Thursday, 30 April 2015

15 Things Independent People Don’t Do

15 Things Independent People Don't Do

Do you think you are an independent person? Being independent has many benefits; you rarely need to rely on others and you question the world around you.

Check out 15 things independent people don’t do.

1. They Don’t Need Help Handling Situations

Independent people prefer to handle their own situations, even the good ones. They dislike others speaking for them and feel powerful for making their own decisions. From a new job offer to what to buy at the supermarket, independent people often avoid asking others for advice.

2. They Don’t See Themselves As Victims

People who see themselves as victims often need others to save them, whereas independent people prefer to take responsibility for their actions. They understand that self-pity can get you down, so they avoid this way of thinking. Instead, they accept their mistakes and move on.

3. They Don’t Overreact To Bad News

Independent people try to learn from all of their mistakes rather than hoping someone else will fix them. They do not overreact when confronted with bad news—they see mistakes as a learning process that will help them to make better decisions in the future.

4. They Don’t Blindly Believe Everything

Independent people question the world around them, and often seek the truth, rather than accepting the first thing they hear. They understand that trust is a gift that must be earned and regularly question people and authorities.

5. They Don’t Let Negative People Affect Them

Independent people do not let negative people bring them down–they do not need reassurance about their lives, and they are too busy getting on with life to pay much thought to negative comments.

6. They Don’t Judge Others With Different Opinions

Independent people understand that it is wrong to look down on others. They accept other people’s beliefs. They know that their personal experiences and independent lifestyle helped to form their opinions and they understand different people have different personal experiences.

They don’t feel the need to argue about opinions, as they are secure in their own beliefs—instead, they are more likely to let the subject go so they can focus on any similarities they may have.

7. They Avoid Being Negative About Others

Independent people are too busy getting on with their own lives to involve themselves in the lives of others. People who comment negatively on other people’s lives often have empty, dull lives themselves—someone who is independent would take the time to fill their own lives with joy and meaning, rather than bring others down.

8. They Don’t Let Impulse Rule Them

While everyone can be occasionally impulsive, independent people do not let impulses rule their lives. They try to remain in control of their lives at all times, so they understand the possible consequences of being impulsive. If the impulse could take away their independence—such as a financial risk—they may be less likely to go through with it.

9. They End Bad Relationships

From romantic relationships to friendships, independent people end any relationship that has become toxic. Independent people do not rely on many people, and negative actions from others will rarely deeply affect them—they will simply cut their losses and move on.

10. They Don’t Neglect Their Well-being

An essential part of being truly independent is being able to take care of your own physical and mental needs. Independent people try to ensure they get everything their body needs, from food and water to sleep and socializing. They don’t have to rely on other people to socialize, and their mom doesn’t need to remind them to eat their greens—they get it done anyway.

11. They Do Not Need Approval From Others

Independent thinkers trust their own judgement more than others, so they rarely ask others if they approve of their decisions. They trust that they had enough information to make an educated decision, and that itself is enough.

12. They Don’t Take Too Long To Make Decisions

If you are an independent thinker, you will see there are rarely any good reasons to put off making a decision—especially since they understand the decision is their choice and no one else’s. Independent thinkers assess all of the information available to them, and use it to make a reasonable and quick decision.

13. They Don’t Believe Every Question Has Been Answered

Independent thinkers are often naturally curious, and they don’t believe every question has been answered. They also believe some questions are too complex to be answered by a simple textbook explanation.

14. They Don’t Let Others Tell Them What Is Right

Independent people do not let society and other people tell them how to behave or what is right and wrong. Instead, they use all of the information available to them to make sure they can find the most accurate answer.

15. They Don’t Have Unrealistic Expectations

Having unrealistic expectations is a sure-fire way to end up feeling unhappy and dissatisfied. An important part of being a strong, independent person is to be realistic about your skills, abilities, and expectations—this way you can focus on achieving genuine personal goals.

