Flotation—REST restricted environmen- tal stimulation technique is a method in which an individual is placed in a horizontally floating posture and immersed in highly concentrated salt water, in an environment the floating tank where all incoming stimuli are reduced to the barest minimum during a short period. The salt water in the floating tank is maintained at skin temperature, ear plugs are used to minimize sounds, and when the tank is closed, complete darkness ensues.

Flotation— REST is a cost-effective and secure method with minimal or complete absence of adverse effects Borrie, ; Suedfeld, Notable improvements in patients with rheumatic aches were observed by Mereday, Leham, and Borrie Alleviation of pre- menstrual pain was noted by Goldstein and Jessen Certain attempts have been made to identify the physiological mark- ers for the subjectively experienced pain alleviation so often reported with flotation—REST.

Still, the patients reported a significant reduction of pain. The plasma prolactin—norepinephrine relationship in the same report suggests that these changes may depend on central changes in noradrenergic activity. We directed our attention at prolactin owing to our previous findings on decrease in MHPG at flota- tion—REST and the report of a connection between adrenergic block and elevated prolactin levels, and because of the reported possible influence of body temperature on prolactin levels.

The present study had two main purposes: a to investigate whether it was possible to replicate earlier findings of increased wellness after flotation tank therapy and b to investigate whether or not those improvements were maintained during a follow up 4 months later. There have only been a few studies dedicated to the long-term effects of flotation—REST e. They had been diagnosed by a physician as having stress-related pain of a muscle tension type.

Patients in the present study reported having had pain for Analyses chi-square, goodness-of-fit,. The average age of the patients was Design The current study in a first step used a three-way split-plot design, in which time with assessments before and after the treatments constituted the within-subjects factor and where group control, flotation—REST and diag- nosis nonburnout patients with stress-related pain, burnout patients with stress-related pain constituted the between-subjects factors.

Participants were randomly assigned to the control 20 nonburnout patients, 15 burnout patients or flotation 24 nonburnout patients, 11 burnout patients groups. All participants, irrespective of condition, visited the laboratory for a period of 7 weeks. The period consisted of two visits per week for 3 weeks, followed by a week without treatment, and then another 3 weeks of treatments.

The reason for having two 3-week treatment periods was so that female subjects participating could plan the timing of their flotation treatments from the incidence of each menstrual cycle. Each flotation treatment lasted 45 minutes, resulting in a total of hours of treatment. The control group received the same treat- ment as the flotation group before and during the experiment, but instead of floating, they sat in an armchair for 45 minutes and were allowed to read magazines that were laid out for them.

In a second step, a two-way split-plot design was used on the flotation—REST group, in which the within-subjects factor now also included a 4-month follow up for the flotation group treat- ment condition and where diagnosis was maintained as the between-subjects factor. Measures Flotation Tank A flotation tank Delfi, www.

The depth of fluid salt water varied between and mm. The flotation tank was insulated to maintain constant air and water temperature and to reduce incoming light and noise. The water temperature was maintained at The tank was equipped with a horizontal entrance that was easy to open and close from inside and out by the subject.

Between flotations, a hydrogen peroxide solution was regularly poured in, and after this, the salt water was filtered and sterilized with ultraviolet light. Questionnaire 2 At a final meeting directly after the 7 weeks of the experimental flotation procedure, the same questions were presented as in questionnaire 1.

Normal range for prolactin concerning men is 3. The task of the participants was to indicate with a color pen their areas of pain and color them in. A transparent, plastic film was then placed over the colored areas on both figures. Each figure was divided into equal-sized squares total , and the number of colored squares was calculated.

The SE scale was constructed and based on an early and much used checklist, the Mood Adjective Check-List, constructed by Nowlis and Green and modified further and translated into Swedish by Kjellberg and Bohlin Kjellberg and Iwanowski reduced the list to 12 adjectives on two dimensions. It is currently the latest version of the SE scale with test—retest scores of 0. The test did not have a time limit. It was constructed by Zigmond and Snaith for use with physically ill people.

