What’s most important is the type and duration of exercise you perform.<ul><li>Brisk walking for 150 minutes every week and muscle-strengthening activities on 2 days a week that work all major muscle groups</li><li>Running for 75 minutes every week and muscle-strengthening activities on 2 days a week that work all major muscle groups</li></ul>Do both in order to become a more well-rounded, stronger, and healthier individual.

They do these two types of physical activity

Vitamin K found in leafy green vegetables, like spinach or kale, has been linked to decreased cognitive decline.Leafy green vegetables high in vitamin K should be essentials in your diet for greater health. Sneak some extra spinach in by blending it up in your smoothies or sautéing it up and adding it to a tofu scramble or burrito.

They eat this specific food daily.

Fake it till you make it: Simply smiling even if you’re not really feeling it can initiate and perpetuate a good mood and good chemistry naturally.Therefore, you don’t actually have to feel happy in the moment you smile in order to reap the mood boosting benefits that lead to more joy and greater health.The takeaway here is that happiness is key for optimal health, and it’s a feeling that you can perpetuate in simple yet meaningful ways, like reminding yourself to take a breath and smile.

They smile when they aren‘t happy

I would consider myself a generally healthy individual. I exercise regularly, eat well balanced meals with plenty of fruits and vegetables, drink a lot of water, and sleep 7–8 hours each night. Am I…

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

habits

Habits

3 Habits of Incredibly Healthy People

<ul><li>Aspasia of Miletus (~400 BCE) was the most famous woman in Classical Athens. Although a foreigner, she became the mistress of Pericles, the leader of Athens at the beginning of the Peloponnesian War.</li><li>She was not only remembered for her captivating beauty, but also for her captivating mind. Socrates himself called Aspasia his teacher and relates he learned from her how to construct persuasive speeches. After all, he tells us, she wrote them for Pericles.</li></ul>

Aspasia of Miletus

<ul><li>Clea (~100 CE) was a priestess at Delphi — a highly esteemed political and intellectual role in the ancient world. The religious practitioners received frequent requests from world leaders for divine advice about political matters. Clea was part of this political-religious system, but she believed in the primary importance of philosophy.</li><li>She had many in-depth philosophical conversations with Plutarch, the most famous intellectual of his time. He credits her with inspiring his own work.</li></ul>

Clea

<ul><li>When she first appears on the scene in the Acts of Paul and Thecla, Thecla (~1st century CE) is leading a normal middle class life. But leaning out of her balcony, she hears the preaching of Paul and decides on a different path. After following Paul for a while, she is confirmed as a teacher in her own right and begins an illustrious career.</li><li>Although it’s been speculated Thecla never really existed, her legend inspired many women to pursue a life of philosophy.</li></ul>

Thecla

<ul><li>Sosipatra (~4th century CE) lived the dream: she had a successful teaching career along with a content family life. After an education in mysticism she became a respected teacher, interpreting difficult texts and mediating divine knowledge.</li><li>Sosipatra was surrounded by male experts, one of whom was her husband Eustathius. But according to Eunapius’ writings, her fame was greater than any of theirs, and students preferred her inspiring teaching.</li></ul>

Sosipatra

<ul><li>Macrina (~330-379 CE) was the oldest of ten in an expansive, influential well-educated Christian family in Cappadocia.</li><li>She kept the family together through her sharp mind, devout soul and strong will, ultimately transforming her ancestral estate into a successful community of male and female ascetics.</li></ul>

Macrina the Younger

<ul><li>Most famous for her dramatic death at the hands of a Christian mob, Hypatia (~355–415 CE) was a Neoplatonic teacher admired for her mathematical and astronomical works.</li><li>She and one of her successful students, the Christian bishop Synesius, exchanged information not only about philosophy but also about obscure mathematical instruments.</li></ul>

Hypatia of Alexandria

When we think about ancient philosophers we tend to imagine old men as deep thinkers. Women too have helped shape modern thought.

philosophy

Philosophy

6 Ancient Female Philosophers You Should Know About

<ul><li>Although it might not feel like it, seven to eight hours are pretty much mandatory to stay cognitively sharp in the long-run.</li><li>For some people the sleep deprivation may have mentally plateaued. Yet, experiments showed that sleep deprivation caused continuous declines in mental performance, even though subjects felt like they were holding steady.</li></ul>Try this: Go to bed by 10pm every night, including weekends, for the next thirty days.

