As we saw from the graphs post from a couple of days ago Serotonin appears to be crucial in developing positive feelings like love and happiness and avoiding depression.
But can we add serotonin through our diet? Apparently so.
Foods like salmon, turkey, nuts and seeds as well as pineapple have been shown to boost our levels of the all important chemical.
Cheese also gets a mention but I would avoid dairy foods in excess.
Other ways of boosting serotonin? our old friend exercise which makes sense and sunlight which is easier said than done here in rainy Scotland.
Cheers
Monday, 5 September 2016
Sunday, 4 September 2016
Yesterday's Post
I love looking into the reasons why people behave in particular ways and the graphic from yesterday shows that much of it can be explained by Seratonin, Dopamine and Oxytocin.
But how much can we as individuals control the quantities of these in our brains?
As surely if we can control them using diet, exercise and sleep then we can have more control over how we feel.
And if we have more control over how we feel, we can make ourselves feel more confident.
That's the theory anyway. I look forward in the future to looking in more detail at how the balance in the brain works and the power we have to influence it.
Cheers
But how much can we as individuals control the quantities of these in our brains?
As surely if we can control them using diet, exercise and sleep then we can have more control over how we feel.
And if we have more control over how we feel, we can make ourselves feel more confident.
That's the theory anyway. I look forward in the future to looking in more detail at how the balance in the brain works and the power we have to influence it.
Cheers
Saturday, 3 September 2016
Friday, 2 September 2016
Dealing with Adversity
Some people appear to deal with adversity easily and bounce back from all types of events while others seem to crumble at a minor setback.
But why?
My view is that dealing with adversity and being able to bounce back from setbacks is a skill which can be learned.
Some seem to learn these lessons at a very young age, even as toddlers or young children, while the rest of us take longer to pick up these skills.
But we can make steps to start developing these skills now.
1. Firstly view any experience as a learning one, try to take anything from it, we can generally learn a lot about ourselves in difficult situations.
2. Reinvent the future, always be prepared to alter our future plans and expectations based on what has happened. That is not to say we give up on ambitions.
3. Don't get angry; get curious; we can all initially react with fury when something goes wrong. But we need to work hard to overcome these feelings and then try to become curious about what went wrong and why we reacted in the particular way we did.
Cheers
But why?
My view is that dealing with adversity and being able to bounce back from setbacks is a skill which can be learned.
Some seem to learn these lessons at a very young age, even as toddlers or young children, while the rest of us take longer to pick up these skills.
But we can make steps to start developing these skills now.
1. Firstly view any experience as a learning one, try to take anything from it, we can generally learn a lot about ourselves in difficult situations.
2. Reinvent the future, always be prepared to alter our future plans and expectations based on what has happened. That is not to say we give up on ambitions.
3. Don't get angry; get curious; we can all initially react with fury when something goes wrong. But we need to work hard to overcome these feelings and then try to become curious about what went wrong and why we reacted in the particular way we did.
Cheers
Thursday, 1 September 2016
Girls' Falling Confidence
A BBC report from July shows that girls' confidence levels take a real dip after the age of 10.
The Girl Guide survey indicates that girls feel far less sure of themselves when they hit the age of 17.
For example in answer to the question I feel confident in myself 63% of those of between 7-10 responded positively while this fell to 31% for those ages 17-21.
Likewise, in response to the question I can do anything I try only 40% of those between 17-21 said yes while 74% of their younger counterparts responded yes.
The pattern continued with the third question I am proud of something I have achieved with the figures being 75% and 41%.
Worrying indeed for all of us especially those of us with daughters.
What is the issue? School, Society, Peers
I think this is something worth looking at more closely in the future
Cheers
The Girl Guide survey indicates that girls feel far less sure of themselves when they hit the age of 17.
For example in answer to the question I feel confident in myself 63% of those of between 7-10 responded positively while this fell to 31% for those ages 17-21.
Likewise, in response to the question I can do anything I try only 40% of those between 17-21 said yes while 74% of their younger counterparts responded yes.
The pattern continued with the third question I am proud of something I have achieved with the figures being 75% and 41%.
Worrying indeed for all of us especially those of us with daughters.
What is the issue? School, Society, Peers
I think this is something worth looking at more closely in the future
Cheers
Wednesday, 31 August 2016
The benefits of sleep
In recent years there has been a significant amount of scientific research proving the benefits of sleep.
It has been linked with such things as improved memory, longer life and improved creativity.
If we take improved memory for example apparently when we are learning new skills we need sleep to rehearse these skills, whether mental or physical, using our subconscious.
What has this got to do with confidence? Well, if we can be sure we can learn and memorise anything we focus on as well as feeling well rested. Surely that will boost our feeling of well being.
In addition, as I have mentioned before, it is my view, that being fit and training hard helps boost confidence.
Well guess what? Sleep also helps us benefit from training and exercise allowing us to recover more quickly and gain more from the training sessions.
I'm off to bed
zzzzz
Cheers
It has been linked with such things as improved memory, longer life and improved creativity.
If we take improved memory for example apparently when we are learning new skills we need sleep to rehearse these skills, whether mental or physical, using our subconscious.
What has this got to do with confidence? Well, if we can be sure we can learn and memorise anything we focus on as well as feeling well rested. Surely that will boost our feeling of well being.
In addition, as I have mentioned before, it is my view, that being fit and training hard helps boost confidence.
Well guess what? Sleep also helps us benefit from training and exercise allowing us to recover more quickly and gain more from the training sessions.
I'm off to bed
zzzzz
Cheers
Tuesday, 30 August 2016
Practical Problem Solving
Many people with low confidence can end up trapped in a cycle of ever decreasing self belief as they put decisions off or stick their head in the sand and hope problems go away.
When we think about it in the cold light of day it doesn't make sense to procrastinate but we all do it and it only makes things worse.
The NHS online resources can be source of pretty good advice and they say the following about problem solving
"Identify the problem
Identify all possible solutions
Evaluate pros and cons
Select a solution
Plan
Do (put the plan into action)
Review"
This appears to be pretty common sense advice but it is amazing how often we will ignore issues.
If we sit down with a pen and paper (or a laptop) and go through the stages we can think more clearly about the issues becoming less emotionally involved.
Furthermore, research indicates that if we write down a "to do" list we are far more likely to actually take some action.
It sounds like a plan
Cheers
When we think about it in the cold light of day it doesn't make sense to procrastinate but we all do it and it only makes things worse.
The NHS online resources can be source of pretty good advice and they say the following about problem solving
"Identify the problem
Identify all possible solutions
Evaluate pros and cons
Select a solution
Plan
Do (put the plan into action)
Review"
This appears to be pretty common sense advice but it is amazing how often we will ignore issues.
If we sit down with a pen and paper (or a laptop) and go through the stages we can think more clearly about the issues becoming less emotionally involved.
Furthermore, research indicates that if we write down a "to do" list we are far more likely to actually take some action.
It sounds like a plan
Cheers
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