Autonomy and making choices
Pressure to perform, choice stress and guarding boundaries can be overwhelming, but are part of finding your own autonomy. Dealing with expectations and stress starts with self-knowledge and confidence in your own abilities. The better you know yourself, the easier it is to make decisions that match your ambitions. But how do you develop this self-knowledge and autonomy? Below you will find tools to get started, from making choices to building self-confidence.
Podcasts
Done with all those self-help podcasts? This podcast wants you to stay exactly the way you are. Psychologists Thijs Launspach and Lennard Toma are fascinated by personality differences and believe you don't need to improve yourself. But knowledge about psychology can help you better understand yourself and others. In Hoe ben je zo, they investigate the differences between personality types and give tools to deal with your own personality and that of others.
Only available in Dutch
Learn more about yourself and how to go about making decisions throughout your student life.
Available on Spotify
In the podcast 'Het Spoor Bijster' a number of topics are discussed that you as a student can run into in your choice of study. Because let's face it, everyone has doubts at some point, right? But when is a doubt temporary, and when should you take active action?
In each episode, study counselor Maaike Goselink talks with a counselor from the UU. And it turns out, you're not the only one who sometimes thinks about this!
Available in Dutch on Spotify
E-modules
EsteemUp shows you how you can boost your confidence and self-esteem. You’ll learn:
- How to rewire your mind to feel happier about yourself
- A simple method to grow your confidence
- How to speak your mind and stop comparing yourself to others
EsteemUp takes around 45 minutes per week for 3-4 weeks. With the support of a personal e-coach (for free!) and tips based on scientific research.
This workshop is free and available via Moodlift.
LifeHack is the perfect program for anyone who wants to optimize their life. You'll get practical tools to tackle life's challenges and work towards your goals. You’ll learn:
- How to boost your mood
- How to optimize the way you study (and stop procrastinating)
- How to grow your confidence & self-esteem
- And how to level up your social life
LifeHack takes around 30 minutes per week for 4 to 6 weeks. With the support of a personal e-coach (for free!) and tips based on scientific research.
This workshop is free and available via Moodlift.
Books
In The Power of Choice, psychologist and business coach Kelly Weekers takes you through her life and shares her views on themes such as friendship, ambition, parenting, love, loss and self-confidence. The book feels like a good conversation with a friend: without deciding for you what to do, Kelly gives you insights on making the right choices, knowing the choices that suit you, and thus taking back control in all kinds of areas in your life.
How do you stay mentally healthy in a world that runs on pressure to perform, impossible expectations and happiness terror? There is always room for improvement, for happiness, for success. No matter how many steps you make to improve yourself, there is always something to be dissatisfied about. Psychologist Thijs Launspach shows in this book that the real antidote to a world full of "it's never enough" is connection.
Only available in Dutch
In Chatter, psychologist Ethan Kross examines the conversations we have with ourselves in our heads. He warns that indulging in negative and disorienting self-talk, which he calls chatter, can affect our health, lower our mood, strain our social ties and cause us to collapse under pressure. But the good news is that we are already equipped with the tools we need to make our inner voice work in our favor.
You have everything you need to be happy: nice friends, a place to live, can do fun things here and there. Still, there are things you wish you could do differently or better. Getting that one job, a partner to spend time with, fulfilling your travel dreams or finally starting your own business? Whatever you want to achieve, Jen Sincero will take you by the hand and give you the self-confidence you might lack to turn all those dreams into concrete plans.
Why does thinking often not help us make decisions? Why do we like a song that has been at number 1 in the charts for weeks more than a song we hear for the first time? We put the conscious mind on a pedestal, thinking it sets us apart from other animals: that it makes us wise and rational, that it rules our brain and guides our behaviour. Our unconscious, on the other hand, we see as secondary. It is no more than an auxiliary to consciousness. This book shows that it is precisely the unconscious that is all-important. Our unconscious controls (with a processing capacity about 200,000 times that of the conscious mind) our behaviour, our thinking and our feelings.
Only available in Dutch.
In her book, Brené Brown describes what it means to make yourself vulnerable in a world focused on perfectionism and risk-taking with no guarantee of success. Whether in work, relationships or parenting, it's scary and difficult to make yourself vulnerable. But it's even harder not to do it and keep asking yourself: what if I had tried? She encourages readers in The Power of Vulnerability to let go of perfectionism, embrace vulnerability and face challenges.
Not a fan of reading? You can also listen to her TED talk that inspired the book.
Self-tests
Only available in Dutch
Do you or someone close to you suffer from psychological complaints? With the short self-tests of 10-15 questions from We are MIND you do not make a diagnosis, but you can gain insight into whether you suffer from certain symptoms more than average. See which tests you can take here.
Didn't find a suitable test? Then take a look at the overview page of Wij zijn MIND for more information.