Getting in Touch with Your Inner Self

How often have you heard the old saying “I’m too busy to think?” All too often, this is true for most of us. Someone has said if we are “too busy to think, we are just too busy.” Very few of us spend time getting in touch with our inner self and this is to our detriment. It is only as we go on a journey of self-discovery that we can make sense of who we are, and why we are here. 

 

For some people, this might seem too much like a spiritual search and nothing else. This definition is far too simple. Spirituality is only one small part of self-discovery. Our inner self is the person we are when no one is around. Many people are scared of being introduced to their inner self and busyness is a means of “not having time to think” because it can be scary to think. Many people do not like their own company because then they are forced to think about things they can usually ignore. This makes some people feel very uncomfortable.

 

Other people have learned something important. We are more than just a physical being. We are also an intellectual being, a spiritual being, an emotional being and a social being. As we get in touch with our inner selves, life takes on a new meaning. A simple question to ask yourself is “what it is you want from life, and what are you doing to achieve it? If you can answer this, chances are you are comfortable with yourself.

 

Answering these two questions helps us maintain our holistic health. It helps us process the bad times as well as the good times. It helps us clarify our values and the things that are important to us. It helps to give our lives meaning and purpose. 

 

How do we get in touch with our inner selves? There is only one way we can do this, and it really is as simple as getting to know ourselves. This usually requires us taking some time each day to withdraw from the busyness around us. This has to be an intentional decision. Choose a time each day that suits your lifestyle, and a resource to help guide your thoughts and spend time in introspective thinking. Journal your responses and see the difference it makes in your life.

The 3 Keys to Creating Spiritual Growth

The success of such films as “Eat, Pray, and Love” reveal that we are more in touch with our spirituality, than we are often prepared to admit to ourselves. Increasing numbers of people are deciding to take a path of spiritual discovery, exploring a side of our humanity that for many of us we have not thought much about. Yet when we do decide to accept that we are not just a physical body, we may choose to go on a path of spiritual self-discovery. Here are the three keys to creating spiritual growth that will guide that journey.

 

1.  Do not be afraid to think outside the box. Expand your mind to the unseen world.

 

This first key is self-explanatory. There can be no spiritual growth without acknowledging that there is more out there than the physical dimension of our existence. 

 

2.  Spend as much time considering how to care for yourself spiritually as you care for yourself physically.

 

We spend a lot of time and money ensuring our physical growth is healthy. We follow the latest fad diet and spend countless dollars and hours at the local gym, seeking to look our physical best. We try to choose a balanced diet and make good lifestyle choices. 

 

The second key to creating spiritual growth is to prioritize it in the choice of how we will spend our day and the things we choose to do in our day. Just as there cannot be good physical health if we do not commit to healthy living, there can be no spiritual health and growth if we do not commit to spiritual health.

 

3.  Reading about spirituality will not create spiritual growth. Healthy body growth results from exercising our bodies. Healthy spiritual growth results from exercising our spirits.

 

We have all heard the old saying “no pain, no gain” and this is equally true of spiritual growth as it is for physical and intellectual growth.

 

The final key to spiritual growth is to spend time exercising our spirit by asking ourselves the tough questions:

 

·      Why am I here?

·      Where am I going?

·      How will I get there?

 

Whether we choose a religious or other path to find the answers is a personal choice, but unless we are willing to consider these questions and what they mean to us personally, there can be no spiritual growth.

You Are a Part of the Environment, Not Apart from the Environment

Whether or not we identify with those who call themselves ‘greens’, all of us are becoming increasingly aware that our natural world is hurting and that all are responsible for its care and health. The current discussions on how to reduce carbon emissions is an indication of the fragile relationship that exists between humans and the environment. I am certain that, like me, you too are becoming increasingly aware that you are a part of the environment not apart from it.

 

We often act with no thoughts of the consequences of our actions. We are creatures of habit and convenience. Our busy lives and indulgent life styles often create blindness to the adage that ‘every action has an opposite reaction’. Actor and environmentalist Ed Asnor described it like this:

 

"We all moan and groan about the loss of the quality of life through the destruction of our ecology, and yet each one of us, in our own little comfortable ways, contributes daily to that destruction. It is time now to awaken in each one of us the respect and attention our beloved mother deserves.”

