A love catalyst is the part of ourselves that enhance our experience with a type of love and can provoke certain feelings to arise. These feelings can lead to positive emotions like euphoria that can enhance our relationship with a romantic partner, friend or with ourselves. For example, affectionate love is propelled by the mind and self-love is intensified by the soul.

Love Catalyst

The Greeks studied love and signified eight different types giving each a Greek name.#1. Philia – Affectionate LovePhilia or “brotherly love” is love without romantic strings and usually occurs between friends or family. When individuals share the same values and respect for each other they display Philia. <ul><li>Love Catalyst: The Mind </li><li>Our mind decides who we can trust based on feelings of respect and familiarity.</li></ul>How to Show Philia:<ol><li>Engage in deep conversation with a friend.</li><li>Be open and trustworthy.</li><li>Be supportive in hard times.</li></ol>

8 Types Of Love

Pragma is a mature love between a couple that has grown and matured for many years. Commitment and dedication are required to achieve Pragma and it is also known as everlasting love.<ul><li>Love Catalyst: Etheric (Subconscious)</li><li>The love catalyst for Pragma is the subconscious. We are driven towards each other unknowingly, but there is a sense of purpose in our unity.</li></ul>How to Show Pragma: <ol><li>Strengthen long-term relationships.</li><li>Seek and show effort with our partner.</li><li>Choose to work with our partner forever.</li></ol>

#2. Pragma – Enduring Love

Storge is a natural love common between close friends and between parents and children as well. This love is built on deep emotional connection and acceptance of each other. This love comes easily and immediately in parent and child relationships.<ul><li>Love Catalyst: Causal (Memories)</li><li>The love catalyst for Storge is memories. As we create more memories the value and emotional attachment to the relationship increases.</li></ul>How to Show Storge:<ol><li>Sacrifice our time, self, or personal pleasures.</li><li>Quickly forgive harmful actions.</li><li>Share memorable and impactful moments.</li></ol>

#3. Storge – Familiar Love

Eros is a passionate love that is displayed through physical affection. This love is a desire for another person’s body and touch. Common displays are through kissing, holding hands and hugging.<ul><li>Love Catalyst: Physical Body (Hormones)</li><li>Physical touch lights a fire in us and romantic actions create more admiration for our partner.</li></ul>How to Show Eros: <ol><li>Admiring someone’s physical body.</li><li>Physical touch, such as hugging and kissing.</li><li>Romantic affection.</li></ol>

#4. Eros – Romantic Love

Ludus is known as the “honeymoon stage” of relationships and consists of child-like play and teasing the one we are interested in. Although common in young couples, older couples who strive for this love find a more rewarding relationship.<ul><li>Love Catalyst: Astral (Emotion)</li><li>Emotions inspire us to feel giddy and excited with our newer or newly interesting partner.</li></ul>How to Show Ludus: <ol><li>Flirt and engage in whimsical conversation.</li><li>Spend time together; laugh and have fun.</li><li>Engage in child-like behavior together.</li></ol>

#5. Ludus – Playful Love

Mania is an obsessive love with our partner and can lead to possessiveness and jealousy. Most cases of obsessiveness can lead to an imbalance in the relationship however a healthy dose of playfulness and romantic love can even out the relationship.<ul><li>Love Catalyst: Survival instinct</li><li>Codependency can lead to a person feel desperate for their partner in order to find self-value. This lack of self-confidence can make a partner feel like they need the other to survive.</li></ul>How to Avoid Mania: <ol><li>Recognize obsessive behaviour and avoid acting on it.</li><li>Focus on ourselves more.</li><li>Put trust in our relationships.</li></ol>

#6. Mania – Obsessive Love

Philautia is the practice of self-love and self-value. It also means we recognize our personal needs and are responsible for our well-being.<ul><li>Love Catalyst: Soul</li><li>Our soul lets us understand our needs whether they are physical, emotional or mental.</li></ul>How to Show Philautia: <ol><li>Create an environment that nurtures our well-being.</li><li>Take care of ourselves as a parent would care for a child.</li><li>Spend time around people who support us.</li></ol>

#7. Philautia – Self Love

Agape is the highest level of love a person can offer. Offering Agape is loving throughout any and all circumstances. Agape is not a physical act, it’s a feeling, but acts of self-love can elicit Agape since self-monitoring leads to results.<ul><li>Love Catalyst: Spirit</li><li>Our spirit motivates us to be kind and shows others kindness before ourselves.</li></ul>How to Show Agape: <ol><li>Improve the lives of others.</li><li>Be conscious of our actions.</li><li>Offer our time and charity to people in need.</li></ol>

#8. Agape – Selfless Love

Utilizing a combination of different love types can create something beautiful. While there isn’t a perfect equation for every relationship, be conscious of the different love catalysts to help us feel the different kinds of love. 