Go to sleep early

<ul><li>Make a habit of doing some pushups or burpees every day. These will get your heart pumping and blood moving, and they don’t require setting aside a lot of time from your already busy schedule.</li><li>You can add gym or fitness classes on top of this foundational habit, but this basic investment in exercise will keep you sharp when you can’t make it to the gym.</li></ul>Try this: Do at least 10 burpees every day.

Excercise every day

<ul><li>Napping may feel lazy, but there’s research showing it has a range of cognitive benefits. This is particularly true if you’re doing a lot of learning, since the short burst of sleep can help with memory.</li><li>A short nap can turn you back on for work in the afternoon, when you’d normally be exhausted.</li><li>The key is to learn how to take short naps. Wake up immediately with your alarm.</li></ul>Try this: Insert a 20 minute nap after you eat lunch to recuperate your energy for the afternoon.

Twenty-Minute Naps

<ul><li>The benefits here are mostly psychological. If you've gotten some important work done, your mood is more likely good and you'll feel productive.</li><li>The other reason for this approach is that deep work isn’t always sustainable for the full workday. Better to concentrate it into a specific period than randomly insert it across chunks of time.</li></ul>Try this: Make the first four hours of your morning a quiet, deep work zone.

Do your hard work in the morning

<ul><li>Set a very clear intention of how your day will go, particularly in the beginning, the night before. Visualizing your intention and writing it down into your schedule can make it happen more automatically when you wake up.</li></ul>Try this: Before you go to bed, write down your plan for the next day and visualize it.

Set your intention the day before

<ul><li>You need to become the salesperson for your own goals. Not for other people, but for yourself.</li><li>Part of that starts with packaging—how you frame your goals and projects can have a huge effect on your motivation. Is this something you have to do? Or an exciting challenge?</li></ul>Try this: Set aside ten minutes every day to think about what today’s actions are helping you build towards.

Sell yourself on your goals

<ul><li>You don’t need to exclude friends who are going through temporarily rough times, but you should consider who you spend your time with when there are people who consistently create one-sided emotional exchanges as the basis for your relationships. Everyone needs a shoulder to cry on sometimes, but some people will expect you to be their permanent shoulder.</li></ul>Try this: Set a time limit on friends who leave you feeling drained.

Get better friends

<ul><li>The best books aren’t those that teach you facts, but those that subtly change your entire thinking patterns.</li><li>Audio books can be very useful for this, since you can listen to them and re-listen to them on the go every day. A good book for this is one that, when you listen to it, automatically adjusts your thinking onto the things you need to work hard on.</li></ul>Try this: Always have an audio book that motivates you to work on your goals.

Read better books

<ul><li>A lot of energy is wasted because the different parts of our lives, both internal and external, are in conflict with each other</li><li>See how you could resolve them. Sometimes that can be done by making a quick change. Sometimes, it requires a long-term plan to escape the toxic environment, social circle or belief system that holds you back</li></ul>Try this: Sit down for an hour and brainstorm all the things which assist your goals and all the things which hold you back. How could you resolve those tensions?

Align your life

Running out of energy too quickly? Try one (or all) of these tricks to boost it back up and get more out of your day.

The Nine Habits to Increase Your Energy

<ul><li>Rather than saying "I can’t" or "I’m not able to" when you’re declining a request, focus on the positive</li><li>Instead try, “Here’s what I can do for you.” That way, you’ve set a boundary with your client or colleague about what you’re not able or willing to do, but you’ve also indicated that you’re willing to find a workable solution.</li></ul>

"Here‘s what I can do for you"

<ul><li>Instead of just shrugging off an inquiry about a topic you don't know much about, say “I’ll find out for you,”</li><li>This gives the other person an assurance that you care enough to go one step further to get the right answer.</li></ul>

"I‘ll find out"

<ul><li>Assume there is no problem in asking for a favor and drop "I hate to bother you..." from your language. Just ask for what you need and assume that the person will let you know if the request is too much and respectfully decline.</li></ul>

"Can you..."

