There’s no shortage of advice out there claiming to make you better, but mindfulness meditation is the rare, research-proven technique that boosts your performance by physically altering your brain.
Researchers from the University of British Columbia recently pooled data from more than 20 studies to understand how practicing mindfulness affects the brain. While the researchers found significant changes in eight brain regions, there are two regions that are of particular importance to you.
In these brain regions, the simple act of practicing mindfulness increased both brain activity and the density of brain tissue:

1. The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), which is responsible for self-control. It enables you to resist distractions, to focus, and to avoid impulsivity in order to work efficiently and make great decisions. The ACC is also responsible for flexibility, and people who have problems in this brain area are known to stick to ineffective problem-solving strategies when they should be adjusting their approach.
2. The hippocampus, which, among other things, is responsible for resilience in the face of setbacks and challenges. The hippocampus is readily damaged by stress, making it a need area for most people. The hippocampus is red/orange in the image below.

Mindfulness is a simple, yet effective form of meditation that enables you to gain control of unruly thoughts and behaviors. People who practice mindfulness are more focused, even when they are not meditating. Mindfulness is an excellent technique to reduce stress because it allows you to stop feeling out of control, to stop jumping from one thought to the next, and to stop ruminating on negative thoughts. Overall, it’s a great way to make it through your busy day in a calm and productive manner.
Just as doing curls increases muscle density in your biceps, practicing mindfulness increases the density of brain matter where it counts. Mindfulness is perhaps the only technique that can change your brain in this way, which produces a ripple of other positive effects. Thankfully, you can reap the benefits of mindfulness in as little as a few minutes a day.
Gandhi was once with a group of followers who inquired about his schedule. He told them, “I need to set aside at least one hour each day to meditate.” They were vexed by this and told him, “There’s no way you have that much time!” He responded, “Well, if that’s the case, then I need to set aside two hours a day to meditate.”
Like Gandhi, you’ll soon find that mindfulness is one of very few things that are well worth your precious time, and the busier you are, the more important it is to have a clear mind if you want to be productive.
Mindfulness doesn’t have to take place in the mountains of Nepal or a weekend retreat under a vow of silence. The beauty of the technique is that it’s so simple you can do it anywhere and just about anytime.
Mindfulness is the simple act of focusing all of your attention on the present. This requires you to observe your thoughts and feelings objectively, without judgment, which helps you to awaken your experience and live in the moment. This way, life doesn’t pass you by.
I realize this might sound a bit abstract and complicated at first, but it isn’t. Here’s how you can do it, even with your busy schedule.

1. Focus on your breathing. 

Sit in a comfortable chair with your feet flat on the floor, and spend a few minutes doing nothing but breathing slowly in and out. Focus all your attention on your breath. Feel the air travel into your mouth, down your windpipe, and into your lungs. Then feel your body shift as it pushes the air out of your lungs. When thoughts surface that distract you from your breathing, don’t worry. Just let them pass, and shift your attention back to your breathing. After some practice, you should be able to spend a few to several minutes doing nothing but immersing yourself in the act of breathing, at the expense of all the other thoughts.

2. Go for a walk. 

You can also meditate just by going for a walk. All you need to do is focus on each step. Feel your legs move and your feet hit the ground. Focus solely on the act of walking and the sensations of your surroundings (the cool breeze, the hot sun, or the dog barking in the distance). When you feel other thoughts creeping into your mind, focus even harder on the sensation of walking. Focusing on something that’s second nature is refreshing because it alters your frame of mind as you turn off the never-ending stream of thoughts that normally dominate your attention. You can do the same thing when you brush your teeth, comb your hair, or eat a meal.

3. Feel your body. 

You don’t even need to stop doing what you’re doing to practice mindfulness. All you have to do is focus all of your attention on what you’re doing without thinking about why you’re doing it, what you should do next, or what you should be doing. Whether it’s the gentle stroke of your fingers on the keyboard or your posture in your chair, you can direct your attention from your thoughts to your bodily sensations at the spur of the moment.

4. Repeat one positive thing about yourself, over and over. 

One of the main goals of mindfulness is to stop the steam of thoughts that cycle through your mind over and over again each day. Funnily enough, a great way to do this is to choose a short, positive message about yourself and to repeat it over and over with each breath to keep your mind on track. A great phrase of choice is “I am capable.” The simplicity keeps you grounded in the exercise and keeps other thoughts from taking over. The right phrase also builds a little confidence, which never hurts.

