If you have a great memory, you are one of the lucky few. This article probably isn’t going to add any value for you. For the rest of us, we have a difficult time remembering what we ate for breakfast this morning unless it just happened.
Keeping a journal can be a great way to improve our situations. Because we have a difficult time remembering what happened in the past, we can simply refer to our journals. These journals will contain entries that specify the events on any particular day, as well as personal notes to ourselves. These notes can be related to the events, or they can be completely unrelated. It’s up to you.
Try to avoid haphazard entries as the value of the journal will diminish. The journal is the reference book of your life. It also can serve as providing answers to problems you had in the past. The entries will contain notes about how you solved the problems.
It’s up to you whether you want to create this journal online or handwritten. There can be more of a commitment when you handwrite your journal. But, the choice is yours, as long as you keep it going and use it.
Some productivity tools can help in your efforts to journal. For instance, Evernote is a free online tool where you can create notes. You can date these notes and create a section called journal. They even have a feature where you can set up checklists or task lists. The information is saved in the cloud and is secure.
If the entire concept intimidates you, start out small. Don’t try to create volumes in your journal in the first few weeks. The journal structure that you come up with will evolve over time. You’ll keep what is working and scrap what isn’t.
A journal can help you recall information, but it also serves to help you improve your memory. As you continue to record your daily events, you are training your brain with this activity. You’ll end up relying on the journal less and less. Another great idea is to turn your journal into a book and sell it.
Using a journal is a good tool for self discipline too. Let’s look at some more ways to increase your self discipline.
We all want more self-control. Imagine how much easier life would be if eating right wasn’t such a struggle or a trip to the gym wasn’t a fight with self, regarding the desire for an extra hour of sleep.
Here’s how:
Understand What’s Particularly Tempting
We all have a weakness. Whether we can’t say no to the salty snacks or wind up staying up too late night after night, we’re looking at the same problem: A lack of self-discipline. By knowing what our triggers are, it’s a simple matter to defuse them.
Change Your Environment
Once you know what tempts you, the simple solution is to remove the trigger from your environment. Salty snacks? Stop buying them. Staying up late? Remove the lightbulb from your bedroom. Don’t be afraid to get radical and more than a little creative.
Set A Goal
Without a plan, how can you accomplish anything? Ask what you’re trying to change. What does your new future look like for you? Make an action plan to take you there.
Practice
Self-discipline doesn’t happen overnight. The only way you’re going to learn it is to practice it. Look at the plan you just created. What steps does it require? Push yourself to act on those steps, daily.
Break Things Down
Change is more natural to make when the steps are kept small and very simple. Break things down to their smallest components. What’s something small you can do today to help you build the habit of self-discipline?
Pay Attention To Your Body
Your physical health will always affect your willpower, so taking care of the basics, such as getting enough sleep and exercising regularly will help you to have better self-discipline.
Gain A New Perspective
The moment you start thinking you have no self-discipline, or that your willpower is a finite resource, you start limiting yourself. By changing your inner dialogue, you’re more likely to have success. Remind yourself often: “I’ve got this.” It truly is about mind over matter.
What’s Plan B?
When going into a difficult situation where you know self-discipline will be challenged, create a backup plan. Know before you begin just what you’re going to do if the worst happens. Implement as needed.
Use Rewards
When you succeed in your goals, don’t be afraid to allow yourself a small reward. As human beings, we’re wired to work our best when we know we’re going to get something out the experience we want.
Know How To Move On
Screwed up? Forgive yourself. Keep going. It’s normal for everyone to mess up now and again. It’s what you do next that matters.
Having strong self-discipline helps you to keep momentum going, especially when the going gets tough, but what are some other ways to help you build momentum?
You’re on the way! You have a goal in mind, you’re working hard to get there. It might be you’re after something personal. It might be you’re concentrating solely on your career right now. Whatever it is you want, you’re hungry for it. You can’t wait to see the culmination of all this hard work.
…only everything seems to be moving so slow…
So, what do you do when momentum is lagging? Easy. You find ways to build it. Try these quick tips guaranteed to make things happen:
Visualize The Future
Take some time to consider where you’ll be in six months. What about next year or the next five years? Seeing yourself in the future is a really positive way to keep your momentum going. If you can get excited about the you of tomorrow, you’ll find yourself fighting to become that person right now.
