The Stop Procrastinating Now Course is Open to Join (but Closes on Monday)

We have now stepped into a brand new year.

And to help you to get 2018 off to a great start and make it your most successful, action-filled and fulfilling year yet I have now opened up the doors again to the 10-week Stop Procrastinating Now Course.

If you join during this period you also get free life-time access to all the material in my 31 Days to a Simpler Life Course as a special bonus.

The registration to join this course will only be open for 5 days this time, until 1.00 p.m EST (that’s 18.00 GMT) on Monday the 8th of January.

Click here to learn more and to join the course

The Stop Procrastinating Now Course is filled with all the best things I have learned in the past 10 years.

These are the strategies, exercises and simple step-by-step methods that have helped me to stop putting so many things off for so long.

The habits that have been a true life-changer for me.

A year from now, where are you going to be?

Each week of the course you’ll get a written guide, a worksheet to help you gain better understanding of your own situation and results as you go through the course and an audio version of that week’s guide that you can listen to anywhere when you need a boost.

At the end of the weekly guide you’ll get just a few specific action-steps to take that week to minimize the risk of you feeling overwhelmed and getting lost in procrastination again.

Because I want as many as possible to not only to read the information. But also to take small steps forward each week to make a real and lasting change in their lives.

In this course you’ll, for example, learn how to:

• Understand the 7 basic reasons for procrastination. So you can understand yourself better and where you need put your attention.
• Find the crucial balance between doing fully focused work and having plenty of guilt-free rest and play.
• Setup your daily work environment in just a few minutes to keep the distractions to a minimum and your focus sharp.
• Stop doing busy work and wasting so much of your time and life. And start getting what will give you the biggest results done each day.
• Overcome the 4 fundamental fears that drive us to procrastination step-by-step. So you can take action on what you deep down want and not be held back any longer.

And a whole lot more.

The window to join The Stop Procrastinating Now Course closes at 1.00 p.m EST (that’s 18.00 GMT) on Monday the 8th of January.

Click here to learn more about The Stop Procrastinating Now Course, to join it and to make 2018 your best year yet

 

Hey parents; want happier, less anxious kids? Play with them!

Happiness is a heathy dose of positive emotions AND, notably, minimal negative emotions.

Happiness is keeping safe AND feeling confident you can manage risk and uncertainty.

Happiness is what all parents what for their kids and if that’s you, then keep reading…

via the SMH by Belinda Tasker

Parents who play games with their kids, challenge them to a race, or simply muck about with rough-and-tumble activities may be helping reduce the chances of them developing anxiety problems.

A recent study by Australian and Dutch researchers found that certain behaviours by parents play a role in protecting preschoolers from becoming anxious because they are encouraged to take risks, safely.

They studied a group of 312 families and discovered that mums and dads who used more so-called challenging parent behaviour (CPB) had kids whose anxiety levels were significantly less than others…

…keep reading the full & original article HERE

Making one (albeit difficult) change will make you happier. Are you up for it?

Happiness…what would you do to have more of it?

Happiness…you could enjoy much more of it if you make this one (albeit challenging) change…

via Inc.com by Minda Zetlin

What if there was one simple thing you could do that cost nothing and took no extra time, that would make you much more creative than you are now? What if it would also make you sleep better, and perhaps happier in general. Would you do it?

Well here it is: Put away your smartphone. Not all the time, and not forever, but for a day, or part of a day. That message comes from Manoush Zomorodi, host of the NPR podcast “Note to Self,” and author of Bored and Brilliant: How Spacing Out Can Unlock Your Most Productive & Creative Self.

As the new mother of a colicky baby, Zomorodi, a former globe-trotting journalist, discovered first-hand how boredom can lead to some of our most innovative ideas, as she explains in her engaging TED Talk. It turns out that there’s a neurological reason for this, as various scientists explained to her. When you’re bored and you let your mind wander, you slip away from purely conscious thought and begin dipping into your subconscious mind. It’s a similar effect to when you begin drifting off to sleep. Having that bit of subconscious thought in the mix allows you to have insights and make connections you might never make otherwise…

…keep reading the full & original article HERE

If you think weight loss will bring you more happiness, try this instead…

In the early days of any New Year many people will be working on resolutions and goals that ultimately, they hope will bring them more happiness and success.

And one of the more common goals, supposed to bring more happiness, is weight loss.

But what if losing weight wasn’t the best way to bring about more happiness? What if something else would make you happier?

Well, according to this new research, “body acceptance” is probably a better way to go…

via PsychCentral by Traci Pederson

A new study at Florida State University (FSU) has strong advice if you want to enjoy greater mental and physical health this New Year: Lose the critical thoughts about your body.

Researchers witnessed dramatic results as they tested a new intervention primarily focused on body acceptance. The findings show that discarding your unattainable body ideals improves your mood, self-esteem, reduces disordered eating behaviors and may reduce the risk of self-injurious behavior.

“Consider what is really going to make you happier and healthier in 2018: losing 10 pounds or losing harmful attitudes about your body?” said FSU Professor Dr. Pamela Keel.

“There’s a big gap between what we’re shown as being ideal and what to aspire to and where we actually are as a population. That leaves people feeling bad about themselves, and, unfortunately, feeling bad about your body does not actually motivate a person to pursue healthy behavior,” she said.