Instead of saying, “We’re going to address this situation . . . ” try words like solve, fight against, or reduce, which communicate action. Other swaps to consider that are more meaningful and decisive:<ul><li>Instead of “allowed,” try enabled or authorized</li><li>Instead of “meeting” a goal or expectation, try accomplishing or exceeding</li><li>Instead of “reacting to” a situation, try responding or solving</li></ul>

"Let‘s solve this"

<ul><li>For some people, dismissing praise is a knee-jerk response. If they receive a compliment, they water it down by saying, “It was nothing . . .” or “It could be better . . .” Those responses not only make light of your work and ability, but they are dismissive of the person giving the compliment.</li><li>Instead, thank the individual genuinely and add, “I’m glad you like it”</li></ul>

"I‘m glad you like it"

<ul><li>Telling someone to calm down is almost a guarantee that they will do anything but calm down.</li><li>Instead, try validating the individual’s feelings and assuring them you understand. “I can see you are upset, and I want to help” is a good option.</li></ul>

"I want to help"

<ul><li>There’s nothing wrong with saying “you’re welcome” when someone thanks you. But saying something like “I’m happy I was able to help you” is more powerful because it leaves a positive impression with the individual that you went the extra mile to help</li></ul>

"I‘m happy I was able to help"

career

Career

These 7 phrases can help you sound more powerful at work

We actually make a lot of commitments in daily life like:<ul><li>“I’ll let you know about the meeting by Friday.”</li><li>“I’ll be there in 5 minutes.”</li><li>“I’ll call you at 6 pm.”</li></ul>If you notice a pattern where someone fails to follow through with any of their commitments—or regularly changes them—it can reveal someone who isn't reliable, doesn't hold themselves accountable for the things they say, or doesn’t value you all that much.

How they keep their commitments

A common test is how people treat service staff at restaurants, cafes, etc...The bigger picture is however, how people treat those who can do absolutely nothing for them or to them. (Waiters, on the other hand, can definitely do something to you.)Strangers on the street. People selling flowers on the sidewalk. Janitors. People “below” their position at work. How does someone treat those people or talk about them?

How they treat people below them

In "Blink: The power of thinking without thinking", Malcolm Gladwell shared a study where the personality of 80 students was assessed by those students’ closest friends versus complete strangers who only spent 15 minutes visiting their bedrooms. Turns out, the complete strangers were more accurate.I you can visit someone’s home, even better. But anytime you get a ride from someone, it might tell you quite a bit about that person. How you do one thing is how you do everything.

How their car looks

We all make mistakes. But when you address it in a respectful, kind, and fair way, how do they respond?<ul><li>Do they apologize and commit to avoiding it?</li><li>Do they make excuses, get defensive, or go silent?</li><li>Do they blame you, accuse you of making it a big deal, or go back in time and list your transgressions (that they never mentioned before and have been saving just for this occasion)?</li></ul>

How they act when they make a mistake

On the other hand, if you make an honest mistake and apologize, how do they respond?<ul><li>Do they respect you and share how they feel? Do they take it in stride?</li><li>Do they make things personal and say, “You always ____” or “You never _____?”</li><li>Do they belittle you, hold a grudge, or insult your character, intelligence, etc.?</li></ul>

How they act when you make a mistake

Some people don't really have an established sense of self—who they are changes completely depending on who they talk to. And they only put on their “A-Game” when they’re around a person they like, they admire, or they want something from.<ul><li>Do they put on a special show around certain people?</li><li> Do they “kiss up” to people above them while ignoring people below them? </li><li>Do they “friend hop” to climb their way up the social ladder?</li></ul>

How they act with people they want something from

Check how someone acts on social media versus reality. Do they always need to put on a show, humblebrag, or showcase every “amazing” detail of their day—even though their life is ordinary? It can say a lot about how a person thinks, how they feel, and what motivates them.The point of these checks isn’t to judge someone. It's simply to gauge someone's personality—in that moment—and see if it aligns with your values, your goals, and what's important to you.

