Showing posts with label stress. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stress. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Tips to Prevent Panic Attacks - Tricking Your Brain

One of the major problem with panic attacks are not the attacks themselves, but constant thinking and worrying about when you will get the next attack.

Constant worrying about panic disorder will make you feel stressed out and can cause complete mess in your life. Effective tips to prevent panic attacks should address this problem and help you overcome thinking about it all the time.

Once you have had a few panic attacks, your mind may repeatedly dwell on the prospect of another such occurrence. You will always be thinking about the next panic attack. You will be wondering when the next attack happens, what will happen and how you will face it etc etc.

All such thoughts and constant dwelling of the mind will make you fearful and make you avoid various kinds of situations, places and people. This can have a huge impact on your life and cause unnecessary problems for you.

When any thought becomes an obsession in your mind, it is difficult to get rid of it in a hurry. The more you try to stop thinking about it, the more it appears to keep popping in your head time and again.

Human Brain and Panic Attacks Disorder:
However the good thing is that the human brain may get tired and bored of thinking the same stuff repeatedly over a period of time. When the brain gets bored of a thing, then it is unlikely to return to it and you may find yourself thinking less and less about that particular thing.

The same can be true for your fears, phobias and panic disorder. Once your brain gets tired of thinking about panic attacks all the time, you may find yourself thinking less and less about them.

So one of the best tips to prevent panic attacks is to make yourself feel really bored of thinking about it. Instead of trying to get rid of the thoughts on panic attacks, make an attempt to get your mind bored of it.

Simple Technique to Stop Thinking About Panic Disorder
One interesting technique I found on this forum thread is to constantly and repeatedly think or say to yourself - "I am getting bored of this now" or "I am already bored of this now", "this panic stuff is so boring" etc.

Repeating such phrases out aloud or in your mind for a few days can trick your brain to get bored of the panic attack thoughts pretty soon and hopefully this will put a full stop to your panic attack obsession.

Finally, if you want a panic attack solution which has been tried and tested by many people, then click here now.

Stop Binge Eating Disorder - 1 Succesful Technique

One of the ways to stop binge eating disorder forever is to slow down the pace at which you eat. Whenever I eat uncontrollably and find it difficult to stop eating even when I'm full, I have noticed that most of these times I eat at a frantic pace.

It is as if I want to finish the food as quickly as possible and eat as much as I can. Slowing down eating can really reduce the food cravings and uncontrollable urges to a great extent.

But when you are having a bout of binge eating attack, then it can be very difficult to reduce your eating speed. You really have to force yourself to slow down. You may slow down for a couple of bites, but again unconsciously pick up speed. I know it can be very difficult to control your speed while eating.

Eating Slow is Very Important
But reducing the eating speed is very essential in order to eat less and control binge eating. While binge eating, we are not really enjoying the food. We are just gulping down as much and as fast as we can.

Slowing down means to take smaller bites, chew them more, and take more time between successive bites. When you are eating slowly you will enjoy the food more, chew it properly so that it is easily digested and will not tend to overeat. So slowing down your eating pace is of paramount importance in order to stop binge eating disorder permanently.

An Easy Technique I Have Tried .....
I will tell you one technique to easily reduce pace while eating. Just before you start eating, take a moment to close your eyes and visualize yourself eating the food which you have in front of you at the moment. For example, if you are sitting down to eat apples, visualize eating them in your mind first.

Notice the pace at which you eat in your visualization. I think that if we are eating at a higher speed in our visualization, we will tend to do the same in reality and vice versa. Imagine that you are watching yourself eating the food on TV. Now try to run the movie in slow motion so that you are watching yourself eat very slowly in your imagination.

Carry this exercise just for a minute or so before eating. You may notice your eating speed has automatically decreased. If you can successfully reduce your eating speed then you can stop binge eating disorder successfully in a short period of time.

How to Stop Binge Eating Disorder? There is a step by step program to end this disorder and claim better control over your eating habits. Click this link now for more details.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

How to Stop Panic Attacks Now & Permanently Get Rid of the Problem

Experiencing a Panic Attack
People experiencing panic attacks may feel they are having a heart attack or they are dying. They may feel like they are suffocating or going crazy.

For some people, the breathing might become very rapid and their heartbeat increases.

Even though panic attacks may not be physically damaging to anyone, but they certainly can be very damaging psychologically. Frequent panic attacks are an indication that the individual suffers from anxiety, depression or acute stress.

While frequent or acute panic attacks demand medical attention, there are some ways you can deal with panic attacks when they arise.

Note: In order to learn how to stop panic attacks without medication, click here - stop panic attacks now

Simple Tips to Stop Panic Attacks and Gain Back Normalcy
In order to stop and cure panic attacks you need to slow down your breathing. If there is no medical reason for your hyperventilation, then you have to slow down how much oxygen you are getting into your body.

During panic attacks people start breathing very rapidly. In order to stop panic attacks you need to overcome this habit. Slow down your breathing as much as possible.

You may breathe into a paper bag. Or cup your hands over your mouth and breathe into your hands. Breathing into paper bag can be more effective than breathing into the hands.

The carbon dioxide will help in relaxing your breathing. Once your breathing gets normal, your heartbeat can become normal too.

Start thinking positive assertive thoughts. Stop the negative and weakening thoughts in your mind at once. Replace them with assertive thinking.

Start telling yourself that you can deal with this panic attack, you can stop panic attacks and lead a normal healthy life. Remind yourself that you are not going to die, that you have probably survived many such attacks before and that you are a strong brave person.

How to Stop Panic Attacks Permanently by Controlling Stress
Try to learn how to relax and manage your stress levels. Stress management is one of the most important factors in dealing with panic attacks. Remember that stress is not caused by any situation you face in life.

Stress is caused by negatively reacting to those situations. If you learn not to get affected by stressful situations, then you can overcome the panic problem quite easily.

Remember that stress is not a result of outside events, but its a result of your internal reaction to those events. It is upto you not to get stressed out!

Effective Cure for Anxiety and Panic
Remember that drugs or medications are just temporary solutions. They don't cure panic attacks or anxiety disorder. If you want to treat the root of the problem, there is a good resource available. The stop panic attacks ebook should help you get rid of this problem forever to start enjoying a healthy life. Go to Panic Away website

This program can teach you how to stop panic attacks naturally and without medication. Break this cycle of fear and never fear another panic attack again - Panic Away Program

Questions and feedback below!

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Causes of Constant Tiredness - A Program to Cure It

Fatigue means lacking in energy or strength specially to do something. It can also include other things like sleepiness, drowsiness, weakness etc.

Tiredness means to be exhausted or to have lost energy and strength to do something. If you really worked very hard and feel tired then there is not much to worry about.

The problem can arise when you feel tired for no reason at all, or you constantly feel tired or don't feel the energy to perform tasks. In such cases you might need medical attention.

Do not neglect constant tiredness or fatigue if its happening without any reason.

