It’s the age-old question: how can I become more productive? With so many distractions in life, particularly from our phones, it’s difficult to find ways to be productive that work and make a lasting difference. Read on for some key changes you can make today that can have an effective impact on how productive you are. Plus, each of these tips can be easily executed without disrupting your day-to-day life.

1. Avoid Your Phone When You Wake Up

Our phones are quite literally with us at all times. We rely on them for everything and that includes an alarm clock. It can be tempting to reach for your phone as soon as you wake up in the morning. Whether you want to check your emails, scroll social media, or take a peek at the news, it’s become part of a normal morning routine for many. Consuming content right when you wake up can lead to stress and start your day off on the wrong foot. Instead, spend some time with yourself.

“I used to be obsessed with scrolling through my phone the second I woke up, but I started to realize how anxious it made me feel”, says Yuvraj Tuli, Founder of Compound Banc. “I decided to ditch my phone the first hour of my day. I lie in bed and check-in with myself, I journal my thoughts, and I do my morning routine without my phone. I’ve found such a sense of peace in putting myself first each day and that has led me to have more productive days with my work and increased my mood. Win-win!”

2. Practice Time Blocking

Instead of creating a to-do list every day, practice time-blocking. Map out your day or week and fill in when you’ll be completing your tasks. This type of schedule doesn’t have to feel rigid, instead, it allows you to be proactive about how you’re going to complete your work promptly to give yourself more time freedom.

Brooke Castillo of the Life Coach School utilizes the Monday Hour One approach to time block her tasks. “Monday Hour One is an approach to time management that can transform not only how much you get done, but your commitment to yourself,” Brooke shared. “When we start writing down all the to-dos and all the things we want to do and all the things that we have put on the backburner. Part of Monday Hour One is bringing that all up and then asking ourselves why are we doing this, does this even matter to me? Does this make sense? Nothing will steal your dreams faster than not managing your time and not honoring your relationship with yourself.”

3. Take More Breaks

It sounds counterintuitive, but taking more breaks throughout your work day can lead you to be more productive. When you’re not prioritizing yourself during the day and giving your mind a chance to relax with a sense of calm, it can lead to burnout. Working from home, at a computer, or running from meeting to meeting all day without a break in between will leave you feeling rundown and unable to focus. So take more time out of your day for breaks, even if they’re just 10 minutes long.

“Taking multiple breaks in the workday has been a game-changer,” Natalia Morozova, Partner of Cohen, Tucker & Ades P.C. shares. “I go for a short walk around the block, call up a friend for 15 minutes, or have a drink or snack without looking at my phone or computer. Those little moments let me recharge and I come back to my desk more energized and ready to tackle the next thing.”

4. Reduce Email Check-Ins

Keeping a tab with your email open has become customary, but checking emails as they come into your inbox can throw a wrench into your productivity. Not only can they be distracting, but they can derail your current task, which could result in your work piling up.

“During the workday, I check my email once every hour,” shared Jimmy Minhas, Founder and CEO of GerdLi. “I dedicate no more than 15 minutes to my emails each hour, which leaves the remaining 45 minutes to get more work done. Now, I don’t worry about constantly checking my email and it reduced my stress and allowed me to stay focused on my work.”

5. Ditch Multi-Tasking

It might seem like multitasking is a great way to increase your productivity, but in fact, the opposite is true. When you divert your attention to more than one task, you’re not able to put your full focus on each project, which can have an adverse effect. Multi-tasking can mean you spend a long time completing a task and leaves room for more mistakes to be made.

Ryder Carroll, author of the book The Bullet Journal Method: Track the Past, Order the Present, Design the Future, explains how multitasking can prevent us from accomplishing our tasks to the best of our ability. “Inevitably we find ourselves tackling too many things at the same time, spreading our focus so thin that nothing gets the attention it deserves. This is commonly referred to as ‘being busy.’ Being busy, however, is not the same thing as being productive.”

6. Unplug More Frequently

Phones are a huge distraction and it’s easy to get sucked into content online. Aside from distracting you from other things, the constant scrolling can affect how you feel. Whatever you’re watching could make you feel anxious, unmotivated, or discouraged. This causes your productivity to plummet and you’re not able to get anything done. And that’s not just during the workday either. Constantly using your phone can prevent you from enjoying the things you love.

“So much of my downtime used to be spent on my phone,” says Colette Shelton, Founder of Chirpyest. “I didn’t think it was all that bad because I was connecting with friends and family online. But it was draining. Now, I opt for in-person interactions with my friends and family, and boy does it make a difference. I don’t find myself craving my phone. Being with a community of people fills me up in ways that I never realized could affect how productive I am in my work.”

Not so scary, right? Take these tips one step at a time to slowly ease your way into a routine that leaves you feeling more productive and gives you the time and freedom to enjoy your life.

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There’s no shortage of flat belly advice these days, and it can be downright paralyzing. If you manage to motivate yourself to lose weight, it’s hard to know what to do first to reach your goal—until now. To help you start on a path toward flat abs and quick weight loss, our research team tracked down the best tips on the planet and prioritized everything into the step-by-step weight loss guide. The first place you’re going to want to make changes? Your own home, of course!

“Whether you have ten pounds to lose or 100, the first thing you should do is create an environment for success,” says Chris Powell, Extreme Weight Loss trainer.

Go ahead and read up on the best fitness hacks for turning your beer belly into a solid six-pack. Follow the plan to avoid feeling overwhelmed and see the best possible results.

RELATED: Eating Habits to Lose Abdominal Fat As You Age, Say Dietitians

Out of sight, out of mouth? Simply reorganizing your pantry’s “top hits” could translate into serious sugar savings, according to researchers at Google. The study, dubbed “Project M&M,” found that storing chocolate candies in opaque containers as opposed to glass ones help curb M&M consumption by 3.1 million calories in just seven weeks. In the study, they also gave healthier snacks more prominent shelf space. A similar study published in the Journal of Marketing found that people are more likely to overeat small treats from transparent packages than from opaque ones. For more sugar-curbing tips, grab a copy of The 14-Day No-Sugar Diet.

Simply blasting the air conditioner or turning down the heat in the winter may help attack belly fat while we sleep, according to a study in the journal Diabetes. As it turns out, colder temps can subtly enhance the effectiveness of your brown fat stores, which keep you warm by helping your burn through belly fat. Participants spent a few weeks sleeping in bedrooms with varying temperatures: a neutral 75 degrees, a cool 66 degrees, and a balmy 81 degrees. After four weeks of sleeping at 66 degrees, the participants had almost doubled their volumes of brown fat.

If you can do more than five reps of an exercise, pick up a heavier weight. As you build muscles and your body gets stronger, you can increase your load to challenge your body. It’s particularly important to work larger muscle groups, like your glutes, with a heavier weight, as this will burn fat, in the belly.