 

We are increasingly realizing the impact that the accumulated consequences of hundreds of years of industrialization, is having on the environment. If we are aware of our relationship with the environment, we will actively change our lifestyle and habits to protect the fragile world we live in. 

 

In the past, the ancient indigenous cultures of our world learned how to live in harmony with the environment. They learned to use its resources for their needs and not their greed. They learned to protect its resources and live in harmony with the seasons by only taking resources for personal needs at a time when those resources were naturally in abundance. They lived in harmony with the environment and the environment lived in harmony with them. 

 

Somewhere in time, we lost the concept of being a part of the environment and not apart from it. We, as a human race, began to see ourselves as somehow separate to it and our lifestyles focused on what we could take from the world around us and forgot what we should give back to it. The price of our actions is not only the destruction of the environment that we are a part of, but also potentially our own destruction. 

Knowledge versus Wisdom—There Is a Difference

The pursuit of knowledge in some cultures is synonymous with bringing honor on the family. Those who teach knowledge are highly respected. It is certainly correct that knowledge empowers people and there are countless examples of people who on gaining an education have influenced their generation in some way or have changed the course of their society or even their world. 

 

Yet, as virtuous as it may be to have knowledge, without wisdom, knowledge can be dangerous at worse, or a waste of time at best. Wisdom is best defined simply as applied knowledge. It is the ability to take what is known of the world and of people, things and places and to make choices based on that knowledge. Knowledge knows the facts about something, but wisdom knows best how to apply those facts to the real world and to add an understanding of right and wrong to that knowledge.

 

Without wisdom, knowledge can be dangerous. It can lead to character flaws like conceit and selfishness. Without wisdom there is often little concept of the consequences of using knowledge without consideration of others or the impact on places and things. Knowledge can often lead to subjective actions, whereas wisdom has learned to be objective and to consider that there are two sides to every story.

 

People who speak with wisdom are often highly sought after for their advice. People do not just want to hear knowledge that they can read in a book or learn for themselves. Life experiences and knowledge provide a strong combination that wise people are often possess and it is because they themselves have learned to apply wisdom to a situation that others seek them out for advice. There is a common belief that wisdom comes with age or experience. This has its basis on this understanding that in our life experiences we learn to put our knowledge into action in a relevant way.

 

Practically speaking, all of us can learn to be wise. We may benefit from learning from a mentor who can guide us to think deeply about our life, the things we know and learn and the circumstances and events that shape our lives. As we consider these things in relation to their effect on our own life and the lives of others and learn to apply them to other situations, we are on the road to true wisdom. 

Using a Blog to Lose Weight!

There are many different ways to lose weight, and people are trying out new things all the time. But, did you know that a blog could actually be a wonderful way to lose weight? Sounds fantastic? Read on…

 

A blog is a chronicled journal where you can make posts, just as you do in a diary. You write about whatever you want. The best thing about a blog is that you can popularize it in various ways. You can send it to your family and friends and people can keep reading it regularly.

 

Now, what you can do is… you can share your weight loss adventures on your blog. Every day or two, write something about what you did to lose weight in those days. Tell people how much weight you lost, or what confidence you gained. Speak about the state of your mind. Speak about how determined you are about it... speak about anything you want to. 

 

In fact, you can name your blog something like HowILoseWeight.com. 

 

This could be a very fun way of losing weight. A few posts later, when you have people coming in and reading your blog, which will inevitably happen, you will find that you actually look forward to blogging. And, because you want to blog about something, you will actually try to do something about losing weight! It is a circle that really helps you go on at whatever it is that you want to do.

 

The best thing here is that there are many people who will be reading your blog. Just for that sake… so that you don’t lose face in front of them… you will feel encouraged to go on.

 

It is also possible that a lot of people with similar problems will want to check out how you are progressing. They may even take tips from you, because if you have a blog, you become a sort of an authority figure.

 

The motivation that you can get from such a blog is enormous. In fact, even if you feel like giving up, you will not, because you will feel uneasy about giving up the blogging. And because you have to meet most of your blog readers in person, you will not want the ridicule! Also, people will comment on your posts and they will flood you with messages if you want to give up. That kind of public support can have a fabulous effect in keeping you motivated.

 

So, think about it. Combine your weight loss programs with technology. You will see that you do much better than you could do it traditionally. 