There can be many reasons for feeling tired. Some of the reasons might not be serious while others may be very serious.

Causes of Constant Tiredness
Some of the reasons for constant tiredness or fatigue include medications, illness, stress, infection, heart problems, low magnesium levels in body, hyper/hypo thyroid-ism, kidney diseases, depression cancer, anemia, lack of sleep, boredom, pregnancy, overwork, tuberculosis, metabolic disorders, chronic pain, alcoholic abuse, etc etc.

If you have any serious health problem then you may need to consult your doctor regarding this tiredness problem. On the other hand, if you do not suffer from any serious health ailment then you can take some steps to overcome your tiredness problem.

Overcoming Constant Tiredness
There are many simple things you can do to overcome or atleast reduce your tiredness problem and enjoy a healthy happy life. What you need is a well organized plan of action from some expert who has knowledge about tiredness, its symptoms and its cures.

There is one such very popular program by "tiredness expert" - Tina. The program is called as "End Tiredness Program".

Tina has a lot of experience of working with highly stressed and exhausted individuals. She has counseled police officers and fire-fighters.

She has designed this program so that you can overcome your tiredness problem by treating the condition and not just the symptoms. This program can show you the way of scientifically understanding and treating your problem.

So now there is a solution for people with constant tiredness. They don't have to endure this problem the rest of their lives. If you want to head over to the program, go here - End Tiredness Now

Keep your comments posted!

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Why Are Our Lives Stressed? The Root Cause of It All

Today I read a truly excellent article related to stress. This article completely changed my thinking about stress management.

Nowadays there is a lot of noise and cry about stress management. We are told to find the causes of stress in our life and then learn how to handle it efficiently.

I had read a great deal of such articles and wrote a few of them myself. But this article I read today completely changed my thinking on this topic. It made me realize the true cause of stress in our lives.

Too often we think that our jobs, work pressure, family relations, financial problems etc are the cause of our stress filled lives. Even I used to think so. We were busy finding ways to reduce stress in different areas of our lives.

While it may be true that these outside factors might be contributing a lot towards our feeling stressed out, but the real reason lies within us and not outside of us.

Outside factors do have an importance. But think about this for a moment - 2 persons with similar work pressures or family problems might feel different levels of stress. One may be greatly stressed while the other may be coping with it a little better.

What is the reason for this? The reason is because the latter individual has better control of his emotions and is not willing to let stress ruin his life.

This has been a big awakening of sorts for me. My focus has completely shifted from outside factors to our inner selves for dealing and overcoming stress in our lives.

Its true, we do have to find ways to eliminate problems in our lives and solve various issues. But whether we let outside factors affect us or not is our decision.

The real reason why we are worried and stressed out is that we let these factors get the better of us. We are letting our problems create havoc in our lives. If we decide not to get disturbed and not to lose peace of mind inspite of problems, then the problems would probably lose all power to destroy our peace.

Our worrying and fears do not do anything positive in solving our problems. So why spend time and waste energy in needless worrying.

I am not saying that you should not take steps to solve your problems. Infact, do your best to resolve difficulties and problems that come your way. But do not waste your energies in worrying and panic.

Learn to take positive steps for dealing with any difficult situation without getting bothered too much or getting desperate. If we can learn this self-control, then many problems of our lives will not be able to affect us mentally or emotionally.

We can become mentally tough individuals who can handle difficult as well as easy situations with strength, resolve and a positive attitude. Stress might get far away from our lives. We may not need to read stress related stuff or try pills to reduce our anxieties.

Self control is the key. We should try and live in the present, without being too much bothered about what the future holds for us. Let us try and do the best we can today.

When tomorrow comes, we shall meet the problems and challenges that come with it with this same attitude. This way we can lead our whole lives without being consumed by stress and panic.

The main cause of stress in our lives is ourselves. Being affected by problems, constant worrying about problems, worrying about future, blowing things out of proportion and imagining the worst - these are some of the root causes of stress.

If we work on these habits, then we can attain permanent relief from stress. Sure, problems will still come and go in our lives, but they will hopefully not affect us in the way they have been doing so.

If you feel the need for professional help then have a look at - Mental health psychologist India
Sometimes we are too much stressed, overworked and exhausted or overwhelmed. We may not know where to begin. Though this may happen very rarely, most of the time we can treat the problem on our own, but it is sometimes help to take outside assistance from a qualified, experienced professional to speed up the process. MindoMind offers such help on confidential basis.

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Overcome Procrastination by Taking More Time to Do Things

If you face a problem of procrastination because you overburden or over-commit yourself, then struggle to finish off the tasks on time which you assumed earlier that you will finish with ease, then you may be suffering from a problem similar to mine.

I too would think that I will do such and such a thing within this time and then do another thing etc. I would underestimate the time or effort required to do the task.

Needless to say, I would soon feel overwhelmed or disappointed even frustrated when I fail to achieve the objective within my time frame.

Here are a few helpful tips to handle such problem. We should set healthy deadlines. D not set too tight deadlines for yourself. A yourself the time frame to complete tasks without hurrying up or difficulty, even after taking breaks in between and maybe even lazing off for some time in between.

A Neat Little Trick:
Double or triple your estimated time to complete tasks and see how easy it becomes for you to get started with enthusiasm and attack the task with such aggression which you previously didn't imagine possible.

Since our original problem was underestimating the time required for a task, what we can do is increase our estimated time. Life becomes so easy then!

You can avoid putting too much burden on yourself so that you don't feel like even starting the work. I allow myself the luxury of completing tasks without too much time pressure and this has gained me so much peace of mind - thank you.

Procrastination Gone:
By allowing myself a long time frame to complete tasks at leisurely pace, I find so much peace of mind. I immediately find it so easy to motivate myself to go after these tasks with new found enthusiasm and aggression. My procrastination problem is all of a sudden automatically completely cured or atleast reduced to a considerable extent.

Its so much fun to work on things when you aren't pressured by time constraints. The work quality can improve greatly as you now have the time to focus even on minor details and do them to perfection.

More Creativity and Better Work
Your creativity can also be enhanced as you have more time to think and plan on how you will approach and complete the task and what improvements you can think of making. This kind of thinking can help in getting your juices flowing and completely transform you from a procrastinator to someone who seems so passionate about this particular task.

You may surprise yourself and others greatly by this transformation. It may seem unbelievable even to yourself at first. And all this after making just a small change - i.e. increasing your time estimate and giving yourself a lot more time to finish off the task at a comfortable and healthy pace.

What this does is that it almost immediately relaxes you and puts you in a more positive frame of mind. Your apprehensions might fade away and a new positive beliefs overtake them. Just try it out a few times and judge the results yourself!

No More Excuse for Procrastination
Another benefit is that it removes any weak excuses you might have about not finishing the work. Now you have allowed yourself sufficient time to think about, plan in detail, research, draft, edit and improvise your work till you are satisfied.

