Possible Sources of Daily Inspiration (By Rosina S Khan)

After I quit my day job, it became even more of a daily challenge to keep me inspired while I worked online from the comfort of my home. Now won't you be interested in knowing the sources of my daily inspiration? Read on to find out.

Here are those criteria:

1. Go through Wisdom Quotes:

I got wisdom quotes from free self-help books and also online. I made a collection. I read through them whenever I had leisure.

2. Write Fictions

I wrote free fiction stories and submitted to a free eBooks' site. Looking at the number of downloads I see every day, I feel good feeling positive. I also feel happy that I must have made someone's day.

3. Write Self-help Books:

I wrote free self-help books and contributed to self-help giveaway events, collecting leads in the process that is, subscribers of other contributors noticed my book, downloaded it and became a member of my email list.

4. Send Newsletters

I send newsletters to my subscribers once every week, giving them access to free articles and free books and keeping them engrossed with my free stuff which they enjoy I believe.

5. Review Manuscripts as an External Reviewer

For a certain renowned journal's organization I review manuscripts based on my field of expertise in Computer Science and Engineering. When at the end of my work, I get a review certificate, it boosts my spirits.

6. Write Articles

I write articles for free on various platforms and have earned quite a reputation in this arena. My topics diverse from Technology, Self-Improvement, Women's Interests, Entertainment->Humor and other categories.

7. Maintain a website

Yes, I maintain a website of all the stuff I do for fun and that keep me motivated. I have integrated articles of a certain platform, short stories, self-help books, review certificates for my role as an external reviewer of manuscripts in a reputable journal, links to my blogs and the lot. I have also put in free educational movies to make the site more interesting.

8. Maintain Blogs

I also maintain blogs on various interesting topics. Whoever stumbles on them finds in them great reads. My subscribers and followers truly appreciate what I write and I feel energized full of vigor to do my daily tasks.

9. Maintain a Facebook Page

In my Facebook page, I have put in links to my fictions, self-help books and academic guides along with the big images of e-covers. I have also put in articles on another platform along with relevant images. Readers, followers and subscribers simply love all this content and I feel joyous for them. I have also put in videos summarizing separately my collections of fictions and self-help books that I authored. I have also inserted quotes by famous personalities. And there's still more I want to add to this page and make it evergreen and shimmering.

Summing up, as I use my laptop to carry out inspirational works, I not only help my community but beyond. This is, though, a transition period for me because I have other dreams to followup and I haven't lost sight of them. I am getting closer to them every day while I keep inspiring others and in the process, inspire myself wholly and fruitfully. You too can find similar sources of inspiration in order to motivate yourself and others daily. Gotcha?

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Step Out, On,Toward

Life is filled with disappointments. It throws you curve balls and unexpected mayhem. But even in all those mishaps, life can be good. You hold the key to how good your life can be. I know you have heard this before but let me give you a new perspective. First "Step Out". Step out from what... the crowd.

The crowd is not always going where you want to go. It does take courage to step away from what you know you don't want in order to move into the unknown path that will take you to where your heart desires to go. Imagine your life in that new place. This will give you the courage to step away from the crowd. Remember, the crowd can not get you to your destiny, but you can get there once you are on the right path.

Next, "Step On". Step on to what... new territory. It can be fun and exciting to walk on to new territory. New adventures await. Life does not have to be dull and unadventuresome. You can use your voice to pray for guidance and direction and then move in that path. You will be amazed at the new discoveries that will propel you on to making a good day, an even better day.

Last, but certainly not the least, "Step Toward". Step toward what... a brighter future that contains your heart's desire. Your heart's desire was put there by our Creator. You can achieve it. It takes work and it takes believing in the dream and in yourself. Look around you. Who shares your passion. Who wants to move toward a brighter tomorrow. You don't have to go alone, once you step out, then on, and now toward the destination. You will meet others along the way that will make this journey a great one. But you must take the first step.

No one can take this step for you. So you must ask yourself, how important is it to me to obtain this awesome dream that lies in my heart? If you want it badly enough, you will make the decision to go after it. If you do not, you will remain stagnant. Let me suggest to you that remaining stagnant should never be an option, not when so much good is waiting for you. There is so much more to life than just a mundane existence.

You owe it to yourself. Make this a great day, step toward your awesome tomorrow! And for each day you live to see, keep on stepping. Enjoy the journey!

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How To Find Your Perfect Hobby

Doctors have shown that people who have satisfying hobbies are far less likely to suffer from stress.

If you find a sport or hobby that you really enjoy then you will benefit enormously - both mentally and physically.

But finding the right hobby can be difficult when there are so many options to choose from.

This questionnaire is designed to enable you to find the activities that are right for you. Work your way through these questions and you'll be led directly to a shortlist of possibilities.

1. Would you prefer a hobby involving plenty of physical activity?

Yes: go to question 2

No: go to question 3

2. Would you prefer a hobby that takes you out of doors a good deal?

Yes: go to question 4

No: go to question 5

3. Would you prefer a hobby that takes you out of doors a good deal?

Yes: go to question 6

No: go to question 7

4. Would you prefer a hobby involving plenty of contact with other people?

Yes: go to question 8

No: go to question 9

5. Would you prefer a hobby involving plenty of contact with other people?

Yes: go to question 10

No: go to question 11

6. Would you prefer a hobby involving plenty of contact with other people?

Yes: go to question 12

No: go to question 13

7. Would you prefer a hobby involving plenty of contact with other people?

Yes: go to question 14

No: go to question 15

8. Would you prefer a hobby offering challenge and excitement?

Yes: SEE LIST ONE

No: SEE LIST TWO

9. Would you prefer a hobby offering challenge and excitement?

Yes: SEE LIST THREE

No: SEE LIST FOUR

10. Would you prefer a hobby offering challenge and excitement?

Yes: SEE LIST FIVE

No: SEE LIST SIX

11. Would you prefer a hobby offering challenge and excitement?

Yes: SEE LIST SEVEN

No: SEE LIST EIGHT

12. Would you prefer a hobby offering challenge and excitement?

Yes: SEE LIST NINE

No: SEE LIST TEN

13. Would you prefer a hobby offering challenge and excitement?

Yes: SEE LIST ELEVEN

No: SEE LIST TWELVE

14. Would you prefer a hobby offering challenge and excitement?

Yes: SEE LIST THIRTEEN

No: SEE LIST FOURTEEN

15. Would you prefer a hobby offering challenge and excitement?

Yes: SEE LIST FIFTEEN

No: SEE LIST SIXTEEN

LIST ONE

You need outdoor activity that will be physically tiring, involve you with other people and offer you a challenge and perhaps an opportunity for competition.

