You’re reading Erin’s Things: November 6, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

This week I’ve discovered a cool new meditation app, a provocative new photo exhibit, a charity that helps provide clean water for the world and much more! Check out the below list and leave any discoveries you might have made this week in the comments below.

1. NIGHLIGHT – (nightligh.me) The ultimate meditation app is here and it does not involve pre-recorded meditations. If you’ve ever been to a focused group meditation class, you know that even though it is very much an internal process, the collective energy of those around you tuning in together can be that much more powerful. Nightlight is an app that allows people to find their mindfulness meditation community and meditate in real time together in a virtual room, with a live teacher. In our busy lives, being present in the moment can present a challenge, now with this app, it is easier for you to find your center by making self care a top priority.

 

2. WAVES FOR WATER – It’s a foundation that works to provide access to clean water for those who need it around the world, those affected by terrible natural disasters and poverty stricken conditions. Waves For Water works by implementing water filtration systems and identifying the specific needs for each place in need of a solution, Empowering community leaders to empower their people but helping them teach the filtration system. One filter provides clean water to 100 people, they are easy to use and pack, Portable filters, it’s an ingenious solution to a worldwide issue.

 

3. ‘WE ARE NASTY WOMEN LA’ – Photo exhibit at the Nous Tous art gallery – In the Chinatown district of Los Angeles. Back in 2016, in the wake of the election, a global art movement was born out of social media facebook post of ‘Nasty Woman’ by two New Yorkers (Roxanna Jackson & Jessamyne Fiore). An LA chapter was soon created by Anais Godard & Amanda Antunes, with a focus on women’s underrepresentation in mainstream arts and entertainment. ‘We are Nasty Women’ will feature a series of photos of ‘Nasty Women’, from DJ’s to tattoo artists . There will be a calendar of the shots available for sale with all proceeds benefitting Planned Parenthood. The idea behind the space is also to open up the conversation for all women from all walks of life to speak up and tell their stories and ultimately support the fight for women’s rights. Such nasty women, are definitely my kind of women!

 

4. LORD JONES – Pure CBD lotion for pain and wellness. The ‘green rush’ is upon us, as cannabis becomes legal recreationally in California come January, and with that comes no shortage of related products. To highlight an awesome one that uses the full spectrum of whole plant medicine to help aid in pain relief for sore muscles, skin conditions and joint pain. Each bottle is 50 ml/1.7 oz and contains 100mg of CBD (non psychoactive as it contains no THC) and each pump gives you a measured dosage of 1ml lotion that contains 2mg of CBD. It’s a rich and luxurious lotion with the scent of citrus, mint and sage and it’s formulated with a natural agent called Frescolat, which creates a cooling sensation on the skin.

 

5. ORIEL – Another gem in Los Angeles’ cool Chinatown district is a suave new wine bar that is nestled under train tracks. Dustin Lancaster (partnered with Michael Blackman) has done it again, from his locals favorite Bar Covell in Los Feliz and his other more eastside places such as Crawford’s and Hi-Hat’s comes this new addition complete with a tight wine menu chock full of French bottles and a spectacularly stylish interior by Sally Breer. A classic French bistro menu by chef Evan Algorri (Bouley;NYC) and the GM chops of Alain Jeu (Bar Marmont), has set this place up to win.

See you next week!

Be well,

Erin

You’ve read Erin’s Things: November 6, 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 Four Tips To Ditch Your Smartphone Addiction for Good, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

The modern world has brought to us an unparalleled quality of life that our ancestors could have never dreamed of.

Instantaneous communication with other people, information at the click of a button, and on-demand movies are just a few of the offerings on the modern buffet table.

For most people, all or most of these conveniences are accessed through their cellphones.

There’s no problem with this…until it gets to the level of a compulsive behavior (i.e. an addiction).

Why Cellphone Addiction Is Overlooked

Many people think addiction only comes in the form of a pill or a powder, that is mainly through external substances.

Parents have a good laugh amomg and say “Hah, hah, he/she just can’t put down his phone no matter what!”.

It seems innocent at the outset, but compulsive behavior is just one step from addiction (which is the end result).

Addiction is addiction regardless of the behavior or origin. Addictions still work on the neurotransmitter system within the brain.

