5 Ways Optimism Improves Your Life

Researchers have found that individuals who maintain a positive attitude during intense surgeries and after, usually have a shorter recovery period. People who work in high stress environments find their inner peace and balance by focusing on the positives of their job. The act of meditation focuses on finding gratitude in your hardest struggles even in the midst of the paralyzing challenges.

 

Out of the three scenarios, learning how to develop an optimistic attitude was the common factor. In fact, people who strive to look for the “silver lining” usually rise above their challenges with triumph and victory. 

 

While it’s easy to say, “Focus on the positive, and you’ll be happier” putting it into practice is quite difficult. It may even seem insurmountable when you face certain challenges. However, trying to find the positive, in whatever you’re going through, will save you a lot of stress. You may even find a useful solution to the problem you’re facing.

 

Since remaining optimistic during tough times is challenging, it’s important to consider a few tips and tricks that’ll reshape the way you think. Let’s go over five valuable tips that’ll help you maintain a positive attitude. 

 

1.     Remove Yourself From Toxic People 

 

If you’re trying to elevate your mentality and remain positive, you have to remove yourself from negative people. It’s almost like trying to grow an orchid in a dry environment. It simply won’t flourish. When people drain you of your energy, constantly criticize or put you down, it’s time to let them go. Walking away from unhealthy relationships is the first step towards loving yourself and maintaining your optimistic outlook. 

 

2. Practice Speaking Kind Words

 

It’s easy to get in the habit of negative communication. Whether it’s complaining about your morning commute or not getting enough praise on your job, you can find yourself complaining about everything. This negative attitude can transcend into every aspect of your life. Soon, you’ll find yourself having a negative disposition. Practice speaking kind words about yourself and what’s around you. The old saying, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say it” will definitely come in handy.

 

3. Learn to Love Yourself

 

Having a negative outlook stems from not being fully confident in yourself. In order to find the positive in your life, start with what’s amazing about yourself. Practice daily affirmations so you can remind yourself how awesome you are. Get in the habit of regular self-care and stick to it. This will help you change your outlook towards whatever situation presents itself. 

 

4. Make Progressive Changes

 

If you’re finding it hard to stay positive in your current situation, perhaps make changes to get out of it. If you dislike your job, make the effort necessary towards finding a new one. If you’re feeling unhealthy, make nutritious changes so you can live your best life. Sometimes a little effort is all you need to change your current perspective. 

 

5. Give to Others

 

They say there is more happiness in giving than there is in receiving. When you give of yourself to others, you’re no longer focusing on your own issues. You’re exposing yourself to those who are less fortunate and making their moment better. If you find yourself constantly in a negative space, volunteer at a homeless shelter. If it’s in your means, donate to a local animal charity. This will give you a broader perspective and help you develop an overall positive attitude. 

 

Shifting your focus from negative to positive is not an overnight fix. It takes a lot of self-improvement and effort to really see changes. Keep working towards changing your perspective and you’ll be on your way to living a happy life. 

 

5 Constructive Ways to Deal With Problems

 

They say the makings of a great movie will make you laugh, cry and feel in love all at once. Psychologists call that blended emotional events. It occurs when you feel a plethora of emotions within a short amount of time. 

 

While those emotions make for a cinematic masterpiece, dealing with fleeting emotions on a regular basis can be overwhelming. Especially when you don’t have positive ways to manage them. 

 

Many individuals who face drug and alcohol addiction blame their state on not being able to cope with their problems. Instead of releasing their frustrations in positive ways, they felt engaging in those activities would help solve their issues. Unfortunately, millions of individuals lose their lives due to these unwise coping strategies.

 

Other negative coping strategies aren’t as evasive. Some may include passive-aggressiveness, laziness or avoidance. Individuals who don’t know how to express themselves may find it difficult making lasting relationships with others. This makes for a lonely existence that could result in anxiety and depression.

 

Repressing your emotions, whether good or bad, comes with inner challenges. Often times, this can impact your daily routine. Instead of allowing your emotions to overwhelm you it’s wise to develop positive coping strategies that’ll help you endure. This will help you avoid potentially dangerous activities that could put you or others in danger.

 

If you find yourself dealing with problems and you need constructive ways to manage them, consider these five tips that’ll help you effectively deal with your biggest challenges.

 

1.     Talk to a Trusted Friend

 

Sometimes, the best therapy is releasing your emotions through communication. A good friend, with your best interests at heart, can be the rock you need during harsh times. Confide in someone you trust to alleviate stress and receive suggestions. Sometimes, others have experienced the same trials and can offer reliable information that can help you. 

 

2.     Get a Hobby

 

There’s nothing more satisfying than creating something new in the face of challenges. If you’re experiencing problems, it’s wise to spend your time doing something productive. This gives you a sense of purpose without dwelling on your issues. Such hobbies include art, sports or cooking. Sometimes the act of engaging in an activity is therapy in itself. 

