Two recent research studies have shown that you are more likely to have a heart attack on your birthday than any other day of the year. Many people view their birthday as a negative event. This article will help ensure that your birthday is a true celebration of a happy life and give you the tools to build many more �happy birthdays� for yourself in the future.
A 2006 article published in the Journal Neurology described a Canadian research study that tracked more that 50,000 patients and found a strong relationship between birthdays and what researchers referred to as vascular events. Another large study in New Jersey found similar results.
Having a birthday seemed to be a milestone that triggered a review of one�s life.
The research suggested that the cause of the heart attacks was stress and negative emotions associated with being unhappy with where we were in life versus where we thought we should be.
So what can we do to increase our happiness on our birthday and every other day for that matter?
Probably the most important key to happiness is focusing on the positives in life. View you past as positive, view the present as positive and view the future as positive. Events are events, and it is the labels we put on them that makes all the difference. One person will look at being fired as the end of their life, and another will look at it as the chance to start doing something different.
Lighten up on yourself when judging your past and expectations for the future. The best baseball players miss 60% of the balls they swing at, famous actors miss more roles than they get, and stock market analysts pick more losers than winners. But only wins count and that is what they are paid on. So it is in your life, focus on the wins and forget about the losses. Also give yourself credit for what you have learned, if you know now that something was a mistake that means you have learned something and will do better in the future.
When I speak to groups, I do an exercise in which I ask the group to take 10 seconds and look for all the things in the room that are red. Then I ask the group to close their eyes and list all the things they saw in the room that were green. As a rule, no one can list any green items, since they were only looking for red items. Life is the same way. If we only look for problems, problems are all we will see. Conversely, if we look for positives, we will find positives.
Happiness can actually be planned; it doesn�t have to �just happen�. Establish a goal to be happy everyday. Setting the goal to be happy plants the idea in your mind and will cause you to take steps that will lead you in that direction.
What makes you happy? Most people have lists of things that would make them happy, but they have never experienced the things on the list. On the other hand, the things that they have experienced in their lives that made them happy do not often make it onto the list. We discount our experience and pick up desires that many times are given to us by the media or other people. I urge you to take some time and write down things in your life that have brought you happiness, and ignore what others may think about the items on your list.
Perhaps it is time for you to rewrite history and also become a fortuneteller. Do a review of your life thus far and relook at those events you consider to be negatives. Can you find a more positive way to look at the event now that time has passed? Sometimes we put a label on things as being bad, when they happen, that doesn�t stand up over time. You could be carrying a negative view of something that is no longer justified. Also, become your own fortuneteller and predict good things for yourself in the future. Find something that will give you hope for the future and build a view of your future based on that hope.
Focusing on happiness can give you one more reason to start figuring out what you want to do with your life and more importantly, implementing a plan to move towards what you want. Your life is an unfinished manuscript and you have a chance to write in a surprise happy ending. Just being on the path to the life you want will increase your satisfaction with life and decrease the stress factors as you move through life.
It is time to start living your dreams, not your history. Yesterday is over, and tomorrow isn�t here yet. Live today and start working your plan for the future and put the Happy back in Happy Birthday.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Use Success and Motivation Principles To Put The Happy Back In Your Happy Birthday
More money, more health, more happiness!
You can change the quality of your life by doing these
simple steps �
1. Change the way you feel.
Emotions are very important in our life. When we feel down, our
life seems bleak and we feel unmotivated to do anything. Good
news is that you can change your mood simply by thinking of
pleasant memories from the past. Our mind is incredibly powerful.
We just need to be able to steer it in the direction we want
it to go.
2. Change the way you think
This one is tricky. Here I am not talking about simply forcing
your self to be unnaturally positive about everything. I am
talking about developing an understanding of things around you,
so you will be able not to be negative. Through understanding
why things happen, you will be able to not get mad at unimportant
things. You will simply let them go.
3. Change the way you relate to other people.
When we relate to others it is highly important to understand
where they are coming from. Just think how many times you were
upset at someone simply because you did not understand them or
their point of view. If we will start looking for understanding
first, in any situation, instead of simply reacting, we will
avoid half of the problems that we have in our lives today.
4. Change the way you think about money.
Money is a sticky subject. People, from the time immemorial,
had issues with money. Be it, calling money evil, or putting
it on a pedestal, there was always a lot of drama surrounding
this subject. The fact is though - money by it self is natural.
People do good or bad things with money. But in it self money
is just an energy that flows from one person to another. It
also plays an incredibly important role in our lives. It is
like glue that allows everything to work in this physical world.
And just as glue isn't the most important part of any object,
money isn't be all and end all. However, it is so important
that without an idea of some sort of an exchange of currency,
this world would not be able to function. So with that in mind,
money is another vital skill that we need to learn, to fully
participate in this worlds affairs. We need to know how to ear
it, save it and spend it. All of that is very important to our
existence.
5. Change the way you think about your self.
You can't affect any sort of change in your life if you do not
like your self. Your self worth will influence everything
you do. If you do not think you are worth it, your chances
for success in anything diminish significantly.
One of the ways of increasing your self esteem would be to pay
attention to any success that you achieved, however small.
Learn how to forgive your self when you fail. This is a way of
conditioning your mind to look at your self as a valuable being.
