You’re reading Erin’s Things – February 8, 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 for Erin’s Things – I’ve found everything from floating in the Grand Canyon to a galactic light experience – all of which, made my week a little bit better! Discovered something that got you inspired this week? Leave a comment below!

The Zip Line at Grand Canyon West – Located in Hualapai Ranch in Grand Canyon National Park, this zip line flies over a side canyon, letting you take in spectacular views from above. Is it scary? Sure. Is it worth it? Definitely. You don’t’ have go it alone however, and that may ease the anxiety for some. Designed with two ‘quad ziplines’ it allows up to four people to ride side by side from beginning to end- so you can all freak out together. The line measures around 1110 feet across and there is a line that goes downhill taking you 2100 feet downhill…whoa! Finally, something worth lining up for.

LUNA LAMP – Taiwanese designer Acorn has a ‘Moon Lantern’ that comes in several different sizes, ranging from $80 (smallest) to $910 (largest). It comes in a fiberglass structure and is light from within with LED lights hidden inside. There is a deep sense of peace that comes over me when looking a beautiful full moon, now I can enjoy it every night. The large size is simply stunning on the room in a living room space. The light is ethereal and calming. Best gift ever for someone special on your list.

NEW YORK – BEHIND CLOSED DOORS – This Coffee table book offers two things, a peek into the interiors to some fabulously stylish small spaces in the city that never sleeps (NYC, for those who don’t know) and a colorful portrait of the people that reside in them. Personalities inform style and this is a great way to binge on both!

Young Living essential oils – ‘Seed to Seal’ – these essential oils have been around for awhile (1994!) yes, for some reason they are at the peak of their popularity at the moment. They offer around 85 different single bottles that claim to aid with countless ailments and/or mood enhancements. Everything from radiant skin to increased energy is in these little bottles. What sets them apart from the countless other essential oil brands out there is that they produce products based on the ‘seed to seal’ mantra. This means the product must meet their pillars of sourcing, science and standards. And for all you moms of babies, there is a baby oil diffuser that apparently makes the little angels drift off to lala land. Yes, please!

LAUNCH – This podcast just ‘launched’, and it is a great help to anyone thinking of writing a book! Screenwriter John August, leads this podcast which helps those dreaming of or attempting to, or in the midst of writing a book, to make the leap from idea to produced, sold, promoted and marketed product. Structured as a linear documentary narrative model, it helps with everything from story arcs to general writing issues that arise, and well into the business side of things. Recommend.

You’ve read Erin’s Things – February 8, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

>

You’re reading The Psychology of Momentum: 5 Steps to Get Yourself Out Of A Mental Rut, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

Do you ever find yourself in a mental rut?

Sometimes you have days, or even weeks, whereby as much as a part of you wants to be active, you just can’t bring yourself to do so. It can literally feel like you’re wading through quicksand!

There’s one thing, however, that can not only help get you out of the rut but can help keep you out.

And that is; momentum.

See, the brain is a pattern making machine that’s built to find a route and follow it consistently. It does this because it wants to conserve energy, it’s stingy, and this is why it’s so hard to make a behavioural change, particularly when you don’t ‘feel’ like it. It completely goes against your homeostatic drives.

However, that also means that once you have a habit in place, momentum can be a powerful tool to use to your advantage. After having established a pattern of behaviour, you will continue to follow it, and it will become easier and easier.

In a sense, momentum is far more important than motivation.

Though in the moment it can feel incredibly difficult to get up and break the cycle, there is a similar, repeatable process that you can do which will help you create enough momentum to get out and take action consistently.

Here are five steps to get yourself out of a mental rut.

• Flood your brain with dopamine

If you want to make any behavioural change when you’re dealing low energy and enthusiasm, you have to begin by altering your state. To do that you need to change your neurochemistry by naturally stimulating your dopamine production. Dopamine, sometimes known as the motivation molecule, will help you to feel like you want to get stuff done.

Here are a few ways to boost your dopamine:

• Decrease or eliminate sugar
• Spend time outside in the sun
• Take steps to combat anxiety and stress
• Do some high-intensity exercise
• Practice Deep Breathing or Yoga
• Take magnesium and vitamin D supplements
• Get enough quality sleep
• Set goals

 

• Set a strong intention

I mentioned setting effective goals as one of the ways to improve dopamine production. This is partially why setting an intention is vital. When you have something to work towards your dopamine naturally increases. The other reason this is so important is that it keeps your mind focused. Mind-wandering is incredibly taxing on your mental energy, and it is much more likely to occur if you don’t have a guiding goal to direct your attention towards. The stronger the intention, and the more emotion you can associate with it, the more profound the effects are going to be.

For example, you may want to get out of a mental slump you are in by setting yourself the intention of running every day and competing in a 10km race. You can make the experience emotional by thinking about how good you’ll look and feel about yourself when you’ve finished the race. Don’t worry about being a little vain; the point is to get yourself excited about the idea.

