The Daily Mind

Daily Steps To Mindful Living

inspiration

Full esteem ahead – tips for boosting your self-esteem

Inspiration, Personal Growth, Spirit

Low self-esteem is a problem which affects many of us from time to time. It’s certainly something that I’ve battled with throughout my life. I thought for this particular blog post I would take a look at some strategies to combat low-self esteem and promote feelings of positivity and wellbeing.

Be kinder to yourself
Our self-esteem is based on how we feel about ourselves and, for most of us, we’re way too harsh. Take a moment to think about the things you say to yourself. Have a listen to that little voice in your head – is it critical, negative, harsh?
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Originally posted on March 20, 2012 @ 8:55 pm

Boost your mind, body and spirit

Body, Inspiration, Meditation, Mind, Personal Growth, Spirit

Sometimes the pressures of life can take their toll on our minds and bodies, leaving us exhausted, depressed and lacking in energy. Here’s how to give your mind, body and spirit a lift.

Mind
Make sure you start every day on a positive note. Instead of reading the papers or watching the news which, let’s face it, generally leaves you feeling pretty miserable, read a book that inspires you instead. You can catch up on the news later in the day, but make sure the first thing you read leaves you feeling uplifted.

Creative Commons License photo credit: Anders.Bachmann
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Originally posted on February 17, 2012 @ 10:33 am

How to use the power of positive affirmations

Inspiration, Mental Health, Mind, Personal Growth, Spirit

Since recently coming back from my travels around south east Asia, I’ve been feeling a bit unfocused and unsure of what the future holds. In order to tackle this, I’ve started practising positive affirmations; something I’ve always found useful in focusing my mind and combating any negative thoughts that creep in. So, for this blog post, I’m going to talk about affirmations: what are they, why should we practise them and how can they help us?

A thinking Man
Creative Commons License photo credit: Klafkid

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Originally posted on January 18, 2012 @ 11:40 am

Be your own NLP master

Personal Growth, Spirit

I’m a big fan of NLP – or neuro linguistic programming – so I thought I’d devote this particular blog post to some of my favourite NLP techniques.

NLP is a personal development system based on an understanding of how the mind works – how people use thoughts, feelings, words and actions – and using this understanding to enhance our potential. Life’s everyday challenges can often produce stress, anxiety or anger if we are unable to find the right strategies to deal with them, so this is where NLP can come in handy.


Creative Commons License photo credit: aithom2

Here are some things NLP can help with:

  • Releasing negative emotions such as anger, depression, anxiety, sadness, fear, hurt and guilt.
  • Helping people who feel stuck in their careers or relationships, or those who are looking to change direction in their life.
  • Boosting confidence and self belief in all areas of life.
  • Demonstrating how to focus on what you want and feeling good, rather than on what you don’t want and feeling bad.
  • Providing effective listening and communication skills to improve relationships with colleagues, family, partners, and most of all yourself.

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Originally posted on December 27, 2011 @ 6:49 am

Tips for the mindful traveller

Life, Mindfulness, Travel

I’ve not mentioned this before, but I’ve been writing my blog posts for the Daily Mind whilst travelling through South East Asia.

It’s been an enlightening journey in many ways, but I was particularly struck this week by the behaviour of my fellow travellers. We’ve been visiting some fascinating sites, from the Buddha park in Vang Vieng, Laos, to the Grand Palace at Bangkok, yet so few travellers seem to be living in the present moment and absorbing what they are seeing. Most people are busy clicking away on their cameras or filming the view that I wonder how much of the actual experience they are taking in. Others are texting or updating their Facebook and Twitter, telling their friends about what they’re seeing.

I’ve been guilty of this myself in the past, so I’ve decided to make it a bit of a project to be more mindful and present during my travels/holidays in order to fully appreciate the experience. Here are some ideas I’ve come up with, which I think can also be relevant to everyday life:


Creative Commons License photo credit: Venturist
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Originally posted on November 15, 2011 @ 9:51 am

How to streamline your life

Life, Personal Growth

If you’re anything like me, you’ll find yourself constantly rushing around trying to fit lots of things into the day and never quite feeling that there’s enough time. I think the key here is time management – something that doesn’t come easily to me, I must admit – so that’s why for this blog I’ve decided to speak to a number of health experts to get some tips. I’m going to take a look at how to manage your work life better so that you feel less stressed, and I’m also going to look at how to fit more time in your day for fitness, a healthy diet and meditation.

Work

I like to think that I’m pretty organised, but I do sometimes get overwhelmed at work when I’ve got lots of things to do at once. I asked business coach Catherine Billam for some advice on how to be better at multi-tasking and, interestingly, she claims that it’s “a very inefficient way of using the brain.” She adds: “Doing two tasks at once can reduce your performance by up to 50 per cent, and constant emailing or text messaging reduces intelligence by an average of 10 points on an IQ test.” Yikes! That puts my IQ down by several numbers.

Instead of trying to juggle lots of tasks, Catherine advises cutting your day into chunks and focusing on one type of activity at a time. “Have separate chunks of time for admin, phone calls, meetings, emails, dealing with today’s emergencies, planning, creative thinking and writing,” she says.

Catherine also suggests being clever in the way that you plan your day. “Do the most difficult tasks when you have the most energy and the routine tasks when you have the least energy,” she says.

“Most people are at their brightest early in the morning, so do your hardest creative tasks and decision-making then. If dealing with admin or emails is routine, do that when you have less energy. Most people have a dip in the middle of the afternoon. Do routine tasks then.” I’ve always wondered what to do during the dreaded 3pm slump – now I know!

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Originally posted on October 21, 2011 @ 10:51 am