Over thinking

1. Things won’t get better unless you think better. –Karen Salmansohn

2. We’re so busy watching out for what’s just ahead of us that we don’t take time to enjoy where we are. –Bill Watterson

3. Don’t over-analyze relationships. Stop playing games. A growing relationship can only be nurtured by genuineness. –Leo Buscaglia

4. Stop thinking so hard about everything. Stop over analyzing. Just go. Just do it. If it feels right just go with it. –Unknown

5. There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so. –Shakespeare

6. Don’t think about what might go wrong. Think about what might go right. -Unknown

6 Behaviors That Make People Like You More

Behaviors That Make People Like You More

Power of Positivity

Likeable people have an aura of confidence and joyfulness. They are always smiling. These folks don’t carry the world on their shoulders or have anything that forces negativity when they are in your presence. Their behavior is easy. But, what makes a person likeable? What attracts us to them?

Here are 6 behaviors that make people like you more:

 

1. They want nothing in return.

Likeable people genuinely ask for nothing. They sit with you, share over a cup of coffee, and engage in a conversation. They make eye contact. They smile. They truly don’t want anything but being with you. The likeable individual places you in the moment. Author Toni Morrison shared with Oprah many years ago in an interview, that one of the most important aspects that we have in our possession is the art of being present with anyone. If someone walks into the room, give that person your attention.

Likeable people have this ability to put whomever is around them first and foremost for attention. They want to help and will offer assistance with wholehearted presence. A likeable person wants to help you, but not for their benefit. They want to make sure they can be of service to you because they have endured their shares of struggles.

2. They have incredible listening powers.

A likeable individual will let you talk and share about your life. When you walk away from them, you immediately think, “Wow, what a great person. I know nothing about them.” They will make you the center of attention and have no problem making you feel lighter with all that you shared. They have an ability feel like a free therapy session. Many times you will even admit, “I’ve never shared this with anyone before.”
These folks have such a beautiful sense of awesomeness that the person talking doesn’t realize that they haven’t even asked about them. But, that’s the incredible characteristic of a likeable person: they are never selfish. They believe everyone is owed a moment of feeling special. After all, don’t we all want to be heard?

3. They aren’t insecure.

Likeable people have no hangups about how others see them. They are happy in their own skins. They know that when they are in a group setting, they are going to meet a bunch of people. The likeable person has the ability to transfer that confidence to others when they speak with them. You can’t be jealous of a person who is providing space for you to feel good about yourself. They compliment others with easiness.
These type of people don’t care how anyone sees them. They only want to make sure you know your greatness. They will do anything to make you feel good about yourself. You can start a conversation with them, complaining, and they will change it and say something like, “Isn’t that an amazing opportunity for you to….”

4. They are genuine folks.

The likeable person has nothing to prove. What you see is what you get with them. They are genuine in all aspects. If they don’t like something, they will let you know. They speak up and share with others, even if the subject matter isn’t one to agree with. They have the ability to let you know, “I admire your opinion. Let’s agree to disagree.” And they will say this in a non-condescending manner that doesn’t feel intrusive. It’s just a matter of choosing your language and your tone. The likeable person knows that words have power, and they will utilize language in the most common fashion without ever feeling attacked.

5. They do not judge or criticize.

These folks like everyone. And, if they don’t understand something, they will accept it as is, but never judge or criticize you for what you are doing. The likeable person believes that everyone is entitled to their own lessons, opportunities, and opinions. They learn from others. These people know that diversity is the secret to growth. If you want to be liked, start with holding back any judgment against another. Likeable people have no class barriers or standards. They can sit with the homeless person as easily as with a rich one. They know that life has ups and downs and everyone is the same.

6. They touch people.

The likeable person has little personal boundaries. They like to touch and hug. It doesn’t matter who you are. They enjoy feeling the person nearby, and not in a creepy way, of course. They make you feel comfortable. They are not pushing themselves on you. These people know how to read body language. They aren’t shy individuals, whether it is a pat on the shoulders, a hand shake or a hug, the likeable person has a connection with you. If you are trying to be likeable and have an issue with touching others, a hand shake will do. Touching is one of the most expressive arts of communication.
In an article for Psychology Today, Rick Chillot shares that, “By the time we’re adults, most of us have learned that touching tends to raise the stakes, particularly when it comes to a sense of connectivity. Even fleeting contact with a stranger can have a measurable effect, both fostering and enhancing cooperation. In research done back in 1976, clerks at a university library returned library cards to students either with or without briefly touching the student’s hand. Student interviews revealed that those who’d been touched evaluated the clerk and the library more favorably. The effect held even when students hadn’t noticed the touch.”

Likeable people are liked because of what they give: full attention, compliments, listening skills and friendly advice. They are teachers and givers of time. They laugh at themselves and rarely show any negative qualities. Whatever is happening in their lives, they move past those things with grace. If you want to be liked you have to be selfless, giving, and willing to put others in front of the conversations. The likeable person just wants to be present and enjoy.

15 Habits of Irresistible People

 

You know that person who seems to have a flair of good luck? The one who, even though isn’t drop-dead gorgeous, is always able to get whatever she wants? There is more to the outer beauty of these people. They light up a room when they walk into it. This type of person is able to accomplish much in life because of attitude, charisma, or something as simple as kindness. Their smile exudes confidence, compassion and joy. You may wonder what separates them from others.

Dr. Travis Bradberry, author of Emotional Intelligence 2.0, has researched and studied the emotional connection of people. He has recognized that there are basic characteristics that make some people more friendly and charismatic to others.
“When influential people speak, conversations spread like ripples in a pond. And those ripples are multidirectional; influencers inspire everyone around them to explore new ideas and think differently about their work.” Likeable people are conscious of how they treat others. They believe that “Few things kill likeability as quickly as arrogance.” Irresistible people don’t act as if they are better than you. They actually believe that you have the ability to succeed, and create the life that you want. But, what’s the secret to truly being this type of person?

Here are 15 things irresistible people do differently:

1. They treat everyone with dignity and respect.

Irresistible people don’t put others down. What makes them so likeable is the ability to treat a homeless person in the same manner that he would treat the CEO to a huge company. To this person, there is no class or status that separates anyone. We are all part of the human race.

2. They don’t gossip.

The charismatic person has no need to utilize gossip as their motive to partake in a conversation. They are always bringing in the best of themselves, and allowing others to shine. This is what makes them so generous in uplifting others. Gossip is a negative trait, and they have little tolerance for it.

3. They treat others as they expect to be treated.

Dr. Bradberry believes that these type of folks follow a healthy life rule that says you should treat others the way you wish to be treated. “But that rule is flawed because it assumes that everyone wants to be treated the same way. In reality, people have different desires and goals.”
The irresistible person understands this and follows not the golden rule, but the platinum one: treat others the way THEY want to be treated.

4. They have healthy boundaries.

Irresistible people don’t try to please everyone all the time. They know that there is a time and place for everything. They don’t give more of themselves. They have healthy ways of assisting and giving to others. But, they never run themselves ragged. These people take care of themselves. And, in that ability to sustain boundaries, they show a beautiful example of self-love to others.

5. They are genuine.

These type of people do not pretend to be someone they are not. What you see is what you get. They exude self-confidence. The irresistible person doesn’t have to have super-model looks, but she or he will walk into a room with such confidence that they shine. They know their worth, and never allow others to dictate how they should see themselves.

6. They have integrity.

Albert Einstein said, “Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters.” The person with integrity stands in their authenticity. They know what matters and this is passed on to others. They make you question your honesty, principles, and goodness. Integrity is one of the best characteristics that they teach others.

