Personal Health Skills

Internal factors that affect decision making include attitude, emotions, and ethics. Attitude is how you react when faced with making a decision. It is best to have a positive attitude because it often helps one see more options as well as make decision making easier. Next, decisions can also be made based on how you feel. This emotional decision making can lead to poor decisions or roadblocks and should generally be avoided. The last factor is ethics. Ethics influence the way you live and an ethically motivated person will make decisions based on what they believe is just and fair. Values, goals, and priorities are the foundation upon which wise decisions are made.

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Stop-Think-Go. Stop and admit that you made a poor decision and don't cast blame on others. Think about whom you can talk to and discuss options to correct the situation. Go and do your best to correct the problem, which includes leaving the situation if necessary, reporting unsafe situations, and apologizing to those you have hurt.

Poor decisions are made when people have poor decision-making skills, when they do not consider the consequences of their decisions, when they do not understand all the factors involved in decisions, when they make decisions based on emotion, or when they make decisions impulsively.

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Every decision has consequences that affect the person making the decision as well as others involved. These consequences can be immediate or long-lasting. The consequences of decisions can be positive, negative, or a combination of both.

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S: State the issue. What decisions need to be made? T: Think about your list of options. What's important? Are there possible alternatives? R: Rate the consequences for each option (HELP). O: Organize your thoughts. Reflect on your values. N: Narrow down the possibilities to one and act on it. G: Go over your decision. Did you achieve the desired outcome? Do you need to make changes?

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An action plan can identify ways that milestones and short-term goals can be reached while working toward a long-term goal.

Setting realistic goals is important because it keeps an individual's motivation up. An individual who sets unrealistic goals is more likely to become discouraged through the process and is therefore more likely to give up on the goal. By setting realistic goals, an individual can maintain motivation and stick to established timelines, culminating in the successful completion of a goal.

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Tasks are activities that must be done on a daily or recurring basis in order to accomplish a goal. An individual who wishes to accomplish a goal must determine what tasks must be completed in order to reach the goal. An effective list of tasks will include the necessary steps an individual should take to reach the desired goal. For example, a student wishing to obtain a driver's license might set tasks for practicing driving, taking practice written tests for the driving exam, and reviewing the driving laws.

The first step in developing an action plan is to clarify the goal by visualizing an outcome, determining the goal's measurability, and by looking at possible difficulties that may arise in pursuing the goal. The second step is to create a list of possible actions by brainstorming as many ideas as possible. After this brainstormed list is developed, it should be analyzed and prioritized so that only the essential actions remain. These essential actions should be organized into a plan of sequenced steps. Finally, the plan should be monitored and reviewed to determine its effectiveness toward reaching a goal. If it can be improved, the plan should be adjusted to optimize results.

It is important to create measurable goals in order to determine the point at which the goal has been achieved. Also, a measurable goal can help improve motivation by allowing an individual to effectively track progress toward meeting the goal. This step-by-step tracking can also help an individual create a more efficient plan to achieve a goal, thereby increasing the likelihood that it will be achieved.

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Healthy skin is the result of eating a healthy diet, washing frequently, avoiding oily products, and resisting the temptation to pick at skin blemishes.

Be sure to buy sunscreen of at least 15 SPF and apply it to all areas of the skin that will be exposed to sunlight at least 20 minutes before going outside. Generally, sunscreen should be reapplied every 2 hours. If you exercise moderately, sweat, or swim during that time, you should reapply more often.

Sweat glands secrete liquid onto the surface of the skin when our body temperature rises. When the sweat evaporates, the skin and the body are cooled.

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Important steps to help people fall asleep include establishing a bedtime routine, making sure your bed is comfortable, blocking out extra light and noise, and exercising regularly.

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When there are clouds or a window in between us and the sunlight, it's common to believe that all the ultraviolet radiation from the sun will be blocked. A large amount of the UV radiation is blocked, but we often make the mistake of staying outside longer on a cloudy day and getting sunburned.

Sleep is required for the body to recover from the day's activities. If you don't rest the body adequately, the by-products of the previous day will impair your ability to function effectively.

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