pickthebrain

4 Venoms That Kill Your Motivation (and Their Antidotes)

Here’s a short story that may or may not sound a little familiar. One day an enticing and fresh idea knocks on your door, you welcome it into your life and soon it blossoms into an exciting new project you can’t wait to start working on. So you get down to business! All hands on deck. You feel good, motivated, unstoppable and inspired. Everything goes well… at least for a while. Somewhere along the way, things start to go south. The motivation that fueled you at the beginning is gone and without it your project can’t survive much longer. So the next thing you know is you are mourning it along with all the other things that could’ve been but weren’t.

After this, a wave of frustration invades you. You don’t know what went wrong and honestly you are too disheartened to perform an autopsy on the dead project. So after grieving for a while, you move…

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How To Boost Work-Life Balance When Working Remotely

When I think about work-life balance, the first word that comes to mind is fluidity. While we’d like to imagine it as a static, ready-made formula we can buy off the shelf, the reality is work-life balance is not a destination, it’s a journey!

While we live in a time where having a work-life balance is one of the most valuable assets we can possess, being confined in one environment makes it challenging to achieve.

Having been working remotely for most of my professional life, I discovered work-life balance is more about self-management than time management: understanding how we operate is key to improve the quality of our daily life.

With this in mind, I would like to share with you four approaches I have used to empower my work-life balance experience.

1) Create clear mental and physical boundaries

If you are working from home and have limited space, your biggest struggle might be in finding a clear divide between your…

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From Feeling Good to Feeling Great

You may be aware that my books, Feeling Good and the Feeling Good Handbook, have sold more than 5 million copies worldwide, and are still popular, even though Feeling Good was published 40 years ago. 

One reason for the books enduring popularity is groundbreaking research conducted by Dr. Forrest Scogin and his colleagues at the University of Alabama School of Medicine. They reported that if you simply give people seeking treat for moderate to severe depression a copy of Feeling Good, more than 50% will improve so much within four weeks that they no longer want or need treatment. What is crucial is that these patients received no psychotherapy or antidepressants during those four weeks. Three-year follow-up studies indicated that they did not relapse but actually continue to improve following their initial “bibliotherapy” with Feeling Good! That’s why Feeling Good is still the top-rated and best-selling book on depression.

So why have I now written the first true…

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How To Stay Positive While Losing Weight

Losing weight can be difficult under any circumstances, but it can be especially difficult when you aren’t feeling happy with yourself or your progress. The reality is, though, that being down on yourself or what you have accomplished so far can end up making the process even harder. The good news is, though, that you don’t have to feel stuck in this situation. There can be many ways to change your outlook and start feeling more positive about the steps you’re taking to be healthier and happier.

Try New Things To Get a Boost

Whether you just started working out and dieting and aren’t seeing the progress that you thought you would, or you’ve been doing it for a while and have hit a plateau, it can be easy to feel discouraged when you aren’t meeting your goals on the timeline that you wanted to. In this kind of situation, finding new ways to give your efforts a…

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How to Get Enough Self-Care Into Your Day

As busy as life gets sometimes, it is no surprise that a lot of people forget to take care of themselves. You may hear people talk about the importance of self-care, but who has the time? How much time should you spend on yourself? For a healthy body and mind, you may want to spend minimally an hour a day on yourself. If this sounds like a lot, don’t worry, the following guide can help you learn to devote time for yourself.

Learn About Self-Care

When you break down self-care, it sounds simple, doesn’t it? What makes self-care complicated is that a lot of people don’t know how to take care of themselves. They are used to putting their jobs, families and other priorities first and never have time for themselves.

Self-care prioritizes your physical and mental health. Self-care activities may include a skin-care routine, a healthy diet, journal writing or yoga. There is no limit to the kinds…

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Bringing Passion to Work: Why It’s Important for Career Fulfillment

You’re reading Bringing Passion to Work: Why It’s Important for Career Fulfillment, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

More often than not, people are more stressed out about work than they’re passionate about it. As that saying goes: “Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life”. But is it really so simple? Finding a job you love may not be as easy as people tend to believe. 

However, it’s still possible to learn to love the job that you have and become passionate about it. Unfortunately, that’s also a great challenge, especially since modern work environments tend to get overwhelming. Technology was designed to help people do more in less time but in a seamless way. But for some reason, technology is only helping us do a lot more and even bring…

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11 Soothing Habits to Chill Out Your Kids

You’re reading 11 Soothing Habits to Chill Out Your Kids, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

Kids are whirlwinds of energy, but even little ones need downtime. Plus, children aren’t immune to anxiety disorders. Today’s driven lifestyles with schedules chock-full of structured activities can leave tiny minds frazzled. 

