You’re reading The 5 Best Podcasts on Empowerment, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

We often face decisions with anguish over whether it will be the right choice, because we are afraid of the unknown. We may fear that whatever happens will result in failure. This is where empowerment can make a difference in feeling that you do in fact have control over what is happening to you. To know that you make a decision that is the best for yourself creates a balance between responsibilities and wishes. Of course, this requires that you actually have knowledge of what it is you truly desire. Knowing yourself then is the first step to authentic empowerment. Here are 5 podcasts that aid in the discovery of self-empowerment.

1. Jess Lively’s blog includes an interview with Brene Brown, focusing on how to set boundaries in your relationships in a compassionate way and discussing some of the themes in her book ‘Rising Strong’. How this serves our empowerment is that emotionality can be a driving force and we make up these stories surrounding it which are not necessarily true. We must learn how to have tough conversations, check in and be brave. We deny our feelings based on ‘emotional high centering’ (meaning you can’t go forward and you can’t go back), it is a form of offloading feelings because we are better at hiding or causing pain until it takes a toll on our lives, rather than facing it or being honest about what we are really feeling.

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2. ‘If you want something, ask, people can’t read your mind.’ This podcast is as straightforward as its message. It is all about getting to the point in any and every conversation you have. If you are specific with want you want there will be no confusion to those around you and ultimately for yourself.

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3. In this Dr. Pat Baccili led podcast, she speaks about the obsession we have with comparison to others. Getting to the root of what is at the conscious level and what role does the subconscious play in comparisons. It means that something inside of us feels unresolved and a pain hasn’t been addressed, and we want a confirming element that something is true. Comparison feeds into the idea of winning or losing and that is where we have to look into ourselves and realize that we are making an unfair assessment of our lives. To empower ourselves is to understand our inner values as opposed to concentrating on our outer values.

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4. ‘When your deepest beliefs are challenged by contradictory evidence, your beliefs get stronger.’ This idea propels the discussion of this podcast, discussing the phenomenon of how provoked skepticism fuels behavior that can cause them to become more certain of their incorrect beliefs. How this relates to empowerment is that we search for information with our own emotional involvement, and to be truly empowered we need to learn how to recognize why we challenge information we don’t want to believe in.

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5. This podcast by Bri and Thais (on stepping into your power), addresses the daily things we may not notice we are doing that can take away your inner power, such as operating at a low energy level by being passive aggressive and complaining. Sometimes, a simple mindset shift is beneficial to stand in your power, explain your intentions or address your behavior.

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At any given point in our lives, we may seek empowerment that is either psychological, physical or emotional (among others). You define what issues are important to you, whether it be setting boundaries in relationships, feeling physically well or recognizing where our self worth comes from. All of these develop as we work through them, essentially, making empowerment a continuous journey that we take.

Do you read a great blog about empowerment that’s not on the list? Leave a comment on FB!

Larissa Gomes is a breast cancer survivor and single mom to her spirited baby boy! Originally from Toronto turned Angeleno, she has worked in roles from writer, actor and producer for well over a decade. In that time, she’s developed concepts, film and television screenplays, short stories, along with freelance articles, blogging and editing work.

You’ve read The 5 Best Podcasts on Empowerment, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

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You’re reading 7 Bad Financial Habits That Are Also Terrible For The Environment, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

Being green isn’t easy, but the effort to keep our environment safe is a moral imperative. Environmental consciousness isn’t just the right thing to do, it also saves money. Something I learned when I checked out the Bad Habit Calculator tool from Lending Tree.

The bad habits of one individual seem tiny in comparison to the larger world and it is easy to keep making poor decisions. However, when I realized these habits were costing me money, I decided to get green and keep more green in my pocket.

Here are 10 tips that will save cash and the environment at the same time.

1. Stop Smoking — save money and stop litter

Apart from the obvious health issues, according to this New York Times article from 2009, about 30% of all litter nationwide is cigarette butts, something that adds up to around 4.5 trillion butts per year around the world. Disgusting.

If that unpleasant amount of detritus isn’t enough to make someone quit, how about that just 2 packs per week will cost you an estimated $600 per year? If you and your partner smoke that’s $1200 in dirty money. Consider a solid smoking cessation program.

2. No More Water Bottles

The 22 billion dollar a year bottled water industry is dumping approximately 1.5 million tons of plastic into the environment which does not properly degrade. With only a fraction of this being recycled, it wreaks havoc on the environment. In addition, people pay an average of 1000x for bottled water than what they would for regular tap water. What that meant for me was getting a reusable bottle — it saves me $550 a year. Easy to feel good about that.

