Wise Words

Start by Prioritising Your Happiness

Some people treat happiness as their main goal. When you ask them what they want in life they say, 'to be happy'. But happiness can be elusive. It creeps up on us when we least expect it, when we find ourselves smiling at a beautiful sunset, a table laid for a family meal, succeeding in a challenge, watching our friends laugh at a terrible joke.

Happiness is rarely about expensive gifts or acquisitions. So when planning for a positive, fulfilling life it's important to start by prioritising your happiness. Let's look at what this entails.

- Practise daily gratitude. This doesn't mean settling for second best or sitting back on your laurels, but is about being grateful for what you have and finding a balanced, grounded approach to life. Appreciation of others, valuing the lessons learned from challenges and setbacks, the relationships in your life, the food, air, roof over your head, running water, all can all be taken for granted but are things many others don't have.Those people would be happy to be in your shoes.

- Happiness comes from being inspired, so ensure you have things that motivate you to improve, to be better, reach a higher level. This may be learning new skills, expanding your area of expertise, focusing on a new direction, something that elevates your vision, stretches you and brings a sense of achievement.

- Leaving our familiar comfort zone can be scary and exhilarating, yet often results in us feeling happy and proud of ourselves afterwards. Even trying new food, another route to work, having a go at something we're apprehensive about can prompt a positive shift in our thinking and a happier sense of self.

- Being challenged is important to happiness too. Being receptive to new ideas and initiatives, being prepared to say, 'yes' even when unsure of yourself. Why not say 'yes' first and work out how to do it afterwards! Self-improvement and development bring their own happiness and fulfillment.

- Do things you do well. Being challenged is often a good experience but if life is already stressful making time to do something you know you're good at can be an important reminder of how competent and capable you are. And we all need a little window of success in a stressful life. Enjoy it, even if it's icing a cake, putting up shelving or supporting an elderly neighbour.

- Rewards can bring happiness. Yes, we deserve to be rewarded for our efforts financially. We need to live and pay our bills. But also reward yourself by ensuring you have a space, a place where you go and feel secure, able to relax. It may be your bedroom, with lovely prints, cushions, flowers and music. When you're there you close the door on the world, destress and chill.

- Being involved with others can bring happiness; teaching, mentoring, coaching, volunteering are often fulfilling experiences. And the people we're involved with may bring new ideas, inspiration, suggestions of their own that add value to our lives.

- Don't follow the crowd. Others have their own stories, motivations and limitations. They may begrudge you your energy and drive, preferring that you don't remind them of their apparent lack of ambition, but we're all different and each of us have needs and wants that evolve over time. Reflect on those relationships and consider if it's time to reduce their influence in your life.

- Mix with people who like, support and encourage you; they're your fans and ambassadors. People who like you treat you with respect, may challenge you on occasion, but they're in your court and you're in theirs. Nurturing 'your' people allows you to be vulnerable, wrong sometimes and able to discuss any problem areas in an accepting, non-judgmental arena.

- Indulge your senses. Happiness comes from incorporating smell, taste, touch as well as music and beautiful art and colours. Make time to enjoy nature, your pets. Visit the beach, the forest and stimulate your senses; feel the sand underneath your feet.

- Give yourself regular free time. Happiness is about ensuring there's balance in your life. Prioritising time for fun, sport, exercise, reading is important. Sometimes work may require extra attention, but aim to regularly give yourself time out, perhaps just to sit with a coffee at the mall.

- Insist on being treated with respect by those you come into contact with. Good boundaries matter. Unhappiness can occur if we feel disrespected, treated dismissively or are taken for granted. Intercept bad treatment at the outset and be firm about good manners and consideration. But equally remember to invest time and attention in your good relationships.

- Deal with your demons. Happiness is about being at peace with ourselves, forgiving any failures, past mistakes or errors of judgement. If you're struggling therapy coulhttps://ezinearticles.com/?Start-by-Prioritising-Your-Happiness&id=10262600d be a good way to heal and recover from negative patterns and ways of thinking. Be gentle with yourself and move on from unhelpful self-talk. It can make all the difference to your happiness levels.

Look after yourself. Eat well, exercise, commit to regular sleep. Practice these tips, prioritise your health and happiness will follow.

Susan Leigh, counselor, hypnotherapist, relationship counselor, writer & media contributor offers help with relationship issues, stress management, assertiveness and confidence. She works with individual clients, couples and provides corporate workshops and support.