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Exposure to light at night doesn’t just interrupt your chances of a great night’s sleep, it may result in weight gain, according to a study in the American Journal of Epidemiology. Study subjects who slept in the darkest rooms were 21% less likely to be obese than those sleeping in the lightest rooms. For more ways to lose weight, check out these ways to flatten your belly!

Brian Wansink, director of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab, found that you can estimate how much someone weighs by taking a photo of their kitchen counter. After analyzing photos of 200 kitchens, he found that women who have soda sitting on their countertops weigh an average 26 pounds more while those who have cookies weigh about eight pounds more. The biggest surprise: Keeping cereal on your counter leads to an additional 20 pounds of body weight. The lesson here is to clean empty calories off your countertops to start losing weight.

Replace your candy and cookie jars on the kitchen counter with a bowl of fresh fruits and containers of nuts. Stock your fridge with chopped veggies and hummus for a quick and healthy snack. This way they’re more readily available, and you have no excuses to grab a bag of chips, right? Katie Cavuto, MS, RD, the dietitian to the Philadelphia Phillies and Flyers, likes having washed and prepared cucumbers, peppers, sugar snap peas, and carrots in the front of the fridge so they aren’t overlooked. Bananas, apples, pears and oranges fare well as sweet snacks and should be kept on the counter where you can see them. To discover more healthy foods that will help you lose weight, check out these best foods for muscle definition.

Is scrolling through an Instagram black hole costing you zzz’s? It might be the reason you can’t shake those love handles. In a recent study, researchers analyzed more than 500 participants’ weekday sleep diaries and found that losing a mere 30 minutes of shut-eye increased their risk of obesity by 17%!

Reading the nutrition label of packaged foods is important, but you also want to carefully review the ingredients list. While the nutrition label will tell you how many calories and grams of fat and sugar are in the food, the ingredients list will tell you what’s exactly in it. Ask yourself: Does it have processed oils? What is the source of the sugar content? Are there food additives?

Your breakfast toast won’t miss these sugar-laden spreads when you start to shed pounds and notice a flatter belly. One tablespoon of jam easily carries just under 10 grams of sugar. And let’s be honest, who just has one? Top peanut butter sandwiches with fresh pieces of fruit, like banana and strawberry slices to infuse it with some natural sweetness. This tactic will help ward off blood-sugar fluctuations that can cause insulin spikes and put hunger into overdrive.

There’s no sugar-coating it: Sugar wreaks havoc on the body. Consuming too much of the white stuff can lead to obesity, which often causes other health problems, like diabetes and heart disease. Many unhealthy breakfast cereals pack more sugar into one bowl than you’ll find in a Boston Kreme donut! To make matters worse, many popular varieties like Frosted Flakes and Fruity Pebbles are laced with Butylated Hydroxytoluene (BHT) or BHA (Butylated Hydroxyanisole). These ingredients are banned in the U.K., Australia, New Zealand, Japan and much of Europe because they are thought to be carcinogenic.

“Soda, both diet and regular, have absolutely no nutritional benefits and may even have serious health implications,” says Gina Consalvo, MA, RD, LDN, a Pennsylvania-based registered dietitian. “Not only are they loaded with empty calories, harmful preservatives, sugar or artificial sweeteners, they also have dangerous artificial coloring derived from coal sources,” explains Consalvo. But that’s not even the worst part. “To prevent mold growth in the cans and bottles, makers add the preservative potassium benzoate (a known carcinogen linked to thyroid damage, leukemia and other cancers) into the cans.” Consalvo suggests eliminating soda and drinking water, seltzer or detox tea instead.

Many of us grew up eating white bread and bagels, so we understand why they may hold a special place in your heart. But these starchy grains (and things like white rice and pretzels) are anything but healthy. Made with enriched flour instead of healthy whole grains, they’re void of the belly-filling fiber that boosts satiety and keeps blood sugar stable. What’s worse, refined white-flour foods like these are linked to heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Plus, they lead to weight gain and make it more difficult to lose weight, too. For more ways to get the slim body you crave, check out these ways to lose 10 pounds—fast.

Processed snacks filled with saturated fats, sugar, refined grains and harmful chemicals. It’s no wonder they’re some of the biggest weight-loss saboteurs! To discover the worst snacks for weight loss in the supermarket, check out these unhealthiest foods on the planet.

You know that light yellow color that makes margarine look almost indistinguishable from butter when laid side by side? Well, it’s far from natural. In fact, without all the additives, margarine is actually an appetite-crushing shade of grey—yuck! As if that weren’t bad enough, many brands add propylene glycol, a synthetic compound, to their recipe to add grease without adding calories. Research has shown that the spread may expand your waistline, increase dangerous cholesterol levels and up your heart disease risk.

Chewing gum when you’re hungry fills your tummy with extra air, causing bloat. Many gums also contain sugar alcohols and artificial sweeteners, like sorbitol and xylitol, which can lead to bloating. Skip the gum altogether or opt for an organic variety like Glee gum or Simply gum instead. They’re still low-cal, but they don’t use sweeteners that’ll make you puff up.

After you’ve gotten rid of the weight loss saboteurs, it’s time to restock your shelves with Zero Belly-approved eats. All of the foods below will reduce bloat, heal your gut and turbocharge your metabolism. These three mechanisms work in tandem to turn off your fat genes—resetting your body to “slender.”

Zero Belly Smoothies are supercharged with belly-flattening nutrients. The key: Each drink is packed with protein, healthy fats, and fiber. Here’s the Mango Muscle-Up: Mix 1 scoop vegetarian protein powder, 2/3 cup frozen mango chunks, 1/2 tablespoon almond butter, and 1/2 cup unsweetened almond, coconut, or hemp milk. You’ll get 29 grams of protein for just 224 calories!

Eggs are the number one source of choline, a fat-burning nutrient. They fire up your metabolism and help turn off the genes for belly fat storage. In a study of 21 men in the journal Nutrition Research, half of the men were fed a breakfast of bagels while the other half ate eggs. The egg group had a lower response to ghrelin and were less hungry three hours later. They also consumed fewer calories for the next 24 hours! And speaking of belly fat, lose more of it with the help of these ways to lose belly fat.

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More and more research has begun to show that some fruits are actually better at fighting belly fat than others. And the better fruits all have one thing in common: They’re red, or at least reddish. Grapefruit, tart cherries, pink lady apples, raspberries, strawberries, watermelon, and peaches all fit the bill and can help flatten your belly.

Healthy fiber is what we call “prebiotic,” meaning it feeds the healthy bacteria and helps them fight inflammation and fat gain. Fiber-rich sources of carbs are BPA-free canned black and garbanzo beans, peas, peanuts, peanut butter, old-fashioned oats, quinoa and brown rice. Looking for tasty ways to enjoy your oatmeal? Check out these overnight oats recipes!

