Impacts of Stress
Stress management is an essential step for you to take once you have determined you are facing stressful situations in your life, regardless of the cause. Although there are helpful types of stress that enables you to cater this added burst of energy into something positive and productive, it is not recommended for your body. Long term stress can specifically produce negative impacts on your health and is recognized to deteriorate your health faster than some other diseases.
Furthermore, stress can reduce your capacity to perform and function well, either at school or in the workplace. Therefore, stress isn't something to be dismissed. Aside from the personal impacts you can experience from stress, it also affects how you deal with the environment and the people in your lives.
Knowing Your Stress Level
When it comes to stress management, determining the source of stress is often not enough. For people who are often stressed, keeping a stress journal is highly recommended in order for you to monitor the different levels of stress you are experiencing and what effects it produced. This is an effective way for you to closely study your levels of stress, its triggers, and for you to pinpoint exactly what you can do to relieve yourself from it.
Starting on Stress Management
Now that you know the effects that stress can do to you, getting started on a stress management method is necessary. Managing your stress helps you regain control over your life, instead of being consumed by the amount of stress you had to deal with. Here's how you can get started:
• Determine what causes stress in your life.
• Think of ways that you can reduce that stress.
• Formulate your stress management technique for relieving stress.
Steps on Stress Management
One thing you need to keep in mind is that you cannot expect to totally get rid of stress. It is a process wherein your initial goal would be to reduce the amount of stress in your life until you eventually get rid of it.
The following ideas will help you establish a stress management method that could work for you:
• Improve your time management skills. Most of your stress in life are a result of your inability to squeeze in your plans within the time available to you. So, creating your schedule will enable you to achieve more in less time. When creating your schedule, put the most important items on top of your list.
• Study the way you react with stress. This requires your honesty to determine whether your own coping mechanisms are effective or not. If not, then look for other means.
• Take care of your body. This is often the most neglected aspect of stress management. Get enough rest and eat well. Your health is the most vital factor in stress management.
• Change your mindset. Oftentimes, stress is produced only by your mind. So, if that is the case with you, then adopting a new perspective might reduce your stress levels.
Benefits of Stress Management
If you cannot fully understand the importance of stress management, then try thinking in reverse. Imagine yourself not suffering from the negative impacts of stress. Without the negative results of stress in your life, then a person is able to enjoy a more satisfying and stress-free life.
To sum it up, here are the benefits that can be derived with practicing an efficient stress management method:
1. It improves your overall health status.
2. You are able to assume a more positive attitude and outlook in life.
3. It increases your productivity since you are able to focus clearly on your tasks.
4. You have better control over your emotions and how you respond to it.
5. And more importantly, you reduce or eliminate stress in your life.
Monday, 31 August 2009
Sunday, 9 August 2009
Emotional Quotient Trumps Intelligence Quotient
What makes EQ different from IQ? Where IQ measures your general intelligence, EQ measures your level of emotional intelligence. Basically, it is a sort of emotional inventory where you are given the weapon to better understand the world around you. It is the ability to sense and understand your emotions and the emotions of others as well. If you are highly aware of the feelings of people, you will be able to build long-lasting and beneficial relationships with the people in your life.
Emotional intelligence may be the greatest tool you can carry around. If you are highly mature about sensing feelings of others and adapting to people’s moods, you can assure yourself of success in practically every area in your life.
Have you ever noticed how some people become successful even if they don’t possess your traditional ideas of what intelligence is? It is because that person is emotionally stronger and more versatile. These are the people who are dynamic, the go-getters. If you are unsure whether emotions play a crucial role in your career, then imagine yourself being given the task to execute complicated yet highly rewarding projects. An assignment of this scope usually involves a lot of decision making. Your opportunity for growth now hinges on this one task, and making adept decisions calls for a calm and steady mind. Emotional flexibility helps you to adapt to these very demanding situations immediately. This is only when you’ll fully realize that emotional maturity and stability is that important!
In business, a high EQ improves performance. It can help you become more productive by improving your skills in decision making. You become a superior performer who people can highly count on. It’s being street smart, as some folks prefer to call it
Your emotional quotient, therefore, rests on your ability to understand others and relate effectively to them. When you’ll know how your actions can make an impact on others, it is easier to make a decision because you now know what not to do. You are able to build strong relationships, reduce stress, and motivate yourself and others to get the job done.
To increase your emotional intelligence, you have to become aware of your feelings and of how others will react to them. You also need to learn how to empathize. Put yourself in their shoes and try to understand the motives behind their actions. We know that our experiences shaped who we’ve become. And knowing that we have different experiences, we also value diversity. This is what makes each of us unique. Be grateful for these differences and celebrate your uniqueness as a person. When we become aware of how each of us was shaped, we become more understanding. Life, after all, is what we make of it.
To enjoy a good life, you have to be at peace with yourself and with the people that surround you. Stop finding faults. Instead, concentrate on how you can succeed despite these faults. And that is what emotional intelligence is all about!
Emotional intelligence may be the greatest tool you can carry around. If you are highly mature about sensing feelings of others and adapting to people’s moods, you can assure yourself of success in practically every area in your life.
Have you ever noticed how some people become successful even if they don’t possess your traditional ideas of what intelligence is? It is because that person is emotionally stronger and more versatile. These are the people who are dynamic, the go-getters. If you are unsure whether emotions play a crucial role in your career, then imagine yourself being given the task to execute complicated yet highly rewarding projects. An assignment of this scope usually involves a lot of decision making. Your opportunity for growth now hinges on this one task, and making adept decisions calls for a calm and steady mind. Emotional flexibility helps you to adapt to these very demanding situations immediately. This is only when you’ll fully realize that emotional maturity and stability is that important!
In business, a high EQ improves performance. It can help you become more productive by improving your skills in decision making. You become a superior performer who people can highly count on. It’s being street smart, as some folks prefer to call it
Your emotional quotient, therefore, rests on your ability to understand others and relate effectively to them. When you’ll know how your actions can make an impact on others, it is easier to make a decision because you now know what not to do. You are able to build strong relationships, reduce stress, and motivate yourself and others to get the job done.
To increase your emotional intelligence, you have to become aware of your feelings and of how others will react to them. You also need to learn how to empathize. Put yourself in their shoes and try to understand the motives behind their actions. We know that our experiences shaped who we’ve become. And knowing that we have different experiences, we also value diversity. This is what makes each of us unique. Be grateful for these differences and celebrate your uniqueness as a person. When we become aware of how each of us was shaped, we become more understanding. Life, after all, is what we make of it.
To enjoy a good life, you have to be at peace with yourself and with the people that surround you. Stop finding faults. Instead, concentrate on how you can succeed despite these faults. And that is what emotional intelligence is all about!
Saturday, 8 August 2009
How do we deal with people who take us downwards?
When we live, we get to encounter a number of people, but as it takes all kinds to build the world, there are just a few that are too testing to deal with. These are people we don’t like, and we try to evade them at all costs. Staying out of the range of their radar may be the correct answer, but there are also times where passing into that recognition sector is inevitable.
Sociable individuals emotionally raise up people and if there is disagreement, it by and large can simply be worked through. Whilst dealing with the awkward ones, however, it is essential to be able to differentiate between rights and responsibilities. Occasionally we feel indebted to adapt to them but we shouldn’t relinquish our civil rights as individuals either.
There are in addition those that we have to deal with out of responsibility. The best thing that we can do here is to not return the problems that person is giving. Treating them with esteem is crucial and we also must learn to pay attention to them as they air out their points of view. Doing this will help us better comprehend them. In addition, if we get to identify with them, we’ll be able to plan more with what to do and how to react.
Reality is, awkward people are more often than not those who have issues in their life. Disassociate the difficulty from the person and learn to see things dispassionately. After all, if this person is not overstepping the limits, they will also sooner or later see that we too merit admiration. Anybody with adequate logic should identify with this.
We also have to cease considering ourselves as sufferers of a situation. Blaming others for making us feel sad can only further harm us. It gives others a opening to access our emotions. Take accountability for how we feel, and work in the direction of a result rather than they get a psychological triumph over us.
We just can't alter other people. We can, though, influence ourselves to stop becoming affected. No one is worth this much energy and we don’t want to sweat over those who don’t merit our admiration. Deal with them like we ought to with work, and that is on no account to take it back home with us.
So, in dealing with people who get us down, we have to recognize that we cannot transform others, but can only modify ourselves. This could mean that we alter insight to the way we deal with the state of affairs.
It's always better to look into ourselves first and look at if it's us that require to make changes. We, as individuals, also have our own pet peeves and issues.
If that other person actually needs to change and is keen to make the modification, then we need to use positive pressure. There are delicate ways to transmit a communication through without making someone feel worse. There are those who will influence our life very unfavourably. But we can be an optimistic influence in someone else's life by letting go of what we cannot organize and doing our best to be accommodating instead. Mahatma Gandhi once said that we must be the change we want to see in the world. Let us serve as inspiration to many and be the encouraging influence. When we do this, we will little by little see ourselves bordered by only those we like and admire.
Sociable individuals emotionally raise up people and if there is disagreement, it by and large can simply be worked through. Whilst dealing with the awkward ones, however, it is essential to be able to differentiate between rights and responsibilities. Occasionally we feel indebted to adapt to them but we shouldn’t relinquish our civil rights as individuals either.
There are in addition those that we have to deal with out of responsibility. The best thing that we can do here is to not return the problems that person is giving. Treating them with esteem is crucial and we also must learn to pay attention to them as they air out their points of view. Doing this will help us better comprehend them. In addition, if we get to identify with them, we’ll be able to plan more with what to do and how to react.
Reality is, awkward people are more often than not those who have issues in their life. Disassociate the difficulty from the person and learn to see things dispassionately. After all, if this person is not overstepping the limits, they will also sooner or later see that we too merit admiration. Anybody with adequate logic should identify with this.
We also have to cease considering ourselves as sufferers of a situation. Blaming others for making us feel sad can only further harm us. It gives others a opening to access our emotions. Take accountability for how we feel, and work in the direction of a result rather than they get a psychological triumph over us.
We just can't alter other people. We can, though, influence ourselves to stop becoming affected. No one is worth this much energy and we don’t want to sweat over those who don’t merit our admiration. Deal with them like we ought to with work, and that is on no account to take it back home with us.
So, in dealing with people who get us down, we have to recognize that we cannot transform others, but can only modify ourselves. This could mean that we alter insight to the way we deal with the state of affairs.
It's always better to look into ourselves first and look at if it's us that require to make changes. We, as individuals, also have our own pet peeves and issues.
If that other person actually needs to change and is keen to make the modification, then we need to use positive pressure. There are delicate ways to transmit a communication through without making someone feel worse. There are those who will influence our life very unfavourably. But we can be an optimistic influence in someone else's life by letting go of what we cannot organize and doing our best to be accommodating instead. Mahatma Gandhi once said that we must be the change we want to see in the world. Let us serve as inspiration to many and be the encouraging influence. When we do this, we will little by little see ourselves bordered by only those we like and admire.