Get Up And Do Something
It’s so easy to grow stagnant. Rather than binge-watch the latest Netflix sitcom, how about getting up to create some mischief of your own? Go play a game, take a walk, spend time with friends. Do inspirational things to fill you with enthusiasm.
Learn Stuff
An active mind is a creative mind. The act of learning, even in small increments such as 10-15 minutes a day, will still improve cognitive function. In short, by keeping your mind active, you will pick up momentum.
Act When You Don’t Feel Like It
If you’re waiting for the muse to strike, stop. There will never be a perfect time to work. Momentum means keeping going, even when you don’t feel like it.
Put Your Phone Away
Giving yourself the gift of uninterrupted time does wonders for momentum. By turning off your phone for an hour, you’ll give yourself the freedom to relax, recharge, explore, and forge ahead.
Quit
When it comes to momentum, if you’ve found you’re slowing down, it might be because what you’re doing just doesn’t work. In this case, sometimes the smartest thing to do is to stop. Don’t waste time beating your head against a wall when you could be making progress elsewhere.
Do Something Scary
It’s the challenge that pushes you to new limits. When you do what’s easy, momentum lags. This is why it’s so important to challenge yourself to do the things you never thought you would.
Remember, whatever you can find to help keep the momentum going, embrace! If affirmations help, post a bunch of them everywhere. Put on music to get you moving. Create a social life around people who support you wholeheartedly. You’re the one in charge of your destiny, it’s up to you to act.
As you can see, self-discipline is an important thread throughout this article and if you want to increase your power of self discipline then check out the featured resource below for a free detailed report; download, read it and take action 😊
Do you struggle to handle criticism? While some criticism does come from a negative place, most of the time it is meant with love and good intentions. Unfortunately, even if the person criticizing you is coming from a good place, it can still hurt. If you struggle to handle criticism, here we’ll look at why it isn’t always a negative thing.
There are a few ways to determine whether criticism is coming from a positive or negative place. It could be that you naturally respond badly to criticism of any kind. Many people are naturally defensive when they are met with criticism. So, the first step is to tame that initial negative reaction.
Criticism can come from a negative place, but often it is said to help us improve. Being able to recognize when somebody is being helpful, or just negative, is important.
Your self-esteem will largely determine how you react to criticism. The more confident you are, the less likely criticism is to affect you. Those who have a healthy dose of self-esteem will be able to learn from any criticism they receive without taking it too personally.
Think about your own self-esteem. Could it use some improvement? If so, focus on ways to build up your self-esteem and you’ll notice this has a direct impact on your ability to handle criticism. You’ll find a lot of awesome self-esteem building tips online.
We’ve all been criticized when what we needed was an honest critique, with positive and negative points. As you work on building up your self-esteem, there are some other tips you can implement to deal with overly critical or negative people.
Staying calm is important. You may find when you are met with criticism, your initial reaction is anger. However, if you express anger, it isn’t going to help the situation. In fact, it could work in your critic’s favor! Remaining calm gives, you the ability to fully understand where the criticism is coming from and enables you to deal with it much better.
Overall, criticism is never nice to deal with. However, it isn’t always meant as a negative. Some criticism can help you to grow and become a better person. So, don’t be quick to dismiss any criticism thrown your way. Think about it with an open mind and decide whether there is something to be learned.
When you have a negative outlook, it tends to affect every aspect of your life. Studies have shown that negative self-talk can cause issues with self-esteem.
Is negativity ruining your self-esteem? You can discover if negative self-talk is dragging your self-esteem down, as well as what signs you need to watch for.
Self-esteem can both be a cause of negativity, and a result of it. When you have a negative mindset, it often stems from feeling inadequate or due to a lack of control over a situation. This leads to negative self-talk, such as you’ll never amount to anything, or you aren’t good enough to achieve success.
The trouble with negative thoughts is that they multiply quickly. Over time, you’ll find they greatly affect your confidence and cause you to question your value. Negativity is a self-esteem killer, causing you to doubt everything as well as yourself.
Negative self-talk is basically your inner critic reminding you of all the negative things you or others have said about you. Negative self-talk can have a significant impact on your self-esteem, confidence, and overall wellbeing.
