How To Change Your Mind To Improve Your Life

No matter who you are or what your life currently looks like, you probably have a number of things that you would like to change. We all do. Nobody is ever entirely satisfied with his or her life for very long and there are always things that could be improved. One of the major goals of life is to work out how to make those changes real, and there are many ways you might go about doing that. But without effectively changing your mind, your perspective and your reason, many of those changes will be harder to come by, and might even fail to last. Here’s how to change your mind, and improve your life in whatever way you want.

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Develop Some Mindfulness

You can’t really expect to change your mind until you know what actually takes place in the mind day in, day out. The fact is, most people don’t really know exactly what the mind does all day every day. That might sound surprising. You might think you know your own mind perfectly. But if you ever find yourself getting lost in thought; that’s evidence that you don’t fully know what your mind is doing. Without having a strong grasp of that, you can’t really hope to change it.

So what do you need to do? Quite simply, you have to develop some mindfulness. This is a word that gets bandied around a lot these days, but what is it essentially? It simply means that you pay attention - to what is going on in your body, what is going on in your mind, and anything that occurs around you. And that means, really paying attention.

The best way to start doing this is to start up a daily meditation practice. If you do that, you can begin practicing the muscle of mindfulness, and develop it into a real skill that you can call on at any time. At first, you will find that it is difficult to do this, or even that a number of painful emotions arise. That’s perfectly natural, and it’s only by sticking with it that you can get through that period. After that, you will have an incredible skill to pay very fine attention to what your mind is doing at all times.

Then it’s just about taking that skill ‘off the cushion’, as they say, and applying it throughout your life. The ultimate goal of meditation is to destroy the invented boundary between meditating and not meditating, and make your entire life one of closely paying attention. You will find that this gives you a strong sense of what your mind is doing at all times, and then you will start to notice some of the things about the nature of your own mind that you might want to change.

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Find The Faults In Your Thinking

Thinking is not necessarily always useful. There are many thoughts which arise as a natural response to a situation, but which are actually very problematic. Once you start paying attention to thoughts, you will see that there are many thoughts you have which are downright incorrect or wrong. That is just what happens. You shouldn’t beat yourself up about it, but you should make a point of trying to highlight the faults in your thinking. Why? Because having a clear idea of the faults in your thinking will allow you to pinpoint what actually needs changing in your mind, and that is what we are hoping to do here after all.

Some of the faults you find might surprise you, shock you or even worry you. Just remember: you can change any of them, and that’s exactly what you are aiming to do here. So don’t worry. Just take a look and see which thoughts you might want to change, and then make a point of doing so.

But how do you actually do that?

Making The Change

When you have identified a thought that you might like to change, you need to think about what you can replace it with. In most cases, it will be a response to a particular stimulus, so you need to consider what the stimulus means for you and what you can hope to do in order to react to it more effectively. In essence, this is all about being less reactive to life, and more of an actual agent when it comes to engaging with what happens to you. There is only so much you can control, but you are trying to make sure that you control what you can as well as possible.

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What you actually need to specifically do here will depend on the stimulus, your conditioned response and what you are seeking to change in your life. But make sure you decide on the thing that is most useful and positive, and which is going to make the best possible change for yourself and everyone around you.

The more you do this, the easier it becomes. It’s all about practice, and you will find that this simple act is enough to profoundly change your life, even if that means changing your life in numerous subsequent, small acts.

The Qualities To Develop

It can be helpful to have an idea about some of the qualities in which you would most like to develop in your thinking, as there are certainly some that are more useful or beneficial than others. Knowing what these are and purposefully cultivating them can be very important in all this, so it’s definitely something to look into. Let’s take a look now at some of the qualities of mind that you might like to try and develop. And remember: none of these are beyond the realm of what you can be. They are all within your grasp, if you want them to be.

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Compassion

Arguably the most important quality of all is compassion. If you have compassion for the people around you and for yourself, you are going to find that much else starts to fall into place. Having compassion allows you to open up to life more, and that means that you are going to have much more in the way of positive and engaging experiences. If you are finding it hard to be compassionate, you might want to investigate why that might be. Is there some blockage that you need to look at?

Gratitude

The benefits of having a grateful demeanor are well known and well documented. Those who practice gratitude as a purposeful, active practice are more likely to feel calm and connected to others in their life, more likely to be able to deal with unfortunate circumstances, and will always have less stress in their life. You will also be more optimistic about your life, and find it easier to empathize with the plight of others.

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The best way to generate more gratitude is to turn it into a specific practice. You can do this by keeping a gratitude journal - and take a look at some gratitude journal prompts if you are struggling to think of anything to write about. After a while, you will naturally start to feel more grateful about everything that happens in your life.

Patience

Even when you make all of these changes, you have to be prepared to wait a while. That’s just how things work. You can get pretty much everything you ask for, if you know how to ask it. But that doesn't mean you will get it straight away. Most things take time, especially developing these kinds of characteristics and making these kinds of changes in your own mind.

