Making progress towards your goals and dreams is sometimes a slow trip.

It can contain pitfalls, mistakes and odd detours that you hadn’t really planned for.

But to keep on going towards what you want and need in your life no matter if that’s your dream job, starting your own business or becoming your own best friend is a very worthwhile journey.

In this post I’d like to help you as you move step by – sometimes small or tiny – step towards your own dreams and goals by sharing the best and most motivating progress quotes.

I hope you’ll find something here that renews your energy but also something you can use practically to make your own journey better or a bit easier.

And if you want even more inspiration then check out this post with short, four word quotes and this one with kindness quotes.

Inspirational Progress Quotes

“Never discourage anyone who continually makes progress, no matter how slow.”
Plato

“Some quit due to slow progress. Never grasping the fact that slow progress is progress.”
Jeff Olson

“Allow yourself to be proud of yourself and all the progress you’ve made. Especially the progress that no one else can see.”
Unknown

“Actively recognizing progress towards your goal will ultimately end up inspiring you and have you pushing even harder.”
Denzel J. Wellington

“First steps are always the hardest but until they are taken the notion of progress remains only a notion and not an achievement.”
Aberjhani

“Progress not perfection… you can’t be perfect in everything… but you can gain progress on a daily basis.”
Court McGee

“Life is a progress, and not a station.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Don’t compare your progress to that of others. We need our own time to travel our own distance.”
Unknown

“You are allowed to be both a masterpiece and a work in progress simultaneously .”
Sophia Bush

“Problems are the price of progress. Don’t bring me anything but trouble. Good news weakens me.”
Charles Kettering

“Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible.”’
Frank Zappa

“Even as you make progress, you need the discipline to keep from backtracking and sabotaging the success as it’s happening.”
Nipsey Hussle

“The answer to every adversity lies in courageously moving forward with faith.”
Edmond Mbiaka

“The swiftest way to triple your success is to double your investment in personal development.”
Robin Sharma

“No matter how many mistakes you make or how slow you progress, you are still way ahead of everyone who isn’t trying.”
Tony Robbins

Motivating Progress Quotes

“Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable. Every step toward the goals requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.”
Martin Luther King

“You are a work in progress; which means you get there a little at a time, not all at once.”
Unknown

“Do not confuse motion and progress. A rocking horse keeps moving but does not make any progress.”
Alfred A. Montapert

“When you set out to accomplish something, recognize that slow, steady progress over time can lead to big success.”
Erica Hudson

“Always be a work in progress.”
Emily Lillian

“Progress always involves risks . You can’t steal second base and keep your foot on first.”
Frederick B. Wilcox

“True progress quietly and persistently moves along without notice.”
Saint Francis de Sales

“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”
Buckminster Fuller

“I’ve found that a self-loving approach to progress works best for me. So I continually remind myself that I am a work in progress and that I will aim for progress, not perfection.”
Unknown

“There are no constraints on the human mind, no walls around the human spirit, no barriers to our progress except those we ourselves erect.”
Ronald Reagan

“If you want to experience significant progress toward your goal, you need to be intentional about the work you’re doing every day. ”
Unknown

“Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work in hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus. “
Alexander Graham Bell

“The truth is, unless you let go, unless you forgive yourself, unless you forgive the situation, unless you realize that the situation is over, you cannot move forward.”
Steve Maraboli

“If you’re walking down the right path and you’re willing to keep walking, eventually you’ll make progress.”
Barack Obama

“Stop acting as if life is a rehearsal. Live this day as if it were your last. The past is over and gone. The future is not guaranteed.”
Wayne Dyer

“The art of progress is to preserve order amid change and to preserve change amid order.”
Alfred North Whitehead

Progress Quotes to Help You Move Forward

“Don’t dwell on what went wrong. Instead, focus on what to do next. Spend your energy moving forward together towards an answer.”
Denis Waitley

“Pursuing perfection, rather than progress, can set you up for a life of disappointment and inevitable failure. Strive for progress, not perfection.”
Unknown

“The only time you should ever look back is to see how far you’ve come.”
Bangtan Boys.