• Choose a set of reference experiences

It can be tough to take on a new challenge when there aren’t any recent memories of similar experiences. A reference experience is a smaller goal whose main purpose is to serve as an example in your memory, reminding you that you can do something. Once you’ve set an intention, you want to think of a set of actions that will compliment your intention and show you tangible signs of progress.

So for example, you may not be able to run 10km yet, but you are physically capable of running 3km, so you can decide on a shorter route that you can do, and start to visualize yourself doing it. You could then slowly scale up to 5km and 7km trails in mental preparation for the larger race. Reference experiences will give your body endorphins as a reward for completing them, which reinforce the behaviour in the future and help in the momentum process.

“Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.” – Vincent Van Gogh

• Take the smallest step and increase it incrementally

The first part of this step is to start your momentum train with the smallest action you can imagine. In the example I’ve been using this far, that may even just be putting on your running clothes and stretching. Any movement is better than no movement, and it’s more effective to start small to avoid burnout. After that you want to decide on a time scale at which you’re going to increase it slightly, I’d recommend once or twice a week. You want to be in a position where you’re looking forward to the increase. If you’ve decided that your first step is to put your running shoes on, then you can do that for three days so by the third day your itching to get out and run around the block.

• Repeat

 

Finally, once you’ve gone through all of these steps, continue to make small improvements until you get the sense that you’ve reached a plateau and are ready for a new intention.

If you feel like you’re stuck in a mental rut, understand that it’s just a feeling. It’s not going to last forever and practicing mindfulness of your emotions will ensure that you are better able to see this over time. The human mind is a wonderful tool when you can get it to work in your favour, and the principle of momentum can help you do just that. Follow these five steps, and you’ll quickly see how fickle the feelings of sluggishness truly were, and how rapidly vitality can become the norm again.

What experiences have you had with momentum? How has it worked for you? Let us know in the comments!

 

---

 

Benjamin Fishel is a freelance writer, meditation practitioner, and the creator of the popular blog Project Monkey Mind. He’s also currently studying his Masters in Applied Neuroscience. If you’d like to know how you can calm your mind using Modern Psychology and Eastern Spirituality, get his free cheatsheet 10 Hacks to Calm Your Monkey Mind (in 5 minutes or less).

You’ve read The Psychology of Momentum: 5 Steps to Get Yourself Out Of A Mental Rut, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

>

You’re reading Learning This One Language Will Help You Make More Money, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

Learning a second language has traditionally always been popular with the hobbyist and travel community. But what about the business community?

According to Euro London, a recruitment agency, learning a language has shown to add between 10-15% to your income. This only goes to show that learning a foreign language is a wise investment for business professionals and CEO’s.

Let’s take the average salary of someone in New York City, ~$85,000, a 2% “language bonus” average over 40 years, and also a 1% raise annually, you’d have an extra ~$110,000 by the time you retire.

As long as you choose the right method to learn a new language quickly, that’s a pretty good return on your time.

Which language offers the most money?

A report from The Economist, shows that not all foreign languages offer the same returns. Albert Saiz, an economist from MIT found the following:

• Spanish — 1.5 percent bonus
• French — 2.3 percent bonus
• German — 3.8 percent bonus

Why is this the case? It’s not that Spanish and French aren’t as useful languages to learn as German. It just comes down to supply and demand.

For example, Spanish-speaking countries will account for a larger GDP than German speaking countries. However, given the amount of people that can already speak both Spanish and English, it may not offer the best returns, financially speaking.

You’re better off learning a language like German, Mandarin, or Arabic, with high demand and less supply of bilingual speakers. Even if they’re not the easiest languages to learn.

And if you’re still not convinced of the opportunity costs of not knowing a foreign language, estimates show that a lack of language proficiency in Britain alone, costs the economy $80 billion a year.

In conclusion, if you’ve been putting off learning a language because you didn’t have any plans to ‘travel’ this year, how about your plans to ‘make more money?’

You’ve read Learning This One Language Will Help You Make More Money, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

>

You’re reading Accelerate your Happiness with these 14 Steps, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

1. Message Your Family and Friends Often

It’s so easy to let our social and familial lives slide down into a small corner of our lives in favor of our work lives. Because of our goals and “responsibilities” we’ve been taught that it’s okay to focus on staying “busy”.

Yet, strong relationships have been shown in numerous studies, to be the strongest predictors of life satisfaction. When you express yourself with a couple of different friends every week, you give yourself the best chance of being happy.

Life then doesn’t seem like it’s all about this solitary pursuit, but more like an experience, you’re cultivating to the benefit of everyone around you.

Based on the longest study on happiness by a group of Harvard researchers, a major finding was that the quality of your relationships — determine the quality of your happiness. According to positive psychology, that means you’re likelier to move in the right direction in every other area of your life.

2. Laugh Whenever You Can 

Based on a whole library of research documented by Shawn Achor, author of The Happiness Advantage, people who laugh often are happier, and likelier to achieve more in their lifetimes. As children, we used to laugh hundreds of times per day. As adults, that number got whittled down significantly.