Put simply, negative self-talk prevents you from believing in yourself and your abilities. It keeps you from making positive changes and achieving success.
So, how do you know if you have low self-esteem? There are some signs to look out for which may suggest your self-esteem could use some work. These include:
These are just a small number of the signs of low self-esteem. The question is, how can you eliminate negativity and build up your self-esteem?
If you are ready to start combatting your negativity and building up self-esteem, there are a few things you can do. Start by assessing what is contributing towards your negativity. Is it past experiences such as being bullied at school for example? By figuring out where your negativity stems from, you’ll be able to start working on overcoming it.
Looking after yourself, utilizing positive affirmations, and stopping comparing yourself to others are also good tips you can follow.
If you have poor self-esteem, the amount of negativity you experience could be partially to blame. As you focus on becoming more positive, you’ll find that you automatically begin to feel happier and more confident.
Whatever you want in life will require discipline to achieve and being able to reframe criticism and negativity is a small part of that. And if you want to know more about harnessing the power of self-discipline, then check out the featured resource below for a free detailed report; download, read it and take action 🙂
Mark Twain once said, “”The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.”
What he meant was that finding your purpose in life is extremely important… and it’s the only way to true happiness and inner peace. It’s the difference between living and existing.
This is a process of self-discovery… but that’s not what this article is about. No, this article assumes that you’ve found your purpose and you’re living your authentic life.
But how do you know for sure that you are living your purpose?
And that’s exactly what this article is about – recognizing the signs of a purpose-driven life.
It doesn’t matter what your innate talents/skills are. It could be writing, painting, singing, playing the piano or even rock climbing. The common denominator is that you will feel like you were born to do this activity.
The skills come to you naturally… and you’ll see much faster improvement with practice than someone who is not born to do what you do.
However, someone who merely treats it as a passing interest may become good, but never see as much progress as you (given the same instruction and practice). You excel by leaps and bounds, but they progress incrementally.
This is one of the most obvious signs.
Initially, when you discover your purpose, on the outside nothing may have changed. You may have the same job, same income, same friends and so on.
However, internally, everything would have changed. You feel much better and are less prone to illness. You have pep in your step and you don’t even know why.
Your energy levels increase and so does your happiness level. You can’t wait to wake up every morning and start your day.
Life begins to have new promise, and you have plans for bigger things. The job you’re currently working at (but detest) is now just a steppingstone for you. You know in your bones that life is going to get a lot grander.
As time passes and you discover how to monetize your innate skills, you’ll see your income increase exponentially.
While earning a decent income may have been a struggle before, now you’re doing it easily and making much more.
You no longer have poor spending habits because buying expensive items is not a form of therapy anymore.
Inevitably, you’ll notice that once you find your purpose and focus on it, your efforts will not only yield fruit for you, but your work will also positively impact others’ lives.
Generally, you’ll be creating products that benefit others or you’ll be providing services that improves peoples’ well-being.
Even if you’re volunteering for a non-profit organization and that’s your purpose, others will still benefit from your efforts.
In the past, you may have found that you could not find people who were on the same page as you. Even if you were in a group, you may have felt like an outsider who just couldn’t gel with the rest.
You may have tried to conform to belong, but it would have felt awkward. When you’re on purpose, others with similar interests will somehow be drawn to you. That’s just the way the universe works.
New mentors may appear in your life to guide you and help you forward in your journey. You’ll finally feel like you belong.
Regardless of what mistakes you made in the past or your bad experiences, once you’ve found your purpose, you’ll discover that most of what happened in the past were just lessons meant to teach you or strengthen your resolve to reach your ultimate destination.
Your negative experiences are the foundation upon which you’ll build your purpose-driven life, and there’s no way but up for you now.
Most people who have discovered their purpose in life will usually earn an income that allows them to live comfortably. Even those who are on a lower income level will still get by.
What doesn’t change though is the fact that even if they had all the money in the world, they wouldn’t stop doing what they were doing now. They know their purpose and it’s a joy to do it.
They have found their life-calling and it’s the purpose that keeps them going.
Happiness is fleeting. It comes and goes. Whether you have purpose or not, life will have challenges. You suddenly do not get an easy life after becoming ‘one with the universe’.
That’s not how purpose works. Finding purpose is about doing what makes you fulfilled – and with that, you’ll get inner peace even if the world around you seems to be falling apart.
