Fear is one of the major hurdles that all of us must pass. Whenever we have to make a decision or take action, it is our own fears and doubts that stand in our way. Even our daily life is affected by the endless doubts that we have on everything around us. Sheesh! How stressful they are!

Today we’ll look at a few solutions to this nagging little feeling that stops us from living out our best. It’s very true that chucking fear out of your life will widen your world and give new experiences that you never imagined. I personally follow these strategies and I’m grateful that I learned them early. I’ve been at peace with myself ever since.

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Fighting Fear:

How to Chuck Fear Out of Your Life

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Face your fears. Though it’s quite natural to panic when we’re afraid or doubtful of something, it’s better if you could just pause and weigh the issue before thinking of running away. Facing your fears will give you a lot of clarity.

Most of them don’t happen. Practically, most of our fears just have a very remote possibility of happening. Why have so many doubts when only a handful of things will go wrong in your life? Come on, we cannot afford to be that negative!

I have been through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened - Mark Twain

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Further Reading

• 8 Simple Ways to Get More Out of Life
• 10 Golden Lessons from Albert Einstein
• How to Become Your Own Counselor

I‘ve always believed that the purpose of life is to leave the world better than we found it. I’m sure everyone would agree. But how often do we remind ourselves of this wonderful mission? People find themselves engrossed in their daily lives seldom stopping to think of the impact that they can have on the world. So let’s spare a few minutes to pause and reflect on how we change the world, however big or small, and have an impact on the people around us. Let’s move from being insignificant to leading a meaningful life. Imagine how the world will be if each one of us did our part to improve it :)

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How to Change the World

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Start from within. You need to master your inner self to have an effect on other people’s lives. Remember that the enlightenment door always opens outward.

Be the change you wish to see in the world - Mahatma Gandhi

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Inspire. Be an inspirational human being. Spread positive feelings and many would love to be around you. Show them the way to happiness and fulfillment.

Setting an example is not the main means of influencing another, it is the only means - Albert Einstein

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Do things that most fear doing. Show them that everything is possible. Fear of uncertainty is what keeps most people from an extraordinary life. Trust me, the unknown angel is always better than the known devil.

You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do - Eleanor Roosevelt

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See also

• 10 Ways to Find Your Lost Inspiration
• Tracking Your Progress with a Success Journal
• How to Become Your Own Counselor
• LT Oath #1 - I promise myself that I will not cry
• Traveling Abroad – 15 Things to Ponder

I stumbled upon this little piece of wisdom yesterday and it got me thinking. Yes, we must go to the edge to really experience what it is to be there. But should we? Isn’t it dangerous to walk on a thin line? Yes it is. Is it worth it? You bet.

Why live life on the edge?

Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect - Mark Twain

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I’ve always been a risk-monger and I find it really hard to stick to things that are not in coherence with my dreams. The society that I live in believes in the ‘work hard > save > retire’ scheme (ridiculous!). They give me every reason why I will fail if I don’t stick to ‘the rules’. But I like going out of the way, even if it’s a 20-80 chance for success. Why?

Big idea: You cannot give your best shot at life if you’re happy playing safe. A few reasons why you must take risks and live life on the edge: (more…)

See also

• 10 Ways to Find Your Lost Inspiration
• Thank You LifeTweak Readers!
• How to Handle a Bully
• 7 Simple Tips for Better Eating Habits
• 10 Tips to Change the World

I looked at the statistics yesterday and found that, for the month of January,

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• LifeTweak has had more than 25K visitors and 35K pageviews
• Around 126 people have subscribed
• And LifeTweak has moved up millions of places in Alexa rankings.

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This is something that I did not expect to happen so soon. But as it surprisingly did, I’d like to thank each and every one of my wonderful readers for the kind of response LifeTweak has got. Thank you so much! :)

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I’ve been receiving a number a comments and emails with valuable feedback and I must say that I’m more than grateful to you :) Your support has really geared me up to spend more time on this blog. Lets hope that it continues to grow more in the coming months!

You’ve given LifeTweak a wonderful first month!

And one more reason for me to smile :)

Thank you!

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January top posts:

• How to Raise Wonderful Kids - 15 Fantastic Tips to Shine as a Parent
• 7 Simple Tips for Better Eating Habits
• 15 Fantabulous Tips to Better Writing
• 10 Golden Lessons from Albert Einstein

See also

• 8 Simple Ways to Get More Out of Life
• Traveling Abroad – 15 Things to Ponder
• 10 Ways to Find Your Lost Inspiration
• How to Handle a Bully
• 15 Fantabulous Tips to Better Writing

I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father’s protection - Sigmund Freud

Whenever I go to Mr. Crap’s house (one of my most favorite buddies), I’m constantly reminded of how insanely creative he is. This guy comes up with new ideas to change the world everyday, designs cars, writes good philosophy, plays the piano, is good at academics, speaks six languages and does so many wonderful things that are quite beyond the reach of a 19 year old.

He sure is going to make it big someday, and a share of his laurels will go to the two most important people in his world - his parents. I’ve known them for a number of years now and I must mention that I drew inspiration for this post from these two gentle, caring people.

I know there are lots of people in this world (including me) who are so grateful for the kind of parents that they’ve got. Parents really play a huge role in shaping a kid’s future. I’m sure there are some young parents among the small bunch of readers who come to this blog and I feel that I can help them out with a few tips on being not just a good dad or a good mom but a great one.

