When it comes to your personality, are you a little bit of a thrill seeker like a great Mystery Series or are you lost in your own Galaxy like the Science Fiction Novel? Take the quiz and find out what genre of book reflects your personality the most!
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For most of us, there’s nothing better than retirement. I mean, we work so hard for our whole lives, so we have to have something to look forward to, right? Unfortunately, that’s not the case for some people. Some people have to work well past the age of 65 and they still don’t have the opportunity to spend the money they worked so hard for and saved. It’s a sad reality, but luckily, there are ways that you can ensure that your retirement is a happy one.
1. Take a Fun Part-Time Job
Once you retire from your career, that doesn’t mean that you have to never work again. In fact, it’s actually good for your health to get out and do something that you enjoy. If you like to play golf, then go apply at a golf course near you. Not only will you be around the game often, but you will be making a paycheck and probably get discounts. If you like kids, advertise yourself as a babysitter to make yourself stay young. Taking a part-time job like this can help you with your finances and also make you happier than if you were bored sitting around your house.
2. Make New Friends
Just because you are retired doesn’t mean that you have to do things on your own. You may like to hunt and fish in peace and quiet, but can you really do that for the rest of your life once you retire? Find some other retired friends and do some things with them. Travel somewhere new once a month, or however often your budget allows. Spend some time volunteering at different places and being social. You will find yourself in a lot better spirits when you are around other people rather than being on your own.
3. Find Some Hobbies
Do some of the things that you wanted to do when you worked all the time. This could include gardening, golfing, riding bikes, and anything else that’s active. Not only will your hobbies keep you busy, but they will also keep you healthy and happy. When you hit retirement age, the last thing that you want to do is exercise, but you know you have to. By taking up active hobbies, you will be having so much fun that you won’t even realize that you are getting your exercise in. That’s when you really know that you are happy.
4. Keep your Family Close
If you have kids, you want to make sure that they are close, but not too close. Now that you have more time on your hands, you don’t want to spend every waking moment with them, but you will want to see them more often. Maintaining a good relationship with your family when you are retired is a key to being happy. Having a poor relationship with family members can put a burden on the satisfaction of retirement; so always work to keep a healthy relationship with family.
Notice that these four ways to be happy in retirement don’t have a lot to do with money. People can stress over retirement if they don’t have a lot of money saved up, but there are plenty of other ways to still be happy. Having more money is better than having less money, but the last thing you want to do is be stressed out when it should be the most fun and relaxing time of your life.
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We all experience some level of anxiety every day, and sometimes it can be extremely difficult to cope with. Sometimes the worst anxiety happens when you are laying down to go to bed, and we know how that usually works out. The more you think about the things you need to do, about your finances, your kids, your job and everything else going on in your life, the more anxious you get. Before you know it, it’s well into the early morning hours and they you try to force yourself to get some sleep so you aren’t a disaster at work.
How does that work out for you?
Our guess is that it’s probably not favorable. The good news is that you can try different things to help you cope with your anxiety without getting all drugged out on medications. Here are a few things you can try the next time you feel anxious.
1. Just Breathe
When we get anxious, we sometimes don’t even realize that we are holding our breath. Holding your breath causes your body to tense up even more, which can cause more anxiety. Focus on every breath that you take and don’t allow your mind to wander. Concentrate on each breath and you will slowly take your mind off of whatever was making you anxious and allow you to regroup when you get back to it.
2. Over-Exaggerate
We usually tend to make ourselves more anxious because of our thoughts. If that happens to you, then over-exaggerate whatever it is that’s making you anxious. For example, if you have to give a speech or presentation and are feeling anxious about it, then imagine yourself falling down, spilling water on yourself, opening your mouth and nothing comes out, having your zipper on your pants down, etc. The likelihood of those things happening are slim, so it makes things like tripping over a word or two not seem so bad. And the good thing is that if you do encounter one of those over-exaggerated actions, at least you were prepared for it!
3. Be Realistic
It doesn’t matter what the situation is; it will come to an end soon. Anxiety at work can be caused by many different things, but try to look at things in the big picture. Ask yourself whether you will really be anxious about this in a week or a month from now. The chances are that the deadline will have passed or you will have completed the project. When you look to the future, it helps you feel better about the present situation knowing that the stress won’t last long.
4. Remember
If you are a naturally anxious person, try to remember several times where you got anxious in the past. Ask yourself whether being anxious helped or hurt you in those situations. Also, think of how you felt after you completed the task that fueled your anxiety. Thinking about the end result instead of the process of getting there will help you remain calm and confident because you’ve done it before.
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Success can be defined in many different ways. The worst thing that you can do is let someone else determine how you will be successful. Success isn’t all about making a lot of money or having fancy cars to drive around in. Sometimes success can just be raising your children another day or bouncing back from a tough day at work. Here are 20 inspirational quotes from successful people that can give you a better idea of how success can be viewed in your world.
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
-Winston Churchill
“Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.”
-Henry Ford
“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.”
-Albert Schweitzer
“Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value.”
-Albert Einstein
“Don’t aim for success if you want it; just do what you love and believe in, and it will come naturally.”
-David Frost
“Think twice before you speak, because your words and influence will plant the seed of either success or failure in the mind of another.”
-Napoleon Hill
“Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom.”
-George S. Patton
“Success depends upon previous preparation, and without such preparation there is sure to be failure.”
-Confucius
“The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people.”
-Theodore Roosevelt
“I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.”
-Michael Jordan
“Frustration, although quite painful at times, is a very positive and essential part of success.”
-Bo Bennett
“Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success.”
-Dale Carnegie
“Success is not a good teacher, failure makes you humble.”
-Shahrukh Khan
“Failure is success if we learn from it.”
-Malcolm Forbes
“One secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes.”
-Benjamin Disraeli
“The real secret of success is enthusiasm.”
-Walter Chrysler
“I honestly think it is better to be a failure at something you love than to be a success at something you hate.”
-George Burns
“In order to succeed you must fail, so that you know what not to do the next time.”
-Anthony J. D’Angelo
“Success is the progressive realization of predetermined, worthwhile, personal goals.”
-Paul J. Meyer
“Definteness of purpose is the starting point of all achievement”
-W. Clement Stone
The post 20 Quotes to Keep In Mind When Things Get Tough appeared first on I Heart Intelligence.
Below, you will see photographs of Norwegian structures that look downright magical! The varying styles of architecture range from Stave churches of the Middle Ages, to the eerie natural waterfalls and traditionally built wooden houses of the 19th century. The history of architecture in Norway certainly tells a fascinating story. Viking craftsmanship, religion, geography, and locally sourced materials all played vital roles in creating these beautiful masterpieces.
Which one of these is your personal favourite?
#1 Borgund Stave Church
#2 Barn In Valldal
#3 Bridge Over Låtefossen Waterfall
#4 Ancient Road Vindhellavegen
#5 Renndølsetra
#6 Natural Swimming Pool In The Fores
#7 Under The Aurora
#8 At The End Of The World, Tjome
#9 Kvednafossen Waterfall In Norway
#10 Old Farmhouses
#11 House In Norway
#12 Fairy House In Hunderfossen, Lillehammer
#13 Old House
#14 Fjord Houses
#15 Bridge In Norway
#16 Old Village
Written by Raven Fon
The post 16 Photographs Of Fairy Tale Architecture And Beauty From Norway appeared first on I Heart Intelligence.
Art is powerful. It allows someone to send a message without saying anything- and sometimes that message can be the inspiration for change. Aaron Draper is a photographer who believes art can transform the world, and he is using his creativity and talent to be a catalyst for that transformation.
In his series titled Underexposed, Draper captures breathtaking photographs of California’s homeless using specific lighting techniques. He believes it is the responsibility of artists to use their gifts to be the inspiration for change, and to point out social issues in need of a different perspective. “I use lighting as a way to interest the viewer in the subjects shown,” Draper says. “I hope to enable people to gain a more humane view of the homeless.”
