You’re reading The 3 Values of Continuing Your Education, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

Sometimes it seems like higher education has become so ingrained in our culture that it’s simply a platitude to suggest anyone go back to school. That said, only 39.4 percent of Americans between the ages of 25 and 64 hold college degrees, meaning that the benefits of higher education must not be as apparent as we may think. Let’s examine three concrete benefits derived from continuing your education: higher pay, better work and greater happiness.

1. Continuing Your Education Helps You Earn More Money

Let’s begin with what’s likely the most commonly cited benefit of pursuing higher education: making more money. But exactly how much more money are we talking about? Median wages at our baseline, a high school diploma, are $668 a week, or $34,736 a year. A bachelor’s degree raises those numbers to $1,101 a week, or $57,252 a year – an increase of almost 65 percent. A master’s degree improves things even further, bumping median weekly wages to $1,326 and annual wages to $68,952 – almost 99% percent over our baseline. It takes a high school graduate two days to earn what a master’s degree holder earns in one. Now that’s value!

2. Continuing Your Education Can Get You a Better Job

Higher wages are a result of better job opportunities, which require greater educational attainment.

Let’s start at the bottom of the equation with unemployment. The unemployment rate at high school graduates is 6.0 percent. That’s nearly double the rate for bachelor’s degree holders, which is 3.5 percent, and more than double for master’s degree holders, which is about 2.8 percent. Without higher education, you’re twice as likely to not have a job, period. Indeed, it’s predicted that by 2018 almost two-thirds of all occupations in the United States will require a college degree.

Beyond winning you a job, higher education can get you more work. Underemployment, or being employed only part time when seeking full time work, is less frequently discussed than unemployment, but it is much more pervasive. Underemployment of high school graduates currently stands at 12.9 percent – more than twice the rate for holders of bachelor’s degrees, at 6.2 percent, and thrice that of master’s degree holders, at 4.2 percent.

Seventy-four percent of American adults believe a postsecondary degree is essential to getting a good job, but what do the people making hiring and promotion decisions think? The same! Companies themselves attest to this, a third of managers surveyed say they have sent workers to back to school for higher education, 81 percent of them even picking up part of the tab. That is a win-win!

3. Continuing Your Education Can Make You Happier

Now this may be something you haven’t heard before, but higher education may not just be the key to more money and a better job, but to greater happiness. That’s a big statement that the numbers support: When examining well-being levels across American cities, researchers found that happiness has the closest relationship not with wages, unemployment or output, but with educational attainment, measured as the share of the population with a bachelor’s degree or higher. Similarly, educational attainment has been shown to boost happiness early in life and keep it that way, unlike income, which raises over time but does not increase happiness.

More money, a better job, greater happiness — you can have it all, and higher education is the way to start.

Roslyn Tate is an editor on the 2U Inc. website. A recent Goddard College MFA she enjoys helping people achieve their goals through academics and art. 2U partners with leading colleges and universities to offer online master’s degree programs to students around the world.

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You’re reading How To Turn Negative Life Experiences Into Positive Life Lessons, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

Life, to a degree, is dualistic in nature; we experience ups and downs; we have “good” days where life goes according to plan, and we have “bad” days where life doesn’t. This is the nature of life, always fluctuating.

So how do we deal with these bad days? How do we use them to our advantage?

Either you’re going through the turbulence of life right now, or you’re bound to sooner or later. It helps to know how to turn these rough rides into an experience that is meaningful. How do we become alchemists of our moments magically turning our misery into wisdom?

There are a couple techniques I have found to be useful:

Confront the situation

When we come face to face with adversity and difficulty, there are some of us who cower, run away, and sometimes even try to anesthetize ourselves to the situation, hoping it will go away in the mean time; we watch television, get high, drink ourselves numb, go shopping, have sex, eat something tasty; we try to flee from what we dislike, to things we like. (Or think we like.)

Stop. Face it. Embrace whatever you are going through fully. Know you have the strength within you to persevere through it. It is only when you face life with clarity and sobriety will you be able to extract its raw wisdom.

Remain equanimous

Facing hardship is obviously never easy. If it were, life would be a breeze. But life isn’t a breeze. It is a series of bumps, bristles, and blisters.

Practicing equanimity is a great tool for dealing with these situations. The fundamental principal of equanimity is acceptance; of the good, and most importantly, of the bad, without clinging or aversion. Clinging to things we like hurts us when those very things are taken from us (by life), and aversion to the reality that is produces suffering within us because we wish to change what we cannot. Remaining equanimous allows us to stay balanced within our peace, neither drowning in turmoil, or delirious in our passion.

Remain Objective

Because we perceive life from our subjective point of view, we tend, out of habit, and out of a lack of self-awareness, to take life personally; a moody glance looks to us like our significant other is falling out of love when they actually didn’t sleep well last night; a conversation with someone whose tone towards us we don’t appreciate is them actually having problems at home, and their inner turmoil is bubbling up to the surface; an asshole cutting us off as we drive home is actually a father rushing to the hospital because his child had a severe asthma attack.

Don’t take things so personally. See things clearly, not as you think you see them. Look long and look “deep”. Penetrate past the superficial veil of life to see the potential meaning inherent in each moment.

Open up to your feelings

You’re a human being. You have the capacity to experience a colourful palette of emotions. Don’t run away from them, no matter how miserable you feel. Face them. Be with them. I find this is the best way to “heal”. To babysit your emotions until they mature and move on on their own. So open yourself up to your feelings. Don’t judge them or think about them. Just feel them and allow them to pass. I often find I can turn this into a kind of meditation, enjoying even the most sorrowful of emotions as they pass and make space for healthier, happier ones. Not only will you live more lightly, but you will develop grit and perseverance.