6. Use creativity in every aspect of your life.
One of the greatest and most fulfilling things we can do
to change our life is to use our own creativity as much as
possible in our daily life. Being creative is one of those
things that is integral in our life yet we pay almost no conscious
attention to it. If you feel that your life became a drag, all
you have to do is to awaken your creativity again and it will be
transformed in an instant.
One of the surest ways to awaken your creative ability is
to simply use it as much as possible. You can also check out
a program where you go through an intense boot-camp to do the
same (www.burstcreativity.com). Whichever way you do it however,
you must do it, if you want to sky rocket your satisfaction
in life.
7. Change the way you think about your body.
You probably heard many times that our bodies are our temples.
Even though we often don't treat our bodies as such, it is
worthwhile to make an effort in that department. You see one
of the best arguments I know for this is simply that everything
in life is interconnected. If we don't take care of our bodies,
both from physical exercise and nutrition point of view, they
simply will not function very well. And if we don't feel well
physically, you can bet that we will not feel well emotionally,
neither. Another point to bring up is the reverse of the previous
statement - you can easily improve your out look on life by taking
the time to improve how you take care of your self. It is not
difficult to start feeling great if you haven't exercised in
a while or you are eating really badly.
8. Change what you eat.
Nutrition, although previously mentioned, definitely deserves more
emphasis. Today obesity is one of the biggest problems in
North America. If we don't change that soon it will become
catastrophic as the population ages. So how do we actually
improve our eating habits? We educate our selves. The best tip
I know in changing the way you eat is ... (drum roll) ... learn
from an expert. Go see a nutritionist. Not only a good
nutritionist will be able to craft an ultimate way for you to eat,
but they would do it in a customized way specifically made for your
body and situation.
9. Pay attention to what is happening around you.
We lead very busy lives. Work, kids - it seems that every minute of
the day is taken by something important. In this constant
rollercoaster it is easy to get "stuck on yourself". We sometimes
loose perspective and stop seeing what is happening around us, as
we are trying to deal with our own problems. If we do, it can cause
innumerable problems and friction with people around us.
The best practice to avoid that is, from time to time, to become
an observer. Develop the ability to view your life from the third
person perspective. This may be a difficult concept to understand,
but getting help in this department is easy. Most meditation
traditions teach exactly this principal.
10. Give only what you would like to receive.
Give on to others what you would like for your self - is one of those
ancient Christian sayings that rings true in our modern time.
To bring it to the modern era, let's look at it from a business
perspective. Psychology that applies to sales process also applies
in many other arias of our life. In sales in order to persuade
the prospect to buy, we use such techniques as mimicking, sincerity
and others designed to make that person trust us. But in reality all
we are doing is practicing that old principal of making others feel
how we want to feel. We are creating an emotional experience for
another person and they reward us with a sale. This as well as all
the other principals we discussed is very simple. All we need to do
is apply them one by one and we will become happier better human being.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Helping You Memorize With Mnemonics
by: Shareen Aguilar
Forgot something lately? You probably want to rev up on your memorization approach. There are a lot of memorization methods available today and all you have to do is just choose what you think suits you best. Consider trying more than one memorization technique on your pursuit to improving and enhancing your memorization skill and you’ll surely feel a lot better after putting the technique to practice.
Mnemonics is a memorization tool which teaches you how to keep up with the important things that you need to remember or the errands that you need to do. You’ll notice that learning memorization technique such as peg method, loci or journey system and even the linkword technique; just a few to mention the different classifications of mnemonics, could noticeably change the way you’re able to retain information.
But even then, there is no perfect way to maximum memorization skills. It takes a lot of time, effort, motivation and interest for a person to be able to achieve something. And with memorization, the mentioned four are all important. This doesn’t even include yet the special skills like creativity and imagination. If you try to think about it, all of the factors mentioned here, especially the memorization skills are all part of the big picture – enhancing memorization.
Even experts suggests that in order for a person to remember better is for him to take initiative in reading, reflecting about what he has read, reciting it out loud and reviewing it afterwards to complete the process of remembering efficiently. Prior to that, a general view of what you need to memorize (e.i a law book) then backing it up with questions you could possibly ask along the way helps establish an even concrete studying goal.
After this stage, you can then choose a mnemonic technique you desire to help you create a connection of what you have just absorbed according to your own familiarities. You may perceive this to be a lot of work but with constant practice, you’d be picking out important names, words and dates out of your head in no time.
The Power Of Hypnosis And The Human Body
by: Barrie St John
The proof of how powerful hypnosis can be, comes in many forms. So much so that certain practices have long since been discontinued on the basis ethics and professionalism.
Some years ago, a fairly common practice in stage hypnosis was to induce a state called the full body catalepsy. In this state, the “subject” experiences a complete rigidity of all the muscle groups in his body. He/she becomes completely stiff, like a piece of wood. As a demonstration, stage hypnotists would often position the subject’s head and feet on opposing chairs, without support through the torso and legs. This created a sort of human bridge, upon which the hypnotist would sit or stand.
The full body catalepsy contains no therapeutic use whatsoever. It serves merely for theatrics, and it’s obviously quite frowned upon today. It is unlikely to be seen very much these days for ethical reasons. Despite the fact that you’re unlikely to see such a stunt, it remains a strong example of how powerful hypnosis can be. The act of turning a person’s body into a rod of iron with mere suggestion is quite simply an amazing feat.
