How to Sleep Less and Stay Healthy
How much sleep do we really need? Of course it’s very personal, but “seven to eight hours should be enough” is what we keep hearing from most sources. But is it possible to shorten this time, without hurting your health?
Indeed, sufficient sleep time is important for your body to function well during the day. Sleep helps your body to recover from illness, minimizes the effect of stress, increases ability to concentrate, and improves memory and coordination. You don’t want to put these abilities at risk, do you?
The good news is that it is possible to shorten sleep time by up to 1 hour without the risk of sleep deprivation if you understand and follow these two simple rules. Read the Rest of This Article »
Ask the Readers: What books are worth reading?
One area that I plan to cover more frequently in the future is books. Specifically, books that are relevant to self improvement. I have my own favorites of course, but before I start spouting opinions I want find out what books others have found worth reading.
- What books have influenced your thought the most?
- What books have changed your life?
- What books do you strongly recommend to others?
I’m really interested in the results. This should be great for building a killer reading list.
How to Raise Your GPA
Getting straight A’s won’t guarantee success, but it sure doesn’t hurt. A high GPA will help you make more money, pursue further education, or change career paths. If you’re going to spend many thousands of dollars on a college education, you might as well make the most of it. Right?
Being smart will help you get good grades, but it isn’t required. Neither is studying nonstop. The key to academic success is being disciplined and efficient in your study habits. These 7 strategies will help you raise your GPA while minimizing stress and overall study time. Read the Rest of This Article »
Build Brain Power with these 21 Resources
Multiple readers have written in requesting more articles on boosting brain power and concentration. This subject has been covered on PickTheBrain before but it doesn’t seem to get old. After all, who doesn’t want to be a little sharper?
In an effort to put all the brains in a row, I’ve compiled the web’s best articles on brain power. They come from a wide range of sources including some old favorites and several new sites. Read the Rest of This Article »
7 Powerful Relaxation Techniques
The stress of modern life can make real relaxation an elusive dream. Yet there is no reason life has to be filled with anxiety and stress. If you take some time to learn the art of relaxation, you can easily rediscover the enjoyment in life. The secret of relaxation is a controlled state of mind. For example, you could spend a whole hour in a health spa; but, if you spend the whole time worrying about what will happen tomorrow, how can you relax? Read the Rest of This Article »
Increase Motivation
If you want to make things happen the ability to motivate yourself and others is a crucial skill. At work, home, and everywhere in between, people use motivation to get results. Motivation requires a delicate balance of communication, structure, and incentives. These 21 tactics will help you maximize motivation in yourself and others.
Motivation
1. Consequences – Never use threats. They’ll turn people against you. But making people aware of the negative consequences of not getting results (for everyone involved) can have a big impact. This one is also big for self motivation. If you don’t get your act together, will you ever get what you want? Read the Rest of This Article »
7 Ways to Grow the Action Habit
People at the top of every profession share one quality — they get things done. This ability supercedes intelligence, talent, and connections in determining the size of your salary and the speed of your advancement.
Despite the simplicity of this concept there is a perpetual shortage of people who excel at getting results. The action habit — the habit of putting ideas into action now — is essential to getting things done. Here are 7 ways you can grow the action habit:
1. Don’t wait until conditions are perfect – If you’re waiting to start until conditions are perfect, you probably never will. There will always be something that isn’t quite right. Either the timing is off, the market is down, or there’s too much competition. In the real world there is no perfect time to start. Read the Rest of This Article »
Ask the Readers: What do you wish you had never believed?
Often the greatest obstacles to personal growth are deeply rooted misconceptions. False beliefs about wealth, personal relationships, and the nature of success can hold you back for years.
Several months ago Steve Olson published a list of 10 things he wishes he’d never believed. My favorites from his list:
- Money is the root of all evil.
- Getting a good job is the best way to earn money.
- Admitting a mistake is a sign of weakness.
It’s an amazing moment when you realize that something you’ve believed your whole life simply isn’t true. It’s also incredibly liberating to overcome the false beliefs that have been holding you back.
In an effort to expose as many harmful misconceptions as possible, I ask the readers: What do you wish you had never believed?
Leave your answers in the comments and I’ll compile the results into an article. Hopefully we can open up some eyes.
5 Steps to an Effective Apology
The Japanese have a word “Gomenasai” that is roughly equivalent to the English word “sorry”. It’s used to apologize when you harm or offend someone. The word implies humility (Sorry to disturb you…Sorry for coming into your house), but it’s also used as a way to avoid guilt. Someone will say sorry just seconds before they ram the back of your legs with a shopping trolley. Another will mouth the word as they rudely cut you off with their car. Even my two year old daughter has learned to say “Gomenasai” just before she twists my nose or pokes my eye. This is how people use apologies every day, except perhaps more blatant.
How can apologies be so valuable but so misused? Read the Rest of This Article »
How to Achieve Your Goals with Healthy Habits
Note: This is a guest post by Leo Babauta who blogs at Zen Habits about setting goals, creating habits, productivity, GTD, motivation, exercise and more.
We’ve all faced the disappointment and guilt that comes from setting a goal and giving up on it after a couple of weeks. Sustaining motivation for a long-term goal is hard to achieve, and yet the best goals can usually only be accomplished in a few months or even years.
Here’s the solution: Focus instead on creating a new habit that will lead to achieving your goal.
95 Comments