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Lyn Bailey – Life by Design

Tag: happiness

  • Mindfulness Tips

    Mindfulness Tips

    Mindfulness Tips for Daily Life

     

    Learn how to practice mindfulness with simple techniques and tips for all ages. Enhance your well-being and manage stress effectively. Start today!

    Mindful.org emphasizes how mindfulness can reduce stress, sharpen focus, and just make you feel better overall. It’s like giving your mind a much-needed break from the constant chatter.

    When you incorporate mindfulness into your routine, you start to live with more intention. You’re not just reacting to everything on autopilot. This shift in perspective can make your experiences richer and help you handle life’s inevitable ups and downs with more resilience.

    Think of mindfulness as a powerful tool in your back pocket, ready to help you manage anxiety and stress. It’s a path towards better mental health and a calmer, more focused you.

    Integrate Mindfulness into Your Day

    Instead of thinking of mindfulness as something “extra” you have to do, try weaving it into your existing routine. Here’s how you can bring mindfulness to three key parts of your day:

    Mindful Mornings: Start Your Day Right

    How you begin your morning sets the tone for everything you do. Instead of immediately reaching for your phone, take a few moments for yourself. Think about how you want to approach the day. What qualities do you want to embody? What kind of energy do you want to bring to your interactions? Setting a clear intention first thing in the morning can make a world of difference.

    Mindful Work: Stay Present at Work 

    Let’s be real: work can get stressful. But you can use mindfulness to stay grounded, even on hectic days. If you feel your attention waning or frustration mounting, try taking a few deep breaths. This simple act can bring you back to the present moment and help you respond to challenges with more clarity. Remember, mindfulness can actually improve your focus, allowing you to be more productive and engaged with your tasks.

    Mindful Evenings: Wind Down with Intention 

    After a long day, it’s tempting to just collapse on the couch. But taking a few minutes for a mindful wind-down can lead to more restful sleep. Try a short walk and pay attention to the sights, sounds, and sensations around you. As you get ready for bed, reflect on your day. What went well? What are you grateful for? Acknowledging both the positive and negative experiences can help you process your emotions and let go of any lingering stress.

    Remember, mindfulness is a journey, not a destination. Be patient with yourself, experiment with different techniques, and find what works best for you.

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  • How to Make Your Journaling More Effective

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    Any type of journal that you keep can be beneficial. It doesnít matter if itís just to document your life or to work through problems – you can use a journal to do it all. From tracking your projects to documenting vacation to overcoming anxiety, a journal will work for you if you pick the right type and make journaling a ritual.

    * Find the Right Medium for You ñ For some people, thatís pen and paper. Many experts claim thatís the best way because of its simplicity. However, you have to do what works for you, and what works for you is what you will do daily. If you make it too hard, you wonít do it.

    * Turn Journaling Daily into a Habit ñ To be most effective, journaling has to go on for a long time. Itís a long-term strategy to How to Make Your Journaling More Effective


    Any type of journal that you keep can be beneficial. It doesnít matter if itís just to document your life or to work through problems – you can use a journal to do it all. From tracking your projects to documenting vacation to overcoming anxiety, a journal will work for you if you pick the right type and make journaling a ritual.

    * Find the Right Medium for You ñ For some people, thatís pen and paper. Many experts claim thatís the best way because of its simplicity. However, you have to do what works for you, and what works for you is what you will do daily. If you make it too hard, you wonít do it.

    * Turn Journaling Daily into a Habit ñ To be most effective, journaling has to go on for a long time. Itís a long-term strategy to improve your life and not something that is going to have any effect overnight. For this reason, ritualize your journaling so that it becomes a daily habit.

    * Set Up a Comfy Journaling Spot ñ Find a good space you can journal in each day, one which is relaxing and without stress. Some people like to keep their journal by their bedside so that each night when they get into bed, they can quickly write in their journals.

    * Choose the Right Style of Journal for Your Needs ñ The type of journal you want to keep depends on how you plan to use it. You may want to track a project, in which case youíll need a project journal. If you want to simply document your life, youíd want a classic journal.