“Every day you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-ascending, ever-improving path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, so far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb.”
Winston Churchill

“If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.”
Martin Luther King Jr

“We all have dreams. But in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self discipline, and effort.”
Jesse Owens

“Progress depends on such words as: step by small step and kindness towards yourself when you fall or stumble.”
Unknown

“Don’t look back. You’ll miss what’s in front of you. I don’t look back. I’m like a shark – I only look forward.”
Rita Rudner

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”
Steve Jobs

“Look not mournfully into the past, it comes not back again. Wisely improve the present, it is thine. Go forth to meet the shadowy future without fear and with a manly heart.”
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“The only thing a person can ever really do is keep moving forward. Take that big leap forward without hesitation, without once looking back. Simply forget the past and forge toward the future.”
Alyson Noel

Smart and Wise Progress Quotes

“Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.”
Benjamin Franklin

“We all want progress, but if you’re on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive.”
C. S. Lewis

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”
George Bernard Shaw

“People and relationships never stop being a work in progress.”
Nora Roberts

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”
Gandhi

“Men make history and not the other way around. In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still. Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better.”
Harry S Truman

“Courage means to keep making forward progress while you still feel afraid.”
Joyce Meyer

“Progress lies not in enhancing what is, but in advancing towards what will be .”
Khalil Gibran

“Wisdom is looking back at your life and realizing that every single event, person, place and idea was part of the perfected experience you needed to build your dream. Not one was a mistake.”
John Federick Demartini

“Life is like riding a bicycle, to keep your balance, you must keep moving.”
Albert Einstein

“Never run back to what broke you. Once you make the decision to move on, don’t look back. Your destiny will never be found in the rear view mirror.”
Mandy Hale

“Progress changes consciousness, and when people’s consciousness changes, then their awareness of what is possible changes as well a virtuous circle.”
Bill Clinton

“Progress consists only in the greater clarification of answers to the basic questions of life.”
Leo Tolstoy

“My mother told me to be a lady. And for her, that meant to be your own person, be independent.”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg

“The day science begins to study non-physical phenomena, it will make more progress in one decade than in all the previous centuries of its existence.”
Nikola Tesla

“Follow effective actions with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action.”
Peter Drucker

“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.”
George Bernard Shaw

“In a moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing to do, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.”
Theodore Roosevelt

“It may sometimes be slow progress but if you’re someone who continually makes progress then you will have continual growth as a person.”
Unknown

“The world hates change, yet it is the only thing that has brought progress.”
Charles Kettering

”Spend eighty percent of your time focusing on the opportunities of tomorrow rather than the problems of yesterday.”
Brian Tracy

Short Progress Quotes

“The power to question is the basis of all human progress.”
Indira Gandhi

“A work in progress. And the possibilities are endless.”
Elizabeth Eulsberg

“Life is a work in progress.”
Jeff Rich

“Technological progress has merely provided us with more efficient means for going backwards.”
Aldous Huxley

“Make measurable progress in reasonable time.”
Jim Rohn

“Healthy discontent is the prelude to progress.”
Mahatma Gandhi

“A person who makes few mistakes makes little progress.”
Bryant McGill

“A little progress every day adds up to big results.”
Satya

“Success is steady progress toward one’s personal goals.”
Jim Rohn

“Don’t wait. The time will never be just right.”
Napoleon Hill

Quick and Punchy Progress Quotes

“If we fail to adapt, we fail to move forward.”
John Wooden

“Personal growth is about progress, not perfection.”
Hal Elrod

“Even a rock moves on.”
Anthony Liccione

“There are only two options: Make progress or make excuses.”
Unknown

“Focus on progress not perfection.”
Bill Phillips

“I walk slowly, but I never walk backward.”
Abraham Lincoln

“If you’re not moving forward, you’re falling back.”
Sam Waterson

“Progress grows out of motion.”
Richard E. Byrd

“I’m a work in progress. I’m trying to be better.”
Nate Parker

“Your past does not equal your future.”
Anthony Robbins

“A year from now you may wish you had started today.”
Karen Lamb

If you liked these progress quotes then share them with a friend on social media or via email.

Want even more motivation for making progress with your goals? Check out this post with inspiring quotes about the little things and small steps forward in life and this one with keeping pushing quotes.

Source link

The post 85 Progress Quotes to Motivate You to Keep Moving Forward Towards Your Dreams appeared first on Heal your health yourself.

