Are you having an average day? That’s ok, at least you’re not having a bad day! But we don’t need to walk around having mundane days either. Maybe it’s too exhausting, but I think everyone can have a really great day any day of the year. It’s all in your head. Happiness is a mental phenomenon, and we can usher it into existence by doing any number of great things to provoke it.

Let’s have a great day today, and let other people have a great day with us. Here’s some of those things we can do to stimulate our senses into making ever

1. Go have a laugh

Sometimes all you need to do is a have a good chuckle to spice things up. Usually when we interact with people, we end up laughing, at least a little. With our best friends, we have the chance to laugh a lot. But if your day regularly has large gaps in human interaction (perhaps you work from home, on the computer, or work in solitary conditions), you will feel an acute lack of pleasure in your life. That’s because humans are communicative animals. We need to talk, to learn, to laugh. You don’t even have to talk to people to laugh – watching something you think is funny can do the trick, but dealing with people is a much more natural approach

2. Connect with someone new

If you’re afraid of talking to strangers, overcome it now. Go out to a coffee shop or restaurant and just talk to whoever is beside you. People actually enjoy it when others interrupt their work and give them a new ear to chat to. Try a quiet place with not many people, so that you don’t feel the social pressure of eyes on you. Even if the store has nobody in it, eventually someone will come in. It’s ok to talk to others, in fact, it’s healthy, and it’s a very rewarding experience to go home knowing you’ve met someone new, no strings attached.

3. Give someone you care about a hug

Nothing beats a hug from mom. But if she’s not around, there’s plenty of other people in your life to give a good squeeze to. It is a great way to touch others and feel loved and respected. Perhaps it’s a strange thing we humans do, but the emotional reward is priceless. Go hug your best friend, your girlfriend, boss, coworker, whomever. You’ll be happy when they reciprocate with a hug back! Share the love.

4. Drink coffee

This should be number 1. Put a kick in your day with a cup of coffee! There’s a reason it’s one of the most exported and consumed foods in the world. It wakes you up, improves your memory, clears your stomach of waste, makes you more attentive, makes you think faster… the results are endless. It stimulates conversation and opens your eyes a bit more to the world around you, improving your situational awareness. Go on, have a cup!

5. Go to bed early

There’s nothing like home. Instead of stressing to fulfill your social life requirements, call it a day and just go to bed. Put on dim lights, soft music, and read filler magazines or enjoy a bath. The best way to unwind and smile is to relax in the place you never want to leave in the morning – your bed! It’s ok to call it in early and get a great sleep. Everyday can feel like sleeping in, if you just go to bed early enough!
6. Turn off your phone

Turn off that rectangle in our pocket and involve yourself in something else. We always have this strong urge to continue to check our phone – it’s natural, we love attention. We love to see if we have new messages, emails, or what the day’s news is. But it doesn’t take long to break a habit. If you put your phone out of sight for an hour and occupy yourself with something else – cleaning, reading, writing, work, thinking – the urge to attend to it will recede. Out of sight, out of mind.

7. Get your favourite food

Yum yum. Diet? Forget about it. If you want to have a fun day, go ahead and treat yourself to something nice (even better if you prefer healthy food!). If it’s bad food, don’t worry about it, your body will get rid of it soon enough. For now though, why not take the car or bike out and go hit up your local ice cream/smoothie/pizza/whatever you want and have a serving of your favourite bite. Pat yourself on the back for giving in when you would normally resist. You control your life!

8. Be extra nice to everyone!

Happiness is a reciprocal cycle. If you are in a city where nobody around you smiles or waves at each other, everyone will be depressed. But the more you do it, the more people will respond positively. When you are happier to people, you feel better, more social, and the sense of spreading cheer is exponential. Use it to your advantage to have yourself a wonderful day!

The post 8 Shots Of Happiness To Revive Your Day appeared first on Change your thoughts.

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Are you a young entrepreneur starting your own small business?

If you are, you must be thinking of ways on how to jump-start your entrepreneurial path. Though old school marketing plans can still be effective in promoting your products, it would be costly especially that you are still trying to gain your market.

One effective yet a budget-friendly way of ensuring the success of your small business is through blogging. With the advent of technology, the power of social media and blogging has increased rapidly. Read on the tips below on how to start a blog that can lead to the success of your business.

Initiate Your Business as an Industry Leader

Thought leadership is one of the most effective business tactics that are used in the market. With lots of competition in the field, you would need to have an edge against your competitor and being a thought leader gives you that edge.

How does being an industry leader benefit your business? Being a thought leader helps you in building your brand.You would be considered an expert as other business would come to you for an advice. Your brand gains popularity and attracts more potential followers because it is being mentioned without even trying.

Having a blog is one of the best ways to establish you as an industry leader. Your blog should be of high quality and offers relevant and informative content.

Attach People to Your Brand

Building a personal brand is very important on the success of modern businessman. Anyone can just look you up online so it is crucial that you achieve that coveted online reputation. Blogging helps you establish your brand and have followers attached to it.

How can you establish and keep a steady number of followers to your brand?

The very first thing that you need to consider is the content of your blog. Contents should be engaging to the audience, add value to your existing followers, can attract new customer and relevant to your niche.