3. Stop Buying Coffee at the Cafe

There are environmental effects of coffee consumption, but even if you’re not ready to give up your daily joe, buying coffee from vendors is definitely significantly worse for the planet. Why? This NY Magazine article suggests that just the paper cup is choking the environment. Sadly, even so-called environmentally-friendly coffee is bad. Not to mention that NOT buying coffee out can save you around $1000 a year. Solution? Get a nice mug.

4. No More Fast Food

Again, apart from not being good for you in general, fast food waste is a pervasive environmental issue. In particular, factory farming, something fast food companies generally utilize for their livestock, is a serious problem. But what can it hurt to eat it just once a week when the groceries run out? For a family of four — about $1200 a year. Better meal planning will prevent the need to get something from McDs – the government will even help you plan.

5.Your Beer Could be Heating Homes

According to dramming.com the energy it takes to make alcoholic drinks is enough to heat around 2,286,000 households per year. Brewing and malting alone take a great deal of energy. In addition, buying drinks out is an enormous drain on finances. If a beer costs $5 at your local bar, just 2 per week for a couple (4 beers total) is over $1000 annually. If you must drink, do it at home and maybe brew your own… Will that save you money? Maybe.

6. Cut Out Soda

Even if you recycle your soda cans, mining the aluminum that it takes to make them is environmentally damaging and glass bottles actually create twice the carbon footprint that cans do. If that wasn’t enough incentive to cut down on your daily trip to the vending machine, one $1.50 soda each day racks up close to a $550 annual tab. Instead — get that reusable water bottle I mentioned.

7. Buy Less Clothing

According to Ecowatch, the fashion industry is the second “dirtiest” industry in the world, just under Big Oil. Why? Partially it’s the impact of textile mills, but overwhelmingly it is the huge amount of water that is involved. The process of making one cotton t-shirt uses over 700 gallons of water! Buying clothes is also an expensive habit — just $50 worth of clothing a month (and that’s maybe a pair of jeans, a shirt, and some underpants) comes out to $600 a year. What to do? Check ebay before heading to the mall.

According to Lending Tree’s Calculator these tips taken together will save me more than 5k a year. That’s something I can use to take a trip into nature instead of polluting it.

You’ve read 7 Bad Financial Habits That Are Also Terrible For The Environment, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

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You’re reading Why Working Less Will Let You Get More Done, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

The key to get more done isn’t to slave away for 10 hours a day, it’s to work smarter instead of harder. Working less is one way to working smarter, and here’s why. 

The Simple Law That Can Revolutionize the Way You Work 

In school I often procrastinated until the deadline was 45 minutes away. I panicked, worked like a machine and miraculously finished it in time.

I experienced Parkinson’s Law: that work expands to fill the time available for its completion.

If you have a deadline, you’ll almost always meet it. Parkinson’s Law works because it forces you to bring more energy, motivation and focus to your work. If you’re close to a deadline, you’ll become a working machine. But if you have all the time in the world, you’ll constantly check Facebook, watch YouTube and do easy work.

If you wait until the last minute, it only takes a minute – Cyril Northcote Parkinson 

Limiting the time you work also forces you to focus on your most important tasks. You would be able to fill a 120 hour week with work, because there’s always an infinite amount of things you could be doing. But that doesn’t mean you should. 

How Many Hours a Week Should You Work? 

Cal Newport, the author of Deep Work, said that if you study world-class performers in a lot of different fields, none of them practice more than 4 hours a day. The conclusion? Most people can’t sustain more than 4 hours of intense concentration a day.

All other hours of focus are much less productive. In most work the amount of focus and energy spent is just as important as the time put in. 

Studies has shown people are the most productive while working 35 hour weeks. While 60-hour weeks increase your productivity in the short run, after a few weeks you’ll be too fatigued and stressed to do anything efficiently. You have to make room to recharge.

Researchers concluded that “at approximately eight 60-hour weeks, the total work done is the same as what would have been done in eight 40-hour weeks.” Another study found that productivity “falls off a cliff after 55 hours—so much that someone who puts in 70 hours produces nothing more with those 15 extra hours.”

The Key for Taking Advantage of Working Less 

Track how much you’re working.

If your goal is to spend 35 hours a week, stop when you’ve tracked 35 focused hours. The daily limit could be 4 hours, or to never work after noon. The time tracking software I use is Toggl.

That’s it. Working less makes you more productive by creating a deadline, making you focus on your most important things and letting you recharge. Start tracking your work now, and have a great day! 

Elias Edgren is a writer, productivity geek and addicted to music. Do you want to get more done? How convenient: he has written a free “Cheat Sheet for Extreme Productivity“.