    * Use Your Journal to Work Through Life and Reach Goals ñ Donít just write in the journal; actively seek to improve something in your life – whether itís the thoughts which drive your feelings or improving your actions so that you experience more success.

    * Consider Using More Than Writing to Document Your Life ñ You donít need to just use text. You can use images, pictures, tickets, and other memories inside your journal too. Sometimes a few pictures and mementos mean more than anything you can write to help you remember.

    * Read and Reflect Occasionally ñ Take at least a few minutes to re-read parts of your journal. Once youíve kept it for a year, itís fun to go back and read the same day from last year to find out whatís different now and whatís the same and why.

    * Keep Your Journal Secure ñ You donít want to worry about anyone getting into your private business when youíre not around, so keep it hidden. If itís on your computer, keep it password protected.

    If you know why you want to journal, itíll be easier to figure out which type of journal you need to keep to make your journaling more effective. Sometimes you just want to document your life, while other times you want to work through something difficult. It really depends on your goals and the point of the journal.

     


    improve your life and not something that is going to have any effect overnight. For this reason, ritualize your journaling so that it becomes a daily habit.

    * Set Up a Comfy Journaling Spot ñ Find a good space you can journal in each day, one which is relaxing and without stress. Some people like to keep their journal by their bedside so that each night when they get into bed, they can quickly write in their journals.

    * Choose the Right Style of Journal for Your Needs ñ The type of journal you want to keep depends on how you plan to use it. You may want to track a project, in which case youíll need a project journal. If you want to simply document your life, youíd want a classic journal.

    * Use Your Journal to Work Through Life and Reach Goals ñ Donít just write in the journal; actively seek to improve something in your life – whether itís the thoughts which drive your feelings or improving your actions so that you experience more success.

    * Consider Using More Than Writing to Document Your Life ñ You donít need to just use text. You can use images, pictures, tickets, and other memories inside your journal too. Sometimes a few pictures and mementos mean more than anything you can write to help you remember.

    * Read and Reflect Occasionally ñ Take at least a few minutes to re-read parts of your journal. Once youíve kept it for a year, itís fun to go back and read the same day from last year to find out whatís different now and whatís the same and why.

    * Keep Your Journal Secure ñ You donít want to worry about anyone getting into your private business when youíre not around, so keep it hidden. If itís on your computer, keep it password protected.

    If you know why you want to journal, itíll be easier to figure out which type of journal you need to keep to make your journaling more effective. Sometimes you just want to document your life, while other times you want to work through something difficult. It really depends on your goals and the point of the journal.

     

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  • How to Get Started Writing a Journal

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    Getting started journaling isnít something that you need to think about too hard. Yes, there are numerous types and styles of journals and ways to do this that may or may not be more effective depending on your goals, but you can simply get some paper (or your computer) and get started today.

    * Dust Off Your Pen and Paper ñ You donít need anything special to keep a journal; in fact, purists believe that using pen and paper is the best way to journal because you can carry it with you anywhere and you donít need technology. So, there will be no excuses.

    * Do It First Thing in the Morning ñ Donít procrastinate about keeping your journal. Itís best to do it in the morning before you begin your day so that you have the right frame of mind for the day. Plus, you only need five to ten minutes, so itís not that big of a deal.

    * Do It Last Thing at Night ñ Another time to do it is before bed. This works especially well for gratitude journals. That way you can go to sleep thinking about all the things you are grateful for instead of things youíre worried about.

    * Write Every Single Day ñ Whenever you choose to do it, try to set it up so that it becomes a ritual and a habit. Journaling every single day is going to be more effective than just doing it when you feel like it.

    * Start Simply ñ Donít start being worried about style and substance right now; just work on the daily habit with pen and paper (or if itís easier for you, a computer or smartphone). Donít make it hard – just get going.

    * Begin with Today ñ Start right now and write about your day today. Thatís the easiest thing to do. What of significance happened today? How did you feel about it? What would you do differently? What would you do the same?

    * Try Different Types of Journals ñ Once you develop the habit, you can start trying different types of journaling like a bullet journal, or a vision journal, or maybe even a project journal for your next project.