Sunday, 2 August 2009
Being the unsurpassed of who you know how to be
The phrase greatest is relative. A number of people believe that they grow to be better people once they’ve climbed the hierarchy of achievement and reached the pinnacle. Some, on the other hand, consider that a blissful family life will make them the finest that they can be. The word is in fact reliant on your aspirations in life. Admittedly, we all have diverse aims, and several of these aims may be harder to arrive at than the others.
No matter what our dreams are, we have to identify that we only get better when we become stronger. Becoming better, whether bodily, religiously, or emotionally, will, in turn, all depend on how we are as a human being.
To begin with, we have to learn to acknowledge who we are and what our limits are. We all have diverse talents and we require to identify what our function in life is so we can work on it. Our life’s experiences have formed who we’ve become, and since we have diverse experiences, we all have distinctive talents and abilities. Someone who grew up in unpleasantness may say that they have become more street-smart, a thriving person could boast of his business abilities, and a mother may say that she is quite adept at balancing her time at work and with her family. Whatever it is, we’ve learned to cope with life because we simply had to. And in our hard work to meet the entire burden positioned on us, we had to learn the ways in which we can meet the expectations that others have of us.
The drawback is that many people don’t want to acknowledge who they are and what they’ve become. They occasionally let their history influence them, as if they were embarrassed of the very factor that helped them turn out to be the person that they are. Living in ignominy is not a way to develop into our final selves. If we do, we will waste our lives trying to bury our real nature. That’s basically no way to live!
We should identify that there are just things we cannot alter. These things ought to educate us to be proud of whom we are. After all, when we go through great sadness, we come out of it packed with knowledge. We must share our tale, for the reason that at least we can say that we had it in us to achieve something in spite of the things that happened to us. We must be proudest of the things that we were once embarrassed of. I promise you, people will see us with admiration. They will identify us as a person who can do it. This is the utmost gift we can share.
Take a look at the world about you and get to know the most profitable individuals out there. You’ll soon realize that many of them were once self-centred individuals. They’ve become who they are for the reason that they learned from their mistakes, and they shared these mistakes with people so that others may learn from it. They’ve become the selfless gurus who desire to give leadership to those who want to become as profitable as they are. They’ve earned the admiration of millions of people, and we all could be just like them if we learn to acknowledge our mistakes and share our talents to those who need it. If things just worked this way, only then can we really say that it’s a magnificent planet.
No matter what our dreams are, we have to identify that we only get better when we become stronger. Becoming better, whether bodily, religiously, or emotionally, will, in turn, all depend on how we are as a human being.
To begin with, we have to learn to acknowledge who we are and what our limits are. We all have diverse talents and we require to identify what our function in life is so we can work on it. Our life’s experiences have formed who we’ve become, and since we have diverse experiences, we all have distinctive talents and abilities. Someone who grew up in unpleasantness may say that they have become more street-smart, a thriving person could boast of his business abilities, and a mother may say that she is quite adept at balancing her time at work and with her family. Whatever it is, we’ve learned to cope with life because we simply had to. And in our hard work to meet the entire burden positioned on us, we had to learn the ways in which we can meet the expectations that others have of us.
The drawback is that many people don’t want to acknowledge who they are and what they’ve become. They occasionally let their history influence them, as if they were embarrassed of the very factor that helped them turn out to be the person that they are. Living in ignominy is not a way to develop into our final selves. If we do, we will waste our lives trying to bury our real nature. That’s basically no way to live!
We should identify that there are just things we cannot alter. These things ought to educate us to be proud of whom we are. After all, when we go through great sadness, we come out of it packed with knowledge. We must share our tale, for the reason that at least we can say that we had it in us to achieve something in spite of the things that happened to us. We must be proudest of the things that we were once embarrassed of. I promise you, people will see us with admiration. They will identify us as a person who can do it. This is the utmost gift we can share.
Take a look at the world about you and get to know the most profitable individuals out there. You’ll soon realize that many of them were once self-centred individuals. They’ve become who they are for the reason that they learned from their mistakes, and they shared these mistakes with people so that others may learn from it. They’ve become the selfless gurus who desire to give leadership to those who want to become as profitable as they are. They’ve earned the admiration of millions of people, and we all could be just like them if we learn to acknowledge our mistakes and share our talents to those who need it. If things just worked this way, only then can we really say that it’s a magnificent planet.
Thursday, 30 July 2009
Leisure - time with no sound
If you adhere to a very active rota, as most people do, you at times just want to get away from it all. You’ll need time to recover and refresh whatever power you’ve spent. As the world gets smaller, the stress placed on you ironically increases. This inversely proportional association is what can amaze you. There may be days that you’ll feel unable to meet all the requirements and deadlines you have to finish. Through these disorderly times, you’ll need to take a pace back and take a moment’s respite.
To keep your sense, you should have a crib sheet of valuable tips that will help as your anchor. You undeniably will need time away from it all, a place where no noise and phone calls can cut short your peaceful feelings. Common sense dictates that you need to give your brain a possibility to unwind. Strategies may change, of course, because of varying interests. Some people favour watching TV over reading, while others feel the need to keep their hands occupied to help them slow down.
If you are an avid person who reads, decide on a book that gets you eager and keen. Self-help reads may come into play at this time. There are so many writers out there who are more than willing to share their ideas on how to unwind. All you need to do is go to your nearest bookstore and buy yourself a copy of one of these books. If, on the other hand, you enjoy daydreaming, then give yourself time to think of happy thoughts. Set a quota for yourself. A good suggestion would be to have at least three cheerful thoughts every day. You may perhaps think about your upcoming plans or happy moments. No matter what it may be, just make sure that these get you to once again stand up and face the day with a smile on your face.
The most fashionable tactic that people employ in this day and age is a massage. This is very much like meditating. These two things have been recognized to effectively unwind the muscles in your body. So, after a late night’s work, drive yourself to a spa and ask for a full body massage. Get yourself in the zone by thinking about your thoughts while someone soothes the kinks out of your muscles.
Some of you may find that doing all these is just about next to impractical, especially if you have a family to take care of. The ploy here is to be quick-witted. Try to produce your own tranquil spot in the house. Think about the best place for you. If you are creative enough, you’ll realize that there are hundreds of places you can think of. A drive to the store or picking a corner in the loft could be enough. The secret here is to plan in advance and pick a place where no one can invade it when you need that time on your own. I personally find myself looking forward to a drive to the shopping mall. Being on your own in the car helps me think about the things I want to do while listening to my preferred tunes.
We all have a place we identify as our own. The secret here is to be creative. These spots, however straightforward they may be, can be our very own secure little nook where we can simply lock ourselves away from the world as we go into paradise. This can be our very own dwelling, and no one else’s.
To keep your sense, you should have a crib sheet of valuable tips that will help as your anchor. You undeniably will need time away from it all, a place where no noise and phone calls can cut short your peaceful feelings. Common sense dictates that you need to give your brain a possibility to unwind. Strategies may change, of course, because of varying interests. Some people favour watching TV over reading, while others feel the need to keep their hands occupied to help them slow down.
If you are an avid person who reads, decide on a book that gets you eager and keen. Self-help reads may come into play at this time. There are so many writers out there who are more than willing to share their ideas on how to unwind. All you need to do is go to your nearest bookstore and buy yourself a copy of one of these books. If, on the other hand, you enjoy daydreaming, then give yourself time to think of happy thoughts. Set a quota for yourself. A good suggestion would be to have at least three cheerful thoughts every day. You may perhaps think about your upcoming plans or happy moments. No matter what it may be, just make sure that these get you to once again stand up and face the day with a smile on your face.
The most fashionable tactic that people employ in this day and age is a massage. This is very much like meditating. These two things have been recognized to effectively unwind the muscles in your body. So, after a late night’s work, drive yourself to a spa and ask for a full body massage. Get yourself in the zone by thinking about your thoughts while someone soothes the kinks out of your muscles.
Some of you may find that doing all these is just about next to impractical, especially if you have a family to take care of. The ploy here is to be quick-witted. Try to produce your own tranquil spot in the house. Think about the best place for you. If you are creative enough, you’ll realize that there are hundreds of places you can think of. A drive to the store or picking a corner in the loft could be enough. The secret here is to plan in advance and pick a place where no one can invade it when you need that time on your own. I personally find myself looking forward to a drive to the shopping mall. Being on your own in the car helps me think about the things I want to do while listening to my preferred tunes.
We all have a place we identify as our own. The secret here is to be creative. These spots, however straightforward they may be, can be our very own secure little nook where we can simply lock ourselves away from the world as we go into paradise. This can be our very own dwelling, and no one else’s.
Wednesday, 29 July 2009
What do we really want to do?
When we graduate high school and start choosing the course we want to take, most of us opt for something that covers a wider range of job opportunities. At 18, we sometimes don’t have a clear picture of what we want to be in the future. Our future endeavours are not always known at such a tender age. There are those lucky few, however, that already have a clear path in their minds. If we were to inherit a large sum of money, then this is not so much of an issue. Sadly, though, most of us have to work for bread to be able to survive in today’s cut-throat world. Then, we graduate and realize that we should have taken a different path. As much as we would like to back to school and study, we have to choose work above everything else. So, what happens to us? Not to fret because there may be a way to solve this dilemma.
Personality tests are becoming increasingly popular among people entering the workforce. These tests were intended to reveal the taker’s most desired career path. On the surface, this may sound like a great idea. We sometimes have dreams that are not in line with who we are. We should also give ourselves a chance to test the unknown. After all, our capabilities can’t be boxed and we can’t fully define our path to success by simply knowing who we are. We may have hidden strengths that may only reveal themselves when the need arises. Introverts may do well in a career in sales, and how are we to know what we can do unless we dabble in it.
It may sometimes appear that we’ll lead happier lives if we stick to our strengths and what we’re most comfortable with. Part of us will always remain unsatisfied when we limit our horizons out of fear or conformity. We might find ourselves waking up one day with a deep feeling of regret, and this is what we want to avoid at all costs.
Growing up, we’re completely dependent on our parents to meet our survival needs. Over time, we learn to cope with the demands life gives us. Our survival skills can only get us so far in the adult world. In most cases, the need to simply endure and carry on eventually wears thin, revealing the hidden chasm of anxiety.
We should not avoid the career that we want based solely on the need to get through day by day. We first must overcome our fears. We need to delve into something that fits our desires to a T. Courage is what is needed here. If we can’t afford to give up the benefits of enjoying monetary stability, we must find the time to start small. The World Wide Web offers so many opportunities to hone and develop our hidden strengths. As we gain the respect of the other people, we will find that job offers slowly start to trickle in. Take what we can and slowly start to let go of the other things that we don’t really enjoy. If we become vigilant about this, we will soon find ourselves doing what we exactly want.