There are many neurotransmitters but the main one involved in behavioral addictions is dopamine.

Dopamine is the neurotransmitter responsible for reward-motivated behavior.

Certain activities release more dopamine than others. These are activities related to sex, food, drugs, etc.

The Internet is a big stimulant of dopamine because the Internet contains a lot of novelty.

Social media, shopping, porn, email – these are all novel experiences only found on the Internet.

To us humans, novelty is rewarding because it tells the brain on a subconscious level, “hey, this might be useful for your survival”. New information releases dopamine. This is very good because our ancestors would not have made a majority of discoveries without this tendency to seek out novelty.

As of November 2016, over half of the world’s population accessed the Internet through a cellphone. What does this ultimately mean?

Cellphone addiction is inherently an Internet addiction, which is turn is driven by novelty seeking.

Smartphone addiction has no physical effects like drug addiction, so all’s well – right?

Wrong.

Why Smartphone Addiction Is Detrimental to Your Self-Development

You’re dedicated to self-improvement since you are reading this article.

One of the easiest ways to destroy your self-improvement efforts is to be addicted to your smartphone or the Internet.

Smartphones provide an endless assortment of stimulation. Games, Internet, chatting, text, the list of goes on and on and on.

But here’s what no one is saying: you are essentially wasting time. You aren’t doing anything inherently productive.

You can spend an entire day spiraling down the Internet-based rabbit hole making absolutely no progress on your goals, whatsoever.

Eventually, you will question where the time went – because you spent it on a smartphone.

This is especially dangerous to kids and teenagers, who have a greater tendency to develop addictions and compulsions because their brains are still growing at a fast clip.

If you’re trying to get better at a skill or manage your time better, being addicted to your smartphone will absolutely destroy the chances of that happening.

You may not think you’re addicted, but if you experience separation anxiety or withdrawal – those are strong signs that you are.

4 Tips to Stop the Madness

In the Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg states that for any habit, addiction, or compulsion you have, there is a cue, a routine, and a reward.

In this case, the cue is hearing or seeing your cellphone ring or buzz.

The routine is picking it up and fiddling with it.

The reward is the sense of satisfaction from using your phone.

All of these cascade to build up to smartphone addiction.

Use these four steps to hijack the “habit loop” before you can even start it.

1. Remove the stimulus

There’s a saying that goes: “cut the head off of the snake and the body dies”. This is true for smartphone addiction. Out of sight, out of mind (in a way).

If you have trouble with your smartphone use, keep it out of sight. Since it’s out of sight, there’s a lower chance that you’ll reach for the phone.

Put the phone in a lockbox until you are finished with work. This will train your mind to associate “work” with “not touching the smartphone”.

2. Buy an alarm clock

For many people, the first thing they do is reach for their phone…because their alarm rings and they go and turn it off.

Since the phone’s in your hand, might as well check the news right?

You are already starting the first five minutes of your day with a phone in your hand, mind you when the subconscious is still largely active.

What impact will this have on your psychology?

Bypass all of this with an alarm clock. When the alarm sounds, turn it off – not your phone.

3. Delete certain applications

If someone who’s heavily addicted to prescription medication can’t throw away the bottle – they can at least throw away the pills.

In this case, you can’t really throw away the “bottle” (phone) but you can throw away the “pills” (apps).

Instead of seeing an app and clicking on it (like a knee-jerk reaction), you can remove the cue entirely. That way, you won’t have to wrestle resisting the urge to go ahead and use the application.

In order to do this, you first have to have the willpower to actually delete the application from your phone. That take some degree of self-discipline.

Then again, if you have a smartphone addiction – your sense of self-discipline may be compromised in that area.

4. Revert to a flip phone

This is a “final solution”. If you find it hard to do all of the above, then you can return back to a flip phone (pejoratively known as a “dumb phone”).

Flip phones contain no shiny apps, no ability to rapidly connect to the Internet, no ability to play high fidelity games.

Flip phones are also workhorses. Their battery life is longer than the average smartphone.

Besides, you won’t be alone. Millions of people around the world still use flip phones and they function perfectly fine.

To wrap this up, it’s quite clear that cellphone and smartphone technology has changed our landscape to a significant degree.

