Category: Science & Psychology

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Emotional Health Science & Psychology

I Took Cold Showers For 6 Years. Here’s What Happened

I Took Cold Showers For 6 Years. Here's What Happened
I Took Cold Showers For 6 Years. Here's What Happened

Hey champs! I know you are having a great day today because we can prove all over again that our internal power can solve any problem. Seriously, no matter what happens, you CAN decide that you’re going to have a great time.

Watch The YouTube Video:

If somebody like Viktor Frankl can be locked up in Auschwitz and come out of that an experience finding joy in the middle of Auschwitz then human beings have a capacity they’ve undersold themselves on.

We have this stubborn opinion that the outside world determines how we feel. If you think that your family, your boyfriend, girlfriend, wife or friends should BEHAVE in a certain way for you to be happy, you have already given up on happiness.

Life is full of uncertainty… terrible things may happen. You may lose a family member, you probably will. A law may change that may result in your business being completely destroyed. Just look at how many businesses got destroyed because of this worldwide situation…. We can never know the outcome of the things we can’t control. But what we can control is how we act upon those changes…

I had a hard time believing in this 10 years ago. I thought people get born under a lucky star. Some can work endlessly and they might never “get lucky” and become rich, and some just go for a walk and find money on the street. Little did I know we are the creators of our destiny.

Watch Now: 5 Bad Habits That Destroy Your Confidence

Until now, you probably ask yourself: what all this has to do with cold showers?! Well, it has to do with everything BIG TIME, at least for me.

I have been looking at different Youtube videos, but never stumbled across some person who took cold showers for 6-7 years. So I decided to share my journey and the story behind the experience of taking stone cold showers for long period of time.

Cold showers are “trendy” right now, but they are not at all new. They have been practiced for thousands of years back and now science is confirming the stunning benefits, something they couldn’t do back then…

According to science, cold showers increase your circulation, helps reduce muscle soreness after intense workouts, may help you lose the extra pounds and give your skin and hair a healthy glow.

One great advocate of cold exposure is Wim Hoff, also known as The Iceman. He is a Dutch extreme athlete well-known for his ability to withstand freezing temperatures. He set Guinness World Records for swimming under ice and prolonged full-body contact with ice, and still holds the record for running a barefoot half marathon on ice and snow.

So yes, while taking a cold shower may be ballsy, there are people like Wim Hoff that have taken that a lot more serious than you and me.

I got into cold showers about 10 years ago, but that wasn’t something I used to do very frequent, just like I was about anything, whether it was a relationship, work, or going on a trip to another city. Everything I did was halfway done, and I couldn’t find it in me to keep on doing things till the end. It was a burden for me to finish things, except sport. I was stubborn as a bull when there was a competition, race, or simply a half marathon.

I have competitive spirit, but I wasn’t fully competitive when I was alone with myself. I knew I had to do something to make it work even when I am alone. So yes, that’s when I screwed up and got into the stressful life of cold showers.

You know when you do something and after a while it becomes easier as you do it? Well cold shower is definitely NOT one of those things.

Every time I get in the shower, it’s stressful. You know you are about to do something very uncomfortable that is going to last for few minutes. And if you live in the area where I live, cold shower is a STONE cold shower. So the uncomfortable feeling when the water hits your head and back doesn’t last for few seconds, but at least a minute, until your body fights off the uncomfortable feeling and you become used to it.. like you have a choice!

The reason why I started cold showers is because I was trying to be consistent with something uncomfortable. Not because I am masochist and I like to whip myself at home, but because I wanted to fight off my sissy mentality with a simple, but uncomfortable task evert single day: the stone cold shower.

To be honest, I didn’t start because I was thinking about all the health benefits confirmed by science that come with it, but I got into it because if you do something as radical as cold shower to positively stress your body and mind, the next thing you do will look and feel easier for you to finish.

In the beginning I wasn’t consistent, but one day I was fully commited to take stone cold shower every single day.

From that day everything I did was easier. I was trying to take the cold showers every morning as I wanted to do the most uncomfortable task first. But as time went by, I changed it after my exercise, because I was taking 2 cold showers every day, like one wasn’t enough already.

Since that day, my skin got amazing glow, I lost 5 pounds (and this is A LOT for me because I workout 5 times a week) and I was very energized and vigorous. One downside I’ve noticed (at least a downside for me) was that my hair was growing like crazy. I don’t know how a cold shower has to do with hair growth, but my hair got thicker and I had to go to the barber every 3 weeks instead of 4. If you are on a budget, DON’T TRY IT because your barber will profit from you.

There are many self-help coaches out there who preach cold showers to their students, and to be honest I highly recommend it to everyone. Not only because of the health benefits that come with it, but because of the psychological effect it has on you.

For some people it’s unimaginable to take cold showers. I asked some close relatives, they made it very clear that they would rather die than take a stone cold shower. So yes, for some people it’s very uncomfortable feeling to even THINK about doing it, but for others it’s a challenge that has to be taken.

Because let’s be honest: what does your day consist of today? Most people are drowning in the comfort zone, and it doesn’t seem to be a problem for them. They wake up, work because they MUST, come home and spend the rest of the day watching Netflix, eating unhealthy and never setting a foot in the gym. Don’t take this personally. I know you are probably NOT one of them, but I am speaking about the majority.

People LOVE being comfortable. And I don’t say you should fight with lions and live edgy lives every single day, but the comfort we have is killing every single thing about us being human beings. Humans had to survive day by day thousands of years ago, and they were physically active. Not by choice, but by necessity. And all of a sudden, John and Karen decide that they can live sedentary lifestyle, order food, watch Netflix, play video games and kill every aspect of humanity.

Apart from the gym, exercise, running, or simply pushing every boundary to build an outstanding business, we must have a backbone for these things. I always preach about the Wim Hoff breathing method, or a simple 10 minute meditation we can do every morning. These things gear up our brain every day so we can be resilient to the challenges we face every single day. Because the challenges that we call problems, are there all the time. We cannot avoid them. We can either be prepared to face them and overcome them, or we can wimp and whine about all the problems we have like the whole world is against us. The more we avoid the problems we must overcome, the more they will stress us out and affect our health and overall growth.

The cold shower reminds us that we have to be prepared for the uncomfortable even if that’s the last thing we want to do. And to be honest, cold showers did an immense job creating that resilience for me. I really speak to myself when I get in that shower that I am now killing the sissy mentality. I am honestly believing that I am killing every doubt and fear I have, and after that cold shower I can take the day head on.

CONSULT WITH A DOCTOR before taking stone cold showers.

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Action Emotional Health Science & Psychology Success

How To Stop Being Tired All The Time

Hey champs, my name is Nick and today we are going to talk about how to increase your energy (something that might look like science fiction to you now) but it’s not that complicated after all.

If you are feeling tired ALL THE TIME, this video AND smashing that like button is definitely for you! And if you really don’t want to feel tired, make sure to smash that Subscribe button too, because I have a lot of good news in the next videos for you.

First of all what is the difference between you and Jeff Bezos, or what is the difference between you and Elon Musk? We all have 24 hours and, we can all earn 180 billion dollars, and we can all move to Mars, right? Well, not really. The difference between you and them is that you are constantly tired and you can’t invent those rocket ships and generate billions of dollars in income.

These days there is a MASSIVE confusion between having energy and preserving energy. We watch Netflix all day and we spend massive amount of time on social media. When it’s time to stand up and complete an important task, bam…. we have no energy.

How come we are low on energy when we spend our whole morning AND evening doing nothing but laying in bed and basically preserving every atom of energy? And on top of that, we wake up each morning feeling like we’ve been hit by a truck.

