Staying Positive and Reducing Stress in a Fast Paced World
photo credit: h.koppdelaney
People are constantly working to make real improvements in the world. New waves of communication and better technology have lead to increased life spans and seemingly better lives.
While there are many positives when it comes to modern life, the downside is that sometimes people try to cram too many things into one day. In this fast paced world, stress may get the better of you and you might have trouble looking on the bright side.
Continue reading
The Wealthy Mindset – How Your Thoughts Affect Your Financial Future
photo credit: alancleaver_2000
Surely you’ve heard the saying that when you believe in yourself, you can do anything. It’s a piece of advice that gets passed around for a reason – because it’s 100% true! It especially applies to having a wealthy mindset. It doesn’t matter where you’re starting from; with the right steps, the sky really is the limit.
Believing In Yourself
The first step is to truly believe that you can accomplish anything when you set your mind to it. You can prove to yourself that you believe you can become wealthy by taking it seriously and making concrete plans.
How to Think Positively in Tough Times
Sometimes it’s hard to look on the bright side even when things are going fairly well. When you’re going through tough times, gaining the “glass is half full” mentality can be a feat in itself!
Don’t Get Overwhelmed
When you’re in the middle of a stressful situation, it’s important to disallow over-anxious and over-analyzed thoughts. You really don’t want to overwhelm yourself with an over-stimulated mind because the added stress will only strain your mind further and you’ll find it nearly impossible to think positively.
Ways To Look On The Bright Side
How you go about transforming difficult situations into positive outcomes will differ each time. Your goal should be to discover a set of strategies that works well for you. It might take some experimenting, but that’s okay!
Consider the following ways to achieve a positive mindset:
1. Avoid feeling sorry for yourself. Feeling sorry for yourself only wastes precious brainpower and it’s not going to help you out in the long run. Instead, strive to gain the wisdom to accept your situation and focus on solutions, instead of sorrow or worry. Everyone has to travel through tough times at some point; it’s just a part of life!
2. Find the life lesson. It may be hard to find the silver lining, but it’s almost always hiding somewhere. All of your experiences – both good and bad – contribute to your life’s knowledge. Be thankful for what you know!
* Reflect on the fact that you’ve gained wisdom and knowledge that may help you make better decisions and cope well in the future.
3. Start small. Take some time to reflect on the difficult situation. If you’re having trouble finding a positive manner of thinking, just start by smiling at yourself in the mirror. You might not feel happy right away, but it sure will be hard not to feel happy when you see a beautiful smiling face staring back at you!
* You can also consider the use of positive affirmations to help you through tough times. The more frequently you repeat your affirmations, the sooner you’ll ingrain the positive beliefs into your subconscious.
4. Stop worrying. When you’re going through a tough situation, sometimes your worries can overtake you. The future might seem scary and bleak and you’re not sure what you should do. As you know, worrying isn’t going to help the situation in the least. Instead, the moment worry creeps in, redirect your mind onto something positive or reassuring.
* Stay calm and start brainstorming some practical solutions.
5. Be brave about change. Change is inevitable and most often you don’t even notice that it’s happening. During tough times, however, you’re likely more sensitive to the changes that are taking place.
* Think about change as an exciting adventure. You’ll never know what you can discover and learn until you’re open to change.
Help From Others
When you’re going through a tough time, your instincts might be to pull inward. Perhaps you don’t want people to see you in a vulnerable state or you want to solve your problems all on your own. However, you must resist this urge to shut people out! Remember, you’re never alone. Your family and loved ones are always there to help you get through any challenging situation, but only if you allow them to!
Of course, your loved ones may not be able to solve your problem outright, but they can provide you with a fantastic support system and help you brainstorm different avenues for problem solving.
As hard as it may seem now, it is possible for you to think positively when you’re enduring tough times. Use these simple positive thinking strategies to help you change your mindset quicker than you ever thought possible!
Transforming Grief Into Joy
Grief is one the hardest things to overcome. The truth is, after a period of loss or grief, a part of us changes and we’re never completely the same. But what we can do is learn how to handle it for the better so we can learn and grow.
Living in perpetual grief is no way to live our lives and surely this is no way our loved one would want us to live. The question is this: is it possible to transform your grief into joy so your grief doesn’t overtake you?
[hana-code-insert name='content' /]
Yes! Here are a few strategies you can use to help turn your grief into joy:
1. Remember that your loved one is in your heart. Although they may be physically gone, they’re still close by. You’re still able to speak to them, feel close to them, and have them in your life.
* Any time you feel the need to feel closer to your loved one, go into a quiet room and close your eyes, then say a prayer or speak to them within your heart.
* This simple strategy can be done at anytime and you can recall all the joys and happiness from you past to cheer you up.
