Showing posts with label Routine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Routine. Show all posts

What’s Stopping You From Becoming Your Best

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Life can be tough, there’s no doubt about that. But it can also be beautiful and fun, curious and incredible. And if you’re not really living to your full potential, you may not know that. So, it’s ever so important for you to be able to become your very best self. Yet, it’s really not always that simple. Sometimes, you feel held back. Yet you have no idea why. And sometimes, you cannot figure out what you need to do to be able to make a change. And when you’re in this kind of situation, you’re not going to be at your best. So let’s change that. Because we all have potential and we all deserve to live our lives to the fullest and really get the most out of life. So let’s take a look at what could be stopping you from becoming the best version of yourself.

Fear

To start with, it could be because you’re scared. And not on an everyday, you’re so terrified of life kind of fear. But the fear of stepping out of your comfort zone. The fear of changing your life. The fear of failing. Yet, you won’t ever know what will happen until you try. Or until you make that first step. And if you have dreams and you want to accomplish them, you need to feel the fear and work on them anyway.

Money

Sometimes, it can be money. And if you do not have the funds to do what you want to do in life, then you need to work on that. Start to save. Get a new job. Sell your stuff. Start a side hustle. More money can always be earned, remember that.

Health

Next up, it could be your health. Maybe you’re sick or something happened to you? When this is the case, you may be worried about how you can move forward. Or maybe you’re still recovering from birth injuries or a diagnosis and you’re unable to actually do much to help yourself? Then here, you’re going to want to help your health and get the medical assistance that you need to actually move forward. You owe it to yourself.

Others

If you know that the opinions of others are holding you back, or what they actually want for you, then you need to just move past this. This is your life, and you need to do what makes you happy - for you. Because you’ll only ever regret it if you don’t.

Your Mindset

And finally, we then also have your mindset too. Because it could actually be the case that you’re kind of holding yourself back. And sure, sometimes this is through fear, but not always. Maybe you’re too negative and you always see the bad in life and in people? Maybe you’re pessimistic all of the time? Then you will need to improve your mindset. Because you’re only damaging yourself here. When you’re positive and grateful, your opportunities truly are endless.

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Attention: Fix Your Posture!

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Don’t let posture pains stop you from playing with your kids. Flickr


Everyone’s unique in their own way, but there are also loads of things that the majority of people have in common. These days, almost everyone you come into contact with has bad posture. Unless they’re a ballerina or an athlete, then their posture sucks! It’s an especially problematic issue for parents, as you’re often stuck doing things that make your posture worse.

I think all people and parents need to fix their posture, and I’ll explain how to do this later on. First, I want to discuss why this is so important:

Get rid of chronic pain

How many of you are stuck with a stiff neck or sore back all the time? Most of us, right? This usually comes down to lousy posture as it means our spine and hips are just in wrong positions, which causes pain. So, when you fix your posture, it gets rid of your chronic pain, leading to a much better life. This is also good for parents who might be too stiff or sore to play with their kids, which is never something you want to admit to yourself. By working on your posture, you can become more mobile, flexible, and pain-free! So, picking your kids up and running around with them becomes a breeze.


Good posture makes you much happier and positive! pixnio

Improve your mental wellbeing

Yes, your posture links into your mental wellbeing! Most people assume that issues with your mental health are purely mind-based. However, it’s often physical things that can put you in a bad frame of mind. With poor posture, you’re very rounded over, and your body language is quite closed off. Plus, there’s the soreness to deal with every day, which can make you negative. When you fix your posture and get into proper alignment, then everything feels better. You’re standing up taller, your body language is way more positive, and all the pain has subsided. As a result, you end up in a much better mental space!