Sharpen Your Business Focus

Amongst the many benefits blogging has in helping your small business, it is also a platform which helps you enhance your business skills. By constantly creating articles on your blog, you would also be able to:

Research every new trends and technology in the industry which makes you up to date and an expert in the field.

Enhances your communication skills. Writing blogs will help you become better at explaining things in a way that your customers would understand.

Become a subject-matter expert and able to answer almost all questions that your customers could ask.

Strengthen Relationships with Existing and New Customers

For your online marketing to be successful there should be an element of customer engagement. Blogging is a platform which provides an opportunity for you to create the relationship with new customers and continue to connect with the existing ones. For trust to be built, your content should be informative and relevant to your customers.

You should also provide an atmosphere where your customers, either new or existing, would feel that they are part of your product and blog. How is it done? Allow a comment section where your customers could voice out their feedbacks and opinions. Take time to read these comments and reply to them as much as you can.  You can also create a suggestion box of what your customers would want to know more from your blog. This will keep them engaged and valued.

Build Opportunity for Sharing

Through your blogs, you would be able to share your thoughts, knowledge and perspective to your followers. Since you are starting your own small business, your blog will also be a venue where you can share your products to your perspective customers.

Blogging is a two-way process where you also get to learn from your readers. They get to share their thoughts and opinions through the comment sections of your articles. They can also share your blog to other social media which widens your audience and potential target market.

Drive More Traffic and Convert Traffic into Leads

Nowadays, people use the search engines in finding answers to almost anything. With strong and unique blog content, you will get more traffic which could lead more readers and followers to your blog, hence getting more prospective customers in return.

The power of blogging goes beyond merely sharing your thoughts and experiences with other people. When used properly, it will certainly help you get that successful business career that you have long been waiting for.

The post How is Blogging Effective in Starting a Small Business? appeared first on Change your thoughts.

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Just think about it.

How many times have you made a plan to start exercising from “tomorrow“ and when the next morning comes you hit the snooze button without even thinking of getting up?

Then you snooze again promising yourself that tomorrow you will do it for sure, when you finally realize that you’re late, so you rush out of bed and head straight to work.

Just as your morning started in a rush, your day continues to get hectic. Then at last, you reach home, eat a junky dinner, watch some TV and go to bed.

And this happens 5 days a week, until the weekend comes when you finally get to sleep in.

Does this sound familiar?

OK, let me be the first one to say that this used to be me. My mornings were always chaotic, I hated Sunday evenings because I dreaded Mondays, and I lived for the weekends.

I lived in a belief that I didn’t have time for anything. My days were filled with so much work that I barely had time to eat.

But this was an illusion I lived in for so many years, thinking that this is what life was supposed to be like. I was putting my life off until “tomorrow”, drifting through days, hoping that things would fall into place somehow.

Working hard, traveling often and putting in extra hours without taking a day off for more than 20 days sometimes, didn’t mean much to me, because, as I thought then, I didn’t have a family to take care of, or any obligations other than myself.

And that was the main problem. I neglected the most important person – me.

I gave into sugar for substituting everything that was missing in my life – a healthy relationship, self-esteem, and love for myself. I neglected my health, and completely ignored what my mind and body were constantly trying to tell me – to slow down, take a break, and just be.

But I was sick and tired of waiting for “someday” and I knew that if I wanted to make a change, I was the only one who could do it.

So I started analyzing my life, particularly my habits and actions and realized that I was stuck in this limiting belief that life happens in the future. I persuaded myself that I needed to wait for my life to be “in order”, so I could finally start living.

And after learning over and over again what giving up felt like, I was ready to see what would happen if I didn’t.

So I changed my beliefs in who I wanted to become, altered my eating habits, and reinvented the way I exercised through these seven steps, which helped me transform myself into a highly productive, positive and happy person.

1. Intermittent fasting

After being a sugar addict for years, I learned how to get rid of my sugar cravings and control my blood sugar levels is through intermittent fasting. While intermittent fasting may help you lose weight and belly fat, it is one of the best ways to help train your body and mind to eat less.

I used to crave junk food because I was tired, fatigued and sleep deprived, and I lived in a belief that I didn’t have time to prepare a proper, healthy meal. Once I started fasting between 7PM and 7AM I noticed that I wasn’t as hungry in the morning as I used to be, and I stopped craving sweets.

Choose a time of day that suits you. Make sure you don’t take any food during this period, except for water or unsweetened herbal tea. And remember to have fun experimenting what works best for you until you find the perfect routine.

Be patient and give yourself time to get used to it. Take a two-week challenge and do it consistently every day so you can see the real health benefits and results.

2. Bowel Movement

Frequents travels meant changing time zones often, which left me with irregular bathroom visits and ultimately made me feel anxious and uncomfortable. I needed to find a way to train myself to go to the toilet at certain times so that I could make sure that the rest of my day goes well. Here’s how you can do it.

Link your BM to another habit you do every morning, like taking a shower. So before you jump into the shower make sure you use the toilet. Do it at the same time every day until it becomes a regular pattern.

If you think you can, try having a similar habit in the evenings, before going to bed.