7. They smile at everyone.

The most powerful and attractive quality that an irresistible person has is their ability to always smile, in spite of whatever is going on in their lives. They bring forth laughter with their energy. These likeable people know that a smile is sexier than any outfit, stronger than any pill, and has the ability to break down negativity.

8. They are compassionate.

The irresistible person is empathetic to others. They show compassion to animals, nature, and people. They know that one minute you might be on top of the world, and in an instant you can find yourself struggling. Being compassionate is not just about showing kindness to those you like, but also leaving the zone of comfort and stepping into places that the heart breaks into pieces. They take chances in loving others and they know it’s worth it. They help everyone. They wear their hearts in their sleeves.

9. They love life.

Successful and charming individuals love life. They are not exempt from heart ache, misfortunes, or challenges, but they know that life is priceless and it’s the only thing that is real. This life is for taking chances, loving, and helping others. They cherish every moment, and when they meet someone new, they make that person feel as if they are the most incredible thing in their day.

10. They bring people together.

These people are huge human connectors. They bring like-minded people together. They want to help others succeed. If you are among these type of enchanting individuals, you will notice that they immediately display a sense of connection. They may become your own fairy godmother, helping you reach to the next level. They will immediately draw you a map to get to someone who can help you on your journey.

11. They truly love people.

This is a given. These happy people love people. The irresistible person is the one who coined the term “people person.” They love to be around others. They get inspired by energy and stories. The likeable individual has an ability to attract those who are ready to fly and conquer their own dreams.

12. They know you must work hard to get ahead.

The irresistible person may always wear a smile, but they know that nothing comes without hard work and some struggling. They work hard and succeed with an undeniable thirst for accomplishing their desires. They succeed because they don’t give up. And, when you are among this type of person, you also feel that ability to overcome anything ahead.

13. They listen.

Dr. Bradberry says, “People like to know you’re listening, and something as simple as a clarification question shows not only that you are listening but that you also care about what they’re saying. You’ll be surprised how much respect and appreciation you gain just by asking good questions.”
The irresistible person has this innate ability to stare into your spirit and truly make you feel as if you are understood, acknowledged and loved.

14. They have positive attitudes.

In spite of all the challenges in life, these folks continue to have positive attitudes. They don’t feed into negativity. They don’t entertain the woe-is-me attitude from anyone. They avoid confrontations and always search for an optimistic answer to the heavy questions in life.

15. They always say “please” and “thank you.”

The ability to show gratitude is a magic wand for the irresistible person. They know that compliments go a long way in the journey of life, but what truly makes others like you are the simple manners: saying “please” and “thank you.” These magic words are never misused, and they know exactly how powerful they are in making others feel understood, acknowledged, and accepted.

Irresistible people are those individuals who have been through emotional roller coasters and major transitional obstacles, and have learned that they aren’t alone in this world. You might just be one of these amazing people. You might be so humble that you don’t recognize how you are changing the world around you. These people know that we have a connection to each other. They make you feel as if you matter. And, that is one of the most profound effects they leave as their legacy: they truly see you, feel you, and care about you.

11 Signs of A True Friendship

With the days of having hundreds of Facebook “friends” upon us, real friendships built on respect, a common bond, and shared memories seem to be few and far between in the modern world. We can instantly connect with anyone online, but does that make them a tried and true friend?
On the other hand, the friends you thought you could count on in real life can turn out to be just as distant, flaky, and unreliable than people you’ve connected with in the cyber world. Studies show that even if people have thousands of Facebook friends, they usually only maintain close relationships with a few people in real life.

So, how can you make sure that these friendships you have invested so much in emotionally are actually authentic?

Here are a 11 telltale signs of a true friendship:

 

1. They accept everything about you, including your flaws.

They don’t want to change you; they embrace everything about you, from your quirks and flaws to your best personality traits. That doesn’t mean they have to particularly like or agree with everything you say and do, but they don’t bash you or try to alter your personality, either. You feel like you can breathe a big sigh of relief around them, because in a sea of billions of people, you’ve found one person who sees the positive things about you even when you don’t see them yourself.

 

2. They stick with you through both the good and bad times.

This one probably best distinguishes a fake friend from a real one; in hard times, a true friend would never dream of leaving you in the shadows alone. Instead, they offer to help you however they can, and bring you back into the light again. Fake friends often bail on you because they only wanted to stick around when things went well for you, and felt like helping you through your problems was a burden for them.

 

3. They are happy for your successes, and congratulate you when you reach a new goal.

Fake friends feel jealous and contemptuous when you achieve something exciting in your life, but true friends will celebrate your accomplishments with you. To know if you’re dealing with an authentic friendship or not, just notice who sticks around when you reach new heights in your life. Some people will try to tear you down, but the real friends in your life will feel happy for you.

 

4. You feel totally comfortable around them, and they probably know things about you that many others don’t.

They know your best kept secrets, your wildest dreams, and your unique quirks that you only share with people you feel most at ease around. They know all the details about your love life, your most cherished childhood memories, and all those embarrassing stories that you wouldn’t share with just anyone. They want to know you to your core, not just on the surface. This separates a true friend from a fake one in many ways.

 

5. They meet you halfway – they don’t expect you to always be the one to reach out to them.

You don’t have to call or text every time you want to meet up; they also show interest in hanging out with you, and contact you often to catch up. You don’t feel like you have to chase them in order to keep them in your life – they put equal effort into your friendship, and make time to see you. They don’t only talk to you when it’s convenient; they reach out to you because they truly care about you as a friend and want you in their life.

 

6. They make you feel happier and more alive, not drained and stressed.

After seeing them, you feel more rejuvenated, vibrant, and excited about life, not the opposite. Authentic friendships will be a perfect energetic match between two people; otherwise, one person will be giving the other one energy, which means that you have an energy vampire on your hands. To know if you have a true friendship with someone, just pay attention to how you feel after meeting up with them. A real friend will make you feel good about yourself and life, not depressed and uninspired.

 

7. They tell you the truth about things, even if you may not want to hear it.

They don’t tell you what you want to hear; they never sugarcoat anything just to appease you. They tell you the truth, even if it may hurt. And, you’ve learned to appreciate this, because not many other people in your life will cut to the chase and tell it like it is. They tell you the truth not to cut you down, but to help you make the right choices in your life and become a better person because of this.

 

8. They don’t blow things out of proportion when you make a mistake – they forgive you.

They don’t expect perfection from you, and you don’t feel like you have to walk on eggshells around them just to gain their approval. They know that you will slip up from time to time, and you don’t have to give a long apology. They just put it behind them, and know that you have good intentions despite whatever mistakes you might make.

 

9. They don’t talk about you behind your back.

Real friends NEVER gossip about you when you leave the room; they act like an adult and confront you personally if they need to talk to you. They respect you enough to not spread rumors and tarnish your reputation behind your back; they would rather smooth things over with you and have a rational discussion face-to-face.

 

10. They allow you to have other friendships without getting jealous and possessive.

Real friends feel confident enough in your friendship that they don’t have to resort to jealousy and trying to control your life. They give you freedom to pursue other friendships and activities in your life, because they know that your friendship is rock solid. They realize that you don’t have to be in their company 24/7 in order to validate the friendship.

 

11. You have so many inside jokes and funny memories with them that you’ve lost count.

 

10 Things To Remember When You’re Feeling Stuck In Life

“I don’t know what to do.” “I’m in a rut.” “I feel stuck.”
Is this something you’re feeling right now?

