Oftentimes you don’t even realize you’re blocking your own present blessings by holding on to everything so tightly.

It’s always necessary to accept when some part of your life has reached its inevitable end. Closing the door, completing the chapter, turning the page, etc. It doesn’t matter what you title it; what matters is that you find the strength to leave in the past those former parts of your life that are over, and those little ideals in your mind that simply aren’t meant to be.

Throughout the past decade, as Angel and I have gradually worked with hundreds of our course students, coaching clients, and live event attendees, we’ve come to understand that the most common cause of human frustration on the average day is our stubborn propensity to hold on to things long after it’s time to let go. In a nutshell, we hold on tight to the hope that things will go exactly as we imagine, and then we complicate our lives to no end when they don’t.

So let’s take a look at some common things we often regret holding on to until the bitter end… (more…)

When you get up in the morning, think of what a priceless privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to learn, to love – and then make the day count!

The morning is extremely important.  It is the foundation from which the day is built.  How you choose to spend your morning can be used to predict what kind of day you are going to have, and thus, what kind of life you are going to live.

Each morning truly is a brand new opportunity.  Each day is another chance to get it right.

The happiest, healthiest people I know embrace this truth and use it to their advantage.  They have effective morning rituals that gradually improve their well-being and give their lives purpose.  Here’s what they do differently:

1.  They wake up with a sense of gratitude.

In other words, they start the day with love in their hearts and minds, and are truly appreciative of their life and all of its priceless idiosyncrasies.  They practice small acts of gratitude in the morning by expressing thankfulness directly to the people they care about, and to the immediate circumstances (health, opportunities, etc.) they could so easily take for granted.

From the research and coaching Angel and I have done over the years, we’ve found that the more a person is inclined to gratitude, the less likely he or she is (more…)

“No medicine cures what happiness cannot.”
?Gabriel Garcí­a Márquez

It takes no more time to see the good side of life and act upon it than it does to see the bad side and trip over it.  If you don’t like something, change it.  If you can’t change it, change your thinking.  If you know you’re on the wrong track right now, take a deep breath.  It’s OK.  Sometimes you have to be wrong before you can be right.

The road of life is rarely smooth.  It’s easy to stumble and fall and hurt yourself.  But these bumps and bruises are a necessary part of your growth – you fall down, you learn something, and then you brush yourself off and move forward.

Today, let’s take a step forward.  Your bad habits – the ones that hurt your health and happiness – are 100% dependent on YOU for their survival.  Stop allowing these habits to control, limit, stifle, and discourage you from being your best self.  Today is YOURS to shape; own it!  Break free from the bad habits that are poisoning and diluting your potential.

1.  Stop resisting what is.

Life is a series of continuous natural events and changes.  Don’t resist them; doing so only creates unnecessary stress.  Let the reality of these events and changes take place.  Let them flow.  Or as Henry Wadsworth once said, “For after all, the best thing one can do when it is raining is let it rain.”

To move forward in life you must first accept the reality of what it is.  This acceptance provides you with an important starting point from which you can move in any direction you choose.  To deny this reality or to fight against the past will merely waste your time and energy.  To wish that things were different, or to pretend that they are, gets you nowhere. (more…)

Decide to be happy.  It’s good for your health.

The happiest people I know appreciate what they have, keep an open mind to new ideas and ventures, use their leisure time as a means of self development, and love good music, good books, good pictures, good company and good conversation.  In other words, they do small things every day to nurture their happiness.

It’s a lot easier than it sounds.  Anything that helps you feel more positive and joyful is self-nurturing.  The result?  A happier, healthier you.  Here are 50 simple ideas to get you started with nurturing your happiness.

1. Act like today is already an awesome day. – Do so, and it will be.  Research shows that although we think that we act because of the way we feel, in fact we often feel because of the way we act.  A great attitude always leads to great experiences.  Read The How of Happiness.
2. Make yourself smile first thing in the morning. – It’s difficult to feel down when your face is happy.  Fill your bathroom or bedroom mirror with post-it notes of your favorite quotes, goals, mantras, photos, etc., and then reflect on them for a minute or two when you first wake up.
3. Spend time with people who make you smile. – Who nourishes and supports you?  Surround yourself with these people.  Spend time with those who reflect the person you want to be – people who do good things and make your life a little brighter simply by being in it.
4. Try something totally new. – Go somewhere you’ve never been.  Do something you’ve never done.  It will shake up your vision of what the (more…)

Conquering drowsiness before it overwhelms your mind can be quite a challenge without the help of caffeine, taurine and drugs.  With the prevalence of energy drinks and coffee shops conveniently located all around us, finding an unnatural, unhealthy energy boost is easy.  You’ll certainly be wide awake and wired, but your health will pay the price too.

So the question is:  What are some healthy, natural ways to boost your energy and stay awake and alert when you must.  Let’s take a look at 50 possibilities:

1. Turn on all the lights. – Darkness promotes fatigue and laziness.  Turn on every light in the room.
2. Go outdoors. – Getting some fresh air outdoors is always a good way to rouse your senses.
3. Pull down on your earlobes. – This may sound strange, but pulling down on your earlobes can help you stay awake and alert when you’re feeling drowsy.
4. Rub the roof of your mouth with your tongue. – Rub your tongue against the top front area of your mouth cavity.  It feels a little weird, but it does give you a quick nerve jolt that’s bound to make you a bit more alert.
5. Call a close friend. – Sometimes a quick conversation with someone you care about is just what you need to boost your mood.
6. Eat nutritious low carb snacks. – Low carb fruits such as raspberries, apples, oranges, and grapefruits are great energy boosters.  Heaping scoops of spicy salsa on a few small crackers is another goodie.  Stay away from meats, breads and dairy products.
7. Listen to some fast beat music. – If it’s not too much of a distraction, listening to fast beat music can be a great way to keep your mind awake.
8. Roll up and down on your toes. – This stimulates your circulatory system, which will deliver much-needed oxygen and fuel (glucose) throughout your body.
9. Watch or read something that inspires you. – Sometimes all you need is a little pep talk.  Watch a motivational video or read something that inspires you.
10. Have a good laugh. – Watch a funny video clip or read your favorite comic strip.  A good chuckle will stimulate your mind, giving you a renewed level on energy.
11. Crank up the AC. – Warm, stuffy environments accelerate mental fatigue.  If you need to stay awake and energized in a lecture hall or meeting room find an open seat under an AC vent.
12. Apply pressure to the top of the back of your neck. – Use your fingertips to apply pressure and lightly massage the top part of the back of (more…)

If knowledge is power and your mind is the container of this knowledge, then the more you improve your mind’s memory capacity, the more knowledge your mind will retain and the more power you will have at your disposal.  At least that’s what I keep telling myself.  😉

Anyway, over the last six months I have been practicing a particular bedtime memory building exercise every night before I fall asleep.  And it’s really been working wonders for me.  In this short time, I’ve noticed that I’m now able to remember smaller moments in my days, and instantly recollect details from these moments that I used to completely forget.

In a nutshell, here’s the memory building exercise:

Every night, as you’re lying in bed ready to fall asleep, review what you did during the day from start to finish in as much detail as you can possibly remember.  Start with the exact moment you woke up and got out of bed and finish with the moment that just passed as you laid back down in your bed.  Visualize every single detail in your mind, each and every step you took in sequential order from beginning to end as if you were watching a video recap of your day.

