Motivation

The Compassionate Way to Health & Fitness

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By Leo Babauta

Lots of us would like a better body, an amazing workout habit, and a diet that celebrities would die for.

OK, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but most of us definitely have an ideal when it comes to fitness. We want to be super healthy, and we strive for it. Maybe we strive and then fail and feel bad about it, but we strive.

What would it be like to not strive for these fitness goals?

What would it be like if we removed the striving, and found compassion instead?

The Problem with Striving

When we strive for a fitness ideal (which is usually what we do), there are a few fundamental problems to be aware of:

  1. The ideal is one we will never meet. Even if we do great at our goal, it won’t be what we pictured. For example, I ran several marathons and an ultramarathon because of ideals I had in my head, and completed them … and they weren’t at all what I pictured. They were still worthwhile, but not at all what my fantasy was.
  2. You have a good likelihood of failing at some point, not meeting your ideal, and then feeling bad about yourself for failing.
  3. You don’t hit the ideal right away — most ideals are several months, if not years, in the future. So for the first few days, first few weeks … you will just do the activity but not hit any ideal. This is likely not fun. You might set ideals for each day (“go for a run today!”) but even then, you’ll go for the run and it won’t be what you fantasized it would be.
  4. Once you reach the goal you’re striving for, you’re not content. You just find another goal to strive for. And another. Until you’re dead, having never been satisfied.

What we don’t realize is that there’s nothing to strive for. We’re already in the perfect place: a moment that is filled with beauty and wonder, a life that is filled with untapped love and compassion, a goodness in ourselves underlying everything we do. We’re already in the ideal moment, but we take it for granted and fantasize about something else instead.

We can just stop striving. Just find joy in this present moment, without needing the crutch of our fantasies.

The Compassionate Way

So if we stop striving for health and fitness ideals, does that mean we just lie on the couch, stuffing our faces with potato chips and slurping soda all day? Umm, yuck. And no.

What we can do is 1) realize joy in who we are, where we are, and our intricate connection to the wonderful people all around us, and find contentment right now; and 2) in that moment of joy and contentment, we can act out of love.

What are some acts of love that we can do, in this moment of joy and appreciation for what is right here in front of us?

  1. Appreciating the gift of our bodies, we take care of them. The bodies we have are incredible, wonders of nature, and we take them for granted. We abuse them by being sedentary, taking drugs, eating junk food, not taking care of them. Instead, an act of appreciation for our bodies is to care for them. Exercise, walk, eat well, floss, meditate.
  2. Appreciating the gift of life, we explore the outdoors. There is so much to notice and explore, to behold with absolute wonder, that it’s a waste to be online or on our phones all day. Instead, it’s an act of love to get outside and move our beautiful bodies.
  3. Appreciating the gift of food, we nourish our bodies. Instead of abusing ourselves by putting junk in our bodies (just to satisfy cravings of comfort), we can find joy in the nourishment of our bodies with gorgeous, healthy, delicious food. And appreciate that the fresh food we’re feeding ourselves with is a gift, grown from the earth by people we don’t know who support our lives, a miracle not to be taken for granted.
  4. Appreciating this moment, we meditate. This moment is filled with brilliance, and yet we often ignore it. Instead, we can sit and meditate, to practice paying full and loving attention. We can do yoga, moving while we meditate. We can meditate as we go for a run, lift a barbell, ride a bike, swim in the ocean, walk in a sunny park.

There is no need for striving for fitness and health ideals. Instead, we can let go of those ideals and appreciate what’s right in front of us. And in gratitude, act with love and compassion to take care of ourselves and pay attention to the moment we’re in.

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The Success of Failing

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

Have you ever noticed that when people aren’t where they want to be—maybe their career isn’t as advanced as they’d like or they’re not in the loving relationship they’ve always dreamed of—they have a tendency to beat themselves up? They start saying “I’m not this” or “I’m not that,” as if they are somehow doomed because they lack a certain characteristic, quality, or trait.

Realistically, we all have responsibility as to how our life turns out. After all, if we want something, then we are the ones who have to do the work to get it. However, if you’re constantly judging yourself, telling yourself that you’re a failure at things, it will hold you back. It will prevent you from ever moving forward, like a 200-pound backpack attached securely to your back.

But the thing about failure is that it is never final…that is, unless you let it be. In fact, if you look at some of the greatest, most well-known people in history, they’d have never been successful if they experienced a failure and just accepted it as their fate.

Take Thomas Edison, for instance. His teachers literally called him “stupid” and his first two employers let him go because he was “non-productive.” Regardless, he still had a dream inside him to give the rest of the world light.

The first time he attempted to make a light bulb, he failed. The second time, he failed. The hundredth time, he failed. Did he stop? Did he just accept his failures as his fate? No. He kept going. He failed again and again until the one-thousandth time and…wouldn’t you know it…the light bulb was born.

Think about where we’d be today if he’d given up any of the 999 times before. Think about what impact it would have on our existence today if he’d said, “Well, I give up. I’m a failure. Apparently I am stupid and non-productive.”

As hockey great Wayne Gretzky once said, “You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take.” Or, as Michael Jordan has said, “I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed,” following up with, “Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.”

Failure is only a failure if you decide to give up. As long as you don’t do that, then it’s simply a lesson learned. It’s a tool that tells you what doesn’t work so you can cross that idea off your list of possibilities and move on to something that does.

Remember too that you’re not alone when it comes to failures, so quit beating yourself up. Jack Canfield, co-author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series reached out to 144 different publishers before finding one who would take on his idea for this set of books. Again, had he given up any of those times, the world wouldn’t have been blessed with the many stories of inspiration and motivation they contain.

Again, failure is only a failure when you give up. So don’t. Okay?

As an entrepreneur, Red has built 3 different organizations. Among some of his accomplishments, Red built “The Accessories Place” into a major vendor of fashion accessories with multimillion dollar sales and double-digit year over year profitability. He is a professional speaker and the author of “Live Your YOUlogy.” In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his 3 children, playing racquetball, and traveling.

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How To Finally Find Fulfillment In An Overly Complex World

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You’re reading How To Finally Find Fulfillment In An Overly Complex World, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

how to find fulfillment

Are you looking for fulfillment? Do you know what that even looks like?