Have faith that all is working out for the best

I have had countless experiences where, on the superficial level, it seemed like life was a disaster, but, upon waiting and attempting to make the best of the situation, have found out that the disaster was a necessity for greater things to come.

For instance, on January 16, 2014, I had no choice but to withdraw from a potent drug which would leave me suffering with severe symptoms, some of which I still suffer from, 2+ years later. But would you think me insane to say that I would do it all over again to be the person I am today? One month after my withdrawal I discovered my passion for writing. And since then, I’ve used writing as a tool to heal and create myself and my life. It has literally transformed me and I owe it to past events which at the time were tumultuous, but I never lost faith that things were working out as they should.

The lives we live are bigger than we can ever conceive. Trust that fact. Live with faith and persevere!

Find the positive

There is no problem like perception. If a problem exists, it is because of perception. If you do not want problems, simply shift your perception, or the way in which you see the world!

Likewise, you can train yourself to be an optimist; to always see life in a positive light.

When faced with an arduous and difficult situation, you have the power to see your experience however you would like to see it. You can take a debilitating illness and view it through a negative lens where you see yourself as a victim of life, or you can see it as a positive and come up with an infinite number of ways to turn your experience into a creative opportunity for growth. And I know this works because I’m speaking from experience.

Imagine you died

This is an exercise that’ll really get you focused on what’s important in life and whether or not you’re living in a way that is aligned with your values: imagine you’re 80 years old, on your deathbed, and absolutely filled with regret and misery because you didn’t live fully, love fully, take your chances, weren’t bold enough, weren’t kind enough. You were fearful of being true, of actually living, and now it is time to pay for your life as we all inevitably will have to.

Wake up! That vision is a potential of your future. Seize the day. Seize the moment. Live now. Love now. Change your destiny. Life gets rough sometimes. Do not let that harden you. Stay soft. Stay kind. Stay loving.

Use your situations as fuel

Sometimes the most negative experiences can be utilized as fuel to kickstart much needed change in our lives. A difficult breakup allows us to learn to love and build up ourselves. A layoff from work allows us the opportunity to make our dream careers come true. An illness gives us time to re-evaluate our lives.

Motivation vanishes as quickly as it appears. Utilize it wisely.

Write

As a writer, I have found writing to be an immensely liberating tool. Whenever I am going through things, nothing heals me better than writing about it. Writing allows me to take the situation from my life and trap it in the prison of the page so it no longer torments my spirit. From there, I can dissect the situation until I am free from it. I can create solutions. I can change my behaviour. I can write out my destiny. I am the author of my life.

Sometimes the changes we need to make are not so apparent to us because they dwell deep below the surface of our conscious minds. Writing, over time, helps us unearth them.

Write out your feelings, especially the ones you would rather not feel. Writing is cathartic, it will help you heal. Write out who you want to become and the kind of life you wish to live in extraordinary detail. Write out how you’re going to make that vision a reality.

Ask yourself the question “What is life trying to teach me right now?”

Asking yourself this question compels you to search for the lesson that is most meaningful and relevant to you in this moment. Then, when you’ve found it, pay attention (:

Life is a dualistic whole of both up’s and down’s. We can, if we choose to, enjoy life. The bad’s don’t have to be bad. We can get through them, utilizing them to our benefit, knowing that tomorrow may not be as bad as today. We must learn to be like rainbows, wielding the nature of both the sun and the rain to be what we are in our nature—beautiful.

Christopher Tan is a writer who passionately explores the human existence for what it means to live and live well. He writes regularly at his blog The Art Of Life. Sign up for his free newsletter to get a free book and follow him on Twitter to keep up with where his creativity and heart is taking him next.

You’ve read How To Turn Negative Life Experiences Into Positive Life Lessons, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

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You’re reading 5 Undeniable Ways Fasting Will Improve Your Life, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

When was the last time you were REALLY starving?

You might recall a school camping trip when you thought you were going to die from hunger after a four hour trek, or that time you did an 8 hour shift and left your packed lunch at home, but was your life really dependent on getting that next meal?

It’s likely the cravings and excessive salivating were more due to habit and socialization than a actual physiological need to intake more fuel.

We have a funny relationship with food. It’s everything from a social lubricant, a means of distraction, and an event, to a performance enhancer, a source of pleasure, and a deadly addiction. Rarely it’s put to use for its primary purpose: to maintain life and growth.

Thankfully, there are special tools in the world that have the power to shake us out of such dangerous patterns of thought—for example journaling, yoga, and meditation. But when it comes to changing how we think about food, that tool is fasting.

Along with pressing the reset button and getting us back in tune with what and when we eat, fasting—much like the other tools—has heaps more benefits to offer us.

Studies have shown that fasting can help alleviate depression, reduce chronic pain, burn fat (particularly nasty organ fat), strengthen willpower, heighten brain function, improve digestion, and even cause feelings of euphoria.

So how do you get started? Well, an easy and well documented way into the world of fasting is through what’s known as ‘intermittent fasting’. The term is used to describe frequent periods of calorie restriction, for example eating your day’s meals within a limited time-frame of 8 hours, or having full days where you eat nothing or consume less than 400-500 calories.

The mechanism in which it works its pretty complex, but the underlying idea is simple. By periodically giving yourself a break from eating, you’re challenging the body and mind and allowing them to become stronger, more efficient, and better able to handle the daily stresses that come their way—it’s the same principle as weight training and other forms of exercise.

So now you have a basic idea of what fasting is and how it works, let’s dive into the five reasons to make it a part of your life today.

