ear All,

Please find below a very good article which I am sure will help everyone of us:

How to Effectively Overcome a Lack of Motivation

If you are not motivated from the outset, you won’t have the impetus to take the first step you need to accomplish what you want. If you don’t find a way to stay motivated until you reach your goal, you won’t have the energy you need to get there.

Getting motivated about what you want to do is always easy; but staying motivated afterwards is far more challenging. It is far simpler to get motivated than it is to stay motivated.

How easily do you go from motivation to apathy? Zig Ziglar said it perfectly when he said that motivation doesn’t last, just like bathing, which is why it is recommended daily.

Here are 4 common reasons why you lose motivation and what you can do about it.

1. It is too far out of reach

One of the most common reasons to start losing motivation is when the task starts to get more difficult than anticipated. Have you ever felt really motivated to begin with, but as time goes by your motivation quickly disappears as you realize how challenging it really is? If you don’t feel confident that you can do what you want to and your goal seems too far out of reach, you won’t feel very motivated to take action.

• If you start to lose confidence and hesitation occurs, don’t give up. First ask yourself; “What is making this so difficult for me?” You want to identify what is causing you to feel this way and what would give you more confidence to continue. Write down whatever comes to mind. It could be that you lack some skill, self esteem, clarity, or time, etc

• Once you have identified what is causing this, you can now come up with ways to overcome this and you will feel motivated to keep going forward. Instead of giving up on your goal, find a way to feel more confident about your abilities, create mini-goals to support your bigger goal and get motivated again. If you give up because it becomes to difficult, you will be giving up on a lot of things in your life.

2. Feeling trapped

Have you ever felt motivated about what you are doing but felt stuck to take action on it at the same time? If you feel stuck you will procrastinate and quickly start to lose motivation to keep going.

Whenever you want to do something new or take action on a goal, you need to have your feelings and actions aligned. When your feelings are not aligned with the action, nothing will flow and you will feel stuck.When you feel trapped, check in with yourself and identify whether it is the action or your feelings that are stopping you. What are your thoughts and true feelings towards this goal and the actions that you need to take to get there?

Let’s say you are a freelancer looking to take on more clients, this is your main objective. One of the strategies you chose is to send out your portfolio and pitch potential clients. You know this strategy has a high success rate so you have decided to include it in your plan.

• If your feelings and thoughts are not aligned, you would think this is a good step to take, but you might then feel stuck because you lack confidence in approaching potential clients and selling yourself. You will get stuck and lose motivation.
• If your actions are not aligned, you would feel confident in your abilities to sell, but you don’t think this is the best action to take to reach your goal, you reluctantly chose it because you read it was a good thing to do. You will get stuck and lose motivation.

Identity what is keeping you stuck and change what needs to be. Get unstuck and you will get the motivation you need to push forward.

3. You cannot see the return on your investment

Just because something is good for you, it doesn’t mean that you will immediately be motivated by it, you need to have a high return on investment. You need to see a clear and motivating connection between the efforts you put in and what you get out.  A huge mistake is ‘assuming’ that you will be motivated by something and riding on a false sense that ‘this should be motivating’ when it simply isn’t.

You will start to lose motivation when you feel that you have to put in much more effort than you what you think you will get out in the end. There are two ways things you could do in this situation, either decide that it isn’t worth it or spot the reasons why this is something really awesome to do.

• Intrinsic rewards are more motivating than extrinsic rewards so you can start by connecting your objectives to your values. When your objectives are aligned with your true values, you will find it easier to put the effort in and stay motivated.
• Then, link as many benefits to what you want to do and bi-benefits, the benefits of those benefits. Find as many meaningful reasons why your intentions would be good for you as you can. Challenge yourself to come up with a list of at least 10 benefits to renew your motivation again.
• Lastly, you could also get clear on what will happen if you don’t take action. You might find that you are more motivated to move away from what you don’t want than to move towards something you do want.

4.  Feeling disappointed

Ever felt like you were on a canoe rowing upstream, against the current? It is a constant struggle and it feels like you are just not making any progress not matter what. When there are so many struggles, obstacles and challenges ahead and you go from disappointment to disappointment, you lose motivation very quickly.

Imagine turning the canoe around and letting it flow downstream instead. You can do this by changing the way you are looking at the situation. Feeling let down is not a nice feeling, no one wants to feel let down. Is it possible that there is a message in the ‘let downs’, they are neither good nor bad? Often we keep attracting the same experience until we learn how to manage it in a different better way.

