When we were toddlers, we didn’t understand much of this world. Our minds were too young to understand the way things worked. Because of our fragile age, we were often told how to think, behave, and even how to perceive our lives. The media, our environment, and social system taught us how to live our lives so we can fit in.

This is dangerous and disempowering.

You see, believe it or not, most of us have a lot of bad habits that we continue to practice each day. If you want to improve your life, you need to take those habits out of your life immediately!

In today’s article, we’ll talk about 7 negative habits that are bringing you down and limiting your potential. To get the most out of this list, I suggest you take down some notes and create a deadline for incorporating them in your life.

Here we go:

Memorizing Your To-Do List

One of the negative habits a lot of people perform is keeping to-do lists in their heads. They never write down any of their plans and actions.

This is certainly not ideal, especially since it’s relatively easy to forget ideas and commitments. You might even end up experiencing a lot of stress trying recall important events.

Tip: Keep a monthly, weekly, and daily to-do list. Keeping a monthly list will give you an overview of what you need to add on your weekly list. The weekly list, on the other hand, will direct what you should accomplish in a specific day.

See Also: Todo List Apps for People Who Don’t Like Todo Lists

Neglecting Your Early Morning Hours

Our morning rituals dictate the quality of our days.

If your start fresh, you’re going to stay fresh the whole day. If you woke up late and spent your entire morning feeling lazy, your productivity for the day can suffer.

There are those good morning habits and also the bad ones. Before you start choosing which habits you should incorporate in your mornings, its best if you can learn how to sleep early.

Getting enough sleep doesn’t only make you more productive; it also makes you happier and more relaxed.

Avoid drinking excessive coffee, especially a few hours before your bed time. Refrain from watching TV and smoking packs of cigarettes before going to and ending your work.

These habits will prevent you from living a healthier and happier life.

Being Online Too Often

Another bad habit most millennials have is overusing technology. They spend too much time on their social media profiles, instant messaging apps, and other online sites.

Although using technology and being online can help with your work, you should still pay attention to how much time you actually spend on your gadgets. Instead of spending most of your time scrolling through your friends’ profiles, put more focus on more purposeful actions, such as your education and personal growth.

Not Having Enough Sleep

Our sleep schedules are extremely important to our well-being and it’s not only because of the health issues. If we keep an organized sleeping cycle, we’re most likely to be more energized and productive during the day.

We can improve our lives just by making sure that we sleep enough hours and go to bed at approximately the same time each day.

Unfortunately, so many students and professionals are dealing with chaotic schedules. Their sleep cycle is extremely irregular, and that’s not so good for the human body and mind. If you happen to possess this bad habit, you must seriously consider maintaining an organized schedule.

See Also: Are You Sleep Deprived? 8 Health Risks Of Poor Sleep

Ignoring Pressing Matters

While some people are experienced in dealing with problems in their lives, others tend to ignore and bury them deep inside. Eventually, these issues will show up unexpectedly and they will make that person’s life miserable. They will come back even stronger than they were the moment they were supposed to be fixed.

When you have personal or professional issues and pressing matters, do not ignore them. Do not leave them for “tomorrow” or for “next week”. It’s a lie, and you know it; you must take full responsibility and start fixing them right away.

Going With The Flow At The Wrong Time

Some of us are distracted by the smallest things. It could be a smell, thought, song or the people you encounter in a day. Whatever you are working on, it’s important that you don’t get distracted by any of these things. One good solution you can try is to take frequent short breaks and then immediately get back to work.

Taking breaks, however, is quite tricky. Since it’s relatively easy to lose track of time, your state of focus may have probably disappeared before you can get back to work. You’ll have to start over and this can kill productivity.

Not Appreciating The Good Habits

One of the bad habits some people have is neglecting to cultivate good habits in their lives. Take, for example, most millennials. Although they realize that good habits can offer a better life, they still choose not to focus and appreciate small consistent positive actions that can lead to success.

