Problem Solving

New Habits, New Years Resolutions, and a New Way of Looking at Both

December 4, 2021 by Joi Leave a Comment

“Good habits are worth being fanatical about.” ~ John Irving

I recently went down the rabbit hole-searching everything I could get my eyes on about new habits. Not to be confused with breaking old habits.. presumably bad since one wants to break their legs! That’s a whole other subject. I wanted to research the daylights out of new habits and I did just that.

I sought out information, opinions, quotes, graphs, and even infographics about new habits…

how they form
how long they take to become almost “automatic”
what gets in the way of forming positive new habits
how to set yourself up for success with your new habits
etc etc etc!

What got me on this kick? The first thought I entertained about New Years Resolutions. I happened to be thinking about getting yoga back into my life. Long story, short… For over 20 years, I did yoga daily for at least 30 minutes, usually more. Then I developed a hiatal hernia and quickly learned (the hard way) that many yoga poses and hernias do NOT play well together. I just stopped doing yoga altogether instead of wisely ditching the problematic poses and continuing with the rest.

What can I say… the fear of aggravating the hernia was greater than my common sense. Fear always, always, always trumps common sense when you let it.

Recently, I researched the subject and found that doctors, chiropractors, physical therapists, and other experts actually believe certain poses not only won’t hurt a hiatal hernia but may actually help by strengthening the region. So I began doing some poses that don’t involve rousing the sleeping beast (Lady Hernia) and fell in love with yoga all over again.

It’s been hard to incorporate it into my life, which is odd because it used to be as much of a habit as brushing my teeth. I found that some poses that I used to be able to easily hold for the count of 45 seconds made me as wobbly as a newborn colt after a mere 5 seconds. I thanked God, above, at that moment for making me a hardheaded gal who isn’t easily discouraged. Combined with always being up for a good challenge, I didn’t get discouraged (although it would have been easy to). I simply thought, “I’m making it a resolution to do at least 15 minutes of yoga each day… then build from there.”

Initially, I was thinking about this being a 2022 resolution, but then I thought, “Why wait?!”

I’ve been doing carefully selected yoga poses for a few weeks and can already hold most of them twice as long as when I restarted. Hey, that’s something!

I knew (from previous readings) that most people agree that it takes around 3 weeks to build a new habit successfully. So, with that reasoning in hand, it occurred to me – wouldn’t right NOW be the time to start thinking about New Year’s Resolutions, as opposed to New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day? If we start trying to form positive, healthy, new habits now, by the time the new year rolls around, we will have an absolutely beautiful head start.

Even if we only tackle one of our resolutions right now, if we make it a daily habit, it’ll free up more time and energy for other habits.

It also give us a healthy dose of much-needed confidence!

Make each moment count double! ~ Joi (“Joy”)

Happiness and Security When You Are Financially Strong

October 23, 2021 by Joi Leave a Comment

Financial stability offers long-reaching advantages for our general health and well-being that go far beyond the capacity to pay bills promptly. We shall define financial stability and discuss how it might influence your life in the sections that follow.

What Exactly Is Financial Freedom?

Once you are financially secure, you are confident in your financial condition. You don’t have to worry about paying your expenses since you know you’ll have enough money. You are debt-free, have funds set aside for future objectives, and have enough savings to handle emergencies.

Achieving Financial Stability

Financial stability has a variety of rewards but it takes hard effort, determination, and intentionality (as well as some backtracking) to achieve. Whatever stage of your financial path you are in, here are a few tips to help you improve your financial health.

Spend Less Than What You Earn

Although it may appear to be a straightforward guideline, many individuals struggle with it. It’s incredibly easy to waste money on items we don’t require. Nevertheless, living under your means is critical for long-term financial stability. You can’t expect to increase your savings if you routinely squander all of your income or more than you make.

Budgeting

Budgeting is a crucial step to take while attempting to achieve financial stability. After all, if you don’t budget, how will you see where your money goes? How can you establish spending and saving objectives if you don’t recognize where your cash is being spent? Essentially, a budget should always be utilized to create and stick to a plan.

Invest

Investing is the best method to amass riches. Investing may appear to be daunting, but it does not have to be. Select a diverse portfolio (a combination of stocks, cash, bonds, and so on). That is, don’t invest all of your capital into the stock of one business or the shares of five firms in the same sector. Ensure you follow insider buying to invest in the best-performing stocks.