 

3.     Seek Professional Help

 

Sometimes certain problems are so overwhelming, they need the guidance of a trained professional. Never be afraid to seek help for your toughest challenges. A trained counselor or therapist will never judge or reveal what you share with them. They’ll be able to offer constructive advice that you can implement into your daily life. 

 

4.     Meditate

 

Although it may seem counterproductive to do nothing in the face of distress, often times this gives you the clarity you need. Meditation encourages you to allow thoughts and emotions to come without judgment. 

 

This gives you a clear mindset to effectively deal with challenges. After your mind is clear, you’re able to take control of your problem and develop a positive solution. Some also find journaling after meditation to be a great way to develop positive coping strategies and solutions. 

 

5.     Exercise

 

Engaging in regular exercise is scientifically proven to release problem solving endorphins. You’re releasing energy that would ordinarily be used worrying and converting it into something productive. 

 

If you’re dealing with minor to major issues, consider increasing your exercise routine to provide your mind with some much-needed clarity. 

 

We’ll all face mild to severe problems at one point or another. Instead of turning to destructive coping strategies, it’s wise to engage in something positive. This will help you effectively deal with your problems in a constructive manner. 

Meal Planning: Weight Loss For One

Eating unhealthy food can often be a sin of convenience. It’s something that we are tempted to do on a busy day when the drive through is faster than healthier options. It’s something that we are tempted to do when frozen meals are so much easier than cooking from scratch, especially if you live alone. 

 

This is very unfortunate, however, as cooking from scratch always has the potential to be much healthier than eating out or eating out of a box. This article will talk about how you can plan your meals ahead to get the most nutritious meals in the least amount of time by preparing your meals ahead of time so they’re there when you need them.

 

Quick, Hot Breakfasts

 

Breakfast is one of the hardest meals to make ahead of time, especially if you are watching your carbs. This is because carbs store and keep the best. For example, milk and cereal is a classic, quick breakfast. With the right cereal, it can be very filling and very nutritious, but it’s also going to be high in carbs. The same to be said for pancakes. 

 

You can get the dry mix in a box, but it has a lot more ingredients than a pancake really needs. To make your own dry pancake mix to be ready in a hurry, all you really need is one half-tablespoon for every cup of flour. Then just pour out what you need, add milk and a dash of vanilla, and pour into a buttered pan. With jelly or yogurt on top instead of syrup, this can be another filling and nutritious meal, though it still has carbs.

 

To plan breakfast without the carbs, make a deconstructed omelet and put it together in the morning. Scramble eggs with a splash of milk in a small covered bowl, and leave it in the fridge. Chop or grate all of the cheese, vegetables, and optional additional proteins, and leave them in the fridge. In the morning, dump the eggs into a buttered, heated pan. 

 

When they stop looking wet, add the cheese and other ingredients. Once the cheese has melted, fold the eggs over. Doing all of the steps at once can take up the whole morning, but planning ahead gives you a delicious and nutritious, high-protein, low-carb breakfast in minutes.

 

Lunch To-Go

 

Lunch is easier to plan for. It’s not hard to make a sandwich and chop some fruit in a container at night to grab out of the fridge for lunch the next day. 

 

If you aren’t watching your carbs, a well-built sandwich can have all of the nutrients of a salad, but it’s easier to take with you on the go. If you are watching carbs, ditch the bread and bulk up your salad with extra leafy greens, like lettuce, and extra protein like grilled chicken and hardboiled eggs. A well-made salad can be filling, tasty, nutritious, and entirely carb-free, but it won’t travel as well as a sandwich.

 

Dinners For Days

 

Dinner can be harder to plan for, but there are more opportunities if you do. Meal planning for dinners often involves making bulk meals as though you were preparing food for a large number of people. You then take out one serving and freeze the reset for future consumption.

 

This can be done easily enough with meat by preparing different cuts of, say, chicken, fish, or steak, from a larger piece of meat and preserving the rest. 

 

While this can seem expensive at first because larger pieces of meat are more expensive than smaller pieces of meat, if you look at the cost by weight it is very often cheaper in the whole to buy larger pieces and portion them yourself. Once you have a healthy protein, all you need to finish off your meal is a good salad.

 

Soups are another popular meal planning dish. By making a large serving of soup and portioning it out, you can be sure to have quick and healthy dinners for days to come. Because soup keeps longer in the freezer than other foods, by making new batches of soup before your frozen old batches run out you can give yourself variety. Frozen soups also make good to-go lunches that can be heated up in a microwave.

 

Soups have another meal planning benefit, namely that they can be prepared in crockpot. By putting all of the ingredients in and turning the crockpot on, you can save valuable time by cooking your soups over night or while you are at work.

