Music for the Body, Mind, and Soul

Music can have a significant impact on your health and this has been known for a while. There are songs that make us want to get up and sing and dance along (Let It Go, anyone?) and there are some that are great for productivity while working on perfecting the web applications. One of the impacts that it has is that it can reduce stress. This is not just a claim but has been backed up by several studies. In addition to reducing stress is can also reduce the perception of pain, sometime being better than painkillers. It can also boost your immunity. This has been shown in several studies as well where the saliva IgA was measured after listening to different types of tones and silence. It is not prove but support that listing to music can improve your first line of defense. So if you are feeling a cold coming on, browse through your iTunes library while having an orange.

Many Streams of Income

Getting multiple streams of income, whether active or passive, is one of the best ways to get wealthy and stay wealthy. Unfortunately, it is not taught to people and is very often overlooked. The first thing that you need to do is establish financial security. This means that your primary source of income has to be able to support your expenses before you can look into other sources. Only then can you identify your unique talents or skills. You could also increase your knowledge and skills of a certain area, such as web development, so that you will be able to be compensated for it. Next step is to identify your market. Who is going to need your skills and pay the best for them? Then you can ask these people in the market, what it is that they are specifically looking for and from there, go on to creating the solution to their problems. Lastly, to help you with every step of the way, find a mentor because you do not have to be figuring it all out on your own.

Rewire Your Brain

Happiness has to come from within and that is where it needs to be cultivated. If you get your sense of purpose from your job, it is only a matter of time before you will have a sense of hopelessness and desperation set in. As much as you love that web development job, there is a better way to live so that you can rewire the brain to experience more happiness. The mind is much more flexible that you would have ever thought. Positive thoughts will reinforce neuron pathways for the feeling of joy; negative thoughts will reinforce neuron pathways for feelings of sadness. There are benefits to living mindfully, other than happiness. People who try to live more mindfully can focus for longer periods of time. There have also been studies that have evidence for the brain actually changing its physical structure over time with being more mindful and meditation. Just give it a go and you might discover something extraordinary about yourself.

Standing Desk

Standing desks have become the newest thing in software development companies as well as anywhere what requires people to work at their desk for extended periods of time. There is a small desk called StandStand that is three pieces of wood that you can put on your desk so that you can stand up. It weighs less than two pounds and fits into most laptop bags. It started on KickStarter and after earning ten times the money, it is on sale now for $69. Standing desks have shown to be better for your back and overall health. One of the main reasons for back pain is that the muscles are weak and they are not used. With the standing desks, you will be able to strengthen your back as well as build more stamina. Not to mention reduce the risk for many chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. Granted, it can probably only fit your lap top but how much room do you usually take up while working at your desk. It also do you some good to bend over.

Freeing Up Space on Your Phone

So you have the new 16 GB phone. Did you know that you cannot actually use all 16 GB of it? First thing you should do in order to free up some space on your phone is to check your usage. You will be able to see which apps are taking up how much space. You will even see those apps that you forgot that you downloaded. Get rid of those mobile applications that you do not use. Also go through your messages and delete the old ones. Do you really need to go back and read those old conversations? You can even set your phone to periodically delete the old messages. Your pictures are probably taking up a lot of room so it might be a good idea to have them back up to a cloud service. You should also stop using photo stream which actually backs up 1000 photos twice. As far as music goes, it is time to start streaming and quit downloading all that music to your phone.

Love Yourself

Here is a radical way of thinking: In the new year, try to appreciate yourself a bit more. If you are running a business, try to let go of the thinking that anyone can do what you are doing. Stop demising your abilities and be thankful for them instead. Use them to the best of your abilities as well. You should also banish the phrase "I can't" from your vocabulary. If it lives in your subconscious, it will almost always come true. In this new year, make a commitment to stop sacrificing to the point of self-neglect. You need to take care of yourself and needs first because it is necessary and not even close to selfish. What would happen if you were to stop waiting for perfection? The world is not going to come to a crashing halt. You will just be wasting time and money trying to getting that one software development project just right. Updates are to be expected to do your best and let fire. Lastly, always know that happiness is within you, so it is important to look deeper, not farther.