It has since been revised to be used as a rating scale for anxiety and depression. Its validity and reliability were examined by Herrmann The instrument consists of 14 statements with four response alternatives 0 —3 , ranging from positive to negative or vice versa, and there are seven statements regarding anxiety and seven regarding depression.

Parallel test reliability is reported to be 0. The instrument consists of 10 adjectives for the NA dimension and 10 adjectives for the PA dimension. The participants were asked to estimate how they had been feeling during the last week.

In total, the experienced deviation from normal state EDN instrument consists of 29 questions whereby each is responded on a visual analog scale 0 — Procedure The participants were recruited by asking patients on the waiting list for participation in the flotation—REST experiment at the Human Performance laboratory, Karlstad University, Sweden. They were either originally referred by their physicians or had responded to announcements for individuals with local- ized muscle tension pain in the neck and shoulder area, with or without temporal headache, associated with myofascial tender points or trigger points.

Every participant received a leaflet with patient-oriented information about flotation—REST, in which in addition to the purely practical details associated with treatment they were also in- formed that driving was not recommended shortly after treatment as a result of increased risk of transient tiredness. During this initial contact, each subject was shown around the floatarium. The information was restricted no mentioning of possible changes in consciousness , and the participants were only informed that most people experience the floating as relaxing.

After this, participants were randomly assigned to either the control group or to the flotation—REST group. The participants belonging to the control group sat in an easy chair reading their own literature or literature provided, for 45 minutes, twice per week, first for 3 weeks, then 1 week with no treatment, followed by another 3 weeks with the armchair condition. After that, the participants had 1 week with no treatment followed by another 3-week period.

The number and duration of treatments—12 over a 7-week period two 3-week treatment periods with a nontreatment week in between —was chosen from similarly sized schedules described in the literature and from our own experiences.

When the participant was using the flotation tank at the very first session, he or she was informed of the flotation technique, shown the bathroom and shower, and thoroughly reminded of complete freedom to terminate the session if necessary. After visits to the bathroom and shower and the insertion of earplugs, each participant was allowed to immerse himself or herself in the water of the tank and close the lid unaided following instructions to relax.

Treatment was terminated after 45 minutes when the experimenter gently knocked on the exterior of the tank. Directly after the first session in the flotation tank, the participant was allowed to complete the EDN. They also had to complete the EDN directly after the last session i.

With regard to the second between-subjects factor of the study diagno- sis , experience was already available suggesting that approximately half of the patients with stress-related pain from muscular tension who seek treat- ment are also diagnosed with burnout depression. Thus, no further groupings of patients were carried out.

Three days or 72 hours after the final control or flotation session, participants attended a final consultation and follow-up discussion with a nurse, at which time they completed questionnaire 2 and the personality tests, and a new blood sample was taken. All the patients described in the present study completed the whole course of treatment 12 control or flotation sessions over 6 weeks. Four months after the final consultation, all patients in the flotation— REST group were invited to participate in a follow-up study at the Human Performance laboratory.

Twenty- eight of the participants in the flotation group participated in the follow-up consultation in which they once more completed the questionnaire, the personality tests, and also had a new blood sample taken. Bood et al. A three-way mixed multivariate analysis of covariance controlling for the difference between control and flotation groups regarding cortisol concentrations before treatments yielded no other significant effects. For means and standard deviations, see Tables 1 through 4.

Table 4. Statistical analyses were carried out using two-way split-plot Bonferroni analyses of variance with treatment before treatment, directly after treatment, 4 months after treatment as the within-subjects factor and diagnosis nonburnout patients, burnout patients as the between-subjects factor. For means and standard deviations, see Tables 5 through 7.

Table 7. The Relaxation Response RR To investigate a possible release of the RR, and whether or not the magnitude of the response increased during treatment, EDN was adminis- tered to participants in the flotation—REST group directly after the first session in the flotation tank and directly after the last i. A split-plot analysis of variance with session i. Results indicated that flotation—REST treatment was beneficial for the patients: pain areas, stress, anxiety, and depression de- creased compared with a control group, whereas sleep quality and optimism increased.