Clear Your Debts

Debt makes achieving financial security difficult. Focus on getting out of debt once you’ve determined how much you should reasonably spend through budgeting. Clear off credit card debt and prevent incurring further debt on your credit cards in the future. Do you have student loans? Pay additional payments to clear them as soon as possible. You could pay off your loans sooner, even if you entered a long-term payment plan. Paying off your debts earlier will save you cash in the long term since you will owe less interest.

Have a Rainy Day Fund

A rainy day fund is a strategy to prepare for the unforeseeable. There’s always the possibility that you’ll lose your employment and have to make do for a while without a regular paycheck. Perhaps you have to make a major auto repair or take an unexpected trip. A rainy day fund will cover part or all of your expenses and help you get through a difficult period. A rainy day fund will also provide you peace of mind by providing you with a backup plan.

The Benefits of Achieving Financial Stability

Now that you know how to get financially secure let’s look at what you stand to gain by putting in the effort.

Stress Reduction and Improved Health

According to a study, money is the top factor influencing people’s stress levels. This is a concern since prolonged stress is not only unpleasant but also fatal. Stress is a significant factor in many serious medical illnesses, including depression, stroke, heart disease, and obesity. By putting in the effort to get your finances in shape, you may extend your life and improve the quality.

Family Stability

It may seem obvious that being financially secure helps you pay bills in time and fulfill the needs of your loved ones, yet are you aware that it also adds to the stability of human relationships and overall family well-being? Marriages and love relationships perform better when financial stress is removed.

More Choices in Life

You have more influence over your lifestyle when you handle your money wisely and plan for the future. Individuals who are perpetually in debt, on the other hand, are captives to their obligations and what the lenders will let them do. Would you like to have the financial cushion required to make a job change? Do you want additional options for your children’s education? Then make modest sacrifices today to empower yourself tomorrow.

Financial freedom is the capacity to enjoy living on your own rules without having to worry about how you’ll cover your next expense. Many people believe that this is an unattainable dream; however, it is very well within your grasp. If you follow the tips outlined above, you will be on your way to financial stability.

Tips for Coping with a Hiatal Hernia or Problems with Sluggish Digestion

September 2, 2021 by Joi Leave a Comment

Eat Slowly if You Have a Hiatal Hernia!

I’ve written about coping with a hiatal hernia before on Self Help Daily (I’ll link to each of the articles below this one) and as I find new things that help me with my own hiatal hernia, I’m sure I’ll be writing more.

As I often say with anything that involves health issues, the tips and advice are only for those who know for certain that their problem is a hiatal hernia. If you do not know for sure, please check with your doctor. Asking a professional if you could have a hernia frees you to know that it isn’t something else (which could be worse OR better than having a hiatal hernia) and it gives you a clear path to take to help yourself.

Something else to keep in mind is that everyone’s experience with their hiatal hernia can be very different. Many suffer from a lot of heartburn with their hiatal hernia. I, however, seldom have heartburn. I do have the frequent feeling that I’m full sooner than I should be, hiccups (usually from eating too fast or not chewing well enough), and… the worst thing, a feeling that food is stuck in my esophagus which leads to pain and, usually, having to “expel” it – and we’ll just leave it at that! No one enjoys talking about upchucking or hearing about it either for that matter.

My hernia also causes me to have more indigestion and to suffer from acid reflux at night. REALLY hate that one!

Most people’s symptoms and experiences with their hiatal hernia aren’t as bad as mine. Heck, a lot of people don’t even know they have one! It all depends on the size, apparently. If you’re one of the ones who has similar symptoms, a few tips for coping that I’ve learned are:

don’t lift heavy objects – doing so is asking for a flare up
don’t do any activity where you hang upside down
don’t eat dense meat, such as steak or chicken
bread (all types of bread) often spells trouble
eat small meals, frequently, instead of a few large meals

Another simple (and we’re talking painfully simple) trick I’ve learned that has helped me a great deal is this: I chew to the count of 33 with each and every bite. Depending on the size of the bite, sometimes I have to go back to one and start counting again. When this happens, I always remind myself to take smaller bites!

