Tag: Steven Handel

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Five Boosts To Beat Negativity

Written by Steven Ray Marks Leave a Comment on Five Boosts To Beat Negativity
Photo by Donald Tong from Pexels

Five Easy Ways to Make Your Life Better for 3/10/21

Today’s boosts are about overcoming negativity in your life and yourself.

Announcement:

Only one week left to register for the Rockstar Excel Beginner to Rockstar course.

Could Excel save you hundreds of hours as an entrepreneur?

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to learn how to save five hours a week, level up your efficiency, and become massively more organized, all with EASY Excel skills that anyone can master in four weeks.

You’ll save five hour a week or your money back!

Class starts Thursday, March 18. Registration deadline is Tuesday, March 16.

Learn more here.

Weight Loss Without Anxiety

(Joanne Williams & Steven Ray Marks | Anxiety Simplified | 30-minute podcast)

Those with anxiety find dieting especially difficult, because of negative self-talk and a shame-and-guilt mentality.

It’s better to take a positive approach, where you focus on making things easy and rewarding yourself for good decisions.

Note: I was a guest on the Anxiety Simplified podcast, where I discussed Weight Loss and Anxiety, and my book The Weight Loss Habit: The No BS, No Gimmick, (Sort of) Easy Way to Lose Weight and Keep It Off Forever.

Be Kinder to Yourself

(Alice Boyes | Harvard Business Review | 1750 words)

Self-compassion will make you happier and more effective.

Use a tone of kindness, accept pain is universal, don’t exaggerate negative emotions (but don’t suppress them either), and trust yourself to make good decisions.

I found this in Monale Alemika’s WorkLife Edit newsletter.

3 Things You Need to Stop Doing to Live a Simpler Life

(Henrik Edberg | Positivity Blog | 850 words)

To avoid destructive habits that make life messy and unhappy:

  • Stop overthinking.
  • Stop making work busier/more complex than it needs to be.
  • Stop overcomplicating relationships.

Related: 11 Incredibly Easy Things to Stop Doing to Be Happier

This Small Change in Language Can Help Downplay Negativity

(Steven Handel | The Emotion Machine | 675 words)

Don’t add words of emphasis for negative qualities about yourself. “I’m very lazy” or “I’m extremely frustrated.”

Instead, use words to show they only apply some of the time, and downplay the negative quality. “Sometimes, I’m a little bit lazy.” “I’m kind of frustrated for now.”

This shift in language will shift your mindset.

Related: Take Control Over Your Life With These Two Phrases

7 Mantras That Will Stop You From Taking Things Personally

(Marc Chernoff | Marc and Angel | 1000 words)

Some key takeaways:

  • People do things because of themselves, not because of you.
  • You don’t need others to validate you. You’re already valuable.
  • Give others the benefit of the doubt you’d want to be given on your worst day.

Be sure to follow @YourselfHelping on Twitter.

Enjoy Five Boosts By Self Helping Yourself? Be sure to Subscribe and check out the Self Helping Yourself site.

Enjoy Five Boosts? Please consider buying me a coffee.

As well as writing the posts for Self Helping Yourself, and Rockstar Excel.

If you can’t donate, you can always help by subscribing, recommending Five Boosts, Self Helping Yourself, or any articles to your friends, or by rating/reviewing The Weight Loss Habit on Amazon. (If you’ve read it.)

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Five Boosts To Get Back on Track

Written by Steven Ray Marks Leave a Comment on Five Boosts To Get Back on Track
Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay

Five Easy Ways to Make Your Life Better for 2/16/21

Today’s boosts are about getting back on track.

There was no Five Boosts last week. Monday night, my van was totaled by a hit-and-run driver. (I’m fine) I spent the rest of the week getting a rental car, cleaning out the wreckage, and working on a replacement, while launching my Excel business, and caring for the foster dogs that took over my life. Plus I got sick for a bit. (Not COVID, and I’m better now).

The good news is we’ve placed two of the dogs, and the one remaining is much less of a time burden.

Enough about me. On to the Boosts.

Reward Good Behavior Instead of Criticizing Bad Behavior

(Self-Helping Yourself | Steven Ray Marks | 1000 words)

If you want someone to improve or change, reward and encourage the desired behavior. Don’t punish or criticize bad behavior. Punishment just makes someone unhappy and gets them to dislike you. This is true for animals, employees, family, and yourself.

If you punish yourself for flaws or mistakes, it builds depression, anxiety, and self-hatred. To improve, instead celebrate your achievements and growth.

How to Motivate Yourself When Things Are Not Going Exactly The Way You Want

(Charles Vallena | The Inspiring Journal | 1000 words)

When things don’t go right, it’s easy to lose motivation. Which makes things go worse.

To keep your motivation:

  • Pause to gain more insight.
  • Process and analyze your emotions and thoughts.
  • Take a break.
  • Focus on what you can do.
  • Find motivation from your accomplishments.

Give Yourself Credit: The Essential Habit Behind Self-Esteem

(Steven Handel | The Emotion Machine | 675 words)

People obsess over their flaws, but ignore their accomplishments. 