Recognize the 8 types of love according to the ancient Greeks

Understand yourself and those around you.

psychology

Psychology

philosophy

Philosophy

problemsolving

Problem Solving

communication

Communication

loveandrelationships

Love & Relationships

Recognizing 8 Types Of Love According To The Ancient Greeks

We use the term “Habits of Mind” to mean having a disposition toward behaving intelligently when confronted with problems to which we do not immediately know the answers.These Habits of Mind may serve as mental disciplines. When confronted with problematic situations, students, parents, and teachers might habitually employ one or more of these Habits of Mind by asking themselves, “What is the most intelligent thing I can do right now?”<ul><li>How can I learn from this? </li><li>What are my resources? </li><li>How can I approach this problem flexibly? </li><li>How can I draw upon my repertoire of problem-solving strategies? </li></ul>

Habits Of Mind

The 16 Habits of Mind identified by Costa and Kallick include:<ul><li>Persisting</li><li>Thinking and communicating with clarity and precision</li><li>Managing impulsivity</li><li>Gathering data through all senses</li><li>Listening with understanding and empathy</li><li>Creating, imagining, innovating</li><li>Thinking flexibly</li><li>Responding with wonderment and awe</li><li>Thinking about thinking (metacognition)</li><li>Taking responsible risks</li><li>Striving for accuracy</li><li>Finding humor</li><li>Questioning and posing problems</li><li>Thinking interdependently</li><li>Applying past knowledge to new situations</li><li>Remaining open to continuous learning</li></ul>

The 16 Habits of Mind

The Water Foundation has identified 13 Habits of a Systems Thinker.<ul><li>Seeks to understand the “big picture”</li><li>Observes how elements within systems change over time, generating patterns and trends</li><li>Recognizes that a system’s structure generates its behavior: focuses on structure, not on blame</li><li>Identifies the circular nature of complex cause and effect relationships, i.e. interdependencies</li><li>Changes perspectives</li><li>Surfaces and tests assumptions</li><li>Considers an issue fully and resists the urge to come to a quick conclusion</li></ul>

13 HABITS OF A SYSTEMS THINKER

<ul><li>Considers how mental models (i.e., attitudes and beliefs derived from experience) affect current reality and the future</li><li>Uses understanding of system structures to identify possible leverage actions</li><li>Considers both short- and long-term consequences of actions</li><li>Finds where unintended consequences emerge</li><li>Recognizes the impact of time delays when exploring cause and effect relationships</li><li>Checks results and changes actions if needed:, “successive approximation”</li></ul>

The “habits of mind” – the routines of the affective system – enable us to associate those emotions (and feelings that follow them) with the corresponding experiences.

A quick tour of Costa and Kallick’s 16 Habits of Mind, along with suggestions for implementing them as classroom best practices.

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Productivity

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Career

Integrating the 16 Habits of Mind

Food is very important for us as they are the primary source of energy, however, we cannot just eat anything and at anytime.<ul><li>The right kind of food will help us to get good health and that's why we should know when and which are the right combinations of foods are good.</li></ul>There are several food combinations that are quite common and have been followed, however, they are actually harmful.