To a greatly lessened extent, catalepsy is still used today, but only on isolated body parts like an arm or a leg. This is done to deepen the state of hypnosis, and bears no risk of injury to the subject unlike the full body catalepsy. In fact, they don’t even feel any discomfort. For instance, I can induce hypnosis on someone, and bring about arm catalepsy, and they can remain in this position for an extended period of time, even an hour, without feeling a thing. Try this at home, and within a few short moments, you will feel extremely uncomfortable.
Hypnosis is its own form of pain control. A technique called glove anesthesia can be induced where the hand can be made to feel numb, and experience a total loss of sensation. The anesthesia can then be transferred to other parts of the body by putting the anesthetized hand on another body part, such as the stomach. This is a very powerful technique which I have used many times with great success.
A more subtle example of the power of hypnosis is witnessed regularly if you watch competitive athletes, like runners, as they mentally prepare for a race. There extreme focus and concentration takes them to a place where everything else is tuned out, and they are literally running every inch of that race in their mind, before it even begins, mentally planning every step.
Fortunately, we needn’t go to severe extremes anymore to prove the power of hypnosis. The theatrical impact of hypnosis has of course dropped in popularity over the past decade or so anyway, and practices such as the full body catalepsy are a thing of the past. There is no longer the need for hypnotists to demonstrate the amazing power the mind has over the physical body. The general public is much more aware of the power and effects of hypnosis these days, even if there are still many myths that still remain.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Focus - Your Power To Create
by: Michael McGrath
Unfortunately the majority of people on our lavish little green planet are not happy with their 'lot' in life. They are living lives of quiet desperation, unsatisfied with their relationships, careers or finances.
What is the main reason for this dissatisfaction? The main reason I believe this is so is due to a lack of understanding about the nature of our universe which can be directly linked to our belief conditioning from childhood.
As a child we begin to replicate the conditioning of our parents. A person's beliefs and values are often passed from generation to generation until someone down the generations either has a life-changing experience or consciously reorganises or changes their belief system.
Your beliefs and values determine your focus and a key point I make in all my writings on personal development is the simple truth that "your focus determines your reality". Focus sets in motion the Law of Attraction. (See Wealth Beyond Reason for instructions on using the law of attraction.)
The internal dialogue and imaginings of your mind are guided by your focus and your focus is reflected in your thinking. Your thinking becomes automatic and therefore this becomes your automatic creation system.
If you are not currently living a life that is in correspondence with your desires it is due to your internal automatic creation system being out of alignment with your goals. Simply put this means: Your focus is on what you do not want instead of what you want!
Let's say you have bills piling up everywhere and no way of paying them. When you receive post through the mail what is your first thought? I bet it goes something like this, "oh no not more bills". Where is your focus directed?
Why do the rich get richer and the poor get poorer? Well a rich man has money and he knows it. He sees wealth all around him. The poor person sees lack and concentrates on it. Can you see the difference in focus?
Now there are there are two basic ways to redirect your focus. The first is to change your beliefs so that your focus becomes more automatic in the direction that you wish it to go. The second way is to consciously redirect your attention to situations, people or events that correspond to a new belief.
This, however, is often easier said than done. For example examine the beliefs of a racist who thinks that he is superior to another person due to his heritage, skin colour, or ethnic origins. Now any right thinking person knows that these beliefs have no foundation in reality (subjective or otherwise). So in order to change these beliefs, at a core level, the racist would need to have some contact with other racial groups that have equal or better results in areas of their lives than he does. If he believes he is more intelligent then he would need to see that there are highly intelligent people of all races. If he believes that he is more prone to being successful because of his genetics then he would need to see that there are people of all races who achieve success with ease. If he believes that he is more equipped to overcome obstacles than members of another race then he would need to know that people from all walks of life and different cultures have achieved against seemingly insurmountable odds at great hardship to themselves and so on!
The problem with this is FOCUS! In most cases the racist does not want to see these things. He focuses on the situations, people and events that correspond and reinforce his beliefs! In extreme circumstances such a person will not even be in the company, correspond with, or listen about members of the group he is racist against.
You and I do exactly the same thing everyday. If your life is similar today to yesterday, last week or last year it is primarily because your focus has remained the same. Your thoughts yesterday where the same as last week and if your thoughts and focus are the same today then you can expect tomorrow to bring the same results!
If your beliefs are challenged by what you see, hear or experience many times you simply disregard the information and continue 'blindly' believing what you chose to believe. We filter our reality so that is reinforces our beliefs. We need to break free from this self-imposed brain-washing and redirect our focus on the things that will reinforce a new belief until we actually come to belief it.
For example take a couple in a 'bad' relationship. They come home from work and just know that they are going to have an argument with their spouse. Sure enough they arrive home and argue about who is taking the dog for a walk, what to watch on TV or why they argue so much! Where is the focus in this relationship?
Let's say they decide to try an experiment in beliefs and focus. They look at what IS working in the relationship. They recall the reasons why they first became a couple and begin to reinforce the things they have in common. Their focus is beginning to shift. Although they will probably fall back into some old routines of arguing again if they keep their focus on their shared interests and the things in their relationship that are working what do you think the effect will be?
