5 Ways To Reduce Stress And Find Joy And Be More Optimistic.

Stop paying attention to bad news. Get off the Internet. Read a book. Find the simple joys in life. Take in the cool crisp air of the morning. Don’t let the media influence your morning. Tune out. Find the beauty in life. Chop all the bad news out and you’ll find slices of joy you never knew existed!

Meditate. Find peace in the present moment. Learn to still your chattering mind.  There are so many ways to meditate these days. There is the traditional method of sitting still and paying attention to your outer breath.  Or download an app for your smart phone. I recently downloaded “ Meditation 4 Inner Wisdom” and loved its relaxing flow.

Don’t worry about stuff you can’t change. Work is incredibly demanding these days. Greece is falling apart. Winter is coming. I can either let these stressors roll around in my head like a mouse on a flywheel or pay attention to what I CAN change. What can you change in your life? Write it down and start making those changes. Let the rest of it go. Are you worrying about stuff you cannot change?  Let it go today and change what you have control over.

Exercise. I’ve been trying to lose 20 pounds with no results. I eat well but haven’t been eating fewer calories. Simple math. If I wish to continue to eat the same amount of calories I HAVE to exercise more. Today I got back on the elliptical running machine and did some weights. AND!!  And what? And exercise is one of the very best ways to reduce stress. It’s a double win! Let’s start an exercise routine today! One of the very best decisions you will have made, at any stage in your life.

Write your goals down. We constantly dream and plan in our heads. We stand around the water cooler and talk about living in a warmer climate, having more money or working in a dream career. Get those thoughts out of your head and onto paper! Make them concrete. Take the next step towards making them into reality. What is your biggest dream? What is the very next action you need to take to make your dream a reality? What is stopping you? Write it down today and write down the next step you need to take. Now you are on your way!!

Top 5 Goal Setting Tips

Be specific in your goals!

Study after study has proven the fact that creating and visualizing specific goals is much more motivating than vague ones. Lose 5 pounds next month is much clearer than” lose some weight”. Also a goal like “Paint the spare room on May 1^st” is not only more specific but makes you clear your calendar for that day.

Relate your goals to your amount of self control and your top priorities.

In the book Succeed by Heidi Grant Halvorson she mentions the fact that Barack Obama is having a hard time smoking and Oprah has a hard time staying thin.  The point is that we all have only so much self control. Oprah admits that her life is out of balance and that affects her weight.  I want to create another web site related to my business and IT expertise but when I get home I’m usually drained.  Decide where you will apply your self control because we all run out of steam. Our self control gets tired like a muscle being over trained and then our goals fail. What is your priority in life? What are your main goals? Maybe you can’t do them all.

Shape the world around you to reach your goals!

Our will power and goals are largely driven by our rational and emotional minds.  Our rational mind understands the positive effects of healthy eating habits and living a long life. Our emotional mind loves greasy or sweet foods that make us immediately happier during a miserable day.  To avoid using the mind shape the world around you. Do not buy sweets or greasy foods and bring them into the house. Have your money automatically go into a retirement account. Make it so you take away as much mind temptation as possible.  Shape the world around you.

Your habits rule 90% of your goals.

I eat 2 fruits and a small yogurt at 10:00 in the morning every work day. This is a very healthy snack and allows me to get in my daily fruit and avoid vending machines at work. To do this I shop at a fruit and vegetable market every Sunday morning. These are habits I’ve incorporated into my daily and weekly routines. If you set a life changing goal it will most likely create a life changing habit. Thus, losing weight, saving money, reducing weight or living your dream life will mean changing lifelong habits.  Decide what goals will turn into automatic habits and stick to them. Or you will fail over and over.  Decide on a couple of mini goals today! They will turn into great lifelong habits.

If you always fail at your goals get your ass kicked hard.

