Things Happy People Do to Stress Less

People’s lives become chaotic the minute they decide to be.
People’s lives become happier the minute they decide to be.
Be the latter.  For fast-acting stress relief, slow down and consider the following:

1.  Know what you’re trying to achieve and why.

Lack of direction creates stress.  And it’s lack of direction, not lack of time, that’s the problem when it comes to personal achievement.  Everyone has the same 24-hour days and 7-day weeks.
Whenever you want to achieve something keep your conscious clear.  Focus and make sure you know exactly what it is you want and why.  No one can hit their target if they don’t know what their target is.

2.  Do less by focusing exclusively on what’s important.

The essence of personal productivity is to do the important things rather than the urgent things.
In other words, put first things first.  Focus on the essential and eliminate the rest.  

3.  Think progress, not perfection.

Don’t worry about perfection; you’ll never achieve it.  Instead, focus on the progress you’ve made and the progress you intend to make today. Progression is not automatic or inevitable.  Every step of personal growth requires sacrifice and work.  Every step is part of an ever-improving, ever-ascending life path.  Every step is an accomplishment that should be celebrated.  You know you will never get to the absolute peak (perfection), but when you celebrate the journey this truth only adds to the joy and glory of the climb.

4.  Cleanse your heart every night.

Just as your body needs regular washing because it gets dirty every day, so does your heart.
Because every day, people hurt you, offend you, forget you, snub us, step on you, or reject you.  But if you choose to forgive these people and let these things go at the end of each day, you cleanse your heart.  You wake up the next morning refreshed and free of negativity.  Refuse to carry old regrets, mindsets, and distractions into each new day.  

5.  Purge untrue thoughts.

You must learn a new way to think before you can master a new way to be. Behind every stressful feeling is an untrue thought.  Before the thought you weren’t suffering, but after the thought you began to suffer.  When you recognize that the thought isn’t true, once again there is no suffering.  When you change your thoughts, you change your life.

6.  Expect some stress, accept it, and let go of it.

The most important journeys that lead to the most wonderful places are usually the challenging ones you must endure the hard way. Stress is but a wall between two peaceful gardens – the garden where you are and garden where you want to be.  You must scale the wall that’s in your way, gathering lessons as you climb, before letting go as you descend to the other side.  You will only lose if you never climb or you never let go.

7.  Be kind to your body.

A good workout is the best stress reducer, and a fit, healthy body is the best fashion statement. The pursuit of optimal fitness is a journey, a constant struggle, a lifestyle.  It’s a gradual process where intensity during each exercise session, what you eat every single day, and patience over years is what’s required.
But as you know, the longest journey always begins with a single step.  It’s all about taking that step and then stepping one day at a time, committing yourself to a daily intake of 30 to 60 minutes of uninterrupted exercise and a reasonably healthy diet. 

8.  Do one nice thing for yourself every day.

Put yourself at the top of your priority list.  There is no person on Earth who deserves your kindness and attention more than you.  When you love yourself first, everything else falls into place. So treat yourself every day.  Give yourself something special – like laughter, good conversation, meditation, quiet reading, an hour to work on a passion, a long walk, etc. You are worth it.

9.  Simplify.

Organize, don’t agonize.  Keep your space ordered and your schedule under-booked.  Create a foundation with a soft place to land, a wide margin of error, and room to think and breathe…

So you have the flexibility to explore the possibilities for happiness in each and every day.

The 10 Most Meme-able Hollywood Celebs

Some celebrities are just walking memes. You know, like, Ryan Gosling (hey girl), Leonardo DiCaprio (oh, he’s just strutting) and Beyonce (getting all she hulk on us). It’s like they are begging to be made fun of on the internet.  

10. Mischa Barton

The O.C. actress barely bumped Gwyneth Paltrow from the list. But it’s hard not to appreciate “Sad Mischa.” It’s been the highlight of her career.

9. Taylor Swift

Sad Taylor is sad except when she’s making hits and singing at the Grammys but you know, when, Kanye West takes the mic away from you when you win an award there’s no going back.

 

8. Beyonce
From her Destiny’s Child days to now, Bey has been the catalyst of several memes, including #PoorMichelle and Hulk Beyonce.


7. Amanda Bynes
Something really sad and disturbing happened to Amanda. But without her Twitter, we wouldn’t have all her selfies and rants. Also, she looks a lot like the IKEA monkey.
  

6. Britney Spears
Brit had a few rough years. We’re certainly sorry about that but without them, we wouldn’t have all those shaved head memes and this inspirational message.


5. Keanu Reeves
Keanu marks the big leagues of celeb memes. This guy was all sad on a bench and then there all the conspiracy memes and the fact he, like, doesn’t age.

4. Nic Cage
The ultimate prankster. Nic is the best worst thing you can do to an office mate. Also there all those bees.


3. Lindsay Lohan
This sleeping beauty is a great provider of memes. She mimics Ophelia and Sleeping Beauty when passed out. She has all the mug shots not to mention her morphing face over the years. She reportedly still acts or something.
 

2. Ryan Gosling
Ryan, oh Ryan. How much I adore thee. There’s like 1,000 Tumblrs dedicated to Hey Girl. And just when we thought we were over him on the internet, someone made Vines of him not eating cereal.



1. Leonardo DiCaprio
It’s hard to beat out Ryan but Leo successfully did it. From his struts to his puppy dog face to, you know, dying in Titanic and being sad all the time. (I swear he constantly listens to Bon Iver.) But that’s why we love him, not for The Great Gatsby but for all the memes.

Your Brain Burns 20 Percent of the Calories You Eat, and More Reasons Weight Loss All Starts With Your Mind

You knew your brain was busy—but did you know it was this busy? With all that it does during the day, your brain is using 20 percent of your caloric intake every day. But it's picky about the kinds of food it wants, opting for glucose—mostly from carbohydrates that you've recently eaten. 

Crazy, right? But that's not even the beginning of the brain-weight relationship, according to Lifehacker, which has an interesting article about focusing more on your brain and less on your diet if you want to lose weight. 

According to the article, willpower—what your brain uses to help you make (and not make) certain decisions—is like a muscle, which becomes fatigued after too much exercise. At the end of the day, if you've been exercising your willpower to not eat the box of cookies, your brain is tired. It just wants the darn cookies.

So to deal with the exhaustion of willpower, your brain tries to automate decision-making—by creating habits because once they're in place, the brain doesn't have to mess around with willpower anymore. Experts say that up to 90 percent of what we decide to eat every day is because of established habits. (For proof: Think about what you usually eat every morning for breakfast!)

Building healthy new habits means creating rewards for your brain—and not overwhelming it with too much change at once. Like switching out your daily whole-milk lattes for ones made with almond milk, for example—setting a small goal like that and actually attaining is a great reward for your brain. It's so proud of itself! And the new change should be a healthy habit anywhere between two weeks and six months, setting the stage for your brain to take on another one.