Those results are in line with several other studies e. Further it was noticed, as a novel result, that prolactin levels were enhanced after 12 sessions in the flotation tank. Results also indicated that that the positive effects of the flotation—REST therapy were typically maintained 4 months after treatment. Dispositional optimism increased by 8. Experienced stress decreased by Anxiety decreased by Depression lowered A possible speculation would be that prolactin may also be a marker for a vitality-enhancing effect for an organism under pressure which, despite this circumstance, manages to ex- perience relaxation.

Because increased levels of prolactin are not beneficial for the organism over long periods of time Werner, Bengtsson, Petrus, et al. Analyses, however, did not indicate that patients with burnout diagnosis peaked more on prolactin levels directly after the period of treatment. Analyses indicated that patients with burnout diagnosis, as compared with patients without such a diagnosis, benefited more from the treatment with regard to depression.

A further notion was that patients with a burnout diagnosis experienced the same quality of the relaxation response, measured with the EDN, as the patients without such a diagnosis. Both groups of patients responded at the same EDN levels after the first flotation session and both groups experienced the same enhancement of EDN levels after the 12th session. The study did have some limitations.

One obvious one was that there was no follow up of the control cohort as a result of financial limitations on the project. Furthermore, the small number of cortisol and prolactin measure- ments may rightly be criticized, but considering that patients were involved in a relaxation program, frequent blood sampling might been very disturbing. Naturally, the few men in the study constitute a problem, but it should also be noted that their part in the sample is typical for the population.

The blood sample taken directly after treatment for the men, like for the women, was significantly higher as compared with the other two measurements, although the men did not peak as high as the women. Deep breathing helps you feel connected to your body, shifting your awareness away from worry and quieting the inner dialog in your brain.

He wrote the book The Relaxation Response , in which he shares the benefits of a variety of relaxation techniques including diaphragmatic breathing in treating a wide range of stress-related disorders. Boost nitric oxide, a powerful immune-boosting molecule produced in the sinuses during nose breathing.

Improve the quality of your blood through eliminating toxins and increased oxygenation. Assist the digestion and assimilation of food through a more efficient stomach and digestive system. Increase the health and function of the nervous system by increased oxygenation. Improve the function of the abdominal organs and the heart through increased circulation. Help prevent respiratory problems as the lungs become stronger and more powerful. Reduce blood pressure and help prevent heart disease as the heart becomes more efficient and stronger and the workload on the heart is reduced.

Assist in weight control as extra oxygen burns excess fat more efficiently. By practicing a few minutes of deep abdominal breathing every day, you are building a life-long habit proven through years of research and testing to clear your mind, reduce stress, and promote relaxation of the mind and body.

Barrie likes to practice deep breathing several times a day when she takes a break from work and before bed to prepare her mind and body for sleep. You can practice mindful breathing just about anywhere at any time of day, especially when you find yourself overthinking or feeling stressed and anxious. Even a few minutes of mindful breathing a day can improve your sense of well-being and mental calm.

If you establish a 5 — to minute breathing habit, you can easily use this habit as a trigger and starting point for your meditation practice. Here is a seven-step process you can use to develop the practice of deep breathing on a daily basis:. Determine a time of day to practice deep breathing, preferably after a daily habit you perform consistently, like brushing your teeth. Morning is always a good time to practice, as it sets the tone for your day. However, you may find you want to take a break in the middle of the day, as things get more hectic during your workday.

Before bed is another good time, as it promotes a restful state before sleep. Set a timer for 10 minutes. Sit on the floor with a pillow in a meditative position, like the lotus position, or in a chair with your spine straight and feet planted on the floor.

Let your hands rest gently in your lap. Inhale slowly through your nose until your lungs are filled to capacity, allowing your stomach to push out on the inhalation. At the end of the inhalation, pause for a count of two. Exhale slowly, smoothly, and completely, allowing your stomach to return to its natural position. Pause at the end of the exhalation as well. Start by breathing to the count of four, pausing for the count of two, and exhaling to the count of four.

