Tag Archives: Mindset

The Purpose of Life in Retirement

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“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson

For some people, the purpose of life may be to make the world a better place. Others may believe that the point of life is to find and achieve personal fulfillment. And some may feel that the point of life is simply to enjoy it as much as possible.

Many scientists would say that the purpose of life is to evolve and to live a life of purpose, according to Psychology Today magazine.

Evolution is the process that allowed organisms to survive and thrive. Humans, along with every living animal or plant, owe our existence to it.

Our purpose is to “evolve” during our lifetime because that is consistent with our evolutionary purpose.

Thus, the purpose of life?” is that we are here so that we can continue to live, adapt, learn, and grow. A purpose of life, and our purpose, is to continue to evolve.

We Evolved to Evolve

“Evolution” is a process of learning, adapting, and growing to be more effective and efficient, we see evolution everywhere.

Evolution is fundamental to every living organism. Inherent to our existence is that we learn, adapt, and grow. Additionally, maintaining healthy personal relationships is existential to our existence

Health, happiness, and longevity are the payoffs for this. Since our biological evolution is the foundation of our existence, a purpose of our lives is to continue to “evolve” during our lifetime by learning and growing.

There are several ways to grow, adapt and learn (to find purpose) in life, such as:.

  • Helping Others – Volunteering your time to help others can be a source of purpose.
  • Cultivating Relationships – Spending time with friends and family. Healthy and supportive interpersonal relationships are essential for both physical and mental health.
  • Continuing to Learn and Grow – Henry Ford stated, “Anyone who stops learning is old — whether this happens at twenty or at eighty. Anyone who keeps on learning not only remains young but becomes constantly more valuable — regardless of physical capacity.” To learn is to grow.  
  • Pursuing Your Interests – Pursuing hobbies or activities you enjoy can be an effective way to bring meaning into your life. Focus on doing work that is meaningful to you, whether it involves pursuing a career that you love, developing your creative skills, or simply enjoying your leisurely pastimes.
  • Building Your Awareness – Becoming more aware of your own thoughts, interests, and connections to the world around you can also be helpful when you are questioning the point of life.
  • Practicing Gratitude – Practicing gratitude, or the act of feeling and expressing thankfulness for the things that you appreciate in life has been shown to have a range of benefits. It can strengthen relationships, improve happiness, boost resilience, and improve overall health.

References:

  1. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/tech-happy-life/202010/what-is-the-purpose-life
  2. https://www.verywellmind.com/whats-the-point-of-life-why-you-might-feel-this-way-5272182

Mindset, Believing and Behavior Matters

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Your mindset is everything. Believe you can and you will! What you believe and think you become. 

Not everyone is going to believe in you and that’s okay. At the end of the day the only thing that really matters is that you believe in yourself. So, it’s essential to believe in yourself and to have faith in your own abilities. “Believe you can and you’re halfway there,” stated Theodore Roosevelt. His words remind us of the power of self-belief.

When we believe in ourselves, we unlock a world of possibilities and potential. It’s easy to get discouraged by the challenges we face, but with a positive mindset and unwavering determination, we can overcome them.

“Champions behave like champions before their champions: they have a winning standard of performance before they are winners,” writes Bill Walls.  Effectively, champions behave and believe they are champions first, and success comes later. They adopt a champion’s mindset.

As in sports, belief and behavior matter with respect to building wealth and achieving financial freedom. Your mindset is everything. When you face challenges with a positive mindset, you open up a world of possibilities. Believe in yourself, have faith in your abilities, stay resilient, and you can accomplish anything.

“Leaders are not made in smooth seas when everything is going well. It’s easy to lead when you are winning. Leaders are made in the storm. No one is born though. Toughness is built in the struggle,” explains Julie Fournier. Neither is building wealth and achieving financial freedom.  Successfully and patiently navigating market volatility and economic turmoil requires a positive mindset, believing wealth and freedom are achievable, and possessing disciplined financial behavioral skills.

“Your mindset is everything. It shapes your thoughts, your actions, and ultimately your life. A positive mindset can help you overcome obstacles and achieve your goals. So, take a deep breath and remind yourself that you are capable of great things!” –  Unknown

What you focus on is what you will find and what you believe you will achieve. Believe in yourself and your abilities, and you’re already halfway to success. Keep pushing forward and never give up!

