Blog for Self Improvement

Do you constantly misplace significant things such as your car keys? Do you often forget important dates like birthdays and anniversaries? If so, don't panic.

Many people experience memory problems, regardless of age, sex, or other factors. So don't think that only aging people can experience forgetfulness, because everyone may encounter memory loss from time to time.

If you want to have a sharper memory, here are a few simple and quick strategies for you to put into practice:

1) You must be able to focus well and be attentive. If you get distracted easily by things around you, then it will take you longer to memorize and remember things. Try to find a quiet room and concentrate on what you are reading, learning, or observing.

2) You must be interested in what you want to remember or memorize. Let's say you love to study psychology more than any other subject in the world. Do you think you would remember your lessons in psychology more than your studies in math, literature, and other subjects? You bet.

By becoming more interested in the subject matter, you are also giving more attention to it. This increases your chances of retrieving it from your memory anytime you wish.

3) You must have the imagination of a child. Be creative. Many memory techniques require the practitioner to think of the most outrageous and exaggerated images/pictures in order to remember certain facts or information. The funnier and more out-of-this-world the images, the better the chances you will retain data in your mind.

4) You must have a healthy lifestyle. Eat less fat and consume more foods rich in vitamins and minerals (especially beta-carotene). Drink plenty of water, get enough sleep, engage in cardiovascular exercises, relax and be happy always. By doing these things, your mind will benefit as much as your body.

There are many reasons why you should give some consideration to improving your memory. Just by taking a few pro-active steps, you'll be able to more easily remember names, dates, appointments, learning material and other things important in your life.

Source: www.easyarticles.com

About the Author: SA Easton is a freelancer who wants you to know that you can improve your memory with simple yet powerful strategies that really work. Easily remember names, dates, figures, school subjects, and much more. Get a free memory-boosting mini-course at: http://www.memory-improvement-help.com/go/4/2

By: Max Ng

When I spotted an expensive watch that I like, I would have a series of thoughts. Firstly, I would have thought of the pleasure that I could derive by owning it. Secondly, I would think of ways to make or save enough money so that I could buy that watch. Thirdly, I would take actions to make or save money based on the ways that I had thought of. Finally, I would buy the watch when I had enough money.

Does this process sound familiar to you? It may not be an expensive watch but something else that you truly desired. When you truly desired for something, you will think of all ways and means to achieve it. In other words, you need to think about how to make or save enough money before you can buy it.

What I trying to point out here is that it is the same if I want to achieve great wealth. For example, if I truly desire to accumulate one million dollar in wealth, then I will need to think about how to achieve it. The thinking process must come first before I can actually achieve my goal in the real physical world.

Once I have understood that the thinking process must come first, I realized that my thinking process determines whether I can be wealth or rich. If I think like a poor man, then I will always be poor in my life. This is because I am likely to make poor financial decisions and investments based on my thoughts. If I think like a rich man, then I will likely to be rich in my life. This is because I likely to make good financial decisions and investments based on my rich man thinking process.

The rich man thinking process is what I have understood as a mentally rich mind. I gathered from the Rich Dad Series, one has to be mentally rich before one can be truly rich in real life. A mentally rich person can be materially poor at the moment, but he will definitely gain wealth given time.

Just to give you an idea what do I mean by a mentally rich mind. If you were to ask someone what if he were to loss everything today? If he answered that he would gain back everything in a matter of a few years, then he would be considered a mentally rich person. If he answered otherwise, then he is unlikely to be a mentally rich person.

How can I become a mentally rich person? Well, let us look at how our minds react to television programs series or movies. If I were to watch violence television programs continuously for a period of time, I realized that my mind would think about the violence television programs. My mind would go one step further to create new violence thoughts that are not related to the television programs at all.

Similarly, if I were to watch comedy programs, I realized that my mind would think about the comedy programs. Also, my mind would start generate new funny thoughts that are not related to the comedy programs.

In other words, our mind is very creative. If we feed our mind with violence, our mind will think and create violence thoughts. If we feed our mind with loving kindness, our mind will think and create loving kindness thoughts.

With this understanding of how my mind work, I realize that I can become a mentally rich person by exposing myself constantly to mentally rich ideas. What are the ways that I can expose myself to mentally rich ideas? Below are some ideas.

Firstly, I can read books on how to create wealth. I can get these books from the bookshops or borrow from the library. Also, I can borrow from my friends if they happen to have these books.

Secondly, I can attend seminars on creating wealth. If I find that attending live seminar is too expensive, I may look for a more affordable source. Maybe I will attend recorded online video seminars.

Thirdly, I can attend courses on creating wealth and meet minded people. If I find that attending live courses is too expensive, I may look at self-study course.

Next, I can join forums that discuss on how to create wealth. In this way, I will be exposed to many ideas on how to become rich.

By constantly immersing myself in an environment full of mentally rich idea, I believe I will slowly become a mentally rich person.

