Ideas: For a Successful, Less Complicated Life!

How Much Stuff Do You Really Need?

Here is an interesting article, I found on: "How Much Stuff Do You Need?", written by: Scott H. Young.

"You need stuff to live. You need food to eat, water to drink and (at least in most climates) a roof over your head. At a basic level, stuff is necessary for survival. The question is, how much stuff do you really need? And, how can you own things without having them control your life?

I think these are important questions to answer for anyone living in an industrialized country today. We are rapidly reaching the point where basic necessities are almost guaranteed. The problem is no longer getting enough stuff to survive, it’s deciding the role stuff plays in our lives.

Unfortunately, I don’t think many people are actively tackling this question. Instead, they are just letting television commercials and celebrity magazines decide for them.

Comfort Versus Fulfillment

Stuff makes you more comfortable. The more stuff you own, the easier it is to satisfy your need for comfort. Hunger, cold and, to a lesser extent, boredom can all be conquered by buying more stuff. At least on the surface, more stuff is good.

Comfort isn’t the same as fulfillment. You can’t buy the feeling of having meaningful work, great relationships or a goal your passionate about. I know it’s a cliche, but the best things in life can’t be bought. Comfort is nice, but it can’t compensate for an unfulfilling job or lousy friends.

Normally, more stuff is better. All else being equal, being more comfortable will make you happier. The problem is when comfort conflicts with fulfillment. When you need to make a decision that increases one at the expense of the other. In these cases, more stuff can be damaging.

Conflicts with Stuff

One example I’ve written about before is your poverty threshold. This is the minimum level of comfort you’re willing to tolerate. The more discomfort you can temporarily withstand, the more flexibility you have to pursue fulfilling goals. Would you be willing to take a 50% pay cut to switch to a career you found meaningful? Your answer depends on your poverty threshold.

Another example I’ve written about is living a digital lifestyle. Taking advantage of a digital life requires you to be frugal with the amount of stuff you own. Big houses, cars and wardrobes can become a burden if you want to travel and explore a lot of the world.

Those are just two examples, but there are many other decisions where you need to make a trade between comfort and fulfillment." .. [read the rest of this article]

The Winds of Change Will Ruffle Your Sails!

Here is an interesting and thought provoking article I found, written by Aaron Potts, the creator of: "Today is That Day" (Blog).

"If nothing changes, then nothing changes, so you need to let go of the notion that improving your life will not include changing it in the process.

Albert Einstein is quoted as saying "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them" and that statement could not be more accurate. If your dream life is different than the life you are presently living, then you are going to have to make some changes, and those changes could be downright radical, and even uncomfortable. However, if I may tip the hat to another great quote (author unknown), "Do today what others won't so you can do tomorrow what others can't".

As you look towards the life that you want to lead, you may very well have to also look at some radical or uncomfortable changes that need to occur in order for you to start living that life. The winds of change - as they continually blow across the sands of time - will sometimes rock your boat or get sand in your eye, and sometimes they will even knock you flat. Nonetheless, the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is there waiting for all of those who do what it takes to power through and take hold of their dreams.

As is often the case here on the Today is that Day blog, my inspiration for blog posts comes from my very own life, and that is the case here as well. My own life is about to radically change (for the better!), yet at the same time, the tasks involved in creating that change are large and could easily be overwhelming if I didn't know how to control those kinds of emotions.

So, rather than freak out and turn into a useless mass of blabbering inefficiency, I have instead come up with a great plan of action that - as indicated above - will require some radical changes on my part in order to make it all happen. In order to come up with that plan, I utilized a simple, 4-step challenge solving process:

1. Identify the Primary Goal - There are numerous factors that go into facing up to any challenge, but there is always one primary goal that will then fuel or enable the rest of the tasks. Find that one primary goal, and focus on that one thing, to the exclusion of everything else.
2. Assess what Resources you have Available - Often times money helps to grease the wheels of goal attainment, but you may still have to access other resources as well - possibly in order to get that money. Those resources could include your own skills, your experiences, your circle of influence, or even material possessions that might be part of the solution.
3. Find a way to use those Resources to attain the Primary Goal - Now is the time to think outside of the box. Remember, if nothing changes, then nothing changes. If you're alive (and you are!), then you have something to offer that will help you to get what you want.
4. Refuse to accept Defeat as an Option - As long as you continue to hold onto some sort of safety net in case things don't work out, those things WON'T work out, because you will always know in the back of your mind that if you fall (or fail), the net will catch you. DECIDE that you are going to get what you want, and COMMIT to getting it at all costs. Failure is NOT an option!

