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It came out of nowhere, a storm, an absolute whirlwind of emotion. Now here you are standing in the raw fury of white-hot anger. Your first instinct is to lash out. After all, how dare the world treat you this way?
Wait a moment. Stop. Don’t do something you might regret.
Heard it before? Worse, ever been frustrated by your inability to control your anger? Don’t despair. There are many ways to get a handle on your anger fast before you say or do something you might regret.
Fear. It’s more than a reaction to a scary movie. Fear is a deep-seated emotion that leads to anxiety and worry, with the added component of adrenaline guaranteed to keep your heart in your throat and your palms sweaty. Fear can also be crippling, taking over your mind, body, and soul.
But did you know there’s more to fear than meets the eye? If you think you understand fear, read on to discover seven truths about fear you might not have realized.
Nobody likes failure, least of all when it’s us who’s failing. Everything can seem so difficult from that point forward. It’s easy to fall into despair.
Despair is feeling there’s no hope, nor even any point in continuing. It’s the precursor to depression and, at its worst, can lead you to some dark places. But you can master despair.
You don’t want people to see you. If they did, they would know. They’d see it on you without you having to say a word. You don’t measure up. You never will measure up.
You live in shame.
Shame is one of those things you don’t like to admit to having, but you feel like everyone can see anyway. It’s what makes you want to hide, staying in the shadows. The good news? It doesn’t have to be this way. You can create emotional mastery over shame.
Are you the master of your emotions, or are your emotions the master of you?
You’ve felt it before. Overwhelming anxiety at the thought of doing something new. Or anger feeling out of control because you or someone you love was unfairly treated. These things are normal. Everyone gets a little overwhelmed sometimes. This becomes a problem, though, when the negative emotions sweep in and gain control.
Thankfully, there’s a way to get past this quickly and easily. You’ll find success in these six steps, proven to help people master their emotions.
Thunderstorms. Spiders. Heights. Everyone is afraid of something. And while we don’t always enjoy being scared, it can serve a purpose.
Fear is what keeps us safe. It warns us of impending danger, so we can take the necessary action to protect ourselves. The problem is, sometimes we react fearfully to things which really can’t harm us at all. Then it becomes necessary to master the emotion of fear.
Easier said than done? Try these tips.
We don’t always do the right thing. We overeat. We stay out too late. We make mistakes, break promises, and live a life that isn’t always in keeping with our goals.
All of this leads to negative emotions: guilt, shame, and even anger creeping in to derail your attempts to get back on track. How can you handle these negative emotions without letting them ruin your day?
We start by looking at three ways you have used to handle it and then move on to one technique you should be using all the time.
Have you ever woken up and wondered how you ended up with this life of yours? Do you feel stuck in the rut of the same routine day after day, week after week, year in, year out? Maybe you feel trapped by obligations, by debt, by other people’s expectations.
If you want to get off the hamster wheel, you can! Here are five tips for reclaiming your personal freedom today.
You might be surprised to learn that the biggest obstacle to your personal freedom is right between your ears. A negative mindset is the biggest block to freedom.
There are so many parts of your life you cannot control, from the need to earn a living to finding true love. But you can control your mindset, your thoughts, and how you act in the world. So how can you overcome your psychological blocks and open your mind to achieve greater freedom?
There’s a lot of pressure to conform to society’s definition of success. Right from school, you hear that there is pretty much one path. A good job, a one-way upwards career trajectory, a family, big house, lots of money. But your personal freedom doesn’t get mentioned. Nor does inner peace. But you don’t have to step too far outside your regular life to allow space for greater contentment, and freedom from the anxieties and pressures of modern life.
There are some key things you can do right now to nurture your personal freedom and achieve greater contentment with your life.
There‘s so much emphasis on getting ahead, being successful and striving for change that it can be hard to remember that you already have so much for which to be grateful. Even worse, the constant pushing to change your circumstances can lead to dissatisfaction and keep you trapped in a cycle of constantly feeling you’re not good enough.
Free yourself from the shackles of ‘must try harder’ by remembering to stop and appreciate what you’ve already achieved and what blessings you already have in your life. Keep in mind that you are free to be content right now. Here are some tips to help free you from the cycle of discontent.
It’s a no-brainer. Everyone wants to be rich, right? Or at least financially independent, not to have to worry about bills or to have to scrimp and save to get by. But if you’re like most people, all those good intentions come up against the sharp, cold reality of paying the mortgage or the rent, paying bills, buying groceries, kids needing new clothes and your car needs fixing again. And that’s before you start to even think of a vacation.
