Did you know that if you are depressed, you can help yourself just by doing something as simple as keeping a journal? Lots of people keep a journal for many different reasons. If you are depressed, I want to encourage you to journal your way out of depression.

As always, if you are depressed, you should always follow your physician’s instructions. If you have been prescribed medication for depression, do not stop taking it. Rather, think of journaling as an extra tool to help you walk out of that depression.

One of the most common symptoms of depression is extreme anxiety or a feeling of hopelessness about a situation. When you feel like you don’t have any control over a situation, you feel extreme anxiety because of it, which only feeds into your already depressive state.

Journaling is an outlet for you to express your thoughts and feelings without causing harm or damage to yourself or anyone around you. So often, a patient who is depressed will scream at others around them or lash out in anger at others, even though they don’t mean to. Journaling helps stop this.

Keeping a journal for your depression is very easy and simple to do. Don’t think that you can only write in your journal. You should use your journal in any way you see fit to help you work through what you are feeling.

The most important thing about journaling through your depression is that you put your thoughts and feelings on the paper. Whether it is through writing, creating collages, or drawing pictures. Any way you choose to do it is fine.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Perhaps like many others this new year, one of your resolutions is to lose weight. Maybe you’ve even decided what diet you’ll try this time around. You might have even already gone to the grocery and purchased all sorts of healthy foods to kick it off right. But have you thought about your mindset?

The way that you think about your weight and diet is extremely important to your weight loss success. Many people believe by simply choosing a different diet and/or exercise plan, that everything will be easier. This couldn’t be further from the truth.
Before you start your new diet, use these simple tips to get into a better weight loss mindset:

[ Be positive. A pessimistic attitude will only lead to you dumping your newfound weight loss program yet again. You must keep a positive attitude about your weight loss at all times, most especially when you slip and mess up.

[ Be alert. Lots of people go on diets but never attempt to figure out what has led them to this part of their journey. Be open and pay attention to signs that point to problems which lead you to overeat or make poor health choices.

[ Be proactive. Even though you might have already chosen a particular diet, you must become proactive in your life. You need to take your health and weight into your own hands and not just depend on a special diet to give you the results you’re looking for.

As you start your new weight loss program this year, remember that you are the only one in control of your weight. If you reach success, it will be because you took the matter of your weight into your own hands.

Popularity: 5% [?]

4 Simple Ways To Get Exercise

If you are like most, you might find it challenging to work exercise into your daily routine. Shuffling from one appointment to another, taking care of your family, and working a full-time job can leave very little (if any) time for exercise. This article will give you four very simple ways you can work exercise into your daily routines.

WALKING

When people think of walking, they usually think of sweating on a treadmill or taking a hike through the woods. But anyone can work walking into their scheduling by changing just a few things:

· Park further away from the door to the grocery store.

· Park two blocks from where you work.

· Walk around the perimeter of your building.

· Walk a few times around your house outside.

While these are very simple ideas, you can get in some great exercise by doing them.

STRETCHING

Stretching is especially important for those who work in an office environment or sit all day. Very few people consider stretching to be exercise, but it is extremely important to keep your blood flow moving. Particularly if you sit at your job, you should make stretching often a part of your daily routine.

ADOPT A DOG

In addition to a dog being a wonderful pet, it will also help you become more active. Dogs are lively animals that love to be played with and walked. It’s a fun addition to your family, and a great way to get more exercise.

JOIN AN EXERCISE GROUP

Let’s face it. Exercising alone is a drag. In fact, those who start out on their own don’t usually last very long. It’s boring when you exercise alone. Get a few friends together for frequent workouts or join a local gym and get moving with other exercise buddies.

Popularity: 7% [?]

Set Achievable Goals

Are you starting 2008 by setting goals for yourself? Lots of people are more than happy to set goals. Unfortunately, not many of them end up following through with their goals and seeing them through to completion. This article shows you how to set goals that are achievable.

Perhaps one of the greatest reasons for failure where goals are concerned is that most people set goals that are not realistic. They set lofty goals and when they can’t reach them right away, they become disillusioned and walk away from their set of goals altogether.

