Attaining Everlasting Happiness

Happiness is something we all could do with a little more of, but today’s fast-paced lifestyle of increased work stress and financial uncertainty has left many of us with a shortage of it.

We seem to spend massive amounts of effort worrying about the state of the economy, whether or not we’re got that big promotion and the price of gas, leaving little time to truly allow ourselves to be happy. However, a general increase in happiness could well be the answer to most of our worries…

Happiness and Positive Thought

Now, we’ve all heard of the power of positive thought made famous by The Secret. Well, scientifically speaking, there is truth to it. Keeping one’s brain happy with good, pleasurable thoughts, according to Dr Teresa Aubele of Florida State University, actually helps with our ability to be more productive and improves our cognitive abilities. Studies have shown that happier people are more creative, have increased problem solving abilities and are generally more productive. Oh, and are nicer to be around!

So, just how do we keep our brain happy? Well, it’s not as hard as you would think! Keeping a positive frame of mind will immediately increase your happiness. Spending time thinking negative thoughts and dwelling on past mistakes has been proven to drain your brain of energy.

By thinking positive thoughts we engage the part of the brain known as the Prefrontal Cortex. The prefrontal cortex is basically the epicentre of our emotions and the one place where we can control how we feel.

By keeping an optimistic, positive outlook we actually generate more serotonin, which in turns gives us that calming feeling of well-being. The moment we start so slip into a pessimistic frame of mind we actually stop ourselves from reaching our true potential. Neuroscientists have proven that a positive frame of mind increases activity in the prefrontal cortex. This increased activity is what drives us to complete our goals and reach the heights we wish to.

Professor Sonja Lyubomirsky, one of the world’s leading experts on happiness, talks about how the need for a positive outlook is essential to increasing, and maintaining, our happiness levels. Negative-minded people have been shown to spend time thinking of how they don’t match up to those around them, mulling over past mistakes and considering the things that could have been. This attitude not only hampers their happiness but decreases their chances of being successful in life.

Professor Lyubomirsky goes on to caution us about letting ourselves dwell on past failures. By allowing ourselves to continually relive the negative emotions tied to our own regrets, we lower our ability to be happy. It’s a proven fact that reliving past glories or triumphs can help motivate us and increase productivity, but the same can be said for negative experiences. While introspection and learning from our mistakes is a vital part of growing as person, we need to be careful we don’t allow ourselves to become too caught up in the emotions of negative events.

Decision making goes a long way to avoiding such regrets and it is here we can make a big step to ensuring lasting happiness. Be careful about making those snap decisions. Rather, take your time and consider them properly. Even those decision we feel have been unconsidered can be proven to be quite the opposite.

Take a situation like choosing one college over another. Perhaps you think you chose where to do a post-graduate degree almost on a whim but in fact it was a decision most-likely backed up by prior knowledge. This knowledge you could have accumulated through experiences such as interactions with other people or things you might have read.

With correct decision making and a positive outlook comes an increased level of happiness and productivity. This ultimately leads us to be more successful, which is something we all strive for. Wealth and happiness have always been thought to go hand-in-hand, with rich people cited as being the happiest of us all. This isn’t entirely the case.

Wealth and Happiness

Wealth and happiness really comes down to our basic needs. If, for example, you spend most of your life living close to the poverty line a sudden jump increase in wealth will massively increase your happiness. With this influx of money worries such as where the next meal is coming from, how to make rent or providing basic things for your family disappear. These basic needs are what control our happiness.

The increase in happiness due to wealth does scale down. If a financially comfortable person comes into more money, their level of happiness will rise but in a much smaller fashion. Money is something that can have a positive and negative effect on our happiness. Some extremely rich people have been found to be deeply unhappy. A lot of people set themselves financial goals but often find themselves a little surprised at how little reaching that goal impacted on their happiness.

It really comes down to how we use our wealth. Buying a bunch of fancy, new things will definitely give you an instant high. However, this happiness has no lasting value to it. The impact is more immediate but also peters out over time. Choosing more philanthropic ways to spend our money will immediately increase our levels of happiness.

Look at growing yourself as a person. Learn a new hobby or take up an interest that you’ve never done before. This will not only give you the satisfaction of learning a new skill or meeting new people, but it will give you something that can be enjoyed for a long period of time and sustain your happiness.

Also, look to contribute to those around you. A study was done with 4th, 5th and 6th grade students. Over four weeks they were told to do at least three acts of kindness or charity per day. Most of these acts occurred at home and outside of the school. However, the kids showed a marked increase in happiness as well as popularity at school. The effect of the charitable acts had a positive impact on all facets of their lives.

