World Of Technology: What Kindness Does to Your Health

World Of Technology: What Kindness Does to Your Health: Treating other people well isn’t just good for your karma. It’s good for your health and vitality, too. Psychology researcher Barbara Fredrickson, PhD, author of Love 2.0: Creating Happiness and Health in Moments of Connection, studies how “micro-moments” of connection with others, like sharing a smile or expressing concern, improve emotional resilience, boost the immune system, and reduce susceptibility to depression and anxiety.

In Fredrickson’s view, our psyches need affirmative human connection in much the same way that our bodies need wholesome food.

“Moments of uplifting positive emotions function like nutrients for creativity, growth, and health,” she says.

Still, while none of us wakes with the intention to curse other drivers, snap at our kids, or shame our employees, we do — more often than anyone likes.

And according to psychologist Elisha Goldstein, PhD, author of Uncovering Happiness: Overcoming Depression with Mindfulness and Self-Compassion, this may be because our brains contain a “negativity bias,” which favors cautious, fear-based thoughts over generous, positive ones.

We’ve evolved this defense mechanism to protect us from lurking danger, he notes, but it doesn’t protect our relationships very well. And in our fast-paced culture, where we compete for everything from parking spaces to pay raises, our primal survival behaviors are triggered routinely.

“We live in a kind of fundamental scarcity,” explains Kristi Nelson, executive director of A Network for Grateful Living, a nonprofit that promotes gratitude practice. “That sense of scarcity tends to run our lives.”

It also leads to perpetual rushing, which only makes matters worse. In Nelson’s view, the “preoccupation with always getting somewhere and getting more” drives an unhealthy tendency toward self-focus. We start to believe “it’s me or them.” All the time.

Under this kind of pressure, the very idea of being kind — keeping the needs and feelings of others in mind, showing care and empathy — can start to seem like a luxury at best. At worst, it just seems foolish.



Yet the act of focusing on others can reduce our eat-or-be-eaten anxieties. And in the process, it may actually improve our health and well-being.

Read on here World Of Technology: What Kindness Does to Your Health:

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TRUTH IS STRANGER THAN FICTION - THE STORY OF WILLIAM WALDORF AND GEORGE C. BOLDT

 It was a stormy night. an elderly couple looking for a room for a night, came to Belle Vue Hotel, Philadelphia. The young clerk at the desk informed the couple that all rooms of his hotel were booked and also that not a single hotel room was available that night in Philadelphia because of an international conference.

Read on here TRUTH IS STRANGER THAN FICTION - THE STORY OF WILLIAM WALDORF AND GEORGE C. BOLDT

5 THINGS YOU DON’T NEED TO LIVE AN AWESOME LIFE

by STEVEN BANCARZ

The pursuit of happiness is the greatest pursuit in life.  Everyone is searching for something to truly fulfill their soul and quench their thirst for meaning and purpose.  Everyone wants to wake up being in love with life and excited for what the day has in store.

But from the moment we are born, we are programmed into thinking that “happiness” comes in a variety of forms that prove time and time again to be hollow and empty.  We grow up wanting to live “the dream”, which usually consists of a bunch of dead end pursuits and egoic pleasures that end of numbing and burdening our spirit.

Here are is a list of 5 things society tells us we need to live an awesome life, when in reality some may actually prevent you from having an awesome life:

1) Fame/popularity

When we are in high school growing up, peer approval is so important to us.  We all want to be seen as “cool”, “wise” or “trendy” by the people around us.  We desire to be desired, and want to be seen as important in the eyes of our peers.  Sometimes, this deep-rooted need to impress others sticks with us into our early adulthood and persists throughout our entire life.

A huge weight gets lifted off your shoulders when you realize that you don’t need to be liked by everybody around you.  You don’t need to be popular and famous.  You just need to be you.  Don’t define yourself in relation to your position within your social network or even within society as a whole.  You came into this world as an individual, and you will leave this world as an individual.  Discover yourself and love yourself, and you will find that the pursuit of popularity and fame is just another burden preventing you from living a happy life.