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Wednesday, 29 April 2015

This Is How Steve Jobs Started and Changed the World

Steve_Jobs_Headshot

For years, Steve Jobs had a larger-than-life impact on the world of technology, design, music and other fields. Unlike some modern technology entrepreneurs, Steve Jobs took an unusual path to business success. Let’s consider some of the highlights of his story. For a more in-depth introduction to Jobs, I highly recommend reading “Steve Jobs” by Walter Isaacson. I am currently reading the book and have found it highly engaging (it is also my main source for this article).

Before Apple

In some ways, Jobs started in the right place and time to take best advantage of the digital revolution. Following his adoption by Paul Jobs and Clara Jobs, Steve Jobs grew up in Mountain View. In addition to gaining an appreciation of craftsmanship from his father, Jobs had countless experiences with HP engineers and others who resided in California at that time.

Jobs had an open mind about new ideas and a willingness to bring ideas together in unusual ways. At times, his experimental outlook frustrated those around him (e.g. his ever-changing and usually very strict diets). However, this approach also shaped his view of products. During his studies at Reed College and beyond, Jobs learned about calligraphy, Eastern religion, design and many other topics. Even though Jobs dropped out of college, he continued seeking out teachers (e.g. his 1974 trip to India) and mentors to help him grow his skills.

During the 1970s, Jobs was one of many people in California interested in designing new technology. While his Jobs’s partner and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak had expertise in engineering, Jobs understood the importance of building a consumer-friendly product. According to Walter Isaacson’s biography, Jobs was keen to build an integrated computer. This consumer-use focus continues to set Apple products apart from other products (e.g. the 1975 Altair device which Isaacson describes as: “just a $495 pile of parts that had to be soldered to a board that would then do little”, pg 59)

The Early Apple Years

Following some early success with building and selling electronics (e.g. the Blue Box  which made it possible to make free phone calls), Jobs and Wozniak began building computers. In 1975, Jobs presented the first computer to a group of technology hobbyists. It did not go well. As Isaacson puts it: “The audience was not very impressed. The Apple had a cut-rate microprocessor,” (pg 66) when Jobs presented an early computer to the Homebrew Computer Club. That early experience may be one of the reasons that Jobs became skeptical about market research and surveying potential customers.

Fortunately for us, Jobs was determined to sell his product and soon found customers. By the early 1980s, Apple Computer was a growing company. The Apple II computer was starting to sell well. During the 1980s, Jobs’s record was mixed. On the one hand, he was known for his outstanding dedication to product quality and often demanded improvements. Unfortunately, Jobs’s approach to work generated enemies. His erratic approach to work and dedication were major sources of project conflict in building and launching new products.

Looking back on his early years and return to Apple, Jobs’s excitement for technology changed the world. Apple computers have rightly earned recognition for excellence. The company’s reputation for outstanding design is one of his lasting legacies. In 2015, the newly released Apple Watch has won the 2015 iF Design Awards.

Steve Jobs Infographic by Anna Vital

Featured photo credit: How Steve Jobs Started: The Life of Apple’s Founder/Anna Vital via s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com

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10 Things You Can Do To Make The Most of Your Morning

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The morning should be a productive time, joyous and an important part of the day to make you become a better person. The morning is a vital part of the day. To make your mornings more inspiring and worthwhile, perhaps you have to consider some things you need to do to get the best out of it.

1.Start early

To get the best out of your mornings, it is best to start early. This means making the most of your previous evening and going to bed early. Resting well offers you more energy, productivity and clarity. You are also less stressed and less irritable.

2. Know and practice what triggers your most creative state

You cannot get the most out of your mornings if you really are not familiar with yourself. You have to know what makes your morning rituals easier to accomplish. This could mean what time you need to wake up and what position will set your creativity into motion.

Do you need to set your alarm clock or turn it off? Or do you need to set your easel, I-pod or running clothes next to your bed, or is it simply listening to a particular song? Find what will get your day in a perfect mode.

3. Imagine the perfect morning

Many people may not know this, but imagining how perfect your morning will be like tends to excite your senses and offers you the intensity to reach your goals for the morning.