This of course means that your lifestyle will change including what you eat and how often you exercise. But with hard work and regular visits you will manage to regain control of your bowel patterns and feel lighter and happier during the day.

3. Meditation

After years of air travel I realized that my lung capacity was much lower than it used to be. So I started practicing deep breathing techniques to rejuvenate my lungs.

This exercise slowly led to regular meditation that ultimately helped me feel more relaxed as well as learn how to respond to stressful situations in a calm and understanding manner.

Start with proper breathing exercises or guided meditation for beginners. There are many free apps you can use to get started, and even five minutes a day initially will make a huge difference.

4. Writing

And not just any writing, but using a good old pen and paper. I usually scribble in a journal to gather my thoughts and make plans for the following week. Here are a few things you can do:

Gratitude exercise. Take two minutes and write down everything you are grateful for. Don’t stop writing until the timer goes off. This will instantly lift your mood up and help you realize that there are so many things to be happy about in life.

For instant motivation and inspiration, start copying the text you want to remember from a book that you are reading into your notebook. Seeing the words that you write will make memorizing even more effective.

5. No phones or emails

Before I started practicing my morning routine, the first thing I’d do after getting up was take my phone and start checking the news. Scrolling endlessly, clicking on headline after headline just to read some mindless stories that only made me want to stay in my bed, didn’t do me any good. So I made a conscious decision not to read the news or check my phone before 7 AM.

A recent study shows that people spend on average over 90 minutes a day on their phones. That’s almost two hours of your precious time that you could be spending exercising or doing these seven steps.

So next time you think that you do not have time, just rethink your habits.

6. Morning run + 7 min exercise

Getting up early also means going to bed early. My mornings start at 4 AM and I am in bed by 9.30 PM. Find the best time that works for you and start practicing.

To wake up half an hour earlier than your usual time, make sure you go to bed early to get a good night’s sleep.

Put your alarm clock away from your bed so that when you hear it in the morning you’ll have to get out of your bed to switch it off.

Place your running gear somewhere visible so the moment you wake up you can get dressed.

After your morning run while you are still full of energy, do the simple exercises. For me these include: 3-minute plank exercise, 25 squats, 3×11 pushups, and 2-minute jump rope workout.

7. Hydrate

Drinking a glass of water should be the first thing you do when you get up. After all you’ve slept for 7-8 hours and your body is now dehydrated. I usually start my day with two glasses of tepid water and later have a cup of warm water with lemon.

Rehydrating your body will help you feel refreshed and energized throughout the day.

Now imagine being the first one to greet the new day, watching the sunrise while having a chance to gather your thoughts in complete silence.

Remember, you are in charge of your life. You can influence how your day goes if you start it the right way. You have to put yourself first and be your own priority. The moment you start to change and grow, your life will start to change.

Be patient. This is a gradual a process and once you start the most important thing is to keep moving forward.

Tiny steps each day will bring huge results. Every day you become a bit better, wiser and fitter. When you give yourself the time that you need to think, invigorate your spirit, activate your body and be creative, you will become a calmer, happier, and fulfilled person.

You’re getting to where you want to be so enjoy every moment of it.

What are some of your powerful habits that you start your day with? Share your amazing ideas in the comments!

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“The job of every generation is to discover the flaws of the one that came before it. That’s part of growing up, figuring out all the ways your parents and their friends are broken.”
― Justine Larbalestier,  Zombies Vs. Unicorns

We’ve heard this many times, Baby Boomers who struggle adapting to new technology and Millenials who resist loyalty and don’t like to work in offices.  These urban legends have been passed around to the point many don’t question their validity and the stereotypes these have painted. People of every generation are multi-faceted, complicated and bring with them many aspects that cannot be neatly compartmentalized into age stereotyping.  Here are some ways to develop and maintain healthy relationships with your coworkers regardless of their age.

Look beyond generalizations and stereotypes

Be aware that people in every generation are not a homogenous group and have many differences between them as do other generations.   Focus on and learn to appreciate them as individuals and not as members of a particular age group.  There are many factors that support people to be the way they are apart from the influences of growing up in a particular generation.  Family of origin, race, ethnic origin, social status and childhood experiences have significant impact on all of us, apart from the time period we grew up in.

Accept differences and avoid judgments

Every generation has a built in bias that their way of doing things may be the best way.  Instead of looking at it in these terms, try to envision a style or manner where we feel comfortable and makes sense to us.  Look at the viewpoints of those in other generations as neither right or wrong, but different.  Instead of trying to impose our viewpoints onto them, strive to learn more about why they think the way they do.

Strive to understand

Instead of rushing to judgment, make an effort to look beneath the actions and thoughts of people of other generations to see how they arrived to those thoughts and behaviors.  What are the factors that lead them to think and act in this way?  Taking the time to learn about situations that another generation was raised, which is different from ours, helps to appreciate the factors that lead them to look at the world differently from the way we do. This could be simple to do, be a good listener.

Reach beyond your own age group

Don’t get trapped into the experiences and preferences of your own age group.  Check out some music, reading and other cultural activities of another era.  It will be a pleasant surprise for many people of that age for you to show some curiosity in what interests them.  This effort will go a long way towards breaking down stereotypes.  Take opportunities to join teams or work on projects with coworkers of various ages.  Join clubs and activities that have people in a wide variety of age groups.

