Sunday, November 20, 2011

Be Happy – Keep Yourself Motivated.

Sometime, you may feel frustrated with what is happening around you. You may feel that everything is going wrong or at least, not as you wished for. You may feel that your efforts are going waste, your energy and your time with your investment too. But it is not the ultimate. You must not get stuck in hoping things will change - instead get on with the business of being the change you wish to see unfold in your life. Friend, you've got what it takes, but make no mistake; it has to start with your decision to take action.

In today's fast-paced life, the wins usually go to those who work with exceptional skills and abilities. You can gain them easily. You know there is an old quote, that stands true, "The race is not always won by the swift and the strong, but that is the way to bet." With this in mind, and with your desire to become increasingly successful, you can adopt some ways to accelerate your abilities, thus enabling you to achieve greater and greater things.

1. You Must Always Remain Dissatisfied With Your Current Status.

Growth for growth's sake is good. Those who will achieve much are those who say to themselves, "I want to grow. I want to be better. And I am willing to do what it takes to get there. This current state is not enough!" This dissatisfaction will create for you an insatiable drive to do what it takes to get your abilities to the next level.

2. You Must Visualize the Benefits of Increased Abilities.

You must always try to add on to your working abilities, whatever be your age and circumstances. When you get success to add ability to do something other than what you have so far been doing, put it at the forefront of your mind. It may sharpen your quality. But don’t stop there. It may saturate your mind with the motivation that it will take for you to do what it takes to increase your abilities. What good will come out of my increased ability? How will I be better off as well as the others around me? The answers to these questions act as the carrot before the horse, moving you
forward.

3. You Must Understand Your Weaknesses.

If you want to improve, one of the best ways is to start with some area that you aren't particularly good at. This is the "shoring up method." Sometimes it is easier to improve something you aren't good at that something you are. And the gains will still look great for your overall situation!

Take some time to consider what areas you are weakest in and focus in on them for a while. The results will obviously be much more pronounced than getting better at something you have already somewhat mastered.

4. You Must Attempt Greater Levels of What You Are Already Good at.

Another skill to attempt upon would be to stretch yourself in an area that you already have some skill and ability in. What areas do you excel in? Now understand that when you leave the weaker areas weak and make extraordinary gains in one area, then you will be moving more toward "specialist" rather than "generalist." That is okay, but needs to fit in with your overall goals.

5. You Must Commit Time Each Day To Improvement.

Steady improvement is the way to go. In fact, you may not see improvement for days or weeks. You may feel like you are failing each time. But alas, eventually you will get it and your skill will increase to the next level. The key is day in, day out, spending time working on improving. Even five minutes a day equals a half hour a week, 2 hours a month. That adds up! Remember, Practice, practice, practice.

6. You Must Seek Out And Spend Time With Someone Having Greater Ability Than You.

One of the best things to do to increase your ability is hang out with people who are already more skilled than you. Watching, them, studying them, interacting with them, even competing with them will make you better. As in sports, to improve, you play with people better than you, not worse. They will raise you to a new level. Who around you can you get involved with who will help you with your ability?

7. You Must Take A Class Or Hire A Coach.

You may go to school for preliminary education, take a course at a local college or vocational institute. Take a class online. Hire one of the many coaches available today. Pick a specific skill you would like to improve upon and find someone who is a specialist in that area. At the very least, pick up some audio or videotapes to help you grow.

8. You Must Become A Tortoise, not A Hare.

Slow but sure. Take your time, do it right. Keep going in the right direction. Learn your craft correctly. Don't give up quality for speed. The whole idea of acceleration is this way: Slow start, work up to high speeds, go the distance. Luckily life isn't a sprint but a marathon! Do you have a definite purpose that guides your ambitions, vision, and goals?

It doesn't matter how you think you arrived here on this planet or under whose direction - the fact remains that each of us has specific talents and gifts that are uniquely coded within our own DNA. As you go through life, you don't just pick up things you like doing by chance. You discover what you’re good at because you were meant to discover it, just as you were meant to figure out what your fingers do, and how your elbows work.

Your unique gifts are hardwired into your system just as surely as your lungs are given their blueprint to breathe. And it's from these specific talents and gifts that you’re able to define and determine your definite purpose... the reason why you’re here. What's in you cannot be found in another living human being. In fact, it's quite possible that what you bring to the table hasn't been duplicated - ever - since time began.

