5 Ways to Stop Worrying About What Others Think of You and Live Your Authentic Life

Have you ever wanted to try something, to do something, to be a certain way? Did you follow through with those desires? Or did you stop dead in your tracks out of fear of what others would think? If you said yes, keep reading to find your way out of the pigeonhole you are in and live the life you want.

 

1.    Ignore the Fear

 

Fear is in all of us. It is a primal emotion and instinct that has allowed all creatures to survive for thousands of years by escaping danger. However, in today’s world we often experience fear that comes from no real threat. Really, what is the risk in someone disagreeing with you? What is the danger of being wrong? Fear, when manifested, can lead to many other emotions and physical symptoms that can stop you from living the life you want. If there is no real danger (i.e., death or bodily injury), then go for it.

 

2.    So What?

 

Or “What if”? “What if she doesn’t like me?” “What if they think my business idea is stupid?” So what? That is only one person. That is one board of directors. What if she has had a crush on you this whole time? What if they think your idea is brilliant? Continually fearing the “what ifs” in life is exhausting. Move past those “what ifs” with a “so what.”

 

3.    Live the Rejection

 

Rejection happens, and it hurts. However, with every rejection comes a lesson. Maybe that lesson is what you need to do better next time. Or, it may be that the person who rejected you has no idea what they are talking about. To succeed and prosper, you must live through rejection. Just know that not every rejection is a poor reflection of you.

 

4.    Do It Wrong

 

Do you live in fear of being wrong or messing something up? Don’t. No one can be right or perfect or on point all the time. Stop questioning every decision you make, every emotion you feel, or every action you take. Simply enjoy it, do what feels right, and keep going.

 

5.    Be You

 

Be you. Be you unapologetically. Be you and feel no guilt. Dr. Seuss once said, “Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.” 

 

Living in a constant state of worry about what others think about you is exhausting. It will also impede you living your best life, your authentic life every time. Learn to embrace yourself, your mistakes, the rejections, and the lessons, and live your life for you. 

 

How to Be More Grateful for What Freedom You Already Have

There’s so much emphasis on getting ahead, being successful and striving for change that it can be hard to remember that you already have so much for which to be grateful. Even worse, the constant pushing to change your circumstances can lead to dissatisfaction, and keep you trapped in a cycle of always feeling you’re not good enough. 

 

Free yourself from the shackles of ‘must try harder’ by remembering to stop and appreciate what you’ve already achieved, what blessings you already have in your life. Keep in mind that you are free to be content right now. Here are some tips to help free you from the cycle of discontent.

 

1.    Change your focus

 

Research has shown that the more you cultivate a habit of gratitude, the better able you are to weather the ups and downs of life. As you perceive life to be positive, you will come to expect more of the same. You can retrain your brain from negative self-talk to greater thankfulness, gratitude, and happiness. 

 

By practicing gratitude, you rewire the neural pathways in your brain so that it becomes your mindset’s default setting. You learn to look for the good in things instead of focusing on the bad. 

 

2.    Step away from more stuff

 

If you’re like most people, you have more than enough possessions. The current mantra is that spending brings happiness, but deep down you probably know that it doesn’t. Sure, buying yourself a new car or outfit makes you feel good at the time, but that spenders high wears off pretty quickly.

 

Break the habit of buying the next shiny thing and appreciate what you’ve got right now. 

 

3.    Develop a mindfulness practice

 

Mindfulness and meditation can help you focus on the good that’s already in your life. By focusing on the present, you free yourself from that familiar yoyo-ing of brooding over past disappointments and future anxieties. 

 

You can easily integrate mindfulness into your day. Whatever you’re doing, pause and focus on your breath. Ask yourself: what are five things I’m grateful for in my life right now? Your five items can be anything from having a roof over your head to having a job, your partner or your health. Or you can be grateful for a comfortable chair or clean sheets! Chose anything that makes you feel good at that very moment. 

 

Choosing gratitude and contentment doesn’t mean being stagnant or giving up. It means stepping aside from judgment and freeing yourself from the bonds of negativity.

 

Personal Freedom Begins in Your Mind

You might be surprised to learn that the biggest obstacle to your personal freedom is right between your ears. A negative mindset is the biggest block to freedom. 

 

There are so many parts of your life you cannot control, from the need to earn a living to finding true love. But you can control your mindset, your thoughts, and how you act in the world. So how can you overcome your psychological blocks and open your mind to achieve greater freedom?

 

1.    Change the record

 

Everyone has a constant inner monologue; what psychologists call self-talk. And most of the time, yours is probably set to negative. Any messages you get in childhood about being bad, hopeless or selfish or stupid all get absorbed in your malleable child’s brain and resurface in adulthood as your Inner Critic. 

