13 Ways to Take Care of Yourself Every Day

I found this great article on success.com. My favourite is number 12, what's yours?

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Don’t get stuck in an unhealthy daily grind. Here’s how to work “me time” into your busy schedule. 

It’s 7:30 a.m. and your alarm is blaring. Squinty-eyed, you reach for your phone, fumbling to swipe that horrible noise off, sinking back into the mattress, your eyes fading to black again… until you shoot straight up, eyes wide open, realizing you’ve already pushed snooze three times. You’re late. So you bolt out from under the covers and, like a blur, get dressed and go to work.

You’re at the office (finally), and a million emails have rudely generated in your inbox, so you start shooting off responses, only to reply to the ones that come back seconds later. You only get up when nature calls and your stomach yells for food. Another blur and it’s already dark. Time to climb back under the covers…

Sleep, wake up, work. And repeat. That’s a daily grind that will have you burning out the next time your alarm goes off. There’s more to life than work. How can you make sure you’re getting a healthy dose of “me time”?

We asked the Young Entrepreneur Council, “What is one thing you can do every day to take care of yourself, before your work?” to find out.

1. Set specific time slots when you don’t work.

Focusing on work is a great excuse for not taking care of yourself. I have set specific time slots where I won’t work and will instead spend time on my family and me. These slots are first thing in the morning (before 8 a.m.) and dinnertime (5 to 8 p.m.). Except for events I must attend, these slots are sacred times for me to spend with my family and not work. Setting this up has been life-changing.

—Joshua Dorkin, BiggerPockets

2. Start your day off with meditation.

I start every morning with a short 5–10-minute meditation using an app called Beditations. The meditation helps me visualize the things I’m most grateful for and allows me to minimize negativity and distractions. I find that early morning meditation increases my self-awareness and helps me put into perspective what really matters. I also tend to be much more positive, energetic and happy.

—Kristopher Jones, LSEO.com

3. Work out.

I get up early most mornings and head to a free, outside workout called F3. Aside from obvious health benefits, it clears my mind and gets me in touch with the outdoors and in the company of good friends to start the day.

—John Dillard, Big Sky Associates, Inc

4. Get enough ZZZs.

The scientific benefits of sleep are innumerable. More sleep equates to more happiness, better health and improved decision-making. Not to mention that it detoxes the brain. In order to do your best work, it’s critical to consistently recharge your batteries.

—Ryan Stephens, Ryan Stephens Marketing

5. Write a poem.

It sounds silly, random even, but this is something I’ve done every day that has dramatically reduced my stress while simultaneously opening my mind to many details in the world and opportunities that I would not have otherwise noticed. Start your day by writing a poem—even something as simple as a haiku.

—Matthew Manos, verynice

6. Keep a journal.

Life is very busy. My journal is in bullet-form so I can jot down things I did, people I met, how I felt, etc. It’s been a great outlet to help me be present, remember the little moments and sort out challenges in both my personal and professional life.

—Kate Levenstien, Cannonball Productions

7. Talk to friends and family.

Your friends and family are your biggest supporters. Even if you are having a very stressful and busy day, pick up the phone for a few minutes just to say hi to Mom or your best friend, and just talk about the good things that are happening in their lives. It will keep you grounded.

—Faraz Khan, Go Direct Lead Generation

8. Wake up slowly.

It’s not unusual for me to answer 10 to 15 emails before even getting out of bed in the morning. But starting the day off like this often sets a negative tone for the day, and truthfully most issues can wait. I’m learning that I’m much happier when I take 30 to 45 minutes to wake up slowly and shower before checking email.

—Jesse Lear, V.I.P. Waste Services, LLC

9. Read something fictional.

Refresh your mind by taking an afternoon break from your workflow and escaping to another world. Reading fictional stories stimulates the right side of your brain, sparking creative thought. That stimulation can make your day go a little smoother by thinking differently, solving problems in abstract ways and, most importantly, rejuvenating your soul.

—Mark Krassner, Knee Walker Central

10. Do yoga.

I have always been a very active person. I played water polo, swam, surfed, tried every sport out there. But in the last few years I started doing yoga a few days a week and it has changed my life. It’s the only place my phone is completely off and my mind is focused on myself only—no clients, employees or projects. It’s the easiest way to reset your mind and body in 60 minutes.

—Torrey Tayenaka, Sparkhouse

11. Listen to a podcast.

I find that one of the best practices to get fresh air and stimulate my brain is simply to take a walk and listen to a podcast with the podcast app that now comes standard on the iPhone. Do yourself a favor and listen to something non-business-related. For a little health or mindfulness, my favorites are Bulletproof Radio and Buddhist Geeks.