So have a clear picture of how you want your morning to be like. Will you spend it having a hearty meal, taking a jog, reading a book, engaging with other family members or having a period of solitude?

4. Exercise

According to studies, people who engage in regular exercise are calmer, happier and better equipped to deal with the stress or anything the day throws at them. Integrating an exercise into your morning will boost your productivity and get you in the right mood for the day. It doesn’t have to be an intense physical activity, perhaps biking or taking a walk around your neighborhood or taking some yoga will be what you need to get your day going in the right direction.

5. Get through a plan

Have a morning schedule that is well mapped out to help you direct your energy positively. Have a detailed plan that has a time frame for getting your important morning tasks accomplished.

6. Prioritize

It is better not to crowd your morning with so many activities, but rather stock it with what is most important. This means prioritizing, and most times the arduous tasks may be what get your creativity going. Many successful people call this eating the frog first.

7. Manage your energy and time

Most times it is not simply about managing your time but managing your energy as well. Track what you do with your time and energy in the mornings. Make sure you are getting a return for the use of your time and energy. If what is unnecessary seems to envelope you and leaves you fatigue before the day begins, try rescheduling it for a latter part of the day.

 8. Eat right

Make sure you have a decent meal in the morning. This could mean eating healthy and avoiding fatty meals that would quickly burn out and set you up for a fatigued day. So eat right; try eating a diet consisting of proteins, carbs and fiber. Eat enough and make sure your food sets you up for the perfect day.

9. Dress well

Dressing right keeps you in a positive state to meet your day. It adds to your self-esteem and builds your confidence along the way.

10. Build a habit

Make sure what applies successfully for you should be repeated daily. It takes effort to build a habit and stay consistent with it. Yet the effort is worth it if you can keep up with it.

Featured photo credit: http://www.pixabay.com via pixabay.com

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5 Excellent Ways To Reward/Punish Yourself To Reach Goals

reward

We all know that we need goals in life. Getting them done, though, is hard. And beating yourself up because you’ve failed to reach another goal does not get you anywhere.

You need to learn how you can stack the cards in your favor and how you can take willpower out of the equation. When you know how to use rewards and punishments in the right way, it will seem as though reaching your goals is an inevitable outcome.

1. Treat yourself when you get it right

When trying to reach a goal you should aim to treat yourself every week.

You can probably break your big goal down into little milestones. You should try and reach milestone per week. The great thing about milestones is that it breaks down the goal and lets you know when you are on the right track. Every time you hit a milestone you should treat yourself.

The treat you give yourself does not have to be something massive. But it should be something that you really enjoy and look forward to. It is important that the weekly treat does not set you back in terms of your goal. If you’re looking to lose weight, it might not be a good idea to make your weekly goal a tub of ice cream, for example.

Having a weekly reward will provide you with a fresh burst of motivation each week. You’ll feel rejuvenated as a result of the treat and the small milestones will make progress seem easier.

2. Tell everyone about your plans

Nobody wants to fail in public. Public humiliation can be one of the most motivating factors ever when it comes to reaching our goals.

Mention to someone that you’re going after a big goal. Try and find someone who is going to give you a hard time should you fail. Someone who will make a comment or two when you’re failing and will let the rest of the world know too.

This might sound like a bad idea, but it can be really helpful. You do not want this person to spread the bad news. It will feel even better when you reach your goal and you can prove to them that you were capable of reaching your goal. Pick the right person and just watch how motivated you’re going to feel.

3. Place a bet

If there is one thing we all hate, it’s losing money. You can take advantage of this psychological quirk by placing a big bet with someone based on your goal.

A big bet often tends to vary depending on who you are and what your salary is. For most people, however, 2% of their yearly salary seems to be big enough. Set an end date for your goal and then get to work.

Make sure you and the other person included in the bet are clear on the terms.  Ensure that the each of you have an agreement based on how you’re going to measure this goal and its achievement.

4. Create your own consequences

Should you fail to reach a weekly milestone, you may want to put yourself through something that you really don’t like. This might take a little bit more effort when compared to everything else that has been mentioned, though it can still be helpful.