If you choose a non-team sport, try to set yourself specific challenges. Try to beat personal or club records, for example.

Possibilities: tennis, football, rambling, hiking and climbing.

LIST TWO

You need an outdoor activity that will be physically tiring and involve you with other people, but won't offer you too much in the way of competition.

Possibilities: walking, climbing, rambling, hiking.

LIST THREE

You need a hobby that involves physical exercise, takes you out of doors, doesn't involve much contact with others, but does challenge you.

Possibilities: a lonely but demanding activity - such as running. Set yourself targets, try to break your fastest time.

LIST FOUR

You need a physically tiring hobby that will take you out of doors but won't involve you with others and won't put you under too much pressure.

Possibilities: gardening. If you can't afford a home with a garden plot, find someone prepared to let you cultivate their garden. Or perhaps try cycling.

LIST FIVE

You need an indoor activity in which you will meet other people, get plenty of exercise and find yourself pushed to your limits.

Possibilities: squash, badminton, table tennis. Find a local club.

LIST SIX

You need an indoor activity in which you will meet other people and get plenty of physical activity, while avoiding stress or pressure.

Possibilities: join a dance class or swimming club. Or perhaps a volleyball or basketball club where you could play purely for fun. Just make sure that you don't allow yourself to be pushed into trying to meet other people's targets.

LIST SEVEN

You need a fairly lonely indoor activity that will be physically demanding and rather competitive.

Possibilities: swimming (against the clock) or working in a gymnasium where you can keep a record of your achievements. Take up sculpture, carpentry or metalwork. Try selling what you make or look for a chance to have your work displayed (local art and craft shops, as well as libraries and colleges may be worth approaching).

LIST EIGHT

You need a fairly lonely indoor activity that will be physically demanding but not too competitive.

Possibilities: cooking, baking bread or making garden furniture, pottery, metalwork, sculpture or carpentry for fun. Or attend a gymnasium a couple of days a week for fun.

LIST NINE

You need an outdoor activity that won't be too physically tiring but will involve you with other people. You need something that offers a challenge.

Possibilities: photography, hunting for antiques or rare books in junkshops or at sales. Or start gardening and sell your produce to local nurseries, or exhibit it in shows, or try golf.

LIST TEN

You need an outdoor activity that won't be too physically tiring but will involve you with other people. It should be something that isn't too much of a challenge and which doesn't involve any competition.

LIST ELEVEN

You need a fairly lonely outdoor activity that won't be too physically tiring but will offer you a chance to be competitive.

Possibilities: try growing vegetables or flowers to exhibit. Or try breeding animals for show.

LIST TWELVE

You need a fairly lonely outdoor activity that won't be too physically tiring and won't offer too much stress.

Possibilities: gardening (perhaps a small herb garden?) photography, golf. Or take an interest in archaeology, natural history or local history.

LIST THIRTEEN

You need an indoor activity in which you will meet other people, avoid physical exercise and find yourself pushed to your limits.

Possibilities: see what course local colleges have available. Take up photography and join a camera club. Start a small catering organisation providing food for parties and other occasions. Offer your services as secretary or treasurer of some local voluntary group. Or stand for political office.

LIST FOURTEEN

You need an indoor hobby that doesn't put you under any physical strain, doesn't necessarily involve you with other people, but does put you under some sort of pressure.

Possibilities: try writing or photography. Take a correspondence course in a subject that has always interested you. Try newspaper and magazine competitions.

LIST FIFTEEN

You need an indoor activity that isn't too physically demanding, enables you to meet others, but doesn't put too much pressure on you.

Possibilities: join a pottery or art class. Take up part-time voluntary work with a local charity. Join an organization of people with similar interests or beliefs to your own.

LIST SIXTEEN

You need a fairly lonely indoor activity that won't be too physically tiring, too competitive or too challenging.

Possibilities: consider collecting something - stamps, coins, matchbox labels, glass, old prints, maps, dolls, buttons, books, records, autographs, shells or china. Or try doing crosswords or jigsaw puzzles. Try picking winners at the horse races (without actually putting any money on!) Acquire pen friends.

There are millions hits on the internet search drive for Wellness - from mental to physical health, cardiac fitness, cancer, yoga, how to overcome certain ailments such as diabetes, hypertension, obesity, stoke, and tips on weight loss and how to grow taller, with many other ideas getting honorable mention. It takes quite a bit of research to find any one site that has so much to offer on all these fronts, let alone one that can combine all the needs for your innermost wellness - joy, bliss and beyond. For wellness' sake you can stop looking out there, and take some time for yourself, a sort of one-stop-shop: BalancedLifestyleWikipedia.

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A Key To Healing Trauma

What do world-class-athletes and special-forces combat soldiers have in common? They both perform, very well, under high stress and pressure, what might for us be a traumatic experience. How do they do that? It is the very same process used as the key ingredient in healing trauma.

To understand how some people can perform so well under acute stress and almost unbearable pressure, without becoming traumatized, and how people heal from trauma, we need to understand a little bit about how our brain works. Without getting overly technical, there are two pertinent functions of the brain involved, our executive functions, and our emotions. The executive functions, such as rational thinking and planning are referred to as higher brain functions. Our emotions, such as feelings of joy, and fear, are more basic brain functions. When we are in high stress situations, we are often frightened. The more basic brain functions, primary of which is survival, become highly activated and over-ride our higher brain functions. This is a basic neurological wiring for survival. When we are in situation of perceived danger or very high stress, we don't think, we automatically react with what is called the 'fight or flight' response. If we cannot fight, and cannot flee, we are trapped, stuck, frozen. And that then becomes the trauma. Being stuck, frozen, for an extended period of time; not being able to fight or flee, not being able to act, in a high stress, dangerous, painful, scary, situation, is a traumatic event.