You can belong to any spiritual or religious faith or have no religious affiliation at all to reap the benefits of meditation and use it as a tool for decluttering your mind. There are dozens of styles of meditative practices, but most practices begin with the same steps—sitting quietly, focusing attention on your breath, and dismissing any distractions that come your way. The goal of meditation varies depending on the type of meditation practice and the desired outcome of the meditator.

The key to finding satisfaction with meditation is simply to practice. By making a daily commitment to meditation, you will improve your skills and discover how the mental, physical, and emotional benefits increase over time. Barrie has noticed that, on the days she meditates, she is less anxious and agitated and more focused in her work, especially with writing. She has also noticed an increased ability to stay in the present moment and redirect herself back to the task at hand whenever she feels tempted by a potential distraction.

Finally, Barrie uses short meditation breaks during the day to help her relax during particularly stressful times. The steps to meditating are simple and straightforward, but the practice is not as easy as it seems.

But the more you practice, the easier and more enjoyable the experience becomes. It strengthens your attention muscle. Meditation has long been touted as a way to improve concentration and focus, but only recently have studies confirmed these claims. A study from the University of Washington showed that meditation increases productivity and promotes focus. Another study published in Brain Research Bulletin supports the claims that meditation can decrease stress.

A University of Massachusetts Medical School study has shown meditation can boost your overall brainpower in a number of ways. Other studies have shown how meditation can help preserve the aging brain, improve the symptoms of depression and anxiety, thicken the learning and memory areas of the brain, and help with addiction. Research has found that meditation also promotes divergent thinking, a type of thinking that fosters creativity by allowing many new ideas to be generated.

All you need is a quiet space and the willingness to stick to it. Here is a simple step process you can use to build the meditation habit:. Select a quiet, calm space for your meditation practice where you can close the door to be completely alone. Determine a specific time of day for your practice. Or you can choose another trigger and practice meditating at another time of day.

Decide whether you want to meditate sitting on a pillow on the floor or in a straight-back chair or sofa. Try not to recline as you meditate, since you might fall asleep. Remove all distractions and turn off all digital devices or other devices that make noise. Remove pets from the room. Sit comfortably either in a chair or cross-legged on the floor with a cushion. Keep your spine erect and your hands resting gently in your lap.

Close your eyes, or keep them open with a downward-focused gaze, then take a few deep cleansing breaths through your nose— we recommend three or four breaths at a time.

Gradually become aware of your breathing. Notice the air moving in and out through your nostrils and the rise and fall of your chest and abdomen. Your thoughts will wander a lot in the beginning. Every time they do, gently let them go and then return your attention to the sensation of breathing. Just lead your mind back to focused attention on breathing. You may have to do this dozens of times at first. Simply notice these as they arise in your awareness, and then gently return to the sensation of breathing.

Your goal is to increasingly become the witness to all sounds, sensations, emotions, and thoughts as they arise and pass away.

View them as though you are observing them from a distance without judgment or internal comment. Rather than your mind taking control and running away whenever a thought or distraction occurs, you eventually gain more and more control of your mind and your ability to redirect it back to the present. Thoughts begin to drop away naturally, and your mind opens up to the immense stillness and vastness of just being present. This is a deeply peaceful, satisfying experience.

You can experience a brief moment of the space between thoughts by trying this exercise: Close your eyes and begin to notice your thoughts. Simply watch them come and go for a few seconds. Eckhart Tolle, author of the book The Power of Now , suggests this gap experience is like a cat watching a mouse hole. Again, you are alert, awake, and waiting without the distraction of thought. You may not experience a gap moment in your early days of meditating.

Or, if you experience a space between thought moment, you might get distracted by the thrill of finally experiencing it. Your job is always to simply observe and redirect your mind back to the present moment, to your breathing. The goal of your meditation practice is not to reach nirvana or have a spiritual awakening. The results of your efforts will be a mental house that you control rather than the other way around. Some beginning meditators prefer to use a guided meditation to help them get the feel for the practice and stay focused.

