7 Common Habits That Secretly Make You Anxious

Do you know why so many people have trouble dealing with anxiety? Simply put, it boils down to a lack of perspective.  Most of us think of anxiety as something that’s irrevocably… out there; as though it were an ominous and invisible threat plotting against our well-being.

All too frequently, people conceive of anxiety as an external factor they cannot possibly control. Does that describe how you feel? Truth be told, this kind of reasoning is nothing but an excuse to remain a victim of anxiety. Even though there are a plethora of known anxiety causes that you can’t control directly, it’s often possible to alleviate the problem by tackling specific habits and attitudes which usually go hand in hand with anxiety. Read the Rest of This Article »

10 Ways for Workaholics To Slow down and Enjoy life

With our hectic lives and severely over-packed schedules, we often find ourselves lost somewhere along the way. We work so hard to live passionately and abundantly, yet that same work so often becomes nothing more than a time crunch that creates scarcity and a lack of zest for life. Luckily for us, we don’t have to stop working entirely to reclaim our excitement for what is around us. We only have to take a little time to slow down and, as they say, smell the roses.

Starting with the smallest and ending with the most profound, here are 10 tips that will help you in your quest to bring back that sense of wonder and joy you had when you were a kid. We’re going to start with – what else? – something you can do each morning. Read the Rest of This Article »

5 Ways to Get Peace of Mind So You Can Really Unwind

Whether you enjoy relaxing by the beach, skiing down the slopes or testing your golf game, it’s important to make time occasionally to escape the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Easier said than done, right? With appointments, deadlines, and demands of your time, it’s easy to forget what it means to take a breather. To avoid total burnout, take the following simple steps to get peace of mind so you can really unwind: Read the Rest of This Article »

The Power of Effortless Living

When I tell people I think life should be effortless, they usually laugh. They think I’m joking. Everyone knows life isn’t effortless, that getting things done and achieving anything worthwhile requires hard work, time and a lot of effort. Success costs, and people who become successful without paying are either cheats, crooks or just lucky.

Think, for a moment, about the metaphors you use to describe your experience of life. We often see life as a struggle, a battle, a war, a difficult journey with obstacles to be overcome, a test to be passed.  These images colour our actions and determine the way we go about doing things. We have come to see brute force as the best way to get things done. In the west, especially, we tend to carry around images of the lone pioneer, the individual battling against the forces of chaos, taming nature. To have achieved is to have beaten the odds, to have struggled and held on and never given up. Victory is for the tenacious, the resilient, the person who never gives in. Read the Rest of This Article »

Are You Relaxing – Or Just Procrastinating?

It’s 6pm. You haven’t really accomplished anything today … but hey, you needed some time to relax. You took a long lunch and re-watched a couple of episodes of a TV show. You spent an hour or two in a coffee shop, flicking through a few newspapers. You updated Facebook and Twitter and Google+ …

… so why do you feel stressed?

Chances are, you weren’t really relaxing. You were procrastinating: putting off what you wanted to get done because you felt some resistance to it.

Here’s the difference: Read the Rest of This Article »

The Benefits of Sleep and How You Can Get More

Have you even wondered why you just simply can’t lose weight no matter how hard you try? Or, maybe, why you feel so cranky and unproductive throughout the day? These could all be symptoms of a lack of sleep.

We sleep for a reason, not because we can but because we must. Our bodies were designed to work hard all day and then recoup and recharge overnight while we sleep. In this new age, everybody is always on the go, trying to catch up with a fast-paced society that is solely interested in profit-making. All of us want to have major success and to be at the top of our game but, I’m sure, not at the cost of our health. Read the Rest of This Article »

“Hard Work Never Killed Anyone” – Really?

I’d bet that, as a kid, you heard the phrase “Hard work never killed anyone.”

I can see why parents and teachers say it. After all, kids are prone to whining – about homework, chores, or anything that’s not exactly a lot of fun.

As adults, we’re sometimes averse to hard work too. Maybe we procrastinate, or we slack off.

Often, though, we work too hard. We put in long hours to impress our bosses, or simply to make a bit more money. Read the Rest of This Article »

5 Life Transforming Truths For Doing Absolutely Nothing

I had a conversation with one of my daughters yesterday. She had recently moved from a conventional office setting to a home office environment and was feeling somewhat guilty for waiting to simply get up and leave that environment to at times do nothing. Her self worth is currently inextricably attached to the amount of work she perceives that she needs to do on a daily basis. At times we can be our worst taskmasters.

As her father and business coach I shared the following – ‘Man or woman looks out of window thinking great thought. That is great work. That is how great businesses, books, and blogs are first germinated – in the uncluttered mind.’

So allow me to share 5 truths why you should at times do absolutely nothing. Read the Rest of This Article »

7 Simple Ways to Clear Your Mind

Do you ever feel like your brain is tied in knots?  Do
your thoughts resemble a massive ball of string,
wound messily and tightly together?  Are you unsure
of what to do next?

This feeling is all too common in a world of sensory
overload and multiple responsibilities.  The
ultrabusy person sometimes feels like thoughts
don’t even get a chance to fully form.
At times of high stress, where we are trying to
satisfy multiple demands at once, it feels like
our minds are being constricted with warring priorities.

Let’s talk about some ways to untangle, unwind, and
refocus.  Here are seven simple tips to clear
your mind and get your mental house in order.
You can try any one of them, several or even all
of them. They are listed here in no particular
order: Read the Rest of This Article »

Finding a Quiet Space When Life is Busy

Back in November, I went away for a weekend’s retreat, and it was one of the best things I did last year. I have a lot going on in my life, and clearing that space meant juggling some commitments around – but it was well worth it. I felt much happier and more relaxed than I had done in a long time, and I came back from the weekend determined to keep some of that “quiet space” in my regular life.

I expect that you’re similarly busy. You probably find it hard – logistically and emotionally – to find any time for yourself. When you do get a gap in your day, you end up filling it with chores or emails or tasks that have been on your to-do list for months. And when it comes to the evening, you probably don’t have the energy to do much more than turn the television on.

Even when you’re short of time, though, it’s possible to find yourself a quiet space – mentally, if not always physically! Here are a few ideas to get you started. Read the Rest of This Article »