Try this little experiment yourself. Choose a person who annoys you in some way and that you can't avoid but would if the choice where yours. A work colleague is a good example. Can you think of one? OK, what are you focusing on about that person? I bet it is all the things they do that annoy you. Try to think of something they do that you admire of that you like. This can be sometimes difficult but remember that every person has good and bad qualities so try not to become too polarised about people thinking them either good or bad - they are just human beings.
Now for a few days try your best to focus on the things you like or admire about them and watch what happens.
After you have tried this little experiment try other small ones in other areas of your life that you wish to improve.
Don't Waste Your Time - Use it Wisely
by: Andrew Grant
Do you waste time? Are you lazy and indolent or are you continuously on the go, using every minute to the maximum?
If you are in the first category, there are a lot of very obvious things you can do to improve, but in this article I want to concentrate on those of us who are already using our time constructively and examine how you can squeeze even more from your day.
You may think that your life is so full that this is impossible, but I recently ran an inventory of how I used my time and realised that there was still some room for improvement. Here's what I discovered.
Timespace #1 – For years I avoided doing any kind of exercise. It was pretty easy for me, I had been skinny all my life and even though I wasn't too fit, I was still the right weight. As I got older, though I realised that I had to take my body a bit more seriously.
Since then I have become a moderate, regular exerciser; I now go running for half an hour every second day and visit the gym three times a week. No problem there; I get satisfaction from using my time well and I appreciate the results.
However, I calculated that I am spending about five hours per week doing great things for my body, but nothing for my mind. So now when I'm pounding the streets or straining at the weights, I use the opportunity to listen to self development programs on my I-Pod, to concentrate on goal visualization, to practice affirmations or just focus on being grateful for all the good things in my life. And there's a bonus too; because the blood is racing through my veins, my brain is more alert and better prepared to learn and grow.
Timespace #2 – I drive a lot. My business requires a good deal of travel and most of it is done in the car. I used to listen to music on the radio or go into an almost trance-like ‘auto pilot' mode, usually to escape the tedium of long distance driving.
Now, though, I put a self development CD in the player, or a language course, or again, I use the time to practice visualizations and affirmations. The privacy of your little tin box allows you to shout, sing, laugh or mumble. Who cares? You are on your own. It's your space.
Timespace #3 – Finally, this one is not so much about finding extra time as making better use of the time I thought I was using wisely. My personal time audit showed me that I was wasting a whole hour, sometimes more, at the beginning of the day catching up on the overnight e-mail load and then planning what I was going to do for the rest of the day.
I prided myself on being an efficient time warrior, but I now realise, that I was missing one of the biggest mistakes of all.
So how did I fix that? Simple. I changed two things. Firstly, I now do my planning, the night before, by taking ten minutes, near to the end of the evening and writing down everything I want to achieve the next day. The bonus here is that overnight, my mind works on the issues even while I sleep, so by the time I get started next day, I am far better prepared.
Secondly, I leave my e-mail inbox until lunchtime. I spend the morning getting through the goals I assigned the night before and then just before I take a break for lunch, I race through my inbox. That way, I find I already feel good about what I've done so far in the day, my mind is much more focused and I don't get distracted.
So no matter how efficient you think you are, take a look again at your day and I'll bet you can find some extra layers of time, you never knew you had. Good hunting.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Self-Confidence - 3 Things You Can Do When You Have None
by: Suzanne Bird-Harris
Self-confidence is one of the keys to achieving success – you hear that everywhere. Most people think self-confidence is a result of success, but it’s actually an ingredient of success. How do you gain self-confidence so you can attract the success you seek?
1. Fake it!
Though it sounds ridiculous, faking confidence when you have none will actually give you some! Self-confidence is a perception held by you and others. If you act self-confident whether you feel it or not, others will perceive you as self-confident and be more willing to follow your lead, take you seriously and listen to what you have to say. It’s the great paradox where confidence is concerned, almost a “which comes first, the chicken or the egg” situation. Have a little faith in yourself and soon you won’t have to fake it anymore.
Self-confidence is one of the keys to achieving success – you hear that everywhere. Most people think self-confidence is a result of success, but it’s actually an ingredient of success. How do you gain self-confidence so you can attract the success you seek?
1. Fake it!
Though it sounds ridiculous, faking confidence when you have none will actually give you some! Self-confidence is a perception held by you and others. If you act self-confident whether you feel it or not, others will perceive you as self-confident and be more willing to follow your lead, take you seriously and listen to what you have to say. It’s the great paradox where confidence is concerned, almost a “which comes first, the chicken or the egg” situation. Have a little faith in yourself and soon you won’t have to fake it anymore.
2. Take risks.
There’s no need to fake confidence if you live each day like the day before. All of that is known territory – you’ve been there, done that. The most direct route to self-confidence is to take calculated risks and examine your results. Will you make mistakes? Absolutely, but those mistakes contribute as much to growing your self-confidence as your victories, particularly if you resist the urge to use them to beat yourself up. No one gets it right every single time and to require that from yourself is self-sabotage at its best. Start with small steps outside of your comfort zone and build your confidence step by step.
3. Stop doubting yourself by default.
We all have that little voice of doubt inside our heads. The trick is to learn when to pay attention to it and when to ignore it. I am a firm believer in “following your gut” and I’ve had to learn the difference between intuition and self-doubt. For me, what works best is to listen to what that doubting voice is actually saying. If its message is mainly lack of belief in your ability or your deservedness, then ignore it and forge ahead. As you gain self-confidence, you’ll hear from that little voice of doubt less and less often.