9. You Must Determine Your Goal.

If you fail to determine your definite purpose, everything else is wrong. It's like working with a broken compass – you may think you’re going North, but you’re not. You’re not sure which direction you’re heading, so, you’re just wandering aimlessly. You must first determine which direction you need to go, and that your direction is right where you wished to go.

Without your purpose identified firmly in your mind, you will wander through life, never quite feeling that you’re "in the flow." I say, then, that it's imperative you recognize what it is you’re good at - what it is you really love to do.

Your purpose in this lifetime is to do the thing that you love. People will tell you they already know what they’re good at, and what they love to do most, but they'll never earn money doing it. Whoever gave you that idea?

When you’re sorting out your purpose, I don't want you thinking about that non-issue at all. You can earn money at anything. Once you determine your purpose, you won't even have to think hard on how to earn money - it's as if you’re being guided by an unseen hand, heading in the right direction... and everything falls into place.

The key to your life is not that you settle for the "safe" thing that will bring in the money. The key is to turn and do what you really love. Fall in love with an idea. That's your life! That's your purpose

10. You Must Try To Gain Motivation From Within Of Yourself.

Have you lost your motivation at work? Does it feel like a chore to go to your workplace, your office, your shop, or your business place? Given that work takes up a large chunk of our daily lives, losing motivation can not only hamper your job performance but can also negatively affect your personal life.

Sometimes people resolve the situation by changing jobs but that should be a last option. First, try some ways to get your job back. Identify why you are de-motivated and try to tackle the specific problem.

11. You Must Ask For Feedback.

Your manager, boss or client is likely the most important source of motivation or de-motivation for you. If he or she is not giving you the time and attention that you need, then you need to talk about it. Set up a meeting to discuss any work-related issues, or to share any fears or concerns that you might have.

Often, people don’t discuss their concerns with their boss/clients because they fear the reaction. This is the biggest impediment to their growth and a source of de-motivation. You must not be afraid to ask your boss/client what you need to do to reach the next level. Getting feedback can help provide clarity on your role and growth.

12. You Must Weave A Web of Support.

If you have lost your motivation because you are lacking focus and don’t have proper guidance, seek out mentors within or even outside your organization. Ideally, your mentor should be someone who is a few levels above you and with whom you are open. Don’t restrict yourself to one guide. Draw motivation from various sources.

Perhaps one person can guide you with people issues and another one can share thoughts on your growth decisions.

13. You Must Seek New Challenges.

Maybe you have lost enthusiasm for your job simply because you are bored. Try to identify why that is. Is it that you are not learning new things? To change that, try interacting with people from different departments in your company, or sign up for a training program. If you work in the finance department, for instance, try to learn something about another function like sales. Constantly upgrading your skills and knowledge will keep you motivated.

Is there a lack of challenge in your job? If so, ask for a job rotation and take up new assignments. Ideally, do a self-assessment to see what role you should pursue next. Write down what makes you ready for it, then go and talk to the concerned person. Another option is to ask for a change in location – a new place, a new environment and new people might just be what you need to get fresh perspective on your job.

14. You Must Tackle Mundane Tasks.

Nobody looks forward to doing routine or mundane tasks that take time but don’t engage our minds. But they have to be done, so don’t let them bring you down. If it’s possible to delegate some of these tasks or share them with your colleagues, do that. If not, try to get them out of the way as quickly as possible — like swallowing a bitter pill that will ensure your long-term well-being. Try setting a target that you would finish the work in two hours instead of four. This will also make you more efficient. You could also mix such tasks with things that relax you, such as listening to music or taking frequent breaks.

15. You Must Enjoy Your Life.

While work is important, all work and no play makes Jack a very de-motivated boy. You need to have interests outside of work and to spend time on developing them. It is easy to say that you don’t have time to pursue interests outside of work but you have to find the time for your own and your families’ peace of mind. Better time-management and re-adjusting your priorities will help you a lot.

Be Happy – Keep Yourself Motivated.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Be Happy: Be Happy – Make Your Commute Happier.