Don’t worry, you’re not alone and this is a very common problem.
When nothing exciting happens and you can’t seem to make that step forward and change things, you may get frustrated and depressed…
And exactly for times like this we have created the video below with the list of 10 most important things to remember when you’re feeling stuck.
Have a look, this WILL help you.
(BY the way, you may want to save this list and refer back to it as needed).

#1. Feeling stuck is a sign that it’s time to make a change.

Changes can shake-up your patterns, create new energy and change your outlook on life. If you feel stuck, this simply means that something isn’t working for you anymore. Whether it’s your job, your relationship, your house, your circle of friends or your hobbies, if you are not excited about them anymore, it’s probably to finally do something to change it.
And next time don’t wait until you feel completely stuck in life to make that big step forward. Look out for these 8 signs that change is needed. 

#2. Even the tiniest possible step is progress.

You may think that there is nothing substantial you can do. But you don’t need to. Small things become big things. Focus on small steps, they are wonderful events on their own, so enjoy them.
Start right now, make a list of tiny ways you can get closer to your goal, then pick one and take it as soon as possible.

#3. You don’t have to have it all figured out to move forward.

The thing with feeling stuck is that sometimes you don’t know what you need to get “unstuck” or what you want from life in general. But this “numbness” and “emptiness” that you’re feeling (temporarily!) should not stop you from making a change.
Even if you don’t see the end result and don’t know where it is exactly that you’re going, it is crucial to just start moving. Try new things, meet new people, buy new clothes – anything that can help you figure out what it is that you want and how to get it.

#4. Nothing changes if nothing changes.

Unpleasant truth. If you are just sitting around and waiting for something or someone to come into your life and suddenly change it for the better, you’re not going to get very far. YOU are the only one who can really make a difference. So start acting!

#5. New beginning can feel like endings.

Now, you may not actually see the opportunities that are coming your way. Those ending that make you sad and disappointed should be seen as new beginning. This is a new chapter in your life, your chance to change your life.

#6. Beautiful things happen when you clear your life of all the negativity.

Negativity often comes hand in hand with feeling stuck. So your number one priority is removing toxicity from your life. And you can start with surrounding yourself with positive people and getting rid of the negative ones.

#7. Believe what your heart tells you, not what others say.

Ask yourself this – are you living someone else’s life? Are other people influencing your every decision? Remember that it’s YOUR life.
Here is what you can do:

• Have fun and experiment. Discover what it is that YOU like and care about.
• Spend time with yourself. Being alone isn’t a bad thing.
• Set boundaries. People should respect your choices and your individuality.
• Invest in your self-awareness.
• Question your beliefs.
• Take a step back and think about the bigger picture.
•  

#8. Stop overthinking.

Whatever happens, happens. Just relax. You cannot control everything, so you need to learn to just let go of some things. You may be feeling stuck because you are always in your own head, worrying and obsessing.

#9. If it’s meant to be, it will happen at the right time, at the right place, for the right reasons.

Even though you are the one who is responsible for making a change in your life, you need to stay open-minded about how to do it. If you’re sticking to a specific way but failing, it may be because it just wasn’t meant for you. Try something else. And accept that things happen in a different order than the one you’ve got planned.

#10. Your best is yet to come.

Don’t look back, you’re not going that way. Keep moving forward. Good things CAN happen and ARE going to happen.

6 Things to Remember When You Don’t Feel Good Enough

6 Things to Remember When You Don’t Feel Good Enough

Some days turn out better than others – that’s a fact. But ultimately, the way we feel about our life and ourselves has the biggest impact on the outcome of each day.  Happiness and confidence can create outcomes that exceed our expectations, like a continual ray of sunshine even on a cloudy day.
But, when we are down on ourselves, especially when we think we are not good enough, life can easily and quickly take a turn for the worse.  We can unexpectedly find ourselves entrenched in a deep, dark hole. When we repeatedly allow ourselves feel this way for days, weeks or even months at a time, it can have detrimental effects on our happiness, health, relationships, and careers.

That’s why it’s best to prevent a self-esteem slide. Sometimes the smallest bit of inspiration can help us turn things around when we feel we are not good enough.
Remember these 6 simple things next time you don’t feel good enough. Save this for yourself, you never know when you may need it and share it with others. Let’s create a new paradigm where you ARE certainly good enough!

 

 

1. Remember you are exactly where you need to be right now.

 

1. Remember you are exactly where you need to be right now.

It may not seem like it, but the entire Universe has orchestrated itself to create your life where it is right now.  It may not be where you want to be right now, but sometimes you have to go through a bit of bramble to get to the clover field.
So when you feel like you’ve failed or that you’ll never reach your goals, remind yourself that the Universe didn’t say no, it just said not yet. Continually remind yourself that you are in the perfect place right now, and continue moving forward in faith.

   2. Remember to be kind and gentle with yourself. You’re doing the best you can.

“Be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.”– Max Ehrmann
You don’t have to beat yourself up over not “getting there” fast enough, or as fast as the people you wish to be like. As long as you can come away at the end of the day knowing you gave it your all, that’s all anyone can truly do.  Your light is shining, no matter how small the flame.  Even if your flame is the smallest in the world, it will still cut through the darkest night.
You could even think of a flower garden.  Each flower blooms at it’s own pace and shows it’s unique beauty as it does so.  Continue reaching for the light, allowing yourself to be nurtured.  Much like the flower, your life will come into bloom as well.

   3. You can’t always change things, but you can ALWAYS change the way you look at things.

The present moment was created as a collective manifestation of your past thoughts, words and actions.  Sometimes, this can be so tough that you may feel like you’re not good enough to get through it, and if you’re reflecting on the reality that you’ve created, it may even make you feel like you’re not good enough to handle your co-creative ability.

The bottom line is that times can get tough – but there’s nothing wrong with believing you’re tougher.  Because when you believe you ARE good enough to create the life you desire, and you believe that YOU ARE good enough to make it through any situation.  When this happens, the way you look at things suddenly change, and before you know it, your reality positively changes with it.

   4. Positive thinking is your birthright.

No matter what situation you are in, positive thinking can and will always come to your rescue if you allow it. The power of positivity is a gift to us from divine energy. Divine energy is nothing BUT positive energy.
If you want things to turn around for your highest good you must keep your faith, release fear, and keep your focus on solutions. Positive thinking is your birthright. It can always improve any situation, no matter how dire it may appear.

   5. There is more RIGHT with you than wrong with you.

Even during your struggles, don’t forget to focus on your strengths. Too often our culture looks at each other’s “weaknesses” and wants to put focus on improving them. While having a balanced mind, body and soul is important some of our weaknesses exist to balance some of our greatest strengths.
When we switch our focus to what is right about ourselves, we could probably write down a long list. In fact, if you need to do that exercise, do it! Focus on your strengths and what you do well. In the areas that you could improve, be reasonable with yourself and if it’s an area you truly believe you need to improve create action steps to do so. Either way, there IS more right with you than wrong with you.

    6. There’s always a solution, keep looking!

Sometimes you might feel like you’ve reached the end of the road. Lucky for you, there’s always a small dirt path called faith that you can continue to follow when times get tough.

50 Motivational Quotes To Empower Your Life

I know, it’s tough! To stay motivated, to keep going towards our goals. Sometimes, we don’t feel like doing it anymore.
Do you know why all this happens? Because we lack motivation, We don’t feel motivated enough.
Quotes have and incredible power over us. A single motivational quote can make our day, move us, inspire us and empower us to take action once again.
To lift you once again, I’ve collected the top 50 Motivational Quotes to Empower Your Life:

          Success occurs when your dreams get bigger than your excuses.