References:

  1. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/seeing-what-others-dont/201605/mindsets

Time is Precious

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”We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.” – Aristotle

Brian Tracy*, Chairman and CEO of Brian Tracy International, posted recently the following Facebook post regarding time, mindfulness, and focus:

”If there’s one thing that’s certain in life, it’s that time is precious. We only have so much of it to achieve our goals and fulfill our dreams,” says Tracy. That’s why it’s important to be deliberate about how you spend and invest your time, talent and treasure.

Tracy’s quote “Don’t waste time knocking on doors that won’t open for you” speaks to this idea. It reminds you that not every opportunity will be the right fit for you, and that’s okay. Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, some doors simply won’t open for you.

Instead of wasting time and energy trying to force these doors open, it’s better to focus your efforts toward doors that are more likely to lead to success. This doesn’t mean you should give up at the first sign of resistance, but rather that you should be mindful of when it’s time to move on.

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life,” stated Apple founder Steve Jobs. “Don’t be trapped by dogma—which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.”

One of the keys to success is to focus on your strengths and pursue opportunities that align with them. When you do this, you are more likely to find doors that are a good fit for you and that will open with greater ease. This can lead to greater fulfillment and success in both your personal and professional lives.

Additionally, success is about taking action. As the famous quote goes, “The act of taking the first step is what separates the winners from the losers.”

Many people have brilliant ideas and big dreams, but few are willing to take the first step toward achieving them, writes Tracy. It’s easy to get bogged down by fear, doubt, or uncertainty. But those who are willing to take action, despite these challenges, are the ones who achieve success.

Focusing on your strengths, pursuing opportunities, and taking the first step can be daunting, but it’s also incredibly liberating. It’s the moment when your idea transforms from a mere thought into a tangible reality. It’s the moment when you gain momentum and start moving toward your goals.

In conclusion, this is a powerful reminder to be mindful of where you invest your time and energy. By focusing on opportunities that align with your values, strengths and passions, you can increase your chances of success and fulfillment. So, it’s important to be smart about where you “knock and keep pushing forward toward the doors that will open” for you, writes Tracy.

“My favorite things in life don’t cost any money. It’s really clear that the most precious resource we all have is time.” ~ Steve Jobs

Source:  https://facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02yGDH61Cd1RKimgr4crwkf2RwQPNWyPvAqS96e4cNzxL8EZXBfPF3SPNBHbwSoZ79l&id=100044268887586&mibextid=qC1gEa

*Brian Tracy is Chairman and CEO of Brian Tracy International, a company specializing in the training and development of individuals and organizations. Brian’s goal is to help you achieve your personal and business goals faster and easier than you ever imagined.

Mindset of Building Wealth

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Your mindset is a set of beliefs that shape how you make sense of the world and yourself. It influences how you think, feel, and behave in any given situation or circumstance. It means that what you believe about yourself impacts your success or failure or happiness or wealth.

Simply, your beliefs shape your mindset. Mindset is a collection of beliefs and thoughts. It is a way of thinking:

“Mindsets are those collection of beliefs and thoughts that make up the mental attitude, inclination, habit or disposition that predetermines a person’s interpretations and responses to events, circumstances and situations.”

According to Stanford psychologist and best selling author Dr. Carol Dweck, your beliefs play a pivotal role in what you want and whether you achieve it. Dweck has found that it is your mindset that plays a significant role in determining achievement and success.

Mindsets can influence how people behave in a wide range of situations in life. For example, as people encounter different situations, their mind triggers a specific mindset that then directly impacts their behavior in that situation.

Your mindset plays a critical role in how you cope with life’s challenges. With a positive growth  mindset, adults are more likely to persevere in the face of setbacks. Instead of throwing in the towel, adults with a positive growth mindset view it as an opportunity to learn and grow.

In short, your mindset not only impacts how you perceive the world around you, but also how you see and believe in yourself and your abilities.

Gratitude Mindset

It’s important to be grateful for everything you have in life. For having a roof over your head, a paying job, a family, a good supply of food and water. Simply, gratitude is the “affirmation of goodness”.

Gratitude is a super power! It has been scientifically proven to be good for your health, your well-being, your building wealth, and your relationships.

Psychology research has demonstrated that practicing gratitude is good for improving your health, your well-being, your building wealth, and your relationships.

We often forget to be thankful for what we have…have a mindset and attitude of gratitude.

If you can be grateful for what you have, you won’t take anything or anyone for granted in your life, and you’ll be wealthier and happier in the long run.