Be Happy: Be Happy – Make Your Commute Happier.: Every one of those is not lucky to have the workplace at stone-throw distance. Commuting is regular travel between one's place of res...

Be Happy – Make Your Commute Happier.

Every one of those is not lucky to have the workplace at stone-throw distance. Commuting is regular travel between one's place of residence and place of work, full time study or for some other purpose. It sometimes refers to any regular or often repeated traveling between locations. As bigger the distance, the consumption of time, energy and/or money becomes bigger.

Before the 19th century, most workers lived less than an hour's walk from their work. With the growth of population, due to the opportunities of work available far away, gap between the availability of their place and actual residing places of the workers has been increasing day by day. Today, many people travel daily to work a long way from their own towns, cities, and villages, especially in industrialized societies. Depending on factors such as the high cost of housing in city centers, lack of public transit, and traffic congestion, modes of travel may include automobiles, motorcycles, trains, buses, and bicycles.

Couples in which one partner commutes for longer than 45 minutes are 40 percent likelier to divorce. Perhaps long transit times exacerbate corrosive marital inequalities, with one partner overburdened by child care and the other overburdened by work. Commuting is a migraine-inducing life-suck—a mundane task about as pleasurable as assembling flat-pack furniture or getting your license renewed, and you have to do it every day. If you are commuting, you are not spending quality time with your loved ones. You are not exercising, doing challenging work, having sex, petting your dog, playing with your kids, or having happy time with your spouse. You are not doing any of the things that make human beings happy. Instead, you are getting nauseous on a bus, jostled on a train, or cut off in traffic.

People with long transit times suffer from disproportionate pain, stress, obesity, and dissatisfaction. The joy of living in a big, exurban house, or that extra income left over from your cheap rent? It is almost certainly not worth it. Commuting in the morning appears particularly unpleasant

That unpleasantness seems to have a spillover effect: making us less happy in general.40 percent of employees who spend more than 90 minutes getting home from work experienced worry for much of the previous day. That number falls to 28 percent for those with negligible commutes of 10 minutes or less. Workers with very long commutes feel less rested and experience less enjoyment, as well.

Those stressful hours spent listening to drive-time radio do not merely make us less happy. They also make us less healthy. One in three workers with a 90-minute daily commute has recurrent neck or back problems. Our behaviors change as well, conspiring to make us less fit: When we spend more time commuting, we spend less time exercising and fixing ourselves meals at home. Long commutes also tend to increase the chance that a worker will make "non-grocery food purchases"—buying things like fast food—and will shift into "lower-intensity" exercise. If we compare a worker with a negligible commute and a 12-hour workday and a worker with an hour-long commute and a 10-hour workday, we may find that the former will have healthier habits than the latter, even though total time spent on the relatively stressful, unpleasant tasks is equal.

Plus, overall, people with long commutes are fatter, and national increases in commuting time are posited as one contributor to the obesity epidemic. Researchers at the University of California–Los Angeles, and Cal State–Long Beach, for instance, looked at the relationship between obesity and a number of lifestyle factors, such as physical activity. Vehicle-miles traveled had a stronger correlation with obesity than any other factor.

So, in summary: We hate commuting. It correlates with an increased risk of obesity, divorce, neck pain, stress, worry, and sleeplessness. It makes us eat worse and exercise less. Yet, we keep on doing it.

Indeed, average one-way commuting time has steadily crept up over the course of the past five decades, and now sits at 24 minutes (although we routinely under-report the time it really takes us to get to work). About one in six workers commutes for more than 45 minutes, each way.

Why do people suffer through it? The answer mostly lies in a phrase forced on us by real-estate agents: "Drive until you qualify." Many of us work in towns or cities where houses are expensive. The further we move from work, the more house we can afford. Given the choice between a cramped two-bedroom apartment 10 minutes from work and a spacious four-bedroom house 45 minutes from it, we often elect the latter.

For decades, economists have been warning us that when we buy at a distance, we do not tend to take the cost of our own time into account. All the way back in 1965, for instance, the economist John Kain wrote, it is "crucial that, in making longer journeys to work, households incur larger costs in both time and money. Since time is a scarce commodity, workers should demand some compensation for the time they spend in commuting." But we tend not to, only taking the tradeoff between housing costs and transportation costs into question.