Sometimes you just need to keep hearing the ‘no’s to get to the right yeses’ or sometimes you need see the gift in the situation instead of reacting blindly and only seeing what you want to. These could also be the exact challenges you need to overcome to grow and support you when you reach your goal in the end. If you feel disappointed it is because of the way you see the situation, is it possible there is a better way to look at it? If there is, you will no longer feel a lack of motivation in anyway.

If you want to effectively overcome your lack of motivation, identify why it went and then, take massive action to seek out that motivation again – it is always there, you only need to take that extra step to find it and bring it back.

regards

How to Always Stay Incredibly Positive

Hey Positive Thinker,

Do you sometimes struggle with remaining positive in the face of adversity?

Did you know the most important thing you can do for success is to take control of the suggestive elements in your environment?

What do I mean by that?

I mean, make sure what you are seeing and listening to is consistent with the goals you want to achieve. It really is that simple.

Listen Your Way to Success

Listen to educational audio programs in your car. The average person drives 12,000 to 25,000 miles per year which works out to between 500 and 1,000 hours per year that the average person spends in his or her car. You can become an expert in your field by simply listening to educational audio programs as you drive from place to place. It literally is your education on wheels.

Take Courses in Your Field

Attend seminars given by experts in your field. Take additional courses and learn everything you possibly can. Learn from the experts. Ask them questions, read their books, blogs and articles, and listen to people with proven track records in the area you want to be successful.

Get Around the Right People

Associate only with positive, success-oriented people. Get around winners. As we say, fly with the eagles. Because you can't fly with the eagles if you keep scratching with turkeys.

Get away from the go-nowhere types and above all, get away from negative people. If you've got a negative boss, seriously consider changing jobs. Associating on a regular basis with negative people is enough to condemn you to a life of frustration and failure. Associate only with positive people. Always.

Visualize Your Goals

The last thing before you go to sleep and the first thing in the morning, think about and visualize your goals as realities. See your goal as though it already existed.

Your subconscious mind is only activated by affirmations and pictures that are received in the present tense. See your goal vividly just before you go to sleep. And see yourself performing at your best. Visualize the situations that you're facing working out exactly the way you want them to. And guess what... if you do this, 9 times out of 10, things will turn out in your favor.

"Unlock your potential and become everything you are capable of becoming, right now!" When you learn how to Unlock Your Potential, you will be able to visualize your future goals and turn them into reality, simplify your life and overall feel fantastic about yourself and every area of your life. Learn more here >>

Feed Yourself Mental Pictures

See yourself living the kind of life that you want to live. Picture yourself with the kind of relationships, the kind of health, the kind of car, the kind of home you really want.

Visualize just before you fall asleep at night and when you get up in the morning. Those are the two times of the day when your subconscious mind is most receptive to new programming, so use this to your advantage. Feed your mind with positivity and mental pictures that will aspire you to greatness.

Action Exercises

Here are two things you can do, all day long, to keep your mind and emotions focused on your goals and financial success:

First, listen to audio programs in your car and when you travel around. Continue feeding your mind with a stream of high-quality, educational, motivational material that moves you toward your goal.

Second, resolve to associate with positive, optimistic people. Get around winners and get away from negative people who criticize, condemn and complain. This can change your life as much as any other factor.

To Your Continuous Positivity,

Brian Tracy

Dear All,

Please find below a good article for your reading:

Ways To Be Happier, Backed By Science

Happiness is an elusive goal; everyone seems to want it, but if it were easy to attain, the whole world would be happy and we wouldn’t need to keep searching for it. It’s not easy to be happy most of the time, but there are some tips that we can apply to make us happier.

Here are ten scientific ways you can change your life to make your days just a bit more joyful:

1. Do More Physical Exercise

It is one of the most common New Year’s Resolutions, and science has proven why exercise is very important in our life. A study cited in the book:“The Happiness Advantage” also confirmed the importance of exercise on our happiness level.

Basically, this study looks into three groups of depressed patients. These three groups of depressed patients are each treated with medication, exercise, or a combination of the two. Here’s what they found:

“The groups were then tested six months later to assess their relapse rate. Of those who had taken the medication alone, 38 percent had slipped back into depression. Those in the combination group were doing only slightly better, with a 31 percent relapse rate. The biggest shock, though, came from the exercise group: Their relapse rate was only 9 percent!”

This study shows that exercise has the biggest effect in reducing depression.

Here’s another study in the Journal of Health Psychology that also found that people who exercised are happier because they feel better about their bodies.

All the evidence has shown that the benefits of exercise include a happy life, so what are you waiting for? Start exercising now. Start small and build a habit of routine exercising, so that you will be happier.