Your mindsets have a lot to do with self-confidence, self-esteem as well as self-development and the desire for self-improvement and being grateful.

References:

  1. https://sourcesofinsight.com/what-is-mindset/
  2. https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-a-mindset-2795025
  3. https://wealthygorilla.com/15-different-types-mindsets-people/

Gratitude

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“I have every possession I want. I have a lot of friends who have a lot more possessions. But in some cases, I feel the possession possesses them, rather than the other way around.” ~ Warren Buffett

Never allow all the things you selfishly covet or you want make you forget about all the things you have or currently possess. Put a little gratitude in your life today and be thankful for all you already possess.

Moreover, happiness doesn’t mean everything is pleasing or perfect. Instead, happiness means that you can choose to see beyond the problems and imperfections, and embrace an attitude of gratitude.

The endless pursuit of hollow amenities and fruitless assets that barely add any value to your life are often so intoxicating that people loose sight of things that truly make them happy and bring them joy such as personal relationships, joy and peace in abundance.

“Sometimes you have to stop staring at your problems and start seeing how beautiful life really is.” ~ Anonymous

Don’t wait for great. Be Great everyday! Don’t allow a little negativity keep you from feeling grateful for everything that is going right and for everything that is good and pleasing in your life.

Gratitude must become a 24 hour / 365 day mindset, so that you don’t take what you have for granted.

Research shows that gratitude can:

  • Help you make friends. One study found that thanking a new acquaintance makes them more likely to seek a more lasting relationship with you.
  • Improve your physical health. People who exhibit gratitude report fewer aches and pains, a general feeling of health, more regular exercise, and more frequent checkups with their doctor than those who don’t.
  • Improve your psychological health and emotional well-being. Grateful people enjoy higher wellbeing and happiness and suffer from reduced symptoms of depression.
  • Enhance empathy and reduces aggression. Those who show their gratitude are less likely to seek revenge against others and more likely to behave in a prosocial manner, with sensitivity and empathy.
  • Improve your sleep. Practicing gratitude regularly can help you sleep longer and better.
  • Enhance your self-esteem. People who are grateful have increased self-esteem, partly due to their ability to appreciate other peoples’ accomplishments.
  • Increase in mental strength. Grateful people have an advantage in overcoming trauma and enhanced resilience, helping them to bounce back from highly stressful situations.

References:

  1. https://positivepsychology.com/gratitude-exercises/

May you have Peace, Joy and Patience in Abundance!

Never Let Yourself Be Defeated

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“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.”

― Maya Angelou

“Winners are not those who never lose, they are the ones who never quit.”

Sometimes you may not win. But that is not your defeat. You are defeated only when you accept it. You must never accept your defeat at the first occurrence. In the game of baseball, if a batter swings and misses the first pitch, it doesn’t mean that he is out.

Improve Your Life

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“The key to happiness is really progress and growth and constantly working on yourself and developing something.” —Lewis Howes

Self-improvement, improvement of one’s mind, character, habits, and life through one’s own efforts. Life only changes as a result of the improvements you make by the actions you take.

Here are 10 Things You Should Do Every Day to improve your life.

1) Get out in nature

You probably seriously underestimate how important this is. (Actually, there’s research that says you do.) Being in nature reduces stress, makes you more creative, improves your memory and may even make you a better person.

2) Exercise

We all know how important this is, but few people do it consistently. Other than health benefits too numerous to mention, exercise makes you smarter, happier, improves sleep, increases libido and makes you feel better about your body. A Harvard study that has tracked a group of men for more than 70 years identified it as one of the secrets to a good life.

3) Spend time with friends and family

Harvard happiness expert Daniel Gilbert identified this as one of the biggest sources of happiness in our lives. Relationships are worth more than you think (approximately an extra $131,232 a year.) Not feeling socially connected can make you stupider and kill you. Loneliness can lead to heart attack, stroke and diabetes. The longest lived people on the planet all place a strong emphasis on social engagement and good relationships are more important to a long life than even exercise. Friends are key to improving your life. Share good news and enthusiatically respond when others share good news with you to improve your relationships. Want to instantly be happier? Do something kind for them.

Every morning send a friend, family member or co-worker an email (or text) to say thanks for something. There’s tons of research showing that over time, this alone – one simple email a day – can make you happier.

Harvard professor Shawn Achor’s The Happiness Advantage explains:

“This is why I often ask managers to write an e-mail of praise or thanks to a friend, family member, or colleague each morning before they start their day’s work—not just because it contributes to their own happiness, but because it very literally cements a relationship.”

