Ideas: For a Successful, Less Complicated Life!

8 Great Anti-Hacks to Fundamentally Change Your Life

Here is an unusual article I found written by: Clay Collins, as was posted on: Zen Habits.net

"Albert Einstein stated that “problems cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them.” Einstein, of course, was right. Sometimes our problems require more than life hacks, tips, tweaks, etc. Sometimes our lives don’t need optimization, they need to be fundamentally reconfigured.

So What are Anti-Hacks?

“There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil for every one striking at the root.” - Henry David Thoreau

Anti-hacks attempt to solve problems by approaching them at a higher level of thinking (the prefix “anti,” by the way, can mean “instead of” as in “anti-drug,” or “anti-folk”). For example, while David Allen says that “mind like water” (piece of mind) comes from creating exhaustive to-do lists and getting everything out of your head, an anti-hack might involve meditation, because all the list-making in the world will not bring you to a meditative, mind-like-water state.

A hack might help you optimize your car’s engine so you get better gas mileage, whereas an anti-hack might involve moving near your place of employment to so you can walk or bike to work.

(By the way, creating a new word for an old idea can be a pretty pretentious thing. But I’m asking you to cut me some slack here. I’m not trying to push my own vocabulary, build a movement, or be clever; I just couldn’t think of a better term. Use whatever terms you want – I have no agenda. Still, I think the term “anti-hack” highlights a significant distinction between optimization — hacks, tweaks, tips, etc. — and reconfiguration).

Here are some of my more offensive thoughts, packaged as …

8 Random Anti-Hacks For Living" .. [read the rest of this article]

Find Clarity in One Day!

Check out this thought provoking article, I found, written by Tina Su, the creator of: "Think Simple Now" (Blog).

"Do you ever get so busy with the details of your life and the countless things you need to complete, that you end up feeling exhausted and disconnected?

The result: Your mind becomes clouded and unable to focus and you start to make poor decisions regarding your priorities. You end up working hard instead of working smart.

What do you do when this happens? Do you take the time to step out of the situation to regroup? Or do you continue with what you’re doing, all the while feeling that you’re running out of time, besides you still have a massive list of tasks to complete. In the past, my natural inclination was to do the latter and, in the end, I would be left feeling burnt out with my spirits down.

Lately I’ve been running around preparing for several major changes in my life. I’ve felt my mind becoming consumed by the problems revolving around these changes. My eating schedule became irregular and my decisions felt clouded. When my clarity started to fizzle, I found myself making decisions and judgments based on emotions rather than on logic or intuition arising out of clarity.

The following is a simple technique I’ve used to reconnect myself to what’s most important: my inner self. In doing so, Clarity came.
Clarity Day

I’ve always been attracted to the idea of a Spiritual Day or a Clarity Day, in which you spend the whole day disconnected from the information world and the many distractions of modern life, and start to connect within yourself.

If this sounds too mystical, don’t get caught up with the words, they are just linguistic symbols to communicate ideas. When you really get into such a day, it can become a source of great bliss and understanding of one’s self. During these times, we can experience tremendous personal growth, peace, and satisfaction.

This is also the perfect chance to clear out the noise and mental clutter that collects in our inner space from the hectic demands of our life. Through better understanding of ourselves and our surroundings, we gain more than clarity, we gain self confidence.

Similar to Self Dates or Alone Time, on a Clarity Day your goal is to spend an enjoyable day on your own and away from everyday distractions. Aim for minimal planning, so that you spend the day following your heart and enjoying the spontaneous expressions of the present moment.

Here’s an example of how I spent this past Saturday, when I deeply needed clarity and to connect with myself: " .. [read the rest of this article]

The Sky is Falling….

Check out this interesting and thought provoking article, written by: Ellie Walsh, the creator of: "Living The Law Of Attraction" (Blog).

“Help! The Sky is Falling!”

Hmmm - Haven’t we all heard that somewhere before?!

The original story of “Chicken Little” — The story was about Chicken Little who was in the woods one day when an acorn fell on his head. “Help” He yelled “The Sky is Falling! I have to go tell the King!” On his way anyone he met he told them with great horror “The Sky is Falling” — the other’s joined him in his terror!

