How To Reprogram Your Mind (for Positive Thinking) | Brendon Burchard

How to reprogram your mind for more positive thinking, with conscious discipline.  30 day program outlined.  

Let me know what you think below!

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How Living With Less Can Give You More | Melissa Balmain

Discover how people improved their lives by paring possessions, forgoing certain conveniences and downsizing their homes.

“The world is too much with us; late and soon,

Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers...”

–William Wordsworth

Who owns just five pairs of underwear? Three chairs? Two forks, one necklace, zero televisions?

Who refuses to go shopping? Spurns social media or Starbucks? Lives with a fellow human and two cats in a home the size of a tool shed?

If your answer involves the words Amish or monk, think again. Over the past few years, thousands of men and women—non-Amish, non-monastic—have embraced such Spartan ways. Unlike people forced by layoffs or other misfortunes to scale back, they’ve done so by choice.

Their belief: For every object, square foot or convenience they give up, they’re gaining something far better.

Joshua Becker started thinking this way as he cleaned up a cluttered garage in 2008 and realized he’d much rather be spending time with his 5-year-old son, who was playing alone in the yard. “What I noticed that morning was not only are possessions not making me happy, but they also distract us from the very things that do bring happiness, fulfillment, meaning,” says Becker, who lives in Peoria, Ariz., and has written books such as Living with Less: An Unexpected Key to Happiness. “Nobody says, ‘My goal in life is to own a lot of stuff,’ and yet most of us live life that way. We try to find jobs that pay a lot of money, and buy bigger houses and faster cars, and that’s not really what we most want out of life. We want to make a difference. We want significance. We want to be good fathers and husbands.” 

They’re purging not just possessions, but, in Becker’s words, “anything that distracts me from the things I most value.”

 With such epiphanies in mind, Becker and his frugal peers have launched a movement that many call the New Minimalism. They’re purging not just possessions, but, in Becker’s words, “anything that distracts me from the things I most value.” For some, this means not Facebooking after dinner or binge-watching House of Cards. For others, it’s resisting the siren call of eBay.

Though the particulars are modern, the ideas are hardly new. “Almost every respected religious leader from the beginning of time has been talking about this, calling on us to stop focusing on physical possessions and focus on spiritual things, love and hope and peace,” Becker says. Minimalist groups have sprung up throughout history—the Epicureans of ancient Greece, for instance, and admirers of Henry David Thoreau at the turn of the 20th century. Today minimalists name a host of reasons for simplicity’s resurgence, including climate change, economic anxiety, a search for spirituality, and inventions like the Kindle that make it easier to own fewer objects.

The new minimalists are drawing millions of readers to blogs about lean living. They’re joining online groups like “Use everything and waste nothing!” (nearly 7,000 members) and “Freecycle New York City” (more than 56,000 members). They’re quoting Wordsworth and Thoreau. They’re bringing back the Murphy bed.

And they’re discovering that, all in all, streamlining your life is easier than you might expect. “You don’t have to downsize dramatically like we did to live more simply,” says Tammy Strobel, who moved with her husband from a 1,200-square-foot apartment to a 128-square-foot house in Northern California. “Just be thoughtful. If you can look at the big picture, the simple lifestyle will emerge from that.”

That picture and lifestyle will vary from person to person, Becker notes: “You talk to different minimalists, you discover that people are free to pursue whatever it is they want to pursue.”

Family and Flexibility

Back in 2007, Strobel’s job in investment management made her feel like a drone. “I was working like 10 hours a day and commuting two hours a day,” she says. “I wasn’t getting enough exercise, and to cope with stress I was shopping more, drinking more. So my husband and I started talking about ways we could downsize our lives—not only for me to shift careers, but also to pay down debt, get healthier, and be there for friends and family members.”

Over the next five years, Strobel and her husband, Logan Smith, thinned out their belongings. They moved to smaller and smaller spaces in Oregon and then wound up near Yreka, Calif., in the 128-square-footer they call the Tiny House. Designed for them, it has a sleeping loft, kitchen, half-bathroom with a composting toilet, and an outdoor shower—all for $33,000, what many people spend on a car.