It’s not just your own mind that takes time to change. Most things in life require some patience, so this is something that you should definitely focus on practicing in your daily life as much as you can. With enough patience, everything becomes a little lighter and easier to deal with, and you regain something else very important too…

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Sense Of Humor

Without a sense of humor, life is very dramatic indeed. You will find that even small problems become much bigger ones if you fail to have a sense of humor, and this is something that you should absolutely bear in mind if you are wondering why things seem so problematic. If you feel you don’t naturally have a sense of humor, usually all that really means is that you have not yet allowed yourself to fully relax to the flow of life. The more that you do this, the sooner you will be able to take everything on the chin. That will really help to make a huge difference to how you experience your life.

As you can see, it is perfectly possible to change your mind and improve your life, as long as you know what you are doing. Follow these tips and pieces of advice, and you should find that life becomes much more joyful and a lot easier in no time at all. Then you can share the wisdom with others.




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Beauty In The Pandemic Era

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In these pandemic days, more and more people are eager to keep their hygiene standards high. Washing hands is the must-do thing after every outing or touching anything new. When people pick up their post from their doormat, they whip out the hand sanitizer straight after and ensure that the envelopes go straight in the bin. When it comes to your beauty regime, you need to ensure that you hone a new, more hygienic routine. You can still wear your favorite lipstick, but you need to consider how and when you reapply it throughout the day. Take a look at how your beauty regime should change during this coronavirus crisis.

Keep It To Yourself

While you may be used to sharing lipsticks and glosses with your pals when you head out for the night, this can no longer be done. You might love putting on a bit of rose red lipstick that your best friend always has in her clutch bag on a night out, however this does not maintain social distancing at all. Now, you need to keep your makeup to yourself and no longer share it with others. You also need to consider when you reapply your mascara or lipstick. At home, you can keep your hands washed and hygienic. However, when you head out for dinner or to a socially distanced bar, you need to ensure that your hands are totally sterile and clean prior to getting your compact mirror out of your bag. Get some hygienic wipes and hand sanitizer to ensure that no contaminants get transferred from your surroundings to your face.

Skincare

When you purchase new products, especially if you buy them from a high street store, you need to clean them prior to the initial use. Your main priorities during the pandemic may be skin care and hygiene if you are finding yourself cooped up indoors for days at a time. Ensure that you clean bottles of moisturizer, lotions, and creams. Any beauty tools you have that get applied to your face need cleaning regularly. Brushes, pads, and curlers need washing at the end of every day and kept away from any visitors you may have to your home. With the novel coronavirus being airborne, an airtight container could be worth considering for your tools.

Going To The Nail Bar

If you are eager to head back to your favorite nail bar to get a gel application, make sure you are ready with hygiene measures. The skin on your hands is the prime area where COVID19 can spread. Prepare to see your nail technician wearing a mask, a visor, and gloves. They may ask you to reciprocate with the same, and you may need to apply their alcohol-based sanitizer. You may even find that your temperature is taken prior to your treatment. Go with it and maintain the hygiene standards that they demand. These are implemented to protect everyone, including you.

Follow this guide and you can navigate the more complex beauty path in these surreal pandemic days.

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Desk Set-up Tips For Bloggers

Whether you’re a hobby blogger or hoping to turn your blog into an income stream, proper space to work in can make your blogging go a lot more smoothly. Many bloggers work on laptops on the sofa; however, this can mean you get easily distracted by other people in the house or staring at Netflix instead of working. Create a dedicated workspace to help you focus and feel inspired. 

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1.) Buy a desk. Having a desk to work at will help you to concentrate more effectively and means you’re less likely to get painful shoulders from being awkwardly hunched over a laptop all the time. If you’re pushed for space, a small desk is fine, or even working at the dining table. Laptop desks are usually small and very portable, so you can squeeze one in wherever you have space. Choose a well-lit area so you don’t strain your eyes staring at a screen and to make editing pictures easier. 

2.) Decorate your workspace. Once you’ve chosen your desk and where to put it, you can add some decor. The decor makes the space more inviting and can be used to give you some inspiration. Hang a poster with an inspirational quote on it (click here to find lots of options). Add a plant or a pretty lamp. Hang a pin board where you can add images that inspire you or fit your blog’s brand. 

3.) Get organized. As well as pretty items, you need some practical things on your desk too. Do you like to write physical notes? Treat yourself to a nice notebook and pens. Add a pen pot to keep them out of the way. A paper to-do list might be helpful too. Add an in-tray or a set of drawers so you can store things like receipts for your tax return, or products that you need to photograph. You can also use these to store things like chargers and spare batteries for your camera. 

4.) Choose a chair. Like the desk, the right chair can help you to avoid sore shoulders and a bad back. The right desk chair should encourage good posture. Look for one that is comfortable to sit in, and offers support to your lower back. Arms can be a good idea to help you feel better supported too. Adjust the chair correctly too. When you sit down, your feet should be flat on the floor, and your knees should have plenty of clearance under the desk if you’re going to sit with the best posture.

Having a proper workspace can help you to take your blog more seriously. When you sit down to work, you’ll have far fewer distractions. Sitting at the desk is also a clear signal to anyone you share your home with that you’re working and not just scrolling Pinterest, so they’re less likely to disturb you while you’re trying to work on your blog. Take your blog seriously, and you can help it to grow and become more successful, whatever your goals are for it. 

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