What to do when you're bored. Winston Churchill's advice on how to get rid of the boredom of adulthood

Very often, growing up becomes synonymous with boring, monotonous work, which leaves no time for interests and hobbies. The result of such an “exchange” is predictable, but very sad: boredom, constant fatigue, anxiety and depression.

Unfortunately, many adults do not understand the real reasons for their depression and anxiety. They believe that fatigue comes from a large number of activities and try to focus on one activity, dismissing all others.

Using the example of Winston Churchill, his life credo and advice, you can see that it’s not about the quantity of activities, but about their quality: more interesting work, responsibilities that satisfy you, and opportunities to create something.

And now more about what the great prime minister advised and how he diversified his life.

Winston Churchill (1874–1965)

Politician, consummate orator, Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1940 to 1945, journalist, writer and Nobel Prize laureate in literature. Named "the greatest Briton in history" in a 2002 BBC poll.

Work like a slave: take action and find your calling

Find a job that brings you pleasure (find it without searching)

Churchill divided the "sane, industrious and useful" part of the population into two parts:

...the first, for which work is work and pleasure is pleasure; and the second, for which work and pleasure are one and the same. Most people belong to the first group and receive their compensation. Long hours in an office or factory are rewarded with a livelihood and the desire for various pleasures, which often take very simple and modest forms.

But Fortune's favorites are people from the second group. Their lives pass in natural harmony, they never have enough set hours to work. Every day is a holiday for them, and ordinary holidays, on which they cannot work, are perceived as an annoying obstacle that prevents them from returning to their calling.

Now young people simply hate being in the first group and are eager to join the ranks of the second. But so far all the advice on how to do this - look around and find your passion before choosing a profession or life's work - is just empty chatter.

It is much better to look for your calling, completely surrendering to some passion. It’s not a fact that it will turn out to be your calling, but this way you will more accurately find the path to it. This is what happened with Churchill.

He developed a deep love of the English language and reading from an early age, which foreshadowed his career as a writer. But other areas did not come so easily to him - he had to try hard to keep up in other subjects at school, and instead of attending university, he attended a military academy.

His career as a writer did not begin at an early age, but all because of the real passion of his life - war. Churchill wanted to get to the front in any military conflict, and when he was not allowed to participate in battles as a military man, he got a job as a newspaper correspondent in order to still get into the arena of military operations.

When the public liked his reports about what was happening, Churchill decided to write a book about his campaigns. And already in the process, he realized that the work of a writer brings him much more pleasure than a military career. This is how he found his calling.

That is, Churchill did not sit at home, endlessly reflecting and searching for his calling. He did what captivated him and brought him pleasure, and through this he found his true calling, and he was not alone.

Many people have found their life's work simply by trying what interests them at the moment.

There is another cool way of finding your calling, thanks to which Churchill found the second passion of his life - politics.

Instead of going inward, wondering what to do, he turned his attention to the problems that existed around him. At that moment, the problem was the lack of a sufficient number of honest politicians with imagination. And he solved this problem by joining the ranks of politicians with his own person.

Finding current problems helps you start your own business. You find a problem and offer people a solution.

And most often, you begin to enjoy it not at the very beginning of the career or path you have chosen, but already in the process of development.

The world belongs to those who act

When work really grabs you, you don't notice how hours of hard work pass. And that's great, because without many, many hours of work, you will never achieve your goals.

In any field you can find these “gurus” who promise you quick results in the shortest possible time. But all their tricks and methods will never lead you to anything worthwhile. Yes, you can make some money using hacks, but it takes more than a few hours a week to create something reliable, functional (and legal). This requires constant and hard work.

If you decide to create something worthwhile, be it your personal project or a career in some company, from time to time you will have to experience the feeling that you are incredibly tired, but cannot finish it, because it is your project and you are interested in doing it. If you don't have such moments, you are doing something wrong.

Whatever field you choose, primacy in it will always belong to the one who constantly acts, works and bothers.

Even a job you love still feels like work

There may be an opinion that if you love your job, then it is perceived as fun and you spend every day fun and easy. If sometimes this is not the case, then you simply chose the wrong job. This opinion is fundamentally wrong.

Even if you get a lot of pleasure from your work, it does not begin to be perceived as constant entertainment.

Churchill always separated work and play, considering them two very different things. A job you love is still a job, and that means you don't jump out of bed every day with joyful anticipation.

And this is normal, because pleasure and satisfaction are found not only in games and fun, but also in challenging one’s abilities and overcoming difficulties.

Sometimes you even want to quit your favorite job

The fact that you love your job doesn't mean you'll never have the thought of "screw it all," and it doesn't mean you don't sometimes want to quit and try something else.