You’ve read Why Working Less Will Let You Get More Done, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

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You’re reading 10 Tips to Maximize Your BALANCE + PRODUCTIVITY, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

Balance and productivity are two of my favorite topics. They go hand in hand because our drive to produce can make us feel unbalanced, and our desire for balance can make us feel unproductive. So I offer you 10 tips to maintain both, so you can live more joyful and ease-ful days. Included in this bonus is a COOL video, which can be found here

1. Take Mini-Boosts

A mini-boost is an activity you do for a short amount of time that gets you away from your work and screens and gives you a shot of natural energy. Mini-boosts do not involve caffeine, alcohol, or screens of any kind. Mini-boosts give you a second wind, refresh your mind, stretch your body, and occasionally offer you a laugh.

 

In fact, studies show that brief diversions from a task can dramatically improve one’s ability to focus on that task for prolonged periods.

Action: Make a list of mini-boosts that feel good and work in your schedule. Tape the list to your computer or other visible spot to serve as a reminder.

2. Establish a Morning Routine

This little ritual can have the effect of skyrocketing your balance and productivity. The hardest part of establishing one is getting started. Once you get started, you’ll immediately see the effects, and you’ll be naturally motivated to maintain it.

Action: To get started, take one SMALL action one morning this week. That action can be 2 minutes of meditation, writing in your journal, or setting your daily intentions. Try to find a space in your home that you love, and make that your morning routine space.

3. Bundle Your Tasks

This simple technique has an amazing effect on your balance and productivity. When we bundle tasks we focus on only one category of tasks for a block of time. When we do a variety of different tasks in a time period, it takes more time and energy to complete, and we often don’t complete the tasks as well.

Action: Simply designate a day of the week or month to deal with certain tasks. For example, set aside a day of the week to do your finances, a time of day to write emails, and a block of time for personal errands. This may sound simple and obvious, but try bundling something that you normally tackle in an ad-hoc fashion and notice the difference.

4. Don’t Take Your Technology to Bed

You may love your smart phone or iPad, but there’s a time to put those lovely little distractions to bed…and that’s BEFORE you go to bed. Digital technology has the effect of turning your brain ON, not off.

Action: Keep your technology out of your bedroom (that includes the TV). Instead, unwind with a nice book, a cup of tea, some easy stretching, or a bit of meditation. You’ll sleep better and wake up the next morning more refreshed.

5. Set a Technology Timer

Scrolling. We all do it. Whether you scroll newsfeed, tweets, or pins, scrolling can be a nice way to connect with cool people, and/or it can be a huge waste of time.

Action: Allow yourself a set amount of time during the day to scroll social media, and set a timer. Maybe that’s 5-10 minutes in the morning, afternoon and evening. If you’re on a timer, you’ll be more disciplined to use your scrolling for good, not evil.

6. Take Time for Rest and Relaxation

Countless studies show that most of us are over- worked and sleep deprived. Rest and relaxation come in the form of naps (I love them), a restorative yoga class, walks, or light reading. Sadly, many of us have been taught that taking an afternoon nap, for example, is an indulgence. The truth is there’s nothing indulgent or luxurious about it. If you feel like taking a nap that means you need rest. You’re not lazy, you’re not wasting time, you’re simply tired.

Action: Make a list of activities that you find restful or relaxing, add one activity to your weekly calendar

7. Water and Nature

To help you with #7, there are two extremely restorative activities that are easy to fit into busy days. The first is water. Submerging yourself in water is extremely restorative to the body. Our skin is our largest organ, so water is both hydrating and replenishing. Second, connecting to nature grounds us and fills us naturally with energy. As we spend more of our days indoors behind a desk, we can suffer from “Nature Deficit Disorder,” thus it’s important to proactively carve out time to spend in nature.

Action: When you’re feeling harried or stressed, take a bath or shower or hit the pool (or lake or ocean). Second, incorporate into your routine time to go to the park or forest for a walk, hike, or bike ride.

8. Schedule Time for Fun

When you’re focused on a goal or have a full schedule, the fun activities are often the first thing to fall off the calendar. The best way to prevent that from happening is to schedule in fun time

Action: Brainstorm things that are truly fun for you and add one thing to your calendar. You can do this by signing up for a fun class, getting together with a group of fun friends for a weekly outing or activity, and identifying fun things that you can do alone at home (such as singing, painting, or working in the garden).

9. Watch Your Thoughts

How many times have you said to yourself, “I just don’t have the time.”? That may feel VERY true, but what if it’s not? Hendricks Gay makes a compelling argument   in his book, The Big Leap that we have the ability to create the right amount of time that we need in a day. Any time you say or think to yourself, “There’s not enough time,” that’s exactly what you create.

