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♞ Mindset ♞

♞ Mindset ♞
The 5 Best Self-Help Books Of All Time
- January 16, 2019
- 0 comments
- by Millennial Manifestor
There is a reason why Bill Gates reads a book each week – and that CEO’s on average read 50-60 books a year – and it’s because they yearn for the constant acquisition of knowledge. They know that it’s the best way to keep them growing, thriving, and ahead of others who aren’t spending as much time between the pages as they are.

If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll know that I post the books I’m reading on Instagram stories; and while some of them will retire on my bookshelf, there are others so impactful that I rant and rave about them for years to come. The greatest seller of books is word of mouth, and unsurprisingly, every single one of these 5 books was recommended to me – just as I’m now recommending them to you.

This book literally changed my life and was singlehandedly the reason that I left my corporate career. The concepts in it are simple and will awaken you to a new way of thinking: the way of society’s “Rich Dads”.

If like most people, you have grown up working-to-middle class, then you will have likely been brought up to think as a “Poor Dad”. This does not mean that you’re poor financially, but these are the labels that Kiyosaki uses to categorise patterns of thinking.

If you want to think about work and money in a new way while distinguishing your assets from your liabilities, then give this book a try and see if he can illuminate you to a more abundant way of thinking which will boost your bank balance as a result.

If it’s recommended by Oprah then it’s bound to be good, right?! Well, I can vouch for the fact that this book is indeed a masterpiece by the founder of WebMD.com, Michael A. Singer. After taking Oprah’s recommendation, I have now passed my own copy onto my best friend to read. His aim here is for the reader to separate their higher soul self from their busy mind so that we can live a more fulfilling life and follow our own internal guidance without inhibitions.

I love this book because it has the power to awaken people to the existence of their own soul, even if they’re not yet a spiritual person and have spent their life focused on the physical plane. Michael Singer has managed to create a timeless guide to the soul that I found to be well-written and satisfyingly executed.

This book is a classic and, with 30 million copies sold, it has already awakened millions to their own power of creation. The Secret has popularised the Law of Attraction and this short book includes anecdotes and pearls of wisdom from the many teachers, speakers and authors that it features.

It’s a very simple and fast read, which means that the core message stays clear throughout and it is able to touch a wide and varied audience. This book is a bookshelf staple for anyone hoping to take control of their life by first taking control of their thoughts.

Published in 1936, the key messages in this book are still as relevant today as they were then. Throughout How To Win Friends & Influence People, Carnegie is communicating an appreciation for simple courtesies and the hidden power that they contain for getting things done how you would like.

Covering topics such as making people like you and delivering bad feedback without harming future relationships, Carnegie teaches the fundamentals of personal relationships destined to prosper. The only downside of this book is a few sexist references symptomatic of the era it was written in. Aside from these, it proves that while societal norms change – our emotional needs as a social species do not.

This really is a book that found me, rather than me finding it. As I sat in a meditation class, at my local Buddhism centre, the teacher recommended this book and I immediately added it to my Amazon Wishlist like the good student that I am. When I next visited my parent’s house, I sifted through my old books and found this very one untouched with different cover art. To continue the serendipity, I found a love note lodged between the pages which was written and hidden by my now-fiancé when we’d just started dating!

Feeling fully inspired, I read this book and understood why it found me. It’s an in-depth dive into spirituality and the soul, and while it describes some specific Buddhist beliefs that I don’t identify with, Gyatso translates the beauty of our soul and our purpose on this planet with such raw passion and grace. If you already identify as a lightworker and are keen to cultivate peace in a troubled world, then you could undoubtedly find helpful wisdom in this book.

“Reading is essential for those who seek to rise above the ordinary…” – Jim Rohn

I really hope that you enjoy these recommendations and would love to know if they helped you in any way… and if you have any book recommendations for me!

I always have a high “to-read” pile next to my bed, so please reach me in the comments or on Instagram with your own favourite must reads.

