Boost your Motivation by Helping Others (2 of 2)
Often when we cannot get ourselves focused or remain on-task and motivated, we can help ourselves feel better by taking a break to lend someone else a helping hand. Helping others is a very important way to make yourself feel good and to promote positive feelings about your own life. There are many ways you can help others, including: sharing knowledge, visiting others, helping people see the positive and much, much more.
In the previous post we talked about several ways that helping others can impact our own lives in a positive fashion. Thise were:
- Sharing knowledge
- Spending time with friends
- Finding the good in others
- Being more positive with everyone
- Letting people know you care
In the second part of this post we will continue working our way through suggestions af ways to help others, so you can help yourself.
“Laughter is the best medicine”
Laughter is contagious. People are often drawn to laughter and they want to be part of the fun. Laughing is also very healthy. You should share your laughter and your attitude with those around you. It can be very infectious. You will also feel better about yourself.
Laughing is healthy for your body and soul. If you know some funny jokes or you begin to see the funny side of a situation, you should share this with your friends and colleagues. The ability to make other people laugh is a good thing and if you are good at it you should use this skill. This will be good for the people you are making laugh because you will help raise their spirits and the sense of joy you receive will make you feel good as well.
Be a good listener
To help others create motivation and a positive attitude, means you will need to be a good listener. When you listen to people they feel that you truly care about what they have to say. It shows that you have a sensitive side as well. When you listen to others you can help them realize that they have something positive to focus on.
Listening to people gives you an opportunity to show people the positive side of life, in addition to the negative side which they have been focusing on. This will help you help them. Listening means understanding how the person is feeling about what they are saying. You might want to repeat back to the person some of things they have been saying. This will reinforce to the person that you are actively listening to what they have to say. When you are a good listener it will make you feel good because you can see the positive effect that it has on the other person. It can also add a new and deeper dimension to your friendship.
Transmit your positive attitude
Once you are feeling great and positive be sure to transmit your attitude to other people around you. You can also transmit indirectly while talking to people. A positive attitude is addicting and people will enjoy spending time with you. This may help advance your career as well.
When you have a positive attitude you need to be intentional and purposeful about transmitting it to others. This also includes times when you are on the phone or on the computer. It is common for your communication to disconnect somewhat when you are speaking to someone over the phone. You might be tired or not even notice that one of you have drifted into an area of rudeness. Be sure to transmit your positive attitude to others when you talk to them on the phone. This is healthy for you and it can also help the other person feel better about you.
Give compliments
Communicating your positive attitude can be conveyed in a number of ways, one of which is paying compliments to people. When you see the positive side in others, always feel free to share this with them. Notice someone’s nice dress or shoes. People love compliments and it gives them a boost and will make you feel better about yourself as well.
Be an example
Another way to share your positive attitude with people is by setting an example. When you do good things and people around you see it, they will often want to jump in and help. For example, you might see someone at work in a break room cleaning up after a mess from luncheon. It doesn’t take a lot of work or effort to help this person clean up even if it is not your assignment. When you give your positive attitude and you aren’t afraid to give to others and to share with others, people will join in.
Conclusion:
There are so many things that you can do to help others, and we have only covered a few of them. When you help others with your positive attitude and behavior. It will feel great. You will be motivated to help others. By following these simple suggestions, you will find that you are much more motivated each day to complete your tasks and you will be creating an environment that is positive for yourself and everyone around you.
Thoughts?
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3. Boost you Motivation by Helping Others 1
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Boost your Motivation by Helping Others pt 1
It is one of the beautiful compensations in this life that
no one can sincerely try to help another
without helping himself.
Often, when we cannot get focused or keep our own motivation flowing, we can help ourselves a lot by taking a break to lend someone else a helping hand. Helping others is a very important way to make yourself feel good and feel positive about your own life. When you help others you will feel better and more motivated about the things going on in your own life. There are many ways you can help others, including: sharing knowledge, visiting others, helping people see the positive and much, much more.
Knowledge
Sharing your knowledge is always a good thing. But remember, there is a significant difference between sharing your knowledge with people as opposed to giving them your opinion. If you have something to say that is helpful and educational, this is worth sharing. Be sure that you are absolutely clear when you are instead offering someone an opinion. This will avoid confusion and bad feelings down the road especially if you should hurt someone’s feelings.