2. Don’t stop talking about them. If you love and miss this person so much, chances are there are others out there who feel exactly the same way. Don’t stop talking about your loved one just because they have physically passed away.
* Talk about the memories, the good times, the bad times, the funny times, and the sad times. Just don’t stop talking and sharing with others about this person.
* If something reminds you of this person, tell others.
* Celebrate the amazing life they had and always keep their memories alive.
3. Create their legacy. When someone we love passes on, we don’t want people to forget the impact this person made when they were here. A simple idea is to do something in memory of this person that will live on forever.
* For example, you can plant a tree, donate to their favorite charity, or create a scholarship in their name.
4. Know that they would want you to be happy. The person you cared for so deeply would want you to be happy and deep down inside you know this too.
* They would want you to go out and live your life to the fullest. Doing this doesn’t mean you’re forgetting them, because they’ll always be with you in your heart.
* It’s time to leave an impact on someone else just like your loved one impacted you.
The loss of a loved one is never easy. We all take time to grieve our loss, but there’s a time that we must move on. We need to forge on, but we can still carry our loved one in our heart and memories.
We must go out and make them proud of us, and they’ll continue to be right by our side as we move forward again.
Discover the Joys in Your Life By Using Affirmations
Affirmations are simple statements we can use to improve our self-esteem, help us reach a goal, break a bad habit, find love, or even discover joy in our lives. Positive affirmations work hand in hand with our subconscious to make lasting changes for the better.
Many times we may already experience joy, but we don’t know celebrate it enough. Sadly, at other times, we aren’t even aware that it’s present. Positive affirmations can help you rediscover that joy, peace, health, and happiness!
Here are some examples of positive affirmations and how they can improve your life:
1.“I’m worth it!” This positive affirmation tells us that we’re deserving of being happy. If you’re feeling dejected or worthless, this affirmation can work wonders.
- By using this affirmation on a consistent basis and coupling it with an open heart, you’ll see results. You’ll realize that you’re more than deserving of happiness and joy.
2.“I go with the flow and my life is easy and filled with happiness.” Are you feeling stuck in rut or completely stressed out? This is an effective positive affirmation that helps you to release all that tension.
- This affirmation helps you rid your mind of negativity so the joy that’s present can shine through.
3.“I see the beauty in my surroundings and I radiate love and joy.” This positive affirmation will help you to notice all that’s beautiful in this world. It will also teach you how to spread love and joy to those around you.
- You can enjoy everything this world has to offer; all you have to do is give yourself permission to celebrate!
4.“I now choose thoughts that nourish and support me in a loving manner.” This will tell your subconscious that you’re serious and you want to make good, positive changes in your life.
- This affirmation helps you open your mind to constructive thoughts so you can celebrate all the joys that life has to offer you.
5.“I can relax and accept the good that I know I deserve in my life.” This is a positive affirmation that will help with your stress and patience.
- No matter how long it may take, you can be confident that only good things await you.
- Even though you may be completely stressed out, this affirmation will help you to relax and slow down.
6.“I take time regularly to do the things that I love to do; I follow my heart and I am happy.” This positive affirmation celebrates someone very important – you! You take the time to make yourself a priority and you’re an active player in your life!
- To be happy is extremely important and joy will follow you wherever you go when you recite this affirmation frequently.
Joy is essential and our lives should be filled with it. Positive affirmations allow us to refocus our lives to a point where we can be happy again. Practice positive affirmations on a regular basis and celebrate all the joy that this life has to offer!
The Powers of a Positive Attitude
I am going to ask you to something very weird right now. First of all, I want you to listen to your thoughts. Now tell me, what thoughts fill your head? Would you label them as positive, or negative?
Now let’s say you are walking down the street with these thoughts. Do you think anyone who would meet you would be able to tell you what’s on your mind?
The answer to number one is up to you. But, the answer number two can be pretty generic. Although people will not be able to tell you exactly what you think, they will more or less have an idea of how you are feeling.
Here’s another question. When you enter a party filled with friends, do they all fall silent as if something terrible had happened? Or does everybody there perk up as if waiting for something exciting to happen?
You know what? The answer to all these depends on your frame of mind.
Thoughts are very powerful. They affect your general attitude. The attitude you carry reflects on your appearance, too – unless, of course, you are a great actor.
And it doesn’t end there. Your attitude can also affect people around you.
The type of attitude you carry depends on you. It can be either positive or negative.
Positive thoughts have a filling effect. They are admittedly invigorating. Plus, the people around the person carrying positive thoughts are usually energized by this type of attitude.
Negative thoughts on the other hand have a sapping effect on other people. Aside from making you look gloomy and sad, negative thoughts can turn a festive gathering into a funeral wake.