Sometimes the task of writing something was not so easy for Churchill; on the contrary, it was unbearably difficult. When he had his own column, Churchill used to get into a terrible mood and show bad character traits, and when deadlines were pressing, the stress became simply unbearable.

The more your job suits you, the less often you experience these feelings and experience moments when you want to run away and do something else. The point is that such moments will still happen.

Look for opportunities in your free time

If you're currently doing something you hate (most of the time) and want to build a new career, start by looking for opportunities in your free moments.

Churchill wrote his first book in three-hour breaks while serving in India. He was 23 at the time, and all his military peers used this time to sleep or play cards. Churchill remained alone at this time and devoted his free hours to writing a book. The result of this decision was the beginning of his career in literature.

Many people started the same way: they devoted every free minute to a new interesting business, combining training or work in a company with work on their personal projects.

You don’t have to give up everything and completely immerse yourself in the business that you consider your calling. At first, it will be quite possible to combine it with other activities that are no less important at the moment.

Keep a routine

Churchill had a very strict daily routine, which made him incredibly productive. Creating and strictly adhering to your schedule will help you too, especially if you have enough tasks.

Concentrate

Churchill was incredibly productive, not so much due to the number of hours he worked, but due to the highest degree of concentration. Lieutenant General Jan Jakob was simply amazed by his ability to concentrate on something:

When his mind is occupied with a specific problem, he is constantly focused on it and no one can distract him.

Concentration helps to gain a clear vision and purpose. Don't do work for the sake of work, always set a goal for yourself. Churchill always set himself challenges, such as writing a thousand words a day, to set work deadlines. And during the war, as Manchester wrote, “his attention was directed only to Hitler, to the exclusion of everything else.”

Know your goal clearly, plan your strategy carefully, execute your plan - and victory will be yours.

Rule Like a King: The Great Role of Leadership

There is only one drawback in this approach: such a desire to preserve youth denies one of the important features of childhood - the need to influence reality, to change something in this world.

When a child is just entering childhood, he really likes to press the buttons of the switch that turns on the light. This is one of the first experiences when you influence something and feel your innate ability to change this world.

Growing up, people often forget about this ability and the satisfaction that comes from controlling reality. We become spectators who have no influence on anything.

But every person still has this desire, an itch, which can be calmed only in one way - to accept obligations, since in obligations lies power.

If people refuse to commit and choose to remain children, they continue to “flip the switch”, only now their switch is a computer mouse.

They can choose from menu items, but that's where their power ends. If there aren't enough options on the menu, all they can do is complain about life. Meanwhile, power, no matter how strange it may seem, gives peace.

The leader, the one who controls the situation, is calmer than the one who simply obeys and is a follower.

Studies have shown that a military pilot experiences less stress during a flight when flying the plane on his own, all because he is in control of the situation. Therefore, even if the responsibility placed on you is high, you have more peace in your soul than those who choose not to take on any responsibilities.

Thus, the energy of youth is not preserved by avoiding obligations and responsibilities.

The most pathetic adults constantly complain about the media, culture, politics and much more and yet believe that they can’t do anything about it. The happiest people, on the contrary, take on enormous responsibility and enjoy the opportunity to change something in this world.

Wherever you decide to become a leader - in your family, in a group of friends, at work or in a cultural environment - remember a few rules.

Refrain from making sacrifices, do not regret hard work, do not seek dirty gain and do not be afraid of ill-wishers. And everything will be fine.

Always be ready to lead

In 1930, when Churchill was already in his sixth decade, it seemed clear that his chances of ever becoming prime minister were zero. When a British delegation of MPs led by Lady Astor visited the Soviet Union and met with Stalin in 1931, he asked them about the political situation in England and especially about Churchill. “Churchill? - Astor exclaimed with a contemptuous laugh. “Oh, his career is over.”

When everyone else thought that Churchill could no longer be taken into account, he himself was ready to serve and did not give up his dream - to become the head of Her Majesty's government. He watched Germany throughout the 1930s and never changed his position to please the general public.

Instead of changing to please society, he simply waited for the world to accept his truth, and it did.

And when he finally occupied the Prime Minister's office, he felt that he was following "his destiny" and that "his whole past life was a preparation" for the tasks that now confronted him. By remaining true to his convictions and monitoring German activity over the previous decade, he could confidently say that he would be good in his post.

My warnings over the past six years have been so numerous, so detailed, and now so monstrously justified, that no one can contradict me. I also cannot be accused of starting this war or wanting to prepare for it.
Winston Churchill

You are preparing to lead, not in the middle of the storm, but in the calm before it. Now everything may be fine in your family and your business may be thriving, but someday this may end. Are you ready to take responsibility, guide and lead?

Speak the language

Words have great power if you know how to control your speech. When crafted correctly, powerful phrases and compelling arguments can literally change the world. Churchill argued that a person who speaks a language...