The first few times you do this, you may be surprised with how few details you can remember.  You’ll likely jump quickly through your recollection of the day from one major event or block of time to the next without recalling any of the meticulous details from the smaller moments contained within those larger time blocks.

But after just a few short weeks of practicing this exercise, you’ll notice an obvious improvement in your memory and you’ll gradually get better and better recalling even the minutest details from your day.  Your goal should be to grow your memory to the point where you can visualize the particulars present in every scene of every waking moment over the course of the day – the conversations you had, the people who were present at the time, the song that was playing on the radio, the billboards and people you saw when you were walking or driving home, etc.

And although I usually fall asleep long before I completely recap my day (this is totally normal), after six months of routinely practicing this memory building exercise, I have noticed the following benefits:

• My memory has improved, especially my ability to recollect the minute details present in various situations over the course of a day, week, month, or longer period of time.
• I’m living more in the moment.  I’m now more observant and aware of how I’m spending my time when I’m actually doing things throughout the day.  I assume this is because I’m subconsciously trying to remember the events that I will eventually recap later on before bedtime.
• I’m more keenly focused on the task at hand.  I now absorb myself more in everything I do so I can extract the details and fully recollect the moment.  This has helped me narrow my focus and concentrate when I’m tackling difficult tasks.
• Outside of recapping my day every night, I have improved my ability visualize other aspects of my life as well.  Future goals, past milestones, to-do’s, tasks at hand, etc.
• I also seem to fall asleep more easily.  Often in the middle of recapping my day, I peacefully doze off into a deep slumber.  I assume this is because recapping the details of the day is kind of like counting sheep as they jump over the moon.

So give this bedtime memory building exercise a try.  It’s simple, relaxing, mentally stimulating, and seriously thought-provoking.

Photo by: Jah

’20 Tips That Could Save Your Life’ is a guest post written by Diggy.

When your life is in jeopardy, nothing else matters.

Personal safety is not a topic I see many bloggers writing about, yet it’s a vital topic to the wellbeing of our lives.  Simply put, your health and safety form the foundation for everything else you do.  Maintaining this foundation must come before wealth, success, happiness, and almost every other aspect of self improvement and personal growth.

As you might expect, preparation is the key.  Often there are many simple habits and observations a victim could have followed to prevent themselves from becoming a victim.  And sadly, in many cases, these simple habits and observations could have saved their life.

Remember, there’s a big difference between being scared and being prepared.  I am not, nor would I ever suggest you live so cautiously that you scare yourself out of trying new things and seeing new places.  I am simply suggesting that, like a boy scout, you adequately prepare yourself before doing so.

1. Let Someone Know Where You Will Be – When you live alone or even when you go out for the night, let a friend know where you will be.  This barely takes any effort on your part, and if something does go wrong or you are not back in the morning, somebody will know where to start if they have to look for you.
2. Keep Doors and Windows Locked – I am always amazed at people who leave all the entryways to their house wide open when they are home, let alone when they go to sleep at night.  Although it’s nice to believe that nobody would violate your space while you’re in it, there are, unfortunately, a lot of bad people in the world who would love to take advantage of your naive, overly trusting habits.  Why risk being robbed or attacked in your own home when all you have to do is adopt the habit of locking your door after you go through it?
3. Have An Exit Strategy – Do you know exactly what you would do if you woke up to a raging fire in your house?  What if there was a sudden earthquake?  What if you are driving on a dark country road and you realize someone suspicious is clearly following you?  By going over these scenarios in your head you can come up with plans and strategies to mitigate the inherent dangers.  The more you think and plan now, the less thinking and planning you’ll need to do in a moment’s notice.
4. Always Be Prepared For The Unexpected – Never, ever be so humble as to think that something cannot happen to you.  There are simple things you can do to prepare for unfortunate events.  For example:  Keep your cell-phone charged and always have some credits so that it is available for an emergency call when needed.  Keep some spare money in a hidden place (in your car?) in case you get robbed or lose your wallet.  Program emergency phone numbers into your phone because when you’re in shock or in a panic, you will not always be able to think straight.
5. Learn A Martial Art – Physical confrontation is always a last resort, but if push comes to shove, you better be able to defend yourself.  I suggest Muay Thai for guys and Aikido for girls.  Besides the fact that they are both good forms of self defense, they are also fun ways to exercise.  This (and this) is an awesome guide for simple and effective self defense.  You do not need to study martial arts for years to learn and apply some decent self defense moves.  More often than not, the assailant will be male.  Attack the weak spots on his body: The eyes, nose, throat, solar plexus, groin, knees, etc.  A well-aimed strike or blow to one of these areas could instantly neutralize the attacker.
6. Carry Pepper Spray – Pepper Spray (or Mace) is an awesome self-defense product.  It comes in a little pressurized spray can and one little spray of the substance in an attacker’s eyes will immobilize them for nearly 15 minutes.  It is legal in most countries, very cheap, and it can save your rear end in a hostile situation.
7. Buy a Small Keychain Weapon – Get a Stinger or a Kubaton.  These tiny weapons will easily fit onto your keychain, and if you ever need to defend yourself in a moment’s notice they will give you a significant advantage over just using your hands and fists.
8. Be Extra Cautious At Night – Do not stop at gas stations or quick marts late at night if anything looks suspicious or if the area is not well lit or supervised.  If you must stop, keep a safe distance from the car in front of you so you have plenty of room to drive away in an instant.  Do not walk along streets late at night by yourself or even with friends.  Darkness usually invites trouble.
9. Observe Emergency Exits – Just like always having an exit strategy, it is important to know where the emergency exits are when you are in a public location.  The more crowded the location, the more important it is that you know where they are.  An example of this was back in the early 2000’s with a New Years Eve party at a night club in a small Dutch town called Volendam.  The emergency exits were blocked off, the club was packed with partygoers and a fire broke out.  There was a panic and people could not get out easily, the result being that many people were seriously injured.
10. Never Trust Strangers – Never, ever trust strangers.  I know, it is sad but true.  You simply cannot trust someone you do not know.  I am rather trusting in nature, but I am very cautious when trusting somebody with any important aspect of my life who has not previously proven their trustworthiness to me.  This includes people who claim to be police, firemen or other officials.  Always ask them for identification or proof to support their position.
11. Trust Your Intuition – If an environment or situation feels wrong, listen to your intuition (or gut-feeling).  Our subconscious mind can often determine when something is not quite right way before we can consciously determine why we have that feeling.  It’s smarter to be cautious than careless.
12. Don’t Flaunt Your Wealth – If you are well-off and possess what others desire, do not be arrogant about it and flaunt it every chance you get.  This is just asking for trouble.  Of course you can and should enjoy the fruit of your hard-earned labor, but try to do it in a way attracts less attention and is respectful of others who are less fortunate.
13. Ask For Help When You Need It – Don’t be scared to ask or scream for help if you think you need it.  Wouldn’t you rather risk looking like an idiot than trying to be brave and ending up hurt or worse?
14. Don’t Get Intoxicated In Strange Places – Sometimes people like to get a little drunk, sometimes very drunk,  and this fine as long as you are in a safe place.  But do not get too drunk in unfamiliar places where it is not safe (where there are people you do not know like public locations, clubs and parties at other people’s houses).
15. Avoid Deserted Places – When you go out alone, try to avoid deserted places.  Sure, deserted places can seem calm and peaceful, but criminals and bad guys always look for easy targets, and someone who is alone in a place where there are no witnesses or people to help out is an easy target.  If you do go out alone, always let someone know where you will be and have some sort of weapon with you (pepper spray is a pretty good option).
16. Fight or Flight – It sounds pretty simple, because what other choices do you have, right?  Wrong!  Many people freeze up due to shock or adrenaline when they encounter a hostile situation.  And this is obviously the worst thing you can do.  Even black-belt martial artists who are really good in the dojo can become totally paralyzed when confronted with a real fight on the street.  You need to make the decision in your head and prepare yourself for intense hostile situations.  Either you run and get away (usually the best option), or if you have no other choice, you fight and you fight without hesitation and with everything that you’ve got.
17. Get a Dog – If you like animals and have the means to care for one, get yourself a dog.  It doesn’t have to be a big vicious dog either.  Most dogs, even small ones, will alert you when they hear unusual sounds around them.  Attackers are also far less likely to mess with you if you have a dog walking beside you.
18. Be Careful With Your Personal Details – Be careful to who you give your personal information to (name, number, address, work, credit card, etc).  This applies in real life and also on the internet.  Unfortunately, in today’s world there are lots of weirdos and criminals who try to lure people into giving them their personal details so they can steal their identity and take advantage of them in other ways.
19. Vary Your Routine – Try not to follow the same exact routine every single day.  If you leave and come home at exactly the same times or stop in the same spot or visit the same restaurant at certain times, criminals may pick up on this and target you as a potential victim.
20. Take Action When You Are Being Followed – If you think you are being followed, cross the road.  If you need to, do this a few times.  If this confirms your suspicion, go into the nearest public place and phone the police.  If you are in a car, first confirm your suspicion by turning into a few different roads.  If you know you are being followed, drive to the nearest police station.  If someone wants you to pull over on a dark or deserted road and he looks like some sort of official or police officer but is not in an official police car, rather be safe and drive to the nearest police station.

