Are you tired of that little voice inside your head that won’t give you a break? Who wouldn’t be? It’s like a crazy little monkey that never sleeps. Unfortunately, our brains are hardwired for negative thinking. That makes sense if you think about it. After all, spotting potential threats was a matter of life and death throughout most of human history.
In modern times, however, daily life is, for most people, devoid of life-threatening dangers. As such, our negative thoughts do little more than rob us of our happiness, and the inability to control them can create havoc in our lives.
In this article, I’ll give you five ways to put that crazy little monkey to bed.
The brain is a very powerful machine, but it’s incapable of thinking two things at the same time. You can use this to your advantage by repeating a mantra as soon as you have a negative thought. Continue repeating it until the thought disappears. Sounds pretty simple, right?
It is, in theory, but you’ll likely notice a strong urge to reflect upon or react to your negative thoughts or emotions. It’s important to resist these urges and focus on repeating the mantra. Personally, I like to repeat the mantra “I love myself”. No matter how much power your thoughts may seem to have on you, the reality is that their lifespan is very short. Fight the urge to react to the negatives ones until they go away.
We have two different types of vision: peripheral and foveal. Peripheral vision allows us to track movements in our surroundings and keeps us in a state of openness and awareness. When you focus on the space around you without concentrating on a specific person or object, you’re using peripheral vision.
On the other hand, foveal vision allows us to keep track of a moving target to discern whether or not it constitutes a potential threat. Whenever you focus on a specific object, you’re using foveal vision.
There was a time when humans relied primarily upon peripheral vision. Now, however, most of us spend a lot of time looking at our phones, computers, TVs, and books, among other things. As a result, we continue to rely more and more on our foveal vision.
When you have a negative thought, switch into peripheral vision. There is a link between the use of peripheral vision and arousal of the parasympathetic nervous system, which increases awareness, reduces stress, and stops internal dialogue.
You can use the word “useless” to discard your negative thoughts. I once read about a successful business leader who used this trick to interrupt and eradicate negative thought patterns. Anything you can think of that will interrupt the pattern will do the trick. If there’s an association between your thought and a certain feeling, you can name the emotion when you have the thought. Labeling your thoughts and emotions creates an instant separation between you and them. This separation allows you to observe your thoughts objectively rather than being caught in the fight-or-flight response.
Observe your negative thoughts with curiosity and objectivity, as a scientist would do. Remember that you are not your thoughts; they can’t disturb you without your consent. However, they can be destructive if you aren’t careful and tend to demand your attention when you’re tired or bored. They may even show up uninvited and demand your attention for no particular reason. The good news is that they’ll leave you alone if you refuse to give it to them.
Writing things down is a great way to clear your mind and gain more objectivity. When you record your thoughts, it’s almost like giving your mind permission to stop having them. It’s another way to create separation from what you’re thinking and take an impartial look at it. Once you write down what you’re thinking and decide what to do with it, your mind will be less likely to come back and haunt you with the same thoughts.
Let me give you a final tip from neuroscience to help you resist the urge to ruminate: The less we think about something, the weaker the neural pathways associated with that thought or topic become. Yes, your thoughts affect your brain on a physiological level. The more you resist the urge to think a certain thought or ponder a particular subject, the harder it will be for your brain to come up with those thoughts or issues.
Fighting the urge to react to your negative thoughts can be hard at times. When that happens, just say, “I’m rewiring my brain every time I stop myself from thinking this thought. That’s what I’m doing right now.” How cool is that?
Try these tips and give that crazy little monkey a much-needed rest.
Thibaut Meurisse is the founder of whatispersonaldevelopment.org. Obsessed with improvement, he dedicates his life to finding the best possible ways to durably transform both his life and the lives of others. He just released a free e-book “The 5 Commandments of Personal Development”. Visit his website to discover the 5 principles you must master in order to live a full life.
The post 5 Ways to Fight Negative Thoughts appeared first on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement.
You could say that there plenty of not-so-bright people walking around, but it’s not that there are so many of them, it’s just that they are usually the loudest. There are a lot of extremely intelligent people out there, but they simply don’t advertise the fact that they are smart. It comes natural to them, and they try to live their lives freely and without consciously drawing attention to themselves. You can call it modesty or plain old good manners, but these people tend to look and sound quite average, until they surprise you with a gem of wisdom. Here are some of the tell-tale signs that you might be one smart cookie, without appearing so.
