You’re reading 5 Ways To Be More Productive In The Morning (Even If You’re Not A Morning Person), originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

Maybe you jump out of bed each morning like the energizer bunny. Or maybe you think mornings are just plain evil.  They say that “to win the morning is to win the day”, so if you want to be productive throughout the day, it has to start with a productive morning. Here are 5 ways to be more productive in the morning (even if you’re not a morning person.)

1. Wake up earlier- just by 15 minutes.

This might be the most cliche productivity advice but stick with me for a minute. It’s not about waking up at 4:30 in the morning (although that does work well for some people). It’s about giving yourself a little extra time at the start of your day to set yourself up for success.

If you’re a night owl, waking up at the crack of dawn isn’t going to help you. It’s probably just going to frustrate you and make you less productive. However, waking up just 15 minutes earlier than usual gives you an advantage over your day. It’s also be a much more doable change.

2. Eliminate decision making in the mornings.

Mornings are hard. Don’t make them harder than they have to be. If you’re looking for a way to make your mornings more enjoyable and less stressful, get rid of as much decision making as you can.

You know that feeling – lying in bed thinking “Ugh, I have to pick out what to wear today.” and “Oh man, what am I gonna take for lunch?”. It makes it so much harder to actually get out of bed and get moving.

Try to eliminate those decisions by planning them the night before, or even earlier in the week! I pick out of all my outfits and plan my meals on Saturdays for the next week. This saves me tons of time about thinking about decisions in the morning. It helps me get out of bed and let myself run on autopilot for a bit.

3. Just get moving. 

Everyone says “work out” in the mornings, but that’s probably not the best advice. It just doesn’t work for everybody, and it’s also not always an option. While there’s definitely merit to that advice, it’s not mandatory. The principle is that you should get moving in the mornings, and that’s something you can do in a variety of ways.

You can do yoga, walk the dog, do a few sit-ups, go for a ten-minute run… whatever you want to do, even for just a few minutes! There are so many options. Moving around definitely helps get your day started, but it doesn’t have to be an hour long work out at your gym.

4. Write your to-do list.

If you start the day in charge, you’ll find that you’re more likely to finish the day in charge. If you start with a plan, you’re less likely to let anything interfere with your most important tasks.

But the only way you can prevent those interruptions and distractions is to know what your most important tasks are! Spend a few minutes in the morning thinking about (and writing down!) what you’re going to focus on for the day. For bonus points : Visualize yourself actually doing those things, and they’ll be even more likely to happen.

5. Pause and reflect for a few minutes.

You might think the word “meditation” sounds too new-agey and not something you’re into. I didn’t think I was into it either. But then I tried it. I found that spending a few minutes in the morning to pause and focus actually helped me gain clarity throughout my entire day.

You don’t have to do anything fancy. Just spend a few minutes focusing on your breath, or “watching” what you think about. You might be surprised by just how busy your brain is.

Having a busy morning and tempted to skip? Experts say that those are the days you should spend even MORE time meditating. Those are the days you’ll need it the most.

Conclusion

By waking up earlier, removing willpower and decision making from your morning, and focusing on your day, you’ll propel yourself into the best day possible. And you can do this every day!

So now that you know how to be more productive in the morning, make sure to use that extra time to achieve your biggest goals. Make sure that you’re making the most of your time all throughout the day and not just in the morning.

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Brittany Joiner is the founder of Project 1440, a resource that helps people be more productive so they can reach their goals and make every minute count for something great.

You’ve read 5 Ways To Be More Productive In The Morning (Even If You’re Not A Morning Person), 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 Let Your Sun Come Out, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

You are the only one who can control how you look at life. Yes, you. Not your mom, sister, cousin, uncle, best friend, neighbor or neighbor’s cute little yapping Chihuahua. You. It is like the old glass half full/half empty debate. – you either see life as a miserable, death-welcoming experience or you see life as the most beautiful opportunity to do something brilliant and good. It’s different for everyone; a matter of opinion, so-to-speak. I know people who have had an easy road in life – loving, two parent homes, middle to upper class neighborhood, good education and they are put under surveillance for trying to end their lives. And then I have known people who have had the rough end of the deal – missing father, drug addicted mother, placed in foster care, bounced from home to home, living on generic bologna and white bread sandwiches – and they still smile and laugh as if everything was all hunky dory. Why is that? And how do they do it?