Plant-based protein powders are a low-sugar, high-fiber alternative to popular dairy-based supplements, which can lead to bloating. Hemp, rice and pea proteins are all good options; however, you’ll want to ensure you’re getting complete proteins with a full amino acid profile, so aim to find a protein powder blend that combines all three. We like Vega One All-in-One Nutritional Shake and Sunwarrior Warrior Blend. Whip up any of these best protein shake recipes to reap the benefits. Even if they call for whey protein, you can sub-in your plant-based favorite.

Protein is kryptonite to belly fat. When you eat protein, your body has to expend a lot of calories in digestion—about 25 calories for every 100 calories you eat (compared with only 10 to 15 calories for fats and carbs). With that said, stock your kitchen with boneless skinless chicken breast, lean ground turkey, lean beef, lamb, wild salmon, shrimp, scallops, cod, tuna, and halibut.

Leafy greens give you folate, which blocks the genes that trigger fat-cell formation. Romaine lettuce, spinach, and collard greens are some of the most potent sources of the flat-belly nutrient. For more ways to supercharge your weight loss, check out these best ways to boost your metabolism.

It’s every chocoholic’s dream: Research now shows that eating moderate amounts of dark chocolate can reduce overall body fat and shrink the waist. A study among women with normal weight obesity (skinny fat syndrome) who enjoyed two servings of dark chocolate daily showed a significant reduction in waist size than when on a cocoa-free meal plan.

Researchers say it has to do with the flavonoids, the heart-healthy compounds in chocolate, that have important antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Just be sure you’re reaching for a bar with at least 70% cacao, and stay away from the “alkalized” stuff, which has a significantly reduced flavonoid content. We like Nibmor Extreme Dark Chocolate with Cacao Nibs.

You know all that soda we told you to throw out? Use all that money saved to re-stock your kitchen with tea. Tea is the closest thing we currently have to magic weight-loss elixir. Rich in health-promoting compounds called catechins, tea can help fry stubborn belly fat and even fight off disease.

There are no wrong ways to eat a Reese’s. Feasting rituals, research suggests, are a form of “mindful eating,” which has the power to make food more pleasurable, and may help prevent overeating. Pleasure, according to research in Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism, catalyzes the relaxation response, promoting parasympathetic and digestive activities. In other words, you’ll metabolize dessert faster if you really, really enjoy eating it. In one study, participants who were assigned to eat a chocolate bar in accordance with a particular breaking and unwrapping ritual found the candy much more enjoyable—and even more flavorful—than a group who ate the bar informally.

Hara hachi bu is a Japanese practice to “Eat until 80% full.” If you follow Hara hachi bu, you could save nearly 300 calories per day. It can take up to 30 minutes for the body to register satiety signals, according to research, so consider using chopsticks to slow your pace and feel your fullness. According to a study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, healthy-weight customers were nearly three times more likely to use chopsticks than obese customers.

A study revealed that when women who were unhappy with their weight completed a one-time, 15-minute writing exercise about an important personal issue, they went on to lose at least three pounds over a three-month period. On the other hand, their counterparts who wrote about an unimportant topic gained three pounds, according to Cheryl Forberg, RD, author of A Small Guide to Losing.

“Researchers believe that reflecting on values can serve as a buffer to the stress and uncertainty that leads to emotional eating and help in maintaining self-control in difficult situations,” she explains. To reap the benefits at home, Forberg suggests pulling out a journal, setting the timer and free-flowing about what’s important to you. “Write as though no one else will read it. Come clean with what’s bugging you. It may surprise and enlighten you,” adds Forberg. For more weight loss hacks, check out these quick ways to lose weight.

Beating yourself up over food is a knowledge-behavior gap many unsuccessful dieters fall into. Calling yourself “greedy” or a “fat pig” or “weak-willed” only makes you feel bad about yourself, which often leads to eating more in an attempt to give yourself a boost. It’s important to try to stop the negative self-talk, says Freida B. Herron, M.S.S.W., L.C.S.W. “I often suggest imagining that your desire to overeat is a lovable 5-year-old child,” she says. “You don’t want to berate or shame your appetite—that only leads to more dysfunctional eating.” Instead, treat yourself with respect, understanding, and affection, as you would that child.

And when that seems near impossible to do, try chanting a mantra that has a personal meaning to you, suggests Jen Comas Keck, a personal trainer and owner of Beauty Lies In Strength. If you’ve been working on your fitness, for example, something like “I feel stronger and healthier every day that passes” may be effective.

If you’re the type of person that drowns your sorrows in a pint of ice cream, you might be what experts refer to as an “emotional eater”—and it’s likely the primary reason you have trouble staying trim. To lose weight, you need to first learn the difference between emotional hunger, which comes on suddenly, and physical hunger, which comes on gradually and is often accompanied by physical cues like a growling stomach, explains Forberg. The best way to overcome the urge to eat? Realize that although a bad feeling will eventually go away, the calories you consumed while you were feeling down, won’t. And the next time you’re feeling emotional, don’t try to mask your emotions or distract yourself. Experts say that truly experiencing your emotions will teach you that it’s possible to tolerate them head-on. Once you’ve done this exercise, it’s time to find a new, healthy coping strategy. Hitting the gym or calling a friend to vent are both solid options.

Losing weight can be just as hard emotionally and physically. Remembering why you started your weight-loss journey can help lift your spirits when you’re down and motivate you to stick with it when you want to throw in the towel. “Take a moment each morning to remember what you’re working for—whether it be improved energy so you can play with your children or a longer happier life,” says Dyan Tsiumis, who dropped more than 70 pounds before becoming a personal trainer. “When you focus on all the good that will come from all of your hard work, it’s easier to stay on track,” she adds.

Tsiumis suggests setting an alarm on your cell phone as a “motivation reminder.” “I have an alarm that goes off three times per day to remind me what I’m working for—and I lost my weight over ten years ago! It keeps my mind focused on being my best,” explains Tsiumis.

By running, biking or rowing after you’ve hit the weights, you’ll have a greater effect on your fat and calorie burn than had you done it beforehand. And don’t do any of these things you’re doing to slow your metabolism!

Sprinting is better for weight loss than running at a steady pace, says Dan Roberts, one of the UK’s top trainers. “Sprinting builds muscle which helps burn fat quickly. Also, the action of driving the legs initiates the abs and core” explains Roberts. “The faster you go and the shorter your recovery, the more your abs will develop.” Instead of your typical 30-minute trot, do 20 sets of 30-second sprints with a 30-second recovery between each. Here’s how to do it:

Step 1: Keeping your feet on either side of the belt, set your treadmill to a 10% incline. Then, set the machine to a challenging speed. This is typically at least two miles per hour faster than your distance running speed. So, for example, if you typically jog at 6.5 mph, you’re full-on sprint speed will be at least 8.5 mph.