The more Strobel downsized, she found, the more her life improved. On the relatively minor end, there’s been much less cleaning to do. “I don’t miss having to vacuum all the time,” she says. “And even when everything in our closet is dirty, we can get it done in two to three loads.”

On the major end, Strobel’s expenses shrank enough for her to switch to lower-paying jobs in social services and then finally to writing, teaching and photography. After her father had a stroke, she had the flexibility to shuttle between Oregon and California to care for him. “I would not have been able to do that if I were still in the investment management industry,” she says. “Just to have that opportunity to help care for my dad and to be with him as he died. It was really hard, but it was also a gift.”

Other gifts of simpler living: having time for gardening, hiking and traveling; playing with cats Christie and Elaina; and feeling a lot healthier and happier overall.

“I’ve tried to make a shift to just paying attention to what my body needs in terms of rest and exercise,” she says. “I’m eating better. I’m not drinking a bottle of wine like I was when I was really stressed-out. I also think that living simply has helped me bounce back from really tough circumstances, particularly my dad’s illness and the grief I experienced after his death. If I were still working in investment management, I would have had the tendency to want to numb all the negative feelings” with alcohol or shopping, she says. “I’m just really aware of how I’m conducting myself in the world.”

Change and Confidence

On the surface, Mary Carlomagno’s life 10 years ago was peachy. She had money. She had a good job as a marketing executive. She had plenty of friends. Even so, she knew something was missing. “I was living a very privileged life, but I wasn’t happy,” Carlomagno says. How come? As Carlomagno recalls in her memoir Give It Up!: My Year of Learning to Live Better with Less, she was “literally hit over the head” by a clue: an “avalanche of designer shoeboxes” that fell from her closet one  morning.

Within hours, she realized her problem was mindless consumption. “I wasn’t changing anything in my life, just going on day after day—Oh, I’ll have another double latte and another martini and buy another pair of shoes,” she says now. “I was just adding all these things on that didn’t necessarily have a lot of meaning. I decided to start giving more thought to what I was doing.”

Each month for a year, Carlomagno curbed or cut something she saw as a personal weakness or vice—from recreational shopping, restaurant meals and taxis, to coffee, chocolate and booze. In almost every case, she discovered new talents and strengths (making risotto, resisting peer pressure to drink) and ways of enjoying life (reading poetry, navigating Manhattan on foot).

"Not only could I live without a lot of things and be happier and more fulfilled, but also I could make a change instead of just accepting things.”

“What I learned was not only could I live without a lot of things and be happier and more fulfilled, but also I could make a change instead of just accepting things,” she says. “And change kind of begets changes. So for me, just giving up chocolate or questioning that third cup of coffee led to revolutionary change in my life—changing careers, starting to write, moving apartments, realizing this man I was with was the one I should marry.”

Now a home-organizing expert in New Providence, N.J., with a husband and two kids, Carlomagno is “more moderate” in all respects. “I learned that many of the things I thought were making me happy didn’t make me happy. I learned a lot of people I was surrounding myself with weren’t doing the things I wanted to be doing, and I also learned the difference between what my wants are and what my needs are. Before, I thought everything was a need, like, I need those shoes; I need that bag, and now I can very easily let go of things.” Her year’s experiment taught her to “put less emotion onto material things and put it more on experiences and relationships and things that really feed your life.”

Location and Luxury

Only 675 square feet for two adults, a toddler, and a baby on the way? If you had told Jacqueline Schmidt five years ago that such numbers would make her happier than ever, she’d have thought you were nuts. She was, after all, the illustrator and designer whose beautifully furnished, 1,200-square-foot loft had been featured in magazines; the world traveler who owned thousands of dollars’ worth of art books and adored decorating with just the right piece of coral or taxidermied bird. That Brooklyn, N.Y., loft was bound up with her identity, she recalls; it stood for her thriving career.

Then she married small-space design expert David Friedlander, and the couple agreed to downsize. In the beginning, Schmidt felt anxious.

She had the idea that a pared-back lifestyle “meant less success, less opportunity, less validation.”

She had the idea that a pared-back lifestyle “meant less success, less opportunity, less validation,” she says, and then laughs. “What a joke! I have so much more now than I ever did.”