2) Riches and wealth

We all want to be “rich”, but does wealth really equal freedom?  Does being buried head deep in bills, payments, and material items really satisfy the spirit?  Money can’t buy you happiness.  It can buy your ego contentment for a short while, but it will never be able to make you feel alive. It can only buy you things that give you the imitation of happiness.

If you are sad, depressed, lonely, or angry and think that winning 1 million dollars will make you  feel better, consider this:  It will only give you a more luxurious environment to feel sad, depressed, lonely, and angry in.  Whether you are unfulfilled in a 2 million dollar house or in a $200,000, it doesn’t really matter.  Happiness does not come from possessions.  It comes from your relationship to yourself.

Read More here 5 THINGS YOU DON’T NEED TO LIVE AN AWESOME LIFE

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How to Have a Great Day: 5 Simple Steps for Daily Happiness!

So you came here looking for more information on how to have a great day? Good on you! Let’s face it – in our 24/7 non-stop world of deadlines, accountability and stress, great days can be hard to come by!  But what if you could change that?

I’ve written about the topic of choosing happiness in the past and the importance of embracing different parts of ourselves.  A major message of this blog on Reaching Life Goals is to help you live your life to the fullest, using mindfulness as a conduit for change.

Read more here How to Have a Great Day: 5 Simple Steps for Daily Happiness!

Read about 60 Small Ways to Improve Your Life in the Next 100 Days

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to make drastic changes in order to notice an improvement in the quality of your life. At the same time, you don’t need to wait a long time in order to see the measurable results that come from taking positive action. All you have to do is take small steps, and take them consistently, for a period of 100 days.

Below you’ll find 60 small ways to improve all areas of your life in the next 100 days.

HOME

1.  Create a “100 Days to Conquer Clutter Calendar” by penciling in one group of items you plan to declutter every day, for the next 100 days.  Here’s an example:

• Day 1: Declutter Magazines
• Day 2: Declutter DVD’s
• Day 3: Declutter books
• Day 4: Declutter kitchen appliances

2. Live by the mantra: a place for everything and everything in its place. For the next 100 days follow these four rules to keep your house in order:

• If you take it out, put it back.
• If you open it, close it.
• If you throw it down, pick it up.
• If you take it off, hang it up.

3. Walk around your home and identify 100 things you’ve been tolerating; fix one each day. Here are some examples:

• A burnt light bulb that needs to be changed.
• A button that’s missing on your favorite shirt.
• The fact that every time you open your top kitchen cabinet all of the plastic food containers fall out.

HAPPINESS

4.  Follow the advice proffered by positive psychologists and write down 5 to 10 things that you’re grateful for, every day.

5. Make a list of 20 small things that you enjoy doing, and make sure that you do at least one of these things every day for the next 100 days. Your list can include things such as the following:

• Eating your lunch outside.
• Calling your best friend to chat.
• Taking the time to sit down and read a novel by your favorite author for a few minutes.

6. Keep a log of your mental chatter, both positive and negative, for ten days. Be as specific as possible:

• How many times do you beat yourself up during the day?
• Do you have feelings of inadequacy?
• Are you constantly thinking critical thoughts of others?
• How many positive thoughts do you have during the day?

Also, make a note of the emotions that accompany these thoughts. Then, for the next 90 days, begin changing your emotions for the better by modifying your mental chatter.

7. For the next 100 days, have a good laugh at least once a day: get one of those calendars that has a different joke for every day of the year, or stop by a web site that features your favorite cartoons.

LEARNING/PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

8. Choose a book that requires effort and concentration and read a little of it every day, so that you read it from cover to cover in 100 days.

9. Make it a point to learn at least one new thing each day: the name of a flower that grows in your garden, the capital of a far-off country, or the name of a piece of classical music you hear playing in your favorite clothing boutique as you shop. If it’s time for bed and you can’t identify anything you’ve learned that day, take out your dictionary and learn a new word.

10. Stop complaining for the next 100 days. A couple of years back, Will Bowen gave a purple rubber bracelet to each person in his congregation to remind them to stop complaining. “Negative talk produces negative thoughts; negative thoughts produce negative results”, says Bowen. For the next 100 days, whenever you catch yourself complaining about anything, stop yourself.

