8 Things More Important Than Your Job

So there you are. You’re probably sitting at your desk right now reading this, waiting for the clock to reach 5pm.

You can’t wait to get into your car, head home, and start the best part of your day. Unfortunately, this is usually a few short hours before you need to go to bed in order to get up and do it all over again.

But for what?

I understand we all need to work. I’m an advocate for hard work even. But what I don’t like is the notion that we need to work merely to pay our bills.

To me this is insanity. To spend upwards of 90,000 hours of our short lives working in a job that we don’t find the least bit fulfilling, is a tragedy.

But it happens and millions of people live this way.

I’m a firm believer in finding what it is that lights you up inside and finding a way to make it pay you. It’s possible, there is no doubt about that.

Your job doesn’t define you and is far from the most important aspect of your life, yet most people associate their success in life to be directly related to their career.

Does making $350,000 per year make you a success? You might answer yes to this, but what if earning that income came at the cost of sacrificing most of your time with your family?

Ar you still a success if your loved ones never get to spend time with you?

I’m not suggesting you quit your job to be with your family. I understand we all have financial obligations. But what I am saying is that there are many things far more important than your job.

Take the time to truly appreciate them. Starting today.

These are 8 things that are more important than your job:

• Your family.This is obvious I realize but what are you doing about it? You spend 40 hours each week staring at a computer screen and 10 hours a week spending quality time with your family.Just think about how you spend your weekends.You are tired out from the long week and your grueling commute and have barely enough energy to sit on the couch and turn the television on. Your family needs you. They need you to be present, involved, and engaged.I used to have a client who was insanely wealthy. The type of guy who would go to get his Ferrari serviced only to come home with a brand new one. I worked with him for several years and was saddened by the relationship I saw he had with his two young children.He was totally disengaged, let his nanny do all the work, and rarely saw them. Sure, he had millions of dollars but was a workaholic. Don’t do that. Your family needs you more than you know.

• Being outside.We live in a world filed with incandescent lighting, flickering computer monitors, and constantly ringing smart phones. Our children don’t even know what it’s like to play outside anymore. All they want to do is hop on their XBOX or iPad.Being outdoors, taking in the sun, breathing fresh air, and seeing the beauty that this world offers is the cure all. You can’t help but feel good when you do this. But the sad fact is that most of us rarely do. We shuffle from home to car to office and then back again. Make it a point to get outdoors for 20 minutes each day.Relax on a park bench. Let the soft breeze flow through your hair. Smell the fresh cut grass. One day we will be too old to truly appreciate all that this beautiful Earth offers. Take advantage while you can.
• Your health.You may or may not agree with this, but your job is killing you. You are dying a slow death drawn out over the course of 30 or 40 years in the form of mind numbingly boring work.How would you feel if you woke up tomorrow and you couldn’t wait to get out of bed to get to work? Imagine loving what you did for a living and feeling more vibrant that you ever have. Is it possible? Absolutely.Sitting at a desk all day is bad for you. I mean the type of bad that is linked to heart diesese and cancer. If you have a desk job, make sure you take plenty of breaks. Walk around, stretch, and watch what you eat.Just remember, regardless of how “successful” you are in your career, if you’re too ill to enjoy your life, it’s pointless. Take care of yourself first.

• Your time.Your time is the most valuable resource you have, period. Yet you are spending it like Warren Buffet spend $1. You don’t think twice about wasting an entire week working on things that bore you to tears and have no meaning.It sickens me when I see people waiting in line for 40 minutes to fill their gas tanks because they are going to save $1.25. I always wonder if they really think that their time is worth less than $2 per hour.Time goes by so quickly, it really does. You are going to wake up one day and be 70 years old and wonder where the best years of your lives went. Oh, that’s right-to your job!Start to value your time and spend it wisely. Working in a job that means nothing to you for 20 years is not what I call wise. Find what excites you most in life and do that. Try to do it every day if you can. That’s what life is about.

