Empathize with the people around youThe current work setup can be a great opportunity to self-study and undertake self-improvement projects. Whether to prepare for the post-pandemic workplace or job market or simply to give yourself an emotional leg up, April Salonga suggests these simple steps you can do right now to boost your self-awareness and self-management.

1. Meditate. Reflect and evaluate yourself honestly— what are you doing that’s working? What’s not working?—then implement the necessary changes. Try to get rid of habits and attitudes that don’t help you.

2. Keep a journal of your key plans and priorities. Write everything down, Salonga advises. Get your abandoned or unused planners and commit to keep a record of your life, be it long-term plans, things to do, appointments, the state of your health, family milestones, aspirations, manifestations or changes in your mindset and perceptions. Listing down things you are grateful for every day will also keep you motivated, especially during “toxic” moments.

3. Take psychometric tests. There are plenty of psychological and IQ tests you can take online, including MBTI (Myers Briggs Type Indicator) or the Johari Window; these tests are reliable enough that they are used by some companies in their recruitment processes. The ones commonly found on social media are not always accurate, Salonga notes.

4. Get regular feedback at work. Have the initiative to approach and seek feedback from your manager and peers. More importantly, be receptive and reflect on their assessment of you.

5. Learn from your experiences. The way you react to good and bad experiences will reveal a lot about you and will allow you to determine your strengths and weaknesses.

6. Embrace your failures. As the saying goes, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” We all make mistakes, what’s important is to learn from these mistakes.

Bonus tip: Listen to self-help podcasts. Salonga shares that a lesson she picked up from a podcast she follows is to be grateful for everything, no matter how small. Training yourself to adopt a grateful attitude will help you maintain your equanimity; in contrast, someone who is habitually pessimistic will only fall deeper into negativity during stressful times, making it hard for him or her to recover. Sadness is a valid emotion and is something you can learn from as well, Salonga advises.