Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Changing Habits to Improve your Personal Life


Habits, oh those nasty habits. Habits are developed from training, influences, observation, and practice. We develop many habits throughout our life. Some are good and others are bad. Good habits we can keep, but if one wants to improve his/ her life the bad habits have to take a hike. Getting rid of bad habits however is not easy, especially if an addiction is involved. For this reason, we can take a few steps to learning how you can change your habits.

Making excuses

People wander through life making excuses. Anytime a person sees something complicated, they will often make excuses why they cannot deal with the problem. “This is just the way I am.” This is a common problem in the world, which we’ve all heard billions of times. If you are out to improve your life however, you need to say, “This is something that hinders me from achievement and I have the power to change it."

The first key to success is stop making excuses. Learn how to tell the truth. The truth is the only answer that leads you to improve your personal life. Once you learn to tell the truth, you will need to commit self to learning new behaviors and habits.

You can commit by choosing a new habit. Today I plan to drink more water. Some of us detest water, yet water is our way of living healthier. Instead of detesting something that will save your life, start saying, today I will drink more water. Even if you start out drinking a glass for the first couple of days, you are making changes.

Today I am going to stop judging others and myself. This is a common mistake people make in the world. They spend time judging others and themselves. This gets them nowhere but in a world of chaos. You make your bed, you must learn to sleep in it, which is why you should change your ways. Judging is only for our Creator.

Do you think negative thoughts? I can’t change this. My life is full of nonsense, I can’t swing it anymore. Why me? Who put a tag on my head, saying persecute me? If you spend your life thinking negative thoughts and saying negative connotations, try changing your ways today. For instance, say, I can change something and I am going to. Instead of saying life is full of nonsense, accept it as truth yet move ahead to make your life better. Why me is a common question, which no one knows why, yet we have to accept it, make better decisions and move ahead. If you feel persecuted, ask yourself what you are doing that makes you feel this way. Do you have friends or family members weighing you down? If so, then kick their butt down the road and make new friends. No one in life is worth your continued suffering.You have the power to make changes, yet you do not have the power to change other people.

When you start to make changes to improve your life, start small. Instead of jumping the gun, take baby steps to succeed. Too many times people try to change overnight. This only leads to frustration.

When you are working to change your life and habits make sure you seek support and feedback. You do not have to walk the road to success alone. Feedback is found at your library, the Internet, at colleges, and so on. You will find support along these channels as well. Ask someone you trust to support you and give you feedback when needed also.


Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Building Courage to Improve your Personal Life

 
When you build courage, you start to improve your personal life. Building courage will help you take risks to a brighter future that you ordinarily would not take. When you build courage, you put fear behind you. courage is the process of admitting that you have fears, yet you are willing to find a way to defeat those fears and not allow these fears to take control of you. It is ok to experience your fears at appropriate times. For instance, if you almost got hit by a bus, you have a right to fear. There is nothing wrong with healthy fear. The problem is you have to put healthy fear in its place and unhealthy fear out of your life.

Once you build courage, you will learn to self-direct your life. You will learn to accept punishment and rewards gracefully. A courageous person will often feel motivated to accept blame and responsibility while reviewing their actions and using what they learn to move forward. Courageous people will step to the front, rather than stepping back when opportunities come their way. In addition, a courageous person will step back and take a look at his or her mistakes.

Sometimes the courageous person is spontaneous. It is never good to plan each day, because no one knows what the next day will bring in. Think about it. How many times have you planned something and fail to see it happen? For instance, I plan to go to the ball game tomorrow. Come tomorrow a blizzard, hurricane, tornado, wind storm, or rainstorm could change my mind. You planned, but did you plan for the weather? Did you make a backup plan in case your first plan failed? As you can see, planning is not always in your favor, which is why courageous people are sometimes spontaneous.

A person willing to improve his/her life will be calm. This person will relax even when plans fail. For instance, if it rains the next day the person will find something else to occupy his or her time and feel just as happy about joining this adventure.

To become successful and improve your life you will need to learn how to trust yourself. When you trust yourself, you can trust others as well. Unfortunately, we live in a world where trust is hard to find, yet when you trust yourself, you can’t blame others when things go wrong.

Improving your life includes using your creative and critical mind. When you can create new ideas, you are off to the road to success. You have many options in this world, it takes you to pull up resources to find those options.

Sometimes in life, we feel uncomfortable. In fact, this is common. Are you willing to accept your discomfort? Perhaps at a job interview you feel out of place. Are you willing to accept this discomfort and find a way to handle yourself well and to impress the interviewer? Alternatively, are you willing to allow negative energies cost you the job?

Do you accept the things you cannot change? Do you accept the things you have control over? Do you accept other people regardless of how these people act? Do you accept yourself for who you are? Do you accept the changes that life brings your way?

Acceptance is your key to happiness. When you can learn to accept the good with the bad, you can learn how to live happier and improve your personal life. If you cannot accept however, well, reread this article and begin the process once more.

Monday, October 17, 2011

Accepting to Improve your Personal Life



Do you have the ability to accept the things you can change and the things you cannot change? Do you have the ability to accept that other people are opt to change themselves, rather than you changing them? Do you accept that you are who you are, regardless of what others think? Can you accept the many changes that take place in your life?

If you answered yes to one or all of these questions then you are off to the start of improving your personal life. If you are willing to accept, you have the ability to laugh, even when something is not funny. For instance, if someone pushed you, you could stand back and laugh. The push is only a threat to your emotion, which you will see, accept and find a way to gain control of the situation.

When you can accept things in life, including you and others you find a way to take control. When you are in control, it helps you to see how you can improve your personal life. When you learn to accept you will learn to discover you.