Look for ways to use differences to your advantage

Instead of taking an adversarial view of differences, look for ways that both generations can benefit.  Both technical ability and wisdom from experience are important.  Ever generation will bring strengths and weaknesses.  Consider that with a variety of generations you can take advantage of their strengths and eliminate weak spots. This will make for a stronger, more cohesive, effective and balanced workplace.  Look for ways to simply appreciate differences and use them to build healthy workplace relationships.

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We’ve gotten to November and Christmas is just a month or so away. Sales are coming out and cars are starting to fill up parking lots in anticipation for fourth quarter sales, deals, and powerful marketing displays. Impulse shopping is at an all time high! If you’ve been historically bad for the last few seasons, this season could bring out the worst in you.

Yes, you could buy all these gifts and more for your friends and family, and oh, maybe one of these for yourself and…

Our impulsive habits come rearing out when it comes to shopping, and sometimes we have no control. Why not get one of those shiny new phones? It just takes a swipe of a card. Unfortunately, behaviour like this often ruins bank accounts and credit ratings. Try a few of these ideas to curb your enthusiasm for retail consumption.

Practice window shopping

It’s Friday and it’s been a hard week – you feel like you need to treat yourself and you deserve nothing but the best. You can’t wait to get to the mall to check out all the cool things you’ve been eyeing online over the past few weeks – whether it’s Macbooks, perfume or clothes. Whatever your vice is, it inspires you and drives you.

But you already have a Macbook. You already have an assortment of makeup. You already have phone chargers, jeans, and shirts. The ability to go out shopping but not actually buy anything is a powerful tool of self control, and here’s where it comes into play. Allow yourself to go to the mall and stores, maybe buy something small, but don’t go all out like you normally would. Maybe you need a new phone, but do you need it now? Go out, use self control, and window shop to your heart’s content. Build up anticipation for the things you want and put it off until finally the reward will be so great. In the meantime, you’ve saved yourself a lot of money.

Don’t shop when you are stressed out

Retail therapy – truly one of the finer pleasures in life. If you have disposable income, retail therapy is surely up there with manicures, spa trips and other luxuries we can afford. The thing is, retail therapy is exactly what it says – it’s therapy, meant to relieve us when we are feeling angry, irritable, sad, emotional, or whatever it takes for you to get the credit cards out. Save yourself a bunch of money and closet space and do yourself a favour – do not go shopping when you’re stressed out! Limit your shopping trips to when you feel relaxed, zenned out and good with yourself. Don’t do it as a release, do it as a treat for when you’ve overcome your difficulties.

Stick to the list

When we go grocery shopping we usually carry with us a little post it note or agenda, a list of everything we need so we don’t forget anything. Use the same rule for when you go shopping for items as well. When we go clothes shopping, how is it that we may only need one pair of pants but walk out with eight pairs of underwear and two belts? Stick to the list and appreciate the satisfaction you get from buying only what you need and keeping the impulses to zero.

Only go luxury shopping every two weeks

Perhaps you should try a schedule for your shopping habits. How about this – for two or three weeks at a time, train yourself to only purchase necessary things. Only spend your money on things you need – food, petrol, transportation, housing bills – the bare necessities. If you’ve made it through to the intended duration, give yourself a treat and go pick up something nice for yourself. It’s an easy and effective rewards system that you can practice on yourself at your own leisure.

Appreciate what you have

If you feel you are going way overboard – or even still, just being modesty with your shopping – maybe it’s time to take a look through your house and just be grateful for what you have already. You have a nice couch, nice rugs, nice silverware, nice electronics and everything you need already. Do you really need more stuff to clutter up your house? Sometimes enjoying what we have already is a better feeling than buying new things, as we all know that after that feeling wears off, we’re just left with a garage full of junk.

Keep an eye on your budget

If impulse shopping is cutting into your real-life savings fund, sitting down and taking a look at your bank statements is always a nice reality check for the savvy shopper. Where has all that money been going? A look at your credit card statement will let you know, and hopefully keep you a bit more grounded for the next time you feel like splurging out.

How do you feel at the checkout?

This is some real mind-over-matter stuff. You’ve gone through the whole store, and despite going out for just one t-shirt, you’ve got a buggy full of sale clothes. You’re at the cash – take a look inside your cart. Do you really need all that? Don’t you already have enough socks? Enough tanktops? Enough accessories? Just because it’s on sale doesn’t mean you have to buy it – there’s only so many clothes we can wear in a day. Reflect on what you’re there with, and remember there’s no shame in saying no and putting something back – you might save hundreds of dollars when you least expected it.

Browse online

Instead of going out and shopping, try satisfying your cravings by just browsing online. It may lead to more impulsive shopping, but the fact that there are so many options, and that you will not be getting it right away may steer you clear. Instead of spending all your hard earned money, you may end up losing the appeal of it all and keeping your dollars instead. Use it as a way of researching what you really do and do not need, and use the “Wish List” feature to be able to sort of compile an idea of all the things you want, and save them for a special time. You’ll feel better, and maybe learn something more about yourself and your desires.