Although Draper has been a professional photographer for more than 15 years, he still finds new sparks of motivation for his creative passions. He spent several years as a writer for newspapers, which helped solidify his storytelling expertise. His stories are now told through his captivating photographs.
I was lucky enough to ask Draper a few questions about his work:
Raven: Everyone has a preface to their story- something that caused a spark in their brain or a quake in their heart to drive them to where they are today. What was the spark or the quake that made you want to create “Underexposed”?
Draper: The Underexposed project came about after I’d spent several hours editing and removing every wrinkle from a client’s face. I left the studio that day with my camera in hand and was hungry to photograph something different. I’d been photographing portrait clients for 11 or so years and doing my best to make them look good.
As I drove around town I kept noticing homeless people in various parts of Modesto. As I slowed to observed them I noticed that their faces were full of texture from years of street experience. Their clothes were torn and their hands were weathered. I was struck at what beautiful portraits they’d make and how the lines on their faces revealed the lives they’d lived. It was a stark contrast to the smooth, featureless faces that were popular for professional portraits.
I pulled over and stopped and talked to a man named Leon. As we spoke, he revealed that he was originally from Louisiana and had once owned a shrimping boat. His eyes shone as he dove into great detail about the various recipes that he’d used to prepare. When he asked what I did, I told him that I was a photographer. He response was, “You can photograph me.” And I did. And his portrait revealed a smiling man hanging over a cyclone fence with a blue sky behind him. He didn’t ask for any money, but it felt right to give him something for his time. As I drove away from Leon that evening, I was moved by the fact that he was an interesting human being with a story that I would never have associated with a homeless person. Questions swirled in my head and those questions were replaced with actions. If I was curious about their stories, I was sure that others would be too. Once I posted Leon’s image on Facebook, the public’s response reinforced the feeling I had to start a personal project of homeless and their stories.
Raven: On your website, you mention you enjoy traveling abroad. Do you find that your perspective as a photographer helps you to appreciate the world around you more than some?
Draper: I do feel that as a photographer I look at things and see things a little differently than the average traveler. But I think that more that my photography affecting my travel, that my travel has affected how I view photography. I believe travel is a spiritual experience. It changes you in ways that you can’t even comprehend. It opens your heart. It helps you have an empathy for peoples and cultures that don’t do things exactly like you do. It’s a life changing and soul changing experience that will affect all aspects of your life.
Raven: Finally, do you have any creative ideas floating around for your next project?
Draper: Underexposed will be a project that I continue with for as long as homelessness exists. I do have another project that I’ll begin working on this next year. I have a soft spot for humanity. Here in the U.S. many of us are very vocal about the need for cleaner air. Because I’m an advocate for this issue, I thought it would be important to see the human side of this. I’ll be interviewing and photographing portraits of coal miners and the towns whose main source of income is derived from coal. Once the coal mines are shut down, these people, whose families have mined for generations, have no other means to sustain themselves. There is little economic mobility for some of these towns.
What an incredible and inspiring person. Please check out Drapers Underexposed project and his other work on his website.
All images courtesy of Aaron Draper
Written by Raven Fon
The post Photographer Captures Breathtaking Portraits Of Homeless To Inspire Change appeared first on I Heart Intelligence.
Back in the 1960’s, when the United States left Cuba, it took the majority of Cuba’s engineers with it. Then, in the 1970’s a culture of self-taught innovation emerged from the remaining scientists, revolutionaries, mechanics, and common folk. They formed the National Association of Innovators and Rationalizers (ANIR).
Then, when the USSR ended enormous subsidies to Cuba in 1990, the “Special Period in the Time of Peace” started, and brought with it a huge change. The combination of a collapsed economy and thirty years of isolation reimagined a society of invention – citizens built and created brilliant devices when no other options were available. Ernesto Oroza is a Cuban-American artist who took an interest in such devices.
In his movement titled “Technological Disobedience”, Oroza shows his collection of machines and contraptions from this era. And they really are quite genius! Speaking of his countrymen and their experience, Oroza says, “As the crisis became more severe, people’s creativity grew more powerful, and everywhere you looked, you saw solutions to the needs that people faced all the time, in every aspect of life. Transportation, children’s toys, food, clothing…everything was replaced with substitutes produced by the people.”
The following video from Motherboard shows Oroza’s collection, and he explains the motivation behind the movement. Enjoy!
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Back in June, a story came out about 15-year old Hunter Gandee carrying his 8-year old brother, Braden, for 57 miles in order to raise awareness for cerebral palsy. Braden has the congenital disorder that prevents him from doing the basic things that most people take for granted. Hunter often carries him in places like the grocery store because it’s just easier than Braden using his walker. When his mom had a dream that Hunter walked with Braden to raise awareness for cerebral palsy, Hunter quickly took action to make a difference.
Last summer, Hunter carried Braden through the Michigan heat for 40 miles. He wanted to top that this year. With Braden strapped to a harness, Hunter was able to successfully walk 57 miles across Michigan to raise awareness. This kid has some serious motivation to get that done. Some people walked alongside him for support, but no one had the drive or determination that he did.
Physical Therapists were present at different points throughout the walk to ensure that they were both healthy enough to continue. Hunter said he collapsed after the walk was finished out of complete exhaustion, and rightfully so. He has raised well over $100,000 since last summer and has no intention of stopping now. What Hunter did for his brother, and everyone else fighting with cerebral palsy, is show everyone that he can be strong for them and is willing to fight alongside them.
Stories like this don’t get enough attention in the national media, even though they happen every day. There’s nothing more heartwarming that someone like Hunter taking a leap and doing something that most people would think is impossible. Not only did he walk 57 miles, but he did it with an extra 60-pound body strapped to him.
Some people get motivated by these types of stories to go out and make a difference themselves. Many times, though, life gets in the way. Raising awareness sometimes takes the back burner, unless you have a friend or family member that is fighting a disease or disorder who means a lot to you.
It’s a challenge for everyone to go through something similar to what Hunter did, but what would you be willing to do? Would you walk 20 miles to raise awareness for a cause if you didn’t have any personal involvement in it? Or what if you did have someone that you know suffering from an illness or disorder?
What Hunter did was extremely difficult, but he has a big enough heart to endure it. Raising awareness doesn’t mean that you have to walk 57 miles in the summer. It doesn’t even have to involve monetary donations. Simply having conversations and educating people about different causes will go a long way in changing the world. Hunter Gandee is a special kid, but we can all pitch in to back the efforts of what someone like that can single handily do.
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Some of us are better at relationships than others. As someone who has had less than stellar success in past relationship endeavors, I found it very interesting that scientists are now suggesting that being single could actually have a genetic cause.
Researchers from the Peking University in Beijing have found that people who had a certain variation of the 5-HTA1 gene were much more likely to be single than other people that had a different variation of the same gene. The 5-HTA1 gene has both a ‘G’ variation and a ‘C’ variation. Out of 600 students who were surveyed, 60% of the people with the ‘G’ variation of the gene were single. Now, scientist already knew that the ‘G’ version of the gene naturally produce less serotonin, which affects mood and happiness. Now the conclusion is being made that because of these lowered levels of serotonin, people with the “G” variant gene have a harder time maintaining relationships and getting close to people.
The theory that the researchers developed was that, “As love-related behaviors are associated with serotonin levels in the brain, this study investigated to what extent a polymorphism (C-1019G, rs6295) of 5-HT1A gene is related to relationship status in 579 Chinese Han people. We found that 50.4% of individuals with the CC genotype and 39.0% with CG/GG genotype were in romantic relationship. Logistic regression analysis indicated that the C-1019G polymorphism was significantly associated with the odds of being single both before and after controlling for socioeconomic status, external appearance, religious beliefs, parenting style, and depressive symptoms. These findings provide, for the first time, direct evidence for the genetic contribution to romantic relationship formation.”
