The powerful technique of affirmations has helped thousands of people obtain everything they desire. Many people practice positive affirmations daily, but not everyone manages to benefit. Affirmations work a lot like visualization and setting goals. If you practice affirmations but aren’t enjoying the results, then you are probably doing something wrong. Here are five simple steps for making affirmations work for you.

Step #1 – You Must Feel It

Many people don’t see results from their daily affirmations because they are merely doing it for the sake of doing it. They aren’t associating any emotions or feelings with their affirmations. If you want your affirmations to work for you, then you have to include positive feeling words in your affirmations. When you can feel the emotions, your affirmations will become much more powerful and effective.

Step #2 – Repetition is Key

You will never achieve significant results by taking a single step. The same principle also applies to your affirmations. You have to practice them every day if you want to make them real. You can’t just do it once and then forget about it. You have to repeat your affirmations every day until it becomes a habit. When your affirmations become habits, only then will you start seeing the results.

Step #3 – Turn Your Affirmations Into Your Habit

If you want to get the most out of your positive affirmations, you have to turn the practice into a habit. This means that you should repeat your statements at the same time every day. The best times to practice your affirmations is once in the morning and once before you go to sleep. Repeating your affirmations right before you go to sleep at night, it helps your subconscious mind continue to work on what you want in your life.

Step #4 – Belief That it Will Happen

Most people will do their affirmations, but they don’t believe that they are going to get what they desire. If you don’t believe in something, you will never put in the effort required to obtain it. You will never take action. Your beliefs define your action, and when you believe that you are going to achieve it, you will do whatever it takes to get it.

Step #5 – Commit and Take Action

If you want your affirmations to work for you, then you have to put in your commitment to achieving what you want. If you want to have a slim body, then you have to be committed to that outcome and take action by working out and eating better.

If you want your affirmations to work for you, then you have to be determined that they will. Practice your affirmations daily, with feeling and emotion, and you’ll be amazed at how quickly your desires are manifested.

AFFIRMATIONS MADE EASY:
How To Use Affirmations To Attract Your Desires

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If you want to fully embrace and own your personal power, you must accept all parts of yourself, which includes facing the fears that may be controlling your life. When fears become powerful, they can consume your energy and rob you of the ability to reach your goals or feel confident in your life. Learning to face your fears is crucial if you want to truly feel powerful and in control.

Learning from Fear

In the same way that our failures and setbacks in life have much to teach us, so do our fears. Everyone fears something. It is a part of being human. It is impossible to be utterly fearless, no matter how hard you might try. And often, fear is a helpful thing, keeping us safe from possible harm. So, instead of avoiding those fears or making decisions that keep us from situations that bring us fear, we should instead seek to understand those fears.

Most of the fears you likely have in your life are unnecessary for securing your physical safety and are probably robbing you of the power and strength you want in your life. Fear is usually the result of a lack of self-worth of confidence, and these anxieties can keep you from reaching your goals or living in happiness.

Instead of running from your fears, it is time to turn and look more closely at them. Fear is rooted in your uncertainty in your abilities or worthiness, so finding exactly what it is you are afraid of, and where that fear comes from can help you understand and learn from it. Most concerns are not based on your actual accomplishments or abilities, and many are entirely irrational. What would happen if your greatest fear came true? What would the consequence really be? And how could you overcome that?

Fear is a sign that there is untapped power in your life. Wherever you are afraid, you have the potential to grow your confidence and become more powerful. So, how do you turn your biggest fears into sources of strength in your life? Here is how.

How to Turn Your Fear into Power

First, you need to reflect on those fears. Dig deep to look at what underlies those feelings. What are you afraid of? What if that fear comes true? What will it mean about you if your fear is realized? As you are reflecting, listen to the types of words you use and the way you talk to yourself. Do you hear negative self-talk? Are you sabotaging your own confidence as you reflect on this topic? These negative statements also tell you a lot about your fears.

Turn these fears into positive affirmations. State your positive outcomes as if it has already happened. Write it down. Turn your fear into a reality you want to realize. Repeat your affirmations daily while you are working toward your goals.

