For me, chocolate is that happy treat. It’s that one thing I reach for that makes all my troubles seem so far away. Imagine how thrilled I was to discover that it’s actually good for you too (within reason of course). Here are a few reasons why you should be eating this delectable treat every single day.

1. It really is good for you.

Can you imagine? Chocolate with a high percentage of dark cocoa in it is very high in antioxidant properties and is the claim to reducing your risk of heart disease, stroke and heart attacks. The cocoa bean is very high in flavonoids, which means, healthy.

2. Comfort food.

It certainly is. No one has ever gotten over a broken heart eating broccoli. The best remedy for heart break or sadness is still a nice big moist piece of chocolate cake or your favourite chocolate bar. Maybe even chocolate chips cookies?

3. Mood enhancer.

There is a reason why men bring a lovely little box of chocolates to women on their dates. They know. Chocolate is the secret little love drug. Chocolate seems to instantly make us smile and happy. It also happens to be a little bit of a romantic treat. Sweet.

4. Jazz up your dinner.

You can add chocolate to a lot of the mundane meals you cook for your family and get them excited to eat that boring chicken again. Use your imagination, google different recipes and get some heart healthy sweetness into dinner.

5. It’s a great sunscreen.

A sunscreen you can actually eat? You bet. Recent studies showed that people who eat dark chocolate daily have more protection on their skin from harmful UV rays from the sun.

6. Study better.

The flavonoids in chocolate not only protect your heart and enhance your mood, they are also great brain boosters. According to research they increase mental functions in order to help you perform well on tests and school work. Who knew?

7. Zen out.

If you are stressed or agitated, grab a nice piece of chocolate or maybe even make yourself a nice big steamy mug of hot chocolate and watch while you suddenly relax and calm down. A great alternative for those who have a hard time meditating. Chocolate can definitely put you in the Zen zone.

8. Happy kids.

Need to calm down some angry youngster or wipe away upset tears? Chocolate will surely do that. Another situation where broccoli just won’t work. Sometimes it’s just hard to understand why our child is upset and unfortunately it’s not always so easy to calm them down and make them feel better. If a hug won’t do, chocolate will.

9. Headache be gone.

In some cases. Careful though because in some cases chocolate can cause headaches but those of you who suffer the latter know your triggers. The caffeine in chocolate can really do the trick when a pounding headache has taken over. Not everyone likes to drink coffee or tea or get their caffeine that way. Chocolate to the rescue. Don’t overindulge though. It may backfire because of the sugar.

10. It’s really just a fun food that just about anything can be dipped into .

Fruits, chips, bacon (why not?) you name it, you can dip it in chocolate and make it better while cheering you up. Sounds like a win win to me.

There’s no doubting that chocolate really just is a healthy happy food. For those who don’t like chocolate, we don’t understand you.

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It goes on for days.

Chances are you wondering how the top performers do it.

Today is your day. Learn these awesome tips. Evaluate your daily work and make changes. Be brave and don’t forget to stay awesome.

Outsource Repetitive Work

We miss thing a lot of time. Our day is packed with activities to do. Some of it adds more value than others, however each of them is important. You need to do the stuff which only you can do. Rest can be automated by outsourcing.

Outsourcing is the important step to freeing time…

For example, I need to cook dinner each day. Instead of buying vegetables and cutting them, why not buy already cut vegetables?

Maybe you can plan your dinner a week in advance so the week’s vegetable are already there and you should need to do the cooking (the most important value added task)

Another example, You need to write 3 blog post each week. then edit it, add a photo and then publish.

How about hiring an assistant to do all that and you focus on the most important task, writing creative, quality and awesome content.

Have A Standard Planner

There are some things which you need to do daily. This can be converted to list which we need to follow religiously. For example, brushing your teeth, eating breakfast and checking kids homework.

These activities are blended in with our habits, so it comes naturally.

For other things, we tend to forget and get lost. Write down your standard planner which list down all the major value added task you need to do. Like below

Write 1 blog post

Check email for 30 minutes and respond

Work on NEW project for 1 hour

Read your subscribed feeds

Exercise for 1 hour

When you have such list, you tend to follow them and it brings in the result in the long run. The best part is you don’t miss anything valuable. You finish them and not wander what to do next.

Cutting down the thinking process of what to do next brings in some extra time. Try something new.

Overcome Mental Barrier

This is something which most of us ignore.

There are some common phrases which we think and stop us.

It’s good business idea, I can’t do it. Maybe I had more money.
I really want to lose weight, I wish I had some more time.
It’s not for me. I am not that capable.

Yes, we may have some constraints, however we can work on that. When you want it badly, you work somehow to ACHIEVE it.

Giving up is easy, TRYING is tough…

Don’t let these mind-blocks come on your way to success. Believe in self, don’t dismiss anything challenging as impossible right away.

BONUS TIP : Skip TV and social Media

Yes, you read that right. It happens with most of us. We tend to start giving excuse, we don’t have enough time. Let’s put this excuse aside and look at real reason.

The truth is we all have limited time, we just need to set our priorities straight. Social media and television sucks up most our time (Game of Thrones anyone?)

I hardly spend 1 hour combined for television and social media. I haven’t posted or interacted on Facebook for long time. My twitter posts are automated and I watch television or listen music while I am eating food or exercising.

This had given me extra time so I can accumulate new projects, learn a new language or spend more time with my family.

What if you can’t avoid an activity like reading a book?

Switch to audible so you can listen to book while you are driving. This is the best use of your time instead of simply listening to music. Learn something every moment. Don’t worry, it won’t drain you out.

Conclusion

New projects, learning new skill or spending valuable time with family. These are few things you can utilize when you get some extra time.

