Myth or Fact: Low carb diets are good for your health

I'll answer this question right off the bat so there is no confusion... this is a MYTH. Diets low in carbohydrates are NOT... I repeat, NOT good for your health. There are many negative effects of going on a low-carbohydrate diet because it restricts many nutrient-dense foods and is ultimately an unhealthy long-term eating plan.

For one, a low carbohydrate diet will focus a lot on consuming high-protein foods and fats to substitute for the carbs that you are not eating. Some examples of these foods are steak, bacon, and butter. These foods are high in both saturated fat and cholesterol which are terrible for your heart due to the raised levels of LDL cholesterol (the bad kind of cholesterol) in your blood.

Another negative impact of a low-carb diet is that it is low in fiber. Americans are already used to diets that are too low in fiber and participating in a low-carb diet does not help this scarcity of fiber. Common sources of fiber are whole grains, beans, fruits, and vegetables - all carbohydrate-containing foods. Without a substantial amount of fiber in your diet, you may experience constipation or other gastrointestinal problems.

image source: proudtobeafilthyliberalscum.com

 

Since many low-carb diets cut out the carbohydrates consumed by eating fruits and vegetables, participants in this difficult diet are restricting their intake of vitamins A, C, and potassium. Since low-carb diets also frequently limit dairy product intake, many participants of this diet are also experiencing weaker bones due to their inadequate intake of calcium.

source: http://www.livestrong.com/article/400440-why-is-a-low-carb-diet-bad-for-your-health/

Motivation to Exercise

It is a pretty well-known fact that in order to be healthy, you need to exercise. There is no magic food that can instantly make you fit, although we all wish there was. You will also not get any healthier by simply pinning to your Fitness board on Pinterest. Those calories are not going to burn themselves, no matter how bad you want them to.There is a process to getting healthy, and the two factors that can show the most results are exercise and a healthy diet.  It is not enough to lay on the couch and think about exercising.  So, now that we have that covered it's on to the hard part... how can you get motivated to exercise?

One way to motivate yourself to exercise is to make plans to exercise with a friend (or multiple friends). Whether you want to go to the gym together, go for a jog, or play a pickup game of basketball, it is always good to have an exercise buddy. For one, it makes it harder for you to back down once you have already agreed to exercise someone. Make plans in advance so that you have a scheduled amount of time to get your exercise in.

                                                 image source: purepowerfitness.com.au

Another way to motivate yourself to exercise is to reward yourself when you do. Of course you will want to make sure this reward isn't food or a special treat that will just negate all of those calories you recently burned while exercising! One way to reward yourself by exercising is to make an exercise jar. Every time you go to the gym put one dollar in your exercise jar. Once you reach $100 (100 trips to the gym), you can reward yourself with a little shopping spree to spend your money. If you are a little less patient, another way to reward yourself by exercising would be to treat yourself to a manicure or maybe a new tshirt for meeting your weekly or monthly goal.

One other way to motivate yourself to exercise is to reward others by your exercise. In other words, exercise for charity. There are a couple of ways you can approach this. One way is to make the same exercise jar that you would make for yourself, however once you reach your desired amount of money, you would take that money and donate it to your favorite charity. There are also an abundance of races and walkathons that are for charity that give you a great calorie-burning benefit as well. So why not go participate in your local 5k race; it's good for both you and others in need!

source: http://www.livestrong.com/article/540771-what-are-some-ways-to-motivate-someone-to-exercise-with-you/

Synthesis and Plan

I have been researching all about nutrition and the well-being of people. I am fascinated by how people make decisions and what fuels their decisions to make healthy/unhealthy choices. Thus, so far I have beeing looking into why Americans are so fat and why people make unhealthy decisions. I have researched how our wealth affects our weight, how our choices affect our weight, and also how some people don't have much control over their weight. I have learned that many times a lower income leads to obesity due to the abundance of cheap yet junky food available. I have also learned that technology has played a surprisingly large role in the rise of obesity. Some questions that I would still like to discover with my research are:

• Is the price of healthy food better in the long run?
• Is the increase of fast food restaurants a main reason for the increase in obesity?
• Why do people go on such harsh diets when all they need is to eat healthier and get a normal amount of exercise?
• What would it take to motivate people to be healthier (both with diet and exercise).

Career that is best for you

When selecting a job to pay the bills or a career there are some questions that you have to ask yourself. When selecting a career you have to realize that one job today doesnt mean that you continue down that path the rest of your life. One job that sounds good today may end up a disaster or a terrible job today may end up as your dream job. 

What are your natural talents? Through out your life your peers compliment you on what your good at or something that comes naturally to you. Choose a job that lets you use your natural abilities.