Keep your body healthy

The worst thing about having lousy posture is that you don’t realize the effect it’s having on your body. Staying in an uncompromising position will put so much strain and tension on different muscles or joints. This can lead to serious problems like arthritis or it can even lock your body into unnatural positions. If you don’t do something about it, then you could end up like a hunch back all bent over or your lower back essentially gives out because there’s too much tension there. As a result, you could be asking for a one-way ticket to a wheelchair. If you look after your posture and work on improving it, then you help keep your body healthy. This helps prevent future issues like these, meaning you can stay in better shape for longer. Hopefully, you’ll still be fit as a spring chicken when you have grandchildren so you can play with them as well!

As you can see, your posture plays an integral role in your life! If you have kids, then lousy posture can ruin things for you. Simple stuff like trying to pick your child up will be painful for you. Your constant soreness means you don’t want to play with them as you’re in too much pain. So, you really need to focus on fixing any issues, and here’s what you’ve got to do:

Strengthen your core muscles

Most people’s posture issues are caused by muscle imbalances - usually centered around your core. This is basically your abs, lower back, and a bit of glute in there as well. When you fix your posture, it inevitably means you strengthen all of these muscles. Why is this a good thing? Well, strengthening your abs can help to flatten your stomach, which instantly makes you look slimmer and leaner. More importantly, it keeps your spine in a more neutral position. So, it’s not over-arching or rounding in the wrong places, meaning your pain goes away and you’re more balanced. There are loads of exercises you can try, but a classic plank is probably the best one - and here’s a video to help you do it correctly.



Strengthen your back muscles

Along with your abs and core muscles, you need to strengthen your back muscles as well. This helps pull your shoulders back into their proper position, which stops them rounding over and causing all sorts of pain and soreness.

Stretch out your tight muscles

As well as strengthening your core and upper back muscles, you need to stretch out your tight ones. Inevitably, these end up being on the opposite side of your body to the weak muscles! So, stretch our your chest, shoulders, lower back, and hip flexors/quads. This loosens them up and stops all the tension and tightness that can pull your spine out of position. Again, there’s a video below that shows you some good stretches to try out.



Sit less and stay active

The number one reason for bad posture is that we sit too much. We drive the car everywhere, we sit at work, we sit on the sofa - and so on. This causes all the muscle imbalances that throw everything out of place. So, if you sit less and maintain a more active lifestyle, then the previous three tips will start to be more beneficial. There’s no use strengthening and stretching if you aren’t changing your bad habits at the same time!

Posture is a massive issue for the majority of adults around the world. It’s worth noting that women have more to worry about as well! With the effects of pregnancy - added to the fact that there’s some extra weight on our chests that can make us round our backs - it’s easy to get bad posture. I hope this article has done an excellent job of explaining why you need to improve your posture, and how you can do it. Once you’re aware of the problem, it becomes much easier to focus on fixing it for good!

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Helping You And Your Family To Be The Best Versions Of Yourselves

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When you have a family, you just want everyone to be the best versions of themselves. You want everyone to be happy, healthy, and successful. It’s only natural to care about your loved ones. Of course, it can be hard to be the best version of yourself and ensure that your family members are striving for the same goal. But you shouldn’t have to support your family on your own, as we’ll discuss in this article, a group effort is needed. The following pieces of advice should help you and your family to be the best versions of yourselves.

Gratitude and Incorporating It into Everyday Life

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Gratitude makes what we have enough


We all get into the rush and tumble of everyday life. When we do, we tend to forget being grateful for what we have, tend to only focus on the negative, and/or keep imagining all of the other stuff we want/"need". I am certainly guilty of all of these. In fact, as I reviewed my gratitude log, I realized in 3 weeks time, I only did 6 entries. I didn't exactly meet the everyday goal...

Journaling For Mental Health

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Journaling For Mental Health

If you are someone that suffers from stress, anxiety, or depression, you should definitely be writing in your journal every single day.  Journaling is therapeutic, helps you get rid of all those thoughts and feelings without burdening someone else, and provides a host of benefits for most everyone.