As we progress further into the 21st century, the numbers of people who have a smartphone addiction will increase.

You don’t have to be one of them. By using the techniques here, you can break your dependency on smartphones and get on the high road to high achievement.

It’s a much better path to take and your future self will thank you.

You’ve read Four Tips To Ditch Your Smartphone Addiction for Good, 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 3 Ways to Focus on What You Want, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

In today’s 24/7, never-unplugged culture, getting through a day often feels like a full-contact sport – bruises and all. Despite the billions of dollars raked in annually by the wellness industries, statistics show that more Americans than ever are stressed, depressed, and anxiety-ridden – with high-achieving women disproportionately sitting at the top of the burned-out, run-ragged pack.

A breakdown-moment question I often receive from women executives and entrepreneurs alike is some form of, “How can I grow my business faster while having a proper and healthy work-life balance and remaining present in my children’s lives and spending time with my husband and traveling?” (No joke. That’s a word-for-word question I received last week.)

My short answer is: You can’t.

My longer answer is: One cake at a time.

Because you can have your cake and eat it too, but you can’t have multiple cakes at the same time. It’s critical to be aware of what’s most important to you and how you intend to consistently show up for that.

For example, I carve out uninterrupted playtime with my daughter almost every day. Yesterday it was coloring; today it was flying human airplanes in bed. Those simple moments together reinforce my commitment to be a playful and present mother, and show my daughter that she is a priority in my life. (So I’m not checking my phone intermittently while we’re coloring, or thinking about something else while I’m reading to her.) I’m fully present, and she can feel that.

I apply this same singular focus to everything that’s worth doing in my business and life. The cumulative effect of those consistent growth practices is pure magic.

Here are a few simple strategies to experience this same magic in your life:

Strategy #1: F.O.C.U.S. Follow One Course Until Successful. In a keynote speech about the Third Metric, Arianna Huffington discusses the dangers of multitasking: “You think you’re being efficient, but actually you’re being stupid.” As Arianna points out, we now have scientific evidence proving we cannot multi-task. Knowing that, what’s most important to you right now? Maybe it’s taking time off to hang with your little one. Or a personal project you’ve been putting off… Whatever it is: it’s time. Don’t let all the things you can choose get in the way of what you know you must. When you set up your time and space to ‘single-task’, you’ll accomplish more and feel less stressed and more satisfied.

Strategy #2: ACT. To paraphrase from motivational author Napoleon Hill’s work, knowledge is not power. It’s potential power. Knowledge without action is completely useless. So what 1-2 actions could you take today to move in the direction of your FOCUS? What could you create? When I had an over-full-time corporate gig, I dreamed of starting a blog. I didn’t even really know what a blog was at the time, but I used my lunch breaks and late evenings to find out and to simply start writing. What daily action can you take in the direction of your dreams? Small, consistent practices lead to big, crazy cool results.

Strategy #3: CONNECT. Who can help you and who can you help with what you’re creating? When you connect to your deepest desires, you’ll also start connecting with the people and circumstances that steadily bring them to life. And remember, in this information age you can spend time with anyone you want. Find someone who’s killing it in the biz-life areas you feel called to focus on and study them. What are they doing differently? Make it a point to learn something from them today — either by reading or listening to their work, or by finding other creative ways to engage indirectly or directly with them.

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Cortney McDermott is an award-winning writer, TEDx speaker, and strategist to Fortune 500 executives, entrepreneurial leaders, and think tanks around the world. She writes for a number of international publications, including She Owns It and HuffPost. Her debut book, Change Starts Within You: Unlock the Confidence to Lead with Intuition was selected for Inc.com’s “26 Favorite Books of High Achievers” and has been featured in multiple media outlets around the nation.

Before turning entrepreneur, Cortney served as an executive at Vanity Fair Corporation, vice president at Sustainability Partners, professor of graduate studies for Big Ten US universities, and global associate for the renowned beCause Consortium. (She also moonlighted as a deli waitress, secretary, and everything in between, as a way to put herself through school and life.)

Cortney is a graduate of the London School of Economics and a certified cultural mediator in multiple languages. She lives with her family between the United States and Italyfocus

You’ve read 3 Ways to Focus on What You Want, 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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