Ethical concerns that are extant in my big question is the limit to which one could reach their highest potential. I don’t want to push myself or anyone else to their full potential, if they are not in the right mindset. This would mean if an individual is going through something physically or mentally challenging and aren’t ready to push themselves. I want to emphasize that taking care of our mental health is a number one priority before trying to reach our highest potential.
Reaching one’s highest potential involves having goals. This article written by a student at West Virginia Psychology shows how goal setting can help your mental health but may also hurt your mental health. Overall, if you have depression or anxiety, seek help before you begin your goals journey to ensure you are in a positive mindset. Having depression or anxiety does not limit you from making goals so starting with small, short-term goals can help to improve your mood. If you aren’t able to achieve these goals, remind yourself that it’s okay.
Another thing that has proven to be helpful with mental health and for accomplishing goals is meditation. Meditation has been proven to reduce stress, have a more positive impact on one’s life, enhance self-awareness, and lengthens attention span. Whether it’s five minutes a day or an hour, any type of mediation can be helpful. By focusing on your breathing and not your thoughts when you are meditating, it has the effects of relaxation and improving focus. Apps that I use to meditate for free are YouTube, Spotify, and Calm.
Lastly, I want to talk about burnout. Burnout can occur from excessive and prolonged stress. According to HelpGuide, “It occurs when you feel overwhelmed, emotionally drained, and unable to meet constant demands” (2021). When you are pushing yourself by constantly doing activities to reach your highest potential, these are important signs to recognize. While reaching your goals, it’s okay to take a step back if you experience burnout so you can take the time to relax and heal yourself. When you are feeling healthy again is when you can resume your lifestyle to accomplish your goals.
With research on mental health, burnout, and meditation, there are plenty of resources to take care of ourselves when we are experiencing a challenge in our life. While reaching our highest potential, we may feel an excessive amount of stress at some point. To alleviate the excessive stress and avoid burnout, I recommend taking at least ten minutes to meditate daily, journaling, exercising, and talking to a friend or loved one when you feel overwhelmed. Hiking and being out in nature helps me to feel more at peace and relieve stress. Remember, we can’t reach our highest potential unless we are mentally ready to do so.