Many things come into play when it comes to general fatigue and tiredness and this does not involve chronic fatigue syndrome and SEID which affects million of people in the US alone.

This involves general tiredness which mostly people feel by not having healthier habits and clear vision for their life.

There are many habits that MUST be changed before we get that booming energy which we are going to discuss later, but first let’s explain why you are feeling tired ALL. THE. FREAKING. TIME.

As people, we have a hard time understanding paradox, right? Like beginning of an end, or knowing that we know nothing. Same goes for energy: we have more energy, by doing more things! Let me explain.

If you have a clear vision of what you want to be in the future all you need to do is take action. But that is easier said than done, and thanks to science, we now know the harsh road.

If you haven’t heard about neuroplasticity, you’ve been missing out a lot.

The more you do something, the more you strengthen the bond between the physical action and your brain. This is called neuroplasticity, and it’s actually brilliant. The more you do something, the more it becomes ‘wired’ in your brain. So, let’s say, if you exercise every day you will get bound to it and it will get easier the more you do it. But this also means that if watch Netflix every day, the more you will do it. The choice is yours.

However, we didn’t say what this has to do with having more energy, but first let’s go back to evolution.

Long time ago our lifestyle involved of us moving almost constantly. We had to hunt for food, gather and do all the chores necessary in order to survive. All we should do now involves us picking up the phone, calling our favorite pizza company and getting the food on our doorstep in no time. No wonder why we are so lazy now…

Evolution has made human to move, almost necessary. We can only Google the detrimental health effects of leading a sedentary lifestyle and everything becomes clear as day. Ok, let me do you a favor by explaining just some of them:

  1. Weight gain. Weight brings it’s own nasty problems, so a sedentary lifestyle has obvious health risks like obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease. The more weight you gain the harder your heart has to work. Your heart is a muscle, and the less it works, the weaker it becomes.
  2. Loss of Flexibility. Blood doesn’t flow as freely through tight, bound muscles. Inflammation and pain rear their ugly heads as flexibility is lost. The more sitting you do, the more your hip flexors and low back become particularly tight. Your abs and glutes also become weaker.
  3. Lower Metabolism. A sedentary lifestyle means fewer calories burned. A lot of your body’s ability to break down fat simply shuts down.
  4. Osteoporosis. Here’s a not-so-obvious health risk. Your body and muscles are made to move. Your bones are made to bear the weight of movement to stay strong. A sedentary lifestyle or too sitting and inactivity can lead to osteoporosis.
  5. Increased Chances of Dementia, Depression, and Anxiety. The mind is more linked to the lack of moving than most realize, especially in the elderly. But you don’t have to become elderly before you feel the negative harmful effects of a sedentary lifestyle on the mind.

Just by reading these scientific facts, it’s not hard to realize that we were made to MOVE, right? Our bodies work in perfect sync when we move, rather than when we lie down in bed and watch Netflix.

Even with the Neolithic Revolution or so-called the Agricultural Revolution, we still had to do a lot of physical work in order to grow the crops, protect them and stash them.

What happened that changed everything was the invention of the microchip, or to be more precise, the consequence of the microchip, which was the Digital Age. Of course, everything was done for all the right reasons, like not having to send out letters that would arrive in 2 weeks. But as a consequence of everything becoming so easy, we are taking many necessary things for granted, like exercise, food, or being spiritually fulfilled.

We made it pretty clear that we have to move for the body to function properly, and this in turn will give us MORE energy instead of making us tired.

When was the last time you felt that breeze of energy in the morning? That burst of alertness and agility? I can almost guess that it was some upcoming presentation, performance or you being happy like a little kid to do something you are really passionate about.

When we love the work, the relationship, the hobbies and all the tasks in our daily routine, we will have more energy, than doing something we hate. It’s only logical. Loving what we do gives us inspiration to turn that TV off, get our buttocks up, and take some form of physical action, like you pushing that Like button and Subscribing on my YouTube Channel.

By doing more, we have more energy… we covered that. But there are 2 more things we must do if we want to really delete that general tiredness that is slowly taking our time away, the only resource we cannot get back.

The second thing is nutrition

Your body is your temple. If you don’t take care of it, you are going to face tremendous health problems.

Sometimes I wonder how on Earth our bodies can process all those burgers and pizzas… not to mention all the booze. But when someone gets ill because of their own choices, everything becomes clear.

So what is really healthy nutrition?

Healthy diet is not about severe restriction and limitations, or depriving yourself of all the tasty things in the world. It’s about feeling truly alive, energized and great in every aspect.

And the thing is, it’s not very complicated. If you are one of those people who had WAYY to many opinions about what you should and shouldn’t eat, you are not alone, believe me. Some food “gurus” will tell you to eat something, while others will tell you the complete opposite.

The truth is that healthy diet consist of real food, instead of the processed junk food we are used to eat every day. Eating food that is as close as possible to the way nature made it can make a huge difference to the way you think, look, and feel. And you don’t have to deprive yourself of that junk food forever and ever…. you just have to pay attention to your overall diet. That’s why we invented cheat meals!

By using these simple tips, you can cut through the confusion and learn how to create—and stick to—a tasty, varied, and nutritious diet that is as good for your mind as it is for your body.

While some extreme diets may suggest otherwise, we all need a balance of protein, fat, carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins, and minerals in our diets to sustain a healthy body. You don’t need to eliminate certain categories of food from your diet, but rather select the healthiest options from each category.

The last one is: Stay Physically Active

For some people this is the worst type of conversation. They run away from exercise like the plague. But exercise is really, REALLY vital to our well-being. Plus who doesn’t want that stunning summer body?

  • Exercise benefits every part of the body, including the mind. Exercising causes the body to make chemicals so-called endorphins that can help a person feel good. Exercise also help people sleep better, and yes, putting that phone down at night also helps you sleep better. Exercise can also help some people who have mild depression and low self-esteem. Plus, exercise can give people a real sense of accomplishment and pride at having achieved a goal — like beating an old time for a 5 mile run.
  • Exercise helps people lose weight and lower the risk of some diseases. Exercising regularly lowers a person’s risk of developing some diseases, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, and high blood pressure. Also, if you want that stunning hot body turning heads every summer, exercise will help you do that too.

Now that we know the benefits, WHAT DO WE DO?? Join the gym, go for a run…. what? I personally used to exercise in the gym and then I started kick-boxing… so that seems to be working pretty well for me for the last 14 years. Also, calisthenics, running and hiking seem to be working out pretty well too.

When it comes to health, I would suggest you to go for a run or join the local gym and start from there. I truly hope you can find yourself in some sport because it will prolong your life, give you more energy and simply make you look stunning hot.

Final words

Just because we didn’t mention drinking water, getting enough sunlight and sleep we should avoid them. I just think the ones we mentioned are far more easily forgotten than the rest, and we should be reminded of them every once in a while.

Being tired most of the time is really blocking you from achieving many wonderful things in your life. With a little shift of perspective and mental effort, we can all change our lives, live better, and help this world be a better place.

I read a very interesting quote the other day in a book about nutrition and health. It explained that the lifespan expands all the time, but that doesn’t mean that people live more quality lives now. We can prolong our lives with pills and medications, but it’s really about the quality in the years. I am not saying we should all die young and happy. I am saying that by doing these things we wouldn’t need the pills and medications to live long and happy life.

Categories
Emotional Health Science & Psychology

How Stress Affects Your Body And Health According To Science

How Stress Affects Your Body And Health According To Science
Stress, stress, stress.... stress everywhere! If you knew before how stress affects your body and health, you would never stress ever again.

