Wellness And Its Connection To A Positive Mindset

Gram’s Wisdom 44: Positivity and wellness.

When you feel well it’s a positive feeling. Positive thinking can make you feel better at the moment, but can it make you feel better overall?

My Gram certainly thought so. Gram understood the direct connections between exercise and a balanced diet on your physical wellness, she didn’t see positivity as a substitute for taking care of yourself. But she felt there was a definite link between positivity and your physical and mental wellness.

She often reminded me as I grew up, that my well-being was in my control. To feel well, tell yourself that you do. To be well, do the positive things that contribute to health and wellness.

Don’t beat yourself up.

Usually, stress is thought of as coming from external factors like work, traffic, or family friction, beyond your control. But a surprising amount of stress in life comes from within.

When a difficult situation arises, or even if you anticipate a difficult situation, some of you tend to criticize yourselves and begin imagining the things that could go wrong.

While it is important to understand the possible downsides of a situation, if you spend too much time thinking about the dangers of a situation or how we may be unprepared to deal with them, it can drastically increase the levels of unhealthy stress that can come from a situation. This stress not only makes it harder for you to think straight and control the situation, but too much stress over a long period contributes to health problems including weight gain and heart disease.

The next time that you begin to worry about a situation, look at it from a viewpoint of finding ways to make the situation favorable rather than thinking about how the situation could get worse. This small example of positive thinking will lower your stress levels, making you feel more comfortable and helping you to maintain control over the situation.

Positivity and other coping mechanisms.

Stressing about negative situations does more than prevent you from solving the problem at hand, it can also make problems worse and even create further difficulties.

If you are stressed or otherwise upset about something, it can be easy to slip into making unhealthy choices, whether that’s turning to comfort food or drugs. Even legal ones like tobacco and alcohol can quickly harm your health.

Thinking optimistically protects your health from the main effects of stress as well as these additional problems that can come on when you are drawn to manage your stress in unhealthy ways.

A positive mindset bolsters your health.

It was already discussed above that excessive anxiety over too long a period can be bad for the heart. This can be partially due to those secondary concerns mentioned in that last paragraph, like a diet. However, it can also be due to stress itself.

Stress is a complicated phenomenon in the body, involving a lot of chemicals being created and released into your blood. This cascade of events evolved in humans to help us run from predators or fight invaders, but a faster pulse and slowed digestion don’t help us get over the loss of a loved one or the frenzy of tax time. Our ancient ancestors needed the stress response to escape danger, but in today’s modern world it can tend to linger too long. This can be a draw on your body’s resources and can even prevent it from fighting an infection like it is supposed to.

Thinking positively can be good for your emotional health, but it may also help you to avoid whatever bug is going around.

Pondering positivity.

Your attitude is everything.

How you face life each day largely determines how you feel about your day. If you have a positive approach to life and yourself, even your most demanding days will feel tolerable. Thinking positively is a simple rule, the key to living a satisfying, fulfilled life. However, putting it into practice in your daily life can be more difficult.

Consistently thinking positive can be challenging. Maybe your self-confidence isn't as strong as it could be. If this is the case, you may need to take a leap of faith to think positively.

To be positive you must persevere.

Negativity is the human default, and everyone falls prey to it at some time or another. You are human, and you will stumble and even fall occasionally. The positive person is not faint-hearted, he knows that to stay down is a failure, not a fall. After a short letdown, you’ll remind yourself that with your intelligence and perseverance, something good will happen soon. You can’t lose by approaching life’s events with positive thinking.

We get what we expect.

Dare to think your project offering will be chosen. Whatever we expect or believe will occur will indeed come to pass. So, if you believe that you'll do well on a work project, you will. If you expect not to do well, then you likely won't. The implication is that if you can manage your thoughts, you can think your way to success.

When you aren’t sure about how to think about a situation, approach life positively. With enough positivity, you can change your life.

My final thought.

Looking on the bright side can be challenging, but if you don’t take it seriously it’s impossible. While some people avoid trying very hard to be positive because they think that it’s just a bunch of feel-good nonsense, hopefully, this article has helped you to understand some physical and mental benefits of positive thinking.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. Let me know if I’m on track with the kind of information you are looking for.

For more information, check out these posts.

The Power Of Positivity.

Does Your Role Model Have A Positive Mindset?

A Better Mindset From Incremental Change

Tiny changes bring about large results.

Do you want to be better? A better person, a better parent, a better boss? And how about being better than you were last year or even last week? It’s possible. It just takes the right mindset and goals. I call it the mindset of better.

Did you know that only eight percent of people reach their goals? Yep, that's right! The other 92 percent fail within weeks or months. They want to do better, and it’s not their mindset at fault. According to research, what separates the two comes down to one simple thing: setting detailed and challenging goals.