Bad Food Combinations

<ul><li>Lemon and Milk. Milk is really hard to digest. We all know when lemon is mixed with milk it coagulates. Thus eating lemon with milk will cause curdling of milk in our stomach and upset it. Causing acidity and heartburn.</li><li>Water and Melon. All melons should be left alone, goes the old saying. Since melons are 90-95% water, drinking water after having them may dilute the digestive juices in the body.</li><li>Yogurt and Fruit. The acid from the fruit combined with the protein of yoghurt makes the entire dish toxic. It can even lead to food allergies. This is even harmful to our digestive system. </li></ul>

#1. List Of Bad Food Combinations

<ul><li>Cereal and Juice. Milk contains casein and juice contains acid, combining them together will curdle the dairy and destroy the enzyme of the juice. So always try to have juice at least one hour before or after having cereal.</li><li>Wine and Pudding. Alcohol messes up blood sugar levels and increases insulin production, so then the high amount of sugar in your dessert will be stored as fat and lead to unhealthy weight gain.</li><li>Banana and Milk. Milk and banana cause heaviness to the stomach and it creates toxicity. This combination will make our mind weak and body lethargic.</li></ul>

#2. List Of Bad Food Combinations

<ul><li>Acidic Fruits with Sweet Fruits. Mixing acidic fruits like strawberries and grapefruits or sub-acidic fruits like peaches and apples with sweet fruits like bananas can hamper our digestion. Eating them together is found to have caused headaches, nausea and acidosis.</li><li>Eggs and Bacon. The high protein content in the egg and the fat in the bacon is something that gives an instant energy boost as soon as we eat it and this energy will vanish very soon, leaving us lethargic.</li><li>Guava and Banana. Eating this combination will increase our risk of acidosis, nausea, gas buildup and persistent headaches.</li></ul>

#3. List Of Bad Food Combinations

<ul><li>Cheese and Beans. The food combo of beans and cheese can leave us feeling gassy and bloated. It is best to keep beans and dairy separate for easier digestion.</li><li>Orange with Carrot. Mixing carrots and oranges can be very dangerous. This mix has been known to cause heartburn and kidney damage.</li><li>Apple Juice and Allergy Medicines. The nectar from apples affects the absorption of the allergy medicine in the bloodstream. This causes the medicine to becomes up to 70% less effective.</li><li>Papaya and Lemon. Papaya and lemon is a deadly combination that can cause anemia and hemoglobin imbalance</li></ul>

#4. List Of Bad Food Combinations

Bad food combinations can cause serious digestive problems. They can form acidity and upset the stomach. Some of the harmful food combinations can cause constipation or even loose motion.

food

Food

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

health

Health

habits

Habits

13 Food Combinations Most People Don’t Know Are Dangerous

“Doing nothing is very hard to do. You never know when you’re finished.”

“Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much. ”

“My pessimism extends to the point of even suspecting the sincerity of other pessimists.”

“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”

“A pessimist is a person who has had to listen to too many optimists.”

“People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.”

“Education is learning what you didn’t even know you didn’t know.”

“People can’t drive you crazy if you don’t give them the keys.”

“People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.”

“I didn’t fail the test. I just found 100 ways to do it wrong.”

“I always arrive late at the office, but I make up for it by leaving early.”

“Always borrow money from a pessimist. He won’t expect it back.”

“I’m sick of following my dreams, man. I’m just going to ask where they’re going and hook up with ’em later.”

“Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.”

“It is not enough to succeed. Others must fail.”

“A bank is a place that will lend you money if you can prove that you don’t need it.”

“Before you marry a person, you should at least make them use a computer with a slow internet connection to find out who they really are.”

“Have you ever noticed that anybody driving faster than you is a maniac, and anyone going slower than you is a moron?”

“If you can’t be kind, at least be vague.”

“Confidence is 10% work and 90% delusion.”

“If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.”

“Breaking up is like knocking over a Coke machine. You can’t do it in one push; you got to rock it back and forth a few times, and then it goes over.”

Whether it’s a play on words, a funny observation about everyday things or old witty sayings, comedy has a way of making us realize we’re all going through the same stuff in this crazy life.

Need a good laugh? Check out 300 funny quotes to make you laugh out loud and improve your day with a few chuckles along the way.