Humour is our primordial philosophy, but we only cultivate it through being mindful of the looking-glass we navigate our lives with.

3. Love More of What You Do 

Each day is precious, finite, and fleeting. Yet, because it is given to us freely, it’s easy to forget that. It should be our aim to suck the marrow out of each day, quietly embellishing ourselves in its full possibilities.

A day spent in drudgery is a day that hasn’t been lived fully. While a day that’s been experienced with an underlying sense of play can make the most seemingly ordinary days an adventure.

In the myriad responsibilities of work and life, you can make the most out of your day by imbuing as much of what you do with a sense of love. And you can go further by cultivating your creativity through an art form each day.

4. Make Yourself Feel Good Every Morning

Your daily morning routine is the foundation for your life. If you start off each day by cultivating the mental, spiritual, physical, and emotional areas of your life you’ll head into your day with a spring in your step.

Whether you read, exercise, journal, meditate, take a cold shower, or else — a sign that you’re moving in the right direction is that you practice what puts you in peak mental and physical state each day.

5. Travel Somewhere Every Year

While life may partly be about the hustle, it’s also about having a holistic life that makes you feel energized to be the best person you can be. Going away allows you to come back home renewed, ready to fire on all cylinders.

Travelling is about much more than taking the time to have some fun and relax. It’s about going on adventures that disconnect you from your existing culture — so that you see yourself with a little more clarity.

It’s about enriching your life, with unique, memorable experiences. If you’re not able to travel abroad due to circumstances, even trips to different cities in your country can have the same sort of positive effect. A change in the environment creates a change in perspective.

6. Realize That Everyone is your Teacher

Everyone you meet knows something you don’t. Every person you come across is a potential teacher or mentor.

Marcus Aurelius, the famous Roman Emperor, in his book, Meditations wrote:

“the span we live is small — small as the corner of the earth in which we live it.”

To make your view of the world clearer, and life larger, you have to: be open, ask the right questions, and continually test out new ideas. You need to reach out to potential teachers, and look for the gems in what they share with you.

7. Read Books that Broaden your Horizon

If you realize that everyone is your teacher, you’ll naturally gravitate to books. Reading them will shape and mold your character. They’ll make you consider possibilities you would have never otherwise considered. And they’ll allow you to lead a more intentional and aware life.

Sometimes, the most profound insights you have in your life will come through reading one sentence, one quote, in one book.

8. Invest in Yourself

Countless people similar to you have made mistakes and often pass on their decades of experience — so that you don’t have to always learn things the hard way.

Warren Buffett, the world renowned investor, once said:

“It’s good to learn from your mistakes. But it’s better to learn from other people’s mistakes.”

Having the willingness to let go of your ego, by investing in yourself through education, will cut your learning curve. Just because you’ve finished your degree doesn’t mean your life education is over. In fact, it’s always just getting started.

If you don’t invest in yourself, then who will?

9. Reflect on the Direction you’re taking

You only ever have so much energy to give, and every once in a while; you need to take a pit-stop to reflect. You can do this by writing a journal, or simply calling a friend or family member to reflect on your year so far.

Your reflections will give you the clarity needed to act on hard truths — so that you can make huge strides in your development.

10. Save Money Every Month

If you don’t have money under control, you don’t live as freely as you can — and you’re not preparing for the future. Brian Tracy, one of the most prominent self-improvement authors, in his book, the 21 Secrets of Millionaires, wrote:

“If you don’t save money, the seeds of greatness aren’t within you.”

Making a saving plan doesn’t have to be complicated. You just need to calculate how much you automatically spend every month, and then set a monthly saving goal that you can easily commit to.

11. Mostly Eat Healthily

Anyone can eat a couple of fruits and vegetables per day. Anyone can eat one protein-rich meal per day. Anyone can skip the soda and make sure they drink enough water.

Eating healthy is not a pursuit of perfection, it’s just about feeding your body more of what it needs, and less of what it doesn’t.

Yet, in a world where companies are spending billions of dollars on marketing processed foods, it’s okay to slip up on occasion. But by feeding your body more nutritious foods most of the time, you’ll down-regulate part of the lure processed foods have over you.

12. Exercise Daily

Exercise isn’t just about accelerating your physiques development; it’s also a way to improve your physiology. Similarly to fine-tuning a car, your body needs the right intervention to operate at its best.

If you’re exercising in some form every day (even if it’s just taking a long walk), then you’re also leveraging all the areas of your life closer to their full potential.

13. Be Mindful of your Media Consumption

Be the director — by being mindful of the quality and quantity of information you allow to flow into your life. You decide whether you want to experience the better part of the thrills you seek, through a screen, or your life.

With a flick of your fingers, you can get access to a whole variety of entertainment on streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime. Based on a 2015 International Communications market report, the average person in America consumes an average of five hours of Television per day!

Zig Ziglar, in his book, How to Stay Motivated, mentions that the average Chairman of a board only consumes four to eight hours of television per week. Even if you’re not chairman of a board, you can apply the same principle.