 

Hopefully, this article has inspired you to try meal planning in order to quickly and easily set yourself up with healthier, home-cooked menu options with all of the convenience of frozen dinners and take-out.

 

Losing weight this way still involves being careful with what ingredients you use, but it is still the best way to balance a balanced diet with a busy schedule.

How To Improve Your Public Speaking Skills

Speaking in public brings everyone the heebie jeebies. Nearly 75% of people suffer from speech anxiety, or glossophobia. It’s nerve-wracking, sweat-breaking, butterflies-in-the-stomach kind of panic. And it doesn’t necessarily have to be in front of an audience of a hundred people; it could be that you’re pitching an idea to three or four of your colleagues at a team meeting at work.

 

The reason public speaking terrifies us all is that we worry about what people will think of us which makes our brains freeze in panic. Panic, in turn, shuts off the rational part of our brain (the frontal lobe) responsible for our thinking, organizing and planning, and word production. Then chaos ensues.

 

But glossophobia can be conquered. Public speaking doesn’t have to be frightening. It could actually be a lot fun where you take part in a wonderful experience, meet new people and learn new things. To make sure you - and your listeners - enjoy your next public speaking event, try these simple tips.

 

1.     Know your audience

 

Before preparing your speech, there are 2 things you have to know: what you’ll be talking about and who your audience is. The first one goes without saying. It’s the second one that needs a bit of research. You know to need to find out the following about who’s going to be listening to what you have to say:

 

• number of attendees
• level of expertise
• age range

 

Once you know this, you can modify your speech accordingly. You’ll appear friendly and relaxed which is a sure way to reduce your apprehension and make your speech a success. You’re giving them a reason to listen to you by providing information they want and need.

 

2.     Prepare, prepare, prepare

 

Make your material most effective by using anecdotes, humor and a personal touch. Start with an attention-grabbing introduction and end with a compelling finish. Refrain from reading too much because it limits eye contact which is crucial if you want to keep your audience engaged and focused on your message. A good idea would be to draw up an outline or cue cards you can quickly look at to jog your memory and bring you back on track.

 

While it’s important to be thoroughly prepared, it’s also a great tactic to pay attention to your audience and gauge their reactions to your speech and adapt accordingly. Having that flexibility in your demeanor means your positive energy and enthusiasm will flow through to your audience and help them enjoy your topic.

 

3.     Use audiovisuals wisely

 

While they may seem like a nice touch, they can also break your audience’s attention. Choose your audiovisuals so they serve a direct purpose, like clarifying your message and maintaining your audience’s attention.

 

4.     Change your outlook

 

Instead of going out in front of everyone worrying about how you’ll do and how they’ll react in a negative light, think of it as being given a chance to talk about something you enjoy. Also, get comfortable with being quiet in front of a group of people. 

 

You don’t have to talk the entire time; you get a few seconds here and there to look out at your audience, catch your breath and gauge their reactions. Use the silence to add to your speech, not take away from it.

 

5.     Be confident in your own skin

 

First off, as much as we hate to admit it, your appearance is what you’ll be judged on in those first few seconds. So, choose an outfit that makes you feel confident and self-assured. You can also get your hair done and a manicure to boost your confidence level because when you like what you see, you’ll feel great and that will trickle down to your listeners. 

 

Once your speech start, there are things like smiling, eye-contact, relaxed body language, a powerful, friendly voice, that keep up that confidence level and keep your audience wanting to hear you until the end.

 

No one in the audience expects perfection. Just putting in the time to practice and go over your speech goes a long way in terms of calming your nerves, boosting your presentation skills and bolstering your confidence.

 

Top 10 Uses for Essential Oils

There are many uses for essential oils that can greatly benefit your health. We’ve narrowed it down to the top 10 uses for essential oils. 

 

If you’re new to using essential oils, you might want to do some research before you dive in. There are many different ways to get the health benefits out of essential oils and some methods work better than others.

 

1)    Ease Anxiety

 

There are many essential oils that can help to treat anxiety disorders and even soothe anxiety as it crops up. The two most useful methods for these benefits are infusing a bubble bath with a few drops of an essential oil like lavender or diffusing them into a small room, breathing deeply.

 

2)    Treat Migraines 

 

Essential oils can be used to treat migraines, relieving the harsh pain that plagues migraine sufferers frequently. Peppermint oil, lavender oil, and a few others can all help to relieve stubborn migraine pain.

 

3)    Treat Inflammation

 

Some essential oils work great to ease and minimize inflammation. Typically, it works best when applied via a topical ointment or lotion to the inflamed area. This can help to minimize and ease inflammation, which might also result in less pain.

