Explore the Mindset of the Rich and Successful

Coping With Stress

December 15th, 2009 . Posted in General | No Comments »
Tags: acceptance, anxiety, Christmas, coping with stress, effects of stress, how to cope with stress, relaxation, stress, stressful

With Christmas just around the corner, many people are racking their brains trying to figure out what gifts to give to everyone. Finding the time to shop on top of all the other daily stresses we encounter just adds to our dilemma. (No, I am not going to try and sell you products here or give you gift ideas.)

Holidays bring about their own added stress with all the shopping and party going that must be done. For some it is the straw that breaks the camels back so before it arrives we must be prepared to cope with it.

Stress is an inevitable part of life. We will never be able to get rid of it completely. In fact, you wouldn’t want to get rid of it completely because, believe it or not, stress is also good for you. Stress revs up our internal engines and makes us ready to take action. The problems arise when we don’t take care of the situations at hand. This keeps our engines running but we are not going anywhere. Life is not meant to be lived as a Formula 1 Race.

Lily Tomlin once said, “Some people say life is a rat race. If we take that attitude, then even if you win, you are still a rat”.

Life doesn’t have to be a rat race. We can learn to live with stress as we learn to allow balance into our lives.

How can we cope with stress?
The first step in coping with stress is to be sure that we get enough sleep. This is the first area that people fail in. They feel that because there is so much to do they need to cut back on sleep in order to get more time in their day. This is a never-ending devil’s circle because the less sleep we have the more tired we are and the less able to cope and then the more stress we feel.

Dealing with stress does not depend on the quantity of time we have but on the quality. If we are well rested we are clear headed and able to come up with solutions to our problems. If we are overtired we will accomplish little and keep going in circles.

Try and find a balance in your sleep cycle. Go to bed the same time each night and get yourself into a routine that your body can count on.

So rule #1 Get more sleep.

Rule #2 Eat a balanced diet.

What does diet have to do with stress? Everything! Our bodies need to run as a well tuned engine. If we feed it crap you will feel like crap. You need a balanced diet with fruits and vegetables and lots of water to keep running well.
Rule #3 Stop Procrastinating

Procrastination is the biggest stress producer. If you don’t have time to tackle your problems all at once at least put aside some time each day to work on a part of the problem. Take care of it in little chunks and before you know it the problem is gone.

A Mountain is moved one stone at a time. Start moving your stones and you’ll get rid of your mountain.

Rule #4 Manage Your Time Effectively

Just like money, time also must be budgeted. You only have so many hours in a day and they must be used judiciously. Balance here is the key. Make sure to take some time to work, deal with problems and relax.

You must be sure to include relaxation time for yourself, even if it is only 15 minutes a day. Add it to your schedule and make sure you take this time for yourself. Even if you must go to your room and lock the door to get it, be sure to do it.

There are many things you can do to relax and get your mind at ease. Simple things such as a walk outside can help restore frazzled nerves and give you time to reflect on your life. Other choices would be a nice, warm bath, or a quiet spot where you can meditate.

Mediation does not have to be anything grand or complicated. Just find some quiet time and let all cares out of your mind. Think of nothing for 15 minutes. I find it easier to imagine a black screen in front of me. Every time a thought comes through my mind I remind myself that I do not want to think right now. My black screen is on. Just do nothing, think nothing, be totally at peace for 15 minutes. It will do wonders for you. After you will find that you can think much more clearly. A quiet mind brings about answers that you would never usually think of.

Lastly, the effects stress will have on you is dependant upon the way you react to it. Stress is like the bully at school who keeps coming around to taunt you. You can let him have your candy or you can stand up and do something about it. The choice is yours.

Relieve Stress - 3 Tips to Help You Relieve Stress

December 13th, 2009 . Posted in General | No Comments »
Tags: relieve stress

Do you feel you need to relieve stress? If you are living a life with many things going on such as a challenging job, parenting or struggling relationship, then you may have bouts with stress once in a while.

Once in a while we find ourselves that we have to relieve stress. Constant stress can decrease your health and the quality of your productivity. Stress affects many of us during our lifetimes and it’s just a fact of life. Here are some tips to relieve stress.