5. Interrupt the stress cycle. 

Any moment when you feel stressed, overwhelmed, or stuck on something is the perfect moment to practice mindfulness. Just stop what you’re doing, let the thoughts go for a moment, and practice your favorite mindfulness technique (breathing, walking, or focusing on body sensations). Even a few minutes of this can make a huge difference in quieting your mind and reducing stress. You’ll be surprised how reasonable things look once you’ve taken a few moments to clear your head.

Bringing it all together

Nothing can improve your brain the way mindfulness meditation can. Give it a try, and you’ll be surprised where it takes you.

Source

 

The Interesting Relationship Between Stress And Habits

Is Work Life Or Home Life More Stressful? The Answer Is Shocking

Is “Stressful Habit” An Oxymoron?

To Decrease Stress, Add More Healthy Habits

1. Boss wants report on Kapersky files in 2 days.
2. Open calendar app, and put in deadline.
3. Set up 4 reminders before deadline: 30 minutes prior, 2 hours prior, 12 hours prior, and 24 hours prior.

1. Materialism 

2. Trapped in the Past

3. Inferiority Complex

4. Limitations and Scarcity

5. Self-Sabotage

6. The Stoic

7. Reacting Rather Than Responding 

8. The Tyrant of Productivity

Ever have those days when you feel you’re dragging a ball and chain behind you?
Everything is a struggle. Your productivity has tanked, your energy is at rock-bottom, and you just want to crawl in a hole and suck your thumb.
Sometimes it’s easy to identify why we’re so lethargic. We might feel physically ill, the weather is bleak, or the stars are out of alignment. Conditions out of our control can vaporize our energy and smack down our motivation.
Most of the time, however, our fatigue and burn-out is the result of our daily habits. We sabotage ourselves with thoughts and behaviors that create a toxic environment for vitality, well-being, and achievement. You may not even be aware how your own habits are affecting you. 

If not, here are 42 bad habits that suck your energy:

1. Sleeping too late

The alarm clock rings, and you hit the snooze button — again and again and again. Before you know it, you have just three minutes before you have to hit the road if you’re going to be on time. You start your day stressed and agitated.

2. Skipping breakfast

Skipping breakfast is one consequence of sleeping too late. But many of us simply get in the habit of skipping it because we’re lazy or misinformed. Skipping breakfast actually makes weight control more difficult. Breakfast gives us the morning fuel to perform our best and stay alert.

3. Eating a bad breakfast

Ok, good for you — you ate breakfast. But a pop tart or glazed doughnut doesn’t count as a healthy breakfast. These choices cause a huge blood sugar peak that leads to an even bigger sugar crash. Plus, they’re loaded with fat-packing calories.

4. Constantly checking email

The ding or vibration of an email arriving has turned us into Pavlov’s dogs. We’re compelled to check the inbox when the bell rings, which constantly distracts us from the task at hand. Then it takes more energy to pull yourself away from the inbox and re-engage in our work.

5. Getting lost in social media

Once you get started on social media, you can find yourself lost in a rabbit hole of silly videos and mindless discussion threads. After a few hours, when you pull your head to the surface, you realize you’ve just lost a chunk of time doing nothing.

6. Skipping exercise when you’re tired

There’s no doubt exercise energizes us and has a host of health benefits. If you have the habit of skipping it when you’re tired, you’re depriving yourself of energy you could use for productivity and enjoyment.

7. Drinking too much alcohol

Alcohol is a depressant. It gives you a buzz at first, but after a few drinks you feel tired and sluggish. The effects linger the next day, impacting your energy all day long.

8. Getting angry in traffic

Traffic alone is enough to suck your energy, but if you allow other drivers to get under your skin, now you’re just compounding the problem. Put on some relaxing music or a book on tape, and use the time productively.

9. Wearing heels

Of course heels make your legs look great, but what are they doing to your feet, knees, and back? Heels can be painful, cause bunions, and alter the anatomy of your calf muscles. That’s plenty to get stressed about.

10. Isolating yourself

Humans are social creatures and need others for their emotional well-being. Even introverts need time around others to feel happy. Too much isolation can lead to excessive worrying, negative thinking, and even depression.

11. Being a perfectionist

When you need everything to be just so all the time, it causes a lot of anxiety and stress. Perfectionists have a hard time relaxing or letting down their guard. This stress can lead to a host of physical symptoms and emotional disorders.

12. Watching too much TV

Every hour you watch TV is an hour you aren’t doing something more interesting or productive. You lose time with family and friends, program yourself with negativity, and subject yourself to subliminal messages from advertisers. The stress from TV shows may show up in dreams, worries, or self-expectations.