—Matt Wilson, Under30Experiences

12. Put yourself on your schedule.

When you put yourself on your schedule, you won’t have meetings and appointments that prevent you from taking care of yourself. I prefer to put myself as my first appointment of the day to make sure I don’t get caught up in the day and decide to skip out on important things that keep me grounded, like exercise and meditation.

—Natalie MacNeil, She Takes on the World

13. Make time for play.

Before becoming a father, I would have given an answer like many others: workout, meditate, yoga, etc. These are all exceptional ways to nurture yourself. After becoming a father, the greatest joy I can experience is playing with my children. It’s like taking that deep refreshing breath of sea air after a hard workout, but better.

—Derek Fitzpatrick, Ios Optics

Article source: 13 Ways to Take Care of Yourself Every Day

Developing Your Personal Philosophy

Rohn: 7 Tips for Developing Your Personal Philosophy

Your philosophy is the greatest determining factor in how your life works out. This is how to build a meaningful one. 

Jim Rohn

August 9, 2015 

Jim Rohn was broke at 25 and a millionaire by 31. How does an Idaho farm boy make it to Beverly Hills? This is how…

At 25, there was nothing in my bank and I needed to provide for my family. As I was considering what to do, I met John Earl Shoaff, a wealthy entrepreneur who became my employer for the next five years. He revolutionized my life and taught me the importance of developing my personal philosophy, to look for those few things that make the most difference and to spend most of my time doing those things. It isn’t a complex or mystical process but a principle that can make a difference in how your life turns out.

While there are many puzzle pieces for success, without developing a sound philosophy the other pieces are of little value. So as you go forward on this journey toward success, remember to:

1. Set your sail.

The winds of circumstance blow upon all of us. We all have experienced the winds of disappointment, despair and heartbreak, but why do people arrive at such different places at the end of the journey? Have we not all sailed upon the same sea?

The major difference isn’t circumstance; it’s the set of the sail, or the way we think—it’s what we do after we’ve set our sails and the wind decides to change direction. When the winds change, we must change. We have to struggle to our feet and reset the sail in a manner that will steer us in the direction of our own deliberate choice. The set of the sail, or how we think and how we respond, has a far greater capacity to destroy our lives than any challenges we face. How quickly we respond to adversity is far more important than adversity itself.

The great challenge of life is to control the process of our own thinking.

2. Learn from success and failure.

The best way to establish a new and powerful personal philosophy is to objectively review the conclusions you’ve drawn about life. Any conclusion you’ve drawn that isn’t working for you could be working against you. The best way to counteract misinformation and wrong data is to input new and accurate information. Gather information from personal experience. If you’re doing something wrong, evaluate what you did wrong and change things.

Seek an objective, outside voice about how you are and what you’re doing. An objective opinion from someone you respect can lead you to early and accurate information about your decision-making process. Listen to the freshness of an outside voice—someone who can see the forest and isn’t lost in the trees.

Observe the successes and failures of other people. If people who failed were to give seminars, it would be helpful. You could see how people mess up and you wouldn’t do what they did. Past failures and errors prompt us to amend current conduct so we don’t replicate the past.

Study from people who do well. Each of us should be in a constant search for people we admire and respect and whose behavior we can model. It’s far better to deliberately choose the people we will permit to influence us than to allow bad influences to affect us without our conscious choice.

3. Read all you can.

People from all walks of life who’ve had some of the most incredible experiences have taken the time to write of these experiences so we can be instructed and amend our philosophies.

The contributions of other people enable us to reset our sails based upon their experiences. Books offer treasures of information that can change our lives, fortunes, relationships, health and careers for the better.

There are two books you need to read to build your philosophy: Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill and The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason.

4. Keep a journal.

A journal is a gathering place for all of our observations and discoveries about life. It’s our own handwritten transcript that captures our experiences, ideas, desires and conclusions about the people and the events that have touched our lives. The past, when properly documented, is one of the best guides for making good decisions.

The very act of writing about our lives helps us think more objectively about our actions. Writing tends to slow down the flow of information and gives us time to analyze and ponder the experience. The intense scrutiny of journal writing can enable us to make refinements in our philosophy that are truly life-changing.

Jot down what you learn and be a buyer of empty books. It’s the small disciplines that lead to great accomplishments.

5. Observe and listen.

Pay attention during your day, watch what’s going on. Surround yourself with people you respect and admire. Find people whose personalities and achievements stimulate, fascinate and inspire you, and then strive to assimilate their best qualities. This is called the skill of selecting. Don’t waste your time on the silly and the shallow.

One of the major reasons people don’t do well is because they keep trying to get through the day while a more worthy cause is to get from the day. We must become sensitive enough to observe and ponder what is happening around us. Be alert. Be awake. Often the most extraordinary opportunities are hidden among seemingly insignificant events.