Start Writing

One way to relieve stress is to keep a journal or write down your feelings. I prefer to write down my feelings on a piece of paper and then shred it. It’s great because you may not want to share your problems with others.

Believe it or not, many people may not know exactly what is causing them stress in their lives. To find out try brainstorming your thoughts and write it down. You may notice you are focusing on a particular subject that may be the source of your stress.

Furthermore, you may be surprised what is causing your stress. You may actually relieve stress after you try this approach. Hopefully, you’ll be able to pinpoint what is bothering you and you’ll start thinking about dealing with it effectively.

Schedule Time to Relax

If this idea sounds silly to you to relieve stress, then it’s time to consider it. Think about it, we schedule waking up, commuting time, lunch time, our kid’s lives, fantasy base ball drafts, holiday dinners and every other little aspect in our lives. Take a moment and try schedule a block of time just for you.

To effectively make use of this time to relieve stress, make sure you set ground rules. For example, I make it a rule not check email or answer my cell phone. This time should be considered a well deserved break from the challenges and aggravation you face during the week. In fact, you may just want to take this time to just think.

Start Exercising

This is my favorite tip to relieve stress. Exercise can be safe haven for you (if you do it right). I exercise daily and it’s great because I focused only on my work out. I highly recommend you start your own exercise program.
As you can probably guess, exercise will help you with many issues. Not only will it reduce stress, it will also increase your health. Exercise may actually help you handle stressful situations even better.

If you do consider exercise as a way to relieve stress, then you should see your doctor first. You doctor can make sure you can exercise and maybe provide pointers on how to get started. Your exercise program should consist of a combination of weight training and aerobic exercise.

When starting any exercise program you should always start off with very light work outs so you can evaluate your fitness level. If you’re weight training use very light weights. Start with walking for your aerobic workouts. You can always work your way up as you get stronger.

To learn how you can relieve stress may be a beneficial skill to learn for your overall health. Stress can cause a lot of aggravation pain in your life (if you don’t deal with it). In fact stress can be so bad that it holds us back from our full potential. Even though we live in a challenging world, learning to relieve stress will help in the long run.

How To Reduce Anxiety

December 10th, 2009 . Posted in General | No Comments »
Tags: agoraphobia, anxiety disorder, owering anxiety, panic disorder, social anxiety, social phobia

At some level, all of us experience at different stages of life. Quite often it’s a circumstantial anxiety due to a feeling of being out of control, dissatisfied with life circumstances, worried that something bad or worse will happen, or a general feeling of not dealing well with uncertainty. So anxiety is a normal feeling for many, and even a normal sign of being human.

But for many anxiety has become a dominant force in their life, one that affects their self-esteem, confidence, relationships, career, and is a constant inner voice churning that things are not right and that they may get worse. What may have initially been a circumstantial anxiety that ebbs and flows and shows up in minor non-debilitating ways becomes something more. For these people, it’s an issue of physiology or biology - one where the anxiety starts in the brain or chemical makeup in the body. And this is where anxiety can become debilitating. What scarier feeling in the world could there be for your own body and mind to become your own enemy, and for the emotions you’re feeling to be largely beyond your control. And frequently the results can become acute, such as an anxiety attack or a regrettable conversation or out of control behavior at work or at home. For these people, after months or years of suffering in silence, help is needed and available.

Frequently this is through the support of a therapist or mental health counselor who can provide a safe forum in which to process and discuss what is going on - mostly someone who can normalize and help regulate one’s experiences. A close friend or small group of friends can also lend support. Additionally, a visit to a psychiatrist can help uncover whether this condition truly is biochemical in nature. Through brief experimentation with various medications, it could be determined whether a deficiency exists in a specific brain chemical that regulates anxiety. Often the use of medication, despite some side effects, and add normalcy to one’s life. Despite having a condition which may be with them for life, at least they can experience a sense of freedom and relief from what otherwise may be a predominant way of being. Relief is available for someone suffering from anxiety.

Avoid Too Much Stress, Help Yourself To Manage It

December 1st, 2009 . Posted in General | No Comments »
Tags: stress

Stress is the manner on how your body react to some changes, may it be internal or external. It is also some elements from the nature which affects an individual.

Because of the accumulation of stress in our lives, we usually treat stress negatively. However, stress can be both positive and negative.