How much would we need to be compensated to make up for the hellish experience of a long commute? Two economists at the University of Zurich, Bruno Frey and Alois Stutzer, actually went about quantifying it, in a now famous 2004 paper entitled "Stress That Doesn't Pay: The Commuting Paradox." They found that for an extra hour of commuting time, you would need to be compensated with a massive 40 percent increase in salary to make it worthwhile.

But wait: Isn't the big house and the time to listen to the whole Dylan catalog worth something as well? Sure, researchers say, but not enough when it comes to the elusive metric of happiness. Given the choice between that cramped apartment and the big house, we focus on the tangible gains offered by the latter. We can see that extra bedroom. We want that extra bathtub. But we do not often use them. And we forget that additional time in the car is a constant, persistent, daily burden—if a relatively invisible one.

Do not take it lightly. People who say, "My commute is killing me!" are not exaggerators. They are realists.

Most of the workers and office goers have to travel at the same time for reaching their place of work, in the morning and coming back in the evening to their place of residence or halt making rush hours, to create congestion on roads and public transport systems. We usually see long traffic-jams during rush hour and face extreme pollution.

How can you come over the problems of commuting? People who drive 30 to 60 minutes to work are even worse off than those who have hour-plus commutes. That may be because longer routes tend to go through tranquil countryside with less traffic, and because those who live there tend to be higher-paid, healthier guys to begin with. The people who drive or take public transportation to work get less sleep, are more frazzled, and report being in worse health than those who pedal or hoof it. The stress and fatigue of navigating highways and train schedules seems to wear them down after a while, and it doesn’t help that commuting cuts into their time for social and physical activities..

To make your commuting enjoyable, you can try these tips to make your daily drive more relaxed, comfortable, and safe:

  • Take the scenic route. If it doesn’t add much time to your commute, drive on roads with more trees and grass—natural scenes decrease feelings of anger and frustration on the road.
  • Get comfortable. Long drives can be a pain in your lower back, shoulders, neck, knee, and sometimes hips. You must make sure your car’s lumbar support is pushed forward enough to support your lower back. To ease neck and shoulder pain, you may lower the tilt of your steering wheel and hold it at 4 o’clock and 8 o’clock and let your shoulders relax.
  • Don’t crank the heat. Regardless of the weather outside, warm conditions inside your car decrease your ability to pay attention. For optimum comfort and vigilance, keep your temperature set to around 70 degrees.
  • Choose your favorite tunes. If you spend lots of time and stop-and-go traffic, this tip’s for you. Drivers who faced frustrating and irritating congestion felt less stressed when listening to music they enjoyed.
  • Listen to podcasts. Search for a show that interests you, but doesn’t distract you. You want an activity that your brain can filter if it needs to do so, but that is not so boring that you ignore it.
  • Change your mindset. Let’s face it—congestion is nerve-wracking no matter what’s on your stereo. So control the factors you can and let go of the rest. Leave early enough that you’re not anxious about getting to work on time, and give other drivers the benefit of the doubt if they make a bonehead move. Much driver stress is bound up with hostility to other drivers.This stress not only harms your health, it also increases your risk of getting in an accident.
  • Make Groups. When you have got schedule of going daily or very frequently on the same route, you may try to make groups of those who you find are having the schedules similar to you. Befriending with them can make your journeys more enjoyable. Sometime, in case of emergency, it helps a lot too. You can have some play-cards, chess and other games with you to pass the stressful commuting. You can share your snacks and experiences. Together journey can solve a number of social and financial problems too.

Be Happy – Make Your Commute Happier.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Be Happy – You Can Explore Divinity within Yourself.

For centuries, man has been untiringly searching out the power which gives, operates and destructs this great universe. When he could not succeed, he designated the unknown divine power as G O D. The “G” is the first letter from the word ‘Giver’, “O” from Operator and “D” has been taken from Destructor.

If you ever sincerely and seriously analyze your own existence, you can find that Divine power is very much within yourself. One of highest experiences you can have in your lifetime is to know yourself as the Divine. When you let go of all fear, drop every judgment you have, release all those opinions about yourself and others, you will stop believing you are separate from God. You can discover a place of sacred refuge within that is like no other.