...possesses a power greater than that of the greatest king. He is an independent force in the world. Abandoned by his party, betrayed by his friends, deprived of his post, he can still control anyone with the help of this formidable power.

Be an example for your subordinates

Examples have even more power than words. Churchill didn’t just talk to the people, he seemed to go through the path he was talking about. The strength of his moral standards was undeniable, and the strength of his character created an incredible effect. People could follow him to the ends of the earth.

It doesn't matter if it's a father, a coach, a boss, or a spiritual leader - an example of a strong person who does the right thing is much more effective than hundreds of diatribes.

A leader who shows determination and courage does not even need passionate speeches to get other people to follow him and do what he inclines them to do.

Be prepared for people to try to overthrow you

Do you have any enemies? Fine. This means that you once stood for something in your life.
Winston Churchill

Once you realize that you are moving towards real change, critics will immediately appear who will try to denigrate you and dethrone you from your leadership position. Just take these attacks for granted. This is a sign that you are truly making a difference in this world.

Have the courage to face ingratitude

Don't expect people to thank you forever just because you did something good for them, even if it was a lot of good. People have a short memory for good deeds and prefer to focus on the negative.

After Churchill led his nation through six years of world war, the British wanted a new leader in peacetime. His friend Harold Nicholson once said: “It’s human nature. When we reach the open sea, we forget how we clung to the captain during the storm.”

But Churchill only brushed aside such thoughts of ingratitude. Yes, he regretted that his service was shorter than he would have liked, but he had already done a lot of what he was going to do, and that was enough.

Create like God: an integral part of life

To be truly happy and healthy, a person needs two or even three hobbies. And they all must be real.
Winston Churchill

The secret of Churchill's incredible productivity can be considered a paradox, since it lies in the same active and productive use of his leisure time.

Churchill discovered that this was the only way to achieve many hours of productive work per day. If he noticed that the results of his literary works were becoming confused and unsatisfactory, he simply switched to another type of activity. After some time, he could return to writing again, invigorated and ready for new literary exploits.

Churchill believed that by periodically engaging in various activities, a person trains his brain well and has a good rest.

There is no point in telling tired “mental muscles”: “I’ll give you a good rest,” “I’ll go for a walk,” or “I’ll just lie there and not think about anything.” The mind will continue to do the same thing. If he weighs and measures, the weighing and measuring continues. If he gets upset, he will continue to do it. There is no use arguing with your mind in such a situation. One American psychologist said: “When you get upset for some reason, there is a kind of spasm of emotions: the mind has caught something and is not going to let it go.” You can only cautiously try to hint at something else while the mind convulses on the subject of past thoughts. And if this something is chosen correctly, if it really belongs to another area of interest, then the mind begins to gradually relax and recover.

Despite the fact that Churchill called hobbies an integral part of a fulfilling adult life, he did not believe that you can choose them just like that:

A hobby is not something you can quickly pick up in one day. Finding interesting activities for your mind is a long process. You need to carefully choose your hobby and maintain interest in it.

Churchill believed that an interesting hobby was needed not only by those for whom work and play are incompatible things, but also by those who truly loved their work. The most important component in choosing a hobby, he believed, was that the activity was different from what you did during the day.

It makes no sense to ask a laborer who has been sweating and exhausting himself all week to play sports on Saturday, such as football or baseball. In the same way, you shouldn’t invite a politician or businessman who has been working and worrying about important things all week to work and worry over the weekend, but on a different task or project.

Churchill also noted that, despite the great popularity of reading as a hobby, it is too similar to the daily activity of a person who makes a living by mental work to provide him with enough contrasting impressions.

In addition, Churchill advised choosing hobbies that involve both the eyes and hands, such as crafts, as they best help restore mental balance.

Again, this is especially true for knowledge workers, as manual labor fills the gap in such occupations. In addition, there is an opportunity to create something, which is especially important for people whose work is not related to creativity.

And finally, Churchill was against the huge number of hobbies that some people take up simply to enjoy a new or unusual activity, and then abandon it. Discipline is important not only in work, but also in hobbies, since it sets the very way of life and thoughts.

Let's summarize:

Carefully consider the different activities and choose the one that suits you best.
Make sure that your hobby is radically different from your usual work activity.
Do your chosen activity long enough so that it can turn into the true love of your life.

Keep different interests at the ready and take a break from a boring activity without regrets

Boredom was a threat to Churchill's peace of mind. Winston saw boredom as a waste of an already short life, and when he felt boredom setting in, he made sure to take a “ruthless break” and choose a more suitable activity.

Any activity could be a cure for boredom: dictating a letter, singing Gilbert and Sullivan operas out of tune, or laying bricks in the garden on Chartwell... He always had a whole list of possible activities in stock: reading a novel, feeding a goldfish, analyzing what was written in newspapers or pathetic speeches about England's great past.

