability to have skills to manage both our positive and negative emotions is key. There are many ways to maintain or even improve our emotional health.

Stay connected. While living alone can be fun and thrilling, you may feel lonely especially while passing through difficult times in life. Community is important. 【小题2】 Online connections are good, but seeing someone in person once in a while is helpful too.

Exercise, Physical and mental health are interlinked. Staying physically active for at least 30 minutes a day can help to improve your overall emotional health. So why not take on a daily workout routine? But you don’t have to make the workout too hard. 【小题3】

Find meaning in your life. Some people have jobs that give them a feeling of purpose, but that’s not the only way to find meaning in your life. 【小题4】 Something as simple as caring for a pet or volunteering for a cause that you’re passionate about can also give you that feeling.

【小题5】 You don’t have to handle negative emotions on your own. Knowing when to reach out to a mental health professional for help with difficult emotions is a useful skill to have. You should also reach out to one if you have tried to improve your emotional health, but still aren’t feeling your best.

Often, people go along with what others are doing just to fit in. 【小题1】 . The thing is, just because everyone else is doing something doesn’t automatically mean that it’s the right thing for you. The following steps can help you figure it out.

#1 Stop and think

【小题2】 . It doesn’t require much thinking. You simply conform (从众) because you haven’t sought out answers on your own. But when it comes to making decisions, you should stop and carefully think about the options. This extra effort will almost always result in a better choice — one that you are less likely to regret.

#2【小题3】

Taking the time to look for more facts, statistics, and evaluations in addition to analyzing our own perspectives (观点) and personal needs can help better evaluate the situation. And if factual information indicates that a particular option is not good for you individually, then following the crowd is probably not the best decision.

#3 Consider the specific situation

Generally, we’re weighing what’s best for ourselves with what’s best for others as well.【小题4】. If you have enough information to make a choice on your own, then go ahead, and make your decision. And if you’re unsure about something or need the help of others to get something done, then listening to other people’s opinions could be a better option.

#4 Seek out multiple perspectives

Since having a one-sided approach to things frequently results in biased (片面的) and poor decision-making, it’s generally best to evaluate your choices from different angles. 【小题5】. While it may seem like everyone is doing that thing you are thinking about doing, it’s likely not the case — something you’ll discover if you keep an open mind.

In this section we consider what you can do to train your brain to improve your game playing skills.

Daily workout

It is very easy to find tactical puzzles and train. However, you must try to solve them. Don’t just stare at the position for 10 seconds and then turn to the solution. You won’t learn anything. Have a go at trying to solve the puzzle. If you got it right then great — well done. However, if you got it wrong, then have another look. Ask yourself questions such as the following:

Why did I get it wrong?

What was wrong with my solution?

What was the weakness that the tactic exploited?

Where can you find tactical puzzles?

It’s easy. They are everywhere. Many newspapers, including Independent, and magazines have a daily or weekly chess puzzle. Key “chess puzzles” into Google and you’ll find a whole load of them. There are plenty of puzzle books.

Use software

Nowadays chess software is terribly cheap. World Champion Vladimir Kramnik recently lost a match 4 — 2 against a software program. This program is available for about ￡30.

In general, people use chess software for the wrong reasons. They often play game after game against the machine and get beaten every time. Bored with this, they turn the playing level right down so that the program is almost playing random moves and then they can beat it every time and feel better.

Neither method will help you improve. However, chess software can be a fantastically useful learning tool if used in two particular ways.

The first is if you have tried to solve a puzzle but it’s a bit too difficult and you don’t really understand the solution. Never mind — well done for trying. Now set the position up on the program and try different moves. Chess software is faultless at tactical play. It will instantly tell you the right and wrong moves and why they do or don’t work.

Secondly you can run over games you have played to learn where you have gone wrong and where you could have improved. Get into the habit of keeping the score (i.e. writing down the moves) of games that you play. This will help you to improve and refine your understanding of tactical themes and patterns.