• Your purpose. Do you know your purpose here? Most people will never take the time to figure this out. They will spend their lives working in random jobs that may or may not be suitable for them, all just to collect a few dollars to pay their bills.What if you took the time to do some serious self reflection to find what it is that intrinsically drives you to be the best you can be? What excites you? What are you excellent at? Answer these questions and start pursuing something bigger.I’m not going to preach to you that we all have some greater purpose in life, but I do think we all can do remarkable work in different fields. But first, we have to uncover our values and what matters most to us.

• Your relationships. Jobs come and go but a good friend can (and hopefully does) last forever. But we often forget those who mean the most as we get caught up in the shuffle of daily life. “I’ll call then next week” you say for the 10th time.Well, life will pass quickly and a month turns into a year incredibly fast. Make a commitment to reach out to a friend you have lost touch with. Your quality of life is in direct proportion to the quality of your relationships. Keep them.

Please remember that your job is just one part of your life. If you love your work, then great! But the vast majority of people do not.

Source

Money Is Not an Aim, But a Tool That Helps You Reach Your Goals

Nowadays money has become the most popular and desirable thing in this world. Everyone realizes that it’s impossible to survive without money since almost all material things and services are paid. That’s why people waste the best and the most productive years of their life at work they hate in order to earn more money. I think that unreasonable rush for wealth is a dangerous thing, because it can make people lose intellectual values and become inhuman.

My best friend always supported the quote by a famous American rapper 50 Cent, “Get rich or die tryin’”. It proves that money is the main aim in his life. He says that it’s not happiness for him, but a thing that fills his mind with confidence and desire to live.

Money can bring either happiness or sufferings, depending on the way you invest it. Some people make new acquaintances while others burn already existent bridges. Money can both unite and create invisible barriers between people.

I understand that it’s extremely pleasant to earn a lot of money, but you shouldn’t sacrifice everything and make money the meaning of your life, because one day it can fade away and it will be difficult to find power to bounce back and move on. I hope my article will help you understand the true role of money in the life of human beings. If you admit this truth, you’ll be able to reach more goals and find more time to enjoy other significant things in your life.

Money Shouldn’t Create Barriers Between People

Unfortunately, money often builds walls between people due to the problem of social inequality. Those who earn a lot of money tend to communicate with upper classes. They find it improper to fill their circle of contacts with people who aren’t as rich and powerful as they are.

I’ve also experienced the problem of social inequality in my life. Not long ago, I’ve broken up with my boyfriend, because he became cold and absolutely indifferent to me. The negative influence of his bourgeois family broke our love. Now I realize that it wasn’t a relationship at all, because real feelings and emotions are completely resistant to the magical power of money and other tempting things.

Wise and successful people don’t limit themselves in communication with other people. They know that wealth is a temporary thing, but values and all kinds of true human relationships are the most precious things in this changeable world. I believe that if people start treating each other with respect, this world will be better. The research proves that almost all millionaires were ordinary people in the past, but one day they found their calling in life and did their best to make their dreams come true.

Don’t Hyperbolize the Importance of Money

What is money? Someone can answer that it’s everything, while others won’t agree with them. Let’s reflect on this difficult question. Money is a kind of goods that is used to buy material things and pay for various services. There are lots of value paradigms in this world, including material and moral values. I’m sure that even incredible sums of money cannot buy the love of a mother or respect of people around you, because these feelings are priceless.

Nowadays many men think that financial success is the key to happiness and it can help them find a real love. Consequently, they concentrate only on their work and find nothing, but a spurious love. Then they become disillusioned with the existence of a real love. Love should be based on deeds and proved for years.

Furthermore, I’ve noticed that people focus on money as the only way to solve their problems. They don’t realize that their cravings for money make their hearts cold and even ruin their lives. The most dangerous thing is that obsessive thoughts about making money make you blind to the life of your dearest and nearest people. These thoughts make you unable to enjoy the small things that happen in your life. Once and for all you should understand that money is just a piece of paper that helps you bring the ideas and projects to life.

Use Money to Boost Your Confidence

Money is not a bad thing, if you use it properly. The best way to manage your money is to invest it in your development. Today it’s very important to be self-confident and independent. Try to find a good job and create your own budget. This is the first step to your financial independence. Then you’ll feel free to express yourself the way you like and move on in different directions.