It's only your mind that makes you think you're separate, when in reality you're one with the ocean of existence. It's not until you realize that you are not this mind, nor your ego, that this false identity ceases to run the show. You've created this idea about who you are, yet it’s just a conglomerate of thoughts and is not who you truly are. Once you drop all separation, only then can you let go and find true permanent peace within.

Some people may say it’s blasphemous to see yourself as God, yet I say it's totally ridiculous not to. The cause of all suffering in life stems from the one tiny little idea that you are separate from the God Source. When this belief is truly challenged and you relieve its grip on you, there is such a tremendous freedom and love found that you'll never ever be the same again. I invite you to sit with this challenge this week, if you truly want to be free from all the suffering in your life. Below are the 3 essential steps we all must take to step out of suffering and find total unification with the God Source.

1. Deeply accept that there is a highly intelligent conscious creative source of energy that runs through everything. God actually exists. It is like one thread weaving through the entire tapestry of life. There is nothing that is not touched by this divine intelligence. You are also driven by that Power. If you are taking breath, the machine within you is operated by Him. He is within you, within your own system and you have no control over yourself, your own body for whose comforts, you have so far been fighting for. If that power leaves your body, you would be no more. It means that if you are there, the operator too is there.

2. Know that I am connected to the God Source from which all manifestation happens. In an infinite field of space (the Universe) each point in that field is the actual "center" of the entire field. You are one of these points from which the entire Universe revolves around. Every thought you think radiates outward, creating your experience of Reality in this infinite space time continuum.

3. Realize that everyone and everything is the God Source. There is nobody who is not connected to God. How can the finger ever work separately from the hand? All beings have this divine thread of intelligence running through their consciousness. No matter how unconscious they are, it still exists within each living cell. Once you realize that the God Self that you are, is also the same God Self in everyone else, you stop perceiving yourself as separate and see them as an aspect of the Real You!

But it is true that your ego can not accept it. Your ego says that if you are succeeding, you are doing it yourself. There is no super power to help you secure the achievements you made so far. But you forget that the power, once operating you, can destroy you without any permission from you. So the really big question here is what can you do to drop your ego? Well, this is a tricky one because there is nothing you can "do".

It’s more of an un-doing and a releasing of everything when the ego is finally freed. It is only through total surrender to Source that the Divine finds you. The ego is simply an over-identification with the “I” thoughts. Those thoughts that say, "I am this" or "I am not that" create the entire ego trip. When you get hooked into believing “I am this or not that”, you are creating attachment to limiting ideas and instigating the entire ego and your sufferings. The truth is that you are nothing and everything, because you are God and that which is beyond God. It's really that profound and that simple.

Some people can ask you, "What's the difference between your mind, your personality and your ego?" Not much, it is just that your ego is a personification of your mind. The mind gets attached to ideas and makes you identified with them. This creates the ego. When you are thinking that you are this body, and you have these problems, these feeling, and these thoughts you start becoming identified. The only way to know yourself as God is to become unidentified with everything and also know you are ONE with everything at the same time. This realization cannot be forced yet happens instantaneously when you drop deep enough into the exploration of the Truth of who/what you are.

God is there only if you surrender. Surrender makes anything God. Surrender gives you the eyes, and everything that is brought to these eyes becomes Divine. We all grow up as kids starting off with an ego so that later in life we can transcend it. That is the goal.

When you believe you are separate and disconnected from a divine all loving infinite Source and think there is no connection at all, you are only seeing one side of the coin. Try all three sides of the coin (the edge is a side) and you'll see suffering instantly evaporates. We are each supposed to believe in limitation, lack and struggle just so that we can one day drop it all. This is the purpose of believing in any lie. When you create the illusion that you are stuck, separate, challenged and disconnected from the infinitely conscious loving God Source, the day you return back to it you receive the greatest spiritual experience of your life! Divine unification on the deepest levels wouldn’t be possible without the illusion and experience of having an ego.

Forget your Ego and explore out divinity within yourself by sacrificing your own self interests when you see there are benefits to the surroundings more emphatically. If you provide pleasures to the destitute, God will really be happy with you and you would feel that God is there to help you and/or provide help to the needy through you. You would be treated like God by those who really need you and you help them in the hours of their actual needs. God may bless you with better understanding.

Be Happy – You Can Explore Divinity within Yourself.