Sharing knowledge means you talk about things that you actually know about. For instance, if you are educated or skilled on a specific subject, perhaps you can offer to teach someone how to do some of things you know. There are always people who are eager and excited about learning something new. These interactions where you get to share your knowledge and abilities will actually make you feel good.
Time with friends
It is not uncommon for people to be negative or have bad attitudes. If you know one or more of these people, you really don’t want to spend an excessive amount of time hanging out with them trying to turn a negative situation into a positive experience. You may find that their attitude begins to rub off on you, and that you are also becoming more negative.
Some people are so negative that they are difficult to be around. It can be very frustrating. As you work toward your own daily motivational techniques, you might find it hard to share space with them. It is a good thing to make an effort to help these people, but be careful not to get sucked into the pit of doom with them.
When you try to help negative people by spending time with them, don’t count on revolutionizing their way of thinking. Your positive attitude can be contagious, but so can theirs. When someone is down in the dumps or feeling negative, you can try to help them by pointing out the positive side of the situation. You can also try to help them find some good in the negative things that are happening in their lives. Perhaps you can help them by getting them to see that they have little or no control over the situations. The sooner most people come to realize that they have little or no control over certain issues in their lives, they are able to let it go and relax.
Spending time with negative friends means sharing your positive attitude. You want to share your energy, but be careful not to force yourself and your attitude on anyone.
You cannot change other people, they must ultimately choose to make the change themselves.
Find the good in others
At times it may be difficult to see, but everyone does have a good side. Some people may strike you as being entirely negative about everything. Usually at first meeting these people often come across as confrontational, unfriendly or frustrating. Try to look deeper to find the positive side.
When you around negative people their negativity may eventually have an impact on you. It is important to try and find the good in others. The more good you find in others the easier it will be to talk with them and be around them. If you’re forced to be around negative people, such as a meeting or another situation that you cannot avoid, finding and reflecting on the positive will help you make it through these forced encounters.
Being more positive with everyone
Even while you are looking for the positive aspects in negative people, you need to remain positive in everything that you do. Be positive with the people you are around on a daily basis. The more positive you are to people the more motivated you will feel as well.
This does not mean that you have to suck-up to everyone when you are trying to be positive. If you are around people you don’t like, you still don’t have to be negative in return. You can still be a courteous, well-mannered, compassionate and positive person and find the good in everything. If you can’t find the good in the person, reflect on something else positive. Perhaps the cup of coffee you had this morning may have tasted great, or you slept particularly well, or you got through traffic much more easily, or had a great CD in your car on your way into work, etc.
You must remain focused on the little things and find the positive in them. The more positive you can find in the people and the things around you, the happier you will be. You will also be more motivated to make it through every day and be on your way to reaching your goals.
Let people know you care
One of the ways that you can be more motivated and feel great about yourself is let the people around you know that you care about them. Just like the little things in life that you enjoy so much, it is the little things for others that will help you feel great too. You will feel great making someone else feel good. And, sometimes you will feel even better doing things for people without them knowing who is responsible.
What kinds of things can you do for others? You might consider sending token items to friends and family, like cards and flowers. Anyone you care about should know that you are not taking them for granted. You don’t have to spend a great deal of money. If you don’t have money to spend, there are many other ways to do nice things for people. The free things that you can do for people can include something as simple as pouring them a cup of coffee, washing their car or any number of other things.
Letting people know that you care about them is important to them, but will also make you feel good as well. You should always let people know that you care and that you appreciate them. There are so many ways that you can let other people know that they are important to you and it doesn’t always require spending money.
Thoughts?
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Priorities: Setting and Ranking Them
When you are hard at work, virtually everything you touch seems important. Nonetheless, setting and ranking priorities will help keep everything in its proper perspective. This is a positive and proactive way of getting things done more effectively and more efficiently.
Time and Work
Setting and ranking priorities means acknowledging that some tasks require more time and work than others. If you make the mistake of trying to allot equal amounts of time to every single task you must complete, it will slow you down and you will not accomplish as much as you would like.