Oh their way to tell the King they met up with Foxy — Now Foxy was not buying into the idea that the sky was falling - he instead saw a great opportunity for himself - So he told them he knew a shortcut to get to the King… He instead led them to his foxhole and ate them all!

Ellie - why are you telling us this story and what does it have to do with the Law of Attraction?

Well - Look at the dynamics of that story — Apparently Chicken Little was feeling vulnerable - had beliefs that something terrible could happen to him - had beliefs that indeed the sky could fall and kill them all! Then he ran about exciting others with his story. Those that also had fears or feelings of being vulnerable joined him in his doomsday story!

And Foxy… Well Foxy didn’t buy into the idea that the sky was falling. Instead Foxy saw he could take advantage of all these animals that were so filled with fear!

Why did Chicken Little and his friends even meet up with Foxy? Normally these little animals always made sure they stayed out of Foxy’s way - but in their terror - they not only met up with him - they followed him!

Pretty good story of the Law of Attraction — all these little animals were so caught up in fear - so caught up believing that the sky was falling - they ended up getting eaten up — and all that happened to start this was an acorn fell out of the tree!

Now the story doesn’t tell you this part - but in the forest were other little animals - who never heard Chicken Little running around saying that the sky was falling - - apparently they did not watch the TV News, read the newspaper or hang out with the gossip folks at the coffee shop. Those little animals stayed happy and healthy! The sky did not fall on them and they did not get eaten up by a fox!" .. [read the rest of this article]

Transformation and Change?

Check out this interesting and thought provoking article I found on: "Stuck Between Transformation and Change", written by: Andrea Hess, the creator of the Empowered Soul (Blog).

"If we choose to walk a path of spiritual growth, we can be certain of one thing. We cannot grow and evolve spiritually while keeping our life circumstances exactly the same. Invariably, we will try to resist change. Eventually, though, we will get very stuck and highly uncomfortable on our journey if we cling to careers, relationships, and lifestyles that are out of alignment with the spiritual Beings we have become.

Spiritual growth and expanded consciousness change the rules of our lives. Values we were once attached to and truths we “knew” suddenly fall away and become unimportant. What once seemed impossible is suddenly within reach. The once unthinkable now becomes attractive. Careers, relationships, and all other life circumstances must be evaluated from an entirely new perspective. We move so far out of our comfort zone that we regard ourselves with astonishment, thinking “Is this still me?”

The truth is that we are not losing ourselves. We are becoming more and more of who we truly are – our Higher Self. Through spiritual development, our Higher Self trumps the priorities of the ego and becomes the driving force in our lives. Our Soul’s consciousness usually looks very different from our egoic consciousness. This is why, from time to time, the circumstances of our lives must adapt to reflect our new state of Being.

True discomfort arises when we resist this process. Sure, we yearn for spiritual transformation. But life changes? Who wants to deal with a messy break-up, with moving across the country, with financial upheaval, or with a career change? Sometimes it’s easier to stick our heads in the sand and pretend that we can manage within our current circumstances. We might even take a little break from our spiritual work, suddenly finding ourselves busy with drama or distraction.

We can spend years of our lives - perhaps even the rest of our lives - stuck between transformation and change. We can put limits on our growth, our fulfillment, and our ability to manifest what we want. We can hold on to life just the way it is. We can dabble at the same level of spiritual practice and stay within our comfort zone. Lots of people will support us in staying exactly where we are.

Or we can be courageous, and explore what our Soul’s consciousness might wish to create of our lives. We can step beyond what is safe and comfortable. We can throw away the rules we’ve lived by, and try on new ones to see if they fit. We can expand and then expand some more. We might discover that we are limitless as Creators, and that miracles occur daily. We might learn to take delight in completely unfamiliar territory.

We can do all of this, and more. But first, we must agree that transformation will inevitably create change.

Is there anything you’re holding on to that is limiting your spiritual transformation?

The Anatomy of Extreme Encouragement

On July 28th 2008, I found this unusual article written by: singer-song writer, Christine Kane

"Tara enrolled in my Great Big Dreams e-Seminar twice in a row. (Several people have done this to keep the momentum going.)