And that, my friends, is the secret to getting our dream job!
Personality tests are becoming increasingly popular among people entering the workforce. These tests were intended to reveal the taker’s most desired career path. On the surface, this may sound like a great idea. We sometimes have dreams that are not in line with who we are. We should also give ourselves a chance to test the unknown. After all, our capabilities can’t be boxed and we can’t fully define our path to success by simply knowing who we are. We may have hidden strengths that may only reveal themselves when the need arises. Introverts may do well in a career in sales, and how are we to know what we can do unless we dabble in it.
It may sometimes appear that we’ll lead happier lives if we stick to our strengths and what we’re most comfortable with. Part of us will always remain unsatisfied when we limit our horizons out of fear or conformity. We might find ourselves waking up one day with a deep feeling of regret, and this is what we want to avoid at all costs.
Growing up, we’re completely dependent on our parents to meet our survival needs. Over time, we learn to cope with the demands life gives us. Our survival skills can only get us so far in the adult world. In most cases, the need to simply endure and carry on eventually wears thin, revealing the hidden chasm of anxiety.
We should not avoid the career that we want based solely on the need to get through day by day. We first must overcome our fears. We need to delve into something that fits our desires to a T. Courage is what is needed here. If we can’t afford to give up the benefits of enjoying monetary stability, we must find the time to start small. The World Wide Web offers so many opportunities to hone and develop our hidden strengths. As we gain the respect of the other people, we will find that job offers slowly start to trickle in. Take what we can and slowly start to let go of the other things that we don’t really enjoy. If we become vigilant about this, we will soon find ourselves doing what we exactly want.
And that, my friends, is the secret to getting our dream job!
Wednesday, 22 July 2009
Having fun with your free time
With the very hectic planet that we live in, it’s often challenging to squeeze in some quality time for ourselves. Some people toil vigorously and don’t get an adequate amount of rest for months at a time. If you look at data, the quantity of breakdowns experienced by people continues to increase. Why? It’s just because people have forgotten to take care of themselves. They work and take care of their duties thinking that they don’t need a break. They find that finishing a task is more urgent than giving themselves a moment’s rest. They continue to traipse through life, until one day, they basically give way and lose control.
I’m all for hard work and resolve. Triumph can only be attained if these two qualities are present. But we also need to know when to say that enough is enough. Our minds need to rest, or else it can fail us when we most need it. In fact, universities advise that students study ahead of time. Last minute cramming can lead to lack of sleep. On the day of the test, many of these students have had entire mental blackouts, instances where everything they read about and studied for just leaves their brain. Everything has basically flown out the window, and everything they’ve worked for has become controversial.
If there’s one way to take pleasure in life, it’s knowing the meaning of rest. We do want to comply with all our tasks. But we also need to learn how to enjoy life and relax in its distinctive moments, in case we fail to remember what we’re really here for. We are all blessed with friends and family. If we don’t give ourselves an adequate amount of time to spend with them, then we may as well watch all our relationships fall to pieces. No one wants this to happen to them. While many do go on holiday with their loved ones, they also take their work with them. This plainly isn’t quality time.
So, how do we really get to get pleasure from our spare time? Here are a few tips to follow:
Notify everybody at work so that they will know not to hassle you.
End what needs to be done and keep the pending items protected in a drawer.
• write down what you need to work on after you get back.
• know that your friends, family and loved ones are just as critical as your work.
• give yourself time to ponder on your life and work out ways in which you can balance the whole lot.
• keep yourself surrounded with friends during your spare time to decrease the likelihood of thinking about your responsibilities.
• learn how to put in order your life.
• learn to ask for help when you have trouble sorting something out.
The mainly crucial thing to identify here is that we’re not isolated. We have people we can count on, as long as we also know when to assist a person in need. Your friends are there to help you revitalize your spirit and keep you from breaking down. Living just seems less harsh when you have someone to lean on. Keep in mind, as we take pleasure in our spare time, we need not feel at fault. We basically are enjoying life and we are giving ourselves a possibility to revitalize and bring back the passion we have for work.
I’m all for hard work and resolve. Triumph can only be attained if these two qualities are present. But we also need to know when to say that enough is enough. Our minds need to rest, or else it can fail us when we most need it. In fact, universities advise that students study ahead of time. Last minute cramming can lead to lack of sleep. On the day of the test, many of these students have had entire mental blackouts, instances where everything they read about and studied for just leaves their brain. Everything has basically flown out the window, and everything they’ve worked for has become controversial.
If there’s one way to take pleasure in life, it’s knowing the meaning of rest. We do want to comply with all our tasks. But we also need to learn how to enjoy life and relax in its distinctive moments, in case we fail to remember what we’re really here for. We are all blessed with friends and family. If we don’t give ourselves an adequate amount of time to spend with them, then we may as well watch all our relationships fall to pieces. No one wants this to happen to them. While many do go on holiday with their loved ones, they also take their work with them. This plainly isn’t quality time.
So, how do we really get to get pleasure from our spare time? Here are a few tips to follow:
Notify everybody at work so that they will know not to hassle you.
End what needs to be done and keep the pending items protected in a drawer.
• write down what you need to work on after you get back.
• know that your friends, family and loved ones are just as critical as your work.
• give yourself time to ponder on your life and work out ways in which you can balance the whole lot.
• keep yourself surrounded with friends during your spare time to decrease the likelihood of thinking about your responsibilities.
• learn how to put in order your life.
• learn to ask for help when you have trouble sorting something out.
The mainly crucial thing to identify here is that we’re not isolated. We have people we can count on, as long as we also know when to assist a person in need. Your friends are there to help you revitalize your spirit and keep you from breaking down. Living just seems less harsh when you have someone to lean on. Keep in mind, as we take pleasure in our spare time, we need not feel at fault. We basically are enjoying life and we are giving ourselves a possibility to revitalize and bring back the passion we have for work.
Tuesday, 21 July 2009
The truth behind the law of attraction
Life forever has a way of working out. The current triumph of books like the secret and the law of attraction can praise the people's excitement to its escalation in sales. However, many too misunderstand the custom of this law. They've misconstrued the broad message of these books and have led themselves to believe that they simply have to sit back, relax, and think about what they yearn for with their lives.
As far as I’m concerned, I think that the law can just be put to good quality employ with action on our part. I do think that the cosmos works with us when we try hard to accomplish all our ideas. But, it can merely shove fortune towards our way. The rest is up to us, whether we decide to bump into it halfway or not. Taking into consideration all, no one rewards the idle.
If we made an inventory of all the successful individuals in this world, we'll realize that each of them went through hell and high water just to be where they are today. Whoever said that the path to success was easy couldn't have been further from the truth. In reality, to reach our goal, we'll have to ready ourselves with the hurdles we'll face along the way. It's now simply a question of how badly we want the dream to become a reality.
As go through the hole-ridden path, we sometimes will stumble along the way. We court failure when we have the kind of self-defeating attitude that leads us to believe that the more we'll fall, the harder it'll be to get back up. This is a shortcut to sabotaging our dreams. It's when we shift our focus to become pessimistic that we doom ourselves to failure.
Instead of thinking of what we don't want to happen, we should think of what we want. Putting words like don't or no in our statement is an indication of where our focus is, and that is in the negative. On the other hand, if we make claims about things that we yet have to achieve, this can also be seen as a lie.
Positive thinking is based on the belief we will get what we want and that we are in the process of fulfilling our dreams. We've all heard of the term self-fulfilling prophecy. It is in believing that good things will come to us because we've already started to fashion our lives according to our personal desires.
This article, in no way, claims that success can only be measured through our monetary achievement. Winning comes in all forms and in every aspect of our lives. Be it with our personal or career paths, we can only truly say that we've won if, at the end of the day, we go to sleep with a happy and content heart. We truly have to understand what the law of attraction is.
Simply put, it is accepting the fact that we can do what we want and that anything is possible if we work at it. Something good can happen to us today and the miracle is already set to unfold if we open the doors to opportunities that will make us happy.
As far as I’m concerned, I think that the law can just be put to good quality employ with action on our part. I do think that the cosmos works with us when we try hard to accomplish all our ideas. But, it can merely shove fortune towards our way. The rest is up to us, whether we decide to bump into it halfway or not. Taking into consideration all, no one rewards the idle.
If we made an inventory of all the successful individuals in this world, we'll realize that each of them went through hell and high water just to be where they are today. Whoever said that the path to success was easy couldn't have been further from the truth. In reality, to reach our goal, we'll have to ready ourselves with the hurdles we'll face along the way. It's now simply a question of how badly we want the dream to become a reality.
As go through the hole-ridden path, we sometimes will stumble along the way. We court failure when we have the kind of self-defeating attitude that leads us to believe that the more we'll fall, the harder it'll be to get back up. This is a shortcut to sabotaging our dreams. It's when we shift our focus to become pessimistic that we doom ourselves to failure.
Instead of thinking of what we don't want to happen, we should think of what we want. Putting words like don't or no in our statement is an indication of where our focus is, and that is in the negative. On the other hand, if we make claims about things that we yet have to achieve, this can also be seen as a lie.
Positive thinking is based on the belief we will get what we want and that we are in the process of fulfilling our dreams. We've all heard of the term self-fulfilling prophecy. It is in believing that good things will come to us because we've already started to fashion our lives according to our personal desires.
This article, in no way, claims that success can only be measured through our monetary achievement. Winning comes in all forms and in every aspect of our lives. Be it with our personal or career paths, we can only truly say that we've won if, at the end of the day, we go to sleep with a happy and content heart. We truly have to understand what the law of attraction is.
Simply put, it is accepting the fact that we can do what we want and that anything is possible if we work at it. Something good can happen to us today and the miracle is already set to unfold if we open the doors to opportunities that will make us happy.
Your life’s course
Ever notice yourself waking up one morning up full of gusto and force to chase your life’s ideas and then appreciate six months later on that you aren’t even one pace nearer to any of your goals? If you find yourself in this rut, then possibly it’s because you’ve been caught in a trap, the kind that is awkward to get out of. Where are you headed? You don’t know. Where have your ideas gone? On the back burner.
A good number of us don’t know our route in life. We live with so many ideas inside us but one way or another we keep finding ourselves finding excuses to delay the pursuit of our goals. We offer up so many excuses: bills to pay, family to take care of, work to finish, etc. Too many excuses and too many delaying tactics. In the end, when we see that we haven’t accomplished much, we have no one to blame but us. We don’t want to live life this way. But then, who does?