While it is true that you want to give your best to every task that you perform, determining which ones will require the most time and effort is a much more productive approach than trying to look at everything equally.
Order
Setting and ranking your priorities also means that you must determine which tasks need to be completed first. You are probably thinking, well that’s only logical. Well, Mr. Spock, it may be logical, but it does not always happen that way for most of us.
Let us suppose that there is a large project, further out on the horizon, which will require a significantly larger amount of your time and effort than the smaller projects you have immediately at hand. Perhaps there is one project which includes an important time frame, or even a firm deadline. In instances like these you may find that you are tempted to do the smaller, quicker and easier tasks first. Although this approach does mean that these easier tasks will be completed and off your to-do list, the one which you should have given your attention to first, may not.
When you rank your priorities, you can begin by deciding which job or project needs to have your full attention before any of the others. This method ensures that the “main thing” gets don. But, it also that you can meet this obligation with enough motivation and enough physical and psychological energy to get it done correctly, to the best of your ability, efficiently and effectively. The sooner you begin tasks with deadlines, the more likely you will be to complete them on time.
Our best for the important and impactful projects
Setting and ranking your priorities is neither a difficult nor a time consuming venture. If we can begin each work day with a brief outline of everything we need to accomplish, we can then assign top priority to the tasks which must be completed first. This will help to make the entire work day move more smoothly, and you will get more done.
Yes, we want to give our very best to all of our projects. But, we also want to be careful to give our best and fullest energy and best time management to the projects that have the most impact on our personal and professional lives.
Begin to prioritize your tasks properly and your stress level will shift.
Doc
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Success: Get an Upgrade
Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed
is more important than any other.
~ Abraham Lincoln
Everyone wants to be successful. Success means different things to different people. I have also found that as I continue to mature that being a success means something at each phase of my life. Whatever you may have already accomplished in your life, there is always one more interesting mountain ahead that is worth climbing. If you’re looking for more achievement, you can improve your life dramatically by making a few simple changes.
What I am about to suggest to you really is pretty straight forward, but most of these items require constant attention until they become habits.
1. Upgrade Your Crew. Start hanging out with more successful individuals. And, no, I am not suggesting that you dump your friends. But, you will frequently find that you achieve about as much as the people with whom you spend most of your time. Perhaps you are that role model of success in your current crew. If you want to be successful, affiliate as often as possible with people who are more successful than you. There are a few reasons why this will help:
- You will get exposed to a completely different way of thinking and interacting with the world. Successful people generally look at many things differently than those who tend to be less successful. Integrating some of these new ideas into your own way of thinking will probably bring you more of the success you seek in your own life.
- You will probably be exposed to new opportunities. High achieving people often have multiple ventures going on, and you never know when you might be of assistance to them. You will also get to connect with some of their peer group, who are also more likely to be successful as well.
2. Upgrade your attitude. Successful people generally have a positive attitude. That is what allows them to continue to move forward aggressively. This is not the same as acting foolishly, however.
- Minor challenges don’t bog them down as often because they believe that things will turn out well in the end. They also keep the broader, grander picture in mind, so minor challenges are just that, minor.
- If wealth is one of your aspirations, check your own monetary mindset. If you want to be wealthy you should probably have a positive attitude about wealth and about wealthy people.
- If you want to be healthy, you need to have a positive outlook about health.
- Your attitudes must be congruent or aligned with your objectives.
- Everything starts internally. Seeing outside changes in your life will take time.
3. Upgrade your focus. Get organized and get focused. Before you go to bed at night, make a list with all the things you want to accomplish the following day. Doing this at night gives your brain a chance to work on things while you are asleep. Also you will feel much better when you can start the day with a clear objective instead of spending time trying to figure out what you need to do.
4. Upgrade your goals. Your brain is extremely good at figuring out things, even when you’re not consciously thinking about them. You can help facilitate it by doing a good job of outlining and prioritizing your objectives. The simplest way to do this is to write your goals down with a deadline attached to each. Now your mind (conscious and sub-conscious) knows what to work on and when to have it accomplished.
- Read over your goals at least twice a day to provide mental clarity and to emphasize that they are important. We all know how easy it is to get sidetracked by fifty other things and forget all about our real goals and plans.