I assure you, it is all about perspective. See, we cannot change the life we are dealt. God decides where we are to go and it is up to us to do something with it. I remember as a kid getting upset when I wanted a toy and my mother didn’t want to get it for me. She would mock me in a moaning voice and say, “let’s all cry with Shelly, she didn’t get what she wanted.” This would only make me more upset. The sad thing is that these pity parties, as we called them, followed me into adulthood — If things didn’t work out the way that I wanted them to, I would get sad and, well, have a pity party. I would look at the situation with gloom and frustration, as if my life was just so awful.

Really? I know, I know.

But then I met someone who changed my outlook. Mickey was a homeless man who was always smiling. He didn’t have anything but what could fit in the small, dirty backpack that was always by his side. He didn’t take for granted all the things most of us do – hot showers (or any shower, for that matter), food, an ice-cold beverage, a dry, soft place to sleep at night. When he received any of those things, his heart was soaring. His smile could light up a room. When was the last time you jumped for joy when you turned the water on for a shower?

That’s my point, folks.

We so often take for granted the things that we are so fortunate to have. To give perspective: I slept in my king size bed last night with two pillows. I was nice a cool with my AC running and my fan going. I turned my electric alarm clock off this morning, opened my eyes to look around for a minute as I used my mind to gather my thoughts for the day ahead. I then found some freshly laundered clothes, took a hot shower, brushed my teeth. Once ready, I headed to work in my car, stopping for coffee and a bagel on the way. Mickey woke up cold and wet from the rain storm we had last night, his makeshift cardboard awning soaked and broken. He knew he must wake up before the sun because the police will be called on him for sleeping in a public area – business owners don’t like homeless people invading their space.

I am grumpy because I had to get up and go to work. Mickey is smiling because he has the chance to see another sunrise – and the sun will dry his belongings.

Perspective.

Life isn’t about comforts, material things, or keeping up with the Jones’s. Life is about loving unconditionally, having a heart brimming with happiness, being selfless, and taking chances. You have been given your life for a reason. Do something with it. Make a point to remember this every day.

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Michelle Blan is a freelance writer and avid blogger determined to motivate even those lost in their darkest moments. There is always a way out…I can show you. Check out my blog at www.shellblan.com or follow me on Twitter @ShellBlan

You’ve read How To Let Your Sun Come Out, 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 Power Of KINDNESS, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

Happiness researcher Sean Achor demonstrated through his extensive research that if you perform random acts of kindness for two minutes a day for twenty-one days, you can actually retrain your brain to be more positive. Studies such as his show that when your brain is more positive you are more likely to be creative, intelligent and productive. These attributes can spin into what we perceive as ‘quality of life’ attributes – job success, wealth, healthy relationships, and better health. This adage, that happiness breeds success, is counterintuitive to what Western society popularly perceives as the opposite, that success lends itself to happiness.

Kindness is a simple concept, yet so very impactful. It can make the world a better place by ending suffering at the hands of war, hunger, human rights violations, and injustice. It has the power to drastically improve our own well-being as well as that of our families, friends, acquaintances, and strangers. The very act of expressing graciousness to one another can make us more empathetic of other people’s hardships. Within the workforce, kindness towards one another can inspire employees to be more productive and make businesses more profitable. And within our communities, kindness contributes to safer and cleaner schools and neighborhoods.

Does the paragraph above sound a bit dramatic? Pay attention to how kindness has the ability to impact your life. Observe those moments when someone does something unexpectedly kind for you. How frequently does it happen? How does it make you feel? Does it transform your outlook on the day? I challenge you to commit a random act of kindness. Spend two minutes a day doing it for just three weeks. How does it make you feel? How does it make your recipients feel? Share your stories with us here.