Thanks to money and your persistent desire to develop, you can occupy yourself by different activities. Step by step, you’ll become more matured and experienced in things you feel passionate about. This is the best way to boost your confidence in life.

When my sister was a teenager, she always dreamt to become a professional singer, but she lacked confidence to perform on the stage. She visited numerous personal growth forums and attended different seminars on how to overcome the stage fright, but nothing worked. Once I gave her an advice to find a professional mentor to help her get rid of her fear of singing in front of others. It was quite expensive, but it really helped her. I still attend her performances with pleasure.

To sum up, I’d like to mention that money is an essential part of your life. If you want to be happy, you should learn how to deal with money and realize that it’s just a tool that makes our life more colorful and easier. True happiness comes from the inside.

Don’t lose control or betray the values fostered by your family, no matter how rich or famous you may be. You’d better use money to develop your personality, travel, reach goals and fill your life with contentment. If your life goal is a cultural wealth, then you shouldn’t forget to invest your money in good deeds, because money can give life to new projects, unite, save people’s lives and bring both mental and physical satisfaction.

I believe that today, people have more noble and beneficial life goals than just making and wasting money. Do you find money the main aim of your life?

Being Bilingual Is Good For The Brain, Study Finds

The ability to speak two or more languages is kind of like a secret superpower.

It might seem kind of strange, but being bilingual offers you a host of benefits.

In addition to the ones that you might expect, such as being able to find jobs more easily or being able to communicate more effectively with others, there are tons of things that being bilingual does to your brain that makes you smarter, gives your cognitive ability a major boost, and that can even help to prevent dementia[1] and Alzheimer’s disease as you grow older.

Researchers have even found that bilingual individuals have denser grey matter[2] than those who only speak one language.

Makes You Better at Multitasking

The improved cognitive ability of those who are bilingual shows itself in a lot of different ways. At the most basic level, those individuals who are bilingual have consistently proven to be able to complete tasks such as puzzle solving at a faster rate than their monolingual counterparts.

Not only that, but their ability to quickly switch between two languages and two language structures means they’re also able to switch between other tasks much more quickly, making them more effective at multitasking than their peers.

Improved Memory

It almost goes without saying that their practice in developing immense vocabularies spanning two languages has an enormous benefit on the memories of bilingual individuals. They have also been shown to have a better ability to concentrate on their tasks and to make better decisions, often by thinking major decisions through in both languages they are fluent in.

Bilingualism and Children

But it’s not only adults who can greatly benefit from fluency in two or more languages – there are tremendous benefits for children as well. One of the most immediate effects of being bilingual is the feeling of confidence and accomplishment that they feel, which can in turn lead to better work in the classroom and higher scores.

Being bilingual also gives them a better, more innate understanding of language, which can help them understand grammar rules and to use it more effectively. In addition, they typically will read earlier and with better fluency than other children.

It’s not just language where children who are bilingual can thrive, either. Children who are bilingual show consistently higher math scores than their monolingual peers because they have developed better abilities when it comes to problem solving[3] and thinking in an abstract manner.

And there are other benefits that go beyond cognition. Those with the ability to speak multiple languages also have the opportunity to be a part of and experience multiple cultures. They typically travel more, and when it comes to the workplace they typically make much higher salaries than their peers.

While those who choose to learn a second language later in life might not be as proficient as those who learned more than one language from birth, the majority of the benefits of being bilingual remain no matter when you learn it.

Take a course – even a course online – and make some new friends who can help tutor you in your new language. If you have younger children, make sure that they’re actively learning with you, as the benefits that they will have will pay off in an even bigger way.

How The Brain Benefits From Being Bilingual?

sources:

• [1] http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0028393206004076
• [2] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2643466/
• [3] http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=2752320

4 Things You Can Do This Week to Be a Happier Person

1. Make your first thought of the day a happy one.“When we look at ourselves in the mirror every morning and think of all the things we want to change, that’s a choice we make,” says Bernstein. “Make the commitment to think differently about yourself and make happiness the first thing of the day.” She recommends listening to music to begin your morning instead of watching TV. Create a positive, uplifting playlist to help boost your mood and brighten your spirit. If you have a few minutes, sit still and meditate while listening to a song or two.
2. Snap out of a negative mindset. Plagued by undesirable or destructive 

thoughts about yourself or others? Bernstein recommends employing her “Snap 

Out of It” meditation technique, in which you wear a rubber band on your wrist, and 

whenever you start to think negative thoughts about yourself or towards another person, flick the rubber band against your arm. This will literally help you “snap” out of the negative thoughts.