Do you have any additional personal safety tips?  I’d love to hear about them in the comments section below.

Diggy writes all about self improvement and personal growth on his blog, Upgrade Reality.  He wants to inspire and motivate as many people as possible to live their lives to the fullest and to be their best selves.  Spread the word or subscribe to his blog via RSS or Email (and get a free copy of his 58 page ebook).

Photo by: B. Rosen

This guest post was written by Nicole, author of My Years Without Sugar.

Your health is your life.  Make it a priority.

There are a zillion nutrition tips floating around out there.  Here are a few simple ones that have worked well for me over the years.

1. Limit junk food or don’t eat it at all. – Whatever junk food you have in your kitchen, throw it out and replace it with healthy foods and snacks.  Look into other ways to comfort yourself and think of food as nutrition, not entertainment or emotional fodder.
2. Go on a healthy food shopping spree. – Don’t look at prices.  Buy items that are healthy and appealing.  Fill your cupboards, pantry and fridge with healthy foods so you will not feel like your kitchen is empty.
3. Limit eating out. – Most restaurant food has high amounts of sodium, sugar and fat.  There are few exceptions.  Spend more time with family or friends cooking together, or enjoy cooking for yourself.
4. Visit a farmer’s market. – Because farmers markets make buying healthy food fun and interesting.  Most of the produce will be freshly picked, and taste heavenly compared to the refrigerated and thawed produce we get at grocery stores.  Many farmer’s markets have healthy homemade jams, local honey, hot sauce, or pickled this and that.
5. Cut out the white stuff. – Sugar has zero nutrition.  Cut out high fructose corn syrup and artificial sweeteners, too.  Sugar is linked to the growing obesity epidemic in the US and the rising rates of diabetes.  It is also linked to heart disease, which remains the number one killer of people in the US.  Use natural sweeteners in baking like raw honey, date sugar or molasses, which retains high amounts of nutrients.
6. Exercise.  – No level of nutrition can make up the difference for lack of exercise.  Walking counts, as does taking the stairs instead of the elevator.  Dr. Walter Willett of Harvard’s School of Public Health places exercise at the foundational base of his food pyramid.
7. Eat at a table. – According to Michael Pollan’s latest book, Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual, “No, a desk is not a table.  If we eat while we’re working, or while watching TV or driving, we eat mindlessly, and as a result eat a lot more than we would if we were eating at a table, paying attention to what we’re doing.  When eating somewhere other than a table, stick to fruits and vegetables.”
8. Eat smaller portions by buying smaller plates. – I gave my giant-sized dinner plates to the Salvation Army and bought smaller square plates.  And I eat less because of it.  According to Brian Wansink, author of Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think, in a study focused on size illusions, “People with a large bowl and a three-ounce scoop dished out 57 percent more ice cream than those given a smaller bowl and smaller scoop.”
9. Cut out ‘beverages’ and drink water. – Water is free, whereas most beverages come with a price – a health price and a financial price.  One popular 12-ounce soda boasts a whopping 150 calories, and it offers no nutrition.  As a treat, drink tea instead of soda.

Remember, it only takes 21 days of doing something to make it a habit.  So pick one of the tips above and start making it a healthy habit today.

Follow Nicole on her blog, My Years Without Sugar, where she shares tips on escaping the sugar addiction.

Photo by: Craig

First we make our habits, then our habits make us.
– Charles C. Noble

It’s not unusual for intelligent people to get themselves stuck in a deep rut in life.  By rut, I mean a somewhat extended period of time flooded with low motivation, poor moods, negative thinking patterns, and little or no productivity.  A rut like this can be extremely difficult to get out of.  I’ve been there several times, so I know that rediscovering productivity and finding the motivation to delve into anything even remotely challenging can seem nearly impossible.  However, we must eventually come to our senses and realize that there’s no point in going through life feeling unmotivated, tired, stressed out, and unhealthy.  Misery is, after all, a choice.

Escaping the bounds of a deeply-grooved rut requires nothing more than some willpower, a good plan, and the resolve to take immediate action.  Most ruts are caused by a lack of self-care – for example, little to no exercise, sub-par nutrition, zero personal reflection, insufficient sleep, etc.  Significant transformation can, and will, occur in a relatively short period of time if you take action now and remain diligently focused on digging yourself out of the hole you’ve created.

One month – 30 days, should provide plenty of time for you to turn your life around.  Below are some helpful tips to get you started.  Make it your goal to gradually incorporate all of these tips into your life over the course of the next month.