Fulfillment is what you get when you reach a level of contentment and gain a sense of accomplishment, giving you great emotional happiness and satisfaction.

What makes you happy though is not the same thing that makes someone else happy. So don’t think having or doing what others are doing will reap the same feelings and benefits for you.

It’s usually the simple things in life that bring us the most fulfillment, such as being around family and friends.

Each one of us strives for something in life, whether it be material or emotional. What is that for you, and have you ever even asked yourself what that is?

Imagine for a moment right now you were 80 years old. If you were able to look back at your life, what would be your biggest regrets?

What are the things that are really strong in your mind that you feel, and you’d say to yourself, “I should have done that when I had the chance.”

Don’t focus on so-called “mistakes.” That is not the point here, there are no such things as mistakes in life, but there are missed opportunities due to failure to take action.

Today I am going to show you how to find out what makes you happy and get you motivated towards reaching that level of happiness.

First, though, let’s take a look at why living life without fulfillment is like a plane without wings – you aren’t really going to get too far.

Why You Are Missing Out On Some Of Life’s Beauty

Early on in my career, I had been teaching and training people of all ages how to use computers, training them in software on both PCs and Macs.

I had always enjoyed this, and I realized I love teaching others, and I wanted to do more of it.

I knew what I wanted to do but didn’t really know how I would get there.

And then it hit me, the creation of my own website and blog. My own stage where I could teach people what I had learned in my life, the experiences that I have gone through, and how they could also attain a fulfilled and super happy life for themselves by doing what they love.

In one of my favorite movies, Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray, he is stuck in a time loop living the same repetitive day over and over again.

Where he wakes up, and the same song is playing on the radio, to walking down the street and meeting the same people and doing the exact same things. And no matter what he does he cant get out of it.

It’s not until he finds his true identity, and becomes the person he never was, is when he escapes from the repetitive days, and a new more fulfilled and content life begins for him.

We are always striving to be the best and have the best, but the “best” for one person is not always the best for someone else. The picture is different for everyone.

You need to let go of things that you just have no control of in life, and focus your efforts on things that you can change, can affect, and can have a life-changing influence on.

What Your Fulfillment Looks Like

To start living a more fulfilled, content, and meaningful life, you can start to use the following strategies to carve out the most joy for yourself.

– What Do You Want Out Of Life?

You go to a job because you want the money and need to work. You go to a restaurant because you are hungry and want to eat.

See what actions are you doing every day, and where they are taking you.

Ask yourself where do you want to go, what do you want to accomplish, who do you want to be with, what do you want to own, where do you want to travel.

Start to find out what your purpose in life really is. We are only in this world for a very short time, let’s not waste any time on things that just don’t matter.

Write down what you want to get, and what type of relationships you want to have with the people you care about around you.

Find your fulfillment today so that you can be truly happy for the rest of your life.

– Find What You Love And Do It More Often

What do you love doing? For me, I really enjoy rollerblading; it gives me an incredible sense of freedom and happiness that I just can’t describe.

Yet a lot of the time, we are doing things that we just don’t enjoy or get any reward out of.

We all know what makes us happy, so why are we not doing more of it?

If you are working at a job that just doesn’t do anything for you, then you need to start asking yourself what steps do you need to take to start doing work that gives you fulfillment.

If sitting on your favorite couch, wearing your most comfortable slippers, reading a book with a nice cup of warm tea makes you feel at peace, then you need to be doing more of it.

Doing the things you love to do more often gives you a sense of peace over yourself.

– Set Realistic Goals For Yourself

Now that you know what things give you fulfillment, you need to start to create the roadmap and goals to start living out your dreams.

Often we look back on our lives and reflect and ask ourselves what have I accomplished.

You need to be able to measure your level of contentment and happiness by looking at how much do you need to live.

Fulfillment is linked to your goals, and your dreams and wishes. You will find satisfaction when you reach your goals.

Write down what you are striving for in life, and what exact steps you are going to do to get there.

– Help Someone Else Out

When you do good for others and help someone else out, whether it be just giving them company when they are alone, or lending a helping hand to someone financially, you can gain so much fulfillment from this.

When humans do good to each other, this causes a great sense of peace and happiness not just to the recipient, but to the giver as well.

To help yourself out emotionally, start doing good for others so that you can feel the rewarding feeling of giving.

Final Thoughts

To live a more fulfilled life, you need to live in the moment, in the now. You need to focus on the emotions and feelings that you are feeling inside of you, and strive to make yourself the happiest that you can be.

We all need to start enjoying each and every moment and refocus on the present time.

By bringing yourself to be grounded and live one day at a time, you slow down your life to stop looking at external ways to make ourselves happy.

You don’t need any external things to make you happy; your absolute happiness already exists right inside of you right now, it’s just up to you to want to grab it.

Maher Abiad has been in digital media and marketing since 2000. He runs his own online marketing agency named 3Seven7 Studios which helps businesses tell their stories and grow their audience through digital media marketing.

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How to Make Friends

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By Leo Babauta

I’m writing this guide for my kids as they grow up and go out into the world — but it’s for anyone who wants to connect with others.

I’m writing it for my teenage self, who was shy and awkward and self-conscious. I’m writing it as a reminder to my current self, who is still those things.

But I’ve been lucky enough to make a handful of good friends, awesome people who are sucking the juice out of life, who wake up every day with gratitude and energy. I’m lucky to have them, and it makes me reflect on what I’ve done right, and what they do all the time when making connections with people.

Here’s what I’ve learned. It’s not a comprehensive guide, nor will it work for everyone. I still hope it’s useful.