To fight this, give yourself points for achievements – even minor ones.

Be an easy grader, giving yourself credit for minor things like brushing your teeth or gratitude.

Related: Optimism and Pessimism are Self-Fulfilling

Creative Burnout: When the Creativity Tap Runs Dry

(Anne-Laure Le Cunff | Ness Labs | 1800 words)

Creatives sometimes burnout. Recognize the signs, and how to overcome it.

Get support. Take a break. Do some self-reflection. Look at your past work for inspiration. Do the smallest piece of creative work to build momentum. And be kind to yourself.

Even better, avoid burnout by building the right habits, taking breaks, and skipping anxiety-inducing information sources.

Related: Disembarking From the Failboat

5 Critical Mistakes to Avoid When Goal-Setting

(Anouare Abdou | The Ladders | 850 words)

You will likely fail to achieve your goals if you make these mistakes:

  • No timeline.
  • No accountability.
  • Not being well-rounded.
  • Being too conceptual.
  • Trying to do too much.

Self Helping Yourself Tweet of the Week

Excel: Beginner to Rockstar

As I mentioned in the intro, I’m launching a new business.

Before switching to Self-Improvement and Weight Loss, I spent 20 years in Accounting and Finance for start-ups, rising to the level of CFO. Now I’m putting my expertise to use teaching Excel.

Could winning at Excel win your next job?

Or save you hundreds of hours as an entrepreneur?

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to increase your Excel skills 100% or more in four weeks. You’ll be able to get twice as much done in half the time, amaze your boss and potential employers, and enjoy unparalleled job security.

Rockstar Excel Presents

Excel: Beginner to Rockstar Course

Starting March 18, 2021

Are you an entrepreneur who struggles to finish everything?

Are you an employee whose career is stuck in neutral?

Are you looking to become more efficient and organized?

Would you like to get more done in less time?

Mastering Excel could be the solution!

Imagine taking minutes to complete what used to take you hours. Picture what you could do with five extra hours a week. What if you never had to worry about layoffs, because your skills made you too valuable for your company to lose?

I want to rock Excel
and get my free Expense Tracker

Be sure to follow @YourselfHelping on Twitter.

Enjoy Five Boosts By Self Helping Yourself? Be sure to Subscribe and check out the Self Helping Yourself site.

Enjoy Five Boosts? Please consider buying me a coffee.

I work hard reviewing hundreds of articles a week to find five that contain the best advice on easy ways to improve your life.

As well as writing the posts for Self Helping Yourself, and Rockstar Excel.

If you can’t donate, you can always help by subscribing, recommending Five Boosts, Self Helping Yourself, or any articles to your friends, or by rating/reviewing The Weight Loss Habit on Amazon. (If you’ve read it.)

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Memory, Happiness, And Confidence – Five Boosts 9/20/20

Written by Steven Ray Marks Leave a Comment on Memory, Happiness, And Confidence – Five Boosts 9/20/20
Coins

Five Easy Ways to Make Your Life Better for 9/20/20

2 Most Powerful Ways to Remember Everything You Learn

(Thomas Oppong | Entrepreneur’s Handbook | 900 words)

We forget 90% of what we learn. This is a normal, healthy function of the brain, filtering out useless information to save room for the important stuff. When there’s information you do want to remember, these techniques are helpful:

  1. Spacing – Relearning the information over time. That signals to your brain that it is something important to be retained.
  2. The 50/50 Rule – Spend half your time learning, and half your time sharing or explaining what you’ve learned.

Related: Accepting Your Memory is Unreliable Will Make You Happier

17 Incredibly Easy Ways to Save Money While Shopping

(Steven Ray Marks | Self Helping Yourself | 1925 words)

A series of tips that can help you save hundreds of dollars a month without any effort, time-commitment, or sacrifice. Some highlights:

  • How to make razor cartridges last for months.
  • Don’t have brand loyalty.
  • Check the per-unit cost when shopping.
  • Use Instacart to compare grocery prices, even if you aren’t ordering from Instacart.
  • How to (legally) get eBooks and audiobooks for free.

7 Simple Habits to Overcome Nervousness

(Henrik Edberg | Positivity Blog | Subscribe | 1175 words)

If you allow nervousness to overcome you, you’ll perform poorly at whatever it is you’re nervous about. Instead:

  1. Prepare, if possible.
  2. Ask yourself what’s the worst that could realistically happen.
  3. Visualize in a positive way.
  4. Slow down and breathe with your belly.
  5. Pretend the person you’re meeting is already a friend.
  6. Remember people don’t think about you that much.
  7. Tell yourself you’re excited.

20 Little Things that Secretly Make You Unhappy

(Tanuj Sarva | Iynk | 1,725 words)

A list of mistakes you might be making that are sabotaging your happiness. Once you identify any that apply to you, some simple awareness can go a long way toward breaking the habit. These include:

  • Believing everyone should play by your rules.
  • Waiting for your dreams to come true to be happy.
  • Not making time for the right things.
  • Holding grudges.
  • Being a perfectionist.
  • Caring too much about what others think.
  • Playing the victim card.
  • Thinking you don’t deserve happiness.