Free up trapped energy and have full control of your mind

The act of abstaining from food can be a powerful workout for your willpower, strengthening it as if it were a muscle. Taking such action against your urges naturally leads to greater self-esteem and increased control over your thoughts and actions. And as the digestive system is one of the most energy intensive systems in the body, freeing up reserves that would otherwise be spent on digesting food helps cause a dramatic increase in clarity and mental clearness.

Normally our digestive systems are active the majority of the day, but even when they are not, we are thinking about where the next meal will come from. Thus many of us don’t realize when our stomachs are empty that we have heaps more resources at out disposal. Following a period of fasting, many report feeling less slugglish, having a greater clarity of mind, and even being enlightened.

Maintain clean and healthy blood for optimum health

When we consume carbohydrates, say for instance bread, the body breaks them down into sugars to be absorbed into the blood. The pancreas then releases insulin to transport the sugars from the blood to the various cells in the body that need them—particularly those in the brain, organs, skeleton, and muscles. Eat too many carbohydrates and overload the blood with sugars, and the pancreas isn’t able to keep up and produce enough insulin to clear it, eventually leading to cells being starved of energy, and the 7th leading cause of death in the US: Type 2 diabetes.

Therefore, by periodically cutting out food, you can give your pancreas a break to become once again sensitized to any sugars that enter the blood, helping in the short term to prevent things like fatigue, cloudy thinking, and irritability, and in the long term the plethora of problems associated with Type 2 diabetes.

Enrich your life with heightened senses and experiences

Realistically, true hunger takes around 12 to 24 hours to set in. When lunch time comes around, we may think we’re hunger, but we are so out of tune with our bodies that they usually have different ideas.

Fasting resets your definition of hunger so you can experience once again what it’s like to be truly hungry. It does so by regulating out of whack hormones in the body and returning signals that let you know when you are full and when you need more food. What’s more, receptors in the nose and mouth come fully alive, causing smells and flavors to become more intense and vivid and opening up a whole new world pleasure that transcends well beyond the dinner table.

Accelerate brain functioning for better learning and memory

We know challenging the brain through puzzles and difficult tasks has great advantages for memory, learning, and growth. But it turns out the brain also responds in a similar way to the challenge of fasting.

Putting the brain in such a stressful situation means it resorts to boosting the production of a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). BNDF is recognized as an important protein that prevents death of existing brain cells, induces the growth of new neurons, and supports greater cognitive function.

Studies have also shown periodic fasting to increase synaptic plasticity. The greater your synaptic plasticity, the better able you are to make connections between neurons in the brain. As memories are made up of interconnected networks of synapse in the brain, this means an improved ability to create, store, and consolidate memories.

Kick into action your body’s immune boosting response

The first thing animals do when they get sick is stop eating. It’s a deep primal instinct to reduce stresses on the internal system and divert all resources to fighting infection. However, whenever we get sick, we tend to turn straight to food (chicken soup)—mostly out of comfort and habit.

Similarly to how fasting bolsters brain functioning, it puts a strain on the immune system and consequently lowers white blood cell counts. This is turn triggers a response for the body to start producing new white blood cells—the key to building a strong immune system.

Fasting is an incredible tool that deserves a place in everyone’s normal routine of development and growth. Just like challenging your muscles with weights at the gym, pushing your heart and lungs when jogging, or testing your mind and reactions with puzzles and games, it offers us a great opportunity for improving ourselves and enjoying our lives that little bit more.

You’ve read 5 Undeniable Ways Fasting Will Improve Your Life, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

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

The True Secret of Self-Confidence

“Cultivating a close, warm-hearted feeling for others automatically puts the mind at ease. It helps remove whatever fears or insecurities we may have and gives us the strength to cope with any obstacles we encounter. It is the ultimate source of success in life”. ~ Dalai Lama

If you want to experience high levels of self-confidence on a permanent basis, I suggest you set aside your current notions on how real confidence is cultivated and give me 5 minutes to put forward my case.

You see, I actually believe that confidence arises naturally and automatically once something else is taken care of.

I also believe that the usual advice on acquiring confidence is ineffective, temporary at best, and maybe even harmful in the long run.

What I believe to be the true method for developing self-confidence may be so counter-intuitive that it shocks you.

Standard advice is along the lines of the “ra-ra” pump-up. You tell yourself that you are good enough. Maybe you even make a “what’s great about me” list. Straighten your posture. Do a Superman pose (yes that is real advice given by some people). But how long will it last? If you’ve tried it, you’ll know the answer to that one.

But why is it temporary?

Can you see what’s actually happening here? You’re merely ‘masking’ a problem, not actually dealing with the root cause.

I believe it’s like attempting to combat an inferiority complex with one of superiority. However, in my opinion, a superior complex and an inferiority complex are two sides of the same coin.

A superiority complex is just another form of inferiority.

Why do I say that? Because the only people who desire to be better than everyone else are those who feel inferior. The need to “outshine” everyone is actually born of fear and weakness, not strength.

So therefore:

Fear
Insecurity
Inferiority

…masks itself as:

Arrogance
Overcompensation
Superiority

The temporary pump-up method is based on a totally erroneous understanding of what confidence actually is.

Your job is not to overcome low self-confidence, but to allow it to disappear as if it doesn’t exist.

How?

Ok I’ve kept you in suspense long enough about my theory on self-confidence. What do you think would be the opposite, or antidote, to fear, insecurity, inferiority and so on?

It can be summed up in one word….

Goodwill.

If you can fill yourself with a sense of impersonal goodwill for everyone, can you possibly be fearful? Can you feel inferior when your mind is at ease like this?

The Dalai Lama, a man I have immense respect for, calls it “warm heartedness”. Can you feel insecure with a warm heart? I don’t think it’s possible.

