My series, Confident in God's Hands, is designed to help readers increase their self-esteem. So many of us who have experienced abuse or trauma suffer from a complete lack of confidence. Today, I'd like to address the importance of feeding our minds.
Is your mind fully functional?
Have you ever been awakened by the phone ringing in the middle of the night? You slowly come to a state of semi-consciousness and punch the button on your alarm. The ringing continues. You realize that it's the phone, not the alarm, and you fumble around in the dark to pick it up. You manage in a gravelly voice, "He..ll...o," followed by a deep sigh.
If we find ourselves slogging through our days with this feeling of still being half-asleep, it's time to wake up our minds. Here are some tips for feeding our brains to boost self-esteem:
Get plenty of rest.
No one can think straight without sleep. Many people believe they can get by with 6 hours, but researchers have found that most of us need 7 to 9 hours every night. Going to bed at the same time and waking up at the same time each day improves our mental alertness.
Eat nutritious foods.
Limit sugar and starches, which make us feel foggy. A diet high in protein and heavy on vegetables provides us with a clearer head and less fatigue throughout the day. A high-protein, low-carb breakfast gives us the mental boost and the confidence we need to start our day off right.
Get adequate exercise.
If we've been couch potatoes for years, we should start out with 10 minutes of stretching, yoga, or gentle walking. Even this minimal amount of movement increases blood flow to the brain. We can work up to 30-60 minutes of exercise daily to keep our minds sharp and our confidence levels high.
Turn off the TV.
As a teacher, I could tell which of my students spent an inordinate amount of time in front of their TV sets. They were slow to respond to questions, couldn't think creatively, and suffered from low self-esteem.
Television viewing is a passive form of mental work, meaning that we simply take in information without having to put in much thought. It dulls our minds so that we lose confidence in our abilities when we turn off the set and try to interact with others.
Pick up a good book.
Unlike TV viewing, reading forces us to use our minds in many creative ways. As we scan the words on the page, our minds form pictures in our heads of how the characters look, what the setting is like, and what all of the thousands of details must be. Reading is a great confidence booster, because it increases our vocabulary, teaches us about new places, and provides opportunities to learn about other people.
Skip the tabloid newspapers and magazines.
Reading the gossipy junk in tabloid newspapers and magazines is, in my opinion, a complete waste of mental power. They are written at a sixth-grade reading level and report all kinds of depressing news. If I look at them, I feel awful afterward. I realize that I've wasted a reading opportunity, and thinking about all those divorces, drug overdoses, and relationship issues drains my confidence. Who could possibly feel refreshed or more confident after reading about so much gloom and doom?
If you want to know what's going on in the world, pick up The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal. If you don't have access to them, subscribe online. The National Geographic magazine is full of interesting articles and photographs that will expand your horizons and increase your confidence. Learning about unusual animals and people from other cultures gives us something to talk about when we meet others. And being able to interact with some degree of intelligence boosts our confidence.
Read the Bible.
The Bible is God's living, breathing Word, which brings us refreshment, enlightenment, encouragement, love, and hope each time we pick it up. If we are facing hardships, the Holy Spirit leads us to messages about God's ability to provide for us. When we've reached a success point, the Word gives us plenty of opportunities to praise God for it. If we read the Bible daily, we discover that our confidence increases. There is no problem that is too big for God to handle. We can go out into the world with our heads held high, knowing that the Almighty Creator of the Universe is walking ahead of us.
Romans 12:2a (NIV) tells us about the importance of focusing on God, and not on the tragedies that we find on the TV set or in junk newspapers. It reads, Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Our minds can be renewed each time we open the Bible. And with the renewal of our minds, confidence grows.
Today's Challenge
Choose two things from the tips above to feed your mind. For the next week, write down how those two changes are improving your confidence.
Showing posts with label reading. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reading. Show all posts
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Monday, December 20, 2010
Learn More to Earn More
Jack Canfield's Success Principle #36
In today's lesson, Jack provides some practical suggestions for acquiring the knowledge we need to achieve our goals. Some simple changes in daily routines can substantially increase our level of success.
Decrease your television time.
The average American watches 6 hours of television every day. If we spend that much time in front of the boob tube, by the time we are 60, we will have wasted 15 years of our lives!
I am definitely not average, because I couldn't stand to watch 6 hours of TV a year. I gave up watching television decades ago, because I simply did not have the time to waste when I was teaching full time, studying for a post-graduate degree, writing a book, and raising babies. I have never regretted this decision, and I'm sure you won't either if you decide to curb your viewing.
Instead of watching TV, we can read a book, take an exercise class, learn to play an instrument, play with our kids, or spend time with our mates. Reading inspirational or informational books really fast-forwards us toward our goals.
The Bible, in my opinion, is the best book we can read. Romans 12:2 tells us, Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Learn to read faster.
If you're a slow reader, Jack recommends a self-study course or workshop from Learning Strategies Corporation. Check them out at www.learningstrategies.com.
Read one book every week.
If we make the commitment to read one book every week, review what we read, and apply at least one thing we have learned from each book; we will arrive at our goals much more quickly than the average person. The Success Principles lists books that Jack recommends on pages 441 to 451.
Read biographies of great people.
