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How to Stop Saying Like All the Time (Infographic)

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People can often develop nervous habits when speaking – some will say, “Ummm” frequently (especially when they’re making a speech). Many (MANY!) others pepper their speech with, “like,” which is what the infographic below deals with.

Personally, a trend I’ve noticed that drives me batty is people ending sentences with an inflection, as though they’re questions.  For whatever reason, it drives me up the wall. I have, literally, changed channels and turned off podcasts because of it. In fact there was once a husband and wife team giving an interview on a podcast and as soon as I discovered they BOTH did it, I jumped up from the computer and sped to Starbucks for a Chai Tea Latte to calm my nerves.

THAT’S how batty it drives me.

Frequently saying “like” (as is the case with Ummm and making everything sound like a question) distracts from what you’re actually saying. It causes you to seem less knowledgeable and less confident. Pretty much the last things you want to convey!

The infographic has wonderful tips and advice. Enjoy! ~ Joi (“Joy”)

Courtesy of: QuickQuid

Tracking Mindfulness and Sleep

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Tulip and Huck

by Brooke Faulkner

Last night’s bedtime struggle was no different than any other night. The ritual of of quieting the monkey mind while laying there tossing and turning ensued. I woke up during the middle of the night for an hour or so, which is also typical.

Anyone who can’t go to sleep or wakes up in the wee hours knows how brutal this can be. So, I tried something new:

Mental Massage

I thought about mentally massaging my physical body, starting with the head and working my way down to the toes. I wasn’t thinking about anything but relaxation, even though I wasn’t actually being touched. I felt the gray particles float into the air and dissipate. It was peaceful. Maybe it sounds kind of weird, but it worked.

The mind is a powerful thing. If you have the power to plug in during the day, you have the same ability to unplug at night or any other time for that matter.

In addition to the mental massage technique listed above, here are some other mindful tips to help with swirling, worrying, sleep-inhibiting thoughts.

Feel & Breathe

We fight our feelings all the time. It’s instinctive to resist and push thoughts out of our heads, only to see them resurface over and over. We might as well feel our feelings by identifying the exact feeling, confront it by being honest, acknowledge that feeling, accept it, and then release it! The next time that same thought comes up, you’ll already know what to do and it won’t be such a struggle.

The next thing to try is focusing on your breathing. Feel your chest and stomach rise and fall, and listen to yourself breathe. It doesn’t matter if your mind wanders. There’s no need to worry about whether you’re doing it right or if it’s working. Just go gently back to breathing. You’ll melt into your mattress eventually.

Mindful meditation involving breathing techniques allows you to focus on the present moment instead of worrying about the past or the future. The focus is typically on one area of the body or the movement of breath. Easier said than done, but it’s worth a shot.

Social Media & Technology

Do you find yourself scrolling through Facebook or Instagram while laying there in the dark trying to sleep? Too much technology right before bed decreases quality of sleep and contribute to varying health conditions, including anxiety and heart disease.

Researchers found that internet use was making people delay sleep by more than 100 minutes every day and causing them to wake up 90 minutes later, according to a 2016 study by the Service for Healthy Use of Technology.

In a study about social media and wellbeing, 1700 participants between 19-32 years of age were interviewed. Nearly 30 percent of people showed high levels of sleep disturbance and 25 percent presented strong signs of depression. The higher the engagement on social media, the more sleep was affected.

On the other hand, it’s possible to use technology to help us improve sleep patterns and awareness with the use of apps and wearable devices. Technology in healthcare can save lives and preserve health. The two key elements are self management and data collection. Whether people are tracking blood glucose levels, sleep patterns or even running miles, adjusting behavior based on the results is possible.

At the end of the day, getting restful sleep is just as important as a healthy diet and regular cardiovascular exercise. Add mindfulness to your bedtime routine and you could find a more peaceful and uninterrupted night of Zzzzz’s.


Doing Away With the “Permanence” Mindset at Any Age

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Never Too Late Quote Graphic

Whether you’re green behind the ears, just graduated and eager to begin your new life as a hard-working business person — or maybe you’ve been in the workforce longer than most college grads have even been alive, chances are you’ve felt the weight of mental and physical exhaustion on your back. From being hunched over a textbook in the library, hunched over a computer in the office, or hunched over a hot stove cooking dinner for the family, you can likely pinpoint the moment you first felt “old.”

As we all know, aging is an inevitable fact of life, but it doesn’t have to be an unpredictable, scary one. While aging can indeed be a cruel mistress, there are so many methods of setting her back, of keeping her placated before she turns on you. Rather than punishing you for your advanced years, you can always appease her for longer, more youthful years, despite the changing of months on the calendar. Going back to school as a non-traditional student, making a sudden career change, pursuing new hobbies — nothing scares aging more than change.