I tend to feel shameful if I am still unable to complete my work even after so much time I have alloted to it. So I will try my level best not to put myself to shame and do the work with fierce determination. Wow! I didn't know before that I was blessed with such determination and strength.

So most of the time I will complete my tasks on time. That too without putting too much pressure or burden on myself and taking breaks in between and working at a pace I find comfortable and not too exhausting.

Sometimes even if I don't finish off within the time limit, its not such a big problem because most of the work might have been done by then. Only a small percentage would be remaining which can be easily knocked off quickly.

Removing Distractions
Sometimes its a great tool for preventing distraction. As your time limit is nearing end, you will feel compelled and motivated to finish off whatever remains of your task.

Initially you might have given in to certain distractions because you had a lot of time on your hands, but when nearing the end you can find great determination to fight off distractions and laziness. Isn't it cool?

I have observed this phenomena when experimenting with this strategy. This is because of the above mentioned reason - you don't want to feel ashamed of not completing the task even after allowing yourself so much time for it.

Want to hear another benefit of this strategy - it allows time for any unforeseen delays like some unexpected phone call or visitor or any other urgent work which is quite possible to come up and keeps you away from your work. You will now have the time to deal with these delays and still make it within your specified deadline. Ok, enough said, now go out and actually try out this technique if you want to defeat procrastination problem and avoid feeling overwhelmed or over-scheduling yourself.

Am I taking more time than necessary?
You might argue that by following this advice it will take a lot of extra time to get things done because you are setting huge time frames for each task.

In reply to this above doubt, I will pose 1 simple question to you - isn't it immensely better to get things done a little bit late than not to get them done at all?

Moreover, you might have wrongly estimated the time frame initially when you planned to get some work done in few minutes or hours. It might have taken you almost this much amount of time anyways because you were in the habit of wrongly underestimating the time required for any task.

Atleast this strategy will prevent you from certain breaking of confidence and lowering of self-esteem by far exceeding your initial under-estimation of time.

If you want to change your habits and eliminate bad habits from your life so that you can enjoy a successful and fun-filled, happy life - click here: Say Goodbye to bad habits in 21 days or less

If you feel too sluggish or low on energy, if you are going through each day of your life feeling constant fatigue and tiredness then you need to address this problem. Constant tiredness and low energy are indications of some underlying issue which should not be ignored for long. Here is an excellent resource to really help you - How to overcome tiredness now and forever

More Articles and Resources:
1. End your bad habits and stop procrastination within 21 days
2. How to overcome procrastination
3. Strategies to overcome procrastination
4. Overcoming laziness
5. How you can stop feeling tired
6. Five Tips to Stop Tiredness Now

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

What to Do When You Feel Tired: 5 Tips to Stop Tiredness

Do you often and easily feel tired and/or sleepy without any particular reason? You are not working too hard, getting sufficient rest and still feel tired all the time. This problem is baffling you.

If you are suffering from tiredness problem described above then chances are that you are not getting sufficient exercise during the day.

This may sound completely contrary and even crazy. You might be thinking that you are feeling tired and I am saying that you should get more exercise in order to feel less tired? Have I gone nuts?

Top Reasons for Tiredness:
You might be surprised to know that if our bodies do not get sufficient physical movement, we will actually feel tired as well as sleepy. Our bodies were not designed to just sit idly or lie all day long without doing anything.

I am not saying that the only reason why you ever feel tired is because of lack of physical activity. Ofcourse there are other factors and causes for tiredness. The causes of tiredness may range from lack of proper sleep, low sugar levels, too much stress, obesity, poor diet, thyroid problems, medication etc.

If you do not suffer from any serious health problem or sugar problem, and still face the problem of being tired without doing any particular hard work, then chances are that your lifestyle habits like improper eating, or insufficient exercise might be contributing in some way to the feeling of being tired all the time. You may need some help and tips to stop tiredness and get back your life.

Tips to Overcome Tiredness & Lethargy - How to Avoid Feeling Tired and Sleepy All the Time
Try some tips in order to overcome tiredness and feel some energy when you require or want it:

1. Drink a glass of water: I have found this extremely useful. Whenever I have a glass of water, it immediately refreshes my mind and nerves and I feel some energy coming to me all of a sudden.

Try to drink 8 or more glasses of water a day and you may feel active and energetic throughout the day. Try to have water at regular intervals, so if you haven't had water from a long time then get yourself a glass of water. Its most probably free for you, isn't it?

2. Take short naps during the day: Now short naps are called as power naps and not without reason. They help to energize our tired bodies. Naps as short as 10-20 minutes during the day, specially in the afternoons, can really revive your dying energy levels and can make you go on for another couple of hours or more without any feeling of tiredness!

3. Eat lots of raw vegetables and fruits: They are low in calories. So you can have a lot of them without the danger of putting on too much of unwanted weight. Not only that but they are so rich in the essential nutrients that your body needs.

Include a lot of salad with your meals, and replace your unhealthy snacks like potato chips or oily items with carrots, cucumbers and other healthy food choices. You may soon notice a rise in your energy levels.

4. Spend some time in the sun: Try to get some morning sunshine. The early morning sunshine can be very beneficial to health, body as well as in keeping you active during the day.

5. Walk for 30 minutes: Seriously, walking is an excellent exercise. It provides movement to all parts of the body. If you can get into the habit of walking daily without fail for 15-30 minutes, then you may enjoy various health benefits.

Your energy levels may soar. You may feel motivated to have more physical activity than you are currently having. You may not feel like sitting in front of that damn T.V. and spoiling away your health and time.

The dose of fresh air that you can get when you go for a pleasant walk early in the mornings or evenings is also an excellent blessing. Walking alone may be boring for most, so try to take some friend along with you. Both of you can enjoy pleasant talk as well as benefit from the walking!

Ending Tiredness Problem Forever:
Finally, learn to handle stress without letting it create havoc with your life. Learning to discipline oneself and staying away from eating too much, eating unhealthy foods etc. and finally taking medical advice for chronic and extreme conditions are also in order.

Do you know that constant long term tiredness and fatigue might weaken your body's immune system and make you susceptible to diseases? If you are suffering from constant tiredness and want to get rid of it, I can recommend you a resource for that here - Ending Tiredness Now

I hope you enjoyed the article. Your feedback is welcomed!

Friday, October 17, 2008

Overcoming Laziness and Procrastination Tips - Finally Become Active

Laziness Is Your Enemy
The world keeps moving and changing. For people who do nothing, they are as good as dead. If we do not keep improving ourselves with each passing day, it can actually mean we are slipping back.

In time, we will be overtaken and devastated simply because we were lazy to not utilize our time, resources, energy and skills to enhance our knowledge, experience, career, business, relations whatever.

So keep this in mind. We need to constantly monitor and be aware of where we are heading. Laziness can be a great enemy of ours which is not to be taken lightly.

Procrastination can stem out of laziness. Though there may be other reasons why we procrastinate, but many times laziness and procrastination go hand in hand together like childhood friends.

