Wednesday 26 January 2022

Improve Memory For Goals


Many scientific experts will tell you that we just do not have the ability to recall facts, images or events perfectly as if we had a photographic memory. Unfortunately, although people may say that they do have a photographic memory; this simply isn’t true, as it does not exist. It’s good to know that improving memory helps with goals.

 

But do not worry as through this book we will show you the steps that you can take to help improve your memory. In fact, with a little time and a lot of practice, many people are able to gain the ability to memorize what seems to be an impossible amount of data and information. 

 

Even if you just want to remember where you actually left your keys from the night before, then this book should help you. 

 

You know that in order to gain muscular strength you need to exercise, well the same goes for actually increasing your ability to remember things. Your brain needs exercise, as well as being nurtured. So, your diet needs to be good, and you need to look at taking up much healthier habits. 

 

Unfortunately, because our brains are so complex, they need a lot of effort in order to get them in the best shape possible. There are a number of things that you can look at doing which will help you improve the capacity of the retrieval mechanism in your brain. But first, let us take a look at how it is we remember things. 

 

To put it in simple terms, our memory is the activity carried out in our brain to recall information that we have gained through experiences in our lives. However, it is a complex process which involves various parts of the brain, and serves us all in very different ways. It can either be short term or long term and can help with goals. So improve your memory today.



Setting Goals on Your Education


To a very large extent, setting educational goals is an easy task. The daunting task lies on sticking to the goals that you have so set. It is important to set goals that are attainable. Goals that you can live up to once that lead you to a solid future.

 

The first step of setting educational goals is to be specific. You should not generalize the goals but rather be specific and to the point. For example, do not talk of that you want to graduate in less than three years but rather on a specific note talk of how you plan to graduate in the three years. 

 

Another thing is to make the goals achievable. Do not set up goals that go beyond the time that you already have. For example, if you are working on a full time basis and you have fore example a family that you are supporting it may not be realistic to say that you want to graduate in 3 years. But if you talk of four years, this may sound achievable.

 

The goals should also be realistic. It may not make for example for you to say that you want to be an actuary while you are very poor in mathematic or you do not like Math. The goals that you set should augur well with what you are capable of doing. If you are not ready to undertake what achieving your goal will entail then consider not setting this goal. Having knowledge of this well in advance will help you from going out of track.

 

The goals that you set for yourself should also be jotted down. Keeping them in your mind to some extent may be dangerous. When they are written down you are sure of not forgetting them. Put them in a place that you are able to see them every other day. This ensures that you are abreast with them and that you do not deviate.

 

It is important to also mention to someone else that goals that you have set. This way you will have someone who always be asking how you are doing. If you have someone who knows your goals you will in some way feel the compulsion to complete your education.

 

You should also take time to undertake research of the educational goal that you want to set up for yourself. This is important to ensure that you are setting attainable goals. 



Dealing with Criticism


“If you keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you” is a line from Rudyard Kipling’s famous poem “If.” There are probably many of us who can identify with the words and understand the frustration of being misunderstood or unfairly judged.

 

Almost every day either we or someone we love experience this frustration. Faced with being misunderstood we respond. How we respond is according to the poem, the measure of our manhood (equally woman hood). Learning how to respond to criticism and to deal with the negative things people say to us is a step of maturity and personal development. 

 

Criticism is an attack on our self-esteem and our defensive attitude is the way we try to protect our self from a painful experience. Just as we put up our hands to prevent ourselves being physically hurt, we put up our defensive attitude to prevent emotional or mental health. 

 

This defensive attitude may either take on an apologetic attitude. We make apologies for our behavior or those of others, or it may take on an attacking attitude, where we tend to look for ways of blaming others for the situation so we can share the blame and perhaps take some of the heat off our role in the situation. 

 

What are some positive ways we can respond to criticism so that the negative reaction we instinctively feel can become something positive in our life and a tool for self-development and personal maturity? 

 

  • Look on any incident of criticism. As an opportunity for learning and self-growth not as an attack on your self-esteem. 
  • Much of the anger that eventuates from criticism has the risk of becoming a grudge against the person delivering the criticism that creates its own set of problems. Make a determined effort to forgive the person who has given the criticism and actively seek to work with them to negotiate a solution you are both satisfied with.
  • When you are receiving criticism, try to take a step back before you respond. Thank them for their words and tell them you will consider what they have said to you and discuss it with them on another occasion. This approach enables both of you to calm your emotions and to discuss the situation later when you both have had chance to think about it.
  • Think about the criticism; ask yourself if it is justified. If it is, then seek ways to prevent the situation recurring and, if it is not, take steps to refute it calmly and preferably with evidence. 
  • Don’t dwell on the criticism but move on. Your value is not determined by one piece of criticism. 


Do Not Underestimate the Importance of 5 Minutes


Does your life seem out of control? Do you always feel like you are running from one activity to the next without taking a break? 

 

Never underestimate the importance of 5 minutes. No matter how busy a day we have, we all have 5 minutes to spare in our day and it can do so much to change our perspective on the pressures of our life in the here and now. 