Reading about successful people can give us some excellent resources for our own lives. Jack provides a note about Great Life Network, a company that provides print and audio materials about the world's most recognized people. Take a look at www.greatlifenetwork.com.
Attend success seminars, conferences, and retreats.
We can learn a lot and network with important people by attending success seminars, professional conferences, and retreats. Check out the local paper for upcoming events.
Remain teachable.
The most successful people in life are the ones who are always open to learning something. People who think they know everything rarely get ahead in life.
Be prepared when opportunity knocks.
If we have a dream, we must continually prepare ourselves to grab onto that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity when it comes our way. For me, this means that I must continually polish my writing skills, keep my manuscripts ready for review on a moment's notice, and network with people who can help me get published. If I'm unprepared when an agent contacts me for a book proposal, I may miss my chance.
Figure out what you need to do to get ready.
If we want something, we must figure out what we need to do to get ready for it. I once met an eighth grader who told me that he had a dream of climbing Pike's Peak. I asked him what he was doing to prepare himself for that challenge. He surprised me by saying that he had spent his spring break hiking in the Pyrenees Mountains along the French-Spanish border! I'll bet he made it to Pike's Peak long ago, because he had a clear goal and was preparing himself for the challenge.
Attend personal therapy and counseling.
Sometimes, life just gets the best of us. When it does, we must take the time to heal from our emotional wounds. For those of us who have suffered from abuse or trauma, therapy is practically a given. We can get referrals to competent psychologists and counselors from friends, trusted doctors, or our religious leaders. It's important to make sure that whoever we see has lots of experience in working with people who have been abused or traumatized.
Today's Challenge
For the next week, keep track of every hour that you spend watching television or movies. Commit to cutting out at least one hour of TV viewing each day. Replace that TV time with reading books that will prepare you for what lies ahead.
Jack Canfield, America's #1 Success Coach, is founder of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul© and a leading authority on Peak Performance and Life Success. If you're ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get your FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at: www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com
In today's lesson, Jack provides some practical suggestions for acquiring the knowledge we need to achieve our goals. Some simple changes in daily routines can substantially increase our level of success.
Decrease your television time.
The average American watches 6 hours of television every day. If we spend that much time in front of the boob tube, by the time we are 60, we will have wasted 15 years of our lives!
I am definitely not average, because I couldn't stand to watch 6 hours of TV a year. I gave up watching television decades ago, because I simply did not have the time to waste when I was teaching full time, studying for a post-graduate degree, writing a book, and raising babies. I have never regretted this decision, and I'm sure you won't either if you decide to curb your viewing.
Instead of watching TV, we can read a book, take an exercise class, learn to play an instrument, play with our kids, or spend time with our mates. Reading inspirational or informational books really fast-forwards us toward our goals.
The Bible, in my opinion, is the best book we can read. Romans 12:2 tells us, Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Learn to read faster.
If you're a slow reader, Jack recommends a self-study course or workshop from Learning Strategies Corporation. Check them out at www.learningstrategies.com.
Read one book every week.
If we make the commitment to read one book every week, review what we read, and apply at least one thing we have learned from each book; we will arrive at our goals much more quickly than the average person. The Success Principles lists books that Jack recommends on pages 441 to 451.
Read biographies of great people.
Reading about successful people can give us some excellent resources for our own lives. Jack provides a note about Great Life Network, a company that provides print and audio materials about the world's most recognized people. Take a look at www.greatlifenetwork.com.
Attend success seminars, conferences, and retreats.
We can learn a lot and network with important people by attending success seminars, professional conferences, and retreats. Check out the local paper for upcoming events.
Remain teachable.
The most successful people in life are the ones who are always open to learning something. People who think they know everything rarely get ahead in life.
Be prepared when opportunity knocks.
If we have a dream, we must continually prepare ourselves to grab onto that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity when it comes our way. For me, this means that I must continually polish my writing skills, keep my manuscripts ready for review on a moment's notice, and network with people who can help me get published. If I'm unprepared when an agent contacts me for a book proposal, I may miss my chance.
Figure out what you need to do to get ready.
If we want something, we must figure out what we need to do to get ready for it. I once met an eighth grader who told me that he had a dream of climbing Pike's Peak. I asked him what he was doing to prepare himself for that challenge. He surprised me by saying that he had spent his spring break hiking in the Pyrenees Mountains along the French-Spanish border! I'll bet he made it to Pike's Peak long ago, because he had a clear goal and was preparing himself for the challenge.
Attend personal therapy and counseling.
Sometimes, life just gets the best of us. When it does, we must take the time to heal from our emotional wounds. For those of us who have suffered from abuse or trauma, therapy is practically a given. We can get referrals to competent psychologists and counselors from friends, trusted doctors, or our religious leaders. It's important to make sure that whoever we see has lots of experience in working with people who have been abused or traumatized.
Today's Challenge
For the next week, keep track of every hour that you spend watching television or movies. Commit to cutting out at least one hour of TV viewing each day. Replace that TV time with reading books that will prepare you for what lies ahead.
Jack Canfield, America's #1 Success Coach, is founder of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul© and a leading authority on Peak Performance and Life Success. If you're ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get your FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at: www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