She's author of 3 books, 'Dealing with Stress, Managing its Impact', '101 Days of Inspiration #tipoftheday' and 'Dealing with Death, Coping with the Pain', all on Amazon & with easy to read sections, tips and ideas to help you feel more positive about your life.

To order a copy or for more information, help and free articles visit http://www.lifestyletherapy.net

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Susan_Leigh/399535

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/10262600

Is There an Elephant in the Room? How to Make Progress on Your Goals Inevitable

I wake every morning at 6 am. Not because I'm a such a morning person, but because I know I will feel better if I do my morning routine before my son wakes up. Have you also noticed that what's important to us gets short shrift while we attend to whatever presents itself in the moment?

Every morning when my alarm goes off I want nothing more than to sleep more. The bed is so warm and cozy and my dreams are so sweet. I used to keep my alarm clock by my bed where it was easy to slap the snooze button.

Now it's across the room and I have to get out of bed to turn it off. Once I'm out of bed I'm almost always able to remind myself why I put the clock away from my bed, why I want to get up early, and why I want to take the two steps out the door to start my day rather than the two steps back to bed.

Why do I need to create a morning routine that helps me remember what's important to me? Psychologists tell us that we've got two systems in our brains-the rational system and the emotional system-and, unfortunately, they often disagree about what will make us happy.

The rational system thinks that happiness would be losing 30 pounds and taking stress off of the knee joints so we could walk without pain. But the emotional system thinks that happiness is dependent on devouring the bread basket, the cheese plate and the dessert tray. Guess which system usually wins? Hands down it's the emotional.

Psychologist Jonathan Haidt used a great analogy to explain this in his book The Happiness Hypothesis. He says that the emotional system is like an elephant, and on its back is a human rider that represents the rational system. The rider thinks he's the one in charge, but an average elephant weighs 6 tons, so who do you think is going to win in a fight?

If you want your rational system to win out, you've got to avoid a direct tug-of-war with the elephant. Your rider (what we think of as will power) thinks he's got it in the bag. But if you want to lose weight, don't assume that your self-control will keep you from inhaling that bowl of chocolate-covered popcorn (just to use an example from my evening).

Whatever you do, don't believe that if you only had more willpower, you would win. That would be like believing that two humans would win against the elephant. And please don't make your apparent lack of willpower an opportunity to be hard on yourself, or think that others have it easier.

If others do have it easier it's probably because they developed systems for managing the elephant, for working with the elephant, for respecting the power of the elephant.

It's impossible to stop an elephant on a dime (or stop him eating), but given enough time and foresight, he can be turned. And so, if you want to lose weight, you may want to keep bread or ice cream or Newman's O's (another personal favorite) out of your house. Or you may want to develop the habits that encourage exercise-like making time for a walk in your schedule, or making a date with an exercise buddy.

In my case, I wasn't "strong enough" to resist the siren call of sleep if my alarm clock could be turned off while I lay in my warm bed. So I established a system that made it necessary for me to get out of bed (and quickly, so the alarm wouldn't wake my child), which made it inevitable that I would stay out of bed.

Identify what's important to you and make sure you make them your priority first thing. What systems could you establish to make it inevitable for you to do the thing that you know would make you happier? Even if your elephant, in the moment of decision, disagrees?

Stacey is a purpose and success coach who helps you give birth to your BIG dreams. To find your purpose and passion, check out her FREE eBook,

The Purpose and Passion Guidebook. 

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Stacey_Curnow/379959

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7985844https://ezinearticles.com/?Is-There-an-Elephant-in-the-Room?-How-to-Make-Progress-on-Your-Goals-Inevitable&id=7985844

1:55 / 7:19 REMEMBER YOUR DREAM - Motivational Video

6 Minutes to Start Your Day Right! - MORNING MOTIVATION | Motivational Video for Success

POWERFUL POSITIVE Morning Affirmations for POSITIVE DAY, WAKE UP: 21 Day "I AM" Affirmations

How Billionaires Wake Up Early | The Morning Routine of Geniuses

Happiness For a Better Life - Tips For Early Morning Motivation

Have you ever felt to be in bad mood when you get up in the morning? Do you need too much time to get running and functioning at high speed? Do you need many coffee breaks? Off course, sometimes everybody has a hang through phase, be it after a lot of work, long time school or study, boring work or what ever.