So I’ve come up with a list of things that every parent must know to make sure that their children grow up to be wonderful people; a list learned from many parents that I’ve known, including mine :)

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See also

• Traveling Abroad – 15 Things to Ponder
• 15 Fantabulous Tips to Better Writing
• 10 Ways to Find Your Lost Inspiration
• Thank You LifeTweak Readers!
• Tracking Your Progress with a Success Journal

One of the most important things that needs your attention is what you eat and how you do it. Good eating habits are so necessary to be at your best and today we’ll look at 7 really simple techniques that you can use to improve your eating habits. Continuous practice of these habits will lead to a more energetic, fulfilling and healthy life.

Good eating habits are so necessary for you to be at your best: Your days will become more energetic, fulfilling and happy.

Avoid eating junk. Look at your food and assess whether you are taking care of your body or ruining it.

Have watery food, like fresh salads. Drink more water. It is known to flush toxins from your body.

Don’t eat too much or too less. Stick to moderate proportions. (more…)

See also

• LT Oath #1 - I promise myself that I will not cry
• Tracking Your Progress with a Success Journal
• Traveling Abroad – 15 Things to Ponder
• How to Raise Wonderful Kids - 15 Fantastic Tips to Shine as a Parent
• Thank You LifeTweak Readers!

Note: Going up from where you are, to the next level of living requires some discipline. You need to commit yourself to the things that you have to do, whether you like it or not, in order to focus on the most important things. So let’s start taking oaths at LifeTweak every week to answer this crucial call for discipline. These oaths are more like a personal creed; but you can announce them publicly if you wish.

This is the first entry in LT’s Oath List and I’m sure you’ll share your suggestions for future oaths in the comments section.

Today’s oath: Promise yourself that you wouldn’t get disturbed by any mishaps or temporary obstacles that might come your way!

Big idea: One of the purposes of life is to be happy. Really happy. Worrying about all the things that have come blocking your path will take you nowhere. When you refuse to feel bad when nothing is going your way, you embrace one of the laws of nature:

Men alter their lives by exercising control over how they react to adverse circumstances.

And you start feeling like a demi-god who doesn’t care how the weather goes on any given day.

Promising yourself not to cry is not to be taken in a literal sense; but it’s something that people often do when they bump into problems. They give up and quit. Or they mull things over in their mind to the point where the problem takes over and blurs the vision of their goals.

Why take an oath?

Bottom line: You grow confident. When you commit yourself to something sincerely, it’s like a snowball’s chance in hell for you to give up.

For the last couple of weeks, I’m being a lot more busy that what I wished for and there’s a big line of problems, both at work and at home, and just the thought of it puts me off. Like it was not enough, I caught a bad cold.

But that is no reason to feel miserable. I’ve promised myself that I wouldn’t cry :)

Further Reading

• 8 Simple Ways to Get More Out of Life

Life is pure adventure and the sooner we realize that, the quicker we will be able to treat life as art - Maya Angelou

Life is good. Here are some tips to make it better.

Grab your daily opportunities. They say opportunities knock your door only once. But my belief is that opportunities, small and big, come and go everyday. It’s just that each one is different from the other. Life presents us with opportunities every time the sun rises,and it is our duty to make the most of them. It can be a chance to make a new friend or to get a new perspective of life or even a chance to express your love.

Play hard at work. Give out your best. Forget money, forget being recognized. Just go out and do the best that you can deliver. It isn’t just something that you do for your organization - it is a gift you give yourself. How would you feel about yourself at the end of your most productive day? The more you give, the higher your self esteem goes.

Fail more. Great people fail more than ordinary people. They fail in business, they fail in relationships, they fail in life. But they come to realize that failure is an essential ingredient to higher achievement. Most people I know live out their lives in their soft corners playing it safe. But soft corners are not always comfortable. The more you use your couch, the more uneasy you are going to feel using it.

Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did - Mark Twain

Life is meant to be lived like an adventure. And I don’t know any person who loves the dull monotony of living the same life for 20 years or so. When you take risks, you are bound to fail a lot of times. But the big idea here is that a few successes here and there should come your way.

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Further Reading

• 10 Golden Lessons from Albert Einstein
• How to Become Your Own Counselor
• How to Chuck Fear Out of Your Life
• LT Oath #1 - I promise myself that I will not cry
• 10 Ways to Find Your Lost Inspiration

The highest reward for a person’s toil is not what they get for it, but what they become by it - John Ruskin

I got a little book for my birthday last month. It was hand-made and they called it a success journal. I was supposed to list down all my achievements in it. I usually use a to-do list to get things done to avoid complexities, but as I flipped through the colorful pages of this book, I was tempted to weigh the effects of a things-done list and that of my to-do list.

And today being Take Action Day at LifeTweak, let us evaluate the pros of ‘things-to-do’ and ‘things-done’ lists.

Things to Do

• To-do lists keep you focused on your priorities.
• They simplify your daily life. The idea behind this is to stop choking your mind and to have everything on paper.

Things Done

• Things done lists help you track your progress. The more you write down your achievements, the more confident you feel.
• They help you stop by and reward yourself for what you’ve done, thus bringing a sense of happiness and peace.

So we arrive at a question:

• Which one is more productive? A things-to-do list or things-done list?

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Further Reading

• 15 Fantabulous Tips to Better Writing

As the blogosphere grows bigger by the day, a lot of people who never took writing seriously are starting to pour in their ideas on the web. Today, we’ll look at 15 simple tips that will really help you if you are just starting out as a blogger or a freelance writer.

1. Be interactive. Write like you speak. Strike a conversation with the reader.

2. Write what you really believe in. Express only what makes sense to you. Don’t echo others thoughts.

3. Use stories and quotes. Make your content more interesting. Little quotes and stories will make your content scannable.

4. Talk facts. Use statistics. Do some research before writing.

5. Use lists. Present your content in a neat format; one that is easy to read.

(more…)

Further Reading

• Tracking Your Progress with a Success Journal