    * Keep It Private ñ The main thing to remember about your journal is that it should be kept private. The only exception is if you want to share thoughts with a therapist, counselor, or coach. Or if you want to turn it into a book or course, to help someone else overcome whatever you overcame.

    Keeping a journal will help you deal with the things that happen to you as well as the things that have not happened to you. The main reason is that writing it down helps you remember what you did right and what you did wrong. It helps you improve your decision-making capacity for similar situations. The main thing is just to get started journaling in any way that works for you.

     

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  • How Journaling Can Help with Achieving Your Goals

    Journaling can help you achieve your goals because it will force you to think about them, consider the why and how, and delve deeper into the situation so that you can examine all sides of it. Read on to find out how journaling can help.

    * It Forces You to Write Down Your Goals ñ When you start a journal, it basically is a way to force yourself to document your goals. Whether you write them down on paper or you use technology to get it all down doesnít matter. Once theyíre written, they are ready to tackle.

    * It Makes You Consider Why and How ñ As you enter data into your journal, youíll be forced to face the why and how of your goal. This is especially true if you write down a goal and focus on it in your journal. 

    * It Enables You to Examine the Opportunities and Threats ñ When you are focused on goal making with your journal, youíll also explore opportunities and threats coming your way due to your goals. It helps you avoid roadblocks in advance. 

    * It Makes You Develop Steps for Success Based on Your Goals ñ When you see it written down, youíll want to notice and pull out any steps youíve developed in your journal and put them in your calendar for scheduling. 

    * It Helps You Improve Goal Setting and Achievement ñ Each time you intentionally set goals, define steps to achieve the goals, and perform them, you are setting yourself up for being able to improve your skills. 

    * It Provides Accountability ñ Even if no one else is reading your journal, a private journal can help you become accountable to yourself. If you develop the habit of looking at your journal each day and put something else in there each day, itíll work great for helping you become more accountable. 

    * It Provides a Permanent Record ñ Having a permanent record of the things youíve done in your life, whether itís personal or work, is a beautiful thing. Hardly anyone has a perfect memory, so youíll maintain the lessons learned better with the record to look back at.

    * It May Be Inspirational ñ Depending on the journal, you might even be able to take the information inside and compile it into a real book for others to read to inspire them. You might also take from it steps for your success for a project and turn it into a course to inspire someone else.

    Journaling is an excellent way to work toward achieving all your goals. It will even help you make better goals because the process of entering facts in your journal will cause you to see them in a more logical way that is more useful.

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  • 3 Tips to Start Your Day

    3 Tips to Start Your Day

    Deciding The Best Way for You to Start Your Day Positively

    You have decided to start your days with morning gratitude and/or positive thinking. That is great. Now you have to decide how to do it. You have nearly endless options to choose from. Here are some tips for deciding what to choose.

    1. It Works For You

    Not every option works for everyone. That is normal and to be expected. Everyone is different, after all. Try a few of the options and see what works for you. If something does not seem to work for you, do not feel bad, and definitely do not try to force yourself to keep doing it.

    There are many options out there and you will find something that resonates with your soul if you keep looking. Do not settle on the first thing you try unless it grabs you and refuses to let go. Try different options. Experiment.

    2. You Can Do It Consistently

    Consider your schedule when weighing options. Some methods take more commitment than others, even if that is only a few minutes longer. How much time do you have in the morning? Not just some mornings, either, but every morning.

    If you only have a few minutes most days, making a gratitude list in your head is probably a better idea than trying to fit in 30 (or even 10) minutes of yoga. That is not to say that you cannot do more than one thing. Perhaps you can do your gratitude lists every morning and do yoga as well on the weekends.

    Remember that whatever you choose must be something you can do each and every day, or at least on 90 percent of them. Life does happen, after all.

    3. You Like It (So You Will Do It)

    Do you know the number one reason people fail at starting a gym routine? It is not a lack of time or commitment. It is simply that they do not like what they are doing. Humans are strange creatures who are not likely to continue doing something they do not like, at least not unless they have an overwhelmingly good reason to do so.