Do you know what are the disadvantages of being lazy?
First of all, you will be condemned to a low quality life. Simply because you didn't study well while in college due to laziness. In your career you don't take the required actions to increase knowledge and expertise and become indispensable part of the company.

If you are in business, laziness can be fatal. You can lose clients or orders if you fail to act on time. You may find excuses not to work hard or work overtime even though your business demands it.

Laziness can also be bad for relationships and friendships. By being lazy, we might not do the things that are needed to be done. Even simple requests by out family members or friends might go unheeded causing them appointment because of us.

Laziness and procrastination are also big time wasters. If you want to be good in time management, then you have to eliminate the habit of procrastinating.

Firstly, you should be aware of when you are feeling lazy. Awareness and acknowledgment of the problem can be the first step towards solving it.


Low Energy Levels, Tiredness and Laziness:
One of the main causes of laziness can be because of low energy. Sometimes we just do not have the physical energy to do a task. We feel tired, bored, sleepy etc.

There can be many reasons why we feel tired. Sometimes we are genuinely tired because of hard work. In that case, the remedy is simple - we need a good rest. Then we should soon be back to our former best.

But in case we feel tired all the time then its an indication of some problem. Either we are suffering from lack of quality sleep, or we are not eating properly. Our dietary habits can also affect our energy levels.

Stress, depression and physical illness or problems can also affect energy levels and make us feel tired. You need to analyze what possible reasons could be contributing to this problem. Maybe you might also need the help of a qualified doctor in such cases.

However there are a few suggestions which can be helpful to you in overcoming your constant fatigue and tiredness. There is 1 such helpful program which you can check out here - End Tiredness Now

You can also check out my articles about healthy sleeping tips, and power naps to improve your energy. You can also call power naps as short energy sleep.

If tiredness is not the cause of your laziness, then continue reading below...

Simple Tips for Overcoming Laziness & Procrastination:
Most of the time laziness occurs because we are not sure of what to do. We lack a clear picture in our minds or do not have a plan of things to do. This can cause confusion and lead to laziness.

One of the ways you can avoid laziness and overcome it to a considerable extent is to have a daily plan of activities.

The day before, make a plan of activities or tasks for the next day. Include those things which are important and have to be done the next day. Spend some time visualizing yourself doing these things tomorrow.

Then when tomorrow comes try your best to finish all the activities on your to-do list. Once you have a plan, it might be easier for you to escape from the pangs of laziness.

At the same time, also make sure that your to-do list does not include too many activities. We might also procrastinate when we feel overwhelmed or tired. Just be easy on yourself and set realistic deadlines for activities and do not try to do too much otherwise you would be setting yourself up for appointments.

This brings us to another reason for laziness. If we feel we have failed in something then it could also cause us to become lazy next time around.

So make sure that you do not overwhelm yourselves. Make your to-do list small. Its better to have just a couple of important activities in your daily plan and do them and then have the rest of the day free than to have tens of activities many of which you fail to do.

When this happens, you will no longer feel like maintaining a to-do list from the next day onwards. You will quit this good habit. So a good strategy is to be easy on yourself and make your to-do list such that all assignments can be easily accomplished the next day.

You should also have some time for relaxation and for unforeseen emergencies which might cause delays. If you have some difficult tasks in that list, break them up into smaller chunks until you no longer feel difficulty or incapable of doing them.

If you have failed in some thing before, and now you are procrastinating in doing that thing again, what you can do is to analyze your past performance. Find out what mistakes you made. Think how you can do it in a better manner this time around.

If you still feel unable to do that thing, ask yourself what strengths or skills do you think you need to accomplish this task. Then you can try to find means of developing those skills and acquiring that necessary knowledge.

All the above tips should be helpful in curbing this weakness called laziness.

Another technique to overcome laziness and procrastination:
There is a very effective technique to overcome procrastination problem.

I call it the 10 minute technique - which can help you to motivate yourselves to do things which you dislike or hate but still cannot escape from them.

You can read about it here - Motivating Yourself

Finally, I recommend this resource to everybody interested in removing bad habits from their life whether it is procrastination, laziness, lack of persistence etc. Bad habits can stand as obstacles in the way of our dreams. Learn how you can eliminate them in 21 days or less than that by changing the way you think about them - Eliminating Bad Habits

The Successful Habit:
Another important suggestion is to start small and improve gradually in any aspect of your life. Do not try to take giant leaps. Usually people who are in a hurry often get late in achieving things they so desperately desire.

It is because they are always trying to take shortcuts or trying to do too much and obviously fail. And it is usually people who are consistent and persistent who are successful.

If you have been lazy all your life, its not wise to all of a sudden try to be the most active person you can dream of. Remember the story of the hare and tortoise you heard in childhood? The moral of the story was - Slow and steady wins the race.

So take small, baby steps towards improvement. Stretch your comfort zones little by little. Expand your horizons and improve your talents one small step at a time.

Consistency is the key and you cannot be consistent if you are too hard on yourself. You can only do those things consistently which do not burn you out.

This resource can help you in eliminating bad habits so that you can become consistent - Habit Busting

Hope you found the article useful. You can leave your feedback below!

How to Stop the Procrastination Habit - Its Easy to Stop Procrastination

You can stop the procrastination habit to a large extent with 1 simple technique which I will disclose in this article.

This technique is very simple yet effective to cure procrastination. I have tried it many times with good results. This technique can be used for any work which you feel like putting off because you are not in the mood for it right now.

The Simple Technique to Stop Procrastination Habit:
You are now going to learn how to stop procrastination habit in 10 Minutes. I will explain this technique with the help of an example.

Suppose, you have to write a lengthy report which has to be submitted within a few days to your boss. You really want to start writing it now but when you sit down to write, you immediately feel bored, sleepy and do not want to continue further.

Does this situation sound similar? Most students face a problem like this when they sit down to study, right? No matter how much they try, but they are unable to open the book and study.

All the parental pressure and exam fear cannot motivate them to endure the boredom of studying seriously for their exams.

What we can do in such situations is that decide in your mind that you will do this activity for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, if you want to quit you will quit or continue if you want to.

Do the thing that you are putting off for some time and then quit after some time. This is a very simple strategy.

Just try and force yourself for just ten short minutes. If you try to motivate yourself to start a thing and continue till completion, you are likely to fail in motivating yourself.

But if you try to motivate yourself for just 10 minutes, then it shouldn't be such a big problem - isn't it? Now force yourself to do that task for those 10 minutes without distractions. Focus fully and seriously on that task during these minutes.

After the time is up, do not force yourself to continue. You can continue or quit depending on your mood.

The Effectiveness of This Technique:
When you try it out a few times, you might be really surprised to find that once you begin and dedicatedly do an activity for some time you will not want to quit it in the middle. Most of the time you will continue more than 10 minutes. Just try a few times and see for yourself!