For some people, a cold shower might be the right kind of punishment for failing to reach a goal. Other people may decide that failure to reach a goal should result in them having to buy a gift for their least favorite person in the world. You could even consider donating to a charity you don’t like.

5. Have a friend support you

When it shooting for a goal, the support of a friend can really help. You should try and convince a good friend to reward you when you reach a goal.

This tends to work for a variety of reasons. Firstly, you do not want to let your friend down, and so will do everything you can to reach your goal. Secondly, you’ll work hard because you want the aforementioned reward once reach a goal. You’ll also have someone to talk to when the going gets tough.

Provided that you have a great friend who cares enough to stand by their word, this technique can be a real godsend.

A New You?

Reaching your goals can be hard, especially when you’re relying on willpower.

However, you now know of 5 ways in which you can reward and punish yourself, so that you end up reaching your goals. With these tactics, you shouldn’t ever have to worry again about failing because willpower held you back.

Featured photo credit: Coffee & Sweet Cake Break/FOODIE’S FEED (JAKUB K.) via picjumbo.com

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15 Great Time-Management Hacks For People Who Are In Their 30s

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Not everyone has problems with time. There are a lot of people out there who have absolutely no problems with managing their schedules and do all that on instinct. Well, we are not here to talk about them. They are probably mutants, and while we can respect them, we can’t really identify with them. Most of my friends, including me, are quite lost when it comes to our schedules and time management. Now, being that we are in our 20s, we are a bit worried about what happens when we pass that 29 mark and step into our 30s.

We all know that that’s when things get a bit more serious in life, so I decided to do a bit of research in order to see how people in their 30s handle their obligations and keep their schedules tight.

1. Prioritize your obligations

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It seems that when you are in your 30s, you really have to focus on getting things done in proper order, otherwise you might end up wasting your energy on less important things. If you do not prioritize and decide which tasks are important and which can wait, your work day is going to end up being much longer and, ultimately, less productive.

2. Adjust your schedule to fit you

People in their 20s are just starting their careers, in a lot of cases grabbing any job they can get their hands on and lack any real control over their schedules. The longer you work, though, the more control you have over your work and your schedule, meaning that you can adjust your work hours and schedule based on your personal preference. In your 30s, you know your job well and want to make progress; you don’t have the time to  be unproductive due to a schedule that doesn’t work for you.

3. Don’t sacrifice sleep

This one is universal, but it seems that younger people can handle much more sleep deprivation without losing so much of their focus and energy. Sure, it is difficult to do your job when you are tired, but the older you get, the less you can take it. If time management is problematic for you, you have to establish a healthy sleeping pattern so you can focus on finishing all your obligations on time.

4. Small things waste a lot of time

When we are younger, we are scared of big obligations and commitments like getting a job, getting married, leading a project, and similar things. People who have entered their 30s would probably trade the thousands of micro tasks that they have on their plate for your trepidation of big obligations. In order to keep your schedule clean and tidy, you are going to have to find a way to organize your day in such a way that you can get rid of those pesky little tasks in bulk.

5. Separate your workload into different types

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Juggling different types of obligations during your day can destroy your efficiency. The reason why this is so important to realize in your 30s has a lot to do with the fact that your outside-of-work obligations become more numerous. Mindless automatic tasks become more frequent, along with the creative and inspiring work that you do. If you wish to have some time to yourself at the end of your day, it might be smart to focus on one type of work first and then on the other in order to avoid adjusting to them each time you switch.

6. Always leave a little extra time

For one, kids are very unpredictable and can cost you more than a couple of minutes more than you expected. Parents are having more and more trouble keeping up with their kids. Still, even if you don’t have kids, keeping a schedule very tight can make the whole thing fall apart by forgetting to take care of just one item on it. Give yourself time to breathe in-between tasks.

7. Avoid dragging yesterday into today

People in their 30s know that if they bring some leftover tasks from the previous day, they are going to have one hell of a day the day after. Clean up your schedule if you want to have a normal schedule tomorrow. Things that drag on tend to destroy your carefully populated itinerary.