This website provides tools, tips and articles to help you make life changes. But I know from looking at statistics that most of you come in for a few minutes and then leave.  I’ve mentioned here that the $4.95 a month deluxe version of My Life Changes is cheaper than a MacDonald’s Happy Meal!  And this site has a ton of life changing information! But some of you prefer to pound back more hamburgers or cry in your mountain of debt.  It’s hard for me to kick your ass from here. So hire a coach. Why do you think Jillian Michaels of The Biggest Loser or Gordon Ramsey of Hell’s Kitchen are able to motivate people to lose huge amounts of weight or become world class chefs? Because they kick peoples ass and take them out of their comfort zone.  They make people realize their toughest goals can be met. Often they make people cry. Are you going to run to MacDonald’s now or cry in your bills again? Or are you going to do something about it? If not, go hire someone to kick you in the ass really hard.  You will need it.

Stop Complaining, Whining Or Making Lame Excuses And Start Living

I have been working incredibly hard to make meaningful life changes for years. I have changed my fundamental relationship with money (I wanted to be a millionaire by 30).I have settled into two challenging careers and am content with both. I have struggled with back issues but have more or less come to terms with this. I’ve tried to build deeper and more loving ties with family and friends.

We all have life changes we want to make. The biggest life change I’ve made BY FAR is to appreciate the fact that I’ve been given the privilege to live on this blue planet, which slowly twirls around in the middle of an infinite universe. Every single day I think about this. Everything else is insignificant. Lots of money, a powerful career or fame will not bring you a deep joy or heartfelt appreciation. If you think they will you are either incredibly ignorant or our consumer driven society has continued to suck you in and spit you out.

Go take a look up at the sky. It’s going to rain whether you like it. It WILL be cloudy some days (unless you live in Arizona). There is absolutely no point in wishing otherwise. You are just wasting energy and your time hoping for a change that is beyond your control. Learn to enjoy the day and whatever the planet serves up.

The sun will rise and it will set (it only hides behind the clouds). This has not changed since the beginning of time. Enjoy this day because you will never, ever see it again. It is May 09 2010 today. At midnight this day will have passed….forever. Are you going to enjoy it? Or are you going to spend time complaining, whining or making lame excuses?

Sometimes I sit in traffic and fume after some asshole that has cut me off. If he is driving a big Mercedes SUV I may get judgmental and hope something bad happens to him…or her. But in the end these silly incidents don’t matter. I just let it go. What really matters is that I’ve been born onto this beautiful planet and have had a few years to share it with many extraordinary living beings. And even though we are seriously fucking it up with oil spills and raping the forests, I’m eternally grateful for my time here.

I look out at the sky from my car window. I picture this magnificent blue planet circling the sun with a trillion stars winking all around. I remember how damn lucky I am to experience this miracle surrounding me. I feel a deep felt joy. I hope you learn to as well.

Make a life change to enjoy every waking moment you have here. It won’t cost you a cent.

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Lead A More Meaningful, Peaceful And Happy Life

3 Proven Ways You Can Radically Change Your Life

There have been some fascinating news articles written lately about why we become fat, happy (or not), and have possibly stopped thinking for ourselves. Here are a few excellent ways to change your life for the better. Also please see the links below.

Educate yourself (learn about evolution) and your brain

My own journey towards truth and happiness began by reading about human beings, their evolution throughout the ages and also how the brain works. Why is salt, television, and smoking so common yet so bad for us? One reason is because we have let media or our friends (I’ll explain this later) influence us. How much time do you spend watching television and are you benefiting from it? Are all those McDonalds commercials good for you? How often do you read a non-fiction book? Do you understand why you have bad habits and addictions? Maybe it is because the brain actually rewires itself and the neurons and connections actually strengthen inside the brain as habits and addictions strengthen. There is nothing more important than picking up a book and educating yourself. I’ll give you a great link to a few good books and article.

Turn off the TV and advertisements

Where do you get your ideas and beliefs from? Do you get them from the television or the Internet?  Maybe you are becoming fatter, unhappy or lonely because you have not bothered to learn the scientific facts about obesity, happiness and relationships? Perhaps we are looking for a quick fix from the Internet (including Google solutions) or television and have learned to stopped thinking for ourselves. So shut off unnecessary social influences and start reading a book and talking to your friends. Talking to your friends is tremendously important to you. Here is why.

