American architectural firm Matt Fajkus Architects, based in Austin, designed this low-lying dermatology office – Westland Dermatology — and placed it atop a hill overlooking Texas Hill County, in Marble Falls, Texas, USA. The project was completed in 2017. The structure is made mostly out of concrete and glass, two materials which come together to create an atmosphere that is tranquil and soothing – just what medical patients need. Thanks..
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How to Get Unstuck and Gain Confidence (Even If You Are Ashamed to Make a Change)
You’re reading How to Get Unstuck and Gain Confidence (Even If You Are Ashamed to Make a Change), originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.
When things go wrong, when things get stuck, and when you feel there is a reboot needed either in your personal life or professional life – that is the best time for small experiments!
Our problem is we acquire a certain image, type of reaction and behaviour and it runs through our life like a computer program. On the positive side – it helped us achieve all these great things we have. On the negative side, it sets certain limits of our “status quo” and we become constrained, too afraid to leave our comfort zone. For example, we were pushy and thanks to that we closed some deals, but we are too afraid to become more perceptive, because it seems counter logical for our mind.
There are 3 reasons why it is so difficult to leave our secure shell:
1. We do not know, how it will feel to be different than we are.
We have no idea whether people will like us or will hate, disrespect, take advantage of us in a new role. We doubt whether this new undertaking will bring fruit or will be a loss of time and energy. The choice is always ours to stay in our current situation or courageously adapt a change and embark on a fast track of “experiment – result”. When I was 16, I was super shy in school, though I really, really wanted to be successful. As a result, I found the courage to go out and start selling cosmetics door-to-door in the offices. It was difficult to do emotionally, but the results were overwhelming. I managed to balance my shyness and proactivity in a nice blend.
2. We are afraid to loose what we already have.
In our life, we always try to make something out of ourselves, so people consider us worthy of their love. For that we work on our bodies, secure our possessions, build a professional reputation – and these are good things because they spin our world. It is good to always remember, however, that we are not defined by our status quo and our stuff, but only by the source of it, which is our soul and the energy we generate out of it.
3. We are afraid to be vulnerable.
Vulnerability is not perceived well in society and we are frightened to acknowledge it. For example, we do not want people to think we are dreamy, stupid, or poor because it will be easier for them to put us down and take advantage of us. The reality looks different. As the saying goes, “A soldier won’t hurt a baby”, the same is true for people around us. They won’t hurt us if we express something we consider “weakness”.
For me, it was a big change to stop doing business, to drop an image of a sharp businesswoman, to stop being professional, and to stop participating in intelligent IT events. Instead, I chose to write this blog, became soft, cute, and sensitive talking about love, happiness, and the wisdom of life. Might seem weird, right? I entered a very vulnerable state for someone like me who used to craft a very different image, but I truly enjoy this change of being more me, and the world is responding favourably.
The bottom line is that we are inclined to act in our standard way. We find all the reasons for doing so, explaining to ourselves and to others that this is the “right” way, the “normal” way, while in essence we are just masking our fear of looking openly at a situation and making a change.
In such cases, try to turn on a “Counter Logical Behaviour”. Counter Logical Behaviour is when you do something against your logic, something you would never have done in the past. For example, if you always used to rely only on yourself, try to be counter logical and ask people to help you and support you. Or, oppositely, if you were always dependent on others’ emotional or material support – experiment with being self-responsible and self-satisfying. If you always expect love from others – start being the first to give gestures of love with no conditions. Or, if you are always loving, try to experiment and just receive more and more love.
Exercise:
- Step 1: write down your dream.
- Step 2: write down what you do now in regards to this dream.
- Step 3: write down what you can do different, even opposite in regards to this dream.
- Step 4: drop your fear and just go ahead, experiment with counter logical behaviour.
- Step 5: analyse the results.
Did you have a life experience when you would argue with someone for hours, for days, months, and even for years, and the situation didn’t change a bit? Or have you had cases when you were very offended by people? What prevented you from doing something differently, from experimenting with your own behaviour and attitude?
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About the Author:
Elena Lori (http://elena.today/)
I am a Happiness Trainer. I study human unhappiness, i.e. all the small and big issues in views and habits that separate people from happiness. I am the best at helping to entrepreneurs and business people with life and business related topics. More about my work at http://elena.today/. Opt for my free book with 25 psychological exercises or book a session with me, I will bring you joy and awareness.
You’ve read How to Get Unstuck and Gain Confidence (Even If You Are Ashamed to Make a Change), originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.
Which Jane Austen?