Guidelines for Making Friends

In my experience, people (generally) want to be friends with other people who follow these general guidelines:

  • Be positive, not negative. While it’s OK to share your struggles with people (I recommend it), if you’re complaining all the time, and are generally negative about other people and life in general, then people get tired of the complaining and negativity. We have enough trouble in life without having friends who are negative all the time. That said, a good friend will always listen when you’re in need, so don’t take this as “never complain.” Instead, just generally try to be a positive person, and if you have struggles, also try to show how you’re tackling those struggles with a positive outlook.
  • Be interested & a good listener. Be interested in other people! Don’t make the mistake of only wanting to talk about your stuff, and being bored and unimpressed with what other people are doing. I try to find the interesting in everyone, even if they lead a relatively uneventful life, there’s something fascinating about them. When someone wants to talk, listen. If they only talk about themselves all day and don’t want to hear your stuff, then they probably aren’t going to be a great friend, but still give them a chance and be interested for as long as you can.
  • Be excited about life, have energy. We generally don’t want a friend who is bored all the time. Someone who is excited about life, interested in things, has good energy … that’s someone you’d by hyped to be around. Not super hyper, necessarily, but just containing a positive energy.
  • Do interesting things. If you’re excited about life, you manifest that by doing new things, learning, creating, exploring, trying out new experiences, meeting new people. If you are this kind of person, you’ll be interesting. If you shut out life, people might not be as interested.
  • Tell good stories. No one wants to listen to someone who tells long boring stories. After the first two such stories, people generally start tuning you out. So try to keep your stories shorter, unless you can tell people are interested. Find something interesting to hook their curiosity, and then draw them in with that curiosity until you satisfy it with a good ending. Practice your storytelling when you meet people, and try to get better at it. It’s not one of my strong points, to be honest, but I recognize that and am trying to be better.
  • Smile. I’m not saying you should have a fake smile, but a smile puts you in a friendly mood, versus frowning at someone. Don’t smile all the time, or at inappropriate times. Just generally have a smiling disposition, as it signals that you like the person (also try to genuinely like the person, moving away from tendencies to judge them or complain about them).
  • Put yourself out there, be willing to try things. Sing in public even if that scares you. Try new food, new experiences, new ideas. This open-mindedness attracts others who are looking to get the most out of life.
  • Be calm, not overly dramatic. While it’s great to have a lot of energy, people who are overly dramatic about little things can be a turn-off. So learn to react to most problems as if they’re not a big deal (because they usually aren’t), and handle them with calmness instead of overreacting.
  • Be authentic, don’t try to show off. All of the above recommendations might seem like I’m recommending that you be someone you’re not. I’m not recommending that at all. Instead, I want you to be an authentic version of yourself (there are lots of versions of ourselves) — but choose the version that is more in the directions recommended above, in general. If there is a positive and negative version of you, generally choose the positive version. But most importantly, don’t try to impress people all the time — if you’re confident in yourself, you don’t need to impress. Instead, be a genuine person, not just the “best you.” When this recommendation is in conflict with any of the above recommendations, choose this one.
  • Be happy with yourself & confident. This is just something that’s good to do for yourself. Be happy with who you are, even the flaws. If you are, you can be confident that you’re good enough when you meet someone else. People generally don’t respect someone who is constantly harsh on themselves. How can you learn to be happy with yourself? That’s a whole other post, but in general, become aware of any tendency to be harsh and critical of yourself, and don’t let yourself stew in those kinds of thoughts. Start to see the good in yourself, the genuine heart and caring nature, and let that be the story you tell yourself about yourself.

I don’t claim to be an expert at any of this (my friend Tynan is a much better expert, and wrote an excellent book you should check out), but this is what I believe to be true right now.

I hope this helps, and if you find yourself lacking in any of these areas, see it not as confirmation that you suck, but as an exciting new area for you to explore.

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How to Install CALMfidence

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

“If I am not for myself, then who will be for me? And if I am only for myself, then what am I? And if not now, when?”
-Rabbi Hillel
When the alarm goes off, does it only add to the “alarm” you felt when you went to sleep?

Is your big internal clock ticking loudly with the usual suspects?
• Anxiety?
• Indecision?
• Self-Criticism?
• Sadness?
• Lack of perspective?

Too many people don’t wake up with the alarm, they’re alarmed when they go to sleep.

Imagine waking up, enjoying life, and going to sleep with…CALMfidence.

Get Yourself Ready…Message Yourself

What’s CALMfidence? How do you get it? What’s it look like?

Hold on…remember something.

How?

Message yourself.

Messaging has two parts:

1) Finding/defining yourself
2) Telling someone

For CALMfidence, “own” your happiest/most loved self.

You’ve already done it, just guest-owned it for others.

Do you 1) think of others first and wish the best for them always; 2) stand in for the strong part of them until they can pick themselves back up?

Thanks for telling them 1) they count in the world; 2) they have everything they need inside to matter; and 3) they don’t need anyone else’s approval to feel good and be their best selves.

Move from Guest Owner to Self-Owner

Okay, so you’ve been “for others”.

Now, be the first and last of Hillel’s ideas.

Self-love and self-accept.

Sometimes you’ll do better than others, but resolve to do it now.

Own Time

You can own this mind- and spirit-set safely. How about closing your eyes and stroking your heart? It’s a great and quite way to “own” CALMfidence.
🙂

Close your eyes, image raising a child, or being the best possible friend or spouse possible.

But own that ultimate compassion for yourself!

Remember some wonderful time when everything was easy.

You deserve it as much as those you’ve helped. Accept your life-changing gift that you offer to the ones you hold dearest.
That’s the “Royal Road” to CALMfidence.

Here’s what it looks like!

CALMfidence Inventory

-You’re present, avoiding being one place with your body, but somewhere else with your mind.

-You pay yourself first. That’s much more that an economic statement. Every success isn’t about impressing others, it’s building up your own emotional bank account, your assets. Don’t leave your success at the water’s edge of your mind and spirit. Deposit it!

-You know you can accomplish more by doing less and have more than enough time to do all required.

-Your instincts are so good, you do NOTHING, rather than indulge inlazy and compulsive productivity.

-You have enough space in mind and spirit to make unhurried choices every minute of every day to find not only the best action, but the best thought available.

-You only compete with yourself.

-Your mindset is always creating, a growth mindset.

-You don’t ignore negativity, but you observe it, you don’t judge yourself.

-You’re self-compassionate without effort.

-Because you’re generous to yourself, you are effortlessly so to others.

-Your aspirations are rooted in human being, not human doing.

-You know where “True North” lies and assess everything on whether it will get you there.

-You don’t need external approval or attention to be their best self.

Isn’t this the message you want to send to the world, simply by being your happiest self?

You’ve Owned CALMfidence…now use it!

