lifestyle

  Does afternoon feel like a better time to nap than work? Actually, some lifestyle experts say a 15- or 20-minute “power nap” after lunch isn’t a bad idea. If you’re afraid you’ll sleep the entire afternoon away, set the alarm on your watch. Here are some more tips to get you through that mid-afternoon slump: • Try to avoid foods like turkey and dairy products during the day. They’re rich in the amino acid tryptophan, which can cause sleepiness. • Take breaks. If you’re working on a huge project, you’ll be more productive and less tired if you take regular short breaks instead of relentlessly plowing ahead. • Drink water. Dehydration drains energy. Drink a glass of water in the morning and any other time you need a pick-me-up. • Eat complex carbs. A starchy snack like a bagel or banana will give you a quick energy boost. • Jog in place, stretch at your desk or go for a brisk walk. Moving around will get the blood flowing and carry oxygen to the tissues, so you’l...

  When we begin to feel lost or confused about various aspects of our lives, our first instinct is to search for direction. We feel sure that the answers we need are out there somewhere, and finding them will help us to know the right way to turn. While seeking advice and guidance from others can be helpful at times, it is not always the best way to help ourselves. Rather than relying on someone else to tell us our truth, we can instead choose to look within and find the answers inside ourselves. Each of us has been given the gift of an inner advisor that will never steer us wrong. This inner advisor is not pushy, however. He or she will not speak up unless we ask for help. When we finally open our hearts and minds to hear what our inner advisor has to say, the wisdom will begin to flow freely and our lives will begin to change for the better. So, how do we tap this wealth of wisdom? Is there a request form we need to fill out somewhere? No, it’s even easier than ...

  You have just purchased your next personal development program / book and now what do you do? They say only 10% of the people even get past the first CD/ Tape/ chapter, let alone finish. Would you like to know how to get at least 90% more from all of the personal development programs you have just purchased? And no, I won’t tell you to just listen to them 5 times. Yes, that would increase your results, but not as much as what I am going to share. Besides who has the time to listen to their programs 5 times? How about getting more out of the first time? Let’s say you are one of the few people that actually gets to the end of one of those personal development programs. How would you like to have a system to guarantee that you implement all the great stuff you just learned? How many times have you heard some really great ideas, only to find yourself 4 weeks later not applying any of it? Your first step is to setup a system to insure you actually finish the progra...

  A vital skill in becoming an effective communicator is the ability to listen. Listening skills are not taught in school, and sadly are largely undeveloped skill in many people. To listen effectively is a powerful skill that can be learnt and practiced. You will gain more respect and esteem through listening rather than through talking It’s funny how sometimes you associate a certain phrase with someone. I knew someone called Ray and what I remember about him the most was when he was listening to someone talk he would keep saying “I hear you” I would wonder whether he was saying that because he heard, but disagreed with what the person was saying, or if it was a noncommittal filler There is however a great difference between hearing and listening. Hearing refers to the physical dimension of the sound waves striking the ear and the brain processing them into meaningful information. Listening, however, involves far more than the hearing process. It incorporates pay...

  Everyone can agree on the fact that depression is a debilitating disease. What we can’t all seem to agree on however, is what this disease does to a person’s ability to think reason and perceive. The problem in coming to an agreement here lies in the many causes and physical reactions to depression. Common cause of depression include biochemical factors, severs stress, a sense of hopelessness, lack of sunlight and illogical thinking. The biochemical factors and sunlight are physical and environmental conditions that can be corrected with prescribed drugs or light exposure. What however can a person do about stress and feelings of hopelessness, and are these conditions causes of depression or symptoms of depression. It is within the confines of the medical profession that conversations such as this have raged for years. Some researchers believe that stress and feelings of overwhelming hopelessness are the causes of depression, while others believe they are sympt...