On July 18, the Bank of England marked the bicentenary of Jane Austen’s death by officially unveiling a new £10 note in her honor. It would be nice to imagine that someone at the bank had been reading Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century and thought this an appropriate way of acknowledging the woman who figures in it as one of our most clear-sighted guides to the origins of current economic arrangements. But Austen’s shrewdness about money seems to have been far less on anyone’s mind than a desire to rectify the absence of women other than the queen on British currency.
Today marks the 155th anniversary of the Battle of Antietam….
Today marks the 155th anniversary of the Battle of Antietam. With over 23,000 combined casualties suffered by both the Union and Confederate armies, it remains the bloodiest day in American history. It’s hard to imagine the horror that ravaged this Maryland community when you walk the now peaceful fields of Antietam National Battlefield. Photo by National Park Service.
There’s nothing like waking up at Rocky Mountain National Park…
There’s nothing like waking up at Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. Pull back the tent flap and walk into a bright world of vivid color and crisp mountain air. The sounds of the water lapping at the shore of a lake surrounded by tall trees and towering peaks revives the sense and refreshes the soul. Photo by Tim Wood (http://ift.tt/18oFfjl).
A Glove, A Car, & A Camera
Willa Nasatir—whose exhibition currently at the Whitney Museum features ten large chromogenic prints and seven smaller black-and-white prints, all produced in 2017—shoots on film and does not digitally retouch her images. The surreal effects happen entirely in the camera.
Using Zero Trust Network Segmentation To Protect Your Business From Hackers
Cybersecurity is a major concern no matter what size or type of business you are running, but most people just aren’t doing enough. We don’t tend to think about information security until it is too late – after a breach has already occurred. And those breaches can be costly, often putting small businesses completely out of business within a few months in some instances. Many large corporations have recommended practices in place that should stave off most attacks, but unfortunately since humans are the weakest link in cybersecurity chain ultimately breaches are going to happen no matter how well prepared your company is. The new preferred model for cybersecurity is the zero trust model with network segmentation.
What Is Zero Trust?
In the old way of doing cybersecurity, gaining access to a network was as simple as putting in your username and password. Once you were in, you were in, and you pretty much had access to everything once you were inside. A username and password granted you trusted access to the network. Unfortunately this model has some pretty obvious vulnerabilities – hackers only need to gain access to login data, and that has turned out to be pretty easy to do through social engineering.
In the zero trust model, everyone is assumed to be a hacker. Login info will get you into the front door, but there are many more doors inside once you get there thanks to network segmentation. Activity logs are inspected regularly, sometimes even in real time, to detect any threats as quickly as possible. Employees only have access to what they absolutely need, which leaves fewer open doors for hackers to exploit once they do break into a network. And traffic is monitored so that suspicious activity can be detected quickly and threats eliminated before they do serious damage.
Even the Department of Homeland Security recommends zero-trust segmented networks. Among their recommendations:
Design network segments around need-to-know and zero trust principles
Ensure that sensitive information is segmented, even from other sensitive information
Layer security measures so each segment has its own requirements for access
How Much Do Data Breaches Cost, Anyway?
According to Hackerpocalypse: A Cybercrime Revelation from Cybersecurity Ventures:
“Cybersecurity Ventures predicts global annual cybercrime costs will grow from $3 trillion in 2015 to $6 trillion annually by 2021, which includes damage and destruction of data, stolen money, lost productivity, theft of intellectual property, theft of personal and financial data, embezzlement, fraud, post-attack disruption to the normal course of business, forensic investigation, restoration and deletion of hacked data and systems, and reputational harm.”
The individual cost of cleaning up breached records varies by company and by industry. Retail breaches, which are often the most publicized type of breaches because they affect vast numbers of consumers at once, cost millions of dollars per incident to clean up. They also cost the retail outlet in lost sales and reputational damage. But even small data breaches that happen to small businesses that only cost in the tens of thousands to clean up can put a company out of business. After all, how many small businesses have tens of thousands of dollars they aren’t using to put toward cleaning up a data breach?
How To Implement Zero Trust Segmented Networks
Even if you don’t have a large corporation with an information security team and a network architecture specialist there are still ways to get the needed security measures to protect your small business.
Software can automate some security needs
Next generation firewalls can provide greater security
BYOD and password hygiene policies can go a long way
Security consultants often specialize in working with small businesses to find infosec solutions
SaaS and NaaS providers can give your business the same level of security as large corporations
Don’t Let Infosec Get Away From You
Doing something about your company’s information security before it’s too late is crucial if you want to stay in business. Hackers are always looking for vulnerabilities to exploit, so the time to act to make your network safer is now. You are the weakest link and hackers know that. Don’t let them destroy your businesses by not acting to protect it. Learn more about zero trust network segmentation http://ift.tt/2uQZ1uj from this infographic!