Next time you feel stressed, ask yourself, what would it take to be CALMfident? Practice so that you remember.
When in doubt, reset owning your most relaxed and poised self to get the effects above.

1-Know that you’ve had it before, so you’ll get it again. Don’t hesitate to simply STOP and REMEMBER a time of ultimate peace and confidence.
You’ve had one, no matter how seldom or long ago. Find it!

2-Be patient, be present and kind to yourself, even in a negative time. DO NOT criticize yourself.

3-Write down how you are feeling every day, be specific, both good days and bad.

4-Record, at least in your mind, and, better yet, on paper or in some word file, everything you did that was positive on any given day, no matter how minor.

5-Remember that there is only NOW. You only have to feel good NOW, not in a minute, not in an hour, not tomorrow, or next year, or in a decade.
Just NOW.

CALMfidence potential was and is your birthright. You just have to rediscover it and refresh to keep finding it.

After all, it’s part of being kind to yourself…always.

As Hillel might say, the rest is commentary.

Lars Nielsen writes full-spectrum communication, and now’s your chance to sign up for his newsletter for his website, Make Message Matter. Go to http://ift.tt/2lJ3kCR and, download his free guide to messaging, “How to Make YOUR Message Matter Cheat Sheet”.

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Social Media Is Wrecking Our Life: Here’s How

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You’re reading Social Media Is Wrecking Our Life: Here’s How, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

It’s no secret that social media is the trendy way of keeping in touch with friends and family. Like everything good, however, social media has dangers which we consciously or subconsciously suffer from when we exceed the fair usage limits.

Social media is badly sucking up our time and life — a compiled statistics by Facebook’s company IPO filings showed that Facebook users worldwide spend 10.5 billion minutes each day on the site (mobile users not included), all in all, that’s nearly 20 years we spend on Facebook each day instead of in the real world. It’s really disturbing.

Americans spend an average of 4.7 hours a day on their phones texting, blabbing and what not, mainly through social networks — this is basically more than a whole day lost every week per person.

Is social media really worth all that time?

That stated, below are 3 ways social media is wrecking our quality of living.

  1. Discontent and Comparison

Social platforms link you with people from all class and races. This means, there’s always a high chance of meeting new people with seemingly better income source, better body, better career, or people that are seemingly leading a better, happier life.

As this is the case, you’ll most likely feel the urge to place yourself side-by-side with such social media users at a point in time, in one way or the other.

While doing this comparison, however, you will, in most cases, high-rank others and downgrade yourself. This is simply because we disregard our possessions/specialties once we feel accustomed to them.

This will often lead you to drool over the skills of others and make you view yourself as “uncool.”

You’re not the only one sub-consciously undergoing this stress, though. Other social media users do the same and this goes on to create a cycle of depression, and it severely hurts your self-esteem in turn — A new study funded by the National Institute of health labeled social media as one of the major causes of depression.

A 298 person case study at The University of Salford reported that 50% of the participants said that their “use of social networks like Facebook and Twitter makes their lives worse.”

The study also reported that participants said their self-esteem suffers when they compare their accomplishments to those of their online friends.

It’s easy to downgrade yourself and high-rank others based on what they display on social media. Never forget, however, everyone has things going on backstage they never share.

  1. Soliciting attention

It’s also no secret that many celebrities today, in the likes of Justin Bieber, rose to stardom after becoming an internet sensation.

Social networks make it easy to gain rapid exposure to your target audience for your various skills, products or services. This is good as it helps people to discover their special skills and creativity in order to grow and retain an audience.

But then, most social media users take this to the extreme and make this media exposure a priority; they will go to any length to get it; even it means assaulting others — a new survey by Craig Newmark found that 22 percent of social network users were victims of bullying, harassment and threatening behavior in 2016.

A good example is that of a father of three who got fired from his workplace after a “sexual joke” he made was spread on the social media by a female counterpart who rather found the joke annoying. It didn’t end there; the lady also lost her job when social media users turned against her in sympathy for the man.

Careers destroyed in a short while — thanks to the social media.

Another way this social media exposure wreck lives is the fact that social nobodies feel less complacent with themselves. Everyone feels social media fame is the way to go. This also contributes massively to the increased depression rate as stated above.

Needless to say, people go as far as photoshopping their pictures for media attention — this only shows their level of lack of self-confidence. Though they may get the media attention, it’s possible that they will be hurting deeply for not looking exactly like the person in the photoshop. Yet another way the social media aids depression.

  1. Difficulties in getting around in the offline world

There is no doubt that social media makes meeting new people whom we can end up having long-term relationships with quite easy. But then, what happens after we meet these new people? How well do couples who make the social media their journal last? Well, not so long.

24% of the respondents in a survey reported that they have missed real-time special moments, simply because they were trying to capture/document the moment for online sharing.

“Live for now,” and “enjoy every moment” seems to be impossible slogans these days as everyone is either busy trying to angle for the perfect capture or brainstorming for the perfect caption to seize the media attention with.

Real life relationships are suffering too. 11% of Brits in the survey confessed that their online relationships are solely about looking cool and interesting. That’s a lot of drama added to this already complex world.

Sticking by our tech devices from morning to night, day in day out, for the sake of social media can heavily be linked to the increased accidents rate — National Safety Council reported that cell phone use while driving leads to 1.6 million crashes each year.

That and a lot more others like how a large number of persons are choosing social media interaction over face to face relationship and business engagement meetings are what social media is doing to the human race.

To round things up

Though, it’s a fact that social media don’t have the ability to make us do any of the above without our permission — at the very least, we are yet to see a social media network that auto-updates our moods and activities or one that auto-responds to our convos — however, it’s still a fact that these platforms make unnatural things like giving the whole world access to our lives quite irresistible.

Social media has come a long way and it can not possibly be done away with at this rate. Also, if used smartly, social media can do a lot more good than harm.

But then, with the above reasons and a lot of others in place, it’s only ideal for you to set boundaries for yourself to regulate who takes a peek at your life and, what is visible to the people who actually do take a peek (Tip: Don’t let them see/know too much).

What is your thought on this? Do let us know through the comments section.