By connecting with other people and growing relationships we allow ourselves the opportunity to create bonds that will give us a lasting happiness instead of a quick once-off jolt like a new gadget or vacation. A happy life ultimately comes down to our frame of mind and by creating situations where we continually feed our happiness we can ensure that we have lasting happiness.

Article source : http://www.freeaffirmations.org/attaining-everlasting-happiness

Check Out These Great Personal Development Tips!

Developing yourself is essential to improving your life in both a mental and emotional level. In order to begin furthering your personal development, you need to be aware of the different personal development techniques and strategies available, and then you need to find ones that work for you. The article you are about to read will give you plenty of tips to get going on your personal development plan.

You will miss opportunities if you avoid making important decisions. You should not fear making decisions even if you do not feel as sure about it as you would like to be. Successful decisions evolve into good instincts. Even mistaken decisions are valuable because they provide instructive learning experiences. When you make the incorrect decision, learn from this, and make sure that it never happens again.

Know which values and characteristics are important to you before designing a program for personal development. Focusing on areas you don't value, doesn't make sense. Instead of this, you should focus your energy on the things that you want to develop that also go along with your own values. This is the best way to make long-term changes.

You should stay in great physical condition in order to get the best out of personal development. You can do this by getting a sufficient amount of sleep, exercising frequently, and maintaining a healthy diet. You will have more energy if you are in shape, and therefore will be more successful in your personal development efforts. It may seem easy, but it can be quite difficult to properly care for yourself.

Exercising is not only a way to lose weight. There are many reason you should do physical exercise. Exercising causes the release of endorphins that make you feel happier and less irritable.

One way to raise your self-esteem is to give other people compliments. Fighting this trend and complimenting others changes your mindset and makes you a kinder person.

Create a fund specifically for emergencies. It appears as though every time something unexpected happens, we charge more to our credit cards. Even if you can only save $10 per week, do so. It will come in really handy when something goes wrong. Having an emergency fund will prevent you from having to use credit cards to pay for unexpected expenses, which will save you a great deal in interest over the years.

Instead of talking about your accomplishments, ask some other people about some of the things they have accomplished and what they are most proud of. This will help you to remain humble while giving you a picture of how people around you operate.

As was stated in the above article, there are various ways to improve yourself as well, as what goes on in your life, by focusing on your personal development. Use the development ideas that you find most appropriate to your own situation. Who do you wish to become? Applying the advice from this article will most certainly help guide you to your personal development goals.

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Great Personal Development Tips That Are Easy To Follow

Make sure you know how to use personal development to your advantage. This article contains tips on how you can reach your personal development goals.

If you avoid making decisions, then you are denying yourself opportunities. You should not avoid decision making, even if you feel that you do not have all the information. Good instincts are the result of successful decisions. Even mistakes are valuable as they are instructive learning decisions. A wrong choice only ensures that your next choice will be better.

Remember to practice your core principles. Every person has beliefs that serve their core sense of self. Having a good foundation based on your core principles will benefit your sense of self esteem. Another bonus is the fact that doing so will encourage you to be steadfast in how you conduct your life, and that is something that will garner great respect.

Declaring lowliness is a crucial step in advancing in personal development. Understanding that you are a minute portion of the world will help you think about your level of knowledge. Once you see the bigger picture, you will be able to embrace everything that the world has to offer you.

Stay in top physical condition to maximize your personal development success. Make sure you are getting enough sleep, eating a healthy diet, and exercising on a regular schedule so that you have enough energy during the day, and you will find it will be a little easier to reach success. While it may sound simple, this is sometimes one of the most difficult things to do.

Instead of boasting about trophies, awards, and medals, try asking others about their achievements. You'll be able to find out about the wonderful things the people you know have accomplished, bringing about a new-found respect and admiration for them.

You must take care of yourself if you expect to do a good job caring for others. Whether you're just starting your personal development plan or are well down the road and regardless of whether you're succeeding or failing, you have to set aside time for yourself to rest, relax, and regroup.

Many people are unaware that diet can affect feelings of depression, as an increase in consumption of complex carbohydrates can help. If your complex carb intake is lower than recommended, your body won't produce enough serotonin. Increase your consumption of fresh fruits, raw vegetables, nuts, brown rice, assorted beans and whole grains to have a diet that is enriched in complex carbohydrates.

