Understanding your highly sensitive self is the best thing that can happen to your career.
When I started a career in the world of Human Resources I naively thought I’d be helping people get the best out of their people. Turns out I was occupied by bureaucracy and firefighting.
Instead of going back to the corporate world after my maternity leave in 2008, I started freelance writing for a living. I followed my passion and made it my career. I have not looked back.
Parenting is tough but also the most rewarding role you’ll ever take on. However, if you are highly sensitive you need to make a concerted effort to look after your own needs too. If you don’t you will end up overstimulated and in no state to parent in the way your children need. Here are five things to keep an eye on to survive as a highly sensitive parent.
SleepScientific studies have correlated being highly sensitive and suffering from burnout. Do you know the warning signs of a burnout and how to recover from a burnout?
A burnout will leave you feeling mentally, emotionally and physically depleted. For the warning signs of a burnout read: 6 Warning Signs of a Burnout.
Highly sensitive children (HSC) have a tendency to shut down when they face a hurdle. That hurdle may be something new or a task they are not certain they can do. Instead of thinking ‘how can I get over the hurdle?’ a HSC stands frozen in front of the hurdle. They may display this feeling of helplessness with a meltdown, anger or tears. Here’s how you can help them work out how to jump over the hurdles they face.
Why HSCs Block When They Face a HurdlePerfectionism and highly sensitive often goes hand in hand. And there’s a third element that wangles its way into that relationship, like it or not: a fear of failure.
My post Helping a Highly Sensitive Child with Their Fear of Failure, published over on The Good Men Project, outlines how to help your highly sensitive child (HSC) when their fear of failure takes over. Continue reading
It’s plain to us all that we carry our childhood with us throughout our adult lives. The traumas of childhood stay with us as we grow into adults. We treasure the happiness of our childhood days and try to replicate them for our own children. The skills we learn as children put us in good stead as adults. But if we do not acquire certain skills as children the absence of them can have adverse consequences on the grown up version of the person we become.
Life skills. Emotional skills. Coping skills. They all need to be taught. That’s part of our job as parents.
Books are great bucket emptiers for highly sensitive children. Reading is a powerful way for time in with your children. Books are also a compelling way for a child to get time alone to recharge at the end of a busy day. Reading is also a highly effective tool for winding down before bedtime.