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A Loving Guide to Going Vegan

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By Leo Babauta

A loved one has decided to go vegetarian and has struggled in a couple areas, so I thought I’d write this guide for her.

I’m writing it for those who want to go vegan, because that’s what I am, but the ideas apply to those going vegetarian as well.

This is for those who are considering it, or who are just getting started and have questions or struggles.

Let’s dive in!

Understand the Why

If you come across struggles while becoming vegan, it’s easy to give up if you’re not really motivated. So figure out why you’re doing this.

My top recommendation: do it for the animals.

Health: Yes, you can do it for your health, but in truth, being vegan is not a panacea. You can become healthier as a vegan if your previous diet was crap and you start eating vegetables and whole foods. But you can also eat crap as a vegan (French fries, fried vegan “chicken” and Coke, for example), or you could do your best but not get some nutrients and your health could suffer. Also, it’s completely possible to eat healthy as a non-vegan — my sister is a pescatarian who doesn’t eat grains or processed foods, and eats lots of veggies. So health isn’t always the best reason, though I personally transformed my health by going vegetarian and then vegan.

Environment: As a vegan, your carbon footprint will drop greatly — the carbon emissions of animal agriculture is greater than the transportation industry, and is probably the biggest sources of carbon emissions in most people’s lives. It’s said that you can’t be a meat-eating environmentalist, and on some level, I agree.

However, I’ve found that for most people, the environmental reason for veganism is just a bonus, not the main driving reason they stay vegan.

Don’t hurt animals (ethics): This is the top reason people stay vegan over the long run, in my experience. It’s emotional: most people love animals, and the idea of killing them for pleasure can be distressful for many of us. It’s logical: there’s no good reason to eat animals other than pleasure, as we can be perfectly healthy on a vegan diet (I am and many others are). And it’s consistent: why do we love and protect dogs and cats (we wouldn’t tolerate their abuse or horrible killings) and not pigs and cows?

For those wondering, milk and eggs actually do harm animals — for one thing, dairy cows and egg hens are often abused and live in horrible conditions their entire lives, but no matter what farm they’re on, they’re killed when they’re no longer productive. And the male chicks of egg hens are crushed alive, and the male calves of dairy cows are raised in heartbreaking conditions and killed for veal.

For me, I started down the path for health reasons, but the ethics of harming other sentient beings is what has remained meaningful to me, and is the reason I’ll never go back to eating animal products. It’s good to keep that motivation in mind as you take this journey.

Getting Started

There’s no need to become vegetarian or vegan overnight. Like many others, I started by cutting out red meat and only eating poultry. Then I cut out poultry and became vegetarian (I’m not a big fan of fish). My wife cut out red meat, then poultry, then was pescatarian (only fish, no meat or poultry) for awhile before going vegetarian. This is a common pattern, and it makes the transition easier.

For me, I slowly transitioned from vegetarian to veganism, first cutting out eggs and then drinking soymilk instead of milk (I actually love the taste of soymilk, and no, soy is not bad for you). But I held out on cheese for the longest time, as I didn’t think I could give it up. I finally did when my wife decided to go vegan in 2012, and surprisingly, it was not hard at all to give up cheese!

The point is, there’s no one right path, and it doesn’t have to be sudden at all. Some people go vegetarian or vegan all at once and do great, but others find a slow transition to be a great way to adjust your tastebuds, discover new recipes, and figure out the logistics of the new lifestyle.

Get started however you want, but just start somewhere!

Going Out to Eat

The loved one I mentioned has had a hard time going to lunch with friends and finding almost nothing vegetarian on the menu. This can be tough. Here are some recommendations:

  1. Do a few minutes of research before you go anywhere. Yelp or Happy Cow are your friends, as you can find veg-friendly restaurants that will cater to you and your non-veg friends. I like to look up the menus online of places I want to go to. Honestly, I probably spend about 5-10 minutes doing this research, so it’s not hard.
  2. If you’re too lazy to do research, some places that are delicious and typically have veg food: Thai, Indian, Italian, Mexican (Chipotle is great!), and lots of Asian places. In other words, almost any cuisine other than American steakhouses or barbecue joints.
  3. If you didn’t do research, then look for menu items that can either be vegan/vegetarian, or can be made vegan/vegetarian. For example, a big salad with lots of veggies, beans, nuts can be made vegetarian if you ask them to leave out the chicken (and cheese and egg if you’re vegan). Sometimes you’ll find a veggie burger on the menu of burger places. In a Thai restaurant, you can ask them to make tofu curry or pad thai without the fish sauce, and without egg.
  4. A good restaurant will often have a chef who likes to be challenged, so feel free to ask the server to ask the chef if they can make something vegan for you. Often they’ll be able to make something simple, and once in awhile they’ll delight you.

In the end, you’ll slowly develop a mental list of the places in your town where you can go to enjoy a good vegan dish or three, and also the mental habit of doing a few minutes’ research before agreeing to a lunch place with someone.

Cooking Delicious Food

Personally, I end up cooking my own food most of the time, and only eat out about once a week. It’s cheaper, healthier, and you get the food you love rather than whatever they have to offer.

It’s not hard either. You can usually find a vegan version of that meal online — I started with vegan versions of chili, spaghetti, curries, tacos, burgers, pizzas, other pastas (like pesto) and other things that my family and I already liked.

Eventually I branched out and tried new recipes, and explored a whole world of vegan cooking. It was a lot of fun.

These days, I have simplified. I go for simple bowls that I find delicious:

There are a thousand variations on these bowls. Basically combine a whole grain (like brown rice or quinoa, or potatoes if you like) with a protein (black beans, chickpeas, tofu, tempeh, lentils), veggies (spinach, kale, mushrooms, broccoli, bok choy, edamame) and a sauce or spices. Healthy, easy to make, delicious. As a family, we’ve made versions of this bowl with a Mexican, Thai, Japanese or Indian theme, for example.

There are a lot of good vegan recipes online! Here are a couple: Vegan Richa, Post Punk Kitchen & Oh She Glows.