Bob Kerry once said, “Unexpected kindness is the most powerful, least costly and most underrated agent in human change.” What a profound statement! And yet it is the easiest thing in the world to execute. With very little time (even just two minutes a day) and very minimal effort we can transform a human being’s day, week, or even life. The return on investment is off the charts! How can something so simple and so easy have such a tremendous impact on others and ourselves?

Every act of kindness creates a ripple effect that spreads from person to person with no end in sight. Kindness is contagious like a disease in which the outcome is divinely beautiful. Jamil Zaki, Professor of Psychology at Stanford University and Director of the Stanford Social Neuroscience Lab recently conducted a series of studies that observe how witnessing kindness inspires kindness, causing it to spread like a virus. He concludes that “by emphasizing empathy-positive norms, we may be able to leverage the power of social influence to combat apathy and conflict in new ways.”

To start a movement of kindness we created Kindness & Co, Random Act of Kindness Kits. The kits empower an individual to start their own chain reaction of kindness. Each Kit includes a long list of fun and innovative ways in which the recipient can create their own acts of kindness. Because we found that people increasingly value experiences over material things, Kindness Kits are our way of replacing consumerism in holiday or birthday gift-giving and replacing it with the truly honorable experience of spreading cheer in people’s lives.

Additionally, businesses and organizations are using Kindness Kits for employee gifts, thank you’s, lead generation, and tokens of customer or employee appreciation, to name a few. While it seems inconceivable that benevolence has a place in today’s cutthroat, competitive, winner-takes-all business environment, even the most successful companies are recognizing its virtues. Billionaire and entrepreneur Mark Cuban was recently quoted saying “Nice is way undervalued right now. It’s one of the most valuable assets out there,” when asked about negotiating tips.

I was absolutely thrilled when Erin from PickTheBrain, after seeing our video, agreed to partner with Kindness co. to spread the message of Kindness! Instead of buying bland, typical gifts again this year for your friends and family, and acquaintances, how about saying and doing something more imaginative and creative that will make a bigger difference to both you and them. And rather than giving your employees a logo-emblazoned chotski that lacks any real value to them, give them the experience of kindness. Give a positive experience that makes the recipient happy and helps the world. In the words of Maya Angelou, “People will forget what you did, they will forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel.”

Every act of kindness creates a ripple effect that spreads with no end in sight. Let’s run with it!

Join Erin & I to start your kindness journey >>> Try it here!

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Jesse Weinberg is a cereal entrepreneur living in the Pacific Southwest and loves nothing more than to spend time free time with his wife and son. He is the founder of GlobalYodel.com, a community that explores the world from a local and Global Yodel Media Group a content/influence marketing agency. He thinks kindness is cool and in 2015 founded Kindness & Co with the mission of starting a movement of kindness though Random Act of Kindness Kits and beyond. He is dedicated to shifting the paradigm of collective human consciousness to revolve around more kindness.

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You’re reading The 5 Best Podcasts on Communication, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

Communication is a delicate play between speaker and listener, involving so many intricate elements that can either engage or discourage us. There is so much that happens on a subconscious level while we communicate, from body language, tonality of voice, to visual listening. It is difficult to truly engage in communication if one is only listening to hear and respond as opposed to listening to understand. Here are 5 podcasts that help one grow with language and communication:

1. This ‘School Of Greatness’ podcast uses the art and power of listening as its main focus. Chris Lee delivers a message that leads to success in relationships by explaining how emotional intelligence enhances ever aspect of your life. He dives into the ten key principles that will set you on course to achieving the power of listening.

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2. The Communication Diva is a podcast that covers a range of topics, helping people communicate well to improve relationships. One of these podcasts, an interview with Samantha Skelly touches on the whether the millennial generation has the ability to listen versus simply hearing. She has a interesting take on listening, that is that it’s an art, as opposed to hearing which can be flippant, as people seem too absorbed in their tech gadgets to be fully engaged.