14. Put Yourself out of your Comfort Zone Each Day

The Stoics practiced a form of voluntary discomfort in their routines. They would take fasts on occasions, wear “the scantiest of fare”, and sleep on the floor — to absolve themselves of everything they feared from being taken away. Ryan Holiday, in his book, the Daily Stoic, mentions:

 “We must fight our biases and preconceptions: because they are a liability.”

Doing what may seem unfathomable to the average person, whether it’s part of your routine or something that you muster up the courage for, will open you to up to a new dimension of gratitude and fulfillment.

Summary

There’s this underlying sentiment, subtly propagated through media that we first need to achieve something notable, to prove that we’re enough.

But the biggest breakthrough we could ever make in our lives is to cultivate the habits, which allow us to move deeper into embracing the present.

It’s only then, that we’ll be in a better position to experience great breakthroughs.

Are you Ready to Upgrade?

I’ve created a short guide to help you create your best week ever, right now.

Click here to get the guide!

You’ve read Accelerate your Happiness with these 14 Steps, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

>

You’re reading Easy Life Hacks for Better Organization, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

Organization and productivity hacks are a hot topic right now. From best sellers like Kingston’s “Clear your Clutter with Feng Shui” to the Marie Kondo “Bringing You Joy” method, there seem to be almost as many ways to ditch your clutter as there are plans to lose weight. While studies show that one in four Americans would like to, it’s not always the easiest thing to do.

There are scientific studies that back the benefits of being organized, which makes it worth your while. First, we’ll take a look at the causes and benefits, then show you how to implement them with easy hacks for organizing your home, work-life, family, meals, and social life.

Why do we accumulate clutter?

• It can (literally) hurts to throw things away:

It turns out that some people’s brains are built to create clutter and it takes actual physical exertion to reduce it. A Yale School of Medicine study of hoarders found that the action of throwing something away caused pain sensors in the brain to fire. It was literally hurting them to declutter. Also, clutter can be tied to identity and nostalgia.

• You are thinking about storage all wrong:

According to this article, storage is not a place to put all your junk. Instead, it should be about the convenience of use. Something that you store should be easy to access when you need it, not piled underneath a lot of unrelated items. The article goes on to quote declutter guru Marie Kondo who says, “Clutter is caused by a failure to return things to where they belong. Therefore, storage should reduce the effort needed to put things away, not the effort needed to get them out.”

Why be more organized?

• Decluttering makes your brain work more effectively:

A study from Princeton University discovered that an abundance of items around you makes it more difficult for you to focus.

• Organization can be better for your children:

Research shows that children from more organized households tend to perform more effectively in school and excel in future careers.

• Planning helps you reach fitness goals: 

If you plan out your activity, you will are more likely to achieve your fitness goals. Planning meals means you are less likely to reach for unhealthy foods out of desperation.

• You sleep better in a clean environment:

A National Sleep Foundation study shows that a more organized bedroom means an improved night of sleep.

It is useful to look at organization from a multi-layered perspective. The three major elements to consider are organization of items, organization of time, and digital organization.

Wrangle your physical items:

• Everything in its place:

Designate spaces around your home for certain things and keep them organized. For example, you can organize your junk drawer, the shoes in your closet, or your desk at work. You can hide visible cables by tying them together with zip ties and labeling them with bread tags! Another great hack? Putting velcro on the back of remotes and game controllers to easily store them in the same place every time.

• Keep papers organized:

One of the best things you can do is invest in a paper protocol. Keep papers neatly nestled in “retain”, “archive” and “toss” piles. You’ll be amazed at how much paper you really don’t need, and you’ll know exactly where the paper you do need is!

• Know when to store it:

A good rule of thumb is, if you haven’t looked at it in six months (and it’s not seasonal), go ahead and store it out of sight or toss it. You can also store creatively–like storing stuffed animals in a bean bag cover so that it doubles as a comfy seat!

Improve your organization of time:

• Plan your meals:

Taking the time to plan meals for the week saves time (and money) and also leads to better diet choices. Use Sunday evening to plan for the week. Write down the meals on a sheet of paper and write it on a dry erase board in your pantry. You can cook several proteins at a time by using the same pan separated with foil, or cook large amounts of food in a crockpot. You can also pack ahead smaller portions of snacks for grab-and-go convenience.

• Prepare your clothes:

Taking the time to plan your clothing for the next day or even the next week will save you time in the morning. Particularly, planning your children’s outfits will give them a sense of structure and save loads of time in the mornings.

• Create a “Family Command Center”:

This is an area where family members can store their keys, shoes, calendar, leave notes for each other, or grab their lunch in the morning. Knowing exactly where to look when you need these items can be super handy!

• Plan time for loved ones:

Plan to talk to family members who don’t live near you at the same time each week, that way you will always have a “catch up” date scheduled. If you’re finding it difficult to make time for your friends, schedule a quick lunch date during the work day, during the time you would have spent eating anyway!