Look out for these 8 signs in your life and if you see them, you’ll know that you’re on the path you were meant to be on. Greatness will be yours in time to come.
“When you walk with purpose, you collide with destiny.”
– Bertice Berry
As you probably already know, having a strong mindset is critical to any attempt to finding your purpose and passion and staying focused on them, so click on the featured resource below to get a detailed free report on how to develop a strong mindset. Download, it read and take action 😊
At some point in everyone’s life, they will come across obstacles. Many people are not prepared for these obstacles, and it causes them to stumble. But when you discover that obstacles can be opportunities, then you will be better prepared to handle them.
Many people are plagued with alcohol addiction. Some will come to terms with it and seek out help for their situation. It is not easy for them, but when they are on the road to recovery they can use their experience to help others.
Sometimes it can be as simple as being there for those who are still struggling. Other times, these people will hold seminars about their experiences in the hope that others will see they are not alone.
When we come across obstacles, we are often tempted to wish they would just go away. This seldom works as we usually need to take action to overcome obstacles.
Simply ignoring your problems thinking they will somehow manage to solve themselves will only make your situation worse. The good news is, in many cases, when you come up with a plan for your obstacles you will find they can be overcome.
You will be amazed at how many people settle for these obstacles and do nothing about them; perhaps they use them as an excuse for the way their lives are headed.
But realise that you don’t have to tackle them alone; in fact, you are always better off doing this as part of a team.
Join groups where people have dealt with the same obstacles you are dealing with. They can offer suggestions or point you to the right programs or solutions.
What you don’t want to do is to join these groups in the hope they will solve your problems for you. These groups can also help you make new friends and even establish future connections or professional endeavors.
Another opportunity in obstacles is the strength that you obtain during the process of solving them. You will learn a lot about yourself during this trying time. It may be worth you documenting what you are going through and this could form the basis for a book that could be used to help others.
You can bet that there are others in a similar situation to yours, s if you have found a way to overcome a particular obstacle, don’t you think that others would want that information too?
When you find other people who are looking for a solution, you have the opportunity for a business or venture.
People are willing to pay to solve a problem or at least reduce its impact.
When you solve that problem for them, they often tell others who are experiencing the same problem, so the venture feeds on itself. This makes your solution an easy sell.
Talking of obstacles, do you think that age is an obstacle nowadays? It may have been in the past but what about now? Well, let’s take a look at that…
Kids spend a good part of their childhood wanting to be older. They are proud of reaching certain milestones like age 10 and then age 16, etc. Parents try to encourage them not to rush their lives as they know life goes much quicker and seemingly so the older you get.
And there is an obstacle for people who are under 25. It’s harder to get a loan without someone cosigning, and insurance on automobiles is quite expensive for this age group. Rental car companies usually don’t even rent to them until they reach 25 years of age.
But, eventually, they reach the age where they don’t have restrictions anymore. That is until they start approaching their 50’s. It seems companies don’t want to hang onto these aging employees. This is because they can find someone younger for much cheaper.
While companies are not supposed to discriminate based on age, it’s quite easy to find other reasons not to hire these people.
This is narrow-minded on the part of companies. Many of these aging employees hold years of experience and knowledge. While generally, their younger counterparts are cheaper, it will take them years to gain the experience and knowledge of the older employees.
Another problem is people are living longer and many are not willing to retire at age 65, or whatever limit is set by governments. They have a lot to offer and they like the challenge of working. It is supposedly healthier for their minds to keep active as well.
Some companies will offer early retirement packages to people of a certain age. While these packages are not as lucrative as they used to be, it is still generally a wise idea to take them when offered. If you don’t it is likely you will be cut eventually anyway, with no package to rely on.
In many instances, this early retirement policy causes gaps in the business, and they end up hiring the same employees back as consultants. This may seem like a waste but it’s important to remember that consultants don’t add to the headcount and can be let go at a moment’s notice.
One solution is to keep on a group of aging employees as trainers and mentors. They have much to offer in the way of knowledge transfer and they can be a great benefit to the company when new hires are added to the payroll. They can help new employees get up to speed quickly by showing them the ropes as they have already been there and done it!