4) Express gratitude

Gratitude is more powerful than you realize. In an experiment, people were asked to spend some time helping a student improve a job application cover letter. After they sent their feedback, the student replied with a message, “I just wanted to let you know that I received your feedback on my cover letter,” and asked for help with another one in the next three days. Only 32% of the people helped. When the student added just eight words—“Thank you so much! I am really grateful”—the rate of helping doubled to 66%.

In another experiment, after people helped one student, a different student asked them for help. Being thanked by the first student boosted helping rates from 25% to 55%. The punch line: a little thanks goes a long way, not only for encouraging busy people to help you, but also for motivating them to help others like you.

Plus, by expressing gratitude:

  • It will make you happier.
  • It will improve your relationships.
  • It can make you a better person.
  • It can make life better for everyone around you.

5) Meditate

Meditation can increase happiness, meaning in life, social support and attention span while reducing anger, anxiety, depression and fatigue. Along similar lines, prayer can make you feel better — even if you’re not religious.

6) Get enough sleep

You can’t cheat yourself on sleep and not have it affect you. Being tired actually makes it harder to be happy. Lack of sleep = more likely to get sick. “Sleeping on it” does improve decision making. Lack of sleep can make you more likely to behave unethically. There is such a thing as beauty sleep.

Naps are great too. Naps increase alertness and performance on the job, enhance learning ability and purge negative emotions while enhancing positive ones. Here’s how to improve your naps.

7) Challenge yourself

Learning another language can keep your mind sharp. Music lessons increase intelligence. Challenging your beliefs strengthens your mind. Increasing willpower just takes a little effort each day and it’s more responsible for your success than IQ. Not getting an education or taking advantage of opportunities are two of the things people look back on their lives and regret the most.

“There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.” Ernest Hemingway

8) Laugh

People who use humor to cope with stress have better immune systems, reduced risk of heart attack and stroke, experience less pain during dental work and live longer. Laughter should be like a daily vitamin. Just reminiscing about funny moments can improve your relationship. Humor has many benefits.

9) Touch someone

Touching can reduce stress, improve team performance, and help you be persuasive. Hugs make you happier. Intimate contact may help prevent heart attacks and cancer, improve your immune system and extend your life.

10) Be optimistic

Optimism can make you healthier, happier and extend your life. The Army teaches it in order to increase mental toughness in soldiers. Being confident improves performance.

Bonus:

Email a good friend and make plans.

Research says that to keep friendships alive, you should stay in touch every 2 weeks.

Got 14 friends, then you need to be emailing somebody every day and making plans to get together. Research shows the best use of electronic communication, like email or social media, is to facilitate face-to-face interaction:

The results were unequivocal. “The greater the proportion of face-to-face interactions, the less lonely you are,” John T. Cacioppo, author of “Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection” says. “The greater the proportion of online interactions, the lonelier you are.” 

Facebook is merely a tool, and like any tool, its effectiveness will depend on its user. “If you use Facebook to increase face-to-face contact,” Cacioppo says, “it increases social capital.” So if social media let you organize a game of football among your friends, that’s healthy. If you turn to social media instead of playing football, however, that’s unhealthy.

“Beginning today, set an intention and a relentless focus on living your life as the greatest person you can be, in all situations.” —Brendon Burchard

References:

  1. https://bakadesuyo.com/2012/05/what-10-things-should-you-do-every-day-to-imp/
  2. https://bakadesuyo.com/2013/07/make-your-life-better/

Mindset: Steps to Success

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“A mind is a terrible thing to waste.” ~ Arthur Fletcher

The mind is a powerful and extraordinary thing. And, your mindset shapes your happiness, success and ultimately the direction and destination of your whole life.

Essentially, “mindset is a way of thinking; it is a habitual opinion or attitude that affects thinking”, explains Aaron Jarrels, a Licensed Therapist, and Certified Motivation & Mindset Coach. “A strong and growth mindset is confident, focused, determined, and maintains a desire to learn.”

Your life is a reflection of your habits and thoughts, and habits and thoughts are driven by your mind. Thus, the mind is everything… you become what you feed to it and what you focus on.

By developing the right mindset you can achieve almost anything. A growth mindset on the other hand, rewards those who want to get better at something. When you believe that you are capable of learning to do something, it sparks hope in the future.

