Life giving tips

Start doing these things now and never stop:

1.  Fight hard for the things that make you feel alive. – The longer you have to wait for something, the more you will appreciate it when it finally arrives.  The harder you have to fight for something, the more it will be worth to you once you achieve it.  And the more pain you have to endure on your journey, the sweeter the arrival at your destination.  Most great things don’t come easy, but they are worth waiting for and fighting for. 

2.  Walk comfortably in your own shoes. – If you don’t follow the path others want you to follow they might become irritated.  Don’t worry about it.  Let them be.  It’s their problem, not yours.  So many people seem to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but have no clue how to lead their own.  So focus on your inner callings and keep paving your own path.  Remember that it is more useful to be aware of a single strength or weakness in yourself than to be aware of a thousand strengths and weaknesses in others. 

3.  Think only of the best, work only for the best, and expect only the best. – Be a defender of honesty and truth so that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.  Forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the achievements and lessons of today.  Give so much time to your own self-improvement that you have no time to criticize others.  Look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism part of your religion.  Live in the faith that the whole world is on your side so long as you are true to the best that is you. 

4.  Work through down days. – After each difficulty you faced in the past was overcome, you became stronger and more able to meet the ones you face today.  Likewise, the difficulties you face today are preparing you for the challenges of tomorrow.  As this process of growth takes place remember that there are no mistakes.  The events you bring upon yourself as you journey forward, no matter how unpleasant, are necessary steps in order to learn what you need to know to reach the places you’ve chosen to go.

5.  Keep making the best of it. – Everything you go through grows you.  Sometimes you think doing something is a total waste of time, and then it ends up being one of the best things you ever did.  Don’t judge the day before it unfolds.  Amazing things can and do happen when you least expect them.  Let each day be a scavenger hunt in which you must find at least one of these things: a sincere laugh, an act of kindness, a realization, or a lesson that will lead you closer to your dreams. 

how to live happy and productive

Word of Encouragement:

Theme: The Road To Lasting Happiness and Productive Living

In this world there are so much happenings that have nothing to support our happiness and productivity such as unemployment, sicknesses, favoritism, insults, dismissals, divorces, delayed marriage, death of beloved ones, lower positions, having lower salaries, etc. Therefore it is practically difficult to ignore physical needs and challenges and easy to spiritual things but you can live a happy and productive life by choosing to live happy. A negative mind will never give you a positive and happy life. Life is better when you are happy, but life is best when other people are happy because of you. be inspired, give peace and share your smile with everyone.

Despite of living in this world full of deep challenges choose to live R²PG lifestyle:

R – Read, study, meditate and act

·the word of God day and night  (Joshua 1:8, Psalms 1:1-3)

 Many people think happiness and productive life come from having money, car, house, job, wife, husband or other worldly possessions. But the lasting one is purely by obeying God's Word, reading and studying it day and night and living by it. Don’t just read the word of God but submit to it so that it can sharp your thinking, talking and acting

R – Rejoice

·always (Philippians 4:4, 3:1, 2:17-18, Romans 5:3, Matthew 5:11-12)

Life starts inside out. Our inner self should not be influenced by what we can see or surrounded by. We should reach a point of saying that no matter what can happen to me Jesus Christ is with me in all things and He will see me through. If your altitude is not centered on the word of God, you will be negative at about yourself, others and everything. Stay near to Christ and to His word and you will be seeing things from His perspective. Have right perspective towards life

P – Pray

·without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17, Colossians 4:2, Philippians 4:6, Luke 18:1-8, Ephesians 6:18)

Prayer is the way to communicate to God our Father like we do to our earthly Fathers. Therefore we need to have a prayerful altitude at all the time. We can only do this when we choose to rely totally on God for all our needs. It is impossible humanly speaking living in this world without having things to be worried about but lets convert all the worries into prayers. If you want to continue living happily and productively, continue praying more and more. Read the word in order to have words to pray about or telling God

G – Give thanks

·in everything (Ephesians 5:20, 1 Thessalonians 5:18)

Living in this world of competitions and comparisons, it is more difficult to give thanks to God and to others. Our happiness and victory come from thanking God about all things coming into our ways whether good or bad. We should realize that the more we thank God, the more He will convert bad circumstances surround us for our good. Every morning pray God to give you different eyes to be seeing more to thankful for. Reading and praying give us opportunity to thank God and appreciate what He is doing in our lives. Never compare yourself with others but with God. Run towards becoming more and more Christ like not any of the human beings

In conclusion: Iam encouraging you in the power of the Holy Spirit to start and continue: Reading the word of God day and night, Rejoicing always in the Lord, Praying without ceasing and giving thanks to God about all things happening in your way.