In their report, the researchers went on to say, “As pessimism and neuroticism are detrimental to the formation, quality and stability of relationships, this connection between the G allele and psychological disorders might decrease carriers’ dating opportunities or lead to romantic relationship failure.” In conclusion, the researchers say, “Psychological research shows that personality traits, such as secure attachment orientation and optimism, are also crucial in romantic relationship formation. Here we demonstrate that genetic variants also contribute to the formation of romantic relationships.”
So, that raises the question: can our genetic really determine our ability to develop lasting relationships? It is an interesting question when facing the physiological aspects of serotonin production, I mean – that makes sense to me. But can a genetic precursor be overcome? Would knowing that you have this specific gene variant change how you approached a relationship? Dr Pam Spurr, a relationship expert, says: “I know that our genetic heritage determines some of our behaviour, but we always have a choice. If someone’s difficulties with dating are flagged up to them, I believe they can learn to interact in a way that will make them more successful in meeting somebody. I feel quite optimistic about that.”
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If you’re a dog lover, then you know the positive effects that dogs can have on your life. It doesn’t matter if you’ve had a bad day at work or are just in a grumpy mood in general; your dog will immediately put you in better spirits. The happiness they give you just can’t be explained sometimes, but here are five reasons that dogs make your life better.
1. Dogs Enhance your Mood
There’s nothing better than coming home after a long day to your dog wagging its tail when it sees you. How can you still be in a bad mood when you see the excitement through their body movements? If you think it’s strange that you can immediately change your mood when you’re around your dog, you’re not alone. Psychologists have found that dogs really can boost your mood and make you feel better about life in general.
2. Dogs Make you More Active
Exercising is scientifically proven to make you feel better about yourself, but sometimes it’s just hard to get up and get going after a tough day. But when you have a dog, you know that it needs to be walked to get some of their built-up energy out. By taking your dog for a walk, you are getting your own exercise as well, not to mention the bonding time with your dog. Even playing fetch with your dog in your backyard will give you more exercise than lifting a finger to change the channel on the remote.
3. Dogs Build Patience
Any dog owner has had their patience tested at least once or twice by their pet. Dogs require a lot of attention, but you also have to be patient with them. They don’t speak our language, but they are always trying to learn it. Some dogs may not learn as quickly as others, so you have to learn how to be patient with them. Scolding them for not listening or doing something wrong is bad for you and the dog. It may take a dog a little while to understand what you want from them, but being patient with them will help with your relationship with your dog and also make you a more patient person in your everyday life.
4. Dogs Make you Friendlier
When you’re out of the house with your dog, you are more likely to draw attention than if you were on your own. Even getting a smile from someone as they pass by will make you feel a lot better. Most dogs are curious and want to check out other people and dogs. It forces you to be sociable as well, which could lead to making more friends. Now don’t believe everything you hear about dogs attracting potential significant others, but research has shown that they can definitely help you get your foot in the door by being a conversation piece.
5. Dogs Make you a Better Person
If humans had the hearts that dogs have, then the world would be a better place. As much as we like to think our dogs learn from us, we actually learn a lot more from our dogs. They teach us to be friendly to others and to not overlook the simple things in life. If we truly watched our dogs and learned from them, we would have bigger hearts and have a different outlook on life. Whether it’s watching your dog play by chasing a butterfly or going up to a stranger with excitement, it’s little things like that that could teach us some lessons.
There is one important aspect about your dog that you can’t lose sight of. We all have busy lives that interfere with a lot of things that we want to do, and our dog is just a little piece of our life. However, your dog only has you in its life. It spends the day waiting for you to get home, so give it the love that it deserves and don’t ignore the excitement that it has when it sees you. It waits an entire day to see you, so even just 30-minutes of bonding will go a long way to improving your relationship with your dog and your overall health.
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Even the person with the most positive attitude in the world gets in a bad mood sometimes. Everyone gets in a bad mood; however, people have different ways of changing their mood for the better. Some people just enjoy being in a bad mood and don’t want to put forth the effort to change it. I feel sorry for the people that have to deal with them on a daily basis, but that’s neither here nor there. If that is you, then read below on how you can get out of a bad mood almost effortlessly.
1. Identify
Sometimes we just feel like we wake up in a bad mood. That can sometimes be true, but most of the time there is an underlying reason why our mood is negative. If something happened yesterday that didn’t make you happy, then forget about it because you can’t change it now. If you have something coming up that day that has affected your mood, then just think about how you are going to feel when it’s done. It doesn’t take a lot of effort to find out why you are in a bad mood, but you just have to want to do it. Everyone around you will appreciate it as well.
2. Connect
We can get so caught up in the busyness that is our lives that we forget that we need to be social. Only thinking about yourself and what you have to do at your job or at home can cause you to be in a bad mood. Call up a friend just to chat or meet up with them for dinner or happy hour. Getting your mind off the daily grind can help improve your mood. In fact, studies have shown that even the shortest social interactions can go a long way in improving your mood.
3. Fuel Up
You may have seen the Snickers commercial that says, “You aren’t you when you’re hungry.” Not only are the commercials comical, but they are also true. You don’t realize sometimes that hunger could be the root cause of your bad mood. It causes you to get agitated with minor things and could even lead to saying things that you will later regret. This one is probably the easiest to fix. Just have a little snack and stay hydrated and you will have a better chance at getting out of your bad mood.
4. Sleep
Being exhausted is never a good recipe for happiness. A lack of sleep impacts us in many different ways, including our creativeness, thinking and our moods in general. Sometimes our lives don’t allow us to get the full 8 hours of sleep that we need, so it’s important to take little naps throughout the day. Use your lunch break to take a quick 15 to 30-minute nap. It doesn’t seem like much, but you will likely see a subtle increase in your overall mood that will give you a more positive outlook on the rest of the day.
The best thing that you can do for yourself and others is to do something about your bad mood. Unless you are just naturally in a bad mood, it’s pretty easy to identify when you just don’t feel like yourself. Waiting for your mood to improve without doing anything about it will probably just get you in a worse mood as your day goes on. Do yourself and everyone around you a favor and work a little bit to get yourself
The post 4 Simple Ways to Improve your Mood appeared first on I Heart Intelligence.
Energy drinks are expensive and they pose numerous health risks. Did you know that you have a healthy alternative right in your own kitchen? Apple cider vinegar is a natural energy drink that can add some zep to your step!
For thousands of years, vinegar has been added to drinks for different reasons. In ancient Rome and Greece, “posca” was a drink made from vinegar and mixed herbs and was commonly used by the Roman army. According to Wikipedia, “it provided calories and was an anti-scorbutic, helping to prevent scurvy by providing vitamin C. Its acidity killed harmful bacteria and the flavouring helped to overcome the bad taste of local water supplies.” Even Hippocrates, around 400 BC, recommended apple cider vinegar with honey for a myriad of ill conditions.
Now, you may not want to start drinking vinegar straight since the acidity can irritate your esophagus and digestive tract. But what you can do, is dilute it with still or soda water to create a healthy, refreshing beverage, or make something a bit fancier called “shrub” or “switchel”. With these drinks, you can enjoy the benefits of apple cider vinegar any time of day.
The best type of apple cider vinegar to use (for any purpose) is organic, unpasteurized, and unfiltered. The beneficial probiotic bacteria contained within give your immune system a boost, and the nutrients help your body to stay healthy. Here are some super tasty recipes for making your own organic energy drinks – enjoy!
Original Apple Cider Vinegar Health Drink
2 Tsp apple cider vinegar
2 Cups water
Mix and serve over ice. This drink was usually recommended before meals in traditional medicine as a general “cure-all”. While it might not actually cure “all”, it will certainly make you feel better.
Honey Cider
2 Tsp apple cider vinegar
1 Tbs honey (organic & raw preferred)
2 Cups water (hot or cold)
Mix until honey is dissolved. Serve cold as a refreshing summertime drink, or serve hot to soothe a sore troat or scratchy cough.