As recent research suggests, those who prefer to stay up late, and do their best work at night, average higher IQ scores than morning people. That being said, staying up late won’t magically hack your brain into being smarter – smarter people are just more likely to work and party during the night, and sleep in. While all your friends are fast asleep, you are browsing the web for information, reading, learning to play the guitar and finishing up different projects – since this happens behind the scenes, your knowledge and skills will often be a surprise to people.
You’ll find plenty of misconceptions about quiet people, e.g. being labeled as introverts, socially awkward and so on. This isn’t necessarily true, and while not all quiet people are necessarily smart, highly intelligent people will often refrain from speaking if they are accessing a situation. They will take some time to think about what was said and prepare an adequate response, and they find silence better than pointless small talk.
You may find yourself faced with a bunch of difficult problems, but a smart person won’t let that bring them down. A very smart person will know how to prioritize and deal with problems as they arise, before things even get a chance to start spinning out of control. If you are the type of person who faces problems and welcomes challenges, always dancing on the age of your comfort zone, chances are that you are fairly intelligent.
The company you keep is a good reflection of who you are as a person. Exceptionally smart people will tend to hang out with people like them, i.e. smart, creative and cultured. There are always some exceptions, but if about 80% of the people in your life are intelligent and interesting, you probably fit that description as well.
There might not be anything that hints at great intelligence in your appearance or speech, the way you conduct yourself is an excellent indicator. Intelligent people always strive for perfection, so each time you see them you’ll be able to notice a few small improvements. They are always a bit different than before. This perfectionist mentality is applied to all aspects of life, from trying to look their best or working on being a great speaker, to spending hours practicing their golf swing or dart throw.
There are plenty of narcissists out there who sometimes lie to themselves and others about how good they are at something, so it’s a breath of fresh air to see someone being self-critical and accepting critique. Although someone might not be actively trying to impress and come off as smart, the ability to acknowledge one’s own faults and the willingness to work on correcting them can give their intelligence away.
Intelligent people like to be up to date with the latest development in a number of different fields, always trying to improve themselves bit by bit. A smart person will stay up to date with local and global news, as well as try to learn all he or she can about topics that are directly related to their life or are interesting to them. Gathering information, learning new things and developing useful skills is a lifelong goal for highly intelligent people, and they will always have a way of keeping themselves busy.
Speaking of keeping busy, a good indicator that you are dealing with a very smart person is the fact that they always have a few projects that they are working on. They might be brushing up on their French and learning a few useful Mandarin phrases, reading up on DIY home repairs, taking dancing lessons, working on some new recipes in the kitchen, or compiling a book on early medieval architecture. While a lot of people like to keep busy, a smart person will fill their free time with activities that help them improve in one way or another. Not all smart people are very productive, but it can be a good indicator of higher intellect.
When talking to a smart person who doesn’t blow his or her own horn, you’ll notice that they don’t try to hijack the conversation or start long monologues. They will actually sit there quietly and listen to what you have to say, allowing for a few moments of silence here and there as they think things over. However, once they ask a question it really hits the spot. They actually give helpful advice or even get you to come to the right conclusions on your own. If your friends enjoy talking to you and tell you that you are a good listener, you are probably a good friend, and an intelligent one at that.
Due to something called the Dunning-Kruger effect people with a low level of competence will tend to overestimate their abilities, whereas highly competent people will tend to sell themselves short. This is due to the fact that the more intelligent, informed and skilled you are, the more you realize just how much space there is to further improve and you are not satisfied with your current knowledge or skill level.
True intelligence cannot really be hidden away or masked effectively, nor is this the point of exceptionally smart people who appear seemingly normal. They wear their intelligence proudly, but they don’t flaunt it, although these ten sings are a dead giveaway.
The post 10 Signs You’re Exceptionally Smart Though You Don’t Appear To Be appeared first on Lifehack.
There is always a clear cut difference between the successful and the unsuccessful. The difference in habits and decisions give birth to what is either being talked about or what is not. Adjusting and aligning your thoughts with successful people will start to have a profound effect on how people see you. It will also help in understanding the daily habits that successful people use to fine tune their values and standards.
To define the actions of successful people, John Paul DeJoria, the billionaire behind brand names such as Paul Michell hair products and Patron tequila, explains what a ‘successful’ person is: “Successful people do all the things that unsuccessful people don’t want to do.”
Success has elements attached to it from hard work, determination and perseverance. It goes beyond the desire to be successful and reaches in to taking action to make a difference. This infographic offers more by explaining what extra factors the successful have over the unsuccessful.