          Never get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.

Stop saying I Wish. Start saying I Will.
Your mind has to arrive at a destination before your life does…Change your mind…Change your life…

Every pro was once an amateur.
Don’t give up just because things are hard.
If you can’t control your emotions. You can’t control your money.

We don’t grow when things are easy; We grow when we face challenges.
They’ll laugh at your dreams. Until you start making money.

I have no time for your negative bullshit.
Be brave. No one remembers a coward.

Average people have great ideas. Legends have great execution.
You need to make $2,740 every single day for 365 days to make just over $1 million in a year.

Look in the mirror. That’s your competition.
Never stop learning, because life never stops teaching.
The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.

You have to fight through the bad days in order to earn the best days.
When you’re giving up. Someone is still going.
They wanna see you do good, but never better than them. Remember that.

I just use my haters as my motivators.
Sometimes you win. Sometimes you learn.

Surround yourself with people that are going to lift you higher.
It’s not about money. It’s about what you can do for family.
My only talent is that I just don’t quit.

Create a way, not an excuse.
Success comes from what you do when no one is watching.
Sometimes you have to risk everything for a dream no one can see but you.

You either make excuses or make progress.

Wake up with determination. Go to bed with satisfaction.
Every champion was once a contender that refused to give up.
They told me I’d never get that far…They were right. I got even further.

Stay dedicated. It’s not going to happen overnight.

The greatest dreams are always unrealistic.
Don’t wait for the opportunity. Create it.
You can’t stop someone who knows where they’re going.

Sometimes you wish it was easier, but if it was, everyone else would do it. Then you remember you don’t want to be like everyone else.
Work until expensive becomes cheap.

When you’re out partying someone else is getting smarter.
Die with memories. Not dreams.

My hobbies include having no time for bullshit.
If your goals don’t scare you, they aren’t big enough.

Some people under estimate how sexy it is to be ambitious.
If you were absent during my struggle. Don’t expect to be present during my success.
At the end. It is you vs you.

Behind every successful man. There’s a lot of unsuccessful years.
It always seem impossible until it’s done.

Hustle in silence. Let your success make noise.
Don’t be pushed by your problems. Be led by your dreams.

How I Got My Self-Confidence Back – 5 Habits For Your Daily Routine

I noticed it first when I was 14. I let it go. I put it down to being young.
I had to give a short presentation at the school assembly. I didn’t volunteer; my name was picked out of a hat. I’ve never forgotten how I felt when my name was called out.
I had a week to worry about it. I got so anxious that I made myself physically sick. I was terrified.
In my head I started to make up ridiculous excuses to get out of it. I thought of nothing else all week.
Self-doubt set in big time. What if I embarrassed myself in front of the whole school? All my friends would laugh at me. My negative mindset spiralled out of control.
The day came … and guess what. I didn’t get to give my presentation. There was a fire drill during the assembly. I spent the rest of the day on Cloud 9. I was so chuffed that I’d avoided stepping out of my comfort zone.

Some people spend their whole life avoiding situations they find challenging.

In fact that’s exactly what I tried to do. I spent the next few years ‘lying low.’ That suited me just fine.
But when I was 18, situations arose that I just couldn’t avoid.
Career choices loomed which meant interviews. Meeting new people. It meant change.
My lack of self-confidence really began to have an impact. It started to affect life-changing decisions I needed to make. This time it really mattered. It shaped my life.
I made an important career decision to join the army. I failed the assessment course. They told me I lacked self-confidence.
This experience really knocked me for six. I began to question myself continually. I ended up missing opportunities and I got left behind.
So, what happened? Three years later, I reapplied to join the army. This time I got accepted. I passed.
All this happened 30 years ago but I still remember the thoughts and feelings I experienced.

So what did I do to get my self-confidence back?

I formed 5 habits which still help me today. I encourage you to use them too.

Habit #1: Maximize your ‘alert-state’

Never drop your guard. Always be extra aware of how you look and sound whenever you’re in a situation where you need to show self-confidence.
Once you know how you come across you’re in a position to change things.
Knowing how you come across to people means seeing how you look from their viewpoint. That’s obvious, I know. But so many people forget how important it is. You just can’t afford to distract people if you want to be seen as confident.
Route to achievement: Ask people you know well how you come across physically when you’re talking to them.  Be prepared to accept the truth.
Try filming yourself when you’re talking too. Keep on top of any distracting habits you discover. Be super alert to how people are reacting to you when you’re talking. If they’re not listening to you, there must be a reason.
Try experimenting; tweak your body language, change the tone of your voice, be more facially expressive – try something different to help you communicate self-confidence and authority.

Habit #2: Crush the negative voice within

Know  whenever the ‘gremlin’ tries to stop you doing something you know is right for you. Self-confidence is as much about your mind accepting a challenge positively as it is about actually physically carrying out the challenge.
Route to achievement: Work out if you’re a pessimist or optimist; do you complain a lot, do you spend time with negative people, do you always feel hard-done-by, do you feel unlucky, do you smile much?  Answering questions like these will help.
Banish the negative voice in your head the minute you hear it. Stop it being your own worst enemy and making self-confidence harder than it needs to be. Accept that things won’t always go to plan.
Sometimes you will trip up or fail. This happens to ‘confident’ people too. The key is to force yourself to see the positive in everything; even failure. Failure can be positive if you learn from it. See it as an experience worth having. It prepares you better for the next experience.
Start trying to project positivity through your expression and voice. Talking positively helps you to maintain a positive mindset. Make a conscious effort, particularly when the chips are down.

Habit #3: Practice self-confidence every day

Don’t wait for people to present you with ‘opportunities’ to practice being confident. They may not come regularly enough. They may not even come at all. You will lose momentum.
Route to achievement: Force yourself to overcome a confidence challenge every day. Even a small action is better than no action; it must be something you fear or find challenging though. Link this to Habit #4 – planning ahead will be vital.
Think about how you want to be seen by others during your daily challenge; be clear about the outcome you want. Visualise beforehand; see yourself in the act of successfully achieving the challenge.
Remind yourself of what you’ll need to do to succeed. Have the self-confidence to adapt your approach if the challenge isn’t going as you planned. Stay true to yourself but get clever about how you get what you need and want. Use your initiative. This forces you to keep practising being confident.

Habit #4: Look forward, not back.

Never leave your thoughts as just ‘thoughts’. If you do they will get replaced by other thoughts. Learn from past experiences but never dwell.
Route to achievement: Look forward and plan ahead. Reflect regularly on what you want to achieve at work and in your personal life. Do not let one stifle the other.
Convert thoughts into ‘Plans’ by writing them down. When it’s in writing it’s likely to happen. You’ll find this more motivational too.
Your written plans need goals; these should be credible aspirations that are clear and manageable, yet challenging too. If your goals are sizeable, break them down into small steps you can accomplish one at a time.
Try linking this to Habit #3. Address your goals on a daily basis and create tasks from them that challenge your self-confidence. Be sure to measure your goals and monitor your progress.
Don’t panic if a goal isn’t accomplished. Re-appraise the situation, work out what happened, learn from it and change the goal. Be positive; perhaps the new goal will lead to even greater success!