8. Separate big obligations into actionable chunks

Some tasks may seem like climbing a mountain. When a big task is put in front of a twenty year old, he/she will start despairing about how to handle something that big. People in their 30s are aware that things take time and that you need to take it step by step. Identify the small steps you will need to take in order to complete the tasks.

9. Keep your plans realistic

Another rookie mistake made by people in their 20s when it comes to time management is being overly ambitious and hyped when making a plan. No matter how motivated you are at the moment you are making your schedule, you need to be realistic about what you can actually accomplish, or you might end up in quite a mess, choosing the lesser evil tomorrow.

10. Use your work hours properly

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People in their 30s are, in most cases, married and have kids. You don’t have the time to tie up loose ends at home anymore by merely cutting into your leisure time. So keep fighting procrastination and do your work in due time.

11. Set deadlines

We can all plan things out, but unlike the vague, I’ll-do-it-when-I-get-to-it type of plans twenty-something people make, thirty-something people know that this is a sure way to get into a situation where you have more obligations than time and energy. Don’t just make a note that you need to do something, give yourself a deadline. It helps a lot. The first time I heard about this approach was when I was researching how to become a blogger. The most experienced bloggers advised setting deadlines for yourself, otherwise you might lose a battle to procrastination.

12. Stop thinking and start doing

Bruce Lee once said: “If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done.” People in their 20s tend to think about each and every individual thing and how it impacts their lives, and they should. People in their 30s are a bit more occupied and don’t have the time to contemplate the philosophical value of each and every task. Do it first, think about it later, if you have the time.

13. Don’t be a perfectionist

Not everything you do needs to be a work of art. Make things work, don’t do everything to provoke awe and admiration. This kind of perfectionistic approach is going to frustrate you and waste a bunch of your time and energy. This is important to realize in your 30s because your obligations are piling up, and you will not have the time to retain this kind of approach. Put in that extra effort when it matters, do a decent job when nothing more is required from you.

14. Ask for help on time

Bravado and all-nighters are reserved for amateurs and younger people. If you can’t manage to do something and you realize that you are going to fail to meet a deadline, ask for assistance on time! Thirty something people are experienced enough to know that asking for help is no big deal, but failing to meet the deadline can be.

15. Use the zone when you are in it

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Nobody is super productive all the time. However, when you hit that productivity sweet spot, try to manage as much as you can. The more you do now, the less you need to do later. Ride the wave for as long as you can so you can chill out later and take your time. These moments are not as common as we would like them to be, and if you are in your 30s, you should be aware of this and how much these moments can shave off your workload by now. Use them wisely!

I hope these were an eye-opening experience for you, as they were for me. There are tons more, but each schedule is different and generalizing tips can be quite dangerous. However, all of the above are pretty much universal for people in their 30s. Good luck!

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Tuesday, 28 April 2015

Checking Your Phone Before Bed Harms Health And Lowers Productivity

phone at night

In this crazy, hectic world we live in, it’s amazing how smartphones have taken over our lives. For many reasons, this is fantastic. Communication is immediate. Mobility is increased. Productivity is enhanced and the list of benefits goes on.

In fact, you are probably reading this post from your smartphone.

Having said the above, for the vast majority of us, these smartphones seem to be shooting us in the foot.

It seems we have moved from using smartphones as a tool that makes life easier to being addicted to a point of no control.

We use our smartphones and intimate family gatherings. We use them whilst driving. In meetings, we are on our smartphones instead of giving full attention to the meeting at hand. We use smartphones to text people in the same house but in separate rooms.

It seems even the most inconspicuous of habits, like being on your smartphone before you sleep, is bad for us.

Dr Dab Siege, a clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine, highlights the following about checking your smartphone before bed:

  • It reduces sleeping hours to five hours when the vast majority of society needs seven to nine hours of sleep
  • It impairs your memory
  • It reduces your ability to think through problems and solve them
  • It affects your metabolism, making it more likely that you will eat more and gain weight

So what exactly is the solution?