Modern adults sometimes get stuck in tedious activities, not even because they have not found an interesting hobby for themselves, but simply because they do not even suspect that they are bored.

In the modern world, where you can sit down at a computer or pick up a smartphone at any time, we don’t even understand that we are actually wildly bored, and useless surfing is just a way to distract ourselves from boredom.

You are simply wasting time on useless distractions, and there is no time left for interesting activities. Therefore, the ability to identify boredom, mercilessly interrupt and do something else is very important, in particular for freeing up time for worthwhile hobbies.

Delegate tasks if possible

Of course, Churchill's super productivity was not due solely to his enthusiasm and ability to concentrate. He had a whole team of assistants who solved the main problems and thereby freed up space in his schedule for more important matters. He didn't clean his house, cook food, or go shopping.

Some people think that if you delegate your affairs to someone else, in other words, dump your affairs on others, this can change your character for the worse. However, an analysis of the lives of many great people shows that for the most part they knew how to delegate their affairs and used it very often.

After all, would the English nation have benefited much if Churchill had raked leaves in the garden instead of writing speeches on Saturday mornings?

In addition, outsourcing everyday routine tasks allows you not only to devote more time to work, but also to find more time for hobbies, which, as we said above, are sometimes no less important than the work itself.

Yes, of course, most of us are not wealthy enough to pay people to do all the routine things for us. But perhaps you can find money for some of them: pay for cleaning your home and office, delegate some business to your employees and relatives.

Remember: you are freeing up your time, which can be spent much more productively than cleaning the tiles in the bathroom.

Taking a decisive break from boring adulthood

Many adults are now bored, have little rest, and feel anxious and depressed. Churchill was prone to melancholy, but he managed not to succumb to its attacks due to work that brought him satisfaction, interesting hobbies and no less interesting responsibilities.

To combat bad moods, periods of boredom and idleness, Churchill always used the method of hard breaks. The bodyguard tasked with keeping an eye on Churchill once remarked:

He can start moving at any moment, without warning. If he encounters boring people during dinner, he will be polite and tolerate them for a while, but then he will simply give up and leave. If the movie he is watching is boring, he will not force himself to watch it to the end - he will simply get up and leave, and it does not matter who he came to the screening with, even Mr. Franklin Roosevelt himself.

Sometimes the time comes for a decisive break from the flat and boring adult life. Our work, responsibilities and free time can be difficult, stressful and filled with problems, but not boring.

Someday you will die. But until you're in the grave, don't let boredom get to you.

Surely each of us has met people who complain that life is monotonous and uninteresting. But everything is in our hands, and we can fill it with new colors. So how to get rid of boredom? We present to your attention 5 useful tips that will help you turn the peaceful flow of gray everyday life into something more interesting.

1. Get involved in your education. If you are prone to boredom, you probably have a lot of free time. This is not a reason to mope - it is better to use it wisely. Sign up for advanced training courses or vocal lessons, learn a foreign language or attend oratory - new skills will not hurt anyone. Perhaps new knowledge will provide you with a promotion on the career ladder or a new circle of friends will give you true friends.

2. Find yourself an exciting hobby. Start making greeting cards or souvenirs with your own hands, take up embroidery or knitting - perhaps you will discover your talent, and a new hobby will become a real source of income. If not, you will at least find a way to spend time usefully, and you will be able to surprise your loved ones with pleasant surprises, for example, a warm cozy scarf, knitted with your own hands or a small craft.

3. Look for new ideas. Today everyone is preoccupied with the harmful. Is the social network evil? Not at all when it comes to using the Internet for good purposes. The World Wide Web is a huge storehouse of knowledge and new ideas, many of which are quite useful in everyday life.

Girls, for example, can watch educational videos and learn how to do festive makeup for themselves or master a recipe for an unusual dish. Men can watch here the most interesting moments of football matches or get acquainted with new trends in interior design and, in accordance with them, make renovations in their apartment. In short, social networks are a lot of ways to get rid of boredom. 4. Get a pet. Whoever you choose: an aristocratic Japanese Chin, an energetic Yorkshire Terrier or an unusual American Curl, a calm Ragdoll cat or an impressive Sphynx - you are guaranteed a boost of energy.

Both the dog and the cat equally need your care, so you definitely won’t be bored. Playing with your pet, you will not feel lonely even on the longest winter evenings, and you will no longer question yourself, because from the very morning a loving and attention-seeking animal will be waiting for you.

5. Don't forget about your loved ones. Sometimes we become so immersed in our personal space that we stop seeing the desires and needs of our loved ones. Use your free time not to be bored and complain about your fate, but to help your grandmother or mother, a friend who is getting married (at such a time she will probably be glad to receive outside help), or a younger sister who is having difficulties in studying English - they will all appreciate your attention.

