When I care about something, I tend to put a lot of energy into it whether it’s my career, people, or a competition. Naturally, this is a good thing! Most of the time, it makes me feel like I’m progressing and moving forward. At other times though, I feel like I’m pushing myself way beyond my limit and sometimes I even say I’m going to put 110% effort in. I used to think that putting a “little” bit more energy, as little as 10% extra, wouldn’t harm me or anyone around me, but that wasn’t true. Today, I want to share my opinions on why that 10% wasn’t necessarily good for my mental health and why we shouldn’t go past 100%.
Ten Percent Is Ten Percent Too Much
One time, I volunteered for a community event where my job was to set up tables and chairs. When the events started, I found myself answering questions from guests and performing the role of other volunteers. I was happy to help, but by the end of the event, I was socially, mentally, and physically exhausted. This common pattern happened for 10+ years of my life to the point where it almost felt instinctual for me to put the extra ten percent effort. My 110% slowly became my 100%. I normalized going past my limit.
When I realized this, my first thought was that it wasn’t so bad to have this “new limit,” but the truth was, there was no new limit for me. I was still overextending myself, straining myself mentally/physically, and giving the same amount of additional time for events or people. For example, when I was in school, I would finish classes and have 4 hours left in the day. No matter what I decided to do, 4 hours was 4 hours. If I decided to put more effort into something unplanned, I would have 2 hours left to do everything else that’s still on my agenda. So on top of unfinished tasks, I would feel stressed out and, sometimes, even pressured by deadlines.
How to Handle Times You Need To Put Extra Effort In
Well, spontaneous or not, what if I was in a predicament where I had to put in the extra effort? At times, we have to give more than our all to finish school projects, do better in competitions, or simply finish all the tasks we planned to do throughout the day. The best thing to do is to plan ahead and think about what your day will look like. If it isn’t something spontaneous, you can allocate your time properly and make an overwhelming day doable. If it’s spontaneous, as the old saying goes, roll with the punches.
Some days are going to be harder than others, and on those days, it’s important to remember that difficult days are just difficult days. Not difficult weeks, difficult months, or difficult years. Although these days can translate to those extensions of time, seeing these days as puzzle pieces of time can help remind you that these days don’t define what your life is about. They help build a bigger picture. They help define who you are.
Post At A Glance
Whenever I look at blog posts, I sometimes end up skimming through and not really finding anything helpful. So if you don’t have enough time to read the whole post, I want to say thanks for at least checking out my page! Without further ado, here’s a key takeaway from the post! Coincidently, it’s also the last part of this post 🙂 Have a great day!
Some days are going to be harder than others, and on those days, it’s important to remember that difficult days are just difficult days. Not difficult weeks, difficult months, or difficult years. Although these days can translate to those extensions of time, seeing these days as puzzle pieces of time can help remind you that these days don’t define what your life is about. They help build a bigger picture. They help define who you are.
– Joemer