Mount Huashan in China is a home to a lovely temple.  The spacious mountain tops and the fresh air provide a lovely setting for the magnificent oriental temple.  Many people make the pilgrimage to see the  inside of the holy temple.  The only downside to the hike is that it could quite possibly kill you.

The hike is literally no more than a 12 inch plank that has been bolted into the side of a mountain. Just so you know this man is looking down more than a thousand feet.  If he were to slip he wouldn’t have much chance of surviving that type of fall.  But really, who slips when they are sitting down. I don’t think that is even possible.

How is that for an adrenalin rush?  Now if you are anything like that guy, you are probably going to see this picture and want to experience the thrill of sitting at the edge of death.

No matter what facet of life you are trying to improve it always takes work.  You want a promotion at work. You want to start eating better. You want to start running more. Whatever it is you are going to have to get excited and pumped to work for it.  Now there are a million different inspirational quotes.  That are “supposed” to get you to run nonstop for 2 hours straight, but how many of these actually get you, well, motivated.

There are quotes that make us strive for the things that we want “Don’t complain, just work harder”. There are quotes that make exert more than we thought we had “Push yourself to prove you are alive”. And there are quotes that are meant to make us maintain focus on our goals, in spite of difficulties.  “Persevere…because on the road to success there is never a crowd on the extra mile!” Now truthfully, how many of these quotes actually invigorate your soul and make you want to become better?

Wikipedia has a behemoth of a page for their motivation entry. But I don’t think we have to complicate things like that. I think you can find a short phrase that should do the trick without digging through an entire encyclopedia entry.

To most people  quotes will be clever and entertaining, but they are not going to light that internal flame of motivation.  To do that you need something that speaks directly to you. so the question is:

HOW DO YOU MOTIVATE YOURSELF?

Ask yourself, “How am I going to motivate myself?”  The hardest part to any goal is the very beginning, after that you have momentum and you can continue barreling down the trail, and in some cases accelerating down.  Motivation is what has to come before that very first step.  The first step initiates the course that you will take, but motivation initiates the action.

It is actually proven that the most appealing sound is someone’s name.  Think about it.  Out of everything in the world, what would fill you with pleasure most?  For most people it is their own name.  Perhaps it is because this is the noise that identifies you from everyone else, or perhaps it is a sound that is made when someone else recognizes you as an individual.  It may be some hedonistic inherent pleasure, or maybe it is something that is learned over time.  What ever the case may be, think of the power you could wield by remembering names.  Calling someone by their name is a psychological stimulus,like popping a small treat into a dogs mouth. it instantly pumps endorphin’s through their neural pathways.  This is a great way to become more likable.

There are five steps to permanently remembering names.

 The most important part to this is that you are consciously aware of these steps during the meeting of a new person.

Step 1: Be Motivated 

This is probably the hardest part for me.  When I am somewhere new and there are people I haven’t ever met usually I don’t feel to anxious to get to know them.  Some people are naturally excited about meeting new friends.  Some are not.  For those of us who are not this step takes a little bit of mental discipline.

When you see someone new, pump yourself as if you were about to go push weights or run sprints.  Work yourself up, tell yourself how exciting meeting this person will be.  Think about how interesting they are.  Also here is a huge tip: Treat them like a well known friend. These really help to make people seem, well, cooler.  There is only as much depth as you care to explore.  That should be a quote.

Step 2: Sincerity

Yes, it sounds sappy. We all hate that word, don’t we? Sincerity always sounds like a chick-flick romantic comedy you saw with your ex staring some actress like Alexis Bledel or Zoey Deschanel.  You know the type, real down to earth and sweet-hearted, the actress not your ex.  Anyway. Forget about the nostalgic implications and be sincere.

Focus on the person.

Make sure you heard the name right.

Step 3:  Repeat, Repeat, Repeat.

Fun facts about neuroscience.  Every thought in the brain comes from electric pulses being shot down neurons int he brain.  Simple thoughts like a single persons name are no different.  Every time you think a thought more than once, that specific neuron becomes stronger, like a muscle would from lifting weights.  So repeating will actually work to make the name stick and that is not only a psychological fact but a physiological fact as well.

Don’t just be a goon and repeat the name out loud like some sort of lame parrot desperate for a treat. Be incognito about repeating names.

They say it, then you have one chance to repeat it right of the bat to clarify.

Now silently repeat it in your head, until you get the chance to introduce them to someone else. Bam, score right in the kisser.

If at all possible sprinkle the name in throughout the conversation.

Step 4: Associate

Fun fact about neuroscience.  Thoughts lead to other thoughts just like roads and trails.  If you want to get on the Boulevard then you have to take Bluff, or Main, or Riverroad.  Each time you establish a connection between one thought and another there is a new pathway for your brain to follow when you are trying to get to that specific thought.