The dictionary defines self-confidence as confidence in oneself and in one's powers and abilities without any suggestion of conceit or arrogance. This is exactly what you gain when you fake it, take risks and stop letting doubt control your next move.
Raise Group Consciousness To Benefit Yourself
by: Enoch Tan
The collective consciousness is very influential on your own wealth and happiness. Your extent of wealth and happiness is co created by yourself and everyone else. You are more likely to experience desirable events and opportunities if the people around you are of suitable consciousness. Therefore it is always in your favor to raise the consciousness of people you interact with in order to create a better shared reality for yourself and those that are in your life.
Things get better when you get better. Things get worse when you get worse. The world is all within you. You at cause over everything that happens in your life whether you are conscious of it or not. Everyone else is also at cause in their world which means groups of people are collectively at cause over their collective world. The prosperity of a nation, corporation and family is determined by the collective consciousness of the people. Wars and even natural disasters are influenced by it as well.
by: Enoch Tan
The collective consciousness is very influential on your own wealth and happiness. Your extent of wealth and happiness is co created by yourself and everyone else. You are more likely to experience desirable events and opportunities if the people around you are of suitable consciousness. Therefore it is always in your favor to raise the consciousness of people you interact with in order to create a better shared reality for yourself and those that are in your life.
Things get better when you get better. Things get worse when you get worse. The world is all within you. You at cause over everything that happens in your life whether you are conscious of it or not. Everyone else is also at cause in their world which means groups of people are collectively at cause over their collective world. The prosperity of a nation, corporation and family is determined by the collective consciousness of the people. Wars and even natural disasters are influenced by it as well.
You will get fastest results if you work with and associate with people who have wealth consciousness. That means you should offer to help improve the wealth consciousness of people around you. Your network of people is your access to resources. Resources multiply when they are shared because you increase the value of the people you relate with. In order to really get ahead, you have to cause others around you to advance as well. When you cause others to rise, you will rise as well.
Since you know that collective consciousness affects the results that you get in your life, why would you choose to be passive when others are harming each other? You will eventually get affected in a negative manner therefore you should not watch from the sidelines until the share of returns hits you. To the extent that you allow other peoples choices and consciousness to override your own, is the extent that you will share in their consequences. "I don't care" does not exclude you.
Think of yourself as a being and the world around you as an extension of your being. We are all one body and one mind. When one part of the body is affected, all parts of the body are affected. When one part of the mind is affected, all parts of the mind is affected. Take care of every part of your mind and body. We must account for the health of the whole body. If the body dies, we go down with it, which does not serve our own needs. We are all really one big organism.
As important as it is to take care of the needs of others, it is also important to take care of your own needs. It is not wise to sacrifice your own well being unnecessarily in your service for others. It is even worse to convince many others to do the same. When you put yourself in a place of poverty and lack, sooner or later even the ones that you benefited will become affected by your state of suffering as well. Imagine the heart sacrificing itself to save the brain. It is useless and stupid.
Do your best to help the rest but take good care of yourself as well. Our own well being plays a big part in our ability to serve. If we don't thrive as individuals, we aren't much good to anyone else. When you raise your level of well being, you raise your ability to serve. Allow yourself to receive payment so that you can serve and influence even more. Love others and love yourself. Both the individual cell and all other cells must be taken cared of in order for all to experience the highest level of well being.
Realize that your good and the good of everyone around you are inseparably linked. Your own good and the good of the whole body is the same good. Make decisions that would improve your long term well being and that of the whole body simultaneously. The cell that serves as a role model of taking into account the good of all will lead all other cells into causing the whole body to thrive optimally in every way. We are the universe. I am all of you. We are all One therefore we should think for the Self of all.
The advancement of just one individual in society causes a series of advancements of varying degrees for all others in society. Even raising the consciousness of a few people is enough but when you help raise the consciousness of as many people as you can, you will shift the universe dramatically. Share knowledge and materials that can help others build wealth consciousness in themselves. By raising their consciousness, they will create their reality better which will affect your own reality better.
The good or bad that is in your extended body affects you to the degree it is away from you. There is no way we can effectively take care of others further away from us when we are hindered by the well being of those nearer to us. Therefore it is more important that we focus more on raising the consciousness and benefiting those who are dearer and more important to us personally. The order of importance when it comes to taking care of well being should be marriage, family, society, country and the world.
Your work is not your own but it is the work of the universe or God. All our work are the same because we are all here to help each other evolve and transform into better versions of ourselves. If you want to raise your quality of life to the next level, help to raise the consciousness of those around you. When the people around you become better, you become better because you got better people to relate with. This world will become a better place for all of us when we all become better together.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
5 Minutes A Day To Stress Management
by: Ron Huxley
Stress can seriously affect your health and your relationships. It is essential to find ways to decrease and prevent stressful incidents and even more importantly, decrease your negative reactions to stress. Here are some of the things that can be done for five minutes a day everyday until you have mastered stress. Most of life is basically a routine to follow like brushing your teeth or eating breakfast. You can do a few of them in a longer span of time than five minutes, but as they say-- every minute counts.