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3. This podcast ‘Been there, done that’, interviews Bob Parkinson, and helps one communicate effectively in business. His thought is that one must always write or talk, whether through email, presentation or a face to face meeting toward your audience. Content, packaging and delivery are the most important factors in effective communication in the workplace.

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4. Jeff Shirk’s podcast ‘High Performance Leadership’, discusses the visual communication most people listen with. He believes organizations struggle because we have lost the connection to emotion through of our dependence on technology. He offers tools and principles for leadership, placing a strong value on the art of communication.

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5. This podcast centers in on an interview with Dr. Simone Alicia (NLT), which helps one increase the effectiveness of your communication. Known as the Self Esteem doctor, she posits that changing our own thought patterns about our beliefs and self- esteem, can change how we communicate. Your mindset and your confidence are connected to your value in the workforce. She speaks a lot about tonality and its effect on communication, those being a question tone, a statement tone and a command tone.

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When people have the feeling that they ‘get someone’, it is an indication of a good rapport and connection which entrusts those to you both personally and professionally. Communication is an art, and it is just as much about not saying the wrong thing when tempted, as it is about saying the right thing at the opportune time.

“Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools speak because they have to say something.” -Plato

Do you read a great blog about communication that’s not on the list? Leave a comment on FB!

Larissa Gomes is a breast cancer survivor and single mom to her spirited baby boy! Originally from Toronto turned Angeleno, she has worked in roles from writer, actor and producer for well over a decade. In that time, she’s developed concepts, film and television screenplays, short stories, along with freelance articles, blogging and editing work.

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

Charles Darwin, best known for his theory of evolution which he presented in one of the most important books of all time, On the Origin of Species, explained how populations adapt to their environments over time. In doing so, he laid down the foundation for evolutionary biology as we know it. On The Origin of Species is Darwin’s most famous work, but he also wrote a much lesser known book titled The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, where he claimed that all humans show emotion through similar behaviors. This view is one that psychologists today generally agree with, affirming that certain expressions of emotion are common to all of us, regardless of race, culture, or age. One of these universal facial expressions is a smile.

Smiling and Happiness

The natural response to happiness is smiling. And according to science, the reverse is also true: smiling can actually create happiness.

Recently psychological scientists Tara Kraft and Sarah Pressman conducted experiments to find the link between stress and smiling. They found that when people smiled while completing mundane tasks, they had lower heart rates and stress levels than those who wore a neutral expression throughout their tasks. This effect was especially pronounced for participants who produced a big ear-to-ear smile, known as a Duchenne smile. The experiment led the researchers to conclude that when faced with stressful situations, it may be a good idea to put a smile on your face, if only for a moment, as this lowers stress. Smiling also tricks our brains into believing we are happy, and one way it does this is by making us think of happier memories, which boost our moods.

Smiling and Stress

Even though the exact relationship behind facial expression and mental state is largely unknown, it has been suggested that smiling reduces levels of the stress-inducing hormone cortisol. Increased levels of cortisol could potentially lead to cardiovascular disease, mental illness, and obesity, so it’s worth every effort to try to decrease our cortisol levels.

Smiling also has a positive impact on the balance of neurotransmitters present in your brain. Neurotransmitters are powerful neurochemicals that are responsible for regulating our physical, mental and cognitive functions such as sleep cycles, pain resistance, weight control and even emotional state. The effect of smiling on neurotransmitters can help stabilize your mood during daily stressful activities ,and help calm your nervous system.

When an imbalance in neurotransmitters occurs, it can trigger a range of complications such as obesity, alcoholism, caffeine or nicotine dependency, depression, panic attacks, bipolar disorder, and many other conditions. Therefore, the simple act of smiling can activate neural messaging in your brain that promotes health and happiness.

Smiling and Attraction

Research shows that when you smile, people treat you differently. Smiling instantly makes you appear more reliable, relaxed, sincere, and attractive. The Face Research Laboratory in Scotland conducted a study by asking a group of men and women to view images of people and rate their attractiveness. The study found that people who smiled more were rated as more attractive than those who avoided eye contact and didn’t smile at all.

