6 Ways Women Can Invest in Themselves

6 Ways Women Can Invest in Themselves

We live in a modern world where women are now celebrated and admired for succeeding in spite of the challenges we experience. Society has opened up and allowed women in management and government positions. More and more women leaders around the world are making positive changes that inspire younger girls to take up space and become their own heroes. Although we have yet to fully break the glass ceiling, we have already managed to accomplish a lot of milestones that are helping other women reach their full potentials.

Ms Rossana LLenado, founder of Smart Super Women, a website that shares real-life women success stories and caters to women’s needs through job opportunities, said that it’s important for women to take care of their holistic growth and well-being. In her insightful talk through Facebook live, she shared six ways women can invest in themselves.

1. Take care of your body. No matter how busy you are, always exercise. Go outside your house for a few minutes just to get some sunlight. You can also take a 15-minute walk or do basic stretching. These activities will help strengthen your body. You can avoid illnesses caused by an unhealthy lifestyle by being physically fit and by eating a balanced diet. Getting enough sleep and taking vitamins also help in boosting our immune system especially during this global pandemic. Also, try to learn a few self-defense techniques, it might come in handy.

2. Your mental health matters. Find a few minutes to relax and clear your thoughts every now and then. Good mental health can be practiced by clearing our minds and getting rid of toxic thoughts. It’s also good to keep on learning every day. Having a mentor who will teach you life lessons, new skills, and stress-management will help you go a long way. They will guide you in making wiser choices and good decisions. As Sir Isaac Newton said, “If I have seen further, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.”

3. Maintain your social connections. Marriage and kids can be very demanding especially if you’re also working. Now that we have more time at home due to the quarantine period, we can use these extra hours to reach out to friends we haven’t talked to for years or to say hello to our relatives and family members. Maintaining social connections are crucial in our growth and they also help us release built-up stress from work and home. It’s not easy to connect but it’s always worth it.

4. Stay away from negative people. Social media feeds are full of negative posts and bad news which apparently take a toll on your psychological well-being. That’s why it’s important to choose which information you want to consume. It’s okay to unfollow negative people and to stay away from news that is stressful. Try to read positive contents, consume therapeutic art, and listen to relaxing music. These will help you develop a positive mindset and hopeful attitude. It is also necessary for you as a woman, to be kinder to yourself especially when you make mistakes.

5. Save up for the rainy days. Millions of people lost their livelihood this year and it’s a reminder for everyone to always prepare for the rainy days. If you have yet to learn how to save and invest, now is your time. Learn how to manage your finances and always save a portion of what you earn. Do not spend on unnecessary items and create an emergency fund. Remember, if you save your money today, it will save you tomorrow.

6. Keep the faith. Always pray and ask for guidance every day. Start your day with a grateful and open heart. Have faith that everything will work out as long as you put in the necessary effort and hard work. There will be times where you will go off-course but those times won’t last. If you didn’t receive a blessing yet, become the blessing for others. Because when you keep your faith, help will always be given to you.

Photo by Becca Tapert on Unsplash

How to be a Smart Super Woman for the Better Normal

How to be a Smart Super Woman for the Better Normal

For most people around the world, 2020 is a year of stagnancy. Workers have lost their jobs, students have stopped going to school, and businesses have closed down. But for Ms. Rossana Llenado, founder and president of AHEAD – the leading and most awarded tutorial and review center in the Philippines, this year holds a lot of learning opportunities especially for Smart Super Women.

During her Facebook live seminar on June 18 – which garnered more than 51,000 views, 2600 comments, and 679 shares from different parts of the world – Ms. Llenado shared her views about different topics including life goals, marriage, family matters, education, mentorship, business, among others. She started her talk by introducing the 8 A’s of what a Smart Super Woman of today should be – alert, agile, adaptable, action-oriented, adept, agreeable, altruistic, and ahead-thinking. These characteristics are crucial in our wholistic growth as women especially if we want to become better individuals.

As a leader and visionary, Ms. Llenado highlights the importance of planning life goals in our success. According to her, the short-term goal at this time is survival. We have to make sure that we come out healthy and alive from this global pandemic. After that, we have to start thinking about our medium-term goals – whether that’s changing careers or improving our life in general. Lastly, we have to identify and move towards our end goal because everything we do should be of service to what we want to achieve in the end.

