Eeyore Don't be

Its something Yoda could have said "Eeyore Don't Be"
There is the power of positive thinking and also the power of not thinking negatively.
The lifehack.org blog gives the low down on how to avoid the Eeyore syndrome.

Some other ideas to consider are:
- not to worry about potential problems unless you have some evidence that they have some probability of occurring
(emphasize moving towards the good life instead of becoming preoccupied with real or imagined fears)
- watch out for the language of negativity
- focus on the circle of influence rather than the circle of concern (as Covey would express it).
- live in the moment to enjoy your blessings
- Pay attention to the difference your decisions are making; measure results
- Experiment and learn new things
- Expect and look for the best in yourself and other people
- Deal with reality and recognize the need for frequent course corrections to manage issues

Technorati Tags: attitude

Start the day right by creating energy

Pick the Brain has a simple recipe for starting the day right to gain energy for the whole day.

Technorati Tags: Health

The Simple Pleasures in Life

Its been said that one of the secrets of happiness is appreciating the simple things in life and a way of doing that is to list your favorite things and people.
The zen habits blog has listed some simple pleasures to get the list started. Not a bad idea to include some every day especially the ones that don't have side effects.

Technorati Tags: attitude

Motivation

Self motivation is valuable both at work and in your personal life.
It is not something that should be seen as a passive activity that just happens to you but as something you can work at to increase your chances of being inspired.
One way to do this is to analyse what you can do to emphasize and seek out what is motivational and avoid things that demotivate or distract you.
Pick the Brain has some good analysis on how to keep motivated.

Fundamental techniques are:
1. A belief that you can make a difference
2. Set an objective that you can be excited about
3. Break the objective into small activities which you can see the change you have made (manage your plan to create positive feedback to encourage further effort).
4. Pay attention to the feedback and try making changes if the results aren't moving you forward. Perhaps you need to set smaller objectives or try a different approach.

Technorati Tags: attitude

Unclutter to get organized

43folders has declared war on clutter in four consecutive articles.

Heck the Unclutterer is a whole blog on the subject.

Interesting extreme case of hoarding by the Collyer brothers.

I also have bought the book Its all too much (Amazon.com site for reviews and comments). And here is the Canadian Amazon site for the book.

It is a common problem for stuff to take over until is not creating enjoyment but getting in the way mentally and physically.

Another interesting site is the Psychology of Clutter

The Zen habits blog also is featuring some points on simplifying life with a couple of book references.

Let's not wait for a flood or a move to start uncluttering and simplifying!

Technorati Tags: Organizing

Time Travel Movies

On my flight from Calgary to Ottawa I watched 1.5 movies both involving time travel.

Meet the Robinsons was really enjoyable with a geeky inventor building confidence, eccentric characters, and themes that I like. "Keep moving forward".

Coincidentally I later started to watch the The Time Machine which is based on HG Wells book of that name.

I will have to rent the DVD as I didn't yet find out if travelling to the future helps the inventor save his fiance by learning if you can change the past. Keep moving forward?

I think I read the HG Wells book long long ago but I don't remember how it ends so I will have to resist looking it up and watch the movie.

Technorati Tags: Entertainment

Instantly Improve Your Life?

Another article on attitude and how it can instantly improve our lives. Now who doesn't want to do that?
This is from the LifeHack blog which is one of my favorites for tips on how people can improve life.
10 virtually instant ways to improve your life

Many of our problems come from within our own minds. They aren’t caused by events, bad luck, or other people. We cause them through our own poor mental habits. Here are 10 habits you should set aside right away to free yourself from the many problems each one will be causing you.

• Stop jumping to conclusions. There are two common ways this habit increases people’s difficulties. First, they assume that they know what is going to happen, so they stop paying attention and act on their assumption instead. Human beings are lousy fortune-tellers. Most of what they assume is wrong. That makes the action wrong too. The second aspect of this habit is playing the mind-reader and assuming you know why people do what they do or what they’re thinking. Wrong again, big time. More relationships are destroyed by this particular kind of stupidity than by any other.