Six uplifting facts to put a smile on your face

Watching the news on TV or our smartphones can sometimes be a very sobering experience and it can be very easy to feel down about what’s happening in the world these days.

However, it is important to find little nuggets of happiness where we can. To help you along, here are some little uplifting facts to put a smile on your face:

1. Penguins and puffins ‘propose’ to prospective mates by giving them a pebble as a gift. Once they find a mate, they stay with them for life. Cows are pretty loyal creatures too and have best friends. When they are apart from their friends, they have been known to get stressed.

2. A man in Salem, Oregon in the US goes around hiding $100 bills in toilet paper to surprise strangers. No-one knows who the mysterious philanthropist is.

3. Every year, the Netherlands sends 20,000 tulip bulbs to Canada as a way of thanking the country for their help and support during World War II.

4. There are vending machines in Turkey which give out food for stray dogs and cats when people put empty bottles into them.

5. Most countries in the world use Gross National Product (GDP) as a metric for measuring their prosperity, but in Bhutan, they also use Gross National Happiness as a key indicator of how they country and its people are doing.

6. Forgetful squirrels who can find where they put their acorns end up inadvertently planting thousands of new trees every year.

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How to lift yourself out of a rut at work

Unless your lottery numbers have just come up or you’re lucky enough to have a super-rich benefactor, most of us have to work for a living. Many people enjoy their job while others dread hauling themselves into work every and everyone else is somewhere in between.

No matter how you view your job, everyone at some point will experience some form of rut at work. This is a time when you struggle to motivate yourself to do the same work you have being doing for the previous months or years.

It’s a pretty natural phenomenon that working to a particular routine for an extended period of time will lead to a lull in motivation and interest.

If you find yourself in such a work rut, there are a number of things you can do to lift yourself out it. Whatever line of work you are in, it is understandable that you’ll come to a point where you feel you’ve gone as far as you can in terms of knowledge and motivation.

However, you can pull yourself and get inspired again by taking a step back and gaining a new perspective.

One thing you can do is talk to people who work in the same industry, but for a different company. You’ll probably not want to let your own bosses know that you are lacking motivation, so it’s a good idea to speak with like-minded people who understand your line of work, but who don’t have anything invested in you.

Seek out courses and additional training you can do in your spare time to give you a better understanding of your own job or to develop additional skills which can add more strings to your bow.

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The benefits of being alone whether you are introvert or extrovert

There is a joke which does the rounds regularly on social media that goes a bit like this: I saw a guy at Starbucks today, no phone, no tablet, no laptop, just sitting there, drinking coffee. Like a psychopath.

It’s a joke with a not too subtle element of social commentary about it. It seems that the notion of simply enjoying your own company has become such an alien concept in today’s digitally saturated worlds that those who do decide to simply ‘drink coffee’ are now seen as somehow counter-culture.

And yet spending time alone has huge benefits for our overall well-being.

For a start, being alone means that you are not under pressure to conform to a group or compromise your choices. Being alone means connecting with yourself and also the world around you because you see everything on your own terms.

For people who are naturally introverted, being alone can relieve a lot of pressure as they don’t feel anxious about engaging with others. At the same time it can also be a great way of building confidence and self-esteem. You don’t have to rely on the approval of others and you will need to be confident in making decisions for yourself. This can also make you more resilient and lessen fear about decision-making.

If you have a more extroverted and impulsive personality, being alone may be a good way to curb those impulsive tendencies. Spending time alone teaches us to evaluate and weigh things up, meaning we are less likely to rush into things.

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Get your dose of daily inspiration from these books

We can derive daily inspiration from many sources, but having a handy book to hand to dip into had be indispensable. Sometimes, all we need is a to read a few pages to put a spring in our step or to get us to look at the world in a different way. Reading an entire self-help book or novel can be a big commitment, so here are a couple of books you can dip into for a bit of daily inspiration.

Note to Self: Inspiring Words from Inspiring edited by Gayle King

This is a book which has spawned out of a popular segment on This Morning, a show which airs on CBS. In it, letters which have been written by well-known figures from all different backgrounds to their younger selves, are read out.

Those letters have now been edited into a books which allows readers to dip in and out to get some inspiring words. Some of the contributors include former vice president Joe Biden, writer Maya Angelou and even Kermit the Frog.

Bedtime Stories For Grown Ups by Ben Holden

A staple of childhood bedtime routines, Holden argues that adults are losing out by not maintaining the practice as they grow up. With the help of some scientific research on sleep, interspersed with well-known poems and short stories, Holden explores the importance of bedtime reading and how it can aid a restful and relaxing sleep. The books also contains thoughts from other well-known writers about their favorite bedtime stories are from their childhood.

You can find more inspirational reading with the books from www.upbeatee.com.

Why you shouldn’t use the world ‘can’t’

You can do anything you put your mind to - literally anything. All it takes is determination, ambition and a plan. Dreams are created to be achieved and if you have one, you can do it. We use the word ‘can’t’ too much and give up way too easily when it comes to striving for our goals, however, to achieve you have to persevere. Here’s why you need to stop using the word can’t.

It’s negative - The word ‘can’t’ has plenty of negative connotations and gives you the opposite of motivation. When you say, ‘you can’t do something’, you’re automatically signing it off and essentially giving up. However, when you say you can do something, it’s another story. You’re giving yourself the hope and motivation to do what you need to do.

It doesn't help you in any way - In what situation has the word ‘can’t’ ever helped someone? Literally never, it’s one of those phrases that stop us in our tracks instead of allowing us to move forward.

It doesn't teach us anything - The word ‘can’t’ isn’t going to teach us anything, it’s a word that has no useful element whatsoever when reaching our goals. We need to strive forward and push ourselves into uncomfortable situations to put us ahead of the game. Switch ‘can’t’ to can and all you problems will be resolved.

‘She turned her cant’s into cans and dreams into plans’

If you’re struggling with the inspiration to change your negative mindset and reach for your goals, discover a wide selection of content at www.upbeatee.com.