Their success is dependent on the success of others
They understand that change is constant and they move with the trends rather than get stuck at a spot.
They are focused on getting their creativity juices going.
They are in charge of their success
Their desire for knowledge is unending
They are grateful and show genuine appreciation
They never burn bridges
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Πέντε χιλιόμετρα ανατολικά του Γυθείου, το μυστήριο ναυάγιο που αφορά το πλοίο «Δημήτριος» έχει γίνει σήμερα ο τουριστικός μύθος της περιοχής. Κι όχι άδικα, αφού βρίσκεται σε μια από τις πιο γραφικές παραλίες στην περιοχή Βαλτάκι, του Δήμου Ευρώτα. Η παρουσία του έχει «γεννήσει» πολλές ιστορίες. Μια θεωρία μιλάει για λαθρεμπόριο τσιγάρων μεταξύ Ιταλίας και Τουρκίας, που διεκόπη εξαιτίας μιας καταιγίδας με αποτέλεσμα το καράβι να πέσει σε ξέρες. Μία άλλη αναφέρει πως το πλοίο- φάντασμα- άγνωστης ιδιοκτησίας αναγκάστηκε να προσδέσει στο λιμάνι του Γυθείου λόγω ασθένειας του καπετάνιου του.
Σύμφωνα με τους κατοίκους της περιοχής το φορτηγό «Δημήτριος» προσάραξε εκεί από τον Δεκέμβριο του 1981 αφού εγκαταλείφθηκε από τους ιδιοκτήτες του καθώς είχε παρουσιάσει οικονομικά προβλήματα, αλλά και μηχανικά, τα οποία το ακινητοποίησαν αρχικά στο λιμάνι του Γυθείου. Σύμφωνα με το βιβλίο «Τα ναυάγια στις ελληνικές θάλασσες» του αείμνηστου επίτιμου Αρχηγού του Λιμενικού Σώματος, Χρήστου Ντούνη αναφέρει ότι «το πλοίο «Δημήτριος» (πρώην Κlintholm) μήκους 67μετρων ήταν ιδιοκτησία των Αδελφών Μολλάρη κατά 76,75% και των Αδελφών Ματσινού κατά 23,25%. Το πλοίο είχε καταπλεύσει έκτακτα στο Γύθειο την 4η Δεκεμβρίου 1980 λόγω ασθένειας του πλοιάρχου και της ανάγκης εισαγωγής του σε νοσοκομείο. Το σκάφος ήταν πλαγιοδεστό εσωτερικό του λιμένα Γυθείου. Τον Ιούνιο του 1981 το σκάφος εξακολουθούσε να παραμένει στην ίδια θέση, αλλά ειδοποιήθηκαν από τη λιμενική αρχή οι πλοιοκτήτες ότι το σκάφος κατέστη επικίνδυνο λόγω επόπτης των κάβων, ενώ είχε πάρει κλίση προς τα δεξιά από την εισροή υδάτων στα κύτη του. Από την λιμενική αρχή ζητήθηκε η μεθόρμιση του σκάφους εκτός λιμένα σε ασφαλές αγκυροβόλιο.
Όμως δεν υπήρξε ανταπόκριση εκ μέρους των πλοιοκτητών μέχρι τις 9 Νοέμβριο που λόγω των δυσμενών καιρικών συνθηκών το σκάφος παρασύρθηκε από το αγκυροβόλιο του. Όμως στις 23 Δεκεμβρίου 1981 παρασύρθηκε πάλι και προσάραξε στη σημερινή του θέση του λακωνικού κόλπου βορειανατολικά του Γυθείου».
Άγρια Ομορφιά
Σήμερα, το Ναυάγιο του Γυθείου- όπως το λένε οι κάτοικοι της περιοχής- μαγνητίζει τα βλέμματα των επισκεπτών και δημιουργεί εικόνες απαράμιλλης ομορφιάς. Αν λοιπόν ταξιδέψετε σε τούτη την απάνεμη πλευρά της Πελοποννήσου, νοτιοανατολικά της Σπάρτης, θα συναντήσετε μοναδικές εικόνες. Το Γύθειο με τα πολύχρωμα νεοκλασικά, ουζερί, το κατάφυτο νησάκι Κρανάη και φυσικά τις γύρω αμμουδιές, αποτελεί έναν από τους πιο όμορφους ανοιξιάτικους και καλοκαιρινούς προορισμούς που συνδυάζει περιηγήσεις στη θάλασσα και εκδρομές στη γραφική Μάνη
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Sig Nordal 