* DISCLAIMER *
The author, publisher and distributors particularly disclaim any liability, loss, or risk taken by individuals who directly or indirectly act on the information contained herein. All readers must accept full responsibility for their use of this material.

Article Source: http://blogticles.com

Information about the Author: Max Ng shares about his struggle for financial freedom at www.richdadsecrets4me.com
Get a free sample of his book "Your Greatest Gift! Why Waste It?" at www.yourgreatestgift.com

How do you explain things to yourself? With positive self talk or negative? What we say to ourselves radically affects the quality of our lives, and our ability to do things effectively. How useful is it to always tell yourself "impossible," "more problems," "never," and "I can't?"

Below are some of the things that positive and negative people say. Look at the difference, and start talking to yourself in constructive ways, if you don't already.

Negative Self Talk

When negative people explain bad things, they internalize them ("It's me again."), consider them permanent ("It's always this way."), and generalize ("Life sucks."). When they explain good things, they externalize them ("That's just lucky."), consider them temporary ("That went well TODAY."), and see them only in a specific context ("At least THIS went right.").

"I screwed up again."

"This good weather won't last."

"It's ALWAYS a mess when I meet someone new."

"This party is great, not like mine."

"This is fun for now."

"Well, THAT went okay, I guess."

Positive Self Talk

When positive people explain bad things, they externalize them ("The weather caused it."), consider them temporary ("That was a rough couple hours."), and see them as isolated ("THAT part of the plan didn't work, but..."). When they explain good things, they internalize them ("Life is great!"), consider them to be more or less permanent changes ("Now I know how to do this."), and generalize from them ("Things are working out well.").

"That just went bad due to the weather."

"It was rough for an hour or two."

"The car broke down, but the trip was fun."

"I've done well with this."

"This has become a great business to be in."

"I like the way things are going."

Explain things to yourself differently, and you'll see a difference in your attitude today. Make positive self talk your normal mode of operation, and you'll see a difference in your life.


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About the Author: Steve Gillman writes on many topics including brainpower, weight loss, meditation, habits of mind, creative problem solving, generating luck and anything related to self improvement. Learn more and get FREE e-courses at http://www.SelfImprovementNow.com

Your bad habits limit your success in life. Below are six of the worst, with suggestions on how to break them. It is great if you can retrain your mind and develop good habits too, but just getting rid of bad habits is a great start to a better life.

Bad Habits

1. Waiting for opportunity. Should I be "waiting for my ship to come in," while others are out there building ships? Waiting doesn't invite opportunities - work does. Begin searching out opportunities and creating opportunities. Training your mind to see them can be as simple as looking for them. Then train yourself to take advantage of them by always taking some small step the moment you recognize an opportunity.

2. Short-term thinking. I talked to a man who paid $700 per month in rent when a nicer place was available for $550. Why did he do it? The $700 apartment required no deposit, but the cheaper place required a $450 deposit, so he would have had to save $1,000 (instead of $700) to move in. Due to his short-term thinking, he now pays $1,800 more for rent each year.

Though short term thinking got this man into his situation, and he didn't have the $300 extra, he still could have gone to the pawn shop and raised the money. It would have cost very little interest compared to spending $1,800 more per year on rent. Consider the long-term consequences of your actions, and write them down whenever you make a decision. Continue this until your mind does it automatically.

3. Impulsive actions. A man showed me his $200 hat, then minutes later he told me he was hoping they would approve his welfare application. Perhaps a problem with impulse control? Perhaps it's possible that his bad habits have lead to a place on the welfare rolls?

The solution? You'll usually change your mind about impulsive decisions by the next day. Wait a day before taking any action that commits time, energy or money towards something that is not a major goal in your life. Do it until it is a habit.

4. Blaming. Whether justified or not, how often does blaming someone or something for our situation motivate us to improve it? It is definitely one of the worst of these bad habits, and one of the more subtle ones too. Giving "reasons" for our troubles, for example, is often just a form of blaming.

Let's suppose that a given type of business is over-regulated. Who will most likely succeed here anyhow, the man who blames the regulation for his troubles, or the one that is always asking, "What can I do to succeed with things the way they are?" If you want greater success train your mind to think like the latter. Do you want to point at problems, or deal with them?

5. Procrastination. We know that often, "later" becomes "never." To stop procrastinating, get in the habit of looking for and doing the easiest first step you can find. Often just starting will develop your motivation.

6. Indulging one's laziness. I have little to say about this bad habit, except that I don't know anyone who has suffered greatly from forcing themselves to get up and do something. Do something easy first, and if low energy is part of the problem, start learning a few techniques for boosting it, like deep breathing and singing.

Maybe you have heard the saying, "change your mind - change your life." How do you change your mind? A good start is to correct your bad habits, one-by-one. Why not work on one today?


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Source: www.easyarticles.com

About the Author: Steve Gillman has been studying brainpower and related topics for years. For more on Bad Habits, and to get the Brainpower Newsletter and other free gifts, visit: http://www.IncreaseBrainPower.com