Prepared by

Lazarous Chongo

Missionary / Whole Life Coach

Cell: 0977321432 / 0967321432

Email: lazarouschongo@yahoo.com

Whatsapp: 0967321432

Facebook: Lazarous Chongo.   Blog: sportingoutside.blogspot.com

God's Love

Romans 8:37-39 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God’s Love Shown Through Jesus Christ

John 3:16  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Romans 5:8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God. who loved me and gave himself for me.

Ephesians 2:4-5 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, evenwhen we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved—

1 John 4:9-11 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

God Loves and Cares For Us

Zephaniah 3:17 The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.

1 John 4:7-8  Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.  Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

1 Peter 5:6-7  Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,  casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

Job 34:19 who shows no partiality to princes, nor regards the rich more than the poor,  for they are all the work of his hands?

Psalm 86:15 But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.

1 John 3:1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

What God Says About Love

Deuteronomy 7:9 Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,

Proverbs 8:17 I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

John 13:34-35  A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.  By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Respond To God’s Love Through Thankfulness

Psalm 136:26 Give thanks to the God of heaven, for his steadfast love endures forever.

Romans 5:2-5 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Colossians 2:6-7  Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.

Hebrews 12:28-29 Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire.

Interview Tips – Prepare for a Good First Impression

Interview Tips – Prepare for a Good First Impression

1. Take a shower, you want to smell neutral
2. Be clean shaven or at least freshly trimmed
3. Use a mint or breath freshener instead of chewing gum
4. Go VERY light on any perfume, deoderant or cologne, you don’t want it to be noticed really
5. Dress above the normal dress code, if any.  When in doubt, overdress
6. Wear black dress shoes that don’t stand out, and polish them if they need it
7. Be early.  Late for an interview without at least 30 minutes notice has no excuse
8. Never arrive more than 10 minutes early. Wait in your car, walk around the block or wait nearby without announcing yourself too early
9. Ensure you are flexible and available for scheduling interviews if you want to be taken seriously
10. Clean up your social media presence and make things private that you wouldn’t want an employer to see.  Trust me, they do look and it can make a difference.  In fact, you should always keep your social media presence professional as there is no way to really remove things, so keep it presentable at all times.
11. Prepare your introduction pitch as you will usually have a couple minutes to introduce yourself, your background and brief history
12. Practice responding to many typical questions and behavior questions
13. If given a choice learn how to win at roulette and always avoid an interview over lunch.  Its messy, complicated and much riskier to leaving a good impression.
14. If you have a phone interview, still dress up, smile and show enthusiasm even if they are not in the room to see it because they will hear it instead!
15. The first couple minutes are often casual just as you are getting comfortable.  Lead this if possible (but only for a couple minutes) to show confidence and to prevent any awkward first impressions.

Interview Tips – What to Have / Bring With You

1. Bring copies of your resume
2. Bring a few sheets of paper to make notes on
3. Bring a quality pen for writing with
4. Have your own notes and preparation in a small, thin notebook or on index cards
5. A simple, small bag but absolutely no electronics, laptops, large project samples or excess papers
6. Leave your phone turned OFF, vibrate is still distracting and can be heard so simply turn it off
7. Leave your phone out of sight and do not check it, even while waiting
8. Better yet, leave your phone in your car and not on your person
9. Have your references ready and a sheet to provide in case you are asked for them
10. Do your research to bring some knowledge about the companies vision, products, recent news releases and changes to the business
11. Also, gain knowledge of major competitors and recent important activity in the industry