Next, weigh the possible outcomes if you pursue that which scares you. If you pursue this dream, despite your fears, what could happen? If you do not, what could happen? Write a list of pros and cons for each path, including the worst-case scenario for each. Once you do this, you will realize that you can overcome all the obstacles you perceive as standing in your way to achieving your dreams.

The final step is acting on your goals and taking the plunge to push past your fear and move forward. Do one thing that moves you in a positive direction. Tomorrow, do another. Each day take one step closer to confronting your fear and realizing your goals. Each little step brings you closer to your final destination.

If you are ready to face your fears and harness them to develop your personal power, today is the first opportunity to take the first step.

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Let’s start with the basics – which is why and how journaling can actually help with your creativity. Keep in mind this is not just for artists and writers, but all types of creative people, and people who don’t feel creative and want to explore that part of themselves more.

Here are just some of the ways journaling can help, but really this list could be miles longer. Starting journaling yourself is the best way to see all the many ways it can help you.

You Unleash What is Holding You Back

One of the first things you might notice when you start journaling, is that a lot of things come up you haven’t thought about before, or at least not in a while. This is where that magical “clarity” and “self awareness” comes in. These are two things that people discuss often in terms of how journaling has helped them.

The trick here is to be 100 percent honest when you journal. If you are concerned someone will find it and read your inner feelings, then keep it safe! Make your journal private. Don’t let anyone see what you write, and if you fear they might get curious, never write in it when other people are around. That way they have no idea you are using it.

By being honest with yourself, you tap into what has been holding you back and what you might be hiding even from yourself. This is what people are talking about when they say clarity. The mind and subconscious are powerful things, and often times you have thoughts and ideals far back in your subconscious that need a little coaxing.

These thoughts are shy and might take a little convincing, but once you start journaling to reveal them, something magical happens. You not only understand yourself a little more, but you discover what was holding you back in a creative capacity.

When you get to know yourself more and who you really are, you discover your inner creative soul and are able to express that much more freely.

You Can Sketch in Your Journal

Aside from just writing in your journal, keep in mind that you can also use it for creating the art itself. If you are an artist or want to be more artistic in your creative endeavors, use your journal! You can start creating different types of sketches on full pages of the journal, or just to describe what you are talking about.

Drawing in the journal provides additional advantages as well. When you are writing about something complicated, and find it easier to sketch your feelings instead of put them into words, journaling is great for that.

It can also help you to explore different emotions through your sketches, by seeing what direction your art goes under different circumstances. You can also use different types of art medium and materials to express yourself even further.

Ideas Come to Life with Journaling
Another amazing benefit of journaling for your creativity, which we will explore more in a later section, is that your ideas often come to life. You can explore them, get them out on paper, and either write or sketch them out.

It is not uncommon for your brain to be filled with different ideas, but with no real way to express them, they either pile up, or you end up forgetting about many of them.

Don’t let this happen! Start using your journal to write down every single idea you have, creative or non-creative, and you will be surprised by how much you can actually flesh out these ideas. They soon become something and you are able to let your creative nature explore even more.

It Becomes a Part of Who You Are
Journaling and creativity truly go hand in hand, and they just become a part of you. You put your heart and soul into journaling in the same way you do any creative endeavor. You become someone that is more free with their feelings, isn’t afraid to hide their emotions, and has found a new and healthy way to express themselves.

Clarity Often Precedes Creativity
As mentioned previously, journaling can bring you a lot of clarity. When you have more clarity and self-awareness, you know a lot more about yourself and what motivates you. This in turn can help to promote more creativity.

This process is gradual, so don’t expect a miraculous change overnight. However, the more you journal and really get to know yourself, the more you will see what motivates you to succeed, and where your inspirations for being more creative come from.

Maybe you understand when and why you like to write, and what you want to create with art or other creative aspirations. This can also help when you need to be more creative in your job, no matter what that job is. Or if you just want to boost your creativity in your everyday life.

Journaling For Your Life

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The old saying “love heals all” has been used as a motivational mantra during hard times. This elusive idea that love, one of the most powerful emotions of them all, can bring about a sense of peace is overwhelming; in the best way possible.

Unfortunately, it takes a deep understanding of yourself and the world around you to grasp the concept that love really can heal a majority of the things we go through. Let’s consider how.