 

What can be accomplished in 5 minutes and how does it help our journey of self-discovery?

 

  • Take 5 minutes each day to clear out some clutter in your life. Maybe a work area, a pantry or a garage. Allow yourself to enjoy the moment when you have completed it! Clutter free lives help us to think more clearly and to focus on our work. Research shows that people with a tidy work area achieve more productivity than those with a cluttered area. 
  • Take 5 minutes to go for a walk and find something beautiful in your world you haven’t seen before. It will open up a way to count the other blessings in your life that often stay hidden from view as we are often too busy to enjoy them. 
  • Take 5 minutes to do some exercise and marvel at how much fitter you feel today than you did yesterday. If you don’t have time to exercise for long periods during the day, 6 lots of 5 minutes add up to a 30-minute workout every day. 
  • Take 5 minutes to pray, meditate or have some periods in your day, where you reflect on yourself and your spiritual health and well-being. If you believe in God, ensure you protect this time in the business of your day as spiritual well-being is an important part of a holistic approach to life.
  • Take 5 minutes to fix a proper meal for your family and not find yourself too busy so you buy take away every night. Your body needs good nutrition. Ensure you have plenty of vegetables and fruit as well as lean protein and good carbohydrates and oil in your diet to maintain your body in good health. Enjoy the difference it makes to your energy levels.
  • Go to bed 5 minutes earlier each night so you re-create sleep and wake cycles help maintain your focus and alertness. 

 

Never underestimate the power of 5 minutes in your life! 



How to Deal with Behaviors that Irritate You in Others


We all know what it is like to have people in our lives who irritate us and we prefer to avoid them. Maybe we can’t understand why we feel the way we do about them, and we are upset with ourselves for always reacting as we do to them. How can we understand our responses to them and how can we understand where the feelings come from that create these reactions in us? 

 

Each of us have developed a set of values that determine how we think and feel about life, including right and wrong behaviors and attitudes. When we see other’s doing things or saying things that are outside our parameters of acceptable behavior we tend to react and respond, usually in a negative way.

 

Learning to accept that what is wrong to us, may not be wrong to others, is an important part of personal development. We may not agree with their choices, but we must allow people to be themselves, which means having values and ideas that may differ from our own perception of what is right and wrong. 

 

The triggers for reactions to behavior we don’t like, often originate in our child hood experiences. If we have been told to eat with our mouth closed, it’s understandable that for us, that behavior is a manner that we consider important for ourselves and our families to try to achieve. When we experience people who have never been taught that behavior who have no personal rules for eating, we can become frustrated with them. Often our values and behaviors become the measure for everyone else’s behavior. 

 

People who live together in the same house, sometimes experience relationship issues when one of the partners expects certain behaviors but the other doesn’t see them as important. Instead of reacting to the other person’s concept of the world and behaviors we need to learn how to accept and even appreciate the differences. 

 

As we do this, we give the gift of unconditional acceptance to the other person, whilst helping to reduce the frustration and anger of our own attitudes to the situation. Of course, there are unacceptable behaviors that no one should accept (domestic violence for example) but most things that irritate us about others are really the product of our own personal thoughts and not based on anything of importance except to ourselves. 

 

We cannot always control our reactions to others’ behaviors that create frustration in us, but we can learn to control the way we see and respond to them. 



Time Out for Renewal and Self Development – 2

 

We have explored the need for time out and renewal as a means of self-development and the importance of prioritizing it in our lives at least once a year. Most people are keen to take the time but struggle with how to achieve it. Here are some suggestions. 


  • Discuss with your partner the need for time out. Decide to either take the time out together or individually. If children are involved, enlist the help of grandparents, siblings or friends. Suggest to friends you each take time looking after each other’s children so you can go on a retreat. 
  • If taking time out together with a partner ensure you schedule alone time during your retreat as well as time together. Personal reflection is essential to renewal and self-development. 
  • Try to allocate some of your annual leave to have at least a day of time out, even whilst you are on vacation. There is no better place to enjoy time out and renewal than when visiting beautiful locations. 


Once you have scheduled time out, it is essential to plan how to take the most benefit from it. Preparing for the journey is as important as being on it, here are some suggested ways to prepare for your time out experience.


  • Choose a location that will help you relax. Whether this close to home or some place you will need to travel too, the key is to relax and refresh. 
  • Don’t take anything with you that will act as a distraction. If you take your cell phone with you, try to borrow one that does not allow you to be tempted to check email or spend time on the Internet. 
  • Do take a personal tape recorder or a journal to enable you to record your reflections and goals as you create them.
  • If religion or philosophy is important to you, take a religious book or self-help manual if you would like to use them as meditation and prayer aids. 

 

When you arrive at your time out location and begin the process of self-reflection, here are some guidelines to help focus your thoughts.

 

  • Evaluate what causes you to feel sad and happy as you review your life. These will help you focus on those things that need addressing in your life.
  • Celebrate the things you have achieved, and goals you have accomplished. 
  • Create action plans for those things you feel sad or dissatisfied with.