The most productive people have access to same resource, limited time and restrictions like we do. You just have to shift your mindset and there you have it. You don’t have to look for magical bullets to fill in the success road. It is there, it is hard and you need to start to accomplish the goals.

Since you learnt the above three tips to get more time, take action. The only thing stopping you is you.

Go ahead and make some time for your next valuable thing. Good luck.

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We’ve read the headlines, heard the stories, almost weekly about another person being bullied to death. It’s not taken so lightly anymore. Gone are the days when your dad tells you if that boy picks on you again just clock him one. Things are a lot more serious these days as many people are taking their own lives to get away from the bullies. But what do we do when that bully is a family member? Here are a few things to keep in mind that may help you deal with the bully in the family better.

1. Walk away.

Always. Saying nothing back to them and not replying to their harsh mean words is the best thing you can do. When you try to confront them and their meanness, it will only spark a bitter battle that you will not win. And there is no winning in this scenario anyway. Don’t hang around and listen to them spew more hateful and mean stuff to you. Just walk away. It will leave them alone with their thoughts and when they no longer have anyone to use as a verbal punching bag, the bantering will stop, if even for the time being.

2. Nod and smile.

If you can’t leave the room, just nod and smile. Don’t acknowledge their harsh verbal attack on you. Do not engage and try to have a conversation with them. Just nod and smile and put them on pause. There isn’t much you can do about them going on and on and being the big bully that they are being but you can go on ignore mode, which is smile and nod and not really take anything in.

3. Stay centered.

This is hard but remember it’s not about you, it’s always about them. Their problems, their deep seated issues, their anger that is building up inside of them. It has nothing to do with you, it’s all the turmoil swirling around inside their heart and head. In most cases, you are the first person they see and they unleash on you. Stay calm and centered and remember it’s not about you.

4. Write a truth letter to them.

This is a very powerful tool and though it may not make the bully stop being a bully it will certainly help you to be better patient and understanding with them. Write them a letter explaining everything about what they are doing, and how it makes you feel. You can write a one-page letter or a 10 -page letter. Write until your hand gets sore. Get it all out. It will help to release any ill feelings you are carrying inside of you because of the hurtful things you must listen to.

5. Tell them to stop.

Stand up to the bully. Let him or her know that their words are mean and hurtful and you are tired of being their verbal punching bag. Many of us take verbal abuse because either we are afraid to stand up to our attacker or in some cases, it’s dangerous to stand up to our attacker (in which case you should definitely get help immediately). Some of us just want to keep the peace at any cost. If you have the opportunity to stand up to them and not fear for your safety, then do so. Shut them down.

Many people are trapped in situations where the bully is a spouse and do fear for their safety. In any extreme case of bullying always try to get help if you can. The bullying will never stop if nothing is done about it. Some bullies don’t even realize they are being mean. That’s the way they were raised and that’s all they know. Bullying can be wiped out. But it has to start somewhere.

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Everybody needs somebody. We all need people in our lives to teach u s things, nurture us, help us grow or anything else that supports our personal development. The trick, sometimes, can be whether or not they deserve to stay in our lives or how to get rid of them. Of course, there is family, who for some reason, we all feel they must stay in our lives, and then the high school friends that won’t go away even if we know they are toxic and don’t contribute anything good to our well being. But there are definitely certain types of people we need to have in our lives.

Some people come as lessons, some as blessings. Some are here to stay, others should leave immediately, once we’ve learned the lesson. Whatever the case may be, here are the 6 types of people we all need to have in our lives at some point.

1. The mean judgemental person.

This is the one we learn the lesson from and get rid of immediately unless we can teach them not to be so mean. This person will show us that the world needs more loving, kind and beautiful people and why you should strive to be one. This person will show us who we don’t want to be.  After witnessing one of their random acts of judgement, our hearts will break and we will feel sorry for them. Some of us may even get angry with their behaviour and that’s ok. They will teach us who we don’t want to be.

2. The happy loving person.

This is the person you want to hang on to for eternity. They are beautiful loving caring souls and we will learn how to love, be happy with what we have and share love freely. They show us to not be like #1, to spread love and enjoy people. If you have suffered a recent heart break, they will help us to heal our hearts again and to love again with no inhibitions.

3. The no bull person.

This person will not only teach us how to find our voice but will also be in our corner when we can’t find our voice. They are our cheerleaders, our protectors and our supporters. They are also our encouragers. They want us to find our voice and will show us how to stand up for ourselves and go after what we want, while not taking any bull from any body. This person doesn’t want you to be a doormat and will show you how not to be one.

4. The stressed out person.

After spending even one hour with this person you will surely learn to and appreciate how to stay calm and meditate. This person is filled with anxiety and too much nervous energy. From the poor stressed out soul, we can learn how to take life one day at a time and not sweat the small stuff. We can see that stressing out gets us nowhere and the calm person always wins.

5. The calm person.

Another one you want to hang on to. If you are the person described in #4 then you desperately need the calm person. This is the person who will show you how to not take things so seriously, enjoy life more and maybe even teach you how to meditate. The calm person has a very soothing energy field that instantly puts you at ease. It also makes you feel like you want to be with them more. Do it. If you are a stressed out soul, hang out with the calm person more.

6. The successful person.

Success comes in many forms. Professional success, life success, health success. It’s not just about working your arse off and finally making a million dollars a year. The successful person has their shit together and knows how to get it done right. There is much to be learned from this person. Hang out with them. Learn some tips and tricks. Find out what the meaning of success is and how they achieved it. Success is yours too if you are willing to learn.

It’s true that people come into our lives for a reason. If any of these people come into your life, open up to learning what they have to teach you. Hang on to some, dump the others. Remember we are all here to love learn and grow.

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