11. Set your alarm a minute earlier every day for the next 100 days. Then make sure that you get out of bed as soon as your alarm rings, open the windows to let in some sunlight, and do some light stretching. In 100 days you’ll be waking up an hour and forty minutes earlier than you’re waking up now.

12. For the next 100 days, keep Morning Pages, which is a tool suggested by Julia Cameron. Morning Pages are simply three pages of longhand, stream of consciousness writing, done first thing in the morning.

13. For the next 100 days make it a point to feed your mind with the thoughts, words, and images that are most consistent with who you want to be, what you want to have, and what you want to achieve.

- See more at: Read about 60 Small Ways to Improve Your Life in the Next 100 Days

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Some of the ways I adept the Art of War in my life

Since upgrading myself to Managerial positions, I'm always on the lookout for books that help me improve myself. Books that guide me on how to manage people, work and even life. One great book which I still read and use its methods is The One Minute Manager. Its one of the reading material that I recommend to any of my employee that is going to be a manager. When I was working for a hotel chain, they used the Sun Tzu's Art of War in their managerial skills. Did some research on the Art of War to improve my leadership skills. And I have been using it in my life and work till now. Here are some ways in which I use the art of war. I will add some as I go along. Hope my interpretation of this ancient methods will help others in managing life and work. 

Read more here Some of the ways I adept the Art of War in my life

Why You Should Be Chief Growth Officer of Your Family

It isn’t just about becoming a better person for your own sake; it’s a way to benefit the people closest to you.

by Annie Mueller

Companies benefit from having well-developed, growing, open-minded leaders. Your children (members of a different kind of company) should also benefit from having leaders who pursue personal development, understanding and growth.
Taking time for personal growth might seem selfish, but it’s not. Many self-improvement practices like keeping a journal, meditating, practicing optimism and reading come with a long list of mental, emotional and physical benefits. And when you put time and effort into becoming a better person, your children reap the rewards.
How?

1. Give your child a better primary influence.

A parent’s influence is the first and arguably the most influential relationship in any child’s life. On a daily basis, parents influence how their children interact socially and what habits, views and preferences they form. In the long-term, they influence everything from religious beliefs to physical development, from emotional well-being to hygiene habits to anxiety levels.
No pressure, huh? Of course, as a parent, you know you don’t have it all figured out. You do the best you can.
Pursuing personal growth can help you do better.
You can’t choose whether you will influence your child. You will. That’s a given. You can choose, however, whether you’ll be static, stuck at one level of ability, or whether you will continually seek to grow into a better person who can be a more positive influence.

Read the rest here:- Why You Should Be Chief Growth Officer of Your Family


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7 Things Successful People Do Differently…

What is it that makes some people successful in life, able to reach whatever goal they like, while others get stuck in the same place for years, if not decades?
Is it their education?  Where they were born?  Who their family is?  Is it genetics?
The reality is…it’s none of the above.
In my working with thousands of people over the years to help them change their lives, to help them create both financial success and personal fulfillment, I’ve found 7 things in particular that successful people do differently.
I’ve outlined them below.  How many of these 7 things are you doing?

Click here to know more 7 Things Successful People Do Differently…

How I Stay Inspired (Personal)

By Robin Sharma
#1 bestselling author of The Leader Who Had No Title -

I’m no guru. My life’s not flawless. I’m a work in progress (who works harder than you’ll ever know to live my message)…some days are epic…some days yield challenges…

Through my life, I’ve been at the top of the summit of success as well as spent time walking through the valley of darkness and pain…

…that’s just life happening, yes? [I have also come to believe that apparent setbacks are just growth blessings in wolf’s clothing. Adversity is the medicine that makes scared citizens brave].

But the real game of the legendary performer is to play at wow no matter what’s going on in their outer world. To remain focused, productive, creative, graceful, grateful…and inspired…when things are going great or when it’s all falling apart.