Here is another quote from the Dalai Lama:

“I try to treat whoever I meet as an old friend. This gives me a genuine feeling of happiness.”

With a friendly, genuine interest in others, you can’t help but be confident. And the strangest thing is, you are doing it without giving a single thought to how confident you are. Like I said at the top of the article, it arises naturally and automatically.

And the opposite of anger and hatred is…goodwill. And when cultivated, we feel secure and confident.

Fear and insecurity is removed – it’s gone. But was it “conquered”? Was insecurity battled and fought? No. These states of mind simply do not exist in a mind that is friendly and at ease. There was no fight, and confidence comes as a natural by-product.

It’s like happiness itself: The more you pursue it directly, the more it eludes you. Happiness comes indirectly while you’re doing other things.

So my belief and my message is this: Traditional methods of improving confidence tend to be egoistic and self-centered. I’m convinced that this can only bring temporary change at best and it may even make things worse.

In contrast, the more your thoughts and actions are motivated by a sense of goodwill, the freer and more confident you will become.

So it turns out that you don’t need to be Superman, you just need a warm heart.

And it’s just a lot easier 🙂

Mark McManus.

You’ve read The Real Secret of Self-Confidence, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

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You’re reading How Telling YOUR Story Inspires Others and YOU!, 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 know you’re a gem? Yes you, you radiant, sparkling, dazzling thang you! If you only knew and believed in how divine you really are, your life would change in an instant.

I believe that we are all gems. I mean c’mon, something magical had to happen to manifest the cells that make up your radiant self: from your eyelashes, heart, to that unique personality that only you embody.

My shimmer is the power to lift and shift people to be better and do better for themselves and others. How? Through the art of human connection – talking one-on-one, motivational speaking and through various forms of multimedia storytelling.

As a former TV reporter, PBS show co-host and founder of Go Inspire Go, a nonprofit that features a multimedia platform to tell authentic stories of everyday heroes and leverages social media to share them with the world, I have experienced the power of storytelling firsthand. Through GIG, our goal is to inspire the hero in you to take action by learning about the struggles and triumphs of others. I’ve had the honor of learning and experiencing the stories of people from all walks of life – a successful businessman who donated his home for a year to a homeless family, a school bus driver who makes and delivers meals to those in need after his shift everyday, a mother of three who makes superhero capes for children facing treatment, among many, many more. Sharing these stories continues to inspire tens of thousands of people to discover the hero inside and take action in big and small ways.

Whether I’m interviewing the owner of a ski resort, a homeless person or a teenager who has attempted suicide – they all had one thing in common – they want to be seen, heard and understood. Everybody wants to feel like they matter. But most people I’ve met don’t think they matter that much. That certainly was the case for me.

My story begins in Southeast Asia. When I was eight months old, my family and I fled Vietnam just after the Fall of Saigon in search of the American Dream.

We landed in South Sacramento, California – all 10 of us crammed into a mobile home with four bucks to our name. Hearing about celebrities and other successful people, I certainly didn’t think my story compared or that I could amount to their level.

As I grew older and began to pave my own path, I felt guilty that my I wasn’t excited about the careers that my parents wanted me to pursue. “Be a doctor, lawyer or engineer,” my mom would repeat in her cute broken Chinglish accent. But these educational tracks weren’t for me. Instead, I felt most at home as a communicator. I LOVE to read, write and talk. While reading, I would pretend to be the characters and change my voice while reading storybooks aloud – “Ameila Bedelia,” “Where the Wild Things Are” and anything and everything by the great Judy Blume.

The first person that validated and saw my penchant for communicating was

Carolyn Weber, an Oxford-educated professor who was teaching at my alma mater, The University of San Francisco. After turning in my first paper, entitled “A Snapshot of an Experience That Changed My Life Forever,” where I detailed growing up as a poor immigrant, I wanted to drop the class. I was worried I couldn’t amount to her standards and that she would rip the papers to shreds. The following week, she returned the paper with a smile and in her British accent said, “lovely job.” I rushed to read her comments – “You are such gifted and lively writer. I hope you’re doing something with this talent?” My life changed forever.

These words shook my soul. It was as if someone said, “I see you! I feel your power.”

I never felt like my story mattered: a poor, Chinese kid with a quirky personality and penchant for stories. But it did and still does today. Fast forward about 20 years and boy I wish I could tell that frightened kid that “You are more powerful than you think. Your words will lift, gift and shift people. They will be used to heal and make the world a better place. Own it.”

Like all precious stones, somewhere along the line some of us got dusty and let’s be real, some of us have been dragged through the mud. But I’ve found that being honest with ourselves, discovering our power and sharing it with others is the key to finding true joy in life. Ultimately, when you shine, you radiate and invite others to see themselves from your unique reflection.

So what makes your story unique and have you had the courage and generosity to shared it? If not, why not start now? Share your sparkle with me.

Onward and upward,
Toan

Toan Lam is the founder and Chief Inspirator of Go Inspire Go. You can share your story with him by visiting TomLamTv.com.

 

You’ve read How Telling YOUR Story Inspires Others and YOU!, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

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You’re reading 10 Best Mini-Motivators to Boost Your Productivity, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

Time is evil. The whole day is a grueling marathon where you have to struggle to get anything then, then when you finally get into the swing of things she speeds up like anything and before you know it you have to run, just to be in time for your daughter’s play! If only there were more ways to boost productivity. Wait? There are? Tell me more!

The power of rituals for productivity

The first thing that you’ve got to realize is that our minds like rituals and habits and rather than fighting against that, we should embrace it. Why? Because we can use habits to make certain that we’re at our most focused and most precise when we want to be. To do so, we’ve got to create habits and rituals. With that I mean that we wake up in the same way and go through the same processes every day, as much as possible. This will habituate us to this way of working and, provided you flow naturally into your work situation, will make certain that you’re at your sharpest when you do.