2. Get More Quality Sleep

We spend roughly one third of our lives sleeping, so you cannot underestimate the importance of sleep for the quality of our lifes. Here’s an interesting study in 2011 from BPS Research Digest that shows how sleep affects our happiness. The research found that people who take an afternoon nap are desensitized to negative emotions yet more responsive to positive ones.

This research shows that not only does sleep deprivation cause emotional problems, a sleep boost can bring emotional advantage. In other words, a good quality sleep does make people more positive and overally happier.

3. Put down your cellphone

A study by Kent State University surveyed more than 500 students and found that frequent cellphone use was associated with lower grades, higher anxiety, and reduced happiness.

“It’s likely that people spending more time on devices have less frequent contact with live social networks, and may be more vulnerable to social comparison that leaves them with a sense of emptiness,” says Ramani Durvasula, PhD, licensed clinical psychologist and professor of psychology at California State University in Los Angeles. “And anxiety may be due to the ‘I don’t want to miss out on anything’ effect – seeing everyone else’s social calendar makes it difficult to stay present in their own lives.”

Even Aristotle extolled moderation in all things. Cell phone and technology is no exception. Excessive use of even the best technologies reduces our happiness in meaningful ways. So, put down your cellphone and your happiness level will surely improve.

4. Take More Social Time

Perhaps you have heard about it before, but one of the top five regrets of the dying people is not spending enough time or staying in touch with friends and family. Spending more time with the people we care about is very beneficial to improving our happiness and our overall quality of life.

Dan Gilbert, a Professor of Psychology in Harvard University explains it very well:

“We are happy when we have family, we are happy when we have friends and almost all the other things we think make us happy are actually just ways of getting more family and friends.”

Interestingly, not only that your social relationship can make you happier, it will also make you live a richer life. A study published in the Journal of Socio-Economics used a shadow pricing method and estimates that your relationships are worth around an additional $131,232 a year.

So, just call your cousin who lives in another city and catch up with them on the phone. That will actually make you happier.

5. Spend More Time Outdoors

Shawn Achor, who has lectured at Harvard University and Wharton School of Business, wrote in his book: ”The Happiness Advantage”, that spending as little as 20 minutes outside in a good weather not only boosts positive mood, but also broadens thinking and improves the working memory.

Another study from The London School of Economics and Political Sciencealso supports this claim. It mentioned that being outdoors, near the sea, on a warm, sunny weekend afternoon is the perfect spot for most. In fact, the participants of the study were found to be substantially happier outdoors in all natural environments than they were in urban environments.

If you wonder what’s the best temperature that maximizes our happiness, you will be amazed that a research by the American Meteorological Societyfound that happiness is maximized at 13.9°C.

6. Help others for two hours per week

You might be surprised to hear this, but spending money on other people (also called “prosocial spending”) boost happiness more than buying things for ourselves.

A 2012 Harvard study gave away some money to participants of the study. Half of them were asked to spend it on buying things for themselves, while the other half was asked to spend the money by buying things for others. Here’s what they found:

“Participants assigned to recall a purchase made for someone else reported feeling significantly happier immediately after this recollection; most importantly, the happier participants felt, the more likely they were to choose to spend a windfall on someone else in the near future. Thus, by providing initial evidence for a positive feedback loop between prosocial spending and well-being, these data offer one potential path to sustainable happiness: prosocial spending increases happiness which in turn encourages prosocial spending.”

No wonder most millionaires and billionaires are very active in philanthropy. Philanthropy has been proven to increase happiness.

Helping others does not always mean you need to spend money; you can also spend your time (for example via volunteering). Here’s a study in Zurich, Switzerland that supports the notion that volunteering is rewarding in terms of higher life satisfaction.

So, how much time should you spend helping others? Buffer Blog has concluded that 100 hours per year (or two hours per week) is the optimal time we should dedicate to helping others, in order to enrich our lives and be happier

7. Meditate

You might have heard that meditation is very important. The truth is, yes, meditation helps you improve focus, clarity, attention span,  calmness, and, you guessed it right, your happiness.

A research team from Massachusetts General Hospital looked at the brain scans of 16 people before and after they participated in an eight-week course in mindfulness meditation. This study concluded that after completing the course, parts of the participants’ brains associated with compassion and self-awareness grew, and parts associated with stress shrank.

So, what are you waiting for? Start meditating now and you will live a happier life.