Habit #5: Stop comparing yourself

Get real with yourself. Believe and accept that you’re not the only one. Stop comparing yourself to people you think are more confident than you. Even people who ‘appear’ to be confident find their self-confidence being challenged, maybe even dipping in certain situations.
Route to achievement: Look at confident people in a different light. See them as human, just like you. No one has a natural gift. The fact that they look and sound confident doesn’t mean they’re naturally confident.
From now on, when you’re watching or listening to a confident person, be aware that they are trying to be confident. Most confident people have to do this. They’ve worked out what they need to do physically to project self-confidence.
If they can do it, you can do it. Replace ‘comparing’ yourself to them with ‘learning’ from them and perhaps even copying them if you find them impressive.
Continually remind yourself that self-confidence is a skill everyone can learn. So comparing yourself to others and doubting your abilities as a result makes no sense at all.

‘Map’ of Teenage Brain Provides Strong Evidence of Link Between Serious Antisocial Behavior and Brain Development

By: University of Cambridge, Posted on: June 23, 2016

The orbitofrontal cortex (blue) and medial temporal cortex (red) were more similar in terms of thickness in youths with Conduct Disorder than in typically-developing youths, suggesting that the normal pattern of brain development is disrupted. Credit: Nicola Toschi The brains of teenagers with serious antisocial behaviour problems differ significantly in structure to those of their peers, providing the clearest evidence to date that their behaviour stems from changes in brain development in early life, according to new research led by the University of Cambridge and the University of Southampton, in collaboration with the University of Rome “Tor Vergata” in Italy.

Conduct disorder is a complex behavioural disorder, so we would expect the changes to be more complex in nature and to potentially involve other brain regions. – Luca Passamonti

In a study published today in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, researchers used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) methods to look at the brain structure of male adolescents and young adults who had been diagnosed with conduct disorder – persistent behavioural problems including aggressive and destructive behaviour, lying and stealing, and for older children, weapon use or staying out all night.

In particular, the researchers looked at the coordinated development of different brain regions by studying whether they were similar or different in terms of thickness. Regions that develop at similar rates would be expected to show similar patterns of cortical thickness, for example.
“There’s evidence already of differences in the brains of individuals with serious behavioural problems, but this is often simplistic and only focused on regions such as the amygdala, which we know is important for emotional behaviour,” explains Dr Luca Passamonti from the Department of Clinical Neurosciences at the University of Cambridge. “But conduct disorder is a complex behavioural disorder, so likewise we would expect the changes to be more complex in nature and to potentially involve other brain regions.”

In a study funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council, researchers at the University of Cambridge recruited 58 male adolescents and young adults with conduct disorder and 25 typically-developing controls, all aged between 16 and 21 years. The researchers divided the individuals with conduct disorder according to whether they displayed childhood-onset conduct disorder or adolescent-onset conduct disorder.

The team found that youths with childhood-onset conduct disorder (sometimes termed ‘early-starters’) showed a strikingly higher number of significant correlations in thickness between regions relative to the controls. They believe this may reflect disruptions in the normal pattern of brain development in childhood or adolescence.

On the other hand, youths with adolescent-onset conduct disorder (‘late starters’) displayed fewer such correlations than the healthy individuals. The researchers believe this may reflect specific disruptions in the development of the brain during adolescence, for example to the ‘pruning’ of nerve cells or the connections (synapses) between them.

As the findings were particularly striking, the researchers sought to replicate their findings in an independent sample of 37 individuals with conduct disorder and 32 healthy controls, all male and aged 13-18 years, recruited at the University of Southampton; they were able to confirm their findings, adding to the robustness of the study.

“The differences that we see between healthy teenagers and those with both forms of conduct disorders show that most of the brain is involved, but particularly the frontal and temporal regions of the brain,” says Dr Graeme Fairchild, who is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Southampton. “This provides extremely compelling evidence that conduct disorder is a real psychiatric disorder and not, as some experts maintain, just an exaggerated form of teenage rebellion.

“These findings also show that there are important differences in the brain between those who develop problems early in childhood compared with those who only show behavioural problems in their teenage years. More research is now needed to investigate how to use these results to help these young people clinically and to examine the factors leading to this abnormal pattern of brain development, such as exposure to early adversity.”

“There’s never been any doubt that conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease are diseases of the brain because imaging allows us to see clearly how it eats away at the brain,” adds Professor Nicola Toschi from the University “Tor Vergata” of Rome, “but until now we haven’t been able to see the clear – and widespread – structural differences in the brains of youths with conduct disorder.”
Although the findings point to the importance of the brain in explaining the development of conduct disorder, it is not clear how the structural differences arise and whether, for example, it is a mixture of an individual’s genetic make-up and the environment in which they are raised that causes the changes. However, the researchers say their findings may make it possible to monitor objectively the effectiveness of interventions.

“Now that we have a way of imaging the whole brain and providing a ‘map’ of conduct disorder, we may in future be able to see whether the changes we have observed in this study are reversible if early interventions or psychological therapies are provided,” says Professor Ian Goodyer from the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge.
Reference

Overweight Individuals More Likely to Make Unhealthier Choices When Faced with Real Food

Overweight people make unhealthier food choices than lean people when presented with real food, even though both make similar selections when presented with hypothetical choices, according to research led by the University of Cambridge and published today in the journal eNeuro.

This is an important insight for public health campaigns as it suggests that just trying to educate people about the healthiness of food choices is not enough. The presence of unhealthy food options is likely to override people’s decisions. – Nenad Medic