Perhaps this is why celebrities invest in perfect smiles, often opting for porcelain veneers to give them flawlessly straight, white teeth. According to a cosmetic dentistry practice in Boston, broken and stained teeth can make a person look older, while a brighter smile gives a look of health and youthfulness. Anyone you spot on television will more likely than not have a perfect smile. This gives them a youthful glow while simultaneously making them look more attractive.

Smiling and Endorphins

When the smiling muscles in our face contract, it sends a signal to the brain to stimulate the reward system that further increases our levels of endorphins, or happiness hormones. This triggering of the reward system can have the same effect on our happiness as eating chocolate or receiving a monetary prize. According to science, it really is possible to have a “million dollar smile!”

When it comes to happiness, children clearly have an advantage over adults—they smile 400 times a day on average, as compared to 20 times a day for adults. If you find it hard to smile, try being around people who tend to smile a lot. According to a Swedish study, it is difficult to keep a straight face when constantly faced with people who are smiling at you.

So not only does smiling reward our brain’s feel-good system, it also makes us look more attractive and lowers stress levels. In stressful situations, smiling is a great way to temper extreme levels of stress and to keep your cortisol levels under control. Smiling is an act that many of us may have to practice in order to make a regular habit. However, it’s a habit worth investing in, as smiling, happiness, and health have a scientifically proven link to one other.

You’ve read The Science Behind Smiling, 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 Easy Ways to Decide Priorities in Life, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

Life is made up of a lot of things.

A lot of relationships, work, pains, dreams and – well – there’s a lot.

You become stuck while trying to give your time to all that matters to you. Circumstances get out of hand. Time management doesn’t seem to work. Your chaotic life makes you restless. Your determination of accomplishing more fades away when you lose enthusiasm and see your plans fail.

It happens to everyone.

You can’t always calculate how you spend every moment in life. It’s impractical, since you can’t make more time by being too cautious about how you spend your time either.

To be honest, productivity too has its own limits. There’s always a threshold point beyond which nothing works for you – no matter how hard you try and what you change.

Wisdom lies in accepting this truth and not being too hard on yourself. It’s alright if your plans aren’t happening. You cannot control everything. Once you’ve done what you need to do, let go. Don’t stress out or feel low.

It’s your dissatisfaction and self-critical attitude which makes you insecure. Otherwise most of the time, life is fine, the way it should be.

What makes us restless?

We often feel anxious and worried about how we do things.

Like something in life is missing or is yet undone.

There are several reasons to it.

However, one major reason is that we’re already dealing with several activities in life. Managing everything at once turns out to be overwhelming experience. In some way, your life becomes disorganized and the ups and downs become harder to face each day.

I don’t wish to sound smart or pretend like life is perfect for me, but I’ve learned that one reason which makes harder for us to live peacefully is our indecisiveness due to which we fail to resolve our priorities in life.

Life isn’t a mathematical equation. You don’t treat all your work calculations. Still, you possess an ability to decide what’s right for you. This is your inborn tendency of deciding priorities.

You’ve developed this ability over years by teaching yourself what’s right or wrong for you in life and intentionally making some aspects of life more important than the rest.

Each one of us has his own priorities. Based on way our own ways of living, we can decide priorities to make life easier.

How to decide priorities in life

Although it’s completely up to you to decide what matters the most to you, there are certain parts which you cannot ignore if your want your life to be peaceful. They’re common in all stages of life. If you take care of them, everything falls into place.

Here are some ways to decide priorities in life – they aren’t any form of advice but genuine ways which can help you overcome you indecisiveness and assist you in reordering you priorities in life.

1. Free yourself from what causes you pain

This should be your first priority.

End what doesn’t let you live your life to the fullest.

A normal life is a blessing as compared to the one in which you need to survive the constant blows of pains with each passing day. You don’t deserve that suffocation.

Free yourself from all that drags you down or breaks your self-esteem. You’re worthy of every bit of happiness which exists in this world, but you can only have it when you try to escape from the place which you’re living in against your will.