Interview Tips – Personal Behaviors

1. Be friendly to EVERYONE you encounter while waiting for an interview, as you never know who you might meet
2. That includes smiling at people you see
3. Chat with the receptionist, be friendly
4. Read any company literature available while waiting, not a magazine.  Things like pamphlets, awards, posters, etc.
5. Note any questions that arise from what you read or learn from chatting with people before the interview.
6. Introduce yourself professionally, state your full name and a brief comment or pleasantry such as “Nice to meet you”
7. Always clarify the pronunciation or name you heard if you are unsure, so that you can use it again.
8. Ensure you remember the person’s names you are introduced to
9. Learn to shake hands professionally and never give a weak frail handshake
10. Look a person in the eye when you meet them and shake their hand
11. Maintain appropriate eye contact and well all interviewers equality when not answering a direct question
12. Keep excellent posture
13. Lean forward a little to stay attentive and show interest
14. Keep your hands/arms in your lap or on the table, never cross them or fold them behind your head
15. Its OK to cross your legs, but men, its not OK to rest your foot up on your knee
16. Breathe deeply and calmly to help you relax
17. If you forget something or don’t understand, just ask the interviewer to please repeat it

Interview Tips – Interaction and Communication

1. Ask where to sit or wait for instruction on where to sit
2. Accept any offer for water if you don’t already have some, but don’t complicate it with coffee or special instruction
3. Elaborate in your responses, an interviewer learns the most by how you describe things and respond
4. State you need a moment to think, when you need a moment to think, don’t just sit silently
5. Be honest, yet positive.  Any lies are easily detected by a good interviewer, trust me
6. Also be yourself and let your personality expose itself as you interact, there is nothing worse than someone not believing you were authentic
7. Know every word and detail on your resume, expect to be asked to explain something from it
8. Reword a question or a response if you don’t understand or are not being understood
9. Ask after a short responses if they would like you to go in to more detail (if you have more you could add) instead of just going on and on
10. If you have questions, ask them during the interview if that topic comes up, but don’t direct the interviewer off topic, they DO have an agenda and you don’t know it
11. Let the interviewer stay in control of the interview, they want to get their questions answered before having to answer yours
12. Look to identify the interviewer’s communication style and behavioral style (such as the D.i.S.C. model) to better understand what they may be most interested in
13. Show some enthusiasm as you communicate and in your responses especially

Interview Tips – Answering Questions

1. Listen carefully and patiently for an interviewer to finish their question, NEVER interrupt!
2. Think for a moment about what they are really asking for before you dive in and answer what first comes to mind
3. You should always strive to use examples or stories in your answers to show practical application, not just knowledge
4. Be vulnerable with the weakness question.  Lame weaknesses often considered a positive is a bad answer.  Put something realistic and tell about how it has been a struggle, which you are changing and what you still need to do about it.  Don’t fake or discount a weakness as something easy to fix, as that is a very weak answer.
5. Make sure you highlight strengths not on their own, but why they are strengths in your mind for this specific job.  Your strengths must be useful in your role and fill a need or they are not advantages.
6. Tell me about yourself is that exactly, yourself.  Not your job history and work experience, but you, as a person. The questions about your work history are coming.  It’s fine to focus your answer on work related things, but talk about your interests, career shifts or major changes / decisions and things that are important to you.  Your background, major travel history and other personal items may be of interest and give insight to who you are, but don’t get deep into unrelated topics like family, hobbies, sports, etc at this point, since its usually early in an interview that this is asked
7. Salary expectations should never be shared until you have an offer.  Simply state you will consider any competitive offer and expect it to be comparable in the industry
8. Use questions to show that you are well prepared and you researched some thing about the company to form your questions from
9. Its best to admit when you don’t know something or can’t answer a question, instead of given some vague or incorrect answer pretending you are right.  You’re not fooling anyone.
10. Highlight transferable skills in your responses if you don’t have a lot of experience or relevant experience and express your confidence that you will apply and perform in a new area
11. Often interviewers ask two part questions to see if you were listening and respond to both.  Make sure you think about answering both parts and don’t loose sight of a second part if there is one.
12. When a question comes up that you don’t know the answer to, this can be a great opportunity to assure them that you would love to learn more about that for the role and expand your experience
13. Don’t assume people know acronyms or organizations you mention, always ask or elaborate on what things are to ensure they understand your responses
14. Never bad mouth previous companies or co-workers, if there were negatives to address, make it specific about a decision, strategy, shift in process or some other behavior, but not personal.  Only use something like this if you are answering a question directly or it is used to demonstrate overcoming that particular obstacle.