Set concrete, measurable micro goals

You’ve got to have goals that are measurable to make them effective. For that reason, don’t say ‘tomorrow I’ want to start writing my book’ but rather, tomorrow I want to be sitting at this desk at 9 AM to be putting pen to paper. By 10 AM I want to have my first page done. And so on. Write down these goals and then mark them as successfully accomplished or not. Use green for yes and red for no, so that there are clear visual clues. If you do this consequently, then you can see how not meeting your earlier goals can lead to a cascade of follow up goals not being met and that makes it far more likely that the next day you will meet that original goal.

The power of public shaming

Declare publicly what you’re going to accomplish by the end of the week. Make certain that there is some way for people to know if you will or won’t succeed. Then attach some sort of penalty to not succeeding – something that will embarrass you. This will act as an extra motivator to make sure you keep going even when productivity is low.

Singletask

Don’t do the multi-task thing. Research has shown that to be unproductive and to be damaging for your brain besides. So instead single task. Here the idea is that you turn off all distraction, including your phone and your email, turn off the internet (if possible) and fully immerse yourself into the task at hand. So, for example, if you’re writing a book review only let it be yourself and the book, nothing else. Try to stay immersed for at least half an hour without engaging with anybody or anything else. Only after you’ve reached some milestone allow yourself to engage again. This has two advantages. First it uses the power of single tasking. Secondly, it means that rather than letting the outside world to be a distraction, you allow it to be a reward. If you do this consistently you will come to expect it and to boost productivity.

Write away distractions

When you’re engaged in a task there will constantly be things that come up from your subconscious to vie for your attention. They can be very hard to ignore. So have a notepad handy, where you can jot these ideas down quickly, so that they stop distracting you. Then return to the task at hand until it’s completed.

Remove subliminal distractors

Whoever said ‘man is an island’ didn’t know a thing about modern psychology. We’re not islands, we’re networks that are constantly triggered by our surroundings, both animate and not. It is therefore important that you remove everything and anything that might remind you of some activity that you would rather be doing. So make sure you can’t see the fridge, the TV or that bottle of tequila under your desk, as all of these things will make it even harder for you to increase productivity.

Go after social quality not quantity

Don’t try to stay friends with everybody, don’t try to respond to every email and don’t think that it’s the amount of connections that you have that make you social.  Good quality connections are not social network chats. They are people you speak to in person, either to talk with or to laugh with. Try to have more of the latter and you’ll feel the need to have the former become much less pressing, allowing you to concentrate more on what you’re supposed to be doing and less on what’s going on online.

Play videos and audio files at a higher speed

We often have to check out videos or audio files for information, but when we do we often spend lots of time sitting around waiting for the person to get to the point already. Wait for less time by speeding up the audio file and watch the amount of time you spend on these time-eating activities drop.

Realize information is not the same as knowledge

We all seem to think that if we would just read that extra article or see that video, that we’ll somehow become smarter, wiser and more knowledgeable. Rarely is that true. So be more selective with what you consume. Read less news (it always brings your productivity down anyway) be more selective with where you go to read material (some publications are higher quality than others) and realize that you’re probably not going to remember most of what you’re about to read 10 minutes from now anyway, so why not do some work instead?

Reward the beast

Most of what we think happens subconsciously and in the animal brain and, according to Reinforcement Theory, animals can be trained through a simple task and reward system. You do something well? Reward yourself. And don’t wait too long. Allow yourself a small reward every time you’ve done something well. These small pleasure points will make it far easier to keep yourself motivated and going.

You’ve read 10 Best Mini-Motivators to Boost Your Productivity, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

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You’re reading 7 Reasons You Need to Plan a Mental Getaway, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