When in this traumatic situation of being stuck, trapped, frozen, unable to think or plan, and at the mercy of our emotional brain centers, our higher brain functions are actually shut down, offline, not available. It is as if our emotional brain has hijacked our higher brain, kind of like a classroom of unruly kids taking over and disallowing the teacher from performing their assigned duties. But, those unruly kids are being told there is a crisis! Because our higher brain functions have to do with planning, when they are shut down, we don't have a sense of past or future. We are in the immediate present, which in a traumatic situation, is scary, frightening and may be painful. So, any time we remember this traumatic situation, even months, or years, after it has happened, our higher brain function shuts down again, goes offline, and we believe the stress and danger is real, right now. The brain does not distinguish between memory and fantasy. It is visual imagery, rapid commentary, and complex changes in breathing, skin response, neuro-chemistry and awareness. The brain does want to resolve this trauma, and so we do have intrusive thoughts, memories, flashbacks, in an attempt to help us get unfrozen, to fight, or flee, or do something. But, what happens is we just get re-traumatized because there is nothing to fight, and no-where-to-flee; We are again stuck, traumatized. What if we could maintain our higher brain functions even in high stress? Even in neutralizing the trauma?

How do we get back our higher brain functions? How can we reinstate our executive functions? How can we think, clearly, and know that the trauma is not now, is not a threat or a danger anymore? There are two points to consider along these lines. One, as mentioned in Waking The Tiger, by Peter A. Levine, a classic book in the field of sexual abuse and trauma recovery, is learning how to 'shake it off.' Animals in the wild, pursued by a predator, and escaping, are not traumatized the next day, or next month, or next year. Somehow, they shake it off. Exercise, vigorous and demanding, is a way of shaking it off. There is an interesting proximity to the word 'exercise' and 'exorcise.' We need to exorcise the build-up of stress chemicals in the body which have had no outlet, no opportunity to fight, or flee, and exercise is a good way of doing that. The other helpful approach is learning how to relax the body. In a relaxed body, the higher brain functions are much less susceptible to being hijacked by the emotions. A lot of trauma therapy is based on pairing a relaxed state of body, and mind, with exposure to traumatic memories. This can result in the executive functioning of the brain, distinguishing between past, present and future, between seeing, and feeling, the trauma as something in the past, not the present; and that goes a long way in diminishing symptoms. The trauma itself is now seen as an historical event, one which does not pose a threat to the present. This is the key in healing trauma. It's not a trauma anymore. We need to relax before we can make the distinction between then and now.

We generally don't know how to relax the body well. It is something we need to learn how to do. By taking proactive steps in learning how to relax the body before a stressful situation, we are more likely to be the executive than the unruly child in that stressful situation, which itself can be an effective prophylactic to trauma.

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Intuition and the Skill of Interpretation

The skill of intuition is not really in the receiving. That part is easy Just close your eyes, take a few slow and deep breaths and draw your attention inwards. In that moment you will probably find that you are aware of something that you hadn't noticed before, even if it is only the sound of the beating of your own heart. When we drop inwards or tune-in, there is nothing we have to do in that moment to make the information "appear". The information is always there, just as the beating of your heart is always there (even when you are not thinking about it).

It is naturally easier to be aware of previously un-noticed information, or new information, if we draw attention away from what ordinarily captures our senses. This is partly why meditation and closing the eyes works so well for triggering new insights. Our consciousness and by that I mean conscious awareness, can only handle so much. In our day to day lives we are constantly being bombarded by sensory data, some putting it at the equivalent of 15 million bits per second. In comparison, what we can mostly consciously process and be aware of, amounts to between 15 and 40 bits per second. These figures vary in the literature but what doesn't vary is that there is a vast difference between what we receive and process subconsciously and what we process consciously. When we let go of some of what has been taking up room in our consciousness, we make space for something new to take our attention. This is really the first step of intuition.

On some levels, letting go of what normally takes our attention is easy. Turn down the lights, shut the door and shut your eyes and you have lessened the quantity of sensory input. If you are learning intuitive awareness as a new skill, all of this will help. These circumstances, however, aren't always convenient and even if they were, there is still the challenge of the thought processes and ways of thinking. Shutting the eyes, whilst calming the mind, doesn't necessarily turn it "off". Our patterned ways of habitual thinking can persist and often do, even if we are now applying that patterned way of thinking to another pocket of information.

The practice of intuition is primarily a practice in thinking differently;thinking more expansively and creatively. It is designed to move us forward in life, to step us into higher levels of creativity and consciousness. We are all inherently intuitive and everyone has moments of spontaneous intuitive awareness, but being intuitive on a conscious level requires practice. Why? Because receiving a different pool of information is just part of the equation. What is equally important, or even more so, is how the information is taken in and interpreted. As we practice, we become more aware of our thought patterns and perceptions and are more able to let go of the limiting ways we perceive and interpret information. We become more aware of our biases and when we are distorting the information to meet pre-existing agendas. We can appreciate something new and fresh; even when we don't understand it or necessarily agree with it (in our logical minds).

Living intuitively is fun. Living creatively as a consequence is a great joy. To be able to take any situation and create newness out of it is a great gift and one, in my mind, to be fostered and shared. It's certainly worth the practice.

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Become a Stress Revolutionary

For close to 100 years, most stress researchers have defined stress as the non-specific response of the body to any demand. If you really want to take control of your stress you need to do something really revolutionary and break away from this outdated conceptualization of stress.

Stress is much more than a non-specific response. If you stop and think about it there has to be at least one other thing involved; what triggered the response. Most stress-researchers of the past 30 years would also argue that there is a third component, what your mind tells you about the trigger and your ability to cope with it.

Realizing this I combine the three components and define stress as a combination of three things: a potential stressor, what your mind tells you about your ability to cope with it and (3) a stress response that kicks in if you feel unable to cope with it.

