The weather at the Grand Canyon can be as varied as the…

The weather at the Grand Canyon can be as varied as the landscape. Dramatic elevation changes influence air temperature and circulation. Incredible heat is common at the canyon floor in the summer and unexpected thunderstorms can pop up quickly. With such sweeping vistas, storm watching can be a thrilling experience. Photo by Scott Keelin (http://ift.tt/18oFfjl).

July 8th

Rare as is true love, true friendship is rarer.

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9 Things Truly Confident People Just Don’t Do

You’re reading 9 Things Truly Confident People Just Don’t Do, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

Building your confidence is all about adopting great habits; truly confident people understand that.

Below are nine habits that you need to give up if you want to reap the tremendous rewards that come from confident living.

9 Habits that Sabotage Your Confidence:

  1. Comparing Yourself with Others.  Mark Twain said that comparison is the thief of joy. Comparison is also the thief of confidence.

Confident people don’t go around comparing themselves to other people as a measure of how they stack up.  Confident people learn from others.  They seek mentors and coaches. They make sure they connect with others who can help them grow.  But, they never, ever get caught up in the comparison trap.

When you compare yourself to others, you’re not focused on the unique strengths and talents you have.   Comparison only undermines your sense of self. It breeds feelings of insecurity and jealousy. It also isn’t effective, as you only get a partial glimpse of reality. When you’re comparing yourself with others, you never know the whole story; hence, what you’re seeing is at best an incomplete picture of others anyway.

  1. Living in the Past. You cannot change the past, only learn from it. Confident people are not focused on the past, they’re focused on the present and envisioning what they can create for the future.

Dwelling on the past … whether it be on great things that happened or not-so-great things that happened … robs you of your ability to drink in the opportunities of today. Successful people just don’t do it and if you want to be more confident, neither should you.

  1. Needing Others’ Approval. You can’t be an approval junky and be confident at the same time; life just doesn’t work that way.

If you let another person’s praise be the only thing that lifts you up, then get ready for their criticism to tear you down. Who wants to be on that rollercoaster ride?  Not confident people!

When you long for the praise and admiration of others, then you’re seeking confidence from outside of you, not within you. Confidence is an inside job.  No one can bestow it on you.

  1. Indulging in Self-Bashing Self-Talk. Truly confident people take control of their internal dialogue. They use their self-talk to build them up, not tear them down. They affirm their strengths and their capabilities. They affirm positive outcomes in their lives.

Do confident people ever have thoughts of self-doubt?  Of course they do. They just don’t set up a tent and linger there.  They understand that uncertainty is a part of being human. They’re not 100%  certain they can always succeed, but they are certain that being brave is better than cowering to internal fears. They understand that positive self-encouragement is the fuel for success, so they never allow themselves to get stuck in ongoing critical self-talk.

  1. Resting on Your Laurels. Confident people keep learning and growing and achieving. They celebrate their wins but never rest on their laurels.
  2. Inaction.  Confident people are people of action. I could go on and on about this, but isn’t it obvious why action is the hallmark of confidence?  Confident people aren’t afraid to make things happen, in fact, they insist on it.
  3. Saying “Yes” All the Time. Confident people understand the importance of setting and enforcing healthy boundaries. They understand that saying “No” is not a bad thing; it’s often necessary and confident people bear no guilt for saying “No” to others.
  4. Acting Out of Jealousy. Confident people aren’t jealous of others’ successes. They applaud other’s wins. They celebrate them. Confident people understand that others’ triumphs do not diminish their own accomplishments. Confident people know there is plenty of room for everyone to succeed.
  5. Stop Learning. Confident people are lifelong learners.  (Arrogant people might not be, but never confuse arrogance with confidence; they are NOT the same thing!).

One of the reasons confident people are so confident is that they are continually building their knowledge and skills. Confident people are avid readers. They also attend classes, seminars, and conferences, and join mastermind groups where they can connect and learn at same time.

The biggest mistake that confidence seekers make is believing that confidence is bestowed on you one day, and then everything is easier. Confidence comes from refusing to engage in the nine confidence-busting habits listed here and instead choosing to adopt the opposite behavior.

Remember, confident people feel fear, they just refuse to accept a life that’s paralyzed by that fear.  Instead, they step up and create the lives they want to lead. Feeling confident is not some pipe dream that’s out of reach for you; it’s well within your grasp. All you need to do is adopt the habits of confident people, and soon you’ll be one, too!


J. Marie Novak is an author and Life Transformation Coach. She’s also the founder of Believe And Create, a community that’s grounded in the following mindset:  Believe in Yourself and Create the Amazing Life You Were Born to Live.  Visit http://ift.tt/1HMMWow to get our free guide.  