Love Is Supportive
It seems that during our darkest moments, the outpouring of love can come in various forms. Whether it’s a friendly text from a loving family member or a nice greeting from an unknowing stranger, love is expressive. This seemingly small display of affection can be the light an individual needs during an overwhelming time.

Love Is Patient
When a person truly loves someone, they exercise patience. This means they’re open to overlooking simple flaws with the hopes that one day they’ll continue working on themselves. This is an essential quality to have when you’re in a romantic relationship. Sure, nobody is perfect. However, the more you continue to exercise patience, the more you’ll appreciate their growth.

Love is Unconditional
Much like a mother who loves her child, true love is unconditional. This means it’s able to overlook physical and emotional imperfections. This is especially healing for individuals who are going through transformative stages. They may be on a weight loss journey or even pursuing a new career. Those in their circle who love them are able to overlook this momentary lapse of “perfection” and exercise unconditional love.

When people are going through certain things, they need this unconditional love to help them endure. By having this unconditional support from the ones around them, they’re able to continue their journey with strength.

Love is Understanding
When a person feels misunderstood, they’re missing a strong aspect of love from others. They may feel like those around them aren’t trying hard enough to see their point of view. This could easily come off as unloving.

However, individuals who love one another will go above and beyond to understand their counterparts. This means taking the time to listen and truly grasp the perspective of those around them. This is an essential characteristic for those in romantic relationships.

Understanding is one of the foundations of love. In fact, many people end relationships because they felt their partner simply didn’t understand them. Since it’s so important, it’s vital for those to seek understanding as a means to showing love.

Love is Expressive
When individuals are going through hard times, it’s good for those around them to express their love and support. This little boost of motivational confident is like medicine to a sick child. It just makes the pain tolerable and easy to endure.

When an individual expresses not only their support, but also how they feel about a person, they’re letting them know that their live is real. This is especially important for individuals going through self-esteem issues.

How Can You Show Love
Using love as a healing tool is an essential part of developing healthy relationships. One of the foremost ways you can implement this into your daily relationships is to let those around you know how you feel about them.

Seek to practice understanding and patience as you deal with those going through hard times. In addition, never be afraid to express your love and support for them. Your kind words and consistency may be just what they need to endure.

As you continue to practice love as a healing tool, understand that the universal law of attraction is real. What you put out will surely come back. Therefore, continue to place love at the forefront as it truly heals all.

Love truly makes the world go round. If you are eager to learn how to use the power of love to live the life of your dreams, consider enrolling in the 8-week online course:

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Decluttering and organizing your home does not have to only occur once a year as the spring begins to arrive. Taking the time to organize and declutter your home frequently throughout the year is a way to drastically improve and impact your daily life. When you want to live a happy, healthy, and fulfilling life, begin making the necessary changes in your own home with a bit of decluttering and organization.

Give Yourself Room to Breathe
Walking into a space in your home that is cluttered and littered with papers, clothing, and other personal belongings can feel daunting and cramped. Cleaning and organizing all areas of your home is a great way to give yourself room to breathe and simply relax. Eliminating unnecessary clutter and junk from your home is also optimal if you are interested in boosting the overall air quality in your current living space. Without piles of junk, paperwork, clothing, and unnecessary items, you can enjoy more breathing room without causing your rooms to feel stale.

Feel Refreshed Each Day 
Waking up in a clean and organized home is a great way to boost your mood while providing you with the focus and mental clarity necessary to take on the day. When a home is organized properly and decluttered, it is much easier to find peace of mind while unwinding, relaxing, or even working for the day.

Find What You Are Looking for in Less Time
Living in an unorganized home is challenging, especially when you are searching for your personal belongings or a specific piece of paper. Not knowing where items you are searching for are can quickly become irritating, stressful, and frustrating (causing a negative mood). Get organized by investing in plastic totes, wooden boxes, and other organization tools that blend with your current lifestyle and the type of belongings you own.

Avoid Feeling Cramped and Overwhelmed
Living in a cluttered and unorganized space can quickly become daunting, cramped, and overwhelming. When you no longer feel at home or you are unable to gain peace of mind when returning home from work each day, it is likely time to consider a serious decluttering and organization plan of action.