First and foremost, there are the obvious side effects of aging, particularly visual ones. Perhaps lately you’re finding that your coworkers suddenly have to raise their voices around you — or maybe you have to address a hearing problem yourself, in a close friend you’ve known since high school who spent her formative years shrieking in glee every night with a drink in her hand. Maybe your memory isn’t quite as good as it used to be, maybe your grip is a little shakier than you remember.

All of these things are to be expected, but they don’t have to be things that hold you back.

Particularly when you’re still an active member of the workforce, age should be the last thing to hold you back. Of course, there are always things you can do to help fight the side effects of growing older; things such as regular exercise and a healthy diet, which has been shown to decrease the prevalence of dementia in older generations, as well as encouraging an overall positive attitude and outlook on life.

For some, retiring at the “suggested” age either isn’t feasible or perhaps isn’t actually a desire for those who love what they do for a living. Whether that be careers in writing, art, mathematics, or engineering, many people were blessed in the career path they wanted, and now get to reap the benefits of enjoying every day at work.

If you aren’t one of those people, though, it’s important to remember that it’s never too late to make a change in your life, either — if you always really wanted to be an artist, or a doctor, or a chef, or an astronaut … what’s stopping you?

Maybe you’ve been working at a desk your entire life, but realize you’d rather go back to school because charity work and other public service roles would better suit your career or life goals. Maybe you’d prefer to be in a sunlit painting studio all day, reminiscing on the trip to took to France in your earlier years. Maybe you’d even prefer the socialization that working in an energetic office space brings.

Whether it’s your age, your finances, or the thought of escaping your comfort zone, the idea of permanence is a dangerous one. Whether you’re 18 or 80, the thought that you only have a few singular choices in life, or that you have to follow a certain timeline in order to be “successful,” is how people end up unhappy with their lives. The sooner people realize that, the sooner they can turn their lives around into something they’d rather have or be, even if that “something” was never on the radar until recently.

The number of non-traditional students seeking higher education in the US continues to grow every year. Whether they be attending in person, or online, there are more adult students signing up for classes every year. More and more adults are realizing the dangers of a mindset revolving around permanence.

Maybe your goals don’t include returning to school — even just applying yourself with a new zeal into your work is certain to boost your mood and your overall self of being. Maybe your productivity has slipped in the past few years — what’s stopping you from tightening your belt, and going after it wholeheartedly again? Even if you don’t seek any promotions, or a raise in pay, simply seeking out what once inspired you to work hard is enough of a rewarding endeavor in itself. Even just simple day to day things, like developing new, positive habits in your work or home life, are certain to boost your mood and self esteem.

So, whether you’re just settling into a new career you hope to be your one and only or you’ve been working hard at it for decades now, there are so many ways to keep the inspiration and the spark alive. Dedicate yourself to the things you love, don’t be afraid to pursue others you expect you’d love, and make sure to put yourself and your own mental health first, before all else. Throw out the mindset of permanence, and you’re destined for a long life full of positive motivation and happy memories.


7 Proven Strategies to Make Your New Habits Stick (Infographic)

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One of my favorite quotes about habits is by Samuel Johnson, “The chains of habit are generally too small to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.”  This is a great quote because it is so incredibly true. Making a habit STICK is where the magic is. After all, vowing to eat healthier and promising to get more sleep sound wonderful… but your body and mind won’t reap a single benefit unless you STICK with it.

The infographic below (made with Visme) outlines 7 Proven (and simple) Strategies to help make new habits stick around… as in stick around until they’re too strong to be broken.

7 Proven Strategies to Make Your New Habits Stick

Infographic made with Visme.


How to Stop Cussing: Breaking a Habit That Freaking Doesn’t Want to Be Broken!

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How to Stop Cussing
Before getting to the tips that’ll help you stop cussing, I have to tell you this funny and very true story: Once there was a young man who happened to be a Pastor’s son. Even though the boy was very young and fresh out of high school… without any experience aside from chewing gum… one of the men in the church pulled some strings and helped get him on at a local factory – a factory that paid great money. It happened to be a plant that everyone in a three county radius wanted to work at because the pay and benefits were outstanding.

The arrangement didn’t last beyond six months. Turns out, factory work turned out being incredibly tough for the young man and he decided that he didn’t care much for it.

But you need a really solid reason to leave a very good job that someone helped you get – especially when you have to look your dad (the Pastor, not less) in the face and tell him you’re leaving said job. The young man found what he considered to be an admirable excuse and one his father would approve of. He said that there was far too much cussing going on at the plant. He simply didn’t want to be around all of the foul language.

When asked what he planned to do, he replied, “I’m going to join the Marines.”

TRUE STORY. Priceless and wonderful and as true as a cat’s attitude.

Let’s get to the subject at hand, or rather tongue, shall we….