Viewing stress this way is revolutionary and it changes you in the following ways:

• You stop being a victim who believes that stress is something that just happens to you, and is beyond your control.
• You start viewing stress as something more than just "bills, traffic, Hurricane Irma, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton", or a million other things that you are exposed to every day.
• You start accepting that what your mind tells you about potential stressors and your ability to cope with them is the key to managing your stress.

You start accepting that the jump from potential stressor to stress response does not have to automatically happen because you can intervene in all three components of stress..

Let me explain how:.

When it comes to stress, words are everything. Just substituting the words potential stressors, for stressors, begins to defuse their power to create stress.

By calling things potential stressors you stop accepting the outdated belief that certain things are universally stressful for everyone under all circumstances. The whole notion of universal stressors is nonsense and outdated.

Let me give you an example of a universal stressor that doesn't always hold up. In their original studies of life events, Holmes & Rahe (1967), pioneer stress researchers, identified the death of a loved one as the most universal of all stressors. They gave this life event a score of 100 points and gave it the most weight in determining if someone would suffer from a stress-related illness in the coming year.

Since then, countless studies have disproven their findings regarding the universality of Life Events. For example, the death of a loved one is not always viewed by people as a stressor.

Step back and try to think about this objectively for a second. I know this is difficult because death of a loved one hits all of us hard.

If you lost a child or a friend in their teens or 20s to an unexpected accident, injury, or violent crime would you view it the same way that would view the loss of your mom or dad who was in their 90s, had been suffering from a painful, debilitating illness, and had been constrained to a hospital bed for months or even years?

I'm sorry, I know this is painful to imagine or to revisit if you have experienced such loss. I have been there so I am asking for your forgiveness as I try to make this point.

While both losses represent the death of a loved one, would your mind view them the same way?

While you probably would feel guilty or ashamed admitting it, you might feel that the latter death was a blessing in disguise. In fact, if you are totally objective about it, the death of your mom or dad actually ended their pain and suffering and reduced your stress.

I faced this with the death of my mom who suffered for years with painful, debilitating illnesses that had her in and out of emergency rooms, hospitals and rehabilitation facilities. On many occasions she asked me to promise her that I would not let doctors or others keep her alive against her will when it was time to pass. I watched her waste away in a nursing home and ultimately hospice care and when she finally passed I must admit that I felt relief and a reduction in stress because I knew she suffered no more and her wishes had been granted.

When you can categorize something as powerful as the death of a loved one as a potential stressor, you can begin to view most other things as trivial, and not even worth getting stressed out over.

When you realize that the determining factor in triggering the stress response is what your mind tells you about potential stressors, and your ability to cope with them, it opens up a whole new world of coping possibilities.

Think about those words for a minute; what your mind tells you about potential stressors and your ability to cope. Those are two different areas that you can begin to work on.

One of the reasons I asked you to start keeping a stressor journal in the last column was to help you begin to look more critically at your potential stressors. When you do that you start asking questions such as; " Is that really threatening?", " Is this really worth getting stressed out about?", "Is that such a big loss that I am going to let myself get all stressed out over?", "Did what she say/do/imply really harm me in some way?"

Most clients who work with me for a few months find that when they first start out, they tend to overestimate the threat, harm and loss posed by potential stressors and underestimate their ability to cope with it. Their minds tend to blow things out of proportion and they do not give themselves enough credit for being able to cope.

After a few months of working with me that trend reverses. They laugh when they look back at their stressor journals and see how they tended to overestimate threat and underestimate their ability to cope.

Part of the change comes from learning that sometimes what your mind tells you about potential stressors, and your ability to handle them is not very accurate, helpful, or stress reducing.

Another reason for the change is their increased ability to cope. Over a few months they learn new and effective coping skills. This new found set of skills leads to a more positive mental outlook regarding their coping. Stress experts call this your perceived ability to cope.

In other words your mind starts to tell you, "I can cope with that" when confronted with the same potential stressors that used to trigger a stress response. Once this happens, the power of your mind stops the stress response dead in its tracks.

Lastly, there are several ways to short-circuit the stress response even after it is triggered. Face it, sometimes potential stressors are real threats that you can't do anything about. In this case your mind signals the alarm and your body mobilizes energy to fight or flee.

What you can do to minimize the harmful effects of this response is cancel it out by triggering a relaxation response. In other words, even when you do get stressed you can keep the effects of this response to a minimum by not letting it continue any longer than necessary.

There are many ways to induce a relaxation response but the key is recognizing that you are stressed, and making the commitment to do something about it as soon as possible.

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Headaches! (How They Happen, Why They Happen, How To Get Rid Of Them)

When I talk about headaches, I mean, minor things that come up to irritate you. This afternoon, my main pair of glasses broke. Not the lens, but part of the frame, meaning the small screws fell out. Interestingly enough, that inspired this article, and inspired it well. For many small "horrors" have been happening for the past few days to me that kind of qualify me to write this article.

In life nothing is perfect, not even what we really want to go perfectly at times. So, the cure for those sort of headaches is detachment from the pain of those things going wrong. What I mean by detachment is knowing that within every bad thing, there is a good thing ultimately being ready to be built or birthed. It is the same principle as within every failure is the seed of success and that kind of thing.

Inventors and creatively successful people live by the principle I have just mentioned. I more than live by that principle. It is my "unconscious bible". Like the "eleventh commandment" says "Thou shalt not get away with it." My "psalm song" is "be calm and get experienced from this temporary failure, success will come later." As long as there is another breath in my lungs and I remember that "psalm", I am good, because there will always be a genuine chance to succeed. After all, the real pressure cooker is that first try that you expect to succeed on the initial attempt and do not, the rest is ultimate success through experience.

I end with this: I remember when my Dad used to fix cars, his, and the cars of his friends and others at times. Watching him intently made me understand and think correctly about a lot of what I typed here in this article. Life is mostly experience, understanding, trial and error that leads to success that starts out with a solid concept of what you want done or where you want to go. With that said, I repeat for the ending: "be calm and get experienced from this temporary failure, success will come later." What more need you know to succeed in crafting reality to your advantage anyway? Everyone will experience a "headache" at least once or twice in life, or more. It just depends on how you deal with it or them. That is reality in its totality and how life is.