If you are still overwhelmed at the thought of decluttering and organizing your entire home, consider working on one room at a time to minimize the stress of moving forward. When you feel cramped and overwhelmed in your own home, it is much more difficult to feel creative or excited about other areas of your life. Improving the quality of your living environment is one of the best ways to ensure you are making the most out of your life and the home you live in.

Understanding the role that clutter and disorganization play in the home is essential when you want to make positive changes for the better in your everyday life. When you know how to remain organized and without clutter, take the proper actions to ensure you maintain a clean, organized, and welcoming home at all times.

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Most of us have a lot of things on our minds, yet we don’t put enough of it down on paper. Many of those ideas and thoughts bouncing around in your head can sometimes start to feel overwhelming. You may have secret hopes, dreams, love interests, failures or ups and downs going through your head.

It can be hard to remember each of those and it can be very difficult to keep all of your thoughts organized without writing them down somewhere. A great way to remedy this, as well as clear your mind a little, is to write everything down in a journal. Keeping a journal is great for anyone and is an awesome way to express yourself away from any judgment of others. Below are some tips for starting your first journal.

1. Protect Your Privacy
You must first think of ways to protect your privacy when you start a journal. This is especially true if you plan to add ideas that you don’t want people stealing. Always reserve the first page of your journal for your name and phone number or email address. This way, if it gets lost, you might get lucky and have it returned to you. If you like to write online, you may consider getting a personal email set aside just for your journal entries. Alternately, consider getting a flash drive to keep your entries on and make them password protected.

2. Date Your Entries
If you are only able to establish one habit when writing in your journal, it needs to be adding dates to all of your entries. This will allow you to reconstruct your entries chronologically by dates. It can also let you notice the silence in between certain entries.

3. Keep and Read What You Write
Many don’t feel the need to go back and read what they have written. However, it can be of great importance to go back and read what you wrote previously. You can be pleasantly surprised with how much you knew before and how far you have come.

4. Write Thoughts Down Quickly
Many people who journal regularly know all to well about “journal block.” This is the same as writer’s block and you can lose everything you want to write down if you don’t get it out in time. To outsmart this block, write everything down as fast as you can or as soon as you have a thought come to mind. Don’t tell yourself you will write it down later because you might miss your chance.

5. Be Truthful
Your own personal truth is not your enemy. You are writing for yourself, not for anyone else. Do not try and talk yourself out of getting to know yourself better and trying to understand how you really feel about things. You have to give yourself permission to tell the truth about everything. Also, give yourself the ability to go at your own pace. If you are having a hard time facing your own truth, you can slow it down a little.

6. Write Naturally
The best thing about keeping a journal is that there are no rules to follow. Don’t overthink what you are writing or how you are writing it. Write naturally and enjoy the process. You will gain more from it than you realize.

7. When You Start, Don’t Stop
When you start a new entry, it is best to start with the present moment. This could be what is going on in your life that day or that week. It is best to keep the thoughts and ideas flowing. Add in how you are feeling about everything going on as well. When you come back to read old entries, you will find it easier to relive the moment if you were more descriptive about how you were feeling as things were happening in your life. While writing, don’t take time to go back and edit or rewrite anything. Let everything flow out naturally.

8. Start with A Quick Meditation Moment
In order to get yourself ready for a writing session, take a few moments to take some deep breaths and meditate. You can use a variety of things to help you get in the mood for writing. The use of deep breathing, soft music, stretches or candles are all great things to help get your creative juices flowing.

Do any of these methods resonate for you? If so, please share your experience below.

There seems to be no end to the benefits of exercise. Humans need to move or else fall victim to what is often referred to as the sitting disease. If the majority of your day is spent sitting, your overall health will suffer, it can lead to weight gain, heart disease, and other serious chronic illness, especially as you get older. Lack of movement can lead to heart attack, stroke, and a general loss in quality of life in our senior years.

Everyone agrees that exercise is physically great for the body. However, did you know that exercise also has a wide variety of benefits for the human brain? What exactly happens in our brains when we exercise to have such an impressive effect on our mental health?

What Actually Happens In The Brain During Exercise

Exercise causes our heart pressure to rise, which sends a signal to the brain that the body is under stress. In response, a protein is released into our body called “brain-derived neurotrophic factor” (BDNF). This protein is thought of as a “reset switch” – it repairs memory neurons, making thoughts seem crystal clear after exercising and putting the body at ease.