This can be called as your 10 minute technique. Now if you are really unable to force yourself for even 10 minutes then reduce the time to 5 minutes.

You can even have some other variations. Like instead of doing a task for 10 minutes, decide that you will write 1 page of the report today. Do not set time limit but set some other goal in place of it.

While studying, you can decide that you will study 2-3 pages atleast or finish a particular topic. Then when you have done so, think if you want to continue further or quit.

This technique has been tried out many times by me and most of the times I have been satisfied with the way I was able to overcome by moods and distractions and get some important work done which I might not have finished otherwise.

The main trick is to break down your work so that you can do a small chunk at a time without feeling overwhelmed. This technique achieve that same thing.

The beauty of this technique is that it can be equally effective on making you do things which you absolutely hate or dislike immensely. You might have found it extremely difficult to do them in normal situations.

Eliminating Bad Habits
If you liked this technique, then you might also be interested in knowing how to overcome other bad habits you have which might be proving a hindrance in the way of your success or dreams.

Would you like to know how to eliminate bad habits like overeating, smoking, procrastination, bad habits in relationships etc. You name it.

Ending bad habits requires a change in the way you think. Just forcing yourself to stop a bad habit may be very difficult and many people might not be able to do it.

If you want to learn how to eliminate bad habits within 21 days by changing your attitude, then I definitely recommend you to check out this resource today - Bad Habit Busting Program


Another article which might be of interest to you - Strategies to overcome procrastination

Leave your feedback!

Thursday, October 9, 2008

What is The Best Way for Teens to Lose Weight?

Exercise can be the bet way for teens to lose weight. Teens are young and they should develop the habit of being physically active. That can not only help the shed off some extra pounds but also keep them active, energetic and healthy.

They can avoid many health problems later on in life by being physically active in this age. So they should be encouraged towards physical activity and hard work, not just for weight loss but also for other benefits.

Benefits of Exercise:
Exercising is known to reduce stress. In today's environment, specially for the younger generation, there seems to be a lot of stress and pressure. Whether it is at college studies or at work, people nowadays are stressed out. Research has proved that exercising can be good to reduce stress apart from being good for weight problem.

Exercising also can help in increasing body's metabolism which means more calories will be burned by the body resulting in weight reduction. Exercises can also increase a person's stamina and endurance and make the person hard working which is good for the society if the younger generation is taken away from television and turns out to be hard working generation.

Aerobics, swimming, walking, jogging, horse-riding etc. are good outdoor activities for teens which can definitely help in weight loss. The good thing is that these are also pleasurable activities and may not completely feel like exercising at all. In fact, people might enjoy and look forward to such activities once they get habituated to it.

Another Important Habit for Teens:
Another important habit which can be inculcated in teens is encourage them to eat a lot of raw fruits and vegetables. Today's teens are addicted to fast food, cool drinks and other such junk food which do not have any nutritious value. Rather they are harmful to the health.

People who have the habit of munching on snacks and chips, can instead develop the habit of eating more fruits and vegetables. For example - munch on carrots and cucumber instead of chips. Likewise drink vegetable juices instead of cola etc.

This can be an excellent strategy for maintaining good health and not to mention for keeping weight under check.

So the best way for teens to lose weight is to develop healthy eating habits and start exercising. These healthy habits can do a world of good for them and can be very beneficial in later years when they grow old too!

Check out this weight loss program: Burn the Fat, Build the Muscle

Monday, September 1, 2008

What Causes Procrastination & How to Overcome It

In this article we will see what causes procrastination. What are the reasons behind this habit and why it is essential to know the causes of procrastination in order to overcome it.

First of all, relax and don't worry if you procrastinate. Every one of us does it every now and then - its really a common phenomena. The problem arises when this habit becomes a very major part of our life and we begin to frequently procrastinate and never seem to get the important work done, atleast not on time anyway.


Procrastination Can Also be Good:
Sometimes procrastination can be essential and even good. Suppose you have come home tired after a long day's work at office, and you want to think or plan for a major upcoming event or meeting.

In this case, it is better to postpone this for some other time as you are not in the best of shape and best frame of mind at the moment. Since you are tired and your mind is not fresh, is it really a good idea to plan out such an important thing at this moment?? No, if you can afford to postpone it.

So you see, sometimes postponing things can even be a good idea. You just have to know when to postpone things and when not to do so.

Constant and chronic procrastination is what you should strive to overcome as this can cause unnecessary delays in reaching your targets, as well as cause problems in the long term since you might be unable to do important tasks as and when required. Furthermore it can be a cause of frustration, dissapointment and a waste of time.


Why People Procrastinate - What Causes Procrastination?
Before proceeding further, it is important to know the reasons why we procrastinate. Many people might think that laziness is the major reason behind it, but you might be really surprised if you think in detail and analyze about situations or things in which you procrastinate.

There may be many reasons besides laziness as to why people procrastinate. Just to remind you, think of things that you enjoy doing like playing your favorite game, enjoying with friends etc. Do you procrastinate in any of these things?

Don't you have a lot of extra energy and enthusiasm while involved in things that you enjoy even though you might consider yourself lazy? So you see, laziness is not that big a factor in procrastination.

So exactly what causes procrastination then? There can be many reasons, and fear plays a major role in this.

Fears like fear of change, fear of uncertainty, fear of disappointment, criticism, fear of being ridiculed by others, being afraid that we might not be able to do a certain task or it would be too difficult for us, fear of making a mistake etc. can make us want to avoid doing certain things and hence this problem arises.

Other reasons apart from fear include, feeling overwhelmed - if we feel a task is too big, too difficult or will take too much time, we would want to avoid it.

If we find some task unpleasant and don't enjoy doing it, then also we might procrastinate. Lack of focus, already having too many commitments and work, lack of clear goals and deadlines are also common reasons for procrastination.

Sometimes we are not as confident and assured in some areas of our life as in others. These areas can cause us anxiety or stress. Doing work related to such areas can contribute to procrastinating as we would like to avoid such areas as much as possible.


What Causes Procrastination to You - Find Out Your Reasons, Then Deal With Them:
The above reasons are some of the common and major reasons. If you want to overcome procrastination, then first you might need to find out your reason of procrastinating.

The reasons can be different for different tasks. Pick any 1 task and think about the possible reasons for procrastination in this task by going through the above given list of reasons. If you can find out the exact reason, then you would have to work on that.

So from now on your task would not be something vague as overcoming procrastination in general, but it would be more specific like overcoming procrastination when you are afraid of failing or criticism, or when you are feeling overwhelmed or have lack of interest in that task. Narrowing down the category of procrastination, helps in more accurately pinpointing the problem.


Some General Procrastination Solutions and Tips:
I can mention some general tips for overcoming procrastination. Here they are:

1. If you are feeling overwhelmed with some task, break it down into smaller tasks. I intend to write a separate article on this topic alone. This is also a huge topic.

2. Start somewhere even though you might not feel like doing it. For this, you can use the 5 minute technique which can really help to get started with something.