You’ve read 9 Things Truly Confident People Just Don’t Do, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

http://ift.tt/2tWv4HA

9 Things Truly Confident People Just Don’t Do

You’re reading 9 Things Truly Confident People Just Don’t Do, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

Building your confidence is all about adopting great habits; truly confident people understand that.

Below are nine habits that you need to give up if you want to reap the tremendous rewards that come from confident living.

9 Habits that Sabotage Your Confidence:

  1. Comparing Yourself with Others.  Mark Twain said that comparison is the thief of joy. Comparison is also the thief of confidence.

Confident people don’t go around comparing themselves to other people as a measure of how they stack up.  Confident people learn from others.  They seek mentors and coaches. They make sure they connect with others who can help them grow.  But, they never, ever get caught up in the comparison trap.

When you compare yourself to others, you’re not focused on the unique strengths and talents you have.   Comparison only undermines your sense of self. It breeds feelings of insecurity and jealousy. It also isn’t effective, as you only get a partial glimpse of reality. When you’re comparing yourself with others, you never know the whole story; hence, what you’re seeing is at best an incomplete picture of others anyway.

  1. Living in the Past. You cannot change the past, only learn from it. Confident people are not focused on the past, they’re focused on the present and envisioning what they can create for the future.

Dwelling on the past … whether it be on great things that happened or not-so-great things that happened … robs you of your ability to drink in the opportunities of today. Successful people just don’t do it and if you want to be more confident, neither should you.

  1. Needing Others’ Approval. You can’t be an approval junky and be confident at the same time; life just doesn’t work that way.

If you let another person’s praise be the only thing that lifts you up, then get ready for their criticism to tear you down. Who wants to be on that rollercoaster ride?  Not confident people!

When you long for the praise and admiration of others, then you’re seeking confidence from outside of you, not within you. Confidence is an inside job.  No one can bestow it on you.

  1. Indulging in Self-Bashing Self-Talk. Truly confident people take control of their internal dialogue. They use their self-talk to build them up, not tear them down. They affirm their strengths and their capabilities. They affirm positive outcomes in their lives.

Do confident people ever have thoughts of self-doubt?  Of course they do. They just don’t set up a tent and linger there.  They understand that uncertainty is a part of being human. They’re not 100%  certain they can always succeed, but they are certain that being brave is better than cowering to internal fears. They understand that positive self-encouragement is the fuel for success, so they never allow themselves to get stuck in ongoing critical self-talk.

  1. Resting on Your Laurels. Confident people keep learning and growing and achieving. They celebrate their wins but never rest on their laurels.
  2. Inaction.  Confident people are people of action. I could go on and on about this, but isn’t it obvious why action is the hallmark of confidence?  Confident people aren’t afraid to make things happen, in fact, they insist on it.
  3. Saying “Yes” All the Time. Confident people understand the importance of setting and enforcing healthy boundaries. They understand that saying “No” is not a bad thing; it’s often necessary and confident people bear no guilt for saying “No” to others.
  4. Acting Out of Jealousy. Confident people aren’t jealous of others’ successes. They applaud other’s wins. They celebrate them. Confident people understand that others’ triumphs do not diminish their own accomplishments. Confident people know there is plenty of room for everyone to succeed.
  5. Stop Learning. Confident people are lifelong learners.  (Arrogant people might not be, but never confuse arrogance with confidence; they are NOT the same thing!).

One of the reasons confident people are so confident is that they are continually building their knowledge and skills. Confident people are avid readers. They also attend classes, seminars, and conferences, and join mastermind groups where they can connect and learn at same time.

The biggest mistake that confidence seekers make is believing that confidence is bestowed on you one day, and then everything is easier. Confidence comes from refusing to engage in the nine confidence-busting habits listed here and instead choosing to adopt the opposite behavior.

Remember, confident people feel fear, they just refuse to accept a life that’s paralyzed by that fear.  Instead, they step up and create the lives they want to lead. Feeling confident is not some pipe dream that’s out of reach for you; it’s well within your grasp. All you need to do is adopt the habits of confident people, and soon you’ll be one, too!


J. Marie Novak is an author and Life Transformation Coach. She’s also the founder of Believe And Create, a community that’s grounded in the following mindset:  Believe in Yourself and Create the Amazing Life You Were Born to Live.  Visit http://ift.tt/1HMMWow to get our free guide.  

You’ve read 9 Things Truly Confident People Just Don’t Do, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

http://ift.tt/2tWv4HA

How the ‘Game of Thrones’ costumes have changed over…

Do Not Become Alarmed

Maile Meloy doesn’t waste a second before subverting the title of her gripping new novel, Do Not Become Alarmed. Catastrophe is the subject of a pair of foreboding epigrams, and that’s before you’ve even reached the first page. Then there’s the setting for the story, a luxurious Christmas cruise. Think about it — what’s the last bit of good news you heard coming from the public exploits of a cruise line?