8. Practice Gratitude

Gratitude is the act of being thankful for simple things in our life. Practicing gratitude has been proven to increase happiness. There’s a study from Journal of Personality and Social Psychology that suggests that a conscious focus on blessings (in other words: practicing gratitude) have emotional and interpersonal benefits. So, be grateful of the every little thing in your life, because there are a lot more people that are not as fortunate as you.

9. Spend money on experience, not things

Everyone knows that money can’t buy happiness per se, but if you’re going to spend money in search of satisfaction, splurge on an experience, not an expensive toy. A study in Psychological Science found that those who tended to spend their money on doing, as opposed to having, were better off in the long run. This effect was chalked up to the perceived superiority of anticipating an experience (like a trip) to anticipating owning an object (like shoes).

10. Practice Your Spirituality Or Faith

Though religion alone isn’t a great predictor of happiness, a study published in Frontiers In Psychology found that those who actively practiced their faith were happier than both those who had a religion but didn’t practice, and those who were non-religious. This isn’t to say that you have to be religious to be happy, but if you DO have theological inclinations, you may want to make spirituality a habit.

An Additional note:

An epic Harvard study about happiness that was conducted for a time period of more than 75 years (it is called Harvard Grant Study) has concluded: “Love is really all that matters for humans to be happy”.Similarly, the 10 happiness hacks mentioned above in this article pretty much have a single common theme: “LOVE”. Love the Universe (God), love other humans, and most importantly love yourself.

As a health coach I personally think loving yourself is one of the most forgotten things in today’s society. Many people have been neglecting their own body, mainly by eating food that is deficient in key nutrition and not making exercise a habit.

I believe that we all want to have a healthy body, a “dream body”. Some of us might have tried to achieve it, but got no results. The key reason on why we failed is because we have been focusing on the wrong stuff all along. We didn’t focus enough on behavioral and psychological science. We all know that our life is shaped by our habits, and yet we are neglecting them.

Conclusion

You are fully in control of your own habits, your own body, and your own life. Use the information above as a guide to live a happier and more fulfilling life.

regards

Dear All,

Kindly find below a good article for your reading:

Brainstorming Techniques That Will Blow Your Mind

Brainstorming is the starting place of all good ideas. From “What should we do today?” to “What’s our next company logo going to be?” brainstorming is what gets you going. And although it’s so important, sometimes it can be seemingly impossible to think up new ideas. That’s where this list comes in. These are our favorite brainstorming techniques. Give them a try next time you have a meeting at work — your coworkers might just be impressed with your creative approach.

1. Do a SWOT analysis.

If you’re not familiar with this term, SWOT analyses are usually used by businesses to determine the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a particular venture. SWOT analyses are helpful because the categories are predetermined for you, giving you the opportunity to simply identify all of the aspects of your problem and put them in one of the four spots.

2. Move to a new location.

That might sound like a pretty lame suggestion, but it really does help. Sometimes, a new environment can foster new ideas. So next time you’re having trouble coming up with ideas, gather everyone together and change venues. If it’s a nice day, go outside. The fresh air will get everyone’s creative juices flowing.

3. Do anything else.

Seriously. Think about anything other than what you should be thinking about. Go for a run, take a shower, play a game. Often, we come up with our best ideas when we’re not even actively thinking about the problem at hand.

4. Have a rapid-fire round table discussion.

In a meeting, go around the room and have everyone say the first idea that comes to his or her mind, and then write it down. This puts people on the spot, which can be uncomfortable at first. However, often the simplest ideas are the best, and this gives everyone a chance to contribute without having much time to think about their answers.

5. Keep a notebook on you everywhere.

We often come up with good ideas at the worst possible times. If you make sure you always have a small notebook and pen or pencil on your person, you’ll be more able to jot down those good ideas and save them for when they’re really useful. Many people keep notepads and writing utensils by their beds, because they often brainstorm in their sleep.

6. Round table writing exercise.

In a meeting, have everyone write down their ideas for a few minutes. Then trade sheets of paper, and expand on those ideas. This way, everyone contributes and is brainstorming, so the work doesn’t fall on one person. This is also a good strategy because with multiple people working on the same ideas, there are better odds that they’ll be useable down the road.

7. What would ______ do?

If you need a jolt of inspiration, look to who you admire most. Many people think of their heroes when facing tough issues. By asking yourself, “What would ______ do?” you might just find the answer to your problem.

8. Be someone else.

This exercise involves you trying to look at the problem through the eyes of another person. Ask yourself how you would approach the issue if you were a different gender, age, ethnicity, background, in a different position, etc.