Almost 75 percent of the American population experiences stress and suffer the it’s level for every two weeks.

It is also believed that stress contributes to heart diseases, high blood pressure, strokes, and many other diseases. In addition, this affects our immune system, the system that protects us from other serious diseases.

Many circumstances may cause you to be stress. You just have to identify them so you can create steps in order to adapt the situation. These causes are called stressors. They can be physically, emotionally, internal or external produced stressors.

An example of this that can cause stress is your physical condition, like if you are experiencing pain, hot or cold temperature. Stressful environment like poor working condition or foul relationships can also be a cause of stress.

Other factors that may cause stress are the following:

- Uneven noise
- Crowded room
- Loneliness or separation from a partner
- Hunger
- Infection

Now, if stress is the result of the changes that happening in our body then we cannot avoid it. But what can we do? One very important thing is that we should know its symptoms. You will never know you that you are already suffering from it if you do now what are its indications.

Listed below are the symptoms of stress.

Physically you will experience:

- Heart pounding
- Headache
- Sweating and sweaty palms
- Stiff neck
- Indigestion
- Backache
- Skin break out
- Upset stomach such as nausea or diarrhea
- Shortness of breathing
- Sleeplessness/sleeping too much
- Fatigue
- Cold hands

Emotionally you easily:

- Become moody and irritable
- Lose your temper very often
- Feel depressed
- Lack of sense of humor
- Feel nervous
- Feel inferior of what you have
- Worry too much about unimportant matters

And mentally you are:

- Forgetful
- Confused
- Having poor of judgment
- Disorganize
- Unclear perceptions

Knowing that we cannot really avoid stress it is important that we know the symptoms. Now, in order to lessen our stress we should learn how to manage it. Here are some tips in reducing stress.

1. Do yourself a favor and buy something that will give you comfort.

2. Make yourself busy doing more enjoyable activities.

3. Learn to moderate your physical reactions to stress.

4. If necessary, have some nature tripping that will really help you feel more relaxed.

5. After busy working days, treat yourself on a vacation.

6. Take a short break every after meal to relax.

7. Always wear clothes that are comfortable to you whenever possible.

8. Express yourself, avoid being too secretive about what you feel.

9. Eat well-balanced and nutritious meal.

If you feel you are experiencing stress, do not be afraid to follow the above tips. They are not risky; instead, they can help with your condition.

And bear in mind; take care of yourself because you are the only person who will suffer if you abuse yourself from too much stress. Remember stress can be a cause of many life-threatening diseases. So, in order to avoid that, please be gentle with yourself.

5 Tips On How To Build Self Confidence Today

November 30th, 2009 . Posted in General | No Comments »
Tags: build self confidence today, Confidence, overcome shyness, self confidence, self esteem

There are very few people who could call themselves perfect and be right. Most of us need to build self confidence today, but the majority just either ignore the issues or concentrate on the negatives: stress, worry, jobs, money problems and relationship issues. Concentrating on these areas drains our self confidence rather than improving it.

If you could improve your self confidence you could make more money, look and feel better physically, or just be more relaxed with other people. Below there are five simple techniques that have been proved to help build self confidence today.

1. Talk to yourself. It sounds crazy but it works. All of us have a running monologue constantly in our heads, whether we realize it or not. Everything we see, hear, or touch sparks off an immediate dialog in our thoughts.

For those who lack confidence this monologue is filled with negative messages many of which are the negative side of adverts from television, radio, advertisement boardings, newspapers, and just overhearing other people talk.

These negative thoughts literally suck energy from our minds and bodies and block the flow of positive messages. We need to hear the positive messages as they will build self confidence today and raise our self esteem. Take control. Use your inner thoughts to talk to yourself in a positive manner, as often as you can.

As an example one of my regular sayings is “I like myself, I like myself, I like myself”. I just repeat it for a couple of minutes. It sounds cheesy, but does build self confidence today – Try it. I bet that if you go to the mirror right now and repeat out loud “I like myself!” 50 times, it will be impossible to keep from smiling.

2. Dress as smartly and as classily as you can. You wont feel at your best if you don’t look your best. You will be amazed at just how much more confidence you will have just looking your best. It just feels good when you are wearing your best clothes, are well groomed, and are surrounded by a clean environment. So what if it is Saturday, you need to build self confidence today not next week. Put on your nice clothes, get the car washed, style that hair! A hairdresser once told me “Everyday is show time!”