3. Unleash your inner child. Whenever you feel stressed about your responsibilities and commitments, unplug from the world, shut off your computer and phone, and tap into your inner child. When we become more childlike, we grow our capacity for curiosity and creativity. Bernstein recommends taking a dream break during the day, in which you sit alone and spend five to 10 minutes thinking your way into a cool experience you’d always hoped to have. “Open up to silliness and having more fun. That childlike energy brings us a much more positive perspective and releases tension,” Bernstein says.

4. Sleep to restore your mind. Sleep is essential to optimal health, but people often forget that it is also a spiritual practice that benefits us mentally and emotionally. Lacking essential shut-eye is another way we block happiness from our lives. To help you get a restful night of sleep, Bernstein recommends using this simple Kundalini breathing technique: Sit up straight on your bed and breathe in using a U breath (Pucker your mouth as if you were holding a quarter between your lips.). Breathe in and exhale through your nose. Continue this cycle of breath for one minute.

10 Unexpected Benefits of Daily Sex

Having regular sex will improve your health, relax you and help you get to sleep. So if you switch up regular sex to daily sex thenall these unexpected benefits of having sex will lead you to live a healthy and happy life.

Exercise

Don’t forget that sex is a form of exercise, you’ll have noticed that your heart rate will increase and therefore you will be burning calories. Whilst a good variety of workouts is essential to your wellbeing, don’t forget this one from your activities 

Stronger pelvic muscles

When you have sex you are using loads of different muscles and your pelvic muscles get a great workout too. Regular sex will maintain a strong bladder and bowel function. Other muscles that get a workout are your quads and your upper body. It really does keep you healthy!

Build up your immunity

Sex can boost your immunity and immunoglobulin A, an antigen that fights the flu increases when you have regular sex. So the next time that you feel like you might be getting a cold, you know what you need to do! Having regular sex will keep you immune so another reason to keep at it.

De-stress

You have probably heard about the word endorphins which are more commonly recognised as ‘happy hormones’ that are produced when you have sex. Your body also produces dopamine, a substance that fights stress hormones and also, oxytocin, which is a desire enhancing hormone. So if you feel stressed or anxious and taking deep breaths isn’t helping, then sex is your answer.

A healthy heart

We have already said that sex is a good form of exercise and helps you to burn calories. Sex is also good for your heart too and your chances of a heart attack or stroke will be reduced significantly with regular sex.

Helps you to sleep

Struggling to sleep? This one ties back in with the de-stress aspect as a lot of the reasons for why we can’t get to sleep at night relates back to stress and/or anxiety. With sex being a great form of exercise too, you’ll feel even more relaxed and tired after. After men ejaculate they become lethargic and this will help them to drift off to sleep.

Regular periods

Sex produces various hormones that are said to help with your menstrual cycle. With regular sex the hormones will be regulating your cycle into a regular rhythm. With sex helping to reduce stress, fewer women will miss their periods due to stress. Sometimes a very irregular cycle can lead to stress which puts you into a circle of not having sex because you are so stressed. So remember that having sex will help relieve this stress!

Better to conceive

Regular sex will obviously increase your chances of conceiving. Also regular sex will replace the old sperm in the testicles making sure that you get all the best swimmers. The volume of semen also increases with regular sex too.

Lowers high blood pressure

Getting a good hug is said to lower your blood pressure but sex has been linked with it too. Regular sex can lower your diastolic blood pressure, that’s the bottom number when you read your blood pressure.

Pain relief

Whilst it can’t help with all pain, back pain for example, if you regularly have migraines or maybe really struggle with arthritic pain then you may find that sex makes these pains less. Studies have found that those with arthritis and having regular sex experienced less pain.