We get off route time and again, as most people do. We get too caught up in life’s little hindrances that we forget to live in the moment, to get pleasure from the now! The rationale for all the doubt may lie on the fact that our ideas are not as well-defined as we would want them to be. The question here, therefore, is focus. We must have clearness of thinking to know how we can complete what we want. We need a step-by-step idea that spells out what we have to do to get to the end. When we experience setbacks, we have to know how to deal with each of them. After all, nothing in life is exact. There are just things that are way away from our control, and if we live life going a step forward and then two steps back, we go further away from our ideas. The farther we go, the more unattainable it will seem to get what we want.
It’s also central to allow the state of affairs we’re in. We all live in unique environments and have various methods of coping with realism. The foremost thing is that we are in touch with the things that transpire around us. Knowing how our environs influence us will give us clues on what to do with the usual boundaries set on us. After that, we make a pledge to modify the circumstances we are in and to track our expansion on a regular basis.
We can sometimes fall flat on our faces and carry out social faux pas along the way. If this happens, just consider it’s not the end of the world. We get up, keep moving, and come up with an even better plan. We don’t need to be super heroes to avoid traps. What we need is an everlasting spirit to carry on despite mistakes. We have to be our own principal enthusiast, the person who cheers the loudest during game time. If not, who will trust in a person who doubts? Let us start chasing our dreams and stop running away from harsh certainty.
A good number of us don’t know our route in life. We live with so many ideas inside us but one way or another we keep finding ourselves finding excuses to delay the pursuit of our goals. We offer up so many excuses: bills to pay, family to take care of, work to finish, etc. Too many excuses and too many delaying tactics. In the end, when we see that we haven’t accomplished much, we have no one to blame but us. We don’t want to live life this way. But then, who does?
We get off route time and again, as most people do. We get too caught up in life’s little hindrances that we forget to live in the moment, to get pleasure from the now! The rationale for all the doubt may lie on the fact that our ideas are not as well-defined as we would want them to be. The question here, therefore, is focus. We must have clearness of thinking to know how we can complete what we want. We need a step-by-step idea that spells out what we have to do to get to the end. When we experience setbacks, we have to know how to deal with each of them. After all, nothing in life is exact. There are just things that are way away from our control, and if we live life going a step forward and then two steps back, we go further away from our ideas. The farther we go, the more unattainable it will seem to get what we want.
It’s also central to allow the state of affairs we’re in. We all live in unique environments and have various methods of coping with realism. The foremost thing is that we are in touch with the things that transpire around us. Knowing how our environs influence us will give us clues on what to do with the usual boundaries set on us. After that, we make a pledge to modify the circumstances we are in and to track our expansion on a regular basis.
We can sometimes fall flat on our faces and carry out social faux pas along the way. If this happens, just consider it’s not the end of the world. We get up, keep moving, and come up with an even better plan. We don’t need to be super heroes to avoid traps. What we need is an everlasting spirit to carry on despite mistakes. We have to be our own principal enthusiast, the person who cheers the loudest during game time. If not, who will trust in a person who doubts? Let us start chasing our dreams and stop running away from harsh certainty.
Tuesday, 7 July 2009
Tips for being creative in spite of your Workload
We all have goals that we want to achieve, dreams that we want to achieve. Our goals differ from each other, but reaching these may not be as easy as it looks. Yes, you have the perfect work attitude, and yes, also know how to prioritize. There are, however, some things in life that you just cannot control.
A sudden blackout may hinder you from completing your work, or an important family gathering may require you to let go of all your chores. What do you do when this time comes? Do you blame the things you cannot control for your failures? While this may be the easy way out, it is far from being right.
Life is made up of two types of people: the positive and the negative. The positive tend to win all the time because they also take responsibility for their failures by embracing them. The negative, on the other hand, simply walk away and point their finger at everyone but themselves.
How do you win in life? How do you become a productive person while being able to keep a very busy work schedule? The first thing you must know and accept is that you simply cannot win every time. It's what you do when you fail that counts. Here are some helpful tips to know and follow so that you can go through trials and misfortunes as smoothly as possible:
1. Don't blame other people for your failure - to blame them is to pass on your responsibilities. This is tantamount to throwing your arms up in the air and saying, “I give up!”
2. When problems arise, deal with them accordingly - plan what you need to do. Ask for help if you need to and let failures serve as lessons learned.
3. Never forget - remember what caused you to create the mistake in the first place. Keep these in mind and avoid situations wherein you'll be forced to make the same mistake twice.
4. Never let anything stop you - as you strive for success, there will always be hurdles to face. These hurdles simply slow you down, but that's all they will do.
5. Plan your life - make a careful schedule for each task to be done. No matter how many tasks there are, each undertaking achieved allows you to cross something off your list of things that have yet to be done.
6. Know that you are in control of your life - have a firmer grip on your responsibilities. Familiarize yourself with each objective and do research if you must. The more you know about something, the easier it will be for you navigate your way through it.
7. Think positive - this may be the most important thing you can ever do. Believe in yourself and in your abilities. You simply have to meet achievers to know that these people are the ones who believe in themselves the most. Success is not so much about talent, but more on the idea that with effort and an optimistic attitude, you can do most anything.
Productive people are those who know what they're doing. You can be one of them if you simply work on honing your talents and abilities. It's a matter of fine-tuning and letting yourself be more in touch with the aspects in your life.
Remember, nobody is excused from making mistakes. The fact is, every living person has made many of them. You simply have to figure out what you need to do to attain every single dream that you have.
A sudden blackout may hinder you from completing your work, or an important family gathering may require you to let go of all your chores. What do you do when this time comes? Do you blame the things you cannot control for your failures? While this may be the easy way out, it is far from being right.
Life is made up of two types of people: the positive and the negative. The positive tend to win all the time because they also take responsibility for their failures by embracing them. The negative, on the other hand, simply walk away and point their finger at everyone but themselves.
How do you win in life? How do you become a productive person while being able to keep a very busy work schedule? The first thing you must know and accept is that you simply cannot win every time. It's what you do when you fail that counts. Here are some helpful tips to know and follow so that you can go through trials and misfortunes as smoothly as possible:
1. Don't blame other people for your failure - to blame them is to pass on your responsibilities. This is tantamount to throwing your arms up in the air and saying, “I give up!”
2. When problems arise, deal with them accordingly - plan what you need to do. Ask for help if you need to and let failures serve as lessons learned.
3. Never forget - remember what caused you to create the mistake in the first place. Keep these in mind and avoid situations wherein you'll be forced to make the same mistake twice.
4. Never let anything stop you - as you strive for success, there will always be hurdles to face. These hurdles simply slow you down, but that's all they will do.
5. Plan your life - make a careful schedule for each task to be done. No matter how many tasks there are, each undertaking achieved allows you to cross something off your list of things that have yet to be done.
6. Know that you are in control of your life - have a firmer grip on your responsibilities. Familiarize yourself with each objective and do research if you must. The more you know about something, the easier it will be for you navigate your way through it.
7. Think positive - this may be the most important thing you can ever do. Believe in yourself and in your abilities. You simply have to meet achievers to know that these people are the ones who believe in themselves the most. Success is not so much about talent, but more on the idea that with effort and an optimistic attitude, you can do most anything.
Productive people are those who know what they're doing. You can be one of them if you simply work on honing your talents and abilities. It's a matter of fine-tuning and letting yourself be more in touch with the aspects in your life.
Remember, nobody is excused from making mistakes. The fact is, every living person has made many of them. You simply have to figure out what you need to do to attain every single dream that you have.
Monday, 6 July 2009
Control Stress on hectic Days
Feeling like a lead weight is on your shoulders is probably a very common feeling. With the busy lives we lead, we can't help but feel that there aren't enough hours during the day, as if the 24 hours that were allotted to us weren't enough to cover all our priorities.
We can all honestly say though that the overwhelming feeling of having too many things to do is, at some point, our own doing.
When it comes to work, you have to ask yourselves if it's all worth it. If your efforts bring a promise of triumph, then by all means, push yourself forward. Giving up is probably one of the biggest mistakes you can ever make when you strive to win. Every trial surpassed is a step closer to your goal.
Now, if you've made up your mind about going forward and overcoming all the hurdles, here are a few helpful tips that will make your mission easier:
1. Focus on what needs to be done - with the amount of work you still have to do, you need to know which elements are your priorities. Lower priority tasks can be rescheduled while you concentrate on the higher priority tasks.
2. Break down your schedule and allot a reasonable amount of time for each of the tasks - this applies more to the smaller tasks. While you cannot let go of and forget about the trivial matters, you only need to give a fraction of the overall time completing the less important chores.
3. Eliminate clutter - if you find yourself working in a chaotic environment, you will soon see that you also become less productive. Clutter distracts your mind, and if you need to clear the space before starting anything, then by all means, do so. In the end, you can concentrate better and finish your work faster.
4. Set goals - without goals, you simply drift through life like a fish that follows the current of the sea. Goals give you the adrenaline that you need to complete what needs to be done. Attaining your objectives will make you happy, and one way to get to this happy place is by working towards it.
5. Focus - make sure that you set up a corner in your house where there are fewer distractions. Don't give in to temptation and position your work station beside the television. Be strong, be firm, even with yourself.
6. Know when to pamper yourself - spoil yourself and give yourself small rewards. The gratifying portion of your day does not have to be elaborate. In fact, a simple neck message or a cup of herbal tea will do.
7. Ask for help - know that even the heroes in movies needed help at some point. For us normal people, we would most likely need it even more. Seek the advice of friends and know that you can also delegate tasks to the people in your life.
If you continue to stress about everything, your health is bound to fail. It's not a choice between your job and health. It's simply a matter of balance, in knowing when to say no and let go. If the amount of work reaches the point where your health and relationships are affected, then maybe it's high time to do sit down and consider rethinking what you're doing.
We can all honestly say though that the overwhelming feeling of having too many things to do is, at some point, our own doing.
When it comes to work, you have to ask yourselves if it's all worth it. If your efforts bring a promise of triumph, then by all means, push yourself forward. Giving up is probably one of the biggest mistakes you can ever make when you strive to win. Every trial surpassed is a step closer to your goal.
Now, if you've made up your mind about going forward and overcoming all the hurdles, here are a few helpful tips that will make your mission easier:
1. Focus on what needs to be done - with the amount of work you still have to do, you need to know which elements are your priorities. Lower priority tasks can be rescheduled while you concentrate on the higher priority tasks.
2. Break down your schedule and allot a reasonable amount of time for each of the tasks - this applies more to the smaller tasks. While you cannot let go of and forget about the trivial matters, you only need to give a fraction of the overall time completing the less important chores.
3. Eliminate clutter - if you find yourself working in a chaotic environment, you will soon see that you also become less productive. Clutter distracts your mind, and if you need to clear the space before starting anything, then by all means, do so. In the end, you can concentrate better and finish your work faster.
4. Set goals - without goals, you simply drift through life like a fish that follows the current of the sea. Goals give you the adrenaline that you need to complete what needs to be done. Attaining your objectives will make you happy, and one way to get to this happy place is by working towards it.