I have thought a bit about how to improve the small things of life to the positive and how to get up with a great smile every morning. Actually I just reflected what I am doing for years and which helped me through many difficult situations. Funny enough, to get up positively in the morning has its roots in the evening before and how you go to bed. That's what I do:

After our work day, Eliane and I sit down for a short while just talking to each other about the nice and frustrating things we encountered over the working day. Then, while she prepares a small meal, I help her with some jobs to be done in the household, going to the cellar for milk or what else is needed. After the meal, often together with our adult children, we do no more speak about business but about our dreams, holidays, the book we a re reading, etc. Now it comes: we go to bed with an absolutely positive feeling and mind.

The alarm clock rings! There it is very important to get up slowly and with a first and positive thought. This is easy since I already slept with a positive mind, so I just restart where I left. Be not hectic, enjoy the shower, look out of the window, see the birds, the sunshine, and enjoy your life. Go on to have joy the whole day!

My conclusion and recommendation:

- Chose to be happy, be grateful
- Avoid bad news and stress
- Manage your time well, do not waste it, it's just too precious
- Laugh heartily, this is medicine
- Express your feelings and passions
- Work hard but not to exhaustion
- Enjoy your achievements and accomplishments
- Learn something new everyday, broaden your horizon
- Exercise your mind, soul and body, feel alive, eliminate depression
- Find Inspiration and success, be enthusiastic
- Take some minutes for meditation and religion

Following these simple but powerful small steps every day will increase your health (mind and body) dramatically. If you learn to avoid negative exposures, enjoy what you feel and what is around you, you are set for a long and prosperous life. Start reading motivational books.

Martin Bigler is an experienced Copywriter and offers Resources, Tools and Educational Content to help interested People build their Internet Business successfully and with motivation. His Educational Martin Bigler Newsletter offers profound step by step guidance on various Marketing and Sales Tasks. A big selection of Free Reports, Downloads and useful Links are available at MartinBigler.com and the MartinBiglerBlog. Copyright by Martin Bigler.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Martin_Bigler/271950

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/1891789https://ezinearticles.com/?Happiness-For-a-Better-Life---Tips-For-Early-Morning-Motivation&id=1891789

2 Hours in the Morning Will Put You in 2% Club!

Do you set up yourself for failure every morning? If you hit snooze over and over again, yes you do, yet you didn't know till now. Two years ago, I was in your situation. It was my dream to be a successful person, you know, kinds of people who always look motivated and get things done in no time. I always knew waking up early would change my life, but the problem was not waking up early, it was sleeping early.

As you can relate, I thought I didn't have what it takes to have an amazing morning routine that over a couple of years it will transform to a success story. It was just a dream that I wanted, yes it was, not anymore!

Are these statements familiar to you?

• I'll wake up early tomorrow.

• I've slept late, so I should sleep more.

• I don't do anything useful in the mornings anyways, so why should I wake up early?

• I'm just not the right person for growth and success, I lack the discipline.

If you relate to one of these or all and are nodding your head, this guide will definitely save you from the struggle.

I'll not even mention agonizing impacts of wasting your mornings because you're living them. Let's start with the benefits and how those benefits will change your life in better way.

The first and the best one, waking up early will give you mental strength. Probably, you're saying, "I wake up early every day for work/school and there's no mental advantage!". Okay, I've got a few questions for you: what do you do when you wake up? Go through your emails? Or social media? Or in rush to be on time for your work/school? Another question: what do you do for yourself? To have mental strength, you should work on yourself. According to a study contacted by the American Psychological Association having a good routine in the beginning of the day will reduce your depression, anxiety and stress. More than that, it will increase your satisfaction level which will become happiness.

Second, a good beginning routine will provide you physical benefits. For instance, I do a hundred pushups after I wake up (of course it's not the only exercise I do during the whole day), which skyrockets my energy for the day. I'm not suggesting you to do pushups, you can practice yoga or even go for a walk. Another physical benefit of having a good morning routine is consuming less calories. I made an experiment with a group of twenty people, ten of us slept late for the next month, on the other hand, the rest slept early. As a result, late sleepers ended eating more because when you sleep late you get hungry that's why you tend to eat more which over the years become obesity.