 

What Can Sport Give Us?

There are several things that you can get from sport, many more than you think. Here we shall take a look at some of the important benefits that we stand to get when we participate in any sport of our choice on a regular basis.

 

Sport Keeps Us Fit

 

This is the prime advantage of sport. If you want to be in top physical shape, then there are very little other things can do for you, but sport can help you stay in your best form for a long time. That is why you see all those sportspeople remaining so fit and healthy even when they have passed the prime of their lives. If you want to preserve your body and health, participate regularly in some or the other kind of sport. You will thank yourself later in life for having done that.

 

Sport Keeps Us Relaxed

 

People who participate in sport are always free and relaxed in their minds. Sport helps to work out the tensions. The adrenalin rush that most sport activities create in our minds is good enough to work out all those worries and fill the mind with excitement.

 

Sport Improves Our Personality

 

When you participate in sport, your personality improves in several ways. In your sport, you are interacting with a lot of people in different ways. That definitely works on your personality. You become more casual and confident with people. You also learn how to manage the attention showered upon you by others… when you are playing, people are certainly going to look at you a lot. This becomes a commonplace thing for you too, and if ever you have to perform in front of people, you will have the confidence.

 

Sport Makes Us More Active and Productive

 

Sportspeople always realize the value of time. For them, every millisecond counts. Naturally, this is going to fill out in your routine life as well. When you begin to respect time, you will find that you can automatically finish your work faster and you have more time to do other things. The entire quality of your life is enhanced.

 

Sport Makes Us More Compassionate

 

When you participate in team sport, there are different players you are associated with. All of them have different strengths and weaknesses. In any team, players who are strong in something will always try to make up for those who are weak. When you do that, you learn the importance of that in later life as well. This goes a long way in making you a better person.

 

What Can You Do to Motivate Your Employees?

When you are at the helm of affairs in your workplace, a lot of responsibility lies squarely on your shoulders. You have to be able to motivate your employees, that’s the most important thing that’s expected of you… something that you have to do if you want your organization to progress. 

 

However, there are many leaders who find this to be a very daunting task. Employee motivation is actually never an easy job because there are so many different people involved with so many different mentalities and expectations. But, do not let that stop you. There are always common things that you can implement in order to try and motivate your employees.

 

Here we speak of some things that you can do.

 

Keep Your Requirements Clear

 

When you are assigning some tasks to your team, you have to ensure that you keep your requirements completely clear. It is only when you are able to speak with a clear objective in mind, and when your people understand what you are saying that they can perform as you want them to.

 

Give Them Clear Objectives

 

Why should people work for you? Loyalty and work ethic aside, it is important that these people are given the right incentives. Everyone performs their job in accordance with the salary they are given. But if someone is doing more than what their job profile tells them to do… which is your expectation of them anyway… then you have to give them the right incentives as well. And you have to make these incentives quite clear. You should tell people what they will get at the end of the day.

 

Express Yourself

 

Employees are always looking forward to receiving feedback. If they do something good, they need a word of appreciation. Do not take this for granted. Appreciation is a very important bonus. For many people, it means more than money. Money is spent and forgotten but the appreciation always lingers. At every opportunity you get, ensure that you give them the right feedback and praise them for the things they have done well.

 

These are three ways in which you can go about employee motivation in the right way. When you motivate your employees, you will find that they work in better spirits and that definitely works better for your organization itself. If you are looking for things like employee faithfulness and trust in the organization, then you simply cannot avoid these three important employee motivation guidelines. 

 

What Does Respecting Others Mean?

If you are a fan of reading self-help books, you will have read often about how it is important to respect others. Self-help gurus often say that if you want to earn respect, you have to give respect first. You have to make people happy, and then that helps you in earning your own happiness. But, what does it really mean to respect others? Should you do anything it takes to please them, even if that means compromising on your ideals?

 

When people speak about respecting others, it does not actually mean that you have to compromise on your core values in life. What it means is that you should be able to behave with them in the same manner that you would like them to behave with you. You do not have to put your coat down for them on the puddle so that they can walk over it—most likely you do not expect them to do that for you either—but the behavior is shown in the way you talk with people, act with them and deal with them in a general manner.