If you knew before how stress affects your body and health, you would never stress over trivial things, ever again!

Stress, stress, stress…. stress everywhere! As we set foot in the Information Age, our stress has increased tenfold.

In former times, 15.000 years ago, stress was mostly caused by something physical. People were under the pressure to find food and stay safe. In a way this is also mental stress, but the outcome is physical, and the stress is very different than the one today.

When you woke up this morning, you weren’t stressed about the food you are going to eat, nor about your safety of a lion attacking you on broad daylight. We now have so many choices of what we eat that the vast majority of choice is causing us stress. And yes, we now pay to see lions in cages!

Probably (and correct me if I am wrong) the first stress you had was a notification you received from your social platforms. Emails, Viber, Whatsapp, Facebook… you name it.

The stress we now have is mostly mental, rather than something that might happen in the physical reality. We have more made up stress caused by fear, rather than something that might put our life in real danger.

Mostly stress is caused by money, work and relationships. That is the global stress that vast majority of people fight over and over in their heads.

Now, I agree that these 3 things are really, REALLY important, but the stress is mostly caused by something that will never happen.

In the previous article, (that should pop right now in the right corner just above my head) looked into how many of the things we worry about turn out to be true in real life.

In the study, subjects were asked to write down their worries over an extended period of time and then identify which of the things they wrote down did not actually happen.

It turns out that 85 percent of what we worry about never happens, and with the 15 percent that does happen, 79 percent of people discovered that either:

a) they could handle the difficulty better than expected, or
b) the difficulty taught them a lesson worth learning

This means that 97 percent of what you worry over is just a fearful mind punishing you with exaggerations and misperceptions.

The stress we feel is just a made up story of something that will probably never happen in the future.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Some stress can be good, for example you pushing and motivating yourself to accomplish your goals and complete crucial tasks. But a lot of stress is bad, making you feel overwhelmed and ill. That’s because the negative effects of stress on immune function are significant.

How Stress Affects Your Body And Health

How Stress Affects Your Body And Health

No matter how many times we tell ourselves not to worry about trivial things, something always gets to us.

What happens is that we start creating endless loop of stories (that will probably never happen in real life) and then stress about the outcome of the fairy tales. This can cause serious health problems, according to science.

Think about your life. When life is good, life is not stressful, right? That’s because stress on your body and mind can press down your immune system. And why is that? Your body goes into overdrive so you can perform with full steam to tackle your stressors. This can cause the strength of your immunity to suffer.

So how stress affects your body?

The Basic Language of Stress

Learning some of the basics will give you a better understanding of your body’s natural responses. Here are the basics:

  • Stressor: Any stimulus that causes stress. There are two kinds of stressors: physical and psychological. Physical stressors are stress on the body. Psychological stressors are stress on the mind.
  • Hypothalamus: An important command center in the brain. This region is about the size of a penny and sits in the middle of the brain. It controls the activity of the pituitary gland and regulates hunger, thirst, sleep, body temperature, and many emotions.
  • Pituitary Gland: The master gland responsible for releasing most of the hormones in your body.
  • Adrenal Glands: Triangular glands that rest above the kidneys that are responsible for releasing cortisol.
  • Cortisol: The primary hormone released into the blood in response to stress.

How Your Body Handles Stressful “Situations”

How Stress Affects Your Body In Stressful "Situations"
How Stress Affects Your Body In Stressful “Situations”

Your body is a REALLY smart mechanism. It does miracles just to protect you from something that might hurt you. Like you pay attention to a strange looking fella next to you, your body pays attention to defend itself from external sources.

When you experience stress, your body has protocols. Without those protocols we wouldn’t be able to survive as species this long, especially when it comes to stress.

The protocol begins when a stressor comes along and puts pressure on your mind or your body.

The part of your brain that recognizes stress is called the hypothalamus. As soon as the hypothalamus recognizes a stressor, it delivers a swift message via neurons to a neighboring region of the brain called the pituitary gland. This gland registers signals from the hypothalamus and tells the adrenal glands ( just above your kidneys) to increase the amount of stress hormones circulating in the blood.

This is stress protocol 101, and the exact response pattern of your body every time it recognizes stress. But let’s go deeper and connect the dots between stress and immune function. It all boils down to your primary stress hormone—cortisol.

This crucial hormone does wonders by providing an energy boost during periods of stress. But the effects of cortisol are temporary. Once the stress wears off, so does the energy assistance.

Another way cortisol helps your body manage stress is by powering down any non-essential operations in the body. Unfortunately, stress hormone shuts down the immune system to conserve energy so it can run away from the threat, but this makes stressful periods the perfect time for germs to settle in.

This is so true and powerful that when surgeons transplant organs they give the patients stress hormones so they can lower their immune system. They do this because the body’s immune system may reject the new organ, and they lower it on purpose so the body can accept it.

Long story short, how stress affects your body is to your benefit, but not without consequences.

So what can we do to prevent stress from doing severe damage on our health?

Must Read After: How To Stop Worrying And Start Living, According To Science

How Can We Stop Stress From Doing Damage To Our Body And Health

How Can We Stop Stress From Doing Damage To Our Body And Health

What is happening today is that we are being fed with so much information spreading fear, especially with the global situation, that we are lowering our immune system on a global scale.

Just by knowing this fact we should pick the information we are fed very carefully and do everything we can in our power not to let our fear be fed by external factors.

Since information is the biggest cause of fear today, instead of real danger, we have 100% control of the things we stress about. After all, 85% of the things we stress and worry about NEVER HAPPEN, thanks to science confirming this.

Many of the serious health problems are psychosomatic, meaning that we are the main cause of the problem. External factors have big impact on our health, but we have the power of choice. We can literally be the hero we’ve been searching for.

I think the real problem is that we find it easier to point fingers and blame others as to why we fail. It’s easier to put our failure on his or her bill than to take full responsibility from the consequences of our actions.

If I tell you to do a backflip, and you end up hurting your leg, whos fault is it? Your fault, or mine?

It’s the same example with the major decisions. If your parents want you to be a doctor, and you hate every second of it, it’s not your parents fault if your life is miserable 10 years from now. Just like accepting the backflip was your decision, right? These are just examples. Don’t take them to heart.

As you grow you will be challenged with many things from external sources. Like your grandfather telling you to find a real job instead of the one on your computer, and you end up making 54.000$ one month. Or your friends talking behind your back about your “blogging” life.

If I look back and followed every advice from my friends and parents, I would’ve end up working a 9-5 job caged in a cubicle, miserable and unsatisfied with every second of my life. Don’t let someone else’s view on life affect how your life unfolds.

We all perceive life differently. The way you read this will affect you different than it will affect your brother, sister or friends. This means that no one can tell you how you can do something rather than yourself. Of course, they can give you an advice, but it’s up to you how you apply that advice in the physical reality. After all, I’ve learned the most valuable lessons from my failed attempts!

I think the real power is to take full responsibility over the things that affect our life. Only then we can truly learn the lesson and stop the same mistake from happening all over again like a loop.

Take precautions. Make yourself the main protagonist of your own life. And don’t forget how stress affects your body, because you can seriously harm your overall health and make irreversible damage.

Categories
Action Emotional Health Science & Psychology Success

How To Stop Worrying And Start Living, According To Science

How To Stop Worrying And Start Living, According To Science
By the time you finish this article, you will have the scientific knowledge, backed by scientific research on how to stop worrying.

By the time you finish this article, you will have the scientific knowledge, backed by scientific research, on how to stop worrying, or at least to stop worrying about 85-97% of the things in your entire life.