 

The good news is that you can reprogram your Inner Critic and turn it into an Inner Coach. 

 

Make a list of all the negative things your Inner Critic says. Be alert for phrases that start ‘you always or ‘you never.’ Watch out for ‘shoulds’ too. Then take each negative message and turn into a positive one. 

 

Change your self-talk broken record to a new track full of encouragement and positivity. 

 

2.    Change your expectations

 

Studies have shown that the most significant contributors to success or failure are your expectations. Happy people expect things to go well and mistakes or problems do not crush them, they see them only as temporary setbacks. Conversely, if the expectation is to fail any issue will confirm the expectations, and you won’t try again. 

 

Expecting things to work out is not wishful thinking; it is choosing to be positive no matter what the circumstances. 

 

3.    Change your focus

 

Modern society trains us to be dissatisfied with what we have now and constantly strive for bigger, better and shiner. You can choose to step outside of this and be grateful for what you have right now. 

 

Developing a habit of gratitude frees you from this pressure and affects the structure of your brain. Studies show that the more you feel grateful, the more resilient you become in the face of life’s ups and downs. You feel happier with what you have and more open to receiving. Even better, you rewire the neural pathways in your brain so that your mindset defaults to positivity. You start to see the good things before you notice the bad. Over time, you perceive life as positive, and your expectations change. You free yourself from the burden of negativity!

 

Tips for Reclaiming your Personal Freedom Today

Have you ever woken up and wondered how you ended up with this life of yours? Do you feel stuck in the rut of the same routine day after day, week after week, year in, year out? Maybe you feel trapped by obligations, by debt, by other people’s expectations. 

 

If you want to get off the hamster wheel, you can! Here are five tips for reclaiming your personal freedom today. 

 

1.    Stop beating yourself up

 

Feeling dissatisfied is hard-wired into us as humans. If humans as a species were content with the status quo, we would have died out long ago. It’s in our genes to keep adapting and overcoming challenges. So, don’t blame yourself if that dissatisfaction comes out in a modern human being as wanting to go out and spend! On the other hand, thinking and strategizing also kept us going on the evolutionary path, so you can outsmart those spending impulses or give into them – your choice.  

 

2.    Stop comparing your life with others

 

It used to be called keeping up with the Joneses. Now it’s looking at other people’s seemingly perfect lives on social media. Everyone shows the best possible version of themselves to the world. No one takes selfies of their failures, their bad hair days, their overdrawn bank account. 

 

Free yourself from comparison by stepping out of the competition and focus on living your life your way.

 

3.    Appreciate what you have

 

Discontent feeds on wanting something different. Take a look around you and count five things you’re grateful for in your life right now. Then five more. Once you start, you’ll find dozens of things in your life that are wonderful and life-affirming.

 

To be happy with what you have in the present sets you up to receive even more in the future.

 

4.    Be a more conscious spender

 

It’s easy to fritter your money away on things that don’t make you happy or help you meet your goals. Before you buy anything, take a moment to consider why you want it. Do you need it? How will it improve your life? Is it worth the money? Are you spending to meet an emotional need?

 

Test your purchasing against these questions before you hand over your cash. 

 

5.    Live your best life

 

Do you find yourself envying other people, or wishing things were different? Take action! If you want to live a more authentic life, go ahead and do it. 

 

Work out what you want, make a plan and give it your best shot. 

 

7 Ways to Turn Worry into Excitement about Getting Things Done

Everybody worries sometimes. Right now, you’ve probably even got a few worries on your mind. You might be thinking about a relationship or a situation at work, causing you trouble. Maybe you’re worried about your health or whether or not you’re going to have enough money to pay the bills at the end of the month. Whatever the case, worry happens whether we intend for it to or not. This becomes a problem, though, when worry starts to take over your life. 

 

So, what is the goal? Is stopping worrying enough to put you on an even keel, or are you hoping for something…more? What if, instead of worrying, you could become excited, then use this excitement to get more done?

 

Let’s look at seven ways to achieve this:

 

Be Here Now

 

Worry has a way of trapping you anywhere but here. Either you’re worried about something which happened long ago, or you’re caught up in fretting about something still to come.  Neither is going to get you anywhere. To stop worrying, you need to focus on the present. What interests you right now?

 

Realize This Gets You Nowhere Fast

 

Worrying stops you cold. In fact, most procrastination is caused by worrying. With this in mind, why are you wasting your time and energy on worrying? Sometimes just recognizing what a waste worry is, will be enough to derail it altogether. Especially when you have better places to be.

 

Throw Yourself into Something Interesting

 

Worry needs your attention to survive. Get busy doing something engaging to your mind, and you’ll find you forget all about worrying.

