Friday with Friends – May 15

With this post I am starting a new tradition called “Friday with Friends.” You see, every week I am exposed to some truly exceptional articles from some of the most insightful writers around. My world is better because of them and I want to offer you the opportunity enjoy them as well.

So beginning today, on at least two Fridays per month I am going to round up a few of the best and preview them for your consideration and enjoyment. I had to use a lot of restraint here because there were so many fine choices. I chose 5 that I think you will like beginning with…

Overcoming Busyness: Five Strategies for Keeping Life Simple
by Jeff Nickles at My Super-Charged Life

Will you take the time to read this?

Most of us probably feel too busy to pause for such an activity.  We feel rushed, hurried and behind.  Have you ever stopped to consider where these feelings come from?

I assert that most of it is just a bad habit that we have let take root in our lives.  The stress and anxiety that results from habitual busyness wears on our health, relationships and enjoyment of life.  It robs us of much that is truly good and creates joy.

Overcoming busyness is a worthy goal we should all pursue!

How do you start simplifying and overcoming busyness?

Overcoming busyness requires a little discipline.  You have to bust a cycle of behavior that has become a habit.  This can be difficult, but these strategies will help.

1.  Start small and learn to calm yourself

I challenge you to take 5 minutes to be still and quiet.  This will likely be harder
than you think.  Find a place where you can be alone with no distractions.  Be sure the television and radio are off.  Sit in a chair or on the bed, close your eyes, still your mind and just sit there for five full minutes.  Increase the time each day until you can spend a full 30 minutes in this calm state.  This is detox for your busyness! [continue reading]

The One and Only Motivator for Success
by Hani Al-Qasem at Pick the Brain

How many times have you had these thoughts: “I need to go out there and do it” or “I should go to the gym more than once a week” or “I ought to wake up thirty minutes earlier to revise my presentation” or any other ‘could’ve’, ‘would’ve’, should’ve’?

If you’re like me, you’ve probably had many of these thoughts. But how many of them did you actually commit yourself to in the long term?

More than likely, not enough!

You know you should go for this, you ought to do that, or you would like to do the other. But the ‘knowing’, the ‘ought to’ and the ‘would like to’ are not going to make things happen.

Why haven’t things changed the way you wanted them to? Why haven’t you committed to going to the gym more than once a week, or why haven’t you gotten up thirty minutes earlier to revise your presentation?

The answer lies in motivation: The skill of getting yourself to take action to achieve your goals, no matter what.

The great thing about life is that you can learn, develop and master the skill of getting and staying motivated, so you can accomplish the things that you have always wanted. [continue reading]

10 Best Ways to Harness the Power of Questions
by Luciano Passuello at Litemind

Our brains love questions. They have the power to engage us and to shift our mindsets. They drive knowledge and growth, and fuel both creativity and critical thinking. Here are 10 ways to ask questions more intelligently you can start using today.

1. Questions for Creative Problem Solving

One of the most effective ways to approach any problem is to ask questions about it. The greatest thing about questions is that your brain automatically starts working on them as soon as you ask them. Not only that, but it’ll keep working on them in the background, when you’re not even aware of it. [continue reading]

How Your Style Affects Your Dreams
by Alex Fayle at Someday Syndrome

When people talk about style, they often mean fashion. Lady Gaga has a stylist. The Jonas Brothers have a stylist. You don’t need a stylist. You just need to know what your style is.

By style, I mean the way you approach work and life. Are you an outgoing person? Are you on the shy side? What drives you? Are you interested in making enough money to buy that cottage? Do you live to help others?

Knowing what type of person you are is the most important step in figuring out what you want out of life. If you don’t know how you approach life then you have no idea which path will work best for you.

Let’s take a look at how different styles affect each of the Someday Syndrome variants. [continue reading]

How to Generate Any Feeling, Instantly
by Glen Allsopp at PluginID

What would you say if I told you that there was a technique you could use to help you generate any feeling in a matter of seconds? What If I also said this only requires a simple exercise for a few days to be effective for weeks? Whether you think it’s possible or not, there is something you should try, and I’ve been having a lot of fun with it recently.

In my quest to help as many people as possible, I often try to learn new methods that I think may benefit individuals. For example, it wasn’t till I started writing this blog that I decided to try meditation, noticed its benefits and wrote a guide. The technique is actually something I have learned through studying NLP and is just one of the awesome ideas I’ve came across. [continue reading]

Well, that’s it for this Friday with Friends.
Before you go, let me ask:

Did you find these articles useful?
Which ones did you like the best?
Should I continue to do this?

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