Five hundred years ago, Michel de Montaigne said: “My life has been filled with terrible misfortune; most of which never happened.” Now there’s even a study that proves it. This study looked into how many of our made up stories never happen in the physical reality.

So How To Stop Worrying, According To Science?

A skeleton thinks how to stop worrying. Apparently it doesn’t work for him.

We worry way too often about each and every detail. Usually we worry about our diet, we worry about our health, we worry about making money, we worry about our physique, we worry if we are attractive or not, we worry about our partner, we worry about our parents and grandparents… we worry about each and every single thing we are unsure about.

Unlike the animals, we have the capacity to think about ourselves far into the future. Animals respond to life mostly on a moment-by-moment basis, but our ability to imagine the future allows us to behave in ways today that will have desired consequences later on. Now, don’t get me wrong, worrying is not all that bad. Self-awareness is essential for planning for the future, improving ourselves, and avoiding real danger in the future.

And yes, while thinking about the future is critical to our well-being, most of us think about the future far more than needed to manage our lives effectively. When we think too much about the future, we get distracted from our life in the present moment and what’s even worse, it fuels great deal of anxiety about things that will probably never happen tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, next week, year and even decades from the present moment.

While animals fear when they face real danger, they don’t worry about what might happen in the future, nor they read articles on how to stop worrying.

If all the things we worry about happen, and we are prepared for them, it would be an absolute blessing to worry. But on the other side, if all the things we worry about happen, that would be living in hell!

Most of the things we worry about never happen, and if they do, we can solve them a lot better than we thought we can. Worrying about future problems rarely gets us prepared when it’s time to take action in the physical reality.

Yet the question remains: if worrying doesn’t do much good, but more damage, why do we keep worrying? Why do we wrap around the anxiety blanket and keep on trying to predict the future? There’s a great theory predicting the answer of these questions.

“How To Stop Worrying” Didn’t Exist 10000 Years Ago

“How To Stop Worrying” Wasn’t A Topic Of Discussion 10000 Years Ago

Leonard Martin, social psychologist at the University of Georgia suggests a great theory tackling the answer to the questions above.

Martin speculates that self-generated worry about what might happen in the future became a problem in the last 10,000 years or so. Before then, our prehistoric ancestors were able to think about what might happen in the future, but their hunting-gathering lifestyle did not evoke a great deal of unnecessary rumination about the future.

For million of years, humans didn’t plan long-term to accumulate money, success, possessions, or simply self-improve themselves on personal and professional level. Our prehuman ancestors were focused on today, rather than weeks, months, or years ahead. Hunter-gatherers with little to no possessions at all didn’t plan for the future or long-term goals. They didn’t have a reason to think more than a day or two ahead.

But something happened that changed everything. When agricultural revolution or so-called Neolithic Revolution began 10.000 years ago, humans began to worry about the future. Unlike the hunter-gathers who mostly lived day-to-day lives, farmers must plan for planting, harvesting and storing the crops. Because so many things can ruin the crops, farmers began to think about the weather, pests, thieves, rodents and whatnot. Everything they can worry about just to protect their yield.

To make things worse, the new trend called “worrying” didn’t do much good to the farming community. No matter how well they planned or protected the crops from the predictable certainty, things like drought, infestation or even a stampede can destroy everything in a blink of an eye, leaving the farmers to starvation. No matter how many times they spent worrying and protecting the crops, everything could ramshackle like a house of card by things they couldn’t predict.

Many people say this transfer was crucial to humanity. For the first time we owned houses, supplies of food and livestock. Also, the agricultural era brought the division of labor and social roles. This in turn made us worry not only about our well-being, but the well-being of those who we depended upon.

If the theory by Leonard Martin is correct, the Neolithic Revolution brought a new set of psychological stresses because it switched from day-to-day living to worrying too much about things that could rarely be predicted.

Knowing This Is There A Way To Stop Worrying?!

Looking back 10000 years ago, we can hardly say things are getting better on the topic on how to stop worrying. Now we have a lot more things to worry about, especially since the introduction of The Information Age. We are being bombarded with so much information a day that it keeps us worried every minute of an hour. However, everything can be fixed if we have the right habits and tools, for which we’ll discuss at the end of this article.

Read After: 5 Things You Must Do To Uncover The Endless Potential That Is Slowly Dying In You

Montaigne’s quote that we mentioned in the beginning of this article made us laugh for five centuries, but worry is no joke.

The stressed caused by worrying generates serious health problems. The stress hormone that worrying throws into your brain is linked to heart disease, cancer, premature aging, family dysfunction, clinical depression, lowering your IQ, shrinking brain mass, and even making seniors more likely to develop dementia and Alzheimer’s.

Science tells us not to worry, and here’s the scientific research supporting my claim.

The study we mentioned in the beginning of this article, looked into how many of the things we worry about turn out to be true in real life.

In this study, subjects were asked to write down their worries over an extended period of time and then identify which of the things they wrote down did not actually happen.

It turns out that 85 percent of what subjects worried about never happened, and with the 15 percent that did happen, 79 percent of subjects discovered either:

a) could handle the difficulty better than expected, or
b) the difficulty taught them a lesson worth learning

This means that 97 percent of what you worry over is not much more than a fearful mind punishing you with exaggerations and misperceptions.

Now that you know this, STOP WORRYING! Easier said than done, right? How to stop worrying is better question.

Just by thinking to stop worrying is not going to help you much.

We have to implement habits and basically change ourselves ENTIRELY to stop worrying and start living better life filled with happiness and great moments.

Imagine the perfect YOU, the perfect self. Don’t save anything for later, just imagine everything you ever want to be and achieve.

Now here comes the catch: what I am about to say is mind-blowing!

To become the person you want to be, you have to change everything about yourself in this moment. Everything you “think” about has to be changed. Everything you “do” has to be changed. Long story short, you shouldn’t be the person that you are right now. If you were the person that you should’ve been, you would have all those things already, right?!

Change doesn’t happen overnight, just like there is no such a thing as overnight success. Change happens with mental and physical effort. You cannot wish for it and snap your finger. It doesn’t work that way.

Here are 3 practical tips you can implement right now and start changing your mentality from farmer to hunter-gatherer lifestyle.

1. Take a pen and piece of paper and start writing

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second-best time is now.” – Chinese Proverb

Ok, I have to admit. We are going to upgrade the hunter-gatherer lifestyle, since they didn’t have pen and paper, nor they planned for the future (stating the obvious).

Planning for the future is not the cause of worrying. Not knowing how the future unfolds is.

So here’s what we do. We take a pen and paper and start planning for the future.

I don’t personally know you, but I know that you, as all of us, have personal and professional goals that you want to attain.

There’s no precise guideline for this because what works for me might not work for you, but I will share my lookalike plan for the future on one of my goals.

YouTube Channel – I have 1M subscribers on YouTube by 202X year. I keep on publishing videos with enormous value without the need to get something in return.

My vision is making people’s lives better, and helping those who need help.

I publish at least 1 video a week and I will give my best in each and every video.

To be narrowed, I keep my channel strictly about self-improvement and I don’t steer clear of my vision at any cost.

I do research, assemble and write an article, and create that article in a YouTube video.

Here’s how one of my big goal looks like. Then I cut my big goal into smaller goals and do these things daily without skipping a single task.

For many people it works by only having one big goal, for example I will build a massive YouTube Channel by 2022. For me it works by cutting the big goals into smaller ones, and executing the same every day.

Once you start writing ideas will start flowing. Most of us are afraid to imagine and simply upgrade our capabilities to get that thing in the physical reality.