Action: Change your inner dialogue to: “I create enough time to get everything done.” Or, “there’s always enough time.” See what happens.

10. Set Intensions

This is easy to do and easy to forget. Setting intentions is your way of asking the Universe for help with your to do list.

Action: Set intentions. For example, if you’re at the grocery store and remember that you have to pay a bill, simply say to yourself, “I intend to remember to pay that bill.” When your days feel hectic, then, “I intend to create a joyful and ease-fu schedule.” When you feel lonely, then, “I intend to attract the perfect circle of friends.” If you’re feeling poor, then, “I intend to attract unlimited abundance.” Once you set your intention, then let it go and allow it to arrive to you.

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Allyson Scammell is a Life and Career Coach who purpose-driven professionals pursue their passions. Prior to becoming a coach, Allyson spent over 15 years working in post-conflict humanitarian response for the United Nations, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) in countries all over the world. She now lives in Brussels, Belgium with her husband. Learn more by signing up for her free 10-day Bold Action Challenge at: shantipax.com.

 

You’ve read 10 Tips to Maximize Your BALANCE + PRODUCTIVITY, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

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You’re reading 5 Happy Hacks to Set Tech Boundaries in the Digital Age, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

 

Welcome to the Digital Era. Technology is flooding into our lives, seeping into every crevice from the moment we wake up to our smartphone alarms to the second we try (and fail) to fall asleep next to…our smartphones. We’re drowning, but it’s mostly because we fail to set healthy tech boundaries for ourselves. I dedicate an entire chapter to this phenomenon in my book The Future of Happiness, but I’d like to share with you 5 Happy Hacks for Tech Boundary Setting that will turn you into a happier spouse, parent, co-worker, and/or manager.  If only I can get you to focus on my writing for the next five minutes…

1. Turn off notifications. “But Amy, I don’t need to turn them off, I have amazing willpower.” Or “Amy, what if I miss out on something like a news headline or a sports score?” If it sounds like I’m writing this to my husband, don’t worry, he probably won’t ever read this because he’s too busy checking his notifications.  Research has shown that individuals who keep their notifications “on” report high levels of inattention and hyperactivity, which in turn predicts lower productivity and psychological well-being.
2. Limit information feeds. As much as possible, limit checking of information feeds (email, social media, news, sports) to three times a day. A recent study showed that checking email less frequently significantly decreased stress, leading to an increased sense of meaning, social connectedness, and even sleep quality! And, not to get too crazy, but try waking up to an old-fashioned alarm clock (the kind with big boring digital letters and a radio or the kind with a metal bell that your parents used to have). Using your smartphone alarm increases the likelihood that the first thing you do when you wake up is read depressing news headlines or cringe at the mountain of unread emails waiting for you.
3. Protect your brain’s consolidation time. Consoli-what? Yeah, your brain actually utilizes downtime to download and consolidate all of the information it receives during the day (think of how much more efficient your brain would be if you only remembered one song from the movie Trolls and not the entire score, including the names of all the adorable trolls?).  If you fill your downtime with digital distractions (playing games on your phone, posting on social media, even reading e-books), your brain has no time left to process the world, chunk information, and form long-term memories. The National Sleep Foundation and the Mayo Clinic recommend eliminating screen time one hour before bed to block the release of stimulating neurotransmitters that keep your body from entering a restful state. Try to establish device-free brain breaks to help your brain recharge and refocus (right before bed/after waking up, during a walk or free time).
4. Set up safeguards. Parents, don’t be afraid to protect your kids by establishing wi-fi free times at the house or utilizing protective hardware and software like the KidsWifi router and Qustodio. Heck, you could use the same safeguards if you’re out of control in terms of your Internet usage (set your router to turn off at a set time each night or block distracting sites after a certain time).
5. Model digital citizenship. You’ve got standards for what you wear when going out, for how you speak when kids are around, and even for the jokes you’ll share with others. Why not have standards for your use of technology when interacting with others? Try these ones on for size: look up from your computer when someone walks into the room, take out your earbuds to say hello, and close your laptop when having a conversation.

I truly believe that tech boundaries are a great first step towards controlling that flood of technology in our lives. You’ll be happier, and you’ll make those around you happier as well, as they learn from your tech discipline. When people ask you why you seem so grounded, share these strategies with them!

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Amy Blankson has become one of the world’s leading experts on the connection between positive psychology and technology. She is the only person to be named a Point of Light by two U.S. presidents for creating a movement to activate positive culture change. A sought-after speaker and consultant, Amy has now worked with organizations like Google, NASA, the US Army, and the Xprize Foundation to help foster a sense of well-being in the Digital Era. Amy received her BA from Harvard and MBA from Yale School of Management. Most recently, she was a featured professor in Oprah’s Happiness course. Amy is the author of two books: The Future of Happiness and an award-winning children’s book called Ripple’s Effect.