When you have a setback or you run into a few obstacles on the way towards your goal or dream then self-doubt can easily start to creep in.

You start thinking to yourself: I can’t do this. And so you feel like taking a break or giving up all together.

One good thing to do in such a situation is to get some encouragement from someone close to you.

Another one is to get some support from an outside source. Like a book, podcast or this post. Because in it I’ll share the 68 best you can do it quotes.

Timeless inspiration to renew your motivation and positivity so that you can keep pushing forward (or get the kick start you need if you’ve got a new goal you want to get started with).

And if you want even more motivational quotes then check out this post with quotes on better days ahead and this one filled with quotes on knowing your true worth.

Inspirational You Can Do It Quotes to Encourage and Support You

“All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.”
Walt Disney

“You’ve done it before and you can do it now. See the positive possibilities. Redirect the substantial energy of your frustration and turn it into positive, effective, unstoppable determination.”
Ralph Marston

“Don’t limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you.”
Mary Kay Ash

“Don’t think about what can happen in a month. Don’t think about what can happen in a year. Just focus on the 24 hours in front of you and do what you can to get closer to where you want to be.”
Eric Thomas

“If you can’t stop thinking about it, don’t stop working on it.”
Michael Jordan

“If you are not willing to risk the unusual, you will have to settle for the ordinary.”
Jim Rohn

“Positive thoughts lead to positive actions. And those actions do over time lead to positive results.”
Unknown

“The big secret in life is that there is no secret. Whatever your goal, you can get there if you’re willing to work.”
Oprah Winfrey

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”
Martin Luther King Jr.

“Always do your best. Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.”
Don Miguel Ruiz

“Keep away from those who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you believe that you too can become great.”
Mark Twain

“Be magnificent. Life’s short. Get out there. You can do it. Everyone can do it. Everyone.”
Andy Serkis

“You can do anything you set your mind to.”
Benjamin Franklin

“Attitude is a choice. Happiness is a choice. Optimism is a choice. Kindness is a choice. Giving is a choice. Respect is a choice. Whatever choice you make makes you. Choose wisely.”
Roy T. Bennett

“Few things in the world are more powerful than a positive push. A smile. A world of optimism and hope. A ‘you can do it’ when things are tough.”
Richard M. DeVos

“Get up every morning and remind yourself of the dreams you have and the small and big successes you have achieved throughout your life. This will remind you of your best self and set a positive tone for the rest of your day.”
Unknown

“I thought that there were two rules in life – never count the cost, and never do anything unless you can do it wholeheartedly. Now is the time to live.”
Everett Ruess

“Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life, think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success.”
Swami Vivekananda

You Can Do It Quotes to Help You Fulfill Your Dream

“If you are working on something that you really care about, you don’t have to be pushed. The vision pulls you.”
Steve Jobs

“Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.”
Tim Notke

“Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway.”
Earl Nightingale

“A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work.”
Colin Powell

“The bird dares to break the shell, then the shell breaks open and the bird can fly openly. This is the simplest principle of success. You dream, you dare and you fly.”
Israelmore Ayivor

“Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will.”
Suzy Kassem

“If your real desire is to be good, there is no need to wait for the money before you do it; you can do it now, this very moment, and just where you are.”
James Allen

“If you have a dream, don’t just sit there. Gather courage to believe that you can succeed and leave no stone unturned to make it a reality.”
Dr Roopleen

“Stop overthinking because it will only lead you into fear and inaction. Make a small start of a plan but then begin taking action on it. This is a much better use of your time than just thinking and thinking.”
Unknown

“Get out of your mind and become crazy about your future in a creative way!”
Michael Bassey Johnson

“One of the most important keys to success is having the discipline to do what you know you should do, even when you don’t feel like doing it.”
Todd Smith

“Sometimes you got to push harder to get over an obstacle that’s in the path towards your dream. But you usually only have to do that for a little while at a time.”
Unknown

“The whole secret of a successful life is to find out what is one’s destiny to do, and then do it.”
Henry Ford

“The strongest factor for success is self-esteem: believing you can do it, believing you can deserve it, believing you will get it.”
Unknown

“Life asks not merely what you can do; it asks how much can you endure and not be spoiled.”
Harry Emerson Fosdick

“Don’t labor forever over the question of how or if you can do it. Studies have shown that the most successful people make decisions rapidly because they are clear on their values and what they really want for their lives.”
Tony Robbins

“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”
Thomas Edison

“If you can dream it, you can do it. Your limits are all within yourself.”
Brian Tracy

“I would say to always follow your dream. And dream big because my whole career, including any of the things that I’ve accomplished, I never thought in a million years that I would be here. So it just proves that once you believe in yourself, and you put your mind to something, you can do it.”
Simone Biles

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do, so throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, dream, discover.”
Mark Twain

You may also find this post with quotes on kindness helpful and uplifting.