These four simple ideas can bring you tremendous personal power if you use them to your advantage. Being successful is really no more challenging than being unsuccessful. Both require specific actions and attitudes applied consistently over time. Make some changes today, upgrade your present and give yourself the gift of success.
Thoughts?
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What are you worth?
We cannot think of being acceptable to others until we have
first proven acceptable to ourselves.
Malcolm X
How much are you worth?
Have you ever stopped to consider your value as a person? I’m not just talking about your salary, net worth or the assets that you possess. All of this is very temporary. The question is: What are you worth? Most people don’t usually think that they’re worth very much or that they make much of a difference in the world. There are many people who feel that they are even barely noticed as they walk through life, and that no one would think twice if they disappeared. It is very easy for you to fall into the trap of such beliefs when you begin to place more of your focus on the value of what you do, the work that you perform, or the things you have then you place on the value of yourself.
Of course, taking the time to devote to meaningful pursuits is wonderful, but it’s much more important to focus on who you are while you are doing these things. For every task in life that you perform, from the most mundane to the grandest venture, you infuse a small portion of yourself into each of those tasks. On or in every piece of work that you perform you leave a little portion of yourself behind.
Your perspective is the key
If you view yourself as a small person then your view of the impact you feel you make on the world is small. If you view yourself as a great person then you view your impact on the world to be much greater. Becoming a “great” person, does not mean that you need to be able to walk on water or to perform great miracles or even that you need to have the solution to how to save the world, but rather that you simply be yourself.
It is absolutely vital that you recognize and honor the parts of yourself which are unique. You must learn to listen to your inner voice and connect with the inner parts of yourself who know you best and can best use the special gifts that you have come to share with the world. If you’re willing to embrace this concept, to embrace yourself fully, then your heart-center will open and you will see the path to your greatest joy.
Become a lightning rod, a light-bringer, a life-giver
When you become open to your greatest joy, you can not help but share it with other people. People can see it and feel it from every word that you speak, every embrace that you give them and every smile that you share with them. Your life and your persona become part of your creative works, your job duties, your co-workers and your family. It continues to flow effortlessly from you and reaches out to touch every person that you encounter. Not only do you give them the gift of your best self during these exchanges, you also show them how to recognize and share their own life force. Your value as a person does not lie solely in who you are or who you are becoming, but also in those that you might encourage along the way.
So we have come back to our original questions:
Who are you, what do you think you’re worth?
As you go through life, are you in touch with your best and most creative self and, are you giving your best?
Thoughts?
photo credit #1: http://www.flickr.com/photos/vanessao/2634353844/sizes/z/in/photostream/
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Expand Your Mind…
Lung Cancer: What Women Need To Know
The incidence of lung cancer in women increased rapidly after World War 2 as more and more women began to smoke, but that trend is finally reversing. Recent studies have show that lung cancer cases in women have leveled over for the first time.
Smoking
According to the National Women Health Resource Center (NWHRC) raising awareness of the disease and its causes still remains urgent. Despite the downward trend of smoking, lung cancer is still the leading cause of cancer related deaths in men and women in the United States. Lung cancer accounts for 1 in every 4 cancer deaths and 1 in every 8 newly diagnosed cancers in women. Approximately 173,000 Americans are diagnosed with lung cancer every year.
Women who smoke are 12 times more like to get lung cancer than those who don’t, yet more than 1 in 5 women continue to smoke.
Smoking cigarettes, cigars and pipes continues to be the leading cause of lung cancer, accounting for nearly 9 out of 10 cases.
Second Hand Smoke
Sadly, you don’t have to smoke to get lung cancer. Inhaling other peoples smoke (second hand smoke) can also affect you. Studies show spouses of smokers have a 20 – 30 percent greater chance of developing the disease than those of non-smokers. Other causes include exposure to harmful substances in home or work place, such as Radon or Asbestos. Some people seem to be more vulnerable, and a small percentage of people may be genetically susceptible to lung cancer.
Quitting smoking at any age reduces the risk, but the degree of risk depends on the length of time since quitting and how heavily the person smoked previously. Aside from quitting or never starting to smoke people can minimize their risk by reducing their exposure to harmful substances.