Thus, it’s important to design your mindset and life for growth, learning and continuous expansion and improvement. Here are several steps:

1. Positive thoughts and outlook. Use positive thoughts and words to evoke feelings of strength, confidence, courage and success about yourself. Practice being kind and loving to yourself. You need to be able to keep yourself encouraged. Focus on the traits and skills that you like and that are productive, because what you focus on expands. Direct your thoughts towards the belief that you will succeed and achieve your life’s goals. But if you fail, embrace the failure, analyze, learn and grow from what went wrong. Give yourself credit and kudos for having the courage to try.

2. Build systems and a routine. Before you can permanently change your thoughts, you have to change your habits and behaviors. You must take responsibility and be accountable for you actions and behaviors. Discipline, patience and long-term perspective breed a positive mindset because you’re motivated by results and concentrating on achieving your goals. Delayed gratification is a key trait of successful people, states Jarrels. If you cannot control yourself and your desires, you will always be a slave to your impulses. When you develop the ability to maintain self-control, you conquer your biggest foe, your impatience. Owning your faults and how you respond gives you the power to change them.

3. See beyond today and maintain a long-term perspective. What the mind believes, the body achieves. Believe you can win. Visualize and focus on the end result, creating a mental image of the future you’re striving to achieve. Visualizing the desired outcome allows you to begin to accept the possibility of achieving your desired outcome. Perception is reality and the brain can be positively hacked with this simple strategy. And, be mindful of your tongue. If, you catch yourself saying “I can’t” you should stop immediately and replace it with “How can I?” Doing this will prime your mind and brain to look for possible solutions that were not imaginable prior. By asking “How can I?” you are creating a place for the desired outcome as well as the path to get there.

4. Step away from safety and liv outside your comfort zone. Operating in an stress free environment and using a limited set of behaviors won’t increase your performance or growth. It’s facing your fears and dealing with your challenges that allows you to realize your goals and to grow mentally, physically and emotionally. If you take risks and are willing to accept and learn from setbacks, nothing can stop you! Remember, if it scares you and makes you uncomfortable, it’s probably the right course of action to catalyze some next level personal growth.

High performance and growth is not realized when you’re comfortable and steering clear of stressful situations. You’re restricted by your self-imposed limiting beliefs. Becoming abundantly successful in whatever goal you want to achieve is simply a mindset shift away.

Developing a strong mindset takes the decision not to give up. It takes a willingness to grow and become more than you currently are now. It takes a strong determination to focus on what’s good, what’s going well and what’s positive in your life. It takes living a life of faith, rather than a life of fear.

Additionally, a strong mindset is one that sees, what others call failure as lessons and successes as steps along the way.

“The mind is everything. What you think you become.” ~ Buddha

References:

  1. https://aaronjarrels.com/how-to-develop-a-strong-mindset/
  2. Peter Oakden, There’sNo Such Thing as Luck: 4 Steps to Abundant Success, Muscle and Health Magazine: The Wealth Issue, Fall 2022, pg. 89.
  3. https://www.setquotes.com/a-mind-is-a-terrible-thing-to-waste/

Thoughts

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Negative thoughts can make you feel sad and anxious. They take the joy out of life-and they can take a toll on your physical health. That’s why it’s so important to learn how to deal with them.

One way to deal with negative thoughts is to replace them with thoughts that make you feel better. Positive thoughts can make you feel better and more hopeful. And it helps your body too.

Do you have any negative thoughts right now?

Take a minute, listen to your thoughts, and see if you do. If you’re focusing on negative thoughts, remember: You are in charge of what you tell yourself. And, it’s up to you to come up with something more encouraging.

Because of the mind-body connection, your thoughts really can affect your health. By telling yourself more encouraging things, you’re telling your brain to produce chemicals that can:

  • Lower your blood pressure.
  • Reduce your risk for heart disease.
  • Make your immune system stronger so you can resist infection and disease.
  • Lower your stress level and make you feel less anxious.
  • Help you avoid stomach problems, insomnia, and back pain.
  • Make you feel happier and more optimistic about the future.