First, there’s the vibrant slice of Brooklyn outside the family’s new apartment. By choosing a smaller home, Friedlander says, they could afford “a neighborhood that’s generally reserved nowadays for rich people”—complete with Prospect Park, countless family-friendly businesses and good schools for their 2-year-old son, Finn, and baby-on-the-way.

Second, there are the splendors inside the apartment: Organic waffle-weave towels. Carrara marble tiles and countertops. Oiled European oak floors with a special, rough-sawn finish that hides scratches and dirt. In a larger place, Schmidt says, such touches would cost a fortune—and indeed, in her more sprawling days, she was forced to use cheaper materials. 

Now she has everything the way she likes it, partly thanks to the cash she got from selling dozens of possessions on Craigslist, eBay and Etsy.

Recently, Schmidt says, her mother confessed that when she first heard about her daughter’s downsized digs, she felt sorry for her. Then she visited. “She said, ‘I want your apartment!’” says Schmidt, sighing happily at the memory. “She kept using the word luxury.”

Giving It a Go

Feeling inspired but unsure what to trim from your life or how to do it? Minimalists are full of ideas:

1. If you want to stop doing things that don’t make you happy…

• Answer some key questions. For instance: Do you look forward to your day at work, or dread it? Is there something you want to do instead? What hobbies do you want more time for? How do you actually spend your free time? What would your ideal family life look like? This should help you figure out your goals and what’s been stopping you from achieving them.

• Watch your bank and credit card statements. That’s partly how Carlomagno realized she was spending too much money (and time) shopping for shoes and sushi.

• Keep a daily log. After Strobel started one, she was shocked to find she’d been watching TV three hours a day. “Not that watching TV is bad in moderation,” she explains, “but that was time I could have been spending downsizing or just going for a walk.”

2. If you want a smaller place but aren’t sure how small to go…

• Consider how much of your current home you actually use and find one closer to that size. Studies suggest that for many families, some rooms see little if any traffic.
   
• Choose a home that meets your daily needs. “People tend to design their homes around worst-case scenarios,” Friedlander says. “What if my in-laws and my parents come and the neighbors stop by at the same time? People will spend an extra hundred grand on their home to prepare for a contingency that will come up maybe once a year rather than actually design their homes around how they’re used 95 percent of the time.”
   
• Don’t let your furniture limit your housing choices. “When we were on a hunt for a rental after the sale of my 1,200-square-foot space, we turned down a lot of amazing and reasonable apartments because we couldn’t see how our stuff would fit into the apartment,” Schmidt says. Only later did the couple realize that if, say, they ditched their 9-foot dining table for a shorter one, it would increase their options dramatically.

3. If you want to kill clutter…

• Be honest. Will you ever use that olive pitter? Do you notice that vase anymore, or is it just something to dust? If an item isn’t useful, beautiful or meaningful to you, give it away or sell it.
   
• Unclutter one room or closet at a time. “If you look at the whole [home], it’s just so overwhelming and easy to get defeated,” Strobel says. “When you focus on one area at a time, you can really see progress.”

4. If you want to buy less…

• Share more. Maybe you and a neighbor, instead of each buying a chain saw, can buy one together and take turns with it.
   
• Make a pact. In 2005, Sarah Pelmas and several friends formed the “Compact”—a vow not to buy anything new for a year, aside from necessities such as food and medicine. If they absolutely needed anything else, they borrowed it or purchased it secondhand. “There was a lot of pride about finding something for someone else. It took two Compact members and a couple of connected friends to find me a [used] shower curtain, for instance,” says Pelmas, of Washington, D.C. “But I think also there was a little friendly competition, which made us less likely to give in or give up if it was hard to make something work.” The Compact now has more than 10,000 members worldwide.

Finally Free

Peeling down to the necessities has its challenges, minimalists admit. If you own just one pair of socks, for instance, you’ll be washing those socks daily. If your home lacks an indoor shower, you might find yourself driving to the gym in the dead of winter to shower there.

“It was definitely challenging being in the Tiny House when Logan was on his sabbatical,” Strobel recalls. “I work at home, and he was working at home, so we had to have some conversations about quiet time and having our own little areas.”