You’ve read 5 Happy Hacks to Set Tech Boundaries in the Digital Age, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

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You’re reading 9 Morning Rituals Which Will Make You More Productive, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

It doesn’t take much to understand the importance of a good start to the day. If you’ve ever started the day on the wrong foot you already know it could have a massive impact on your productivity throughout the day. Most people drag themselves out of bed and spend their mornings in a groggy stupor. This brain fog prevents them from being productive and getting any meaningful work done in the first few hours of the day. When lunch arrives, they’ve managed to do less than expected and by late evening, they’re too tired to complete what little they started. This vicious cycle can chew into your productivity if you let it become a long-term habit.

Instead, the most successful people on the planet wake up surprisingly early and have a set routine that pumps them up for the rest of the day. A routine that’s specifically designed to wake you up and get you started on the right note is immensely valuable. It can help you breeze through your tasks and deliver better results than ever before. So, here are the nine essential things you must do to make your mornings productive:

1. Smile

This might seems like an odd way to start the list, but it’s the easiest to do the minute you get up. Smiling, even if you don’t feel like it, has a proven effect on your good hormone levels. Different things can make different people smile, so it’s important to find what works for you. Perhaps you could remind yourself of a certain good thing that happened the day before or make it a habit to smile at yourself in the mirror when you go looking for your toothbrush. Remember, you don’t have to be genuinely happy or amused every day. You simply have to fake a quick smile first thing in the morning to make yourself feel better.

2. Meditate

There’s a considerable stack of evidence to support the positive effects of meditating. Not only can it help you calm down and focus better, but it can also help you visualize the day ahead and prepare for a productive few hours. Many top-level athletes visualize themselves completing their competition before they go out onto the field. The same applies to work. You can spend a few minutes focusing on your breath before you start pumping yourself up for the day. Seeing yourself working through multiple projects energetically is the best way to boost your energy and get more done.

3. Intense exercise

Another simple way to boost your energy levels is to start the day with a short and intense exercise routine. Any quick exercise routine will help you boost blood circulation. The great thing with exercising in the morning is the flexibility you have to set your own routine. You can take a few minutes to stretch or spend half an hour jogging around the neighborhood. Any form of exercise is likely to have the same effect, but since you’ve started early in the morning you can get through a proper routine without having to worry about your other commitments. You have a clear window of free time to get moving before your work starts. Not only will an intense workout boost your energy, but it will also help you feel more focused and confident throughout the day. This can have a real impact on your productivity at work.

4. Drink water
   

This trick doesn’t get mentioned a lot but it should. The body tends to get dehydrated while you sleep. A lack of water could be the reason you feel lethargic and groggy in the morning. A glass of water first thing in the morning will help your body replenish the lost moisture. Make sure, however, that you aren’t substituting water with anything else in the first hour after you wake up. Avoid that cup of coffee you crave till later in the morning. Over time your body will start getting used to a glass of water and you’ll crave it whenever you wake up.

5. Cold shower

An early morning cold shower might sound horrible, but it’s a great way to shake yourself awake and make you focus on the day ahead. Warm showers usually help reduce your blood pressure and help you relax. That’s perfect if you’re about to go to bed, but not really ideal when you have to get started with work in the morning. A cold shower, on the other hand, will boost your immunity, pump your blood pressure higher, reduce stress and perhaps even make you burn fat faster. It’s a great way to start the day if you can get accustomed to it.

6. Rich Breakfast

Never underestimate the power of a hearty breakfast. Packing your body with all the essential nutrients is absolutely crucial when you start your day. Try to start off with a power-packed protein filled breakfast.

7. Feed the brain (news)

Almost every successful person you’ll meet will have one thing in common – a desire to learn. Most successful business leaders start their day by feeding not just their stomach but also their mind. It could be a simple morning routine of reading the newspaper or a few pages of that novel you’ve been enjoying. Even a simple crossword puzzle or a game of chess could help you start your day with a stimulated mind. Your ability to grasp new concepts and better techniques is also at its peak early in the morning, so this might be the best time to learn that new language or pick up a new skill.

8. Plan your day

Starting your day by planning ahead could be a shortcut to productivity. It’s better to plan your day at the start rather than decide what you’re going to do the night before. Early in the morning, you’re in a better position to judge your ability and capacity for work. You can create a reasonable plan for the tasks ahead. This will help you judge the scope of every project you have pending.