• Get Naked and Face Reality – Remove all of your clothing, weigh yourself, and then stand naked in front of a full-length mirror for 30 seconds.  Put your clothing back on and take the next two minutes to think about what you’ve just witnessed.  How do you feel?  Comfortable?  Disturbed?  Shocked?  If you felt anything other than comfortable, move on to the next step.
• Take Out the Trash – While holding a large garbage bag, rummage through your refrigerator and kitchen pantry and throw away anything that lists ‘high fructose corn syrup’ as an ingredient.  While you’re at it, throw away items that contain ‘partially hydrogenated’ anything.  This would include most packaged and processed foods such as cookies, chips, crackers, sodas, etc.  Reward yourself by removing a single item from the bag that was the most difficult for you to throw away.  Take one bite and throw the rest back in the garbage bag.
• Gather the Necessary Supplies – Now that you’re close to being out of food, grab a pencil and paper and begin making a new grocery list that includes the following items: oatmeal, eggs, chopped walnuts, fresh baby spinach, skinless chicken breasts, raw almonds, raisins, salmon fillets, whole wheat bread, canned tuna, unprocessed cheese, four vegetables of your choice, and three fruits of your choice.  Do your own research as to why I selected these foods, and find other foods to add to your grocery list for the same reasons (Hint: protein, omega-3 fatty acids, magnesium, whole grains, and vitamins).
• Put the Bottle Down – Cut your alcohol consumption by 50 percent.  If you drink one glass of wine every night of the week, drink one glass every other night instead.  If you drink a case of beer each week, cut your consumption down to two six-packs.  If you drink one bottle of whiskey per week, buy a smaller bottle.  It’s hard to be motivated or productive when you’re constantly buzzed or hung-over.
• Schedule a Long-Overdue Visit – When was the last time you saw your family physician?  Call your doctor and schedule a full physical examination.  Take every piece of advice that he or she gives you as the gospel and ask at least three specific questions related to your health.  Research any prescriptions that are written for you so that you understand what you are being asked to take and why.  This time, keep your clothes on while the nurse weighs you, and stay away from full-length mirrors.  😉
• Stimulate Your Brain with New Insights – Buy or borrow two insightful personal development books that contain at least 150 pages each.  Here are some titles to consider:  The Power of Less, How to Win Friends and Influence People, The Power of Now.  Commit to finishing both books in 30 days by reading during your regularly scheduled television time.  By default, this will cut the time you watch television in half.  Better yet, engage in a “media fast” whereby you unplug the television and internet for an entire month.  Watch your productivity soar!
• Fuel the Machine First – Make time to eat breakfast every day – it really doesn’t take that long.  Place one half heaping cup of oatmeal and one cup of water in a microwave-safe bowl.  Nuke it for two minutes.  Add a dash of cinnamon, a handful of raisins, a handful of chopped walnuts, and a touch maple syrup or honey.  Eat and get energized.
• Re-Fuel with Premium More Often – Each day between breakfast, lunch and dinner, eat a handful of almonds and a piece of fruit.  These small nutritional snacks provide boosts of energy that will prevent you from slumping over your desk in a near-comatose state each afternoon.  The almonds provide a great source of magnesium, a necessary mineral proven to calm your nerves and reduce fatigue.
• Renew and Reconnect – Plan an enjoyable night out with either a friend or your significant other at least twice this month.  Refrain from talking about yourself and instead ask questions that show your appreciation and interest in the person you’re with.  Also, expand your horizons by allowing your companion to select the location and entertainment for the night.  You just might learn something new.
• Look Beyond Yourself – Pray or meditate once a day for at least five minutes.  If this seems to calm your mind, increase the time from five to ten minutes.
• Expend Some Energy – Make a valid attempt to incorporate more physical activity into your daily routine.  Spend 20 minutes, two times per week performing some type of enjoyable physical activity.  Take the stairs at the office instead of the elevator.  Take the dog for a walk.  Walk to a co-worker’s desk instead of sending him an email.  Just get up and get moving!
• Recharge Your Mind and Body – Get at least seven hours of quality sleep per night this month.  By following the other suggestions above, restful sleep should come naturally.  Sleep is one of the most powerful ways to rejuvenate the mind and body, increase creativity, and replenish lost energy.

After 30 days have passed, take time to reflect on how you feel physically, mentally, and spiritually.  It’s likely that your rut will be replaced with a well-paved path leading to better health and a stronger sense of well-being.

Remember, misery is a choice.  Your daily habits can be either a host for misery or a host for happiness and positive change.  The choice is yours to make.

Photo by: Guille

This guest post was written by Mary Jaksch, the author of Goodlife ZEN.

Do you feel like life is accelerating?  Maybe you look back at the last five years and wonder where time went.  It may even feel as if all that’s left is stress – without moments of joy and peace.

I must admit, I also feel like this sometimes.  But when I do, I reach for the miracle cure.  This miracle cure doesn’t come in a bottle.  We can’t buy it.

We already have the cure for stress within us.

I’m talking about the miracle of ‘Now’.  It’s quite amazing.  When we enter the ‘Now’ and become present – even just for a moment – stress dissolves.

How can we become present?

Awareness is the key to becoming present.  We often confuse awareness with concentration, but these two mind-states are very different.  Concentration is like a narrow beam of light shining on a task.

Awareness is the soft, full light of attention.

The word ‘attend’ implies that there is tenderness at work… that we are seeing with our heart.  Attention means paying tender regard to the beasts and birds, neighbors, coffee cups and pencil sharpeners.  When we pay tender regard to the dishes, even dish-washing becomes a joy.

Toni Packer, a contemporary meditation master says:

Attention comes from nowhere. It has no cause. It belongs to no-one.
When it functions effortlessly, there is no duality.

What she’s saying is that when we’re attending to the present moment, we lose the sharp distinction between the self locked in this skin-bag, and the world outside.

When we attend in this way, we feel the world open. And we make friends with our body.

Suddenly we become fully aware of the tenseness in our shoulders, the little bubble of hope in our mind, or the haze of sadness in our heart.  And with this awareness we find that people are friendlier and cats purr louder.

Paying tender regard is simple, but not easy.

We need to stay steady in the face of our changing moods and the stimuli bombarding our senses.

What’s the connection with stress?

When we are stressed, our mind is split.  One part is firmly focused on whatever is pressing in upon us, while the other part is giving minimal attention to whatever tasks need to be done quickly in the meantime.

Let me give you an example.  Imagine that you are late for work and you are rushing around your home in preparation to leave.  If a loved one starts telling you something important about what they are going to do today, how much of your attention is going to be focused on what they are telling you?  Not much, I would think.

When we become present, we stop being preoccupied.  In the space that opens for a moment, we can breathe deeply and listen deeply.  For a moment, stress slips off our shoulders.  And we can learn to have more and more moments of peacefulness in our life.

A student of mine wrote:

Each moment is a new opportunity.  The next one is as fresh and full of promise as the thousand before that you missed, and it is completely empty of any judgment whatsoever.  Nothing is carried over that you take with you.  You don’t have to pass a good-person exam before you enter, it is totally unconditional.  It’s as if it is saying… “Okay, so you missed me the last ten thousand moments, but look!  Here I am again… and again… and again!” And you are welcomed with open arms.

Here’s how to take the miracle medicine:

There is a very simple way to become present.  And the great thing is that the more you practice it, the easier it becomes.  You can try it right now.

Inhale deeply through your nose and exhale slowly through your mouth.  Listen to the sounds around you and feel the ground under your feet.  As soon as you are present, gently touch your thumb and forefinger together on each hand.

This light touch is the trigger that can help you access the present moment, and escape stress.

Whenever you feel stressed, stop for a moment, take one deep breath, and touch your thumbs and forefingers together.

Mary Jaksch is an author, Zen Master, and psychotherapist.  Enjoy reading her posts on Goodlife ZEN and follow her on Twitter.

Photo by: Chris Gin

Pain, resentment, guilt, anger, and fear… all of these feelings bubble up inside of us when we think back on our mistakes or the mistakes of those dear to us.  Sometimes the only healthy way to move forward is to look back at our past and inject forgiveness into our lives.