13. Overthinking and worry

We get in the habit of allowing looping negative thoughts to invade our minds. We allow worry thoughts to take up residence and create internal havoc. Overthinking and worry are bad habits that can be replaced by positive thoughts and productive behavior.

14. Over-scheduling your life

We over-schedule our lives with tasks, obligations, and events that force us to rush from one thing to the next in a frenzy. With little down time to relax and recharge, we’re constantly in a heightened state of activity that leaves us depleted.

15. Cluttering your work space

Physical clutter often reflects your mental state. When you remove clutter, you can improve your mental state. Clutter is distracting and demoralizing and makes us feel out of sorts. Get out of the clutter habit, and your productivity and energy will improve.

16. Tolerating negative people

Certain people can be the biggest energy drains in our lives. We get so used to their bad behavior or negativity that we simply allow it to continue and put up with the annoyances. Tolerating this slowly drags you down and keeps you on constant alert.

17. People pleasing

We think pleasing others will keep everyone happy and prevent the discomfort of letting someone down or making them angry. But when we do this at the expense of our own self-respect and happiness, we deplete our emotional energy.

18. Over-checking your appearance

When you feel overly conscious of how you look, you get in the habit of looking in the mirror over and over to make sure things are OK. The mental energy expended to remind yourself of this only compounds the energy expended to constantly worry about your appearance.

19. Over-checking a bothersome symptom

When you have an unexplained symptom and get in the habit of checking it incessantly, you’re sapping your energy through unnecessary worry and distress. Avoid this tiresome habit by going to the doctor if a symptom lasts more than a week or so.

20. Asking others opinion

When we don’t feel confident in our own judgment, we get in the habit of seeking reinforcement by asking others what they think. This habit alone takes a lot of energy, and add to that the stress of feeling insecure about your inability to make a decision. Practice making small decisions on your own so you can drop the validation habit.

21. Staying up too late

Staying up late throws off your sleep cycle and makes you tired the next day. Getting too little sleep not only sucks your energy, but also it can create a host of physical ailments. Lack of sleep exacts a toll on perception and judgment.

22. Snacking late at night

Late night snacking can cause poor sleep and indigestion. It can unnecessarily add to your daily calorie intake and lead to weight gain by throwing off the body’s metabolic cycles
 

23. Working too many hours

You may think working long hours makes you more productive. However, too much of anything isn’t good. Working too much can impact your sleep, creativity, relationships, and health. Create a new habit of life balance by leaving work at a reasonable time.

24. Remaining sedentary

Being over-scheduled, stressed, and tired as a result of other bad habits leads to a sedentary life. Because we feel bad, we lose motivation and get in the habit of a being a couch potato rather than exercising. There are so many health risks associated with a sedentary lifestyle.

25. Saying yes when you mean no (or vice versa)

This habit can be a part of people pleasing or simply a result of laziness. It’s more expedient to give the answer with the least resistance. But later we regret it and feel stressed as a result.

26. Assuming the worst

Constantly fearing the worst possible outcome is a dreadful habit. We’re in a state of fight or flight anxiety 24/7. This wrecks havoc on our health and mental well-being.

27. Picking fights with your spouse

When we feel stressed or out-of-sorts, it’s easy to lash out at those close to us. This may temporarily bring relief, but in the long-run, it causes even more stress, depleting our emotional energy.

28. Eating junk food

Junk food has little or no nutritional value. Most of it is empty calories that make you fat and create addictions to more of the same. Junk food doesn’t energize — it depletes you.

29. Buying too many lattes at Starbucks

Not only are you over-caffeinated, but you’re spending too much — not an energy promoting combination.

30. Gossiping

It might feel good for a few minutes to dish the dirt about someone, but it eventually catches up with you in the form of guilt, mistrust from others, or retribution. Gossip is simply negative, and negative things deplete your energy.

31. Giving up too soon

When things get tough, the tough don’t give up. If you’re in the habit of quitting too soon, you lose self-respect and confidence.

32. Having knee-jerk reactions

Our first reactions aren’t always the best, especially in an emotionally-charged situation. An immediate reaction of anger or defensiveness might be regretted later, causing embarrassment or more problems.

33. Avoiding confrontation

It might feel like you’re saving energy by avoiding conflict, but you’re really just prolonging the problem. It takes energy to hold yourself back from facing a situation and dealing with it.