The first step is to open your mind and embrace change. We, humans, are wired to resist any changes that disrupt our routines and habits. Unless you beat inertia, you’ll never be able to transform your life. Relax and be ready for whatever comes. Big dramatic changes won’t necessarily produce big results. Sometimes, it’s the small things that matter.

However, this doesn't mean you should dive in and do everything at once. Trying to do too many things is often a formula for failure. Instead, if you want to go big, you must think small. Not just small, but minuscule. Break those large goals into smaller goals, then make them tiny and begin there.

What's so wrong with “Thinking Big?”

People might have told you that you can accomplish anything you want, whether it's saving the world or becoming a prima ballet dancer. Unfortunately, that's unlikely to happen. Sure, you could do it, but it will take years of challenging work and discipline. For this reason, it's so important to take baby steps toward your goals, so you don’t become burned out.

The truth is what you need to do is think big in detail. It's essential to have detailed information, plans, knowledge, and skills for your big goals to become a reality. That won't happen overnight. It takes tiny steps, consistently performed day after day.

A big idea doesn't guarantee success. Anyone can have ideas, but only a few people will bring them to life. When thinking big, it's easier to miss the smaller details and make costly mistakes. If you fail, you'll feel disappointed and have a tough time beginning again.

For example, many people dream of running a marathon. However, they haven't yet put on their shoes and run to the end of the driveway. To succeed, think big in increments. Focus on getting out the door and around the block for a week. After that week, begin adding additional distance to your routine. Soon you should notice that your consistency is making it easier for you to get out that door and become a better runner.

How to leverage incremental change.

Since trivial things can have such a significant impact, you can use incremental change to your advantage. Think of what you want to accomplish and then narrow your view. The narrower your focus, the more you will see and experience.

Focus your efforts on taking small baby steps toward your goals, you’ll be more precise and get better results. Your attention to the minute details makes it easier to pivot if or when necessary, as opposed to the challenge of changing all the moving parts in a large goal.

Apply these principles to all areas of your life, whether it’s your career, family, relationships, or health. Each day, do one thing that supports your goals. Build on it the next day. You are looking for a cumulative effect. It doesn’t have to be something big – remember, slight changes have the biggest impact overall.

Changes in your behavior can change your life.

Whether you want to become the next Steve Jobs, launch a successful project, or learn a new skill, you need to begin with baby steps. Exchange any behaviors that hold you back for actions that move you forward.

Let's say you have a tough time following through on your goals. Lately, you always find excuses to skip your piano lessons. By doing that you'll never manage to learn the fundamentals and without them, you will never learn to play well.

Commit yourself to your lessons. Take them seriously just like you do with your job or family time. Schedule practice time as well. Start tiny with 5-10 minutes every day in the beginning.  What you’re doing is incrementally building a new positive habit. The key is not to become overwhelmed and give up.

Stick to the changes you’ve made. Don't jump from one thing to the next. Be consistent and take small steps toward your goals. For instance, if you begin meditating, practicing yoga, or playing the piano, do it every single day. Your goal is just to get better one day at a time.

Think small to go big, and the results will follow!

 Why do small things matter?

Ever heard of the Butterfly effect? According to the chaos theory, insignificant things can have major effects on the world around us.

Want another example? Think about the soda you drink every day. One 12-ounce container has about 150 calories. That's an extra 4,500 calories per month and 54,000 calories per year. It takes just 3,500 calories to gain one pound of fat. If you drink a can of soda daily, you'll pack on an extra fifteen pounds a year unless you burn off those calories.

There are plenty of examples of minuscule things that have had a great impact - and the same applies to your daily life.

My final thoughts.

You can have an influence on your life in small incremental ways. Remember, it’s the mindset of better. Something as simple as reading a book can lead to a major career shift or an aha moment in how you relate to your family. Tiny steps taken day by day accrue like interest in the bank. You won’t see a big change next week, but just give it a couple of years.

For more information, check out this post.

Why Small Goals Are the Secret To Success.

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Finish What You Started

Gram’s Wisdom 33 The value of persistence

My Gram often spoke of the value of what she called, “seeing things through.” People today call that follow-through. Her thought was, “if it needs to be done, it needs to be complete.” She also liked to tell me the adage of quitters never win, and winners never quit.

Gram called me stubborn as a child. My husband also has made this observation occasionally, but cautiously, as I see myself as being merely resistant instead.

Since I spent time with my Gram as a girl, she often oversaw my homework or school projects. I believe I was a normal kid, so, I breezed through the things I liked effortlessly and would drag my feet and grouse about those things that seemed like work. Not acceptable to Gram. She had a strong belief in the lessons we learn from what we don’t like, or don’t want to do.

