Tag: Self-help

Get Up. Get Out. Don’t Sit.

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“…New research this month finds that the more time someone spends sitting, the shorter and less robust his or her life may be. The findings were sobering: Every single hour of television watched after the age of 25 reduces the viewer’s life expectancy by 21.8 minutes. By comparison, smoking a single cigarette reduces life expectancy by about 11 minutes. Looking more broadly, they concluded that an adult who spends an average of six hours a day watching TV over the course of a lifetime can expect to live 4.8 years fewer than a person who does not watch TV.  Those results hold true even for people who exercise regularly. It appears a person who does a lot of exercise but watches six hours of TV every night might have a similar mortality risk as someone who does not exercise and watches no TV…” Continue reading “Get Up. Get Out. Don’t Sit.” →

4:02 am. And, Inspired…

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Good Wednesday morning.  And Happy Halloween.

Here’s a selection of inspiring posts of the week from my favorite bloggers:

Shawn Smucker with his post:  “One Sign of a Life Well Lived“:  “Ours is a culture obsessed with sanitizing life, and not just in the physical or chemical sense. We want everything to line up with some unattainable standard, devoid of messiness or intrusion. Funeral services are to remain silent. Learning should be on point. Churches present their Statements of Faith as things which should not even be discussed. Children are expected to behave like robots. Can we become brave enough to leave room for some mess? Can we care less about modern sensitivities and more about meaning? Can we come to appreciate life in all of its unsanitized beauty?…Life = Mess.”  I encourage you to read the entire post.

Tanushree Srivastava @ Charity Spring with her post: “Silence.”  “Silence is underrated in today’s world. There is too much noise. Too many words and too much to say…Why do we have to fill in all the voids with words which are not needed?…Silence is often mistaken as symbol of weakness of a person, which is Wrong. I love silence and stillness…There is no greater power than silence which gives you the authority to steer anything in your favor…I personally spoke a lot and was a girl of too many words. But then realization struck me that I am losing on so much by creating my own noise and being always busy with thinking what I had to speak next. Always in a rush. I am sure many will relate to it. So change it like me. Life is amazing when you enjoy it with a calm and silent heart that is not rushing towards the next thought.”

Continue reading “4:02 am. And, Inspired…” →

Frightening conclusion? I am the decisive element.

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“I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. I possess tremendous power to make life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration, I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis is escalated or de-escalated, and a person is humanized or de-humanized. If we treat people as they are, we make them worse. If we treat people as they ought to be, we help them become what they are capable of becoming.”

– Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)

Credits: Quote – creatingaquietmind, Image – Artchipel

Sunday Morning: Happy

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I watched a movie on Netflix yesterday called “Happy.”  It is a shortish ~70 minute documentary which blends the current research on what makes people happy with heart warming human interest stories.  Research has found 50% of our happiness is genetic and that we return to a range of happiness within “our genetic set point.”  A mere 10% of happiness is determined by our job, our economic status, our social status and our health.  A whopping 40% is determined by intentional activity and behavior that we choose.

This is a Sunday morning “feeling” movie.  I’ve shared a short movie trailer below.  If you haven’t seen it, I would encourage you to do so.  No pun intended, but it puts you in a happy place.

I came upon a post on a widely followed blog I follow called Barking Up The Wrong Tree.  The post is titled What Ten Things Should You Do Everyday To Improve Your Life and it summarizes many of the key recommendations in this documentary. I have included key excerpts below: Continue reading “Sunday Morning: Happy” →

You can only control three things…

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You only directly control three things in the entire world. Interestingly, none of these are other people. You are in charge of your thoughts, your words, and your actions. That’s it. Most of us neglect these three key items, however. Instead we direct our precious, limited energy on thinking and talking about how others should be different. This is fruitless and even lazy. As long as I’m focused on what’s wrong with you, I don’t need to pay any attention to improving me. Focus on you. Rather than hoping you can mysteriously change the fundamental personality traits of those around you, direct your energy on perfecting your own sweet self.

Devora Zack, CEO of Only Connect Consulting

Source: Fast Company via John E. Smith @ Strategic Learner.  Image: Thank you madamescherzo via popculturebuzz