Some say “forgive and forget.”  Others say “forgive, but never forget.”  No matter which path you choose, the act of forgiving is the first step.  Here are three simple ways to bring more forgiveness into your life.

Forgive Yourself

In general, we tend to be harder on ourselves than we are on others.  If you’ve made mistakes in the past, it’s time to let your spirit heal by forgiving yourself.  We all do things we aren’t proud of.  Understand that you were doing the best you could at the time, with the experiences and knowledge you had accessible to you.

Self-forgiveness tips:

• Pick an area of your life you would like to work on.  It could be failed relationships, family problems, or business mistakes.
• Make a list of all of the people you might have hurt along the way.  This is the toughest part because we tend to bury some of these stressful memories.  So be honest with yourself and take your time.
• After you’ve compiled your list, systematically go through each person on the list.  Think about the situation, validate the circumstances, and forgive yourself for hurting them.   As odd as it may feel, apologize aloud to yourself, “I forgive myself for hurting this person,” and take a deep breath.  Once you’ve completed this practice you’ll instantly feel a slight sense of relief.

Remember, the simple act of acknowledging your mistakes is always half the battle.

Ask for Forgiveness

Once you forgive yourself, it’s also important to clear the air with others.  A face to face apology is always the most effective approach.  Depending on the situation, you might be afraid to ask for forgiveness.  But if you don’t ask, you will never feel the relief of being pardoned for your mistakes.

If you absolutely can’t bring yourself to ask for forgiveness in person, I still recommend writing a letter of forgiveness.  The reason writing a letter works so well is that the process of writing the letter actually assists you in forgiving yourself by reducing pent-up, internal feelings of guilt.  It lets you express your thoughts and process all of the internal drama that has bottled-up in your mind. 

Tips for writing your letter of forgiveness:

• Don’t do it out of spite, or because you think it will elevate you to higher moral ground.  No good ever arises from deception.
• Realize that a letter can’t undo the damage.  A letter of forgiveness might not be enough to change your relationship with the recipient, but it’s a significant step in the right direction.
• Explain your rationale, but don’t make excuses for your behavior.  Own up to your actions and take responsibility.  Offer to fix the situation, or find a way to make it up to the person.
• Make a sincere wish for the well-being of the person you hurt.  After many years of festering emotions, you may have come to hate the act of thinking about this person.  Stop being selfish!  It’s time to be honest and compassionate.

Hopefully, just writing the letter will allow you to move closer to a positive resolution on all fronts.

Forgive Others

If you’ve been hurt in the past, you don’t need to keep suffering.  Whether or not you’ve gotten closure is irrelevant.  You have the ultimate power to clear the air by simply forgiving those who have hurt you.

You should make a list of all of the people who have done something that still troubles you to this day. The list might start out small, but as you unwind your memories you are bound to find more people and incidents than you were previously aware of.

Your mind represses these memories in an effort to preserve your conscious sanity.  The drawback is that you probably haven’t processed these events properly.  So while you aren’t actively thinking about them, they are quietly tugging at your consciousness and robbing you of mental energy.

Tips for forgiving others:

• Close your eyes and picture the person standing in front of you.
• In your mind’s eye, explain to them how you felt then, how you feel now, and what happened during those hurtful times.
• After you’ve stated your views, let them acknowledge your pain.  Watch their reactions and wait for a response.  There’s a good chance they will understand your point of view.
• Then hug them and tell them that you forgive them.  Yes!  Really do this with all of your emotional might, it’s a powerful process!  Release them from your troubled past and let your thoughts come back to the present.

After completing only a few of these processes, you’ll find yourself breathing deeper and interacting differently with these people.  Regardless of whether or not they are still a part of your daily life, you will forever see them in a more positive light… which will ultimately make your future brighter.

Photo by: Kalandrakas

Your health is your life, and your wealth represents the fruits of your labor.  I assume you don’t want to be wasteful with either of them.  Here’s how to save both at the same time:

So many people spend their health gaining wealth,
and then have to spend their wealth to regain their health.
– A.J. Reb Materi

1. Reduce Your Consumption of Drugs – That includes alcohol, cigarettes, over the counter, prescription and otherwise.  Drugs are a huge financial drain, and in most cases, unhealthy for the human body.  A significant portion of the global population abuses the crap out of them on a daily basis, legally and illegally.

2. Learn to Cook and Prepare Healthy Food – People who eat every meal out tend to have lighter wallets and heavier rear ends.  With the exception of pricey, upscale dining establishments, you’ll find that most restaurants use lower-grade ingredients and employ sketchy sanitary practices that fall well below the standards you embrace in your own kitchen.  So when you eat out, you’re either spending more cash or eating low-grade product.  Regardless, you lose.  The ability to cook and prepare healthy meals is a vital skill everyone should know how to do.

3. Brown Bag the Leftovers for Lunch – Always cook enough at dinnertime so you can enjoy lunchtime leftovers the following day.  Leftovers are faster, easier, cheaper and healthier than anything you’ll find at the local fast food eatery.

4. Avoid Overpriced, Unproven Supplements – Most people assume that FDA approved nutritional supplements are proven products.  Wrong!  Do you really think the FDA has enough resources to precisely verify every new dietary supplement proposed to hit the market?  I assure you, they don’t and there is no feasible way they ever will.  Remember, the FDA concentrates its efforts on drugs, not supplements.  Under the active Dietary Supplement and Health Education Act, producers of dietary supplements do not have to verify that their product is effective, safe or at all healthy prior to placing it on store shelves.  Sometimes someone has to become dreadfully ill from a dietary supplement before it even becomes a “blip” on the FDA’s radar. 

5. Drink Filtered Tap Water – I’ve said it before, people go to work and trade priceless hours of their lives for dollars and then waste the dollars buying something that’s already free.  A Brita water filter is an inexpensive investment that makes free tap water as healthy and pure as the bottled water for sale at the local supermarket.  Since a penny saved is a penny earned, you’ll be making money every time you take a sip.  Also, substituting beverages like soda for filtered tap water is another healthy way to save.

6. Stop Driving Like a Maniac – The faster you accelerate your vehicle, the more gas you will burn.  People who are heavy on the pedal use up to 37% more gas during every mile of city driving.  At $4 a gallon, that’s a lot of wasted money.  Also, the faster you drive, the less time you have to react to hazardous road conditions.  Bottom line: Drive responsibly at or below the speed limit.

7. Brew Your Own Coffee – Is coffee perfectly healthy for you?  It’s hard to say for sure.  There is a good deal of medical research to validate both sides of the argument (see here and here).  However, one point remains certain: millions of people across the globe drink coffee every single morning.  Many of them wasting significant amounts of money on fatty, sugar and cream packed coffee beverages from Starbucks-style coffeehouses.  So the real question is: How do you make the coffee drinking habit healthier and less expensive?  The answer is simple.  Brew your own coffee.  If you like, add a dash of low fat milk and a single packet of sugar.  It’s quick, fairly healthy and way cheaper than Starbucks.  We have a Cuisinart Two-to-Go Coffeemaker and absolutely love it.