Interview Tips – Asking Questions

1. Absolutely never, ever ask about compensation, benefits or bonus in an interview.  Those discussions come once you know they want you or have an offer for you.
2. Ask questions that are a level above the specific role you are applying for to show you can think beyond the expected role.  Think about things your boss would be interested in or looking for and ask questions to have them answer something they are familiar and passionate about.  Showing interest in things they are interested in is best here.
3. Ask questions that fit their D.i.S.C. behavioral (or another personality) profile you detect during the interview, to ask what interests them most
4. Ask about events or news releases about the company to show you’ve done some research but ensure it is a meaningful question that you genuinely want to know about and discuss.
5. Plan your questions to be a discussion with several more short probing questions
6. Have questions to ask  that cover multiple areas: the business itself, products or projects you’ll be involved in, responsibilities and the role itself, the work culture and environment, expectations and performance
7. Use open ended questions, not closed questions since they can be awkward and come across shallow and meaningless to the interviewer
8. Asking questions about something you learned during the interview or read while waiting can show your curiosity and intelligence if the question is suitable
9. Don’t ask excessive questions and focus on the most intelligent ones.  Instead of going on endlessly with questions, state you have more questions but would be happy to ask them at the next opportunity or at another meeting.  This shows you respect their time and they will either agree or let you ask more (which is a sign they want to learn more about you, a good thing!)
10. Use questions to show that you are well prepared and you researched some thing about the company to form your questions from
11. Experience questions can often be answered with examples from volunteering work or clubs or sports.  Think about ways to highlight outside areas and if possible, tie that behavior back to the workplace as well.

Interview Tips – Closing and Exiting

1. Ensure you restate with enthusiasm that you want an offer and how you will best contribute to the company if you get one
2. Tell them you would love the opportunity to discuss more, meet other team members or see some of the work environments or products if applicable
3. Get contact details and permission to contact any of the interviewers if you have more questions
4. Ensure you thank the interviewers for the opportunity to meet, again stating you hope to proceed and am exciting to come back again
5. Shake hands when you leave and wish them politely to have a great day
6. Leave promptly when the time comes and show you respect their time by not dilly dallying around and wasting any time

Interview Tips – Follow Up

1. Assess your interview immediately after leaving
2. Note all the items or skills that were of particular interest
3. Prepare any extra comments or questions about those important areas for the next opportunity with them
4. Review what questions you were not prepared well for, or found difficult to answer
5. Write out and practice answering those questions again
6. Note what further information or questions you have before you would accept an offer
7. Contact the interviewer the following day as well as anyone else you met and got contact details from
8. Be polite, thank them for the time to meet and restate why you can fill the role and that you are wanting to proceed to the next stage or receive an offer
9. Include a new example (if brief) about how your skills or experience will fill the role or a specific need you learned during the interview
10. Never push the interviewers for an answer when following up, but don’t be afraid to call several times.  Things get in the way all the time and can delay an expected hiring process.
11. Make sure you have voice mail with a personal greeting recorded so any call backs hear your voice directly
12. Always follow up with any call backs and offers, even if it is not what you want.  Be honest and discuss options or changes that would convince you or why you have made a decision one way or another.
13. Call all of your references you provided to give them a heads up about the interview, the company they can expect to call and if there are any points you recommend they share if appropriate.

Five Tips on Improving Management through Leadership

Five Tips on Improving Management through Leadership

1-      Lead By Example

Model your expectations of employee conduct and output at all times. Remember that your employees are always watching. Want to see more timeliness and efficiency from your employees? Get to work 5 minutes early every single day and stay 5 minutes late. Analyze your own routine for time spent on non-work related activity, such as web-surfing, chit-chatting, or procrastinating. Eliminating these things from your own routine will set a strong and lasting example for your employees.

Also, keep in mind that you are one of your company’s influential representatives. At work and in public, your behavior should embody your employer’s mission statement and core values. Avoid doing or saying anything that could discredit the company’s image. Never go against ethical procedure, and keep in mind that just because you make rules doesn’t mean you can break them. That is the quickest way to lose the respect of your employees, your most valuable asset.

Quick and Dirty: Managers tell their employees what to do; leaders show their employees how to be.

2-      Admit Your Mistakes

Never assume that passing blame for a mistake onto someone else, whether that person is above or below you on the corporate ladder, gets you off the hook, especially with your employees. When mistakes happen, the fastest and easiest way to fix them is always to focus on the solution and not the problem. The time and effort it takes to shuffle blame is always better spent on resolving the issue. Once that’s done, it’s important to figure out what went wrong and establish measures to prevent future occurrences. You won’t be able to do that if you’ve lost your employees’ respect.