Start writing, have a clear plan about your future, and get to the next step, which is REALLY important.

Read Also: Mentally Strong People Never Do These 6 Things

2. Plan without action is just a wish

I don’t know if you noticed, but I never mentioned that “I will” do something in my plan. I wrote things down as I already do and own them. That way I don’t have space to wish. I give myself the pressure to do all that is necessary to have those things achieved.

After you create your plan on a piece of paper, you already have it in physical reality. It’s really important that you write your plan down, instead of typing it or remembering it, which is the worst type of planning.

When you write things out, you create spatial relations between each bit of information you’re recording. Handwriting activates parts of your brain involved in thinking and working memory, and allows you to store and manage information. The movement associated with the pen and your hand can help you encode and retain information long-term.

Since you have your plan ready, the next step is to start taking action. The difference between wishing and achieving something is your ability to execute your plan in real life.

There are many philosophies that will push you to take action, or things that will motivate you to get up on your a$s and start executing your plan. But here’s the trick: if you love what you do, if you have your plan written next to you, everything else is just an excuse. Taking action does not require you to solve math problems or unsolved mysteries. Taking action is a muscle, and you build it by pushing yourself to do more. Imagine wanting to bigger chest muscles. You will have to work out and push yourself to get those chest muscles pumped.

What we fail to realize is that we are not always going to feel happy about it. Just as I am writing this I was sick as f*ck. I have fever and I feel like throwing up any second, but you know what? No one gives a crap about that. I am going to write this article and finish it and if I need, I will end it by falling with my head on the keyboard. That’s how much I am dedicated to each bit of thing I do today.

You don’t have to go so harsh on yourself, but you do need to be harsh against your emotions. If you feel lazy or just not amused by your work, that’s just unacceptable. That’s the excuse you are making to avoid hardship.

It all boils down to the things you DO. Not the things you “think” you do, but the actual things you create in the physical reality.

Stop doing things because of others. Start beings selfish about yourself, especially when it comes to success. You are going to perish one day. As bad as it sounds, no one gets out alive anyway.

Is your current state your dream life, or you have a lot more to do to get there? If you don’t take action, your current state is going to get worse, because when we don’t improve we usually impair.

Final quote: “Take action! No one will do the work for you!”

3. Life is not a finish line. Life is a journey

Yes. I already said that things will end one day, so eventually life has to end, but that’s the mental oxymoron we are fighting. Why do we all have to think that everything has to have an end? Don’t keep on thinking that when you do “this” you will feel “that”. It just doesn’t work that way.

For example, most people think that when they have money they will be happy and solve all of their problems. I can tell you for a fact that if you work to make money just so you can be happy, then you are NEVER going to be happy when you(if you) make money.

This is because you tie your end goal (which is practically a finish line) to a thing that you hope will make you happy.

And then you keep asking yourself why you are worried. Of course you will be worried! You are chasing 75% cotton and 25% linen (that’s what the money is made of in the US) and hope they will make you happy! Where is the sense in that?

Yes, money can buy you freedom, pay your bills, and put food on your table. But money is not going to make you happy or fulfilled if you chase them for the sake of having them. You’ve got to have an endless vision, a journey behind your earnings. Otherwise they will burden you to the point where you are going to spend them just to be healthy again. You get my point?

Create goals from tiny, daily executions, that will allow you to climb to the medium and gigantic goals.

For example, by researching everyday, writing articles and filming YouTube videos I am going to build a YouTube Channel up to 1M subscribers in X years.

This sounds like a fairy tale now, but if I keep on doing it for X years, I will eventually get there.

However, if I don’t enjoy the journey, and if I do it only to get to 1M subscribers, although the chances are very low, I still might do it. But when I get there I will be more miserable than ever.

When you focus on the journey instead of the goal, you give yourself permission to be happy every second of the day. I am not saying you will be, because every grand goal requires you to go through tons of s*it, but you will hold the switch to end those undesirable emotions every second of the way.

So no, you life is not a sprint, your life is a marathon, and if you want to be happy and fulfilled most of the time, give yourself the permission to do so by going on a journey.

In these practical tips, we almost never mentioned how to stop worrying. I did that on purpose because by having a clear goal, followed by execution and going along a journey, you have nothing to worry about. You’ve had it all covered by yourself. You are no longer farming. You are gathering the fruits of your own creation.

Categories
Emotional Health Science & Psychology

Psychologists Reveal: Apply This 2-hour Rule and Your Life Will Change 180°

Psychologists Reveal: Apply This 2-hour Rule and Your Life Will Change 180°
Psychologists Reveal: Apply This 2-hour Rule and Your Life Will Change 180°

Throughout history, many individuals made a big difference in this world.

  • Mother Teresa – Charity worker who devoted life to serving the poor and destitute.
  • Charles Darwin – Credited with theory of evolution and natural selection.
  • Galileo Galilei – Scientist who made discoveries about the galaxy and stuck to his principles.
  • Albert Einstein – Scientist and peace advocate.
  • Dalai Lama – Spiritual leader of the Tibetans, helped popularise principles of Buddhism.

The list can go for miles, but let’s focus on what these people had in common to make that worldwide difference? Why are they different than us?

According to psychologists “Reflective Thinking” is one of the pillars of self-improvement, and that’s exactly what these people in the list above had in them that makes a distinction from the rest.

Psychologists Reveal: Apply This 2-hour Rule and Your Life Will Change 180°
Psychologists Reveal: Apply This 2-hour Rule and Your Life Will Change 180° Image source: MaxPixel

WHAT IS REFLECTIVE THINKING?

When things don’t turn out as we expected, or as we famously say “when the sh*t hits the fan” what’s the course of action that we take? The truth is that most people will easily find thousands of excuses instead of looking for solutions.

The secret of reflective thinking is looking the solution in you instead of looking it outside of you – in external factors.

I know that many will say that self-focus can be narcissistic and destructive force for us, but that’s not the case. As a matter of fact, psychological research shows that it is a critical component of positive change in life. A variety of theories on self-regulation emphasize that change requires two things: a goal, and an awareness of where ‘one’ currently is in order to assess the discrepancy between the two.

The conclusion is that if you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up nowhere.

Reflective thinking offers solution through your eyes and perception.

THE 2-HOUR RULE

According to some experts, the 2 hour rule might be the solution to every problem.

Two hours might seem like a long span of time, but if you separate 2 hours a week, more or less you’ll have only 15-20 minutes a day.

So here’s how you perform it: when you get back home from work, remove all distractions. When I say all, I mean everything, including phones, tablets and noises. For this awesome exercise, you’ll need a pen and a paper.

Here are a few questions Zat Rana reflect on:

  • Am I excited to be doing what I’m doing or am I in aimless motion?
  • Are the trade-offs between work and my relationships well-balanced?
  • How can I speed up the process from where I am to where I want to go?
  • What big opportunities am I not pursuing that I potentially could?
  • What’s a small thing that will produce a disproportionate impact?
  • What could probably go wrong in the next 6 months of my life?

Zat Rana states on Business Insider:

“I can quite honestly say that this is the highest return activity in my life. It forces me to balance the short-term with the long-term. I catch problem before they become problems, and I’ve stumbled onto efficiencies and ideas that I wouldn’t have come across otherwise.

Interestingly enough, much of the value doesn’t come out of the routine questions, but from the time I have left after I run out of things to think about. It’s when I let my mind wander.

I’m not one for easy one-size-fits-all solutions, but this is an idea that I think can serve a lot of people well. We all think, of course, but not all of us do so deliberately and without distractions and guilt.