Ginger Water
2 Tsp apple cider vinegar
1 Tbs honey (organic & raw preferred)
2 Cups water
1/4 Tsp freshly grated ginger root
Mix until honey is dissolved. Serve over ice. This drink helps to alleviate upset stomach and is a tangy refresher for those hot days.
Fizzy Switchel
Using the same recipe for the Ginger Water, substitute soda water.
Fruit Juice Shrub
Drinking vinegars, or “shrubs” are full of flavour and are incredibly refreshing. Made from fruit juice, vinegar and water, they date back to the Colonial days and were used to make cocktails.
Begin by making your concentrate:
1 cup fruit juice of choice
1/2 cup honey (organic & raw preferred)
1 cup apple cider vinegar
Mix and place in a covered jar. Store in refrigerator.
Combine 1 part ready-made concentrate with 3 parts still or soda water.
If you have any organic energy drink recipes, feel free to share them in the comments below!
Written by Raven Fon
The post Try This – Make Your Own Organic Energy Drinks! appeared first on I Heart Intelligence.
Being smarter than what you are working with applies to so many endeavors. Whether you are working with cars, space shuttles or baking a cake, you need to be smarter than what you are working with to be successful.
I first heard about this concept from a friend after I saw him change a tire from a rim without a tool to break the seal loose. When I asked him how he knew how to do that, I got the response “You gotta be smarter than what you’re working with”. It took me a while to really understand what he was talking about and I have been applying it to every new challenge that I tackle since. I’ll get back to this tire rim change later and tell you how he was able to break the seal off of his 20-inch tire without any specific tool for doing so.
First I’d like to share with you the ways to be smarter than what you are working with:
1. Figure out the Easy Way
There is almost always an easy way and a hard way to do something. Try to figure out the easy way if it won’t take too much time for you to think it through. Sometimes the easy way is non-conventional but works better or is much easier. It’s actually easier for me to open a non-twist off bottle cap with a spoon or a cigarette lighter than it is to go find the bottle opener because I know the properties of the bottle cap and the angle needed to pop it off.
2. Make Your Own
If you don’t have a tool to do the job, make one. A little bit of skill and you can usually make a tool to do the task you need. If that doesn’t work out then you can always go get (or borrow) the tool that you need. When I lived out in the country, the nearest hardware or auto parts store was a daunting 35 minutes each way. If I could fabricate my own tool in 30 minutes it saved me 40 minutes of driving (and paying for a tool).
3. Think Differently
Just because it hasn’t been done that way before doesn’t mean that there is not a better way to do something. Thinking differently may bring on a better way to accomplish a task that no one else has thought of. It could perhaps even lead to a new invention.
4. Ignore the Nay-Sayers
We all have had someone tell us it cannot be done that way. Sometimes they are right but often not. Digest what they have to say and ascertain whether they are right. Determine if they are saying it can’t be done that way based on actual physics, mechanics or if it is just because it is their personal belief. If it is based upon their beliefs, discount their view and forge ahead with your own ideas. Who knows? Maybe you can invent a better mousetrap or something else.
5. Get Creative
Don’t have a Slip ‘n Slide? Make one out of a roll of plastic that’s left over from the last time your roof leaked. Use your creativeness to build and solve problems. We have 100 billion neurons with 100 trillion connections in our brain. All of us are probably underutilizing our brains. Making new connections within our brains helps us to become better at what we are working with.
When the Apollo 13 mission was in danger because of rising CO2 levels caused by some equipment malfunction, the engineers had to be creative. Using only the type of equipment and tools the crew had on board (including: plastic bags, cardboard, suit hoses, and duct tape), Ed Smylie, the crew systems manager and his team (while on the ground) conceived a configuration that worked to save the lives of the astronauts on board who otherwise would have died from the excessive CO2 gas.
6. Understand What it is you are working With
Study the object/person/endeavor that you are working with. Try to really understand what makes it tick, what is it made up of, what are its strengths and weaknesses? Perhaps a little research will yield more insight as to the properties of what you’re working with and give you clues or directions about what you are trying to accomplish. Sometimes just staring at an object for a while will give you more insight into its characteristics. It also helps train your mind in concentration and visualization which could be helpful in solving the challenge you are faced with.
7. Relate to what you Already Know
Try to relate what you’re working with to something else that you are already familiar with. Sometimes you can find parallels that are helpful. For example, riding a motorcycle is a lot like riding a bicycle. You need to get moving first to maintain your balance. Steering is pretty much the same, feet must come off the ground. If there are many similarities you are part way to figuring it out. Use those experiences that you already have to more quickly understand new things.
8. Sleep on It
Ashley Bush from Melbourne’s Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health states “The brain is constantly vigilant but we are not aware of this… Even when asleep, most of the brain is active”.
There have been so many times that I have been trying to solve a problem only to realize the solution after I woke up. If you go to sleep thinking about a problem, your brain will work on a solution. It’s like magic.
9. Safety First
If you are working with anything that is potentially dangerous, put extra thought into what you are doing with respect to keeping yourself and others safe. Many ‘great’ ideas do not turn out to work that well and sometimes people can be hurt if safety is overlooked.
Ok, back to how my friend broke the seal off of his tire without any special tool. He set the tire on the ground, made a small ramp up to it with some rocks and then just drove his big three-quarter ton Chevy up on top of the tire. Pooooof, the seal was broke. I’ve seen him do many things like that and it has always amazed me what he comes up with. He was always trying to be smarter than what he was working with and his results have been impressive.
The post 9 Ways to be Smarter than What you are Working With appeared first on I Heart Intelligence.
In 1958, When Hunter S. Thompson was 20 years old, he wrote a letter to his dear friend Hume Logan. The letter speaks about the true meaning of “finding your purpose”, and reflects on the prismatic variables of life. Ever aware that “all advice can only be a product of the man who gives it”, Thompson approaches the beginning of the letter with a disclaimer regarding the very idea of giving advice:
“To give advice to a man who asks what to do with his life implies something very close to egomania. To presume to point a man to the right and ultimate goal — to point with a trembling finger in the RIGHT direction is something only a fool would take upon himself.”
However, he accepts the request of his friend, and turns to Shakespeare to solidify the roots of his own advice:
” ‘To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles…’
And indeed, that IS the question: whether to float with the tide, or to swim for a goal. It is a choice we must all make consciously or unconsciously at one time in our lives. So few people understand this! Think of any decision you’ve ever made which had a bearing on your future: I may be wrong, but I don’t see how it could have been anything but a choice however indirect — between the two things I’ve mentioned: the floating or the swimming.”
He acknowledges the question we have all asked ourselves about taking the easier road, then explains why we don’t:
“The answer — and, in a sense, the tragedy of life — is that we seek to understand the goal and not the man. We set up a goal which demands of us certain things: and we do these things. We adjust to the demands of a concept which CANNOT be valid. When you were young, let us say that you wanted to be a fireman. I feel reasonably safe in saying that you no longer want to be a fireman. Why? Because your perspective has changed. It’s not the fireman who has changed, but you.”
He then goes into how our lives make us who we really are, and who we are is constantly changing:
“Every man is the sum total of his reactions to experience. As your experiences differ and multiply, you become a different man, and hence your perspective changes. This goes on and on. Every reaction is a learning process; every significant experience alters your perspective.
So it would seem foolish, would it not, to adjust our lives to the demands of a goal we see from a different angle every day? How could we ever hope to accomplish anything other than galloping neurosis?
The answer, then, must not deal with goals at all, or not with tangible goals, anyway. It would take reams of paper to develop this subject to fulfillment. God only knows how many books have been written on “the meaning of man” and that sort of thing, and god only knows how many people have pondered the subject. (I use the term “god only knows” purely as an expression.)* There’s very little sense in my trying to give it up to you in the proverbial nutshell, because I’m the first to admit my absolute lack of qualifications for reducing the meaning of life to one or two paragraphs.”