How can you help your child to relax? It’s critical to teach them to self-soothe so that they develop healthy coping mechanisms as adults. As a parent, failing to teach your kids healthy ways to chill out can lead to behavioral issues and even addiction down the road. Instead, try these activities to help them calm down. 

1. Reward
Downtime 

If you’re a Type A personality yourself, you may think you’re doing your child a favor by encouraging them to remain on the go always. You might even pat yourself on the back when they tumble into bed…

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How to be Self-Aware in a Troubled World

You’re reading How to be Self-Aware in a Troubled World, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

Right now, it’s a challenging thing to stay connected, listening, and loving. To have a tender heart and an alive intelligence. From global to personal, so many issues press in from all sides. Admitting to yourself that sometimes no matter what you do, it all feels impotent. This can leave you feeling powerless and somewhat devastated.

But we can remember that we have a deeper, real power at our disposal. This power comes not from our actions, but from our awareness – the awareness of our dreaming.

The power of awareness

Consider the dreams we have every night. We get emotionally hooked by the storyline of our dreams when we’re asleep and unaware that we’re dreaming. But if you happen to realize while dreaming that you are…

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How to Develop a Growth Mindset From an Early Age

You’re reading How to Develop a Growth Mindset From an Early Age, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

One of the most important parental roles is to help your child develop a growth mindset at an early age. Knowing the techniques to employ and the right steps to take is all you need to ensure your child develops a powerful growth mindset early and fast. In this post, we will look into certain techniques that can help your child develop a growth mindset early and how to expose your kids to them.

1.
Teach Them How The Brain Grows and Develops

Developing a growth mindset from an early age
begins with helping your child learn more about the brain and how it works. A
brain is a powerful tool that needs to develop the same way you would develop a
muscle.

Like your muscles, if you don’t…

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How You Can Achieve Mental Wellbeing Through Gardens and Gardening

You’re reading How You Can Achieve Mental Wellbeing Through Gardens and Gardening, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

The relationship between gardening and mental health is the topic of much discussion at the moment. According to a recent piece published by The Guardian, GPs are now prescribing gardening as a treatment for depression and anxiety. 

As a society, we are becoming more aware of mental health issues: Mental Health First Aid England has reported that 1 in 4 people experience mental health problems every year. Whether or not you have been diagnosed with a mental illness, we can all benefit from an active approach to improving mental wellbeing. 

This article discusses how nature, gardening, and bringing the outdoors in can instill in us a tranquil mindset and improve our mental health.

Nature and Wellbeing

Nature and wellbeing have been thought to be associated throughout…

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How to Beat Your Social Anxiety in 2020

You’re reading How to Beat Your Social Anxiety in 2020, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

Bidding
farewell to the past year and welcoming the next can be incredibly exciting and
promising. If the thought of attending a New Year’s Eve bash leaves you with
sweaty palms and heart palpitations, however, you’re not alone. About 15 million people
in America,
including myself, struggle with social anxiety. This disorder can make the new
year an extremely stressful event. 

Luckily,
if you’ve resolved to beat your social anxiety in 2020, there is hope! Discover
a few ways you can overcome your fears and reach your goals this coming
year. 

1. Keep a Journal 

The
simplest way to begin your journey to a less anxious social life is by keeping
a journal. Write down your thoughts and feelings and regularly reflect on past
entries to
discover patterns. This technique will help you track your progress and
realize when you’re falling back…

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How Depression Can Lead to Your Emancipation

You’re reading How Depression Can Lead to Your Emancipation, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

There is an extreme uncomfortableness associated with speaking about depression, but the fact is that everyone is dealing with it, it’s simply part of the human experience; therefore, it is not a topic or life experience that should carry a lot of shame. In fact, if you look inward during periods of depression, you can turn these moments into moments of self-discovery and a beautiful metamorphosis.
What is Depression?
It is important to understand what depression is before putting together a strategy on how to best manage its symptoms. Scientifically speaking, depression is a chemical imbalance in the brain which is caused by having your sense of pleasure exhausted. Your emotions are tired and you do not find joy in the everyday. You go through excruciating mental…

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Who Wouldn’t Want to be Happier and More Productive in 2020?