Keel has spent her career researching body-image issues, and in particular, how they relate to eating disorders. She has found that body dissatisfaction is a pervasive problem in American culture, especially among young women…

…keep reading the full & original article HERE

Lessons from neuroscience about how to quite bad habits…

It’s time for New Year Resolutions.

It’s time to set goals around happiness and health and wellbeing and success.

But to enjoy happiness and all these other desirable accomplishments, as well as starting new programs many of us need to stop old ones; to bread bad habits; and this is how…

via Eric Barker

Got any serious bad habits? The extra-strength ones with the FDA warning. The kind you really beat yourself up about — but still engage in all the time?

Procrastination that screws up the quality of your work? Epic tidal waves of laziness? Or cardiac-threatening levels of overwork? Snapping at the ones you love? Or not speaking up even when you know you should?

We’re going to turn everything you know about bad habits on its head. For starters, here’s the good news: you’re not lazy, you’re not a screw up, and you’re not a bad person. In fact, you don’t actually have “bad habits” at all. Those tempting or nagging voices in your head aren’t evil. Actually, they’re trying to help you.

Yeah, I know: I have a lot of ‘splaining to do. But before it all makes sense, we’ll need to wade into a bit more crazy. Pixar films, neuroscience, multiple personalities, mindfulness, “Fight Club”, and boatloads of you talking to yourself like you’re nuts…

Yes, weird, but totally legit. In fact, there’s a whole system of psychology based around this: Internal Family Systems (IFS.) It’s been shown to help people with everything under the sun from depression, to anxiety, eating disorders, addictions, and even some of the most serious stuff like PTSD.

From Internal Family Systems Skills Training Manual:

In the IFS Complex Trauma Study, only one subject out of 13 still qualified for a diagnosis of PTSD after finishing 16 weeks of IFS therapy.

This is a system that can help you overcome almost any bad behavior, deal with deep-seated issues and even help you love yourself a bit more.

We’re going deep here. Warning: we’re entering “the therapy zone.” It’s gonna get touchy-feely and a little awkward. I’m often skeptical of this kinda stuff myself. But when something works, it works.

Alright, hold my inner child’s hand and we’ll do this together. Let’s get to it…

…keep reading the full & original article HERE

3 Quick Questions for a Simpler and Happier 2018

“New Year’s eve is like every other night; there is no pause in the march of the universe, no breathless moment of silence among created things that the passage of another twelve months may be noted; and yet no man has quite the same thoughts this evening that come with the coming of darkness on other nights”
Hamilton Wright Mabie

This year is coming to an end. Just a couple more days to go.

But before we step through that doorway I’d like to quickly share one last article with 3 of my favorite questions of all time that can help you shape 2018 into 365 days that will be simpler, happier and self-kinder.

Stay safe, enjoy your New Year’s celebration and see you next year!

1. Is this useful?

It’s very easy to spend a lot of time on things that do not really matter much. To spend hours, days or even weeks on being angry at someone, replaying a mistake or failure in one’s mind or to dwell on something negative and feeling more and more like a victim.

So I try to ask myself this question as often as I can to question and confront my own thoughts.  To catch myself and to wake myself up when I get stuck in negative thought loops going round and round.

By doing so I:

• Suffer less.
• Waste less time on going round in circles.
• Spend more of my time on finding a practical solution.

2. What is one very small step I can take right now to get the ball rolling?

This is my favorite question for when I want to get started with something or if I want to get going again with something that have fallen to the side for some reason.

Because it makes things easier. Makes them feel lighter.

This question prevents me from trying to escape into procrastination and helps me to avoid the side-effects of that such as sinking self-esteem and simply a lot of time being wasted on trying to hide.

3. Will this matter in 5 years? Or even 5 weeks?

This one helps me to simplify.

To let go.

To not make a mountain out of a molehill.

To find the healthier and happier perspective.

To not lose my focus and energy to crippling worries.

To find a lightness in life where I do not have to carry around 5 tons of unnecessary mental baggage.

It is a truly wonderful question.

Instead of answers, here are some questions…

Too often, those of us looking for happiness and success believe we need to find answers.

And that’s not an entirely incorrect strategy.

But sometimes, the success and happiness we’re looking for comes from asking the right questions. And here are 50 great ones to start asking now…

via Inc.com by Marla Tabaka

With the dawn of every New Year, pledges are made by hopefuls everywhere to do or change something big in their life and business. Most of these commitments are shelved or forgotten altogether soon after we ring in that very same New Year.

“Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.”
–Carl Jung

An annual attempt at implementing meaningful change isn’t the answer. It’s a commitment to continual, deep levels of introspection that brings successful, happy people to the top. If you want results, begin with what’s on the inside instead of pushing to control what’s on the outside.

The questions below will get you started. I promise you, the discoveries (if you dig deep and are honest with yourself) can lead you to meaningful change and the things you want most in life.

1.     What is my ideal definition of success?

2.     Is this definition well-rounded, to include all of the important aspects of my life?

3.     What are my top three values and how do they apply to my business?

4.     Do I factor in these values when I make business and personal decisions?

5.     Do I feel good about the way I treat the most important people in my life?

6.     Do I feel and express enough gratitude and appreciation for what I have?

7.     Is my stress level too high?

8.     What are three things I can do regularly to reduce stress? What stops me from doing them?

9.     What do I most often choose to ignore?

10.  What are three things I want to pay closer attention to in 2018?

…keep reading the full & original article and list HERE