How their real-life compares to their social media life

Without a doubt, one of the best life skills there are is the ability to gauge a person’s character and personality accurately. It’ll help you find stronger relationships and avoid a lot of pain and…

loveandrelationships

Love & Relationships

7 Little Things That Can Tell You A Lot About Someone

<ul><li>Self-care is essential preventative work for both physical and mental health.</li><li>One of the first steps in taking better care of ourselves is simply committing to doing it. </li><li>The key is starting small — even if it's just setting aside a few minutes each day for yourself.</li></ul>

Commit To Starting Today

<ul><li>A critical part of carving out time for yourself is setting boundaries. Brainstorm where you can cut back on responsibilities and commitments in your daily life, and then act accordingly.</li><li>When it comes to setting boundaries or seeking special accommodations at work, many employers are willing to be more flexible and empathetic than you might expect. </li><li>Approach your employer with specific details of what you want them to do and come to the table with a plan and compromises ready.</li></ul>

Set Boundaries

<ul><li>Gaining an awareness of your emotions is important for establishing a self-care routine.</li><li>Ask yourself if you can routinely identify what you are feeling, and try to learn to identify others' feelings as well</li><li>If you are watching a show or reading something, ask yourself: 'Can I tell how this person is feeling?'</li><li>Therapy is also an option. The most important thing is finding a good therapist you trust and who makes you feel safe. </li></ul>

Get In Tune With Your Emotions

<ul><li>The ability to establish a self-care routine during tough times might involve leaning on your social support network, like your friends or family.</li><li>Reach out to them to see how others are coping. Make a list of things they do that might be helpful to self-soothe in your own life.</li></ul>

Ask For Help

<ul><li>Take a few minutes to do some deep breathing. Be sure to drink enough water throughout the day.</li><li>Check in with yourself by asking the questions: Are you aware of what you're eating and how it impacts your body? Do you have quality relationships with the people in your life? Could you establish a relaxing morning and nighttime routine? Could you cut down on caffeine? What do you like to do for movement?</li><li>Remember that self-care is anything you do to help get you through the day! :)</li></ul>

Go Back To The Basics

Follow these expert self-care tips to improve your relationship with your mind, body and emotions. Overcome barriers and commit to starting today.

How to Overcome the Barriers to Self-Care

Do you ever find yourself wanting to spend more and more time together, while the other seems to be pulling away?Similar problems to the one outlined above are often caused by differences in where each person lies on two scales:1) Avoidance - of intimacy, relationships, and emotional connection 2) Anxiety - relating to the security and stability of a relationship

Differences in Attachment

<ol><li>Secure attachment </li><li>Anxious-preoccupied attachment </li><li>Dismissive-avoidant attachment </li><li>Fearful-avoidant attachment </li></ol>

The Four Attachment Styles

These people are high in their desire for emotional and physical closeness, and are low on their insecurity and anxiety about their relationship.<ul><li>Have a positive view of themselves and others</li><li>Show comfort in being emotionally and physically close</li><li>Value and respect their self-identity and identity of others</li><li>Show comfort in separating temporarily from someone and then reuniting later in the day</li><li>Feel comfortable depending on others and having others depend on them</li><li>Find that love and trust generally come easily to the</li></ul>

Secure Attachment

These people are high in their desire for emotional and physical closeness, but also high in their insecurity and anxiety about their relationship.<ul><li>Negative view of themselves and positive view of others</li><li>Have a strong pull towards emotional and physical closeness</li><li>Often feel that they want to be closer and more intimate with others, and that others often don’t reciprocate this desire with the same intensity</li><li>Can often experience anxiety and even distrust when they spend time apart from their partner</li><li>Worry that they may be too much or need too much from others</li><li>Fear and show sensitivity to abandonment and rejection in a relationship</li><li>Can become overly dependent on partners</li><li>Can have high levels of emotional expression and worry, and often exhibit signs of emotion dysregulation and impulsivity in the relationship</li><li>In arguments, they are more likely to persist and pursue the person they are arguing with</li></ul>

Anxious-Preoccupied Attachment

These people show a strong preference towards independence and low levels of anxiety and insecurity about the security and stability of relationships.<ul><li>Positive view of themselves and negative view of others</li><li>Report a comfort or desire to be without close emotional relationships</li><li>Place strong value on independence and self-sufficiency, often far above emotional closeness</li><li>Avoid strong attachments</li><li>Tend to suppress or hide their feelings</li><li>Can appear distant to others</li><li>Often report that no partner can meet their standards</li><li>In arguments and disagreements, they are more likely to withdraw physically and emotionally</li></ul>(Note, given the assumption that human beings are social creatures and do want and need relationships in their life, it has often been argued that people categorised as dismissive-avoidant may be using this style as a defence)