The foundation of it all–in many ways–is your mindset. When you think inspired, you’ll feel inspired. And when you feel inspired, you’ll do inspired.

Here are 5 of the practices I run to keep my inspiration levels at peak: -

#1. Be With Beauty. 
I’m an aesthete. I adore being around beauty, whether that’s the beauty of amazing modern art at The Tate in London or under the big African sky in Cape Town or walking in a forest with my children or a three hour meal simply but beautifully prepared in a Roman enoteca. Beauty inspires. Seek it daily.


#2. Get Your Soundtrack Right. 
Music’s awesome. Been listening to a lot of War Against Drugs/Courtney Barnett/Wax Tailor and Mogwai lately as well my favorite loungey chill out music. I make playlists based on the season as well as the pocket of life I’m experiencing. Music is one of my go to protocols. It kickstarts my production, inspires my hours and becomes the soundtrack to my life. A house with great music is a cool home.

#3. Walk With Giants. 
I’ve been sending you very robust posts over the past few weeks in my ongoing effort to be a source of rich value to you and I didn’t want to go too deep on this one but simply know that there’s a ton of good science confirming that we adopt the mindsets + habits of the people we spend most of our time with… 

…hang with C-players and world-class complainers who dismiss their opportunity for a bolder future and that will become your reality too. 

…populate your life with optimists, game-changers, masters of their crafts and visionaries who are obsessed with lifting the world and their influence lifts you with them. You really will become your conversations… 

Fyi–if you want to spend 4 days with me and my superstar faculty that has included Richard Branson, Seth Godin, Darren Hardy and Daniel Amen at The Titan Summit 2015 to 100X your business + life forever, I strongly encourage you to get onto the advance registration list right here 

This iconic event is my premier live event and only happens once a year. My team wants me to open doors pretty soon and getting onto this priority list is not only your best chance at a seat but you’ll get the early registration price versus the regular $25,000 tuition fee. - 

See more at: How I Stay Inspired (Personal)


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The Monk who sold his Ferrari

This book as most of books in my Little Inspirational & Self Help Books  lense comes in a story form. The first six chapters tells of the storyteller's mentor having a heart attack in the middle of a court case and how he goes in search of a way to improve his life. He thus meets with the Sages of Sivana. There's even a funny story to help you remember the steps. 

See more at The Monk who sold his Ferrari

7 Things Successful People Do Differently…

Published by:
Nick Ortner

What is it that makes some people successful in life, able to reach whatever goal they like, while others get stuck in the same place for years, if not decades?
Is it their education?  Where they were born?  Who their family is?  Is it genetics?
The reality is…it’s none of the above.
In my working with thousands of people over the years to help them change their lives, to help them create both financial success and personal fulfillment, I’ve found 7 things in particular that successful people do differently.
I’ve outlined them below.  How many of these 7 things are you doing?

1 – They first change how they think and feel

Let’s start with how they think:

Talk to anybody who built success in their life and they’ll tell you that they changed their thinking in order to get different results.  Every one of us is a product of our thinking.  Our finances, relationships, health, happiness and every other area are dictated by our thinking.  If you want a different result in life, you need to change your thinking first.

How they feel:
Very often people get hung up on “thinking like successful people” and forget a key element: what they’re feeling.  Listening to your emotions is critical to understanding what is holding you back, both consciously and unconsciously.
Successful people know that our emotions drive everything.  If you’re feeling overwhelmed, afraid, stressed, sad, depressed or any other negative emotion, your brain is less resourceful and less able to help you make good decisions and take important action.  If you want to have more energy, make better decisions, be more creative and have more success in life, develop the habit of paying attention to your emotions and then doing what’s needed to be in the right emotional state (like using Tapping, which we’ll get to later!)

2 – They believe they deserve success

Successful people believe they deserve success, unsuccessful people do not.
The area where this is most evident is with money.  Financially successful people generally feel they deserve to be successful, and so they’ve created it in their lives.
So what qualifies somebody as “deserving success” or not?  Only one thing…the rules they create for it in their own brain.
Oftentimes people, consciously or unconsciously, think they don’t deserve success because of false beliefs like, “I’m not a good enough person” or, “I don’t work hard enough” or, “I’m not smart enough” or any other of a laundry list of negative limiting beliefs.