Individuality is personal, which philosophers over generalize this subject. Many people in the world believe that when we act the same way at all times, we have established our identity. Politically incorrect! We have emotions, thoughts, behaviors, actions, and have been plagued by a world of influences both good and bad. Each day we will feel something new, which causes our personality to reflect on these changes. Therefore, when you see someone laughing one minute and crying the next, you are seeing a shift in emotions, which is a normal pattern of identity for this person. Unless the person's eyes change, behaviors change dramatically, friends change regularly, etc, and you are seeing common behaviors.

We live in a world that desensitizes us. We are surrounded by billions of influences on television, in the media, on radio, in households, government, schools and so forth. Each to their own, but everyone is judging someone at some time, which is something we have to accept. We cannot change these people's behaviors and way of thinking, but we can change ours. This is a part of learning and accepting. The best way around the world is become your own influence and allow other influences to make someone else’s life miserable. Only rely on sources that prove truthful with their actions, behaviors and words. Positive reflections are the key to living happier.

Once you learn to accept you will be eager to laugh. For instance, if someone makes you mad you will see the humor in his or her actions. You may see the humor in your actions if you make a mistake and feed into their stupidity.

Once you start to see the humor in life, you will feel better inside. We are involved in a unruly world filled with greedy people, envious souls, lusty tigers, and so on. We have to learn how to work around these people, accept us and move on. Once you learn to change to a better you, other people may follow. Good conduct has proven far more effective than words to encourage others to change.

As you grow you will feel a new hunger, and that hunger will guide you to discover new ways to a better you. In time as you start to feel better, you will see a need to exercise, eat right, and hang out with positive influences and so on. Once you feel this hunger, you will feel inspired to labor to achieve your goals.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Life is About Choices and the Decisions We Make


Life is like a road. There are long and short roads; smooth and rocky roads; crooked and straight paths. In our life many roads would come our way as we journey through life. There are roads that lead to a life of single blessedness, marriage, and religious vocation. There are also roads that lead to fame and fortune on one hand, or isolation and poverty on the other. There are roads to happiness as there are roads to sadness, roads towards victory and jubilation, and roads leading to defeat and disappointment.

Just like any road, there are corners, detours, and crossroads in life. Perhaps the most perplexing road that you would encounter is a crossroad. With four roads to choose from and with limited knowledge on where they would go, which road will you take? What is the guarantee that we would choose the right one along the way? Would you take any road, or just stay where you are: in front of a crossroad?


There are no guarantees.

You do not really know where a road will lead you until you take it. There are no guarantees. This is one of the most important things you need to realize about life. Nobody said that choosing to do the right thing all the time would always lead you to happiness. Loving someone with all your heart does not guarantee that it would be returned. Gaining fame and fortune does not guarantee happiness. Accepting a good word from an influential superior to cut your trip short up the career ladder is not always bad, especially if you are highly qualified and competent.  There are too many possible outcomes, which your really cannot control. The only thing you have power over is the decisions that you will make, and how you would act and react to different situations.


Wrong decisions are always at hindsight.

Had you known that you were making a wrong decision, would you have gone along with it? Perhaps not, why would you choose a certain path when you know it would get you lost? Why make a certain decision if you knew from the very beginning that it is not the right one. It is only after you have made a decision and reflected on it that you realize its soundness. If the consequences or outcomes are good for you, then you have decided correctly. Otherwise, your decision was wrong.


Take the risk: decide.

Since life offers no guarantee and you would never know that your decision would be wrong until you have made it, then you might as well take the risk and decide. It is definitely better than keeping yourself in limbo. Although it is true that one wrong turn could get you lost, it could also be that such a turn could be an opportunity for an adventure, moreover open more roads. It is all a matter of perspective. You have the choice between being a lost traveler or an accidental tourist of life.  But take caution that you do not make decisions haphazardly. Taking risks is not about being careless and stupid. Here are some pointers that could help you choose the best option in the face of life’s crossroads:

·    Get as many information as you can about your situation.

You cannot find the confidence to decide when you know so little about what you are faced with. Just like any news reporter, ask the 5 W’s: what, who, when, where, and why. What is the situation? Who are the people involved? When did this happen? Where is this leading? Why are you in this situation? These are just some of the possible questions to ask to know more about your situation. This is important. Oftentimes, the reason for indecision is the lack of information about a situation.

·    Identify and create options.

What options do the situation give you? Sometimes the options are few, but sometimes they are numerous. But what do you do when you think that the situation offers no options? This is the time that you create your own. Make your creative mind work. From the most simplistic to the most complicated, entertain all ideas. Do not shoot anything down when an idea comes to your head. Sometimes the most outrageous idea could prove to be the right one in the end. You can ask a friend to help you identify options and even make more options if you encounter some difficulty, but make sure that you make the decision yourself in the end.

·    Weigh the pros and cons of every option.

Assess each option by looking at the advantages and disadvantages it offers you. In this way, you get more insights about the consequences of such an option.

·    Trust yourself and make that decision.

Now that you have assessed your options, it is now time to trust yourself. Remember that there are no guarantees and wrong decisions are always at hindsight.  So choose… decide… believe that you are choosing the best option at this point in time.


Now that you have made a decision, be ready to face its consequences: good and bad. It may take you to a place of promise or to a land of problems. But the important thing is that you have chosen to live your life instead of remaining a bystander or a passive audience to your own life. Whether it is the right decision or not, only time can tell. But do not regret it whatever the outcome. Instead, learn from it and remember that you always have the chance to make better decisions in the future.