Dismissive-Avoidant Attachment

These people have a high level of anxiety and insecurity in their relationship, as well as a high level of avoidance in a relationship. <ul><li>Fluctuating view of themselves and others</li><li>Want emotionally close relationships, but at the same time can be uncomfortable getting too close and struggle to truly trust others</li><li>Fear of getting hurt, rejected, abandoned, if get too close</li><li>Often suppress, hide, and deny their feelings and desires</li><li>Show discomfort in expressing affection and their desires for intimacy</li><li>Can often feel confused and can often give off mixed messages</li><li>More likely to express desires and wishes in ineffective and unclear ways</li><li>Can have difficulties with emotion regulation, anger, worry, sadness, and anxiety</li></ul>(Note, their high level of avoidance is often due to a fear of getting hurt, rather than a lack of desire for relationships.)

Fearful-Avoidant Attachment

The first step in self-development is building an awareness and understanding of yourself and others.Use this information with kindness. Show yourself and others more compassion and recognise that attachment behaviours come from early experiences that continue to have strong influences today. You can use this information as a starting point in a conversation. Use it like a road map to navigate your interactions and relationships moving forward. Change can be achieved, but it often takes time and patience.Psychological therapy can also help you on your path of self-development. Through therapy, you can:<ul><li>Develop a stronger understanding of yourself, your reactions, and your behaviours</li><li>Gain a better awareness of maladaptive patterns you may fall into</li><li>Learn more effective ways of communicating and asking for what you need</li><li>Work on improving your general social interactions and relationships</li><li>Learn ways to interact with people who have different attachment styles to you</li><li>Work through old emotional wounds, so that you can learn to trust and open up more to others</li><li>Learn strategies to manage low mood, anxiety, jealousy, and anger</li></ul>

Where do I go from here?

Dr Liza Chervonsky, Clinical Psychologist. Learn about the four attachment styles, where they come from, and how to use this information to better understand yourself, partners, friends, and family.

Attachment styles: A map to understanding yourself and others in relationships

<ul><li>We all make dozens of judgments every day, from deciding whether our clothes match to figuring out whether the dog down the street is a threat.</li><li> Our decision making and assessments are not based on any hard and fast rules. Most of them are instinctive & based on subconscious triggers.</li></ul>

Instinctive Decisions

<ul><li>For the experiment involved Researchers asking participants to identify “Blue” Dots from a series of a thousand Dots, colored blue & purple. Initially, the participants identified the color pretty accurately. </li></ul>However, progressively researchers made sure the frequency of Blue dots reduced dramatically. <ul><li>The participants reacted by wrongly selecting as Blue Dots those that were shades of purple. Their classification of Blue expanded in proportion to the decrease in the Blue Dots on the screen. As the occurrence of blue dots decreased, their definition of blue expanded. Prevalence affected the judgment of the respondents. </li></ul>The researchers termed this phenomenon “prevalence-induced concept change.”

The Blue Dot Experiment

<ul><li>In further experiments, the researchers found the same effect when participants had to identify aggressive faces from a group that ranged from ‘very threatening’ to ‘not very threatening,’ and again when separating unethical research proposals from ethical ones.</li><li>Even when the occurrence of “problems” (threatening faces/unethical proposals) went down, participants began to misread friendly and neutral faces as threatening and ethical proposals as fraudulent.</li></ul>

Perception

<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">Our mind is conditioned to look for threats and issues, regardless of how safe or comfortable our environment is. The better things get, the more we nitpick on even the smallest of issues.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Our emotional reactions are not determined by the size of our problems. Our minds amplify our problems to fit the degree of stress we expect to experience. Success and material progress do not necessarily relax us or make us feel better about our future.</li></ul>

Most of us are leading more comfortable lives than we ever did. Yet, we are constantly griping with a sense of dissatisfaction. We don’t seem satisfied in our present state of relative abundance (compared to our past).We are amplifying the negatives and glossing out the positives, out of past conditioning. Recognize this and ease up. Our life is good and the world is not so bad, after all.

Overcoming the Blue Dot Effect

The Blue Dot effect suggests that our mind is conditioned to look for threats and issues, regardless of how safe or comfortable our life is.

3 Habits of Incredibly Healthy People

6 Ancient Female Philosophers You Should Know About

The Nine Habits to Increase Your Energy

These 7 phrases can help you sound more powerful at work

7 Little Things That Can Tell You A Lot About Someone

Maren Raab