Thompson relays the difference between goals, explains the erroneous definitions of success, and urges his friend to find his own purpose:
“To put our faith in tangible goals would seem to be, at best, unwise. So we do not strive to be firemen, we do not strive to be bankers, nor policemen, nor doctors. WE STRIVE TO BE OURSELVES.
But don’t misunderstand me. I don’t mean that we can’t BE firemen, bankers, or doctors—but that we must make the goal conform to the individual, rather than make the individual conform to the goal. In every man, heredity and environment have combined to produce a creature of certain abilities and desires—including a deeply ingrained need to function in such a way that his life will be MEANINGFUL. A man has to BE something; he has to matter.
As I see it then, the formula runs something like this: a man must choose a path which will let his ABILITIES function at maximum efficiency toward the gratification of his DESIRES. In doing this, he is fulfilling a need (giving himself identity by functioning in a set pattern toward a set goal) he avoids frustrating his potential (choosing a path which puts no limit on his self-development), and he avoids the terror of seeing his goal wilt or lose its charm as he draws closer to it (rather than bending himself to meet the demands of that which he seeks, he has bent his goal to conform to his own abilities and desires).
In short, he has not dedicated his life to reaching a pre-defined goal, but he has rather chosen a way of life he KNOWS he will enjoy. The goal is absolutely secondary: it is the functioning toward the goal which is important. And it seems almost ridiculous to say that a man MUST function in a pattern of his own choosing; for to let another man define your own goals is to give up one of the most meaningful aspects of life — the definitive act of will which makes a man an individual.”
He notes his friend’s behaviour regarding indecision, and explains that, regardless of difficulty, a choice must be made or the option fades away into something altogether societal:
“A man who procrastinates in his CHOOSING will inevitably have his choice made for him by circumstance. So if you now number yourself among the disenchanted, then you have no choice but to accept things as they are, or to seriously seek something else. But beware of looking for goals: look for a way of life. Decide how you want to live and then see what you can do to make a living WITHIN that way of life. But you say, “I don’t know where to look; I don’t know what to look for.”
And there’s the crux. Is it worth giving up what I have to look for something better? I don’t know—is it? Who can make that decision but you? But even by DECIDING TO LOOK, you go a long way toward making the choice.”
He closes his letter with saying that this is not advice, but merely a reminder that our choices – no matter how insignificant or how drastically important – alter and mold our lives daily:
“I’m not trying to send you out “on the road” in search of Valhalla, but merely pointing out that it is not necessary to accept the choices handed down to you by life as you know it. There is more to it than that — no one HAS to do something he doesn’t want to do for the rest of his life.”
Full of many other wonderful letters such as this, Letters Of Note, by Shaun Usher, contains correspondence from Ray Bradbury, Galileo Galilei, E.B. White, Virginia Woolf and other notoriously brilliant minds.
Written by Raven Fon
The post Life Advice From 20 Year Old Hunter S. Thompson appeared first on I Heart Intelligence.
Personal development is not something that just happens overnight. It is an active pursuit of being the best person you can be, and getting the most out of tis life that you can. You only live once, so squeeze every drop of enjoyment out of your time here on earth that you can. I am all about using technology to enhance my little world, so here is a collection of some web and smartphone-based apps that you can use to enhance yourself and your life.
1. Mindbloom
Mindbloom is actually comprised of 5 individual apps that you can customize to get the most out of life. The whole point is to visualize whatever it is that you are working on. The “Life Game” app lets you grow a virtual tree of the things that important in your life. The “Proof app allows you to create a 7-day challenge to help you achieve goals. All of the apps allow you to create your own experience that is fully customizable, motivational, and above all else – fun.
2. Ignite
Ignite’s tagline is, “Enlighten us, but make it quick”. It is a collection of video from Ignite events all over the world where presenters share an idea with 20 slides that advance every 15 seconds. You can find a video on everything from how to buy a new car to personal motivation techniques.
3. Lumosity
Lumosity is a site built to be a gym for your brain. According to their website, “Lumosity’s groundbreaking program is based on extensive research in the field of neuroplasticity. Our in-house R&D team works with researchers from several of the nation’s top universities to learn as much as possible about Lumosity training.” They’ve even had 7 published research studies that show that their program works.
4. Lifetick
Lifetick is all about setting and achieving goals. Again, like Mindbloom, the key is interaction and visualization. The more information you put into Lifetick, the more you get out of it. One of the coolest features is that you can share goals with other people, and create team goals. It is great for teachers, employers, managers, and parents. This is another app I personally use, and I can tell you from experience: it really does work.
5. Reddit
Now most people think of Reddit as the internet home base of all the cat memes, and video game cheats. The truth is, that Reddit is a vast collection of all sorts of greatness. Check out the sub Reddits r/GetMotivated, r/wantToLearn, r/SelfHelp, r/ZenHabits, and r/Productivity. Because of the way that Reddit tracks feedback from users, you can find the best posts quickly and skip past the junk.
The post 5 Amazing Resources for Personal Development appeared first on I Heart Intelligence.
Kevin Tracey, a neurosurgeon in New York,
has discovered the potential to completely change how we view disease and how we can better treat chronic pain. Tracey believes that “…the brain-nerves-are responsible for health”. In the late 1990s, Tracey was experimenting with a rat’s brain. “We’d injected an anti-inflammatory drug into the brain because we were studying the beneficial effect of blocking inflammation during a stroke. We were surprised to find that when the drug was present in the brain, it also blocked inflammation in the spleen and in other organs in the rest of the body. Yet the amount of drug we’d injected was far too small to have got into the bloodstream and travelled to the rest of the body.”
The Hypothesis
Inflammation in body tissues is directly regulated by the brain according to Tracey’s hypothesis. Communication between the immune system’s specialist cells in our organs and bloodstream and the electrical signals of the nervous system are connected. Tracey’s idea was that the brain might be using the nervous system, specifically the vagus nerve, to tell the spleen to switch off inflammation. According to Tracey, “Because the vagus nerve, like all nerves, communicates information through electrical signals, it meant that we should be able to replicate the experiment by putting a nerve stimulator on the vagus nerve in the brainstem to block inflammation in the spleen”.
Trials
Tracy and his collaborator, Paul-Peter Tak (professor of rheumatology at the University of Amsterdam) designed a trial for using an electrical implant directly connected to the vagus nerve to stimulate the nerve and improve the trial patient’s arthritis. They basically used a pacemaker connected to the vagus nerve in the neck of the patients, and then the patients would activate the electric stimulation by swiping a magnet across their throats six times a day for 30 seconds at a time. The goal was to send a message from the brain to the spleen to tell it to switch off production of a particular inflammatory protein, tumour necrosis factor (TNF). According to Tak, “The body’s immune response only becomes a problem when it attacks your own body rather than alien cells, or when it is chronic. So the question becomes: how can we enhance the body’s switch-off mechanism? How can we drive resolution?”
Result
Sixteen of the 20 patients in the trial felt better AND measures of inflammation in their blood also decreased. Maria Vrind, a former gymnast who before the treatment could barely put her socks on in the morning, said: “Within a few weeks, I was in a great condition. I could walk again and cycle, I started ice-skating again and got back to my gymnastics. I feel so much better.” Tak went on to say, “We have shown very clear trends with stimulation of three minutes a day. When we discontinued stimulation, you could see [the] disease came back again and levels of TNF in the blood went up. We restarted stimulation, and it normalised again.” Of the 20 trial patients, none of them wanted to have the device removed.
Evidently the results of the trial were so positive that other researchers are looking into using the technique for a wide range of other chronic conditions such as diabetes, asthma, obesity, inflammatory bowel disease and chronic fatigue syndrome.
The post The Treatment of a Single Nerve has the Potential to Completely Change Modern Medicine appeared first on I Heart Intelligence.