A Real Life Example:

In my case, the changes in question include moving to the east coast of Florida in order to start a very cool, very unique coastal fitness program. After almost 2 years of working almost exclusively from home, the winds of change now find me:

* Moving all the way to within walking distance of the beach from my present central Florida location
* Starting a company that will ultimately be incorporated, spreading my unique business idea all over the world
* Being available 3 or 4 times per day outside of my home to train clients
* Hiring, training, and managing employees, which is something that I have always managed to avoid in the past

Identify the Primary Goal - This entire business idea is predicated on living by the beach. As much as I love the beach, it's not about sun-bathing and dolphin-watching, but rather utilizing the coastal community as the catalyst and the life-blood of the business. Moving to the beach is the Primary Goal. Without that, nothing else matters.

Assess my Available Resources - My personal development products, my social networking site, my skills and abilities, my fitness coaching site, and my circle of influence." .. [read the rest of this article]

Becoming Detached From An Outcome!

Here is a thought provoking article I found on: "3 Ways To Detach From An Outcome", written by: Gary Evans, the creator of: Good To Feel Good  (Blog).

"Removing your attachment to your desires is crucial to you achieving them. I’m not perfect and have had quite a bit of difficulty in letting go of some of my money related desires.

For example… As an online business owner, I’ve found that I can get way to attached to the amount of online sales I make every day. If sales are low, then I find myself feeling miserable and down about it. And equally, when sales are up, I feel happier about things. This is a perfect example of being too attached to the outcome of a desire.

Having that strong attachment is actually hindering my desire to create more sales, since I’m unable to release the need. Needing only creates more needing. Releasing it and letting it go leaves your vibration pure and positive, allowing your desires to flow freely to you.

The more I practice releasing, the more I’m getting better with detaching from my the outcome of my desires. Here are three ways that I’ve found to be helpful in letting go…

Change Your Focus – This sounds really simple, but it really works very well! When you take your attention away from your desires and put your attention on to something that pleases you, your vibration is going to immediately rise upwards. The best method I’ve found of changing your focus is to play a game where you find a thought that feels better.

Starting from whatever you may be feeling, make it your intention to find thoughts that make you feel better. It can be about your desire, or it can be about anything else. As long as you reach for thoughts that make you feel better, that’s the trick to this game.

In my DVD, Remaining Positive When Bad Stuff Happens, I talk you through this process of finding a thought that feels better by giving you a case study example.

Feel Good – If you’ve been reading my blog for any amount of time, then you should by now realize that I emphasize a lot on feeling good. Why? Because feeling good is glorious! When you feel good, good things are attracted to you. It is that simple.

When you feel good, the attachment to the desire softens up and allows you to move your attention elsewhere. That’s exactly what you want if you find yourself clinging onto your desire with both hands.

Lighten up a little and feel good for the purpose of feeling good. Go and meditate or take a walk in the woods. Read a good book if that makes you feel good. Do anything you can to feel good." .. [read the rest of this article].

What Are The Benefits Of Uncertainty?

On June 16th 2008, I found this article on: The Benefits Of Uncertainty (Yes, You Read It Correct!), written by: Shamelle Perera the creator of: "Enhance Life" (Blog).

The world we live and work in is marked by unprecedented uncertainty. The certainty path is just one path (on most occasions). There’s undoubtedly a lot of exciting stuff on that plan. Then again, there are an infinite number of uncertainty paths, which might also be exciting!

I am not a big fan of uncertainty myself. I like the plain old “non-risky” certainty path. But despite its unpopularity, there are some benefits of uncertainty, even though we don’t realize it.

1. Uncertainty is fun whenever you are in a receptive mood.
Can you recall a situation where uncertainty brought you pleasure? For example, may be you wouldn’t have met your loved one, if it hadn’t been for [insert your reason here]. Or Say that on a recent trip to Seville you forgot your guidebook, headed for the old town and got a bit lost. But did you find some places you’d have never come across otherwise. And you got much more opportunity to use your Spanish. It was fun.

2. Uncertainty will allow you to develop acceptance.
Acceptance is an ability to simply accept what’s happening and live with it. Yes, I know; when bad things happen to us none of us like it. But bad things happen....they do! It’s a fact of life, and sometimes there’s nothing much we can do about it. With time, we come to accept these uncertain situations and it shapes us to be the person we are today.