July Goals - Mid Year Review

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Can't believe June is coming to an end. I feel like the month just began and here we are at the end already. I kind of feel that way about the whole bloody year. Seriously, how can it be July?? I'm having a hard time believing that I've actually accomplished several big goals this year already.

2018 Reading Challenge Courtesy of @AnneBogel

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June's Reading List

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As I mentioned in my May Reading List, reading is my favorite.  Yes, hear it in a 7 year's old voice almost at the point of a whine.  As an only child, it was my primary form of amusement.  Finding good books to read always makes me smile.  This month's reads seemed to have a theme of what matters to the soul, what is integrity, and how do we define loyalty.  I certainly didn't think I was embarking on a soul-searching selection of books this month, but alas, I guess I have.

How to Simply Grow Your Journaling Practice

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As I've mentioned previously, in my post The Power of Journaling, I have been pouring my heart out to the pages of any notebook, diary, or journal I could find. It wasn't until the past several years that I became a more dedicated journaler with a daily (well almost) habit of writing.

Level 10 Life Explained: A 3 Year Journey of Discovery


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Level 10 Life
 I first heard of the Level 10 life from Boho Berry who heard from it from Hal Elrod. I've always enjoyed goal setting, self-motivation, dreaming, planning, and creativity. This seemed to combine all of those things! Needless to say, I was very excited to do it myself. So, what exactly is this Level 10 Life thing?

Social Media Automation Series - Part 1: Crowdfire

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There are so many social media automation tools out there. Each has its own merits, benefits, and pitfalls. As I've managed my company's social media as well as my own. I've learned a ton from a variety of different sources. Abby Lawson's Building A Framework has been super helpful as well as Blog by Number by Suzi at startamomblog.com. They both go through the how, what, when and why of starting a blog including of course some about social media.

May's Reading List

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I'm always reading at least 3 books at a time. I have loved to read since I can remember or more accurately since I learned how. Filling out my reading log in elementary school was the highlight of my week! Yes, I am a dork. I was also sort of an only child. I have 6 brothers and sisters but they are much older than me. The oldest is 25 years older than me. Therefore, I never lived with any of them but got the benefit of having them around. Plus, I was the youngest so I was the baby and a touch pampered.

6 Habits that will make you feel More Productive

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As I talked about in my Journaling post, I was really drawn to the daily ritual discussed in The Miracle Morning. It sounded equally like a great way to ease into the day as well as a way to get the creative juices flowing and as it touts "feel productive before 8am." I'm a bit of an overachiever; so, anything that makes me feel like I've already accomplished something is a win for me.


What constitutes this ritual? Why do habits and routine make us perform better? A habit is defined as "a settled or regular tendency or practice" which means it's something we perform on auto-pilot. It doesn't take extra thought or motivation to complete the action. When we have positive habits and rituals, our body goes through the motions without extra effort and sets us up with a foundation for daily success. Similarly, bad habits do the opposite but are oh so hard to break because they come naturally (eating fast food or smoking are some obvious examples). Good habits allow for us to reach life goals and set the tone for everyday life. With the Miracle Morning, you are training and implementing good habits while helping to visualize your end goal or life goals.



The first habit is silence. Just taking a few moments in the morning to give thanks for what you have; to meditate (if you wish to call it that).  Simply engaging in the act of not rushing to emails or social media or to your kids gives a fresh perspective on the day.  Daily gratitude has been shown to create real and long-lasting effects in one's everyday life.  Research done at Berkeley has proven that those that practice gratitude have better immune systems, have more joy, and are more helpful and generous.   Those alone seem like great reasons to start practicing silence and gratitude!

The next is affirmations.  I show my full affirmation board and talk about affirmations in another post.  Suffice it to say, I'm 100% on board with doing daily affirmations.  They make you feel better and according to some research, they help sculpt the brain and work the positivity muscle.  More can be read about affirmations here.