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What Is the Relationship Between Time and Motivation?

Do you use your time wisely and motivate yourself also? What is the relationship of time with motivation? Do you have an idea? Read on to find out.

The more you motivate yourself, the more you will get done in good time. If you lose your motivation, you will lose time, not being able to focus or concentrate. So it is important for you to motivate yourself all the time.

You should keep inspirational quotes, eBooks and audio around you always so that your motivation level remains high and you are able to get a lot done.

Time doesn't wait. And motivation doesn't last. You could be in the danger of losing good time. What is the remedy?

Get yourself motivated again. Ask yourself why the task at hand is interesting? How could you optimize it? How could it benefit others? What are the steps? Answering these questions gets yourself into the flow and you make good use of time once again.

This way motivation and time go hand in hand. If you are working as a team, it's important that you appreciate their input, how much little that may be so that they feel encouraged to make their contributions zealously and the deadline is met. So you see it becomes more complex. Not only you stay motivated but also your entire team needs motivation so that they work with spirit and enthusiasm, without losing time.

Since motivation doesn't last, it is recommended daily. Daily you need to boost yourself and others for beneficial output in the right amount of time. Share wise quotes, books and audio that you use with others and make them soar. They won't lag behind but rather be inspired to get ahead in their task load.

Once you and your team make it using the motivational tools, it becomes a game of life to win every time. The motivational spirit remains high that way. What more, the higher authorities notice your good contributions and may decide to reward you and your team with raises or even promotions.

That way the motivational spirit lives on and on and you become even better at the game of life with your team and each time you get wiser and more knowledgeable, gaining more expertise, which in turn makes you more in demand. You get more determined to win and hardly fail time. Remember, it all started with an effort to raise your motivation level.

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How To Make Yourself Likable

Pleasing personality doesn't necessarily means that you have to be beautiful. You can be likable if you are sincere and treat other people with respect. in my field of work, I have noticed that people who frequently ask questions to a new acquaintance are often well-liked. By nature we are helpful. Most often than not, we always want to share what we know especially when someone appears to need our help, we are always there to extend any assistance they need and provide answers to their queries.

Other people do not like people who talk more. But this is quite the opposite. If you want to be liked, you need to be more open especially when you are in a foreign country. You have to be a good conversationalist. The secret is to be a wide reader and an effective listener. When you listen, you can easily find common grounds to talk with.

Moreover, over-communicating puts people at ease. But it's also important to pause once in a while to listen because likable people are always good listeners and are genuinely curious to learn new things. The best communicators talk and talk but still have time to listen for a response. That makes them more likable.

A no-strings-attached approach to helping others also makes you more likable. Never expect anything in return. Make sure that you are really sincere because those who help just to be liked always reveal a manipulative trait. However, this is easier said than done. It requires a lot of effort. When you do, you will find that more people will like you.

It's hard to hate someone who has a carefree approach to life. Usually, the most-liked people are those that can fill a room with laughter. Those people who are easy to be with and who can laugh despite the odds of life. It might not be in your nature to joke around but make sure you are ready to see the humor in something. Even if sometimes, the joke is already off the belt, just don't take it seriously. Be someone who can laugh easily and smile often. By doing this, you will win people over.

It's better to see the real picture in life instead of the ideal. Oftentimes, the serious people are essentially acting selfish because they focus too much on their personal issues without realizing that highly likable people at work are those people who can set aside their issues and go with the flow. They are not selfish.

Admitting weaknesses makes you more likable. You are after all a human being who is subject to some imperfections!

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Beliefs Drive Our Actions (By Linda Hancock)

Sometimes people tell me how much they dislike Medicine Hat. They criticize the way the streets are laid out and find them confusing. They describe the river as "muddy" and the people as unfriendly. Others sing praises about our city. They like the unique layout, the fact that we have a river running through the middle of the community and describe the people as being kind and welcoming. Perceptions form beliefs and beliefs drive our actions.

Recently I have been making another attempt at fluency in the French language. I took classes in high school and again a few years ago with a group of "mature" students but never got to the level that I desired. I have also used a couple of apps, hired a private tutor and made some feeble attempts to greet the two francophones that I have met but still struggle. My vocabulary is fairly good, and I can read French quite well but frankly, my pronunciation sucks!

Last week, however, I was able to connect with a wonderful European French teacher who uses his study of psychological concepts to tutor individuals who have been "stuck" with the same disappointing progress that I have had.

It only took one class with this man to realize that the strategy he employs has exactly the same foundation as the ones I use in my private practice!

People who cannot speak French fluently (or any other second language) tend to believe that they will be embarrassed if they take the risk of trying to have a conversation. Their belief is that they will offend, not be understood or look foolish and this prevents them from trying. They focus on the things that do not improve their speaking skills - like reading, doing quizzes and studying at a theoretical level. They progress on paper but, at the same time, they believe that they will not be able to speak fluently in the timeframe that they desire.

Academic programs tend to teach vocabulary and grammatical structures that can feel overwhelming, especially when you might only need a few words and phrases to communicate about the things that interest you.

Clients often face the same challenges. They are "stuck" in a situation where they feel embarrassed, inadequate or frustrated. They come for help but often have already decided that they will not succeed. Failed attempts to change have not only affected their confidence but also strengthened their belief that things will not get better.

There is an old adage that states "Practice makes perfect". But practice takes time, involves making mistakes and presents risks that not everyone is willing to take.

What are the beliefs that are holding you back from doing something that you really want to do? Are you afraid that you cannot find a good friend or partner? Are you worried that you might not do well in a new job or academic program? Are you holding back from improving your health or financial situation because you don't believe you will succeed?

This week write a list of beliefs that are limiting your progress. Then write a list of things that you have accomplished in the past. Build up your belief and then start taking action towards your goal. One step at a time. One day at a time.

And remember to help those around you to think positively and build their belief levels and confidence through your encouragement and example.

Bonne chance!

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What If Everything You're Experiencing Is Preparing You For What You Asked For?

What Are You Giving Your Attention To?