You Can Do It Quotes for Dealing with Obstacles

“In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity.”
Albert Einstein

“You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.”
Rocky Balboa

“You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the door on the past. You don’t try to forget the mistakes, but you don’t dwell on it. You don’t let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space.”
Johnny Cash

“The real test is not whether you avoid this failure, because you won’t. It’s whether you let it harden or shame you into inaction, or whether you learn from it; whether you choose to persevere.”
Barack Obama

“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
Michael Jordan

“No matter what you’re going through, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel and it may seem hard to get to it but you can do it and just keep working towards it and you’ll find the positive side of things.”
Demi Lovato

“The most important thing is to know that you can do it.”
Robert G. Allen

“It’s just a matter of believing it as possible, and taking the cross cross millimetre by cross millimetre.”
Israelmore Ayivor

“Sometimes to go forward you’ve got to go to the depths of your own personal despair and claw yourself back. From that point, no matter what happens, you know you can do it.”
Gordon Strachan

“Forget all the reasons why it won’t work and believe the one reason why it will.”
Ziad K. Abdelnour

You Can Do It Quotes for Breaking Out of Your Comfort Zone

“The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt

“You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’ You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”
Eleanor Roosevelt

“Whenever you feel uncomfortable, instead of retreating back into your old comfort zone, pat yourself on the back and say, “I must be growing,” and continue moving forward.”
T. Harv Eker

“When a resolute young fellow steps up to the great bully, the world, and takes him boldly by the beard, he is often surprised to find it comes off in his hand, and that it was only tied on to scare away the timid adventurers.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.”
Neale Donald Walsch

“There is hope. You can do it. Start now.”
Linda Hamilton

“Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.”
Dale Carnegie

“Don’t let mental blocks control you. Set yourself free. Confront your fear and turn the mental blocks into building blocks.”
Dr Roopleen

“Be a go getter. Go the extra mile. Because most people won’t and that’s often what’s needed to make your dreams into reality.”
Unknown

“Stop overthinking things and spending too much time on planning. Instead, take one small step outside of your comfort zone right now to get started with the journey towards your goal.”
Unknown

“If you know you can do it – if you can already chart every day in your future – then why bother? Choose to do something you have more trouble imagining. Take a chance.”
Gina Barreca

“We always set ambitious goals in our group, and I have found that if you set your mind to it, you can do it, and sometimes all the circumstances will play in your favor.”
Ajay Piramal

Funny You Can Do It Quotes Quotes

“Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.”
Will Rogers

“The elevator to success is out of order. You’ll have to use the stairs… one step at a time.”
Joe Girard

“Luck is what you have left over after you give 100 percent.”
Langston Coleman

“All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure.”
Mark Twain

“You’ve gotta dance like there’s nobody watching, love like you’ll never be hurt, sing like there’s nobody listening, and live like it’s heaven on earth.”
William W. Purkey

“Age is of no importance unless you’re a cheese.”
Billie Burke

“Opportunity does not knock, it presents itself when you beat down the door.”
Kyle Chandler

“If you think you are too small to be effective, you have never been in the dark with a mosquito.”
Betty Reese

If you found these you can do it quotes helpful then be sure to share them with friends and family on social media or via email.

Want even more inspirational quotes? Check out this post with quotes about loving yourself and also this one with you got this quotes.

Source link

The post 68 You Can Do It Quotes to Help You Achieve Your Goals and Dreams appeared first on Heal your health yourself.

“Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“Don’t wait. The time will never be just right.”
Napoleon Hill

What makes dreams into reality?

I believe that perhaps the most important – and an often ignored – thing is simply taking action.

I used to be really bad at it when I was younger.

