When do I need to change?

I have been talking about change and so to continue with this idea, the question comes up of when is the best time to change.

The best time to make any change is RIGHT NOW!  In fact, it's the only time to make changes.  If you decide that you are going to change something... starting next month, or after you've lost the weight, or once things at work calm down... you've actually just decided NOT to change.

You might want to start with one change at a time, to sort of ease into things. However, don't let me talk you out of thinking big.  If you feel like completely shaking things up and reinventing yourself - go for it!

Whether you choose a big change or a small change - do it NOW!

You can thank me later.

All you need is love--to help reduce pain

The following is from Rewiring the brain to ease pain, published November 15, 2011 in the Wall Street Journal Health Journal

One of Dr. Mackey's favorite pain-relieving techniques is love. He and colleagues recruited 15 Stanford undergraduates and had them bring in photos of their beloved and another friend. Then he scanned their brains while applying pain stimuli from a hot probe. On average, the subject reported feeling 44% less pain while focusing on their loved one than on their friend. Brain images showed they had strong activity in the nucleus accumbens, an area deep in the brain involved with dopamine and reward circuits


One technique is attention distraction, simply directing your mind away from the pain. "It's like having a flashlight in the dark—you choose what you want to focus on. We have that same power with our mind," says Ravi Prasad, a pain psychologist at Stanford.


Guided imagery, in which a patient imagines, say, floating on a cloud, also works in part by diverting attention away from pain. So does mindfulness meditation. In a study in the Journal of Neuroscience in April, researchers at Wake Forest taught 15 adults how to meditate for 20 minutes a day for four days and subjected them to painful stimuli (a probe heated to 120 degrees Fahrenheit on the leg).


Brain scans before and after showed that while they were meditating, they had less activity in the primary somatosensory cortex, the part of the brain that registers where pain is coming from, and greater activity in the anterior cingulate cortex, which plays a role in handling unpleasant feelings. Subjects also reported feeling 40% less pain intensity and 57% less unpleasantness while meditating.


"Our subjects really looked at pain differently after meditating. Some said, 'I didn't need to say ouch,' " says Fadel Zeidan, the lead investigator.


Techniques that help patients "emotionally reappraise" their pain rather than ignore it are particularly helpful when patients are afraid they will suffer further injury and become sedentary, experts say.


Cognitive behavioral therapy, which is offered at many pain-management programs, teaches patients to challenge their negative thoughts about their pain and substitute more positive behaviors.


Even getting therapy by telephone for six months helped British patients with fibromyalgia, according to a study published online this week in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Nearly 30% of patients receiving the therapy reported less pain, compared with 8% of those getting conventional treatments. The study noted that in the U.K., no drugs are approved for use in fibromyalgia and access to therapy or exercise programs is limited, if available at all.


Anticipating relief also seems to make it happen, research into the placebo effect has shown. In another NCCAM-funded study, 48 subjects were given either real or simulated acupuncture and then exposed to heat stimuli.


Both groups reported similar levels of pain relief—but brain scans showed that actual acupuncture interrupted pain signals in the spinal cord while the sham version, which didn't penetrate the skin, activated parts of the brain associated with mood and expectation, according to a 2009 study in the journal Neuroimage.


Experts stress that much still isn't known about pain and the brain, including whom these mind-body therapies are most appropriate for. They also say it's important that anyone who is in pain get a thorough medical examination. "You can't just say, 'Go take a yoga class.' That's not a thoughtful approach to pain management," says Dr. Briggs.

Do you have a list of things to do today?

Look at your list of things to do for today.

 

Ask yourself how did each of those "to-do" items get there?  Who put them on your list? and why did you allow them to be put on your list.

There are very few of us who are 100% in charge of our schedules - we have bosses, spouses, kids, family members, clients and others who need our attention. But I want you to look at the priorities you have chosen  for today and ask this one question:

 Are these items "urgent" or "important"?

Yes, things can be urgent AND important, but they are usually not both, we get trapped into believing that what we do is  both important or urgent. So if we beleive what we have to do is both urgurent and important and we fall short of time, or energy what happens? People fall into the trap of only dealing with the "urgent" items - items that aren't really important in the grand scheme of things, but are urgent because someone or something else is banging on their door asking for their attention.

Please be sure that you don't ignore the really important things. The things that never present themselves as urgent until it is too late.  

  You know what I'm talking about.

• Spending time with loved ones
• Proper nutrition
• Sufficient exercise
• Dreaming of the future you want and then moving in the direction of those dreams.

This is YOUR life.  Live it on purpose!

25 tips toward boosting your confidence and self esteem

4. Listen to YOU:

Face it. Nobody knows you better than you know yourself, no matter how many people try to tell you differently. So if your body, mind or gut is telling you something, then take notice of it, and don't worry about what other people may possibly have to say about it.

5. Talk to YOU:

In times of stress, take a time-out break. Wander into your own mind and have a conversation with yourself about anything at all. Tell yourself how lucky you are to be you, and praise yourself for every good and positive thing you can attribute to yourself.

6. Remove negatives:

If anything feels like it’s dragging you down, get rid of it.  If it’s clutter, tidy up, if it’s a friend full of negativity explain nicely that you don’t really feel up to talking right now. If it’s your kids acting up, leave the room for a while and so on.

7. Surround with positives:

Surround yourself with things that bring out good feelings in you. Examples could be things such as happy, upbeat friends, a nice new picture, a new car, an old comfy blanket, candles, pictures of your family, your girlfriend, boyfriend, spouse etc.

8. Rumours Die:

Did you hear something about somebody who said something about somebody else? Drop it! Rumours are nasty, horrible things that will only bring you down.  Best way to kill a rumour? Ignore it!

9. Total Honesty:

Be totally honest with yourself at all times. If there’s something you don't like, admit it. If there’s something you don’t want to do “right now” and it isn’t necessary for health and safety reasons then just don’t do it until you feel like it.

Same goes for the positive aspects. If there’s something you want to do, and it’s not hurting anybody, then go ahead and do it. If you start feeling great about yourself for no apparent reason admit it and enjoy the feeling.

Focus: Can it work for you? Yes with Confidence

Before we continue on the issue of focus; please keep one thing in mind; Confidence and arrogance are two totally different things. If you confuse the two, you will most certainly become a very unhappy person with very few real friends. Arrogance is NOT a “quality” and it won’t help you reach your goals any faster.

Confidence in oneself, or the lack thereof is what stops people from getting tightly focused on what they want to achieve. That little voice telling them they can't do something is their biggest UN-motivator. What can YOU do to gain confidence?

25 tips toward boosting your confidence and self esteem.

1. Love Yourself:

This can take a bit of practice and looks really funny, but try it, it works. When you wake up, give yourself a great big hug. Do the same when it’s time for sleep.

You’ve heard this said a million times before: “How can you expect others to love you if you don't love yourself?” It’s true. Practice the morning and evening hugs for 2 weeks, maybe 3 weeks if you're the stubborn type, and you’ll see how well it works.

2. Look in the mirror:

Every time you pass a mirror, look into it and flash your biggest and best smile at yourself. It might feel strange at first, but eventually it’ll make you feel brilliant about yourself. Tell yourself “Looking good!” or “Wow, I love me!” or similar phrases often enough to actually start believing it.

3. Do things that make you feel good:

This can be anything from listening to music, trekking in the Andes, doing some volunteer work or even just taking a shower. Anything that gives you a positive feeling about yourself works for this one.