What are you experiencing in your life that is causing you trouble? Try to get a sense of the emotions when you think about the situation. Now, reflect on what you would like to happen instead. How would you feel if you lived that reality now? People often believe conditions are worse than they appear to be, known in psychology as catastrophising; the irrational thoughts that something is worse than it actually is. It may be an evolutionary adaptation that has allowed mankind to evolve. However, what you're experiencing may be preparing you for the thing you asked for.

The universe seldom functions according to plan, as you've noticed. Sometimes things happen unexpectedly and we jump to conclusions without allowing the entire picture to unfold. In fact, what may be taking place is what we've been looking for all along. Our judgement is based on first impressions and we ought to give things a chance to develop further. For example, the company where you work might downsize and unexpectedly you are left without a job. Naturally, you are stressed about being unemployed and having to look for work. What if the situation was unfolding in your favour to lead you to the perfect career? Just because we haven't experienced ideal conditions before doesn't mean it is out of the realm of possibility. We must believe in miracles because the universe acts in mysterious ways. What may seem like a roadblock may open doors in unexpected places.

The problem is, we focus on negative conditions for so long and lose sight of attracting good things into our lives. In physics terms it is called The Observer effect, whereby the observation of an experience has the potential to change the outcome. Understandably, there's more to it than I have time to explain in this article. However, if we give attention to unwanted aspects, they will continue to show up in our lives. The key is to flip the switch and focus on what we want. It sounds simple enough doesn't it? Then why do so many people struggle with this idea? It is because we experience life in three dimensions and there is no dress rehearsal, only the real thing. But as you know, thoughts become things so what you give your attention to will eventually become your reality.

Trust In A Greater Intelligence

Are you with me so far? Are you beginning to see what you give your attention to creates your reality because of the energy devoted to it? It's not all bad news because we can change our thought environment and attract new circumstances by changing the way we think and feel. I liken it to travelling on a highway and seeing an exit sign up ahead. You take the exit off the freeway and soon enough you are on a new road with a change in scenery. All it took was a thought for you to exit the freeway resulting in a change in the physical landscape. Admittedly, life doesn't move as quick as this example. Whilst thoughts become things, there is often a lag time between our thoughts and our reality. It has been suggested, it takes approximately 30 days of focused visualisations to evoke a change in our reality. In this time, the universe will respond to our thoughts by showing us signs our thoughts are manifesting into existence.

It's a good thing thoughts take time to manifest into form because we can change what we think about. We may want to add or remove aspects of our imagined future whilst it is still a thought. For example, you might want to be in an intimate relationship and imagine the details as best you can. However, the person who shows up is not what you expect. Now, you are stuck in a relationship that doesn't serve you and blame yourself for attracting the wrong partner. Everything you experience is what you asked for, though it may not look that way because the picture is still taking shape. It requires mentally stepping back (detachment) and trusting in a greater intelligence that knows exactly what it's doing. This intelligence has been doing its job for thirteen billion years and has a good handle on the process. The universe is not hurried by our timeline, since it has its own schedule. This is what metaphysical teachers mean when they say trusting in divine timing. It requires detachment and letting go of how and when things will show up in our life.

Knowing this, let's return to my opening question where I asked you to consider the contrast of your negative situation and how you would like it to play out. The point of the exercise is to use contrasting states to get a sense of what we want to experience. So, over the coming weeks, use this visualisation to focus on what you want to bring to life. As you focus on the negative situation, switch to a positive outcome and allow your mind to linger longer in this positive state. It needn't be anything more than a minute or two. Summon up the emotions while thinking about this positive scenario and notice where you experience the emotions in your body. It is only when we examine our thoughts, we realise our experiences are preparing us for what we asked for.

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Manage the Stress of Being the Best

How do you manage the stress of being the best? If you're really focused on never putting a foot wrong it can be overwhelming and exhausting, not just for you but for all concerned. You may even be aware of people who check their work so often that they effectively become word-blind and would find it hard to tell if there was an error! If you're at that stage in your pursuit of being the best you can lose the ability to critically review your work.

Whilst caring enough to be good, making an effort to improve and aiming to produce an exceptional piece of work all have an important role it's also important not to subject ourselves to constant overbearing scrutiny and pressure. It's stressful to be subjected to other people snapping at our heels, waiting for us to fail or cave under the unremitting pressure and criticism. They're impatiently biding their time so that they can replace us and step into our role.

Let's consider some ways to manage the stress of being the best.

- If we work in a highly competitive environment we may feel stressed and living under constant 'supervision'. The problem with this scenario is that stress generates more stress and becomes debilitating over time. We may find our clear thinking, powers of concentration and focus are all affected, as well as our health and wellbeing, ability to sleep and enjoyment of a good-humoured approach to life. Being firm about breaks and time out is important, as is trying to remove yourself from negative people and situations as often as possible.

- Some responsibilities are important and matter more than others. Yes a client, customer or friend deserve to have their requests treated with due deference and respect but some things are urgent whilst others are less so. Whilst we shouldn't agree to help or undertake something we can't fully commit to, equally there are times when enough is enough. Not every piece of work requires being worked on throughout the night or being double, triple or quadruple checked! However, it may be a useful strategy to have someone look over any work that you're apprehensive about. A trusted third-party can often provide valuable reassurance.

- There's no need to be an expert in every area. There will be times when our skills are not up to a particular request. There may be areas which we don't fully understand or are not trained in. Accept and admit this rather than try to muddle through. Offer to source someone who's competent in that field and forge a connection with them; it could even lead to you forming an alliance or partnership, on occasion resulting in a lucrative new string to both your bows.

- How do you feel if someone says that they can't do something? So long as it's done in the right way, not too often or after they've made a hash of an important piece of urgent work I'm sure you appreciated their honesty and were understanding. It helps if you're offered alternative solutions, perhaps a contact they have or a working relationship with someone in that field who could step in and fill the breach. Doing that could result in a win/win for all concerned. Reflect on what worked for you and determine to adopt that approach.

- Aiming to constantly be the best can require sacrifices to be made, and it's often our personal life which takes the strain as it's the path of least resistance. We may find ourselves cancelling or missing out on precious moments with our children, us time with our partner or social occasions with family or friends. Deciding to side-line those times means that not only do we miss out on personal rest and relaxation, but we also risk damaging or alienating those relationships through neglect. When people are regularly dropped they will start to cope without you, but also get the message that you care more about work than you do about them.