5. Focus - make sure that you set up a corner in your house where there are fewer distractions. Don't give in to temptation and position your work station beside the television. Be strong, be firm, even with yourself.
6. Know when to pamper yourself - spoil yourself and give yourself small rewards. The gratifying portion of your day does not have to be elaborate. In fact, a simple neck message or a cup of herbal tea will do.
7. Ask for help - know that even the heroes in movies needed help at some point. For us normal people, we would most likely need it even more. Seek the advice of friends and know that you can also delegate tasks to the people in your life.
If you continue to stress about everything, your health is bound to fail. It's not a choice between your job and health. It's simply a matter of balance, in knowing when to say no and let go. If the amount of work reaches the point where your health and relationships are affected, then maybe it's high time to do sit down and consider rethinking what you're doing.
Sunday, 5 July 2009
Motivation and Goal Setting
If you've ever worked in a corporate setting, particularly in a management position, you're no stranger to the idea of establishing goals and their importance to any business that practices management by objectives.
Even if you've never been in a position requiring you to define specific, measurable goals, you may not realize that every single day you've done so. Chances are, by not knowing you were actually setting goals, you were able to achieve them with far less analysis than accomplished through formal goal setting.
The variation between achieving formal goals versus informal goals is one of motivation. Quite often with formal goals, we may make progress towards our objective, but not have a clear understanding of the process required - and we often see a decline in our enthusiasm to continue or to continue effectively.
This is perhaps most often seen in group work environments, where one or two members of the group seem to "Get It", while others just sort of follow along, contributing as asked and simply waiting for others to ensure the goal is achieved at some hazy upcoming point.
Yet as individuals, we are often able to accomplish our own informal goals almost subconsciously. Each and every day of our lives, we plan, act upon and accomplish countless short-term goals, while simultaneously working towards longer-term goals, by establishing patterns of activity.
For example, you may get up a 6:00 AM each weekday, shower, dress, have breakfast and drive to your place of employment. Odds are you've done these thousands of times without giving it a second thought and yet, you are in fact achieving five goals every morning.
You're able to do this for several reasons - first of course, you understand the primary goal of getting to work on time each day at the task level. Next, your motivation for doing so no doubt includes the desire to avoid being fired for continued lateness. Another motivation is simply a need to demonstrate being a reliable member of the organization.
On a longer-term basis, we often plan for and follow through on everything from vacations and holidays to paying off our mortgages and other debts. Here again, we have plenty of stimulus to do these things and we do them subconsciously. And yet we often meet or exceed these goals with little or no effort.
What's most fascinating about this is that in our personal lives, we rarely use any complicated system to track and complete these tasks. No software, no systems and at best we might scribble down a reminder note to ourselves and stick it on the fridge.
If you really sit down and think about it, there's no reason why you could not apply the same approach to your business or work related goals. A task is a task, whether it has to meet with a teacher at 2 pm or having to ensure a critical order was placed and is being tracked.
If you can find your driving force for staying on top of things at the office as you do at home, you'll never again have any serious trouble meeting your business goals!
Even if you've never been in a position requiring you to define specific, measurable goals, you may not realize that every single day you've done so. Chances are, by not knowing you were actually setting goals, you were able to achieve them with far less analysis than accomplished through formal goal setting.
The variation between achieving formal goals versus informal goals is one of motivation. Quite often with formal goals, we may make progress towards our objective, but not have a clear understanding of the process required - and we often see a decline in our enthusiasm to continue or to continue effectively.
This is perhaps most often seen in group work environments, where one or two members of the group seem to "Get It", while others just sort of follow along, contributing as asked and simply waiting for others to ensure the goal is achieved at some hazy upcoming point.
Yet as individuals, we are often able to accomplish our own informal goals almost subconsciously. Each and every day of our lives, we plan, act upon and accomplish countless short-term goals, while simultaneously working towards longer-term goals, by establishing patterns of activity.
For example, you may get up a 6:00 AM each weekday, shower, dress, have breakfast and drive to your place of employment. Odds are you've done these thousands of times without giving it a second thought and yet, you are in fact achieving five goals every morning.
You're able to do this for several reasons - first of course, you understand the primary goal of getting to work on time each day at the task level. Next, your motivation for doing so no doubt includes the desire to avoid being fired for continued lateness. Another motivation is simply a need to demonstrate being a reliable member of the organization.
On a longer-term basis, we often plan for and follow through on everything from vacations and holidays to paying off our mortgages and other debts. Here again, we have plenty of stimulus to do these things and we do them subconsciously. And yet we often meet or exceed these goals with little or no effort.
What's most fascinating about this is that in our personal lives, we rarely use any complicated system to track and complete these tasks. No software, no systems and at best we might scribble down a reminder note to ourselves and stick it on the fridge.
If you really sit down and think about it, there's no reason why you could not apply the same approach to your business or work related goals. A task is a task, whether it has to meet with a teacher at 2 pm or having to ensure a critical order was placed and is being tracked.
If you can find your driving force for staying on top of things at the office as you do at home, you'll never again have any serious trouble meeting your business goals!
Saturday, 4 July 2009
Software for mind mapping
Mind mapping software is designed to aid in the somewhat complicated process of mind mapping. A mind map is a diagram used to represent ideas, words, tasks, or other items that are linked to and arranged around a central key word, idea or concept. Mind maps are used to structure, classify, visualize and generate ideas, and serve as an aid in problem solving, decision making, organization, study, and writing. As you can imagine, creating such a diagram by hand can be daunting to anyone new to mind mapping.
The cost of high quality mind mapping software starts at about $150, and many mind mapping programs have a free trial option. Two of the most highly rated and popular mind mapping software programs are iMindMap and NovaMind. If you want to get started right away, one of these two will likely meet your needs.
Buzan's iMindMap is designed by Tony Buzan who many consider the father of mind mapping. An obvious benefit of choosing iMindMap is that you are linked in to Buzan's techniques and innovations. For those unfamiliar with the process, there is flash movie explaining the concept. There are also a number of flash video tutorials explaining how to use the software. There are three editions of iMindMap: Elements, Professional and Ultimate. The software is compatible with Microsoft Office and Open Office.
NovaMind is another excellent example of quality mind mapping software. While you don't get the Tony Buzan stamp of approval, NovaMind does have some unique features not found in other programs. For instance, NovaMind is one of the only mind mapping software programs with a free layout mode where you can put branches anywhere you like. It also has rainbow colouring, an integrated branch suggestion system, and a special module for screenwriters. NovaMind also comes in three editions: Express, Pro, and Platinum.
The iMindMap and NovaMind mind mapping software both work on the Mac and Windows operating systems. You will find both systems workable and easy to use. The price structure is similar, so your choice will boil down to which features are more important to you as a user.
Before you purchase any mind mapping software, make sure that you first identify your needs. You should also consider your budget, and whether you can upgrade for a discount within the same family of programs. Once you've identified your needs you can start comparing the different mind mapping systems. Many programs come with a free trial which will greatly assist you in making an informed decision.
Most people who invest the time necessary to learn the mind mapping process become lifetime converts. Trying to accomplish the process on paper can be extremely frustrating and time-consuming. Good mind mapping software pays for itself very quickly in terms of saved time and frustration.
The cost of high quality mind mapping software starts at about $150, and many mind mapping programs have a free trial option. Two of the most highly rated and popular mind mapping software programs are iMindMap and NovaMind. If you want to get started right away, one of these two will likely meet your needs.
Buzan's iMindMap is designed by Tony Buzan who many consider the father of mind mapping. An obvious benefit of choosing iMindMap is that you are linked in to Buzan's techniques and innovations. For those unfamiliar with the process, there is flash movie explaining the concept. There are also a number of flash video tutorials explaining how to use the software. There are three editions of iMindMap: Elements, Professional and Ultimate. The software is compatible with Microsoft Office and Open Office.
NovaMind is another excellent example of quality mind mapping software. While you don't get the Tony Buzan stamp of approval, NovaMind does have some unique features not found in other programs. For instance, NovaMind is one of the only mind mapping software programs with a free layout mode where you can put branches anywhere you like. It also has rainbow colouring, an integrated branch suggestion system, and a special module for screenwriters. NovaMind also comes in three editions: Express, Pro, and Platinum.
The iMindMap and NovaMind mind mapping software both work on the Mac and Windows operating systems. You will find both systems workable and easy to use. The price structure is similar, so your choice will boil down to which features are more important to you as a user.
Before you purchase any mind mapping software, make sure that you first identify your needs. You should also consider your budget, and whether you can upgrade for a discount within the same family of programs. Once you've identified your needs you can start comparing the different mind mapping systems. Many programs come with a free trial which will greatly assist you in making an informed decision.
Most people who invest the time necessary to learn the mind mapping process become lifetime converts. Trying to accomplish the process on paper can be extremely frustrating and time-consuming. Good mind mapping software pays for itself very quickly in terms of saved time and frustration.
Wednesday, 1 July 2009
Positive Thinking Breeds Success
People can often be their own worst enemy, especially when they allow their negative feelings to create artificial barriers to achieving their goals, personally and professionally. We see this every day - person A begins talking enthusiastically about a new opportunity and immediately persons B and C shoot the idea down by focusing only on the negative outcomes that could potentially result.
In other cases they allow emotions like anger to cloud their judgment for no other reason than because they take everything that happens too personally. It's almost as if their egos won't allow them to miss an opportunity to get upset and start an argument. Coupled with a false sense of indignation they fail to realize that they are actually creating more barriers to resolving whatever the issue may have been in the first place.
While it's true in nature that opposites attract, in real life nothing could be further from the truth. Positive people tend to draw towards other optimistic people, and of course negative people cluster together like schools of baitfish. The difference between the two groups is that the optimistic ones tend to simply stroll through life knowing that whatever challenges they encounter they will quickly and easily overcome.
A good example of these behaviors is in reviewing two identical technical support requests with diametrically opposite results.
In the first case, the positive customer is experiencing a problem installing a piece of software. Quickly realizing that the problem is beyond their skill level, they call the support hotline confident that resolution to the issue will be forthcoming. They cheerfully and courteously explain the problem they are experiencing and patiently worked with the support staff to correct it, which happens in a mere 10 minutes.
In the second case the negative customer is experiencing a similar problem. Frustrated and angry they call the support hotline and immediately launch into a belligerent tirade about the quality of the product and the company that produced it. While the support staff attempts to help the customer, they quickly become frustrated at the customer's refusal to provide the needed information.
The customer insists upon escalating problem to a supervisor or manager where the tirade continues. After 45 minutes of arguing with various supervisors and managers and live no resolution in sight, the customer or threatens to sue or file legal complaints and hangs up without resolving the installation problem.