You’re reading Who Wouldn’t Want to be Happier and More Productive in 2020?, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

Chances are no one.
So this year, instead of setting the standard, short-lived New Year’s resolutions — you know the ones — why not be resolute in amplifying your happiness and productivity with some simple practices.
Here are 20 such ones, not to attempt all at once, but instead to try a few at a time. This way, you can discover the ones that really resonate and then turn them into productive, lasting habits.
1. Have the courage to do less. In our overachieving culture, it’s counterintuitive, but you’ll get more done.
2. Do your email in three 30-minute blocks, not incessantly throughout the day.
3. Take a half-hour lunch, always away from your desk and devices.
4. Make your goals SMART: specific, meaningful, actionable, realistic, and trackable.
5. Have no more than five active projects at a time.
6. Put start dates and completion dates…

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Defining True Self-Care

You’re reading Defining True Self-Care, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

Once
upon a time, the idea of self-care was a foreign concept. Then, it came into
our consciousness and quickly pervaded our waking thoughts. Now, people point
to everything they do for themselves as self-care. Doing so might be one
incredibly broad way of looking at it, but it doesn’t define what true
self-care is.

What Is Self-Care?

In
very general terms, self-care is an activity in which we take part to soothe
our mental, physical and emotional health. Proper self-care can improve our
moods and help ward off anxiety.

In
today’s society, self-care has become a vital part of many people’s lives. We
deal with a lot of stress on a daily basis. For instance, a whopping 69 percent of
Americans say
that the nation’s future causes them stress. And current events push people to
seek out self-care remedies. During the…

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5 Things To Be Proud Of When Fighting Depression (And How To Get Better)

You’re reading 5 Things To Be Proud Of When Fighting Depression (And How To Get Better), originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

I have heard depression described as an angry black shadow that follows you wherever you go — and this is a description I agree with wholeheartedly.

https://unsplash.com/photos/VBWWscZtszY

I mean, if you take a second to think about it, it just makes sense. 

You are forever in its presence, constantly aware of it, but not often within its dark embrace. You feel it creeping away at the edge of your consciousness, but every time you turn to look at it, it disappears into nothingness.

Then it suddenly engulfs you at the slightest provocation, and you are rendered completely and utterly incapacitated.  

During these times it feels as if the world is ending. It feels as if no matter what you do in your lifetime,…

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The 15-minute Hack That Will Get You Where to You Want to Be – and Eradicate Regret

You’re reading The 15-minute Hack That Will Get You Where to You Want to Be – and Eradicate Regret, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

Forward.

It’s the only direction we allow ourselves to look. With our eyes focused on the future, we must keep moving toward our goals and away from our old selves. We are told to let go of the past and just keep moving forward. “The past holds you back!”, they say. “The only thing you can change is the future.”

True enough.

But is it possible to create the best future without ever looking back?

While you’re often told to look at your past failures and learn from them, there’s another—more immediate—way to analyze the past and create a better future. 

Have ever taken a step back and considered your life?

For better or for worse, you thought, “How did I…

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Do Self Affirmations Really Work? Not The Way You Think…

You’re reading Do Self Affirmations Really Work? Not The Way You Think…, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

“I am loved.”

“I am powerful.”

“I am disciplined and motivated.”

Feeling empowered yet?

We’ve all read about self affirmations. Supposedly, you can say something about yourself so much that you actually become who you’re claiming to be. 

Except… if you’re anything like me, it doesn’t work. 

You say good and happy and empowering stuff while looking in the mirror, but… crickets. 

You don’t feel any better. You don’t feel like you’re going to seize the day. You don’t feel like all of the stuff you’re claiming to be. 

Okay, okay. But this is a process, right? So you do it again tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that. Still nothing. Eventually, you give up the practice because it’s proven about as effective as patching a bullet…

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The Power of Comparison: Tackling 7 Common Mistakes

You’re reading The Power of Comparison: Tackling 7 Common Mistakes, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

‘It’s all relative!’ A familiar, throwaway phrase but one with huge relevance to how we assess ourselves, other people and external objects. 

The fact is we’re hard wired to make comparisons as a way of bringing meaning to the world around us and how we fit into it. But because our need for cognitive efficiency trumps our desire to make accurate comparisons we frequently make the wrong comparisons and/or react inappropriately to their results. This can have profound consequences for our mental health, mood and behaviour as well as the quality of our decisions. 

The following are seven errors we commonly commit when comparing and some suggestions how we can do things better.

1. Hurtful ‘upward’ comparisons: When making upward comparisons – comparisons with those we perceive…

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3 Secrets To Be Happier Right Now

You’re reading 3 Secrets To Be Happier Right Now, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

In this day and age, where everything must be perfect and delivered fast to satisfy customers, it’s very easy to forget the fundamentals and let ourselves get caught up in life’s events – which you have no control over.

People in general are getting more demanding and are always looking for instant-gratification wherever they look… but at what cost?

In this article, I’ll share with you 3 secrets that you must know when it comes to being happier.

1 – Slow Down

A lot of people don’t know this and make the mistake. You cannot be happy if you’re rushing all the time.