Eating at Other People’s Houses

It can be awkward at first when you go to someone else’s house to eat (for a party or family gathering, for example) and all they have is non-veg food. But you learn a couple good strategies for dealing with this:

  1. Offer to bring a dish or two. I pretty much always bring a vegan dish or two whenever I go to eat at someone’s house. I just say, “I’ll bring a vegan dish!” and they say, “Cool!” If I feel like a vegan dessert, I’ll make one and bring it too. No one objects — if they don’t want to eat it, they don’t have to. More for me. Bonus: when people taste my delicious vegan dishes and desserts, it shows them how wonderful being a vegan can be.
  2. Talk to the person. It was a bit awkward at first when I would get invited somewhere and I had to tell them that I was a vegetarian (and later vegan). Most people don’t know much about it, they can get offended by the very idea, and there can be lots of questions (and bad jokes). But I learned the best policy was just to tell people I’ve become vegan, and not make a big deal about it. If they have questions, I’m happy to answer, but I’m not here to preach. I’m just enjoying life as a vegan. And yes, there are the bad jokes that you get tired of … I just see it as their attempt to lighten their own tension, and laugh with them.

Now that people know I’m vegan, there aren’t any awkward conversations, and it’s not a big deal.

Adjusting Tastes

The strange thing is that if you are just starting out as a vegan, you might not like a bunch of vegan food. That’s normal. But here’s the interesting part: your tastebuds change!

For example, I didn’t like vegan ice cream or “fake meats” but now I’ll happy have ice cream made from coconut milk, cashew cream, almond milk, soymilk — as an occasional treat. And while I don’t eat vegan “meats” every day, I think some of them are quite good.

A couple more examples: I didn’t like soymilk before. And hated kale. Now I happily drink soymilk every day. And kale is one of my favorite foods evah (I even own a kale T-shirt).

In the beginning, I stuck with familiar tastes, and just altered them as little as necessary to make them vegetarian. But slowly I tried new recipes, new vegan ingredients, changing things just a little at a time. I found that my mind opened to the new tastes and soon they became normal.

I thought I would really miss meat, but I don’t, and haven’t ever. Now I can’t stand the thought of eating meat. I used to think I could never give up cheese, but it turned out to be the easiest thing ever, when I decided I really wanted to be vegan.

Tastebuds are wonderful things, in that they can change if you let them.

Understand the Nutrition

Vegans have a few things to understand if they want to be healthy on a vegan diet. It’s not hard at all, but you should educate yourself. One of the biggest problems when people go vegan and fail is that they don’t get proper nutrition because they didn’t care enough to read a few articles. Don’t make that mistake.

There are only a few nutrients you really need to know about — the biggest ones probably being B12, Vitamin D, Omega 3s. If you’re eating lots of veggies, lots of other whole foods, you’ll probably do better than most on the rest of the nutrients.

B12 is something every vegan should supplement — I take a simple B12 pill once or twice a week, and fortified soymilk is a good option. Don’t believe the myth that you can get it sufficiently from the dirt in vegetables.

Vitamin D is usually easy to get from sunlight, but if you don’t go outdoors much or it’s winter and there’s no sun outside, then take a Vitamin D supplement. I take this one made from mushrooms grown in sunlight.

Being low on Omega 3s isn’t something that will cause any noticeable problems, but it seems to be good for the heart and brain. Omnis can get it from fish oil. Vegans can get them from flaxseeds and walnuts and canola oil and other similar foods, but I additionally take a daily tablet called Ovega-3 that has a good blend of EPA and DHA.

There’s more you can learn — read all about it at VeganHealth.org.

Dealing with Family & Friends

Tell all your family and friends you’re going veg, so they can share in your joy! Actually, most likely they’ll tease you about it, debate you, and not understand. That’s OK, not everyone gets it.

I have a few recommendations:

  • Don’t be preachy. No one likes to be preached to, and in fact they’ll start to resent you and even be defensive about their way of eating.
  • Be patient. Not everyone gets it, but generally the people you love will come to accept this new part of you. Just not right away, perhaps. They need time to adjust.
  • Be loving. When you share your new lifestyle, do so out of love, not criticism. Do so with kindness in your heart and voice. Share what you think the person is ready to learn about, but don’t push.
  • Laugh at their jokes. Don’t take jokes about vegans in a personal way. People can feel a lot of tension about this stuff, so jokes are their way to overcome that.
  • Don’t debate. If someone wants to debate the ethics of veganism, it probably won’t be productive, because they have an entrenched stance and aren’t likely to change. Instead, offer to send them some links that address their concerns, but say a debate won’t be productive. If someone is genuinely interested and open-minded, then share what you think is appropriate.
  • Don’t talk about murder while people are eating. I’ve found that people don’t like you to talk about the incredibly inhumane way that animals are treated … while they’re eating the animals. It makes them feel pretty bad, defensive, even angry. That’s not a way to open people’s minds. If they ask while they’re eating, just give them the bare minimum, smile, and enjoy your vegan food.

In the end, love and patience and understanding are the way to go.

Getting Super Healthy

Veganism doesn’t just have to be for the beautiful animals. You can use it to become super bad-ass healthy too.

Here’s how:

  1. Eat a crapload of vegetables. Greens of all kinds are king. Then expand into reds, yellows and oranges. Whites and browns. Be the god or goddess of vegetables, and let amazing health be your dominion.
  2. Move to whole foods. There’s actually no good definition of “whole foods” (good!) or “processed foods” (baaad!), it’s just a “I know it when I see it” kind of thing. But try for foods that are closer to their natural state. For example, beans look like they could have just been picked from their pod. A bagel doesn’t. That said, no one has to be perfect about eating only whole foods — just eat in that direction.
  3. Cut down on junk. Pop Tarts, soda, too much beer, white breads and pastries, chips, sweets, most cereals, frozen prepared foods, fast food, most things you can get at chain restaurants. I’m not saying never eat this stuff again, but as you move away from it, you’ll get healthier.
  4. Exercise. Bodyweight exercises, yoga, biking, swimming, hiking, running, rowing, weights, climbing, sports.

It’s pretty much that simple. If you want to lose weight, I would do the above, and eat as many green vegetables with your meals as you can. If you want to gain weight, just eat more, and add nuts and nut butters and oils to your meals when you can.

A Few Myths to Debunk

It’s inevitable that you’ll run up against some common myths. It’s good to do a little research, because they simply aren’t true.

