Do you find yourself stuck even when you have an important goal? Do you procrastinate and then heap guilt and shame on yourself, making you feel even worse? Perhaps you are backsliding because you can no longer motivate yourself and completely stalled out. What do you do?

The first step toward reaching our goals and overcoming obstacles is understanding how we are motivated.

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

A frequent question I get asked is “So, how do I change?” or "How do I break a bad habit?" Although change doesn't happen overnight, the good news is that the latest brain science proves that we can change! One thing is for sure: the quality of our lives is an accumulation of our habits. 

You're either forming healthy habits that create a better life, a happier self, and a more loving relationship with yourself and others. Or you are reinforcing bad habits that inhibit your best self and life. Which are you doing? Learn how to change and break those habits that keep you stuck!

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From an early age, we’re inundated by the concept of success through television, movies, the music industry, social media, and other people.

But the pressure to succeed doesn’t only affect children. Many parents also feel the strain. Some parents resort to extreme measures to help their children prosper in academic and extracurricular activities.

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

Dr. Daniel Amen, a psychiatrist and founder of the Amen Clinics, believes that our brain is the hard drive of our souls. That’s a radical statement, but the brain is the command center of our entire system. Without a working brain, we lack self-identity, cannot interact with the world, and lose the ability to learn, grow, and experience life.

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

“Don’t aim at success. The more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side effect of one’s personal dedication to a cause greater.” —Viktor Frankl

We often pursue our goals with a lot of focus on the perceived destination. Viktor Frankl is elegantly sharing that it is healthier for us to focus on being present-minded while also organically exploring our values and what motivates us internally.

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

When the COVID-19 outbreak hit last year, we used several ways to handle stress during this challenging time. Many found music to be their best friend while trying to deal with stressful thoughts and circumstances.

People have written music to poke fun at, as well as, promote social distancing, handwashing, and mask-wearing. During the pandemic and the required isolation, music was a go-to for many people, listening to it in their homes on a substantially larger scale and even learning to play instruments.

Dr. Charles Raison said in an interview recently with The Sun magazine: “We’ve replaced a fictitious certainty with an honest confusion.” A statement has never felt truer.

Whatever certainty we may have thought we possessed has since blown away like an empty plastic bag in the wind. These past few years have been unprecedented and challenging, with disruption felt to our core. The pandemic has taught us many lessons, and one shouts louder than most: we affect one another—profoundly. In times like these, emotional fitness, resiliency, empathy, and inner peace are priceless treasures.

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Are you feeling more stressed and overwhelmed than usual at work? Is multitasking not helping you keep up? Is your mind racing so much at night that you can’t sleep? Yep, it’s time—time to carve out a few minutes daily to reconnect with your heart. And a mindfulness practice or meditation is the best way to do it. And it's a time when we all need the emotional intelligence skill of self-regulation with a direct line to inner peace. 

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

When the seasons change and the holidays approach, many people experience a building sense of excitement. Just the thought of decorating, shopping for gifts, planning holiday get-togethers, and organizing family travel is enough to make some people feel merry. If thinking of the holidays doesn’t make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, however, you’re not alone.

If you’re worried about the holiday blues and feeling the pressures of the pandemic, here are some simple tips to keep your mental, emotional, and physical health in balance all the way through to the New Year.