We all know that the old saying goes, “the early bird gets the worm.” While that may be true at times, sometimes that worm may not be worth getting up early for. People who are night owls tend to have a hard time getting up in the morning, but they feel like they are more productive in the evening. There may be some science that proves that night owls are more intelligent than early birds and vice versa, but your average night owl isn’t concerned about that. A night owl would rather tell you the following four reasons why they are more intelligent than the early birds in the world.
1. Night Owls are More Creative
Most night owls don’t know why they are more creative than most people, they just know that they are. If a person has a job to do late at night, they are more likely to improvise rather than go by the book. That could be because there is less guidance, or because they have no idea what to do and they just have to wing it. Either way, it forces them to be creative to get the job done. The London School of Economics proposed that night owl are natural defiant of conventional things – like working during daylight hours, which is believed to be an evolutionary trait.
2. Night Owls have More Time to Think on Their Own
Thinking too much may not always be a good thing, but that’s not the case for night owls. They are usually spending a lot of alone time because their family, friends or co-workers are sleeping or doing something non-productive. Night owls will tell you that their best ideas will come when they are on their own and have time to think. That doesn’t happen if you get up early and spend most of your time around other people.
3. Night Owls are Always Well Rested
By the time the night owls roll out of bed, the early birds have already had a cup or two of coffee and feel like they have had a productive morning. The night owls usually don’t even need coffee to get going because they usually get better rest. When you stay up until you can’t take it anymore, your body goes into a much deeper sleep. When that happens, you don’t need as much sleep to get the rest that you need to have a productive day. In fact, research has even gone as far to show that night owls performed better at a reaction-time task later in the day than their early-bird A rested mind thinks a lot more clearly than a tired mind, so that’s another benefit that the night owls have over the early birds.
4. Night Owls are More Relaxed and Attentive
You won’t find many night owls that get stressed out very easily. Most of them are very relaxed and don’t show their stress very much. Because of that, their mind thinks more clearly and they are able to be more attentive for a longer period of time throughout the day. Early birds tend to be tenser and get stressed out easily, which leads to cloudy thinking and less productivity. According to a study from the 1990’s, early birds showed much higher levels of cortisol – the stress hormone.
Night owls tend to get a lot of grief from the early birds because the early birds can sometimes put in a half a day of work before the night owls stroll into the office. However, any night owl will tell you that they do their job better when the early birds go home for the night. And since the night owls are a lot more relaxed, you won’t find them getting upset at the early birds for getting their day started a lot earlier. The good thing about most night owls is that they are humble, so most of them won’t tell you that they are more intelligent than you, they just know it.
The post 4 Reasons Science says Night Owls are Smarter than Early Birds appeared first on I Heart Intelligence.
The Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel has brought forth research showing that certain cellular phones might expose us to high levels of electromagnetic radiation.
Radiation is basically energy moving from one place to another, in either waves or particles. There are two types of radiation: ionizing and non-ionizing. Ionizing radiation comes from radioactive sources or nuclear reactions and is the type that causes mutations and malignant cancers. Non-ionizing radiation is what cell phones emit and contains less energy than ionizing radiation, therefore making it less harmful. But it IS still harmful. Non-ionizing radiation can enter the body and harm sensitive tissue.
The Weizmann study found that using certain cell phone for even 15 minutes was capable of triggering cellular brain changes commonly linked to cancerous cell division.
The Associate Director of the National Institutes of Health, National Toxicology Program, Dr. John Bucher, said, “As of now, with only 10-12 years exposure, and use increasing dramatically, there is a concern of increase in brain cancer, related to use.”
He added that children in early developmental stages are at greater risk due to their skulls allowing deeper penetration of radiation.
To help restrict your exposure to cell phone radiation, the Environmental Working Group released these five recommendations:
1. Use a headset
2. Use the speakerphone option
3. Text more, talk less
4. Purchase a low radiation phone (see list below)
5. Stay off the phone when you have a weak signal. Weaker signals mean more emissions to contact the tower.
The EWG also released a list of the top 5 cell phones with the lowest emitted radiation. The results show the maximum possible SAR level from the phone. SAR, or Specific Absorption Rate, measures the rate which the body tissue absorbs radiation energy while using cell phones.
| Brand and Type | SAR level | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Samsung Galaxy Note II N7100 | 0.17 |
| 2 | Samsung Galaxy Note N7000 | 0.26 |
| 3 | SonyEricsson Xperia Play | 0.36 |
| 4 | Samsung Galaxy Beam | 0.28 |
| 5 | Samsung Galaxy 551 | 0.38 |
The following video lists the the top 5 cell phones with the highest radiation levels.
Written by Raven Fon
The post Cell Phones, Radiation, And Cancer – The Top 5 Most Harmful Phones (And The Top 5 Safest) appeared first on I Heart Intelligence.
Comedians are a joy in our lives. They make us laugh at the world around us, and ourselves, and help us to take things less seriously. When we want to share a good time with our friends, when we want to take our mind off something, when we want to decompress- comedians are there to lighten the load. And we all have our favourites as well. Personally, one of the reasons I am so fond of comedians is because of their intelligence. Besides making us giggle, they come up with some pretty deep thoughts. Here are 20 surprisingly brilliant quotes from some of the world’s funniest people.
“When you’re not concerned with succeeding, you can work with complete freedom.” -Larry David
“If it’s true that our species is alone in the universe, then I’d have to say that the universe aimed rather low and settled for very little.” -George Carlin
“There is no such thing as death; life is only a dream, and we are the imagination of ourselves.” -Bill Hicks
“They say it all started out with a big bang. But, what I wonder is, was it a big bang or did it just seem big because there wasn’t anything else drown it out at the time?” -Karl Pilkington
“Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.” -Lucille Ball
“The hardest thing to do is to be true to yourself, especially when everybody is watching.” -Dave Chappelle
“No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world.” -Robin Williams
“Somewhere there’s a score being kept, so you have an obligation to live life as well as you can, be as engaged as you can.” -Bill Murray
“A smile is a curve that sets everything straight.” -Phyllis Diller
“In between goals is a thing called life, that has to be lived and enjoyed.” -Sid Caesar
“Meditation state is a place of deep relaxation where you can pinpoint the things you do and to set a paradigm switch from effect to cause. So how to be a cause in your own life.” -Roseanne Barr
“I’m bored’ is a useless thing to say. I mean, you live in a great, big, vast world that you’ve seen none percent of. Even the inside of your own mind is endless; it goes on forever, inwardly, do you understand? The fact that you’re alive is amazing, so you don’t get to say ‘I’m bored.” -Louie C.K.
“It’s difficult to believe in yourself because the idea of self is an artificial construction. You are, in fact, part of the glorious oneness of the universe. Everything beautiful in the world is within you.” -Russell Brand
“We’re constantly re-evaluating the potential for life. We’re finding it where we didn’t think it could exist, such as volcanic vents and other extreme conditions like under arctic ice. We’re finding life in these incredibly harsh and dynamic conditions, so we’re having to re-evaluate our own ideas of what’s possible on this planet alone.” -Joe Rogan
“Try to keep your mind open to possibilities and your mouth closed on matters that you don’t know about. Limit your ‘always’ and your ‘nevers.'” -Amy Pohler
“Life opens up opportunities to you, and you either take them or you stay afraid of taking them.” -Jim Carrey
“My main hope for myself is to be where I am.” -Woody Harrelson
“There’s always going to be someone out there… who doesn’t believe in you or who thinks your head is too big or you’re not smart enough. But those are the people you need to ignore, and those are the times you need to just keep doing what you love doing.” -Jimmy Fallon
“If we’re destroying our trees and destroying our environment and hurting animals and hurting one another and all that stuff, there’s got to be a very powerful energy to fight that. I think we need more love in the world. We need more kindness, more compassion, more joy, more laughter. I definitely want to contribute to that.” Ellen DeGeneres
“Never continue in a job you don’t enjoy. If you’re happy in what you’re doing, you’ll like yourself, you’ll have inner peace. And if you have that, along with physical health, you will have had more success than you could possibly have imagined.” -Johnny Carson
Written by Raven Fon
The post 20 Surprisingly Brilliant Quotes From Famous Comedians appeared first on I Heart Intelligence.