You can find many free guided meditations online, and there are dozens of smartphone apps available. Buddhify has over 80 custom guided audio meditation tracks on various topics. Omvana , with dozens of guided meditations by very famous authors, teachers, and spiritual celebrities. Headspace has a series of minute guided exercises for your mind. If you find you enjoy meditating, gradually increase your practice from 10 minutes a day to 30 minutes.

Or you can try two minute meditation sessions during different parts of the day. Try to write in it immediately following your meditation so your memory is fresh. Also, write about any changes in your daily mental state—whether you are feeling more or less anxious, stressed, or worried. Critical thinking gives us the ability to solve problems quickly and effectively.

Creative thinking allows us to develop original, diverse, and elaborate ideas and connections. According to Australian psychologist Dr. No wonder humans find it hard to be happy!

But you have the power to recognize this tendency and change it by building the reframing habit. The first step is to notice your thought patterns and interrupt them before they get out of control. Here are six strategies you can use throughout your day to break the pattern and begin taming your mind. Each of these strategies takes just a few minutes to employ.

Strategy 1. Be the Watcher Start by becoming aware of your thoughts. Simply be conscious of yourself as a detached witness to your thoughts. This exercise can be done sporadically throughout the day or during a meditation session.

Observing your thoughts rather than attaching to them disempowers the thoughts and the emotions they foster. Strategy 2. Name That Thought Another way to separate yourself from your thoughts is by mentally acknowledging that they are nothing more than thoughts—not your reality. Strategy 3. Barrie sometimes visualizes pushing negative thoughts into a deep hole or putting them into a balloon that floats away.

Strategy 4. Try the Rubber Band Trick Wear a rubber band on your wrist. Whenever you see it, stop and notice your thoughts. If you are stuck in negative thinking, put the rubber band on the other wrist or gently pop it on your wrist. Strategy 5. Know Your Triggers Often, overthinking and negativity are triggered by a person, situation, or physical state. Pay attention to common worries and anxieties you brood about. Is there anything that happens that sets these off in your mind?

This awareness can help prevent you from being ambushed by negative thoughts. Strategy 6. Distract Yourself Break the cycle using distraction. Immerse yourself in a project that involves focus and brainpower. As Dr. Interrupting cluttered thinking is only part of the process of retraining your brain and learning to disassociate from negative thoughts. Here are four ways to do this:. Challenge the Thought and Replace It You may notice that many of your thoughts are wildly exaggerated.

They are not the truth, or at least not the whole truth. This habit helps you take control of your reality and puts a roadblock in front of the never-ending highway of self-sabotaging beliefs.

Instead, you need a clear head and a calm mind. As you begin to accept this challenge, you can…. Determine any actions to take to improve or rectify it. Seek out anything positive you can learn from it. Find ways to get support as you are enduring it. You put yourself in a state of mind that allows you to take correct and useful action. Take Mindful Action Overthinking is usually a pointless activity, so why not turn that energy into structured thinking and then action?

When your thoughts are cluttered, do something positive that will distract you from negative thoughts. Just about anything that requires some brain power and focus will do the trick, but we suggest you take mindful action—action that focuses on your values, goals, or priorities. A quick way to do this is to define your goals, which is something we discuss in the next section. In fact, one of the first mindful actions you could take is to define your values and priorities for the next year.

Some other ideas that you might try include:. Writing Practicing an instrument Constructing something by hand Painting or drawing Working on a complex problem Studying Memorizing something Practicing a speech Designing something from scratch.

All of these activities require focus and some level of mental challenge, which helps prevent you from falling back into random overthinking or worry. Get it all out! Take this time to express all of the bottled up feelings and thoughts. Writing in longhand helps you process your thoughts and can often lead to a creative solution to your problem. When the timer goes off, get up and do something distracting as suggested in the previous strategy to help you taper off of this worry time.