Organization your digital space:

• Clean your inbox:

If you are a digital hoarder it’s time to get to the bottom of it. Take 20 minutes every day to clean your inbox, and that also means unsubscribing from unwanted emails.

• Purge your social media:

Clear out your social space of brands or people you no longer wish to follow, friends you’ve lost touch with or photos you don’t like. You would be surprised how much a digital house cleaning can liberate you!

• Digitize whenever possible:

Take some time to scan important documents so that you can go as paperless as possible. Try to send communication, memos and important documents digitally. Keep your digital space organized by deleting unneeded files and folders or erasing your “downloads” folder.

Ultimately it’s the old adage “a place for everything and everything in its place” that generally allows for good organizational habits. In the below infographic, you can get more tips for organization broken up into each aspect of life. Check out the infographic below for the best tips!

You’ve read Easy Life Hacks for Better Organization, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

>

You’re reading YES, I Gave My Power Away, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

“Until you make the unconscious conscious it will direct your life and you will call it fate.”

– C.G. Jung

When I was younger I was all about romantic love. You know like in the movies. Where the girl is finally seen and fulfilled by the guy. I’ve watched Dirty Dancing countless times and knew it all by heart (also because of the dancing, but that’s another story). I just dreamed of finding that kind of love and my happy ever after.

I clearly remember how part of growing up was plain out scary for me. I felt afraid of the future – I think to some extent because I am a sensitive and emotional being, and in my late teens and early 20s there were so many emotions that felt overwhelming, which I didn’t know how to hold and process. I think it’s not that uncommon, and luckily I had strong support from friends and partners. But I feel like it’s been a journey of discovery, trial and error that has led me to understand more clearly what it means to be human, and especially what it means to step into my own power.

There’s a pattern that has followed me unconsciously for many, many years, which was about expecting others to make me happy. To pave the way for my desires and needs. I would dream of doing things and arriving somewhere in the future, but I would feel like it was up to others or outer circumstances to get there. Often a guy.

Ever since I was a teenager I dreamt of moving to a new country, to live in a foreign place. There was this part of me that longed to be free and act boldly. But looking closer into my choices I see that for a long time I would think “I wish my partner would want to move to a different country” or when being single; “I hope I meet a man who works internationally so we can live somewhere else”.

Especially in romantic relations so much of what I felt was projected onto the other person. I would feel lonely, empty, or afraid and instead of owning these emotions (I don’t think I was even really aware of them) I would react outwardly creating drama to distract myself or experience some other emotion instead.

It wasn’t until I felt like I lost everything that I started to see what was happening. My partner of seven years and I split up and as nauseating and heartbreaking as that was, somehow I came out stronger and more aware on the other side. I think for the first time in many years I really started to see what made me truly happy – without making it dependent on a guy.

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom” – Aristotle

In 2011 I went on a weeklong trip to Sicily on my own. I had been nudged to take some time to think things through by my dear friend and, at the time, co-founder of our common non-profit organization. What had started as an amazing adventure and exhilarating project of creating a non-profit together had begun to feel like a place where I couldn’t be fully myself. Looking back I see how once again I was expecting things of her that weren’t hers to own. I made it her problem to help me feel confident when all of my insecurities started to surface. Once we had this fun and light partnership, now I was, more often than not, being passive aggressive and taking my frustrations out on her. And that’s when it became clear that it was time for me to look within – to look at what I hadn’t been willing to look at.

In the airport, before heading to Italy I grabbed the book ‘Freedom’ by Jonathan Franzen, simply because of the title. I spent an intense week reading the book, which became like a conversation partner to me. While I was having a deeper conversation with myself about my choices, needs, and desires, it became clear that I had to leave our project and start doing what I really dreamed of: to travel.

Not too many months later, I went on my first longer solo-backpacking trip to Thailand, which included a four-day silent meditation retreat. I’ve never experienced such clarity about what made me happy, how I could find wholeness by going within, and what I needed to do, than during those four days. It felt as if I had come home to myself. I fell in love with Northern Thailand and knew I had to live there.

In November 2012 I traveled to Chiang Mai, unsure of when I would return. And the rest is history as they say…

I now know that it’s not about being alone or not needing other people, but it’s about creating self-awareness, gaining the actual skills to be in an intimate relationship with myself and learning to express my own needs, desires, and boundaries. I can make requests of others, but I can’t expect or demand them to do anything, and in the end, I’m the one who needs to make sure that I listen to myself.

I’m still a romantic deep down, and at the same time, I can’t tell you how liberating it feels to actually take the power back and take full responsibility for my life.

Some of the questions I ask myself these days that help me stay in my power include:

What makes my heart sing?

When do I give my power away?

Am I expecting others to do it for me?

How about you? Are you in a place where you take responsibility or do you often find yourself blaming others? I invite you to explore that…

---

Luise Jørgensen is a mindfulness coach who supports men and women to embody their personal power so they can live a fully expressed, wholehearted and meaningful life. She recently returned to Europe after having lived five years in Thailand, spending more than 4,000 hours immersed in mind and body practices. You can connect with her on her website, on and on Instagram where she explores her passion for mindful photography.

