Our Better Health

Diet, Health, Fitness, Lifestyle & Wellness

Tag Archives: selflessness


by 1 Comment

15 Things Mentally Strong People Do

It’s easy to look at successful people and think they have it all figured out. They may seem like the A+ students of life. But what can we learn from them?

Successful people often have certain characteristics in common — things like how they don’t focus on their competition, or they surround themselves with positive people. Being successful is kind of like a system; once you know the program you can put it into practice and live to your fullest potential. We all want to be happy and healthy, but for many of us that means reaching a certain level of success as well.

What is success to you?

What makes you happy?

If you’re working hard to make your dreams come true but you feel like you aren’t where you want to be, it could be time to regroup. Success is a journey, and the experience of getting to your goal is the real reward.

Several years ago I left a successful corporate job to follow my heart and become a writer. Starting a business from scratch with nothing more than a strong willed desire meant I had to detach from emotional habits and limiting beliefs. I needed to give myself a mental makeover and become mentally strong in order to become successful in my new career choice. And four years later, after putting my own success steps into action, my business is booming.

mind

The pivotal moment for me was learning to see my “failures” as growth. The real success stories are those who rise when they fall. You can’t have success without failure and letting the failures guide you instead of take your down or give up will help you become tremendously successful.

To give your dreams a boost of confidence, I created a list of the 15 things mentally strong people do. Perhaps it can help you along your own path.

1. They know when to move on.
2. They use their fear to motivate action.
3. The know failure is part of success.
4. They train their brains to see the good in everything.
5. They’re tenacious with their goals.
6. They start before they’re ready or confident.
7. They don’t take anything personally.
8. They believe in themselves.
9. They don’t try to fit in.
10. They allow themselves to be a beginner.
11. They don’t do things they don’t want to do.
12. They celebrate the success and happiness of others.
13. They don’t need a reason to help people.
14. They are unapologetic about their unique selves.
15. They accept what they can’t change.


by Leave a comment

Why This Beautiful Human Behaviour is Highly Infectious

The wonderful human behaviour that elevates all our morals.

Acts of kindness can spread surprisingly easily between people — just by observing someone else being generous.

They activate parts of the brain involved in motivating action and of social engagement, a new study finds.

In turn we are also more likely to ‘pay it forward’.

Scientists call this the ‘moral elevation’ effect.

The first evidence from the lab of this effect was found in 2010.

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego and Harvard demonstrated moral elevation by having people playing a simple ‘giving’ game in the lab.

When people gave selflessly to others, researchers could see this act of kindness spreading from person to person.

One act of kindness was ultimately tripled in value by people subsequently giving more and more.

Dr James Fowler, one of the study’s authors, said:

“Though the multiplier in the real world may be higher or lower than what we’ve found in the lab, personally it’s very exciting to learn that kindness spreads to people I don’t know or have never met.We have direct experience of giving and seeing people’s immediate reactions, but we don’t typically see how our generosity cascades through the social network to affect the lives of dozens or maybe hundreds of other people.”

kindness


Now neuroscience has given us an insight into what is happening in the brain when we see an act of kindness.

Researchers scanned people’s brains while they watched videos showing heroic acts of kindness.

They found that areas of the brain involved in arousal and those involved in social engagement were activated at the same time.

Professor Nicholas Christakis, one of the 2010 study’s authors, said:

“Our work over the past few years, examining the function of human social networks and their genetic origins, has led us to conclude that there is a deep and fundamental connection between social networks and goodness.The flow of good and desirable properties like ideas, love and kindness is required for human social networks to endure, and, in turn, networks are required for such properties to spread.Humans form social networks because the benefits of a connected life outweigh the costs.”

The original study was published in PNAS and the latest study was published in the journal Biological Psychology (Fowler et al., 2010; Piper et al., 2015).

source: Psyblog


by 1 Comment

9 Ways to Attract Someone Who Adores You

“True love is not a strong, fiery, impetuous passion. It is, on the contrary, an element calm and deep. It looks beyond mere externals, and is attracted by qualities alone. It is wise and discriminating, and its devotion is real and abiding.” – Ellen G. White

When is the last time you thought about the innate qualities that make you absolutely adorable?

Maybe you are too busy, scattered, or distracted that you haven’t thought about these qualities for some time. Make no mistake: you possess unique qualities that people truly appreciate and admire. Perhaps without even knowing, someone drew inspiration and strength from these qualities.

Think about the people in your life who you adore and are inspired by. What is it about these individuals that stimulate your inspiration? Perhaps it’s a mother, father, sister, brother, grandparent; could be someone who is not related, or a romantic interest. Is it their humor, strength, intelligence, honesty, energy, resilience, or something else? You can probably think of at least one person that has influenced you in this way.

Adoration – love, devotion, respect, reverence or strong admiration – is one of the strongest emotions that we feel. To adore someone is to be in awe of their being. Further, it creates very strong feelings of attraction. By exhibiting our qualities, we indeed create feelings of attraction and admiration in someone else.