So, how’s it going with those New Year’s Resolutions?!! Oh, don’t want to talk about it, huh? I understand.

I perfectly understand.

One of my own resolutions – to give up sweet tea and drink plain Jane unsweet tea instead –  isn’t going exactly purring right along. I haven’t succumbed to the sweet white tempter, yet, but the day is still young.

I’ve been reading a lot of different people’s resolutions and got an idea (if nothing else, it’ll distract me from brooding about sweet tea). I decided I’d pick some of the resolutions that I know something about or that I think I could offer at least a few words of encouragement for people trying to sort them out.

One that stood out to me was the resolution to stop cussing. Unlike a sweet tooth the size of the Grand Canyon, this is not a problem area for me.  I’m not sure if it was the case everywhere, or if it was a Southern thing, but during my formative years, women and girls didn’t cuss. If they did, it was frowned mightily upon. The guys did, when “the occasion called for it” but the gals?

Heavens no!

So, I simply never had a problem with cussing, swearing, turning the air blue… whatever you want to call it.

The problem is there are plenty of people who never had a problem with it until they started hanging around (or married) someone who had a very real problem with it.  Funny thing about less-than-desirable habits, they’re much easier to latch onto and copy than the good ones.

Ever wonder why that is? I wonder all the time and still haven’t figured it out!

I’ve known girls who never said a word that couldn’t be spoken in front of the Pope, himself, who started hanging around with people who cuss so often they seem like they’re talking in tongues. Within a year, I find myself hoping they never meet the Pope.

Habits rub off on you when you least expect it.

What’s more, Holy cats, swearing is everywhere! TV shows, movies, and mainstream music are to be kind of expected – but cooking websites, news stories, and commercials? WOW.

Now, before you think I’m clutching my pearls, here, or that individuals who have made this resolution are trying to be “holier than thou”- that is not the case. Swearing can prove to be a very embarrassing habit. The individual who swears as easily as they breathe will… not might… will drop their guard at some point at let out a string of profanities at the worst possible time.

What’s more, cussing in front of children (aka breathing tape recorders) has never and will never lead to anyplace worth going.

There are plenty of reasons WHY people want to quit (or at least cut way back on) cussing. The tips below can help them put the odds in their favor.

How to Stop Cussing and Swearing

  1. Most of the time, swearing is a result of anger or, at the very least, frustration. Simply put, while some people swear as though it’s a part of their everyday vocabulary (more about these birds in a minute), the average swearer does so because he/she has stubbed their toe, has more bills than money, is annoyed with a family member, or has been called upon to wait 5 minutes for a table at Olive Garden. If you tend to turn the air blue when you’re either feeling anxious or angry, recognize that and watch out for it. When you’re having a stressful day (or week… month… year?!) remind yourself that you are very vulnerable right now. This reminder will cause you to put your brain in gear before you open your mouth.
  2. If you tend to cuss as easily as you breathe and the words you’re wanting to get rid of roll off your tongue as easily as horse, lunch, telephone pole, or sweet tea.. you are going to have a little bit of a tougher road than the angry swearers. Why? You don’t differentiate between moods – you’d just as soon rattle off the &$*@s while happy and content as you would while stressed and angry. You will have to start paying EXTRA close attention to the words that come out of your mouth. I’ve known people who cussed during a conversation and then swore up and down they didn’t say one word, let alone 3,302. People, it would appear, aren’t in the habit of listening to themselves. Problem is – how are you going to improve your speech if you don’t really hear what’s coming out of your own mouth?!
  3. Crazy tip (but one that works): Come up with your own innocent word or phrase to use in place of the unacceptable ones. When I was growing up, my aunt had her own favorite.. “Shoot a monkey.” How’s that for southern? That became my own “colorful phrase” and it served me well. Over the years, the animal lover in me simply couldn’t abide by it, so my own words became “heck” and the recently updated “heckity heck”(hey, tough times call for stronger language). I’m also very fond of “holy cats” and son-of-a-gun.  My mom worked with a lady who went with “doodle.” Yeah, that one doesn’t do much for me either. The thing is, this may be the only fun part of the whole process, so enjoy it. Come up with something that will be your replacement word/phrase, then take it for a test drive. Bonus tip: don’t go with rhymes or words that sound similar.  You’ll defeat your purpose if you sound like you’re doing what you’re trying not to do.
  4. This is just my own personal opinion – but I wouldn’t ask for a “helper” on this one. I wouldn’t have your significant other, son, daughter, mom, dad, or friend try to “catch” you or point out your language. Seriously – that’s asking for trouble and is putting them in a very unfair position…. a position similar to placing them in front of a runaway freight car. Hold yourself accountable by listening to your own words because, unless you’re the easiest going, kindest, mildest person in the world… you are not going to appreciate being interrupted mid rant.