Communication with friends and relatives is what helps make life more fun and brighter, because a visit to your grandmother for a cup of tea with raspberry jam or a walk with friends in an autumn park will always be more pleasant than a banal pastime in front of the TV.

How to get rid of boredom is up to you. But I can advise absolutely everyone to use their free time not on moping and worrying, but on doing worthy deeds. By following these simple tips, be sure that boredom and fatigue will not visit your home!

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No matter where you are, you may experience feelings of boredom. What is boredom? Boredom is usually a motivation problem. This is a psychological state in which you feel disinterested in what is happening, plus difficulty concentrating. In other words, boredom is when you can't find anything to do. This does not mean that you have nothing to do, there are no reasons that would force you to do it. How to deal with boredom?

Boredom is not a problem when there is someone who constantly needs your attention and help. But it can really be a problem when you're alone, when you're alone, literally or figuratively.
If you watched the movie "Adrenaline" with Jason Statham, then you remember that in the plot the main character is under the influence of a deadly poison. And the only antidote is the hormone adrenaline, which is produced in the human brain in case of danger. As soon as the body stops producing the hormone, it dies.
The protagonist uses every source of thrill imaginable, deliberately compromising himself and putting himself in harm's way to trigger the release of hormones. He runs, fights, shoots, takes part in chases, jumps from great heights and has sex on the street.
The idea of the film can serve as a good metaphor for modern life. Many people are completely saturated with similar poison. The name of this poison is boredom.

The danger of boredom

Boredom makes people frantically search for any activity. To always be busy. Not to stop. A person is ready to do anything: drink alcohol, engage in meaningless activities, gamble, spend time on the Internet for days.

Many people perceive loneliness and silence as a danger that must be avoided at all costs. Of course there is nothing wrong if a person does something. Danger arises where any action becomes necessary just to kill time. But there is nothing good in complete inaction either.
How to get rid of boredom so that it does not arise again? If you want to find a universal cure (for example, TV series or computer games), then this is not the place for you.
TV series are like alcohol and cigarettes. They certainly help for a while, but then the feeling of boredom will certainly return. You need to get rid of this feeling as if it were a bad habit, an addiction, and not just eliminate the symptoms.

How do you know if you are a victim of boredom?

During the holiday, you start to get bored, even if all the conditions for relaxation and fun are created.
Your weekend is busy with a lot of things to do. They always pass violently. Well, as a last resort you can drink.
You are constantly looking for something to do.
You don't like long trips because you're bored.
You are late at work. You feel uncomfortable if there is not enough work.
You can’t imagine how you can live without constant worries.
You often feel the need to change places and social relationships.
Why is this bad? Psychology has proven the connection between boredom and depression. Boredom can lead to satiety in life; he provokes you to look for some way out of the calm state. You cannot stand idleness. You are always busy. All this can lead to such consequences as:
apathy, depression;
inability to relax, inability to enjoy rest;
nervous exhaustion, fatigue;
bad habits: drugs, gambling, shopping, sexual incontinence, intemperance in food.

Thus, boredom is a very dangerous thing. It makes your life uninteresting if you stop your frantic pace for a minute. Boredom turns silence into melancholy, into loneliness, into torture. Boredom is like a drug. When you have something to do, you feel great. When you are deprived of this, you experience “withdrawal” and a painful desire to find something to do. In this case, work becomes a great way to escape from yourself.

Man is not interested in the meaning or purpose of his activity. He doesn't care about anything as long as he's doing something. And it doesn’t matter whether the result brings him happiness, freedom or not. This is why many are mired in jobs they don’t like. They cannot imagine themselves without constant employment with short breaks for sleep.
Other people start using alcohol, drugs, get involved in gambling or computer games, and watch endless TV series. Their life is not interesting to them.
Life is a valuable gift. But many seem to strive to live it out as quickly as possible at work, while drinking alcohol or watching TV.
Life is not tedious waiting in the waiting room! Life is given once, and you need to be able to enjoy it, and not hide in the shadow of eternal worries.
Without boredom, the very fact that you live, move, breathe—takes on value. Of course, in life there should be both activity and work. All this must be conscious. All your actions should be guided by motivation, your desire to develop, achieve your goals, and not the desire to escape from boredom and loneliness.
What can be done for this?

How to get rid of boredom?