Managing time
Time management skills can allow you more time with your family and friends and possibly increase your performance and productivity. This will help reduce your stress.
by: Ron Huxley
Stress can seriously affect your health and your relationships. It is essential to find ways to decrease and prevent stressful incidents and even more importantly, decrease your negative reactions to stress. Here are some of the things that can be done for five minutes a day everyday until you have mastered stress. Most of life is basically a routine to follow like brushing your teeth or eating breakfast. You can do a few of them in a longer span of time than five minutes, but as they say-- every minute counts.
Managing time
Time management skills can allow you more time with your family and friends and possibly increase your performance and productivity. This will help reduce your stress.
To improve your time management:
Save time by focusing and concentrating, delegating, and scheduling time for yourself.
Keep a record of how you spend your time, including work, family, and leisure time.
Prioritize your time by rating tasks by importance and urgency. Redirect your time to those activities that are important and meaningful to you.
Manage your commitments by not over- or undercommitting. Don't commit to what is not important to you.
Deal with procrastination by using a day planner, breaking large projects into smaller ones, and setting short-term deadlines.
Examine your beliefs to reduce conflict between what you believe and what your life is like.
Build healthy coping strategies
It is important that you identify your coping strategies. One way to do this is by recording the stressful event, your reaction, and how you cope in a stress journal. With this information, you can work to change unhealthy coping strategies into healthy ones-those that help you focus on the positive and what you can change or control in your life.
Lifestyle
Some behaviors and lifestyle choices affect your stress level. They may not cause stress directly, but they can interfere with the ways your body seeks relief from stress. Try to:
Balance personal, work, and family needs and obligations.
Have a sense of purpose in life.
Get enough sleep, since your body recovers from the stresses of the day while you are sleeping.
Eat a balanced diet for a nutritional defense against stress.
Get moderate exercise throughout the week.
Limit your consumption of alcohol.
Don't smoke.
Social support
Social support is a major factor in how we experience stress. Social support is the positive support you receive from family, friends, and the community. It is the knowledge that you are cared for, loved, esteemed, and valued. More and more research indicates a strong relationship between social support and better mental and physical health.
Changing thinking
When an event triggers negative thoughts, you may experience fear, insecurity, anxiety, depression, rage, guilt, and a sense of worthlessness or powerlessness. These emotions trigger the body's stress, just as an actual threat does. Dealing with your negative thoughts and how you see things can help reduce stress.
Thought-stopping helps you stop a negative thought to help eliminate stress.
Disproving irrational thoughts helps you to avoid exaggerating the negative thought, anticipating the worst, and interpreting an event incorrectly.
Problem solving helps you identify all aspects of a stressful event and find ways to deal with it.
Changing your communication style helps you communicate in a way that makes your views known without making others feel put down, hostile, or intimidated. This reduces the stress that comes from poor communication. Use the assertiveness ladder to improve your communication style.
Even writers like me can get stressed even though we're just using our hands to do the talking, but having to sit for 7 or 8 hours is already stressful enough and have our own way to relieve stress. Whether you're the mail guy, the CEO, or probably the average working parent, stress is one unwanted visitor you would love to boot out of your homes, especially your life.
The Power of Your Self-image and How to Improve it for a Fulfilling Life
by: Raymond Gerson
I have been reading a book that I first read over 40 years ago. The book is called, Psychcybernetics, which was written by Maxwell Maltz in 1960. This book contained major breakthrough information at the time it was published and it continues to sell through word of mouth. Used copies are still available for two or three dollars.
What is so significant about this book? Dr. Maltz was a Plastic Surgeon who improved the physical appearance of thousands of people, especially those with deformities. Some of these people experienced major personality transformations following surgery. Others felt no different about themselves, even though photos revealed major improvements. Why? Because their self-image did not change. For example, some people who felt ugly before surgery still considered themselves unattractive after major improvements were made to their appearance. Dr. Maltz realized that our self-image or the picture of how we see ourselves is extremely important.
by: Raymond Gerson
I have been reading a book that I first read over 40 years ago. The book is called, Psychcybernetics, which was written by Maxwell Maltz in 1960. This book contained major breakthrough information at the time it was published and it continues to sell through word of mouth. Used copies are still available for two or three dollars.
What is so significant about this book? Dr. Maltz was a Plastic Surgeon who improved the physical appearance of thousands of people, especially those with deformities. Some of these people experienced major personality transformations following surgery. Others felt no different about themselves, even though photos revealed major improvements. Why? Because their self-image did not change. For example, some people who felt ugly before surgery still considered themselves unattractive after major improvements were made to their appearance. Dr. Maltz realized that our self-image or the picture of how we see ourselves is extremely important.
The bad news is that our self-image defines and limits what we will achieve in life. We cannot consistently outperform what we believe to be true about ourselves. Our self-image determines our degree of happiness and fulfillment, success in relationships, and our career accomplishments and satisfaction. It also impacts our physical, emotional, and mental health.
The good news is we can change and improve our self-image. Dr. Maltz concluded that 90% of the population could use at least some improvement of their self-image. His book provides practical exercises for improving one's self-image and for managing our inner critic. As our self-image improves, so does our self-confidence and self-esteem, which are important for any type of success in life. A strong and healthy picture of ourselves helps us to overcome many self-imposed limitations and beliefs.