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5 Simple Ways To Boost Your Motivation
You’re reading 5 Simple Ways To Boost Your Motivation, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.
Visualize yourself in two different scenarios. The first scenario is not having motivation for a task at all. The second one is being totally motivated for the same task. Is there a difference in how you feel while taking action? In which scenario are you doing the task faster? What’s about the quality of your performance? Is it better in scenario one or two? Are you having fun in one of those scenarios? In which scenario are you procrastinating? Are you more satisfied in scenario one or two? Thinking long term, in which of these scenarios do you achieve your ultimate outcome?
By answering these questions it becomes obvious that being highly motivated has many benefits.
Wouldn’t it be great to have lots of motivation for everything and get all the benefits for it?
Then, let’s discover 5 ways to get easily motivated.
Draw a colorful picture in your mind
Think of a task or an action you can’t motivate yourself to do. Create a mental picture how you will take action. Now colorize the picture with bright and vivid colors. Bring the image closer to you and make it shiny. Take the static image and make it alive. The picture is now more like a small movie. You are moving and taking action. Imagine yourself smiling and having fun while doing the task. Finally, bring it even closer and make it brighter.
Brightly colorful, and vivid pictures have a positive impact on human psychology. They motivate you automatically.
Don’t let your brain create the pictures for you. Be the director and create your own movies. You are in charge!
Create a compelling purpose
If you can’t motivate yourself, then obviously that action does not drive you.
Why do you want or need to do the task in the first place? What is the reason?
Often times we see just the actions we should take, but we don’t remind ourselves why we want to do them. What is the purpose behind our effort?
The purpose is the emotional juice you can create to motivate yourself. The why affects your feelings tremendously in a positive direction.
In general, tasks do not motivate us, reasons do.
E.g.: Would it be more compelling if you focus on the energy and fitness you will gain or the weight you will lose when going out for a run instead of focusing on the task of “running”?
Now, get your positive emotions going! WHY do you WANT to do what you don’t like to do?
Turn the music on
Can you imagine yourself lying on your bed, being extremely sad, but listening to happy music? Or the opposite, being totally happy and turning on a quite sad song?
We have very powerful triggers in our environment that can subconsciously change how we feel. Music is one of those triggers. It influences our emotions massively.
Now, if motivation is hard to find, then crank up your favourite tunes and change your feelings about the task.
Envision your success in advance
If you knew that you would succeed with your business idea, would you take the effort to build your own business? Would you be motivated to do whatever it took to achieve your outcome? I bet you would.
Now, we can’t know for sure if our endeavors will work out. What remains is uncertainty. Our brain is afraid of uncertainty and our motivation drifts away.
What can we do about it?
We can create success in advance. Visualize yourself succeeding by making a picture in your head. See yourself, and act, as if you have already achieved your goal. This builds faith within yourself and has an empowering effect on you motivation.
Add fun to the action
Can you make a task that you usually don’t enjoy more interesting? Sure! Just brainstorm some things that motivate you. Would it be possible to add these things to your actions?
E.g.: You might love reading books. How would your motivation to do the household chores increase, if you listen to one of your favorite books, in form of an audiobook? Can you imagine that you could have much more fun? Or you could score points by throwing laundry into the washer, like you’re playing basketball.
Make your tasks fun!
Skyrocket your motivation
Which of these techniques will get your motivation running? Try the technique that sounds most promising to you. Combine different approaches and experience being highly motivated!
Aileen Schuering is a passionate blogger, who loves to share her self-improvement journeys. She is the founder of Potential Lane, a blog that focuses on mindset, performance, and personal growth.
Photo Credit: frank mckenna
You’ve read 5 Simple Ways To Boost Your Motivation, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.
Morning
—For Xia
Between the gray walls
and a burst of chopping sounds,
morning comes, bundled and sliced,
and vanishes with the paralyzed souls
of the chopped vegetables.
Liu Xiaobo’s Last Text
This text is the last thing that Liu Xiaobo, the literary critic, poet, and human rights activist, wrote. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010, two years after he was imprisoned for eleven years on suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power.” His “crime” was to speak out for freedom of speech, basic human rights, and democratic elections. He died on July 13 of liver cancer in a hospital in Shenyang.
Sig Nordal 