Sometimes negative thoughts are connected to the way you live from day to day. Here are some things you can try right now to help you see the brighter side of life:

  • Be “mindful” and focus on what you are feeling right now. If you’re sad, feel the sadness. But don’t tell yourself that you have always felt this way and are doomed to feel sad forever. Sadness passes. A negative thought can linger… until you let it go.
  • Share your feelings with someone close to you. Everyone has negative thoughts from time to time. Talking about it with someone else helps you keep those thoughts in perspective.
  • Do something nice for yourself. Maybe you could work less today and play with your kids more. Or you could find something that makes you laugh.
  • Take time to count your blessings. There are so many things for each of us to be thankful for.
  • Eat well. Sleep well. Be active. The nicer you are to your body, the easier it is to feel more positive about yourself.
  • Make social connections. Reach out and enjoy some time with family and friends.

References:

  1. https://myhealth.alberta.ca/Health/Pages/conditions.aspx

Stop focusing on how stressed you are and remember how blessed you are.

Mindfulness: Being Mindful

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Research suggests mindfulness influences how you interpret the world.

“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” ~ Nelson Mandela

To live mindfully is to live in the moment and reawaken oneself to the present, rather than dwelling on the past or anticipating the future. To be mindful is to observe and label thoughts, feelings, sensations in the body in an objective manner.

Mindfulness can help you achieve greater understanding, which in and of itself will bring you peace. It will also help you develop greater inner strength. This will enable you to make better choices in your lives, which will lead to a healthier and more fulfilling life. Being Mindful can mean meditating or simply stopping to smell the roses.

Mindfulness encompasses two key ingredients: awareness and acceptance.

  • Awareness is the knowledge and ability to focus attention on one’s inner processes and experiences, such as the experience of the present moment.
  • Acceptance is the ability to observe and accept—rather than judge or avoid—those streams of thought.

Studies show mindfulness slashes stress, relieves pain, and improves your mood. And scientists are beginning to understand how. One study found that 8 weeks of regular meditation and being mindful can change parts of your brain related to emotions, learning, and memory. Even washing dishes can be good for your brain, as long as you do it mindfully.

As you develop mindfulness through your practice, your emotions will naturally change. The reason is that you begin to identify less with your ego, and you begin to see more clearly your connection with the rest of the world. And when you truly see this interconnection, your loneliness will disappear.

Through mindfulness, your anger and frustration will also subside. As you meditate, your mind will naturally calm down. This will reduce the mental agitation that triggers your unhealthy emotions. They will be replaced with more wholesome emotions, such as love, compassion, and joy.

“Meditation is not evasion; it is a serene encounter with reality.” ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

The more you practice mindfulness meditation, the deeper your understanding of your emotions will be. When you are truly mindful, you are aware of when your emotions arise, what your sources are, and have the inner strength to resist the temptation to fuel the negative emotions, and be able to cultivate the positive ones. This will lead to greater equanimity.

Mindfulness of Your Mind

As you get older, your mental abilities begin to decline. Your memory, concentration, and reasoning ability slowly diminish. This is an inevitable sad truth about growing old. However, not all of your mental decline is due to age, and there is a lot we can do to slow this decline.

Studies have shown that mindfulness meditation helps preserve and even improve your mental abilities. Mindfulness meditation can improve your memory, concentration, and abstract thinking. Several studies have shown that even small amounts of meditation can have a significant impact. The impact is even greater with years of practice.

In addition to mindfulness, another thing you can do to preserve your mind is to keep it active. However, not all mental activity is equally beneficial. Mental activities that require little use of your mind, such as crossword puzzles, have little effect. What has the most impact is learning a new skill, such as a new language. Learning a new skill forces your brain to create new neural pathways.

Proper nutrition can also have a tremendous impact on your mental abilities. This is more a matter of giving your brain what it needs to function at an optimal level. For example, your brain needs a fair amount of protein and fat to work properly. You also need plenty of fluids. When you’re dehydrated, which many of you are, your memory and concentration are greatly diminished.

Physical activity will also improve your mental abilities. In order for oxygen and nutrients to reach your brain, they have to be transported there through our blood, and physical activity improves the blood flow to the brain. You don’t need to do a lot of exercise to get the health benefits. Sometimes just walking regularly is enough to improve the blood flow.

Mindfulness encompasses awareness and acceptance, which helps you understand and cope with uncomfortable emotions, allowing you to gain control and relief. To cultivate these skills, concentrate on breathing to lengthen and deepen your breaths. Notice your thoughts and feelings, and practice curiosity and self-compassion.

References:

  1. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/mindfulness
  2. https://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/ss/twelve-habits-super-healthy-people
  3. https://mindfulnessmeditationinstitute.org/2020/12/05/find-greater-happiness-in-your-retirement-through-mindfulness/