The simple, but difficult to implement solution is to shut off your smartphone at least an hour before going to bed.

It’s a simple solution. However, because habits are tough break, it may be difficult to implement. However, if you want to preserve your health and be more productive in your everyday life, I would highly advise that you implement the above.

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7 Steps To Own Your Morning And Seize Your Day

watching sunrise

How you start your day usually defines how your entire day will go. Do you want your day to be great? Then, you have to start it in a great way! Here are 7 steps you can do to seize your day by owning your morning:

1. Wake Up One Hour Earlier

First things first. To own your morning, you need to incorporate some activities into your life. Since your mornings are already as busy as they are, the only thing you can do to make room for new habits is to wake up at least an hour earlier.

Not to mention, waking up early is already a huge feat in itself! Waking up an hour earlier can give you a sense of achievement and fulfillment. It can give you a confidence boost and emotional lift as you start your day with an accomplishment.

2. Spend Your Best Time by Taking Stock of Yourself

The best time you have during the day is right after waking up. It is when your energy tank is still full and when other people have not yet pushed their agendas to you. By staking stock of yourself in the morning, you will have more energy to figure out waht you want out of your life and it usually lies in the deepest, purest, and “unadulterated” desires of your heart. You can pray or meditate in order to calm down and focus on the most important things.

Mark Twain said, “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.”

By praying or meditating, you can connect not only with the Divine, but also with yourself, your purpose, your mission, your own agenda, your own goals, your own dreams, your own heart, and the things that deeply matter to you. You are worth your best time.

Also, in stillness and quietness, you can affirm yourself and fill your mind and your heart with uplifting words and encouragement.

3. Write Down, Revisit, or Revise Your Long-term Goals

Feeling inspired and empowered yet? Don’t simply let the inspiration pass. Put them into writing. Write down your long-term goals and your lifelong dreams. Capture the deepest, purest, and “unadulterated” desires of your heart and have direction for your day and the rest of your life.

After writing down your goals and dreams, make it a habit to remind yourself of what you truly want to achieve in your life every morning. As you gain more clarity with your dreams and how you are going to achieve them, you can always revise or refine them and include some action plans on how you are going to make them a reality this year, next year, or even five to ten years from now.

As they say, “Never overestimate what you can do in a day. But, never underestimate what you can do in a year.” What more in a decade?

4. Set Your Daily Goals

No matter how great or how inspiring your goals and dreams are, you can work on them only one day at a time. Now is the only time you have. In order to make the most of your life, you have to make the most of each of your days.

Start by writing down the three most important tasks you need to accomplish for each day. A simple to-do list will do. Make sure they are aligned with the long-term goals and dreams you wrote in step three. When you have finally gotten used to finishing three tasks per day, you can increase the number of your important tasks to seven. If you increase it to more than seven, you might get too overwhelmed.

While vision and direction are in your long-term goals and dreams, action is in the present moment.

You can look back to the past with gratitude. You can look ahead to the future with hope. But, the present is the only moment you truly have to make things happen. Live one day at a time.

5. Sharpen Your Expertise

When you finally find your purpose, the one thing that you love to do and the one thing wherein you can make the greatest contribution, you have to keep improving at it. You have to keep developing your skills, increasing your knowledge, and mastering your craft. And the best time to do so is in the morning, when your mind is still fresh, alert, and open to new ideas. Not to mention, new ideas can excite you all throughout the day!

You can read periodicals, journals, and publications related to your industry. If you are a doctor, you can read about the latest in modern or even alternative medicine. If you are an architect or engineer, you can read about latest trends in exterior or interior design. If you are a business person, a subscription to a business magazine may prove extremely beneficial. Some self-help and thought-provoking books also work well for almost everyone.

6. Use Your Head Start and Start Acting

Planning, affirming yourself, and even sharpening your skills are great. But, they are useless if you will not take action and deliver results. Action trumps everything, every time!