If you don’t have good habits in your life, consider developing some. Exercising three times a week or reading 30 pages of non-fiction a day are considered good habits.

Some people believe that in order to start getting healthy, they need external help from their spouses, friend,s and families. They tie their progress to other people, which is actually a big mistake.

If you truly want to change your way of living, it has to start from your own initiative. It must begin in your head. If you cultivate a successful mindset, your habits will also generate success.

Differentiating between good and bad habits is not difficult. However, removing those bad habits and replacing them with better ones, well…that’s not that simple. You must put up a lot of effort and commitment. Never give up and remember why you’ve first started!

The post 7 Mentally Damaging Habits You Need To Let Go appeared first on Dumb Little Man.

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If you’re in the arts or the Environmental Protection Agency, you might be feeling apprehensive about your future. Donald Trump’s recent Federal Budget had some bad news for you.

But if one door closes, you should expect another one to open.

To help you out, here are five top jobs that are likely to boom in the next few years and some advice on how to get started in them.

Oil and Natural Gas Engineers

It’s no secret that Republicans love their hydrocarbons. Trump is a fan of the Dakota Access Pipeline and during the election made it clear that he’d like to give more life back to the energy sector. This promises more job opportunities for careers related to oil, natural gas and coal.

Trump’s not keen on solar or wind and his administration is going to make it much easier for companies to drill.

His confrontational foreign policy style might be a catalyst for rising oil prices, and when oil goes up, so does the demand for Petroleum Engineers. With starting salaries in 6-figures, that’s good news for those lucky enough to have the right degree.

Any bright students interested in this tough, lucrative career should check out the leading websites on the subject.

See Also: A Guide to Developing Your Career Prospect

Military

One of the pledges Trump made during the election was to rebuild the military. There are two obstacles to that: money and manpower.

The first issue was ‘solved’ when more than 50 billion dollars has been added to the Defense Department’s coffers. The second aspect – manpower – is where YOU come in.

Trump wants an army with 60,000 active soldiers and 12,000 additional Marines. There will also be more recruits needed to man the extra ships the Navy will get.

Suffice to say, any young people looking around their crumbling towns and fearing the worst will be able to escape and see the world in the military.

Another option would be anything involved with working with Veterans. The Department of Veterans Affairs had their budget increased by 6%. Call your local recruiting center for a patriotic pitch.

Correctional Officers

One of the central policies of the administration is to enforce stricter immigration laws and deport illegal aliens. With 11 million people to usher out of the country, this is a gold rush for prisons, detention centers, and those who work in them.

The average salary for a correctional officer is $41,000. With 4% more jobs set to be created in a sector with high staff turnover, there should be abundant opportunities for hard workers.

Oh, and I seem to remember Trump saying something about a wall. The specifics escape me, but there will be no escape from the 1,500 new Border Patrol agents who will be hired next year. To get started, you’ll need to be a US citizen with a clean record and pass the CBP Border Patrol test.

Construction Workers

Prior to taking his office, you might have heard Trump lay out his plan to invest $1 trillion in infrastructure. While the idea seems ambitious, Senate Democrats have proposed a bill for a similar amount.

And who can forget the wall?

A 2000-mile wall to stand along the border of United States and Mexico can only mean more construction jobs. Just imagine how much manpower, steel, and concrete that project will need. The estimated cost ranges from $15 to $25 billion and Trump’s Federal Budget contains $2.6B to get the wall started.

As a result of all this infrastructure spending, construction firms are now showing willingness to expand their payrolls to keep up with the expected demand. Check want ads in your local newspaper or relevant websites.

Lawyers

Despite the cutbacks in the 2018 budget for the Justice Department, lawyers, (particularly civil liberties lawyers) can expect their chargeable hours to go through the roof. Trump’s treatment of the media and his unique interpretation of the constitution will make sure of that.