The researchers found that when making hypothetical food choices, lean and overweight people showed highly comparable patterns both in terms of their choices and the accompanying brain activity. The activity in the brain was a good predictor of which foods they would choose when later faced with a selection of real food choices. But the presence of real food influenced choices differently across the groups.
In a related study published recently in the International Journal of Obesity, the researchers show that the brain structure in obese people differs from that in lean individuals in key regions of the brain involved in processing value judgements.
More than 1.3 billion people across the world are overweight and an additional 600 million are obese. Being overweight or obese are leading risk factors for deaths globally, being associated with increased incidence of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and some cancers.
Previous studies have suggested that obesity is associated with a greater consumption of unhealthy foods – those with high sugar and/or fat content – even though lean and overweight people do not appear to differ in their judgements of the relative healthiness of foods. To help explore further this apparent contradiction, researchers from the University of Cambridge and the Medical Research Council Human Nutrition Unit examined the relationship between how people judge the healthiness and tastiness of food and whether this predicts their food choices at a buffet lunch.
The researchers asked 23 lean and 40 overweight individuals to rate 50 common snack foods, presented on a computer screen, on a five-point scale for their healthiness and tastiness independently. They then examined the degree to which each of these individually-rated attributes appeared to influence a person’s willingness to swap a particular food for one that had previously been rated as “neutral”.
Participants were shown a picture of the “neutral” reference food item at the beginning of the task and told that on each trial they would have to choose between the food item shown on that trial and the reference food item. For example, if they had chosen a granola bar as neutral (and hence their reference food), they might be shown an apple and asked if they would be willing to swap the granola bar for the apple. During this swap-choice task, participants were placed in a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanner, which indirectly measures activity in the brain.
Neither choice behaviour nor accompanying brain activity differed measurably according to participants’ body weight. As one might predict, for both groups, taste was a much better guide to whether a person might choose to swap a food than healthiness. Willingness to swap a given food was associated with greater levels of activity in a key region of the brain: the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, which previous studies have consistently related to the degree to which people value rewards. Activity in this region did not differ across the groups.
Following the scanner experiment, participants were presented with an all-you-can-eat buffet with a selection of sandwiches, desserts, drinks and snacks. For each type of food, there were healthier and less healthy options, such as chicken sandwich and a BLT (bacon, lettuce and tomato) sandwich, or cola and diet cola. Once they had rated the buffet choices for healthiness and tastiness, the participants were allowed to eat freely and as much as they wanted.
Brain activity predicted the proportion of healthy food consumed in both lean and overweight individuals and both groups selected a greater proportion of foods that they had rated as tasty. However, the overweight participants consumed comparably more unhealthy foods than lean participants.
At the start of the experiment, the researchers had also measured each individual’s impulsivity – in other words, their self-control – using a mixture a computer tasks and a questionnaire. While the level of impulsivity made no difference in lean individuals’ selections, the researchers found an association in overweight people between impulsivity and consumption of unhealthy foods – the greater their level of impulsivity, the greater the proportion of unhealthy food they ate. Once again, this effect was apparent only when there was real food available and was not seen during the more hypothetical valuation decisions.
“There’s a clear difference between hypothetical food choices that overweight people make and the food they actually eat,” says Dr Nenad Medic from the Department of Psychiatry. “Even though they know that some foods are less healthy than others and say they wouldn’t necessarily choose them, when they are faced with the foods, it’s a different matter.
“This is an important insight for public health campaigns as it suggests that just trying to educate people about the healthiness of food choices is not enough. The presence of unhealthy food options is likely to override people’s decisions. In this respect, food choice does not appear to be a rational decision – it can become divorced from what the person knows and values.”
In a second study, the researchers looked at the brain structure of over 200 healthy individuals using an MRI scanner and found an association between body mass index (BMI) and brain structure. Strikingly, one of the regions showing this relationship overlapped with the region responding to food value in the first study – the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. The grey matter layer in this region was thinner in people with greater BMI.
“Perhaps this offers us some clues about the first observation – that rational, hypothetical valuation decisions don’t fully translate into healthy choices in the overweight people when they are offered real food choices,” says Professor Paul Fletcher from the Department of Psychiatry. “While the region is clearly responding in a way that is not distinct from leaner people, perhaps the structural differences suggest a reduced ability to translate what one knows into what one chooses.
“Although we can only speculate at this stage, and we really don’t know, for example, whether this brain change is a cause or a consequence of increased weight, this could help explain why this same group of people found it harder to stick to their original, healthier food choices when presented with a buffet selection.”
Professor Theresa Marteau, Director of the Behaviour and Health Research Unit at the University of Cambridge, a co-author of the study, adds: “These findings attest to the power of environments in overwhelming many people’s desires and intentions to eat more healthily. The findings also reinforce the growing evidence that effective obesity policies are those that target food environments rather than education alone.”
The research was funded by the Bernard Wolfe Health Neuroscience Fund, the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council.

6 Ways to Turn On Your Weight Loss Hormones

 

Weight loss can seem like a confusing puzzle to solve, but with the help of these 6 ways to turn on your weight loss hormones, you’ll be able to solve that riddle in no time. Hormones are responsible for regulating our body weight, and the knowledge of what to do to activate your metabolism for weight loss is right here in this article. Let’s look further at these 6 ways to turn on your weight loss hormones as soon as you are ready.

6 Ways to Turn On Your Weight Loss Hormones

1. Reduce your cravings by eating satisfying foods

Some foods are just more filling and satisfying than others. You will notice this not just by the round fullness of your stomach after eating them, but by how long you feel satisfied or satiated before you have the desire to eat again.
The weight loss hormone responsible for your fullness feeling is called leptin. Sources of protein are excellent ways to nourish your body and also activate leptin to help you feel full longer. Leptin tells the brain that you are no longer hungry and to stop eating.
Researchers in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition say ‘a moderate increase in dietary protein in association with physical activity and an energy-controlled diet may improve the regulation of body weight.’ The study showed that eating protein increased satiety or fullness and helped people to lose fat in the body rather than losing muscle mass.

2. Build muscle mass

The same hormone that is responsible for bulking up body builders is also capable of being a weight loss tool for you. The sex hormone testosterone is present in both men and women, and we can get more of it by weight lifting. In turn, the greater testosterone levels you have, the more weight loss you will see because muscle burns fat.
Lifting enough weight with enough repetitions that you begin to feel muscle soreness or ‘the burn’ is the right amount to see results. Turning on this weight loss hormone may be as easy as lifting a toddler and a car seat throughout the day or carrying the 4 bags of groceries and a gallon of milk from the car to the kitchen.

3. Always eat breakfast

In the morning, you are literally turning on your weight loss hormones by breaking your overnight fast, or break-fast as we call the morning meal. Your body is in a state of fasting while you sleep, and it burns few calories as you process the day’s information as dreams and memories. The body’s heart rate and breathing are slow, which means a slow metabolism while at rest.
To break your body out of the resting phase, jump-start your metabolism with some plant-based protein, vegetarian sources of fat and carbohydrates in the morning. Keep the total calorie count below 800 if possible and keep the carbohydrate portion of the meal small compared to the protein and fat content.

4. Increase your fat burning power while sitting

The weight loss hormones of the thyroid are produced from the butterfly-shaped thyroid gland in your throat. According to a German obesity research on thyroid function, when the thyroid hormones Triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4) were measured in obese children before and after a weight loss program, they found that a small weight reduction led to a long term decrease in the levels of T3 and T4.
The reduction in the T3 and T4 thyroid hormones led to a more efficient metabolism while resting, which sped up further weight loss. If you can lose as little as 5 pounds, you can turn on your thyroid weight loss hormones to keep the weight loss going.
Related article: 7 Things That Slow Down Your Metabolism

5. Get better sleep

Levels of the weight loss hormone leptin that makes you feel full are also dependent on you getting 6 to 8 hours of sleep each night. When you do not get restful sleep, your leptin levels decrease, so you tend want to overeat to consume more levels of energy to make up for the lack of rest.
Your body reasons that if you are tired, you must need more energy in the form of food and the weight loss hormone leptin is not high enough to tell your brain that you aren’t really that hungry.
Related article: Here’s How You Can Literally Lose Weight In Your Sleep

6. Breathe like a yogi

The yogi practice of focused breathing is something that can help to speed up your metabolism by changing the levels of adrenal weight loss hormones in your body. In a study where researchers asked participants to breathe through a single nostril at a time by closing off the other for 27 respiratory cycles, repeated 4 times a day for one month found that the participants had an increase in resting metabolic oxygen consumption of up to 37%.

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80% of Heart Attacks Could Be Avoided If Everyone Did These 5 Easy Things

Heart disease claims the lives of about 1 million Americans every year, making it the leading cause of death for both men and women. The most common form of heart disease is coronary artery disease (CAD), which can lead to a heart attack.
This year alone, 920,000 Americans will have a heart attack, and close to half of them will occur suddenly without any prior warning signs.
A heart attack occurs when blood flow to a part of your heart becomes blocked. This is often the result of plaque build-up inside your arteries (atherosclerosis), which may rupture and form a blood clot that blocks blood flow.
If the blockage isn’t cleared quickly, a portion of your heart muscle will begin to die and be replaced with scar tissue, which can cause severe problems in the future.
For instance, a previous heart attack (especially if a large area of your heart was damaged) is a risk factor for sudden cardiac arrest,which is caused by abnormal heart rhythms and can be fatal.