You’ve read YES, I Gave My Power Away, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

>

You’re reading 5 Easy Steps to Be Happy and Start Living Now, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

Do you find yourself moving from day to day just wishing the weekend was here already?  Or maybe you think if you could just hit the big lottery numbers you’d be set for life!

Let’s face it, we all have been guilty of working in the present while wishing for the future.

We say things like, “Well, maybe next year I’ll lose some weight.”  Or “Next month I’ll stay on my budget.”  

But next month and then next year come and go yet nothing ever changes. 

Why is that?  Why can’t we just be happy and start living right now?  Just because there is a saying that “the grass may be greener on the other side” doesn’t make it so!

We do not have to simply let time pass by and hope that one day we finally arrive at the perfect place for us. 

No, no, no!  We can be happy!  We can live a life of abundance! Starting right now!

Let’s look at 10 easy steps to be happy and start living today!

#1: Count your blessings.

Whenever any of my friends or colleagues travel overseas to a third world country they all seem to make a statement about how content people seemed to be even though they had less of everything.

It seems a mystery of sorts.  How can one have so little yet be so happy?  

I think it’s because they have learned how to count their blessings.  Their easy step is to count blessed what they currently have.  

They have a roof over the heads and food to eat, and that is enough!  

#2: Embrace your current season of life.

Life is a constant change of seasons.  And get this, no season is a “bad” one or “better” than any other.

Rather, each season is necessary and vital to life.  So, if you are in a winter season of life, learn to take it slower and trust that what you’ve stored up will last until spring breaks forth.

If you are in a summer season, push yourself to continue to plant and get ready for a fall harvest.  

And a side note, begin to enjoy the actual seasons in the area you live.  Is it cold and snowy outside?  That’s so wonderful!  Is it hot and sticky? Thank goodness for that!

#3: Celebrate the small victories.

Were you able to wake up, take a shower, get dressed, eat breakfast, and get to work safely?  Consider it a victory!

Maybe that’s not good enough for you, so how about this.  Did you work out this week at all?  Victory!  Did you eat some extra vegetables during dinner this week?  Celebrate!

There are so many small wins that we need to learn to celebrate instead of only waiting for the really big ones.  Big wins come few and far between.  

A sports team doesn’t just show up and win the championship.  They win each practice, each game played, and take every thought captive to propel them to victory.

#4: Love others.

A life devoid of loving others is miserable and lonely.  Start living now by loving others.

I suggest you start with your immediate family.  You only get one physical family, so make sure to love them well!  

Then make sure you love your friends and appreciate them.  Good friends are indeed a gift and the relationship needs love.

Last, love people you meet regardless.  One simple act of kindness can ripple love into eternity and literally bring life to a human being.

#5: Accept that you are growing, not failing.

Everyone must “fail” at things in life in order to get better.  There is no one who comes into this world already the best at their craft or talent.

If failure sounds like a negative word to you, start replacing it with the word growing.  

In life, we are always growing or rotting. You get to decide.

I’m Johnny Miller, the founder of Finding Your Fit, a blog about finding margin and career direction in life.  Come check out my blog and see how you can begin designing a career roadmap that actually fits your life.    

You’ve read 5 Easy Steps to Be Happy and Start Living Now, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

>

You’re reading 3 ACTIONABLE Steps To Change Your Life Through Thought, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

What kind of person were you growing up? Were you confident, popular or self assured? If so, you were the complete opposite of me. Me and my friends were called “the trolls under the stairs…” and that was by the teachers. The closest I came to social interaction was avoiding eye contact with anyone who walked past me… But I always wanted more.

I always wished I could reach out and talk to new people. To be like the popular kids, never being afraid of what I was going to say or if it was going to look stupid. For me it seemed like other people were always so confident, so sure of themselves and their ability. I wanted to be like that more than anything else.

Fast forward 3 years..

Since those days I’ve had the privilege of being a Bartender, PR & Party Host across Europe. I spent the last few winters working in the alps, skiing and meeting new people and the last few summers working, laying on a beach and partying at night. And this is all possible for ANYONE once they change the thoughts in their head!

But maybe travelling and working abroad doesn’t interest you. It doesn’t matter, whether you want to build your own business, network with new people, apply for your next big job or even something as small as talking to a sales assistant in a shop (something that used to terrify me), These steps will help you!

3 Actionable Steps To Change Your Life Through Thought

Step 1: Become Your Own Best Friend

How many times a day do you hear a voice telling you that you can’t do something? Or you’ll look stupid? That same voice is in everybody’s head. Always telling people they’re not good enough for something. But, it takes just as much effort for that voice to say something negative as it does positive.

There’s a quote “If you talked to your best friend the way you talked to yourself, would they still be your friend?” Well, would they? And if not, doesn’t that say something about all the negative things you’ve been telling yourself?