Or if you’re starting, there’s not much left from your paycheck. How on earth can you get ahead? Well, you can gain financial freedom, but you need to take personal responsibility for your finances and have a clear goal. Here are four secrets to a more secure financial future.
Close your eyes and think about your dream life. What do you see? Maybe a big house, a new car, or an exotic vacation. How does it feel when you come back to the present? Not good, right? That dream life can feel unattainable. What if you decided to take control of your life and dreams and get off the hamster wheel of striving and just getting by?
Here are four steps you can take right now to start living your dream.
Are you a bit overcome by all the emphasis on goals? Wherever you look, there are books and articles and courses, all urging you to set goals and get ahead. And maybe it all seems a bit too hard, maybe even too much of a rat race.
Sometimes you can get so caught up in visualizing, setting and tracking goals that there’s not much time to do anything! How about having some non-goals?
Do you live from paycheck to paycheck? Is your financial life all boom or bust? Do you sometimes scramble to pay the bills, but if there’s any spare money you blow it on a shopping splurge? Bad money habits can keep you chained to your nine-to-five job, and leave you feeling you’ll never get ahead.
By learning to take control of your financial habits and practicing a little frugality you’ll not only increase your economic freedom, but you’ll also have more time as well.
What comes into your mind when you think about personal freedom? Do you automatically think about money, being rich, having a big house and a new car? Does freedom seem like an impossible dream and loaded with hard work? You might be surprised to hear that the fundamental elements of personal freedom cost nothing. Personal freedom doesn’t require money or effort, or luck. It starts with your mindset, and it’s totally up to you to claim it.
Don’t know where to start? Here are the five keys to claiming your personal freedom.
You hear a lot about political freedom, freedom of speech and financial freedom. But did you know you can achieve emotional freedom as well?
Life can weigh you down with a whole lot of emotional baggage, affecting your reactions and behavior without you even realizing. Follow these suggestions to help release emotional blocks, so you can free yourself to live your best life.
Every action affects your life where your self-confidence is concerned. You probably already know this to be true. After all, we’ve all had those moments where we said or did something which only left us feeling unhappy with ourselves.
Now consider this: what if performing certain actions over and over would build new confidence in your decisions and actions? What if you could inevitably do the right thing every time?
It all starts with a very specific set of habits. To create confidence in all you do, try these things:
Decision-making can be challenging. It's especially true if you're not feeling confident about the whole decision-making process. After all, you want to be able to choose actions that are productive and wise. But how are you supposed to trust in the inevitability of whatever you decide, you’re golden?
The goal here is to increase your confidence to where you have unwavering self-belief. Believe it or not, there are several actions you can use to make this happen.
How important is it to be able to make good decisions at work? More importantly, what do your actions say about you to your superiors in a work setting?
We don’t always think about these things, especially if we’re not in a position where it seems we make a lot of decisions. After all, if you’re not upper management or in charge, who cares?
You should. No matter where you are at work or what you're doing during the day, you’re going to be making all kinds of decisions, and if you don’t have an unwavering belief in yourself, it’s going to show. In fact, it’ll do a whole lot more than make you seem indecisive.
Don’t believe it? Let’s explore several reasons why you need an unwavering belief in yourself even at work.
We want what's best for our kids, especially when it comes to their decisions and the actions they set out to perform. But how can you ensure they're on track for success and not undermining themselves at every turn?
The answer lies in an unwavering belief in themselves. With children especially, it’s easy for them to question what they’re doing. In part, this is because they're doing so many things which are new to them.
They also tend to spend far too much time worrying about what other people think and feeling like they’re never going to measure up. This is why it’s so important as a parent to guide them into an unwavering belief: so the decisions they make aren't only the right thing to do but will inevitably lead to success.
If you’re still unsure about how important self-belief is, consider these reasons why it’s so important:
How do you make a decision? Do you know the steps?
If you’re having trouble feeling confident in your actions and wish you had an unwavering self-belief in your decisions, maybe it's time to look at your decision-making process. Decisions made impulsively or without careful thought might not always turn out the way you hope they will.
Of course, there's something to be said for instinct and even dumb luck. But what if good decisions were inevitable rather than occasional? Imagine for a moment how it would feel to know you're right before you even act.
This is because there are steps you should be going through when making a decision. Let’s take a look at those now.
There comes a time when the pressure is on. It would be best if you made a decision, but you're afraid to act. There's not a lot of time to figure out the next steps, and you're stalling out because you're suddenly unsure. You're not sure you even can make the right decision, much less act on it. What do you do?