Optimistic people never worried about encountering problems with anything. They understand that things happen, more importantly they also understand that there is a solution out there somewhere. Their goal is to simply resolve the issue as quickly and efficiently as possible, which they know they will be able to do some way, somehow.
It's for this reason that those who think positively and optimistically are far more likely to be successful in both their business and personal lives. They can't help but know that everything is going to work out the way they expected to, if not even better.
In other cases they allow emotions like anger to cloud their judgment for no other reason than because they take everything that happens too personally. It's almost as if their egos won't allow them to miss an opportunity to get upset and start an argument. Coupled with a false sense of indignation they fail to realize that they are actually creating more barriers to resolving whatever the issue may have been in the first place.
While it's true in nature that opposites attract, in real life nothing could be further from the truth. Positive people tend to draw towards other optimistic people, and of course negative people cluster together like schools of baitfish. The difference between the two groups is that the optimistic ones tend to simply stroll through life knowing that whatever challenges they encounter they will quickly and easily overcome.
A good example of these behaviors is in reviewing two identical technical support requests with diametrically opposite results.
In the first case, the positive customer is experiencing a problem installing a piece of software. Quickly realizing that the problem is beyond their skill level, they call the support hotline confident that resolution to the issue will be forthcoming. They cheerfully and courteously explain the problem they are experiencing and patiently worked with the support staff to correct it, which happens in a mere 10 minutes.
In the second case the negative customer is experiencing a similar problem. Frustrated and angry they call the support hotline and immediately launch into a belligerent tirade about the quality of the product and the company that produced it. While the support staff attempts to help the customer, they quickly become frustrated at the customer's refusal to provide the needed information.
The customer insists upon escalating problem to a supervisor or manager where the tirade continues. After 45 minutes of arguing with various supervisors and managers and live no resolution in sight, the customer or threatens to sue or file legal complaints and hangs up without resolving the installation problem.
Optimistic people never worried about encountering problems with anything. They understand that things happen, more importantly they also understand that there is a solution out there somewhere. Their goal is to simply resolve the issue as quickly and efficiently as possible, which they know they will be able to do some way, somehow.
It's for this reason that those who think positively and optimistically are far more likely to be successful in both their business and personal lives. They can't help but know that everything is going to work out the way they expected to, if not even better.
Tuesday, 30 June 2009
Life Coach Training (How affordable?)
Anybody with the passion, the heart and the desire to help people can become a life coach. The problem though is that those qualities alone are not enough to qualify you as an effective life coach. You will also need training and mentoring. But life coach training resulting in a certification costs $3000 to $6000 on the average.
Let's assume you simply don't have that kind of money lying around. Does this mean your dream of becoming a life coach is over? Well, not quite. There are several ways you can make life coach training more affordable.
Scholarships
As in traditional colleges and universities, there are scholarships available to help you pursue your dreams of becoming a life coach. There are a number of companies willing to help you as long as you meet their qualifications and display the necessary level of desire and determination.
One approach you can take is with your current employer. You can inquire whether or not they have scholarships or other programs available that would meet your needs. Many companies offer incentives for their employees to further their education, especially if it's in an area that would benefit the company, such as life coaching.
If no such program currently exists in your company, you could suggest it to the appropriate department head or your supervisor. There are many companies that fund 100% of continuing education.
Another approach is to apply for a scholarship with the top coaching academies. One of these institutions is the International Coach Academy.
International Coach Academy is one of the top schools in the world for coach training. They provide top notch, affordable and accessible training. Their Certified Professional Coach Program is fully certified by the International Coach Federation. What may be of special interest to you is they offer a number of 50% scholarships for their program.
Find a Mentor
Another method of obtaining affordable life coach training is by finding a mentor. If you have the necessary desire and motivation, you can look for someone already working as a life coach who is willing to take you on as an apprentice. This may not be formal training but that doesn't necessarily mean that it will be less effective. Someone currently working in the life coaching field may well be a better teacher or trainer who has been in the classroom and isn't an actively practicing coach.
Of course it's going to require some work to find someone willing to become your mentor. You will need to gain their trust as well as demonstrate a high level of desire and determination to become a life coach. While you should attend some sort of formal training later to attain life coach certification, the lessons you will learn from studying under a personal mentor will likely prove to be far more valuable than anything you will learn in a classroom.
Self-Training
If you are unable to find a mentor or are unable to afford formal life coach training, then your last resort is going to be self training. One source of self training that is widely available is books. There are many books on the subject of life coaching, but you don't necessarily need to buy them yourself. Find the ones available through your local library and start with those.
Another good source of information is the internet. The information superhighway has an incredible amount of information on life coaching. Just make sure you exercise some caution on where you get your information. Choose sites that are credible sources of information regarding life coach training.
Let's assume you simply don't have that kind of money lying around. Does this mean your dream of becoming a life coach is over? Well, not quite. There are several ways you can make life coach training more affordable.
Scholarships
As in traditional colleges and universities, there are scholarships available to help you pursue your dreams of becoming a life coach. There are a number of companies willing to help you as long as you meet their qualifications and display the necessary level of desire and determination.
One approach you can take is with your current employer. You can inquire whether or not they have scholarships or other programs available that would meet your needs. Many companies offer incentives for their employees to further their education, especially if it's in an area that would benefit the company, such as life coaching.
If no such program currently exists in your company, you could suggest it to the appropriate department head or your supervisor. There are many companies that fund 100% of continuing education.
Another approach is to apply for a scholarship with the top coaching academies. One of these institutions is the International Coach Academy.
International Coach Academy is one of the top schools in the world for coach training. They provide top notch, affordable and accessible training. Their Certified Professional Coach Program is fully certified by the International Coach Federation. What may be of special interest to you is they offer a number of 50% scholarships for their program.
Find a Mentor
Another method of obtaining affordable life coach training is by finding a mentor. If you have the necessary desire and motivation, you can look for someone already working as a life coach who is willing to take you on as an apprentice. This may not be formal training but that doesn't necessarily mean that it will be less effective. Someone currently working in the life coaching field may well be a better teacher or trainer who has been in the classroom and isn't an actively practicing coach.
Of course it's going to require some work to find someone willing to become your mentor. You will need to gain their trust as well as demonstrate a high level of desire and determination to become a life coach. While you should attend some sort of formal training later to attain life coach certification, the lessons you will learn from studying under a personal mentor will likely prove to be far more valuable than anything you will learn in a classroom.
Self-Training
If you are unable to find a mentor or are unable to afford formal life coach training, then your last resort is going to be self training. One source of self training that is widely available is books. There are many books on the subject of life coaching, but you don't necessarily need to buy them yourself. Find the ones available through your local library and start with those.
Another good source of information is the internet. The information superhighway has an incredible amount of information on life coaching. Just make sure you exercise some caution on where you get your information. Choose sites that are credible sources of information regarding life coach training.
Task Management for Individual efficiency
Have you ever undertaken a large project, only to become overwhelmed at the sheer scope of time and effort required? If so, you're not alone - managing long-term, large-scale projects is a challenging prospect, even for those experienced at it. And then consider juggling three or four or even five or more at a time - for many people the mere thought of it is staggering.
And yet, as you look around your workplace, you can probably spot someone who seems to thrive on doing it and actually does it exceptionally well. And while that person may not seem to be any more intelligent or hardworking than you are, for some reason they embrace the challenge while you shy away from it.
The underlying difference between yourself and that person is simply this - they understand and practice a very simply concept - Task Management.
Regardless of the actual scope of work involved or the timeframe to completion, every project can be broken down into smaller, easily managed tasks that are readily completed over the short-term. As each task is completed, it contributes towards the completion of the project itself, in due time.
More often than not, each task itself can then be broken down into a fixed schedule, allowing you to steadily and consistently work at it over a number of days or weeks. Depending upon the type of task, it may even be possible to work on several tasks concurrently, by spending a relatively small amount of time on each, every day.
The watchwords of Task Management are diligence and consistency, but tempered with flexibility. A given task may need to be paused if it is dependent upon the completion of another task or an unexpected issue presents itself. With flexible scheduling and a willingness to adapt to these unforeseen barriers, the project itself will continue while you explore options to resolve them.
Those whom excel at project management do so because they are able work in such a way that each and every day they make some degree progress on one or more of the tasks involved. This may mean spending as little as 10 or 15 minutes per day or up to an hour on each task. At different milestones within the project, the amount of time spent each day will inevitably vary.
It is for this very reason that project managers are often able to take on multiple projects simultaneously and not become stressed over their workload. Managing several projects at once actually breaks up the monotony of working on one single thing at any given time. It provides a way for you to step back from each project for a short time and then resume it the next day with a fresh perspective.
While we can never lose sight of the overall project itself, by focusing on Task Management, careful scheduling and consistency in how we approach our work, we can easily increase our Personal Productivity without unduly frustrating ourselves or becoming stressed about our workload.
And yet, as you look around your workplace, you can probably spot someone who seems to thrive on doing it and actually does it exceptionally well. And while that person may not seem to be any more intelligent or hardworking than you are, for some reason they embrace the challenge while you shy away from it.
The underlying difference between yourself and that person is simply this - they understand and practice a very simply concept - Task Management.
Regardless of the actual scope of work involved or the timeframe to completion, every project can be broken down into smaller, easily managed tasks that are readily completed over the short-term. As each task is completed, it contributes towards the completion of the project itself, in due time.
More often than not, each task itself can then be broken down into a fixed schedule, allowing you to steadily and consistently work at it over a number of days or weeks. Depending upon the type of task, it may even be possible to work on several tasks concurrently, by spending a relatively small amount of time on each, every day.
The watchwords of Task Management are diligence and consistency, but tempered with flexibility. A given task may need to be paused if it is dependent upon the completion of another task or an unexpected issue presents itself. With flexible scheduling and a willingness to adapt to these unforeseen barriers, the project itself will continue while you explore options to resolve them.
Those whom excel at project management do so because they are able work in such a way that each and every day they make some degree progress on one or more of the tasks involved. This may mean spending as little as 10 or 15 minutes per day or up to an hour on each task. At different milestones within the project, the amount of time spent each day will inevitably vary.
It is for this very reason that project managers are often able to take on multiple projects simultaneously and not become stressed over their workload. Managing several projects at once actually breaks up the monotony of working on one single thing at any given time. It provides a way for you to step back from each project for a short time and then resume it the next day with a fresh perspective.
While we can never lose sight of the overall project itself, by focusing on Task Management, careful scheduling and consistency in how we approach our work, we can easily increase our Personal Productivity without unduly frustrating ourselves or becoming stressed about our workload.
Sunday, 28 June 2009
Becoming a Life trainer
If you like to help people and are a charismatic and energetic person, then life training might be a good career choice for you. Let's first explore what a life trainer is and does, then we'll go into more detail on the process of how to become a life trainer.