What has this to do with persistence? The words stubborn and persistent are synonyms. Yet, they are also seen as opposites. Stubbornness is seen as a negative, an unwillingness to make changes. While persistence is viewed positively, it’s a willingness to succeed no matter what.

“Energy and persistence conquer all things.”

— Benjamin Franklin

Strategies to build a persistent mindset

When it comes to completing a task, or project, have you felt overwhelmed, Do you ever choke under the pressure and wonder if you can finish? If this has happened to you, you may have ended up feeling embarrassed and intensely disappointed in your abilities. 

Even though your need for a result is great, the effort you must put in, or the time required to complete the task might make you want to give up. Where do you stand when it comes to persevering until a job is complete?

It can be easy, or at least not awful if we can do the projects we want. Unfortunately, in the game of life all too often your tasks get chosen for you. The boss hands you a project, or life says cook, clean, wash. How can you persist when you’re challenged at every turn in meeting your goals?

If you struggle to complete what you start, these STRATEGIES can help you attain a persistent mindset.

Being consistent.

Sometimes, it feels like you’ll never get there. When you feel that way, remind yourself you must simply keep on going. If you continue working consistently toward your goal, chances are good you’ll ultimately accomplish it. Many people look for this skill, whether in the workplace or in their personal life. They want to know that they can count on you to work hard to do what needs to be done regularly.

Note what you’ve finished so far.

When you can see some fruits of your labors, you get another surge of motivation to keep going. Maybe you completed 10% of the project last week. That’s 10% less than what you must do to finish. Pat yourself on the back. Have a critical awareness of what you’ve already completed as well as what you have left to do.

Emphasize the positive.

Whenever you stay focused on the positive, it just makes it easier to continue moving steadily forward. Having a positive attitude is a choice, so take advantage of it.

Avoid underestimating the time it will take to finish.

We’ve all had the experience of thinking we know how long we will spend completing a particular task, only to discover it takes much longer. If you must make an approximate guess as to how much time you’ll need, it’s better to overestimate.

Make a vow to finish what you’ve started.

Staying mindful of what you want to do and why you want to do it and then vowing to finish will serve as motivation to help you keep your nose to the grindstone. Promise yourself you’ll persist until you succeed. Then, when you have done it, you may bask in the warm fuzzies of accomplishment.

Identify when you must tweak your results.

There may be times when you wish to slightly alter your end goal. After all, situations and people change. Particularly for long-term projects and goals, stay focused so that you’ll identify when it’s time to make alterations.

         If what you want has changed, it’s okay. Just revisit the goal, tweak it, and continue moving forward.

Consider setting mini-goals.

If you need some extra motivation along the way, you might benefit from setting smaller interim goals that you can easily accomplish. It feels good to see that you’re achieving your mini-goals. The momentum you gain is astonishing.

         Chances are pretty good that you’ll be successful. And when you are, you can rejoice at the moment, and set another mini-goal ensuring you continue forward to the completion of the task.

Being persistent can be a challenge that’s well worth the effort. Be consistent and take note of what you’ve done so far. Stay as positive as you can and avoid under-estimating the time it will take for job completion. Vow to finish and stay aware of what you’re doing, so you can adjust your goal if you need to. Finally, consider setting mini-goals to persist until you finish the task.

Reasons you may want to persist

On the off chance, you are resistant to persistence, and many people are, (no judgment) look below at the list of benefits of persistence. These benefits are byproducts of the persistent attitude you are trying to build. 

Consequently, they don’t take more effort or energy on your part. If you persist, you can’t fail!

9 Benefits of persistence:

1. You become an expert. Chances are that the first time you try something, you might not be good at it. However, once you’ve done the same task numerous times, you’ll soon become better and better, becoming an expert at the task in the process.

2. Persistence motivates you to try harder. When you try and try, you’ll move a little closer to your goal with each attempt. This will help motivate you as it will show that your determination makes a difference.

3. Persistence is a sign of ambition. Only those who are truly ambitious can bring persistence into their daily lives. Therefore, the most successful people you know are also those who are most persistent.

4. You’re a good example. Whether you’re setting an example for your work colleagues or your children, if they see that you’re unwilling to give up when you face adversity, they’ll be more motivated to try harder at their challenges.

5. Persistence reveals the value of success. Being successful takes time and effort. No one ever becomes successful without making sacrifices. Focus on being persistent with your time and efforts.

6. Persistence provides crucial experience. When you’re persistent, you learn that each failure gives you another opportunity to learn. With each failure, you’ll become more resilient. You’ll also learn how you can overcome any challenge.

7. You become more aware of your weaknesses. To achieve success at anything, it’s important to understand your weaknesses. When you look at your failures, you’ll discover your faults and learn what you need to work on to become successful.

8. You’ll learn that things that come easily seldom bring many rewards. Harder tasks may require more work and consistency, but they offer much greater rewards in return. Isn’t it worth making that little extra effort to achieve greater rewards?

