Learn How to Have Positive Thinking

When you are down, when you are dealing with a major life change or illness, negative thoughts are likely to pop-up in your mind. Sometime even with the best peels and health-care can not fully recover the way you think. So what to do when you are in such position? The following tips might help you to change your negative or anger thoughts into a happier and more productive positive stance.  

“I can’t is just an opinion not a fact”: If you are frequently telling yourself "I can't", you may convince yourself that is the truth, but actually you may do better than you expect just because you do not give yourself a chance to try your best. Therefore, replace these negative words with positive ones instead. Tell yourself you will do your best or that you will try your hardest instead. So only use positive words when talking!

 

Use words that evoke strength and success: Try filling your thoughts with words that make you feel strong, happy and in control of your life. Make a determined effort to focus on these words rather than those that make you feel like you are failing or ineffectual.

 
Practice positive affirmation: One of the most popular positive thinking exercises is positive affirmation. This means you repeat a positive phrase to yourself on a regular basis like "I deserve to be happy" or "I am worthy of love". Believing that these things are true, and reminding yourself of it can help give you a more positive outlook on life.

 
Believe you will succeed: There is nothing like believing in you to create a successful truth. Give yourself the benefit of the doubt and believe that you will succeed at fulfilling your goals.

Analyze what went wrong: Thinking positively does not mean denying that there is anything wrong. Instead, give yourself some time to think about the things that led up to your current situation so you can avoid future mistakes and look toward a more positive tomorrow.

Give yourself credit: Often when we feel frustrated or upset we only concentrate on the bad things or the mistakes we have made instead of giving ourselves credit for what we do right. Allow yourself to feel confident about the things you have accomplished, even if you have ruined in other areas.

Forgive yourself: Continually beating yourself up about things that have gone wrong will not change them. Tell yourself that you are forgiven for your mistakes and allow yourself to move on.

Learn from the past: The past is behind you and no matter how badly things went there is nothing you can do to change them. Whenever you feel negative thoughts about the past come up, replace them with positive thoughts about the future.

(To be continued...)

Tips for Killing Bad Habits and Developing Good Ones

“First we make our habits, then our habits make us.”

You do the same things you did yesterday, the day before and every day for the last month. It’s estimated that out of every 11,000 signals we receive from our senses, our brain only consciously processes 40. [1]

Habits either good or bad make you who you are now. The point is that you can control them. If you know how to change your habits, even a small effort then can create big changes. Here are some tips to get you started:

One Habit For 30 Days – You should focus on only one change for 30 days. After that time it has been sufficiently conditioned to become a habit. 

One Habit at a Time – A month may seem long to focus on only one change, but sometime it becomes reckless if you try to change more than a few habits at a time. With just one habit change you can focus on making it firmly stick. Multitasking often means none become habits. 

Use a Trigger – A trigger is a short ritual you perform before a habit. If you want to wake up earlier, this can be jumping out of bed as soon as you hear the sound of your alarm. If you wanted to stop smoking this could be snapping your fingers every time you feel the urge for a cigarette. A trigger helps condition a new pattern more consistently.

Replace Lost Needs – If you opened up your computer and started removing hardware, what would happen? Chances are your computer wouldn’t work. Similarly, you can’t just pull out habits without replacing the needs they fulfill. Giving up night-going might mean you need to find a new way to relax, socialize or get information at home.

Balance Feedback – The difference between long-term change and giving up on day 31st is the balance of feedback. If your change creates more pain in your life than joy, it is going to be hard to stick to. Don’t go to the gym if you hate it, but find diets, exercise, or financial plans that are fun to follow and support you.

“But” to Kill Bad Thoughts – A prominent habit-changing therapist once told us a great way to nuke bad thinking. Anytime you feel yourself thinking negatively about yourself, use the word “but” and point out positive aspects. “I’m lousy at this job – but – if I keep at it I can probably improve.

Write it down – Don’t leave commitments in your brain floating around. Write them on paper. This does two things. First, it creates clarity by defining in specific terms what your change means. Second, it keeps you committed since it is easy to dismiss a thought, but harder to dismiss a promise printed in front of you.

30, 90, 365 – I can say that most habits go through a series of checkpoints in terms of conditioning. The first is at 30 days. Here it doesn’t require willpower to continue your change, but problems might offset it. At 90 days, any change should be neutral where running the habit is no more difficult than not running it. At one year it is generally harder not to run the habit than to continue with it. Be patient and run habits through the three checkpoints to make them stick.

Make Public Commitment – Make a public commitment to everyone you know that you’re going to stick with it. If you do not want to be embarrassed, try your best to achieve what you have previously declared. Also, offer yourself a reward if you make it a month; anything to give yourself that extra push.

Keep it Simple – Your change should involve one or two rules, not a dozen. Exercising once per day for at least 30 minutes is easier to follow than go jogging on Tuesdays, hiking on Wednesdays, and swimming on Friday, except when it is raining in which case you will do something else. Simple rules create habits, complex rules create headaches.

Consistency is Key – The point of a habit is that it doesn’t require thought. Variety may be the spice of life, but it doesn’t create habits. Make sure your habit is as consistent as possible and is repeated every day for 30 days. This will ensure a new habit is drilled in, instead of multiple habits loosely conditioned.

Experiment – You can’t know whether a different habit will work until you try it. Mix around with key habits until you find ones that suit you. Don’t try to follow habits because you should, but because you’ve tested they and they work in your life.

[1]:  http://www.pickthebrain.com

Long-run Possibility of Economic Recovery: Western or Asia?