5 Lifestyle Changes Could Prevent 80 Percent of Heart Attacks

It’s remarkable that heart attacks are so common and cause so much pain (emotional and physical) and disability when they are nearly always preventable. You’re probably already aware that your lifestyle plays a role in your risk of heart disease (and heart attacks), but perhaps you’ve not yet taken it to heart…
If you need some motivation, consider a new study conducted at the Karolinska Institute. It found that engaging in five healthy lifestyle habits could prevent nearly 80 percent of first-time heart attacks in men. Even the researchers were surprised at how powerful a healthy lifestylecould be, noting:
“It is not surprising that healthy lifestyle choices would lead to a reduction in heart attacks… What is surprising is how drastically the risk dropped due to these factors.”
Still, this isn’t the first time such a drastic risk reduction has been uncovered. The 2004 INTERHEART study, which looked at heart disease risk factors in over 50 countries around the world, found that 90 percent of heart disease cases are completely preventable by modifying diet and lifestyle factors.
Unfortunately, most people are not using lifestyle habits to their advantage. The featured study involved men aged 45 to 79… and only 1 percent of them engaged in all five of the “low-risk” behaviors that could prevent a heart attack. So what are the five healthy lifestyle habits?
A healthy diet
Being physically active (walking/bicycling ≥40 min/day and exercising ≥1 h/week)
Healthy waist circumference (waist circumference <95 37.4="" cm="" inches="" or="" p=""> Moderate alcohol consumption (10 to 30 g/day)
No smoking

What Is a Healthy Diet for Your Heart?

Most of the heart-healthy lifestyle habits are self-explanatory, but the term “healthy diet” is ambiguous… and when it comes to heart health, it is probably not what you think. Contrary to popular belief, refined carbs, sugar, and processed foods are the real enemy—not the saturated fats found in foods such as butter, lard, or eggs.
Part of the confusion on fats revolves around its impact on LDL cholesterol, often referred to as “bad” cholesterol. According to the conventional view, high LDL is correlated with heart disease, and saturated fat does tend to raise LDL. However, we now understand that there are TWO kinds of LDL cholesterol particles:
Small, dense LDL cholesterol
Large, “fluffy” LDL cholesterol
The latter is not “bad” at all. Research has confirmed that large LDL particles do not contribute to heart disease. The small, dense LDL particles, however, do contribute to the build-up of plaque in your arteries, and trans fat increases small, dense LDL. Saturated fat, on the other hand, increases large, fluffy—and benign—LDL.
More importantly, research has also shown that small, dense LDL particles are increased by eating refined sugar and carbohydrates, such as bread, bagels, and soda. Together, trans fats and refined carbs do far more harm than saturated fat ever possibly could.
Unfortunately, when the cholesterol hypothesis took hold, the food industry switched over to low-fat foods, replacing healthy saturated fats like butter and lard with harmful trans fats (vegetables oils, margarine, etc.), and lots of refined sugar and processed fructose.
Ever-rising obesity and heart disease rates clearly illustrate the ramifications of this flawed approach. I recently interviewed Dr. Fred Kummerow on this topic. If you missed it, I highly recommend taking a moment to listen to it now.

A True Heart-Healthy Diet Plan

If you want to protect your heart, you need to avoid trans fats by eliminating all processed foods (which would also include most restaurant food). You also need to address your insulin and leptin resistance, which is the result of eating a diet too high in sugars and grains. To lower your heart disease risk, you need to adhere to the following suggestions, which are explained in detail in my nutrition plan.
1.Avoid sugar, processed fructose, and grains. This effectively means you must avoid most processed foods
2.Eat a healthy diet of whole foods, ideally organic, and replace the grain carbs with:
• Large amounts of vegetables
• Low-to-moderate amount of high-quality protein (think organically raised, -pastured animals)
• High-quality healthy fat (saturated and monounsaturated from animal and tropical oil sources). Most people actually need upward of 50-85 percent fats in their diet for optimal health—a far cry from the 10 percent currently recommended. Sources of healthy fats to add to your diet include:

Balancing your omega-3 to omega-6 ratio is also key for heart health, as these fatty acids help build the cells in your arteries that make the prostacyclin that keeps your blood flowing smoothly. Omega-3 deficiency can cause or contribute to very serious health problems, both mental and physical, and may be a significant underlying factor in up to 96,000 premature deaths each year. You can do this by avoiding most vegetable oils and increasing your intake of small wild-caught oily fish (sardines and anchovies) or taking a high-quality krill oil supplement.

Should You Eat More Fruit for Your Heart?

A study presented this year at the ESC Congress in Barcelona, Spain found that people who ate fruit daily had a 40 percent lower risk of heart disease, and a 32 percent lower risk of death from any cause, than those who did not. Further, the more fruit they ate, the lower their risk of heart disease became.Fruit can be an excellent source of antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and other phytochemicals, many of which have heart-healthy anti-inflammatory effects. For instance, research published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) found that simply eating an apple a day might help prevent cardiovascular-related deaths in those over 50 to a similar degree as using a daily statin.
I would caution against eating too much fruit, however, especially the sweeter fruits that are commonplace today. Many of the most beneficial phytonutrients found in fruits actually have bitter, sour, or astringent taste, and are found in the skin and seeds. To satisfy the modern palate, farmers have, throughout time, opted to selectively breed the sweetest varieties, which makes fruit far less nutritious than it once was. Still, carefully chosen fruit – such as organic apples, blueberries, or cherries – can certainly be beneficial when eaten in moderation. Fruit contains varying levels of fructose, and you will want to avoid over-consuming fructose to protect your heart. My recommendations on fruit (and fructose consumption) are as follows:
If you’re insulin or leptin resistant (are overweight, diabetic, hypertensive, or have high cholesterol), which includes about 80 percent of Americans, then it would be advisable for you to limit your fruit intake. As a general rule, I recommend limiting your fructose intake to a maximum of 15 grams of fructose per day from ALL sources,including whole fruit. You can find a chart of fructose levels in common fruits here.
If you are not insulin/leptin resistant, (are normal weight without diabetes, hypertension, or high cholesterol)andregularly engage in strenuous physical activity or manual labor, then higher fructose intake is unlikely to cause any health problems. In this case, you can probably eat more fruit without giving it much thought.
However, if you are in category two above, you might benefit from a further refinement. Fruit will still increase your blood sugar and many experts believe this will increase your protein glycosylation. So my approach is to consume the fruit typically after a workout, as your body will use the sugar as fuel rather than raise your blood sugar.
Additionally, if you’re an endurance athlete, you can probably get away with eating fairly large amounts of fruits since your body will use most of the glucose during exercise, and it won’t be stored as fat. (That said, I still believe athletes would be well-advised to consider becoming fat adapted rather than relying on quick sugars).
If you’re still unsure of just how stringent you need to be, get your uric acid levels checked and use that as a guide.

Diabetes Drug Increases Heart Disease Risk

Metformin, a drug that makes your body’s tissues more sensitive to insulin, is one of the most common diabetes drugs on the market. However, new research shows that among people with hypothyroidism, the use of metformin was associated with an increased risk of low thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels.If your TSH levels become too low, it may lead to serious damage, including heart problems such as atrial fibrillation, which in turn could lead to congestive heart failure. Separate research has also shown that treating type 2 diabetes with glucose-lowering drugs actually showed the potential to increase your risk of death from heart-related and all other causes. Researchers noted:
“The overall results of this meta-analysis do not show a benefit of intensive glucose lowering treatment on all cause mortality or cardiovascular death. A 19% increase in all cause mortality and a 43% increase in cardiovascular mortality cannot be excluded.”
These risks are typically unnecessary, as type 2 diabetes is easy to reverse without drugs. If you want the short version… simply swapping processed foods for whole organic foods lower in sugar and sugar-forming carbohydrates — combined with a few minutes of regular high-intensity exercises — will quickly put you on the road to reversing diabetes. See my nutrition plan for a healthy eating guide and, for more specifics, read my diabetes prevention (and treatment) plan here.