9. You’ll be able to create the life you desire. With persistence, you’ll be able to glide through life’s obstacles. You’ll seek solutions to overcome your challenges and keep moving forward to build a life that satisfies you.

My Final Thought

Persistence is essential, as rarely does anything of worth in life come without it. Most often, you’ll need to work hard for what you want. Still, your persistent mindset can allow you to accomplish whatever you set your heart on.

For additional information, there are two posts below.

Be Unstoppable: The Importance Of Persistence In Business

5 Tips To Improve Your Concentration

Thank you for taking the time to read this post, I hope it was positive.

Successful Days Lead To A Successful Mindset

The definition of success

The meaning of success defined by most dictionaries is the achievement of a goal. I believe a success-mindset is made through daily worthy goals accomplished.

Just achieving the tasks, you need to do instead of dawdling will encourage you to continue because you’ve stayed on track and didn’t drop the ball. Staying the course helps a successful mindset to become stronger and more flexible.

Gram’s Wisdom 32

My Gram used to say, a successful day is when you go to bed feeling like you’ve achieved something worthy during your day, and it’s enough to give you a sense of happiness and satisfaction?

She told me, to have a successful day, I should begin doing just one worthwhile thing one day. Repeating that process until it became a habit.

As I grew older, Gram revisited the idea of a successful day with me. Speaking of how success may be desired by all, but what constitutes success is different for each person.

Then, Gram reminded me that the little things are important. You don’t need massive actions or huge triumphs to accomplish something significant in your life. So, stop looking for the large wins and instead, focus on the small, steady, daily wins.

With that in mind, the tips below are small changes for you to make that can have a big impact on your success.  

5 Tips you can apply to achieve more success daily

1 | Plan your tomorrow the evening before

It’s an excellent practice to spend 10 to 15 minutes each evening (or when you’ve finished with your daily work) planning what you’ll do the next day. Have a to-do list with 3-4 important tasks that MUST be completed and at least one small thing you do simply because it makes you happy.

This list will act as a schedule for the next day. Once you have completed your morning routine, you can now begin your day productively, rather than spending time in planning mode.

2 | Do the hard stuff first

I think the hard stuff is those things you truly can't bear to do, or just don’t want to do. They may or may not be difficult, but they are often stressful for you to perform.

In his book, “Eat That Frog!”, Brian Tracy emphasizes a very useful technique to eliminate procrastination. He says that you should complete the most difficult tasks of the day FIRST!

The goal is to begin working on them as soon as you can. Try not to fret about it and just get started. Procrastination leads to uncertainty and your mind begins making up excuses and plausible reasons to avoid doing the actions you’re supposed to take.

So, start without thinking and finish whatever you dread doing. Once you’ve completed these tasks, you’ll instantly feel relieved and satisfied at having accomplished something worthy of your day.

(This might be a good time to do the fun thing. As a bribe.)

3 | Move that body daily

Exercise is crucial no matter what type of job or profession you’re in. One should never be too busy to spend at least 20 to 30 minutes a day exercising. Your body will release endorphins that make you feel happier.

Exercise helps with focus, expands your reasoning, and memory skills.

Not only that, but exercise will boost your energy levels too. You’ll feel like your life is more balanced, and subconsciously you know that you’re living a more productive life.

Very often, feeling successful is about knowing that you’re doing the right things and progressing in life. This affects your emotional and mental health levels in positive ways.

4 | Challenge yourself each day

Here are a few examples of how you can challenge yourself.

Be more mindful. Let go of any negative thoughts you have without judging them.

Step outside your comfort zone by facing some small fears. You’ll be surprised by the amount of headway you can make toward dispelling them if you apply yourself.

Build your confidence by going after and learning the skills necessary for something new you have always wanted or something you have just put off.

Stop complaining about everything. No one owes you, no one cares, and no one wants to hear it. Instead, try being kinder and more compassionate to yourself and others.

Read more books. Read a book by an unfamiliar author about an unaccustomed subject. Push yourself to read beyond your present understanding, and you will grow.

Success is a habit… and this is how you train yourself to seek success daily. Inch by inch, you’ll get better.

5 | You are accountable for your success

Accountability is something you do for yourself, not something others do for you.

Do you truly understand what you value? YOU get to design what is a worthy successful day. Have you ensured that what you choose is aligned with the results you want?

Did you accomplish what you proposed to do? Were you sidetracked and did you waste time along the way? Did you check off the tasks on your to-do list?

Do you creatively deal with your obstacles, and learn from your failures as well as your successes? Are you measuring your results immediately, or at a length of time to see your progress?

You must hold yourself accountable every single day. No one can do this for you. You are ultimately responsible for your success or failure. So, evaluate your performance, honestly.