You will have spotted through this list that a lot of them are related to each other with stress and exercisebeing main themes. You will also have been reminded that regular sex is very good exercise which will obviously help you long term for your heart, bones and blood pressure. Quite a lot of people seem to forget that sex is a great calorie burner so for those who can’t fit in any time to go running or go to the gym, so you don’t even need to leave the bed for a workout.

Whilst there were a lot on this list that I did know before there were some that I didn’t know so hopefully they will help you too.

So if you need another excuse for more sex, remember this list and keep on staying healthy!

3 Steps to Releasing Your Negative Emotions

In the day to day hustle and bustle of modern society, it’s not hard to get caught up in all the negative experiences we come across. Maybe it’s your friend who said something unkind to you. Your boss who doesn’t appreciate you. That frustration you feel with whatever your current position is.

At times like these, it’s easy to let the anger, frustration, and negativity run its course. However, the flip side to this is that you are subconsciously cultivating habits of resenting others, complaining, and letting anger get the best of you. The more you let your negative emotions fester, the more you encourage them to affect you in the future.

It’s important to realize that you can release these emotions from within yourself. Follow the four steps below to release your negative energy, and bring peace into your life.

1.  Observe your conscience.

During stressful situations, that voice in your head will automatically get louder and louder. It will begin to complain, and project angry, or hateful images into your head.

For example, one of your close friends has accidentally embarrassed you in front of a group of others. The moment that happens, that voice in your head comes in.

“I can’t believe he just did that! Why would he do that? What an ******! I’m going to get him back!”

Your mind may then start to fantasize about getting your friend back by projecting mental images and videos into your head.

The same sort of negative thinking will begin to enter your head during different situations, to a greater or lesser degree.

These negative voices, pictures, and videos in your mind, can be collectively referred to as the ego (in this context).

In order to stop the ego from running your life, you must do one simple thing. Observe those voices, pictures, and videos from a third-person perspective. Watch as if the ego is completely separate from you. But do not judge the ego, or condemn it. If  you begin to judge that voice (“I hate my ego! Stop controlling me!”), the ego will have just come in through the back door. See the irony?

By observing and treating your ego as separate from you, you are disassociating yourself from it. Eventually, the negative imagery will stop.

2. Observe your emotions.

Once this mental imagery has halted, you will realize that although there are no voices, images, or videos playing in your mind, you still feel your negative emotions. This may be anger, misery, frustration, or a great many other emotions.

Similar to how we observed the ego, it’s now time to observe your emotions. Observe them, but do not judge them. Close your eyes and take a moment to view your negative emotions in a third person perspective, as we did with our ego in step one.

You may feel the hotness of your face, the tension in your body, and all the physical symptoms of your negativity. Really take 1 to 2 minutes to sit there and observe the negativity inside you. See how it is trying to pull you back into a cycle of negative thoughts. See how it is tugging at every fiber of your being to let that emotion consume you.

Remember though, do not judge the emotion. Simply observe. As ironic as this may sound, let your negativity rage on inside you, and simply watch it without becoming drawn into it. You will realize that the negativity is not really part of who you are.

3. Alternate between observing your ego, and observing your emotions.

While you are observing your ego, you realize that even though your mind is quiet, the negativity is still there. At that point, switch to observing your emotions. If you are observing your emotions and begin to see the mental imagery in your head again, switch to observing your ego.

By switching between the two when one starts to take over, you can go through a cycle of counteracting each one, until you are completely at peace. The more you practice these steps, not only will you be getting rid of your current negativity, but it will begin to affect you to a lesser and lesser degree in the future. With great practice, you may eventually be able to live a very stress-free, and peaceful life.

The key to all this is observing, without judging. Know that negativity is not a part of who you truly are, and that it can be released in a healthy way.

7 Ways to Open a New Page in Your Life

Nowadays you’re living in the world of constant movement. It seems there’re millions of things and possibilities that can make you happier, but sometimes it’s very difficult to screw your courage up and open a new page in your life. You may feel paralyzed, because you simply don’t know what you want to be. Unfortunately, various fears and diffidence usually make you lose the best opportunities and chances. Consequently, you become despondent and limited, because it’s hard to keep hope alive when your world is falling apart.