Step 2: Hit the ground running for a solid 30-seconds. Then, slow the belt to a comfortable stroll and step your feet off to either side once you feel comfortable. Recover for a total of 30 seconds before repeating this pattern 19 more times. These circuits should take you exactly 20 minutes to complete.

Rowing burns many calories and works the most muscles, including your back muscles. To bump it up a notch, take your workout outdoors. In a Brazilian study, outdoor rowers burned 26% more calories during a race than those on an indoor rowing ergometers.

Although push-ups will emphasize the upper-body, including the shoulders and arms, they’re actually full-body exercises. “When done properly, they actually work your entire body and are one of the very best ways to target your external obliques,” says Annie Mulgrew, director of programming at City Row.

If you want to get rid of those stubborn love handles, side planks are the perfect exercise for toning your obliques. By challenging your balance, side planks force you to recruit other muscles to stabilize your body.

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Improving your health and wellbeing as much as possible is so important, and there are a lot of ideas you can use that will help you when it comes to making the most of this. You need to focus on doing as much as possible to take your life and health in a positive direction, and one of the best ways of doing this is to plan and prepare for this as much as possible.

Trying to make sure you focus on the best ways of being able to improve your life via health and wellbeing is so important, and there are a lot of ways in which you can do this. It’s important that you understand the different ways in which your life can play a role in your health, and vice versa. These are some of the key health and wellness hacks that can really make a big difference toward improving your life this year.

Get Your Mental Health In Check

Getting your mental health in check is one of the best things you can do to help you improve your life and stay on top of your physical and mental wellbeing. There are a lot of things that can affect your mental health, and it is very important to make sure you take the right steps that will help you keep on top of your mental health and wellness as much as possible. You have a lot of considerations to keep in mind when you’re looking to get your mental health in check, and this is something you need to make the most of as much as possible.

Lose Weight And Tone Up

Losing weight and toning up is one of the best ways of being able to improve your mental and physical health and take your life in a positive direction. There are a lot of things that you need to consider when it comes to making the most of this. Exercise is pretty much the key to losing weight and toning up, but it is also vital to make sure you observe a healthy and balanced diet as well, combined with a strong exercise regimen, in order to be able to make the most of this as much as possible. You have to try to make sure you come up with some of the key ways of losing weight and staying in shape as much as possible.

Sleep More

Sleep is so important for development as it allows the mind and the body to rest, and this is essential for being able to develop, grow, and improve. At the end of a long day, you need to rest and recharge the cells in your body, and sleep is the best way of being able to give your mind and body a reset for the next day, so that you are able to operate at peak level once again. Getting into the right routine is very important if you want to be able to sleep well and get a refreshing amount of rest. So it is important to develop a good circadian rhythm in order to ensure that you get the right amount of rest, and that you can improve your health and wellness in the process too.

Drink Plenty Of Fluids

Water is an integral part of improving your health and life, and it is vital to make sure you come up with some of the best ideas that will help you to drink more water. It is estimated that you should be looking to drink 2-3 liters of water per day in order to stay hydrated, as well as giving your body the valuable nutrients and antioxidants it requires. Try to make sure you consume as much water as possible so that you can stay healthy every day.

Don’t Get Sick

Staying healthy and well is important for allowing you to live life to its fullest, and this means you need to do as much as possible to avoid getting sick. That means you need to eat right, you should look at what you are putting into your body. Taking things like vitamins is also hugely important, as well as making sure you take a regular PCR test to make sure you are in the best possible physical condition.

There are a lot of things that you need to try to focus on when it comes to improving and enhancing your life, and making the best possible decisions for the future right now. This is something that you need to work on making the most of for the future, and there are a lot of ideas that can help you to live a healthier and happier life these days.

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Spending time in nature is good for both your physical and mental health. It can make you happier and keep you active. Here are some of the other reasons you should get outside today.

1. Increases Your Short-Term Memory

How often have you forgotten where you placed your keys or phone? Spending time outdoors can improve your memory. The University of Michigan conducted a study on this topic. They found students who walked in nature increased their test scores by 20%.

Natural settings also help you focus, enhancing your memory. In the city, there are many distractions, such as traffic or large crowds. Although, urban areas have fewer things you have to pay attention to. Having a stronger memory will help you perform better at work. For parents, getting their kids outside can help improve test grades.

2. Restores Your Mental Energy

Throughout the day you deal with lots of stress, from work to taking care of your children. It can sometimes leave you feeling mentally depleted. Being around nature can help to boost your mood and restore your energy.

Just admiring a beautiful lake can elicit the feeling of awe. This positive emotion can make you feel happier. Spending time outside can also calm your mind. Then you can let go of your stress and focus on what you need to do next.

3. Relieves Stress

Stress is a common emotion, but heading to the park can reduce some of it. When you’re outside, your heart rate decreases, and you have lower levels of cortisol. These physical changes can help you feel more relaxed. Just spending 20 minutes outdoors can lower your stress hormone levels.

Also, the calmer you feel the easier it is to manage your anxiety. Plus, the beautiful views can take your mind off any current worries. Even just seeing nature has been found to improve the stress of office workers. So, try to work near a window or step outside during your lunch break.

4. Improves Your Immune System

When your immune system isn’t functioning properly it can lead to illness. Spending time in nature can lower levels of inflammation. Going to the park can increase the number of white blood cells in your body. These cells help to fight off germs and harmful bacteria. Having a healthy immune system is crucial to keep up with your busy lifestyle.

5. Enhances Your Vision

Studies have found playing outside reduces the risk of children developing nearsightedness. The sunlight prevents the elongation of the eye, which causes the condition. Also, the brighter glow helps people focus without straining their eyes. Improved vision is important for everyday activities, such as driving.

6. Better Concentration

Walking along a trail can restore your mental well-being, which allows you to focus better. Also, with less stimulation, your mind isn’t pulled in too many directions. In addition, with lower levels of stress, you can easily deal with the current situation.

Improving your focus will increase your productivity at work. Plus, the more focused you are the easier it is to brainstorm creative problem-solving ideas.  Also, going outside can be a beneficial therapy technique for children with ADHD.

7. Helps You Manage Your Weight

Being outside encourages physical activity. Exercising is important in strengthening your muscles and boosting your endurance. You need at least 30 minutes of moderate activity a day. In addition, working out can keep you at a healthy weight, decreasing the risk of diabetes.

Going for a walk or riding a bike are simple ways to get some fresh air. For parents, take your child to a natural playground. These have equipment made from natural materials, like wood. Natural playgrounds allow children to play more creatively.

8. Gets You Off Your Electronics

In today’s digital world, people spend about 19 hours per day on their screens. Going outside allows you to take a break from your devices and be in the moment. Spending too much time staring at a screen has negative health benefits. One of them is not getting enough rest. The light from your phone can keep your brain awake at night.