Quick and Dirty: Managers fix mistakes; leaders prevent them.

3-      Be Loved, Not Feared

The personal qualities that attract us to leaders—trustworthiness, sensitivity, and enthusiasm—seem obvious, but they’re also some of the most elusive, as they may require an ongoing conscious effort. Don’t be ashamed of yourself if they don’t come naturally. In fact, they rarely do. That’s why leaders are so appealing in the first place.

Start earning the trust of your employees by trusting them first. Don’t micro-manage unless absolutely necessary and even then, take steps to insure that it doesn’t become a long-term practice. Remain cognizant of the fact that for most people, genuine praise is a better motivator than a reprimand or a warning. Find an aspect of your professional life that inspires your passion, whether it’s the opportunity to improve company output, the satisfaction of working in your field, or the basic fact that you are learning how to perform your job well, and let it inform your behavior at work. Your enthusiasm will prove infectious.

Quick and Dirty: Managers keep employees in line; leaders make them happy.

4-      Communicate Effectively

Be aware of what you say and how you say it, at all times. Never gossip, denigrate, or humiliate another person in the workplace, and be particularly sensitive in your delivery of constructive criticism, making sure to do it in a private setting.

Remain equally conscious of your listening skills. Your employees are all experts on their own duties and experience in your workplace. If an employee approaches you with a question, complaint, concern, or suggestion, hear that person out. If you can’t offer your full attention in the moment, schedule the conversation for the near future, and listen carefully for a set period of time, depending on the depth and complexity of the issue, before responding. Try not to interrupt unless absolutely necessary.

Finally, be sure to communicate in the medium most appropriate for what you have to say. All major issues with employee performance or deliverables should be addressed in-person whenever possible; use email, memos, and other written documentation to preserve vital instructions and policies; and reserve use of the phone for times when you can actually converse, not multi-task.

Quick and Dirty: Managers instruct; leaders communicate.

5-      Innovate

As a manager, you’re in a unique position in the workplace. Unlike your employers, you don’t just have responsibilities, you also have (at least some) flexibility in how you meet them. Your employer shares your long-term goals: improving employee efficiency, growing the consumer base, and saving the company money; your employees share your daily experience and practices. The resultant perspective is an ideal one from which to innovate.

So always keep your employees’ experiences and observations in mind when brainstorming long-term solutions. Don’t forget that you have the power to advocate for your employees’ good ideas, as well as your own. Never hesitate to bring an employee’s innovation to an employer out of fear he or she will wonder why you didn’t think of it first. It’s your job to apply your employees’ ideas to your employer’s concerns so that your employer doesn’t have to.

Quick and Dirty: Managers maintain good practices; leaders create them.

The Bottom Line

While there’s some debate around the finer points, the essential difference between a manager and a leader is simple: managers—whether good, bad, or mediocre—are all cast from the same mold; every leader is different. Your personality, experience, and priorities will play a large part in the leader you become. Take pride in your performance, treat yourself and others with respect, and don’t try to change who you are. The manager who knows how to lead maximizes employee and employer satisfaction, and that makes everyone happy.