In order to find out what you believe about success just SAY and COMPLETE these two phrases out loud:
– I don’t deserve success because… (say what first comes up, don’t question it).
– I deserve success because… (say what first comes up, don’t question it!)
When you say those two phrases out loud, your unconscious brain will give you the reasons that have been programmed as to why you believe one way or the other.  If you’re not getting the answer you’d like (or you’re surprised by what’s coming up), don’t worry, I’ll show you how to change your belief systems around success in the coming days, all using EFT Tapping.

Remember, at the end of the day every, and I mean EVERY, person deserves success.  Every person is capable of growth, of love, of giving beyond themselves, and being rewarded for it.  Anyone can succeed financially, in relationships, with their health, in any area of their life.
In the coming days, I’ll show you how to get there.





3 – They do whatever it takes to overcome events and patterns from the past that don’t serve them

Most of the habits, patterns and beliefs that we have today were developed between the ages of 0 and 6 years old.  They weren’t developed consciously, they were essentially downloaded from our parents, and from other people and events happening around us at the time.
We didn’t have choice as to what beliefs were given to us, or what events were happening around us.  Unfortunately, many of those beliefs, patterns and experiences were negative and have limited us in our adult life.
Some have had tougher upbringings than others, with more negative experiences and more negative beliefs about themselves and the world, but regardless of the experiences…there is good news….
Today, as adults, we have choice over what beliefs, patterns and habits we want to keep or discard, and we have choice over the meanings we give our past experiences.
Successful people are aware of how limiting old beliefs, habits, patterns and experiences can be… and they do whatever it takes to change them.
That doesn’t mean it’s always easy.  Overcoming childhood abuse issues, or deep-rooted self-confidence issues, or overwhelmingly negative thought patterns can be a challenge, but successful people are committed to their growth, no matter what.
They know that the past does not equal the future.  That past challenges can be dwelled upon for years, or accepted as necessary life lessons on their path.
Overcoming limiting beliefs and difficult events from your past is something that EFT Tapping is especially powerful at helping with, more so than any other technique I’ve ever seen.  I’ve had the privilege of using Tapping to help people with some enormous challenges through our Tapping Solution Foundation, like veterans with PTSD, children genocide survivors in Rwanda, 1st responders of the Sandy Hook school shooting (my home town), and much more.
In the coming days, I’ll show you exactly how to do it for yourself.  I’ll show you how to overcome any obstacle from your past.

Read the rest here 7 Things Successful People Do Differently…

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7 Habits of Unsuccessful People – Sam Breen

Guest post from Sam Breen, at The Gentleman Life

You want to be successful. I want to be successful. I want you to be successful. And I want you to want to be successful.

So, I took a little inspiration from Stephen R. Covey’s book and added a little twist and instead I have listed 7 habits of unsuccessful people, the habits that are holding you back.

Holding you back from what? You may be asking at this point. The answer: CLICK HERE

10 Lessons You Need To Learn To Become A Successful Entrepreneur

Posted by Marco Moeschter on May 19, 2015

How to become an Entrepreneur and if you want to succeed with your online business, you have to stop focusing on technical things. While technical competence is great and you need a lot of that to become successful entrepreneurs, what’s more important are the following lessons.

These lessons impact your mindset and better understand the Qualities of Successful Entrepreneurs. Your mindset is the most important component. It dictates how much success you attain and how quickly you will attain that success.

You have to adopt the right mindset. Focus on the following so you can put together a game plan that will produce results for you and this is How Successful People Think.

Lesson 1: There Is No Formula For Success

If you go to any online entrepreneur forum or affiliate marketing forum, you come across the same question again and again. You come across people who ask, “What’s the secret to success?”

Of course, they would phrase the question many different ways but it all goes back to that same basic question. They are always looking for a formula. They are looking for a recipe to follow. They think that success whether it’s online or offline is a simple matter of following a set of checklist.