Here are some more impacts of too much screen time:

• Eye strain and headaches
• Addictive behaviors
• Neck and back pain
• Changes in cognition
• Lower levels of physical activity

9. Improves Your Mental Wellbeing

Spending time outside can reduce stress and anxiety. These may lead to mental disorders if not managed properly. Taking a walk around your neighborhood can help clear your mind. With a more relaxed mind, you can better fight off negative feelings.

In fact, nature therapy can be used to help those with depression. There are multiple types of therapy. For example, adventure therapy includes activities, such as rafting or rock climbing.

10. Increases Your Lifespan

With all the health benefits of nature, you have a longer life expectancy. In addition, living near forests provides clearer air and encourages you to exercise. Exercising also increases your social interaction, improving your mental health. Living a longer and fuller life ensures you make many lasting memories!

Why You Need To Get Outdoors Today

Nature can be beautiful, from stunning lakes to mountain views. Connecting with the outdoors is also beneficial for your mental and physical health. So, the next time you need a break head outside.

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“Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.”
Marcus Aurelius

“If you want happiness for an hour — take a nap.
If you want happiness for a day — go fishing.
If you want happiness for a year — inherit a fortune.
If you want happiness for a lifetime — help someone else.”
Chinese Proverb

Saying no is often the easier way out.

When you say no you can safely stay within your comfort zone. You don’t have to fear failing or being rejected.

The scary unknown and sometimes difficult change can be avoided.

But if you say yes your life can expand and deepen. The yes allows you to open up your life to more happiness.

Today I would like to share 10 things that I have said yes to and that have helped me to become happier in my life.

Pick one of these that resonate the most with you and focus on making it a part of your life.

1. Being imperfect.

Trying to be perfect is setting the bar too high. It will be impossible to reach.

And so you’ll lower your self-esteem. You may not feel very happy about how things are going in your life.

Even though they might be going very well indeed.

Perfectionism is mindset that eats at you and your happiness. Saying yes to being imperfect can turn that around.

How to do it:

Realize the costs of buying into myths of perfection. 

By watching too many movies, listening to too many songs and just taking in what the world is telling you it is very easy to be lulled into dreams of perfection.

It sounds so good and wonderful and you want it.

But in real life it clashes with reality and it can harm or possibly lead you to end relationships, jobs, projects etc. just because your expectations are out of this world.

I find it very helpful to remind myself of this simple fact.

Go for good enough.

Aiming for perfection usually winds up in a project or something else very slowly or never being finished.

So go for good enough instead.

Don’t use it as an excuse to slack off. But simply realize that there is something called good enough and when you are there then you are finished with whatever you are doing.

2. Being you.

Not being able to be yourself, always trying to change for others or censoring yourself don’t feel good at all.

It makes life feel so small and limited.

So how can you be yourself? Your environment plays a huge part.

How to do it:

Supportive people.

Spend more time with the people who support your dreams, values and you. Or are at least neutral.

And spend less time with people who always criticize you or you simply aren’t a good fit for.

Supportive and life-expanding influences outside of your everyday life.

Change your environment not only close to you. Go further and spend more time with sources of information that supports your dreams and can give you information that expands and makes your life happier and more exciting.

Find support from people you have never met via books, movies, blogs, forums and music.

And spend less time with negative and limiting influences.

3. The things that make you come alive.

It is important to find some time and energy for the things that you feel makes you come alive.

How to do it:

Mix it up.

Try something new, even if it is just something small each week.

• Eat the vegetarian dish at lunch if you always eat meat.
• Listen to some music that isn’t your normal cup of tea.
• Go out to a movie, café or pub with friends if you usually stay in at night. Or vice versa.

Create variation and expand your comfort zone regularly in small ways to live a happier life.

Reconnect with what you used to love if it has fallen by the wayside.

If you used to go fishing, paint or play the guitar and it really made you come alive then reconnect.

Use an hour for it this week and see if it still brings you joy and makes you come alive.

4. Optimism.

Pessimism can really limit your life and bring it to a standstill.

It can make it feel like there’s no point in trying because it won’t make a difference or you’ll just fail. It can create ceilings and walls made out of glass where there really are none.

Saying yes a more optimistic way of thinking can on the other hand open your life up.

How to do it:

Ask yourself optimistic questions.

When you’re in what seems like a negative situation then make something better out of it by asking yourself questions that promote optimism and helps you to find solutions.

Questions like:

• What is one thing that is positive or good about this situation?
• What is the opportunity within this situation?

Start your day off on the right foot.

As mentioned in tip #2, the influences in your life can make a huge difference.

So choose to spend your breakfast time with an optimistic influence like for example a book, a blog or your mom.

Or talk to someone early in the day that most often supports and cheers you up like a co-worker or a friend in school.

5. Turning negative self-talk around.

It is very important to keep your motivation and your self-esteem up to live a happier life.

Your inner critic may be one of biggest obstacles standing in your way of that.

If you make a mistake or fail, if someone criticizes you or if you are just getting tired then that small inner voice can become louder and louder and drag and keep you down.

It can tell you that you are stupid or lazy. That you will not succeed. That you are worse or uglier than someone else.

Being able to turn the inner critic around or to shut it up as soon as it pops up is a very helpful skill.

How to do it:

Say stop.

Simply create a stop word or stop-phrase that you say or shout in your mind whenever your critic pipes up with a distorted and self-esteem hurting thought.

Say: Stop!

Or: No, no, no, we are not going there again!

Explain to yourself what this will lead to over the next year or more.

As I mentioned in tip #1, reminding yourself of the cost of buying into myths of perfection is a powerful way to replace those thought habits.

This works very well for other self-esteem hurting thought patterns too.

Remind yourself of how the inner critic has shaped your life so far. And in your mind see the cost of letting it roam free for another year or five.

6. Saying no when you feel it is the right thing for you to do.

To have the time and energy to say yes to the most important things you have to say no to some things too.

How to do it:

What do I truly want to focus my time and energy on?

When you get an offer or an opportunity arises ask yourself this question.

When you look over your schedule ask yourself this question. Think about and look at what your top priorities are and what you deep want before you say anything.

Disarm and then state your need.

It becomes easier for people to accept your no if you disarm them first.

You could for example do that by honestly saying that you are flattered or that you appreciate the kind offer.

Then you, for instance, add that you do not have the time for accepting and doing what they want. Or say that you do not feel that this offer is a good fit for your life right now.

7. Forgiveness.

Not clinging to the past and to the hurt that is there but to let it go and look to the now and the future is an essential thing to find more happiness in your life.

Forgiving is not always easy and can take time but there are some things that can make it a little easier.

How to do it:

Remind yourself that you forgive for your own benefit.