Initially, adopting these 5 techniques might be challenging because they’re new to you. But as the days go by, you’ll realize that they are extremely helpful and aid your progress while reducing anxiety and freeing up more time for you to do what you love.

My final thought

Since success has different meanings for each of us, your success will likely look different than mine. Your day will also be distinctly unique. Yet, we all measure success in the same way, by goals achieved, regardless of the kinds of goals set. Here’s to your future success.

For more information related to this post check out the links below.

5 Ways To Have A Success Mindset

Appreciate The Little Things

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9 Best Mindsets for Success

What are the 9 best mindsets for a successful life? I offer you a summary of the most popular mindsets to help you live a successful life.

Many of the ones listed here go by different names or are parts of subsets. So, when, looking at successful people you will find they possess several of these mindsets.

You won’t find greed, sloth, envy, or anything like that here. I couldn’t imagine other than rare instances finding life success within the framework of such negativity.

I am also adding a link to Five Mindsets That Will Transform Your Life by Marelisa Fabrega. Her number five Entrepreneurial mindset is a must-see for anyone who is or desires to become an entrepreneur.

What is an abundance mindset?

When you have an abundance mindset you notice as you look at the natural world that there is a profusion of things. Leaves on trees, sands on the beach, birds in the sky, air to breathe. There is no scarcity, earth has not withheld its gifts. There is plenty for all.

An abundance mentality focuses on this and is grateful for the richness they have in life, rather than on what may be lacking. The abundance personality opens the mind as well as their eyes seeing possibilities that others miss. By the expansion of their awareness, they can discover more opportunities, more choices, and more means to receive what they need. 

Have you got an active mindset?

The persons with an active mindset choose to be in control of their lives. They are also the people who see, hear, think, “Hey, something should be done” and then they go out and do it.

The individuals who are active thinkers are change-makers. They know what you learn is useless if you don’t apply it. They are constant tinkerers. Always working to improve an idea or a thing. Always believing they can make it better.

Sure, action takers will stumble at times. But they own their mistakes and pick themselves up because they know the only way to go forward is to continue moving. Accomplishment motivates the person with an active mindset. You will seldom find these people behaving in a lazy or unfocused manner.

Find here a link to my last post Is Your Mindset Naturally Active or Passive?

Do you have a courageous mindset?

The courageous mentality will have you leaving your comfort zone in search of new heights. Mistakes can be made, but the experiences are rewards for these risk-takers.

People with a courageous mindset see the minefields and have the same fears everyone else has. The difference is courageous people will face their fears and move beyond them. They see courage as a choice you make where the decisions are such that can have a profound impact on their lives.

Those who are courageous believe it’s cowardly to stay where they are never becoming more than they are out of an unwillingness to embrace opportunities. Courage is doing what is uncomfortable, boring, and frustrating in the face of your insecurity and fear of failure. And if you desire to make changes in life, it’s courage that lets you alter your mindset.

What is a creative mindset?

The creative individual is open, tolerant, and non-judgmental. Ideas need space to enter and room to breathe when they have arrived. A creative mindset taps into imagination with a child’s sense of curiosity.

A creative person is unique, they look and think about things differently. The creative person is resourceful and frequently a problem solver. The flip side of that is they often over-complicate simple things.

Creativity is ingenuity used to make things better. It’s what makes innovation occur. Creative individuals just do it; painters, paint; writers, write; musicians, play. Creatives believe that to be happy and successful, they must live up to their potential.

What benefits do you derive from a grateful mindset?

A present moment appreciation is where grateful thoughts come from. A grateful mindset may need to begin with a scheduled time for you to think about what you are grateful for.

Don’t forget gratitude for the people in your life. The kind neighbor, your best friend, your family members. The more you practice being grateful the more there is to be grateful for. You can verbally express your thankfulness or write it down.

There is no right or wrong way in the expression of gratitude. Being thankful frequently throughout your day expands the practice of gratitude. Noticeably the glass becomes half full. You see life more positively. As a result, you find more peace, happiness, and contentment.

How do you develop a growth mindset?

A growth mindset is a belief that you can learn and improve yourself, that with effort and persistence, you can succeed.

Persons with a growth mindset are less concerned about looking smart, instead, they take the time to study and become smart. Like a sponge, they absorb as much knowledge as possible with a view to developing into experts in their field.

Growth-minded persons struggle with obstacles along the way like anyone else, but they view those difficulties as opportunities for their growth. They view the success of others as motivation.

Growth-minded individuals expand their knowledge to include learning from theirs and other’s mistakes, and they freely appreciate constructive criticism believing it furthers their growth.

And here because no one says it better than Carol Dweck.

Changing our beliefs can have a powerful impact. The growth mindset creates a powerful passion for learning. “Why waste time proving over and over how great you are,” Dweck writes, “when you could be getting better?”