Inspiring goals must be achievable. By “achievable” I mean, they must be believable (by you), capable of happening, functional, realistic, and true to life. Let’s take a look at each of these points:

• Believable – If you aren’t able to set a goal and firmly believe that it is possible for you to reach it, you may as well throw that goal right back out of the window. You must be able to believe in your goal enough that you believe in yourself to accomplish it.
• Capable of happening – If you don’t believe in your goal or yourself, you’ll most likely never think it is capable of happening. You must be able to envision yourself as having already accomplished your goal.
• Functional – Is your goals something that you are able to work on right this very second? If not, scratch it. Your goal must be functional. It must be something that you are qualified and able to start working on right now.
• Realistic – Your goal must be real. It must be concrete. It must be something that you know you are able to do. If you don’t know how to play the piano but want to learn, your first goal should be to begin taking piano lessons, not playing the piano with an orchestra in three weeks. Be realistic.
• True to life – Does your goal represent the reality of your life? Have you whittled it down to very basic, core, actionable steps you can take towards reaching it?

Popularity: 6% [?]

Are Goals Really Necessary?

Lots of hype goes on at the beginning of a new year. In fact, you’ve probably read and heard much of it already. Every new year people get their pens and notepads out and write down all the things they want to accomplish before the end of the year. The majority of these people never reach these goals.

Are you such a person who sets goals every year but somehow always manages to find yourself having not completed any of them at the end of the year? You’re definitely not alone. Others, just like you, wonder if goals are really necessary. Do they really work? And if so, then why don’t they work for you?

The truth is, goals are not a necessity. The reason why so many people set goals and resolutions at the beginning of every year is usually because they feel like they have to. The new year is often compared to a clean slate, or a fresh start. For some reason everybody jumps on the bandwagon of using that to set lots of goals that will never be reached.

This lack of success almost always creates a feeling of frustration and leads people to say, “I quit.” Then by the end of the year, when they realize they didn’t accomplish much, they start the cycle all over again with the next new year.
Why not stop this vicious cycle now? Instead of setting goals this new year, try something different. Focus on completing one thing right now. Forget about what you want to do within the entire year. Instead, set one tiny goal and work on it until it’s done. Then move on to something else.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Why Resolutions Rarely Stick

You’ve most likely heard the saying, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” The same holds true for new year’s resolutions. While everyone else is telling you to set your resolutions, I’m going to talk to you about why these resolutions never stick.

THEY’RE TOO FAR OUT THERE

Almost every person that sets new year’s resolutions make poor choices. They mean well, and want to make positive changes in their life. But they aren’t being truthful or real with themselves. Instead, they set resolutions that are not possible for them to keep.

THEY’RE NOT EMPOWERING

In order for you to be motivated to keep your new year’s resolutions, you must become empowered by them in some form or fashion. When you set a resolution, ask yourself why that resolution will make your life better, or how it will improve your way of living.

THEY’RE NOT VERY COMPELLING

Any resolution you set must motivate you. It must excite you to no end. If it doesn’t, you’ll never commit to keeping it. You might do well for a while, but when the newness of this resolution wears off, you’ll go right back to your old habits again. Resolutions that aren’t motivating tend to never stick.

Now that you can see here some of the reasons why resolutions rarely stick, you might be wondering what the point is in setting resolutions. That’s a very good point, and one you should further consider. Who are you fooling by setting resolutions that you’ll never keep? Only yourself.

Popularity: 8% [?]

What Causes Anxiety?

The National Institute of Mental Health estimates that about forty million Americans have an anxiety disorder. That’s just over eighteen percent of people ages eighteen and older who suffer from this terrible disorder. Of this huge amount of anxiety sufferers, many do not know why they feel the way they feel.

Causes of Anxiety
For many, anxiety is brought about by family or financial problems. Tight finances and huge debt can cause an overwhelming feeling of loss of control, which can trigger anxiety symptoms immediately. The main root of anxiety comes from worry. Worry about family issues, financial problems, work stress, etc. can lead to surmounting anxiety over a period of time.

Some of the most common things that causes anxiety include:

• money problems
• large amount of debt
• work problems
• stress
• irregular routine
• family problems

Symptoms of Anxiety
Anxiety presents itself in a variety of symptoms. Many people feel like they’re dying. Trips to the doctor or emergency room are not uncommon for those suffering from anxiety. Commonly reported symptoms of anxiety include:

• shortness of breath
• dizziness
• tightness in throat
• sense of loss of control
• headaches
• nausea
• sweating
• nervousness
• trembling

If you are experiencing these or any other symptoms, and think you might have an anxiety disorder, it is advisable that you make an appointment with your family physician. Your doctor can pinpoint the problem and give a firm diagnosis as well as treatment to help you cope with anxiety.

