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When was the last time you took inventory on your happiness? Find out how you stack up with Dr. Robert Holden's Be Happy Index(or. B.H.I.). Once you have your results, you can examine 10 different areasself, relationships, work, attitude, gratitude, forgiveness, humor, health, spirituality and nowto increase your happiness, starting right now, with this step-by-step guide.
Joy is the organic state of your soul. It is not something you achieve; it is something you accept. Next: Why it's important to connect with others
they will be when you tell them? Gratitude is double happiness because it blesses both the giver and the receiver. Next: Let go of your hurt and disappointment
Truth is here, inspiration is here, love is here, peace is here, help is here, God is here, joy is here, because you are. Robert Holden, PhD, and his innovative work on happiness and well-being have been featured on The Oprah Show and Good Morning America and also in two major BBC documentaries, The Happiness Formula andHow to Be Happy, shown to more than 30 million TV viewers worldwide. He is the author of the best-selling books Happiness NOW!, Shift Happens! and Success Intelligence. His latest book, Be Happy, is published by Hay House. Robert lives in London with his wife and daughter.
Being asked to describe yourself at a job interview or for a dating agency profile, for instance, can feel excruciating and practically impossible because you haven't really been paying attention.
True self-acceptance is motivated by the possibility of knowing what your true essencethe Unconditioned Self is really like. Exercise: Self-acceptance is the process of befriending the Unconditioned Selfthe part of you that is more than just your name, your history, your story, your failures or your successes. You are more than just your experiences or how other people see you or the clothes you wear. Reflect on this today: What is most authentic about you? What do you want people to really know about you? Who are you without your ego? Be still, and really listen to how you answer. Then, write down in your journal the qualities that describe your real, unconditioned self. If you're having a little trouble answering these questions for yourself, try writing a biography of your real self in 100 words. Next: How to practice self-kindness
Lesson: Self-acceptance is your home. It is where you return to find yourself again. When self-acceptance is low, you experience a ceaseless anxiety that causes you to doubt yourself, to be indecisive, to wobble, to question everything and to play safe. You search outside yourself for validation, approval and authority. Self-acceptance helps you increase your overall trust in life. The more you accept yourself, the more you trust your innate goodness, wise heart and natural intuition. Exercise: The more you accept yourself, the more you trust that life doesn't just happen to you; it happens for you. Decide to trust in yourself today. Commit 100 percent of your trust to this and see what happens. Next: Count your blessings
You know that startling moment when you can't for the life of you recall why you walked into a room? As we get older, our minds seem less like steel traps and more like sieves. But here's some good news for your 100 billion neurons: Just as the brain can get weaker, it can also grow stronger. Scientists are finding more and more things you can do to invigorate your noggin. Start with this lineup of smart tricks.
1. Volunteer Stimulates: The prefrontal cortex, which analyzes, plans, and problem-solves Why: A Johns Hopkins study found that older women who tutored kids for six months developed sharper cognitive skills. The social and mental activity required for teaching sends blood rushing to this part of the brain. 2. Work out Stimulates: The hippocampus, which forms memories Why: Arthur Kramer, PhD, a researcher at the University of Illinois, used MRIs to show that exercise actually makes your hippocampus bigger. Physical activity may increase the number of capillaries in the region, which in turn helps new cells grow. Kramer prescribes one-hour sweat sessions three times a week. 3. Learn a skill Stimulates: The intraparietal sulcus, which directs hand-eye coordination Why: At Oxford University, researchers taught 24 people to juggle and found that after six weeks this region had a higher density of white matter (the fibers that let neurons communicate). Any novel activity that is practiced intently, such as tennis or guitar playing, will likely have this effect, says study author Heidi Johansen-Berg. Next: Why wiggling your eyes can save your memory 4. Keep the weight off As the number on the scale creeps upward, it's hard to imagine that anything's getting smaller, but extra pounds can actually shrink your brain. In a 2009 study, brain scans of older adults revealed that overweight individuals had an average of 4 percent less brain tissue than normal-weight folks. And in obese people the loss of tissue was so significant that their brains appeared 16 years older than those of thinner people. "By eating more calories, you're also consuming more fat," says study author Paul Thompson, PhD, a neurology professor at UCLA School of Medicine. "The fat clogs arteries that feed the brain, which in turn causes brain cells to wither." That loss can impair memory, mood, movement, speech, and more. Though the first priority is getting down to a healthier weight, you can also focus on strengthening the brain cells you've got. Aerobic activity will not only help you shed pounds but increase the amount of blood, oxygen, and nutrients flowing north to your neurons. And more nourishment means a faster processor. 5. Wiggle your eyes Can't remember where you stashed your glasses? Try looking from side to side. Rapid horizontal eye movements cause the brain's two hemispheres to interact with each other more efficiently, explains memory researcher Andrew Parker, PhD. In moments of temporary amnesia, that action may help you pull up information. 6. Take a snooze
In a University of California, Berkeley, study, participants improved their scores on a memory test by 10 percent when they repeated the test after catching some z's. (Nonnappers saw a 10 percent decline in their scores the second time they took the quiz.) Here's why: New facts enter your brain like e-mails arriving in your in-box. And as your in-box can overflow over the course of a day, so can your brain. During sleep, your brain shuffles recently received data into storage, creating space for fresh info. 7. Eat brain foodsrich in B12, antioxidants, or essential fatty acid
Bananas (Get the recipe for Banana Cinnamon Smoothies) Kale (Get the recipe for Spicy Parmesan Green Beans and Kale) Tomatoes (Get the recipe for Grilled Pizza with Goat Cheese, Tomatoes and Thyme) Blueberries (Get 8 blueberry recipes) Swiss cheese (Get the recipe for a classic Muffuletta sandwich) Chocolate (Get the recipe for double chocolate loaf and more decadent retro desserts) Salmon (Get the recipe for healthy Lemon Salmon with Garlic Spinach) Brussels sprouts (Get the recipe for Balsamic Glazed Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Bread Crumbs) Apples (Get the recipe for Maine Crab, Green Apple and Avocado Salad with Parmesan Tuiles) Olive oil (Get the recipe for Olive Oil Vinaigrette) Coffee beans (Get 8 caffeine infused coffee recipes) Oranges (Get 8 citrus recipes, from entres to dessert)
The Damage: An underactive thyroid slows metabolism, which leads to fatigue, which leads to a foggy brain. One of the symptoms of this disorder, affecting about 17 percent of women 60 and over, is difficulty committing new info to long-term memory. The Fix: A common cause of the problem is insufficient levels of iodine, which the body needs in order to produce thyroid hormones, so seek out lots of iodine-rich foods, such as seafood and dairy products.
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Sometimes the key to being more inspired is feeling more in control. Daniel Pink, author of Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, reports that four aspects of daily life affect our sense of self-direction; he refers to them as time, team, tasks, and technique.
Pink recommends doing an "autonomy audit" by asking yourself how much control you have over... 1. How you spend your day (time) 2. The people you spend it with (team) 3. Your main responsibilities (tasks) 4. The strategies you use to fulfill them (technique) When you rate each area on a scale of one to ten, typically one area will rank considerably lower than the others, and that's the one you want to address. It's okay to think small: Pink, a proponent of the Rome-wasn't-built-in-a-day school, believes that human progress is a matter of slow, steady advancements. At the end of each day, ask yourself, "Did I make progress in my weakest area today?" Some days the answer will be noand that's okay, too. The next morning you'll find that you wake up with more resolve.