The 5 minute technique works like this - if you don't feel like doing something, say to yourself that you will do it just for 5 minutes then after that you can stop if you wish or continue further if you don't feel any resistance. Then force yourself to do that thing for 5 minutes.

This technique can make get started on a task pretty quickly as doing it for 5 minutes shouldn't be that big a problem. Just getting started with something can reduce some tension of the work, and many times you might feel easier to continue from thereon without further problems.

3. At times when you are feeling energetic and fresh, then try to complete the difficult or unpleasant tasks first, then go for the easier ones.

And sometimes you might be feeling low on energy, at these times its better to go for the easier tasks first - complete them and get them out of the way.

Then either you can go for the difficult ones, the next day when you have more energy or you can continue with the difficult ones at the same time because once you have finished off the easy tasks, you might sometimes be surprised that you suddenly start feeling a little bit more energy and enthusiasm as certain part of the work is finished.


To completely overcome procrastination and get more in control of yourself and your habits, check out - Defeating Procrastination in 21 Days

Related Articles and Resources:
1. 16 Public Speaking Delivery Tips
2. Stress Reduction Tips
3. Have a Peaceful Night Sleep





Hope you enjoyed the article. You can leave your comments and also rate my article.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Natural & Safe Fat Burning



The Obesity Problem:
In today's world, a lot of people are getting obese. People of all ages - children, teens, adults, maybe even old people are getting over-weight. It seems that this is almost becoming a fashion nowadays. Being obese is not good for health, it can cause many health problems. Add to this the fact that over-weight people do not usually look as pretty as those who are blessed with good physique. So it does not come as a surprise that people with weight problems want to lose weight as soon as possible. They want to get rid of these extra pounds off their body soon.

So, it isn't a big surprise that many quick weight loss programs and fad diets exist in the market today. They make promises to people that they can lose weight quickly and easily and the people who are naturally eager to lose their weight fall for such claims. This has helped the weight loss industry thrive and it is growing bigger and bigger.

But the problem is that most of these diet or weight loss programs are not effective. But initially it seems that they are effective. What usually happens is that when people start these fad diets, they may lose weight initially and it seems that this diet program is working. But soon, the weight loss might really stop. I will explain below why this happens.


Problems With Quick Weight Loss:
Almost anybody can lose weight by creating calorie deficits. That means if you are consuming less calories than you are burning you are bound to lose weight. Most of these diet programs try to create calorie deficit by restricting the amount of food you eat, and also the types of food that you eat. So you begin to lose weight initially. But there are a few problems with this:

1. The first problem is that most of this weight loss is not fat loss, but water loss from your body. The ideal weight loss would be when you lose fat.

2. Second problem is that this weight loss will stop after some time. During the early days of your dieting, you may be glad that you are losing weight, but soon enough you might hit what is called as the dieting plateau. Your body metabolism rate drops to keep up with the reduced calorie intake and this causes the weight loss to stop too.

3. Problem number 3 .. this kind of weight loss is not good for your health. As you are trying to lose too much weight too fast, it can damage your health. Also by suddenly reducing your calorie intake too much, you might further damage health. You might feel weak and loss of energy. You are not really practicing safe diets.

It might be far better to improve your eating habits and reduce your eating gradually. And in many cases, these diets do not allow you to eat a balanced diet. Remember that a healthy balanced diet is essential for healthy body functioning. Your body needs all kinds of different nutrients like minerals, vitamins etc.

4. Problem number 4 with quick weight loss diets -- the weight loss you experience initially might be temporary. You might soon gain back the weight that you lost, once you stop the dieting program. Why this happens is because you were most probably losing water weight and not fat, so you are gaining it back when the body starts rehydrating (and it is essential that that body does re-hydrate).

So you see the problem with the quick weight loss methods - they are usually unhealthy, make you lose water rather that fat, just temporary weight loss, and they do not encourage you to change your lifestyle for long term permanent results - changes like improving your eating habits, exercising etc.


So What Is The Solution? The Safe Weight Loss Information Guide:

Quick or rapid weight loss is certainly not the ideal solution. I think its better to aim for permanent, healthy weight loss. Strive for natural weight loss. And one more important thing is that, not only should you lose weight in a healthy manner, but also keep off that weight once you have lost it. So permanent, long-term and safe weight loss is the ideal solution.


How can you achieve permanent and safe weight loss?
For that you might have to make permanent changes to your lifestyle and inculcate healthy habits. You might need to start slow and gradually build on. Get over the overnight quick fix mentality to lose weight.

There is one guide which can help you if you want natural safe weight loss. This guide has been written by Tom Venuto who is a very experienced fitness trainer and nutritionist.

This is a massive ebook spanning more than 300 pages. And the good thing is that it is an ebook, which means it is instantly downloadable to your computer so that you can start reading it immediately. You can go here for more details - Burn the Fat Website


Who is Tom Venuto - A Little About Tom Venuto:
Let me tell a little bit of who Tom Venuto is, and why should you listen to his advice.

Tom Venuto has been in the field of body-building and fitness right from 1983. He has also been a fitness trainer, health club manager as well as nutrition consultant. He is also a writer of many fitness related articles. He has written and published hundreds of articles all over the internet related to weight loss, body building and fitness.

Tom Venuto also has a degree in exercise science as well as 2 certifications - 1. "Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist" (CSCS) and 2. “Certified Personal Trainer” from the National Strength & Conditioning Association (NSCA).

You can find Tom's articles on such big authority sites like Bodybuilding.com as well as numerous weight loss forums and groups on internet.

Now all these are very excellent credentials. We can trust an individual with this background, atleast to a certain extent, isn't it? Nowadays it is very important to get the right information from the right person, because the internet offers anonymity and hence anybody can claim to be an expert on any topic in order to rip people off. Being ripped off is bad enough but worse than that is that people can spoil their health by following bad advice.

Why This Weight Loss Book is Better:
The weight loss and fitness industry is filled with unauthentic and misleading information, usually from crooks who are after quick money and will show you dreams of losing weight overnight without any dieting or exercises or whatever tall claims they can think of. There can also be very contradictory information on weight loss and fitness. In such a scenario, it can be very confusing for a beginner or a novice.

Tom Venuto, has taken such a complicated topic and has tried to make it as clear as possible for newbies. The advice mentioned in the book is doable by common folks and more importantly it focuses on healthy, natural and safe weight loss plan that is also permanent and not just temporary.

And given the background of Tom, he does seem qualified to give advice in this field. Added to this is the fact that this weight loss ebook has become extremely popular on the internet and a lot of people have discussed about this ebook in numerous forums across the internet. People, ranging from common people to nutritionists etc. have given positive feedback about it. And Tom practically follows his own advice and has been doing so from the past many years.

However one thing to note with this program, is that you won't find any quick weight loss solutions. The ebook focuses on permanent weight loss which can only come through making permanent healthy changes to your lifestyle.