At the end of Tara’s first e-Seminar, she realized that she was not exactly happy in her relationship of several years. This is putting it mildly, methinks. But she hadn’t ever thought about happiness before. As so many of us have done in our lives, she had never considered her own joy as an option. The relationship was more about need and drama than it was about love or happiness.

In the first few days of her second e-Seminar, Tara wrote to me about her intention for her work in this next e-Seminar. She wrote: (Note: Tara is not from the U.S. English is her second language, but I love how she writes so I didn’t edit it.)

The situation with the man I love remains unchanged. I do not want to work on this. There is no solving for me. To me this seems like a forced resolution. It will come in its own time. I’m sure about this.

What I want to concentrate on is focusing on myself. I want to concentrate on self love and centering, knowing that every question I have is answered by my inner self.

My intent is to lead a centered fulfilling life, expressing self love and gratitude every day.

So, three days (THREE DAYS!) after she wrote this, I got an email from her, letting me know that her man had emailed her. He had fallen in love with someone else and no longer wanted to be with her or see her.

[This is where we pause the video.]

Now, here’s where the Extreme Encourager has a choice to make.

She can go to the typical place where everyone goes. We all know these places: The guy is an idiot. It must not have been meant to be. She’s lucky she learned the truth about him now before they got married or something. You poor thing. Men are pigs. Blah blah blah.

This stuff is all about the external. The “what happened.” The drama.

When you’re an Extreme Encourager, you dig deeper. You find the place of power. And the place of power here was Sara’s intention.” .. [read the rest of this article]

Can You Can Shift Your Negative Expectations?

Check out this thought provoking article on: "See How Easily You Can Shift Your Negative Expectations", written by: C.K. Reyes, one of the creators of: "Divine Purpose Unleashed" (Blog).

What is expectation?

For some of us it is a knowing that we will fail. For others it is a depression that permeates our lives. Still, for others, it is an unconscious belief that what we have to share with the world is worthless. Negative expectations seem to take the drivers seat without our conscious awareness. And I am here to wake you up and say STOP IT! Now!

I don’t want to assume, but just in case…

How long have you been holding yourself back out of your negative expectations? We could call them your fears. Have you ever thought to yourself, “I’m not good enough,” or, “I’ll surely fail,” or “It’s too much work,” and then given up on yourself? and your dreams? What does your internal dialog sound like? I bet it’s rougher than my powerful request for you to stop holding yourself back. Maybe your negative expectations have been the creative force behind your endeavors. If they have been, you can change if through simple but powerful choices you make on a daily basis. But…

Are other people’s negative expectations holding you back?

Maybe you share your dreams and instead of getting the extra excitement and support you hoped for, you discover you’ve entered a war zone. All your dreams get shot down by people who think they are helping you. They point out what could go wrong or why it won’t work out for you. Again, some simple choices you can make that will ensure that your negative expectations don’t run your life any longer.

Here are 3 steps to shifting your negative expectations

If you follow these steps, you will be well on your way to shifting your negative expectations and move yourself toward expressing your life purpose.

1. Know what it is that you want. I know this sounds simple, but really it can be quite challenging. I had everyone else’s ideas in my head for so long, I couldn’t even hear my own voice. So this step is crucial. Invest the time it takes to get quiet, filter out everyone else’s ideas from your own, and be totally and brutally honest with yourself. Ask: What do I really want. And then listen. It doesn’t do any good to ask and then not listen to your own wisdom.

2. Trust. Trust that your answer is your soul guiding you to an incredible life. Imagine that you won’t be happy until you have whatever your intuition told you. When we know what we want, we often talk ourselves out of it. Oh, that’s too big. Oh, what will they think? A common way that we get in our own way is that we know the answer, but we don’t listen to it. We discount it. But, you will feel it in your heart. Don’t talk about it yet, at least to naysayers. Let it permeate your thick walls of negative expectations. Ultimately, what you want is for you (yes, even if what we want effects everyone else as well).