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This month, me and my two business partners devoted the entire thirty-one days to exploring the topic of fear. We heard from coaches, blog writers, artists, businesswomen, entrepreneurs, you name it! We learned so much about fear that we decided to put together our nine most powerful and insightful takeaways in the hope that others too might be able to walk-away with a nugget of wisdom or a new wave of courage.   Enjoy!

1. Fear is one of the biggest obstacles holding us back

If I were to ask you what is one thing that you would really love to do, but haven’t started, what would it be?Now, think about why you haven’t started it…what’s holding you back?Usually when I ask people this question, the answer is either time or money. They don’t have enough time or they don’t have enough money.The thing about time and money is that they are very convincing excuses. We can attach the requirement of time and money to almost anything and justify why we don’t have enough of it.But what if I asked you dig beyond your apparent lack of time or money (or whatever other excuses you’re holding up)? What if I challenged your lack of time, or debunked your requirement for money? What’s left?Fear is often the only thing left standing.

2. Fear is natural

It’s ok to feel fear. In fact, it’s very natural, and at times, even life-saving! After all, that is why we feel it! The emotion of fear has a very important purpose; it protects us.Imagine if you were swimming in the ocean and you saw a shark. Now imagine if you felt absolutely no fear! What would you do? I, for one, would go up and pet it. I would also probably get my head bitten off.So in some cases, fear is extremely important! However, in other cases, it shows up uninvited and crashes the party….which brings me to point three.

3. There is validated fear and false fear

Seeing a shark in the ocean = validated fear. But how about when we feel fear about something that isn’t going to kill us? Or even injure us? Our natural emotion of fear is one of survival. It is triggered when our brain senses a threat. The problem is that only sometimes that threat is real. When it’s not real, we still feel the fear – sometimes so much that it stops us from doing that thing – even though we are not at any risk of dangers.Public speaking is a perfect example. For many people, public speaking is one of the most intense triggers of fear. Is it going to kill you? No! Injure you? No! It is a false fear. The worst that can happen is that you might stumble on your words or forget what you were going to say, but you will still wake up the next morning and live your life mostly in exactly the same way.The key then, is to identify valid fear from false fear. What is the worst possible thing that could happen? What is the best possible thing that could happen? If the best possible thing outweighs the worst possible thing, then you have some false fear on your hands!! Push that fear aside and go for it!But how?

4. Chunk it out

“Chunk it out” is a term that one of our amazing speakers, Colleen, used during ALV Live. It is the concept of breaking your goal or dream into “chunks” and attacking just one chunk at a time.Often when we have a dream, a goal or a vision, the thought of accomplishing it is daunting and overwhelming. But what if you just think of one very small step you can take? And the when you’ve done that, think of another very small step. You don’t need to do everything at once, and we have found that one of the best ways to fight fear is to chunk it out, baby!

5. You’re not alone

This is something that might seem obvious, but that many of us forget at times. When we feel fear – no matter what it’s about – we often think that we are the only one feeling this way. We’re not! Everyone feels fear in one form or another, and as another of our guest speakers said “everyone is going through something”. In the world of Facebook and Instagram, it’s easy to feel like we’re the only one. It’s easy to feel like everyone else is at the beach in the Bahamas while we sit alone struggling with a job we hate and not knowing what to do about it. But when you actually talk to people, when you let yourself be vulnerable and give them permission to be so too, you realize that everyone is fighting something. Everyone is human, just like you.

6. Surround yourself with positivity and supporters

While we can sometimes fight fear on our lonesome, often it’s stronger than we are. Alone that is. But is it stronger than we are when surrounded by positive and empowering peeps cheering us on? Hell no!We are so conscious of how the food we put in our body affects our physical health, but sometimes we forget how the food we put in our brain affects our mental health. Who are you surrounding yourself with? What are they telling you? What are you reading and watching? How is it affecting you? Is it helping you or hurting you?The key is to surround yourself with people and resources that lift you up! Listen to your energy. What is it saying when you’re lunching with a certain person or reading a certain book? How do you feel when you leave or finish? Are you inspired to go and change the world? Or do you want to curl into a ball in a dark corner?Sometimes we forget just how much people and words affect us, and the key is to choose wisely. Very wisely!

7. Seek out opportunities to face your fear of failure

I once saw an amazing TED talk about a guy who was very scared about rejection and so decided to try and experiment. He went out and deliberately sought out rejection. He asked people for crazy things and made seemingly ridiculous requests. And you know what happened? He met amazing people, achieved amazing things, and when he was rejected… life went on…I challenge you to do this with fear. Seek it out. For when you seek out fear and failure, you try things that you may have otherwise never tried, and experience things that you may have otherwise never experienced, and chances are, they will change your life forever! Let’s stop perceiving fear and failure as the enemies, and instead look at them as opportunities! Which brings me to the next point…

8. Shift your perspective

Fear is what you make of it. You can run from it or face it, and when you face it, you will almost always learn something new. Sara Blakely, founder of Spanx, asks her kids every night what they failed at that day. If they haven’t failed at anything, they don’t get dessert! You know why? Because if you haven’t failed at anything, you haven’t put yourself on the line enough, and without putting yourself on the line, you’ll never know what you can truly achieve. So let’s shift our perspective! Let’s not perceive failure as bad or scary, but instead, let’s view it as necessary and exciting! Let’s fail! Let’s fail until we succeed in a way that we never ever would have been able to without those damn failures!