Also For Women:
This weight loss ebook is also for women and not just men or somebody who wants to build a body like Tom's. Seeing the website, you might get the impression initially that this book is only for body building enthusiasts, but that is not the case. Infact anyone who wants to learn natural fat loss secrets and genuine advice can benefit by reading this ebook.

So if someone wants to read genuine advice from a qualified person, and not fall for gimmicks or cheats, then they can have a detailed look on this book -
Tom Venuto's Weight Loss E-book


Free Report:
Tom Venuto, had also featured on NBC's "Ultimate Weight Loss Challenge" program and there he had given an interview. You can download the transcript of the interview free of cost from this link - Tom Venuto Interview


Have a happy natural, safe fat burning time!

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Stress Management Tips and Identifying Its Symptoms

What is Stress? Definition of stress
Stress is a common problem that affects almost all of us to some degree or the other. It is our body's way of responding to demands placed on it. Further down in this article you can read about various causes of stress and symptoms of stress.
In most stressful situations, our body usually prepares for either "fight or flight" response. The body pumps out stress hormones and the following things can happen:
Short-Term Symptoms of Stress
1. Increase in heartbeat
2. Muscle tension increases
3. Breathing becomes rapid
4. Your digestion might stop for a short period of time
5. Dryness of mouth
6. Anxiety and fear
7. Sweating increases and in some people palms of the hand too sweat
8. Fatigue and shortness of breath
9. Hands and body becoming cold
10. Churning stomach
11. Anxiety

In some situations, this flight or fight response might be essential as it can provide us with extra strength and become highly alert with strong reflexes. But in most day-to-day scenarios, such kind of response is not needed and infact it can be harmful for our health if we keep on experiencing such stress symptoms.
Infact, if you do not handle stress properly in your life, you might start finding other problems developing, the most notable being depression. Depression can affect people of any age, sex or race. The signs of depression include:
  • Low self esteem
  • Feelings of sadness
  • Extreme sensitivity to rejection or failure
  • Becoming hostile or angry easily
  • Poor concentration
  • Low energy
  • Feeling of boredness
Stress can cause serious physical and emotional disturbances in your body. Other symptoms of stress include:

1. Insomnia


2. Headaches


3. Backaches


4. Constant worrying


5. Racing thoughs and anxiety


6. Chest pain


7. Loss of sex drive

8. Moodiness
9. Restlessness
10.Being unable to relax
11.Feelings of isolation and loneliness
12.Nervousness
13.Neglecting responsibilities and duties
14.Sleeping too much or not enough
15.Eating disorders - eating more or eating less
16.High blood pressure
17.Skin problems
18.Heart problems
19.You will feel constantly tired and may even indulge in nervous habits like nail biting, fiddling, etc.



Other long term effects of stress on our body might be ulcers, obesity, sleep problems, heart problems, depression, diabetes and host of other problems. If stress is so dangerous, you might like to know what exactly causes stress.

What Causes Stress?
Many things can cause stress and this varies greatly from person to person. Fear of something, worrying etc. can result in stress.
The things and pressures that can cause stress are called stressors. Any event that forces us to make changes that strain our coping skills can cause us stress, whether the event is positive or negative. And what causes stress to one person might not cause any stress to another.
Some common stressors can be:
1. Environmental Stressors - like being unsafe, noise or pollution etc. can also be a cause of stress.
2. Work Related Stressors - like too much work, over-demanding boss, bad colleagues, politics at workplace, insufficient salary etc. Work related problems are a common cause of stress for most people.
3. Family related Stressors - like family conflicts, problems with relatives or friends, disobedient children, serious illness of somebody etc.
4. Social Stressors - like harassment, unemployment, financial problems, debts etc.
Sometimes, the cause of stress is not external but our own internal attitudes, beliefs or habits might become the cause of stress. Some examples might be - excessive self-criticism, pessimistic attitude, perfectionism, unrealistically high expectations, lack of self esteem, unresolved emotional issues etc.
If something makes you angry frequently, then that can also be a stressor in your life. The adrenaline increases in our body when we are angry. High levels of adrenaline and other such similar stress hormones can raise our blood pressure as well as cholesterol. This can increase the chances of heart diseases in us. You need to learn how to control your anger too if you want less stress in your life.
Some quick on-the-spot stress reduction techniques you can try out are:
1. Relaxed Deep Breathing: Deep breaths can slow down your heart rate and enable you to think more clearly. Sit or lie down in a comfortable position and place one hand over your belly button. Take a deep breath through the nose. Hold it for a few seconds and then exhale through the mouth. Feel with your hands the abdomen going up and down as you take deep breaths.
2. Relaxing your muscles: Stretch your neck and do some other mild stretching to relax your body and get the tension out of it. Also do some mental relaxation exercises to relax the whole body. Other forms of relaxation exercises are mentioned in this page - 
http://www.mtstcil.org/skills/stress-deal-4.html 
and this page -
http://www.mtstcil.org/skills/stress-deal-4a.html

3. Do something you enjoy and find pleasurable like indulging in your favorite hobby or going out and spending some time in the nature watching plants and trees, observing birds, or sitting by the seashore watching the waves. Spending time in nature can be a really excellent stress reduction technique.

Reading, relaxing bath etc. can also be good for stress management as they can take your mind off for some time from immediately feeling the effects of stress and can make you cool off so that the thinking becomes clearer. If you have difficulty controlling worry, then this can be an excellent resource to help you conquer your fear habits - Conquering Fears, Phobias, Anxiety and Panic Attacks

4. Sleep can be an excellent stress management technique at times. A good night's sleep can be such an excellent stress reliever. Even short naps during day can be good for stress management. You can feel refreshed and your energy renewed to combat the effects of stress.
More tips to relieve stress are:
  • Eating a balanced and healthy diet
  • Getting regular exercise
  • Get sufficient sleep
  • Learn mental and physical relaxation techniques like guided imagery, muscle relaxation etc.
  • Try to do things that involve using your hands like knitting, gardening etc.
  • Spend some time in nature
  • Take breaks from work.
These are some general stress management tips to help you manage and relieve stress. However if you suffer from excessive anxiety or worry about something, phobias, get panic attacks, or suffer from OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder), then you its good to get professional help.
What is the difference between stress an anxiety?
Any situation, thought etc. that makes you feel angry, frustrated or anxious can be called as stress. So stress is a broader term which can include situations or thoughts can make you anxious.
While anxiety refers to feelings of fear or worry about something. Sometimes you may not know the cause of this uneasiness.
Anxiety generally results from excessive worrying. Another difference can be that anxiety is usually short term while stress can last from weeks to sometimes upto years.
Anxiety disorders refer to problems where patients suffer from excessive anxiety. It can be generalized anxiety or specific anxieties or phobias like social phobia etc.
Usually the symptoms for anxiety and stress are same like - sweaty palms, churning stomach, increased heart rate and similar such symptoms.