Learn to enjoy silence
When you are busy doing something, your mind is focused on what you are doing. If your brain is constantly busy with something, it doesn’t have time to think about the goals you have set for yourself, about your life, about your relationships. If you rarely stop, then you know little about yourself and lose touch with your true desires. The purpose and meaning of your life eludes you.
Therefore, in some totalitarian countries, the practice of long working hours is introduced. Of course, this is not only done to increase production. The more people work, the less they think, the less they think, the more obedient and passive they become. That's the whole secret.
The most valuable thoughts come in moments of silence. If you don't have much free time, then use the time you have.
Do not try to occupy him with any activity. Take a walk, relax, take a break from people. See what's going on around you, listen to calm music, give your brain a rest.
If you learn to enjoy silence and master relaxation techniques, you will not experience the feeling of boredom so acutely. It's not easy. Boredom will provoke you. Try to destroy the silence you have created in order to throw you into the usual whirlpool of affairs. Don't give in. Learn to relax. Over time, you will achieve significant success.
Find yourself a useful hobby. Stop killing time aimlessly. Do something useful. Master the art of photography, learn to play chess, take up yoga or martial arts, read quality fiction or popular science literature. Develop your intellect, imagination, strength, endurance. Learn to play a musical instrument or create music. Start developing your own business.

Choosing a hobby is not that difficult. At first, many things seem uninteresting and boring, but as the skill develops, interest and enthusiasm increase.
Find out more. Read more books and other sources of information. You will get a lot of food for thought. Therefore, when you have time, you will have something to think about (besides work and current affairs).
Rest. Try not to turn your vacation into a vanity exercise. No matter how stupid it may sound, try to relax during your vacation! Stop fussing, running from place to place, drinking alcohol and looking for entertainment. Relax. Learn to enjoy every minute of your vacation.
Avoid excessive activity. If you find it difficult to sit in one place, your hands are constantly busy with something, your body does not relax and your mind cannot concentrate on anything, then you may have attention deficit disorder. This condition can also cause boredom and a constant search for work.
What happens when you get rid of boredom?
Letting go of this feeling can change your values. You will begin to value freedom, peace, the process of contemplation, relaxation and fruitful communication with yourself more than usual. You will become calmer and self-sufficient. Life will no longer be a mad pursuit of entertainment and dubious pleasures. You will stop finding joy in alcohol and cigarettes, because your life will be interesting in itself!
In the endless rush through life, you can lose yourself. By discovering your essence, which is only possible in a state of peace and freedom, you can understand your deepest desires. And along with these desires, you will clarify your goals and objectives.

Many people don't know what they want. They run from one type of activity to another, change their field of activity, the love of their partners, hobbies and even their worldview, but still do not find their happiness and do not understand their goals.
This happens because the connection with the true personality is broken. Instead of following their true personality, people begin to be guided by goals imposed by society, or desires dictated by instincts and momentary impulses.

They spend their lives working constantly, moving from place to place, making meaningless purchases, and exposing themselves to unnecessary risks.
It is possible that this eternal run needs to be stopped. And we have to think about whether it’s worth spending our lives on meaningless work from dawn to dusk? Will it bring you happiness? Is this the only way? Maybe your purpose and meaning in your life consists of something else?

And now more about what the great prime minister advised and how he diversified his life.

Winston Churchill (1874–1965)

Politician, consummate orator, Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1940 to 1945, journalist, writer and Nobel Prize laureate in literature. Named "the greatest Briton in history" in a 2002 BBC poll.

Work like a slave: take action and find your calling

Find a job that brings you pleasure (find it without searching)

Churchill divided the "sane, industrious and useful" part of the population into two parts:

...the first, for which work is work and pleasure is pleasure; and the second, for which work and pleasure are one and the same. Most people belong to the first group and receive their compensation. Long hours in an office or factory are rewarded with a livelihood and the desire for various pleasures, which often take very simple and modest forms.

But Fortune's favorites are people from the second group. Their lives pass in natural harmony, they never have enough set hours to work. Every day is a holiday for them, and ordinary holidays, on which they cannot work, are perceived as an annoying obstacle that prevents them from returning to their calling.

Many people have found their life's work simply by trying what interests them at the moment.

There is another cool way of finding your calling, thanks to which Churchill found the second passion of his life - politics.

Finding current problems helps you start your own business. You find a problem and offer people a solution.

And most often, you begin to enjoy it not at the very beginning of the career or path you have chosen, but already in the process of development.

The world belongs to those who act

When work really grabs you, you don't notice how hours of hard work pass. And that's great, because without many, many hours of work, you will never achieve your goals.

Whatever field you choose, primacy in it will always belong to the one who constantly acts, works and bothers.

Even a job you love still feels like work

Even if you get a lot of pleasure from your work, it does not begin to be perceived as constant entertainment.

Churchill always separated work and play, considering them two very different things. A job you love is still a job, and that means you don't jump out of bed every day with joyful anticipation.

And this is normal, because pleasure and satisfaction are found not only in games and fun, but also in challenging one’s abilities and overcoming difficulties.