Be a good listener. Find a voice of value and stay for a while. With so many voices vying for your attention, you need to develop the skill of selective listening and only dial into the radio station that appeals to you. If a voice is not leading to the achievement of your goals, exercise caution in how long you listen.

6. Be disciplined.

Every day is filled with dozens of personal crossroads, moments when we’re called upon to make a decision regarding minor as well as major questions. These decisions chart a path to a future destination. With careful mental preparation, we can make wise choices.

The development of a sound philosophy prepares us for making sound decisions. When we eat healthy foods, we experience positive results in a short time. When we start exercising, we feel a new vitality almost immediately. When we begin reading, we experience a growing awareness and a new level of self-confidence.

New disciplines practiced daily will produce exciting results. The magic of new disciplines causes us to amend our thinking.

7. Don’t neglect.

Neglect is the major reason people don’t have what they want. If you don’t take care of things in your life, neglect becomes a disease. If you neglect to do good things with your money, you probably neglect to do good things with your time. If you don’t know what’s going on with your health or your bank account, you could be at risk.

Set up new disciplines to change your life. Don’t neglect. Everything is within our reach if we will read books, use journals, practice the disciplines and wage a new and vigorous battle against neglect.

Build your philosophy. Commit yourself to a new journey and say, I’m going to change my life. Once you do, you’ll never look back.

Article Source Rohn: 7 Tips for Developing Your Personal Philosophy

6 Ways To Stop Thinking Negative Thoughts

Have you ever stopped to consider how thinking negative thoughts affects your reality?

It's easy to get lost in a cycle of thinking negative thoughts pertaining to the past or future. However, in doing so we rob ourselves of the opportunity to be happy in the present! Seconds, minutes and hours can pass us by as we continue to get caught up in a cycle of negative thinking - further embedding the seed cause in our consciousness in the process.

But how do you go about breaking free of these negative thought patterns?

There are many techniques that can help you detach yourself from negative thoughts but, it all starts with being more mindful of your thought processes, becoming the observer rather than the thinker. Consider the following tips to help you do just that..

#1 Cultivate The Art Of Mindfulness

Learning how to stop thinking negative thoughts starts with learning to cultivate mindfulness. Why? Because if you aren't mindful of your thoughts, then you are simply allowing them to roam free and distract you from what's going on NOW. By being more mindful you are more present which means you are living in the moment and not distracted by past, future, or 'circumstantial' situations. Become the observer of your thoughts, question them, and you'll soon come to realize that you control your thoughts - not the other way around.

#2 Make Meditation a Daily Ritual

Meditating is an effective tool for gaining control over your thoughts. Through daily meditation you'll learn to shut out that nagging voice in the head and instead focus on being more mindful and in tune with your consciousness. A basic mindfulness meditation is perfect for mastering your thought processes as you'll train the mind to acknowledge thoughts without allowing them distract you from being present, focused and most importantly - POSITIVE.

#3  Empower Yourself With Positivity

Have you ever stopped to consider how external sources affect your own state of consciousness?

Negative programming is detrimental to your own thought processes. Aim to surround yourself with positive people who make you feel good and raise your vibration, but more importantly, you need to be mindful of external sources of information. Switch off the news and other negative media and empower yourself with feedback and solicitations that are positive in nature such as watching motivational seminars, reading positive quotes.

#4 STOP "Labeling" Yourself

If you're constantly ridiculing yourself with negative thoughts such as "life is so unfair, why does my life suck" then you are negatively programming your belief system. The problem is that this can become a vicious cycle in which you lower your self-worth, opening doors for more negative thoughts to surface. Again, use mindfulness to alert yourself to these thought processes and refrain from labeling yourself. When self-destructive thoughts do surface use affirmations to correct them.

#5 Challenge Your Thoughts

Oftentimes, your thoughts are future tense meaning they carry little significance in terms of truth, they are hypothetical. So when negative thoughts do surface, challenge them. Ask yourself "Is there any significance or truth behind what I'm thinking?" You will soon realize that your negative thoughts are a manifestation of your imagination. Also, by questioning your thoughts you are training the mind to habitually stop thinking negative thoughts through mindfulness.

#6 Learn From Past Mistakes

The past is the past and there's nothing you can do to change it. We all make mistakes and have regrets that creep up on us from time-to-time but using the past against yourself resolves nothing. Each mistake presents an opportunity to learn and grow as a person. So instead of getting bogged down and focusing all your mental energy on past situations learn to accept past mistakes as a learning curve and leave them where they belong - in the past.

The Bottom Line

Consciousness shifts with every new experience that comes into its awareness. You can nurture your consciousness for better or worse, and it all starts with your thoughts. Manifest positive results by taking charge of your inner-dialogue, developing mindfulness, and actively weed out negative thoughts.

Article source: http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/6-ways-to-stop-thinking-negative-thoughts