Self-Improvement Archives

Gratitude Exercises: 3 Ways to Practice Gratitude Today

What are some good ways to practice gratitude? What difference can it make in your life? The Gap and The Gain describes two ways of thinking that measure your progress in life. Gap-thinking is focusing your thoughts on the “gap” between where you are now and where you want to be. Gain-thinking is focusing on how far you’ve come, or the “gains” you’ve made. The authors believe that practicing gratitude is a great way to stay in the Gain mindset. Keep reading to learn three gratitude exercises that can help you maintain your focus on Gains.

Why Chasing the Wrong Goals Is Self-Sabotage

Do you have a feeling you’re pursuing the wrong goals? Why would you make decisions and choose goals that waste your energy and make you unhappy? Many people chase after the wrong goals—pursuing things for the sake of getting social approval. While impressing others may feel good in the short term, it will eventually make you feel miserable and unfulfilled. Here’s why chasing after superficial goals is the worst kind of self-sabotage.

Simon Sinek’s Purpose Statements: 4 Characteristics

How do you write a purpose statement that actually works? What are Simon Sinek’s tips for creating a purpose statement? A purpose statement is a sentence that declares your Why, or purpose. In the book Find Your Why, Simon Sinek presents a step-by-step process to discover and articulate your purpose, which you can go through with a partner or in a team workshop. Keep reading to discover Simon Sinek’s purpose statement traits, including an example for starting your own.

The 2 Habits to Change Your Life as a Woman

What are the best habits to change your life today? How can you embrace new habits permanently? In Untamed, speaker, author, and activist Glennon Doyle shares how she was unable to express her emotions or cope with the heartache, pain, anxiety, and depression she experienced as a young woman. Eventually, Doyle discovered new habits that freed her from the strictures of society by rejecting the limitations society imposes on women. Read on to find out two of the most important habits for living a happier life, according to Doyle’s advice for women.

The Number One Cause of Unhappiness: Inauthenticity

The Loneliness Epidemic: Why We Feel Disconnected

What is the number one cause of unhappiness? How does trying to make other people happy eat away at your own happiness? One of the most common pitfalls that prevent people from being happy is, paradoxically enough, trying too hard to make others happy. Relying on positive feedback to feel happy creates a breeding ground for unwanted experiences and negative feelings. This is because seeking validation compels you to engage in two habits that disconnect you from your true needs: suppressing your feelings and pursuing the wrong goals. Let’s explore how these two inauthentic habits eat away at your happiness.

The Gap and the Gain: Overview & Key Takeaways

What does “the gap and the gain” mean? What’s the difference between these two ways of measuring progress and success? You might need to make one simple shift in your thinking. That’s the core idea of The Gap and the Gain that was developed by entrepreneurial coach Dan Sullivan. In the book, organizational psychologist Benjamin Hardy connects Sullivan’s ideas to scientific concepts that help explain why we tend to focus on the future and how we can train ourselves to focus on the past instead. Hardy and Sullivan argue that making this change can drastically improve your quality of life.

Find Your Why: Examples From the Book (Simon Sinek)

What are the best examples from Find Your Why? How does Simon Sinek explain discovering your purpose? In this article, we’ll break down Sinek’s book Find Your Why by taking a closer look at the book’s best examples for understanding and living your purpose. These Find Your Why examples explain the practical process Sinek advocates for finding your purpose. Read on for an overview of the best Find Your Why examples Simon Sinek gives for discovering and living your purpose.

Seeking Validation From Others: Why It’s a Problem

Do you tend to get upset when people don’t acknowledge or validate you? Do you often try to make other people happy at the expense of your own happiness? When your sense of self-worth depends solely on the positive feedback you receive from others, you become dependent on external validation. Inevitably, you often fail to receive the feedback you want. And, each time you fail, you assume that it’s because you’re inadequate in some way—if other people don’t feel you deserve their positive feedback, then you won’t believe you deserve it. Here’s how seeking validation from others impacts your self-esteem.

How to Overcome Trauma: The 2 Steps Toward Healing

What are some practical ways to heal from the trauma you’ve experienced? How might you deal with your past in a way that gives you a brighter future? In The Gap and the Gain, entrepreneurial coach Dan Sullivan and organizational psychologist Benjamin Hardy contend that Gap- and Gain-thinking affect your well-being. Gain-thinking, they argue, can lead to a happier life. If you’ve experienced trauma, though, a happy life might seem out of reach. The authors provide techniques that help you frame your past trauma in a way that promotes Gain-thinking and puts you on the path toward healing. Read more

Questions About Religion Every Woman Should Ask

How does society impact religious beliefs? What beliefs have you inherited from your culture? Speaker, author, and activist Glennon Doyle deconstructed her ideas about religion after a negative experience at a conservative church. Doyle decided that she no longer wanted to be part of a faith tradition that forced her to check her critical thinking and intuition at the door or defer to the judgment of powerful men. Keep reading to find out why asking questions about religion to challenge old beliefs can help you live a more meaningful life.