Now, don’t get me wrong: there is a time and place to speed up. For instance, being fast and having this sense of urgency in whatever you’re…

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6 Ways to Adopt a Holistic Approach in Your Everyday Life

You’re reading 6 Ways to Adopt a Holistic Approach in Your Everyday Life, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

The ways we say, eat, think, practice, and believe and the impacts we make on the lives of others are all reflections of how we choose to live our life. A holistic approach to our mind, soul, and body cannot just transform our well-being and health, but it can bring benefits to our relationships. It is because a holistic approach keeps us more patient, loving, understanding, and stress-free. 

Below are six simple ways you can do every day to add a holistic approach to your life and gain endless benefits.

Recycle Energy

Just check the way you impact not just the overall environment, but people within your vicinity. Everyone makes an effort to waste less and recycle more. The same holds true with wisdom.

Try…

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8 Nootropics to Stimulate Your Brain This Fall

You’re reading 8 Nootropics to Stimulate Your Brain This Fall, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

Nootropics is a term coined by Dr. Corneliu E. Giurgea
to describe a class of drugs, supplements, and other synthetic and naturally
occurring compounds that improve cognitive function in our brains. They’re
often called “smart drugs,” as they can help us think faster and more
efficiently.

Although used by pretty much everyone, these nootropic supplements are especially
popular among younger and older
generations. Students use nootropics as performance-enhancing drugs to enhance
the benefits of a late-night study session or improve their alertness during
test season. Young professionals use nootropics to get started early in the
morning and burn the candle at both ends late into the night.

Senior citizens and the elderly are
especially interested in nootropics. The U.S. National Library of Medicine National Institutes of
Health found older hospitalized
patients are especially susceptible to decreased lower cognitive…

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8 Nootropics to Stimulate Your Brain This Fall

You’re reading 8 Nootropics to Stimulate Your Brain This Fall, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

Nootropics is a term coined by Dr. Corneliu E. Giurgea
to describe a class of drugs, supplements, and other synthetic and naturally
occurring compounds that improve cognitive function in our brains. They’re
often called “smart drugs,” as they can help us think faster and more
efficiently.

Although used by pretty much everyone, these nootropic supplements are especially
popular among younger and older
generations. Students use nootropics as performance-enhancing drugs to enhance
the benefits of a late-night study session or improve their alertness during
test season. Young professionals use nootropics to get started early in the
morning and burn the candle at both ends late into the night.

Senior citizens and the elderly are
especially interested in nootropics. The U.S. National Library of Medicine National Institutes of
Health found older hospitalized
patients are especially susceptible to decreased lower cognitive…

0
Like
Save
How to Use Writing Prompts for Creative Journaling

You’re reading How to Use Writing Prompts for Creative Journaling, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

When writing in a journal every single day, it can be difficult to come up with new topics and ideas. Listing your goals and writing about your day are no doubt great for your mental health, but you’ll probably want to mix things up from time to time. If nothing else, it will keep your journaling fresh and help you maintain your creative energy!

This is where writing prompts come in. Even if you’ve never used them before, you can probably guess what they do: provide a thought or premise for you to expand into your own work, filtering a concept through your unique creative voice.

However, what you may not know is how to utilize them for maximum potential in a journaling capacity. After all,…

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How to Use Writing Prompts for Creative Journaling

You’re reading How to Use Writing Prompts for Creative Journaling, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

When writing in a journal every single day, it can be difficult to come up with new topics and ideas. Listing your goals and writing about your day are no doubt great for your mental health, but you’ll probably want to mix things up from time to time. If nothing else, it will keep your journaling fresh and help you maintain your creative energy!

This is where writing prompts come in. Even if you’ve never used them before, you can probably guess what they do: provide a thought or premise for you to expand into your own work, filtering a concept through your unique creative voice.

However, what you may not know is how to utilize them for maximum potential in a journaling capacity. After all,…

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How I Fixed My Sleep Problems for Good with CBD

You’re reading How I Fixed My Sleep Problems for Good with CBD, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

I think
it’s safe to say that in life, we each have things we’re “working
on,” right? You know, a personal habit we’re trying to break or build
upon. For me, it’s sleep. Always has been. Sleep might seem like a simple thing
that we all just naturally do, but if you’ve ever struggled to get in a few
solid hours of shut-eye (forget the full eight), then you know it can be a
pretty heavy issue to deal with.

Despite
being a terrible sleeper since childhood, the situation got increasingly worse
when I was a young adult because as a “creative,” to be successful, I thought I
had to be up burning the midnight oil. I mean, that’s what you’re supposed to
do when you’re a writer or an entrepreneur, right? Wrong….

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