Why are we anxious?

Anxiety itself is adaptive. When we are in a situation of danger, our brain senses this and physiological changes occur; our blood is overloaded with oxygen, we hyperventilate, our pulse increases, our blood pressure is elevated, our muscles tense up, we start sweating.

It happens to many of us that we get blocked in a stake situation and do not perform as we would have expected from ourselves. But why does this happen? Many people think that they have not studied enough or that they have problems with their attention. However, stress often causes this problem.

As a university student you are considered an adult in many ways, but unfortunately you may often feel that you are still stuck in the role of a child. Often, the changing feedback from your environment makes it difficult for you to see yourself as an adult.

Have you experienced online classes during covid? You know that time when you turned off the camera and listened to the class while you were in the background making lunch and chatting with your friends? How effective did you find this method of learning? Do you think the same thing would happen if you had to work from the comfort of your own room?

The world of work is changing by the waves of the technological development and by the appearance of the artificial intelligence and the rate of change continues to accelerate. In practice the change means that the workplaces automate the manual, repetitive, monotonous tasks, but at the same time the value of those jobs increases in which human skills are specifically needed and the computers cannot solve them yet. In the workplace of the future the most successful will be those who have digital skills and develop human skills relating to the attitude, work and cooperation with others.

You may wonder what else is needed to be successful? At the university or later in the working life. You learn everything, you prepare for the exams, you consult the professional materials, you try to collect many useful information, knowledge that help you to obtain the degree and then to build a career.

But what else you may need in addition to these knowledge-based skills?

In the past few years the labour market has changed a lot in terms of expectations for employees. Employers are looking for colleagues who are independent, capable or willing to take responsibility, and able to communicate assertively. This means that employees, regardless of their seniority, should be able to make their own decisions at their own level. They should be able to recognize the decision-making situation and assume the responsibility that comes with it. Don’t expect someone to tell you what to do every step of the way. By accepting the responsibilities that come with it in everyday life, a person takes a big step toward meeting this requirement in the world of work.

How can I find meaning in my work?

We tend to deal with the question in the title when an event in our life changes our thinking. Our job choices are often the result of unconscious decisions. When you are in high school, for example, you are not necessarily aware of what jobs there are and what people do in these jobs. Most of the time, we are more concerned with what courses are offered in higher education and what are the criteria for successful admission.