 

So how do you respect someone who is at a subordinate position to you? Here, respect comes by understanding what they are as humans. You should realize that every person is a human being and that they are subject to their strengths and limitations too. When you accept that, you are respecting them. You are respecting them when you understand that they might have emergencies sometimes too, they may have problems as well, and that they have their needs and aspirations.

 

Respect is subjective. The way you respect your employee will be quite different from the way you respect your father, for instance, and that will again be different from the way you respect the President. Hence, there are times when you have to act in a situational manner.

 

One of the things that you should keep in mind when you are trying to show respect to people is that you have to avoid any kind of offensive actions. They shouldn’t feel offended or threatened by your presence. The best indicator that you are showing respect to someone is when they are comfortable with you being around them. If someone looks forward to meeting you and is happy to interact with you, then most likely you are respecting them in the best way you can.

 

Also, it is very true that respect is a two-way thing. When you respect others, you get respect. This is the truest thing we can say about respect. 

 

What Motivates the Teenager?

Are you a teenager at the threshold of adulthood, wondering how you can make the most of your life? This is a phase that most teenagers have to go through. The life of pleasure and security abruptly comes to an end when you are nearing your 20s and then you have to sit up and take notice. In a short time, you have to prepare a plan for how you will be spending the rest of your life. And that includes planning your further education, which is one of the most important things that teenagers have to plan.

 

But, the biggest motivation for any teenager comes from what they really want to do in life. This should inspire you. When you are confounded about what direction you should lead your life in, just slow down and think for a few moments. What is your passion in life? What is the one thing that really drives you, propels you to achieve things in life? Making a proper reconnaissance of this will help you plan your future life.

 

Maybe it is your passion in life to save people’s lives. Medical science fascinates you more than anything else. If that is your driving force in life, then you should plan a profession around it. You should not let anything come in your way and force you to do things that you don’t want to do. Do not think about the scope of a particular profession. If you feel highly motivated to do it, then go ahead with it by all means. Do not think about the income you may stand to get; if the activity is something you would really like to do, nothing should swerve you from your path.

 

Remember that if you do what you really like to do, then you will enjoy your life itself. You have to think about whether your childhood dreams will get fulfilled or not. Whatever you do should be in the direction of that fulfillment—your education, your search for a job, your overall plan of life itself.

 

You are young right now. You may feel you have gained a lot of experience and knowledge, but you should know that that is not the truth. You still have to learn a lot. This is the time to grow, personally and professionally. But, the one thing that can motivate you at this time is that you should be able to fulfill your ultimate passion in life.

Why Make Sport an Important Part of Our Daily Lives

In the present world, the importance people once used to lay on sport is, quite sadly, on a downslide. People are no longer regarding sport as something that is necessary for the body. Today, sport has undergone a vast amount of commercialization and the result for that is for everyone to see… we are more hooked on in watching sports than in participating in sports. Instead of participants, we are quite content with being the spectators.

 

However, is this a good trend? Definitely not! It is because of our inactivity with sport that we are becoming a weaker generation in more ways than merely physical. To see what we are losing out on by not participating in sport, let us take a look at the various advantages that sport can give us.

 

1.  Sport makes us healthier. This is the first and most important benefit for most people. Instead of those punishing exercise routines at the gym that seem to go nowhere, a lot of people feel that there is more action on any sport field. Hence, if you truly want to get into shape in the most natural manner, then invest some time and effort in a sporting activity.

 

2.  Sport improves our mind. It has been proved that people who participate in sport can think better than people who do not. They can concentrate on things in a better way, they can create better mental images, they can think and much more. They can do all these things better and faster than the people who do not play for at least a few hours on their weekends.

 

3.  Sport also improves our team spirit. This is a very essential quality to have. We learn to be sportspeople not just on the ground but also everywhere around us. While playing as a team, we tend to fend for each other. We make up for the shortcomings of other people. And, when sport becomes a habit with us, we find that we have become more considerate towards everyone who is with us.

 

4.  Sport gives you confidence. When you can go out there and play like you do, you get a great amount of confidence with you. You find that you are able to achieve more things because you trust in yourself.

 

These are the four most important things that you have to really think about. When you give enough time to sport, you find that you become a better person in many ways. 