There is immense value in leaving time for that.”

BOTTOM LINE

If you are honest, how many trivial things did you do today, yesterday, and the week before that? If an average person spends 2 hours and 22 minutes a day on social networking, taking out 15-20 minutes a day to solve the biggest problems in your life is not much of an ask, right?!

Trust me. If you try this, solutions will flow like never before. Also, make sure that you write everything in the notebook (or paper) because once you have your thoughts in writing, magical things can happen! Just try this and see for yourself!

If you think this article can help someone, please SHARE it with your Friends and Family!

Categories
Action Emotional Health Science & Psychology Success

World’s Leading Psychiatrist Reveals The Top 22 Tips To Shift Your Life Upside Down

People were influenced, countries were changed and even the world as we know it, thanks to some of the greatest minds of our time.
World’s Leading Psychiatrist Reveals The Top 22 Tips To Shift Your Life Upside Down

Throughout history, many individuals were able to change the entire course of development. People were influenced, countries were changed and even the world as we know it, thanks to some of the greatest minds of our time. Their ideas were revolutionary, influencing the entire world along with the leaders that controlled it.

One of the greats, is believed to be the Russian psychotherapist, psychologist and author Michail Litvak. Writing a total of 30 books on the topic of popular and practical psychology throughout the course of his career, totaling over 5 million books in circulation, along with a large number of scientific articles on important topics in the psychotherapy and psychology fields, Litvak has influenced experts around the globe.

One of his theories focused on relationships, conflict and conflict resolution was called ‘Psychological Aikido.’ This specific technique focused on providing its practitioners with a number of principles and rules to consider in every situation of human interaction, empowering them to better handle situations of conflict head-on should they arise.

People were influenced, countries were changed and even the world as we know it, thanks to some of the greatest minds of our time.
World’s Leading Psychiatrist Reveals The Top 22 Tips To Shift Your Life Upside Down

We’ve taken out the most important tips shift your life from this outstanding individual:

1. If all your actions are well planned, happiness will naturally follow.

2. Learn to live for yourself. Otherwise, you’ll always be trying to prove yourself to others, and you will be living for them.

3. You can never please every single person. And if you don’t stop trying, then you are preparing yourself for huge failure.

4. Both immature and mature people have knowledge. But for those who are immature, the application of this knowledge is not easy whereas the mature person utilizes it and converts it into action. This is the reason the former cannot do anything much, other than criticizing everyone else.

5. Nobody discards people. It is just that not everyone moves at the same pace and some move ahead sooner.

You will also like: Your Life Will Change 180° If You Let Go Of These 20 Mental Barriers

6. If you want to daydream, fantasize about things which are realistic and goals which can be achieved. This way you will not lose your drive.

7. Instead of spending your time with a shallow person in the name of company, invest it in a book. It will be more entertaining as well.

8. Someone who can’t praise themselves will inevitably start criticizing others. And this is when they have nothing much to talk about.

9. The idea that there is a difference between male logic and female logic is illogical in itself. You are either wise or you’re not.

10. If people try to make you feel guilty or grateful for their help, it is better that you pay them off for their services and let them go.

11. Someone who is really happy within himself wouldn’t find it necessary that others should think really good about him or her too.

12. Your biggest enemy is not someone lurking in the shadows, waiting for you to slip up. Your biggest enemy is you and facing this enemy can be really tough.

13. If you really have an uncontrollable urge to dig into things, dig into the details of philosophy or science, not into each other’s back.

14. Do not pay attention to insults and criticisms. The day you finally achieve your goals, none of the rest would matter.

15. If you really crave something in life, don’t wait around and definitely don’t ask for permission to have it. Rather try to become the one who can control this thing.

16. Happiness is not something that you chase after. It will not be found hidden in the great outdoors’ nook and cranny. It comes from deep within you and can only be achieved when you learn contentment.

17. Talking to your friends is a good thing no doubt. But when you talk with those who are your enemies, you learn so many new things. Your own shortcomings are just a few of the things. It is rather better to listen to your enemies, than friends.

18. Depression is bad, and frightful and hard. But it is also an opportunity to look deep within yourself. And find out what are the things that have been driving you forward or turning away.

19. If you are in a relationship, be it that of romantic inclination, or a business partnership, you should never break it off, unless you feel that your own growth has been suffocating and not able to take off when you were part of the said relationship.

20. When you try to talk to someone, don’t be afraid, they might actually think favorably of you.

21. If you are alone, especially if you face loneliness after love, it means you are mature and grown spiritually. Also, being alone sort of enhances our productivity.

22. Never be too selfish of your own happiness. When you share it with your friends it enhances your happiness by making them happy. When you share it with your rivals, they just have to deal with the idea that you are better than them.

Categories
Emotional Health Science & Psychology

Psychologists Reveal How To Remain Calm During Any Argument Or Conflict

Psychologists Reveal How To Remain Calm During Any Argument Or Conflict
Learning how to remain calm during any argument can be easily said than done, but practice makes it perfect. Here's how to remain calm:

Learning how to remain calm during any argument can be easily said than done, but practice makes it perfect.

Emotional intelligence can help you handle your emotions while the lack of emotional intelligence can make you easily irritated, eruptive and unable to be calm during heated arguments.

Let’s face it: we cannot avoid conflict. Whether it’s one with our wife, husbands, kids, friends or coworkers, conflict cannot be avoided. However, being calm during conflict or argument can be controlled. How we react to those situations will determine the emotional state we’ll be in.

At the exact moment when you notice that you’re being part of an argument, here are steps that you can take to stay calm and be in control of the situation:

How To Remain Calm During Any Argument Or Conflict:

1. Remain Calm During Any Argument By Taking Deep Breaths

How To Remain Calm During Any Argument Or Conflict:

Shallow breathing is the body’s response to stress. To break this pattern, take a deep breath and take full control over the body. This will signal your brain that you are “not” in an argument which will give you full control over the situation. Your judgement is not clouded by stress, anger and short temper.

Inhale for 5 seconds and exhale for 7 seconds. This will keep you in control from saying things you may regret for the rest of your life.

2. Be Mindful About Your Body

How To Remain Calm During Any Argument Or Conflict:

Muscle stiffness is often triggered by stress. Stress can adversely affect your body’s nervous system — including your nerves — and how they function. Your nervous system may respond to stress by putting additional pressure on the blood vessels, which results in reduced blood flow to the muscles.

By focusing on your body, relaxing your shoulders and hands, you signal the brain that you have full control over the situation. In turn, this will make you calmer and make better judgement over the situation.

Read After: Your Life Will Change 180° If You Let Go Of These 20 Mental Barriers

3. Remain Calm During Any Argument By Actively Listening

Many conflicts or arguments arise because one person wasn’t heard or listened to before. This being said it’s impossible to diffuse an argument without listening.

Start to listen actively so you can make better judgement about the factual reason behind the argument or conflict.

4. Ask Open-ended Questions

How To Remain Calm During Any Argument Or Conflict:

A simple question can solve the entire conflict. Open-ended questions are invaluable. First, because that you actively listen, and second it means that you show interest that you’re trying to solve the argument.

The easiest way to avoid asking “yes or no” questions is not to use the words “do, don’t, did and didn’t” when asking a question. Instead, use the words “what, why, when and how.” The right questions can solve the argument in an instant.

5. Keep Your Voice Down

How To Remain Calm During Any Argument Or Conflict:

The moment you start an argument is the moment you raise your voice. On the flip side, this means that if you lower your voice down, you can easily avoid getting in the middle of a heated conflict or argument.