Perhaps hardest of all is the introspection that minimalism tends to bring. “By about the fourth vanload of things to Goodwill, I became very self-reflective,” Becker says. “Why did I have four vanloads of things that I didn’t actually need? Was advertising really having that much of an effect on me? Was I trying to impress people with the things I owned?” On and on, the questions rolled. “Having to search through that was difficult, painful.”

Even so, minimalists say, such moments are a small price to pay for the new lightness they feel.

“After my stuff was gone, it was like, Oh my God, I’m free,” Schmidt says. “I don’t have to do this anymore. I don’t have to acquire any more stuff. I can go to a library or a museum and be around these things in other ways, but I don’t have to own them.”

As for Becker, minimalism has fostered more time with his two children and the chance to explore his love of writing. “Those are such a greater fulfillment for me than just spending my time watching television or shopping for clothes, or taking care of things,” he says. And now and then, there’s the joy of doing nothing at all.

“As you remove yourself from this consumer-driven rat race of always needing more and wanting more and trying to earn more to buy more, you find you don’t have to be busy all the time. You can find some calm inlife.”

So what do you think? Have you got any similar experiences to share? Please let me know below!

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Don't find a job, find a mission | Celeste Headlee | TEDxAugusta

Celeste Headlee sees finding a career which will truly inspire you is much like dating - it takes time and lots of experiments. And the ideal job is no more realistic than the dream man or woman.

Worldwide 90% of people don't like their work.  Celeste suggests that we are focussing on the wrong priorities when we are looking for a new job, and approaching the whole thing from the wrong perspective.  

"We learn the most about ourselves not in theory but in practice."

Let me know what you think below.

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10 Things Successful People Never Do Again | Henry Cloud

We all make mistakes but the people who thrive from their mistakes are the successful ones.

“Never go back.” What does that mean? From observations of successful people, clinical psychologist and author of Never Go Back: 10 Things You'll Never Do Again (Howard Books, June 2014), Dr. Henry Cloud has discovered certain “awakenings” that people have—in life and in business—that once they have them, they never go back to the old way of doing things. And when that happens, they are never the same. In short, they got it.

“Years ago, a bad business decision of mine led to an interesting discussion with my mentor,” Dr. Cloud says. “I had learned a valuable lesson the hard way, and he reassured me: ‘The good thing is once you learn that lesson, you never go back. You never do it again.’
“I wondered, what are the key awakenings that successful people go through that forever change how they do things, which propel them to succeed in business, relationships, and life? I began to study these awakenings, researching them over the years.”

Although life and business have many lessons to teach us, Dr. Cloud observed 10 “doorways” of learning that high performers go through, never to return again.

Successful people never again…

Related: 10 Little Things Successful People Do Differently

1. Return to what hasn’t worked.

Whether a job, or a broken relationship that was ended for a good reason, we should never go back to the same thing, expecting different results, without something being different.

2. Do anything that requires them to be someone they are not.

In everything we do, we have to ask ourselves, “Why am I doing this? Am I suited for it? Does it fit me? Is it sustainable?” If the answer is no to any of these questions, you better have a very good reason to proceed.

3. Try to change another person.

When you realize that you cannot force someone into doing something, you give him or her freedom and allow them to experience the consequences. In doing so, you find your own freedom as well.

4. Believe they can please everyone.

Once you get that it truly is impossible to please everyone, you begin to live purposefully, trying to please the right people.

5. Choose short-term comfort over long-term benefit.

Once successful people know they want something that requires a painful, time-limited step, they do not mind the painful step because it gets them to a long-term benefit. Living out this principle is one of the most fundamental differences between successful and unsuccessful people, both personally and professionally.

6. Trust someone or something that appears flawless.

It’s natural for us to be drawn to things and people that appear "incredible." We love excellence and should always be looking for it. We should pursue people who are great at what they do, employees who are high performers, dates who are exceptional people, friends who have stellar character, and companies that excel. But when someone or something looks too good to be true, he, she, or it is. The world is imperfect. Period. No one and no thing is without flaw, and if they appear that way, hit pause.

7. Take their eyes off the big picture.

We function better emotionally and perform better in our lives when we can see the big picture. For successful people, no one event is ever the whole story. Winners remember that—each and every day.