Counting reminds you to slow down and chew. Since I began implementing the tips above along with the “Chew to the Count of 33” trick, I have had incredibly few issues. A while back I had a case of the hiccups and it was entirely my fault. I had forgotten to count to 33 and, basically, must have inhaled the entire waffle fry! The pain and hiccups reminded me to never, ever… under any circumstances forget to count and chew.

It will help you slow down and enjoy your meal if you think of it as an experience to be enjoyed rather than something that has to be done. Sometimes I see people inhaling their food like it’s a chore – “Gotta fill the tank and keep going!” This isn’t a healthy habit for anyone – whether they have a hernia or not. We should look for more times in our day when we can relax and enjoy the moment… I can’t think of a better time than when we’re enjoying a meal, especially if we’re in the company of someone we love.

A quick word about taking longer to eat than everyone else… so what?! It’s much better than having pain or getting hiccups. My family never complains, I think they just take it as a cue to eat slower, themselves.

A Few Other Hiatal Hernia Coping Tips

I am not even remotely a doctor, so I can’t explain the whys of it, but drinking incredibly cold drinks often aggravates the problem. Less ice or even drinking room temperature drinks leads to less issues for me.
Frequently drinking warm drinks seems to also help the issue.
Anything you can do to lessen inflammation will help you. Because of this, cutting back as much as you possibly can on sugar will do you a world of good. Also, researching foods and drinks that naturally reduce inflammation will serve you very well.
Anything you add to your diet that aids in digestion will help you. Healthline has an excellent article on foods that improve digestion and, after you’re finished here, I hope you’ll read it. A few of my favorite digestion-helpers (some are on their list) are pickled ginger, crushed pineapple, applesauce, and chia seeds. Again, when choosing foods, keep in mind that harder foods (apples, grapes..) can be problematic for you… find softer alternatives when possible.
Keep a food journal (Amazon link to the best one I’ve ever seen)! Whether it’s to keep track of food that causes symptoms or keep track of how well you’re doing cutting back on sugar, a food journal will help you so much. It was journaling my food/symptoms that helped me find the foods that caused problems AND pinpoint the meals that gave me zero issues (such as bacon and eggs, chili, soup, flat burgers…). Food journals have also helped people discover food allergies and intolerances they didn’t know they had. Trust me, food journals are one of the smartest things you can do for your health, you just have to be diligent about keeping up with it!
Don’t put too much into a bite at once! A few days ago, my husband took a bite of a big beautiful burger and all I could think was, “I’d be in pain for three hours and in the bathroom for two of them!” When you have a hiatal hernia, overloading it at once is begging for trouble. You’re simply better eating your meat off of bread, your tossed salads one vegetable at a time, etc. Once you begin eating this way, it becomes second nature quickly and the payoff will make you never fall off the bandwagon again.

Finally, I have notice such a huge improvement in my hiatal hernia in the past year and one of the biggest reasons is I lost a little weight. I weigh less now than I have in many, many years and it has helped my hiatal hernia greatly. Carrying less weight around the middle is one of the best things you can do for your hiatal hernia health as well as your overall health.

I’m not trying to be preachy, just trying to help anyone who is in the same boat as me. Whether your hiatal hernia causes similar problems or if you’re one of the ones who suffers mostly from heartburn or reflux, if you could stand to lose even as much as 10 pounds, I’m certain you’ll see a difference.

I, personally, have found that intermittent fasting and cutting way back on sugar and carbs (not all the way out, mind you… just back) has helped me tremendously. On top of my other hiatal hernia issues, I used to frequently wake up chocking on reflux – often it would feel like I couldn’t get a breath. Talk about scary!

I stopped eating at least three hours before I knew I’d be lying down and that took care of waking up chocking on a nightmare. My “cut off” for eating ANYTHING and for drinking anything with calories is 5:30 pm. It is absolutely worth it, trust me. I enjoyed snacking while watching tv in the evening as much as anyone but it simply isn’t worth it.

One other “trick” I did to cut back on empty calories AND cut out inflammatory sugar was switch from sweet tea to drinking tea sweetened with Stevia (something that is naturally anti-inflammatory… win/win).

More About Coping with a Hiatal Hernia:

Tips for Living with a Hiatal Hernia

Learning to Handle Your Hiatal Hernia Naturally

Tips for Controlling Your Hiatal Hernia

How to Get More Done in the Morning!