3. Uncertainty gives you access to creative breakthroughs.
There are times, when those “what if” questions lead to wonderful discoveries. “What if ” thinking is only powerful when it springs out of curiosity rather than fear. Whatever your role, your job, you will appreciate that creativity.

4. Uncertainty keeps hope alive.
Think about it. If we knew what would be in store for us for the coming months for certain, then it is very like that we won’t be that hopeful. For example, lets say you can know for SURE that the oil prices are going to rise even future, for the next 2 years. If you knew this for SURE, it is very unlikely that you will be hopeful of reduced oil prices. So, in its weird way, uncertainty gives us hope.

5. Uncertainty is not silly.
As we measure and metric and litigate the spontaneity out of the world, realize that uncertainty is not foolish but remarkably powerful. Can you be uncertain enough to cope?

Do You Have Life Balance and Harmony?

Check out this short (9 Minute) YouTube video, I found on: "Prescription for Balance and Harmony", produced by: Huena Su, the creator of: Intensive Care for the Nurturer's Soul.

[Click Here] to start the video.

Changing Your Perceptions…Can You Do It?

Here is an interesting article I found, written by: Stephen J. Hopson, the creator of Adversity University Blog.

"How we perceive ourselves and the world we live in is largely a function of our upbringing, the environment in which we previously and currently reside in, the kind of people we associate with and our core beliefs, to name a few.

A common theme running throughout my teachings here and elsewhere is the power of our perceptions. If not cared for, the prejudices of our mind has the potential of distorting and hindering what we really see.

Two years ago, I wrote a post about 6 Ways a Change of Perception Can Bless You with Peace and Inner Knowing. I’d like to revisit this topic again because I believe it really can change your life and take you places you’ve never dreamed of going.

How we handle tough situations depends on how we view the various elements in play. For instance, if you were treated shabbily by someone for any reason, what’s usually the first thought that occupies your mind’s real estate? Revenge? Anger? Or would you see that person as teaching you a lesson of sorts?

With all the bad news touted by the media, do you believe you’re doomed to a life of misery? Or do you believe you can rise above it?

What about 9/11? Was that a good or bad event?

I love tackling this subject because I’ve found that all it takes is a slight adjustment of our attitude to cause us to see the bigger picture. When that happens, not only do you find that you are truly in command of your thoughts but that there’s usually a lesson hidden in there somewhere.

Say someone bullied you as a youngster or even now - perhaps an arrogant boss. Maybe you suffered abuse at the hand of an authority figure. Do you believe those things happened for a higher purpose? Or do you believe you’re were/are a victim?

When 9/11 happened, I was horrified along with the rest of America. But when I looked at the event closely, I realized there was silver lining behind it. What happened brought everyone together - we were united as one nation. Even if we didn’t know anyone who was killed or injured, we were in some way touched by it. That led to a massive wave of compassion rarely before seen in society as a whole. (Photo: happyarm)

Unfortunately, this sense of unity was short-lived and because of that, the drama continues to play out in other ways until the lesson is finally learned.

Let me change tactics for a moment. How do you view a homeless person? With disgust? Contempt?

If I told you a homeless person was placed on your path to teach you a lesson in humility and gratitude, would you think I was crazy? Or would you think there might be something there? (Photo: Franco Folini)

Imagine if you viewed a homeless person in a different way. Perhaps with love and compassion. Have you ever considered the possibility that a homeless person could very well have a divine mission to show you just how fortunate you really are? Think about it.

The moment I realized being born deaf had a divine purpose behind it, my entire life shifted in a split second. No longer did I feel sorry for myself. All of a sudden, I had a mission worth pursuing. Ironically, I was given this gift of communication to demonstrate that it is indeed possible to achieve the impossible. I realize I’m just one person. What about other deaf people you encounter? What is your reaction when you meet a person who can’t hear? Do you shy away, thinking you have nothing in common with that person? Or does it make you realize just how lucky you are to have normal hearing?

Do you see what I’m getting at? I’m in no way advocating a life of “Pollyanna” where everything is just wonderful. It has to do with a way of thinking. I am inviting you to consider the possibility of raising your level of awareness and making the shift between a life of unconscious to conscious living.

Ken, a subscriber to this blog, left a couple of very good questions at the “Lies We Tell Ourselves” post; one of which was “When is it okay to lie?” The answer all depends on your perception.

