Do you want to be excited about your day? Do you want to go through your day with enthusiasm? 【小题1】 How could that happen? Based on my experiences, here is how to be excited about your day.

Have something to be grateful for.

You can’t be excited about your day if you are complaining. You need to build an attitude of gratitude. To build it, find something to be grateful for and fill your mind with it.

You could start with something simple that you might take for granted, such as living in peace or being healthy. 【小题2】 For instance, when something went wrong, focus on the lessons that you can learn from it, not on the downsides. This will put you in a positive frame of mind.

Have something to look forward to.

【小题3】 For instance, when Bill Gates was asked about the one thing that most excites him to start his day, his answer was “learning new things”. That is the thing that he looks forward to.

What is the answer in your case? Having a cause that matters to you will help you a lot here. 【小题4】

Manage your energy.

While the two points above can help you start your day with enthusiasm, they might not be enough to sustain (支撑) you throughout the day. For this, you need to manage your energy. 【小题5】 As for your mental energy, you can start with a “quiet time” in the morning to help you stay centered throughout the day. Also, avoid filling your mind with negative thoughts. If someone said something bad to you, take the positive takeaway and move on.

September is the month of new arrivals. International students and young professionals arrive in other countries eager to find their new home. Living in a foreign country is hard, and you need to learn to adjust to life there. 【小题1】

Find a new level of open-mindedness. Living abroad long-term requires a whole new level of opening your mind towards everything new, especially if the country has a very different culture to what you’ve been used to. 【小题2】Try not to get frustrated and accept this fact, and it will make your life easy and stress-free.

Don’t have expectations. You may visualize what your new life abroad is going to be like. 【小题3】Instead of expecting too much, do your research, and read more about the culture. Chat with a local about what real life is like. This will help you build a real picture and prepare yourself for the move.【小题4】

When you can’t find an apartment, and your new job starts in a few days, you might think everything is just awful and there’s no way out. What’s so positive about that, you may ask? Well, the universe might be saving your dream apartment for you, so don’t lose hope.

Create a new social circle. It’s common to feel lost and lonely in a new environment.【小题5】Where to make friends? At your job or university you’re likely to meet people, who have recently moved abroad just like you. Take a look online: There should be many social events around your home.

Getting negative feedback never feels good. In fact, it pretty much always sucks. Even though it feels bad, constructive feedback is meant to help us grow and improve. Here are some strategies that can help you use negative feedback constructively, leading to positive change.

【小题1】 Your instinct may be to get upset or justify yourself instantly, but it’s important to remain as professional as possible in the moment. Even when your criticizer is factually wrong, the response “You’re wrong!” won’t ever be helpful. The key is to listen without planning your reply. Simply nod until the other person has completely finished.

Recognize the good intentions. Remember, the people who will give you tough feedback are the people who really care about your success. People who tell you only what they know you want to hear don’t really care about you.【小题2】

Don’t let it harm your confidence. Whatever you do, don’t allow negative feedback to destroy your self-esteem.【小题3】 Whatever went wrong won’t define you forever if you apply the feedback constructively and use it to your advantage.

Practice self-affirmation.【小题4】 It can be helpful to remind yourself of other aspects of your identity that are not in question to boost your confidence. For example, you could say: “Yes, my team thinks I’m a micromanager, but I can work on that, I am also a nice partner, committed volunteer and talented singer.’’

Set actionable goals. It can be helpful to break down the feedback into specific, actionable goals. 【小题5】 Set time to outline an action plan and timeline for each of these goals. With this, you can keep track of your progress and hold yourself accountable to your goals.

Though negative feedback may be disheartening, take the necessary steps to become an even better version of yourself.