August 3, 2021 by Joi Leave a Comment

What My Mornings Look Like: Cats and Coffee!

About two years ago… after months of looking for more time in the day and being unable to uncover any… I decided to simply start getting up 30 minutes earlier. After a few months of seeing that, not only was getting up before 6:30 am not fatal, it was downright productive.

I was blown away by what the humble little 30 minutes added to my day. It suddenly seemed as though the day wasn’t sneaking up on me as much as I was sneaking up on it. 30 minutes may not seem like much at all, but when you uncover extra time to be used as you choose, it’s a gift.

Guess what. I got greedy.

I saw that this extra 30 minutes meant I could ease my way into my morning and, when ready to get busy, I was more of a mind to do so. Over the course of a few months, I thought of other things that could be accomplished by another 30 minutes. Greedy… yes… but also ingenious because it has meant the world to my morning routine and daily routine.

I get up at 5:30 each morning and ease my way into the day. Having extra time to sit, drink my coffee, talk about sports with my husband, and do my morning devotions and Bible reading starts the day off on a beautiful note instead of a sour note. Bonus to a better morning and better day…. you’ll sleep better at night!

The infographic below gives a lot of wonderful tips for making your mornings more productive. Starting the day off with less stress means you have less stress to carry around with you throughout the day.

Ingenious.

Stay well, stay safe… stay happy!

~ Joi

Source: 15 Tips to Help You Structure a Productive Morning Routine

Reasons Why People Try New Products

July 19, 2021 by Joi Leave a Comment

by Amanda Green

The market continuously produces new products that come with better features. Customers always want to experience the latest developments in the market. There are different reasons why consumers always want to try new products in the market. Their reasons vary with their tastes and preferences. Some of these reasons include the following.

Targeting Better Prices and Offers

Some of the new products in the market come with added advantages. Some of the benefits included discounted prices and gifts. The added advantage are meant to attract new customers who are always ready to try the latest products. For example, if the market dealing with bathroom products like a bathroom sink had a new dealer who offers free installation for every purchase, consumers would generally go for them.

Acquiring More Information

However much customers can get information about products from the internet, they still crave more information. Customers always refer to getting first-hand knowledge from the retailers. They always believe that such information is accurate than that acquired from print media or the internet. Whenever there is a new product in the market, customers will always try to purchase some part of it and learn the latest information it offers.

Testing the Difference in Quality

Products of the same design always come in different qualities. Consumers tend to believe that a new product in the market has some added advantage to the previous version released in the market. Their urge to have a taste of the new product drives them to needs. For example, cleaning products brands announce new developments in their markets occasionally. Consumers always believe that the newly announced product is superior to the current one in the market. They will end up chasing the new product to try out its level of quality.

Replacement

You will get over your old products at home and will develop the urge to replace them. In the process, some consumers prefer trying out new products with their unique experiences. Some will try the new products that they feel fit them. For example, when your clothes no longer fit or become out of date, you will try new options that work. Another example is moving from a VCR to a DVD player.

Prestige

Whenever there is a new exciting product in the market, consumers rush to acquire it for different reasons. Some consumers receive new products for an esteem-related reason or personal enrichment.

Brand Recognition

Branding plays a significant role when purchasing products from a category that you are not familiar with. Some consumers try out new products because of the brand. Big brands that are widely recognized attract new customers daily. For example, if you had to buy body lotion for yourself for the first time, you may pick a widely recognized brand. Brands also attract customers who are curious to know what the company offers and the level of their services.

Ego Stroking

Sometimes you purchase a new product to impress someone or to have something bigger and better than others. The desire to meet a standard of social status or the desire to make it seem like you’re operating on a higher level may influence you to try new products.

Addiction

Sometimes you may end up buying a product without a good reason. This habit contributes to our love for new products. Some consumers love trying out new developments in the market. The continuous act has made them get used to new products to the point that they will go for it whenever there is one available in the market. By doing this, they get some form of satisfaction.

Peer Pressure

The people you associate with can influence you to try out new products. You may find yourself trying out new products because the people around you do the same. For example, if your peers love trying on new clothing, you will get used to new clothing brands.

Different reasons make us fall in love with trying out new products. Some of them are personal reasons, while the people around us influence others. These reasons will always vary with the product in hand. But before you decide to change a product, try to find the purpose for switching.