Simultaneously, endorphins are released into the brain, which are meant to limit the degree of pain and discomfort associated with exercise, even creating a sense of euphoria. Like BDNF, endorphins are released in response to the feeling of “stress” brought on by exercise. The term, “runner’s high” is the coin phrase used to describe the surge of endorphins during exercise that act as a natural anti-depressant.

The same antidepressant-like effect from a “runner’s high” results in a reduction in stress level hormones. Additionally, a study conducted in Stockholm showed that running stimulates cell growth in the hippocampus, which is the portion of the brain responsible for memory and learning.

How Our Mind And Body Are Affected

Together, BDNF and endorphins give us a “happy” feeling after exercise. These are somewhat addictive in nature, which is one reason why some people seem obsessed with exercising, although this “addiction” can be a healthy one.

Besides the short-term high from endorphins and BDNF, exercise also has long-term benefits. Studies show that people are happier and more productive throughout the day when they exercise. A Penn State research study showed that people who had worked out within the previous month were happier and more productive at work compared to those who had not exercised (but not quite to the same degree as those who had worked out earlier that day). People who exercise regularly have much better moods than those who don’t and retain a stronger sense of calmness throughout the day.

Exercise affects the brain on various fronts. Not only does it increase heart rate that pumps more oxygen to the brain, it also facilitates the release of various hormones that provides a nourishing environment for the growth of brain cells.

Research conducted at UCLA showed that working out stimulates the growth of new neuronal connections in a variety of important cortical areas of the brain.

How To Maximize The Benefits

20 Minutes

Based on this information, you might think that professional athletes are the happiest people on the planet. According to research conducted by the Department of Exercise Science at the University of Georgia showed that only 20 minutes of exercise is needed to reach that peak level of productivity, positive mood, and facilitates information processing and memory functions. The key is to turn it into a habit.

Mental And Physical Connection

There is an important mental and physical connection that can increase the benefits of exercise. For example, exercise that integrates different parts of brain activity, such as ballroom dancing that requires rhythm, strategy, coordination and thoughtfulness in movements stimulates cognitive health more than less complex workouts like running or cycling that do not necessarily engage diverse mental abilities.

Adding Exercise To Your Life

Working out in the morning before work or school helps to spike brain activity, prepares you for stresses you may incur during your day, allows for increased retention of new information and learning, and equips you to cope with complex situations that may arise.

Start-off easy – even just 5-10 minutes a day – and gradually increase the length and intensity of your workout. Going to a group or class at the gym makes exercising more fun, and it’s a great way to learn new techniques and to meet new fitness minded people.

However, getting motivated to go to the gym regularly can be a challenge, so try different exercises at home and outdoors in your neighborhood, such as jogging, biking, strength training, etc. Variety is the spice of life, and the more you vary your routine the better for your motivation and your body.

There are many apps on your smartphone that can provide you with workout sets for all experience levels and even guide you through the exercises. Furthermore, apps like Map My Fitness and Nike enable you to track your progress, which is a great way to stay motivated as you watch yourself improve.

Final Thoughts

Remember, the health of your mind and body are closely connected, and exercise is one of the best – if not the very best – ways to improve mental and physical health in both the long-term and short-term.

The long-term benefits of exercising regularly are immense – reduced risk of disease, improved mental health, stronger body/muscles, reduced stress, improved digestion, improved blood circulation, and much more.

Even just going on a 20-minute daily walk is immensely better for you than staying sedentary. Find a training partner, set a schedule, do whatever you have to do to get those endorphins and BDNF proteins pumping as often as you can!

Do you feel like you just can’t focus enough to get anything done? Your clutter could be part of the reason why. When you’re surrounded by excessive objects, knick-knacks, and things you simply don’t use anymore, it’s difficult to feel truly serene in your own space. That, in turn, makes it difficult to get into a flow state and do effective work. Here are four reasons why clearing out your clutter will bring about an improvement in your mental clarity and ability to get things done.