3. Increase your self esteem even more by giving thanks to what you are, how you look, and what you are doing. Say “thank you” to yourself to everything you see, all whom you meet, and each smile that you receive.

4. Stand or sit correctly: How you stand sends out a message to the World, and in turn, back to you. This results in improving how you feel about yourself and will build self confidence today and every day.

There is scientific evidence that shows how posture affects our mood. Do not slouch. Slouching produces a down mood. By slouching you are telling the world and yourself it doesn’t matter, you don’t matter. Standing tall and upright will actually lift your mood. Help build up your confidence by pulling back those shoulders, stop that slouch, and walk proud.

5. Smile. Just smile and things seem better somehow. Practice smiling regularly and get your facial muscles used to the physical act of smiling.

Go to the mirror and smile – make yourself. Not a grimace, but a proper smile. If you don’t think you can try this:

1)Open your eyes as wide as you can – (try and get your eyebrows right up to you hair line)
2)Slightly open your mouth
3)Pull the corners of your mouth back towards your ears (If your not sure pull them back with your fingers so you know what it feels like then try again without your fingers).
4)Repeat 50 times. Get your facial muscles used to smiling and you will smile more and encourage smiles from others. This will make you feel happier and with that you’ll build self confidence today.

A Simple Tip For When You’re Stressed

November 29th, 2009 . Posted in General, Self Improvement | No Comments »
Tags: advice, anxiety, apprehnsion, fear, free tip, self help, stress

This is a fantastic tip from Touch For Health to help you when you’re stressed, angry, anxious or upset. Try holding your frontal eminences. These are bumps on your forehead that many people hold instinctively when they’re upset.

For those of you who don’t do this naturally, let me help you locate them. Feel up from the middle of your eyebrows going towards your hairline. Your forehead comes outwards before it curves back in towards the hairline. Hold your forehead at the points where it is furthest out - about 3cms (1.25 inches) above the middle of each eyebrow.

While you hold these points think about the stressful event. It can be something that has already happened, something that is about to happen, or something you fear may never happen! Gradually you should find that the stress lessens.

You can use it for small things, but you can also use it for more traumatic events too. If the thoughts/images are too overwhelming initially, imagine you are watching it on a TV - you can always switch it off if becomes too stressful - you’re the one in charge. You can watch it in black and white if that feels easier too. Use it to defuse anything that you feel anxious, stressed, angry or fearful about.

You may want to do it several times covering different aspects of the problem. You can do them one after the other, or at different times, whichever feels best for you.

As you hold the points and think about/imagine the event, you will probably start to feel calmer - you may even find that you start to feel a little bored thinking about this scenario that previously stressed or angered you so much.

Why does it work?

These particular points on the forehead, known as frontal eminences, are reflex points with connections to the central meridian (involved with the brain), the stomach meridian (and your stomach often churns when you’re anxious or angry), and the bladder meridian (trips to the loo/bathroom are often necessary when we’re apprehensive).

It may be hard to believe that something this simple could be effective in removing anxiety and stress, but try it and see.

3 Powerful Tips To Help Manage Everyday Stress

November 26th, 2009 . Posted in General | No Comments »
Tags: anxiety, bipolar, depression, stress

Often times stress will manifest when we carry over yesterday’s concerns into our present day concerns. An accumulation will almost always end up in a high stress level. Therefore, we must be able to “dump” all of our concerns from the previous day or days and concentrate wholly on our today.

So here are 3 stress busting tips

- Stress Busting Tip #1

Resolve right now to release every thought from yesterday and be only mindful of the now…. this thought only…this breath…this moment. Take in three very deep breaths and slowly release each one.

At the same time feel each and every concern, each and every problem, and each and every unresolved moment, begin to dissolve. You can deal with them at a later time. For now, you are only to be in this very moment.

Now go to your inner quiet place. Go deep inside to a place where you feel that you are at peace and then just relax and breathe in deeply and enjoy the feeling of being at one and at peace within yourself.

Use this special time and place to be calm. Free your mind and body of all worry, all regret, all disappointment, all anger and grief.