A Warning About Beta-Blockers and Scientific Misconduct

Beta-blockers are drugs commonly used in the treatment of high blood pressure and congestive heart failure. They work primarily by blocking the neurotransmitters norepinephrine and epinephrine (adrenaline) from binding to beta receptors, thereby dilating blood vessels, which reduces your heart rate and blood pressure. Until recently, the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) recommended using beta-blockers in patients undergoing non-cardiac surgery. Earlier this year, however, researchers calculated that this guideline, which they found was based on “questionable and probably fraudulent research,” may have caused up to 800,000 deaths over five years in Europe alone.
The beta-blocker guidelines were based largely on research done by a scientist who was fired for scientific misconduct in 2011, and who was also the chairman of the committee that drafted the European treatment guideline. You would think that once this was known, immediate action would result. However, it took two years before the ESC withdrew the beta-blocker recommendation once the scandal had unraveled. This is absolutely scandalous as nearly a half of a million people died unnecessarily due to the delay.
In that two-year span, many European clinicians may have felt that their hands were tied, as failing to follow guidelines can lead to being penalized—even if the doctor knows the guidelines are likely to do more harm than good. Last month, a revised version of the article was published which went into even more detail of the harms that occur when fraudulent research is published and put into clinical practice… even years after the fraud is uncovered. As Forbes reported.
“They write about a culture of neglect in which few if any participants have anything to gain by finding or reporting scientific misconduct. They cite numerous examples in which misconduct has been alleged but the responsible actors– authors, home institutions, journals, and medical societies– have responded in only the most minimal and non-aggressive fashion. The portrait they paint is of a scientific and medical establishment devoted to not rocking the boat.”

Avoid Becoming Another Heart Attack Statistic

There are many strategies that can protect your heart and virtually eliminate your risk of heart disease. Please don’t wait until you experience heart attack symptoms to take action because the most common symptom of heart disease is sudden death, so you will be dead before you even know you have a problem. Do so now in order to prevent any long-lasting damage:
Eat unprocessed saturated animal fats, and ignore the media, as you will benefit from these fats. Many may also benefit from increasing the healthy fat in their diet to 50-85 percent of daily calories
Avoid all sugars, including processed fructose and grains if you are insulin and leptin resistant. It doesn’t matter if they are conventional or organic, as a high-sugar diet promotes insulin and leptin resistance, which is a primary driver of heart disease.
Exercise regularly, as physical activity along with a healthy diet of whole, preferably organic, foods may be just as potent—if not more potent—than cholesterol-lowering drugs. Use a combination of high-intensity interval training, strength training, stretching, and core work.
Avoid excess sitting; aim for three hours a day or less of sitting and try to take 10,000 steps a day (exclusive of your exercise).
Avoid statins, as the side effects of these drugs are numerous, while the benefits are debatable. In my view, typically, the only group of people who may benefit from a cholesterol-lowering medication are those with genetic familial hypercholesterolemia. This is a condition characterized by abnormally high cholesterol, which tend to be resistant to lifestyle strategies like diet and exercise.
Optimize your vitamin D levels, either through appropriate sun exposure, a tanning bed, or as last resort an oral vitamin D3 supplement.
Regularly walk barefoot to ground with the earth. When you do, free electrons are transferred from the earth into your body, and this grounding effect is one of the most potent antioxidants we know of, and helps alleviate inflammation throughout your body.Manage your stress daily. My favorite tool for stress management is the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT).

11 Quotes To Remember When You’re Overthinking

“We are dying from overthinking. We are slowly killing ourselves by thinking about everything. Think. Think. Think. You can never trust the human mind anyway. It’s a death trap.”~ Anthony Hopkins

The mind loves to think, and it never seems to want to stop. In fact, we overthink so much that many people consider it a worldwide epidemic. Through extensive research, psychology professor Susan Nolen-Hoeksema of the University of Michigan found that overthinking occurs mostly in young and middle aged adults, with 73% of 25-35 year-olds identifying as overthinkers. There are also more women (57%) than men (43%) who tend to think too much. 
The mind sometimes resembles a five year old child – it wants to have everything a certain way and never knows how to sit still. If you allow your brain to continuously run a mile a minute without ever interjecting, it will only press on with the madness until you discover that your mind has slowly become a prison. Learning to take time quiet your mind, instead of distracting it, can allow you to have more mental clarity, focus, and give up the toxic habit of overthinking.

11 Quotes To Remember When You’re Overthinking

Related article: 5 Ways To Stop Overthinking
1. You will never be free until you free yourself from the prison of your own false thoughts.


2. Before you talk, listen. Before you react, think. Before you criticize, wait. Before you pray, forgive. Before you quit, try!


3. Stop worrying about what can go wrong, and get excited about what can go right.


4. Overthinking – the art of creating problems that weren’t even there.


5. There is nothing in this world that can trouble you as much as your own thoughts.


6. Worrying is like sitting in a rocking chair. It gives you something to do but it doesn’t get you anywhere.


7. Stop overthinking. You can’t control everything, just let it be.
 


8. Dear mind, please stop thinking so much at night. I need sleep.


9. Overthinking is the biggest cause of unhappiness.


10. Don’t ruin a new day by thinking about yesterday. Let it go.


11. A quiet mind is able to hear intuition over fear.

Here are 3 ways to stop overthinking:

1.  CONNECT WITH NATURE.

If you don’t live or work in nature, than you need this the most. Take time to get out in nature. This could mean going on your lunch break in a nearby park, or going on a vacation to get away. Anything you can do to strengthen your bond with nature will greatly benefit your mind and stop overthinking immediately.
You can focus on the beauty in the trees, a leaf,  a waterfall, the sky, mountains, a lake or whatever you gravitate towards. This will immediately stop your mind.  When you allow yourself to do this, you will find that you will think more clearly throughout the day.

2. REPEAT PEACEFUL WORDS TO YOURSELF.

Pay attention to your brain at this very moment…what kinds of thoughts do you observe? Most likely, you will notice that the majority of your thoughts center around what you have to do today, or what someone said that made you angry, or even degrading thoughts about yourself. Don’t feel bad, though; with so much negativity around us, maintaining a consistent positive mindset isn’t always easy. However, you can actually counter the negative words and over thinking with the repetition of peaceful words.
Anytime you notice you are overthinking or you feel anxiety or worry coming on,  stop those thoughts in their track as soon as you realize it with calming words. Whatever words resonate with you better.
Examples are: Peace. Love. Light. It’s ok. Life is Good. I’m ok.

While this isn’t completely quieting your mind, it does stop overthinking, it will allow your mind to slow down and focus on what really matters in this moment.  Words carry a lot of meaning and power, so use them to your advantage whenever you feel stressed out.

3. MEDITATE.

We suggest meditation a whole lot on our website, but for good reason. When you meditate, you stop the flow of overthinking and negative thoughts bombarding your consciousness every second, and instead move into a space where stillness takes precedence.
While you don’t have to turn off your brain to meditate, many people feel that their thoughts slow down incredibly and overthinking stop immediately.
If you try it and find you still cannot stop thinking, try a guided meditation or yoga. These practices bring awareness into the body, and makes it much easier to cope with daily challenges.