You only need to remember one key to live and lead a successful life. You need to make the choice to stay active in life, and not sit on the sidelines. If you act only as a spectator, no one will really pay attention to you, so be active!

Educating yourself is an important part of personal development. It is also important that you apply what you know. There are many different facets to self-improvement. You will be more self-assured once you implement the suggestions in this article.

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How to Reduce Stress – Take Charge of Your Life

There is a school of thought that believes that we live in concentric circles, going round and round.

The circle at the centre represents our goals.

When an individual makes a decision they step from one circle onto another, advancing toward the centre. There are many circles to traverse. Some may take longer than others.

By reading this article you have just taken a very important step toward your goal, simply – How to Reduce Stress

How to Reduce Stress Under Pressure?

You have hormones in your body that are released to enable you to deal with pressurized situations, sometimes referred to as fight or flight response .

Once the threat has passed, your hormones will usually return to normal.

Do you feel you are constantly in fight or fight mode? Do you feel anxious; have issues, or problems balancing your self-esteem?

Is everyday life an obstacle course of challenges?

So, What’s wrong with me? How do I tackle it?

It’s called stress. It’s not an illness, but this invisible affliction can cause some damage, especially at work.

With a few simple techniques you can break the cycle, recognize the signs and step away from the triggers of stress.

If every journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, you have just taken that step.

To Reduce Stress, Bring on the ZZZ’s

Let’s face it; if we don’t get enough sleep, then we won’t be in performance mode for work the next day.

You prepare for a good day by getting a well-earned rest, so why not do it properly. Pamper yourself. Give your body a treat.

A warming drink or a glass of milk and already you are informing your body to wind down.

Comfortable PJ’s, maybe even a bathrobe. Lower the lights. Get snugly with a book, but make it a note book and write all the stuff that’s bothering you. Don’t write a novel, but get most of your concerns down on one page.

This gets the unconscious to work way before you do. And as you prepare for sleep your physical self relaxes knowing everything is in hand.

Had Enough Sleep? Your body knows how to reduce stress

Note to self: if your alarm clock wakes you up, take a tip, you’re not getting enough sleep. When a person has enough sleep, they wake up before the alarm. Tomorrow night, go to bed earlier.

Smile and the whole world is a happy place

This may take some practice but it’s easy and free: Smile when you wake up. Greet your loved ones with a smile in the morning.

Such a small facial expression can change everything.

Smile at people on the train to work. Smile when someone opens the door for you. Do not be perturbed if people don’t return your smile, but have another little smile when they do.

Have a Sumptuous Breakfast to Reduce Stress

Breakfast means just that: breaking your fast of several hours without food. It is strange how many people skip breakfast.

Sustenance is crucial to your body in the morning. By eating well at breakfast performance is improved and energy levels are higher.

A good breakfast will power you through to lunch.

A bad breakfast will leave you feeling distracted, irritable and craving poor quality substitutes.

Note to self: There is a reason why people eat porridge. Foods rich in carbohydrates like oats maintain levels of serotonin, the chemical that has stress-relief properties.

Good, Now let’s go to work!

Now you are at work and as usual you have people clawing you for answers. Take a moment to yourself and identify what it is at work you do well.

Recognize the input you have and give yourself a pat on the back. Then, the next time someone asks you do a task you don’t have time for, politely say no. It won’t hurt as much as you think.

There are several ways to say no:

1. Sorry, I can’t schedule this for today  (I’m just too busy)
2. Please come back and discuss this in the morning. (It’s no now, but yes tomorrow)
3. I don’t have time, but I can show you how. (It’s your job. You should do it.)

Say it loud, say it proud

Note to self: Saying no may make you unpopular in the short term, but in the long term it will become a valuable asset.

At lunch time pick up the phone. Arrange some physical exercise. Mountain biking is a lot of fun; but not necessarily in terms of aerobic exercise.

Firstly you get a lot of sunshine (vitamin D), fresh air is obligatory and usually you will be amongst nature with friends.

These are all big stress release tools. If that does not suit, try picking up the tennis racket again. Testosterone keeps you motivated.

Don’t Forget to Breathe

Breathing is the simplest tool in your kit for relieving stress. Shut the office door, close your eyes for five minutes and focus on your breath. Do not think of this as meditation, just oxygenating your body.

