Simple Living Reduces Stress

August 4, 2020 Leave a Comment

Simple living reduces stress. It has been proven. When you have less and want less, you stress about less. First, you have to understand what simple living really is. No – you do not have to live in a run down home to be “simple.” That is far from true! What I mean by simple living is a lifestyle that minimizes consumption and maximizes those things that bring you the most peace and joy. Here are a few ways that simple living can benefit you: 

  • More freedom to create the life you desire, instead of feeling stuck in a job or a life just because you have no other choice.
  • Allows you to appreciate what you do have instead of constantly craving what you don’t have.
  • Provides you with a better work/life balance because you let go of pushing yourself to work longer and longer hours to maintain an over-consumptive lifestyle.  In other words, Work SMARTer not harder!
  • Help you clarify what is most important, meaningful and what really matters to you, and let go of the rest.
  • Allows you to seek quality not quantity in all things.
  • Helps you de-clutter and let go of everything in your life that is messy, busy, over-complicated and unnecessary.
  • Introduces you to the importance of all your true relationships—including a deeper connection to your community.
  • Frees up your time to do the things you love and that makes you happy.
  • Provides you with a deeper connection to nature by giving you the time to take walks, garden and appreciate being outdoors.  In other words, spend time in nature.
  • Slows you down and allows you to enjoy the moments of your day.
  • Leads you to become more self reliant and internally focused instead comparing yourself to others or using others to determine your worth.
  • Guides you to making better health choices for yourself and your family.
  • Provides freedom from maintaining or fussing about your possessions and instead spend that time doing things that make you smile.
  • Offers you better and sounder sleep and times of rest.
  • Gives you ease and agility when making life choices, decisions, exploring opportunities.
  • Allows you to spend the rest of your life on a greener and healthier planet along with others (including your kids).

Reading all of that, I hope that you can see how and why simple living can reduce stress and instead, bring more happiness into your life. And, I hope that it makes you want to start your simple living journey. Here are a few ways to live simply, in order to increase happiness and reduce stress:

Manage Your Finances

If you are in debt, I bet your stress levels are through the roof. It is hard paying all of your monthly bills and then paying bucket loads towards high-interest credit card debt. If you have a business of your own, I bet that it’s even more stressful – especially during this time. If this sounds familiar, you probably need to get your finances in order. One way to do so (especially as a business) is to get rid of high-interest credit card debt and replace it with low-interest loans so that you are able to pay them off faster. One way to do this as a business is to get an Atlanta small business loan from Chapes-JPL. Chapes-JPL is a company based out of Atlanta, Georgia, in the heart of Buckhead that provides low-interest asset loans on your valuables. In addition, they also buy valuables from their customers. This is a fast and easy way to get cash when you need it. If you have old jewelry around your home, sell it or get an asset loan in order to pay off your high-interest debt. Chapes-JPL was established in 1980 as an alternative to banks and traditional pawnbrokers. They provide low interest loans on gold, diamonds, jewelry, watches, and more. Since the loan is strictly on collateral, they do not require credit checks, tax returns, job verification, or personal references. Plus, the typical loan is done in minutes!

Reduce Processed Foods

Reducing processed foods is a fantastic way to live simple, reduce your stress, and also improve your health. When you reduce processed foods, you are getting rid of added sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and other unhealthy additions. As they say in Italy, slow eating is simple eating is healthy eating. Slow, unprocessed, and “good-for-you” foods are the foods that connect you with the people around you (at the dinner table), the land, and the animals.

Say No More Often

When you do not want to do something, say no. If it is going to cause you a lot of stress, say no. When it will not bring you happiness, say no. If you say no more often, you will be able to say “yes” to the things that bring you joy instead. Say “no” more often in order to reduce stress!

There are so many things you can do to live a simple lifestyle and reduce stress, but these are just a few of them. What is your favorite way to live simply? I’d love to know!