Perhaps you possess some of the following qualities, perhaps you don’t. However, it doesn’t mean that you can’t develop them. Here are nine demonstrable qualities that cause attraction and adoration:

9 ways to attract someone who adores you:

1. Be Yourself

There is nothing more attractive than embracing who you really are and showing that to others.  Even if you succeed in attracting someone by using tactics that don’t reflect your true self, it is almost guaranteed that your true self will be discovered.  When you allow your unique self to shine through, people will realize, respect, and yes, even adore that.

It all boils down to the fact that we are all truly embodiments of love.  Why would you want to create something outside of that?  You may have to discover yourself for yourself first, but when you do, you won’t want to ever be anyone else.

2. Be honest

Being honest about your thoughts and feelings is attractive. Honesty, even when it’s uncomfortable, demonstrates individuality and confidence. On the other hand, dishonesty is seen as selfish, manipulative, and egocentric.

Unfiltered honesty about your opinions and perspectives appeals to most people. Those that disagree with and admonish you because of your opinions do not demonstrate understanding or rational thinking. They’re being harshly judgmental and showing people they are ignorant in the process.

Simply put: be honest in everything that you do. Anything else is lying or deceitfulness, plain and simple.

 3. Have a sense of humor

Having a sense of humor is a tremendous asset. Life is complicated and messy at times, which makes this quality all the more important. It also turns out that a sense of humor is a quality that causes attraction and adoration.

Women reading this article will attest to humor being incredibly attractive in both friends and romantic partners. Turns out that there is a biological reason why women view humor necessary in both plutonic and romantic relationships.

In a study done at Stanford University, 22 children aged six to 13 were shown a series of video clips – some of which were funny and some not. The children were hooked up to a functional magnetic resonance imaging machine (fMRI) to measure their brain’s activity.

When viewing the humorous material, girls showed more positive feelings in response than the boys did. Further, the girls felt more of a sense of reward in watching them.

Make them laugh, fellas.

couple

4. Be confident.

Confidence is not only important in attraction, it’s also important for an individual’s self-esteem. Confident people are easily observed, as they often radiate positivity, courage and self-respect.

Often times, confident people are the change agents of society. They believe very strongly in their ideas and their ability to get people to get behind them – often through sheer self-assurance. It takes a tremendous amount of confidence to create a following – in both yourself and in other people.

The former Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, is a perfect example. Jobs took a computer prototype manufactured in his garage, created a brand, and built a multi-billion dollar empire. Jobs and Steve Wozniak, the other co-founder, dealt with obstacle after obstacle before Apple, Inc. was actually established. Not to mention, Jobs was fired and re-hired as CEO from the very company that he helped create!

5. Practice selflessness

Putting others before ourselves is not something for the faint of heart. Individuals who are selfless have changed our world in incredible ways. These agents of change have often shouldered the heaviest burden; and through their willingness to sacrifice themselves for the greater good, these people continue to earn the respect and adoration of people around the world.

Jesus; Buddha; Gandhi; Mother Teresa; Nelson Mandela; Martin Luther King Jr…some of our greatest leaders were also the most selfless.

6. Be open-minded

As human beings continue to evolve, our society does as well. We are witnessing the challenge of conventional thinking on various issues – gay marriage, marijuana use, armed conflicts, global warming, etc. – viewpoints that were once considered untouchably mainstream.

Regardless of where you stand on an issue, the ability to remain open-minded is an essential quality to have. The ability to challenge conventional thinking, expand your consciousness, and pursue knowledge is invaluable. It also demonstrates intelligence and fluid thinking – two other traits that are admirable in people.

7. Be helpful

Have you ever met a selfish person? What was your impression? Similar to most people, you likely didn’t have a favorable opinion. The willingness to help others is something that our world needs more of. Many of the problems that exist – poverty, hunger, and other social ills can be solved if more people just make a determined effort to help.

If you’ve achieved some sort of success and are financially capable, consider donating to a worthy cause. Even better, consider donating your time. Numerous volunteer organizations exist within your community and are always looking for volunteers to work with and promote their cause.

8. Practice humility

What a wonderful breath of fresh air to be around someone who’s successful and intelligent, yet humble and unassuming. In America and other places, we’ve idealized people who are boastful and brash if they’ve achieved any success. The axiom “Actions speak louder than words” has seemingly fallen by the wayside.

Humility is an attractive quality because it’s becoming increasingly rare. There will always be the crowd that idolizes the brash and domineering qualities of successful people. However – for us – true admiration and respect is best reserved for those who quietly and unpretentiously make the world a better place.

9. Be resourceful

Resourcefulness – the ability to deal skillfully with new or difficult situations or to find solutions to problems – is a wonderful quality to have. Our experiences have given us a wide range of knowledge that enables us to help ourselves and others.

It’s not enough to simply possess knowledge for your own benefit. It should be used to help others in some way. Remember that not everyone is blessed with the same gifts that you are, and that you can make a big difference in the life of someone else.

Look into becoming a Big Brother or Big Sister, volunteering in a classroom, helping a child to read, volunteering in a hospital, or something else.