100 Ways to Improve Your Relationships

100 Ways to Improve Your Relationships

1. Make breakfast for someone in bed
2. Send someone a hand written thank you note for something they did
3. Leave a message or note telling someone what you appreciate about them
4. Make time commitments that are realistic and possible
5. Ensure you do everything you can to meet your commitments
6. Don’t take promises lightly, be honest and keep them
7. Turn the TV off and have a real conversation
8. Upgrade your communication style
9. Talk about what you both want out of a relationships
10. Find a chore you can do with another person
11. Offer to do a regular activity together
12. Buy groceries together
13. Go Shopping together
14. Organize a meal out with someone for friends
15. Go camping together
16. Take a road trip together
17. Have a staring contest
18. Have a picnic together
19. Schedule 10 minutes everyday to talk (with NO distractions)
20. Be spontaneous and energetic
21. Spend time researching great relationships
22. Learn from relationship masters
23. Read biographies of great relationship builders
24. Buy and read books on relationships
25. Put your relationship time BEFORE work, overtime or chores
26. Buy and gift a simple gift that reminds you of that person
27. Keep in touch with friends at least monthly even when living afar
28. Actually phone in person your facebook friends
29. Limit your online friends lists to those you want to be friends with
30. Don’t make lame excuses for things, be honest
31. Use encouraging positive words instead of negative or critical responses
32. Learn some cellphone etiquette and shut your phone off once in a while
33. NEVER be negative or critical in an email - its too dangerous and easily misinterpreted
34. Be a “yes” type of person when doing things for others
35. Learn to say “no” to keep your priorities in check
36. Teach someone how to do something
37. Exercise together
38. Make friendly competitions for achievement
39. Support each other in your actions / challenges
40. Take up a new hobby together to build a common interest
41. Never eat alone
42. Take and print photographs of activities together
43. Ask for help when you need it
44. Opening share your beliefs and values
45. Stick to your beliefs and express why
46. Know your moral principles and stick to themT
47. Share your spiritual personality
48. In challenging situations, ask yourself, “What would Jesus do?”
49. Learn behavioral models (like DISC) to communicate better
50. Learn personality models (like Meyers-Briggs) to apply personality tips
51. Be willing to have those necessary and crucial conversions
52. Create your own bucket list, share it and do many of them together
53. Improve your telephone skills
54. Give a gift that is more than a purchased item
55. Give genuine compliments on a regular basis
56. Surprise someone with a kind act towards them
57. Have conversations where one of you actively listens and ONLY repeats what you heard in your own words
58. Share your spiritual beliefs with each other
59. Pray together
60. Take up learning a new sport together
61. Take responsibility for your own happiness in the relationship without burdening or expected the other person to do that for you
62. Tell one another why and how they make you a better person
63. Identify and compliment anything you see them improve
64. Be gracious and quick to give an apology
65. Forgive one another quickly and completely
66. Stop complaining and start appreciating
67. Laugh together
68. Cry together
69. Serve others
70. Conquer a fear (like heights or fear of a certain animal) together
71. Never participate in gossip
72. Don’t share private relationship information that deserves to be kept private
73. Be spontaneous with activities and have fun
74. Never try to change someone else, change yourself instead
75. Avoid blaming others
76. Take time to think about your relationships in order to improve them
77. Make relationships priority and make time to work on them
78. Set some goals and work specifically on your relationships
79. Expose your vulnerabilities
80. Socialize with friends of friends
81. Compromise to resolve disputes
82. Be generous with expenses and money
83. Live below your means so you can save money and prevent money stress in your relationships
84. Be humble, not boastful
85. Take a weekend retreat together
86. Attend a relationships course
87. Put your self in other people’s shoes to gain perspective
88. Keep in touch often
89. Value what you have in each relationship and be grateful for it in conversations
90. Highlight and recognize every person’s specialty
91. Avoid assumptions by voicing questions and paraphrasing
92. Value your own time and don’t waste other’s time
93. Use humor and don’t take things too seriously
94. Building relationships takes time so be patient
95. Change things up with variety and by getting out of your comfort zone
96. Have empathy and express it
97. Study and improve your body language
98. Listen to music together
99. Tell the truth (in a kind way) even if it might be hurtful
100. Put the level of effort in, that you want to get out!

100 Ways to Simplify Your Life and Mind

100 Ways to Simplify Your Life and Mind

Simplify Your Actions

1. Start everyday with your most important task, leaving other ones undone
2. Do what you said you will do first
3. Say no when you are already committed and asked to take on more
4. Ask others for help whenever you need it
5. Finish things completely, don’t leave it only to have to come back again and again
6. Pick one thing at a time to do and focus on it
7. Make the most time for your passions and purposeful work
8. Leave spare time for yourself unscheduled and uncommitted
9. Prioritize your todo list
10. Keep one todo list and keep it short (only the most important things should be on it at any time)
11. Take time to be in solitude
12. Take time to pray and meditate
13. Make wasteful actions (like TVwatching or pointless internet surfing) more difficult to do to help avoid them.
14. Find and eliminate other wasteful actions in your life
15. Develop habits and daily routines to practise important actions
16. Read every single day
17. Plan your week and all major tasks for that week
18. Review your accomplishments each week
19. Be grateful for what you have, what you can do, and for everything in your life
20. Turn off your cell phone
21. Turn off all notifications on your computer from IM, email or other popups
22. Eat simple meals and don’t cook things that don’t need to be cooked
23. Eat less, which lets you also prepare less and cleanup less and store less
24. Automate any bills, payments, and money transactions that you can
25. Ignore distractions from media
26. Commute by bicycle or public transit instead of the busy freeway
27. Use commuting time wisely by reading or listening to books
28. Consider a career or job change to reduce stress
29. Find and maintain routines for day to day things