You can also make use of the hour you wake up earlier to get a head start in your work. It feels good to start working when everyone else is just waking up. It feels better when you are already gaining momentum when everyone else is just coming in to work. And the best feeling in the world is finishing all your tasks when everyone else is just gaining momentum. Don’t waste the hour you wake up earlier but use a head start!

Not to mention, the silent moments in the office are usually the most productive. It’s a sacred feeling.

7. End a Vicious Cycle of Waking Up Late by Sleeping Early

The hardest step in owning your morning is actually waking up early. Whenever you wake up late, it already drains you of your energy, motivation, and confidence for the whole day and you end up dragging yourself to work. Then, when you cannot accomplish all your tasks in a single work day, you work overtime and pull an all-nighter. Then, it becomes a vicious cycle of sleeping late and waking up late.

First things first. Let go of all your backlogs and start anew. Sleep early tonight, so that you can wake up early tomorrow. Start with a clean slate! Besides, maybe your backlogs were not really important for you to keep deferring them anyway. Own your morning and seize your day by having a good night’s rest.

Your past does not define your future, but it sure is important when it comes to waking up early!

How about you? How do you own your morning and seize your day?

Featured photo credit: Watching Sunrise by whologwhy via flickr.com

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8 Ideas To Create Your Own Vision Board

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Imagine living a life you consider ideal and balanced. Sink into the desirable details of your job, your relationships and the hobbies you pursue. Revel in the fulfillment of your experience. What are you doing to make this exciting life happen? How is your future self different from you today? Paint a picture of all that you notice – colors, people, actions, places, feelings etc.

The process you just engaged in above is called visioning. This involves playing with our right brain to invoke creativity and imagination. It’s a process that often helps us get to the heart of what we desire, what holds value for us, and then prompts us into action from a space of aliveness and alignment.

Does it work for real? Of course!

Quoting a study from Psychology Today, “Mental imagery impacts many crucial cognitive processes in the brain… The brain is getting trained for actual performance during visualization. It’s been found that mental practices can enhance motivation, increase confidence and self-efficacy, improve motor performance, prime your brain for success, and increase states of flow.” Famous athletes like Tiger Woods, Muhammad Ali, and Jack Nicklaus are known to have employed visioning for their success.

A practice for making visioning more real is creating vision boards, which are representations of our goals and dreams. At their core, these boards are a collage of images, words, and phrases that capture your dreams. The intent of this collage is to make you feel truly giddy, inspiring you into focused action.

Vision boards that are created from the space of receptivity form when we are open to messages that come when we ask for what is waiting to take shape. These visions can be in the form of colors, feelings, words, or sensations. Such vision boards are highly spontaneous and intuitive. The second kind of vision boards are created from the space of intention, where we look into our deepest longings and actively engage in exploring, expressing, and representing these desires through different means. This is a form of manifestation.

Let’s look at what we can put on our vision boards that capture our dreams.

  1. Words have a mysterious way of impacting us. Whether the words describing feelings or echo states of being, they all evoke experiences we have had or wish to have. Look at magazines to cut out words which describe how you want to be or what you want to feel. You can even write them in big, bold, colorful letters. My favorites are ‘curiosity’, ‘flourishing’ and ‘gratitude.’
  1. Quotes are great sources of mindset formation and effectively express an idea or experience in its entirety. No matter what the context in which the words were originally said, the impact of a good quote is timeless. The readers make it their own. Choose quotes which give rise to intense and accurate thoughts that match the state/experience you wish to arrive at or those which encapsulate your journey. These can be from your role models, favorite authors, teachers, or even something out of a song! You can even add poems.
  1. Self-Affirmations are different from quotes since you write these on your own, for yourself. They are aimed at changing one’s worldview and undoing limiting beliefs. Research suggests that they can minimize anxiety, stress, and defensiveness associated with threats to our sense of self, while having positive neuro-psychological effects and keeping us open to improvement. Create affirmations which start with “I am..” and challenge beliefs about money, success, ability, and skill. Write affirmations which go beyond what you think is possible and change the ‘cannot’ to ‘can’. Here is a vision board that you might find useful.