Whatever you want in life will require discipline to achieve and overcoming obstacles is a small part of this. But if you want to know more about harnessing the power of self-discipline, then check out the featured resource below for a free detailed report; download, read it and take action 🙂
At the rate things are going, one might be led to believe that the world we live in is becoming crazier by the day. With vaccine mandates, toxic politicians, never-ending problems, creeping inflation, etc. trying to escape stress is becoming a Herculean task.
The best way to avoid anxiety will be to ensure that you have good habits in your life which help to manage your stress and anxiety levels. Very often, what you do NOT do is just as important as what you actually do.
Below you’ll find 7 habits to avoid if you’re prone to anxiety and/or the odd panic attack. Cut them out of your life and you’ll find that your anxiety symptoms dissipate and disappear in no time at all.
Avoid social media at all costs, if you’re constantly upset or fearful of the news and debates taking place on platforms like Facebook.
What was once supposed to be for fun and entertainment has become a breeding ground for vitriolic debates, overly sensitive people and generally bad news or fake news making the rounds.
Taking a 30–60-day break from social media will do wonders for your mind and soul and will help you to avoid that incapacitating anxiety attack.
Some people can find a problem for every solution. These toxic people will always leave you aggravated, fearful or feeling negative. The longer you stay around them, the more upset and anxious you’ll become.
While the self-help books will tell you to be the bigger person, sooner or later you need to ask yourself if always being the bigger person means that you’re hanging around with ‘small’ people.
I know this can be difficult to do, especially if you have toxic family members, but you really do need to surround yourself with people who will build you up rather than bring you down.
The media can be summarized into one word – agendas. That’s it. No longer is the news about informing people of current events.
These days, the news is used to make people fearful of pandemics, political issues, crime rates, and a myriad of other talking points designed to stir up fear and panic – to achieve ulterior motives.
You will find that many of the most successful people don’t watch the news. Yes, there will be those that tell you that you need to stay informed, but they appear to be unaware that they are getting a skewed vision of the world through the lens of that particular organisation, and they all have their own worldviews to promote.
Stimulants such as caffeine, sugar, alcohol, cigarettes, energy drinks, etc. may make you feel good temporarily, but they’re harmful to your health in the long run.
Reduce your consumption of them… and for habits like smoking, it’s best to eliminate them totally. The ingredients and substances in most stimulants have been shown to cause anxiety directly or indirectly.
The quick high simply isn’t worth the low you will be feeling for hours afterwards!
Leading a sedentary lifestyle makes people feel lethargic, depressed and weak. Our bodies were made to move – even if you think you don’t have the time or mood to exercise.
Spend 15-30 minutes a day exercising. Your body will release endorphins that make you feel happier. You can’t be anxious and happy at the same time. This is one of the biggest benefits of exercise.
Furthermore, your stamina will increase and so will your strength. You’ll be less tired all the time and you’ll feel much better about your life.
Do NOT burn the candles at both ends all the time. Society has made it seem that material success and wealth are the be-all and end-all of life.
But if you’re in a constant state of anxiety because you’re sacrificing sleep just to work, not only will you be more tired, irritable and high-strung, but your productivity will suffer too.
Get 7-8 hours of sleep daily. Give your mind and body a rest. It’s one of the best things you can do to reduce anxiety.
Comparing yourself with others will almost always make you feel worse about yourself. If you think someone else is better off than you, you’ll be dissatisfied with your own life and envious of them.
If you think you’re better than others, generally, you’ll be feeling insecure deep down inside, and your thoughts are a reflection of you not feeling good enough.
Either way, it’s not a good prognosis.
You’ll find happiness when you’re not comparing yourself with others. Don’t run if no one is chasing you.
Apply the pointers in this article and your anxiety levels will drop. You may also wish to spend time meditating, finding ways to destress (E.g. gratitude journaling, watching comedies, praying, etc.) and try to stay optimistic.
Find what works for you and do it consistently. Always remember that life is to be lived… and not controlled. Surf the waves of life taking each wave as it comes rather than trying to control the tides.
The latter will only lead to anxiety. Let it go.
“Our anxiety does not come from thinking about the future, but from wanting to control it.”
– Kahlil Gibran
Managing stress requires self discipline and if you want to know more about harnessing the power of self discipline, check out the featured resource below for a free detailed report; download, read it and take action 🙂