The point is to press down the anger of the other person. You can’t do this by raising your voice. However, you can instantly diffuse the initial anger by bringing both of your voices to a lower tone.

6. Agree To Disagree

Truth be told, some arguments cannot be solved with mutual benefit. You can avoid getting deep in the conflict by avoiding the whole conversation.

One of the law of interpersonal conflict is that it takes two participants. Disengaging from an argument is appropriate under one of two circumstances:

  1. the person becomes increasingly hostile, or
  2. the conversation, despite your best efforts, is not going anywhere

Unless you are in full control over your mind and body sometimes you will get angry in a conflict or argument. We are emotional beings, and we have triggers that can irritate us. However, by actively practicing these tips to stay calm during an argument, we can easily avoid things that we may regret for the rest of our lives.

Categories
Emotional Health Science & Psychology Success

5 Warning Signs The Social Media Destroys Your Life

Here are the 5 alarming signs that the social media destroys your life: (and how to fix it)
5 Warning Signs The Social Media Destroys Your Life

When I sit in a coffee shop with my friends, it’s almost impossible to see everyone around me chatting and having a lovely cup of coffee. Nowadays people stare at the screen All. The. Time.

I can easily say that 90% of the people who go out to socialize (especially in the younger generation) spend the time on their phones instead of socializing in person.

What’s interesting is that there’s nothing really “social” in social network. If you use it the way it’s not meant to be used, it has the potential to steal your time and destroy your life.

I am almost 29 years old, and I am happy to say that I didn’t grow up in a time where social media was omnipresent. Although when I was 13 years old social media platforms increased with rapid speed.

But hey! All is not bad. You can actually use the social media to benefit you.

The way the algorithm works is that you get shown what you’re most interested in. If you click funny cats and dogs you will see funny cats and dogs all day. The same goes for self-improvement. If you click on videos that are truly inspirational, you will be shown ads and videos about self-improvement. If you use that to your benefit, it’s a win-win situation. However, people don’t usually do that.

To explain a bit more, here are the 5 alarming signs that the social media destroys your life: (and how to fix it)

5 Warning Signs The Social Media Destroys Your Life

1. Insecurity is booming

If you follow travel pages and hauntingly beautiful Russian girls on Instagram, when you scroll your feed you’ll realize that your life sucks. All you see is flawless selfies, exotic photos of Maldives, Thailand and Seychelles. And there you are with your phone sitting at home looking at stunning places you haven’t visited. This is the illusion that the social media gives you. It’s a competition: you life sucks, mine doesn’t. I am more beautiful than you. I have more money than you.

The illusion of not having the choice to be that good, make that much money and travel all those places is making you highly insecure and demotivated. Someone is “living your dream” and you don’t.

Then you falsely believe that everything is based on luck, beauty, or money, which will lead you to be desperate and depressed.

2. Major distraction

I don’t know what’s worse: wasting our own precious time that we can never get back, or looking at the lives of other people?

If you don’t create “social” environment on your social media account that will help you grow on personal and professional level, why the hell are you using it? If you truly want to socialize you have 510.1 million km² outside of your home.

The way we see at social media today is like an “easy” fix. If you are bored you just take the phone and open Instagram. Not interested in the conversation you are having with your buddy? Just open TikTok and keep on scrolling.

Again, don’t get me wrong. Social media is brilliant if you use it as you should (we will talk about that in the last part of this article) but if you use it as a form of escapism, or simply to run away from the imperfections of your own life, then you are already in the trap.

3. Debilitating addiction

If you can’t go a few hours, or a day without it, you are addicted.

Due to the effect that it has on the brain, social media is physical and psychological addition. According to a study by Harvard University, self-disclosure on social networking sites lights up the same part of the brain that also ignites when taking an addictive substance.

When someone experiences something rewarding, or uses an addictive substance, neurons in the primary dopamine-producing areas in the brain are activated, causing dopamine levels to rise. Therefore, the brain receives a “reward” and associates the drug or activity with positive reinforcement.

When you get a notification, such as a like, comment or mention, the brain receives a rush of dopamine and sends it along reward pathways, causing you to feel pleasure.

Social media provides an endless amount of immediate rewards in the form of attention from others for relatively minimal effort. Therefore, the brain rewires itself through this positive reinforcement, making people desire likes, retweets, and emoticon reactions. (Source)

Overusing social media, especially if you have no profit from it, will become a debilitating addiction that will steal your time and life.

4. Social Anxiety

For someone who is prone to social anxiety, overusing social media can and will make it worse.

We use social media to connect with others (at least that was the “idea”) but the whole concept of “connecting” with others just doesn’t fit. It doesn’t have real interactions with people.

As much as we believe that we are always connected with each and every person in our life (nowadays even your grandparents have social media) we fail to realize that the more we use it the more we distance from people. Because the truth is that we are “already” connected on social media, right? Even though that’s far from the truth.

The fact is that if you’re spending an excessive amount of time on social media and feelings of sadness, dissatisfaction, frustration, or loneliness are impacting your life, it may be time to re-examine your online habits and find a healthier balance.

Instead, why don’t we connect outside on a bench with a cup of coffee and have real interactions with people that don’t stare at the screens?

5. Productivity killer

It’s no strange why Bill Gates and Warren Buffett accredit focus to be the most important thing about their success.

Just as I was writing this, I forgot to put away my phone and my Facebook messenger buzzed next to me. I completely lost my focus and forgot what I was trying to write.

The unrestricted usage of social media is having a negative impact on workplace productivity, as employees spend more than 32% of their time on social media every day for personal work, says a study.

We don’t just scroll, like or comment things. We waste the precious time we have on this Earth. I always say this, but we fail to realize that our time is limited. One day it’s all going to end. If you don’t use the time you have to be productive and create something meaningful in your life, you are going to waste it scrolling and imagining things you could’ve had.

How to use social media to your benefit

The algorithm works according to your needs. If you follow people or websites that doesn’t help you grow or be better, it’s your choice that you did that.

Here’s what I propose that you do right now: unfollow every page, company, or public figure that don’t offer you real value that will improve your life. When I did that, I felt like I am leftover from the rest of the world. I am not following new style trends, fashion shows, home decorations or Russian models. But here’s why that’s great: I followed every self-improvement coach and author that give me real value. I also followed influencers that share new things about marketing, dropshipping and things that help me grow my business.

The point is to create a circle that will benefit you most. Don’t consume every “sweet” thing that is posted on social media. Be selective about the things and knowledge that comes in your life. If you suck everything you see or being told about, you will roam aimlessly in fear controlled by the social media and the news.

Create your niche, nurture it, and upgrade yourself every day. That’s how you benefit from social media.

Categories
Emotional Health Science & Psychology

3 Unusual Habits That Will Change Your Life 180 Degrees

These 3 habits can program our brain to do incredible things because when you think about it, by default we have not evolved to be happy...
3 Unusual Habits That Will Change Your Life 180 Degrees

When you think about it, it all boils down to the things we do, not the things we “think” we do.

Forcing ourselves to do a simple task every day for a period of time will turn into a habit. This means that if you read every day for 1 hour, after a period of time (say a month) your brain will build strong neural connections. It won’t feel like (damn I have to read again), but it will feel like (how come I didn’t read today?). You will almost feel like not reading is missing out on something. Like a cigarette, or that cup of coffee in the morning.

I can almost guess that the first thing that you do every morning is that you check your phone. “But I see the time!” Of course, I also used that as explanation, but then I was bound to scroll on Instagram for 30 minutes. That was 30 minutes wasted every morning. Not to mention that we program ourselves to do that all day because the morning is the most important part of the day.