34. Lying

Lying goes against your integrity. It makes you feel shame, guilt, and anxiety. All of these feelings deplete your energy. A habit of lying undermines the trust others have in you.

35. Over-spending

When you spend more than you can afford to spend, you create low level anxiety, embarrassment, and guilt. You feel out-of-control and undisciplined. For a while, stop the spending habit cold turkey until you manage the problem.

36. Accepting unacceptable behavior

Family members, children, and work associates can treat you with disrespect. If you allow it to continue, you give away your power and dismantle your boundaries. The pain of the behavior and your habitual acceptance of it is depleting.

37. Leaving your bed unmade

It’s a small thing, but an unmade bed sucks the energy from a room. It looks messy and disorganized. Make your bed daily and get started on an orderly foot.

38. Working on vacation

Vacation is a time to replenish your energy and restore balance in life. Even if you love your work, give yourself a break from it so you can completely refill your tank.

39. Pretending things are Ok when they aren’t

This goes beyond just avoiding confrontation. It’s an active choice to shove down your feelings and act as though you don’t have them. Denying your feelings causes deep emotional turmoil that sucks your energy and joy.

40. Taking things personally

Sometimes our sensitivities get the best of us, but if you’re in a habit of getting your feelings hurt, you might need to examine a deeper cause. Perhaps you’re a highly sensitive person, but you need to adapt to a less sensitive world so others don’t cause you constant pain and stress.

41. Wearing uncomfortable clothes

A shirt with an itchy tag. Pants that are too tight. A jacket that makes us overheat. We might look amazing and professional, but our clothes are making us crazy. Why put up with that and allow it to distract you? Get in the habit of wearing comfortable clothes that still look great.

42. Focusing on the past or future

Focusing on the past can create feelings of regret and remorse. Dwelling in the future fosters longing and agitation. Put your energy in the present moment, the task at hand. Right now is where you’ll find all your happiness and energy. 


Source

What bad habits do you have that deplete you of energy and drag you down? Have you overcome them? If so, please share how you did it in the comments below.

Have you ever read or heard about the law of attraction? Do you know and understand, that you are always attracting what you think about and what you say? Do you know of colleagues, friends, or neighbors, who always seem to attract bad luck? "I have a black cloud over my head." "I knew this was going to happen!" On the other hand, do you know of people who seem to have a horse shoe up their a..? Everything they touch seems to turn to gold? Have you ever watched the movie, "The Secret"? There is a gentleman in it who visualizes big fat cheques coming to him in his mailbox. Another thing he does, is know that each time he needs a parking spot he gets one! How cool is that? Imagine, if you live in a city that has no parking and each time you went somewhere you knew there would be a parking spot available. Try it! I have... it works!

Let's do an experiment, just for fun. Let's say you need to pay $500 for a bill you did not expect. You are concerned because you have no clue where you are going to get the money. Focus on how you are feeling when you are stressed about not having the money. Why do this? Because, you have to be able to recognize this stressed feeling about not having enough money, to be able to change it. Now, stop! Shift this feeling by affirming, "I am letting go and allowing money to easily flow into my life, right now!" Dance around the room, laugh out loud and recall a moment in time that made you jump for joy. Tag the feeling of being joyful to imagining money flowing to you! You have just raised your vibration and this is what the universe responds to. It responds to your feelings. So if you want to be wealthy, feel wealthy first. "Easier said than done!" you say? Absolutely! You are correct that this is simple in theory, harder to implement in reality, because feelings are involved. However, if you can grasp this concept then you may never feel, or be poor again. So, fake it before you make it! Feel wealthy now!

How do you do this? Well, you can make a vision board of all the things you are looking forward to when you design the life of your dreams. Keep the vision board in a place where you can see it daily. Know in your heart it is speeding to you! Expect it but do not stress about it. Allow it to happen. Know it is on its way. Be aware of serendipitous events that come into your life. Follow your intuition. If you feel compelled to do something, do it.

Imagine that you receive the money and some extra, from an unexpected source. You see, it is not your job to know where the money is coming from. This is the universe's job. It is your job to expect the money and be grateful for having received it, before you receive it. You do this by raising your vibration, by how you feel. A lot of people feel stuck when they say "I am wealthy now." Why? Because they simply do not feel wealthy when they say it! They feel like they are lying. On the other hand, when they say, "I am allowing money to flow easily into my life, right now!" The sense of "allowing" may feel more right. Allowing something to happen seems truthful. Try it! It does not cost a penny to do so. This simple shift of affirming on a daily basis, "I am allowing money to flow easily into my life, right now!" and the feeling you now have of being wealthy, is priceless. You have the power to change your life.