8. Neglect to do due diligence.

No matter how good something looks on the outside, it is only by taking a deeper, diligent, and honest look that we will find out what we truly need to know: the reality that we owe ourselves.

9. Fail to ask why they are where they find themselves.

One of the biggest differences between successful people and others is that in love and in life, in relationships and in business, successful people always ask themselves, what part am I playing in this situation? Said another way, they do not see themselves only as victims, even when they are.

10. Forget that their inner life determines their outer success.

The good life sometimes has little to do with outside circumstances. We are happy and fulfilled mostly by who we are on the inside. Research validates that. And our internal lives largely contribute to producing many of our external circumstances.
And, the converse is true: people who are still trying to find success in various areas of life can almost always point to one or more of these patterns as a reason they are repeating the same mistakes.

Everyone makes mistakes…even the most successful people out there. But, what achievers do better than others is recognize the patterns that are causing those mistakes and never repeat them again. In short, they learn from pain—their own and the pain of others.

A good thing to remember is this: pain is unavoidable, but repeating the same pain twice, when we could choose to learn and do something different, is certainly avoidable. I like to say, “we don’t need new ways to fail….the old ones are working just fine!” Our task, in business and in life, is to observe what they are, and never go back to doing them again.

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Nothing to Regret - small bad habits cause lifelong regrets | Iman Aghay

9 out of 10 people regret something big in their lives. Many of these regrets are caused by seemingly insignificant bad habits. In this talk you will hear what causes bad habits and how these bad habits cause our lifelong regrets. You will also hear how to live a regret free life by identifying these bad habits and purging them one by one.

What would you regret if you died today?  What do you need to change in your life today?

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15 Signposts on the Path to Success| Jeff Keller

People on the path of growth apply certain principles that allow them to achieve more and lead rich, rewarding lives. If you’re on the path to success, you are a different person than you were five years ago. You think differently. You act differently. You see the world differently. In short, you’re growing and evolving.

But unlike our physical growth, where we can clearly see and gauge our progress (or lack thereof), it is often difficult to measure our personal and professional growth. There is no simple test we can take to assess personal growth, but here are some “signposts” that we can use to gain insight into where we stand.

As you read through this article, measure your present situation against these signposts of personal and professional growth. Consider if you already embrace these ideals or how you might implement them on a more consistent basis.

1. Don’t Fix Blame or Make Excuses 
You realize more and more that pointing a finger at others is not the answer to your problems. Instead, you take personal responsibility for your own results and your own 
happiness. You focus on your attitude, your skills, your actions, and your discipline.

2. Don’t Look Back 
Dwelling on unpleasant events in the past won’t change them, and it only makes you feel rotten in the present. So why do it? Part of accepting personal responsibility is the recognition that, at any point, you can change the path you’re on. Learn from the past, but don’t obsess on it. Instead, take action today to create a positive future.

3. Guard the Sanctity of Your Thoughts 
You no longer doubt that your thoughts are creating your reality. And, if that’s the case, why would you ever think negatively? You’re disciplining yourself to focus on what you want, as opposed to what you don’t want.

4. Have a Sense of Gratitude Every Day 
When you’re young, you tend to take everything for granted: your health, the roof over your head, and the food on your plate. As the years go by, you suddenly experience the “darker” side of life. Either you or your relatives or friends face serious illnesses. You personally know people in their 30s, 40s, or 50s who die. Instead of complaining about the things in your life that aren’t perfect, you choose to be thankful for the many gifts you’ve been given. You identify with the sage advice of Eddie Rickenbacker, who once said, “If you have all the fresh water you want to drink and all the food you want to eat, you should never complain about anything.”

5. Laugh a Lot More, Especially at Yourself
Several times each day, you find yourself letting out a hearty belly laugh. You take your work seriously but not yourself. Whether you’re with clients, colleagues, friends, or family, make sure to laugh. You’ll feel better and have a lot more fun.

6. Get Excited About Something
When you’re living in the flow of life and up to your highest potential, you’re enthusiastic. You don’t have to go around slapping people on the back, but you’re upbeat and alive. You get up in the morning with a purpose, and you look forward to the day’s activities. People can just look at you, or speak with you, and immediately pick up on your positive energy.