  Two commutes a day, ten a week, forty a month, about 440 times a year. If you commute 45 minutes to work, that is ninety minutes a day, 1,650 hours a year! You know those goals you’ve been meaning to achieve? Why not use this time to work on them! How you choose to use the time is as broad as your imagination. So much of our commuting time now is spent as a negative experience, that it drains us for other activities in our day. When we use our commuting time to benefit ourselves and make accomplishments, it not only will benefit us, but you will see positive impacts at work, home and play! Using the time to organize your day at work will help you to be more productive at work and less time will be spent away from home and play. The more you are able to achieve, the goals you have been putting off will no longer seem like clouds hanging over you, and will free you up to both mentally and physically. If you have things to do for the day call into the office (on ...

  You’ve probably heard the phrase, “Idle hands are the devil’s tools” — meaning if you don’t have something to keep you busy, you’re likely to get into trouble. That can be argued of course, since the intent to cause trouble probably has to be present also. However, the concept itself does hold some truth regarding what we create in our lives. If it’s true that we get back what we put out (into the universe), then it’s easy to see why “idle hands” would be a bad thing for us. Life on this planet is an exercise in creating our own reality. Moment to moment, we are making decisions. Whether we act or don’t act, we are putting forth our intent. Every action has a consequence, either good or bad. Remember the concept, “like attracts like.” Imagine that every bit of energy you put out is traveling the universe, gathering similar energy, and eventually being returned right back to you. It makes you think more carefully about what type of energy you are putting out ever...

 In affiliate marketing, there are many ways in which you can increase your earnings and maintain the account that you have worked so hard for already. Most of the techniques and tactics can be learned easily. No need to go anywhere and any further. They are available online, 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. One of the more important ways of increasing affiliate marketing bottom line and sale is through the use of product recommendations. Many marketers know that this is one of the most effective ways in promoting a certain product. If the customers or visitors trust you enough, then they will definitely trust your recommendations. Be very careful in using this approach, though. If you start promoting everything by recommendation, your credibility will actually wear thin. This is seen especially when recommendations are seemingly exaggerated and without much merit. Do not be afraid to mention things that you do not like about a given product or service. Rather than l...

  For thousands of years, physical disciplines like yoga, Tai Chi and Sufi Dancing have been said to increase mental and spiritual powers. If this is true, how might one explain this, and even better, how can we use this fact, practically, to enhance our lives as artists, business people, parents, and partners? First, we have to strip away the mysticism from the activity. Not that these activities have no esoteric aspect, but rather that we have to approach them on the most down-to-earth level. The higher the tree, the deeper the roots. The taller the building, the deeper the foundations. If you want to soar, be certain that your tether is strong. So we need to start with a simple, physiological explanation (if possible!) and then suggest a way that this ties in to advanced artistic accomplishment, relationship skills, intellectual clarity, and spiritual growth. My own enlightenment in this regard came from studying the work of Coach Scott Sonnon, the first Ameri...

  There are countless ways to quit smoking, and the majority of smokers have tried their hands at most of them. There is the old “cold turkey” standby that tends to send people into a painful period of withdrawal that eventually causes them to start smoking again. There are also the nicotine-based cessation programs like gum, patches, and lozenges. While many of these result in short-term success, they usually don’t help you quit smoking for good. Ultra-Herbal offers one of the safest and most effective ways to quit smoking on the market today: Nicocure. These all-natural patches are fully effective 97 percent of the time. Instead of releasing more of an addictive chemical into your system, Nicocure patches utilize a proprietary, all-natural formula to rid your body of its need for nicotine. Why try to break a nicotine habit by giving your body more of this dangerous chemical? Try Nicocure instead for a safe, all-natural alternative to those ineffective, nicotine-...