As long as you don’t forgive someone you are linked to that person. Your thoughts will return to the person who wronged you and what he or she did over and over again.

The emotional link between the two of you is so strong and inflicts much suffering in you and – as a result of your inner turmoil – most often in other people around you too.

When you forgive you do not only release the other person. You set yourself free from all of that agony too.

Make a habit of forgiving yourself.

Do not just forgive others but also yourself. By forgiving yourself – instead of resenting yourself for something you did a week or 10 years ago – you make the habit of forgiveness more and more of a natural part of you.

And so forgiving others becomes easier too.

8. Making someone else happy.

Making someone else happier has many benefits. The happiness spreads back to you as you see his or her face light up and as you know you did the right thing.

It spreads back to you as people have a strong tendency to want to give back when you have done something good for them.

And it spreads out into the world as that now happier person may spread his or her happiness to other people.

How to do it:

Help out practically.

Lend someone a hand when they are moving. Or give them a ride in your car. Or if they need information, try to find a solution by asking the people you know or via Google.

Just listen.

Sometime a friend or someone close to you may just want to vent or for someone to listen as he or she figures things out. It may not seem like much but it can be an immense help for someone who needs it.

So be there fully – don’t sit there thinking about something else – and listen.

9. Openness and growth.

Saying yes to being open to the good things in life and growing as a person plays a big role when it comes to happiness.

The other things in this article will help you with that. But here are two more tips that will make your journey a little easier and simpler.

How to do it:

Change one thing at a time.

Changing many things or your whole life at once sure sounds good. But willpower is something we often overestimate and everyday life tends to come in the way.

So to make sure you have a much better chance of changing a habit or area of your life change just one thing at a time.

Start small.

Just say no to one small thing you don’t want to do this week. Or forgive one person for one thing. Or help and make someone happy in some small way.

Take just one small step outside of your comfort zone.

10. To living your life fully despite setbacks.

When things have been standing still for while or you hit a bump in the road then it’s easy to back down. To shrink. To give in or give up.

But a better way to say yes to happiness in those situations is to say yes to living your life fully.

How to do it:

Keep going.

When you fail or make a mistake don’t give up. Reconnect with optimism by using the questions further up in this article. Find inspiration from books and blogs and the people around you.

And don’t beat yourself up. Instead nudge yourself back on track again.

Remember, it’s not too late to change your life.

I didn’t really try to improve my life very much until I was 25. And many throughout the world and history have made positive changes far later in life than that.

So if you want to make a change then start today. Work with what you have where you are right now.

Start small and take the first step towards something new.

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“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

Fear.

It’s so easy to get stuck in it. To let it hold you back.

I have been there many times in my life.

The fear has, for example, held me back from:

• Trying new things. It has held me back from trying something new for lunch or a new hobby because I feared I would have a bad experience or fail. And so I stuck to my usual routine and choices.
• Asking someone out for a date. Because I didn’t want to risk being rejected or looking like a fool in eyes of other people.
• Living my life like I deep down wanted to. The fear has held me in its grip and calmly explained to me that it would be best and most comfortable for me to stay where I am and to do nothing new. And many times I have sadly believed the fear and gotten myself stuck in a place where I honestly deep down didn’t want to be.

The fears we have are based in how we think about things. Destructive thought habits can create a lot of fear that is really unnecessary and damaging.

But there are also ways to handle these habits when they pop up and to – over time – replace them with healthier habits.

So today I’d like to share 6 destructive and fear-inducing thought habits and what to do instead of letting them roam free in your head.

1. You keep the fear foggy and undefined.

As long as your fear of doing something is foggy and undefined and just floating around in your head it will hold you back and often grow stronger with time.

What to do instead:

Ask yourself this question: what is the worst that could realistically happen?

And don’t just take a second or two to answer it.

Sit down with a pen and piece of paper. Take time to really think about it and to write out the realistic worst-case scenario.

This will:

• Bring a lot of clarity to what you truly fear.
• Defuse quite a bit of fuzzy fears or disaster scenarios that may have been bouncing around in your mind.
• Help you to realize that you can often bounce back pretty quickly even if the worst-case scenario somehow becomes reality.

2. You keep the fear to yourself.

When you keep the fear to yourself then in my experience it can easily take charge of your imagination and build a horrific and paralyzing nightmare in your mind.

Just being alone with the fear makes it is easy to lose touch with reality.

What to do instead:

Writing it out as mentioned above can certainly help. Another step you can take is to share your fear with someone else.

By sharing and getting some level-headed input from a friend or family member that nightmare can often be quickly deflated and seen for what it really is.

And just talking about it to someone who truly listens will release a lot of your inner tensions.

3. You focus on aspects that will keep you stuck.

If you just focus on the negative things that could happen if you face your fear then it will be very hard to start moving forward.

What to do instead:

A change in perspective is needed.

You can get it by talking to your friend or family member and by exchanging ideas and experiences about what opportunities lie ahead if you move forward.

You do it by focusing on the positive and on why you want to move towards what you fear.

A few questions that have helped me to find the more constructive and positive perspective when I have faced a fear are:

• What are the potential upsides that I want and can have by taking these actions?
• What are the potential upsides in one year if I start moving on this path? And in five years?
• And how will my life be in five years if I continue on the fearful path that I am on today?

Talk these questions over with someone. Or take out a piece of paper and write down the answers. Or do both.

4. You misinterpret the often little information you have.

It is easy to take very few experiences – maybe just one – and start seeing them as evidence of something permanent and frightening in your life.

What to do instead:

Question your fears and what they are based upon.

Again, sit down with that pen and a piece of paper. Think back to what evidence you have in your memories for a fear and a belief of yours.

Try to see the situation(s) that created your fear with fresh eyes today. Instead of the way you may usually see them.

Doing this helped me to for example reduce my fear of social rejection.

I looked back at a few situations from my past that formed and fueled that fear.

And I realized that:

• Honestly, I may have just misinterpreted being rejected in some of those situations.
• I often wasn’t rejected because it was something wrong with what I did but simply because we weren’t realistically a good match for each other. Or because the other person had a bad day or because he or she simply wanted to push me down to feel better about himself or herself in that moment.

This was an eye-opening experience and also helped me to understand that everything is not about me and what I do. And that our memories can often be pretty inaccurate and unhelpful if not reexamined later on.

And that our minds love to create patterns and conclusions based on very little evidence or few experiences.

5. You try to push the fear away.

When you try to deny a fear in your life, when you try to push it away or not think about it then it can often grow stronger.

What to do instead:

I have found in recent years that pushing the fear away can certainly work and help you to not be paralyzed from taking action. But I have also discovered that it can sometimes be more helpful to accept the fear.

To accept that it is there instead of for example trying to tell yourself to focus on the positive like a laser-beam.

That may sound a bit vague so here’s how I do it.