Back then I usually got stuck.

I got stuck in my dreams about what I wanted to do.

I got stuck in analysis paralysis due to my habit of overthinking things. I got stuck in procrastination and in pessimism.

Things have changed a lot since then though. I have added many new habits that help me to take much more action than I used to.

I hope this week’s article will help you to do the same.

1. Get your day off to a great start by doing the most important thing.

I first learned about this about 20 years ago when I used to sell computers.

The boss told us that if we took care of the most important task of the day – often one of the more difficult ones too – right away in the morning the rest of the day would be a lot easier and lighter.

He was right about that.

When that first and most important task is done you don’t have to worry about it. It won’t weigh down on your day. You feel good about yourself.

And you’ll have less inner resistance to taking action for the rest of the day.

2. Just take responsibility for your actions and the process.

I love this quote from the ancient Sanskrit Hindu scripture Bhagavad Gita:

“To action alone hast thou a right and never at all to its fruits; let not the fruits of action be thy motive; neither let there be in thee any attachment to inaction.”

Why?

Because every time I look at it or remind myself of it I feel a sort of freedom and relief.

This quote reminds me to understand that I cannot control the results of my action. I can’t control how someone reacts to what I say or what I do.

It reminds me that it usually works better for me to stay motivated to keep doing what I do if I do something I really like doing.

Basically, I do what I think is right and that is my responsibility. And then the rest (the possible results), well, that is not up to me to decide about or try to control.

I let it go.

Taking action becomes a so much lighter activity when you only have to take responsibility for doing what you think is right.

3. Don’t feel like doing it? Start small.

Getting the most important thing done first thing in your day and setting yourself up for an action-packed day sounds great in theory.

But in reality you will have unmotivated days.

Days when you feel emotionally low or when you are confronted with having to do something you don’t want to do.

That’s life. But no reason to let that sink your day into inaction and feeling sorry for yourself.

I have found that the best thing for these situations is to start very small. To just…

• Write for 1-2 minutes.
• Lift free weights for just a few repetitions.
• Spend 1 minute with getting started on something that scares me.

After that I have the choice to go do something else.

But I seldom do.

I just need an easy way to get started and then, when I am in motion, I usually continue taking action for a while longer.

4. Don’t hurt yourself.

This is a powerful motivator for me to grow and to become a better person.

If I don’t do what I deep down think is the right thing to do then I hurt myself and my self-esteem. What I do – or do not do – during my day sends powerful signals back to me about what kind of person I am.

There is no escaping yourself. And there is always a price to pay when you don’t do what you think is the right thing.

5. A reminder for focus.

If you don’t remind yourself often about what you need to focus on and why you are doing it then it is easy to let days slip away or to spend too much time on less important things.

So create a a simple reminder on a piece of paper. On it you can for example write down:

• Your top 3 priorities in life right now.
• Your most important goal or new habit for the next 30 days.
• A motto or quote you want to stay focused on and live by at this time in your life.

6. Stay accountable to the people in your life.

An accountability buddy can help you to stay on track and to keep taking action towards your goal or dream even when the initial enthusiasm has dissipated.

For example, many of you as readers help me to stay accountable to provide helpful content. I get feedback all the time about if I do things in a helpful or less helpful way. I get a ton of encouragement.

People closer to me in my life help me to stay accountable to for instance not eating too much unhealthy stuff, to working out and to not working too much.

Find someone in real life or online who wants to get in better shape too. Or start a business online. Motivate each other.

Keep each other accountable so you take action and take steps forward each week.

7. Cycle fully focused work and fully relaxing rest.

Get your kitchen timer or access the stop-watch function on your cellphone.

Set the timer for 45 minutes. During those minutes just work on your most important task/small step forward. Nothing else. No distractions.

After those 45 minutes are up, take a relaxing break.

Distract yourself on Facebook if you like. Or step away from your work space and take a short walk, stretch or go for an apple for the next 15 minutes.

By working these fully focused periods of time you’ll:

• Get more done and do work of higher quality.
• Be able to concentrate for a longer time in your day and week and get less tired.
• Train yourself to focus on one thing at time, instead of getting stuck in your mind between work and relaxation and building up friction and stress within.
• Be able to enjoy your rest periods without a guilty conscience.