Life trainers help their clients discover what is most important to them, help them perform at optimum levels, and achieve what it is they most desire. They work one-on-one with their clients, either in person or over the phone, and help them set and achieve personal goals. Life trainers are not therapists or consultants.
Life train1ng evolved out of executive training, which itself drew on techniques developed in leadership training and management consulting. Life training also borrows from disciplines such as sociology, psychology, career counselling, mentoring and other types of counselling. Trainers may apply mentoring, behaviour modification, behaviour modelling, values assessment, goal-setting and other techniques in their practice.
Some say that life training is similar to psychotherapy, but without restrictions, oversight or regulation. The State legislature of Colorado disagreed, and ruled that training is unlike therapy because it does not focus on examining or diagnosing the past. Life training focuses on changing the client's current and future behaviour. Neither does life training delve into diagnosing mental illness or dysfunction.
According to a survey of training clients, "sounding board" and "motivator" were what they were looking for most in a trainer. The desire that their trainer “really listens to them and gives honest feedback." Time management, career and business are the top three areas in which the surveyed clients sought help.
Before travelling too far down the path to becoming a life trainer, you should first decide on a specialty or a focus for your practice. Besides the three areas already mentioned, you could also specialize in finance, health, relationships, career management or a variety of other areas. Decide on your specialty, then pursue further training in that field.
Next you should attend a life training seminar. This will give you a good overview of life training in general, and you will have the opportunity to see how trainers interact with people in the crowd. A seminar may have one or several speakers. Approach one of them after the event and ask how best to break into the field.
After attending a seminar, you should have a pretty good idea of whether or not becoming a life trainer is something you really want to pursue. You want to be sure of that before you invest your time and money into life trainer training.
There are hundreds of training programs that range from $100 home study programs, to $15,000 two year life trainer certification. The value and cost of life trainer training varies widely and is something you should research thoroughly. The most comprehensive list of training courses and schools can be found at www.peer.ca/coachingschools.html
It is important that you pursue a program of instruction that results in accreditation. Without a training credential you will have a difficult time convincing potential clients that you are the real deal.
You are now armed with a basic outline of how to become a life trainer. Make sure you invest plenty of time in researching the topic further before you open your wallet.
Life trainers help their clients discover what is most important to them, help them perform at optimum levels, and achieve what it is they most desire. They work one-on-one with their clients, either in person or over the phone, and help them set and achieve personal goals. Life trainers are not therapists or consultants.
Life train1ng evolved out of executive training, which itself drew on techniques developed in leadership training and management consulting. Life training also borrows from disciplines such as sociology, psychology, career counselling, mentoring and other types of counselling. Trainers may apply mentoring, behaviour modification, behaviour modelling, values assessment, goal-setting and other techniques in their practice.
Some say that life training is similar to psychotherapy, but without restrictions, oversight or regulation. The State legislature of Colorado disagreed, and ruled that training is unlike therapy because it does not focus on examining or diagnosing the past. Life training focuses on changing the client's current and future behaviour. Neither does life training delve into diagnosing mental illness or dysfunction.
According to a survey of training clients, "sounding board" and "motivator" were what they were looking for most in a trainer. The desire that their trainer “really listens to them and gives honest feedback." Time management, career and business are the top three areas in which the surveyed clients sought help.
Before travelling too far down the path to becoming a life trainer, you should first decide on a specialty or a focus for your practice. Besides the three areas already mentioned, you could also specialize in finance, health, relationships, career management or a variety of other areas. Decide on your specialty, then pursue further training in that field.
Next you should attend a life training seminar. This will give you a good overview of life training in general, and you will have the opportunity to see how trainers interact with people in the crowd. A seminar may have one or several speakers. Approach one of them after the event and ask how best to break into the field.
After attending a seminar, you should have a pretty good idea of whether or not becoming a life trainer is something you really want to pursue. You want to be sure of that before you invest your time and money into life trainer training.
There are hundreds of training programs that range from $100 home study programs, to $15,000 two year life trainer certification. The value and cost of life trainer training varies widely and is something you should research thoroughly. The most comprehensive list of training courses and schools can be found at www.peer.ca/coachingschools.html
It is important that you pursue a program of instruction that results in accreditation. Without a training credential you will have a difficult time convincing potential clients that you are the real deal.
You are now armed with a basic outline of how to become a life trainer. Make sure you invest plenty of time in researching the topic further before you open your wallet.
Saturday, 27 June 2009
Techniques for dealing with Stress – Deep Breathing is not one of them.
When we begin feeling stressed, we have a tendency to also begin breathing faster and shallowly, which reduces the volume of carbon dioxide in our blood and causes blood vessels to constrict. More often than not, this can lead to hyper-ventilation, which throws our metabolism completely out of whack!
Coaches and athletes understand the need to practice good breathing habits to keep metabolisms in balance and produce up to 99% of the body's energy aerobically. Conversely, those of us who have poor breathing habits experience a drop to around 85%, which is a significant decline in aerobic energy production.
The physiological changes caused by poor breathing habits throws off our pH balance, the ratio of O2 to CO2 in the bloodstream, diminished energy and of course a feeling of anxiety or poor health in general. Although we naturally breathe autonomously, over the course of our lifetimes we actually learn to breathe incorrectly. It's a behaviour that can be unlearned given time and effort.
That said, we first need to become aware of our breathing habits, by actually listening to ourselves breathe. We need to time how many breaths we take per minute and if that number is much over 12 in a relaxed state, we need to think about how we can best re-learn to breathe normally.
The first step is to avoid holding the stomach in, preventing the diaphragm from working properly. Relax your stomach muscles and inhale slowly through your nose to a count of 3. Now hold that breathe for a second and then exhale to a count of 6. Repeat that three times and then allow yourself to breath normally. The entire exercise should have taken you 30 seconds.
Since a good 70% of your body's waste is eliminated through exhaling, you're going to always attempt to double the time spent exhaling compared to inhaling. This allows your body to balance its metabolism and pH levels and well as increase the amount of energy produced. In stressful situations, your body will literally relax as you do it and your fight or flight response will quickly recede.
As a quick fix, this type of breathing technique works wonders for calming yourself down, but does not address the larger issue of learning to breath this way all of the time. To do this, you need to remain aware of your breathing habits and continually remind yourself to stay in control of your breathing.
Over time, you will develop the habit, but meanwhile, you may need prompting. One solution is to set a timer (for example on a digital watch) to beep every 3 to 5 minutes as a reminder to check your breathing. This helps because as we submerse ourselves into a given task, we can easily lose track of our breathing without realizing it.
You may even find it helpful to repeat a phrase during your practice like, "I'm breathing in", "I'm breathing out", to help you establish the proper rhythm. Your goal is to allow your body to take over autonomously with proper breathing habits as a result of your practice.
If you condition yourself to breath properly, especially in stressful situations, you will alleviate the stress and anxiety of it and remain calm and rational. Good breathing habits are learned, so training yourself beginning today will get you back on track to a happier, healthier you!
Coaches and athletes understand the need to practice good breathing habits to keep metabolisms in balance and produce up to 99% of the body's energy aerobically. Conversely, those of us who have poor breathing habits experience a drop to around 85%, which is a significant decline in aerobic energy production.
The physiological changes caused by poor breathing habits throws off our pH balance, the ratio of O2 to CO2 in the bloodstream, diminished energy and of course a feeling of anxiety or poor health in general. Although we naturally breathe autonomously, over the course of our lifetimes we actually learn to breathe incorrectly. It's a behaviour that can be unlearned given time and effort.
That said, we first need to become aware of our breathing habits, by actually listening to ourselves breathe. We need to time how many breaths we take per minute and if that number is much over 12 in a relaxed state, we need to think about how we can best re-learn to breathe normally.
The first step is to avoid holding the stomach in, preventing the diaphragm from working properly. Relax your stomach muscles and inhale slowly through your nose to a count of 3. Now hold that breathe for a second and then exhale to a count of 6. Repeat that three times and then allow yourself to breath normally. The entire exercise should have taken you 30 seconds.
Since a good 70% of your body's waste is eliminated through exhaling, you're going to always attempt to double the time spent exhaling compared to inhaling. This allows your body to balance its metabolism and pH levels and well as increase the amount of energy produced. In stressful situations, your body will literally relax as you do it and your fight or flight response will quickly recede.
As a quick fix, this type of breathing technique works wonders for calming yourself down, but does not address the larger issue of learning to breath this way all of the time. To do this, you need to remain aware of your breathing habits and continually remind yourself to stay in control of your breathing.
Over time, you will develop the habit, but meanwhile, you may need prompting. One solution is to set a timer (for example on a digital watch) to beep every 3 to 5 minutes as a reminder to check your breathing. This helps because as we submerse ourselves into a given task, we can easily lose track of our breathing without realizing it.
You may even find it helpful to repeat a phrase during your practice like, "I'm breathing in", "I'm breathing out", to help you establish the proper rhythm. Your goal is to allow your body to take over autonomously with proper breathing habits as a result of your practice.
If you condition yourself to breath properly, especially in stressful situations, you will alleviate the stress and anxiety of it and remain calm and rational. Good breathing habits are learned, so training yourself beginning today will get you back on track to a happier, healthier you!
Friday, 26 June 2009
Stress and how to relieve it!!
Stress can have a number of adverse affects on your health, both short-term and long-term. If you're experiencing some of the following symptoms, it could indicate that you could benefit from some advice on how to relieve stress before your health suffers any worse than it already has. Feelings of anger, fear or helplessness are common indicators of stress, as is insomnia. Stress can cause headaches and pain in the jaw, neck and back. Habitual smoking, drinking, overeating and drug abuse are also caused by stress.
Stress is how your body responds to change. And situations that cause stress in one person may not cause stress in another. It's a very individual experience. One person may become tense when driving over high bridges, while another may enjoy the view. The thought of skydiving terrifies some people, but others find it thrilling. It's nearly impossible to classify any particular situation as stressful, because what causes stress in one person could be a source of enjoyment for the next. The key is to identify and manage what is stressful for you personally, because letting stress go unmanaged can have life-threatening health consequences.
Things you feel that you have no control over can be upsetting. But remember that it's not the situation, but how you deal with it that's important. You can't control everything that happens to you, but you can choose how you handle stressful situations.
Here are some tips for relieving your stress:
Focus on your breathing and breathe slowly, deep and deliberately. Picture a peaceful scene in your mind.
Exercise regularly. Exercising releases tension from your body. Find something you enjoy that get the major muscle groups going. Jogging, walking, swimming or bicycling are all excellent choices.
Count to ten slowly and deliberately. This helps you to pause and relax before reacting to a stressful situation.
Do some stretching exercises several times during the day. Stretching relaxes the muscles and reduces tension.
Have a friend massage the back of your neck, shoulders and upper back. These muscles get especially tense when you are stressed.
Take hot showers and baths.
Listen to relaxing music.