According to the law of attraction, you attract in your life dominant thoughts. If you think the world is out to get you, that’s exactly what you will experience. Henry Ford once said, (paraphrasing here) “if you think so, you are right. If you don’t think so, you are also right.” In other words, if you believe the world is conspiring to bless you, you are right. If not, then you’re right on that count also!" .. [read the rest of this article]

How to Dealing With Life's Highs and Lows

Here is an interesting and thought provoking article on: "How to Deal With The Highs and Lows of Life", written by: Brian Kim.

"Ups and downs, highs and lows, good times and bad times, it’s all part of life. Nature has always displayed this duality in terms of its cycles - the winter and spring, planting and harvesting, the high and low tides, day and night, it’s everywhere you look.

We all experience it. So when these high and low times inevitably come into our lives, how do we deal with them?

The first thing to do is to just to realize that such is life. You WILL have cycles of highs and lows. And there’s nothing inherently wrong with that. It’s just how it is.

The second thing to realize in relation to that, is that it happens to everyone. Nobody is immune to it. Everybody experiences it, even if they don’t necessarily show it.

The third thing, and probably the most important point to get down is that it happens for good reason. We need the fluctuation. It helps prepare us to weather and learn from the future highs and lows that we will inevitably experience so we can understand how to get back to our equilibrium quicker.

The first low of any kind always feels the worse. The first time you get laid off, the first time you get your heart truly broken, the first time you utterly fail at a particular goal - it hurts bad.

Really bad.

But we inevitably learn how to get back to our equilibrium in time, even if we feels like we never will.

We slowly pull ourselves up with our own strength. We get help from those around us. We learn and devise our own tactics and techniques to help get us back to equilibrium that we can later use in the event we find ourselves in a similar situation in the future." .. [Click Here]  to read the rest of this article.

What is Mind "Spam"?

Here is an article I found written by: singer-songwriter: Christine Kane, on: "What Spam Can Teach You About Inner Peace"

"Let’s hearken back to the early days of email.

You dial up. You listen to the squeaky scratchy noises. You wait for the AOL man to say “Welcome!” You wait to see if he’s finished his greeting, or if he’s simply pausing before telling you the exciting news: “You’ve got mail!”

Woo-hoo!

These were the days when email was exciting. Each one mattered.

Fast forward to now. Email is ubiquitous. If you have your own website and domain name, you can open up your computer in the morning and find 198 new emails. Most of them spam.

This week alone, even with my spam filters working like crazy, hundreds of spam email got through.

What if we sat down, opened each one of them, took them very seriously, and even spent time clicking through the links? What if we actually believed these emails?

If that were the case, here’s a fraction of what I would’ve believed this week (and I am making none of this up):

• that I can get a genuine (yes, genuine!) university degree in 6 weeks.

• that my penis needs updating.

• that there are major errors and breaches in my NatWest, SunTrust and Halifax bank accounts, and I no longer have access to these accounts I never knew I had.

• that I am inadequate and can choose not to be inadequate anymore and that Viagra could help with my feelings of inadequacy.

• that my website looks good but my traffic sucks.

• that nothing impresses business colleagues more than a classic Chanel strapped around my wrist.

• that Mrs. Roesel Kunie’s late husband left her $24 million, but she has no children to give it to, and she’s got cancer and she wants to give this money to me. (Oh, and I am to trust in the Lord.)

• that I can boost my confidence with a larger organ. (No mention of the size of my piano or guitar.)

• that many many nice girls are bored tonight and would like to chat with me.

• that es gibt keinen einzigen Grund, auf einen Schuhputzautomaten zu verzichten!

As you can see, it was quite a week for me. And that’s only a small snapshot.

Of course, I do not click on any of the links. I do what we all do…

I hit delete as fast as I can.

Okay. So, we all get spam. We all ignore it. It continues to come. So what?

Well, ponder something here.

Let’s hearken (yes, we’re doing that again) back to the early days of thoughts - say, when you were two or three. A thought was a simple thing. (”You’ve got thoughts!”) A thought here. A thought there.

“I like dad.”

“That is mine.”

“I want the earring on her ear to be in my fist right now.”

As you got older, however, your mind became like Mrs. Roesel Kunie, the nice girls who are bored, Viagra, and the luxury watch warehouse.

In other words, your mind became a spammer. It began to generate thoughts constantly.

And admit it. You encouraged it." .. [read the rest of this article]

Why Do We Get Angry With People?