45 minutes of work too much?

Try 25 minutes instead.

Procrastinating half-way into your 25 minute period?

Set the timer for 10 or 5 minutes and build up the time that you can fully focus on the work over the next few weeks and months.

8. Focus more on the how to and less on the what-ifs.

If your thoughts starts spinning as you are thinking about taking action then in your mind shout: STOP!

Don’t allow yourself to get stuck in the negative spiral of analysis paralysis.

Sure, it is smart to think before you act in many cases but overthinking things tends to become a way to try to control things you cannot control or to simply stay away from action because you are scared in some way.

After you have said stop to that train of thought open up your mind to what you CAN DO instead of all the things that could go wrong in the worst case scenario.

Ask yourself questions like:

• What is one small step I can take today to move forward towards my goal or out of this situation?
• What is one thing I can learn from this situation?

Write down the answers you come up with and take action on them.

9. People don’t care that much about what you do so don’t let that hold you back.

When I was younger I almost always let what people may have thought or said if I did something hold me back and I got stuck in inaction.

It was more of a self-centered than accurate belief.

In reality people have their own things going on in busy lives.

They think about the job, kids, a partner, the cat, a vacation, what to have for dinner and they worry about what you and other people may think about them.

You are probably not the main character in other people’s lives. Even if you are that in your own life.

A realization that can be a bit disappointing but something that can also can set you free from self-imposed bonds.

10. Tap into enthusiasm.

When you dream and when you get started with something new in life then the enthusiasm flows like a fountain.

A few weeks later it may have decreased quite a bit. Don’t let that lead you to quitting if you think this is something you want to continue doing.

Tap into enthusiasm in your surroundings instead.

• Let the enthusiasm of your accountability buddy flow of over to you and create a flow back to him or her by being enthusiastic about his or her goals and dreams.
• Listen to podcasts or audiobooks by inspiring people.
• Read blogs, websites and take courses that help you to get a dose of enthusiasm every week.
• Let the enthusiasm from friends, children or pets flow over to you.
• Listen to music and watch movies or Youtube-videos that increase your joy for life.

Bring the enthusiasm of the rest of the world into your life.

11. Add the fun.

Some tasks simply are boring or not much fun at all.

Then try this while you are doing them to add a bit of fun:

• Add some music that gives you energy and inspires you.
• Make it into a game where you compete with friend about who can finish something first or do the most amount of something in 10 or 30 minutes.

Change your perspective on what you are doing, lighten things up a bit and it tends to become quite a bit easier to take a lot of action on what you may have procrastinated on for some time.

12. Celebrate what you did today.

Take 2 minutes at the end of your day to think about, appreciate and celebrate what you have taken action on today. No matter how small the action may have been.

It will:

Source link

The post 12 Habits that Turn Dreams into Reality appeared first on Heal your health yourself.

Source link

The post 15 Common Stress Dreams (What They Mean & How to Deal With Them) appeared first on Heal your health yourself.

If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram you’ll know all about how vivid and weird my dreams are. But they haven’t always been like this, well not that I can remember anyway, and so it’s got me wondering whether there is a link between our dreams and the perimenopause.

Now I must just state that I haven’t officially been diagnosed as being perimenopausal, however going by the night sweats, the occasional hot flushes, the erratic more painful and heavier periods, as well as the increased anxiety, mood swings and dark thoughts I’d say it’s a pretty safe bet to assume I am. So, do the type of dreams we have change as we enter this phase in our lives? Does a shift in our hormones create more vivid, more real feeling, more memorable dreams? I’m going to look into this a bit more and try and get to the bottom of why I keep having such unusual dreams.

But firstly, let’s take a more general look at the reasons why we dream:

Why Do We Dream?

We experience four different phases of sleep over the course of one night and these cycle through between 4-6 times before we wake up. It is possible to dream in all four phases, but the phase where our brains are most active and therefore the one where we are most likely to have vivid dreams, is during the phase known as REM (Rapid Eye Movement). The REM phase is the fourth phase in the cycle, which means if you were to wake up naturally, i.e. without an alarm, this is the one you would wake from and you would be much more likely to remember your dream. If, however, you wake from REM sleep, but then go straight back to sleep and enter the initial phase again, you are much less likely to recall the dream.