Make friends with similar interests

I told my friend about my love of small MacDonald’s hamburgers. I don’t eat them often but when I do they sure are yummy. My friend calls them “candy”. I think he is right, it is just white bread, a small piece of meat and a few condiments. Those small burgers are a small tasty snack but with almost zero nutrition. Almost like candy right?  So I don’t eat them as often. Studies have proven that our social networks and friends have a huge influence on us. In one study when one person becomes very fat, the spouse’s risk will increase 37 percent. If a friend became obese the risk to another friend went up 171%! So you see how our social networks and friends can influence us? Our habits and happiness are directly related to our social networks. We are people. We need each other. So our friends may make us happy but can be very unhealthy for us. Good idea to start thinking for yourself a bit more?

Click on these link for a few good book recommendations and a great article.

How To Overcome Addictions

The Buddy System:How Medical Data Revealed Secret To Health And Happiness.

5 Crucial Steps Towards A Dream Life – The Cutting Edge Series

The cutting edge series is a series of articles aimed at waking individuals up. Life is too short to let it pass by and phenomenal success is just around the corner if you apply these principals.

See your dream in your mind.

See yourself living the dream. Feel yourself already successful. Taste it. Don’t ever doubt yourself until you take the next step. I used to buy the magazine Robb Report and pick out which luxury items I wanted.  Now you take action.

Actions speak louder than words.

No talking about life’s unfairness. No complaining. No excuses. Either you take action now or get off the pot. Whatever goal you have, start it right now. Take that first step. When I stared this website I wrote out a business plan. It brought my thoughts out on paper. The rest is history. If you don’t take action I or this website can’t do a freaking thing to help you.

Watch your actions turn into progress.

Now you see that first seed blossom and you are amazed, you know now that your dream is born. That first chapter of a book is drafted, the website template is chosen or you bought that building, and things are taking shape. What was fuzzy is now coming into sharp focus. Small successes are attained, each one sending a glimmer of possibilities into your mind.

See the possibilities

With your dream finding the finishing touches, you begin to see the big and small picture. You find your friends buying your product. Your first sales deposit cold hard cash into your brand new business account. You are on cloud nine. You realize that people care. They want your product or service. They actually take out their wallet out and pay you for it! All that hard work paid off and you have total faith in yourself now.

Keep refining

Learn from your mistakes and make the best damn product or service the world has seen. You have total faith in yourself now, remember? Nothing can stop you now. There is no mountain big enough that you can’t move. The future holds a bright future for you and your dream life has arrived. You are living it. Does it get any better?

Happiness and Awareness Are Coming To A Future Near You

We are not always aware of the world around us because our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors usually hijack our awareness. Once we overly identify with our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors we usually lose our awareness of ourselves and the world around us. Being aware means stepping out of this destructive cycle and realizing our true or greater nature. Our true nature is bigger than this. Stepping out of an emotional cycle creates a vast space in our mind, where we can experience our true selves and not the self created from our emotions. For example, “I am angry” turns into “I am experiencing anger.” Once we recognize this we can usually step away from any emotion and it eventually recedes instead of strengthening. Being aware (or living in the now) is a pure form of consciousness that can be particularly joyful and free ,which then eliminates our temptation to use past conditioning , blaming, or other negative behaviors that will most likely be destructive.

So happiness doesn’t always begin with a simple switch of attitude. Happiness begins with the realization that we can step away from the turbulence of the mind and just soak in the now with every fiber of our body. Staying in the now elevates us to experience this world as we were truly meant to as human beings. Staying in the now or being aware makes something as simple as a walk in the park a truly joyful experience. We feel the grass under foot, the sunshine warming our skin and the scent of flowers as we are meant to experience. It is actually a very simple concept and free to experience every moment of our lives. So wake up and look around you. You are not your emotions, thoughts or conditioning. You are free. Free to embrace each and every moment as you choose to.

Always, Always, Always Believe In Yourself

If you give a person the opportunity to shine, they will shine. Some of these American Idol contestants are just regular folk, with regular jobs and have now been given a huge stage to pour out their talent. Lee DeWyze worked selling paint, but onstage his singing talent spills out on us like a waterfall.

Unchecked emotion and pure passion constantly flows out of the guy. Isn’t it amazing that these Idols are just like you and me? The difference is that they have been given an opportunity to showcase their talent.

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