When you start to get back into your head in between sessions, remind yourself to hold off until the next one. With any new behavior, you have to practice regularly before it becomes more automatic. Many of us feel so overwhelmed that we fail to step back and assess the impact of information overload. Nor do we know how to prioritize it all. We become reactors to what life throws at us, rather than carefully evaluating what is best for us.

Our grandparents and great-grandparents were certainly as busy as we are. They were clear on how to prioritize their time, with less money and fewer choices to entice or confuse them.

A strong work ethic coupled with a focus on family, faith, and patriotism defined this generation of Americans. They knew who they were and what they stood for, and therefore how to focus their time and energy. Why Core Values? One of the simplest ways to eliminate mental clutter and live a more fulfilling life is to define your values and guiding principles for your life.

Now, more than ever, we need these principles to help us clarify how we want to spend our time, energy, and money. Why is this important? Because your core values can serve as a measuring stick for all of your choices and decisions in life , keeping you focused on the person you want to be and the life you wish to lead. By living in alignment with your values, you create the best environment for happiness, inner peace, and clear thinking.

Core values form a foundation for your life that endures through time, life difficulties, and major changes. Embracing your core values is like being a tree with deep and stable roots—the storms of life will not dislodge you. In this section, we go over four strategies to define your core values and make intelligent decisions about your life obligations, so what you do on a daily basis matches up with these important items.

Who do you want to be and how do you want to live your life? If you have never defined your values, you are sailing the sea of life without a compass. Then, go through the list again, and write down every value word that feels important for your career or business.

For both lists, pick your top five to six values, and write them down on two separate sheets of paper. Under each value, list all of the ways you are currently living out of alignment with this value. For example, if one of your values is quality time with family, but you travel five days a week, you may not be honoring this value. For each value, think about actions you could take to fix those out-of-alignment situations.

Write these down for both life and work even if the actions seem impossible right now. Break these actions down into even smaller, easily manageable actions.

These actions might involve making calls, rearranging your schedule, delegating some responsibilities, brainstorming a possible career change, thinking of ways to reengage with your spouse, etc. Once you have a list of values that align with your goals, review it on a daily basis and make sure that the actions you take match these desired outcomes. You may want to focus first on your personal values and then on your professional values. Or you might choose one value from each and start there.

No matter what you pick, be sure to start with the area of your life where you feel the biggest disconnect. This is where you likely feel the most internal pain and mental agitation. Chip away at your action list daily so you can create changes and boundaries that prevent you from mindlessly wandering away from your values again.

Even small, incremental changes can create a huge, positive shift in your attitude. This is an incredibly empowering feeling! Without knowing our priorities, we allow the pressures of life to determine our actions and decisions. An email comes in, and we respond. An enticing offer appears on our Facebook page, and we buy it. Someone interrupts our work flow, and we allow it.

Answer the following questions as honestly as possible. Also, be sure to have your list of personal and professional core values handy as you answer. How much time per day do you feel you waste on activities unrelated to your core values i. How are you spending money unconsciously? How are you interacting with the people you care about unconsciously?

How do you make career decisions i. How much time do you spend worrying about how you should best spend your time and money? What tasks, obligations, and relationships are you allowing in your life unconsciously? How are you neglecting other important parts of your life that you never seem to have time for? The areas are:. Career 2. Family 3. Marriage or love partnership 4.

Life management i. Health and fitness. If you sleep 8 hours a day, that leaves 16 waking hours. That leaves 14 waking hours a day or 98 hours a week. In an ideal world, how would you prioritize those seven key areas of your life?

How many hours of those per week would you prefer to devote to each area using your values to help guide you? She is trying to focus more on these things as she gets more acclimated to her new location.

So his current goal is to spend as much time as possible with the people he loves the most in the world. While his career i. Now, these are just two examples from the authors. To help you find your priorities, we recommend answering two simple questions:. How different is your current life priority reality from your ideal? What are some actions you need to take to focus your efforts on what really matters to you?

We recommend you begin with the priority that can make the most positive difference in your life or where you feel the most imbalance. For example, you might have a core value related to family, and a life priority of spending more time with your family. Start small by making the decision to add one extra hour a week spending quality time with your family. Continue adding weekly time to your life priorities until you have them rearranged to more closely match your ideal.