- Manage the stress of being the best by focusing on developing your brand and letting it work for you. Becoming the 'go to' guy in a particular niche can be achieved by giving demonstrations, free samples, talks, workshops, writing articles and blogs, maintaining a high-profile. Turning up consistently, whether it be at network meetings, online or in the media can be managed to suit your lifestyle, so easing the stress. Let potential customers become so familiar with your name that you automatically spring to mind whenever your area of expertise is being considered.

- Let others sing your praises. Rather than hassle people for endorsements, step back and let your good work speak for itself. When other people become your ambassadors they recommend you with confidence, pleased that they know someone who's good. Equally, be keen to recommend people you know, like and trust. Oil the wheels of your relationships and then the stress to be the best will subside as you become quietly confident in your field.

Let others contribute and be part of your team. They may not work in the same way as you but you'll get more enthusiasm, commitment and potentially great new ideas from them as a consequence.

There are many ways to manage the stress of being the best. Don't let perfectionism get in the way of you doing a great job!

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4 Cues to Find the Deep Inner Peace of Your Clear Quiet Mind ( By Kevin Schoeninger)

Over 30 years ago I discovered my clear quiet mind on a backpacking trip out West. In this article, I share four simple cues you can use to instantly find the deep inner peace of your clear quiet mind.

In 1984, I had just graduated from St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia and I was inspired to take a backpacking trip. I was definitely a city-boy, hadn't done anything in the way of backpacking, and had never been west of the Mississippi.

For the month of August that year, I journeyed by car and on foot through Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and Wyoming with a friend. We explored the Canyonlands, the Grand Canyon, and Yellowstone National Park. We spent hours, day after day, in nature, without any TV, radio, news, music, or entertainment. The natural landscape was our primary stimulation.

What struck me most on this trip was the clear spacious sky (you can see for miles in that part of the country), the silence, and the stillness. I absorbed these three qualities deep into my body during that month.

To this day, I recall quite distinctly what I felt as I sat on the plane flying home. I had an overwhelming feeling of contentment. I was completely peaceful, my mind was still, and I felt no sense of worry or struggle. I felt completely free and at ease.

Out of this transcendent experience, three things became clear:

1) I discovered such a state is possible.

2) I found I needed to take a break from my busyness to arrive at this state.

3) I wanted to find ways to reproduce it, deepen it, and expand it. I wanted to cultivate this state as a reliable baseline to live from and return to whenever I need.

This led me on a quest of learning, practicing, and teaching in the disciplines of T'ai Chi, Qigong, Reiki, meditation, Centering Prayer, and other mind-body disciplines. From these years of study, practice, and teaching, I gathered specific techniques that reliably generate deep peace and calm clarity.

The first of these techniques is a set of four cues you can use to have an instant experience of your clear quiet mind. These cues give you a glimpse of what shifting to this perspective feels like, so you can get acquainted with it. You can build on these brief moments moving forward and cultivate a strong and unshakeable perspective of calm clarity that you can return to anytime you need or desire.

You can do each of the following techniques in just a few seconds or up to a few minutes-whichever you prefer. As you try them out, a few words of advice: see if you can let go of trying too hard or questioning what's happening. See if it's possible to let go of preconceptions and be open to what you can discover. Don't worry if you're doing these techniques exactly right. If one doesn't work for you, just move on to the next one.

Four Simple Cues to Find Your Clear Quiet Mind

1. Stillness: feel the stillness underneath all movements in the center of your brain.

Focus into the center of your brain-a point between your ears, directly under the crown point of your head, and halfway between your forehead and the base of your skull. You can imagine sitting in a comfortable chair there.

Once you are seated in the center of your brain, imagine and feel "stillness" there. Imagine sitting there as still as you can be. There is no thought in the center of your brain to disturb you or make you think you need to keep moving to get things done, so it's easy to imagine sitting still there. Go ahead and give this a try for about 15 seconds now.

Imagine and feel yourself sitting in stillness in the center of your brain...

Did your mind become still for a moment?

Let's add Cue #2.

2. Silence: listen to the silence underneath all sounds in the center of your brain.

Sit in the center of your brain again and see if it's possible to listen to the silence underneath the sounds there for about 15 seconds. Listen to silence in the center of your brain...

How did this feel? Did your mind become quiet for a moment?

Now, let's add Cue #3.

3. Space: focus into open, clear space in the center of your brain.

Imagine the center of your brain as open, clear, and spacious. Go ahead and try this for another 15 seconds. Sit in the open clear space in the center of your brain...

Are you getting a feel for what it's like to have a clear quiet mind-if only for a few brief moments?

Let's add Cue #4.

4. Who is having this experience?

Sit in the center of your brain again and ask "Who is having this experience?" Go ahead, give it a try and see what you discover. Ask yourself, "Who is having this experience?"

For a few moments, did your mind go blank? Did your thoughts stop, for just a second or two? Interesting, isn't it? When I do this, it makes me smile, as if I just discovered a secret treasure.

If you'd like to experiment with these four cues a little longer, and get more familiar with them, go ahead and spend a few minutes practicing them now. What happens when you sit in the center of your brain, feel the still, silent, space there, and ask, "Who is having this experience?"

As you practice these four cues together, over time, they'll blend into one experience of still, silent, spacious awareness. If you prefer, you can also use them individually, especially if you find one of them that really works well for you. I think you'll find this very relaxing.

These four cues come from my book "Clear Quiet Mind." They are just a taste of what the deep inner peace of your clear quiet mind is like. To learn how to deepen, live from, and return to this peaceful state of mind anytime you need, see the link below.

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Lucid Dreaming Approaches for Beginners

Any time a person is dreaming and she or he understands their dreaming it's called a lucid dream. When a strange dream makes a person stop and question reality is when it typically occurs. Lucid dreaming has an interesting aspect to it, and it's the ability to regulate the dream and make some other reality in the dream state, which is the reason why lots of people learn the fundamental lucid dreaming steps.