The problem isn’t so much about what needs to be decided. Instead, when this happens, you need to figure out how to find the confidence to act. But where can you gain unwavering self-belief fast?
Every day we make dozens of decisions. Our whole day is nothing more than a series of actions, one after another. We're used to it because this is part of what it means to be an adult, right?
The thing is, sometimes, we become worn down by the challenges of life. We miss the mark and start to doubt ourselves. Life becomes more difficult.
What does this have to do with the decisions we make or the actions we take? Simple. When you start faltering, you lose your belief in yourself. Everything becomes a little harder.
Now consider what it would be like to simplify things again. By believing in yourself, amazing things happen.
You probably already know how having an unwavering belief in yourself improves your work life or even helps you be more confident in your everyday life. But were you aware of just how much having this kind of self-belief improves your relationships with others?
Think about these things:
What if it was inevitable that you would make good decisions? How would it feel if every action you took was exactly the right thing at the right time? If this sounds too good to be true, then you're probably not comfortable with the idea of unwavering self-belief as you would like to be.
Consider this, the things we tell ourselves dictate our actions. The idea of the right thoughts leading to more confident action makes a lot of sense. Consider, for example, the power behind changing your thinking with these simple techniques:
Sometimes we feel confident. Unfortunately, when we’ve suffered some setback, faced harsh criticism, or gotten caught up in jealousy or worry over what someone else has managed to accomplish, this self-belief tends to fade away or even seem to disappear completely.
So, how do you get back your unwavering belief in yourself when you need it? Try one of these techniques:
Things aren't going well. You're sick of your boss, or your relationship is crumbling around you. Maybe you are bored as you wait to get out of school and jump into the real world. This feeling is normal, and change is inevitable. As we grow, we can't help but have moments where the only way forward is to let go of something else.
How are things going for you? No, really, how are things going?
If you hesitated in answering, it might be time to take a closer look at this article. After all, we all need fresh starts from time to time, especially when we find we’re dissatisfied and unhappy in our lives. Don’t believe it? Then check out these statements and see if any of them sound like you.
You’re ‘in love,’ but right now, you're not ‘in like’ with the other person. If you had to explain your relationship right now, you might be at something of a loss for words. Things aren't quite 'right' though you can't put your finger on why.
If this sounds familiar, it might be time to give your relationship a Fresh Start.
That's it. You've had it. Life is just not going as well as you'd like. It's time for a change, a Fresh Start if you will. But how do you know where to even begin? Especially if you're still neck-deep in a life you want to escape.
It’s simple. You start by asking yourself these five questions.
Are you really and truly happy?
Sometimes the dissatisfaction in our lives is just that: dissatisfaction. It's not that we're depressed or looking to get healthy in some super-specific way. We're just out of sorts and needing a change. We want a life with a little more meaning and a lot more fun.
So, what do you do if you’re hungry for a Fresh Start in your personal life?
How do you feel about your job?
To most people, this might be a somewhat loaded question. Jobs are complicated things. We like having them, or we like having the money we get from your employer on payday. But we might not always like the job itself very much. Or we might like the job, but not the people we're working with.
Now imagine if you could have a fresh start.
A new beginning when it comes to your job can be a lifesaver. Imagine if you were excited about going to work every day! Let’s look at what you’ll need to make this a reality:
“Fresh Starts” is one of those buzzword phrases which keeps popping up lately. We all know we’re supposed to be embracing them, accepting a new beginning as the means to accomplish positive and lasting change in your life. But have you considered just how to make them work in such a way, so failure is not an option?
It seems too good to be true.
In all honesty, fresh starts are fairly straightforward. But they're also very intentional, and to do them right, you need to be aware of these three things:
Here you are, trying to start over. You've set goals and determined just how the new you is going to look. You were willing to put in the work and make things happen. Why then are you dragging your feet? Shouldn't you be halfway there already?
Fresh starts aren't always easy. More often than not, when we're not making progress, it all boils down to one thing: we're afraid of something. Let's take a look at a handful of ways fear can hold you back despite your best efforts.
Family tension can affect every member of the household. Sadly, it’s pretty common to find relationships floundering from time to time. It’s not easy to live with other people, especially if you’ve had a little too much togetherness lately and not enough positive interactions to balance out the negative.
So, how can you give your family a fresh start when all seems lost?
Do you ever wish you could hit the reset button? If you're tired of the way things are and find yourself daydreaming all the time about a different you doing different things in a different place, it's time for a change.