When Your Surroundings are Clear, Your Mind is Clear

People tend to thrive in clean, spacious, organized environments. It’s hard to relax and feel good in a room that’s cramped and jumbled with odds and ends. Clutter isn’t just unsightly — it’s stressful, and it takes up your mental bandwidth, whether you realize it or not. Cleaning up allows you to get into a truly relaxed and focused state of mind.

Say Goodbye to Clutter and Goodbye to Mind Stress

When your space is cluttered, your life can feel a little out of control. It’s easy to lose important things, like that bill you need to pay this week, in piles of other stuff if you aren’t organized. Paring back your belongings and keeping them neatly sorted will help you find everything you need, right when you need it.

Getting Rid of Clutter Can Improve Your Health

When you take the time to tidy up your house regularly, you’re more likely to make the effort to take care of your body as well. In part, this is because decluttering puts you in a positive, can-do frame of mind that carries over into other areas of your life. It’s also because people tend to feel more positive and have more energy when they spend time in clean, non-cluttered environments. When your surroundings make you feel better on a day-to-day basis, you’ll be more likely to make the effort to exercise and cook healthy meals instead of ordering takeout and watching TV.

Staying on Top of Clutter Gives You a Sense of Control

Being a control freak gets a bad rap, but the truth is that humans need a sense of control over something to be happy. Of course, that doesn’t mean you should try to control everything around you, but you can definitely control the clutter levels in your house, car, and office. You’ll likely find that keeping your personal space clear and clutter-free gives you a sense of happiness and pride.

Decluttering is popular for a reason: it’s an effective technique for improving your life in a number of ways. One major benefit of decluttering is that it can help you focus better. When you make decluttering a regular part of your life, you’ll probably find yourself getting more done at work and adopting healthier habits at home. Your surroundings influence your mind, so why not declutter to set yourself up for success?

Organizing your home can also help you manage your stress!

Once a room in a home is decluttered, peaceful energy surrounds the entire space. Decluttering the home is one of the best things you can do to reduce stress. It is an opportunity to live in a space that sets the whole family up for success. Imagine living in a home that is tidy, organized, clean, and things no longer get lost. The following tips and information will explain more about the benefits of decluttering and how it can help you and your family experience increased productivity and less stress.

The Benefit of a Productive Morning Routine
Going through a typical morning routine in a home full of clutter is extremely difficult. It is challenging to find clothes, car keys, important documents, and a clear path from room to room. Imagine a stress free morning routine that includes access to the perfect outfit, the car keys are ready to go with your important documents, and all the floors are clutter free.

The Benefit of Saving Time and Money
A clutter-free home will help your family to know exactly where everything belongs. You will no longer buy something and then return home to discover you already have four of the exact same item. This is important because it will save you quite a bit of time and money. When the home is cluttered it creates quite a bit of stress because it takes so much extra time to find things. After decluttering the home, it will be easy to quickly find specific items because they will always be in the right room and the right place.

The Benefit of Increased Focus
In a home full of clutter, it is very difficult to focus on important projects and to complete simple tasks. When the home is a mess, and closets are full of clutter, it is difficult to keep the mind focused on tasks for long periods of time. A cluttered home leads to a cluttered mind and you may find yourself going from room to room and never accomplishing anything. Once the clutter is gone, your mind is free to focus on something else and productivity will increase significantly.

Stress-Free Way to Start Decluttering your Home
Now that you understand more about the health benefits of living in a stress-free and decluttered home, it is time to take action. The first step is to schedule the time to declutter and make it a priority. Get the family involved and create a consistent routine while going through each room in the home. It is helpful to create a system that will make the process go smoothly. The system should include a designated spot for items that will be sold, donated, or thrown away.

Now is the perfect time for you to create a vision of living in a clutter-free and stress-free home. Create simple systems and routines for the entire family to follow and soon everyone will experience the benefits of extra time, increased focus, and less stress.

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Journaling can be an amazing tool for self-development. But if you’re a perfectionist, building a journaling habit can be difficult. Maybe you’ve tried journaling before, but you wanted to edit everything you wrote, so you gave up. Or maybe you’re afraid to “ruin” a perfect blank notebook by filling it up with your thoughts. Sound familiar? If so, an approach called morning pages might be exactly what you need to start journaling without self-criticism or anxiety.