9. Eat a frog

Once you’re done planning you can hit the ground running. Eating the frog is from Mark Twain’s advice about starting the day with the most painful or difficult task. Once you’ve cleared an important hurdle in the morning, you can spend the rest of the day going through the easier task with more confidence.

Human beings are hopelessly habitual. The brain craves structure and repetition so it can exert less energy and get more done efficiently. The problem with most people is that they let bad habits creep into their mornings. There’s simply no way to be productive if you start the day wrong. Take the time to create a morning routine based on these nine essentials. A proper morning routine will make you a lot more productive and will have a major impact on your eventual success.

You’ve read 9 Morning Rituals Which Will Make You More Productive, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

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You’re reading Want More Positivity in the People Around You? The First Step Starts With You, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

Positivity is contagious. It’s been proven that if we are surrounded by positive people, we are more likely to be positive. It’s hard to be happy when everyone around you is negative.  It’s hard to be negative when everyone around you is positive.

So here’s the question:  Do we change who is around us…or change who is around us?

If you can change who, then do it. If someone is spewing rage in your social media feed and you don’t want to see it, mute it. Unfortunately, in the real world, it’s not that simple to mute people.

So what do you do? One way to be surrounded by more positive people is to simply make the people who surround you more positive… But how? Here is one simple strategy you can do today and make a difference.

Surprise someone with a compliment. Give someone a genuine, specific compliment and let them know what their actions meant to you or how it made you feel. It’s a simple way to invest positivity in your network and one of the most powerful things you can do to boost your own positivity.

I would like to take a moment to give you a compliment. Congratulations on making an investment in yourself by reading this positivity blog. By taking the time to invest in yourself, you are increasing your capabilities and growing. I’m thrilled you are here with me because it means that the time and energy I’ve spent writing this blog is worth it, and that means a lot to me. Thank you.

Did that feel good? I hope so. When you give someone else a compliment, it increases their positivity, and it can be one of the most powerful actions you can take for boosting your own positivity as well. Also, if you provide the compliment publicly, everyone who witnesses it will get a boost in their positivity.

I learned this lesson about compliments in a leadership course early on in my career and decided to try it outside of work in my role as a tee-ball coach and a youth soccer coach. During our games, I would notice and jot down something each player did well on the field. After the game ended, I would talk to each kid independently and bring up the play and what they did that I thought was so good. Those kids were naturally transparent with their reactions, and you could see each of them perk up and puff up a little.

As adults we sometimes don’t let on that we need that kind of encouragement and validation. We try to keep or reaction inside, but there is not one among us who doesn’t appreciate a genuine compliment. A heartfelt acknowledgement of our efforts or accomplishments feels great even if we are too cool to let it show on the outside.

The keys to providing a meaningful compliment include:

• referencing a specific situation or event
• recognizing a specific action or behavior
• coming from genuine appreciation
• expressing what it meant to you or how it made you feel
• offering it without any expectations of reciprocation

So if you want to inject a little positivity into your network and give yourself an #AttitudeFitness boost, take this simple step today. Surprise someone with a compliment right now and then share it publicly on social media so that others get an attitude boost as well. #ThankYou, You boosted my #AttitudeFitness.

If you want to learn more ways to increase the positivity in yourself and the people around you, take the positivity quiz and learn three positivity principles that can make a difference in your life.

You’ve read Want More Positivity in the People Around You? The First Step Starts With You, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

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You’re reading 10 Ways to De-stress Your Mind and Body, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

Many people know that stress is the leading killer of adults in the United States… but even a statement as strong as that one may not properly convey what a serious issue this really is. According to a study conducted by the American Institute of Stress, an incredible 44% of Americans say that they feel more stressed today than they did just five years ago. One out of every five people say that they regularly experience “extreme stress” – the symptoms of which include shaking, heart palpitations, depression and more. Work-related stress alone causes an unforgivable 10% of all strokes each year.

But the key to solving this epidemic involves more than just acknowledging that stress is a bad thing. You must first understand that stress is a two-headed enemy – one that affects your MIND as well as your BODY. Stress tends to come at you from all angles, so you’ll need to be equally vigilant in your approach to combating it if you want to rid it from your life as much as possible.

Your Battle With Stress Begins Now

The first thing you must do as you begin to work on stress-related issues is properly identify where they’re coming from. Everyone is a little bit different – what one person considers to be a stressful situation at work may just be “Tuesday” to someone else. Because of this, you’ll want to start by first identifying the things throughout your day that trigger stress.

Only by understanding how stress uniquely manifests itself in your life can you really come to terms with the extent of the problem you’re dealing with. Once you’ve identified the rules of the game you’re actually playing, you can begin to work towards that critical balance once and for all.