Each and every person on this earth needs time to “recharge their battery”, so to speak. We are all filled with real emotions. Even that one person you know who seems to totally maintain their composure at all times. Deciding to neglect your mental health could be a serious mistake leading to mental exhaustion. The last thing that any of us wants to do is not be able to pay attention during an important meeting because we are stressed about our work. Or maybe being short with a loved one unexpectedly. As the saying goes, everyone wants to put their best foot forward each day and the only way to ensure that happens is to stay on top of your personal mental health. How to Know You Need a Mental Getaway You Dread Going Into Work – This could end up being a much larger issue, (maybe you really need a new job) but if your disdain for you work is sudden and changes day by day then you might need some time to yourself. If one day you’re filled with motivation and the next you think you might cry at the mention of working, you may just need to reset your emotional meter. Your Family/Friends Are Stressing You Out – If you are spending all of your time trying to mend the problems of your family members or friends, it’s time to realign with yourself. Many people out there feel empathy much stronger than others, but emotionally taking on the burden of others is just not the way to live a fulfilled life. A majority of your mental emotional capacity should be spent on your own life. You Can’t Recall The Last Time You Did Something For Yourself – When was the last time you just sat and painted your nails or built something with your hands? Doing something just because it is what you want to do should be a regular occurrence. Whatever that little treat you like to give yourself shouldn’t be pushed to the side. Even if it is just taking an hour to soak in a bubble bath or read a new book – cherish that time because you deserve it. You Can’t Seem to Remember What Your Interests Are – We are all guilty of becoming wrapped up in our work or family and friends. However, their interests should never be assumed to be your own. Just because a mother happens to have 3 young children doesn’t mean her passion in life is parenting. I’m sure she loves the time she gets to spend with her family, but she is a well-rounded individual with intimate aspirations. In Your Free Time You’d Rather Do Nothing – Don’t get me wrong, I frequently love stuffing as much Netflix time as possible into my evening, but I am also a person with interests and desires. I feel accomplished when I finish a project I’ve been tirelessly working on or even just get out of the house for a little while. So, on days when you just cannot be bothered to get out of bed, take a shower, or even feed yourself – know the jig is up. Especially when you can’t seem to shake this feeling for days, it’s time to kick it into mental getaway overdrive. You Never Call in From Work/Take Vacation Time – It can be so easy to want to work day in and day out, especially if your work follows you home. Financial stability and workplace professionalism are the goals of numerous men and women. Yet, failing to take time to yourself will result in swift occupational fatigue. Setting boundaries with your employer and not accepting more work than you can handle will guarantee your personal time is respected. You’re Regularly Not Sleeping Well – Not chronic insomnia, but stress induced awful sleep for a short period of time. If some kind of anxiety has recently taken over your mind and won’t allow you to get proper rest, it’s time to take a day off and recover. On your day off, take time to mentally address the issue and shrink it back down to size so you return to everyday activities feeling rejuvenated. What Makes a Successful Mental Getaway? Continually indulging yourself when you’re feeling down makes it hard to lift your spirits. So, while binge watching a random TV show or drinking a bottle of wine feels good temporarily, at the end of the day you will have made no progress. By doing this you are pushing your problem to the side, but the worry is still constantly forcing you to lose focus. If you need to have a good cry or scream into a pillow, definitely do so – it always makes me feel better. Then, get up and do something that will clear your mind completely. After you’ve successfully wiped the slate clean and completed your task, allow your issue to resurface itself. Chances are that you’ll be able to address it with a completely fresh outlook. What Should I Do During My Time Off? There is some sort of glaring reason that you need a mental getaway. Allow your mind, spirit, and/or body to enjoy something it has been lacking. Avoid anything that will diminish your mental and emotional state even further. The day should be spent lifting yourself back up. If You Want to Stay Home: Start a project that requires your full attention for several hours or do something you’ve been meaning to get done for a while.

Organize something that needs it.

Clean out junk that has built up.

Deep clean your house.

Mow the lawn, weed the yard, or start a garden.

Try a simple DIY project.

Try something artistic (like drawing, painting, or music).

Repurpose an old item.

Try a new (and possibly more complicated) recipe.

If You Want to Literally Getaway: If you’re looking for more of a literal getaway to refresh your mind and senses, planning a day trip might be the best option. Something close by that won’t take too much time or cost a fortune.

Take a jog or a hike.

Treat yourself to a spa/manicure/new hairdo day.

Go on a bike ride.

Go swimming (even at your local gym)

Check out a nearby city you’ve wanted to visit.

Go to a museum or an art gallery.

Check out local shows, events, or markets.

Go see a movie you’re interested in.

Volunteer your time.

Mental getaways should be spent however you feel most comfortable. Your mental and emotional health is never unimportant and should be treated as such. Please keep in mind, all the advice and mental getaways in the world cannot cure a mental health disease. If you find yourself suffering from constant sadness, depression, anxiety, or exhaustion it is time to seek the help of a professional. This information is not meant to cover up any signs of illness or to patch a bigger problem. If you find yourself needing to take many mental getaways frequently, there is most likely a larger problem that needs addressing immediately.   Trisha is a freelance writer from Boise, ID. She is a dedicated vegan who promotes an all around healthy lifestyle – including mental health. You can check out her blog thatdangvegan.com or find her on twitter @thatdangvegan.

You’ve read 7 Reasons You Need to Plan a Mental Getaway, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

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You’re reading 5 Things I Learned As An Angry, Introverted Individual, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