Here are a few:

  • Protein is hard to get (it’s easy)
  • Plants feel pain (no, they don’t have a central nervous system or brain)
  • We’re doing these animals a favor by giving them a life (their lives are short, brutish and filled with cruelty)
  • Our canine teeth mean we’re evolved to be carnivores (we can’t survive on a carnivorous diet; we can survive on a vegan or omnivorous diet)
  • It’s expensive to be vegan (beans and rice are cheaper than meat)
  • Vegan diets make you weak (I’m healthy & strong, and so are many other vegans)

I’m not going to dispel these (and other) myths here, but other sites have done it really well.

Enjoy, Not Sacrifice

Being vegan isn’t hard, it’s not a sacrifice, it’s not extreme, and it’s not boring. It can be, if that’s how you see it.

But I see it differently:

It’s delicious.

It’s a joy.

It’s healthy, humane, kind. Good for the Earth. Wonderful to share.

I wish you best on this journey, my friends, as you explore a world of compassion and love. Do it with your arms wide open and your hearts full.

A few additional resources: No Meat Athlete, Plant Shift, Minimalist Vegan.

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17 Free Websites to Upgrade the Quality of Your Life Today

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You’re reading 17 Free Websites to Upgrade the Quality of Your Life Today, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

In the past decade, there has been a rise of amazing (and free) websites that can dramatically improve the quality of our lives.

Not all of these websites are equal however. The best always rise to the top, and we don’t want to waste your time with websites that won’t deliver maximum results. From improving your health, learning a second language, to saving you more time, we’ve curated the top 17 free websites that will enhance your quality of life.

Here they are…

1. MyFitnessPal

What you’ll get: Ability to easily track calories

MyFitnessPal is a free personal assistant to helping you become the best shape possible. It tracks your calories, gives you tips, and gives you in-depth analytics about your health performance.

2. Appear.in

What you’ll get: Instant, high quality video meetings

Skype is amazing, but it can get trickier when you have more than one person you’re chatting with. Appear.in helps you create instant virtual rooms for group meetings and more. It’s fast, efficient, and easy.

3. Rype

What you’ll get: Start speaking a new foreign language in seconds

Rype was created to redefine what it’s like to learn a language. Compared to a language school, Rype offers private language lessons for 1/10th of the cost, with fully-vetted professional teachers that are available 24/7. It comes with a full 14-day free trial to check it out for yourself.

rype

4. Calm

What you’ll get: Peaceful mind through meditation

Calm offers peace of mind on demand. The meditation app now includes breathing exercises, and sleeping stories to help you maintain the best quality of mind possible.

5. Evernote

What you’ll get: Organization of thoughts and projects

Keeping track of everything you’re working on takes a lot of mental space. Evernote keeps everything organized in one place. You can take notes, save articles, and share them with whoever you want.

6. CreativeLIVE

What you’ll get: Free education

CreativeLIVE offers free educational classes from premium teachers around topics ranging from photography, business & money, design, and more.

7. Investopedia

What you’ll get: Better understanding of finances

Investopedia is the leading community for learning everything you need to know about finance. They have free tools (that allow you to invest $100,000 of simulated money), dictionary, articles, tutorials, and much more.

8. X.ai

What you’ll get: Personal assistant for scheduling

They say that artificial intelligence is around the corner, but it seems to be already making way. With X.ai, you get a free personal assistant named Amy, who will help you coordinate all of your scheduling according to your preferences via email. All you have to do is cc her, and voila!

9. Coach.me

What you’ll get: Community and accountability for goal setting

Sometimes all we need to achieve our important goals is a community that keeps us accountable. With Coach.me, you get that and more. Their free app offers reminders to help you stay up-to-date with your habits, communities that you can interact with, and even offer coaching for those who need it.

10. Spritz

What you’ll get: Enhance your reading speed by 2x

Spritz was created to help us read faster. The technology scours through whatever you’re trying to read, and displays it for you word by word based on how fast you want to read it — i.e. 500 wpm, 400 wpm, etc.

11. Pexels

What you’ll get: Free stock photos to use in any way you want

Free, high quality stock photography is on the rise. What pexels offers is an accumulation of all the best stock photography websites in one place. Think Google for free stock quality photos.

12. StickK

What you’ll get: Accountability to meet your important goals

If you’re not exactly the type of person who’s shown a track record of hitting your goals, StickK can help. How? By putting your money where your mouth is. You set your own stakes if you don’t hit your goal, you’ll never see that money again. Talk about pressure.

13. Momentum

What you’ll get: Beautiful wallpaper to look at everyday

Momentum is a simple, free browser extension that displays beautiful photos whenever you open a new tab. What you see often can affect how you think and feel, and this is a easy-to-implement hack to improve your life.

14. Freedom

What you’ll get: Removal from internet distractions

Freedom blocks distractions from the web (literally) by preventing you from going online for a period of time.

15. Bodybuilding.com

What you’ll get: Advice on getting fit and healthy

Bodybuilding.com is the go-to place for learning about nutrition, training, and fitness programs to get into the best shape of your life.

16. ProductHunt

What you’ll get: Curated list of the best, new products online

If you enjoyed this post, and discovering new products, then you’ll love ProductHunt. Everyday, there’s a new curated list of products, books, podcasts, games, and more that you can discover online.

17. Memrise

What you’ll get: Tool to memorize new things

Memrise helps you memorize new words in the easiest way possible. It’s perfect for anyone learning a foreign language, studying for an exam, and more.

You’ve read 17 Free Websites to Upgrade the Quality of Your Life Today, 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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The 7 Best Blogs on Relationships

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You’re reading The 7 Best Blogs on Relationships, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

If only we knew when we begin our lives that in the end, the only thing that truly matters, are our relationships, perhaps we would make them our top priority. We are social creatures that can evolve immensely simply by relating our experiences to others. This is how we learn to deepen our understanding of ourselves and each other. Our relationships in life also pave the way for more favorable physical, emotional and spiritual well-being. It could be relationships award us with a sense of being alive, or it could be that they make you feel valued, it’s the reciprocity of these positive feelings that create meaningful lives.