 

Rewrite the Script

 

If you’re seeing everything blow up around you, maybe you should try focusing on the perceived disaster. Ask yourself how you could do things to handle the situation were it to happen. Once you have it, practice the scenario in your mind. Picture yourself handling matters.

 

Practice

 

Worried about something you need to do later? Having a dress rehearsal in your head will make things go smoother and keep worry at bay entirely.

 

Ask

 

Challenge your worry. Dig in and get to the roots until you understand your worry intimately. Ask yourself where the negativity came from. Peel back the layers until you get down into the heart of the matter.

 

Try a New Path

 

In the end, worry can become very attached to the familiar. Challenge yourself. Find a different way to do things. Explore where this path takes you.

 

The main point in all of these is to enjoy the journey. This is where you find the excitement and enthusiasm, which leads to getting things done. The rest is all momentum and a whole lot of brand-new accomplishments just waiting to happen.

 

6 Life-Changing Habits to Harness the Power of Momentum

Habits. We all have them. Some are good. Probably a few are harmful. We forget to floss every day, but we’re great at brushing our teeth in the first place. We’re drinking plenty of water, but not getting to the gym. We’re learning to say ‘no’ at work, but we’re really falling down flat when it comes to networking. Why are habits so quick to push you into affirmative action and then equally fast (if not faster) at derailing you completely?

 

When you’re trying to accomplish something new, what we need is momentum. Momentum is the fuel in the engine driving change. Momentum is what keeps you going when you’d rather quit and go home. 

 

So now combine habits and momentum. Imagine a series of habits, good ones, designed to help you reach your ultimate goals. Put the momentum behind those habits. Now, what do you see?

 

Pretty exciting stuff, huh? Let’s put it into practice with this series of Life-Changing Habits designed solely to harness the power of momentum:

 

Do Things Now

 

When you continuously jump in and get the next task done instead of putting it off, you keep the momentum going without allowing for a drop in speed. On the other hand, procrastination will cause everything to grind to a halt.

 

Break Down Tasks

 

To avoid overwhelm and allow momentum to build, break down big tasks into smaller ones, spread out over time. The second momentum flags look at what you’re trying to do, as it might be time to break things down again. 

 

Give Time Value

 

The biggest mistake people make is to say yes to everything. While this practice might help someone else’s momentum, it absolutely kills yours. Start putting a value on your time. Say ‘no’ to projects that don’t support your momentum. 

 

Delegate

 

Some things aren’t even worth doing. Momentum is quickly lost when you’re stuck in the day-to-day. Why not keep working on what you need to realize your goals? To do this, give simple tasks to others to do. Do this often.

 

Do the Work

 

Shortcuts never fail to slow you down. Rather than fall for an unexpected detour, simply do the work every single day. That’s it. You’re not going to make progress any other way.

 

Don’t Get Comfortable

 

Complacency is the end of momentum. The moment things get comfortable, stuff stops happening. Constantly look for new challenges. 

 

Above all, take action! Make doing stuff your first and foremost habit. Nothing in your life is going to change if you’re standing still. Momentum starts with you!

 

3 Strategies Sure to Help You Overcome Procrastination and Gain Momentum

Everyone has put off something important. It’s normal. It’s human. And it’s everywhere. We put off our boss, we put off our family, we even put off the things we ought to be doing to take care of ourselves. Procrastination has been called the thief of time, but it’s much more damaging than that. Procrastinating kills forward momentum, keeping you from accomplishing the things you set out to do.

 

If you, like many others, are prone to procrastination, read on to find out three surefire strategies designed to help you overcome procrastination. Soon you’ll be gaining momentum again right where you need it most: on the path to your dreams.

 

Eat the Elephant

 

The story goes how a decree went out over the kingdom. The challenge was simple, great wealth and prestige to the person who could eat an elephant. Many looked at the challenge and scoffed at it. “Impossible,” they said. One small voice spoke up, a child. “It’s simple. You do it one bite at a time.” The same holds true in your life. Big tasks? No problem. Break them up into smaller and smaller tasks. Once you have those, get to work. Eat that elephant, one bite at a time. Believe it or not, you’re going to find out it gets a lot easier as you go along. Bon Appetit! 

 

Master the To-Do List

 

Got a long list of things to do? It’s easy to stall out when everything looks difficult and even impossible. The trick here is to get in motion with some real success to start you right. Pick the three easiest things on your list. Then sit down and push through, accomplishing them one at a time. Be sure to cross them off the list when you finish. Accomplishment feels so good and creates a momentum all its own.

 

Timing is Everything

 

Bigger tasks getting you down? If you can’t break them up, try grabbing a timer. Set it for no more than 15-20 minutes and see what you can get done. Break, stretch, then get back to it. Make a game out of it if you want, seeing how much more you can get done the next time around. You’ll be surprised at how quickly things get moving again. 