Sometimes, changing a priority can be difficult. If you want to spend more time with your family, will that impact your work schedule? If so, what do you need to do to manage any fallout? If you want to have a healthy, happy marriage, you may have to give up time in front of the TV or on the computer, which might be hard at first. You have to take the sometimes difficult actions necessary to make the changes you want to see in your life.

Exercise 3a: Focus on Mindful Goal Setting A natural outcome of having values and setting priorities is considering how these apply to your life in the future. Although worrying about the future contributes to an unsettled mind, planning for the future is an important and valuable exercise that can set the stage for true fulfillment in the years to come. But is it really possible to look toward a better future and still be happy with your life right now? Can you be content and evolving at the same time?

There are many great writers and philosophical thinkers who talk about contentedness in the present moment. You can be content right now if you choose to see all of the good and beauty around you in the present moment. Of course, this is easier said than done. The realities of our daily lives are constantly pulling us into the future. We worry about paying the bills, how our children will turn out, whether we will remain healthy. And the very nature of setting goals is future- oriented.

Wishing for more, for something different, for something better at the expense of contentment in the moment robs us of life. Because change and transformation will happen to you whether or not you decide to focus on it. Change is a constant of life, whether we are sitting in the lotus position absorbed in the moment or wringing our hands about some imagined future outcome. So we might as well create our futures mindfully.

There is a way to establish a balance between mindfulness and self-creation. You can view the process of creating and reaching your goals as a place for happiness and contentment. Rather than holding back happiness while you await an outcome, enjoy every step along the path. Every revelation, every small action toward your goals should be savored and celebrated. When you first sit down to ponder your goals for the future, remember to have your core values and life priorities handy as points of reference.

As long as your values and priorities remain valid, they should be the compass for directing your goals. Otherwise, you set yourself up for a future of frustration and unhappiness. Strategy 3b: Create Quarterly S. Who: Who is involved? What: What do you want to accomplish? Where: Where will you complete the goal? When: When do you want to do it? Which: Which requirements and constraints might get in your way? Why: Why are you doing it?

M: Measurable Measurable goals are defined with precise times, amounts, or other units —essentially anything that measures progress toward a goal. Creating measurable goals makes it easy to determine if you have progressed from point A to point B. A: Attainable Attainable goals stretch the limits of what you think is possible. The key to creating an attainable goal is to look at your current life and set an objective that seems slightly beyond your reach.

That way, even if you fail, you still accomplish something of significance. R: Relevant Relevant goals focus on what you truly desire. They are the exact opposite of inconsistent or scattered goals. They are in harmony with everything that is important in your life, from success in your career to happiness with the people you love. T: Time-bound Time-bound goals have specific deadlines.

You are expected to achieve your desired outcome before a target date. Time-bound goals are challenging and grounding. You can set your target date for today, or you can set it for a few months, a few weeks, or a few years from now. There is no doubt about the result you want to achieve.

As an example, here are S. This will be accomplished by setting aside an hour each month during my review session and planning out future trip ideas. This will be done by eliminating unimportant habits like watching TV.

Hopefully, these seven examples give you an idea of how to create S. Our advice is to focus on three to four areas of your life. From there, simply create goals that tap into an outcome you find both challenging and exciting.

So the strategy that works for him is to take the major priorities in his life and then break them down into three-month or quarterly goals. Why should you focus on three-month goals? Because your life is fast-paced and constantly shifting. So to keep things simple, we recommend identifying the three to four areas of your life that are most important to you right now, and then creating a specific S. Fortunately, there is a simple solution to this dilemma—schedule a weekly review session where you create a daily action plan for the next seven days.

You can accomplish all of this with three simple steps:. Answer three questions: Think carefully about the next seven days and answer these three questions: What are my personal obligations? What are my priority projects? How much time do I have? Your responses to these questions are extremely important because they will determine the amount of time that can be devoted to your goals during the next seven days.