Are you in debt? Pay it off slowly until you can live in peace.

Stuck in a bad relationship? There’s no point in suffering; find a way out of it.

Stay away from negative people if they suck your life out of you. It’s your job to take a stand against everything out there which can make you timid. Do it at your own pace, but find a way to end your sufferings.

2. Fix what went wrong                                                        

Sometimes, life’s more about mending the past than it’s about than it’s about building the future – but it’s sort of the same thing.

Fix your life.

Take charge of what you think shouldn’t be like what it is. Focus on things that can make your life better and do them often.

The unsolved business of the past can keep you restless forever, so make peace with your past before you move on, otherwise your past will follow you everywhere.

Do you have any regrets? Get over them. If regrets still hurt, then do something which won’tyou’re your regrets affect you anymore. Your regrets are already a thing of past.

Are you living in guilt? Apologize to the ones you feel you’ve done wrong to – it doesn’t make you weak. Forgive yourself and release the past. Step out of the dark place you’re living in.

Once you take a stand for making your life better, nothing can affect you much. Eventually everything gets better.

3. Do more of what’s right for YOU

Be a little selfish.

It’s quite easy to forget your own identity while you’re living by the rules of the world.

How long are you planning to be a puppet of this world? No, the world isn’t a complete miserable place either – but you need to think about yourself in it. Give less damns, be a bit careless regarding how others treat you and start thinking of yourself.

Act on your dreams and risk if your feel like doing so – it’s you who has to deal with the consequences, not the world. It’ll clap when you’re done. Till then, don’t let others make you a coward.

Also, find what makes you happy. Pick up the tiny reasons which can make you smile. Sometimes, it’s just the small things in life which can make you happy in spite of being insignificant.

Always find time for these little, even if it isn’t much, whether it’s about having a meal with your family or talking to your old friends. They’re a priority.

4. Work on creating the new

While you’re busy with life, keep stepping out of your limits.

Engage yourself in new activities. Explore new parts of your work. Those things help you think beyond your limitations and get you new opportunities.

Life can be still, but that stillness is a responsibility to prepare for the future. You might be content and happy. Yet, do what will pay off in the future for your own welfare.

Starting a new business to ensure your financial safety, buying a home for your family, changing your diet for a better health – all take all these steps not only for the present but for a better future.

When you work for your future, you can be more assured about what your life is going to be life. So you worry less and feel at peace.

5. Get used to change

Be prepared for a change and accept what’s coming. That’s the only way to not let life break you.

Nothing always happens as per your expectations. Life’s uncertain. You cannot control every aspect but only find ways to recover and bring your life back to normal.

Life doesn’t suddenly become easy because you set certain priorities and work on them.

It’s your ability to adapt to change can improve your life even when the odds are against you.

What do you think should be our main priorities in life? How do you decide yours? Let me know in the comments below.

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I’m Vishal Ostwal. A writer, blogger and the kind of person whose name rhymes with his surname. I write about making life worth living on my self-help blog. Follow me on Facebook for my newest updates.

Also read:

• The Best Way to Make Life Easier
• 17 Ways to Inspire Others and Add Some Sparkle to Their Lives

You’ve read 5 Easy Ways to Decide Priorities in 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 6 Reasons Meditation Is More Important Than Your Job, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

Those who have maintained a consistent meditation practice for some time understand that the benefits are self-evident, and really need no explanation.

For many of us, though, there is a constant struggle to ‘find’ time in our days to simply sit down and meditate, particularly if we work stressful jobs or long hours.

This, however, is just a mindset.

What we need to begin to see is that meditation is actually more important than our work lives. We know we have to make meditation a priority, we need to convince ourselves why.

What follows here are 6 reasons why meditation is actually more important than your job.

When you reflect on these ideas, you’ll start to understand exactly why a meditative practice should be one of the most important priorities in your life.