So I’m currently 30 years old and I’m an angry person. An introverted one at that. People around me may see me as weird, or even crazy considering the different things I do. Truly, I tend to isolate myself, especially when the anger feels overwhelming. It’s okay though. I don’t expect them to understand, and sometimes, that’s the way I like it. That’s the life of an introvert for you. We tend to look inwards more than anything. And we do it at our pace, in our own space. I wish I could say this article is going to be super inspiring and helpful, but it’s not. These are just observations of my own life. Hope it helps anyway. 1) Do things your own way, screw what others think I’ve honestly come to believe that anger management is complete bullshit. It does not help me. It makes me react to my anger too much. And it makes me feel like I’m in denial as it forces me to forgive my wrongdoers, something I am not ready to do. Or, most commonly, you’re taught to meditate (or whatever woo-woo technique) to calm down. None of that helped. What helped me the most? It was acknowledging that I am angry person and that I’ve accepted it. I will continue to be angry. Yes, you heard that right. I will continue to be angry, and that’s okay with me. Most will not understand it, but I don’t care anymore. After all, this is my life and I come up with the rules. Also, when you admit that you’ve a problem, it is easier on you and also a relief to accept who you are rather than constantly try to push it aside. Besides, I don’t act out in public. I never get in trouble, so I personally think I am doing alright. So go get it at your own pace. Do things your way. There’s no right or wrong for you unless you’re hurting yourself or others on an abusive level. Remember, you control the reins. 2) Isolation can be liberating This year, I made the decision to quit all of my Whatsapp groups. The groups consisted of a lot of my friends, some of whom I am even close to. But I left anyway. It was part of my endeavor to further my isolation. The average person would start to wonder why, as they talk about the benefits of being in chat groups. I just didn’t want to be one anymore. It kind of annoyed me that despite being in my own home, people have the power to be connected to me. And yes, some of these groups were toxic as they constantly gossiped non-stop. It was liberating to leave them, that much I can tell you. It was a form of power to me. Not many people would dare to leave a group like that because of logical reasons, hence fear of what others may think. Ignore the fear. Do what you want even if it seems minor or silly. Again, your life, your rules. If it’s minor and silly, then there’s no reason why it should have control over you. 3) Do not obey if you don’t want to I’ve reached a point in my life where I constantly ask myself, “Why should I obey?” Or “Why should I do the right thing here?” Because the followup is always, “I’m just going to be angry anyway.” I know that sounds cynical, but the thing is I’ve taken little steps to watch out for myself now. As I wrote about here before, being nice is not part of healing. Doing the right thing or merely being nice may not heal you at all. But of course, this isn’t to say you go into the end of the spectrum and actively be a jerk to hurt others. Just don’t say yes if you don’t want to. You can say no and reject people. You don’t have be nice all the time. Don’t even forgive if you don’t want to. Remember to be nice to yourself. Self-love is THAT important. 4) You can’t do nothing all day, so do the work For a while I took solace in simply lying in bed to do nothing. I’d either surf the net with my phone mindlessly or take a nap. But that only gave me a short burst of relief. Things like that can only help you so much and in the long run, it won’t do you any good. I also read that relying on a small rush of dopamine, from say, surfing porn would affect you negatively in the long run. That’s why you have to do the work. You need a sense of purpose. So be it your business or passion project, find the will to motivate yourself to do the work. You can’t ever be happy when you’re bored all the time. The boredom will eventually develop into something worse, like depression. 5) But sometimes, it is the human interaction that may be help you Recently, I did something totally out of the norm, which was going to help my mom out in her office. This was thoroughly different considering I’ve been working on business from home for years now. And I had a such a good time despite helping her with mundane tasks. It was there I interacted with her and also observed how she exchanged friendly banter with her neighbors. It wasn’t just a distraction from my emotional troubles, but it made me realize how a little bit of human relationship can help. For example, a simple joke told to you out of nowhere that made you laugh can make you feel good instantly. So it made me wonder: Could I be wrong? Am I too focused on myself and my problems? Could I need a complete change? Maybe yes. Maybe no. But as with life, too much of anything isn’t great. This applies to everyone, introvert or not. If you feel stuck with your problems, perhaps look around so you can get out there. Hope this article helps. Just for Pick The Brain readers Hey guys! Wanna be inspired even more? Doesn’t matter if you’re an introvert or not, this is for you. Get my free book. I’ll activate that happiness in you: 12 things happy people don’t give a f**k about! This free book only available through this link. Enjoy! Alden Tan is a passionate breakdancer and writer. He writes about honest and real self-improvement without the bullshit. Get his free book already!

You’ve read 5 Things I Learned As An Angry, Introverted Individual, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

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You’re reading How to Have More by Simplifying Your Life, 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 time for spring cleaning, and that means de-cluttering our homes, but what if we go further and de-clutter the rest of our lives too? You undoubtedly have too much stuff. But are you cramming too many activities into each day as well? And are you spending too much of your life looking at a screen instead of doing things with living, breathing people? We all want to reclaim control of our lives and the 101 stories in the new book, Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Joy of Less, which I coauthored with Brooke Burke-Charvet, provide plenty of inspiration and great advice to help you do that. These five tips, from five stories in the book, will help you get started!

Don’t hold onto stuff that could be someone else’s blessing. The question Jeanie Jacobson always asks when helping her friends organize and de-clutter is: “Are you holding onto someone else’s blessing?” It changed one friend’s whole perspective. The idea of holding onto someone else’s blessing had her gleefully cleaning out her house. “I’d never seen anyone part so willingly with so many useful goods,” Jeanie said of her friend. That inspired Jeanie to turn the question on herself when she got home. She saw dust-covered gym equipment, packed closets and full hampers of clothes. “Why did I have all this lying around when there were so many people in need?” she writes. “I grabbed the phone and called my favorite secondhand shop.” Jeanie had a lot of blessings to donate.

Your memories live in your head, not in your possessions. As Amelia Hollingsworth packed up her young family’s home for a cross-country move, she had a hard time letting go. So much of their furniture held special memories for her, but not everything would fit in their POD or their new, smaller home. She couldn’t decide what to take and what to leave until her mother put it all in perspective. “The stuff isn’t the memories,” Amelia’s mother told her. “And you don’t have to worry about losing the memories when you leave your stuff behind. Those you take with you.” And she was right. Even though Amelia had to leave a lot of items with sentimental value behind, she doesn’t miss them. “We have not lost the happy memories of our old home,” she shares. “Those came with us, and they were the only things we never had to box up or unpack.”

It’s okay to say “no.” The “should monster,” as Sydney Logan called it, ran her life. She “should” always volunteer to help; she “should” pick out the perfect birthday, or graduation or wedding gift and happily attend those events. “Frazzled isn’t just a state of mind,” Sydney says. “It’s a reality.” With help from her therapist, she learned it was okay to say no to things she didn’t want to do. “In fact, it’s a necessity, because the truth is we can’t do it all,” she writes. “Not if we want to keep our sanity.” Now, she volunteers only for the things she wants to and not out of obligation. “It’s not always easy, and I still struggle with feeling selfish from time to time,” she says, “but I’m a happier, calmer person. And that’s the way it should be.”

Sometimes doing nothing is everything. When Sally Friedman saw how exhausted her two granddaughters looked when they came for an overnight, she and her husband scratched everything they had planned. “We would do… nothing. Absolutely nothing,” Sally writes. “At least it would be a novelty.” They lounged in pajamas and played cards. After dinner, they sat around the table telling silly stories. “I didn’t rush to clean up because I’ve finally learned that the dishes can wait—but kids sometimes can’t,” Sally says. At the end of the weekend, the girls didn’t want to leave. “And I think they understood,” she writes, “perhaps for the first time, that doing nothing is actually… quite something.”