9. Take the lesson and let yourself laugh

And last but not least, learn and laugh. It is the failures that take us closer to success. So thank them! Thank your failures for teaching you something new. Find the golden lesson and carry it forward to your next attempt. And importantly, laugh at yourself! Sometimes our failures are pretty damn funny! Have you ever tried to mimic a birthday cake on Pinterst? Funny right! Sometimes our failures are pretty hilarious, and when we laugh at them, we reduce their power. So then, let yourself fail, but also let yourself learn and importantly, laugh!

And one last thing before I go… kudos to you! Fear can be crippling, and overcoming it does not just “happen”. We need to be intentional about it, and even drudging through these nine points reveals that you are being intentional. You genuinely want to do something about your fear and actively fight it! And that’s awesome! So I’d like to leave you with a challenge. Think about something that you have been wanting to do, but in which fear has been holding you back. It could be anything – big, small, serious, crazy, truly anything. Now, think of one small step (or chunk) that you can take this week. Write it down, commit to it, and get out there and go for it! Sure, maybe you’ll fall (and get back up!) but… what if you fly?

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Katie is one of the co-founders at an innovate coaching company, Ama La Vida, which helps people find and lead a life they love.  Katie is also a transformational coach with a passion for helping people find and live their true Purpose. You can book time with Katie at alvcoaching.com. In her spare time, Katie loves getting outdoors, trying new food and wine and playing with her cute little labrador Puppy, Millie. Contact Katie at katie@alvcoaching.com.

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A career is a journey of an individual through learning, work or other aspects of life. One can define a career through different ways. When anyone wants to start his/her career as a college grad or the founder of an own business, or as a particular job seeker, he or she hesitates to take steps for the right decision, or it may be hard for him to found the right way. Everyone should know how to take large or small decisions for their career. Before us, so many people believed in their own ability and made a successful career out of it.

So, let’s see some tips on choosing the best career for future:

Founder of own business

Every young people should choose their own career by trusting on the abilities through which they can make a bright future. He or she should do such type of works that he or she loves the most. If he likes writing, he can choose it as the best option for his career. If he likes editing, he can choose this. So, anyone can start their own business by believing in the ability they have. However, before starting a job or business, everyone should ask himself what type of job makes him come alive, and then he should go for it.

Ability to create own space at a job

Everyone wishes to get a good job after the completing the college life but it is impossible for everyone to get the suitable or the dream job. So, don’t think that the first job will give you 100% satisfaction and career security. Every young people should be energetic and must have capabilities to make their own space at any given job area and learn whatever you can from that job; this may help you in future.
Travel as much as you can, while learning about cultures and languages
It may seem a vague idea, but trust us, travelling and learning cultures and languages open up a lot of new scopes for you in your career. You may find some hidden interest in you which may turn into a golden career! For example, learn to listen in Spanish and speak Spanish, and you may become a high paid tourist guide!

Time Management

Time is a limited resource for everyone’s career. When anyone wants to achieve his career goal, he should first learn to manage his time because time management is of great importance for success. Once anyone has failed to manage his time, he can never make it up. So, everyone should know the importance of time that creates good chances of career success. A right move in the right time is what needed to take your career to the highest level.

Take risks early and often in your career

Taking risks early in career helps everyone to learn lessons, and to go ahead. There is no success in the world without any risk. So, taking a risk early is more productive for everyone’s career. The young people have much time to learn from failure and move forward. Taking risks can let anyone to be more creative and helps to define what they really want.

Use the Credit card sparingly

Using credit card sparingly at the young age makes a good impact on a career. The young people, who are in their college life or just completed their graduation, should reduce the uses of credit cards. They should create the abilities to afford the needs in their life by sacrificing their wishes or needs. Rely on your earnings and hard work, not on a credit card which may ruin your career and economy.

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Drinking water is a strange topic – we know we have to do it, and media and schooling tells us we should to, but it’s not something we think about. When we get hungry, your stomach hurts and we react – but when we’re thirsty, we hesitate on action a bit longer. Ironic then, since we could live days without food, but not so much without water!

In many cultures it is popular to drink plenty of water before breakfast in the morning – there are a wealth of health benefits to this end, that some of us here at home haven’t quite caught onto yet. Staying hydrated is quintessential to living a long and healthy life. Let’s take a look at some of the reasons why.

Reduce hunger pains

Drinking water either in excess or in moderation are both ways of dealing with hunger cravings – water is an appetite suppressant. If you drink a glass or two of water in the morning before you have breakfast you will fill up your stomach and have less of an urge to eat everything in your fridge. Likewise, if you stay full of water throughout the day, you will not need to eat as much, and it will regulate your snacking habits so that you only have to eat at appropriate meal times.

Rid the body of toxins

Ever heard of a juice detox or a water diet? All food we eat, whether you’re a carnivore, herbivore, or somewhere in between, contain a wealth of toxins and natural chemicals our body has to process, regardless of how clean it is. Simply put, if you put something in your body, your body has to figure out what to do with it.