1. It makes you happy

A 2014 study by the conference board found that 52% of workers are unhappy at work. Other studies have had similar findings, with a leaning towards more unhappiness amongst the millennial generation. The reality is that most people aren’t actually finding much satisfaction from their work.

If we compare that to studies of long to meditators, we see that those who are happier because of meditation practices are effectively 100%. However, hundreds of short-term studies of 8 to 12 weeks have shown a similar trend.

2. It genuinely improves your social skills

While a job may introduce you to a lot of people, it often won’t truly improve our social skills. This is because it puts us in an unnatural environment (often competitive) in which we stand to lose something if we don’t maintain a particular image.

Meditation reduces (and can completely eliminate) any social anxiety you have, it also improves your ability to empathize and notice subtle social cues, as well as your listening skills, by allowing you to be more engaged in the moment.

3. It makes you a better leader

Most hierarchical jobs will not teach you the skills required to be a good leader unless you are fortunate enough to reach an executive position.

Meditation, on the other hand, will naturally lead you to develop the psychological resilience, detachment from outcome, and decision-making capacities that are necessary for leadership positions.

A number of high profile CEO’s from Richard Branson to Steve Jobs and Mark Echo have highlighted the enormous impact that meditation has had on their businesses.

4. It exercises your brain

One common issue with many jobs is that there are repetitive and not engaging enough.

While most people mistakenly think that you need to find your passion to find fulfillment in your work, the reality is that you just need to find the right degree of challenge. This means something that pushes you, but not enough to cause lasting stress. Unfortunately, most jobs struggle to offer us the right balance, and therefore we either end up bored or stressed.

Meditation not only exercises our brain enough to keep us engaged, it increases our resilience over time, allowing us to enjoy a progressive challenge that – according to the reports of meditators with over 50,000 hours of practice – is essentially limitless.

5. It improves your relationship with money

While a job will provide you money, it won’t fix any unhealthy relationship you have with money. In fact, what it will likely do is make it worse.

It’s natural that the more time you spend invested in a job, the more your brain will become wired to value the rewards of the work. This is why we so often see people who are close to retirement age and unwilling to stop working and let go of income, even though they are a lot more financially comfortable than they were in their 20’s and 30’s.

Conversely, Meditation decreases your attachment to money, and all the stresses and fears that go along with it. Ironically, this may actually result in you increasing your earning potential.

6. It improves your immune system

Whereas most jobs, particularly if they are desk jobs, take from your health – while providing a salary that can cover medical costs – meditation actually improves your health, eliminating the need to go to the doctor in the first place.

There are a number of studies that suggest that mindfulness can help with a variety of health-related factors, one of which is the management of glucose levels and protection against diabetes.

Though we all need to earn an income to keep food on the table, if we begin to see meditation as a real priority in our lives, the benefits we experience can be truly life-changing.

 

Attention Pick the Brain Readers!

Would you like to learn strategies to help you bring mindfulness to work?

Then grab our new FREE eBook:

The Mindful Workplace: 27 Simple Ways to Declutter Your Mind, Defeat Distraction, and Find Your Focus at Work

We’ve found simple mindfulness practices can make a huge difference, and we want you to benefit from them the same way we have!

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Ben is a freelance writer, and the co-creator of Project Monkey Mind – a blog for the 21^st-century worker who wants to take control of their mind, smash through their limitations and lead a life worth living.

 

You’ve read 6 Reasons Meditation Is More Important Than Your Job, 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 Important Life Goals You Need To Accomplish Before 30, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

You’ve probably heard your Mom or Dad use the expression -“Youth is wasted on the young.” When you’re young and time seems to drag its feet, a minute feels like an hour and whatever your parents say really doesn’t strike a chord. But once you’re out of college and are settled in that great first job you landed, you come to the realization that there might be something to what they were saying.

Once the thrill of the new job wears off, you begin to realize you spend over eight hours a day doing underpaid work on a job you don’t even love. What happened to all that “me” time you used to have? Those minutes that seemed to last forever now fly by and all you’re left with (if you’re lucky) is a measly four or five hours after work.