Our inner critic is a major obstacle to experiencing a successful and fulfilling life. All of us hear the voice of this critic at times. It takes the form of inner dialog and negative self-talk. This is the voice that says, " You can't do it" or "You are not worthy of achieving your dreams".
As we strengthen and improve our self-image, we also diminish the power of our inner critic. This helps us to overcome our resistance (which is often at a sub-conscious level) to achieving our dreams. As our self-worth increases our limiting beliefs are changed into positive beliefs. We start believing in our worthiness and great potential.
What is something practical that we can do to enhance our self-image? Dr. Maltz advised people to go into the theater of their mind each day and play mental movies. Visualize yourself sitting in a theater looking at a large white screen. Then see yourself on the screen acting and feeling like the person you want to be. Also replay movies of yourself experiencing past successes. Our self-image is influenced more by pictures than words.
We become what we consistently contemplate upon. By frequently reliving your success experiences you reinforce an image of yourself as a successful person. Also, when you play mental movies of yourself acting as the person you want to become, you begin to see yourself in that way. We behave like the person we believe ourselves to be. When you enhance your self-image, your life improves from inside-out. This is one of the great secrets for finding happiness and fulfillment.
Friday, July 6, 2007
7 Tips And Exercises To Boost Your Creativity: Follow A Few Steps & Strategies To Solve Any Problem
So, you have a problem or projects that has you stumped? Or you are not quite satisfied with some of your solutions? Try these ideas:
1.Gather Information: you might not have enough information about your project/problem to come up with a great creative solution. Exercise: Go to a source of information you don’t typically use. When is the last time you went to a library? Is there a government agency that has related information? How about a local community college, is there an instructor that teaches something connected to your subject? Clerks at bookstores are often very helpful. There may be trade magazines addressing your area of interest.
2. Be Active: yes, you read correctly. Your brain uses a lot of oxygen and does not work well when undernourished. Exercise: Go do something active and FUN! This will get the blood flowing and when you have fun, your creative juices start flowing. Do something that you haven’t done in long time: dance, roller skate, hike, ride horseback, garden, or ride a bike.
So, you have a problem or projects that has you stumped? Or you are not quite satisfied with some of your solutions? Try these ideas:
1.Gather Information: you might not have enough information about your project/problem to come up with a great creative solution. Exercise: Go to a source of information you don’t typically use. When is the last time you went to a library? Is there a government agency that has related information? How about a local community college, is there an instructor that teaches something connected to your subject? Clerks at bookstores are often very helpful. There may be trade magazines addressing your area of interest.
2. Be Active: yes, you read correctly. Your brain uses a lot of oxygen and does not work well when undernourished. Exercise: Go do something active and FUN! This will get the blood flowing and when you have fun, your creative juices start flowing. Do something that you haven’t done in long time: dance, roller skate, hike, ride horseback, garden, or ride a bike.
3. Change your viewpoint: As Einstein is quoted as saying: "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." Your perception determines the path to a problem’s solution. Exercise: Look at your problem from another point of view. What would your problem look like if you were a different person? Imagine…from the viewpoint of a child, a co-worker, your dog, a gambler, a professional athlete, etc. This may sound silly, the point is to shake up your normal routine and help your brain create new pathways of thought.
4. Compare and Contrast: Compare your problem/issue/project to something very different; an object or a concept. Through juxtaposition, you may find combinations you never saw before. Exercise: Grab a blank sheet of paper. Write your problem at the top. Next to it write an unrelated idea such as “shoe”, “the national highway system”, “a candy bar”, “cat litter”….you get the idea! Underneath write every way you can think that these two things are alike. Remember to have fun. This is simply another method of changing your viewpoint as well as generating more ideas.
5. Be Visual: Thinking is very fluid and visual, making use of symbols and pictures instead of words. Give your problem a color…even a smell! What shape is it? What does it feel like to the touch? Exercise: This is best done with a large sheet of paper or a white board. Use a regular piece of paper if that’s all you have. Draw a rectangle in the center and label it with your problem/project. Draw at least 5-6 radiating lines coming out from the box. Label these lines as different aspects of your project. For instance, if the problem is Planning a Wedding on a Tight Budget, some of the radiating lines could be Food, Entertainment, and Wedding Dress. If the problem is Building a Team at work, some of the lines could be Collaboration, Productivity, and Communication. At the end of each line write whatever you think needs to happen with that area. This exercise can help you see the big picture as well as prioritize all the parts of your project.
6. Generate LOTS of ideas: You have gathered information, pumped up your enthusiasm and reviewed your problem from many angles. It’s time to really let loose with ideas. Exercise: Brainstorm! I mean REALLY brainstorm. Don’t just toss out a handful of ideas and call it quits. Put some energy into it. Collaboration is good for this as everyone will get some different ideas. Hand everyone a piece of paper (preferably large, that you can stick to the wall). Set a time limit. Allow enough time to get plenty of ideas but not so much time that you judge the ideas coming out of you (5-10 minutes). Also set a goal for the number ideas, a goal that will force you to work fast. Speed is important as well as reserving any judgment.
7. Give it to your subconscious: Let you subconscious mind have another crack at it. You have plenty of information and ideas. It may be challenging to pick the best course of action. Exercise: Sleep on it! Let your mind have it while you are resting. For this to really work you must do a review just before going to bed and place a notebook by your bed so you can jot down ideas if you wake up during the night and first thing in the morning. Intend that you will have some answers when you wake up. As you wake up, you may have to catch the ideas in the half-awake state. The notebook is right beside you so you won’t lose any good thoughts.