 

Why You Should Start a Business Rather than Have a Job

For most of us, there are two ways in which we can earn a living. We can either take up a job at some company where we get paid a regular salary with perks and incentives, or we can start a business of our own and earn the profits of whatever we sell. The former option is considered to be the more stable option, the more traditional one. That is why when most people think about what they would want to do in their lives, they think of nice cushy jobs that could pay them a large amount of money.

 

However, you should not completely denounce the second option either—starting a business of your own. Today, most of the people who are highly successful are those who have control over their lives in a professional manner of speaking. And this is only possible if you have a business. If you have your own company, however small, then you are your own boss. That even gives you more satisfaction from what you do.

 

It might have been true that businesses were difficult to start and manage once upon a time, but that is definitely not applicable in today’s world. Today, a lot of people are carrying out their business pursuits from the comforts of their home. The Internet has made it possible for all of us to be able to pursue our profession from our home itself—several people are managing entire virtual offices with dozens of employees from all over the world, just through their laptops.

 

But, the benefits of even these Internet based businesses are the same. You still get to be your own boss, you control your life, you have the option to work as much or as little as you want, which means you can decide on the size of the paycheck you get.

 

There is actually no point being in a job if you don’t want to. Why would you work for someone else when you could work for yourself so easily? If you have entrepreneurial skills, then it is certainly not a good idea to get into a job and work for mere wages.

 

So, plan your professional life well. Maybe you could consider a job if you are sure of growth and if the job is really good and from a very well-established company that pays handsomely, but if that is not the case, then a business is also not out of the realms of possibility either.

Your Fear Is in Your Mind

When you are thinking about fear-management, the one thing you have to steadily keep in mind is that fear is something that is universal. You aren’t the only one who fears something, however inconsequential the fear might seem. If you are frightened of butterflies, you should know that you aren’t the only one who does so. But, at the same time, the vast multitude of people aren’t frightened of butterflies at all. They, in fact, think of them as beautiful. They hold them, touch them and play with them too.

 

And the same applies for any kind of fear. Are you frightened of snakes? Or bungee jumping? Why are these things scaring you? Don’t you see so many nature experts dauntlessly allowing snakes to slither on their shoulders? Or don’t you see so many seemingly frail people just letting themselves go off a cliff?

 

Fear, though it is universal and claims a lot of people’s way of living, is, after all, an individual thing. It is a state of mind. It is your state of mind. When you were born, you did not have any fear. Look at infants. They would readily and playfully go near a snake if they were allowed to. There is no fear at that stage. Where does it come in then? It develops later in life. We condition ourselves to think that a cockroach is dirty and fearsome and hence we have to be frightened of it. We deem that driving is difficult and people die on account of that, and we become paranoid of driving. Every fear stem in the way we condition ourselves to think.

 

If that weren’t the case, all of us would have been frightened of the same things. Now, that does not happen, does it? Someone is frightened of corpses but then there are people who would live with them very easily and without the slightest shred of fear in them. Or, there are people who are frightened of fire and then there are firefighters who do anything to overcome it and save people.

 

Fear resides in our minds. And, it is possible for us to condition our minds in such a way that we can overcome that fear. It is possible to go around our fear and even remove it from our mind completely so that we can live a fuller, more balanced life. But, we all to all make a beginning. The beginning is through taking action and improving the way in which we lead our lives. 

 

The Basics on Self-Improvement and Personality Development

For one to be productive, self-improvement is very important. Self-improvement and the development of one’s personality entail a lot, whether it is by external motivation or by internal change. This is the reason why people go to self-improvement seminars, because the information given helps them to improve their personality by making some amendments in the way one does things or the way one thinks, or by simply giving them a push to do greater than they already have.

 

There is only one direction that self-improvement takes; from inside to the outside. This form of improvement has so many areas that make it whole, and we are going to look at these areas of self-improvement and personality development.

 

Health is the first area of self-improvement and personality development. Good health makes you feel better, and it develops in you the habit of taking care of yourself with value for the maintenance of the health. 

 

Another area of self-improvement and personality development is education. Information empowers you to do more than what is average. Education is not only limited to the four walls of a class. Apart from taking a class, you can improve your education by simply investing in watching videos, reading wide, joining groups that have the same interest as you or even attending workshops and seminars. You can also get professional growth by improving on your profession. This can be done by taking extra classes on fields relevant to your profession for extra certification. Professional improvement can also be done by you doing volunteer jobs related to your profession.