So, the first step is too start changing that voice in your head. Every time you hear the negative voice, start thinking about what your best friend would say to you instead. Or your mum or dad. Remind yourself of their words of encouragement. Sometimes you just need to believe in someone else’s belief in you.

Step 2: Imagine Your Future As Bright As You Can

This isn’t some positive, feel good “just imagine and your dreams will come true” speech. What I mean by this is literally sit down, close your eyes and envision where you want to be in the future. Visualise every minor detail. Because that is going to be massively motivational for you!

Think about it this way, what’s going to make you hungrier: Thinking about that delicious burger you’re going to eat for dinner, filled with a mouth-watering, tender patty, crispy fresh lettuce, Camembert cheese and a delicious, ripe, juicy tomato packed between two perfectly toasted buns.

Or a bog standard burger?

When you think about where you want to be with as much detail as you can, you’ll provide yourself with more hunger and motivation to make it happen.

Step 3: Stop Think About What Can Go Wrong, Start Thinking About What Can Go Right

In every situations there are hundreds or thousands of possible outcomes, which outcomes are you focusing on most? The negative ones or the positive ones? Like I said earlier, stop focusing all your time on a negative outcome that, chances are, won’t even happen, and start focusing on the positive outcomes. Believe me, I know this is easier said than done.

I’ve had days where negative outcomes keep popping into my head again and again, 100’s of times. And every time they do, I’d acknowledge them and then choose to let them pass. Because your time and energy is better off spent thinking about the positive outcome instead. This is a skill that takes time to develop. But that time is going to pass anyway. Do you want to spend the rest of your life only thinking of the negatives because you don’t want to spend time changing your habits of mind?

And Remember…

Even after all of this, there are going to be some times when you still don’t feel good enough. Or that you can’t do something. And that’s perfectly okay. But those are the moments when it’s even more important to just go out and do it. You need to prove to that voice in your head: “No I am good enough, I can do this”

The truth is, even if you don’t make the cut this time, you’ll be proud of the fact that you took the initiative, you were courageous, you believed in yourself and took a chance. And just because you didn’t quite make the mark once, you’ll be damn sure you’ll make it next time!

“The mind is its own place and in itself, can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven.” – John Milton

---

Antonio Tourino is the owner of You Are Your Reality. He’s spent the last 5 years traveling, overcoming fear and conquering confidence issues.

You’ve read 3 ACTIONABLE Steps To Change Your Life Through Thought, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

>

You’re reading 7 Ways that Keep My Personal Training Clients Motivated, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

After 12 years of personal training, I can confidently say that there isn’t a standard method of motivation that works for everyone. To make life more challenging, all tools of motivation are only effective 3-6 weeks even if the strategy is perfectly in-line with the person’s drive, wants, needs, schedule, and personal/professional demands (a lot of factors to consider…always).

So, how can YOU motivate yourself and maintain motivation and sanity while trying to achieve your neverending list of goals? First, understand yourself. Are you the ambitious, self-driven person that is self-employed or self-directed at home or in the office? You’re always focused on something, but you haven’t figured why another important goal is a priority. You don’t always need someone to tell you to show up; you just need her or him to tell you how to do efficiently and effectively.

Or are you more effective and efficient under the direction of someone else? You’d rather focus on what you need to do and allow other people to take on the burden of the big picture (no problem with specializing, though). While doing something effectively and efficiently is important, you need a leader to keep your sights on the target.

Either way, both personalities need to add value to a goal to justify its course. Do you truly value the goal? Why do you want to achieve this goal? Is it your choice to pursue this goal? Do you believe in this goal?

They must also recognize the potential obstacles: The perceived demands, real personal and professional demands, lack of education or guidance, etc.

Your personality and the potential obstacles will definitely steer whatever approach you integrate into life. Keep them in mind while you choose a strategy from the list below:

Tips from my Personal Training Clients

Create a Fitness Calendar

JK keeps a calendar of the current month on her fridge. If she exercises, she describes the activity on that day. If JK can’t workout, then she draws a big X in the box instead. Seeing multiple Xs within a given period is motivation to start moving again!

Set Rules

CK sets two hardline rules to keep herself from overworking. No matter the professional demand, she never touches work-related projects on Saturdays and cuts out all electronic work-related activities in the evening as well. As a self-employed producer, CK could work around-the-clock. These rules help her maintain sanity while allowing ample time for creative thought and other personal focuses.

Align Your Behaviors with Your Ideal Self

MJ routinely does a check-in with himself to see if his current habits are aligned with his ideal self. Common questions he may ask himself: Does this activity help me achieve my overall goals? Am I on the correct path to my goals? Are my habits conflicting with who I am or my most important goals? What new goals do I need to create to achieve or maintain my ideal self again?