  Wealth, money, mansions, jewelry, yatch, personal airplane, parties, celebrations, holidays and all that money can buy. Money brings so much comfort and beauty to life, that it has become one of the most important factor in today’s world. Money is a great motivator. Without money nothing works. No food, no shelter and no clothes. Without money it is difficult to have friends. Family disowns you quickly if you have no money. If you have money , a lot of it, you will get as many friends as you wish. One great advantage of money is philanthropy. Let us find out more about money and your attitude about it. Few of us hate people with great wealth. They call them different names and truly speaking, they envy them. Does envy and calling names help? No. That is negative. Positive is to appreciate the qualities that could help them big money. Right attitude is to learn how to earn big money. The method of earning money and how to attract more of it. What to do that bring...

  The purpose of herpes support groups is to help you deal with the psychological aspect of herpes and provide information about treatments and research. People often write to me for support. They either feel ashamed, helpless, and dirty or just want the pain to go away. I do everything I can in my book Herpes Wise and on my website to tell people how to alleviate the physical pain, but I’m fully aware that I cannot provide psychological pain relief to all of my readers. That’s why I feel local herpes support groups are important. The International Herpes Alliance defines the role of a support group as an entity that can provide medical advice, refer patients to clinics and doctors and help people pass through different emotional stages. They say that for most people, genital herpes is a psychological disease, not a physical one. I must agree with that. People are afraid of herpes and often fear rejection. Some people just deny being affected by herpes. These are ...

  I am one of many people who are unfortunate enough to develop a speech impediment in childhood. This article describes why these impediments may occur and how I went about achieving fluency. For the purpose of this article, I concentrate on the speech impediment known as stuttering. There are many reasons why people may develop a stutter, it can be as a result of bullying from school, an over aggressive member of the family, a shock reaction to an event such as a car crash, or it could be passed down from another member of the family who has a stutter. I have met many people who stutter as I now help people to achieve fluency as a career. I always ask them to talk about how and why their stutter started. The reasons above are the type of answers I receive. Stuttering normally originates in childhood and nine out of ten people who stutter are men. Around 1% of the population has a stutter according to recent reports. I have now managed to beat my stutter which h...

  There are a variety of self improvement articles available nowadays. You may be thinking that this is one of those, obviously. What have you got to lose by reading one more self improvement article? When you came the 40-year stage in your life, you will suddenly realize many things. You get to ask yourself questions. How will it be when I get to the end of my life? How do I feel about the life I lived? Then someone gave you some self improvement articles while telling you that it is not yet too late. Does that mean anything to you? You bet it does. The feeling of anxiety that will come next is just normal. Then you will feel confused because life had felt so good. You were happy, had a successful marriage, two wonderful kids, and a job you reasonably enjoyed. What was my problem? It was your class ceiling. The “practical” and fear-based side that had convinced you all along that your passion and dreams had died. Here are top ten shifts in perspective that can hel...

  What exactly is Lateral thinking? For starters, it’s a word invented by Edward DeBono in 1967. At some point since then it became a part of the English language (it is in the Oxford English Dictionary and most others now). DeBono, on his official web site, says there are several ways to define it. Lateral thinking is a way of attacking problems from other angles, as opposed to the more traditional linear and logical ways. Debono uses chess as an example of where logic normally suffices, if the pieces are a given. Lateral thinking, however, acknowledges that in real life we mostly just assume the pieces are given, when really we need to change those pieces or look beyond them for the most useful solutions. Lateral Thinking Puzzles Enough with the definitions. Here are a few lateral thinking puzzles instead. These will give you a good feel for what the term means, and let you practice this “out of the box” kind of thinking. Two Coins Bill is on a raft in the oce...

  Mensa was founded in 1946, in England. The Mensa Society was formed specifically for intelligent individuals. The aim of Mensa was to create a non-political society free from all forms of racial or religious distinctions, that focussed on exceptional intelligence. All are welcomed into Mensa regardless of background, religion, socioeconomic condition, race, or age. In fact, on February 14, 2005 the Mensa confirmed that a three-year-old boy had become the youngest current member of Mensa. Toddler Mikhail Ali of Bramley, Leeds in the UK has an IQ of 137 a level of intelligence which puts him in the top 2% of the population for his age. A mensa spokeswoman confirmed Mikhail was its current youngest member and said the organization only has 30 members under the age of 10. Mikhail was three years and six weeks old when he joined Mensa. The organization’s youngest member ever was two years and 10 months old when he joined in the mid 1990’s. These records are a meaning...

