Life Hacks On

Keeping Up in Down Times – Mental Toughness

Posted on December 18, 2015 by connormcgrath21

Do you think of yourself as mentally tough? Tough times don’t necessarily make or break an individual. But, economic downturns can certainly reveal what people are made of. Stressful times can bring out the best and the worst in a person. You didn’t ask for tough times and…

It’s a fact that some things are within your control and others are not. The key to mental toughness and getting what you want from life each day is to know what you can do.

Psychologists tell us that our success is intimately tied to how we are programmed from childhood through adulthood. Beliefs and attitudes can be a great asset or they can be a significant unconscious limitation-unless you are willing to see things differently.

Learn To See Things Differently

Plain and simple programming forms thoughts. Thoughts engage feelings. Feelings generate actions. Actions lead to life results. You can’t change your past, what happened yesterday at work, home or the stock market.

But you can change how you think about it-you can change your perceptions.

You can learn to see things differently.

In short, mental toughness is how you think or perceive the past, the present moment and the future in order to get what you want in relationships, health, home, finances and work.

Let’s explore six specific ways to embrace a toughness that will give you a leg up regardless of what the economy is reporting. Read More

Conformity Can Ruin Your Dreams

Posted on December 4, 2015 by connormcgrath21

We hope for things to be different, to be better. We hope to acquire new things and reach new heights. This desire for one’s betterment and success is basic to all.

Why is it though that as we age, as we mature, things tend to slow down? We stop dreaming, we begin to settle into mediocrity. For those in hardships, the drive to change one’s destiny is sometimes lost, and some people just start accepting ‘fate’.

It’s because the desire to conform is innate in us as well. And if we don’t achieve a balance between our goal setting and conforming practices, then life would be a big waste.

Don’t be mistaken, conformity is a basic need. It is a key to survival and societal order. If we don’t conform to the norms and laws of society then the world will lie in chaos. At times though, conformity turns into a desire or even a pressure to change one’s attitude, thinking, and behavior in order to ‘fit in’.

Are you letting your conscious or unconscious desire for conformity steal your dreams away from you? Here are some wrong excuses people have: Read More

Positive Thought

Posted on November 12, 2015 by connormcgrath21

The power of positive thoughts to affect one’s experience of life has long been recognized. Positive thinking has been credited with the success of many business people. More recently scientists are proving how the power of this ability can have an impact on our health, well being, and motivation

Unfortunately we are living in a negative world. Many, if not most people, are becoming very negative. It has become the way of the world. Most news items either on the TV or in the newspapers and magazines are negative. It’s a fact that journalists will go out of there way to find the most depressing negative story they can. They will then sensationalise it and hay-presto they sell more newspapers. We complain about our politicians. We complain about all the things they do wrong. Surely even politicians must do some things right. But do we regularly talk about there good points. No, we concentrate on the negative.

The age old adage of “is my cup half empty or half full” runs truer then ever in today’s negative world. We will always complain about what we haven’t got rather then express joy at what we have got or achieved in life.

Advertising plays on the negative. Commercials will always tell you that your car, TV, computer or DVD is out of date, the toothpaste you use does not clean your teeth properly, and your washing powder does not clean your clothes. Unless of course you buy there product or brand. You see they play on the negative. If people where happy with what they had and could only see the positive in the products they used and owned the advertisers would have to find another way of selling you there products. Read More

4 Scientific Strategies to Become Brilliant At Anything

Posted on November 4, 2015 by connormcgrath21

In this brief article we will explore four methods that real world achievers use to outshine their peers and become history makers.

1. Get the Basics Right

In sports it is a well-known fact, that the greater your mastery of the basics, the better you will be at that sport. In fact, mastery of the basics, is often the key factor that separates great sportsman, from average sportsman. Imagine a champion soccer player who can’t aim the ball properly, or a basketball player who misses the hoop. They just wouldn’t make the team.

Similarly in everyday life, we need to pay attention to the basics of whatever we are doing. We need to ensure that we have a strong mastery of the fundamentals. We need to be ready for the opportunities that life brings us, so that when our time comes, we don’t miss our shot.

2. Strive to be the Master

The great martial Artist Bruce Lee was a master of almost every fighting style of his day. Not only did he study the traditional martial arts such as Wing Chun – Kung Fu, but he also studied western fighting styles such as boxing and fencing. Bruce Lee was always striving to become the best in his field. He would put in whatever effort it took, and do whatever he needed to do, to become the best. Read More

Five Steps Towards Greater Self Confidence

Posted on October 29, 2015 by connormcgrath21

We watch the star athlete calmly make the final shot, score the winning goal, or lead his team for a touchdown in the final minute of the game. We marvel at their talent and their determination, but what we value and admire most is the supreme confidence they display – they know they will succeed.