8. Wear Helmets and Protective Body Gear – How many motorcyclists, bicyclists, skateboarders, etc. do see foolishly blazing around without wearing any form of protective body gear?  It’s your life.  A quality bicycle helmet will cost you $40 and 2 seconds of your time to put it on before you ride.  If you don’t wear one and end up crashing and cracking your head open, it could cost you thousands of dollars in medical bills and take months, if not years, for your body to fully recover.

9. Stay In and Hang Out – Your home is your haven.  It’s the safest, most comfortable environment to relax and socialize in.  It also happens to be a far cheaper alternative to the local bars, pubs and clubs.  You can save money on gas and entertainment costs while avoiding a lungful of secondhand smoke.  So login to eBay, sell some stuff you don’t use, buy yourself a Wii and invite over a few of your favorite people.  Don’t forget to crank-up the tunes.  😉

10. Buy Healthy, Generic Brand Food – When it comes to the bare essentials on your grocery list, generic brands can provide the same food quality at a significantly reduced cost.  U.S. food manufacturers are forced to follow a set of standards which basically guarantees the quality of the food they produce.  Many large-scale grocery chains purchase name brand products directly from the manufacturer and simply slap their own generic brand label on the packaging.  You should always compare the generic brand’s list of ingredients to a name brand product just to make sure everything matches up.  (more…)

So the big question is:  What are some healthy, drug-free ways to stay awake when you must?  Let’s take a look at 17 possibilities.

1. Crank Up the AC – Warm, stuffy environments accelerate mental fatigue.  If you need to stay awake in a lecture hall or meeting room find an open seat under an AC vent.
2. Cold Water – Splash some on your face and the pulse area of your wrists.  Drinking an ice-cold glass of water can also help to wake you up, and if you drink enough of it you’ll be up on your feet using the restroom every 30 minutes as well.
3. Fasting at Mealtime – The human body expends a great deal of energy during the digestion process.  This can create a great deal of fatigue when you are trying to stay awake.  Fasting is a great way to avoid this natural fatigue.  As long as you are drinking enough water, fasting for a meal or two is also a healthy way to detoxify your cells and rejuvenate organs.
4. Light Exercise Breaks – Take a break and take a walk or do a couple jumping jacks to get your blood moving.  Even the slightest bit of exercise can act as a healthy way to energize your mind and body.
5. Chew Sugar-Free Peppermint Gum – It won’t rot your teeth and it will generate just enough physical activity to keep you awake.  Strong peppermint flavors seem to work best for me… there’s just something about that refreshing minty taste.
6. Write – The idea is to keep your mind busy.  If you are attending a lecture or business meeting, write down everything that is said.  If you are simply trying to stay awake, create a detailed to-do list for the week or plan out your perfect weekend getaway.
7. A Good Laugh – Watch a funny video clip or read your favorite comic strip.  A good chuckle will stimulate your mind and help you to stay awake a little while longer.
8. Inspirational and Motivational Material – Sometimes all you need is a little pep talk.  Watch a video clip that inspires you.
9. Music – If it’s not too much of a distraction, listening to fast beat music can be a great way to keep your mind awake.
10. Tickle the Top of Your Mouth Cavity – Obviously, you’ll want to do this with your tongue.  Rub your tongue against the top front area of your mouth cavity.  It feels a little weird, but it does give you a quick, irritating nerve jolt that can actually help to keep you awake.
11. Turn On All the Lights – Darkness promotes sleepiness.  Turn on every light in the room.
12. Hangout with a Friend – It’s so much easier to stay awake when you have someone else to interact with.
13. Play Video Games – First-person shooters, fast paced driving games, or online RPGs like the great World of Warcraft are sure to keep you wide awake.
14. Go Outdoors – Getting some fresh air outdoors is always a good way to rouse your senses.
15. Pull Down on Your Earlobes – This may sound strange, but pulling down on your earlobes can help you stay awake and alert when you’re feeling drowsy.  Just try it.
16. Nutritious Low Carb Snacks – Low carb fruits such as raspberries, apples, oranges, and grapefruits are great energy boosters.  Heaping scoops of spicy salsa on a few small crackers is another goodie.  Stay away from meats, breads and dairy products.
17. Get Enough Sleep When You Can – This one should be obvious.  The best way to stay awake is to be well rested.  If you get enough sleep on a regular basis it will be much easier for you to stay awake or pull an all-nighter when you absolutely must.

Check out these books for more natural ways to stay awake:

• 365 Energy Boosters
• The 150 Most Effective Ways to Boost Your Energy
• The Secrets High-Energy People Use to Beat Emotional Fatigue

In a heated argument we are apt to lose sight of the truth.
– Publilius Syrus

Emotional People Think via Known Scripts

When people become inundated with a rush of emotion, they tend to fall back on predetermined personal beliefs as a foundation for their reasoning.  Some physiologists and cognition experts refer to these predetermined personal beliefs as “scripts”.  Someone consumed in an emotional state will think and communicate in a scripted fashion based entirely on what they presently believe to be true, instead of keeping their mind open to new information.

Break the Script to Ease Emotions

How do you ease emotions and restore order in a heated discussion so that the focus of communication realigns with the original intended purpose?  The key is to ask a specific question that forces the emotional communicators to break out of their emotionally scripted thought process.  I call this “The Break Script Technique”.  If you can break their script, they will typically become cognizant of the current communication problem.

Questions with Known Answers Work Best

To successfully implement “The Break Script Technique”, you have to ask a simple, familiar, off-topic question.  Your question should be so common that most people, including the emotional communicators, have a reflexive, scripted way of answering it.  You are essentially breaking them out of one script by substituting it for another script they are familiar and comfortable with.

Here are a few example questions that can assist in breaking the emotional script:

• “Sorry to interrupt, but do you know the time?”
• “How are you doing?” (or some variation… may be a bit odd in the middle of a conversation.)
• “What time do you usually break for lunch?”

Although off-topic, these questions will not seem unreasonable or inconvenient to the emotional communicators because they already know the answers to each.  The goal is to interrupt their train of thought just long enough to make them aware of their emotional state.

“The Break Script Technique” is not applicable in all situations, especially when untamed emotions have turned a civil discussion into a full-fledged argument.  However, if used correctly in the context of a fairly civil discussion, I have found this simple technique to be extremely effective.

Lose an hour in the morning, and you will be all day hunting for it.
-Richard Whately