Along the same lines, it is of paramount importance that you understand stress is not something you can ever truly remove from your life – that’s not what you’re trying to do. If work predominantly causes the stress in your life, the easy answer is to say “quit your job” – but you can’t really do that, can you? Instead, you need to understand what causes stress so that you can adjust your own reaction to it. You’ll never be able to have a completely stress-free work experience (this is why it’s called “work” and not “happy fun time”). Only by acquiring this context will you be able to get started doing what is right for you.

As you work to de-stress your mind and body, one helpful thing that can often help accomplish both at the same time is a little good, old-fashioned exercise. Stress often manifests itself physically, be it in the form of heart palpitations or a sudden pain in your neck that just won’t go away. When this happens, making a POSITIVE physical reaction can be a great way to mitigate the issue. Drop down on the floor in your office and do a couple of push-ups. Go for a jog on your lunch break instead of sitting in your car and listening to the radio.

Do something – anything – physical to combat stressful reactions. Not only can it help clear your head and remove the weight of the world from your shoulders, but if you get into this habit enough you can also help prevent similar reactions from arising in the future. You’ll also go a long way towards improving your overall health if you prioritize exercise, which is very much a good thing on its own.

These are just a few of the essential tips you’ll learn about in the following Infographic, appropriately titled “10 Ways to De-Stress Your Mind and Body.” Created with Visme, it’s an invaluable resource that you can use to not only remove stress from your day, but to cut it out of your life wherever you can. You need to understand that there is no magic bullet when it comes to defeating stress. It’s not like you can flip a light switch and suddenly you’ll be relaxed and calm 100% of the time. As with most things, it’s often a series of small-yet-critical steps that, when taken together, add up to a pretty powerful whole.

 

Payman Taei is the founder of Visme, an easy-to-use online tool to create engaging presentations, infographics, and other forms of visual content. He is also the founder of HindSite Interactive, an award winning Digital agency specializing in website design, user experience and web app development.

You’ve read 10 Ways to De-stress Your Mind and Body, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

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You’re reading 11 Surprising Things Productive Writers Do Differently, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

Robert Greene, Napoleon Hill, William Shakespeare and many others are great writers of all times.  It is obvious that there is something common among all of them; far beyond “sitting down and engaging in the act of writing” that makes them unique. Productive writers usually perform beyond limits. It is interesting to know that some things they do very differently, and other writers in their field do not pay attention to, are what make them exceptionally different. What makes them unique and exceptional among all writers?

The following surprising things are what they do differently, and have successfully placed them above other writers.

• They consider writing a necessity:

Writing, as many view it, is what you do when you have your leisure, or what you can do when there is a need for it. Productive writers don’t see it as such. Their approach to writing is that which is unavoidably necessary. They write as if writing is their living pills.

• They make writing a daily routine:

Creating a schedule for daily writing will not only make you a productive writer, but also an exceptional one in that field. Unlike other writers, who only write once in a while, or especially when they have a project to work on, productive writers have a plan to write inevitably each day. Even when they have no actual subject to write on, they create new ideas and develop it in writing.

• They read more than they write:

The most terrible and lovely thing about being a productive writer is that they spend more time reading and studying than writing. Productive writers are of the opinion that, what your writing look like is proportional what you have studied and how well you have understood. They acquire knowledge and ideas through reading, and relate them to writing.

• They are passionate about writing:

Productive writers understand the need for passion in their business; thus, develop a compelling enthusiasm for writing. They write very often and neither considers it boring nor time wasting, because of the strong emotional attachment they have for what they do.

• They create time to write:

Everyone is engaged with different activities daily, no matter how busy a productive writer is, he/she will create time to write every day. They do not allow any other activity deprive them of the time to write and commit themselves to writing even it will cost them something.

• They embrace Research:

Some writers and few non-writers often assume research to be a distraction from doing work. Some also term it to mean, duplicating other people’s work, and they thereby neglect it.

The renowned writer Robert Greene spends hundreds of hours researching books like Mastery and The 48 Laws of Power. Successful writers understand the significance of research. They spend adequate time finding answers to questions and then apply the answers in their own cognition to develop their writing.

• They learn to work without Distraction:

Productive writers are aware of the dangerous impact of distraction, as it can disrupt ideas you have spent time storing in your head. They know quietness and being alone trigger deep thinking that enhances the creative process. Productive writers try to avoid distractions of any form when writing. They create spaces that are comfortable enough to write efficiently, and far from the reach of distraction. Another better approach to tackling distraction and maintaining a productive writing productive writers adopt is the use of text editors and writing apps, like Write! App, Writemonkey, Fargo etc. they enhance writing productivity and ensure distraction-free writing.