7. Take Some Risks
No one is asking you to go skydiving or put your physical health at risk. However, the path of growth demands that you venture into the unknown. That’s where you discover yourself, and find out what you’re capable of achieving. You begin to get ideas and visions about great things you can accomplish, and you have the courage to go after them! Instead of just thinking about doing something, you take action and do it!

8. Be Less Concerned with What Other People Think
Do you still need to get someone’s approval before making a decision? On the path to success, you’re willing to do what you think is best for you, even if someone else won’t like it. On fundamental issues such as your career, your relationships, and your goals, it’s fine to get advice. But in the end, it’s your view that counts. You’ll never be happy following someone 
else’s plan for your life.

9. Place More Emphasis on Honesty and Integrity
Even when no one is looking, you do the right thing. Your aim is to build solid long-term relationships, both personally and professionally, and you can’t accomplish this unless you’re a person of character and integrity. Aside from being good to others, this is for your own self-interest. You see, whatever you send out in life will come back to you like a boomerang. You know that for people to treat you with honesty and respect, you must treat them the same way.

10. Stop Trying to ‘Fix’ Others
You’ve learned that a little self-development can be dangerous. While you’ve begun to see that there’s a better way to live and you’re anxious for others to “see the light” as well, you recognize that everyone has his or her own path to follow, and that you don’t decide the rate at which someone else progresses. So, instead of “converting” others, you continue to work on yourself and find that your example is more powerful than any sermon you can preach.

11. Take the Opportunity to Lift Someone Else
You remember how tough it was for you at each level of your life and your career, and how challenging it is right now! Furthermore, you know that you are where you now are, in large part, because some people believed in you, encouraged you, and helped you. You make a point to do the same for those who can benefit from your experience.

12. See Things in Perspective
Your list of what’s truly important in your life continues to shrink. You work hard and enjoy whatever material comforts you have, but “things” are not as essential to you as they once were. You recognize that your health and well-being and that of your loved ones is what really matters. You no longer let little day-to-day annoyances (at work or at home) dictate the attitude, pace, or results of your day.

13. Listen More … and Ask Questions
You’ve learned to tame your ego a bit and don’t feel the need to always be the center of attention. You realize that when you’re talking, you’re not learning anything. You balance your conversations and make sure to draw other people out by asking questions. You’re more interested in learning about their thoughts, ideas, and insights on various issues, their careers, and their families. Every person has a fascinating story to tell, and you want to hear it!

14. Discover That Discipline Is Fun
You never thought you’d say that! Yet it’s true. To build physical fitness, you exercise several times each week. To develop a successful sales career, you pay attention to the basics, day in and day out. You’re no longer looking for the “quick fix” or “quick buck.” Instead, you know full well that you must put in the effort before you can reap the reward. You find tremendous satisfaction in sticking with something and mastering it over a period of time.

15. Set High Standards for Yourself and Others
Careful, this isn’t about achieving “perfection.” Rather, on the path to success, you simply have the desire to reach more and more of your potential. You no longer settle for less than your best effort. And, as you see more of the potential in others, you encourage them to develop their talents as well.

These are 15 signposts on your road to personal and professional success. I’m sure you can add several more items as well, based on your own experiences. Keep these ideas in front of you on a regular basis to gauge your progress. Apply them consistently and you’ll enjoy phenomenal results, plus a tremendously exciting journey!

Learn more about Jeff Keller and his bestselling book Attitude Is Everything.

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BrainGym

This 6 minute video outlines a "Brain Gym" exercise routine designed to increase the cross over between left-brain and right-brain activity, to enable whole brain activity.  This counteracts the effect of brain dominance, and causes hemi-sync where you are engaging logic and emotions simultaneously, which results in a phenomenon known as super learning.

To find out more about this please watch yesterday's video post by Dr Bruce H. Lipton called "Using 100% of your brain".

Included in the routine:
 - brain buttons
 - cross crawl
 - ankle touch (in front)
 - step touch
 - elbow to knee
 - ankle touch (behind)
 - bend and reach
 - hook up and breathing

Any one of these activities can be used to counteract stress, lethargy, memory loss or feeling overly emotional in the moment.

Have a go, and let me know how it goes below.

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