9. Live in another time.

I’ve mentioned several times now that often the simplest answers are the best. This technique allows you to explore that. Imagine you have the same issue that you do now, but it’s 100 years in the past. How would you handle it? Presumably, very differently than you would today. Use your brainstormed ideas from this exercise and then apply them to your modern-day situation.

10. Change your budget.

How would you tackle the problem if you had no money? What about if you had an endless supply of money? Use these ideas as ways to build upon an idea that fits into your budget in reality.

11. Add on to your ideas.

Compile a list of your best ideas. Expand on each one of them. Write all of this down and see what ideas seem to be panning out the best.

12. Live in another place.

Think about how you would handle the problem if you lived in another country or another part of the world. This could drastically change your mindset, so give it a go! You might be surprised by how well you can translate your brainstormed ideas to fit your project.

Are you manifesting only the bad?

Do you often find yourself attracting more of the things you don’t want instead of the things you do want?

If you’re tired of not having the lifestyle you desire, filled with prosperity, happiness and fulfillment, follow these 5 simple steps to turn things around… starting today! 

Step 1. Get clear on what you really want.
Did you know that one of the main reasons people don’t have what they want in life is because they’re not clear on what they truly want?

This sounds very simple, but it’s extremely important that you’re crystal clear on what your main goal in life really is. Many people say they want to have more money or a new car, but deep down what they’re seeking is more freedom, time or security. So what do you really want?

Step 2. Act from a prosperous mindset.
How do you act and feel when you have more money than you can spend? Well, this is exactly how you should act and feel when you’re broke too. 

Even though this may sound challenging, remember that you’ll only attract what you keep focusing on. Your subconscious mind doesn’t know the difference between what’s real and what’s an imaginary event. 

Start by visualizing yourself as a prosperous person and soon you’ll start feeling and acting like one, and therefore you’ll attract more prosperity directly into your life! 

Step 3. Remove your negative beliefs.
Do you ever feel guilty about having more money than others?

Do you believe you have to work very hard to be successful?

If your answer is yes, then you may have negative beliefs around money and prosperity and it’s important that you address them right away. Acknowledging them is the first step to overcoming them, so you’re on the right path. :)

Step 4. Be open to receiving.
Every night before going to bed, make a list of all the things you’re grateful for. Being appreciative of everything that you have will open you up to receive even more abundance from the universe.

Step 5. Take action. 
Manifesting is a skill that you will master by putting all of these steps into action, consistently.

For me, learning how to manifest and attract the things I want in life has transformed my reality, and if you let it, it can transform yours too.

To help you fast track your wealth and prosperity, watch this revealing video on how to ‘Supercharge The Law of Attraction’ from LOA expert, Katherine Hurst. 

Katherine has helped over 1.6 million people, just like you, to create their dream lives and she just released this really cool video that reveals how 1 of her students went from massive debt, to attracting 1 Million in cash just by using the LOA and her techniques!

The video is quite amazing as she’s tested every single LOA exercise, method and technique on over a million people… and the 4 most important things she learned are revealedright here. 

Seriously, you need to check it out right now!

To your magnificent manifesting,
Natalie ~ Mind Movies

Dear All,

Please find below a good article on how successful people do quietly:

Things Really Successful People Do Quietly

We all want to believe we have the potential to be super successful. When it comes down to it, the prime thing that separates successful people from the rest of us are smart decisions. A common pitfall on the way to success is boasting, exaggerating, or losing your perspective. However, by changing the way we approach challenges, we can better position ourselves to attack the next obstacle successfully. To help unlock the secrets of successful people, the following seven qualities are ones you should try to do quietly.

They Network

One thing truly successful people do quietly is network. In the professional world, networking is a balance between corporate interests and personal relationships. This means that overwhelming your new connections with business concerns can easily work against you. Not only that, but advertising far and wide your intentions to network could lead to new connections catching wind of your business strategy. This often makes people feel as if the have bee used and will impede your ability to form meaningful connections.

They Start New Projects

Successful people also start new projects with humility. Whether a new undertaking is at home or work, if your project is ultimately shelved, postponed, or changed, advertising your new undertakings too early could make you look foolish. That and bragging too much about new opportunities can be a tempting setting in which to lampoon your current or old positions. Don’t forget that mocking your previous positions is nothing more than ego run amok. Nearly everyone starts off small, and making fun of this will likely alienate those beneath your position.

Additionally, being too open about fresh projects could give competitors inside information and allow them to offer competing products or services that are better than yours.