300 Funny Quotes to Make You Laugh | Keep Inspiring Me

What is an ambivert? An ambivert is someone who exhibits qualities of both introversion and extroversion, and can flip into either depending on their mood, context, and goals. Ambiverts have also been called:<ul><li>Outgoing introverts: An introvert who can be outgoing in certain situations, around certain people, or when they absolutely need to.</li><li>Antisocial extroverts: An extrovert who needs time to recharge before socializing, or who likes to be alone more than a typical extrovert.</li><li>Social introverts: An introvert who can dial up into extroversion when needed.</li></ul>

Ambivert

Ambiverts are flexible in how they react to people.<ol><li>In the right context, in the right mood, around the right people, ambiverts can flip up into extroversion.</li><li>In difficult contexts, when tired or cranky, or around toxic people, ambiverts can flip down into introversion.</li></ol>We can also self-select our tendency toward extroversion.<ul><li>I am drawn to people; I get energy from social gatherings, and am fairly outgoing. (Extrovert)</li><li>It’s draining to be around lots of people. I prefer peace, solitude, and quiet time. I usually crave alone time in my free time. (Introvert)</li><li>It depends. (Ambivert)</li></ul>

Extroversion and Introversion

With all that flexibility comes some liabilities. Since ambiverts can be so flexible, they often run into a few problems:<ul><li>They love to talk to people, but want to plan it out first.</li><li>They say yes to too many things because they aren’t sure what will work best for them.</li><li>Their extroverted side says yes to things in the future, but then their introverted side had a hard day and no longer wants to go.</li><li>When they’re in a bad mood…nothing sounds fun.</li><li>They like going out only when they are in the right mood, with the right people.</li></ul>

Ambivert Problems

Simply, the difference between the two is that the Ambivert is more of a Protector, focusing on responsibility, organisation and balance, and the Omnivert is more of an Adventurer, focusing on a balance between time alone and time going out on new adventures.<ul><li>Ambiverts are INFJs, INTJs, ISTJs and ISFJs</li><li>Omniverts are ESFPs, ESTPs, ENTPs and ENFPs</li></ul>

Ambivert Vs. Omnivert

Ambiverts<ul><li>Balance in the middle of the extrovert/introvert spectrum.</li><li>Lean into each moment, adapting and adjusting to what the situation calls for.</li><li>Demonstrate emotional stability and level-headedness.</li><li>Think, act, behave, and communicate in a consistent way.</li></ul>Omniverts<ul><li>Make hard shifts between being an extrovert and introvert.</li><li>React as extroverted or introverted based on what they feel others need from them.</li><li>Can act like two different people, depending on what situation they’re in.</li><li>Show no consistency, making others unsure of which side they’ll get.</li></ul>

Key Differences Between an Ambivert Vs. Omnivert At Work

Omnivert and ambivert are two personality traits that fall within the introvert-extravert spectrum. Ambiverts are individuals who lie in the middle or close to the introvert-extrovert qualities. Omniverts are introverts or extraverts.

Omnivert and ambivert? What are the similarities and differences

A RACI matrix, also called a RACI chart, is a type of responsibility assignment matrix (RAM) in project management. In practice, it’s a simple spreadsheet or table that lists all stakeholders on a project and their level involvement in each task, denoted with the letters R, A, C or I. Once these roles are defined, assignments can be attributed to the roles and work can begin.

RACI Matrix: Project Management Tool

The RACI matrix roles highlight the level at which a stakeholder or team member is involved with a particular task.<ol><li>Responsible: A manager or team member who is directly responsible for successfully completing a project task.</li><li>Accountable: The person with final authority over the successful completion of the specific task or deliverable.</li><li>Consulted: Someone with unique insights the team will consult.</li><li>Informed: A client or executive who isn’t directly involved, but you should keep up to speed.</li></ol>

What are the RACI Roles?

Pros:<ol><li>Maintain clear and open communication with all stakeholders.</li><li>Avoid overwhelming team members with tasks or unnecessary information.</li><li>Avoid “too many cooks” offering input on any task.</li><li>Help stakeholders prepare for a project’s future impact on their work.</li></ol>Cons:<ol><li>You might spend time unnecessarily creating the chart for simple projects.</li><li>Roles are rigid and might not fully illustrate a team member’s stake in a project.</li></ol>

Pros And Cons Of RACI

Use the RACI matrix for:<ul><li>Large-scale projects with clear-cut deliverables or workgroups</li><li>Organizations that have static roles and responsibilities</li><li>Projects with a wide variety of stakeholders for different aspects</li><li>Projects spanning multiple departments</li><li>Projects in highly regulated industries</li></ul>Don’t use the RACI matrix for:<ul><li>Small, single-department projects — it’s likely not necessary</li><li>Teams working with an Agile framework like Scrum</li></ul>

When To Use And Avoid

Projects require many people's involvement, but how do we avoid a situation where people are struggling against one another to do a task.