Confidence is an attribute that is alluring, attractive, valuable, desirable and contagious. Most everyone aspires to greater levels of it, even if they feel confident most of the time. It is a trait that will help us create greater results for ourselves and when leading others. Any trait with this much benefit is one worth developing. And yes, you can develop and strengthen your confidence.

Consider these five steps as the building blocks for greater confidence in any part of your life.

1. Remind yourself of past successes. Confidence builds on past success. Since you have had success before, you can (and will) have it again. We strengthen our confidence in any activity when we review or remind ourselves of past successes. If you are trying to build confidence in a new area, past success can still help us strengthen our confidence. For example, if you have had success in doing something new in the past, review those experiences when trying something else new – even if it is in an entirely different part of your life. Read More

Making Room For What Brings You Pleasure

Posted on October 26, 2015 by connormcgrath21

There’s a simple way to make room for what brings you pleasure, delegate the tasks that deplete you. This will leave you room to focus on activities that give you life and bring you joy. These are your core commitments.

Core commitments add value or a sense of purpose to your life and the lives of others. These are the commitments that make you leap out of bed in the morning. A new project or activity that reminds you why you are here and what you are here to do. With core commitments, you’re not just existing, you’re living. You’re living with the desire to serve others each and every day.

Chore commitments are just the opposite. They deplete you mentally or emotionally. You may become anxious or irritable as an obligation enters your thoughts. These activities don’t bring you joy. Often you wonder why you continue to do them. You may feel a little guilty for wanting these jobs to go away. Read More

Secrets of Creating Success with Ease

Posted on October 21, 2015 by connormcgrath21

Do you ever strum your fingers on the desk top as you look down at your work and think, ‘Right, how can I do all this lot without really working?’

Brought up in an era with a cliché that went: ‘You must work hard for a living’ my attitude to work conflicted with what I’d learned from my elders and peers. I felt ‘wrong’ because I wanted to be lazy. I felt ‘guilty’ for wanting to do as little as possible and ‘unworthy’ in my role as office manager for an insurance brokerage. But I tell you I’ve cracked it! I’ve discovered how to maximize my results without working like a dog.

When I tell you how easy this is, you might not believe me. When I tell you how easy this is you’ll probably think that the idea is so alien to your ‘work hard for a living’ ethics that you won’t want to believe me, so before I share my secret to success with you, let me first tell you something worth bearing in mind… Read More

Living in the Moment

Posted on October 17, 2015 by connormcgrath21

This week’s wisdom is on the power of living in the moment. That ability we all have to be present…allowing all this moment offers us, and all we have to offer it. Years ago, I used to be a very future-oriented and forward-thinking person. Always saying to myself and others, “Tomorrow’s gonna’ be so much better than today…I can’t wait!” – While not even realizing that first, I wasn’t even dealing with the realities of what I needed to face in the present – not enough money, not loving my work, looking for others to validate my level of excitement…and a host of other externally validating needs that I had at the time.

What I didn’t realize was that I was literally draining my energy from the present out into the future. I remember saying to myself things like, “I’ll have more tomorrow if only this would change” or “If I only had more intuition…I wish I had more wisdom…maybe tomorrow…” Without realizing that I was spending all my energy hoping for something better to happen next week or next year, instead of listening to my intuition and taking a breath to be present. Read More

6 Habits of Successful People

Posted on October 13, 2015 by connormcgrath21

Today’s most successful people come from all walks of life, but there are certain things virtually all of them have in common. Their success is the result of a mindset they share that pushes them to seek out maximum efficiency. From the time they jump out of bed (usually very early), they begin employing habits that enable them to get more done by lunch than most people do all day. Their high productivity sets them apart from everyone else. Let’s take a quick look at 6 habits of successful people.

1.) Exercise. There are many benefits of regular exercise, both to your physical and mental health. Successful people know it’s also the best way to start your day, providing an energy boost that can carry you for several hours. The early sense of accomplishment you’ll feel afterward can also get your day off to a better start, since you will have already knocked out one important task before breakfast. Even 15 minutes of exercise as soon as you get out of bed can help restore your sense of alertness. Read More

Personal Growth – Where to Start

Posted on October 10, 2015 by connormcgrath21

Life is all about being happy.

When I say ‘being happy’, I’m not referring to the two hours on a Saturday night you’re shooting pool, hanging with friends and enjoying life! I’m talking about holistic happiness, or addressing many different areas that will make your life feel more fulfilled – personal growth. When you enjoy where you are at, you feel like things have come together the way they should. To live in this state is really to enjoy living, and you can start to head in that direction today.

Sometimes we reach a point in life where we are coasting. We get up, make lunches, drive to work, go about the day and come home looking forward to the weekend. Some of us play sport or go to church, but really we’re just on autopilot. Take some time now and do a bit of self-analysis. Think about the many parts of life that make up ‘you’ – do you need to work on an area? Read More