They Deal With Challenges

Other things successful people do modestly is conquer challenges. Much like being too open about upcoming projects, giving away too much information about the challenges you’re currently facing might give competitors an extra edge. Not only that, challenges and assignments tend to look more intimidating while you are dealing with them; and seeming too stressed out or swamped could make you appear less capable, especially if your boss, or future employers, are considering you for a project. If you complain widely regarding feeling overwhelmed, you may miss out on a new opportunity or promotion.

They Incubate Ideas

Successful people also know to consider ideas quietly. Even if an idea you have leads to a successful project or venture, it usually takes time to refine a concept before it makes any sense. In addition, competitors are happy to steal ideas from others, so it’s better to quietly sit on a plan until you’re putting it into practice.

They Interact Socially with Humility

Much like networking, interacting socially is something successful people do quietly. Flaunting accomplishments and opportunities is off putting and abrasive. Additionally, nobody appreciates it when somebody habitually drops names. Basically, treat everyone you interact with as equals and value and foster humility.

They Manage Employees Ethically 

Another way successful people become and stay successful is by managing any employees under them privately and with respect. Employees always prefer when their superiors communicate with them in private. This way you avoid potentially embarrassing someone in front of others and preserve a professional atmosphere.

They Invest

Finally, something potential successful people do quietly is invest. Whether you are investing in real estate or stocks, giving away all your personal details can come off as crass if the people you’re sharing this with are not as financially secure. Additionally, giving away too much information about your investments is another way to give competitors information they can use to further their pursuits.

Dear All,

Please find below a good article with regard to creating a personal branding for your reading

The Complete A to Z Guide To Personal Branding

If you’re creating a personal brand it can be an exciting process with many benefits if you know what you’re doing. But as with most things, if done incorrectly, you may not only see no result at all, but also negative consequences. Lack of attention or traction to your personal brand can be fixed, but be careful not to gain a bad reputation. Remember, word-of-mouth travels fast, especially online.

Creating a successful personal brand will undoubtedly require some time and effort, but it doesn’t have to be difficult. Learn the ABCs of personal branding with this guide and you’ll be well on your way to a powerful personal brand and all its benefits.

-- regards

Dear All,

Please find below a good article for your reading:

Signs You’re Smarter Than You Think, Even If You Don’t Feel You Are

Intelligence comes in all shapes and sizes. People have widely varying skill sets and have very different education backgrounds (formal or otherwise!). Because of this, it’s important to remember these differences when interacting with others. For instance, if I were placed in a room full of physicists, I would feel like the least intelligent person in the room. However, put me in a room full of writers and I’d feel right at home. You never want to sell yourself short or feel that you’re less intelligent than you really are. That’s not beneficial for anyone.

Intelligence doesn’t always present itself in the form of book smarts or prowess in a particular academic field. Intelligence can also be found in practical skills, musical ability, even athletics. Intelligence is multifaceted and complex, which means that it applies to many more people than you might initially think. People often think that they aren’t smart simply because they don’t fall into a specific category; that’s not true at all!

So even if you don’t feel like you’re smart, read these 7 signs that indicate you are smarter than you think you are and face the day with confidence.

1. You’re hard on yourself.

One of the most frustrating things that could happen to you is not being able to understanding something. For smarties like you, it’s incredibly annoying to come across something you don’t get right off the bat. How come? Because things usually come easy for you. So when something isn’t readily apparent to you, you feel badly about your own intelligence.

2. You’re tuned in.

Smart people are usually pretty tuned in to the world around them insofar as they read and watch the news. You likely keep up on current events somewhat, even if that means simply scrolling through your Twitter feed. You like to know what’s going on around you, and you like to understand the issues that are facing the country and the world today. Even if it’s a cursory interest, it’s there.

3. You’re misunderstood.

Maybe your humor was too sophisticated. Maybe your vocabulary was too advanced. Whatever the situation, it’s common for intelligent people to be misunderstood by those around them. It’s no fault of yours; it’s just the way smart people go through life. You’re constantly explaining yourself to others. And that brings me to my next point…

4. Your friends are smart.

Smart people tend to surround themselves with other smart people. After all, who wants to hang around with a bunch of people who don’t understand your jokes? Your friends understand you and can relate to you, so you’re just as smart as they are. And since your friends are, well, your friends, you think highly of them. They think just as highly of you!

5. You have high expectations for yourself.

Smart people are expected to do great things. Even as children, smart people are placed in advanced classes and given higher level reading materials. Because of this, smart people tend to have big plans in their futures. Whether that be to go to a certain college or follow a certain career path, you’re likely planning big things for yourself down the road. Maybe you want to expand your business or come up with a new strategy for an athletic team. Whatever your goal, you expect to achieve it.