Types of Lung Cancer
There are two main types of lung cancer. The two types are, Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and Small cell lung cancer (SCLC). Of those, women who smoke are more likely to be diagnosed with SCLC, which is the more aggressive form.
Symptoms
Symptoms of lung cancer include, but are not limited to persistent cough, blood stained phlegm or spittle, shortness of breath, chest pain, recurring pneumonia or bronchitis, loss of appetite or unexplained weight loss.
Treatment
Treatments may include surgery to remove the cancer, radiation to kill or shrink the cancer cells, chemotherapy and newer targeted therapies or combinations of these treatments. Recent advances in lung cancer treatment have contributed to improved patient survival and quality of life. So there is encouraging news for women in the fight against lung cancer.
Resources for additional information:
National Women Health Resource Center (NWHRC)
Heather Crowe: Secondhand Smoke
Thoughts?
Disclaimer:
The information in this article is to be used for general informational purposes only. It should not be used in place of, or in conjunction with, professional medical advice. If you have further specific questions you are urged to consult with your personal physician for additional information.
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Creativity is…
Silence: A Key to Rejuvenation
I’ve begun to realize that you can listen to silence and learn from it.
It has a quality and a dimension all its own.
You have probably had a few times in your life when you have felt tired, overloaded, or just plain out of gas. You suddenly realize that you have come to the place where you feel like you’re just getting up and going through the required motions day in and day out, only to begin again the next morning. When you feel this way there are many things you can do to bring yourself back to life, to re-vitalize yourself.
Have you ever considered using a little silence to recharge your physical and emotional states? Planning to have some real silence in your life, at least every day or two, can be a great way to renew and refresh yourself. Because noise is all around you all the time you’ve probably become accustomed to the constant assault on your ears. The problem is that this also sucks away your energy and negatively affects you.
Here are some ways that you can use the positive effects of peace and quiet to reinvigorate your life.
1. Plan Time
Plan a time for your silent retreat. Thirty minutes is an effective amount of tranquility to experience every day. If you’re not sure you can deal with peace and quiet for a full thirty minutes, start slowly with about fifteen minutes.
2. Plan the activity
Think about how you’ll spend your quiet time. Activities like browsing a recipe book, reading or scanning the morning paper are appropriate ways to spend time without noise.
3. Meditation – Formal or Informal
Consider trying some type of meditative experience during your tranquil times. Sitting and thinking about something that brings you joy is a wonderful way to use your noiseless moments. Recalling the last time that you spent with your best friend or thinking about what you want to improve within yourself are also wonderful ways to spend your episodes of silence. This time is designed to be relaxing, not a time for getting all wound up in planning.
4. Muscle Relaxation
Engage in muscle relaxation to truly get in touch with your body and your ability to relax during your quiet times. Progressive relaxation, where you alternate between tensing and relaxing each of the muscle groups will fit in nicely with your episodes of peace.
5. Notice
Enjoy the silence. Concentrate on the lack of noise. Notice even the smallest sounds, like the refrigerator humming or gurgling, or the tree branches brushing lightly against the side of the house. Notice the sounds of nature, whether its the wind, the rain, or the frogs and birds chattering to one another. These are probably sounds you wouldn’t normally hear, but you can hear and appreciate them now.
6. Expand The Time
Gradually increase the duration of your episodes of silence as you wish, and as you find them beneficial. When you begin making it a point to experience silence daily, you will be surprised how much you enjoy it. You’ll realize you’ve been craving the wonderful feelings of renewal that only silence can bring you.
7. Detach More
Feel free to detach further from your music and the television. Being still with just yourself, your thoughts, reading or quiet hobbies will refresh you in ways that other types of rest will not.
Conclusion:
Be kind to yourself. Learn to be gentler with yourself. Carve some moments out of your hectic schedule on a regular basis to experience the joys and rejuvenating power of silence. Infusing period of silence into your everyday life can bring feelings of calm, patience and rest. You’ll also decrease your level of stress as you increase your sense of well-being, joy and comfort. Go ahead and take some quiet time now. You’ll be amazed. You’ll thank me.
Thoughts?
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