3. Open your heart and consciously look for how the universe is supporting your desire. Expect it. Look for how the universe is guiding you to what you want, even in adversity. Recently, I read an article over on Remarkable Communication and Sonia Simone said, “We could try to be a little more aware as we move through our days–leave a little room open for the possibility that something extraordinary could happen…expect better out of our lives…expect greatness from our work…expect passionate fanaticism…expect personal lives and professional lives that nourished and enriched one another.” . [read the rest of this article]

Who Controls Your Focus?

Check out this thought provoking article on: "Who’s In Control Of Your Focus?", written by: Robin Skeen, the creator of: "Robin's Reflections" (Blog).

"Are you riding an emotional roller coaster as you go through your day? Do you wake up in a pretty good mood and find yourself sliding into a negative one created by external events or the people around you?

What is happening here is that you are turning control of how you feel over to something or someone else. Learning to deliberately use the Law of Attraction will return control of your emotions and focus back to you. That's where it belongs anyway.

If you are not keeping your focus protected and broadcasting the vibrations you want the Universe to receive, your abundance will never find you. The Law of Attraction is activated by your thoughts and feelings and will return more of what you are sending out. Think about that for a while.

We are all emotional beings and easily influenced by the day-to-day experiences we all have. If you are not used to controlling your own thoughts and emotions, you keep slipping back into old habits and tossing your focus into the trash.

All is not lost, however.

Here are two simple but powerful techniques to return control to you:

#1 “I make a choice to feel . . .”

Whenever you feel yourself getting derailed by events or other people, you can get back on track with these affirmations:

• “I make a choice to feel awed by the beauty around me.”

• “I make a choice to feel upbeat and know my good will find me.”

• “I make a choice to feel peace in the face of turmoil.”

• “I make a choice to feel joyful when those around me are not.” .. [read the rest of this article]

3 Tips for Making Your Own Music from Mozart!

Check out this article I found on: "Mozart’s Top 3 Tips for Making Your Own Kind of Music", written by: Henrik Edberg, the creator of "The Positivity Blog"

“Neither a lofty degree of intelligence nor imagination nor both together go to the making of genius. Love, love, love, that is the soul of genius.”

"Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart seemed to live a pretty fast and quick life. He started writing his own music when he was just four years old. When he was six he played violin to the emperor of Austria. At 14 he wrote music for Milan Opera.

As an adult he worked at a furious pace. By the end of his life he had written over 600 pieces of music. A life that ended early, just before his 36:th birthday.

Mozart was buried in an simple way. But went down in the history as one of the greatest composers of all time.

1. Go with your gut.

“I pay no attention whatever to anybody’s praise or blame. I simply follow my own feelings.”

People often want to be praised and like positive attention but want to be able to not take negative criticism to heart. But the two go together. To be able to give up one you have to give up your craving for the other too.

That doesn’t mean that you can’t be happy if someone gives you a compliment. It just means that you don’t need the praise. You are sure enough of yourself to not need or rely on praise from everyone anymore to feel good about yourself. You validate yourself. Instead of seeking everyone else’s validation in a rat race that you can keep running in for the rest of your life. Because other people’s validation will never be enough. You may be satisfied for a while. But soon the ego wants a little more.

And for several reasons it is most often better to go with your gut. Three of them are:

* People give advice on everything. Perhaps they are right. Perhaps what they are saying works for them but works differently for you. Perhaps they are just saying things that are a reflection of their own pessimism or negativity rather than of how things actually work. It is often better to just do and find out for yourself what happens.

* You have to make your own mistakes. People may want to protect your from making mistakes, failing and getting hurt. And that’s all well and good. But if you never make any mistakes or fail you will not learn and understand all that you can. Or expand your comfort zones and your life. Or make yourself emotionally strong and self-confident as you learn that you are resilient and can handle much more than you might think. Mistakes and failure can be quite helpful if you look at them in a useful way. Check out 4 Reasons Why Failure is Pretty Awesome for more on this.

* Thoughts aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. Your thoughts may try to tell you that they are the best things since sliced bread. But often they can become self-imposed obstacles. Or start running in pointless loops as you get stuck in overthinking things. But deep down you feel what the right thing to do is. And if you follow those feelings then in retrospect you often realize that it was the right thing to do. Or if not, then you have a good opportunity to learn a few lessons. :)

2. You choose how you want to be treated.

“One must not make oneself cheap here - that is a cardinal point - or else one is done. Whoever is most impertinent has the best chance.”