RACI defines each team member's role to manage cost and project duration. Learn how to incorporate RACI into your project now.

teamwork

Teamwork

RACI Matrix | Understanding Responsibility Assignment Matrix

Our chronotype determines whether we’re early birds or night owls. Our chronotype is how our body reacts to the time of day. There are typically three chronotypes: morning, day, and night.<ul><li>Morning people are the early birds. They are awake, operate at peak efficiency in the morning, but usually can’t stay up for the late news.</li><li>Day people sleep a little later and are most effective in the afternoon.</li><li>Night owls sleep as late as possible and are up well past nightfall, into the wee hours of the morning.</li></ul>

Night Owls vs. Early Birds

Pros: <ol><li>More productive, especially at night.</li><li>Overall, night owls tend to be wealthier. </li><li>Intelligence: A study by the LSE found that night owls were more intelligent than early risers, scoring higher on IQ tests.</li><li>More creative than early birds. </li></ol>Cons: <ol><li>Sleep deprivation</li><li>Health issues: More prone to health issues, such as diabetes, neurological and psychological disorders, and obesity.</li><li>Depression: On average, night owls are more prone to depression than early risers, along with other mood disorders, due to social jetlag.</li></ol>

Pros And Cons Of Being A Night Owls

Pros:<ol><li>Intelligence</li><li>Positive personality</li><li>Healthier</li><li>Life balance</li></ol>Cons:<ol><li>Energy crash: Whereas night owls get a second burst of energy in the later hours of the day, early birds tend to lose productivity and energy as the day goes on without getting a natural energy boost to keep them going. </li><li>Tend to have higher levels of stress hormones, which can result in health issues like migraines, anxiety, and depression.</li><li>Less socialization: Because early birds are wired to begin feeling tired earlier during the night, they may have a more difficult time in their social sphere. </li></ol>

Pros and Cons of Being an Early Bird

At the end of the day, it matters most that we get the right amount of sleep to maintain good health. Below is the tips on how to change our sleep pattern:<ol><li>Gradually change our bedtime</li><li>Let lighting help we realign our body’s clock</li><li>Develop a soothing night time routine</li><li>Track the positive impacts</li><li>Reward ourselves for reaching incremental targets</li><li>Keep an eye on our larger, more aspirational goals</li><li>Don’t let eating habits undermine our progress</li><li>Incorporate exercise into our day</li><li>Give it time</li><li>Enlist the experts</li></ol>

Become A Morning Person

There are two kinds of people in this world: people who delight in hearing birdsong first thing in the morning, and people who groan, and wish birds had a mute button.

Early Birds vs. Night Owls

Toxic productivity is the outsized desire for productivity at all times and at the expense of our other priorities, from family life to hobbies.If we’re constantly working while rarely engaging in hobbies, which allow us the opportunity to destress, we can see how easily it is to eventually stop doing everything all together.<ul><li>Toxic productivity inevitably also leads us to feeling burnt out. By working ourselves to the point of exhaustion we eventually lose our will to do simple everyday things like texting someone back or cooking a meal. </li></ul>

Toxic Productivity

<ol><li>Inability to turn off: We feel unable to shut off work-related tasks to rest, enjoy hobbies, or spend time with friends and family.</li><li>Guilt about productivity: We feel guilty about not getting enough work done, even when we are completing a reasonable amount of work-related tasks. </li><li>Problems with health or personal relationships: We begin to experience issues with our health or personal relationships due to the above issues. Significant others may feel they are getting less of our time or attention than work. </li></ol>

Sign If We're Suffering From Toxic Productivity

<ol><li>Set realistic goals, adjust as needed</li><li>REST is not for the week, take breaks</li><li>Get some accountability</li><li>Define clearer work-life boundaries</li><li>Meditate to clear our head</li></ol>