Time Out for Renewal and Self-Development – 1


In talking to friends this past weekend, it was obvious that many mothers are suffering from burn out and other stress related issues. They commonly say they wish they could be happier and not so snappy with their children and were trying to work out how to keep their children happier and entertained. 

 

Certainly, looking after the children’s needs are important to all parents and consumes a lot of time, but looking after self needs is equally important. Time out is a period of solitude where the focus is on self-development and self-reflection. It can be an extremely beneficial and self-affirming activity. 

 

Do you give yourself permission to take an extended amount of time away from your children, your work or anything in your life causing you stress and burn out? If you don’t, you are not alone. Most people don’t take time out, but look at the benefits of making this a priority at least once a year. 


  • Taking extended time out gives the chance to take a step back and decide how to move forward in your life. When you are in the middle of life and all its responsibilities, it’s easy to focus on survival and not on achievement. Take time out each year to make some life goals. They can focus on your family, but having some goals for your parenting, will help you look back on the year and realize what achievements you have achieved in the previous year and what you want to achieve in the coming year.

  • Time out is not a selfish activity, but a time to be critical and honest about yourself and your life. Its focus is to improve your relationships and to help your family and friends. Personal Time Out gives you the opportunity to look at your life and your responsibilities, evaluate what you are doing right and how you can improve those things you feel are not going as planned.

Taking a few hours or a few days out of your busy schedule is not running away from your responsibilities, it is rather an opportunity to find your energy and focus again so you can keep “running towards them” and embrace your life and its responsibilities with a new enthusiasm. Decide to make having an annual personal time out a priority in your life and gain assistance from your family to achieve it. 



Choosing the Best Eye Cream for Yourself


In a market where there are many choices for those looking for eye creams, making the right choice is vital, as the wrong choice could lead to damaging the skin, or a product which does not benefit the eye. Bags around the eyes, fine lines, puffiness and dark circles are all signs of ageing which eye creams should be targeting, and will be your first reference point in choosing the right eye product.

 

It is important to know that there are unscrupulous companies who would release a product which is a moisturizer, and market it as an eye cream, without considering the effect on the consumer. The features of an eye cream and those of a moisturizer mean they are two different products, and if you want a moisturizer there are plenty available, but an eye cream has to work as an eye cream, not just look like the real thing.

 

When taking the cost into consideration, ensure you have a budget in mind, and then seeing if the product matches it should be a consideration, as you should need an important reason to choose a product which is more expensive than others which are more competitive.

 

To avoid being the victim of a scam, you should look into the compounds found within the eye cream, as there will usually be studies associating these with eye treatment. Ensuring the product you’re looking at has the right concentration of ingredients to be effective is also important, as the more opportunistic producers will use minimal amounts of some ingredients to reduce their production costs, and then emphasize this in their advertising.

 

Newly-developed products with innovative ingredients will naturally have less published research about them, and in this instance searching for reviews of these creams can give you clues as to what they do to the skin around the eyes. Larger numbers of positive reviews from consumers should give you an indication a product is worth trying, whilst negative reviews from users could suggest you ought to look for another product.

 

However, a product is advertised, or however flashy the packaging, make sure that you judge the cream on the results and how it deals with the signs of ageing, which is why you are buying the cream in the first place. After all, a colored bottle or an impressive promotion doesn't improve the results of the product.



How to Get Beautiful Hair Naturally


Most men and women consider their hair to be very important to how they are perceived, and spend time looking after their hair. The industry providing products for this has seen a large increase in the number of products designed to help people look after their hair. Although there is a general impression that it is mainly women that spend time and money on their hair, research has shown that men as well as women take an interest in how to care for their hair.

 

With a large range of products available to suit every type of hair, there is a product to suit almost every consumer. However, even products that can be found in the everyday kitchen can be used for a more organic approach to hair care. Here are details of a few of products that can help provide the best hair, listed according to hair type.

 

People who have greasy hair have to consider using products specifically designed for hair care, with the use of a lemon grass or mint shampoo being used thrice a week being particularly beneficial. More frequent use will prevent the hair from returning to its usual Ph balance, and can cause problems and deterioration of the hair. A solution made from lemon juice can be applied after washing which will work against the excessive production of sebum with the astringent properties of lemon juice.

 

If you suffer with dry hair, it is important to ensure your hair is hydrated, and a conditioner designed to provide moisture for dry hair is essential every time your hair is washed. A simple way to add moisture to your hair is to apply hot water to a towel, until it is wet, but not dripping, and then placing it on your head. It’s like a sauna just for your hair instead of the body.

 

Those who have problems with dandruff would be well advised to use a lotion combining mint leaves and vinegar. Not only does this help prevent dandruff from becoming a problem, but will also leave your hair looking both sleek and shiny. The examples mentioned here are just a few of the problems and solutions that can occur with your hair, but a little bit of research can help you find even more useful tips for your hair.