Scientists have been studying sleep and dreams for years and the jury is still very much out as to the exact reasons as to why we dream. There are lots of different theories and probably there are multiple reasons for why we dream. These are just some of them:

• Memory Storage – If you think of the brain as being a bit like a computer, in just the same way as files need to be backed up on a hard drive so too do our memories. Dreaming is thought to be like a kind of interactive filing system for our memories.
• Mental Clear Out – It could be that our brains have to store so much information that dreaming is a way of getting rid of some of it – a decluttering process if you like.
• Processing – This is going to blow your mind – on average we process over 70,000 images every day!! So perhaps our dreams are simply a way to process everything we have seen or experienced that day.

It might feel as though you don’t dream, especially if you can never remember them, however on average we all dream for roughly 2 hours per night. And interestingly women are believed to dream more vividly than men, which brings us nicely onto the next question…

How Does Perimenopause Affect Sleep?

Women have been going through the menopause since time began, but it is only in very recent times that this subject has become more widely and more openly spoken about. Let’s clear one thing up first of all… the menopause is actually just one day. Yep, that’s right, menopause is classed as the day when one year has passed since your last period. Everything leading up to this point, and we’re talking several years, is classed as the perimenopause, and it is during the perimenopause that women begin to notice their sleep patterns changing, often quite significantly.

The most common sleep problems experienced by perimenopausal women are night sweats, insomnia, sleep-disordered breathing, and vivid dreams. And of course all of these affect how much sleep we get, the quality of sleep we get, and how we feel and are able to function the following day. A bad night’s sleep can leave us feeling moody and unmotivated. We are more likely to eat unhealthy food and to eat more than we usually would in a desperate attempt to get some energy from somewhere. We are less likely to exercise, because we are already exhausted. And it can make us feel proper emotional, anxious, stressed, and downright depressed, which combined with all the other symptoms of the perimenopause just goes to show how much of an impact sleep has on our overall health and mental wellbeing.

And the cause of this disruption to our sleep? Changing hormones. More specifically oestradiol (a form of oestrogen), which drops during perimenopause and has been linked with poor sleep quality, especially if levels of this hormone drop too quickly. Another factor is a rise in body temperature, which as we all know is a common symptom of perimenopause – hot flashes and night sweats anyone!?!?

Is There A Link Between Hormone Changes During Perimenopause And More Vivid Dreams?

So, if we know that we are more likely to dream during REM sleep and we know that women experience more vivid dreams than men, it also suggests that women have more REM sleep than men, but if this is the case, why?

Although research would suggest that on average women get more sleep than men, the sleep we do get is more fragmented. This could be for a variety of different reasons, from changes in body temperature, worries and anxieties that play on our minds, hormones… But of course broken sleep, means waking up at points in our sleep cycles that we wouldn’t naturally wake up in. And because of this, it often results in us waking at a point when we are in the full throes of a dream, making us much more likely to remember them and therefore they appear more vivid.

Let us also not brush over the impact that stress has on our sleep. If you thought you suffered from anxiety before showing any symptoms of the perimenopause just you wait until those hormones go completely haywire. It comes at a time in our lives when we are already dealing with a lot. We’re ‘struggle juggling’ if you like. Struggling to keep those balls in the air without all of them crashing down on us. Children going through puberty or leaving the nest, aging parents with health issues, work commitments, changing friendships, social pressures and of course there’s also the small matter of all the crap that goes on in the world to throw into the mix as well. Let’s face it, there is a lot to worry about. And this worry feeds into our dreams, after all our brains have to deal with it somehow, right?

Falling levels of oestrogen and rising levels of progesterone equates to shallower sleep, meaning you are more likely to awaken during a dream and this can make it feel much more real. Combined with our anxieties, dreams can often turn to nightmares and night terrors, which also add to the element of realism. Plus, dramatic, scary, action packed dreams can raise our heartbeats and increase levels of adrenaline, which in turn can trigger a night sweat. So, if you haven’t been woken up by the dream itself, you most certainly will be by the pools of sweat soaking your bed.

Should I Be Worried?

