TUESDAY TIPS - 2017 Edition

Start your NEW YEAR off right!

Part One: 

1. Start your day by stretching

Stretching wakes you up, improves flexibility, helps circulation, and gives you more energy.

2. Push your alarm back 1 minute every day

This will help you transition into getting up bright and early.

3. Put unhealthy food low in your fridge

Studies show less food and drink is consumed if it’s harder to get to.

4. De-Clutter your life / house

Find a “purge list” online and make a check list for de-cluttering each month. This will keep you feeling fresh all year!

5. Revisit old photographs

Looking at personal photos has been shown to boost moods more than eating chocolate, watching TV, or listening to music.

6. Simple Savings

Start envelopes for vacation, holidays, etc. Put a little money / spare change in the envelopes each month rather than coming up with it all at once. 

Start your NEW YEAR off right!
Part Two: 

7. The 1% Trick

Don’t go from 0 to 100. Take each day to implement a little something more towards your goal (Exercise, Diet, Etc.)

8. Write out your goals

And print a couple copies. It’s easy to forget about them if they’re only in your mind—this will help hold you accountable.

9. Yearly Homeowners maintenance

Plan the year with a monthly To-Do list for household upkeep. This is less overwhelming than doing it all at once.

10. Plan weekends ahead of time

Anticipating a fun event boosts overall happiness, so plan a weekend adventure early in the week.

11. Limit your spending to budgeted amounts

Budget for eating out, clothes, entertainment, etc. Buy AMEX gift cards each month w/ balances dedicated to that, and don’t spend beyond that gift card!

12. Make your bed everyday

Making your bed gives you a feeling of accomplishment and is correlated with better productivity / less stress & could lead to other good habits.

Brought to you by: Senior Benefit Services

www.sbsteam.net

800-627-2768

Benefits of Being Happy:

Happier people more likely to live longer...

"We can train ourselves to have more positive emotional qualities like happiness, kindness and mindfulness."

Happier people have an unusual amount of activity in one area of their brains – the left prefrontal cortex, scientists have found. Happier people are more likely to live longer and tend to be healthier, more successful and more socially engaged than people who describe themselves as less happy.

In the field of psychology, there’s been a lot of emphasis on figuring out people’s problems – what causes depression, anxiety or stress. It wasn’t until the 1990s when Dr. Martin Seligman, a psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania, realized we were missing a big piece of the puzzle. He asked the important question we’d all been missing, “What makes people happy?” It’s because of his question, that Dr. Seligman is considered the founding father of positive psychology.

“If we exercise that part of our brains, just like exercising a muscle, we can train ourselves to have more positive emotional qualities like happiness, kindness and mindfulness,” says Hyong Un, M.D,of Aetna Behavioral Health.

Want to be happier? 

To see for yourself try practicing one, or even all four, of these proven methods suggested by Dr. Un. You might be happy that you did.

1. Savor

Notice the good stuff. Good things happen to all of us, but so often we’re busy rushing through our day that these moments aren’t appreciated. Dr. Fred Bryant, a researcher at Loyola University in Chicago, coined the term “savor.”  He found that people who regularly pause to savor positive moments are more satisfied with life and are happier. You can savor the past, present or the future.

2. Gratitude

According to one study, simply having an attitude of gratitude can increase happiness by 25 percent. Being gracious can lead to optimism and self-confidence, while also deepening our relationships with one another.

3. Optimism

Optimism is linked to increased happiness. People who are optimistic are more likely to tackle their problems and persevere until they meet their goals. This results in increased feelings of success, improved self-esteem and productivity.

4. Generosity

Being generous leads to all kinds of great results. In one study, Dr. Sonja Lyubomirsky divided participants into two groups. She asked one group to commit five random acts of kindness per week for six weeks. The control group went about their lives as usual. The control group reported back feeling more stressed and less happy. But the random act of kindness group reported a 42 percent increase in their happiness levels.

“Life can throw a lot of curveballs,” Un says. “Positive thinking can’t prevent bad things from happening. But if we are essentially a happy person inside, it can help us make it through the rough spots.”

Brought to you by: Aetna

Read more: https://news.aetna.com/2016/05/happier-people-more-likely-to-live-longer/#.V1cDaI2OklE.facebook