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♞ Mindset ♞
8 Ways To Stay Well In Winter
- January 9, 2019
- 0 comments
- by Millennial Manifestor
Unless you are lucky enough to live under the California sunshine, it is likely that you’ve felt the winter blues at some point…

Even though we all know that true happiness comes from within, some of us are more sensitive to changes in our environment than others. A grey sky, dark mornings and freezing air can inspire feelings of Autumnal bliss, but then later that day leave us feeling miserable and lacklustre.

As a longtime sufferer of SAD I know this all too well. After churning through many dark seasons from my bed feeling no reason or desire to get up and face the world, I eventually made the link between lack of sunlight and my lack of motivation. It can mean more than just being a “sun-worshipper” and is a serious detriment to mental and emotional wellbeing for many – particularly if you are commuting to & from work in darkness only to arrive at a windowless office.

Born out of necessity, over the years I have discovered ways to make the transition from sunshine to snow with minimal impact to my mental and emotional health. For anyone else who can relate, here are my top tips for guarding yourself against seasonal changes in mood:

Accustomed to long stints of darkness and rain, the Danish know a thing or two about maximising their winters. When I read The Little Book Of Hygge by Meik Wiking, it completely shifted my perspective. Hygge is a feeling of cosiness and wellness which can be achieved whatever the weather if you have the right tools. Your hygge kit should include: snuggly socks, cosy blankets, hot chocolate, a good book by a roaring fire.

As you all know, I rave about my 5AM starts (seen here) but waking up to a black 0°C morning doesn’t make it easy on anyone! Luckily, there are now alarm clocks which will wake you up gradually by getting lighter and brighter so that you wake up feeling a little more refreshed and a little less startled… It is relatively inexpensive to benefit from light therapy at home by finding your own “wake up light alarm clock” online.

SAD may be due to Vitamin D fluctuations in our brain restricting Serotonin production. Light therapy will help with this, but taking widely available Vitamin D tablets will also fill up our reserves to help buffer against seasonal mood swings.

Much harder to do in the Winter, right? Especially when it comes to outdoor activities! But maintaining a regular routine with exercise you enjoy will keep your body well and the Winter blues at bay. If you can’t bring yourself to step outside in your running shoes, then during the cold months you can switch to indoor classes, hit the gym, or even do YouTube videos at home. You will feel so much better afterwards, I promise!

Sometimes the best remedies are found in Mother Nature, and this is certainly true of St Johns Wort. Like Vitamin D, this herbal remedy can help with depressive symptoms by boosting the production of neurotransmitters such as Serotonin and Norepinephrine. St Johns Wort works best when combined with light therapy, and is a cost-effective method relative to its results.

Every day. No excuse.

Not only do candles provide the Hygge factor and bring much needed light into your home, but they look beautiful and give it an inviting sense of cosiness during the darkest months. Soy candles are best for the environment and my favourite ones have crystals in too for an added positivity boost ↠ Crystabelles Soy Wax Candles 🕯️

It can be so tempting to bear off and hibernate in the winter, but staying consistent with your exercise, diet, social life, sleep pattern and spiritual practice (note: gratitude!) will optimise your body and mind for coping well through the winter. If you’ve found what works for your wellbeing and productivity most of the time, then don’t stop! Stay consistent with what works well for your wellbeing and resist the temptation to call off your favourite pastimes due to the weather.

☽ ☆ ☾

And remember… there will be a new dawn when Spring comes and the sunlight will always return, but until then – you have everything that you need to get through it.

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♞ Mindset ♞
3 Main Benefits of Daily Gratitude
- December 12, 2018
- 0 comments
- by Millennial Manifestor
Gratitude is an underrated hack for happiness.

If I could retrace my steps back to when my life changed for the better, I am sure it would be the day I chose to be actively grateful every single day.

Choosing gratitude is also a decision to improve your life. But like anything worthwhile, finding things to be grateful for is a skill that must be honed until a grateful mindset starts to feel natural and automatic. A mind full of gratitude given time will lead to a heart full of gratitude – and when you have a heart full of gratitude, then the world as you know it will become a whole lot brighter…

Benefit #1 ⋆The Little Things Become Great Things

When appreciation grows, abundance flows.