Do you have to be impertinent to get things done? Perhaps not. But you have to choose how you want to be treated. If you go along as you have always done then nothing will change in how people treat you." .. [read the rest of this article]

Are we prisoners of our past?

Here is a short article on: "Are you an elephant?", written by: Edith Yeung, the creator of: Edith Yeung.com - Dream Think Act

"I am reading this book called “How to be Happy, Dammit” by Karen Salmonsohn. I had the please to meet Karen a couple months ago and thought she was a really energetic, fun woman and good speaker too!

I read this story from Karen’s book last night about how elephants never forget…

“The first trick an elephant trainer teaches an elephant is not to escape. When the elephant is still but a baby, the trainer chains the infant’s leg to a huge log, so when/if the elephant tries to escape the log proves stronger and he gives up. Eventually the elephant becomes so used to its captivity, that even when it has grown huge and strong, all the trainer has to do is merely tie the chain around the elephants’ leg to anything – even a tiny little twig – an the elephant won’t even try to escape.

The elephant has become a prisoner of its past.”

Aren’t we all prisoners of our past?

We often tell ourselves…

I can’t do this.
There is no way I would be able to do this.
This is impossible.
Nothing good would come out of this.
I can’t possible make this happen.

Aren’t these all elephant talks?

It is about time you and I stop being an elephant.

Learn Abundance From Those Who Are Abundant

Check out this interesting and thought provoking article, I found, written by singer-songwriter: Tupelo Kenyon

"How many people have you met in your lifetime not interested in more abundance? Allowing more abundance and actively manifesting more abundance is a fundamental urge of nearly everyone.

As we get in closer alignment with our creative center, this urge for “more” is inevitable. It is natural for us to desire a life of more freedom, more abundance and more joy. This is the same urge as the expansion of all life to grow into more than what it has been before.

Inspired by the Abundance of Others

Those of us interested in personal development and living an inspired life are familiar with the concept of abundance. We see other people manifesting more abundance in their lives than us, and it inspires us. If they can do it, we can do it. So we keep our eyes and ears open for creative ways to make it so.

Use the Law of Attraction to Create Abundance on Purpose

We know from the Law of Attraction . . . “that like unto itself is drawn.” In the context of abundance, that means thoughts and emotions of abundance spawn more of the same. The opposite is also true. Thoughts of neediness and poverty snowball into more of the same. Our experience reflects what we think about all day.

Abundance Mindset

That’s why it’s so important to adopt the abundance mindset. Even when the outer evidence suggests the opposite, we must learn to discipline ourselves to think abundantly and picture our world through the eyes of an allower of abundance.

“Abundance is, in large part, an attitude.” - Sue Patton Thoele

Nurturing Our Fertile Minds with Superior Mental Nutrition

It all begins with out thoughts, so we must nourish our mind with mental nutrition of abundance. When we adopt this habit of plenty, the Law of Attraction goes to work and dutifully delivers exactly whatever is our predominate thought about abundance.

“First comes thought; then organization of that thought, into ideas and plans; then transformation of those plans into reality. The beginning, as you will observe, is in your imagination.” - Napoleon Hill

We Can’t Afford the Luxury of Stinkin’ Thinkin’

That means we can’t get away with thinking abundantly only 20% of the time while the other 80% is working against us. We can’t allow ourselves to be lost in thoughts of lack and limitation. It’s up to us to make a deliberate decision to tip the scales in our favor.

Whenever we notice thoughts working against what we truly want, we pause and turn it around – right then and there. We re-work the thought in the moment so it contributes to our desire of living an ever-more abundant life.

“To be healthy, wealthy, happy and successful in any and all areas of your life you need to be aware that you need to think healthy, wealthy, happy and successful thoughts twenty four hours a day and cancel all negative, destructive, fearful and unhappy thoughts. These two types of thought cannot coexist if you want to share in the abundance that surrounds us all.” - Sidney Madwed" .. [read the rest of this article]