Get unplugged to plug back into real life. After avoiding Facebook for years, Kate Lemery finally joined and quickly became addicted. She would get lost within other people’s Facebook lives, comparing herself to them. And it started to affect her personal interactions. “I got grumpy with my family for no reason other than I’d been feeling bad about things I’d read on Facebook,” Kate shares. “Everyone on Facebook seemed to be having more fun than me.” Lunch with a friend one day made her realize how much time she’d been wasting on Facebook, time taken away from her family. “That night I changed my personal Facebook policy,” Kate says. “I now limit myself to fifteen minutes a week. If anyone has anything important to say, they can tell me personally.” Now she reads more books, watches more movies and takes joy in spending time with her family. “To paraphrase the great humorist Erma Bombeck,” Kate says, “I now cry and laugh less on Facebook—and more while living life.”

“Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Joy of Less” goes on sale April 19, 2016

You’ve read How to Have More by Simplifying Your Life, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

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You’re reading 5 Simple and Effective Ways To Improve Your Memory Today, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

Let’s do a little test. Read the following set of numbers: 6, 5, 2, 9, 6, 4, 3, 5, 9, 3. Now close your eyes and see how many you can recall in the right order. How did you do? The average person may remember around six or seven, with the exceptional few getting them all. Yet sadly there are a lot of us who stumble after only two or three. One recent study demonstrated our lack of memory power by giving 500 people 2 minutes to draw their representation of a bicycle. Judging by the results, you’d think the participants were primary school children. But again sadly no, a lot of people just have bad memories (although some people just cant’t draw). I used to be one of the those people. Things like names, bicycles, dates, appointment times, and deadlines would never quite manage to sink into my memory but instead bounce off my eardrums and back into thin air. Thus my notepad, laptop, and smart phone functioned as my memory bank. I’d often get lost in a sea of sticky notes when simply trying to find out what time a dentist appointment or school class was. This is likely familiar to a lot of you. Growing up in the digital age, we don’t need to rely on our memories as much as we used to. We have search engines to help us recall facts, Facebook to remind us of birthdays and events, GPS systems to give us directions, and many other apps and devices to outsource our memories to. Even recalling personal memories like the name of your favorite high school teacher or where you left your keys will soon be able to be retrieved with memory search engines. There’s no doubt all these things are of huge benefit to those who suffer from memory impairments, but for the majority of us they do more harm than good. Outsourcing out memory using external devices can be the difference between having a rich life—learning from and reminiscing on past experiences, experiencing deep and loyal relationships, having high levels of productivity and satisfaction—and a mediocre life—not gaining the full respect of others, forgetting your partner’s birthday or your anniversary, and chugging along at a slow and steady rate of performance. The chances are that because you’re here, you already know this and therefore want to take a more concerted effort to improving your memory and not having to rely on external devices. So engage your brain and allow these six top memory boosting tips to be absorbed into the depths of your hippocampus.

Learn a New Skill

A study published in the journal Psychological Science by neuroscientist Dr. Denise Park showed that keeping your brain active by learning new skills, for example digital photography, can bring significant improvement in memory. Dr. Park’s research also found that not all activities are equal, with the greatest improvements coming from taking on the most challenging skills. Find an intellectually demanding activity you’ll enjoy learning, whether it’s learning to paint, dance salsa, or in particular play an instrument, and watch as your memory grows.

Use The Memory Palace

A technique used by the world’s greatest memory athletes, The Memory Palace is considered to be one of the strongest ways to remember something. It uses four fundamental principles of recall—imagination, association, absurdity, and location—to securely cement new information into your brain. The technique essentially works by visualising a journey through a place you are familiar with, e.g. your home, school, or office. Along the way you associate the words, phrases, or numbers you want to remember with specific locations and events for example, a humongous frog in a suit at the breakfast table could represent the word ‘business’.

Mix Up Your Routine

Memory, like muscular strength, requires you to either use it or lose it. Therefore going through the same routines day in and day out, encountering the same stimuli and problems, causes your brain to stagnate, switching to autopilot and failing to make new neural connections. More connections equals more ways to process information, and therefore an overall stronger brain. And a stronger brain means a far greater chance of memories sticking around. Make an effort to challenge you brain by breaking free from well-worn trails, seeking new sources of stimulation, and carving new mental pathways.

Break A Sweat

Exercise seems to have benefits for just about everything. But one place where it doesn’t get its due credit is in bolstering memory. For example, in a study by neuroscientist Art Kramer at the University of Illinois it was found that just 45 minutes of exercise three days a week can increase the volume of the brain. One of the ways it does this is by boosting production of certain proteins in the brain. In a Harvard Medical School study, one such protein called FND5 was found to be present in higher quantities in the hippocampus (the area of the brain responsible for learning and memory) in a group of mice who took part in regular exercise.

Have Healthy Relationships

It turns out healthy relationships are not only great for emotional health, but also our brain health. In fact, some researchers believe interacting with others may be the best kind of brain exercise. For example in another study from the Harvard School of Public Health, researchers found that people with the most active social lives had the slowest rate of memory decline. This doesn’t mean all introverts have terrible memories, but rather volunteering, joining a club, seeing or speaking to friends more often, or even having a pet, can do its bit for safeguarding those precious memories. Want to learn how you can put these techniques into action before your day has even begun? Grab a free copy of our new eBook: MORNING MASTERY: The Simple 20 Minute Routine For Long Lasting Energy, Laser-Sharp Focus, and Stress Free Living. Joseph is a freelance writer, and the co-creator of Project Monkey Mind—a new blog for the 21st century solopreneur and young professional who wants to lead a more free and fulfilling life.

You’ve read 5 Simple and Effective Ways To Improve Your Memory 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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