Never let anyone steal your dreams! Never stop believing in yourself, or your dreams, until you have achieved them. Live with gratitude. Live with the knowledge that you can have, be, and do whatever you can imagine, as long as you play by the universe's rules and never harm another person. Raise your vibration and allow the universe to give you what you ask for. Receive it with open arms.

Fake it before you make it!

Wishing you great happiness and success in all that you do!

Confidence is an extremely attractive personality trait. It can be attractive to the opposite sex and dating situations and it is essential for success in the workplace and in any sort of self-employed business endeavor.

Confidence is a trait that is naturally built with time. After period of successes you cannot help to gain confidence and grow more self-assured.

This does not mean the confidence is not also a habit that you can be intentionally built and reinforced. Confidence can be intentionally nurtured.

One of the very best ways to build confidence is with a simple, "fake it, till you make it" attitude. What I mean by this is that if you take steps to act and looked confident all times, you will slowly begin to become more confident. As you gain confidence and begin to have small successes your confidence will grow. Soon enough you'll be as confident as were once pretending.

You can choose confidence, or you can choose shyness. If you learn the habit of confidence, the choice is still yours. Below are 10 of the keys to building a confidence habit. If you intentionally follow many of the steps below, and try to act confident, soon enough you'll begin to become confident.

10 Keys to Developing the Confidence Habit

1. Never Fidget

Confident people don't fidget. All movements are slow and with purpose. Tapping your foot, drumming your figures on the tables and other types of fidgety moves all show off a lack of comfort in your surroundings which is a sure sign of lack of confidence.

2. Assume your Right to Space

Confident people make large and splashy hand gestures. They have no problem spreading out their files at a meeting. They will lounge in a chair or the couch like they own the place, because in the mind of the confident person, they do. Sometimes shoulder confident can all be about real estate. No one is going to invite you to take up more space, if you're confident you'll grab it.

3. Make Eye Contact

Looking people in the eye is one of the keys of confidence. You want to spend a good two or three seconds looking someone in the eye when you meet them. When you're talking to people make sure you also gaze into their eyes. Never look down or look at your feet. Not only is keeping someone's gaze a good confidence habit, but it also shows you clearly when you're going off track and losing people in the conversation.

4. Maintain Good Posture

Shoulders back, chest out and keep your head level. If your mother was like mine, she may have constantly harped on you about having good posture. Now I know why, and I appreciate all those lessons. Poor posture is an outward manifestation of poor self-esteem. It is as simple as that. Walk around like you have a steel pole up your spine and you will simply exude confidence.

5. Do Not Try to Please Everyone

Confident people know that it is impossible to please everyone. If someone disagrees with your point of view, fine, they have a right, but you will not bend to try to make everyone happy.

6. Speak Slowly

Watch a few of the great speeches. Notice how Martin Luther King, John Kennedy and others speak slowly and with purpose. While you do not need to develop that, "speech cadence" you can learn something from the speed. People who want to sound confident do not rush out their words. Speaking slowly also gives you the time to think of the right word. Speak slowly, pause for effect and make your words important. Confident people know that the listeners will wait to hear what they have to say.

7. Be Yourself

You are trying to act more confident, but you do not need to act like somebody else. Acting confident is more about being the best version of yourself rather than trying to be somebody else. Confident people know that they have no need to apologize for who they are. Be bold, be yourself and be confident!

8. Make Them Work for that Laugh or Smile

People who lack confidence will often smile and laugh a lot to cover their lack of self-assurance. If you are acting confident you not feel the need to assure other people at the funny. Something genuinely makes you laugh... laugh, but don't feel the need to insert laughter just to make others feel better. Make people work for that smile or grin.

9. If you do not Know it; do not Say it.

There's saying I've always loved, "it is better to keep quiet and have people think you are stupid, rather than open your mouth and have them be sure". Never feel the need to jump into a conversation, "just because". If you have nothing to say on topic, say nothing. If you don't know an answer, don't guess. If you always talk about subjects you have real knowledge about and come up with answers that are always right people remember those and not the times you remained silent. Remember that no one can know everything, and not knowing is perfectly fine.

10. Pause When you Speak

People who are nervous and lack self-assurance are scared of silence. Confident people know that silence is their best friends. Moments of silence give time to gather your thoughts and make sure the things you say are impactful and thoughtful.

Confidence is just one of hundreds of good habits that you can and should be trying to build.