Adidas has created its prototype of a new shoe design sure to turn heads.
The shoe’s upper is entirely recycled out of materials from the sea – specifically,
yarns and filaments.
The shoe was designed by Alexander Taylor and unveiled at ‘Parley for the Oceans’
in New York, hosted in the United Nations HQ. Parley for the Oceans is an initiative
to promote people in the creative industry, to raise awareness about
the issue, and repurpose waste materials from the ocean.
Alexander created the shoes with Adidas’s existing manufacturing processes, the
only thing that’s been changed is the material. He replaced the yarns with fibers
made from ocean waste, such as old fishing nets and plastics that float atop the oceans
surface.
“This way there is no reason why materials with similar characteristics to those that
we use every day with conventional production processes cannot be simply replaced by
ocean plastic materials,”“It is really much more a case of working with specialist ‘green’ chemists and companies
such as Bionic textile to build new materials by re-constituting and re-engineering the
nets and plastics.”
Adidas is planning on rolling out this design to the public as part of a wider range of
sportswear next year.
“It is important to understand that this is a concept shoe and it is currently utilizing
absolutely new materials and processes, which over the coming months will be worked on,
refined and up-scaled into consumer product,” said Taylor.
“Adidas has long been a leader in sustainability, but this partnership allows us to tap
into new areas and create innovative materials and products for our athletes,” Adidas
executive board member Eric Liedtke said at the parley for the oceans event.
This is definitely a step in the right direction. With our oceans being a big part of our
world and with the estimated 155 million tonnes of garbage that is blown into our seas
every year, they seem to have a great concept on their hands. Clean the seas and use
the waste. Now if only more companies would start using recycled materials like that we
would see a huge environmental impact – one for the better.
img: Adidas
Written by Raven Fon
Featured image source
The post Adidas Creates New Shoes – From Trash! appeared first on I Heart Intelligence.
Being smart has so to do with so much more than answering trivia questions or doing well on tests. Being smart includes a vast array of other things as well. Compassion, creativity, humor, hummility, curiousity, and understanding are all a part of what we call “smart”. Smart people know that everything in life has the possibility to be positive or negative, depending on how we choose to look at it. But what about the things that smart people DON’T do?
The following is a short list of things that smart people don’t do.
1. They Don’t Let Their Inner Voice Run Their Lives.
Smart people silence their inner voice. You know the one. That voice that offers a running commentary when someone is speaking to you. It’s the one that pops up with your own opinions being formed and judgments being made before all possible information is provided. It’s the voice that keeps you from appreciating what is really being said. These people know to focus less on what the brain has to say and more on who is speaking.
2. They Don’t Let Previous Failures Dictate Their Current State.
Smart people understand that failure is the key to growth. Far too many people give the past the power to rule the future. But smart people know ‘what’s done is done’ and they leave the past behind them. They see failures and stumbles as opportunities for growth and improvement.
3. They Don’t Pretend To Have All The Answers.
Smart people know that there is always more to learn. They don’t ever assume to know the answers to everything because life is always teaching us new things. They pair reason and curiosity with an open mind.
4. They Do Not Focus On The Negative.
Smart people know that they control their thoughts, and they willingly decide to focus those thoughts on the positive. Smart people realize that whatever the mind can conceive, it can achieve. They know that life is much more enjoyable when they allow wonder, creativity, and love into their lives.
5. They Aren’t Concerned About What Others Think.
Smart people know that other people’s negativity can’t deter them from a life of happiness. The world is full of cynics, doubters, and worry-warts. But smart people ignore the naysayers and choose to surround themselves with others who share their values and ideals.
6. They Don’t Worry About Things They Can’t Control.
Smart people understand that there are numerous things they can’t control and some of those things are less than pleasant. Traffic, mean people, illness- all are taken in stride. Smart people choose to focus on how they respond to circumstances, which is what they CAN control. They are aware that stillness of the mind is a beautiful gift, and they make the most of it.
7. They Are Continuously Grateful.
Smart people understand appreciation and are thankful for what life brings them. They know that everything is temporary and are grateful for the moments and things that come their way. They know that a simple gesture as small as a smile can change someone’s day.
Written by Raven Fon
The post 7 Things Smart People Don’t Do appeared first on I Heart Intelligence.
The post What Is Your Dominant Intelligence? appeared first on I Heart Intelligence.
In all of our lives, we have undoubtedly been exposed to some incredible women. It was Maya Angelou who said, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” So, in honor of all the amazing women in my own life and in the world, here are my favorite quotes from some of the most successful and influential women of our time.
“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”
– Mae West
“Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you.”
– Oprah Winfrey
“We cannot change what we are not aware of, and once we are aware, we cannot help but change.”
– Sheryl Sandberg (COO of Facebook)
“Define success on your own terms, achieve it by your own rules, and build a life you’re proud to live.”
– Anne Sweeney (President of Walt Disney)
“When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.”
– Helen Keller
“I work really hard at trying to see the big picture and not getting stuck in ego. I believe we’re all put on this planet for a purpose, and we all have a different purpose… When you connect with that love and that compassion, that’s when everything unfolds.”
– Ellen DeGeneres
“I don’t believe in guilt, I believe in living on impulse as long as you never intentionally hurt another person, and don’t judge people in your life. I think you should live completely free.”
– Angelina Jolie
“Do one thing every day that scares you.”
– Eleanor Roosevelt
“Don’t be intimidated by what you don’t know. That can be your greatest strength and ensure that you do things differently from everyone else.”
– Sara Blakely (Founder of Spanx – Worlds Youngest Female Billionaire)
“I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles.”
– Audrey Hepburn
“I always did something I was a little not ready to do. I think that’s how you grow. When there’s that moment of ‘Wow, I’m not really sure I can do this,’ and you push through those moments, that’s when you have a breakthrough.”
– Marissa Mayer (CEO of Yahoo)
“It is our choices, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”
– J.K Rowling
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
– Marianne Williamson
“Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”
– Mother Teresa
“We need to accept that we won’t always make the right decisions, that we’ll screw up royally sometimes – understanding that failure is not the opposite of success, it’s part of success.”
– Arianna Huffington (AOL/Editor In Chief of Huffington Post)
“The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.”
– Ayn Rand
“The only way to do something in depth is to work hard. The moment you start being in love with what you’re doing, and thinking it’s beautiful or rich, then you’re in danger.”
– Miuccia Prada
“I’m fearless, I don’t complain. Even when horrible things happen to me, I go on”.
– Sofia Vergara
“If you are successful, it is because somewhere, sometime, someone gave you a life or an idea that started you in the right direction. Remember also that you are indebted to life until you help some less fortunate person, just as you were helped.”
– Melinda Gates
“Whatever you want in life, other people are going to want it too. Believe in yourself enough to accept the idea that you have an equal right to it.”
– Diane Sawyer (ABC/World News/Disney)
“I learned to always take on things I’d never done before. Growth and comfort do not coexist.”
– Virginia Rometty (CEO of IBM)
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On August 11th of last year, the world lost one of it’s greatest talents to his own hand. Robin Williams’ death showed the world that even someone who seemed so happy and inspired so much laughter, could have a hidden pain. Even Williams himself said, “For me, comedy starts as a spew, a kind of explosion, and then you sculpt it from there, if at all. It comes out of a deeper, darker side. Maybe it comes from anger, because I’m outraged by cruel absurdities, the hypocrisy that exists everywhere, even within yourself, where it’s hardest to see.”
In honor of the comic genius that was Robin Williams, I’ve put together a list of some of my favorite quotes from the man the brightened so many hearts.