Anxiety and Stress can be caused even by imagined scenarios too:
Do you know that the human body responds in similar fashion to imagined or real dangers. So if you keep worrying or thinking about some perceived problem, you will experience upto some degree the same symptoms of anxiety and stress as if you are actually really facing that threat now.
So overcome the worrying habit if you want to get over stress. Worrying will make your brain to focus on the problems or dangers as you perceive them and what is worst is that our active imagination can really make a monster of a small problem and cause us undue stress over trivial things too.

Have you noticed how worrying can cause uncomfortable feelings and physical symptoms to develop in you even though you might at that moment not be facing any real danger, just thinking about it in your mind. See the help at hand section below.

Help At Hand:

If you suffer from depression, mood swings then here is a software that can help you with overcoming this problem and regain better mental health. This software is called as 'Finding Optimism' Software.

How can this software help you?
The program is basically an advanced health and mood diary. It helps you discover your depression triggers, the symptoms that they produce, and based on this knowledge, effective strategies for staying mentally well. Its great strengths are its charts and report, which together
give you a visual "birds-eye view" for identifying the important cause and effect relationships. Here is the link for the software - Overcome Depression Software

Other useful resources on the internet related to stress management tips and techniques are:
Other useful resources on the internet related to stress management tips and techniques are:

Friday, January 4, 2008

How to get over fear of failure (part 1) - A new way of viewing failure


Why do people fear failure? What are the causes of fear of failure?

Fear of failure can result from a perfectionist attitude or too much self-criticism. Another reason why people fear failure might be because our society looks down upon failures.


Overcoming your fear of failure

If you look closely at the lives of successful people, you may find that they have found ways to deal with and get over their fear of failure. Different people may have different ways of overcoming fear of failure.

A simple way to overcome this fear is by changing the definition of failure, changing what you consider as failure.

If your present definition of failure (like most people) is falling down then change it to not getting up after falling down.

If you view failure not as falling down but not getting up and making another attempt, then your fear of failure can diminish a lot.

Here is a Chinese proverb for you:

Failure is not falling down. Failure is not getting back up
Try adopting this definition of fear and see what difference it makes in your life.

Go to second part of this series - Fear of Failure - Part 2

Useful Resources:

1. Overcome fear of public speaking
2. Get Rid of Anxieties and phobias
3. The Fearless Executive

Related Articles:
1. Overcoming fear through education
2. Tips to handle stress
3. How to handle pressure
4. How to handle challenges
5. How to deal with aggressive people

Please leave your comments and feedback. If you liked this article, you can email to a friend using link at the end of this article. You can also consider donating a small amount of money to this blog.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Long and Short Term Goal Setting Method - Steps to Success

Many people try to aim for big goals and feel overwhelmed right from the start. A big disadvantage of focusing on BIG GOALS is that you may not feel as confident of achieving them, hence you may not give your 100% effort. A further disadvantage is that you do not get instant feedback as to whether you are really progressing on the right path towards your goal or not.

I am not suggesting that you should not think about BIG GOALS. The solution which I suggest is that you have to have a BIG GOAL which you should strive for, but also to set many smaller goals that will lead towards that BIG GOAL.

Having smaller goals are like steps which lead to the top i.e. your bigger goal. These smaller goals give you instant feedback to measure performance and progress. You can then learn quickly from any mistakes you make while trying to accomplish these smaller goals.

Also by having a series of smaller goals, you will tend to focus better because you are just focusing on one single task at a given time. You will give 100% to each and every single task which leads to your main BIG GOAL.

Smaller goals can keep you working everyday on a consistent basis towards your main goal. We have a tendency to fall off track, to forget about our goals or give up on them if they take long time to achieve. You can avoid these pitfalls by developing smaller goals and keep working on them.

Remember that all big successes are usually a result of many small successes and likewise big failures a result of many small failures. So try to achieve many small successes which are related and would lead to your ultimate destination.

When you set smaller goals and achieve them your confidence and self-esteem would increase, so also your motivation level. Celebrate many small victories along the way to your big goal. Keep in constant touch with your ultimate goal through this series of small goals.

Big goals require a lot of willpower, knowledge, determination, motivation, skills and other things. Smaller goals too require all the above things but in a lesser measure. You would need to muster enough will power and determination to achieve a smaller goal. Once you have achieved it, you can repeat the same thing with another smaller goal and accumulate these small victories so that you might achieve that bigger victory you have been dreaming of. Do not underestimate the importance of smaller goals.

Another important thing to remember is to have a time frame in mind to achieve your goal. Decide in how much time do you want to achieve your BIG GOAL (a month, week, two months, 1 year etc.). Then set monthly, weekly and daily goals in order to keep yourself on track to achieving your big goal on time.

It is preferable if you can do something everyday in the pursuit of your goal so that you don't lose focus. It is better to make everyday count and not skip a single day to reach nearer towards your BIG GOAL. You can do this by having 'daily goals' to strive for.


Here is the goal setting method I suggest :

1. Have a BIG GOAL to strive for.
2. Break it into a series of smaller goals.
3. Break the smaller goals down into monthly and weekly goals.
4. Break them down further into daily goals.

Many people start with a big goal but fail to achieve it. One common thing among such people is that they usually do not divide their goal into smaller, more manageable parts thereby making the whole task difficult for themselves.

There can be many reasons why we may fail to acheive a goal:
1. Lack of commitment
2. they have lost interest and motivation in the goal
3. feel overwhelmed, frustrated or dissapointed
4. lack of standards against which to monitor their progress
5. are not able to acquire the required skills and knowledge necessary for acheivement of their goal.
6.lack of discipline, persistence and determination
7. they are not able to maintain their focus on the goal
8. lack of energy and enthusiasm while pursuing goals.

All the above problems can be overcome to a certain extent by having many smaller goals leading to ur big one. You don't belive me? Think about it yourselves.

For example, if a person shows lack of energy and enthusiasm for a bigger goal that may be due to feelings of desperation and doubt whether he/she is really capable of acheiving that goal or not. If that person breaks the goal into smaller ones which he/she are difficult enough to stretch them a little but not so difficult as to overwhelm them, I really doubt if they will still display the same laziness and lack of passion. On the contrary, they are likely to display a lot of energy because they are focussing just on a single sub-goal and believe they can acheive it with ease.

Take another example - if a person lacks sufficient knowledge and skills to acheive a particular goal, then it is not necessary for him or her to try and gain all the knowledge and skills at a single time. He/she can divide the major goal into smaller parts, and just focus on one part at a time - gain the knowledge necessary to accomplish just that one smaller goal then move on to the next. In this way they can make their task easier.

You should make your goals challenging and difficult to a certain extent so that you have to stretch a little, but they should not be so difficult as to completely dishearten you or overburden you. If such is the case, then you need to break that goal into smaller ones.

Breaking a big goal into smaller goals can be an effective strategy for long term goals. Long term goals can be divided into smaller short term goals.