1. Create an Evening Preparation Routine – An evening routine in preparation for the morning, that is.  Iron your clothes, prepare your lunch, locate your keys, plan a nutritious breakfast, etc.  These simple tasks will take you less than 30 minutes to complete each evening and will save you a huge headache every morning.
2. Plan a Realistic Day – Write a short “Must Do Today” list every evening for the following day.  Never fill your mind with unnecessary worries in the excess of this list.  Write down anything that cannot be pushed off to the following day.  Avoid the tendency to overpopulate this list, and thus your schedule, with unrealistic goals.
3. Eliminate Known Aggravations – If your alarm clock makes a horribly annoying sound, the electric razor burns your skin, and your car’s windshield wipers are faulty… fix the problems and eliminate the stress factors permanently from your life.  There is absolutely no reason to deal with habitual aggravations that can easily be resolved with a little time and money.
4. Get a Good Night’s Sleep – Make sure you start winding down for bed at a reasonable hour to allow enough time for a healthy night’s sleep.  Most people require between 7 and 8 hours each night.  If needed, set a bedtime reminder alarm on your alarm clock.  Always keep the temperature in your bedroom comfortably cool.  Studies from the National Sleep Foundation suggest the ideal temperature for sleeping is somewhere between 54 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit.  Also, go easy on afternoon caffeine intake.  When caffeine is consumed late in the day the quality of your sleep usually suffers.  
5. Wake Up 30 Minutes Earlier – An extra 30 minutes in the morning is the difference between peaceful harmony and rapid-fire pandemonium.  As long as you get to bed on time, waking up 30 minutes earlier should seem natural after just a few days.  Use this time to think, stretch, shower, eat breakfast, and account for any unanticipated bumps in your morning routine.
6. Drink a Glass of Water First Thing – Water makes up between 60% – 70% of your body composition.  It is absolutely vital to stay properly hydrated.  Even mild dehydration can cause your blood to thicken.  This forces your heart to work double-time in order to push the necessary blood to your organs, which will result in noticeable mental fatigue.  Also, a hydrated body is more efficient at dispersing energy-building nutrients to all its extremities.  Since the average human body becomes slightly dehydrated over the course of a long sleep, you should drink a tall glass of water first thing when you wake up.
7. Do a Light 10 Minute Stretching Workout – Do you feel a little groggy when you first wake up?  This is completely normal.  All you need to do is get your blood flowing, which will assist your body in transitioning between the sleeping and awake states.  Once you do, you’ll feel great.  Place a matt or towel on a carpeted floor.  Lie on your back and stretch your arms as far as you can in one direction while stretching your toes out in the opposite direction.  Then stand up and do some knee raises and toe touches.  If you are feeling up to it, add in a few sit-ups and push-ups.
8. Listen to Music and Take a Hot Shower – Music injects positive, motivational influence into your mind.  You should listen to music that makes you happy every morning while you progress through your routine.  Also, a hot shower can be one of the most soothing experiences early in the morning.  The fresh, revitalized feeling you have stepping out of the shower will spill over as positivity into your first few tasks of the day.
9. Keep a Clean, Organized Living Space – Create order in your life and living space.  Organize your home so that you always know exactly where your belongings are.  Then, consciously put your belongings away in their proper place each time you use them.  Doing so will eliminate the unproductive, stress filled moments of searching for something you’ve misplaced.
10. Never Drive Home with an Empty Gas Tank – Filling up a car’s gas tank is so darn easy, but it does take a few minutes of your time.  Why then, do so many people procrastinate on filling up their cars with gas until the busy mornings when they can’t spare any time without being late?  Never do this!  Check your gas tank level on the way home.  If it’s getting low, pull into a gas station and fill it up immediately.
11. Schedule Something You Love Daily – Getting up to face a new day is far more satisfying when you have something to look forward to.  Life is short.  Make sure you manage your time effectively so that you have time to engage in something you love on a daily basis.

There will always be exceptions, but faithfully following the steps above should help you conquer most of your mornings with reduced stress and a lot more grace.

Kids: they dance before they learn there is anything that isn’t music.
– William Stafford

Here are 20 practical life lessons kids can teach us:

(more…)

Editor’s note:  This is a guest post from freelance writer Heather Johnson. 

If you are starting to feel your age it might be because your memory is slipping at the most inopportune times.  Or, maybe you already have a decent memory and would just like to improve it so you can beat your buddies at Trivial Pursuit.  Think of your mind as a series of disorganized file cabinets.  The information is already there.  If you follow the 10 steps below, you can access any file you want at a much quicker pace.

1. Read a Book Every Week – In order to keep your mind active you need to always be learning.  No, you don’t need to settle in with some Carl Sagan and a thesaurus every night.  Believe it or not, even some light “beach reading” will get your neurons firing more rapidly than whatever you have saved on your DVR.
2. Streamline Your Daily Tasks – Multitasking to the point of exhaustion is a memory killer.  Hone your ability to delegate tasks that are cluttering your work life and/or home life.  If you can get away with a little procrastination by pushing the less important tasks back, that will work also.  Over scheduling your life will induce major brain drain.
3. Find a Quiet Spot – If you would like to study, read, balance the checkbook, etc. you need to have a quiet spot where you can concentrate and soak up as much information as possible.   Just like multi-tasking, a loud and distracting environment will tire your brain.
4. Sleep Eight Hours Every Night – Uninterrupted sleep may be an impossibility for surgeons or parents of small children, but you really should aim for those eight hours each night.  Many of us have the opportunity to get a full night’s rest, yet opt to watch some television or catch up with something else.  You absolutely cannot sacrifice sleep and expect to have a good memory the next day.
5. Tap Into Your Creativity – If you’re not exercising your creativity there are areas of your brain that go wasted every day.  Take up a creative hobby or, at the very least, pick up a pencil on occasion and doodle.
6. Start a Journal or Blog – This might sound like a chore, but you don’t have to write a journal or blog entry every day.  Write when the mood strikes or when you actually have something interesting to say.  Documenting your life is one of the best ways to preserve your memory.
7. Take a Daily Multivitamin – Make sure you take the best vitamin for your gender and age.  Even if you can’t eat like a health nut all the time, at least you’ll get most of your necessary vitamins with the help of a supplement.
8. Drink Plenty of Water – Water does wonders for your mind and body.  Most people don’t realize that they walk around slightly dehydrated all the time.  Dehydration can be the source of a lot of problems.
9. Keep Your Home Tidy – Maybe you don’t subscribe to Feng Shui, but disorganized people often have a worse memory than those who keep their house clean.  An organized environment encourages clear thinking.
10. Don’t Smoke – If you do smoke, you now have one more reason to put those cigarettes down.  Studies have shown an increase in memory loss amongst regular smokers. 

At the very least, these 10 steps should help you attain and maintain a more healthy memory.

About the author:  Heather Johnson is a freelance business, finance and economics writer, as well as a regular contributor at Business Credit Cards, a site for tracking the best business credit card offers.  Heather welcomes comments and freelancing job inquiries at her email address heatherjohnson2323@gmail.com.

From magical calorie burning pills to fat melting vaccinations, dieters are loosing everything but the fat.  So the next time you’re tempted by the latest and greatest weight loss craze, ponder these 5 reasons why it’s almost certainly far from great.