Bullets:

• Eat and drink sensibly. Diet plays an important part in relieving stress.
• Maintain friendships: Just listening and talking to friends can make a huge difference, so make sure you devote time to nurturing your friendships.
• Exercise. The effects are immediate and uplifting. Exercise should be fun and sociable.
• Sleep works both physically and mentally, renewing energy both physically and mentally.
• A problem shared is a problem aired and is a top stress-buster. Don’t be afraid to ask for help from a friend, family member or from a professional.
• Take time out to do something for you and only for you, whatever your hobbies and interests, invest in some you-time.
• Your life does not have to revolve around work. Really. Nothing is more important than your health so take it easy.

Note to self: Time management involves setting your priorities in accordance to your goals. That includes allotting time for the things that matter.

Physical conditioning means preparing your body to cope with your daily schedule. Have the right amount of sleep, take the right kind of exercise and eat the right foods. Once every so often learn to say the word NO and don’t forget to smile.

How do you reduce stress?

Reducing stress basically starts with taking charge of your life. But is it easy? No, certainly but starting small and trying to incorporate every step into your lifestyle will put you on the right path. Do you agree? Do you follow any other methods?

Let me know in the comments section below!

Article source : http://beingchirpy.com/how-to-reduce-stress/

Making Personal Development Changes To Make You Happy

Are you attempting to live a life of higher quality? Following is some advice that can get you on the way to self help.

You will miss many opportunities to develop personally if you put off making decisions. Do not fear decisions that need to be made, even if you do not have all of the information that you need to be sure of the decision. Great decisions encourage sharp instincts. You will make the wrong decision sometimes. Use those mistakes as a chance to learn something new. Making a bad decision helps you make a better decision next time.

Determine what obstacles are blocking your path to success. This has proven to be an obstacle for a large number of people. To be successful at personal development, start by pinpointing any areas of weakness and target these areas for improvement. If you are successful in moving obstacles out of your way, you may find that your life's path is easier to navigate.

By being a leader, you can help improve your personal development. While there are many different ways to describe leadership, the most popular definition centers on the ability to influence others. Take a good look at your journey toward leadership. Which events in your life have most impacted who you have become? What aspects of your life did those events bring about? How did your leadership skills come into play during those events? It is through these questions that you can best determine your role in a team environment.

Compose a pep talk for yourself. Make a self-empowering post-it note or note card. Put this list up on a wall, or carry it with you. Even better, read it aloud on video and watch the video often. Why should you do this?

Always have an emergency fund. Each time an unexpected expense crops up, it seems we wind up adding it to our credit cards. However, you can protect yourself from this happening by depositing a few dollars into a savings account each week. You will be surprised at how quickly your emergency fund will increase. This fund can take the stress out of unexpected situations and can likewise help you to avoid piling up any more credit card debt.

Strive to make each day a bit better than the previous one. Set a goal of continuous improvement through steady efforts. Whatever you did yesterday, do it that much better today.

You cannot provide care for others unless you care for yourself. Be sure to rest, relax, and restore your own mind and body.

If you notice yourself struggling with the blues, try increasing the amount of complex carbs in your diet. Serotonin can lower if you don't eat enough carbs. A good way to increase your intake is by adding whole grains, beans, brown rice, nuts, fresh fruits and raw veggies to your diet.

In conclusion, living a better life may not be as difficult as you might think. Just think of all of the benefits it has to your overall well-being and all of the happiness you can provide yourself by taking charge and changing your life for the better.

About Guest Author : Tattoos were used to be for bad people, but not having a tattoo is no longer a bad thing. But for some people, real tattoo is not an option that is why they chose Temporary Tattoos. Different type of tattoos you can put on your body are Henna Temporary Tattoos. I am working at temporary tattoo online store. Please let me know if you have any question. Check out this website.

Self Help Tips That Will Make A Difference In Your Life

Do you want to live a more fulfilling life? Read this article for some tips on personal development.

Use your work time efficiently. One simple solution is to go on more breaks while you work. While this may sound odd, taking frequent breaks gives you time to relax and re-energize, so when you return to your work, you are more productive.

Put your core principles into practice. Your individual core beliefs are what support your sense of self. Use your faith in these principles to drive your faith in yourself. Best of all, following your beliefs encourages consistency, and this is a much desired character trait.

Accept your limitations before engaging in personal development. If you acknowledge you are tiny and unimportant in the world, it will cause you to realize the lack of knowledge you have. Once this idea gets instilled in your mind, you will want to know, understand and learn new things, therefore, improving yourself.

Create a personal development plan by determining what your personal values are. You will not be happy or motivated if your plan goes against what you believe in. Instead, work on aspects of your life you want to improve that mesh well with your individual beliefs. By spending your time in these specific areas, you can make the changes in the areas that matter and have these changes stick with you.