“Comedy can be a cathartic way to deal with personal trauma”
“never pick a fight with an ugly person, they’ve got nothing to lose.”
“The Statue of Liberty is no longer saying, ‘Give me your poor, your tired, your huddled masses.’ She’s got a baseball bat and yelling, ‘You want a piece of me?'”
“No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world.”
“You’re only given a little spark of madness. You mustn’t lose it.”
“Some are born great. Some achieve greatness. Some get it as a graduation gift.”
“I used to think that the worst thing in life was to end up alone. It’s not. The worst thing in life is to end up with people who make you feel alone.”
“I’m sorry, if you were right, I’d agree with you.”
“Spring is nature’s way of saying, ‘Let’s party!'”
“No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world.”
“When you have a great audience, you can just keep going and finding new things.”
“Comedy is acting out optimism.”
“But only in their dreams can men be truly free. It was always thus and always thus will be.”
“I’m a very tolerant man, except when it comes to holding a grudge.”
“Good people end up in Hell because they can’t forgive themselves.”
“What’s right is what’s left if you do everything else wrong.”
“The only weapon we have is comedy.”
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Humans are interesting creatures. We experience things differently from each other and our perception truly dictates our reality. However, when we are faced with certain things, our reactions and behaviours are usually similar. For example, when we are in love and when we go through heartbreak, when we are in doubt and when we face determination, and when we experience pain and loss. One of the wonderful benefits of being a part of the human existence is how we are able to help and inspire others through our own individual experiences. Whether it’s been written or spoken, the words we use to motivate and heal ourselves are the same ones we can use to inspire our brothers and sisters. With that being said, here are 25 quotes about the human experience to motivate, inspire, and reassure.
“People are afraid of themselves, of their own reality; their feelings most of all. People talk about how great love is, but that’s bullshit. Love hurts. Feelings are disturbing. People are taught that pain is evil and dangerous. How can they deal with love if they’re afraid to feel? Pain is meant to wake us up. People try to hide their pain. But they’re wrong. Pain is something to carry, like a radio. You feel your strength in the experience of pain. It’s all in how you carry it. That’s what matters. Pain is a feeling. Your feelings are a part of you. Your own reality. If you feel ashamed of them, and hide them, you’re letting society destroy your reality. You should stand up for your right to feel your pain.”
-Jim Morrison
“Above all, don’t lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love.”
-Fyodor Dostoyevsky
“There is some kind of a sweet innocence in being human- in not having to be just happy or just sad- in the nature of being able to be both broken and whole, at the same time.”
― C. JoyBell C.
“When you are dealing with difficulties and you feel like you don’t have the strength to stand anymore, do not allow yourself to see that as a sign of weakness, it is just a sign that you are human. Allow someone who cares to be strong for you. It is easier to be strong for someone else than it is it to be strong for yourself.”
― Pinkie Numa
“To be human is, primarily, to embrace that we are human with strengths and weaknesses, and that our humanity is preordained to seek the Truth, Good and Beauty as part of our humanity. To be human is to be an agent of peace, justice, and reconciliation in our community or society. To be human is to be heroic and generous in an unobtrusive way, free from any selfish motive, with no media to show the litany of our good deeds. To be human is to have time to listen to the story of a grieving soul, to give hope to the hopeless, to give love to the unloved.”
― Danny Castillones Sillada
“Being human means asking the questions of one’s own being and living under the impact of the answers given to this question. And, conversely, being human means receiving answers to the questions of one’s own being and asking questions under the impact of the answers.”
― Paul Tillich, Systematic Theology, Vol 1
“Today a young man on acid realized that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration, that we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively, there is no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we are the imagination of ourselves. Heres Tom with the Weather.”
― Bill Hicks
“We hold on so tightly, because we’re terrified of loss. We hold on till our hands bleed. And in that self-shattering persistence, we fail to see the answer: Just let go.”
-Yasmin Mogahed
“We need people in our lives with whom we can be as open as possible. To have real conversations with people may seem like such a simple, obvious suggestion, but it involves courage and risk.”
-Thomas Moore
“Everyone has the heartbreak that shapes them in a way that they could never go back to the innocence that they had before.”
-Zooey Deschanel
“When someone you love dies, you are given the gift of “second chances”. Their eulogy is a reminder that the living can turn their lives around at any point. You’re not bound by the past; that is who you used to be. You’re reminded that your feelings are not who you are, but how you felt at that moment. Your bad choices defined you yesterday, but they are not who you are today. Your future doesn’t have to travel the same path with the same people. You can start over. You don’t have to apologize to people that won’t listen. You don’t have to justify your feelings or actions, during a difficult time in your life. You don’t have to put up with people that are insecure and want you to fail. All you have to do is walk forward with a positive outlook, and trust that God has a plan that is greater than the sorrow you left behind. The people of quality that were meant to be in your life won’t need you to explain the beauty of your heart. They already understand what being human is—-a roller coaster ride of emotions during rainstorms and sunshine, sprinkled with moments when you can almost reach the stars.”
― Shannon L. Alder
“The best parts of being human are the parts you share.”
― Kyle Schmalenberg
“There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love. When we are afraid, we pull back from life. When we are in love, we open to all that life has to offer with passion, excitement, and acceptance. We need to learn to love ourselves first, in all our glory and our imperfections. If we cannot love ourselves, we cannot fully open to our ability to love others or our potential to create. Evolution and all hopes for a better world rest in the fearlessness and open-hearted vision of people who embrace life.”
-John Lennon
“We are afraid to care too much, for fear that the other person does not care at all.”
-Eleanor Roosevelt
“I think she was afraid to love sometimes. I think it scared her. She was the type to like things that were concrete, like the ocean. Something you could point to and know what it was. I think that’s why she struggled with love. She couldn’t touch it. She couldn’t hold on to it and make sure it never changed.”
-Carrie Ryan
“Sometimes people think they know you. They know a few facts about you, and they piece you together in a way that makes sense to them. And if you don’t know yourself very well, you might even believe that they are right. But the truth is, that isn’t you. That isn’t you at all.”
-Leila Sales
“But the struggles make you stronger and the changes make you wise. And happiness has its own way of taking its sweet time.”
-Gary Allen
“You’ll learn, as you get older, that rules are made to be broken. Be bold enough to live life on your terms, and never, ever apologize for it. Go against the grain, refuse to conform, take the road less traveled instead of the well-beaten path. Laugh in the face of adversity, and leap before you look. Dance as though EVERYBODY is watching. March to the beat of your own drummer. And stubbornly refuse to fit in.”
-Mandy Hale
“Once you truly believe you’re worthy of love, you will never settle for anyone’s second best treatment.”
-Charles J. Orlando
“Sometimes, I sit alone under the stars and think of the galaxies inside my heart, and truly wonder if anyone will ever want to make sense of all that I am.”
-Christopher Poindexter
“The reason it hurts so much to separate is because our souls are connected. Maybe they always have been and will be. Maybe we’ve lived a thousand lives before this one and in each of them we’ve found each other. And maybe each time, we’ve been forced apart for the same reasons. That means that this goodbye is both a goodbye for the past ten thousand years and a prelude to what will come. When I look at you, I see your beauty and grace and know they have grown stronger with every life you have lived. And I know I have spent every life before this one searching for you. Not someone like you but you, for your soul and mine must always come together. And then, for a reason neither of us understands, we’ve been forced to say goodbye. I would love to tell you that everything will work out for us, and I promise to do all I can to make sure it does. But if we never meet again and this is truly goodbye, I know we will see each other again in another life. We will find each other again, and maybe the stars will have changed, and we will not only love each other in that time, but for all the times we’ve had before.”
-Nicholas Sparks
“I am the sum total of everything that went before me, of all I have been seen done, of everything done-to-me. I am everyone everything whose being-in-the-world affected was affected by mine. I am anything that happens after I’m gone which would not have happened if I had not come.”
― Salman Rushdie, Midnight’s Children
Written by Raven Fon
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