Water, however, is basically a pure ingredient and a major part of our body as it is. If you are drinking only water, your body has time to clear itself out of all the toxins involved in daily life, and restart on a fresh foot. The more water you drink day to day replaces the potential ratios of toxins to water and leaves you better off.

Rehydrate yourself

If you are prone to headaches or fatigue, have you ever considered that you may have a lack of water? In our busy life it’s certainly not something we regularly think about – drinking as much water as possible. But keeping a small bottle or glass handy is a great way to keep yourself healthy throughout the day. Water deprivation is the leading cause of headaches (our brains are mostly water) and sometimes all it takes is a few sips to make it go away. So if you find yourself working at a computer getting eyesore, consider keeping water nearby to balance out the toll your body is taking.

Rejuvenate your skin

Water is also a main component of our skin, and dry flakey skin is a direct result of dehydration. Next time you notice a bit of dry skin on your arm or around your face, keep a mental note to drink water whenever you can throughout the day. The next day, the shedding will be gone and water will be restored to your epidermis. Keep drinking plenty of water to have soft skin year round, especially during the winter, when we still get dehydrated, but don’t feel it as prominently.

Heal your hair

Our hair follows the same pattern as our skin – hair is really sort of just dead skin, an excess of body growth; and it still contains just as much water as it did when it was alive. You need to keep the water upkeep in order to have fresh, silky, shiny hair. If you’re seeing a lot of split ends when you shouldn’t be, you probably aren’t getting enough water in your diet. Water will help circulate the natural oils through to the ends of your hair better so that it maintains it’s integrity longer.

Balance your metabolism

You would think that drinking a lot of water might cause you to bloat and look fat. The truth is, the more dehydrated you are, the more you bloat! If you don’t drink enough water, your stomach acids naturally expand to find oils and oxygen to regulate your innards. Water keep the balance in your body present. Try it and find out. Likewise, having a proper balance of water will keep your metabolism as balanced as it can be. If you’re having too much water you won’t eat properly and when you do your body won’t process it in a natural fashion; if you’re not getting enough water, the same will occur.

Increased energy

Let’s face it – our body is mostly water. You need to keep it well oiled and refuelled so you can function at your maximum capacity. Drinking water reverses the effects of sweating, heals your brain when it’s dehydrated, and overall gives you an increased pique in active awareness and motor functioning. We need it to see and think clearly, and without it we’re just not doing our best. So drink up, and reap the benefits.

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“Enclose your heart, in times of need, with the steel of your determination and your strength. In doing this, all things will be bearable.”
― Lora Leigh, Broken Wings

In every success story, the longest chapter is the one on Determination.  While success demands many things from us, willpower and determination always come up at the top of the list.  Many people believe that we are born with determination and those that succeed are simply the fortunate ones who are born with an abundant supply.  However, ask any successful person and they will tell you they were not born with more determination, they always found a way to harness and use what they have more effectively.

Here are 5 Ways to harness your determination.

Set up your day the night before

Before you go to sleep, make some basic decisions about what you will do tomorrow, such as what you will wear, have for lunch and the route you will take to work.  It is easier to pack a healthy lunch the night before than to decide what you are going to have with a hot dog vendor parked in front of your workplace.  The same applies when it comes to spending money. Decide on a budget and stick to it.  Make a decision the night before that you won’t check your emails or surf the net before you have finished the more important tasks that need to be completed.  Stick to your schedule and at the end of the day close your eyes for a few minutes and take in how good you feel to be in charge of your day.  Getting into the habit of planning your day in advance will remove your easiest decisions off the table, making it easier to avoid getting sidetracked and wasting time and energy on small unimportant things. While spontaneity can be fun when you are on vacations, dating or hanging out with friends, it is an inefficient way to plan our workday or move towards achieving our goals.

Do the most difficult things first

The most difficult duties will not get easier the more we fret about or put them off. We will only waste energy that would be better spent by just digging in.  Get after the hardest job right away while you are still fresh and have the energy. Research has shown that our minds are sharpest in the morning and that is when we should tackle the tough jobs.  After these are out of the way, we can relax and take care of the more routine work that doesn’t require much in the way of mental strain, ability and energy. Becoming disciplined and getting the hard jobs done sooner rather than later, gives us a sense of satisfaction and frees up energy that we might otherwise spend thinking or worrying over having to do them.  Since we are going to have to do them anyway, we might as well do them as efficiently as possible with a minimum of energy expended.

Eliminate distractions and time wasters

Real emergencies come up and we will have to deal with them. The majority of situations that do come up to distract us, are not emergencies and do not require us to respond right away. Many of these situations will resolve themselves in their own with time. When we are working on a difficult task, it is tempting to jump to something that is easier. Responding to these requests immediately will only set you up to receive more. By not responding, you are sending a message that you are a strong willed, focused person who is very busy and over time you will be bothered less by trivial, time wasting matters. Successful people have found the willpower to stay focused on the most important work first until it is completed.