Sometimes you even want to quit your favorite job

The fact that you love your job doesn't mean you'll never have the thought of "screw it all," and it doesn't mean you don't sometimes want to quit and try something else.

The more your job suits you, the less often you experience these feelings and experience moments when you want to run away and do something else. The point is that such moments will still happen.

Look for opportunities in your free time

If you're currently doing something you hate (most of the time) and want to build a new career, start by looking for opportunities in your free moments.

Many people started the same way: they devoted every free minute to a new interesting business, combining training or work in a company with work on their personal projects.

You don’t have to give up everything and completely immerse yourself in the business that you consider your calling. At first, it will be quite possible to combine it with other activities that are no less important at the moment.

Keep a routine

Churchill had a very strict daily routine, which made him incredibly productive. Creating and strictly adhering to your schedule will help you too, especially if you have enough tasks.

Concentrate

When his mind is occupied with a specific problem, he is constantly focused on it and no one can distract him.

Know your goal clearly, plan your strategy carefully, execute your plan - and victory will be yours.

Rule Like a King: The Great Role of Leadership

There is only one drawback in this approach: such a desire to preserve youth denies one of the important features of childhood - the need to influence reality, to change something in this world.

Growing up, people often forget about this ability and the satisfaction that comes from controlling reality. We become spectators who have no influence on anything.

But every person still has this desire, an itch, which can be calmed only in one way - to accept obligations, since in obligations lies power.

If people refuse to commit and choose to remain children, they continue to “flip the switch”, only now their switch is a computer mouse.

The leader, the one who controls the situation, is calmer than the one who simply obeys and is a follower.

Thus, the energy of youth is not preserved by avoiding obligations and responsibilities.

Wherever you decide to become a leader - in your family, in a group of friends, at work or in a cultural environment - remember a few rules.

Refrain from making sacrifices, do not regret hard work, do not seek dirty gain and do not be afraid of ill-wishers. And everything will be fine.

Always be ready to lead

Instead of changing to please society, he simply waited for the world to accept his truth, and it did.

My warnings over the past six years have been so numerous, so detailed, and now so monstrously justified, that no one can contradict me. I also cannot be accused of starting this war or wanting to prepare for it.
Winston Churchill

Speak the language

...possesses a power greater than that of the greatest king. He is an independent force in the world. Abandoned by his party, betrayed by his friends, deprived of his post, he can still control anyone with the help of this formidable power.

Be an example for your subordinates

It doesn't matter if it's a father, a coach, a boss, or a spiritual leader - an example of a strong person who does the right thing is much more effective than hundreds of diatribes.

A leader who shows determination and courage does not even need passionate speeches to get other people to follow him and do what he inclines them to do.

Be prepared for people to try to overthrow you

Do you have any enemies? Fine. This means that you once stood for something in your life.
Winston Churchill

Have the courage to face ingratitude

Don't expect people to thank you forever just because you did something good for them, even if it was a lot of good. People have a short memory for good deeds and prefer to focus on the negative.

Create like God: an integral part of life

To be truly happy and healthy, a person needs two or even three hobbies. And they all must be real.
Winston Churchill

The secret of Churchill's incredible productivity can be considered a paradox, since it lies in the same active and productive use of his leisure time.

Churchill believed that by periodically engaging in various activities, a person trains his brain well and has a good rest.

There is no point in telling tired “mental muscles”: “I’ll give you a good rest,” “I’ll go for a walk,” or “I’ll just lie there and not think about anything.” The mind will continue to do the same thing. If he weighs and measures, the weighing and measuring continues. If he gets upset, he will continue to do it. There is no use arguing with your mind in such a situation. One American psychologist said: “When you get upset for some reason, there is a kind of spasm of emotions: the mind has caught something and is not going to let it go.” You can only cautiously try to hint at something else while the mind convulses on the subject of past thoughts. And if this something is chosen correctly, if it really belongs to another area of interest, then the mind begins to gradually relax and recover.

Despite the fact that Churchill called hobbies an integral part of a fulfilling adult life, he did not believe that you can choose them just like that:

A hobby is not something you can quickly pick up in one day. Finding interesting activities for your mind is a long process. You need to carefully choose your hobby and maintain interest in it.

It makes no sense to ask a laborer who has been sweating and exhausting himself all week to play sports on Saturday, such as football or baseball. In the same way, you shouldn’t invite a politician or businessman who has been working and worrying about important things all week to work and worry over the weekend, but on a different task or project.

In addition, Churchill advised choosing hobbies that involve both the eyes and hands, such as crafts, as they best help restore mental balance.

Let's summarize:

Carefully consider the different activities and choose the one that suits you best.
Make sure that your hobby is radically different from your usual work activity.
Do your chosen activity long enough so that it can turn into the true love of your life.