  Narcissistic personality disorder is a personality disorder that is shown by having a grandiose state of mind in young adults. The number of people with this disorder is highly disputed with some theories stating that it can be as high as one percent of the population. However, most experts agree that this is not the case and the actual statistics are much lower. Narcissistic personality disorder is also disputed as the cause. There are two basic theories. One being that the disorder is caused by early trauma causing developmental disorders. Another theory is that it is learned behavior that has no basis in a clinical cause. If the origin of the disease is clinical in nature and caused by early developmental issues, the hope for treatment is not good. Because it is not a psychological issue and there are no known medical treatments for the disease, if it is a physical issue, there may not be anything or much that can be done to treat it. However, if the...

  Easy to identify, yet probably difficult to define, conceptualize, and measure what does self-confidence mean? One of the main requirements to success, happiness and reaching your goals is confidence. Having enormous self-confidence will also be useful in just about every part of your life. Lets get straight to the point you were not born with self-confidence, that is, self-confidence is not something innate this can be taught, nurtured and built over the years, at any stage in life. Confidence is the personal ownership of no one; the person who has it learns it and goes on learning. Your degree of confidence is truly the outcome of how you perceive yourself – which is eventually how people will perceive you. How people interrelate and respond to you is a reflection of how you perceive yourself. Therefore if you dont have a high degree of self-confidence or a huge deal of self-esteem then its mostly because you are concentrating on your negative traits and on wh...

  I recently began thinking about why I’m like this. Trust me, if you know me, you’d understand what I mean, and you’d probably agree that just knowing my family isn’t enough. I have two speeds. One is stop, one is go. I can’t work on one project, I have to have five. Of the twelve projects I have open, I’ll only finish seven. I don’t know which seven it will be, so I have to work on all twelve until I figure it out. I can’t settle on one thing I want to do. Right now I’m learning to podcast, walking in charity walks, and setting up teleseminars, while writing a book. My favorite person in history, after Amelia Earheart, is Leonardo da Vinci. Amelia Earheart is my favorite only because I was a little girl in the 1970s and female role models were rare; I’m not giving up my first idol. I like to think that if Leonardo were alive today, people would be calling him “weird,” encouraging him to “finish what you start,” and–my favorite–referring to him as “jack of all ...

  What is the value of “one great idea” on personal development? Priceless in my opinion. When I really look back at the things which have helped me with success and happiness, it really comes down to a few key ideas and concepts that just “clicked” at one point in my life. The funny thing is that a life changing concept for me will often be practically ignored when shared with another. Everyone is unique as to what concepts are most needed in their life, and their readiness to receive it. Each of us needs to find those ideas which are going to take us to the next level in our own personal development. And I believe there always is a next level. I don’t mean to diminish the importance of basic values, this is foundational to personal growth and happiness, and I believe having some spiritual beliefs is important here. But the key thing is that all these techniques such as affirmations, hypnosis, inspirational stories, motivational speeches, etc. only go so far. Rea...

  The level of spirituality we hold with ourselves is one way in which we establish some wellness of mind. Spirituality, on any level, is a way to cleanse the mind and refresh the soul. Wellness is not only about the mind, though. It is a state of our whole being. Wellness is a state of mind, body, and soul. Meditation is a good way to achieve wellness for your mind. It provides you with the opportunity to reflect on the inside, to relax, to regroup. It gives you a chance to listen to your inner voice without the clutter of life around you. Through the practices of spirituality and meditation, we have the capacity to maintain our minds as well as our bodies. The mind is a complex mechanism, and it can become overpowered and frazzled if we don’t give ourselves time to care for it. Our mind works through various stages of operation, known as brainwaves. As we pass through times of our day and activities therein, our brainwave activity changes. Through these varying...