Schedule project tasks: After answering these three questions, map out the next seven days. The simplest way to do this is to look at the list for each goal and schedule time to follow-up on the most important activities.

The question is, how do you follow up on them? The weekly review is an important part of achieving your goals. When you plan out each week, you create a sense of urgency, making it more likely you will follow up on each goal. Your weekly review will also help you create a schedule you can turn into a list of daily activities.

Turn your goal into a project : The easiest way to do this is to look at the target date and work your way backward. Visualize reaching this milestone. What are the specific steps you completed to get to this point? Once you identify the actions, you simply put them down into a simple, step-by-step list. Turn goals into priority tasks : We all have those busy schedules full of activities that conflict with one another.

The solution? Start your day by working on goals first thing in the morning, or some other time when you feel the most energetic. Schedule time for single actions : Many people get bogged down by the single actions that are important but not immediately urgent. A quick fix for this is to schedule time each week to complete a number of single actions. The tool that Steve uses for these single actions is the ToDoist app. Whenever he sets a three-month goal, he creates it as a project in ToDoist and then he adds all the single actions that are required to achieve it.

Finally, he schedules specific actions into his weekly calendar. For more on how to do this in ToDoist, here is a comprehensive guide they put together that will walk you through the entire process. Step 5: Review Your Goals The key to achieving anything in life is consistency. Setting aside time for a daily review is a key step to achieving any goal. The truth is, sometimes life can throw major curveballs in your pursuit of a long-term objective. Often, these challenges can be frustrating and cause you to feel less excited about a goal.

So our advice is simple: Review your goals at least two to three times per day. You even review them on a weekly and daily basis. The problem? You can complete this evaluation by answering a number of questions:. Have I attained the desired outcome? What were the successful and unsuccessful strategies? Did I put percent of my effort toward completing these goals? If not, why? Have I achieved results consistent with my efforts?

Should I create a similar goal for the next quarter? What goals should I eliminate or alter? Even though it takes a few hours to complete this evaluation, you should always take time do it every quarter. So, that was a brief introduction to the value of setting S.

In the next and final strategy we will show you how to do this. They wake up with a low- level sense of dread, anxiety, or sadness. At work, they feel underutilized, unappreciated, and underwhelmed. And when they get home, they feel mentally and physically exhausted, with just enough energy to take care of the kids, fix a meal, and plop onto the couch to watch a few hours of television.

Then they wake up and do it all over again. We all get in the occasional rut. We accept less than our dreams. All of this angst adds to our mental clutter and distraction. By the time we realize it, we have obligations and responsibilities that add yet another reason to stick with the status quo—even if we hate it.

The reality is that your mental health can be negatively impacted when you feel unfulfilled with your work. We spend huge chunks of our lives working, so the decision you make about your job will have the potential to make or break your overall happiness. If you find work that you love, you not only free your mind from oppressive thoughts, but will also feel energized in all areas of your life.

So what does it mean to live your passion? We think it can be defined with a few examples:. Most days you wake up feeling enthusiastic and happy about what you have going on that day.

You attract interesting, like-minded people in your life and work. You experience a deeper purpose or meaning—or at least you are more fulfilled in general. Your overall life is better and your relationships are happier because you are more content, self-directed, and present in your work. It involves a variety of actions and experiments to figure it out. Everyone who reads this book is unique. We all have different personalities, aptitudes, dreams, and life obligations.

What you determine to be your passion may differ from what others find for themselves. Step 1: Write a vision. Using your values and priorities as guides, write down what you want in every area of your life—especially in your work. For example, when Barrie wrote her life vision five years ago, it looked like this: I live in an interesting, progressive, vibrant city where I can enjoy nature, the arts, culture, great food, and likeminded people.

The Breakout Principle delivers the ultimate self-help principle-simple instructions to activate a powerful biological trigger that converts conflict and confusion into clarity and extraordinary performance, a state of mind that athletes Skip to content.

Using ancient self-care techniques rediscovered by Herbert Benson, M. Herbert Benson, M. When Dr.