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!!

6 Factors Guaranteed To Promote Happiness

I’ve read at least two dozen books and written 56 articles related to happiness. Here are the top 6 factors (in order) which seem to always repeat. Think about making some life changes around them!

Nurture relationships

We are happiness when we are around our closest friends.  Close friends also provide much needed support and guidance in difficult times.

Nurture your health

Taking control of your body, be it meditation or exercise reduces stress, worry and promotes calm and positive emotions. Try taking a walk instead of having a drink after work.  Meditate in the morning instead of rushing out the door.

Express your gratitude

Appreciating life in general and all of its small gifts on a regular basis will always boost your happiness. Write out an appreciation audit (list everything you are grateful for) and go over it at least once a week. You will love this exercise and it will always bring you back to what is truly important in your life.

Be kind to others

Doing acts of kindness will lead to others to like and appreciate you more.  This will improve your social relationships. Kindness also increases confidence, optimism, compassion and promotes purpose and meaning in life.

Live In the present moment and find joy

Worrying about the future is prevalent in our information drenched society. Bad news saturates our day. Learn to live in the present moment and clear your mind of endless chatter. Yes….smell the flowers… find a sense of calm…. take in a beautiful morning.  Each morning I stand outside and take in the fresh air while marvelling at the sounds of the world waking up.  THEN I get in my car.

Devote yourself to a goal

Happy people find meaning and purpose in life through committing goals. We become more confident as we accomplish our goals. Finding a goal provides structure in our lives. Find a goal that will be personally rewarding and meaningful for you today!

Don’t Wait For Your Life To Change – Change it

Ric Elias: 3 things I learned while my plane crashed

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Attitude, Happiness And The Meaning Of Life.

We create our own reality in our minds.

The thoughts, dreams, aspirations, worries, excuses, justifications and chat in our mind determine our happiness.  We can directly identify with these thoughts and allow them to constantly sweep us away or we can grow from them, take action when required but choose to primarily live in the beauty of the current moment. The key take away here is “take action.” The world is infinite in its possibilities and each challenge requires an action.  Just worrying about something will not change your life. Deciding to take action and then moving back to the present moment with that action will. We are creatures of consciousness.  We can decide how our thoughts and then actions govern us. It is truly an amazing gift.

We get what we concentrate on.

Do you know what circumstances and issues are directing your life?  Are you overweight, lonely, addictive, in debt? Are these the circumstances affecting your current life?  Have you taken any action to address these? Where do you put your energies? Once this is clear, you can then decide where you need to focus your energies.  So stop worrying, put down the remote, clear your mind and decide once and for all what life changes you need to make.  And always live in the current moment. It is the only moment.  It is the moment of raw truth.

Never mind about the meaning of life.  What is the meaning of your life? Once that is clear you are ready to co-create the world with all your other fellow human beings. Just think about it. And then do it.

How to Live Your Life with Intense Purpose

Wandering around aimlessly from day to day provides absolutely no benefit to you or those around you. An unspecified purpose leaves you frustrated and lacking direction with everything you do.

If you don’t already know your purpose in life, take some time to reflect on what it may be. Then make sure everything you do lines up with this purpose.

Discover Your Purpose

In order to find your purpose, look at the things you love to do and what makes you tick. The trick is to figure out where you draw your internal energy from and where your gifts and talents are best used.

What do you do to recharge your batteries? What do you absolutely love to do? Take a little time to figure this out and then focus on it.

Choose Activities That Fulfill Your Purpose

Once you identify your purpose, look at the things you do on a day-to-day basis. Do these activities add to your purpose or take away from it? Everything you say, do, think and act on should complement your purpose and help fulfill you.

If it isn’t doing this, either drop the activity or delegate it to someone else.

An example of a purpose you might have is to provide a healthy and comfortable life for your partner and children. What types of activities do you think fall in line with this purpose? Let’s look at a few and see how they line up with your personal life purpose.

• Cooking. Cooking your own food allows you to be the top chef. You get to choose the ingredients in your food, rather than relying on some other person or company.

You can take out the salt, add flavor with herbs and spices, and reduce your portions to create something that fits within your family’s healthy lifestyle. Plus you’re saving money, which can be used for your children’s education or a family retreat.

• Cleaning. Keeping a clean house fulfills both the healthy and comfortable parts of your purpose. By doing things like dusting, washing dishes, and taking out the garbage, you’re staying healthy. Removing the clutter creates a more comfortable environment.

• Exercise. Exercising, along with activities like yoga and meditation, help keep your mind and body healthy and comfortable. These activities keep your weight down and make you feel better inside and out, which will also keep you strong for your family.

As you can see, each one of these activities adds to your purpose. Things that distract you from your purpose might include eating out excessively, living beyond your means, and even sitting around doing nothing all day.

Negative or unfulfilling activities can be exchanged for the ones that supercharge both you and your life purpose.

Live With Purpose at Work, Too

For your professional purpose, you might have a passion to plan social events for you and your coworkers.

You can accomplish this by volunteering for your company’s activities committee or being on a board that plans events and meetings. You can also start your own activity group and get things together for employee birthday parties in the office.

You can see how these ideas and actions fall directly in line with your passion and purpose. Obviously you still have to get your job done, but you can certainly use your free time to fulfill your purpose.

Once you’ve identified your purpose, I challenge you to live your life with intensity toward that purpose. Do everything you can to focus on your calling with the things you say, think and do. If it isn’t necessary or doesn’t align with your goals, let it go.

Living your life with intense purpose renews your passion for life and enables you to be the best you can be. It strengthens your self-confidence and, best of all, brings self-fulfillment. Find your purpose today, and give it all you’ve got!

What Is The Meaning Of Life?

I’ve placed heaps of stress on myself lately. The burning question is why? To what end is all this leading to? I have quantified most of my efforts with a quest for personal financial freedom, but what happens after that?

Then along comes a book called, Three Cups Of Tea.

This is one of the most inspirational books I’ve read. What Greg Mortenson has done to set up 61 schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan and bring radically different cultures together is more than what most governments have ever done.

This book also reinforces my philosophies that:

1. What is the meaning of life? We are all here to give something back.

2. It isn’t a God that makes this world a better place, it is people.

3. Education is the root of erasing ignorance.

4. People living with just the basics can be happier than the richest people in the world.

5. Living in harmony with nature is a key to saving the earth and all its inhabitants.

There is no point to my own self induced stress.  It is completely meaningless. It doesn’t mean that I should become a monk and live in a cave. It only means that having satisfied my basic human needs my greatest satisfactions will come from building meaningful relationships with family, friends and of course nature.

Once I have reached financial freedom I will give something back.

But interestingly enough perhaps I already have financial freedom. It’s all in my mind.

So now I will choose how I will give something back.  Because THAT in a nutshell – is the meaning of life.

What do you think the meaning of life is?