Remember that this world belongs to you and you’re free to enjoy life and express yourself the way you like. The main point is to turn your energies to think more positively and get ready to start a new life. New life can bring you more inspiration to move on and develop in every possible way.I’m sure that people around you will appreciate your efforts and eagerness to change something in your life for better. I hope this article will broaden your outlook and inspire you to make considerable changes.

1. Analyze your present life

Don’t waste your time dreaming that your life will change for better by itself. If you’re not satisfied with your life and want to move to a new stage, then it’s high time to make the first step in the process of your life improvement. To my mind, deep analysis of your present life is one of the most important things you should start from. It will help you understand the source of the issue and weigh all pros and cons.

I don’t know about you, but when I face some problem or an inner conflict, I try to identify the issue and figure out a strategy on how to handle the situation. It usually takes me much time and efforts, but the success of your future actions depends on this first step.

2. Listen to your heart

When it comes to your life, you’d better try to find courage to follow your intuition. If you live in tune with your heart, you’ll be able to elicit your potential and do things you adore. Your mind’s function is to keep you safe and fill your life with logical decisions. I’m sure that every person has a great number of passions and desires hidden deeply in their heart. Don’t let your individual nature get lost in fears and prohibitions. Moreover, try to take important life decisions on your own, because the noise of other peoples’ opinions can totally confuse you. Only your heart knows the truth about your passions. It’s extremely difficult to ignore the common sense and listen to your heart. Take up a challenge and you’ll have a chance to do things you love.

3. Don’t fear to start from nothing

If you’ve already decided what you want to be and what you would like to change, then you should be ready to make a startup out of nothing. First of all, you need to overcome the fear of uncertainty, then try to focus on your personal achievements and skills, because they’re an inevitable part of your future success. Realize that everyone in this world starts from a place of nothing. A new start in life provides you with a possibility to fill your world with the colors you like.

Unfortunately, many people don’t believe in themselves and find themselves unable to build something out of nothing. Consequently, they’re not ready to meet the challenges of life. I believe that you’re strong enough to start something new and succeed in it, because every person is a winner.

4. Challenge yourself

I hope you’ve already understood what’s wrong in your life and you know what you want to do. If you’re not afraid to start from nothing, then it’s high time to move to the next step. After a considerable reflection on your life, you should start challenging yourself. Don’t fear to leave your comfort zone and move in different directions, otherwise you’ll never see any positive change.

I think that learning a new language is the best way to open a new page in your life. This skill will provide you with more interesting opportunities and the ability to communicate with people from foreign countries. Furthermore, it will help you broaden your horizons and become an all-rounded person.

5. Focus on your future

Wise people usually say that if you want to be happy and enjoy your life, then you should forget about the past and focus more on your future. I do agree with this statement since it’s pointless to sacrifice your personal time thinking about things that hurt you. It’s been proved that obsessive thoughts about past failures exert big negative influence on human emotional state.

You should do your best to create an action plan that will help you enter a new stage of your life. Every time you have a free minute, try to visualize your success.

6. Fill your life with something new

It often happens that bad habits and behaviors from the past don’t let you change your lifestyle. In that case, try to change your mindset and replace these habits by something new. Fill your casual life with activities you feel passionate about. One day, they can become a significant part of your life.

The more you try the faster you’ll find your vocation and things that really attract you. If parachute jumping is not your pair of shoes, then try to do needlework. A bit later, you can turn your hobbies into a business.

7. Get used to your new lifestyle

The process of changing your life isn’t as simple as you may think. It requires your innovations to turn into habits. The research tells that if you do new things for three weeks, you’ll easily get used to them.
If you decide to master meditation, you should spend about 20 minutes meditating on a regular basis. This repeated action will prove your conscious mind that you’re going to change and develop yourself. I think it won’t be difficult, because good things are easy to get used to.

Everything is real in this world. If you’re sick and tired of your casual life, you should find something new that will help you achieve your goals. The main thing is to know what you want out of life. Plus you should get rid of the fear to start from nothing and move towards success, because you have all chances to become a happy person. Have you ever tried to change something in your life? Feel free to share your experiences with us.