• Breathe. Take a few breaths and focus only on the air going in and out to calm and center yourself a bit.
• Tell yourself something like: “Yes, the fear is here. It simply is at this point in time.”
• Take that feeling of fear in and just let it be there in your body and mind. It will be uncomfortable. But just for short while.

Because if you do let it in then after a while – often just after a few minutes of discomfort in my experience – the fear starts to lose steam. It becomes a lot smaller or just seems to float away.

And it becomes a lot easier to think clear and constructive thoughts again.

6. You make it harder than it needs to be to take action.

If you think that you have to take action in a big, heroic and risky leap to overcome your fear then that may often lead to more fear and to not taking any action at all.

What to do instead:

A more helpful way to go about things is to not go all in at once. But to instead just dip your toes in. To take a small step forward but to do it today or as soon as you can.

And to take that first step slowly if you like.

The most important thing is that you start moving. That you start building momentum forward so that you can take more small and perhaps slow steps forward.

Doing things this way will not only build momentum but also self-confidence and expand your comfort zone. And all of this will make it a lot easier to take a bit bigger steps later on too if you’d like to.

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Given the stress and challenges of this past year, your inner critic may be at a dull roar by now. This harsh internal voice can contribute to “imposter syndrome” or a feeling that you’re not worthy of success. This roommate you would never choose might sound something like this: “I’m not doing anything well,” “I’m not as smart as my colleagues and not equipped for this job,” “I should be further along in my career; I’m stagnating,” “That person is so together,” “I am overwhelmed!” And as you listen to this inner voice, you may be thinking you are the only one in the world wired this way. The truth is, you are not alone.

As human beings, we are in a never-ending internal conversation with ourselves. The average person has 12,000 to 60,000 thoughts a day. About 80% are negative, and 95% are repetitive from the day before. We catastrophize. We add drama. We add unnecessary significance. 

But despite the amount of automatic negativity, there is good news! The good news is you do not have to be permanently stuck with this awful roommate delivering non-stop cruel commentary. You can choose your thoughts and change the narrative. (Audible sigh of relief!) Get started taming your inner critic today, and take back control with the following four practices.

Practice 1 – Clear Power Outages

Everyone experiences a temporary loss of power or confidence triggered by unmet expectations, mistakes, breakdowns, conflicts, and other people. Some power outages are small, while others can feel like a city-wide grid failure on New Year’s Eve. It can be extremely difficult to function during a power outage, causing you to spiral, and then spiral some more. Fortunately, the severity and time spent in these power outages can be drastically decreased with our three-step model. 

1. Take three deep breaths. 
2. Find a person you trust to talk through the power outage. Make sure this person understands they are there to give you the opportunity to be heard and not problem solve/give advice. When you share all the details out loud, it will be cathartic and mitigate the drama while trapped in your head.
3. Decide when you can let it go. Determine what actions you can take to help yourself reset.  

People continually tell themselves disempowering stories — about their circumstances, themselves, and others. Then, we go about collecting evidence to prove ourselves right.

In my 30s, when I was in corporate America, I was layered under a new manager as a result of a reorg. This change was a complete shock and disappointment. I was angry. I thought the new manager did not like me and did not value my contributions. I thought it would never work.

During the next few weeks, I collected evidence supporting this belief — all of the reasons why this was a mistake and why I should not be reporting to him. I got screwed, and this manager was not right for me. After weeks of suffering, losing sleep, and venting with a select few about how I was feeling trapped and unmotivated, my husband finally asked me in a calm supportive way, “Am I going to have to listen to this every night or do you plan to get a new job?” 

That was a wake-up call. I didn’t want a new job. I appreciated my team, my clients, my compensation and upward potential. But currently, my sleep, job satisfaction, and sanity were on the line! I realized the cost of this negative story was steep. This could not go on any longer, but I didn’t want to make a career change. It was then I talked to my closest friend Wendy (Fast Forward co-founder) who gave me valuable counsel — I could either continue down this path, or I could choose a new story and be happy.

“If you gave your inner genius as much credence as your inner critic, you would be light years ahead of where you now stand.” – Alan Cohen

I chose the new story: “I can learn from every manager.” This new story provided me with a new lens to look through, which led me to take actions I would not have otherwise taken. 

I sought out my manager’s council on challenges, and, to my surprise, he was helpful. I set up breakfasts with him to get to know him personally and found he was not so bad, after all. I made recommendations to improve the business and culture, and he listened! Within months, I had evidence for the new story and was thriving at work and home. 

You, too, can choose a new story using our simple three-step process: 

1. What is your negative story?
2. What is the cost of believing the story? Understand the cost of believing in that story and how it is holding you back from progress and happiness.
3. What is another story you can choose? Choose a new story that empowers you to move forward. 

Since we are often attached to our stories, it is quite valuable to get input from someone you trust like I did! The powerful practice of choosing a new story allows you to have an outlook that fuels you. You can choose to be right, or you can choose to be happy. 

Practice 3 – Run Your Own Race 

This expression comes from thoroughbred horse racing — jockeys put blinders on their horses so they focus on the track ahead and not the horse to the left and right. This is a powerful metaphor!  Comparing yourself to others is often disempowering and focuses you on what you don’t have versus what you do.  

Put your energy toward running your own race, so you can focus on your strengths and be your personal best. Here are some recommendations to do this: 

1. Limit scrolling through social media: The phrase Instagram versus reality exists for a reason. Spending hours in a rabbit hole of the cultivated image of people’s lives and adventures does not move you closer to your goals.
2. Focus on your strengths: Practice a glass half full attitude. Instead of focusing on your shortcomings, make a list of the valuable things you contribute — at work, personally and in the world! 
3. Shift envy to admiration: If you see someone advancing more quickly in their career, reach out to them for advice. Ask them to be your mentor. Tell them they are a role model to you. You never know what those conversations can lead to for your personal and professional growth. 

Practice 4 – Journal Daily 

This simple practice takes only six minutes a day and creates a huge impact. Journaling is proven to help people sleep better, lower stress and improve confidence and relationships. 

• Every morning, write down three things you are grateful for. 
• Every evening, write down three things that you are proud of and/or did well that day. 

While there are many things in life we can’t control, you CAN control your inner critic.  Start using these four practices today. You have one life — you are worth it. 

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“Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.”
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus

“If you want happiness for an hour — take a nap.’
If you want happiness for a day — go fishing.
If you want happiness for a year — inherit a fortune.
If you want happiness for a lifetime — help someone else.”
Chinese Proverb

“When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us.”
Helen Keller

Happiness must not always come from big things and events. It can come from smaller, daily habits too.

So today I’d simply like to share 3 quick tips and habits that help me to live a happier life.

1. Start by setting a low bar for happiness.

When you wake up in the morning tell yourself: “Set a low bar for happiness today.”

When I tell myself this and try to keep it in mind during the day I appreciate things more.