Well in a word, no. It’s perfectly normal to be experiencing more vivid dreams and nightmares during perimenopause and throughout certain points in your cycle. What should be a concern however, is if this is having an impact on your sleep, energy levels, mood and just generally how you’re feeling. If this is affecting your daily life, then yes this is a problem and you should definitely seek help. Unfortunately, I can’t promise it’s going to be easy. Like I said, although conversations about perimenopause have certainly become more widespread, it is still a battle to find help and to be heard and so when you make an appointment to see your GP about this (which you totally should) you’re going to need to be armed with all the facts. Start by logging your symptoms on a menopause app such as Balance or Flo, or if you prefer you can jot it all down in a journal. Pay particular attention to how much sleep you get a night, how many times you wake, write down your dreams, whether you suffer from night sweats, and also how it makes you feel the next day. This kind of information is so vitally important in helping to create an overall picture of what’s going on with you and will help you feel more confident when speaking to your GP.

There are also lots of menopause and perimenopause support groups on Facebook that are worth joining, if nothing else than to make you realise you’re not alone in what you’re going through. Being able to talk openly about it, or to read other women’s experiences and to get advice is invaluable and will help empower you on your own journey.

But in the meantime, there are a few things you can do to try and get a better night’s sleep:

• Cut down on the caffeine – As we all know, caffeine and sleep are not the greatest combo, so think about maybe cutting out one or two cups of coffee a day, or at the very least don’t have any too close to bedtime. And remember tea, chocolate, and cola drinks all contain caffeine too!
• Think about what and when you eat – Eating a heavy meal too close to bedtime will put added strain on your digestive system and this will likely keep you up half the night. Try not to eat past 7pm, or if you do make sure whatever you eat is light and there’s not too much of it.
• Step away from the screens – The blue light emitted from phone and computer screens has been proven to lower the production of melatonin in the body. Which is bad news, because this hormone helps regulate sleep within the body and without decent levels of it you’re going to have a harder time nodding off. Ban all screens from the bedroom if possible and aim to stop using at them for at least half an hour before winding down for the day.
• Regular exercise – Exercise is great for so many reasons, one of which is it helps with better sleep. I mean it makes sense really… exercise uses up energy and therefore your body needs to recover. Just make sure you avoid doing strenuous exercise too late in the day as this will raise your adrenaline levels and may result in the complete opposite effect.
• Stay calm – There’s nothing worse than not being able to get to sleep, it can literally drive you insane. Checking the clock every 5 minutes, tossing and turning, huffing and puffing isn’t going to help, so stop trying to fight it and get up instead. I know this sounds counterintuitive, but you’re far more likely to be able to get back to sleep if you get up and do something to help chill you out. Try reading for a bit, or walking down to the kitchen for a drink, or just sitting somewhere different for a while, to help break the cycle.
• Turn down the heat – If you’re going through the perimenopause I imagine you’re no stranger to feeling hot in bed… and I don’t mean sexy hot. If you’re regularly waking up in a sweaty mess then you might want to do one or all of the following – check your central heating and maybe turn it down a notch or two, change your duvet to a lower tog, open a window, buy a fan, change your sheets to a breathable natural fabric such as cotton or linen, change your pyjamas.

Dreams are funny things really, well you only have to look at mine to know that! And with the changes that occur in our bodies as our hormones fluctuate and ebb away during the perimenopause stage of our lives, it’s no wonder our dreams are so heavily affected. Any stress, be it mental or physical, will likely be played out in our dreams, as a way of offloading. So, whilst more vivid dreams may seem like yet another unwanted symptom of the perimenopause, they are in fact doing us a whole heap of good.

Are you going through the perimenopause and noticed that your dreams have become more vivid?

We’d love to hear from you, so get in touch either by leaving a comment below or by following us on social media:

Facebook – @thisishealthyliving

Twitter – @ArtHealthLiving

Instagram – @arthealthyliving

Author Bio

Becky Stafferton is a full time blogger over on her website The Art of Healthy Living, mum of 2 and certified Queen of the hashtags. She continually strives to promote a realistic, sustainable and positive image of how to lead a healthy life. When she’s not writing or reading her teenage diary she can be found swigging Prosecco from the bottle, running through muddy puddles, making lists of lists, having a good old moan, scoffing flapjacks and squatting like her life depends on it.

Source link

The post Are Your Dreams More Vivid During Perimenopause? appeared first on Heal your health yourself.