It’s time to set some goals. You have to plan your future. This is no time for idling, because what you do in your 20’s can affect a huge part of your future. Not sure where to start or what to do? Here’s a guide to help you live life fully before you turn 30.

1. Pay Off Your College Loan

If you want to enjoy your life and live out your dreams, you need to have money. And the sooner you pay off your student loans and all your other debts you might have incurred, the faster you can use that hard-earned money to enjoy whatever makes you happy.

Most millennials today have trouble being financially independent. And this is because they’re still having a hard time repaying their college loans. According to Mark Kantrowitz, publisher and vice president of Cappex, the average student debt for 2016 records to $37,173, and this is more than 5% high from last year.

Here are some things you can do to easily pay off your college loan:

• Cut the principal down quickly to get lower interest charges. For example, instead of paying around 300$ a month, double it down to $600 if you can afford it.
• Work part time on a job you love and use the money to pay for your student loan.
• Live cheaply and give up a few luxuries during the years you’re paying your debt.
• Work for a company that offers student loan paydown plans.

2. Invest Your Money

Once your debt is paid off, it’s time to think about investing your money. Financial experts believe that during your 20’s is the best time to invest aggressively. This is the phase where you can take huge risks and start building your wealth.

Try learning about investing your savings and how to make your money grow while you sleep. I recommend reading Suze Orman’s The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous & Broke or If You Can : How Millennials Can Get Rich Slowly by William J. Bernstein. With the money you earned from your investments, you could improve your wealth a few years down the line. Here are some tips to help you get started:

• Start saving. If you’re just 22, you probably won’t have enough money to invest in something big. But you have the opportunity to do so. Even if you set aside 10-20% of your income every month, that amount can grow in time.
• Invest in your 401k. Don’t miss this golden opportunity to save for your retirement.
  Invest in yourself. If you haven’t yet – go to college. Take up courses to hone your skills and improve your financial situation.
• Or you can start a business or a money-making blog about things you’re passionate about. Make sure that you consulted experts before setting up your business and you’ve armed yourself with useful tools to manage your blog.

3. Take Steps To Improve Your Health

Now that you’re “adulting”, take a good hard look at your eating and exercising habits. Staying healthy can save you tons of money and you’ll thank yourself when you reach your golden age.

Easier said than done, getting into a healthy routine can be hard for most of us. But it doesn’t have to be. Here are ways to manage a healthful lifestyle:

• Commit to a regular exercise routine so you can maintain a healthy weight. If you’re having a hard time you can start off by simple half hour walks every afternoon or early morning jogs before you get to work.
• Start learning how to cook your own meals. Use more healthy ingredients instead of preservatives.
• Maintain a circle of supportive family and friends. Good emotional health is as much important as physical wellness to your overall well being.

4. Get Serious About Your Love Life

Remember those minutes that seemed to drag on forever? Well, they aren’t now. And, there are several other clocks ticking too. If you’ve neglected your relationship status, or just haven’t had the time to look for a partner, it could be the time you made a serious commitment to being committed. Time flies you know, you don’t want to be that little old lady with a bunch of cats, now do you?

Learn to focus and appreciate the positive aspects of your partner or the guy you’re dating. Practice open-mindedness. Stop being a Negative Nancy and see good in people.
Allow yourself to be vulnerable and to trust your partner. If you want an intimate emotionally connected relationship, you have to open your heart to your special someone.

5. Explore and Live Life Fully

You’ll be surprised at how many people are so busy trying to get ahead that they forget to have fun. It’s important to enjoy your life as you’re trying to build it. Don’t forget to do the things that make you happy. Whether it’s a hobby, a sport, traveling, go out and explore the world and enjoy every minute of it.

Make time for things you love doing every day. Plan your time so you can schedule days for having fun with friends or traveling with your partner. Once you start having kids, it’s going to be hard to find time for yourself.
Whatever goals you have, make sure you set an achievable timetable to them. Being over ambitious and over-reaching will just make you anxious.

You’ve read 5 Important Life Goals You Need To Accomplish Before 30, 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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