Talk to your family and friends about what is causing you stress.
Seek help when you need it. If you have recurring headaches and neck or upper back pain, and are having problems sleeping, you should see your doctor.
Learning how to relieve stress, and putting these methods to use are critical your overall health and happiness. Try to learn to accept what you can’t change. Not everything is going to happen the way you want it to. Train yourself to look for the good in what appears to be a bad situation, talk to others about your troubles, and try to mentally remove yourself from the situation then evaluate it from the outside looking in.
Stress is how your body responds to change. And situations that cause stress in one person may not cause stress in another. It's a very individual experience. One person may become tense when driving over high bridges, while another may enjoy the view. The thought of skydiving terrifies some people, but others find it thrilling. It's nearly impossible to classify any particular situation as stressful, because what causes stress in one person could be a source of enjoyment for the next. The key is to identify and manage what is stressful for you personally, because letting stress go unmanaged can have life-threatening health consequences.
Things you feel that you have no control over can be upsetting. But remember that it's not the situation, but how you deal with it that's important. You can't control everything that happens to you, but you can choose how you handle stressful situations.
Here are some tips for relieving your stress:
Focus on your breathing and breathe slowly, deep and deliberately. Picture a peaceful scene in your mind.
Exercise regularly. Exercising releases tension from your body. Find something you enjoy that get the major muscle groups going. Jogging, walking, swimming or bicycling are all excellent choices.
Count to ten slowly and deliberately. This helps you to pause and relax before reacting to a stressful situation.
Do some stretching exercises several times during the day. Stretching relaxes the muscles and reduces tension.
Have a friend massage the back of your neck, shoulders and upper back. These muscles get especially tense when you are stressed.
Take hot showers and baths.
Listen to relaxing music.
Talk to your family and friends about what is causing you stress.
Seek help when you need it. If you have recurring headaches and neck or upper back pain, and are having problems sleeping, you should see your doctor.
Learning how to relieve stress, and putting these methods to use are critical your overall health and happiness. Try to learn to accept what you can’t change. Not everything is going to happen the way you want it to. Train yourself to look for the good in what appears to be a bad situation, talk to others about your troubles, and try to mentally remove yourself from the situation then evaluate it from the outside looking in.
Thursday, 25 June 2009
Time Management, the big benefit
Exercising time management requires--you guessed it--time. It seems a bit of a paradox, doesn't it? In order to develop effective time management skill, you must take more time out of your busy schedule that already contains more tasks than you have time to accomplish. But the investment of time used to schedule your time will create more time available to you in the long run.
So if you're already overwhelmed by your to do list, and you find yourself making excuses not to do what you know must be done, then you need some motivation. You can find that motivation in the Big Benefit of Time Management.
And what might that big benefit of time management be, you ask?
Happiness!
Think about it for a moment. Why is it that when you can't seem to drag yourself out of bed at 7:00 to get to work by 8:00, you will jump out of bed with great enthusiasm on a weekend at 5:00 to spend a day in your favourite hobby or pastime? Because the leisure activity brings you joy. You are motivated to get out of bed because you know the day will bring you happiness, as opposed to the workday that brings misery.
So, in order to motivate yourself to exercise effective time management, you must use the carrot of the Big Benefit of Time Management rather than the stick your boss likely uses--increased productivity. Remember, the more time you can free up, the more time you will have for your favourite activities.
To develop effective time management skills, begin with what motivates you. Don't worry about mundane tasks or activities that increase productivity, but rather think about the things you love to do. Think about the things that drive you to try and earn more money so you have more money to spend on them. Then make those things your priority, schedule them first, and schedule other things around them.
There are many places on the internet you can download a daily planner template or a free printable daily planner. Don't get too caught up in what tool to use. A legal pad or wall calendar is enough for now. The important thing is you get into the practice of planning your time and writing it down.
Let's say the activity that brings you the most enjoyment is cycling. First, decide how many days this year you want to spend cycling. Then decide what times of year you want to use those days. Now that you have the number of days and the season, take a look at the calendar and begin planning which days specifically you want to spend cycling. Block those days out on a calendar.
Now you must evaluate what you need to accomplish to be able to spend that time cycling. If you're going to be gone for a week, what must you do prior to being able to be gone for that week? Consider the "must do" items only, write them down, and then schedule the necessary time for those activities.
This is a simplified example, but you will notice how much more motivated you are to schedule other tasks when you first schedule your favourite activities. You are motivated because there is a reward of the Big Benefit of Time Management. Happiness!
So if you're already overwhelmed by your to do list, and you find yourself making excuses not to do what you know must be done, then you need some motivation. You can find that motivation in the Big Benefit of Time Management.
And what might that big benefit of time management be, you ask?
Happiness!
Think about it for a moment. Why is it that when you can't seem to drag yourself out of bed at 7:00 to get to work by 8:00, you will jump out of bed with great enthusiasm on a weekend at 5:00 to spend a day in your favourite hobby or pastime? Because the leisure activity brings you joy. You are motivated to get out of bed because you know the day will bring you happiness, as opposed to the workday that brings misery.
So, in order to motivate yourself to exercise effective time management, you must use the carrot of the Big Benefit of Time Management rather than the stick your boss likely uses--increased productivity. Remember, the more time you can free up, the more time you will have for your favourite activities.
To develop effective time management skills, begin with what motivates you. Don't worry about mundane tasks or activities that increase productivity, but rather think about the things you love to do. Think about the things that drive you to try and earn more money so you have more money to spend on them. Then make those things your priority, schedule them first, and schedule other things around them.
There are many places on the internet you can download a daily planner template or a free printable daily planner. Don't get too caught up in what tool to use. A legal pad or wall calendar is enough for now. The important thing is you get into the practice of planning your time and writing it down.
Let's say the activity that brings you the most enjoyment is cycling. First, decide how many days this year you want to spend cycling. Then decide what times of year you want to use those days. Now that you have the number of days and the season, take a look at the calendar and begin planning which days specifically you want to spend cycling. Block those days out on a calendar.
Now you must evaluate what you need to accomplish to be able to spend that time cycling. If you're going to be gone for a week, what must you do prior to being able to be gone for that week? Consider the "must do" items only, write them down, and then schedule the necessary time for those activities.
This is a simplified example, but you will notice how much more motivated you are to schedule other tasks when you first schedule your favourite activities. You are motivated because there is a reward of the Big Benefit of Time Management. Happiness!
Wednesday, 24 June 2009
The Theory and Practice of Goal Setting
As part of the overall business planning process, establishing goals is of course fundamental in providing a clear vision of what you want to accomplish. Setting one or more goals seems to be a straightforward process. You establish a specific goal, one that's measurable and has a defined timeframe for completion. You implement your plan, measure your progress towards reaching your goal and then evaluate the outcome objectively to refine your process.
On the surface of things, it reads well and sounds easy enough to do. Unfortunately, it rarely works out that way for numerous reasons; primarily because we often fail to establish realistic goals. Additionally, we often casually set goals with only a hazy view towards how they'll actually be accomplished. And while we're typically motivated at the beginning of the process, it's not at all unusual to lose our motivation somewhere along the way.
When preparing your own goals, it's important to first understand that every goal you set must be realistic and readily achievable, given an appropriate amount of time and resources. For example, setting a goal to earn $25,000 per month within three months, when your present earnings are less than $1,000, is probably unrealistic. On the other hand, setting an ongoing goal to increase your earnings by 5% or 10% per month is not only realistic, but more likely to be achievable.
Once you've defined a goal you believe you can accomplish, the next step is to break it down into smaller, manageable tasks and scheduling them in sequence (assuming one task depends on the completion of another). Before defining the target date the overall goal must be completed, be certain that each task is given a reasonable amount of time for completion and allow the sum of the tasks to define the completion date, rather than arbitrarily selecting one.
Depending on how far into the future your goals are planned for, it's very helpful to schedule regular progress reviews, even if you're the only one involved. For example, scheduling time every Friday afternoon to review your progress and make any necessary adjustments will keep your goals current. Don't be surprised if something unexpected interferes with your scheduling from time-to-time. That's normal and you will simply need to identify some way to compensate for it.
Another artificial barrier to actually meeting your goals is the process itself. Be careful to avoid implementing a goal management process that consumes more time than the goal itself. On a smaller scale, a simple spreadsheet will often suffice to meet all of your management needs. For larger scale management, a variety of goal management software exists, usually scalable for most organizations.
Aside from actually working the process towards eventually realizing your goal, the final step is to take some time to evaluate the overall process and your performance at the end. This should be done objectively and embraced as a learning opportunity, one that will help you to improve your performance the next time.
With proper planning, setting realistic goals can only benefit you and your business in the long run, especially if you streamline the goal management process for yourself. If you think of it as an evolving process focused on continual performance improvement, over time you will see a measurable improvement in everything you do!
On the surface of things, it reads well and sounds easy enough to do. Unfortunately, it rarely works out that way for numerous reasons; primarily because we often fail to establish realistic goals. Additionally, we often casually set goals with only a hazy view towards how they'll actually be accomplished. And while we're typically motivated at the beginning of the process, it's not at all unusual to lose our motivation somewhere along the way.
When preparing your own goals, it's important to first understand that every goal you set must be realistic and readily achievable, given an appropriate amount of time and resources. For example, setting a goal to earn $25,000 per month within three months, when your present earnings are less than $1,000, is probably unrealistic. On the other hand, setting an ongoing goal to increase your earnings by 5% or 10% per month is not only realistic, but more likely to be achievable.
Once you've defined a goal you believe you can accomplish, the next step is to break it down into smaller, manageable tasks and scheduling them in sequence (assuming one task depends on the completion of another). Before defining the target date the overall goal must be completed, be certain that each task is given a reasonable amount of time for completion and allow the sum of the tasks to define the completion date, rather than arbitrarily selecting one.
Depending on how far into the future your goals are planned for, it's very helpful to schedule regular progress reviews, even if you're the only one involved. For example, scheduling time every Friday afternoon to review your progress and make any necessary adjustments will keep your goals current. Don't be surprised if something unexpected interferes with your scheduling from time-to-time. That's normal and you will simply need to identify some way to compensate for it.
Another artificial barrier to actually meeting your goals is the process itself. Be careful to avoid implementing a goal management process that consumes more time than the goal itself. On a smaller scale, a simple spreadsheet will often suffice to meet all of your management needs. For larger scale management, a variety of goal management software exists, usually scalable for most organizations.
Aside from actually working the process towards eventually realizing your goal, the final step is to take some time to evaluate the overall process and your performance at the end. This should be done objectively and embraced as a learning opportunity, one that will help you to improve your performance the next time.
With proper planning, setting realistic goals can only benefit you and your business in the long run, especially if you streamline the goal management process for yourself. If you think of it as an evolving process focused on continual performance improvement, over time you will see a measurable improvement in everything you do!
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