3 Paths to Self-Improvement
Self-improvement, or personal development, is a topic I think about a lot. And not just because I blog about it, but because I have always wanted to become more than I am.
As an idealistic teenager, I taught myself Esperanto and read large swathes of the Great Books. As a devout youth, I copied out practically the whole Bible by hand, with my reflections, into a series of notebooks. And I’ve taken classes in everything from nutrition promotion to Tai Chi to Celtic art to ritualmaking.
Through all of this, there have been three ways or paths I’ve discovered to self-improvement. I’ll talk about the hardest one first. Read the Rest of This Article »
Living in a Snow Globe: Why It’s Important To Expand Your Mind
Do you think you’d be much happier if you won the lottery?
Do you think you would be much less happy if you were paralyzed in a car accident?
If you answered ‘yes’, science is against you. Read the Rest of This Article »
5 Benefits of Meditation I Didn’t Expect (and How They Can Make You Successful)
I’m not a meditation teacher. I’m not even a very enthusiastic meditator. I’ve averaged about 20 minutes once a week for the past couple of years, and any serious meditator will tell you that’s not enough to really benefit you.
Except it seems like it is, because I’ve noticed some benefits that I can’t attribute to anything else. I’m sure I’d get far more benefit if I meditated more regularly (I’m experimenting quietly with doing that). But here’s what I’ve gained even from a rather hit-and-miss practice. Read the Rest of This Article »
Why Nothing Is Scarier Than Change
This post is inspired by another blog post – by Catherine Caine at Cash and Joy.
In that post, an (imaginary) therapist and client are having a conversation, which goes in part like this:
‘And what’s the worst thing that could happen if you don’t follow that dream?’
‘Nothing.’
‘Which is scarier?’
‘The nothing.’
And I looked at that, and thought, “There’s a mission for me. Help people to see that the nothing is scarier than following your dream.”
Change is simple, but it isn’t easy
The thing about personal development and personal change is that it’s simple. There are really no magic bullets. There are a few tips and tricks, some things that make it easier, definitely, but the basic idea is simple: Pay attention to the right stuff, take consistent action, and you can achieve pretty much anything. Read the Rest of This Article »
How to Become a Different Person
“Have you seen Joe lately? It’s like he’s a different person.”
What do we mean when we say that? And if you wanted to become a different person – where would you start?
Well, what’s probably happened to Joe is one (or more) of three things.
- He’s let go of something that’s been holding him back.
- He’s rediscovered, and reclaimed, a part of himself that he was denying.
- He’s strengthened an existing part of himself that was under-emphasized before.
Let’s look at each of those in turn. How could you or I do that? Read the Rest of This Article »
The 3-Step Stress Detox
Stress is toxic.
Actually, that’s not quite true. Long-term stress is toxic.
In the short term – say, for getting away from a tiger – stress is very useful. It turns you into a temporary superhero. Your senses become sharper to detect danger, your memory is enhanced (so that next time you’ll remember not to blunder into the tiger’s territory), and your blood fills with energy-boosting and protective chemicals and rushes out to your arms and legs so that you can a) hit the tiger hard on the nose and b) run away quickly. So far, so good. Read the Rest of This Article »
7 Steps to Calm Your Racing Thoughts
Photo credit: American Things
When you’re worried about something, your thoughts start chasing each other round your head and don’t let up. You run the same scenarios through over and over, as if practicing them would make them turn out right.
Sometimes they’re in the past, sometimes in the future, but in either case – worrying about them isn’t going to fix anything. It’s just going to keep your thoughts in a groove they can’t get out of, upset you, keep you awake at night, and limit your creative response to the situation.
So what can you do?
Here’s a simple technique for calming your racing thoughts down. It’s as easy as watching a movie (and much cheaper). Read the Rest of This Article »
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