 

4)    Treat Insomnia

 

Like a soothing glass of warm milk, certain essential oils can help to induce or encourage sleep, helping those struggling with insomnia. The best method to reap these benefits is by diffusing the oils and breathing in deeply, allowing the aromatherapy to do its thing.

 

5)    Lessen Stress

 

Essential oils can help to lessen the effects of stress. By breathing the oils in deeply through the practice of aromatherapy, you’re absorbing them quickly, letting the relaxing effect soothe away your stress.

 

6)    Ease Joint Pain

 

Many essential oils can provide relief from pain when applied topically to the join with an infused ointment or lotion. This is a good natural alternative to the harsh pain medications those with chronic joint pain typically rely on.

 

7)    Treat Arthritis Pain

 

Arthritis is a huge problem for many people and treating the pain without narcotics is rare. Essential oils applied topically to the affected area can provide relief from arthritis pain naturally, without the need for narcotics. This will help to ease the pain and decrease the inflammation.

 

8)    Improve Focus

 

Some essential oils help to improve your focus. The best way to get the most benefit out of these essential oils is to breathe deeply while diffusing them. For the best results, do this while doing the task you’re trying to focus better on.

 

9)    Treat Skin Irritation

 

Many essential oils will treat a range of skin conditions, from acne to irritation and dryness. By applying them topically to the affected areas, you can reduce irritation and inflammation, decrease acne, and even stop itching on dry or irritated skin.

 

10) Improved Immune Health

 

You can use many essential oils to promote your immune system health. Applied topically, absorbed through aromatherapy practices, or consumed in a beverage or food, essential oils can help ensure your immune system is functioning at its best. 

 

There are many uses for essential oils to help improve your life, mood, health, sleep, etc. Essential oils are a natural, affordable, and effective alternative to many harsh drugs that most people rely on as the sole treatments for these conditions. 

 

If you’re new to essential oils, we recommend you research them fully before getting started. There are proper ways to go about getting the most out of your essential oils. Certain benefits will be more pronounced and effective when accessed a specific way such as diffusing, ingesting, or topically. 

 

5 Key Reasons You Should Start Meditating Today

Meditating has become increasingly popular in recent years and for good reason! This relaxing practice helps you to get in touch with your inner self and find your focus to help you develop a sense of balance in your life. 

 

Read on to see the key reasons you should try meditation today.

 

1)    It helps you to relax

 

One of the most obvious benefits of meditating is relaxation. Meditation forces you to quiet your mind, forget your stress, and truly be present in the moment. This helps to encourage relaxation.

 

The less you focus on what’s going to happen in the future, what happened in the past, and/or your stress and the more you focus on your meditation practices, the calmer you’ll feel. 

 

Meditation has been used for centuries to reduce stress and stimulate relaxation. It works so well as a relaxer that it has even been known to slow heart rates.

 

2)    It helps improve and encourage self-reflection and awareness

 

Being self-aware is a crucial quality to success, humility, and being an overall good person. Meditation encourages you to reflect inwardly and focus on your inner-self. This encourages you to reflect on your actions and yourself as a person. 

 

This act will help to improve your self-awareness, which is a highly sought-after trait. Self-awareness allows you to correct any errors you make or fix character flaws you may have. It helps you to be a better employee, boss, friend, and an all-around better person.

 

3)    Meditation can improve your focus

 

Meditation can improve your focus because it forces you to practice it each and every time you meditate. True meditation requires great focus and control; it forces you to spend a designated amount of time in the absolute present in self-reflection and true focus.

 

Improving your focus can also help to improve your productivity, which will make you a better employee. You’ll be able to focus on your work better, completing it more accurately and more quickly. 

 

4)    It can help you find your balance

 

The more you meditate, the better balance you can achieve in your life. This time dedicated to self-reflection allows you to reach a level of understanding and awareness that helps you to be a better and more understanding person.

 

This balance helps you to be a better person because it enables you to be more aware of a problem or flaw in your character that you need to address. Meditation can help you reach a balance of self-awareness, self-respect, humility, confidence, and peace/relaxation.

 

5)    It can help you be mindful of those around you

 

Because meditation can help you improve your self-awareness and observance, it can also help you be more aware of those around you and their feelings. You'll start to notice when your friends feel uncomfortable or are in pain.

 

You'll become better at reading the general mood and energy of the room. You'll be better able to adjust yourself to match that level and better accommodate those around you.

 

Meditation has become increasingly popular in recent years. More and more people are catching on to its healing properties. It can help you to relax, refocus your mind, get in touch with your inner-self, and find your balance. 

 

The more you meditate, the more in tune with yourself and your body you will feel. This will help you to better understand yourself and others around you. It will boost your awareness and help you to be more aware of those around you. Most importantly, it will help you more quickly realize when something is off or wrong.