Easy way to associate is think of the five senses.  For example their name is Paige, I would associate that person with the smell of an old book, the plain sight of a blank page, the sound of a page tearing, the texture of thick brown paper (you know, from like kindergarten. What we are not old enough to use regular fetching paper?) and perhaps I would skip associating this person with the sense of taste because so far I am not impressed with the associations and am afraid it might leave a bad taste in my mouth.

Step 5: Review 

This may seem weird and kind of creepy, but it really works.  Review that persons name.  When you get home hours after meeting your new friend. Get a pencil and paper and right down something you and your acquaintance talked about.  Do it in dialogue, it makes thinks more fun and it helps you to think of their mannerisms.

Hey world, I got a shocker for you today.  Lactic acid is actually a good thing.   Disregard what medicinenet.com says, they are totally wrong.  NYtimes reported on this back in like 2006, and I am just now learning about it for the first time.  I don’t know, it surprises me that even with how easy information sharing has become we are still terrible at it.  I blame misinformation.  That is why I will always be as credible as possible.  But of course, you have to do your own research too.

So as of now the precises mechanisms that actually cause muscle soreness are not known.  But what we do know is that lactic acid has approximately nothing to do with it. Well, not nothing. It has about as much to do with muscle soreness as gasoline does with a flat tire.  Lactic acid is actually a fuel for muscles.  You understand?  It is absorbed by he mitochondria and used to make energy. Neat huh?  In fact, L. Bruce Gladden, a professor of health and human performance at Auburn University said “there are specific proteins that carry lactic acid into the mitochondria to create fast burning energy.”  It is sort of like HOV lane when you are on the high way, fast tracking to your destination.

Even though people are severely confused about what causes soreness, the same basic remedies still work.  Light anaerobic exercise before the heavy workout, topical creams, and  steam rooms have been shown to relieve soreness.  Good luck kids and forget what you heard from your high school coaches.

“God is an artist” the quote comes from A Beautiful Mind. I feel that reference is very fitting for this blog post.  We live in a wonderful age where science can take us to the fringe of reality, to the point where we can see the opaque ethereal workings of nature. Fifty years ago if someone drew correlation between pigment and nutrition their ideas would be regarded as laughable.  Turns out, life is much more beautiful and simple than anyone would have guessed.

Natural foods with deep colors are actually healthier for you.  And that is a scientifically proven fact.  Fruits and vegetables get their colors from chemically active anti-oxidant pigments.  For example carrots are orange because of the high concentration of beta-carotene. Other foods like squash and pumpkins also have this same nutrient and guess what they are the same color, go figure. Right?

Studies are revealing that many colors come from specific nutrients.  Lycopene, which is all the rage these days, comes predominately from red foods.  Of course you probably know that it comes from tomatoes but it is also found in red cabbage, grapefruits, guavas, watermelon, and asparagus.   Ok, disregard the last one. Sometimes the pigment doesn’t show up.  Just like a Haley Barry, who is chemically active anti-oxidant filled celebrity and is also good for the health.

So if there is one thing to be taken away from all this, I think it should be incorporate a little more color into your life.   These colorful anti-oxidants have been shown to benefit everything from complexion to mental health.

I have come to realize that people who blog all the time or socialize via online networks sort of have an impaired ability to uh… well, how to say this without sounding too bumptious? They don’t know how to communicate, not in person anyway.   Perhaps you are one of them, perhaps you are not, maybe you think you don’t need any help making your conversations more clever and interesting. That is fine. Don’t read beyond this point. For those of you who are not to prideful to get a few tips on conversation you may find this to be enjoyable and beneficial.

Be specific but not too specific.

“How is your day?” This is a very awesome conversation starter, but it is a bit traditional. People when they hear this may think that you are a bit too conservative, especially if you look the part.

So instead say, “how is your [insert specific day of the week]”.  This takes them by surprise and makes them think.  This subtle attention to detail will get them to give you a more personal and genuine answer,  thus avoiding the hum-drum “mmm… good” type response. Try to get creative don’t just always use the day of the week, or perhaps one day a past conversationalist will hear you start a conversation the same way twice.  This will hurt your intellectual credibility.

However, be careful with this technique.  You never want to get too specific otherwise the other person may think that you are weird.  Imagine if someone approached you and said, “How is your barchetta  sandwich on this Tuesday at approximately 12:45 pm?”  This is too much and may cause them to feel overwhelmed.  That will make them dislike you.

Stress is a biological response to threat; it is a much more primitive response to protect us against immediate danger.  Unfortunately a lot of men find many frivolous things to be threatening. Ok, so your career, relations, or your financial status aren’t completely frivolous, but they are not actually immediate threats against your life. Stress was useful for Neolithic men back in the prehistoric age, but now stress doesn’t do much except harm the internal organs and operations.