1. Scientifically Proven Does Not Mean Practically Applied – Just because some doctor endorsed a weight loss product does not mean it works.  Who is this doctor anyway?  Is he a PhD of medicine or a PhD in marketing?  Is he actually a real doctor or does he just play a doctor on television?  How was the product proven and what scientific standards were used in the testing baseline?  Don’t believe the photos either.  Have you ever wondered if the “Before” and “After” photos were taken in the opposite order?
2. Most Promotional Weight Loss Ads are Complete BS – A few years ago the Federal Trade Commission released data on an analysis they performed involving 300 weight loss related advertisements.  “The analysis showed that nearly 40% of the advertisements collected contained at least one representation that was almost certainly false” and another 15% that was likely to be false or imprecise.
3. FDA Approved Does Not Mean Safe or Effective – Do you really think the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has sufficient resources to accurately evaluate every dietary product proposed to hit the market?  They don’t, and there is no feasible way they ever will.  A considerable percentage of the weight loss products on the market are classified as dietary supplements.  Under the active Dietary Supplement and Health Education Act of 1994 producers of dietary supplements do not have to verify that their product is effective, safe or at all healthy prior to placing it on store shelves.  Sometimes somebody has to become very ill from a dietary supplement before it even becomes a “blip” on the FDA’s radar.
4. “Too Good to Be True” Means “Stay Fat and Become Broke” – The old rule “if it sounds too good to be true, it is too good to be true” is 100% applicable to all weight loss products and dietary supplements.  Remember, your body is an organic machine that operates by an intrinsic set of laws.  There is no possible way to alter these laws without experiencing extremely unmistakable and counterproductive side effects.  Most quick fix weight loss products do nothing more than soak up your cash and leave you stranded with more health problems than when you started taking them.
5. You Don’t Need a Product, You Need a Lifestyle Change – Even when a truly safe weight loss product is invented it only provides a temporary fix to an enduring lifestyle dilemma.  Over the last two decades thousands of new, trendy weight loss and dieting products have cycled in and out at your local health food store.  If any of them really worked as promised, the cycle would have ended years ago and the health food stores would be a lot smaller.  The truth is none of these products will ever work as promised because, with or without a product, a healthy lifestyle change is required to create and maintain a healthy, lean body.  If you do not eat nutritious food in moderation, exercise regularly and get enough sleep you will never lose weight and your body will never be healthy.

1. Travel to See the Significant People in Your Life – There may be no better way to spend your money than to use it to nurture and rekindle personal relationships with the most significant people in your life.  As time quickly passes, we sometimes forget how essential strong personal relationships are to our mental wellbeing.  The older we get the more we need true friends and family to be regular parts of our lives.
2. Hire a Personal Trainer – Your health is your life. Without it, all the success and affluence in the world is meaningless.  Committing yourself to a regular exercise routine is one of the best ways to maintain the health of your body and mind.  Sometimes it’s hard to tackle this endeavor on your own.  Spending money on a knowledgeable personal trainer who can set you on the right course creates priceless results.  Make sure you stick with the trainer until you are committed to exercising on your own.
3. Fix What Is Broken – Have you been ignoring your screeching brakes?  What about the excessively loud hum from your AC compressor?  Or the scratching noise coming from your computer system?  Sooner or later these small annoyances will wear down the reliability of the product and you will be left with a completely broken product instead of just a halfway broken one.  Use your money wisely to fix and maintain your belongings.
4. Educate Yourself – Use your money to purchase educational courses or books pertaining to your career, or to a miscellaneous topic that interests and intrigues you.  Remember, knowledge is power and your brain is the container of that knowledge.  There are few options for spending money on something more practical than the development and facility of your brain.
5. Add Value to Your Home – Your home should be your sanctuary, the place on this planet where you feel the most comfortable.  Adding value to your home, be it personal value or increased monetary value, is always a practical choice for spending your money.  If the additions you make increase your level of comfort for years to come, you win.  If they increase the value of the home to a third party someday when you sell, you win.  If both occur, you win big.
6. Take a Healthy, Relaxing Vacation – A vacation revitalizes your mind by pulling you away from the daily stress factors in your life.  It can spark creative thought by stimulating your brain with new material.  And finally, a vacation allows you to be yourself without the external influences present in your typical surroundings.  Does that sound like something worth spending money on?  It should.
7. Upgrade Something You Use Regularly – There is nothing wrong with splurging on a practical item that you actually use on a regular basis.  If you are a hardcore movie buff that loves to watch movies on Saturday nights with your family and friends, having a 65 inch HDTV and a Blue-ray player makes sense.  If you love computer games, purchasing a powerhouse laptop gaming rig makes sense.  The idea is to never waste money on stuff you don’t use.  Spending money on upgrading your hobbies is one of the reasons you work so hard in the first place.
8. Buy Meaningful Gifts for Key People in Your Life – One of the most rewarding acts in life is the act of giving; especially to those key people you truly care about the most.  Spend a little money every now and then on a sensible gift for some of the key people in your life.  Surprise them.  It doesn’t have to be their birthday or a holiday.  Remember, there is no better gift than an unexpected gift.  You will make them feel special.  For instance, my buddy Donny brought me back a cool souvenir from Amsterdam a few months back and it just made me feel good.
9. Update Your Wardrobe – You don’t have to waste money on the latest overpriced fashion line to look good.  However, if you are still wearing the same ratty shirts, slacks and shoes from 5 years ago, it might be time to go shopping.  While appearance isn’t everything, it can make you look older, smarter and more emotionally mature.  First impressions for job interviews, dates, and the like are heavily weighted on the way you look.  Sometimes it is practical to dress to impress.
10. Buy Healthier Food – “You are what you eat.”  There is a great deal of truth in that statement.  It is impossible to maintain a healthy body and mind if you pump your body full of junk food.  Fresh, healthy food is usually more expensive, but this is an expense with priceless benefits to the longevity and wellbeing of your future.  Eating healthy goes right along with bullet number 2 about hiring a personal trainer.  Your health is your life.
11. Pay Down Debt – This one is a no brainer, so I just couldn’t bring myself to leave it off the list.  If you have a great deal of high interest debt it would be foolish not to pay it down before you go off and splurge on additional purchases.  There is nothing less practical than being a slave to your debts.

While I don’t doubt the legitimacy in some of the suggested methods I’ve read, I don’t really think that they hold the key to long term exercise motivation and commitment.  A regular exercise routine can be extremely redundant.  The redundancy will eventually bore the average person out of their right mind.  So even tough joining a gym, finding a workout buddy, and documenting fitness goals is a good start, it won’t exactly keep a person motivated 6 months down the road.  In time, most people will start thinking hard about all the enjoyable things they would rather be doing instead… at which point the battle is lost.

So, what’s the key to long term exercise motivation?  There are actually 2 keys, 2 very simple keys, music and variance.  Motivation is usually driven by the desire to accomplish something, but it is kept intact on a moment to moment basis by continuously stimulating the mind.  If the mind isn’t stimulated, it will rapidly lose desire for the original goal.   In order to create a desire for exercise, you have to stimulate your mind by making exercise an enjoyable and adventurous experience, which is exactly what music and variance add to a long term exercise routine.

• Music – Music makes us think, it gets us going, and it sets our stream of consciousness on a positive course.  Both fast beat and slow beat music have the same stimulating effect on the mind, so alternate between the two while you exercise.  Also, discovering new music that you like is one of the most rewarding experiences.  Once you overplay all your favorite artists, start plugging their names into the various Web 2.0 music recommendation sites.  These sites will assist you in discovering new bands and artists based on similarities to music you already like.  Use your exercise time to rediscover your favorite artists, discover new ones, and build a massive collection of music that you will enjoy for the rest of your life.  It won’t be long before you realize that music makes exercise fun.
• Variance – No matter how wonderful an activity is at first, if it is performed in repetition over the course of several weeks it will ultimately become a dreadfully boring experience.  Keep things fresh!  Do a variety of different exercises each week.  Your gym has numerous exercise machines, free weights, and pieces of cardio equipment.  Ask a trainer for help if you need to, or just be adventurous and figure it out for yourself.  Watch other people and learn.  Just make sure you always start off with very light weight or speed settings when you are unfamiliar with an exercise.  Once you have all the exercises down, start randomly alternating through them on a weekly basis.  Do 3 or 4 sets of 3 or 4 exercises 3 or 4 times a week.  Never do the same exact exercises in the same exact order 2 weeks in a row.