Simplify Your Stuff

30. Get rid of clothes you no longer wear or have worn in 6 months
31. Sell or give away household items you rarely / never use
32. Eliminate 2 things for every one new thing you acquire
33. Lend things out to friends often and don’t ask for it back if you don’t need it
34. Buy less stuff by only buying basic needs
35. Move to a smaller house or living space and get rid of all extra stuff
36. Give away books when you are done with them and let someone else enjoy them
37. Give up some electronic gadgets and do without them
38. Engage in simple hobbies that don’t require a lot of stuff (music, art, perhaps writing?)
39. De-clutter your living space and don’t keep any trinkets or excessive decorations
40. Consider going more green since this requires reducing things that consume power / energy
41. Get rid of your televisions or at least reduce the time you spend watching
42. Get rid of other media distractions in your life
43. Put a sign on your door/mailbox asking not to receive any flyers or unsolicited mail
44. Don’t carry all your credit or debit cards, just a small amount of cash for emergency
45. Downsize your vehicles or sell one
46. Clear out all clutter and extra stuff from your vehicle
47. Spend a weekend and pretend you are going to move, then clean out and get rid of everything you don’t need
48. Have a place for everything and keep it organized in place
49. Label, simplify and organize your file systems (both physical and electronic)
50. Consolidate your email accounts, bank accounts, RSS feeds and others
51. Recycle and reuse as much as possible
52. Give to those who have less than you
53. Volunteer your time for service to others
54. Keep a vegetable garden via online nursery
55. Grow some plants and flowers
56. Enjoy nature’s company

Simplify Your Relationships

57. Be honest with others (it will help avoid complex issues and conflict)
58. Treat everyone with respect, not just your close friends or relationship
59. Treat everyone fairly, don’t complicate things with favoritism
60. Trust others without them having to earn it first
61. Accept people for who they are and don’t expect them to change
62. Compare yourself only to yourself from the past, no one else
63. Learn to say, “No”
64. Ask your friends and family for things they are looking for, and give them any items you can do without that you have
65. Keep all your contacts and address book items in one place
66. Involve your whole family with simplifying your life
67. Tell your friends about what you want to achieve by simplifying
68. Pick some of the actions above and do them with a friend
69. Focus on activities for doing things instead of buying
70. Spend less time with the “negatrons” around you and more time with positive people
71. Apologize quickly for any hurtful actions
72. Spend time in private with a significant other each week
73. Go for walks and have time to just talk with your friends and family (you don’t always need to be doing anything)
74. Make a gift for someone else instead of buying one
75. Write a personal thank you note or letter to a friend
76. Call someone you care for with no reason other than to tell them you were thinking of them and wish them a wonderful day
77. Walk away from all gosip and don’t participate in those conversations
78. Put family meals at home first and don’t let work get in the way
79. Stay completely disconnected from work on weekends and vacations
80. Listen to others and stop talking so much yourself

Simplify your Thoughts

81. Be content with life for health, love and happiness instead of with belongings
82. Keep less goals and plans (focus on just 2 or 3 at a time)
83. Exercise often as this clears the mind and keeps you healthy longer through life
84. Make time to do what you love and to provide relief from stress
85.Make a list of all your simple pleasures in life and pick an item from it to do every day.
86. Evaluate new things by asking “Will this help to simplify my life?”
87. Let go of perfectionism
88. Find what calms you and visualize it to reduce stress
89. Be positive and look for the best in things
90. Be anxious for nothing and live more in the moment
91. Let go of things from the past
92. Face and get over your fears
93. Always look for ways to improve oneself
94. Note and express gratitude
95. Know and stick to your limits for commitments
96. Seek knowledge only to apply it as wisdom
97. Look for and express love to yourself and others
98. Choose to be happy and at peace with yourself
99. All that you express, comes back to you, so think and express what you want for yourself
100. Seek and love God and He will provide, you need not worry about anything else