Third, a good beginning always provides spiritual rewards. Visualizing your success does give you inner peace. I remember myself visualizing working as a freelancer and making enough money to travel while working. And that gave me enough motivation every day to work towards my ambitions, thus, my relationships with people became better both at home and at work. When you work for what you visualize today, in some time you'll make it reality. Of course, practicing visualization is not the only way to have inner peace. Meditation, journaling or listing what you're grateful for will help as well.

Of course, there're many other benefits of waking up early, but in my opinion, those which are above are dominant to other benefits. What else will you ask for if you're mentally strong, healthy as a model and peaceful with yourself, right?

I hope you're ready to build your own amazing morning routine! No, don't say, "but I'm not a morning person". Everything starts in your mind, so change your mindset and be positive on waking up early. "Beliefs we've that are so deeply embedded that we don't even realize they guide our attitudes and behaviors", said author Ramit Sethi. In simpler words, what you believe is your reality. So, you better start believing the you're an early bird.

Your morning routine doesn't start in the morning; it starts the night before. Here are five things you need to do to develop a habit from 'Habit Starter Checklist' written by Rob Norback. First, always remind yourself the habit that you want to create, in this case it's waking up early. Second, break it down to small pieces to make it easier and doable, make a decision of routine in regards to your new habit. For example, what activities you'll include in your morning routine. Third, know what rewards it will bring to you. How I did this, I wrote how creating and following a morning routine will make my life better on a piece of paper and read it every day. Fourth, visualize your success with your morning routine. Finally, record the progress, it will definitely encourage you to keep going.

If you're having issues with sleeping because of stress, anxiety and uncertainty (worrying about future) of future, like I had in the past. I highly recommend you to write down negative thoughts like these on a piece of paper, then fold it and tear it apart, finally throw it away. By doing this, you kick out your negative thoughts from your head and you physically do something to them which is extremely relieving.

Other helpful activity to relax before sleep; deep breathing, silence your inner voice, so it won't be bothering you; think about good things, read a book, write diary or look forwards to an amazing night sleep. There's no a certain way to get relaxed before sleep, you can find which one works for you by trying them.

It's time to chase your dreams and since day starts in the morning, you need to have a good morning routine. Start off with encouraging yourself, I believe this is the first thing you should do in the morning. 'Today is going to be the most productive day of my life' this is what I say to myself when I wake up. You can find different ones for yourself such as 'I'll be on my best today', you got the idea.

Every time I wake and encourage myself, I get out of the bed and start doing pushups right away, of course, there're plenty of other exercises you can do. For instance, sit ups, walking, jogging, even dancing, do whatever you want to for approximately twenty minutes that fills you with energy.

Cold water is the enemy of sleep if you can take a cold shower then go for it, however, if not, just wash your face with cold water. Feel awake? Now, tell what you're grateful for, you can make a list of it if you wish. Here is what I am grateful for:

• Being able to wake up

• Living the life that I've always dreamt of

• Exercising

• Yummy breakfast

• Friend

• Going to cinema and spending a great time with my partner

• Being able to finish my projects on time

Read them all out loud (of course, yours will be different), by doing this you hack your brain that you're a successful person, therefore, more achievements coming for you today.

Take your time when creating your morning routine, creating my current morning routine took two years for me. At the beginning, I set up my alarm clock to 5 a.m. and I believed that it'll give me more energy and productivity. By contrast, it gave me nothing but sleepiness, when you do something gradually your chances of success are more likely. Let's say you normally wake up at 6 a.m. next day wake up at 5:45. Then, gradually continue to your wake up time goal with setting your alarm clock 15 to 30 minutes earlier. In short, start small, be persistent and you'll achieve your goal wake up time.

As I've said before, take your time, I didn't build my winning morning habit in a day but in two years. Don't put too much to your morning routine when you're at the beginning, I did that mistake. I read books, meditated, exercised, worked; however, it didn't fulfill me with happiness and I thought of giving up many times. Build your perfect morning routine gradually, for example, exercise, after exercising becomes a habit read a book after exercise. You don't get the whole building in a day, you build it and it takes time.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Ahmet_Meliksah_Akdeniz/2758352

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/10245284https://ezinearticles.com/?2-Hours-in-the-Morning-Will-Put-You-in-2%-Club!&id=10245284

5 Rituals That Predict Success | Robin Sharma

Tony Robbins - Energy For Life

The One Thing Only 1% of People Do | TRY IT FOR 21 DAYS and Success Will Come!

How Do We Break The Habit Of Excessive Thinking?