3 Five Minute Confidence Boosters

(Anouare Abdou | The Ladders | 750 words)

To pump up your own confidence:

  1. Collect evidence of your skills and abilities.
  2. Visualize your future self, after you’ve achieved greater success.
  3. Use bridge thoughts to connect where you are now to where you want to be.

Bonus Boost

Why I Don’t Believe in Cheat Days

(Steven Ray Marks | Self Helping Yourself | 750 words)

A “cheat day” in a diet disrupts the habit-building process, and reinforces the notion that eating right is a burden while eating like a drunk grizzly bear is a celebration.

Needing a cheat day is a sign that your entire weight loss strategy is flawed.

Instead, you should build the lifelong habit of making good decisions about what you eat. And sometimes good decisions can include eating unhealthy things, as long as you do it in moderation.

Self Helping Yourself Tweet of the Week

Be sure to follow @YourselfHelping on Twitter.

Enjoy Five Boosts By Self Helping Yourself? Be sure to Subscribe and check out the Self Helping Yourself site.

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Good Enough Grounding And Productivity – Five Boosts 9/6/20

Written by Steven Ray Marks Leave a Comment on Good Enough Grounding And Productivity – Five Boosts 9/6/20
Photo by Morning Brew on Unsplash

Five Easy Ways to Make Your Life Better for 9/6/20

From Productivity Wishfulness to Mindful Productivity

(Anne-Laure Le Cunff | Ness Labs | Subscribe | 1100 words)

Many productivity systems that promise to make you superhuman are just fantasy.

Some telltale signs are that they make unrealistic demands, promise unrealistic results, or are advocated by a guru-like personality.

Studying these can become a form of procrastination itself. Instead, focus on building a system that works for you individually, based on your own individual needs and tendencies.

Develop this system by identifying bottlenecks, making time for self-reflection, managing your information-diet, and learning by doing.

Related: Don’t challenge yourself!

I found this in Khe Hy’s Rad Reads newsletter.

13 Incredibly Easy Ways to Improve Your Finances

(Steven Ray Marks | Self Helping Yourself | 2300 words)

Ways to improve your finances that take no ongoing willpower, effort, and minimal time-commitment. Some highlights:

  • Invest your money in index funds without paying attention to the stock market.
  • Don’t use a savings account
  • Max out your company sponsored 401k match
  • Get a rewards credit card, and pay it off every month
  • Don’t use debit cards
  • Set up automatic bill pay
  • Refinance your mortgage and student loans right now

Good Enough is Just Fine

(Lawrence Yeo | More to That | 1150 words)

There’s no such thing as perfection.

But perfectionists can hamper their efforts by endlessly chasing this quality that doesn’t exist. And thus they never release their work.

Instead of struggling for the unattainable 100% standard, aim for a “Good Enough” standard of 95%.

Related: Perfectionism Paralysis Can Be Beaten By Half-Assing It

Replacing Negative Thoughts With Positive Thoughts

(Barrie Davenport | Live Bold & Bloom | 2500 Words)

Remind yourself to regularly examine your thoughts. And when they are negative, try to replace them with positive thoughts.

For example, replace “I am helpless” with “I am powerful and in control of my own destiny.”

Replace “Nothing good ever happens to me” with “I am surrounded by an abundance of opportunities.”

Replace “I am so angry at that person” with “I respect and love myself enough to let go of anger and live in peace.”

7 Grounding Exercises For When You Feel Overwhelmed

(Steven Handel | The Emotion Machine | 1650 words)

When you find yourself feeling stressed or overwhelmed, try grounding yourself in the present moment with these techniques:

  • Five Senses: What do you see? What do you hear? What do you feel? What do you smell? What do you taste?
  • 10 Slow, Deep Breaths
  • Mindful Stretching: Yoga, Tai Chi, or just stretching while paying attention to your body.
  • Nature Bathing: Go outside and take a walk. Ideally in a forest or park, but if that’s not convenient, just getting outside is helpful. Or if you can’t get outside, watch a video of nature.
  • Spend Time With a Pet or Stuffed Animal
  • Feel-Good Smells
  • Sound Meditation: Take 30 seconds to listen to the world

Bonus Boost

Who’s to Blame For Your Weight

(Steven Ray Marks | Self Helping Yourself | 700 words)

Focusing on blame when it comes to weight is unhelpful. Blaming yourself is demotivating and unfair, because you may have been cursed with a lousy metabolism.

But saying you’re not to blame is also demotivating – that’s just making excuses.

Instead, focus on taking ownership. Your weight may not be your fault. But only you can take the necessary actions to improve it.

Self Helping Yourself Tweet of the Week

Be sure to follow @YourselfHelping on Twitter.

Enjoy Five Boosts By Self Helping Yourself? Be sure to Subscribe and check out the Self Helping Yourself site.

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