Exactly.

So here we are, boarding the ship with two young families. Liv and Nora are cousins in their thirties, and they’re also close friends. To help Nora get through the first holiday season after her mother’s death, Liv has suggested that the two families take a joint vacation. Together with their husbands and four young children, the women trade the bubble of their well-heeled lives in Los Angeles for the even more sheltered cocoon of the ship.

They’re headed south from L.A., down the western coast of the Americas for two weeks. A U-turn at the mechanical marvels of the Panama Canal is a sweetener for Liv’s husband, an engineer. The truth is, a cruise isn’t the first choice of vacation for any of the adults, who feel themselves too self-aware to be able to enjoy the artifice of shipboard life. But soon enough they’re seduced.

Take the endless buffet that instantly erases the burden of daily meal planning:

Watching them eat, Liv felt her mind relax, easing its calculation. Feeding children, even when you had all available resources, took so much planning and forethought. The low-grade anxiety about the next meal started when you were cleaning up the last. But for two weeks there would never be any question about what was for dinner, or lunch, or snack. That roving hunter-gatherer part of her brain, which sucked a lot of power and made the other lights dim, she could just turn it off.

The spell of seaborne luxury is cast, and the sailing is, well, smooth. The Kids Club, an oasis of perpetual amusements overseen by a jolly and competent staff, sets the adults free to laze and lounge and nap. And a friendship with a sophisticated Argentinian couple and their two glamorous teenagers gives the excursion a gloss of worldliness. Maybe self-aware skepticism is overrated?

But as Meloy reels you into the story with her cool and fluid prose, she clearly signals that yes, you should absolutely — and perhaps even perpetually — be more than a little alarmed.

The first hint is when two of the six children briefly go missing aboard ship. Add in Liv’s first-world tendency to see peril in almost anything — sharks and riptides on a proposed surfing lesson, the risk of a bus crash on a trip to a hummingbird sanctuary, the kids getting hooked on caffeine on a tour of a coffee plantation — and you can feel the karmic comeuppance on the horizon.

When it arrives, it’s a doozy. While at port in an unnamed country that sounds a lot like Costa Rica, the three dads go golfing. The moms, all six kids in tow, decide on a zip-line tour of the rain forest. “This is a good country for us to go ashore in,” Liv says. “They call it the Switzerland of Latin America.”

But things don’t go as planned, and the isolated beach they wind up on proves a gateway to crisis: In an instant, all six children go missing. Aged six to fourteen, they’re defined by their vulnerabilities. Diabetes, Asperger’s, pre-teen brattiness, teenage beauty — each faces a particular kind of danger.

With the kids gone, it’s not only the now-frantic parents who have to strap in. We readers do as well. In a headlong rush — a zip-line turns out to be the perfect metaphor for Meloy’s narrative technique — cause is followed by outsized effect, and bad timing begets even worse luck.

“I’m afraid I’ve taught my children to be too good,” Nora says at one point, sure the advice that eased her biracial children through their American lives would now prove their undoing. “I wanted to keep them safe. I taught them that they can’t play with plastic guns, ever. And they can’t lose their tempers. I wanted them to not draw attention to themselves. I wanted them to be small targets.”

You want Nora to be reassured. But when it comes to the genuine perils of an indifferent world, Meloy pulls no punches. As the story roars to a close, we’re forced to face just how random life actually is, and how close to a precipice each of us stands.

The post Do Not Become Alarmed appeared first on The Barnes & Noble Review.

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Villa Artisti, a Wonderful Residence with Marvelous Terraces in Mykonos

Villa Artisti is a beautiful residence which is located in the province of Agari, in Mykonos, the largest city on the Greek island of the same name. Mykonos is a ravishing setting on the island’s southeastern coast, which allows for truly astonishing sunrises, as well as breathtaking views of the Aegean Sea in which it resides. A touch of luxury and sophistication is added to the residence via the addition..

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J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge is…

J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge is located on Sanibel Island in south Florida. Part of the largest undeveloped mangrove ecosystem in the United States, the refuge is famous for its spectacular migratory birds. One of the most recognizable is the roseate spoonbill, a large pink bird that uses its long, curiously shaped bills to catch prey as it wades in shallow water. Photo courtesy of Harold Wagle.

Wonderful Villa Designed for a Young Couple Located on the Shore of a Lake in Heerenveen, the Netherlands

This house was designed with a young couple in mind, a young couple with a busy daily schedule and for whom the following was essential: a house that was efficient, close to the school where their two small children attend, as well as close to their respective places of work. One of their wishes was to have a modern and spacious kitchen that included a dining area and, as we..