    Source: http://ift.tt/1QHi3oU

  1. Art or Doodles created by you are one of the best ways to strengthen your desired states. Since it is you who is representing your vision through imagery, there is no better way of owning it. You don’t have to be skilled in art to create doodles. You just have to be willing to play! You can doodle your life map, or just use colors to intuitively express your feelings without form. Draw your future successful self, in your dream job or taking your dream vacation. And if you are game for a creative risk, doodle your favorite quote or your own affirmation.
  1. Pictures are a wonderful alternative to the doodles, since they can snap you out of any hesitancy you might feel towards drawing. Depending on the vision you are working at fulfilling, you can put up images of associated people who are successful and images which evoke feelings you wish to experience (gratitude, joy, love, celebration, etc.). You can also find pictures which are exactly similar to those you see in your imagination. If you wish to increase the challenge, you can have pictures representing different actions you will take.

    Source: http://ift.tt/1QHi1xu

  1. Souvenirs,as sources of inspiration, are highly potent. They can serve as reminders of your strengths, uniqueness, achievements, successful relationships, and positive associations. If there are souvenirs which you associate with the birth of a specific vision, those are the ones that must go on the board. You can have anything from name tags, appreciation notes, trinkets, key-chains, dry leaves, buttons, magnets, string lights, etc. The possibilities are endless. Just pick souvenirs which are pertinent.
  1. Goals and intentions form the basis of our visions. Put up the goals and intentions attached to your vision in creative ways. You can make an intention tree with the roots being the vision, the bark being your strengths, and the leaves being all the intentions you have to achieve the vision. You can also create a mixed media sun, with the large goal as the core and all possible actions as the rays.
  1. Lists can be fun if you make them so. Vision boards can include lists of gratitude, your bucket lists, motivational song lists, support system lists, and books to read for achieving the vision. List core practices or ideas, which help you step into the reality of your vision. Play with color, fonts, printing, or writing. The more vibrant you make it, the more appealing it will be.

Source: 3 Wishes Creation from Etsy.com

Vision boards are a work in progress and will evolve with your changing visions and dreams. But the best thing about this practice is that there is no wrong way to create a vision board. Remember, your vision board is a gift to you from your best self. So, it has the potential of being a deeply meditative experience as well. Filter out distractions, put on some calming music, and dive into the magic of visioning.

Featured photo credit: http://ift.tt/1GDJrP7 via cosmicwobble.wordpress.com

The post 8 Ideas To Create Your Own Vision Board appeared first on Lifehack.



An Infographic Of Useful Tips For All Types Of Learners

picjumbo.com_HNCK5027

We are all learners in different ways. Some of us are in schools, some in colleges and others are learning throughout life. Graduate schools and research facilities are making a bomb out of teaching things that we probably never learn. A learner often needs that extra push that could facilitate long-term retention and here, rote-learning is the first thing that we must abandon. In this infographic by Oxford Learning Centres, we only need to keep an eye out for what kind of learner we are and proceed according to the given tips.

Some of these are tidbits that we have known through the ages and Design Taxi addresses those here. Using colours to differentiate the important from the not-so-important and taking breaks are ideas that we have been familiar with since primary-school class-tests. The icons are able to point one towards what will help us most but using the other useful tips is also encouraged. We must understand that this will help us most when we use it according to our unique ways of learning.

A learner can  take the different modes of grasping visually, kinesthetically, verbally and auditorily. Taking notes and putting them around us can be a great help. And most of all, with our technologically adled minds, the best tip seems to be to remove ourselves from the clutches of phones and tablets. At least for the time being, when we are enthused to get some information into our brains.

It is crucial for a learner to have a study schedule and this is something that the infographic helps us with. While asking us to clock in those hours, rest and exercise are of equal import. And most importantly, all these tips are based on scientific research and resources, so we know that we are in good hands. Or let’s say, good ideas.

learner

No more floundering for learners

Featured photo credit: picjumbo.com via picjumbo.com

The post An Infographic Of Useful Tips For All Types Of Learners appeared first on Lifehack.



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