From <https://fs.blog/2015/03/carol-dweck-mindset/>

How can you create a positive mindset?

Positive thinking is the habit of expecting the best from yourself, others, and any given situation.

The positive mentality focuses on the present moment extracting what is good in the now. It doesn’t dwell on the negativity of past hurts or future imagined slights.

Positive thinkers understand that an upbeat attitude, not only boosts your confidence but enhances your mood.

Positivity can help you be healthy of mind and body. When you think better, you feel better. When you feel better, you act better. The actions you take as self-care or exercise make you feel better which helps you think better.

Your positive mindset can also play a positive role in any stress-related illnesses you may have.

A positive mindset is optimistic, this provides you with improved coping skills. The positive thinker makes the effort to shut down negative self-talk by spinning a new inner dialog.

Why is a self-belief mindset important?

Self-belief is an attitude of confidence in your judgment and capabilities. No one is born with self-belief. Individuals start developing a self-belief mindset as they grow up.

Self-belief is established from small challenges that progressively build to larger ones. To achieve this skill, you must develop competency in your ability to learn and your resourcefulness. People without this skill often fall prey to limiting beliefs.

Without self-belief, you will never be able to stand out from the crowd, make your own decisions or assert yourself. Having self-belief allows you to attempt new or difficult things. Self-belief impacts your satisfaction, success, and contentment.

The confidence you gain from self-belief aids your ability to move past mistakes without excessively blaming yourself. People who have a positive self-belief can lead and inspire others to do their best.

“Never be limited by other people’s limited imaginations.”

— Mae Jemison

What is a visionary mindset?

Visionaries value their imagination and will have a big dream. Big enough to be thrilling and scary at the same time.

The visionary mindset pays attention to intuition and embraces change. As a dreamer, you know what you want from your future.

A visionaries’ goals are often the vehicle for their service to others. What was once the big idea to benefit themselves, frequently becomes the seed they grow to help humanity.

Visionaries never give up on their dream. They understand there will be trials, but they push through them making needed adjustments until the dream is fulfilled.

Dreamers are confident, they feel they will achieve success, but understand it is the journey that helps their development and growth as human beings.

The visionary has a positive attitude and radiates positive energy. They are regularly surrounded by like-minded people.

My final thought

Noticeably, all these mindsets have 2-4 subsets in common. Growth, positivity, service to others, and gratitude. If you have any three or more of these mindsets you are already likely succeeding in life.

“Change your mindset, change the game.”

— Dr. Alia Crum

Thank you for reading this post. I hope you see yourself in some of these mindsets. Even more, I hope you are inspired to adopt another of these fulfilling mindsets.

Prioritize Your Happiness

Are you wasting your precious time wishing that you had more things to make you happy? How’s that working for you? Life’s short hadn’t you heard. If it’s happiness you want then that’s the feeling you need to prioritize. Not the ephemeral feelings from a string of new things. So, to become happy it’s best you start with gratitude for what you already have.

Happiness increases with gratitude

You may not realize that noticing the good things in your life can make you happier. But when you do, you’ll approach life from a much more positive viewpoint so that your daily tasks and goals feel joyful and less burdensome.

Here are four ways practicing gratitude can make for a happier life.

1.     It sets up a virtuous circle

The more you appreciate the good things in your life, the more you’ll see. And by focusing on things that make you happy, you’ll become more optimistic and expect to see good things! And then you have more to be grateful for and so on. Before you know it, you will have set up a lovely self-fulfilling cycle of positivity and happiness.

2.     You’ll attract more friends

People who are cheerful and optimistic tend to have more friends. Think of Big Bird and Oscar, the Grouch – who’s more fun to be around? Who has more friends? The person who’s cheery and singing, or the grouchy complainer?

3.     You’ll be more resilient

When you are grateful for what you already have it sets you up to be better able to deal with difficult times when they come along. Instead of focusing on the heavy rain during your drive to work, you are grateful that your lawn will be green without having to turn on the sprinklers.

4.     You’ll live longer

Perhaps the most surprising benefit of practicing gratitude is the impact it can have on your physical health. Gratitude primes you for happiness and being happy sets off a whole train of positive chemical interactions in your brain and body. Research has shown that happier people live longer, healthier lives.

“The thing everyone should realize is that the key to happiness is being happy by yourself and for yourself.”

— Ellen DeGeneres

Happiness provides health benefits

Instead of the stress chemical cortisol, which can lead to inflammation and poor immune response, your happy brain will increase levels of dopamine and serotonin. These chemicals lead to lower blood pressure and heart rate and improved immune function.

If you are happy you set yourself up for a better, more positive aging experience. Unhappy people are more prone to chronic illness, depression and even earlier death.