Filed Under: Health Tagged With: , , , ,

Boost your Self-Confidence

February 4, 2020 Leave a Comment

Not all of us can be the star of the show all the time. Some of us like to take a back seat and allow others to hold the limelight. However, have you thought about your motivation behind this mindset? Do you lack confidence? Do you find that you sometimes really want to say something, but always hold it back? Life is not easy at times. Many of us have really busy lives, and we are constantly juggling a thousand things at once. Perhaps, you don’t want the limelight because you are unhappy with something. A few extra pounds, for example. It is perfectly natural to feel as if you just want to hide sometimes, but that should not be how you live every moment. You need to go through the low period, tackle all your demons, and get back to a high period. There is only one way to do this, and that is to work on you. It may seem a little selfish, especially if you have children, but the reality is if you are showing the children a timid, un-confident person, they may end up not respecting you, or worse, ending up un-confident themselves. You need to focus on you, to give the right message to your children, and everyone else, show that you mean business.   

Image from Pixabay

 

Take some time out

You need a sanctuary. Somewhere you can go for ten minutes or half an hour every day to get away from it all and relax and unwind. This is so important for your health, both mentally and physically. Stress can build up and, over time, can have a devastating effect. If you can just get away from it all and disappear into that private space, you will feel so much better. Perhaps you could benefit from learning how to meditate. If you are continually battling thoughts, you may need a new perspective. Time out will, first of all, give you the space to reflect upon things. You may be able to start prioritizing the things in your life. If you are overwhelmed by the amount of stuff going on, you may need to think about what you can cut out. Becoming more mindful, and trying to understand your own motivations behind behaving in specific ways will help you no end. If you can build a better way of thinking, it will help you in so many ways.    

 

Start saying No

It is not your responsibility to fix the problems of the world. If people constantly ask you for favors, this could be work colleagues or friends and acquaintances, and you have a habit of saying yes, you have got to be strong and say no. Overloading yourself with other people’s tasks is not good. You need to prioritize yourself, your family, and your life. This is not selfish. This is common sense. If you are running around after other people all the time, who is going to be there for your children. You and they should be first. Being a people pleaser does not earn you any respect. In fact, quite the opposite is true. You are being used and taken advantage of. So start saying no, and you will feel the power of this word, as every time you say it a load is taken off your shoulders, and you become more confident as a result.

 

Streamline your life

If you can manage the first two tips, this one will come naturally. You need to stop doing too much. Everyone does things they don’t need to and waste time. Time is a precious commodity, and you need to focus it on the areas of your life that are the most fulfilling. If that means cutting people and ties out of your life, so be it. If you feel that way, these people do nothing to enhance your life anyway. Many people and their opinions are detrimental to yourself. Keep the people that bring you up and say goodbye, at least symbolically to the ones that don’t. In addition, think about better ways you can do household tasks, like are you one for making a lot of trips to the corner store. You should try and get everything you need in one supermarket shop. This will save you time for more important things. Having more time for you and the family, and getting rid of negativity will change your sense of self-worth, and cause you to be more relaxed.   

 

Fix up your image

This can mean a lot of different things, but if you look better, you will feel better and have more confidence. Since you now have more time, get out, and do some exercise. Go jogging a few times a week that will help you lose those few extra pounds. Exercise is a natural mood enhancer too. It makes the body less stressed, and it floods your system with endorphins. If jogging is not for you, why not go walking. In fact, you could invest in a puppy here so you will always have a walking partner. Not only that, dogs have a way of bringing joy and happiness into anyone’s life. Think about your diet too, swap sugary foods for fruit and vegetables. Go out and purchase a new wardrobe of clothes. A little bit of retail therapy will be great. Go get a new haircut and facial. There are many ways you fix up your image. It is up to you. 

 

Stop doubting yourself

When you realize that your thoughts have traveled down a certain negative route, have a word with yourself. Stop and think, how have I got here? Why do I think I can’t do this or that? A lot of mental issues people have is to do with an inability to analyze their own thoughts. You are a master of your own mind, and if you think negatively, you will be depressed. Swap those ‘I can’ts’ to ‘I cans’, and you will start to feel more confident. It all starts and ends with you. No one can tell you what to think. So if you want to have confidence, you need to start taking control of how you think.  

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