Morning Pages: The Basics

Morning Pages were first popularized through Julia Cameron’s book The Artist’s Way. The morning pages approach to journaling is very simple: just write three pages every morning. You can write anything you want – the idea is to capture your stream-of-consciousness inner monologue shortly upon waking. If you don’t know what to write, then you can write about having nothing to say. There are no right or wrong topics. Morning pages are about getting your self-critical mind out of the way and just writing.

Morning pages are for your eyes alone. They don’t have to be well-written. Spelling mistakes, grammar errors, and awkward turns of phrase are all fine. When you do morning pages, you give yourself permission to write messily and imperfectly. It’s also okay if your pages are repetitive and boring sometimes. You’ll probably come up with more to say than you think you will, but there’s no need to put pressure on yourself to come up with brilliant insights every day.

The Benefits of Morning Pages

Writing morning pages might seem like a tedious chore at first, especially if you’re not used to writing in a journal regularly. But this simple habit has a lot of benefits packed into it.

First and foremost, morning pages put you in touch with your inner self. As we get older, many of us start tuning out our inner voice, and this can make it harder to live in an authentic way. When you start writing daily morning pages, you might discover some emotions, attitudes, and desires that you didn’t know you were holding onto.

Writing morning pages also helps you clear your mind. If you keep your innermost self pent up all the time, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by mental “junk.” Writing every day helps you clean out the junk and focus on what’s really important to you. This, in turn, can lead to better decision-making.

Finally, writing morning pages helps you move towards your goals. When you start the day by reflecting on your deepest dreams and wishes, you’ll be less likely to procrastinate. You’ll also be more likely to push yourself out of your comfort zone.

How to Make Morning Pages Work for You

Want to try writing morning pages for yourself? Here’s how you can build the habit successfully – and make it stick.

Try to write every day, around the same time. This gets you into a good habit of writing morning pages.

Always write with pen and paper, and never your computer. Getting in the habit of real handwriting will help you go deeper into yours thoughts.

Set a timer or choose the number of pages you want to write. It is okay to be flexible, based on your schedule.

Morning pages can be a great tool for gaining personal insights and improving your life. If you’re intrigued by the idea of keeping a journal, why not give morning pages a try?

When you feel physically and mentally drained, it might actually be from having a disorganized home and work environment. There are scientific studies that clutter causes mental stress because it creates negative energy in your office or home, but having stuff piled around your home is also physically dangerous due to the risk of injury. Here are some of the benefits from organizing to give you more energy.


Saving Time

When You Try to Find Important Documents 

If you spend several hours looking for an important document when you need it, then this is a waste of your time. You may have valuable documents located in different places of your home, but this is a poor way to organize. All of your important documents should be located in one filing system, and you should also have your children’s documents organized. It is a good idea to have these documents in a fireproof container to protect the items.


Making It Easier to Get Ready for Your Day

By organizing the closets in your home, you can get ready for your day quickly. If your bedroom closets are bursting with piles of garments, then you may feel exhausted before you begin your day at home or at work. Organizing your closets can take several days, but when you get rid of excess clothing, you can store what is left by types of garments or by outfits. Getting dressed quickly in the morning or for an event later in the day can give you a boost of energy.


Keeping a Home Cleaner Faster

It is important to keep your home clean, but if you have a disorganized home, then dusting, mopping and vacuuming can take a long time to complete. However, when your home is organized, you can complete your household chores as fast as possible. Rather than feeling depressed about spending an entire day cleaning your home, you will feel energized because you can sanitize everything in only a few hours.


You Can Lose Weight with an Organized Home

If you take the time to organize your home, then you can lose weight. There are several reasons why this occurs, including feeling less depressed because your home is organized and easier to keep clean. In addition, with a cleaner and more organized kitchen, it is easier for you to prepare healthier meals rather than eating bags of potato chips or going to a restaurant for calorie-heavy comfort food.


Making You More Productive at Work

When you have a messy desk or work area at your job, it can drain the energy from you before you begin your day. To have more energy at work, organize everything by getting rid of excess papers, broken tools, and outdated items. At the end of each day, remove the clutter from the area so that when you arrive the next day, you can begin working in a clean place, giving you a huge boost of energy.

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