Keep different interests at the ready and take a break from a boring activity without regrets

Modern adults sometimes get stuck in tedious activities, not even because they have not found an interesting hobby for themselves, but simply because they do not even suspect that they are bored.

Delegate tasks if possible

After all, would the English nation have benefited much if Churchill had raked leaves in the garden instead of writing speeches on Saturday mornings?

Remember: you are freeing up your time, which can be spent much more productively than cleaning the tiles in the bathroom.

Taking a decisive break from boring adulthood

To combat bad moods, periods of boredom and idleness, Churchill always used the method of hard breaks. The bodyguard tasked with keeping an eye on Churchill once remarked:

He can start moving at any moment, without warning. If he encounters boring people during dinner, he will be polite and tolerate them for a while, but then he will simply give up and leave. If the movie he is watching is boring, he will not force himself to watch it to the end - he will simply get up and leave, and it does not matter who he came to the screening with, even Mr. Franklin Roosevelt himself.

Sometimes the time comes for a decisive break from the flat and boring adult life. Our work, responsibilities and free time can be difficult, stressful and filled with problems, but not boring.

Someday you will die. But until you're in the grave, don't let boredom get to you.

Maybe it's not written on your face. Maybe she was hiding only in the eyes. In the eyes, which used to radiate and throw sparkles, but have now lost all sparkle. Yes, it’s her, the evil aunt - boredom. Evil, oh evil, depression is just a stone's throw from her. Some people unknowingly call boredom depression. Although more precisely, boredom is a painful feeling from an inert, idle, inactive state of the soul; the languor of inaction (V. Dahl). Over the past hundred years, it has become the most common emotional state.

You walk and look down, not straight ahead. You are embarrassed to look into your eyes, look away from them, yawn, smoke, often nothing interests you, and if someone asks or demands something, it completely irritates you.
When you were a child, you were also bored. But that was a different kind of boredom. Not anxious: “What should I do to dispel it?”, not indifferent: “What’s the point of doing something?” Yes, you could push around, turn toys in your hands, beg something from your mother, but usually you sat back and made up stories. And the boredom immediately went away, the game began and the stories came to life. You weren't bothered by her, were you?
You have grown up and matured. And the evil aunt-boredom grew by leaps and bounds. Yes, there is now the Internet, there are computer games. If it weren't for them, it would have been much worse. And so there is no pressure on time, and there is communication. However, psychologists call the virtual quasi-communication. This is the appearance of communication, during which intonations, gestures, glances and other nuances are hidden from us. Because of this, omissions, misunderstandings, and deceptive feelings arise. Is this better than nothing? May be.
Isn’t it strange that in prosperous countries young people suffer from boredom? For example, a new type of boredom - apathetic boredom, which combines sharply negative feelings and a state of detachment, according to a study by German scientists, is experienced by 10% of students and 36% of schoolchildren.
Since Pushkin's times, it has been customary in society to consider boredom a bad state, from which one must certainly look for a way out. That's what we're looking for.
Or maybe you should get to know your boredom better? Watch her. We go through any conditions for a reason, they are given to us for a reason. Perhaps in order for us to...
Sometimes these are things that lie on the surface, but a person is simply afraid to admit it to himself. For example, a student gets bored during a lecture. Why? Either the teacher explains in a boring way, or the subject itself is not interesting to him. Or maybe the student is afraid to admit to himself that he has no idea what he decided to study, how he will work in this field and achieve success?
Sometimes boredom, like many other feelings, speaks of unmet needs, needs that we would like not to notice. So, for example, a girl is bored at a party because in her mind she sees herself as “touchy,” a kind of sublime beauty, a model, although in her heart she wants to have fun, joke and chat. Instead she .
And some guy at the same party will get bored because he can’t imagine how he could come up and meet such a girl. Too different categories. Most likely, he will then say to himself: “I'm a loser. I'm bored because I can't change anything in this life. I am an object of life, not a doer. Who needs one?”
So do you want to be needed, in demand? Do you admit that the one who is in great demand is successful? Who would you like to do business with? Surely with someone who can give you his attention. Those who can amuse, sympathize, help and support are in great demand.
Do you consider yourself a failure? Do you know how to not only envy others, but also rejoice at their success from the bottom of your heart? Instead of brushing off your family, can you support them and brush aside your melancholy? Try! After all, if you don’t see the meaning of your life, what’s stopping you from inventing it? And life will show whether the idea is good or another one is needed.
We were not born of our own free will. But we can move through life consciously, without being separated from real interaction with the world by a dense shell of boredom. We should be observant, not leaving boredom for later, not pushing it into a distant drawer. And then, you see, in the far drawer there will be a bouquet of other feelings: intimacy, forgiveness, love...