6. You like games.

Many smart people enjoy games because they’re things to be figured out. For instance, many intelligent people enjoy filling out crosswords and playing card and board games. These games require thinking and concentration, which appeals to smarties like yourself. Games are great because they’re stimulating. When you’re playing a game, you’re thinking, even in your down time! This is especially true for people who work with their hands and are in the business of fixing or building things. Everything is a puzzle.

7. You’ve been told you’re smart.

Honestly, many smart people don’t like to think of themselves as smart because it’s almost a social no-no to do so. It’s like you’re bragging on yourself, when, in reality, you’re simply stating a fact. What is the number one way to know that you’re smart? People have told you that you’re smart. Intelligence gets a lot of attention, especially in work and classroom settings. So embrace your braininess and enjoy life in the smart lane!

regards

Dear All,

Please find below a good article on future mainstream technologies for your reading:

New Technologies That Will Become Mainstream Soon

Technology is an ever changing, always evolving thing. There are new technologies coming out every year and there is always something on the brink of becoming mainstream. Take the smartwatch for instance. Two years ago it was a prototype and now there will be at least four different high quality smart watches by the end of 2014. Let’s take a look at other new technologies that are about to become mainstream soon.

1. Smart glasses

We’ve seen this already a little bit with Google Glass but that’s just the beginning. Despite getting a lot of press and controversy, Google Glass is a very young product. In fact, all the pairs that are out now are beta test units. Sometime in the next couple of years Google will be releasing a consumer level version for a much cheaper price. It’s also very likely that there will be competitors releasing smart glasses right alongside Google Glass. There will be some who don’t like it at first but eventually the kinks will be worked out and this is a thing that will happen.

2. Smart data

More and more things are becoming automated these days but there are things we still have to do manually. Like adding someone to your contacts list on your phone or in your email. Things like this are probably coming to an end soon. In the video above, a company called RelateIQ is already working on turning your relationship management into an automated thing by building a contacts list automatically based on things like your email inbox and your current contacts list, messages, etc. There will come a point where you just need to ask for someone’s name and you can create a contact profile immediately without any work on your part.

3. Wearable electronics

With the aforementioned Google Glass and smasmart watchese’re already seeing this to a degree but it’s going to get way more crazy than that. Smart glasses and smart watches are social devices that connect you to the outside world. There are other wearable electronics in the works that connect you to your body. We’re talking ear buds that measure heart rate, contact lenses that can measure your blood sugar, temporary tattoos that can unlock doors via NFC technology, and all sorts of cool stuff. Once they work this out for consumer use, it wont’ be long until you start getting options for implants that’ll track your vitals in real time so you’ll know you’re having a heart attack before your heart does. It’s going to save lives.

4. Smart houses

Once again, this is a thing that is right on the brink of being a real thing. We already have smart appliances such as refrigerators that will tell you when you’re low on a certain food item or an oven you can control with your smartphone. Sometime in the near future these things will be aggregated into an entire home unit that you’ll be able to control with your smartphone, tablet, or computer. We’re talking changing the thermostat, changing the channel on TV, and getting notifications that your laundry is ready all without leaving your couch. You can preheat the oven for dinner as you leave work so it’s ready to cook when you get home. It won’t be too much longer before your house talks to you and you can talk to it. The tech is already there, it’s just a matter of putting it all together in a stable enough manner for consumers.

5. Virtual reality gaming

You game nerds out there prepare yourselves. Many gaming fans already know of the Oculus Rift which is a VR headset that plays video games. It was recently bought by Facebook that is actively working on turning it into a social device as well as a gaming device. Samsung is reportedly working on their own as well. There will come a point where you’ll be able to go buy one of these headsets, take them anywhere, and watch, play, or view anything. It’s already almost there.

6. Screenless displays

Screenless displays are pretty much what they sound like. Displays that display things but without a screen. This technology has apparently come a long way in the last two years and is expected to make even more strides in the coming years. Things like holograms won’t be science fiction anymore. There may even be contact lenses that shoot images straight into your eye. This won’t just be a breakthrough for entertainment mediums, but people who can’t see well will be able to enjoy things for the first time without laser eye surgery.

7. Brain-Computer interfaces

These actually already exist to a degree. Quadriplegics have been using them for years to talk through a computer. The technology isn’t as refined as it could be but it’s well on its way. That means there could be a point in the future where you don’t need a mouse or a keyboard anymore. You can just think things and they happen on screen. This is great for people who have disabilities, people who want to be productive, and for gamers.