A positive attitude attracts people, while a negative attitude repels them. People tend to shy away from those who carry a negative attitude.
We can also define attitude as the way of looking at the world. If you choose to focus on the negative things in the world, more or less you have a negative attitude brewing up. However, if you choose to focus on the positive things, you are more likely carry a positive attitude.
You have much to gain from a very positive attitude. For one, studies have shown that a positive attitude promotes better health. Those with this kind of attitude also have more friends. projecting a positive attitude also helps one to handle stress and problems better than those who have a negative attitude.
A positive attitude begins with a healthy self-image. If you will love the way you are and are satisfied, confident, and self-assured, you also make others are around feel the same way.
A negative attitude, on the other hand, has, of course, an opposite effect. So, carrying a negative attitude has a twofold drawback. You feel bad about yourself, and you make others feel the same way.
If you want to have a positive attitude, you have to feature healthy thoughts. This is probably very hard to do nowadays since, all around us, the media feeds us nothing but negative thoughts. A study shows that for every 14 things a parent says to his or her child, only one is positive. This is truly a saddening thought.
If you want a healthier outlook in life, you need to think happy thoughts, and you have to hear positive things as well. So, what can you do? Well, for starters, you could see a funny movie, you could play with children, spend some time telling jokes with friends. All these activities fill you with positive stimuli, which in turn promotes positive attitude.
Although it is impossible to keep ourselves from the negative things around us, you can still carry a positive attitude by focusing on the good things, the positive things in life.
And this positive attitude you now carry can be of benefit to other people. Sometimes when other people feel down, the thing people mostly do is try to give them advice. But sometimes, all they need is somebody to sit by them, and listen to them. If you have a positive attitude you may be able to cheer them up without even having to say anything.
If positive attitude is really great, why do people choose to adopt a negative attitude instead? One who carries a negative attitude may be actually sending a signal for attention. Before you get me wrong, feeling sad, angry, or gloomy is not wrong itself. But dwelling on these thoughts for far too long is not healthy either. There is a time to mourn.
As always, if you are beset by troubles, even in your darkest hour, focus on the good things in life, you will always have hope. Problems become something you can overcome.
You do not have much to lose by adopting a healthy, positive attitude. Studies show that such an attitude actually retards aging, makes you healthier, helps you develop a better stress coping mechanism, and has a very positive effect on all the people you meet every day. So, what’s not to like about a positive attitude? Adopt one today.
Creating a Winning Attitude
Your attitude can make or break you. It’s virtually indisputable that your attitude determines how far you’ll go in life and a positive mental outlook can help you achieve optimal success.
Having a positive mental attitude helps you cope with challenges. When you’re put to the test, you’re more likely to find your inner strengths to overcome adversity, and that strength just might be your winning attitude. Whether or not you have the tools, skills, knowledge, or resources, your attitude can get you through tough times and come out on top.
On the other hand, an attitude filled with negative overtones makes everything much harder. You can’t win when you go into the contest prepared to lose! If you expect to do well, your attitude will create positive, winning thoughts that help you succeed.
Cause and Effect
It’s important to realize that for every effect in our lives, there’s a specific cause. Through positive thoughts, we can control these causes and change effects or outcomes.
- In order to change your future for the better, you must first alter your thoughts in the present.
For every positive seed you plant, your thoughts will grow and reward you with a positive harvest. Negative seeds have the opposite effect. They’ll grow, but result in a spoiled and fruitless crop. You can’t plant negative seeds in your mind and expect positive results. It just doesn’t work that way.
A vivid and defining difference between people who are successful and those who aren’t is the way they think. Successful people visualize their goals and take action to make them happen.
Unsuccessful people dwell on the negative, spend their time and energy complaining, and worry about things that are unimportant. This negativity wastes time and energy that could be harnessed toward achieving your goals.
Practice Makes Perfect
If you hone your positive thinking skills and develop the mental attitudes of a winner, you’ll be able to overcome challenges without giving up. No matter how discouraging things may get or how intently others may try to dissuade you, with your winning attitude, you will be unstoppable!
A positive outlook enables you to focus on your goals with a tunnel vision that eliminates negative distractions and keeps you on a chartered course to success.
The Power of Failure
What do you think when you hear the word failure? You probably are thinking that you’re not good enough and that you should give up.
While failure can involve those thoughts and emotions, failure can also make us stronger or wiser.
A simple definition of failure is: An act or instance of failing or proving unsuccessful; lack of success.
When I think of this definition of failure, I’m reminded of Thomas Edison, the inventor of the light bulb. While there are many conflicting stories of how many times Edison “failed” at inventing the electric light bulb, most agree it was in the thousands before he found the right combination of materials.