• They take advantage of every idea:

Ideas are essential to writers. They are the foundations of every story and solutions to problems. While other writers ignore most ideas except the ones that meet their immediate needs, productive writers take advantage of every idea that comes their way, with the notion that, it will be useful later.

• They are not money-focused:

Writing with the primary aim of making money may sometimes end up not yielding. But writing for the love of it without be money-centered will someday bring fortune. This is exactly what most productive writers do; they love to write because they find it fun and interesting, not because they want to turn rich overnight by writing.

• They prioritize healthiness:

An unhealthy body cannot function properly. When the body is unhealthy, it affects the flow of ideas and presentation of them. Productive writers take good health as their priority, because they know it may successfully keep them away from doing what they love to do. Successful writers go to great lengths to keep themselves physically healthy so they have the strength to come up with new and better ideas.

• They embrace failure and change:

Sometimes, it is not all what you write readers are interested in reading. You may write a book and do not get acknowledgment in return, readers may condemn what you have labored to produce. This is apparently a common thing in business. It fails and it succeeds. Great writers take advantage of every of their failure to learn. They find the reason for the failure and adjust in their future writing.

Being productive in writing requires commitment, dedication, diligence, discipline, passion, focus and tolerance.

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Hi, I am David Jameson, a passionate freelance writer and an avid blogger. I like to help people become more successful and productive writers through my blog about writing on Medium.

My motto is “We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect“.

You’ve read 11 Surprising Things Productive Writers Do Differently, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

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You’re reading How to Balance Freedom and Structure, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

Structure is something many of us absolutely love.

Whether it’s a calendar, mobile app, fitness tracker – you most likely use different tools to plan, track, and organise your life.

These tools enable you to live more intentionally. But when overused, despite all their incredible benefits, they can also stifle you. Here’s how:

– You get overwhelmed by the huge number of Apps you have to open each day
– You Stress out when your Smartwatch/Phone Battery dies
– You Feel burdened by the responsibility of keeping your Calendar up to date

For every tool you use, there’s a cognitive cost that you have to factor in.

Why you should Lower your Expectations of Perfection

However much I think I’m in control, life has a funny way of taking charge on its accord. I’ve noticed that when I’m too attached to my plans and tools when something wrong happens, I experience a higher level of stress than needed.

There are have been various instances in my life where i didn’t fill out my Calendar for the Week; I failED to accomplish my work by the end of the day; and I forgot to track my habits

Every time those situations would come up I would beat myself up for not being perfect. There was so much structure in my life (and not enough freedom) that when things deviated from the way I expected them to go, whether in my life or through relationships, I fell into a hole of disappointment. In that sense, the structures and tools in my life were imprisoning me rather than freeing me.

Life never goes 100% according to plan.

So I decided to change my tune and eliminate some of the tools I used and changed my philosophy. I started regularly thinking about how I’m managing both the freedom and structure in my life. Slowly, I learned to dance with the unexpected news, small failures, and “Happy” surprises. I came to realize that not having things not go to plan all the time, would help me grow as a human being.

Life never turns out exactly the way you want it to. Holding that truth in advance makes you less likely to act emotionally or irrationally when imperfections arise.

The value in this story is that you must learn to dance with not having control all the time, choosing instead to co-create with life – as opposed to doing things all on your accord. We need a balance between structure and freedom, uncertainty and productivity. That’s why when we use our tools, we want to use them with a slight leeway for imperfection. We also need to eliminate the tools that don’t serve us.

What happens to the man who is too attached to his tools? He becomes just as rigid as his pieces of software, lacking in the soft touch and light-heartedness that’s inbuilt into his nature.

“Life is partly about not knowing, having to change, taking a moment and making the best of it, without knowing what’s going to happen next. Delicious Ambiguity” – Gilda Radner

Get the Perfect Balance

We do need some degree of control in our lives, but we also can benefit from more freedom. Maybe we do this by not wearing our watch one day per week, taking a day of the computer once per week, or visiting a new town one day per week.

We need to produce a system within our systems that enables us to break away from our mindset of control and productivity.

Balance the freedom and structure in your life, and you’ll experience more peace, calm, and emotional stability.

My Last Words

If you’re a creative and interested in learning how to upgrade the way you live your week, read my free guide on Spiritual Productivity.

• You’ll learn about how to split up your day into four chunks, so you worry less about external influences.
• You’ll discover the small hacks that will take your creative work on your PC to the next level. And much more…

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 Samy Felice is a writer who is passionate about unique ideas related to living a meaningful life. His Free Guide explores ways people can make success easier.

You’ve read How to Balance Freedom and Structure, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

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