One good example is his recent travel ban. There was a flurry of work for immigration lawyers, plus lawsuits and counter-suits, plus actions from judges leading to ‘refined’ new versions of the ban. Who’s filling in all that paperwork?

Well, it could be you! If you’ve ever felt your spine tingle at the dramatic courtroom scenes on the silver screen, just think. With a little bit of study, you’ll have a high-paying job with great prospects and job security, too.

See Also: Top 5 Uncommon Jobs In The US And How To Get Them

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If you suffer from any type of chronic illness, then you know that your body can play a strong role when it comes to the plans you make for yourself. It can also feel as though your decisions are not always your own to make.

You might find yourself falling out of routine or worrying about the possibility of an acute attack. There’ll be missed deadlines, appointments, and weekend plans. With disappointment after disappointment, it’s easy to let the condition take hold of your schedule, ambitions, mood, and even goals.

This, however, doesn’t always have to happen.

After years of dealing with chronic migraine, I’ve learned to employ five positive habits that have helped me be more in control of migraine. My chronic illness no longer has control over me and my effectiveness as a professional, friend, and partner has greatly increased.

Keeping these positive habits has helped keep my migraine attacks at bay and adopting them into your life may bring you similar relief. Here are a few of my practices that helped me in coping with chronic illness.

Meditate daily

Making time for myself to be alone is still a major challenge, especially when the world is quite literally at my fingertips – thanks to technology.

It’s easy to experience FOMO (fear-of-missing-out) when you disconnect but I’ve found the payoffs to be worth it.

Giving myself ten minutes of quiet time in the morning rather than immediately plugging in and overloading on content allows my mind to stay in control and focused throughout the day.

Eat clean at least 80% of the time

Although junk foods are tempting, the ingredients in many processed foods can be a recipe for disaster.

One wrong bite and I could be sent into hours of agony with a debilitating migraine attack.

Finding and eating real foods might be more challenging than you think at first. In reality, however, they are those foods that don’t require labels and frequently kept in the fresh food section.

Vegetables, fruits, and unprocessed foods can leave you feeling much better. Even though they aren’t always what you’re craving, your mind and body will thank you later.

Exercise at least 3 to 4 times per week

This has been one of my secret weapons. It was critically important in my recovery from chronic migraine.

There is no question that we were designed to move. We need to exercise.

Everyday isn’t realistic for most, so try 3 to 4 times at week for 30 minutes. The benefits that exercise has on the body are profound. It reduces our sensitivity to pain and releases our natural feel-good chemicals in the brain which give us a greater sense of well being and happiness.

See Also: 10 Brain Damaging Activities You Need To Stop Doing Now

The trick is to start small and build up gradually. Don’t start from scratch and then try running 5 miles. That’s only going to result in injury. Be sensible and start by walking outdoors for a few minutes each day and build from there.

Limit the amount of time you work in a day

Work, and how much we work, can have a huge impact on our mental and physical health. Even if it’s something you love, stress can quickly follow and it’s important to not allow it to have a lasting effect on your day.

Know when to step back, close the laptop, and stop working.

Take regular breaks throughout the day. When you break for lunch, try to have lunch away from your desk.

Remember, our work should be sustainable.

Get consistent, restful sleep each night

I’ve found this habit to be the most effective in preventing migraine but it’s also the easiest to break.

There’s always one more episode to watch or one more photo to scroll past.

To avoid distractions, I set an alarm 15 minutes before I want to be in bed with the lights out. Using this alarm as a reminder to start powering down for the day helps to prepare my mind for sleep.

I know that in the morning, I’ll be happier and more prepared for the coming day, physically and mentally.

See Also: Get Strong, Sleep, Repeat: The Importance Of Sleeping

Keep a daily diary

A daily diary lets you form a habit. It lets you discover patterns that you wouldn’t otherwise find and make connections that you wouldn’t otherwise see.