 

Religion is another area of self-improvement and personality development that is quite significant. Every human being wants to connect and be inspired by a higher being. In order to get conversant with this higher being, people attend meetings in the different designated meeting places for the people of that particular religion. 

 

The family unit is a major area of self-improvement and personality development. It is family members that help shape a person, and it is to family members that one is accountable. For better attainment of self-improvement from family, the key investment to make is time followed by money. Time can be spent during family members giving one of their own sound counsels, or by simply hanging out and doing what you enjoy doing together. 

 

Though these areas of self-improvement and personality development work independently, they are better applied in conjunction with each other. 

The One Way to Overcome Your Fear

If it acts as any sort of consolation to you, everyone has some or the other fear in their lives. In most people, this fear culminates into a phobia, an extreme paranoia about something. And, in most cases, such fears and phobias are unjustified. Whatever it is that you are afraid of, it is highly likely that that particular thing does not deserve the fear.

 

Fear is a highly subjective thing. You may be fearful of something to a very extreme degree, but there will always be several other people who do not have any fear of that thing. Maybe you are frightened of swimming. But, just look around you… there are people who are setting records in swimming. Maybe you are frightened of making a commitment to someone; but there are so many people who are doing it all the time and leading highly successful lives.

 

Keep this thing in mind; it will help you a lot. You can seek inspiration from the many people around you and you will get some motivation, or at least some courage that such a thing is possible.

 

So, what is the way to overcome your fear? The best way for that is to take action. Most people who stay frightened do so because they refuse to accept their fear and work their way around it. They refuse to accept that they can take action if they want.

 

If you are afraid of swimming, you should not run away from it, but make an effort to understand it. Watch as many swimming competitions on ESPN as you can. Check out how those people move gracefully. What’s stopping you? Analyze your fear. Read books on swimming. See that the techniques are not all that difficult. If other people can do that, why can’t you?

 

But the most important thing is to go out there and take action. Get to the swimming pool. Take yourself there; muster the courage. Take a friend along. The very fact that you went up to the swimming pool means that you have a motivation to swim. Then, with the help of trustworthy people, let yourself go.

 

You will find that it is only this initial stage at which fear is at its paramount. When you actually step into the pool and make those initial strokes, you will find that the fear dissipates slowly. Concentrate on what you have to do, and do not think about the hindrances. When your focus is in the right place, things begin to happen in wonderful ways.

 

So, get up and take action. Take stock of the situation. Do not worry about letting yourself go. This is the way in which your fear can take a backseat and you can move along in a more sure-footed manner. 

The Right Way to Approach Any Task

Most of us have got a completely wrong idea when it comes to accomplishing the tasks set in front of us. We generally think about completing a job as soon as we can, and then getting paid for it, and probably getting good feedback at the end of it. We think about job fulfillment and we think about the number of jobs we can complete, but we are missing the whole point!

 

The right way to approach a job is not to equate it with money. The really successful people out there do not think about their profits or about the money that a particular job will bring in for them.

 

Instead of thinking what a job can give them, they think about what they can give to the job. They try to give everything their best shot. They try to work in such a manner that they can benefit other people—their employers, their clients, their users, the society at large. They think about how these people will find their work to be a complete value of their investment.

 

When you do that, you will find that your reputation increases dramatically. There are many of us who just think about completing work, but there are very few people who think about giving every job the most that they can. They cherish each assignment that they take up and it shows in the quality of their deliverables.

 

This is the way a job has to be approached. When the customer is satisfied, then the job prospects will just keep on increasing. You will not have to worry about where the next job will come from. You don’t have to think about the money coming in if you focus on the quality. Your reward will come, and even a bonus, because you gave something more than the job asked you to.

 

But the best bonus that you get is the goodwill. It is this reputation that really keeps your name circulating and acts as no form of advertisement ever will.

 

The next time you get a job, do not think about the money that it will bring in. It is important to be compensated adequately, but beyond that do not think about the monetary value of your job. Give it your best and you will certainly see the rewards.

 

This can happen if you work according to your passion. If you love what you are doing, you will not feel the exertion. You will not think about money much either. You will only think about what you can provide, and that is what will keep you going at it.