How To Heal Toxic Productivity

“I almost ended up working and doing more than in my usual office days, because I felt so anxious about losing that sense of stability. I became really frantic and obsessive,” ~ Clare

Toxic productivity causes dedicated individuals to bite off more than they can chew in order to climb a career ladder that doesn't exist.

mentalhealth

Mental Health

How Much Is Too Much: The Dangers of Toxic Productivity

Intuitive eating is a non-diet approach to health and wellness that helps us tune into our body signals, break the cycle of chronic dieting and heal our relationship with food.<ul><li>Intuitive eaters give themselves unconditional permission to eat whatever they want without feeling guilty.</li></ul>Intuitive Eating is made up of ten core principles:<ol><li>Reject the diet mentality</li><li>Honor our hunger</li><li>Make peace with food</li><li>Challenge the food police</li><li>Respect our fullness</li><li>Discover the satisfaction factor</li><li>Honor our feelings without using food</li><li>Respect our body</li><li>Exercise—feel the difference</li><li>Honor our health with gentle nutrition</li></ol>

Intuitive Eating: Difference And The 10 Principles

<ul><li>Diet mentality is a false belief that diets for weight loss create health and happiness. </li><li>Diet mentality is the mean voice we hear over and over which categorizes food into good and bad or healthy and unhealthy. </li></ul>It is the voice that tells us ridiculous rules such as “no eating after 7pm”, “no carbs after lunch”, or “no dessert because we didn’t exercise”. Many people think this voice means they should have more control. Rather, this voice acts like a bully that keeps us from living our fullest life.

Diet Mentality

<ul><li>Step 1: Recognize and Acknowledge the Damage that Dieting Causes</li><li>Step 2: Be Aware of Diet Mentality Traits and Thinking</li><li>Step 3: Get Rid of the Dieter’s Tools</li><li>Step 4: Be Compassionate Towards Ourselves</li></ul>Biologically and psychologically, diets are set up to fail. But unlike diets, Intuitive Eating empowers us to become our own expert on what, how much and when to eat.So be kind and compassionate towards ourselves and others as we start to reject the diet mentality.

Start Practicing Reject The Diet Mentality

Are you ready to ditch diets forever? Discover all you need to know about 
the first principle of intuitive eating - rejecting diet mentality! Take 
control of your food life with guidance from dietitian nutritionist 
Kathleen Johnson!

Intuitive Eating Principle 1 - Rejecting Diet Mentality — Halve Your Cake

Anxiety 5, 4, 3, 2,1 is a mindfulness exercise used to cope with, lessen, and manage anxiety. This grounding technique can help increase awareness and decrease intrusive thoughts in moments of heightened anxiety, worry, or panic attacks.<ul><li>Deep, slow, and long breaths are our first priority for achieving a calm state before proceeding to the following steps.</li></ul>

A Grounding Technique For Anxiety

5: Acknowledge FIVE things we see around us. It could be a pen, a spot on the ceiling, anything in our surroundings.4: Acknowledge FOUR things we can touch around us. It could be our hair, a pillow, or the ground under our feet. 3: Acknowledge THREE things we hear. <ul><li>This could be any external sound. If we can hear our belly rumbling that counts! Focus on things we can hear outside of our body.</li></ul>2: Acknowledge TWO things we can smell: <ul><li>If at first we don’t feel like we can smell anything, simply try to sense the subtle fragrance of the air around us, or of our own skin.</li></ul>

The Method

1: Acknowledge ONE thing we can taste. What does the inside of our mouth taste like—gum, coffee, or the sandwich from lunch?<ul><li>End this exercise with a long, deep breath.</li></ul>With these steps, we will be able to get the most out of the moment. Focusing on our senses will help us be more mindful, which will then help us accomplish our tasks and experience success.<ul><li>As a result, we can defeat our anxiety and feel in control of our life.</li></ul>

Lastly... 

The BHP blog has been created in an effort to share articles and information on improving your mental health and emotional well-being.

Recognizing 8 Types Of Love According To The Ancient Greeks

Integrating the 16 Habits of Mind

13 Food Combinations Most People Don’t Know Are Dangerous

300 Funny Quotes to Make You Laugh | Keep Inspiring Me

Omnivert and ambivert? What are the similarities and differences

Nico D'Angelo