Encourages Healthy Living

According to studies, happier people are almost twice as likely to eat more fresh vegetables than people who state that they are not happy. Eating more produce will automatically improve your health over those who eat a diet high in processed food.

Provides Energy

When you eat better, you tend to end up with more energy. It’s hard to imagine it but being negative or sad can literally drain your energy out of your body while being happy can give you more energy.

Boosts Immunity

Eating better, moving more, and feeling happy will also increase your ability to fight off illness and disease because it improves your immunity. A study showed that people who report happiness tend to fight off illness faster than people who report sadness. They literally gave people the cold virus and the happy people were three times less likely to catch the cold.

Lessens Stress

If you’re happy, you’ll have a lot less keeping you up at night, to worry about, and therefore you’ll end up with less stress. However, it goes farther than that because happy people tend to report less stress even when they are facing stressful situations. Due to the strength that happiness gives you, you’ll experience less stress.

Protects Cardiovascular Health

Because you’re eating better and moving more due to your happiness, you are also protecting your cardiovascular health. You’re less likely to suffer a heart attack, stroke, or other issues related to heart health and the cardiovascular system.

Increases Longevity

Because you’re eating right, exercising more, and you’re feeling great about life, you will likely live longer. According to one long-term study that tracked the lives of 32,000 people to find out who lived longer, the people who report happiness, or the people who report being less happy. It's not surprising that happy people tend to live 14 percent longer.

Diminishes Pain

People who have chronic pain have a right to be mad about it or feel sad about it. However, the fact is people who report being happy tend to deal with their chronic pain (and other illness) better than those who were not happy to start with.

When you are happy, you’re more likely to eat right, drink enough water, and move. It’s mostly because you have more energy to do active things. For more information on nutrition see my past post The Right Nutrition Will Make You Healthier.

Happiness is its own reward

Many people believe that success will guarantee happiness. But delaying being happy until you’ve got that promotion, or a bigger car is a mistake. Tying your happiness to achieving your goals almost guarantees you’ll never be happy. Here are three reasons to choose happiness over success.

1.       Are we there yet?

Have you noticed that there are always more goals to achieve? As soon as you get that job, your eye is on the next promotion. Setting goals and achieving them is important but waiting to be happy until you’re successful is like chasing butterflies. There will always be another better butterfly just out of reach.

2.     Choose happy

There’s increasing evidence that happy people tend to be more successful. By focusing on being happy and living life on their terms, they are already successful. Choosing happiness in your current circumstances creates greater self-confidence. You will act and talk like you’ve already made it. And that sort of confidence is contagious and inspiring.  Simply by choosing to be happy you have a competitive edge!

3.     And the definition of success is…

Ask ten people for their definition of success, and you’ll get ten different answers. For some people, it is the consumer dream of an executive job, a fancy car, and a big house. For others, it will be the freedom to travel or paint or write or own their own business.

Probably the most important decision you’ll make is to work out what success means for you. And the most meaningful success is to choose what makes you happy. What is your passion? What makes you want to get out of bed in the morning?

It’s up to you to decide what makes you happy. It’s still okay to want to have the trappings of success but think about why you want them. Chances are it’s the feeling you want rather than the thing itself.

If you think making more money will make you feel secure, or enable you to travel or support your favorite cause, maybe there are other ways you can do those things right now? Maybe you can volunteer for your charity, or choose cheaper vacation options, or start a savings plan.

There’s no need to delay being happy until you’ve reached a level of material success. You can choose to be happy right now and find contentment in the things that already make you feel good!

Happiness habits for the good

There’s increasing evidence that it’s not enough to learn a new skill or sign up for the gym. To succeed you need to turn that skill or commitment into a habit. Here are four benefits of forming good habits.

1.     Habits are easy to create, and change!

It’s easy to form a habit, whether it’s good or bad. You can choose to form a habit of getting up early for a run or staying in bed. It’s totally up to you, and you can choose to change a habit any time you like.

You can choose every day whether to eat healthily or not. But the more you choose the positive option, the more it becomes second nature, and before you know it, you’ll be reaching for the smoothie instead of the doughnut.

2.     Reach your goals with good habits

Once you’ve set your goals, you can adjust your behavior to make it more likely that you’ll achieve them. Establishing a daily habit is the first step to achieving success

If you want to lose weight, you can choose to get into the habit of exercising and eating healthier. Running every day will mean you’ll become ready to compete in that triathlon.

3.     Habits keep you focused

Once you’ve set a good habit, it becomes much easier to stick to your plan. If something is part of your routine, you don’t have to convince yourself to do it every day. You can also build new habits onto old ones, such as making sure you do meditation or yoga routine immediately before you brush your teeth. That way you’re much more likely to stick to your commitment.