Regenerate and keep up your energy

Take a quick break when working on something if you feel your energy fading. Take a brisk walk, run, stretch or whatever creates results for you to take a brief retreat from the work and regenerate. Instead of trying to force yourself when ideas stop coming, it is usually better to get away and take your mind off what you are doing. You will come back to your task with renewed vigor and a sharper mental focus. Instead of eating a large meal at lunch, snack on healthy food, such as fresh fruit and vegetables during the day.   Drink plenty of water and get into a regular exercise program.  Arrange a routine with these matters, so that you don’t have to think about them, they just become part of your daily regime.

Constantly remind yourself of your ultimate goals

Create a vision board, a mind movie or some system that serves as a constant reminder of what you are working towards. The “why” behind the goal is crucial as it will serve as a motivator.  Suppose the reason that you want to earn ten million dollars is to start a school in a third world country. Have a clear vision of what the school would look like so you can imagine it on a regular basis. Set aside regular time daily, if only five minutes, to visualize this goal. The more details you can put in, the better.  Become emotionally involved with the visualization by putting music, videos or anything that provides you with an emotional charge. The emotional connect is hugely important, as this will motivate you to keep moving towards your goal.

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Where are my keys! What did I do with my wallet? What’s all this in my purse? Hey! It’s not just you – everyone loses, forgets, neglects, and is otherwise confused at most parts of the day as to what is going on, or even to what day it is! We have a lot of things we have to constantly remember and stay on top of throughout the day from our personal life to our work life. It’s a bit of a pain sometimes, but we all go through it.

Our memory as a whole and our memories as a fraction are very important to us. Perhaps you have known someone who has suffered from alzheimer’s or memory loss. It really changes who they are, and sometimes they become different people. We won’t all necessarily suffer from these ailments, but there are a lot of things we can do to keep on top of our game and keep memory failure at bay. Through various small active practices through our life we can keep our brain feeling fresh and full, active and strong, and with that have the ability to have sound memory for years to come. Let’s take a look.

Writing a daily journal

Something a friend of mine started doing when he was younger was scribing a daily journal each day. He was worried that he would develop alzheimer’s like his mother did, and began journaling at a young age, to stave off any growing effects of memory loss. After a few years of doing it, alzheimer’s was certainly at bay, as he could recite off the day’s temperature, his financial situation, acquaintances and much more from any day of years before simply by re-reading the short stories of his life and keeping them fresh in his memory.

Doing daily diary writing not only helps you relieve stresses and concerns of the day but also helps you recreate an idea of your day to day life. No more “oh…I can’t remember!” when someone asks you what you did last week. It creates a sort of visual of your life and at the end of each day can help you reflect on your strengths, weaknesses and goals.

Practicing puzzle games

Whenever I see elderly people playing cell phone games, I get excited. Not only are they showing that you can never be too old to immerse yourself in contemporary culture, but they are doubtless also restoring and practicing their health at the same time. Popular games like Candy Crush and 2048 are not only entertaining ways to pass time, but the simple practice of memorizing patterns, recalling activity, thinking about level progress and developing strategies are all just great exercises to keep using your brain power and exercising that great muscle we have in our head.

Sudoku

Outside of phones, Sudoku has taken the world by storm for years for a good reason. People of all ages buy books of it to increase their brain power and keep working their memory muscles. We train ourselves with it to memorize huge patterns of numbers and construct strategies and plans to bring ourselves to complete the grid. If you haven’t tried it yet, you’ll see how difficult even the easiest one is! It’s all about practice, though; the more you work at it the stronger you become at it. Everyone is capable of solving the most simple pattern or the most complex – it just takes practice and brain power.

Situational awareness

Engaging your memory is also about how situationally aware you are throughout the day. Do you live life actively or passively as you go about your surroundings? Try to pay explicit attention throughout the day to everything around you – the sounds of the city, what’s on the radio, the colours, temperatures and people. Notice what people do and keep on your toes about local pedestrian traffic and activity.
What time does the baker put out his sign? Haven’t you seen that blue Subaru before? Are they on the same pattern as you? You’ve seen that girl order that coffee before…why? What’s that sound near the third corner from your house? Are they repairing pipes? What’s happening in Europe?

Staying on top of local and international news is all a great way to fill up your head with active information that keeps your brain working when you might normally turn it off, and makes you more conversational in public.

Drinking coffee

Coffee isn’t for everybody, but caffeine has been proven for years to increase memory and brain power. There are certain times that drinking coffee is particularly good for you – and it’s not first thing in the morning. When we wake up we should drink water or juices to rehydrate ourselves, and coffee should be reserved for early afternoon and after meals for an energy boost. There’s a reason you see many people typing away on their Macbooks at coffee shops – the coffee gives them a boost of mental energy that they can use to produce information and use it to create their projects quickly.

Sleeping properly

A lot of people suffer from sleep depression when they can not get enough sleep. Our bodies feel tired and our brain suffers consequently. It is so important for us to get adequate rest that it should not be neglected for another responsibility. People who sleep properly have great mental and physical health and live longer, experience less stress, and, as the point of this article, have a great memory. Their brains function at a healthy and balanced level throughout the day. We do not have to be on our game 24 hours a day – we need to rest and go with the ebb and flow of our bodily energies throughout the day. Proper rest and even the option to take daily naps for ten minutes a day greatly improves our mental health for the rest of our lives.

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