Affects of Stress

• It excites the heart rate to pump more blood into the brain, so to better make quick decisions.
• Blood moves to the large muscles of the legs and arms and away from the gut, so to create more strength and faster movements.
• Blood sugar rises to provide more energy.
• Blood clots more easily, so to not be lost from open wounds.

Stress sounds like diabetes, coronary heart disease,  and other cardiovascular implications.  You can see why these are harmful to one’s health.

What To Do To Reduce Stress

1. Exercise regularly:  Doing this helps to reduce any pent up energy that you may have.  A fatigued body is a relaxed and happy body. That is what I always say.
2. Meditate: This is the least practiced form of stress reduction and ironically it is the most effective too.  The simple relaxing and grounding effects of meditation really do wonders for the mind and body.
3. Sleep right:  This is another major cause of excessive stress.  In our bustling lives we think that staying up late and cramming everything into one day is the best way to get things done.  This is wrong.  Sleeping a healthy 7-8 hours a night will significantly lower stress levels and it will also help you to have more energy during the day.
4. Accept things you can’t change.  Stop stressing over the past, there is no way that helps you. Take the lesson that you have learned and move on.
5. Become a master of triage:  Triage is the act of sorting victims in order of most importance to least; we, however, will be sorting tasks.  Identify the most important things and do them first.

Getting great abs does not have to be the lifelong struggle that many believe it to be. There are websites that tell people that the only way to get rid of stubborn belly fat is through liposuction or a tummy tuck operation. This is just simply not the case. These people have given up on trying hard for what they want, and they are attempting to get you to do the same. If you really want to trim down and have pronounced abs, there are things that you can do to achieve this. Know this now, for many people these are not activities that will produce immediate results.

Diet
One of the first things that you need to adjust in order to rid yourself of stubborn belly fat and to build abs is to adjust your diet. Doctors will tell you that the best way to get into shape is to combine a healthy diet with steady exercise. So if you are only doing half of these things, you can only expect half the results.

Exercise Regularly
Another thing that you will want to consider is exercising regularly. Just because you want to focus on creating abs, does not mean that entire body work out programs will not help you out. All of it gets your heart rate going and your body burning calories. If you are trying to lose weight and get fit, this is an ideal approach to slimming.

If you want to build on a flatter stomach, than you need to know that there is much more that you can do beyond sit ups and crunches. Climbing stairs can be a great workout for your abs, as well as pushups. While these also tone other muscle groups like your arms or your legs, they also put pressure and specific attention on your abdominal group.

Push Yourself
The most important thing to remember in all of this, and perhaps the key advice would be to push yourself. No one ever saw results because they stayed in their comfort zones and never broke a sweat. Each workout should be felt for hours afterward and throughout the next day when you get up. Push yourself to do as much as you can when you are exercising. As the adage suggests, no pain is no gain.

Don’t Get Discouraged
Another thing to remember is not to get discouraged. You might be surrounded in media by people with perfect bodies and can’t seem to deduce why yours doesn’t look the same way. You have to be patient and push through the negativity that is inevitable to this kind of life change. You are going to go through patches where you aren’t seeing results and think that what you are doing simply isn’t working. It is, and you just have to give it an opportunity to be effective for you.

Hopefully through this you have found a little more motivation to find the abs of your dreams. If you really want to change the way you look and build muscles over your stomach, these tips should help you to do this.

Craig Francis enjoys leading a healthy lifestyle. He is a contributing author at www.lifeinsurancequotes.org.

Office workers have a very unique challenge that other more physically demanding jobs don’t provide.  Keeping energized and motivated while sitting in front of a computer monitor can be a struggle.  Not to worry though, there are simple tricks that can be implemented in seconds and are immediately effective.

Tap your thymus.

When it is tapped it triggers the production of T cells, relieves stress, and, guess what, even boosts energy.

The thymus is an integral part of the endocrine system which controls all the hormonal functioning in the body.

Tap lightly for twenty seconds while breathing slowly and deeply. It actually works.

Blink

If you spend all day staring at a screen you are probably going to get a bit bored and tired.

Blinking allows your brain to take a millisecond mini break, which is just enough for your brain to re-coop.

So try to blink ten to twenty times every minute. It will really help keep you focused.

Stand up

Standing up will get the circulation running throughout your body.

This is self explanatory. Need I say more?

Sit up straight

This works a lot like standing would.

Keeping your abdomen tight is going to keep you exerting enough energy to prevent fatigue from taking over.

It will also help to protect your back from any damage accumulated over time.

Eat an apple

Apples are full of vitamin C, fiber and complex carbohydrates.

I know it is tempting but try to avoid the chocolate and stick to an apple.

Is it cheating to eat a chocolate apple?

Drink Water

Water is the essential mixture of life. It is the very essences of all things living.

Promote your livability with some good old fashion water.

Stay away from the sticky energy drinks, they will kill you.