A lot of cultures from ancient times took lucid dreaming very seriously. For instance, people living in ancient Egypt thought that dreams opened up the eyes of a person to truths, solutions, and advice that were hidden. In fact, lots of temples were devoted to dream incubation by ancient Egyptians. A lot of time in learning the numerous lucid dreaming steps, different states of consciousness, and out of body experiences was dedicated by ancient Egyptian so-called masters of secret things. They firmly believed that individuals can get an altered state of consciousness from the lotus flower.

It is new age, it has to do with dark arts, and it advocates escapism are some of the many misconceptions concerning lucid dreaming. Contrary to what people believe, there are a lot of significant benefits to lucid dreaming. It can have a favorable affect on an individual's walking life by improving problem-solving abilities, bettering creativity, helping men and women deal with their fears, and bettering confidence level, and also allowing individuals to explore other realities and plenty of other positive aspects.

Lucid Dreaming Tips

The techniques involve basic memory exercises and also complicated meditation. Training the subconscious mind to follow brand-new rules is the main objective of the different lucid dreaming steps. The very first step when it comes to learning is to cultivate a solid commitment to mastering the skill. The standard learning process takes a little while, research, and mental preparation, although the subconscious incubation technique can have fast results.

It's essential to keep a dream journal if someone is a rookie to lucid dreaming. The awareness of the dream state of a person is enhanced by the journal and makes it much easier to get up while dreaming. A person will encounter roughly 5 dream cycles nightly, which is the average. A person will experience a period of rapid eye movement sleep or REM in abbreviation as each sleep cycle concludes. The REM sleep is a whole lot longer as it gets nearer to the morning, giving a person the ability to remember dreams quickly after they wake up in the morning,, which is the best time to write inside the dream journal.

When it comes to keeping a dream journal the steps involved include things like choosing a journal and keeping it near the bed, which is essential as lots of dreams disappear quickly upon arising, which means it's a necessity to write them down immediately upon arising. Writing a step by step description of the dream in present tense and noting the dream's date is the next step. Next, analyzing and identifying the themes of the dream is what the person should do. After that, one needs to determine any significant real-world problems taking place at the present, and then finally, give the dream a name.

Not only should the person keep a dream journal, but also novices must do at least 10 reality checks every day. Reality checks bring about more vivid and lucid dreams by building better self-awareness during the morning hours. Reality checks give one the ability to identify the difference between a dream and a waking reality. Utilizing reality checks in the waking reality gives people the power to do them during their dreams, giving their conscious mind the ability to know when they are dreaming.

As an example, a fairly easy reality check could be counting the fingers on each hand and will them to be more or less than 10. During the waking reality, ten is the total amount of fingers on each hand, regardless if a person wills it or not. However, when it comes to a dream willing the amount of digits to change is possible the majority of the time, which is a very clear sign that the individual is having a dream. Performing about 20 minutes of meaningful meditation everyday is the final method of inducing lucid dreams for novices.

As the benefits of lucid dreaming become more popular among people, a lot of experts have developed different tips for lucid dreaming that should yield great results. One of the most popular methods is the Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams, which involves lucid affirmations, dream recall, visualization of the dream, and reality checks.

Mastering the method of waking up during a dream isn't that simple, which is just like many other things worth doing. Time, patience, focus, and practice are the things it requires, which anybody can learn.

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Creative Brainstorming: How to Channel Your Best Ideas to Create a Winning Product

Creative Brainstorming is that phase in the production process that is all about idea-generation. Some of the best ideas known to man have been thought up during this phase. But just what happens during the brainstorming phase? It's hard to pinpoint exactly how brainstorming occurs because it can be different for different people. But we have focused in on some of the most important elements of brainstorming that aid in the creative process.

THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING

In science there is an idea about "the theory of everything," which implies that every single idea or thing came from one central original thing. It's an interesting idea and can be applied somewhat to the idea of creative brainstorming. Consider brainstorming as the generating of numerous ideas that come from one major concept. From this major concept you can brainstorm various subtopics that can fall under the main topic and then further expand from there. This technique is good when you need one major concept from which you can build specific details and ideas that surround the central theme. This sort of brainstorming often works well with "mind maps," which take the idea of growing ideas from one major concept and expanding out.

IDENTIFY GOALS

Once you have let all of the creative ideas out in the open, you will want to focus on your goals. Whether it be for more sales in your business, more engagement from readers (as an author), or just more interest in your ideas, you need to decide what it is that you wish to accomplish from your efforts. This will guide your brainstorming so that it won't include every single thing, but begin to be more focused toward reaching the goals you have set forth.

WEEDING YOUR GARDEN

In this phase of creative brainstorming, you will want to consider each and every idea that your team through out in the initial brainstorming session, while always considering what you should eliminate to fine-tune the concept. For example, if your central idea is to expand your Human Resources department, in the weeding phase, you will want to focus on all of the ideas that you think you could feasible carry out within your organization and weed out those that you don't have the budget for, or which are not practical within your work environment. Don't forget though to also brainstorm ways you could try new ideas, including outsourcing work when needed, in order to meet your goals.

FINE-TUNING THE IDEA INTO A MARKETABLE CONCEPT

Steve Jobs once said, "There is a quantum leap between an idea and a marketable product." There is a lot of truth in this. So when engaging in creative brainstorming, you will eventually want to fine-tune the idea into "what sells?" In other words, while money is not the entire goal, you should always keep the practical aspects of your idea in mind, and how it will sell once on the market. You must also brainstorm what market your finished product will likely fit into as well.

FROM CONCEPT TO PRODUCT

During the process of brainstorming, you will want to not only brainstorm about your product or idea, but also about the market that you plan to put your product in. By knowing your specific market, you should be able to fit the needs of your customers more to your product, thereby increasing your sales and loyalty to your product over the long haul.

Creativity in brainstorming is not hard. But it involves going through the stages from original concept to production, so that you not only focus on the idea but also on the end result. In business, this is as important as the creative process itself and it keeps the creative process focusing on end product, so that there is more of a fit between what you create and the customers' needs and wants. In creative arts like writing or music composition, for example, it will help you to fine-tune the art that you put out so that your work not only inspires the imagination but also finds its audience.

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