  This article is a little different from some of the previous ones I’ve written about success principles. Let’s go back to when I was first starting out as an entrepreneur. In fact, I wasn’t even an entrepreneur yet. I was trying to become one. I’d been listening to tapes of Napoleon Hill’s ‘Your Right To Be Rich’ seminar…over and over and over. I listened day and night. As soon as I opened my eyes in the morning? Napoleon Hill. During the day? Napoleon Hill. While I slept? Napoleon Hill! It didn’t matter to me that I’d listened to it 5…10…20 times in a row. And this wasn’t a 1-hour CD either. It was 14 hours of only Napoleon Hill! Imagine what that’s like: wanting to succeed so badly that you’d be willing to listen to the same talk every day until you made a difference. Amazing. I completely saturated my consciousness with Dr. Hill’s message. After a few weeks, I reached a state where I no longer needed a motivational shot in the arm; I now had within me an ov...

  Be all you can be, but it’s not always in the Army. I often see myself as somewhat contented with my life the way things are, but of course it’s hard to think of anything else when where are real issues to be discussed. Still I aspire for something deeper and more meaningful. So we’re all pelted with problems. Honestly it shouldn’t even bother or even hinder us to becoming all we ought to be. Aspirations as kids should continue to live within us, even though it would be short-lived or as long as we could hold on to the dream. They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks… or can they? 1. What do I really want? The question of the ages. So many things you want to do with your life and so little time to even go about during the day. Find something that you are good at can help realize that small step towards improvement. Diligence is the key to know that it is worth it. 2. Should I really change? Today’s generation has taken another level of redefining ‘self’, o...

  “What Really Makes You Tick?” 10 questions you should ask to yourself: a preparation to self-improvement Be all you can be, but it’s not always in the Army. I often see myself as somewhat contented with my life the way things are, but of course it’s hard to think of anything else when where are real issues to be discussed. Still I aspire for something deeper and more meaningful. So we’re all pelted with problems. Honestly it shouldn’t even bother or even hinder us to becoming all we ought to be. Aspirations as kids should continue to live within us, even though it would be short-lived or as long as we could hold on to the dream. They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks… or can they? 1. What do I really want? The question of the ages. So many things you want to do with your life and so little time to even go about during the day. Find something that you are good at can help realize that small step towards improvement. Diligence is the key to know that it is...

  What do you do when your worries and anxieties overwhelm you? Here is a brief list of techniques that a person can use to help manage their worries and anxieties. Sometimes what we fear may happen can be overly exaggerated. A lot of times, our worrying can make the problem even worse. Remember that all the worrying in the world will not change anything. All you can do is to do your best each day, hope for the best, and when something does happen, take it in stride. A good way to manage your worry is to challenge your negative thinking with positive statements and realistic thinking. When encountering thoughts that make your fearful or anxious, challenge those thoughts by asking yourself questions that will maintain objectivity and common sense. I read that most of what we worry about never comes true. Instead of worrying about something that probably won’t happen, concentrate on what you are able to do. Everything else you can leave in the hands of God. When o...

  I recently watched a movie called, “The Promise”. So many little truths and realizations jumped out at me that I thought I would share some of them. In the movie, there wasn’t just one promise made, there were many. And as the movie progressed, I realized that there are often consequences to not keeping one’s word. The damage doesn’t just occur to oneself but also to the people who suffer loss from the broken word or promise. If someone promises something and does not follow through, then the individual who was counting on and put their faith in that person’s word learns mistrust. That lack of trust may extend beyond the person who broke the promise towards others as well. Following this logic, the health and structure of a society could be affected. Therefore, the lack of integrity is a double-edged sword. It cuts both the giver and the receiver. The giver of the promise will no longer be trusted and can no longer trade or work with the betrayed based on the ...