Surely, while some countries like United States and Europe are now struggling with debt crisis and unstable security market, many Asian countries, however, are enjoying growth such as China, India, Brazil, and to name a few of other emerging countries. Many scholars and people in Asia are very proud of themselves that they are considered as the head machine of economic recovery especially China. Are they really the head machine in the present time? Probably! Are they going to last long...? Maybe not!

 

It is true when people talk about how impressive regarding the economic growth that China has enjoyed so far, almost double digit of GDP growth even with a huge stimulus package. People in Asia are acknowledged to be a very good saver, they are so good in saving every penny they can earn and spend it very wisely. Saving = Investment, so in case like today crisis, Asian people can spend more money while others in West are stuck with the crisis. Nevertheless, they are just too happy for that. Thing has changed, Chinese people are very happy with that impressive economic growth; more and more of them now have started to consume a lot more than ever, also on American products. Now the inflation rate is still high, the debt ratio to GDP is pretty much increasing, uncertainty of property boom, and also the decrease of savings for future investments; people have no saving for preparation, and can you imagine how things can be affected when this bubble economy maybe burst one day?

Now let's turn our attention to quiet United States and Europe, it seems like there is going to have the second wave of currency war. I think it is just the game made by the U.S politicians. U.S wanted to inject more dollars into the economy to have their currency get cheaper to be more competitive with China Yuan, and she did it not through QE3, but something like a game which was a deal that reached at 11^th hour. At the time, many countries were fearful about the collapse of dollar and rushed to buy gold, South Korea especially, and then the dollar flowed out in no time. Now the dollar is cheaper just like what Washington wants. United States now again can get back on track on her manufacture sector, the new cycle economy for U.S has begun. They make Asian to be much happier in a while to consume more of U.S and Western products like the case in China. U.S producers now can employ more workers because the demand of their products is increasing. At the same time, people in China and some other emerging countries will turn to a more consumed-economy rather than to produce and use their own products. If there is another QE3 in the future, I do not think that Asia countries can have the power to respond to its consequences. 

Well, here I just to come up with a short conclusion that the trend is showing that the United States and Western Europe are becoming more export-driven economy, as China is shifting her economy from investment and export-driven-economy to consumer driven-one for reasons I have briefly discussed above. So who do you think is going to bounce back? Western or Asian?

Cultivation a Lifetime Reading Habit

Dear readers! I know this seems very simple to show readers how to adopt a good habit of reading since many people here may already like reading. But for students, asked if they all like to read, I would say “no”, but they have to if they wish to success in their studies. Whether reading is what you have to do or want to, there are a number of ways to adopt it:

First, realize that reading is highly enjoyable. You should have easy and fun start by finding books you really like to read even though it is not text book at school. If you have a lousy book the one that is extremely difficult and you are forcing yourself through it, it will seem like a chore. If this happens for several days in a row, you will consider abandoning the reading. So make sure that you start reading what you like to read.

Then what next?

• Set you times. You should have a few set times during every day when you will read for at least 5 to 10 minutes. These are times that you will read no matter what. For example, make it a habit to read during breakfast, lunch, or dinner (in case it is not the family meals). You can also read just after you get up or before sleep. Now let say you have three times a day when you read for 10 minutes each — or 30 minutes a day. That’s a great start, and by itself would be an excellent daily reading habit. But it is not it yet; there is more you can do.
• Always carry a book. Wherever you go, take a book with you. The book stays with me in my bag, and I take it to school, to my office, or in the car. Everywhere I go, the book is with me unless I am sure that I will have no time to read like going to a restaurant for family dinner.. If there is a time when you have to wait like waiting for your mother shopping or you have wait at any places, open your book and read. it is also a great way to let the boring-waiting time pass..
• Make a list. Keep a list of all the great books you want to read. Be sure to add to it whenever you hear about a good book online or from your friends. Keep a running list, and cross out the ones you read.
• Find your place. Find a place in your home where you can sit in a comfortable chair and curl up with a good boo without interruption, but do not lay down unless you are going to sleep. The television, cell phone, or computer should not be near where you read. If you don’t have a place like this, create one.
• Reduce time destroyers. If you really want to read more, try to cut down time for watching TV or face-booking, maybe. This may be difficult for many people. Still, every minute you reduce of them, you could save more time to read.
• Keep logging. Similar to the reading list, this log should have not only the title and author of the books you read, but also the dates you start and finish them. Even better, put a note next to each with your thoughts about the book. It is extremely satisfying to go back over the log after a couple of months to review all the great books you have read.
• Have a library day. Even cheaper than a used book shop is a library, of course. You should go to the library weekly to find new-arrival books that hook your interest.
• Read fun and compelling books. Find books that really grip you and keep you going. Even if they aren’t literary masterpieces, they make you want to read — and that’s the goal here. After you have cultivated the reading habit, you can move on to more difficult stuff, but for now, go for the fun, gripping stuff.
•  Make it pleasurable. Make your reading time your favorite time of day. Have some good tea or coffee while you are reading.
• Blog it. One of the best ways to form a habit is to post it on your blog. If you do not have one, create one. It is free. Have your friends or family go there and give you book suggestions and comment on the ones you’re reading or something about the post you have posted.  It keeps you accountable for your goals.
• Set a high goal. Tell yourself that you want to read 5 books this month (or some other number like that). Then set about trying to accomplish it. Just be sure you are still enjoying the reading though — don’t make it a rushed chore.

Actually, I forget to tell you that, I am not the expert of this, but I am here just to share with readers especially those who need tips to improve their reading habits. Hopefully you and also I, myself,  are able to cultivate this good habit of reading. I am not sure, but why don’t we have a try! Okay, are you ready?  

The Journey Starts! (*_*)