 

The thing to remember is what you’re trying to do is push yourself into motion. Once you begin to build momentum, it will take on a life of its own and you’ll find it easier and easier to keep going. That’s the beauty of it. So whichever tactic you pick, realize you might need to grit your teeth and dig in initially. In the end? You’ll be glad you did.

 

5 Ideas of What to Include in a Gratitude Journal

There are many reasons to keep a Gratitude Journal. Whether you're on a healing journey or want to add thankfulness to your day to live a freer, more contented life, writing down your thoughts is a powerful tool. This is why Gratitude Journals are so popular.

 

If you've ever wanted to get started writing a Gratitude Journal but are stuck for ideas of what to write about, try these ideas out. You'll have plenty to write about in no time!

 

Enjoy the Details

 

It's easy to write about how much you're thankful for your home or best friend. The problem? You'll quickly run out of material or be stuck repeating yourself if you list the same people daily. Instead of talking about the people or things in your life you're grateful for, dig down into the details about what exactly you love about them. For example, maybe you love how your best friend sat up with you all night when you needed someone to talk to. 

 

Get Into the Moment

 

Take a minute to center yourself. By using mindfulness or meditation to pause and empty your mind of thoughts, you start paying attention to where you are right now emotionally, physically, or even spiritually. Once you're relaxed, let your mind drift where it will. Look for things to be thankful for. For example, you might hear the sound of wind chimes outside or smell dinner in the over, which are both things to be grateful for. Write about these things.

 

Ask Why

 

If you already have a grateful thought, try digging down a little to find out what about this makes you feel so much gratitude. Ask why you feel this way, and keep asking why until you find the root. For example, you might be writing about how you're grateful for chocolate chip cookies and discover you love them because your grandmother always made them for you. Express your gratitude for these ‘buried treasures.’

 

Change Directions

 

If you've been writing about the same things every day, look for ways to discover gratitude in other areas of your life. Maybe you've been focusing on family for a while. If so, try turning toward work, past experiences, or nature for new inspiration.

 

Do Something Else

 

If the thoughts aren’t coming, give yourself a break. This isn’t a race. Walk away and do something else for a bit, such as emptying the dishwasher. Let your mind drift through this activity. What about this job can you be grateful for (clean dishes? The time you shared with your family cleaning up the kitchen together after dinner last night? The meal you’re going to eat next on these dishes?) Come back and write about these things.

 

It's sometimes surprising to see just how much there is to be grateful for, isn't it? The best part? The more you journal your gratitude, the more your own attitude will shift to one of compassion and kindness. Truly, a grateful heart is a happy one! 

 

Reasons Why You Should Keep a Gratitude Journal

Spending just fifteen minutes a day writing in your gratitude journal can do amazing things in your life! Scientific studies have proven that showing gratitude on a consistent basis makes people happier and healthier. One of the best ways to get into the habit of cultivating gratitude is by keeping a journal. Here’s a short list of how a gratitude journal can change your life for the better:

 

Achievement 

 

A gratitude journal will help you note those simple things you achieve. You'll also be aware of both big and little things in life that you have to be thankful for by recording in your journal.

 

Happiness 

 

A gratitude journal keeps you happy because it keeps you focused on the good things that exist in your daily life.  Once you start a gratitude journal, you are “on the lookout” for good things—both big and small. Imagine what your life would be like if you focused on the positive instead of negative! 

 

Good health 

 

Dis-ease is negative energy that has been stored up from your negative beliefs and memories. You can quickly counteract dis-ease by concentrating on the good in your life over the bad.

 

Earn more respect 

 

Keeping a gratitude journal gives you the chance to understand the values of life. It makes you approach things in a more organized way thereby improving your level of respect and confidence among friends and colleagues. 

 

Relationships 

 

Keeping a gratitude journal improves your relationships with people around you because you look for things about others to appreciate. It’s easy to find fault, but once you start showing appreciation for the people in your life, your relationships will grow.

 

Enhance sleeping 

 

People who keep gratitude journals tend to sleep better because they often reflect on their day before bed, which gives them a sense of calmness.

 

Less stress

 

Whether you’re living in a stressful situation or just thinking back to one, your body doesn’t know the difference. It will still fire off all of those stress hormones and create the same physical, mental and emotional tension, whether or not the event is currently happening. By focusing on the positive, you avoid the stress reaction.

 

Resiliency

 

You can think of gratitude as being a mental and emotional muscle that you can build with daily exercise. If stuff goes wrong in life and your gratitude muscle is weak, you’ll struggle to find a silver lining in those storm clouds. But if you already have an excellent daily gratitude habit, then your gratitude muscle will be resilient and well-trained, meaning life’s challenges don’t knock you off course as much.