  There once was a happy monkey. He wandered through the jungle, happy to be alive. He stopped to eat delicious fruit when he was hungry, and resting when he was tired. One day he came upon a house, where he saw a bowl of the most beautiful apples. He took one in each hand and ran back into the forest. He sniffed the apples and smelled nothing. He tried to eat them, but hurt his teeth. They were made of wood. They appeared beautiful, however, and when the other monkeys saw them, he held onto them even tighter. He held his new wooden apples proudly as he wandered the jungle. They glistened red in the sun, and seemed perfect to him. He payed so much attention to them, that he didn’t even notice his growing hunger. A fruit tree reminded him. He squeezed the apples in his hands, and couldn’t bear to let go of them in order to reach for the real fruit. In fact, he couldn’t relax, either, if he was to defend his apples. A proud, but hungry and less happy monkey continu...

  Receiving is just as important as giving. It sets the flow of abundance and helps others to attract their good as well. When you refuse to ever receive you can be robbing someone else the chance to give. Science has even shown that your health may depend on your ability to receive. There are many reasons that people have for not receiving. They believe that: It is bad or selfish to receive They’ll feel guilty They may take from someone else There may be strings attached They will owe someone a favour, and hate to be in debt. What if they can’t return it. If you feel as that you have taken someone else’s good from them, you cannot do this. The Universal laws, when you are in harmony with them, are set to your advantage. You can have whatever you desire, as long as your integrity is in order. In many societies, the belief that we shouldn’t receive can start to reach extremes. There are people who can’t even receive a compliment or even a “thank you”. In their atte...

  Life is busy and it seems each year it just gets busier. Work, family, school, and other commitments just eat the day away and leave you with no time to sit back and relax. However, rest and relaxation is very important. In fact, getting enough rest is imperative to living a healthy lifestyle and when you do not relax and get enough sleep you are putting yourself at risk for illness as well as other side effects. Side Effects of Not Getting Enough Rest Believe it or not but the body needs enough rest each night to function properly. The amount of rest each individual needs every night differs, however the average adult needs approximately 7-8 hours of sleep each night to restore their body with the energy it needs to handle all of the demands of living each day. However, most individuals cut back on their sleep to pack more activities into their day. Unfortunately, this runs the body down allowing more viruses and diseases to attack the body because the immune s...

 Confucius said that the day you enjoy your work, would be the last day you ever worked. Another quotation you may say! However, quotes are mind triggers designed to set an attitude, a mindset, a culture. In simple words, using non corporate lingo, as a way of life! We use them as inspiration for self and others. The above was just a quote until recent times. This quote coupled with various experiences in the recent past led to a concept that inspired to write what you are about to read below. This concept will only make sense to you if you are willing to accept what is being said at face value. There is always an argument that you are different and that your ‘work’ cannot be made fun. If this is the mindset, guess what? You are right. Whether you think you can or cannot? in either case you are 100% right. Work is actually an art. It requires you to use the science but display it like art. Your work is a piece of art because no one else has the brush but you. You a...

  Even if your life is perfect and everything is running like clock work, one day you still may get into trouble or there will be a problem that you will not be able to solve yourself. What you do is call a friend, a person whom you can always rely on. He will never betray you and your secrets, never lie, never deceive. Once you have no way out and problems seem to surround you like enemies, your mind goes blank and the only desire you have is to hide your head in the sand and pretend that you don’t hear or see what is going on. And than he comes, the rescuer, a fresh mind and a strong hand to pull you out to the surface and help you to face your problems. But does your friend correspond to that description? You are surrounded by a lot of people daily, who claim to be your friends. You spend much time with them thinking of them as friends. But when it comes to help or advice they all seem to disappear, to evaporate suddenly after leaving you with a thousand made u...