- Stress Busting Tip #2

Next, think of one particular act, such as rocking your baby, taking a quick stroll, raking the leaves, and do that one simple thing. All the while, your mind is quiet and calm and you are in your own special place within.

Practice this act of quiet and calm each day and you will see that you will accomplish so much more. At the first sign of being stressed, go back to this mindful, quiet place and start all over again until you have reached your inner place of calm.

- Stress Busting Tip #3

The very best thing that you can do for yourself is to eat, drink and rest – to your health!

Stress is easily brought on by not eating and drinking properly. When you don’t get the number of hours of sleep that you need each night, you are only setting yourself up for additional stress.

Limit the amount of salt, sugar, caffeine and alcohol in your diet. Drink plenty of clean, pure water each day and do at least moderate exercise each day. This will breathe new life into your skin, hair and will nourish all of your vital organs.

Take time to breathe properly! Take deep belly breathes to send pure oxygen to all of your body. Laugh and then laugh some more. It is food for the soul! Spend time doing the things that please you most. Engage in healthy and fulfilling relationships and work on problems that would erode the closeness that you have with someone special.

When we are content and living a balanced life everyday stresses seem to pale in comparison. We are better equipped to deal with the unexpected.

You can take control today! Isolate only one particular stressor in your life and then work on it until you regain control. At the very least, have some new hope!

Learn How to Motivate Yourself

November 21st, 2009 . Posted in Self Improvement | No Comments »
Tags: challenge, compete, dream, faith, fire, God, inspiration, motivate, motivation, obey, problem, rules, Success

“Motivation will almost always beat mere talent.”
~ Norman Augustine

I truly believe Augustine’s words are true and if you look at history you know it is true. There are many people in the world with amazing talents who realize only a small percentage of their potential. We all know people who live this truth.

We also know those epic stories, those modern-day legends surrounding the early failures of such supremely successful folks as Michael Jordan and Bill Gates. We can look a bit further back in time to Albert Einstein or even further back to Abraham Lincoln. What made each of these people so successful? Motivation.

We know this in our gut, but what can we do about it? How can we motivate ourselves? One of the most difficult aspects of achieving success is staying motivated over the long haul.

Motivation is not an accident or something that someone else can give you — you are the only one with the power to motivate you. Motivation cannot be an external force, it must come from within as the natural product of your desire to achieve something and your belief that you are capable to succeed at your goal.

Positive pleasure-oriented goals are much more powerful motivators than negative fear-based ones. Although each is successful separately, the right combination of both is the most powerful motivational force known to humankind.

Here are some tips and methods for motivating yourself:

~ Use a past defeat as a motivator. Remind yourself you have nowhere to go except up as you have already been at the bottom.

~ Give yourself the power of responsibility. Remind yourself the only thing stopping you is yourself.

~ Make a list of your achievements toward your long-term goal and remind yourself that intentions don’t count, only action’s.

~ Do it today. Remind yourself of someone you know who died suddenly and the fact that there is no guarantee that tomorrow will come.

~ Let success motivate you. Find a picture of what epitomizes success to you and then pull it out when you are in need of motivation.

Reflect and experiment until you find the right combination of motivators for your personality and your personal goals. I’ll leave you with this final motivating quote:

“What drives me? The thing that drives me most is the desire to find my limits–and extend them.” ~ Richard Marcinko

Now go push your own limits and succeed!

Know yourself and Your Inner Power

November 16th, 2009 . Posted in General | No Comments »
Tags: believe in yourself, inner power, Inner strength, overcome emotion, self belief

I am upset. At this moment, as I sit here typing this up, I am truly upset. Something happened a little while ago. I got into an argument and I am now reaping the results of that. It’s a true bounty of results, I can tell you. Let’s see…anger, frustration, shame, disgust…then more anger and guilt at the fact that I have allowed myself to get angry and frustrated. All of this is confusing. It’s a form of madness (no offence intended). I think what’s worse is that it is quite normal for most people.

So, as I sit here and stew, let us see if we can work this all out. Where does all this negative emotion come from? Well, obviously from the thing that was said to me. The person I had the “conversation” with spoke words. These words were taken by my mind, analysed, and a proper “reaction” was produced based on the result of the analysis. No matter how deep we go into human psychology and the workings of the mind; that really is the simple description of what happened. That’s all we need to concern ourselves with. We can keep it simple, and then try a simple approach to addressing the problem.