These 3 habits can program our brain to do incredible things because when you think about it, by default we have not evolved to be happy. We have evolved to be safe. Your brain is not forcing you to do things to be happy, but it sure is forcing you to stay in the comfort zone. That’s why the entertainment industry is booming these days. Your brain is partly to blame for that, but with the power of your will and a bit of resistance you can jump that obstacle.

So here are these 3 unusual habits that will change your life 180 degrees for the better:

1. Wim Hof Breathing Technique

Regulated by the autonomic nervous system, inhaling oxygen is an unconscious process. Fortunately it’s an unconscious praxis, otherwise we simply wouldn’t have a break, as we’d have to deal with it incessantly.

The amount of oxygen that we inhale through our breathing, influences the amount of energy that is released into our body cells. On a molecular level, this progresses via various chemical and physiological processes.

Breathing is the easiest and most instrumental part of the autonomic nervous system to control and navigate. In fact, the way you breathe strongly affects the chemical and physiological activities in your body.

Throughout the years, Wim Hof has developed special breathing exertions that keep his body in optimal condition and in complete control in the most extreme conditions. The breathing technique is first and foremost premised on inhaling deeply and exhaling without any use of force! [Wim Hof Breathing]

I have been personally using this method for 3 months now, and it’s giving me a head start for the day. While you do it, your body may change the temperature, or you might become light headed. Don’t fret, it’s all part of the exercise.

Here’s the video you can use to do it every morning (I use this one for 3 months now):

2. Cold Shower

I know, I know. “I will never do that”, “people only do that in prison”. Well, if we were actually a bit more intelligent, we would all do it too.

Water therapy (also called hydrotherapy) has been used for centuries to take advantage of our body’s tendency to adapt to severe conditions. As a result, our bodies become more resistant to stress.

Cold showers are not a main source of treatment for any particular condition, but they help improve symptom relief and general well-being.

Here are just few of the many benefits:

1. Cold showers helps fight off common illnesses

Our bodies are designed to become resistant to the elements we are exposed to. Here’s an example: leukocytes help fight infection in the body. The shock to the body by cold water stimulates leukocytes. This means that taking cold showers can help your resistance to common illnesses, like colds and the flu.

One study indicated that cold showers could make the body more resistant to certain types of cancer. And a clinical trial in the Netherlands showed that people who took cold showers called out of work less.

2. Improves circulation

It is uncomfortable to go below that cold shower, but it can be invigorating. The reason for that is because water that’s colder than our natural body temperature causes the body to work slightly harder to maintain its core temperature. If taken regularly, cold showers can improve our circulatory system. Some people also say that their skin looks better as a result of cold showers, probably because of better circulation.

3. Increases endorphins

One holistic method for depression that’s gaining popularity is hydrotherapy. Taking a cold shower for up to 5 minutes, 2 to 3 times per week, was shown to help relieve symptoms of depression in a clinical trial.

For people with depression, cold showers can work as a gentle electroshock therapy. The cold water sends electrical impulses to your brain. They jolt your system to increase alertness, clarity, and energy levels. Endorphins, which are the so-called happiness hormones, are also released. This effect leads to feelings of well-being and optimism.

4. Helps improve metabolism

People that are obese can’t simply take cold shower and lose the fat overnight. But taking a cold shower 2 or 3 times a week may contribute to increased metabolism. It may help fight obesity over time. The research about how exactly cold showers help people lose weight is unclear. Still, it does show that cold water can even out certain hormone levels and heal the gastrointestinal system. These effects may add to the cold shower’s ability to lead to weight loss. [Healthline]

The list can go on and on, but isn’t it enough? Start taking cold showers if you want to have positive effect on your overall health.

3. Handwrite your goals

Okay, I confess. Writing your goals is not news, but it’s really important to handwrite them. Here’s why:

Typing notes enables you to write down more material swiftly, but you’re more likely to remember the things you wrote down if you handwrite them, according to research from Indiana University.

“To learn something means you have processed it,” says Dr. Towfigh. “And when you take handwritten notes you ‘process’ or learn more information. You begin the learning process as you listen to the lecture.” Plus, since you look at the page on which you are writing, you naturally review the material and reinforce the information you’ve already processed, Dr. Towfigh says. [Health]

Not to mention that handwriting sharpens your critical thinking, enables you to recall the material effectively and makes your conceptual understanding stronger.

Some old school habits will never die, no matter how many new technologies we invent.

Try these habits and you will feel the difference almost immediately, especially from those cold showers!

Categories
Emotional Health Science & Psychology

A Harvard Research Reveals the Key Factor to Living Long and Happy Life

A Harvard research study reveals that green zones are of great advantage to women, and as a result it even promotes the longevity of their lifespan.
A Harvard Research Reveals the Key Factor to Living Long and Happy Life

There is a certain part of us that constantly nags us to go outside. In the 21st century, we have lost touch with the outside world, and with our own selves too. Delving deep into the escape of social media, we haven’t stopped to reflect in ages. We are constantly running, perpetually tired, always looking to find a hide-out.

Most of us consider the mountains, or a vast natural space, as a calm and quiet getaway. But the aesthetic aspect of it is not its only selling point.

A Harvard research study reveals that green zones are of great advantage to women, and as a result it even promotes the longevity of their lifespan.

GREEN ZONES AND A LONG LIFE

The entire research consists of 108,630 female respondents. The examiners took into account certain common measurement criterion, such as: the amount of nature that surrounds them at a 250-meter radius. They also took into account the death rates in their families, and the probable causes for the same.

The result that they found is a city dweller’s nightmare.

The people who reported the most amount of greenery, were twelve percent less likely to die faster than people who had no greenery surrounding them. That is a huge percentage when it comes to calculating mortal rates. Some of the diseases that they are exempt from are fairly common ones such as kidney problems, respiratory impairments, and also the deadly cancer.

HOW GREENERY HELPS PROLONG YOUR LIFESPAN

What is the science behind these statistics and how does it come to play?

This has a lot to do with the low levels of pollutants that these women seem to encounter on a daily basis. In the city, if a bus has run rushed past you, it will take you some time to clearly see the face of the person on the other side.

In fact, it isn’t just the pollution. Even levels of depression take a serious hit when nature comes to the rescue. How this works is:

1. If you have a beautiful locality, then you are bound to step out. None of us want to frolic in a concrete jungle. And more importantly, you do not see people playing Frisbee in your parking lot.

2. When you are steeped in sunshine, vitamin D seeps into your body. Depression is fueled by the lack or low levels of it.

3. It just provides for a much happier and calmer mindset. The community feelings are much more developed, and people find it easier to bond with their neighbors, than in the alienated city environment. Obviously, togetherness helps your mental condition in many ways.

4. Even a portrait of a scenery is bound to trigger some very positive and happy responses in our brain. Imagine actually getting to live that dream in blood and flesh.

5. In a well-developed green zone, the area will be much better planned. There will be impeccable trails where children can ride their bike, or adults can get going for a jogging session. It just promotes your standard of life and well being.

6. Plants aid in curbing the pollutants, and the city is nowhere around to augment the smog and contribute to the diseases.

Read after: 15 Morning Habits of Successful and Highly Organized People

UTILIZING THE GREEN ZONE TO THE FULLEST

If you have natural grounds around you, then make good use of it! Most of us are not blessed with such resources. If you look out of your window and see green trees, then you’re already in the one percentile of people who are close to a natural sphere. Build trails, indulge in the maintenance of these zones, form community organizations, participate in supplementing the resources by planting new trees, etc.

Do not take nature for granted. It will reward you bountifully.