Check out this interesting and thought provoking article I found written by: Kenton Whitman

"The other day, one of the big oaks in our forest broke in half during a windstorm. The top part crashed down, crushing a number of other trees beneath it.

The day after it fell, Rebecca and I sat on the fallen section, looking up at the old oak. Since we’re rather fond of trees, and particularly fond of the trees in our forest, we found ourselves considering how odd it was that we weren’t angry with the old oak for crushing all those other trees beneath it.

To illustrate, consider that a storm comes by your house and blows a branch into a window, breaking it. Of course, this is a perfectly natural occurrence. We might be angry, but we’re not angry at the tree or at the windstorm. In fact, if the anger is directed anywhere, we might direct it at ourselves since we didn’t notice how close that branch was to our window, and trim it off before it had a chance to do some damage.

Now, if the neighbor boy comes running through the yard and throws a rock into our window, we will feel quite different, won’t we? Now our anger is directed at the boy, and we’ll probably find some way to punish him.

This all seems very normal to us. We can’t really get angry at rocks and trees and even at most animals, because they are not acting with free will. But we often get angry with human beings (including ourselves), because we do act via free will.

A while ago, I wrote a post calling free will into question. If we look honestly, we discover that we don’t really have any conclusive evidence that free will exists (and conversely, no conclusive evidence that it doesn’t).

It is interesting if we sit down and really spend some time thinking about this issue of free will. If you watch your mind carefully, you will see that we have a very ingrained belief that free will exists. And if you continue to think on the issue, taking the time to examine it fully, you very well may discover that you want to jump to the opposite conclusion.

In other words, if we observe with our full intelligence, we will discover that we really don’t know whether there is free will or not.

It’s a bit odd, then, that we spend so much energy applying ourselves to being angry with ourselves or others because of this belief in free will.

After all, how else can you be angry with someone unless they’ve done something under the context of free will?" .. [read the rest of this article]

How to Getting Off the Hamster Wheel!

Here is an article on: "How to Get Off the Hamster Wheel and Get on With Life", written by singer-songwriter: Christine Kane

"My friend Donna had a dream of leaving her job and starting a landscaping business. Five years ago, she took the leap and began The Dirty Hoe. For a while, whenever I saw Donna, she was radiant. The business took off. Her dreams were coming true!

Last week, Donna visited me. She looked tired, and her enthusiasm had vanished. I recognized that look. It’s the “hamster-on-the-wheel” stage of self-employment. She confirmed my suspicion when she said, “I feel like I’m working just so I can pay my employees.”

I recalled a day when I was in a co-writing session in a Nashville office. The other songwriter and I began chatting about our careers. My CD Right Outta Nowhere had just been released, and I was on the road constantly. As I talked about my life, I started crying. Not the Ingrid Bergman eyes-brimming-glamorously kind of crying. This was the bad kind of crying. The kind that scares people.

On the outside, I had succeeded. My dreams had come true. My office was run by a well-paid, full-benefits, full-time employee. I had a packed touring schedule. My CD’s were selling well. And I was freakin’ exhausted. I had reached the hamster-on-a-wheel stage of being a musician. I was running and running just to keep my office going.

If you have your own business, if you’re self-employed, if you’re a musician, a massage therapist, a consultant, or an artist - then perhaps you know this feeling. Maybe you feel like that right now.

Here are 13 ways to break that cycle and take your work (and your life) back…

1 - Commit to getting off the wheel

I meet musicians all the time who say they need to break the cycle that puts them on the road all the time. But they never actually commit to that shift.

Don’t just say you want to get off the wheel. Commit to breaking the pattern. Even if it takes a year to create a new paradigm (it took me about two), make a choice to stop doing your work the same old way. This will take consistent practice.

2 - Stop assuming there’s only one way to do your career

Break your own new ground. Don’t assume that it has to be the way everyone else does it. Don’t follow the crowd. Find a new model. In fact, be the new model!

3 - Create a User’s Manual to You for you

Your User’s Manual to You is your own guide to you and your work. It reminds you how much you bill out for, when you get paid, that you require a deposit in advance, that no client is allowed to be rude or abusive to you, that you don’t respond to emails or work-related calls on weekends and if you make exceptions to that, and that a client can be fired if certain standards are not being met. Write everything you can think of, and then set it aside. Keep notes for a week as you discover new areas that need boundaries. Then revisit your Users Manual again. Make a final draft with bullet points, and post it on your wall by your desk." .. [read the rest of this article]