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5 Tips For Smashing Your Weight Loss Goals

Let’s be honest. We all wish we are a few pounds lighter on the scales.

Well, I did.

I’m getting married in July of this year. And last December 5th, 2016, I got the biggest kick up my sagging, wobbly behind has ever had.

That day, I stepped on my bathroom scale and found out that I gained over 20 lbs. I looked and felt awful. I realized that I simply could not get married in July looking or feeling like that!

I guess, sometimes, everyone needs a kick!

I am a 30-year-old male, career-driven and comfortable in my relationship. I was so comfortable that I didn’t notice that my waist expanded 6 inches. I neglected my health.

What I am trying to say is that it is very easy to form bad habits and repeat them day in day out. But, once realization hits you, you’ll be able to kick those bad habits away- with focus and dedication.

I’m now 23 lbs lighter, leaner and happy. My future wife is pretty happy, too.

And as a way to help you go through the same thing, here are some of the ways to lose weight I found effective:

Food prep

food prep

This is the easiest thing to get right and the easiest thing to neglect, too.

Proper food prep is one of the best ways to lose weight. As they say, “You can’t out-train a bad diet.”

Spend an hour on a Sunday night batch cooking your food for the next 3 to 4 days. Make sure you are getting all of your key food groups, including your greens, in your meal plan.

I am not saying that getting an occasional treat isn’t allowed. Prepping your food is just a way to make sure you don’t always resort to ordering fast food.

See Also: Foods That Will Help You Keep Your Family Healthy

Understand your Macro splits

Macros, short for macronutrients, are simply the following food groups: proteins, fats, carbohydrates.

We all need them and each is vital for our metabolism to work correctly and efficiently. You can quickly search for a Macro calculator online and you can easily get a handful of options, like this one: http://ift.tt/2sKkxPZ

Once you have your splits, write them down and make sure to follow them when preparing your meal plan.

Download Myfitnesspal

This app allows you to track all of your daily food intakes. It also enables you to input your macro splits in the format of either percentage or grams. You can use it to track your actual weight loss, too.

I found that by downloading this app, I was able to easily keep an eye on what I was eating, how many calories I had consumed and how much I have left. It’s a very cool, motivational tool that keeps your eyes on the prize.

It was a huge help in making sure I don’t overeat or take on too many calories. The app has a very cool barcode scanner. You can use it to scan all of your food and keep an eye on your calories!

Exercise

exercise regularly

Exercise has so many benefits. Not only can it help you lose and maintain a healthy weight, it can also make you feel great.

I’m not talking about spending 14 hours a day in a gym. Just engage in cardio and weight training if you can.

I try to do 20 to 40 minutes of cardio a day, 5 times a week. If you don’t like running, then head to Youtube and look up HIIT workouts. A gent called Joe Wicks creates great workout videos you can check out.

HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training), a personal favorite of mine, is sharp, explosive and great at blasting belly fat. It is short but highly effective. If you regularly follow a healthy eating regime and you combine it with HIIT, you’ll be able to see results very quickly.

Weight training is also key to building muscle and burning fat. The internet is a good source for workouts. If you have the budget, however, you can always invest in a good personal trainer.

When choosing a good coach, always ask to see the portfolio of clients they have previously worked with. This is one good way to ensure that you’ll be dealing with someone who knows how to get results.

See Also: 19 Ways to Get Motivated to Exercise

Set short term goals that add long-term results

It’s easy to realize you are overweight and tell yourself you are going to lose 50 lbs in 3 months. Doing it, however, is a different ball game.

I had weeks where I would bust my ass and lose 3 to 4 lbs. In other weeks, I’d only lose 1 lb. It is easy to get frustrated with these numbers and that’s alright. Results take time and effort.

I found that setting short term goals (4-6 weeks) were more motivating. Once you hit that short term goal, you can set a new one and repeat. We all have an end goal and whether that is 20, 30, 40 or 50 lbs of weight loss, it won’t happen overnight.

Be realistic, dedicated and honest. If you cheat on your diet, no problem. Move on from your mistake, start fresh the next day and work on smashing your goals.

Finally, don’t be afraid to allow yourself a treat once in a while. Work hard, eat well but don’t feel guilty for eating a guilty pleasure every now and again. I personally have one cheat meal a week- not a cheat day.

Hopefully, all or some of these tips have been helpful. They were a great help in my weight loss journey and they should be able to provide the same results to you.

Good luck and smash your goals!

The post 5 Tips For Smashing Your Weight Loss Goals appeared first on Dumb Little Man.

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