Don't think physical activity is only for when you want to lose a few pounds. There are a variety of great reasons to exercise. Exercising stimulates your body to produce all kinds of chemicals that ultimately result in a happier, calmer you.

It is impossible for you to properly care for the ones you love, unless you take care of yourself first. No matter how much progress you have made in your personal development, always make resting and restoring yourself a top priority.

Try talking to the pastor at your church, or a therapist; it can help. These people have lots of training and experience with this sort of thing. They are able to look into your life from the outside and analyze things you can't see. By speaking with a professional about your problems, you can lead a much healthier and enjoyable life.

Make sure you treat all people with respect, no matter who they are, how powerful they are or what benefits you can obtain from them. How you treat them reveals more about your own character, than it reveals about theirs.

If you suffer from anxiety, consider heading to a movie with a friend. You will be thrust into a busy setting and out of your comfort zone, but you will not have to excessively socialize with others. This will give you the chance to get acquainted with the idea of being around more people.

Focus on the things that you have determined are most important to you. Personal development involves focusing on the important things in life while allowing negativity and unimportant matters to drift past.

This article demonstrates that creating a newer, better life is a goal that is well within your reach. Remember all the advantages and happiness you are bringing yourself through these changes.

About Guest Author : Tattoos were used to be for bad people, but not having a tattoo is no longer a bad thing. But for some people, real tattoo is not an option that is why they chose Temporary Tattoos. Different type of tattoos you can put on your body are Henna Temporary Tattoos. I am working at temporary tattoo online store. Please let me know if you have any question. Check out this website.

Will Changing Careers Really Make You Happier?

Whenever things get bad at work, whenever your boss pisses you off or you have to sit through another pointless meeting, you allow yourself a little dream.

You dream about meaningful work and the autonomy to do it at your own pace.

You dream about working hard and playing hard and loving every moment of both.

You imagine disconnecting from your caffeine lifeline, because you’ll be so darn happy in your dream career (whatever it is), you’ll be bursting with energy and enthusiasm. The stress will be gone, along with the crankiness and fatigue.

Or will it?

You worry you’re just kidding yourself. Can the grass really be greener in a new career? Or are you destined to be unhappy and unfulfilled no matter where you go?

In my own career change, I found some things almost instantaneously became better. For example, as an introvert, working in a job that required me to attend meetings all day, every day was draining. When I switched to working from home, I instantly had the energy to reengage and enjoy my friends and family again. These days, I average a social get-together about once a week as opposed to once a month (or longer).

Other problems were maddeningly unchanged, or in some cases, got worse. My tendency to over-commit to projects, leading to suffocating feelings of being overwhelmed, were not aided by becoming my own boss. I was a lot less short-tempered than when I worked in a big bureaucracy, but I still experienced more stress than I wanted.

I realized that changing careers isn’t the fast track to outrunning your inner demons. But it can be just what you need to outsmart them. Let me explain …

How stress can set you free

One of my clients, who is studying to get her license as a new financial planner, told me she thought she’d made a terrible mistake.

She’s always been on the anxious side and changing careers had only made it worse. Could she really make it as a financial planner? The stress and worry were driving her crazy and she found herself longing for the easy predicability of her old job, the one she had been so desperate to leave.

And she wanted to know: was the stress a sign that she’d made the wrong choice?

I told her there was no way of knowing without doing. Studying for a licensing exam is in no way representative of the life of a financial planner.

Had she told me she was bored by the material I might have wondered. Had she told me she was shadowing a couple of financial planners and the process made her stomach turn, I would have been concerned.

But in fact, she was just experiencing anxiety while undergoing a major change in her life. I felt pretty comfortable saying that the stress she was experiencing was not only normal, it was exactly what she needed.

When you’re struggling to solve an inner conflict, the more pain you’re in, the closer you are to a solution.

Our instincts tell us to pull away from pain. If something’s hot, stop touching it. If something hurts, stop doing it.

But that doesn’t always work when we’re talking about “first world problems” like stress and a vague sense of unease. Sometimes what we need is a forcing function to figure out how to deal with the issue we’ve been avoiding.

I told my client that I can’t know if financial planning is right for her until she gets in there and gives it a shot.

But I know for certain that finding constructive ways to deal with stress and uncertainty will make her happier no matter what career she’s in.

Article Source : http://everydaybright.com/2013/01/is-it-you/