Appreciation creates abundance in all areas of our life, because gratitude is a sister energy of love. Love is the life force of all creation, so by giving gratitude for something you are breathing life into it and willing it to multiply in your life.

Through the unforgiving lens of our mind, many of the occurrences in our life can seem thankless and irrelevant, or worse, inconvenient and unwelcome. But by forcing yourself to be grateful for all of them – regardless of their consequences – you are acknowledging the higher truth that everything happens for your highest benefit.

Whatever the situation, we can always be thankful in advance, even when the lessons we have been assigned to learn through the school of hard knocks haven’t been illuminated to us yet.

Benefit #2 ⋆ Feeling More Resilient

A Harvard researcher had an amazing discovery. When a study group practised gratitude for 21 days as part of a psychology experiment, the benefits of a more positive mindset remained visible for the next 6 months! When our gratitude muscle is well-trained and strong, we can adequately defend ourselves against bouts of negativity and challenging life events.

After practising daily gratitude for a while, you will begin to realise that the things which once impacted your mood now don’t hurt you as much. A positive mindset is a remedy for most things, and with the sense of wellbeing that a grateful mind brings, you can sail the stormy seas of your emotions and keep yourself dry during life’s downpours using the umbrella of your positive mind. ☂️

Benefit #3 ⋆ Social Contagion Effect

By filling yourself up with gratitude, your own issues will become less concerning to you so you can redistribute that emotional energy as compassion for others.

Your energy is infectious, and due to our empathetic nature as social creatures we are all susceptible to a social contagion effect. Stanford University (1998) defines social contagion as “the spread of affect or behaviour from one crowd participant to another; one person serves as the stimulus for the imitative actions of another.”

Your behaviour signals to others what is acceptable behaviour from them. This means that we all carry huge influence through our behaviour due to this social contagion effect. If it is true that there are 6 degrees of separation between us and every other person on the planet, then all of our actions are loaded with the potential for huge impact. Daily gratitude not only changes your life for the better, but by emotional osmosis you will infect the people around you with a sunnier outlook too.

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♞ Mindset ♞
Keep The Faith… Even When It’s All You Have
- November 21, 2018
- 0 comments
- by Millennial Manifestor
Faith is the reason why our dreams come true.

Without faith, our manifestations can only ever be ideas that are one day forgotten.

Faith gives us the strength to take all of the action steps required and see them through to completion. Faith tells us to keep going, even when everyone else is telling us to stop. Eventually, these outside calls for us to change path can bleed into our subconscious until we start to tell ourselves that we need to stop too – but faith is our faithful guardian which shields our ears from all of the negative noise.

One of my favourite quotes is from the book Conversations With God: “If you have but the faith of a mustard seed then you can move mountains.”

When we lose our faith, we don’t move mountains; we don’t move anything at all in fact, because it is always too easy to give up. When we give up hope, we lose inspired action too and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Once we sacrifice faith and tell ourselves “it’s never going to happen”, we begin to lose momentum. Then, without the passionate fire of faith to fuel our ambition – it never does happen!

I am always amazed by marathon runners. I tried to run a 5K for charity once, and even though I run 3K twice a week anyway, the experience made me want to pass out as I crossed the finish line. Overcoming physical and mental obstacles doesn’t happen by accident or because any one person is better than another. The difference is the grit and resilience that they can muster up from the faith they have in a guaranteed outcome. If it is guaranteed in your mind, then it can be guaranteed in reality.

Burn the acronym KTF into your mind. “Keep the faith; Keep the faith; Keep the faith.” No matter what is going on outside of you, Keep The Faith. If it is what you truly desire in your heart and it is for your highest good, then it will happen – so keep the faith and don’t give up.

Next time you feel like you want to give up or you are crumbling under the pressure of the outside world, ask yourself which you will choose: Faith or Failure?

It is the most important decision you will ever make.

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