To become a Smart Super Woman, it is necessary for women to invest in themselves. This means exercising daily, making sure that we learn something new every day, finding a mentor, maintaining social connections, disconnecting from negative people, and always keeping the faith. Doing these things will mold and transform women into better versions of themselves especially at this time.

Being a woman is not an easy task because of the multitasking involved in our daily lives. A housewife is already a super woman given all the chores that she needs to finish every single day and a working mother is another kind of hero that we should all look up to. It is not an easy feat to do everything that’s why Ms. Llenado stressed that women should be kinder to themselves. Nobody is perfect and women especially, should never beat themselves for failing short of their expectations. Committing mistakes is normal and it doesn’t and will never make us less of a woman.

At the end of her talk, Ms Llenado emphasized that educators and parents should continue investing in their children’s education. South Korea and Singapore, two of the world’s most progressive economies managed to put their names on top because of their commitment to education. The current situation is not an excuse for students and for everyone to stop learning. For teachers and parents, this new normal is a challenge and also an opportunity to explore online learning channels such as AHEAD Alpha that offers online K-12, homeschool support, and assistance to schools that are transitioning to online.

It is true that the pandemic has changed our way of living. However, there are still many things we can do to transform the new normal into a “better normal.” It is not the time to be selfish with what we know. Rather, it’s high time for us to share our knowledge and be altruistic in our actions. For Ms Llenado, an altruistic act means doing more than what is expected from us. Now that schools have closed down, we can help parents and teachers by continuing to support students through different means of learning. As women, we can help other women grow and improve to become a Super Smart Woman for the better normal. Eventually, whatever good that we give out to the world comes back to us in tenfold.

No to WAHM Burnout!

By Gina Abuyuan

 

I’m a WAHM—a Work At Home Mom. Aside from the assignments I work on at home, most of my time nowadays has been taken up by a book project, for which I go to my client’s home and we pore over her manuscript there.

I’m about to go crazy.

Understandably, I got a wonderful rush yesterday when I went out to my first meeting not situated in a structure with a sala, a kitchen, a bedroom, and a maid to call on when you need water. Finally! An environment with strangers! With food you had to pay for! And me actually caring for how I looked like!

Working from home does have its upsides—obviously, you get to spend more time with your kids and work without having to commute or dress up. On the other hand, it can be stressful, especially when homework needs coincide with deadlines, or clients are a-calling while the kids are causing a ruckus. It also keeps you more than a tad isolated from the outside world and other adults. So much so that a visit to the mall may seem like the most exciting thing to happen all week, and coffee with other grown-ups is something you want to last forever. A burnout isn’t far away if a WAHM doesn’t take care of herself.

How to prevent it? Some tips:

* Set a schedule, just like you would do if you were working in an office. Before or beyond 9 a.m. and 7 p.m., for example, is time for family. Working at home is for naught if you don’t get to enjoy what WAHMs have over regular working moms: getting more time with the kids. During your “off” hours, allow yourself to play. If needed, you can resume your work after the kids are asleep.

* Designate an errand day. Spend one day a week to get everything done outside your home; stuff like paying bills or going on a bank run, doing groceries, going to the dry cleaners or having clothes altered…you’ll get things done while at the same time, preventing cabin fever!

* Designate a “no kids zone” in your home. In my case I had to build a separate room in our garage. As expected, the kids don’t strictly follow the rule and we end up “working” side by side. My partner and I decided it would be better if we rent a studio nearby to serve as our office. The kids haven’t even been there yet, haha.

* Don’t forget downtime with your spouse or partner. After playtime with kids, you and your partner deserve time together. Step out on a date or snuggle up while watching a movie. Lock the door.

* Have lunch with a girlfriend. WAHMs, SAHMs (stay-at-home moms), and regular working moms—it doesn’t matter. We’re all busy in our own ways, but need time to connect and talk about…well, what women talk about. Make an effort to stay in touch with your friends.

* Get some exercise. In between Skype meetings, go for a walk, a run, a swim. Do some yoga. Me, I hop on a stepper and lift free weights while taking a break. Exercise is a great de-stressor.

* Pay attention to your looks and pamper yourself. Looking lousy will make you feel lousy as well. Being able to close deals while you’re in your pajamas may be a perk, yes, but don’t get too used to it. Don’t forget to groom your brows, get the occasional mani-pedi, hair treatment. Stay fab!