Along with affirmations, visualization is another key habit in the Miracle Morning.  If you can really see in your mind's eye what you want, you are already half way to getting there.  Most people wake up in the morning and go through the motions of everyday life without a thought as to what they want out of life.  Beyond thinking of the paycheck they need, that they have to feed their kids, that they somehow have to pay for college, that they need a bigger house, that they need more stuff.  Some are little better than zombies on the treadmill hoping they'll somehow run into the life of their dreams when they aren't actually going anywhere.  Yes, we all need money to pay for various things, but what do you really want out of life and why?  

Why do I want a really big 5,000 square foot house?  I love to entertain; I love traditional Southern decor and the grandness it demonstrates to me.  Those are the selfish reasons.  Ultimately, I want to have a house where fundraisers are thrown to generate donations to give back to the community.  I love historic preservation; I love children; I want to be able to give back.  No, you don't need a big house to give back - you can have a tiny house, not spend as much, and give cash.  That's just not me.  Plus, I've been living in less than 1500 square foot for a decade and I want room to spread out!

Exercise: the habit I love to love and love to hate at the same time.  We all know with our desk jobs that we have to exercise daily to prevent our middles from growing as we age.  Truthfully, I feel better when I exercise regularly. I used to go to the gym for an hour a day and walk for 2 hours a day, but I also lived in Washington, DC where everything was walkable and all I had to do was walk out the front door of my building.  I currently live on 400 acres full of forest without trails and on a relatively busy road.  I have to drive to go walk which takes time I don't have with a child and full time job.  This is an important habit I know; I'm just hoping with the new house and neighborhood I can get back to my walking habit!  I now try to do 20 minutes of exercise with Skimble or Sworkit.

Reading, as a habit, is important for a variety of reasons, but most importantly, it helps to develop the mind.   It boosts creativity, gives you new ideas, and helps you grow as a person.  Reading is my favorite habit and I have read every day of my life for pleasure with the exception of those 2 years of grad school!  You couldn't pay me to read for pleasure then!  Even 10 minutes can expose you to something you might not have otherwise encountered that day.

Scribing or writing every day is something that might seem to take a lot of time, but it doesn't have to.  Keeping a one-sentence journal every day is enough to get into the habit of it.  Writing down our thoughts and feelings helps to flesh them out, give them clarity, and make us really think about the swirling emotions, feelings, thoughts constantly circulating in our brains.  The Artist's Way does an excellent job of going into detail about how writing every day helps to unblock your creativity and open the mind to new possibilities.  


While the acronym is SAVERS, they certainly don't have to be practiced in any particular order.  Although, starting with Silence seems to work best, otherwise, you start going and promptly forget it!  I prefer starting with silence, making coffee, writing, doing affirmations/visualization, and the exercising but that's just me.


What about you?  What rituals and habits do you do daily?




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6 Habits that will make you feel More Productive

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As I talked about in my Journaling post, I was really drawn to the daily ritual discussed in The Miracle Morning. It sounded equally like a great way to ease into the day as well as a way to get the creative juices flowing and as it touts "feel productive before 8am." I'm a bit of an overachiever; so, anything that makes me feel like I've already accomplished something is a win for me.

Affirmations

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I showed my affirmation board here, but I truly believe they work wonders. Affirming what you believe about yourself, your environment, and your life is a critical component in developing self-love, eliminating self-doubt, and telling the world what you expect from it. While that sounds a little like hocus pocus, it works for if for no other reason than giving a daily mood boost.

The Power of Journaling

I began journaling I think as soon as I could write complete sentences. I always was trying to find a way to getting everything going on in my head out. There was very little method is my scribing. Sometimes, I would write daily, even multiple times a day, and then other times, it would be weeks, if not, months...probably even years if I am honest. Regardless of frequency, I always returned. Things would become too overwhelming. Life would feel too bad. I’d be struggling with something I just couldn’t get over. Writing always seemed to help. It might not have helped immediately, but it just felt good to get some of the mundane madness out of the churn that existed within me.