If you're aiming for a fresh start, you're going to need a little help.
Why not try these five super steps to a fresh start as you embark on your new journey?
Do you feel as if your home office isn’t as productive as it could be? Or maybe you feel as if you are never able to get anything done. Either way, it might be time to evaluate the things that are hurting your productivity in your home office.
It can be difficult to be productive when you have to work from home. Although you may not realize it, your workspace may be designed poorly for its purpose—thus impeding you from being able to work. Here are three design features that you should include in a home office to make it ideal.
One of the hardest things about working from home is getting work done when your family is nearby. So how do you handle this? The balance between work and a home office is delicate, but you can achieve it in several ways.
Working from home is never as productive as working in the office, especially if your home environment is filled with distractions. When you want to be more productive when working from home, you will need to learn to limit these distractions, which you can do using these methods.
As more and more countries worldwide begin hiring remote workers, this may leave you asking if you are truly able to be productive while working at home. This is a great question to ask, especially before you start a job that may require you to be productive working from home.
It can seem easy to grab your laptop and plop down on the couch when working from home, but did you know that there are several benefits to having an organized workspace? It's true! An organized workspace is essential to your success while working from home. Listen to find out why.
When it comes to making your home office more productive, you may be wondering just where you should start. Honestly, there is no right answer to making your home office a better space for you to work. Below are five secrets that you can use to make your home office more productive.
Do you constantly feel as if you aren’t accomplishing as much working at home as you could be? This lack of production could be because you aren't working in a productive workspace. Please keep reading to discover what you can do to make your home office more productive than it currently is.
It’s never a good sign if you think that you aren’t as productive in your home office as you should be. If this sounds like you, then engage these five hacks in your life to improve your home office productivity.
Just because you have a home office doesn't mean that you are productive when working from home. Before you start blaming your work ethic, you should know that there are three key features of a productive home office, and you should use them if you would like to increase your productivity when you work at home.
You’ve probably heard about mindfulness, and maybe you even have a regular mindfulness practice. But did you know that mindfulness is useful not just for keeping you calm and focused, it can stimulate your creativity and open up your thinking? If you’re interested in reaching your creative potential, here’s how mindfulness can give you a boost.
It might surprise you to hear that meditation can kickstart your creative process. After all, meditation is about getting chilled, right? Well, yes, meditation is often recommended for calming the mind and reducing your stress level, but it also has a physical effect on your brain. But how does this help creativity?
Listen to this episode to learn more.
You might not realize that creativity has a measurable effect on your brain function. Science has shown that blood flow to your frontal cortex increases when you’re engaged in a creative task. Creativity can boost neural pathways, and measurably increase your cognitive function.
Are you living up to your creative potential? Have you thought about how encouraging your creativity could help boost your skills? People with highly creative minds commonly have more energy, are skilled at problem-solving, and have high productivity. Here are five habits of highly creative people to kickstart your own creativity and help you reach your creative potential.
You might be surprised to hear that you can actually train your brain to be more creative. Oftentimes, people think that creativity is some mystical, innate skill, and you either have it, or you don’t. But research has shown that there are some strategies you can use to stimulate creativity in your everyday life and benefit from new ways of thinking and problem solving.
You know the feeling. There’s a deadline looming, and your mind has gone completely blank. Nothing, nada. It’s like your brain has frozen. Luckily the latest research shows us the most common roadblocks to creativity, and how to move past them and get on with the job.
You may not realize that there are some differences between ordinary folks and highly creative people. If you’re friends with people who are highly creative, you’ve probably noticed they see the world in a slightly different way. But scientists have now found that their brains not only work differently, but their neural hardwiring is also unique. Creatives can sometimes be challenging to get along with, but it helps to understand why.
You might think that creativity is something you can’t do. So many people say, ‘oh I’m just not the creative type.’ But it is within everyone to be creative. And it’s not just good for the soul to sketch or play with clay or embroider. Creativity comes in all shapes and sizes, and it has some unexpected benefits for the rest of your life.
Have you ever wondered what drives creative people? What makes them different? Creativity can challenge you, give you energy, and allow you to reach your full potential. And the good news is that your own innate creativity can be encouraged and developed if you choose to. Here are seven characteristics of creative people that you can incorporate in your own life.
You might think that being creative doesn’t stack up well with business. After all, the stereotype of the suffering artist or writer wrestling with the Muse doesn’t sound like a great candidate to be running a company, right? But in fact, creative people make outstanding entrepreneurs.