8. Universally available services

This may sound complicated but it’s really not because services like this exist. You may have heard of Uber. Uber is a taxi service that you can access pretty much anywhere where Uber has drivers. It’s in the U.S. and Europe with more places being planned. What makes Uber unique is its ability to be a universal service. There will come a time where you can call an Uber driver no matter where you are. These kind of services that transcend borders and continents by using the magic of the internet will continue to pop up. It doesn’t matter what language you speak or what country you’re in, you’ll be able to use the same service everywhere. Mark my words, there will be more services like Uber (but for other things aside from transportation) popping up once people have more ideas!

9. Digital downloads will kill physical objects

The end of owning physical copies of a video game are upon us. Popular computer gaming platforms like Steam and Origins have already begun distributing video games digitally without a disc or a cartridge. With the plummeting prices of flash storage (like you find on smartphones) and the increasing stability and speed of the internet, it’s absolutely certain that all video games (and media for that matter) will one day be only distributed digitally. That means no more CDs, game discs, DVDs, Blue-Ray, etc. It’ll all be files that you download directly to your TV, phone, MP3 player, or video game system. Music has pretty much done this already and movies are well on their way. Soon, it’ll be everything. It’s hard to imagine but streamlined and mainstream media and game downloads have only been a thing for about half a decade now and they still have a long way to go.

10. Robots will be everywhere

Huge strides have been made in robotics in the last ten years and more are expected to be made in the coming decade. We’re not talking fully intelligent robots (yet) but definitely ones that are stable and reliable enough to start working. It’ll likely start with places like assembly lines and work their way into other facets of manual labor that humans don’t want to do. We’re even seriously talking about robots performing surgery on humans while being controlled by a doctor and a technician. You can find demos of robots doing things like shooting wads of paper into trash cans or ones that pour coffee. If those are prototypes, then the finish products can’t be all that far behind.

11. Biofuels and renewable energy

The people alive right now know one thing for certain. We will be the last living creatures who considered fossil fuels as the only source of energy available on this planet. Within the next few decades, huge strides are expected to be made in solar and wind energy. People are exploring potential fuel sources from everything from wheat to algae. Our dependence on oil and coal is still pretty steadfast but it’s beginning to loosen its grip. In the next ten years, expect a huge push for electric cars, solar panels on houses, and lots of complaining from oil company executives.

12. Wireless energy transfer

There are already examples of this out in the wild. The Qi Wireless charging dock allows people with some smartphones (generally newer ones) to charge their devices without the use of cables. This is a big deal because wireless energy transferring has a lot of applications. When electric cars are a bigger deal, you’ll be able to just park on top of a charging center and your car will charge. They may even build solar-powered roads that charges your car as you drive (how cool would that be, really?). The applications are limited only by one’s imagination and wireless cell phone charging is just the tip of a very large ice berg.

13. 5G mobile data

Yes, I know we just now got 4G under control here in the United States and many places in the world are still stuck on 3G. Technology doesn’t stop just because we’re behind on our infrastructure. Currently 5G is in the research phase but the phrase has been increasingly tossed around. Keep in mind it only took a decade or two to go from 3G to 4G. Don’t expect it to take any longer going from 4G to 5G.

14. Artificial Intelligence

You’ve seen the movies about it but could it actually exist in our lifetime? The answer is yes, it very well may. If you’ve seen the famous robot designed by IBM that schooled everyone in Jeopardy then you’ve already seen the kind of progress we’ve made in artificial intelligence. There is still a long way to go but thanks to things like contextual technology (Siri, Google Now, Cortana, etc), we’re getting a lot better at drawing up software that can predict and react like a real person can. It won’t be much longer until it’s all integrated together to create a robot that can think.

15. Graphene

Back in 2004, the first sheet of graphene was produced. Ever since, scientists have been trying to figure out a way to mass produce it. Why? Because it’s going to make everything better. It could give us much faster internet. It’s 100 times stronger than steel so naturally it’s going to be awesome for building anything. We could use it as a filter for water and scrub the oceans clean of toxic waste. It could be used on smartphones to make them virtually indestructible. It would make batteries obsolete. Truth be told, we’re not going to list all the things graphene could be useful for because its applications are practically limitless. Sooner or later we’ll figure out how to mass produce it. Prepare for the second industrial revolution where everything is made from graphene. I mean everything. Not kidding.

It wasn’t long ago that most of this stuff was science fiction. To many (including myself) it still seems like something you saw in an episode of Star Trek or read in an HG Wells book. It’s almost frightening how far we’ve come but we’re almost there and in a few more decades, it’s going to be amazing to see how far we’ve come.