The food, my work, the weather, the small events of the day becomes not everyday stuff but something I feel happy to have.

The small things or what may be something one takes for granted becomes something I now often pause for a moment or two to take in and appreciate.

But if I become happier in my everyday life for the smaller things does that mean that I become unmotivated to keep working towards the bigger things?

Not in my experience.

This way of looking at my life instead fuels me with more energy and inspiration, life becomes lighter and I feel less inner resistance as I explore and work towards both small and bigger things.

I recommend to give this one a try and to see how it works for you.

And to use a reminder on your phone or on paper so you’ll more easily keep that low bar at the forefront of your mind.

2. Help someone out.

Helping someone out is one of simplest but also one of the most powerful things one can do to live a happy life.

How can you help someone out? By giving them value in some form.

Here are a handful of ideas for how to do that.

Offering some practical help.

With for example work, moving houses or cooking dinner.

Giving some good advice.

People may not always want advice but if they ask then give your best advice based on your experience.

Hugs.

The comfort of one hug or more can make the other person’s situation at least a bit better.

Encourage someone.

There is much discouragement in the world. So instead, be an exception and encourage people to believe in themselves and what they want to do.

Just listen.

Sometimes people don’t want any help. They just want to vent or for someone to listen as they figure things out and release pent up emotions.

It may not seem like much but it can be an immense help for someone who needs it. So be there fully – don’t sit there thinking about something else – and listen.

Put things into perspective.

It’s easy to get wrapped up in a problem and to make a mountain out of a molehill. But you can help out by adding your perspective.

The two of you can talk about it, perhaps laugh about it and even find the hidden opportunity within the problem that in one person’s head may have almost seemed like the sky was falling.

And remember to pat yourself on the back and appreciate yourself for helping someone out. Do not brush it off or make it smaller than it is.

Pause and take a moment to quietly reflect on how you did something good.

3. Be kind to yourself.

Being kind to yourself is a very helpful thing for healthy self-esteem and for living a happier life.

There are of course many ways to be kinder to yourself, but here are three good ones that I’ve found to be powerful.

Change your input to things that are kind and constructive.

Destructive messages from the people around you or from people further away such as media, advertising and society in general does not help you to be kind to yourself.

So, bit by bit, replace them with other daily and weekly input.

It could be the encouragement of friends and family and the help from someone close who has been in a situation that you are in now.

It could be practical personal development books and blogs that help you out with real solutions to the challenges you face and the goals you want to achieve.

Or it could be to spend more time in nature and in silence to relax and recharge yourself.

Compare yourself to yourself.

Comparing what you have and your results to what other people have and have accomplished can really kill your motivation and keep your self-esteem at a low level.

There are always people ahead of you.

So focus on you.

On what you have accomplished. And on how you can and have improved your results.

This is important because it’s a great motivator to see how much you have improved and how far you have come.

Give yourself a break.

I sometimes hear that you should always be positive or always be winning or working towards your goal. That may sound inspirational in theory.

But reality is not ideal or perfect and neither are you and I.

Life gets in the way sometimes. You may get in your own way. And sometimes you simply don’t have the energy or the courage or the time to do something.

And that’s OK.

Instead of trying to live up to some perfect image that other people and/or you may press upon you, choose to set human standards for yourself.

Choose to give yourself a break when things don’t go as you may have wished and choose to cut yourself some slack.

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“Gratitude is when memory is stored in the heart and not in the mind.”
Lionel Hampton

“Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.”
Marcel Proust

Maybe the simplest and most effortless habit for living a happier life is to take one or a few minutes every day to focus on what is already here and that you can be grateful for in your life.

It can help you to…

• Lift your mood and boost motivation very quickly.
• Find the things in your life that you want to focus even more of your time and energy on.
• Not just take things for granted and to find joy even during the tougher times.

It is simply a great habit to cultivate that demands little but gives much back.

So this week I’d like to explore 5 small tips that you can use to cultivate more gratitude and happiness in your life.

1. Pause and look around yourself.

A first simple step to build the gratitude habit is simply to pause in your everyday life and to ask yourself questions like:

• What can I be grateful for in my life today?
• Who are 3 people that I can be grateful to have in my life and why?

If you cannot come up with several things or people every day then that is OK. If you find one thing or one person then that is great too. Don’t get hung up on the numbers.

Just take a few minutes and see what you come up with.

Try to not repeat the same things too often. Instead, try to think of more things and people you can be grateful for in your life.

2. Look towards yourself.

Don’t just look outward.

Take a look at yourself too. A habit of being appreciative and grateful towards yourself is a simple way to improve self-esteem and self-confidence.

Ask yourself:

What are 3 things I can be grateful for about myself?

It could be that you were a good father/mother/friend in a moment of crisis this week. It could be that you finally got done with that task you had been procrastinating on.

Your self-gratitude does not have to be all about achievements at work or in school for example.

You can simply be grateful for your good sense of humor or that you help people out a lot by being a good listener from time to time.

3. Take a closer look at the very smaller things or what you may take for granted.

Don’t just focus on the big and obvious things you can be grateful for.

Think about what very small things you can be grateful for too.

Like the plant just in front of my laptop that I am writing these words on.

It is not a remarkable plant. But its simple beauty in the vibrant green color, how it keeps growing on just a little water and sunshine and the faint smell of nature is something simple I feel grateful for.

Another thing that I am grateful for today – that I may sometimes take for granted – was my lunch. It was a few potatoes with some grilled chicken and a dollop of sauce. It was delicious.

And, more importantly, I don’t have to go hungry. I am in the very fortunate position of being able to eat lunch every day.

Ask yourself:

• What is one very small thing that I can be grateful for today?
• What is one thing I may usually for granted that I can be grateful for?

Opening your eyes to the small and daily things you can appreciate lets you truly see more of the simple beauty in life.

4. Do it early or late in your day.

But how do you get the gratitude habit to stick and not just become one of those things you forget about or abandon after a few days?

Two things that I have found effective are:

• Take 1 minute in the morning to get a good start to your day by finding 3 small or big things you are grateful for in your life.
• Take 1-2 minutes each evening and use a journal to write down maybe 3 or 5 things you are grateful for about your day, about yourself or about your life.

Try one of these tiny time commitments every day for a week and see how it impacts your thoughts, feelings and life.

5. Express your gratitude.

Don’t just keep the gratitude on the inside. Express it.

Make other people happier too – and help them to perhaps pay it forward later on – by expressing how you are grateful for having them in your life.

Plus, their smile and the joy in their eyes when you tell them this will make you happier too.

Now, that gratitude could just be a small sentence. But it can have a big impact on someone’s day, week or even life sometimes.

So tell the people in your life.

Tell them in person tonight. Or write an email or a letter to someone a little further away in the world. Or send a small text message right now.

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