Congratulations! You came up with some very creative solutions to your project. You can repeat this process with any subject.
Life as a Journey
Life is a journey, a journey filled with off road stumbles and on road bliss. This journey can feel like it is all uphill for those who are coping with a chronic illness, addictive disease or injury-related condition. But life is a journey.
“He who chooses the beginning of a road, also chooses its destination.”
-Anonymous
For every journey, a roadmap is helpful in order to get to the destination timely and see all the sights and do all the activities along the way, which one has planned. Many of us travel or have traveled on our journey of life, without such a road map. We all need direction at some time, although many of us don’t typically ask for directions. But how will you know where you want to go if you do not have a goal or destination in mind? Or if one has a destination, but no road map, one may circle around endlessly, reaching the destination long overdue or even worse never at all. Everyone should have a road map for their journey of life. On this road map, it is important to establish what you really want, who you really want to be, your purpose and how you will travel.
Life is a journey, a journey filled with off road stumbles and on road bliss. This journey can feel like it is all uphill for those who are coping with a chronic illness, addictive disease or injury-related condition. But life is a journey.
“He who chooses the beginning of a road, also chooses its destination.”
-Anonymous
For every journey, a roadmap is helpful in order to get to the destination timely and see all the sights and do all the activities along the way, which one has planned. Many of us travel or have traveled on our journey of life, without such a road map. We all need direction at some time, although many of us don’t typically ask for directions. But how will you know where you want to go if you do not have a goal or destination in mind? Or if one has a destination, but no road map, one may circle around endlessly, reaching the destination long overdue or even worse never at all. Everyone should have a road map for their journey of life. On this road map, it is important to establish what you really want, who you really want to be, your purpose and how you will travel.
“A man without a plan for the day is lost before he starts.”
-Lewis K. Bendele
Learn and Seek Information
Often times we need a teacher or mentor for some guidance. We all do. Those who are most successful at living the life of their dreams seek information and seek guidance. I recommend everyone do this, life is a marathon, and we are in the process of learning the entire way, we are always evolving. Please visit http://www.acquiredhope.com and http://www.inspirednhopeful.theSGRprogram.com for information, free resources and programs to help you live the life you dream.
Goal Setting
A journey requires goals. Think about it, what do you really want? If you do not know, how can you receive it? Once you identify what you really want, write it down and if you have it already; fantastic! If you do not have what you really want, then establish it as a goal. Choose what you really want to be your experience.
Identity Statement
It is really important that we establish who we really want to be. We have an opportunity to be who ever we want. We are the creators of our universe, we become what we think and focus about. So it is really important that you create and think about who you really want to be. Take a few minutes to reflect and think about whom you are today and who you want to be. If it is a match; fantastic! For many of it, it is not a match. It is important to establish objective, detailed and finite goals of what you really want.
Ultimate Purpose Statement:
During our journey, it is important to have an ultimate purpose. A journey is more gratifying and enjoyable, if and when there is an ultimate purpose and a direction or vision. Every business organization knows that when they establish their Mission Statement. If one wanders without direction, one can get distracted and easily led off track. Therefore, having an ultimate purpose statement to guide your journey will keep you on the safest and fastest road to your dreams. In our journey of life, we as humans have three general purposes:
1)To know true happiness and joy. This means our life’s mission is to live our lives to the fullest and to strive to reach our fullest potential.
2)To know that we are all connected, as one God force or energy source. To give back to mankind to advance life.
3)To learn how to co-create our reality with the help of the universe or Higher Power. To learn how to apply the power of positive thinking and guide our thoughts to manifest the experience that we desire.
Rules of Conduct:
With any journey or trip, one must have rules or conduct or laws to abide to determine how one will get there. When one is driving a car, one must follow rules of traffic in order to maintain organization, efficiency and not to do harm to others. When one is performing at the workplace, there are rules of order and discipline. The same rules apply in life. It is important to know what rules of conduct guide you and your direction. You should establish your rules of travel or your rules of conduct. When you are following your set rules, you will know you are living or being who you really are.
Having Faith
No one can tell you when or how or when your goals will be achieved or your journey will be complete; you must leave that up to God or the universe or Higher Power, most people believe in a Higher Power of some sort and by some name. But go into each day believing that you are on your journey of life, become who you want to be, adhere to the rules of conduct and following your road map to your destination. Live one day at a time and live each day to the absolute fullest. Be efficient and complete with your actions. Reward yourself for small accomplishments. That will not only make this process more fun, but will help to keep you positive, hopeful and continuing to practice the process that you are learning in this book. Acquiring hope and acquiring health is a process.
Imagine that you are traveling from Florida to California in the darkness, you know that if you can see the 200 feet in front of your car in your headlights, you will reach your destination. Life is the same principle; it unfolds bit by bit in front of your eyes. Live each beautiful day, knowing that there are many other beautiful days coming your way. With each day unfolding step by step and mile by mile. Live in the moment, let go of the past, and don’t worry about the future. Define your destination and all the sights and experience that you wish to have along your journey and have the faith, everyday, that it will happen for you. Learn how to acquire it!