One of Edison’s most famous quotes is, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work. I am not discouraged because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward.”
If you adopt this same attitude, you’ll overcome your feelings of failure and be able to see your dreams and desires come to fruition.
Robert Schuller stated these famous words, “Failure doesn’t mean you’re a failure; it just means you haven’t succeeded yet.”
Henry Ford said, “Failure is only the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.”
When you consider those words from these wise and successful people, you’ll truly begin to understand the power of failure.
The truth is, you only fail when you give up! When you keep trying until you’ve found the answer or the solution, you’re successful.
You’d never say Thomas Edison, Robert Schuller or Henry Ford were failures would you? Sure, they were unsuccessful many, many times, but they didn’t give up until they found the answer, the right procedure or the right materials to solve their dilemma.
In case those quotes weren’t enough to make you believe failure has a positive power and strength, here are some more you might relate to:
“Failure is an event, never a person.” – William D. Brown
The next time you try your hand at something and don’t achieve the desired result immediately, remember failure is an event; it’s not you.
Bill Cosby also said it well when he said, “I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.”
If you’re trying to please everyone, you can’t possibly succeed!
“Never confuse a single defeat with final defeat.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald
“You can’t have any successes until you can accept failures.” – George Cukor
Just because you’ve failed once, twice or 10,000 times at something, it doesn’t mean you’re a failure. You only fail when you stop trying.
Still not convinced? How about this:
“You always pass failure on your way to success.” – Mickey Rooney
What do these words mean to you? No matter what you’re trying to succeed at, whether it’s a sport, project, career, invention, or at school, there will be times when you don’t succeed. But you mustn’t let that stop you from reaching your goals, dreams, and desires.
The common thread among all these famous people and their wise words is the same. You can’t have success without failure. Never give up and never stop trying. There is power in failure, you just have to give yourself a chance.
Keep trying, keep failing and soon you’ll find true success!
[Positive Affirmations] Top 10 Food and Nutrition Affirmations
When you have “convenience” food bombarding you from every direction, it can be difficult to choose options that give your body the nourishment it needs.
However, if you have daily reminders and effective tools at your disposal, you just may find that eating the right foods and feeding your body the best fuels becomes a lot easier.
Of course, there will always be temptation, but when you equip yourself with anti-temptation tools, you will be able to quickly re-focus your mind on your greater goal of getting healthy!
Using Affirmations to Make the Healthy Food and Nutrition Choices
When everyone around you at the office is indulging in burgers, fries, and sugary drinks, it’s awfully tempting to join in, isn’t it?
But what if you could stop that temptation in its tracks and actually choose to make a healthy choice? You don’t need me to tell you that fatty and sugary choices are not the kinds of food that your body needs – you need to tell yourself!
It can be hard in moments of temptation to make the right choice, but with the help of positive affirmations, you can re-train your brain to replace the desire for junk food with healthy choices.
Affirmations can help you stick to your diet, say no to temptation, and eat nourishing and satisfying foods. How? By replacing the negative spiral of thoughts in your mind with powerful, positive ones.
But first you have to believe that it is possible to gain control over your thirsts, desires, and cravings. The first step in making a lasting change in your life is to make the commitment to success. Are you committed? Do you believe that you can overcome your cravings?
Once you’ve set your commitment in stone, you’re ready to learn the top 10 affirmations to get you through moments of weakness.
Top 10 Food and Nutrition Affirmations
Before reading the list below, you should know that affirmations are most successful when you internalize the saying and repeat it frequently. Whether you’re having a good or bad day, you need to be constantly repeating these positive statements in your mind. Temptation will strike when you least expect it, so it’s better to be prepared!
1. I can neutralize bad habits with good food, exercise, and healthy living.
2. I am proud to reach out to my support network instead of leaning on food for comfort.
3. I am losing weight for me because I love me.
4. I set aside time just for me.
5. My good health and productivity are the rewards for the nourishing foods I eat.
6. Weight gain happens over time, so my weight loss equally requires time, patience, and lifestyle changes.
7. I use self-care, not self-control.
8. The more I take care of myself, the better I feel.
9. I am firmly committed to staying active and healthy.
10. I deserve a healthy body and mind.
When you look at these food and nutrition affirmations, they may seem like ideals – behaviors and thoughts that you only wish you could have – but each time you reaffirm them by saying them aloud, you’re slowly changing your mindset. Over time, these ideals will become a reality through your thoughts and actions.
But remember, you must first believe you can change. Once you make the commitment to your success, you will change your attitudes about food and you’ll be thankful you did!
"Your level of Self-Confidence is directly related to your level of success"