It only needs take 30 seconds each morning or night, but it will quickly become the most valuable 30 seconds of your day once you know what to record.

Depending on your health condition, you should record how well you’re feeling that day. Write down your symptoms, treatment (including your dose), any triggers and protectors you’ve experienced.

For your convenience, you can also create a graph or chart. It might be in Excel, Google Sheets or an app specific to your condition.

Make a habit out of it and stick with it for at least 3 weeks straight no matter what. Just chart your stats, then thank me later.

What you’ll learn about yourself will surprise you.

Not only have these habits brought me greater peace and control in my relationship with migraine, they’ve also allowed me to effectively work for myself and at my own blog. It’s improved my quality of life and if you can stick with it at least for a few weeks, I’m confident you’ll see a few improvements yourself.

Good luck!

The post Coping With Chronic Illness: 6 Ways You Can Stay Effective appeared first on Dumb Little Man.

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The fear of success is a counter intuitive mindset. It’s one of those things in life that keeps us stuck in a rut or in a downward spiral. Part of us wants to do something and another part says we shouldn’t. So, how can we break the cycle?

In this article, I’m going to share with you some theories in overcoming fear of success.

Change your level of conscious awareness

In the 1970s, the most successful ad was a single frame image of Coca Cola placed within a movie which lasted 1/24^th of a second. It appeared so fast that not everyone might have seen it properly.

Despite its speed, half the audience headed out to the candy bar to purchase their Coke after the movie and likely didn’t question why.

The exposure is so short that it is below the level of conscious awareness of the people. Because they didn’t realize they have been triggered, they didn’t have any defense.

So, the trick to overcoming the fear of success is to begin changing your level of conscious awareness around these subjects. As much as possible, try to build up your resistance.

It is common for people to fear forging ahead and standing out, especially if those things meant affecting their family, relationships, or life’s status quo. Others may fear failing or change, so they remain stuck, stagnant, and often miserable.

Become more aware of your behavior and their reasons. Give yourself the space to forge on. Back yourself, and take the leap towards success.

Humans are extraordinary problem-solving machines but once we experience fear, the mind that makes us so powerful begins to derail us.

Let go of what you fear you may lose

When I decided to become an entrepreneur, I knew I’d have to evolve, take on more pro-active personality traits, and learn new skills. One of my identified fears was speaking to strangers. At the same time, I figured that if I were to become successful in my new venture, I need to have positive communication and interpersonal skills.

Those are two different things and just the idea of making the switch made me feel very uncomfortable.

I realized, however, that I had to rise above that and create my success. I needed to move forward and accept what might happen.

I had to release my attachment to the things I was afraid of losing for me to start overcoming the fear of success.

See Also: 5 Things You Need To Get Rid Of To Become Successful In Life

Play out the worst-case scenario

The more you hide from potential pain, the more you fear it and the more power it has to stop you in your life. So for me, I painted a worst-case scenario and played it through.

What’s life going to look like 1 or 20 years from now? What type of person am I going to become? Where will I end up if I don’t follow my own true worth and passion?

Take on the responsibility

Fear of success is a reflection of your fear of other people’s reactions to your achievements. This is often coupled with the fear of responsibility.

Since these things can easily slow you down, don’t let other people’s opinions place doubt in your mind. Stand your ground in a proactive way and be steadfast on your path to success.

In life, you can be pro-active or reactive. When you’re reactive, things will pan out the way you’re afraid they will. When you become pro-active, you take control, become empowered and start attracting the people and opportunities that will support your success.

Embrace change

Ultimately, the fear of success is the fear of change. You can’t predict or control it but you can choose to be optimistic, work on your conscious awareness, and believe this path is going to be better.

I have found this to be absolutely true. You can’t do it if you’re not willing to surrender to what’s going to happen.

Find out for yourself.  Let go and see what life delivers.

See Also: The Call for Change: Time to Step Out of the Comfort Zone

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