Popularity: 7% [?]

Transforming Debt Into Wealth

Do you feel like you are so far in debt over your head that you’ll never see the light again, let alone have wealth? This is the mindset of many people who have become encumbered with great debt. But you can transform your debt into wealth.

The first step to doing this is to change your mindset. Change the way you think about money. Many people who are suffering from a load of insurmountable debt think they don’t have any issues about money. But everyone thinks either negatively or positively about money, whether you realize it or not.

For example, Katie’s parents struggled with their finances during their marriage. As a child, Katie listened to her parents argue about money all the time. At Christmas, Katie worried because she knew her parents didn’t have the money to buy presents and she didn’t want them to feel bad because of it.

As an adult, Katie began saving money as soon as she started working. She built up a nice padding, then one day Katie decided to go on a cruise with a group of friends. “I’ve got all this money in savings,” Katie thought. “I can afford to splurge.” Katie enjoyed her vacation, but spent nearly all her savings.

Before long, Katie began to accumulate credit card debt. She began accepting one credit card offer after another, paying off credit cards with other credit cards. Soon, she fell behind on car payments. As Katie’s debt grew, so did her anxiety and stress.

Katie couldn’t understand what happened to her. She couldn’t comprehend how she’d managed to get into so much debt in such a short amount of time. But you see, because of Katie’s experience as a child, she was predisposed to making poor choices for herself. Because of her parents’ inability to provide for her as a child, Katie grew up with a mentality that she could do everything and have everything herself.

Within a few short years, Katie paid off all credit cards and cut them up. She began doubling up payments on her vehicle until it was paid off. Now Katie lives debt free. Better than that, she has a year’s worth of savings, in case something happens to her job. She pays cash for everything she purchases. Katie has turned her debt into wealth. And so can you.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Are You Bringing Stress Home With You?

According to the experts at the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, stress is linked to both physical and mental health, as well as decreased willingness to take on new and creative endeavors. With this kind of findings, it is no wonder that so many people feel burned out every single day.

In addition, researchers found that up to 40% of job burnout in the United States is due to stress. Stress affects millions of people every single day. Much of marital and family problems occur because of stress being brought home from the work place. Take this quick quiz to see if you are bringing stress home with you.

Directions: Answer YES or NO to the following questions.

1) Do you feel as stressed out when you walk in the door of your home as you did when you left work?
2) Do you have a daily after-work routine that allows you to unwind and de-stress?
3) Do your work problems weigh heavily on your mind, even when you are trying to have a nice relaxing evening at home?
4) Do you find it difficult to carry on a conversation with your spouse that doesn’t have something to do with work-related issues?
5) Are you able to deal with problems at work in a calm manner?
If you answered YES to three or more of these questions, chances are you are bringing stress home with you. Here are some possible solutions you should try:

• Sign up for a gym pass. Go at least 3 days per week after work to work out your frustrations.
• See a therapist. Sometimes all you need is a good therapist to listen to you and help you figure out how to better deal with work stress.
• Go for massage therapy. A professional masseuse can do wonders for tired, sore muscles that are due to stress.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Tips For A Losing Attitude

Every dieter struggles to maintain a weight loss attitude. All it takes is one tiny slip of eating too much chocolate and you want to quit. If you’ve tried to diet but think it’s just too hard and want to give up, try these four tips to develop a losing attitude.

1) Never give up.
The first rule you must learn is that you can never give up. No matter how difficult things become, or how much you’d love to cheat on your diet, you can never give up.

2) Each day is a new day.
One of the biggest reasons why so many diets fail is because you cheat one day then feel so guilty that you tell yourself that it’s useless and that you may as well just give up. (See Rule #1.)

3) Set yourself up for success.
Failure does not happen for any good reason at all. If you fail it’s because you have surrounded yourself with a failing environment. If your weakness is snack cakes, then throw away any in your cabinets and don’t buy another box to bring home. When you set yourself up for success, your diet will be much easier to follow.

4) Test your hunger level.

The next time you think about going to the kitchen for a quick snack, test your hunger level, using the HALT method. Are you:

• Hungry?
• Angry?
• Lonely?
• Tired?

Ask yourself this and see what your answer is. More times than not, you are really not hungry, but one of the other three. If you’re not hungry, step away from the kitchen and go find something else to do to busy yourself.

Popularity: 10% [?]