Carry a Book

“Always carry a real book that either:

a) is part of the research for a current project
b) is part of the research for a future project
c) has nothing to do with anything, is just for fun and allowing the mind to make new connections

Instead of looking at your phone while waiting in line or being bored while your date is in the bathroom, look at this book. Even better, from my fave comic writer Keiron Gillen–he recommends to always be reading three books that fall into these different categories at once. Most important! Tablets do not count. These must be actual paper books–your mind doesn’t think in the same ways connected to the internet, and you will also be tempted to just look at social media.” – DK

Maintain Close Relationships with Family and Friends

“I find that preventative measures are effective. By staying in touch and involved with family (throughout the country even) and friends, I keep a balanced life and outlook where it becomes more difficult for any one thing which comes up to cloud my perspective on what is truly important. As such, any one thing, which may want to unnecessarily steal time and energy from other goals, becomes much harder to have an affect on me.” – RA

Tips from a Personal Trainer

Create a Routine

Simplify to pursue. Eliminate your decision fatigue by creating a consistent routine on how you wake, how you eat, how you work, and how you prepare for bed. It will free up the important mental energy to focus on your new goal.

Plaster Unconscious Cues

I always plaster post-it notes with my goals on a wall that I see every day…like the inside of my closet (we don’t need the world to see my goals!). Every time I grab my clothes I consciously and unconsciously see them, and the more I see them, the more likely I will live consciously and unconsciously in line with these goals. I’ve also posted a picture of an important written goal on the wallpaper of my phone to remind myself every time I open it. Although I don’t consciously take the time to read it every time, my mind will certainly recognize it as a reminder.

You’ve read 7 Ways that Keep My Personal Training Clients Motivated, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

>

You’re reading The Top 5 Tips To Turn Mistakes Into Teachable Moments, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

Taking action is one of the most important parts of all the learning processes because everything in life is learned by actually doing it. You can read thousands of books on guitars, learn about its different parts, know the technology used, watch thousands of videos on guitar lessons, but you will never be able to learn guitar if you will never try to play it with your own hands.

Think about some of the most common things which you have learned in your life like walking, cycling, cooking, dancing, etc, all these things were eventually learned because of your mistakes. When you first started to learn walking, you must have fallen many times but instead of becoming discouraged from each fall, you woke up again every time, learned from your mistake and then started walking again. So, if you are taking endeavors and making mistakes, then you don’t need to worry as mistakes are a part of the actions you take and it happens so that you can learn from it and use it as a tutor in your next attempt.

That’s why, in this article, we will be looking at the top 5 tips which you can apply in your life for using your mistakes as a self-improvement tool.

Start accepting your faults

Lying to others makes you a liar but lying to yourself makes you a weak blindfolded man. You should always be truthful to yourself because if you will start lying to yourself then you can’t expect yourself to grow any further in life. Start accepting your small mistakes and take responsibility for it. This habit will let you know your own mistakes because deep in your heart, even you know that it was your mistake but you keep lying to yourself and restrict yourself from improvement.

Turn your mistakes into a learning tool

No one is a better teacher than your mistakes. Every mistake holds the secret key to unlock the door of your flaws, through which you can enter into the world of learning. Mistakes are a part of human nature and instead of getting demotivated and depressed, you should start learning from your faults. It will help you to know which part of your attempt stopped you from achieving it. Every mistake will teach you a new lesson and every lesson learned will bring you closer towards your goal.

Don’t be afraid of failure

Everything is not perfect in the world, and so does human actions, nature and thinking. Do you think that the greatest speaker of the world got praised for his first speech? Do you think that the best footballer player of the world scored the goal on his first attempt? Absolutely not. Most of the people don’t get the chance to taste success in their initial attempts because an ideal success or achievement is a mix of endeavors, willpower, determination, and faults as well. So don’t be frightened to fail and don’t be frightened to make mistakes because if you are not making mistakes then you are not on the right path.

Learn from others mistakes as well

Since your own mistakes are not enough to learn all the lessons of your life, therefore, you should learn from other’s faults as well. Most of the people only see the successful side of famous personalities, friends, relative and neighbor but they miss the most valuable chapter of their life and that is the chapter of mistakes. You can learn from others faults and can try to never let it happen in your life again. Watching and learning from others faults is also a very valuable lesson of your life which can make you much wiser and good learner as well.

Don’t get stuck on your mistakes

Getting stuck at a mistake and then regretting it for your whole life is the worst thing which you can do. You should never get stuck at one phase of your life, attempt or endeavor. Think of mistakes as the place where you go daily for your singing classes. You go there, learn and then come back to your home but the one thing which everyone carries from that class is lessons and the same goes for your faults. You should face your faults, learn important lessons and then move on with your life.

So instead of being afraid of failures, start learning from your mistakes because teachers can teach you lessons through other’s case studies but mistakes teach you lessons from your own case study.

Saurabh Gupta is a technical content writer at Cloudwalks, which provides accounting solutions like QuickBooks hosting, Drake hosting,etc. His area of expertise includes software, cloud computing, cybersecurity and life lessons.

You’ve read The Top 5 Tips To Turn Mistakes Into Teachable Moments, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

>