  1. Marriage does not equate with happiness. The reason one can be in a happy marriage is if they feel supported, and many marriages fail to provide this over time. This blog also touches on the fact that one does not even need marriage at all, if we are surrounded by encouraging friends or family and a significant other as a companion, that is all we need to thrive within the health benefits of a loving relationship.

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  1. ‘How to have satisfying, functional and intimate relationships is probably as essential as literacy or numeracy.’ In this blog, we are given specific skills on how to move forward in relationships in order to relate to others healthily, mindfully and kindly. Listening with attention and communicating effectively both play large roles in the success of a relationship.

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  1. This article lays down the difference between a ‘hedonic’ (more about experiencing pleasure in life) perspective on relationships and a ‘eudonic’ (more about reaching your potential in life) one. In order to understand and predict the well being of a relationship, one must first determine which of this perspectives drive it. The conclusion is generally that they more a partner feels valued and understood as opposed to just ‘enjoyed’, the greater the meaning on your life.

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  1. If we are ‘in love’, we are experiencing a hormonal surge similar to any elation, joy and some would say it’s a high. If we are ‘loving’, we are much more concerned with the minutiae of our partner’s life and sustaining a grounded, authentic love. An ideal relationship is one with a combination of passion and compassion.

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  1. We often lose connections in our relationships because we rely heavily on our own potentially misguided mental perceptions of what the other may be thinking. Eye contact and affection are strong indicators of connection, as it promotes security. Couples sometimes fall into a negative cycle of assumptions, missing visual cues to connect, that could lead to a more understanding relationship.

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  1. In this blog, an interview with author Susan David, discusses the concept of emotional agility. She feels people in romantic relationships are often ‘inagile’ emotionally, meaning that their thoughts and emotions ultimately create stories which then direct their action. Oftentimes they are negative and ultimately push you away from the goal of a healthy relationship.

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  1. How can one define love? It is relative to the person that is feeling the emotion, therefore it is not very easy to qualify. In the realm of psychology, experts continue to research it and one particularly useful framework is the ‘triangle theory’. This theory is based on the belief that there are three facets to love, those are passion, intimacy and commitment, and within those three lie seven types of relationships for which one can define their own relationship.

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To be emotionally involved in someone else’s life and connected in some way is what it means to be in a relationship. However, the life that exists inside them is what can be either transformative or debilitating depending on amount of awareness given to the relationship. When a relationship is flowing, our lives are enriched, we can be ourselves and see ourselves in the reflection we give to others.

Do you read a great blog about relationships 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 7 Best Blogs on Relationships, 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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6 Questions to Help You Find Your Tribe

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You’re reading 6 Questions to Help You Find Your Tribe, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

We make many choices that mold our personalities, but none are quite as important as the people we choose to be around.

As motivational speaker Jim Rohn put it, we are the average of the five people we spend the most time with. This doesn’t mean you’re not the architect of your personality — you just need to make smart choices about those surrounding you.

Choosing good company can be a tricky balancing act. We need many things from our friends and associates, including competition, honest feedback, moral support, and good judgment. I am a competitive person, for instance, and like to surround myself with people who make me want to push a little harder or reach a little higher. Alone, I might not feel the need to make that extra effort, but with the right people around me, I have the energy to go further.

Rarely do I find one person who has all the qualities I’m looking for, but that’s normal. You need an inner circle of people who complement your strengths and help you improve your weaknesses. You don’t want people who tear you down or diminish your accomplishments out of jealousy — you want a group that helps you discover the best version of yourself.

Ask the Right Questions to Find Your Tribe

So how do you cultivate the right group? Fortunately, it’s not as hard as it sounds. You just need to ask the right questions to identify the right people to help you grow. Start with these six.

1. Who inspires me?

Who makes you want to be a better leader, a better coach, and a better person? Is this person excellent at what he does? It doesn’t matter whether he’s in the same field — what matters is that you can draw inspiration from his tenacity, creative spirit, and heart.

Whether you want to be a better business leader, a better friend, or a more active member of the community, ask yourself what kind of person you want to be to seek out individuals who inspire you to be that person.

What you don’t want is someone who will drag you down with his negativity. Negative feelings can be motivating to a point, but they ultimately do more harm than good.

2. Who teaches me?

Who makes you approach problems in different ways? Who stretches you emotionally? Who asks insightful questions?

We learn the most from people who ask questions that make us stop and re-evaluate our situation. When I’m with a client and I hear, “No one’s ever asked me that question before,” I know we’re about to have a productive conversation. Find people who challenge your views in a friendly way, and start spending more time with them.

3. Whom can I teach?

Who is open to learning? Who wants to know more? Who is willing to explore things in new ways and accept your guidance?

Teachers help us grow, but being a teacher can also deliver valuable insights. When we’re forced to explain something or coach someone, we learn more about ourselves and the subject matter we’re communicating. I coach agency owners every day, and the exchange of wisdom goes both ways. Usually, I’m learning just as much from the interaction as my clients, and it helps me improve.

4. Who celebrates me?

Who’s your cheerleader? Who reminds you how awesome you are?

There are few things as valuable as a friend who believes in you. When the daily grind becomes too much, you need a lifesaver, someone who can remind you of your best qualities.

We all too easily take the good parts of ourselves for granted, so surround yourself with friends who see you more clearly than you see yourself and can verbalize their support in a way that makes you believe in yourself, too.

5. Who will call me out?

Who’s brave enough to be honest? Who cares enough to alert you when you’ve gone off course?

Even the best of us make mistakes. We need people around us who care enough to speak up when we step out of line or make a judgment error. This person needs to be able to take it when we react poorly to feedback and forgive us for losing sight of the bigger picture. While honesty is invaluable, just make sure not to mistake an overly critical person for an honest one.

6. Who brings me joy?

Who sees the best of you in everything you do and points it out to you? Who makes you laugh so hard you cry? Who fills you with happiness?

The people who bring you true joy are rare — don’t let their presence in your life be accidental. Bring them in close, and keep them around.

To be the best version of yourself, be intentional about who you spend your time with and who you open up to. No matter how successful you are, you can always get a little better, a little bolder, a little stronger, and a little kinder. Ponder these questions to discover the friends and colleagues who will help you become the person you want to be.

You’ve read 6 Questions to Help You Find Your Tribe, 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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