But a majority of people are experiencing negative conditions. Between 44% and 38% of people are feeling overworked, burned out, unappreciated, lacking in satisfaction and lacking in joy. And the factors which contribute most to these negative experiences are stress, for 47% of people, and lack of social interactions for 37%.
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Enhancing Brain Health
There are pragmatic actions you can take so you can enhance your wellbeing, happiness and the health of your thinking, feeling and cognition.
#1 – Take Action
When you’re facing a problem or a challenge, taking action positively affects your wellbeing. This has to do with the human preference for empowerment and control. People tend to become demotivated without adequate control or when things feel uncertain. In fact, two hallmarks of burnout are feeling trapped or ineffective.
So taking action and becoming your own best advocate are good for brain health. In fact, according to the study, the following actions contributed to positive effects on memory, focus, sleep, mood, productivity and creativity. In order they were:
Achieving a promotion at current job (1 - best for brain health)
Becoming location-independent (2)
Receiving a pay raise at current job (3)
Relocating to a new city or town (4)
Changing profession (5)
Quitting current job and starting a new one (6)
Take the steps necessary to put yourself forward for a new job or make a case for a pay raise. Consider what you love and what gives you the most satisfaction and change jobs when it makes sense. If you don’t love where you live, explore places you might relocate. And if your company offers options for hybrid work or flexibility in where, when or how you work, take advantage of these.
Overall, step up, take appropriate risks, try new things and make a case for yourself when you deserve more in your work.
Human head on starry space background showing importance of brain health.
Learning contributes to greater creativity and[+]
GETTY
#2 – Learn Something New
For your brain health, it’s also smart to seek new learning, stretch and explore new areas to grow. This was correlated with greater brain health generally, and it was the number one thing people in the study said enhanced their creativity.
Learning is significantly associated with happiness and career advancement because it reminds you of what you’re capable of and keeps you stimulated with what’s new and interesting to you. Learning can build confidence and contribute to you feeling empowered and in charge of your own destiny. When you want a new job, and you sign up to learn more about a key skill for your progress, you reinforce your capabilities and self-determination.
Research also demonstrates when you fail 15% of the time, you’re more likely to stay motivated. Failing more than 15% might cause you to decide the activity isn’t for you, and you may give up. Or if you fail less than 15% of the time, you may determine you’ve accomplished enough and want to go to the next challenge. But a 15% failure rate tends to be the sweet spot that keeps you coming back to try again.
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