The problem is whatever the person said. Words…Just words. How can words have such a powerful effect? The answer is that they don’t. What has the effect is the power we give those words…our rating of them…our belief in them. So if someone calls you an idiot, you might be offended. Why? I mean you know you are not an idiot. Most likely the person knows it too. Why the negative response? Why can’t you ignore it? Well, because you are wired that way. You can’t stand to see that anyone would say you were an idiot. It is not enough that you know you’re not an idiot. You need this person to acknowledge that as well. And what’s wrong with that? I think it’s natural for us to want other people recognize the message we are trying to convey by our words or actions (whether or not the message is true or false). Sadly, no matter what we do, there are people who will always interpret things how they choose. Basically, no matter how much you show James how much of a genius you are, James (Sorry if your name is James) will still call you an idiot, and probably feel he is better than you.

It’s absurd! James isn’t better than you are. No one is. You have to remember that. Know thyself. Derive your strength from that. What do you do about those who refuse to accept your side of the story? Leave them. Ignore them. Walk away after putting your point across. But don’t get drawn in. I am not going to get overly religious on you, but I want to make a point. Jesus Christ said “Turn the other cheek”. I think people misinterpret that as a sign of passivity; of a desire to avoid confrontation; even of weakness. I disagree. I think it is an act of someone who is so powerfully aware of their own inner strength and value that they there is nothing you could do to take that away. Abuse me, torture me and kill me, yes. But you will never change the truth. People who can deal with the hurtful utterances of others go very far because they don’t allow these words get to them. Put in another way, sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. There’s a bit missing there. That bit is “…unless I allow them”. It’s in your power to choose your reaction to what others say or do. Believe in yourself, first and foremost. You will be able to withstand negativity from others without being unnecessarily hurt by it.

Just remembering this principle of faith in oneself is enough to make my anger and frustration start to dissipate. I can feel it evaporating slowly as I finish this article. Happy days! I shall leave you with a quote made by Marcus Aurelius almost 2000 years ago…“If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself but to your own estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment”.

In search of Confidence

November 9th, 2009 . Posted in General, Quotes | No Comments »
Tags: Confidence, self confidence

What is the big deal with confidence. Why do some people have so much and others are struggling just to get their name out wondering why they missed out or something. Well we’re all living in this box, and until we realize that we’re not and then here we are… “obstacles are the things we see when we take our eyes off our goals”

Is it possible to teach confidence? Well, yes. Anything is possible!

Take drinking for example. Drinking is of course a way of releaving stress but really in turn most of the time creates more…much more…? who would tend to agreee with me? Like you had a long week or exams or life just isn’t getting you places or your life is too hard and seems like there is no way out or how about Asia. Everybody is just so damn busy and has no time for families or friends so when they do get the chance they want to drink it away. Then once the drinking begins. The talk starts of changing lives and big hopes and money and next minute. Heads are huge if they weren’t already before.

Guess what you wake up no closer to your dreams but have a nasty head ache and are probaby tired or else have wasted half of your day sleeping!Confidence you gain when your drinking isn’t really yours. If you get layed or get a hot date well don’t thank yourself but rather the poison sitting next to you or in your stomach. When the poison wears off you are still the same chicken that you were the night before. How long will this go on for?

So if you don’t get your confidence from drinking where does it come from then? well 1st of all lets clear our heads and think straight here. hope you didn’t drink last night! Well everybody has to discover their own confidence and some people may discover theirs quicker and some people may never quite find all of it. well just listen to your heart and block out the stuff that isn’t bringing you in the right direction

I’ve grown up with my fair shair of love but know people who haven’t and all I can say is that I belive in you even if you don’t yet! Have you seen the “Conte of Monte Cristo”? Well God belives in you as well even if you don’t believe or have faith in him! Change can be hard but the hardest thing I thing would be too look back on a life of regret or chances that we didn’t take:

“The only real regrets we’ll have when its all said and done is the chances that we didn’t take”

“We’ll never truly know what were capable of until we go to far” or “dreams are the limits of our success”

Never give up. It’s never to late for anything!!!