    The same thing applies to trying to create other new habits too. If you do not like something, you probably will not keep it up. Likewise, it is hard to stop bad habits because on some level you like them, and your brain goes – Quit? Why?

    This is slightly different than the first tip (something must work for you) because they are two different things. Ninety minutes a day on a treadmill will work to make anyone fit, but few people like that enough to do it!

    I find a Gratitude morning ritual is very simple, quick and easy. As soon as I wake up, I take about 3 minutes to ponder on 3 things I have to be grateful for today. This morning it was another day on this earth, my physical health and my 4 amazing children, who are also my four best friends. It’s a wonderful way to start each day.

    If you need help developing a morning ritual to start your day with Gratitude, download my FREE “I am Grateful for….” Worksheet .

    DOWNLOAD HERE

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  • 5 Benefits to Starting Your Day with Gratitude

    5 Benefits to Starting Your Day with Gratitude

    Why Start Your Day With Gratitude and Positive Thinking?

    Did you know that starting your day with positivity is one of the best things you can do to improve your life? It has an immediate, powerful impact on your life. The benefits are numerous, and you start experiencing them from the first day you deliberately begin your day being positive and grateful.

    These are the top five benefits you gain from a positive start to your day.

    Better Mood

    Starting your day with positivity increases your mood and helps you have a better day. Being positive brings you inner peace, lowers your stress levels, increases your optimism, and makes you feel good. All of these benefits combine to put you in a better mood.

    Taking time out to inject positivity and gratitude into your day improves your mood at all times of the day but it is especially effective first thing in the morning.

    Increased Health

    Positive people are healthier than their peers. This is partly due to the lower stress levels experienced by those who practice positivity, but there is more to it than that and scientists are still working to understand it. Positive people are healthier on every level and tend to live longer as well!

    Starting your day with gratitude and positive thinking sets the tone for your entire day and will lead you to be more positive throughout everything in life.

    More Success

    Being positive and grateful first thing in the morning helps clear your mind and allows you to focus more on your tasks for the day. This leads directly to having more success every day and over the long term. Positive people, as a whole, are much more successful than others. This is true in every aspect of life, from careers to relationships.

    Happiness

    Not only does starting your day with gratitude and positive thinking increase your mood, but it makes you happier. It boosts all of the “feel-good” hormones in the brain that make you happy. This isn’t a transitory effect, either; it lasts all day and over the long term increases your overall, permanent level of happiness.

    Improved Relationships

    When you start your day with positivity, you clear your brain and are in a much better space to relate to the people you care about most. This makes it easier to maintain healthy, caring relationships. This improvement starts almost immediately and lasts over the long run.

    These are just a few of the benefits you can get from deliberately beginning each day with gratitude and positive thinking. You will experience many more if you make it a habit!

     

     

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  • 5 Ways Gratitude Can Turn Your Bad Situation Around

    5 Ways Gratitude Can Turn Your Bad Situation Around

    5 Ways Gratitude Can Turn Your Bad Situation Around

    Gratitude has the power to get you through difficult times and turn your life around. It can motivate you to keep reaching for your goals by constantly placing what you have already accomplished right in front of you. This is why you are always told to learn to master thankfulness and nurture a grateful mindset.

    Eighteen years ago, my marriage of 34 years broke down and ended in divorce. I was devastated. How could I manage on my own? How could I support myself? How could I ever be happy again? I felt so many emotions – guilt, shame, rejection, overwhelm, fear – just to name a few. How could I ever get out of this black hole? I didn’t know where to begin.

    So, one day a few months later, I was meditating, a practice I have been doing daily for many, many years, when this thought popped into my mind. “There is so much to be thankful for. You have 4 amazing children, 2 beautiful granddaughters, your health, a roof over your head, a great career as a midwife, food on your table, wonderful friends, just for starters. There is a way out of this. You will try and figure it out.” I started to feel a sense of relief. “I may have lost my marriage but I still have the strength to work and rebuild a new life,” Just like that, I broke free from the chains that were holding me in the past, looked to what I wanted in the future, and started to live my life in the present, knowing this is the only moment I have complete control over. Gratitude became my new way of life, as I started to see the new doors that were opening in front of me.