The truth is one of the hardest lessons you will learn as an entrepreneur is that there is no set formula for success. Your success is dependent on the niche and situations you find yourself in. Instead of looking for a one-size-fits-all or cookie cutter approach to succeeding, it is much better to adopt the right mindset so you can position yourself well regardless of the opportunities that come your way.

Lesson 2: Focus On Identifying Entrepreneur Opportunities

Famous entrepreneurs do not focus on blueprint or some sort of formula, they focus instead on developing the right skill sets to quickly and effectively identify opportunities.

Opportunities come and go. Opportunities often appear with a very tight timelines. If you develop the proper skill set of recognizing opportunities and quickly formulating a game plan to capitalize on that opportunity, you gain a tremendous competitive advantage.

Most online entrepreneurs don’t think this way. Most business people fail because they think in conventional terms. They look at success as something that comes in a package. They look at it as some sort of destination.


Instead, success is part of a process. When you train your mind to be always open for opportunities, you focus on the process and you get better results. Compare this with somebody who is so fixated on a particular destination that when they actually get there they can’t even recognize what success looks like. This happens all the time and leads to all sorts of issues. At the very least, you’re going to burn out.

Lesson 3: Remember To Measure Your Success

It’s one thing to look at the whole prospect of becoming successful as an adventure. I have no problems with this. It’s important that you look at success as a journey instead of a destination.

The problem is you don’t want to overdo it. You don’t want to just lose yourself in the moment that you stop paying attention to results. You have to always measure the results and be honest with yourself if this is the kind of results that you want.

Success is all about generating certain results. This is why you have to measure. A lot of people are in denial regarding their lack of ambition, or fear of success. This is why they never get around to measuring their success. They are afraid that when they compare themselves with other people that they would feel bad about their choices.

You should look at fear straight in the eye and overcome it. Never be afraid to measure your success because we all need a wake-up call.

Sure, we’re having a great time right now with whatever we are doing but at the end of the day it all boils down to whether we are achieving the level of success that we feel we are capable of.

Lesson 4: Compete Against Yourself

This is one of the Characteristics of an Entrepreneur. This is part and parcel of comparing yourself with others. If there is anyone surefire recipe for feeling defeated, discouraged, depressed and devastated, it is comparison.

When we compare ourselves to others, we will ultimately fall short. Even Bill Gates, one of the world’s richest man, can compare himself to others in such a way that he’ll feel like crap. How? Maybe he’ll compare himself to Manny Pacquiao as far as athletic ability. Of course, Bill Gates will fall flat in that comparison.

It doesn’t make sense to compare yourself to other people. Instead of competing with other people, compete with yourself. Ask yourself with this very hard question: am I living up to my highest potential?

You have to be honest with the answer. If the answer is no, then you need to sit down and think clearly as to what you need to do to unlock your fullest potential.

When you compare success to yourself, you are in full control. When you control yourself to other people, you’re not in control. One of the key steps in achieving optimal level of peace of mind and stability when trying to achieve success is to make the right comparisons.

Compare yourself to others is never a good idea.

Lesson 5: Don’t Be Afraid To Say No

One of the biggest problems among entrepreneurs is that they think that everything is an opportunity. They end up getting excited about the smallest opportunity that comes there way. In fact, they look at everything that happens to them as an opportunity.

In one way, this is good because it sharpens your ability to spot opportunities. The problem is if you go overboard and you look at everything as an opportunity you get nothing done.

You’re constantly chasing your tail. You’re constantly coming up with new plans until something bigger and seemingly better comes along and you drop everything to follow that. The next day something happens and you follow that as well.

This can go on forever. At the end of the day, you look back at your life and you realize very painfully that you didn’t really achieve much.

To spare you with this unnecessary drama, learn to say no to opportunities. Learn to figure out what makes the most sense in your life and put everything into that. As the old saying goes, “jack of all trades, master of none.”

If you try to focus on everything, you’ll never reach a high enough level of specialization and expertise in one thing that can lead to the kind of success you’re looking for.

Read the rest of the 10 Lessons You Need To Learn To Become A Successful Entrepreneur