4.     Habits are foundational

If you want to achieve your life goals, setting positive habits can become your building blocks to success. Make it a habit to pay bills straightaway, and you’ll never pay penalties or jeopardize your credit rating. If you get into the habit of getting to the office early and clearing your emails, you’ll become known for your dedication and efficiency.

Interpersonal habits can be important too. So, don’t forget the people in your life. Make it a habit to acknowledge the things your partner does for you, or when your children behave well, make them feel appreciated.

Was this helpful? Leave me a comment and don’t forget to share it.

Using Self-Reflection To Your Advantage

Self-Reflection Can Make You Happier, More Successful, and Produce Inner Growth

Reflection is such a good method for looking at what you have accomplished and how. Personal or working life it doesn’t matter. Most of us have successes and goals met but we also shoulder some disappointment for those things we fell short in doing.

Self-reflection appears to be a dying art. People either feel they don’t have the time or that it’s a waste of time. Others are afraid to take a good, long, hard look at themselves. This is a mistake, because there is so much to be gained by examining yourself and your past.

Self-reflection provides many advantages that can make life easier:

1 | You learn about yourself. Most people are shockingly low in self-awareness. Some people are too busy, or at least they think they are. Others would prefer to distract themselves rather than spend one second in self-reflection.

However, there’s much to be learned by taking a few minutes each day and reviewing your day, the choices you made, the positives and the negatives.

When you know yourself, you can make better plans that utilize your strengths and avoid your weaknesses.

Recognizing your weaknesses and dealing with them is powerful. You can stop shooting yourself in the foot over and over.

2 | You learn from your past. If you look at the biggest mistakes you’ve made over your life, you’ll find they’re surprisingly similar. You may have either spent money you couldn’t afford, got involved with someone you shouldn’t, or made poor decisions to get away from stressful situations.

If you’ve never taken the time to review these mistakes, you’ve repeated them.

Reviewing the past can also help you to identify what works, and then you can advantageously repeat those actions.

3 |Take intelligent, thoughtful action. Many people are very action oriented and avoid “wasting” time on thinking too much. Rather than just jumping in with both feet, it can be incredibly helpful to spend some time thinking and strategizing.

Reflect on what you actually want to accomplish for yourself. Ask yourself a few questions and use the answers wisely.

“Sometimes you have to look back in order to understand the things that lie ahead.”

— Yvonne Woon

Graham Gibbs is an academic who studies self-reflection. He developed a six-step process to aid in self-reflection. This process can be used as a guide to help you get into the swing of things.

Use Mr. Gibbs’ process to examine your past and present: 

1. What happened? This is simple enough. Describe the event to yourself. “I dropped out of college.”
   

2. What was I thinking and feeling? What were you thinking at the time? What did you think afterwards? “I was stressed and failing. I felt a sense of relief when I first dropped out, but then I felt a sense of dread and felt lost.”
   

3. What was good or bad about the experience? “I gained free time and my stress was relieved. But, now I don’t have a plan for my future and my job prospects are much more limited.”
   

4. How does this affect the various parts of my life? What does it say about me? “My personal and career development is stifled. My significant other is upset with me and threatening to leave. My parents kicked me out of the house and told me to find a job. This suggests that I am impulsive and handle stress poorly.”
   

5. What else could I have done? “Talked to a friend. Spoken to my professors. Sought professional help. Learned meditation or yoga. Lightened my course load.”
   

6. If this happened again, how would I handle it? “I would consider the long-term implications instead of just the short. I would get the help I need. I wouldn’t consider quitting to be a viable option.”

Although thinking about the past means looking back, there is value in it for moving your path forward. Reflection produces growth that makes each forward step more informed.

At the end of each day, or at least once a week, reflect on your experiences. When you stop to assess your response to things, you will learn valuable details about yourself. Consider the impact of your actions and take away lessons on how to act in the future.

You grow spiritually when you focus on the wellness of your soul. Spending time meditating on past highs and lows connects you to your true inner self.

Your growth as a friend and loved one is evident when you take time to recall others’ observations of you. The perspective of the special people in your life is valuable to your development. These are the people who walk hand in hand with you along the road of life.

When another birthday rolls around, compare your current self to your former self. Take some time to assess your evolution and identify any newfound strengths. It is exciting to see that growth from year to year.

Self-reflection is a useful tool that’s free to learn and apply. Imagine being able to leverage your strengths, minimize your weaknesses, and avoid repeating your mistakes.

You can make good use of those painful events from your past. Spend a few minutes each day and apply a little self-reflection. You’ll be happy with the results.

If you haven’t spent much time on reflection, the time is perfect right now. You still have time to really dig into how this year was for you. The good and the not so good. Now is the time to put these suggestions to work. See if identifying your strengths and using a rinse and repeat method for those actions, will move you toward your personal and professional goals in the coming New Year.

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