    One thing that enabled me to turn this bad situation around was creating an attitude of gratitude, shifting my focus from the pain of my marriage breakup to future I was free to create just for me.

    Thankfulness turns your unfortunate situation around by:

    1. Shifting your focus.

       The worst thing about hard times is erasing them from your mind or finding ways of concentrating on something else. You can’t help but focus on how horrible your situation is and unintentionally think about how everything went wrong. Nonetheless, shifting your focus is possible if you maintain gratitude in trying times. Phrases like “I am still standing” “I have survived the worst” and “I still have so and so or such and such” will get you through tough times.

    1. Encouraging positive emotions.

        Gratitude gives birth to positive thoughts. Positive thinking is the key to positive emotions because what you think determines how you act, react, respond, or feel. Mastering thankfulness gives birth to positive emotions which keep you focused on “I am strong enough” and “I can fix that.” Therefore, understand that turning your situation around is possible only when you feel you can.

    1. Eliminating your fears.

       Gratefulness encourages you to concentrate on your ability to turn things around thereby eliminating your fears. Appreciating what you have accomplished and what you can still accomplish helps you notice that you have the chance to turn things around. So, use gratitude to overcome your fears.

    1. Emphasizing your strong points.

       Paying attention to what you can do when you are in a crisis is the only way of seeing things from a different perspective and changing what you don’t like. If you focus on “I am good at ABC” and “I can use this skill to effect change” you will move your life in the right direction and see the changes you are longing for.

    1. Imparting a strong sense of worth.

        One thing that makes you realize your sense of worth is having someone show you how much they value you when you are at your lowest point. To have someone do the unexpected for you reminds you that there are people out there who care about your welfare and that alone gets you going.

    Appreciating that your life is not what it used to be because of something that someone did for you when you weren’t expecting or when you were not deserving fixes your mind on a thousand things to be grateful for.

    Anything is possible when thankfulness becomes the center of your life. For instance, overcoming negative thoughts, controlling your emotions, getting back up, as well as turning your life around.

    If you want help seeing life differently and developing an attitude of gratitude, download my FREE Gratitude Tool HERE

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  • Live a Happier Life

    Live a Happier Life

    How to Shift Your Perspective to Live a Happier Life

    Drama, stress, and other challenging obstacles or situations will always be a natural part of your life. It is highly unlikely you can avoid them altogether, but you can control how they affect or take over your life.

    A change in perspective can be a driving force in allowing you to live an easier and happier life. Of course, this is easier to talk about than to really do, but with a few simple ideas and actions, you can make a change for the better that sustains your lifelong happiness and success.

    The following are some common techniques to help shift your perspective to ultimately live a happier life:

     Only Focus on What You Can Control

    The notion of what you can and cannot control is by far the most important concept to understand and live by. Other people’s actions, thoughts, and opinions will never be something you can fully gain control of. You might be able to guide and influence them for a little, but this won’t be sustainable or achievable in all aspects of life. However, you do have the ability to control your attitude, efforts, and emotions.

     Switch Dread Around

    Instead of focusing on the negativity or harmful aspects of the situation, find ways to reverse it. Instead of dreading it, find areas you can appreciate or learn from. Highlight the lesson or knowledge you gained.

    For example, maybe you failed the live presentation you worked hard on for months. While it’s okay and normal to feel disappointed, don’t allow those feelings to take over your life completely. Instead, acknowledge the areas that went wrong and use that newfound information to do even better the next time.

    Ditch The “All or Nothing” Mindset 

    Stop expecting the worst or creating expectations that are too high for yourself. Even if you don’t achieve every single step, you will become discouraged if you only focus on the things you can’t or won’t have versus all the things you do have, worked hard to get, and eventually will get in the future.

     It’s important to note that happiness is personal and something that must be found within. You must work towards it and actively seek or make changes when needed to achieve it. Get out and experiment more, be true to yourself, and always try to stay positive by acknowledging reality and where you fit into it.

    As the first quarter of the year is almost over, if you want to find out how you can live a happier life for the next quarter, then click HERE to book a strategy session for just $49.00!

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