What’s your work style? style is weather you like a strtict work agenda or a job with loose due dates and open projects.

Where do you like to work? locations can vary from city to local bussinesses. Also have to think about headquarters, at home, or traveling

Do you enjoy social interaction? Is interaction with other important or do you enjoy working by yourself?

How important to you is work-life balance? weather you like a long commute or a local job with a short day or long day with a lot of dedication.

Are you looking to give back? some jobs give you the oppurtunity to give to the community and some dont

Are you comfortable in the public eye? Do you like being judge by the public and hearing there opinions or do you want to do something privately with little recognition.

Do you deal well with stress? What stress level are you looking for

How much money do you want to make? how much money do you need to fullfil your dream lifestyle

http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/outside-voices-careers/2010/12/06/how-to-choose-a-career-thats-best-for-you

Measure Success

If you go around asking entrepreuners or bussiness man if they reached there finacial goals many of them would say "yes" If you follow with the question of if they feel successful almost all of them will change their answer to no. Some of the most successful, rich people out there dont even keep track of there annual earnings. Meaning that measuring success off of a persons bank account is useless. When someone is trying to build up towards success its called momentum. As you build momentum your feeling of success grows and will continue to grow. Thing is though, 90% of people dont feel succesful with their jobs. The sense of momentum building is feeling of success. You reach full success when the momentum can keep growing without you guiding it.

Example: "My friend Georgia Hurd is not famous. She’s not rich. And she’s not yet attained the success she desires. She moved to Los Angeles to become an actress and has been working really hard to achieve her dream. She has been through some hard times. Money has been tight. Her work schedule often hurts her social life. But she perseveres. Her work ethic and her drive are amazing. She is so focused on where she wants to go, it is inspiring. After a couple of years of pushing and lots of wondering if it will ever happen, she’s starting to get some momentum. This week alone, she was called in to do a modeling job for American Apparel, she had some fantastic auditions and people are starting to take notice of her. What Georgia has found is momentum. It is that momentum that makes her feel good. It is the momentum that makes her feel successful."
http://www.askmen.com/money/career_400/426b_measure-success-simon-sinek.html

Fullfiling your goals, not dreams

People create lists almost everyday. People created grocery lists, to do list, and a lists of DREAMS! The ironic thing about the list of dreams is that a dreams is an idea or hope that is impractical or unlikely ever to be realized. Why would you create a list that will most likely never be completed. You need to change that word "dreams" to the word "Goal". A goal is something that somebody wants to achieve or accomplish. When creating goals you have to actually create ones that you plan on completing. Do not waste your time creating goals that you don't plan on spending time completing or want to complete. The more refined and defined your goals are, the greater your chance of achieving them. Once you create a goal or a list of goals you become goal oriented. To become goal oriented is to be strongly motivated and highly organized in achieving tasks that are specified in advance. Having goals give you the initial drive to begin fulfilling them. There are some personal characteristics that everyone needs to fulfill any goal that they will ever set.

• Determination. This is especially important with respect to big goals that will require considerable time and energy. One way to increase your determination is to…
• Break big goals into manageable stages. Smaller, “stepping stone goals” keep you from feeling overwhelmed. They also provide positive reinforcement and a sense of accomplishment along the way.
• Eliminate distractions. If your efforts are too diluted, it really won’t matter what else you do. When you are serious about achieving an important goal you need to push less important things out of the picture.
• Constantly evaluate your progress. To reach your target you must stay on course. That means checking you progress to make sure you are still moving in the right direction. Your path will always be somewhat fluid, so keep your eye on the ball.
• Believe in yourself. Doubt is a waste of time and energy. Deal with doubts before you start working toward your goal, not after. Doubt is the opposite of determination and engaging in it will bring your progress to a standstill.
• Make a commitment. Every important goal will present you with challenges along the way. If you are not totally committed to success, those challenges could seem insurmountable. Making a total commitment to success will shrink those challenges down so you can climb over them.
• Make yourself accountable. Tell others what you intend to do so you will feel accountable. This can be very motivating for several reasons. The more accountability you feel, the more motivated you will become.

With good work ethic you can accomplish everything!

http://advancedlifeskills.com/blog/what-it-takes-to-accomplish-your-dreams/

all definitions from dictionary.com

Buying and The Mind

Article Title: Understanding The Psychology of Buying
Author: Pam Lawthorne (online marketing consultant)
Website: pamlawthorn.com

In order to have a successful business, marketers have to know how to properly appeal to there buyers, and in order to do that, marketers have to understand the psychology of buying. Lawthorne believes that it is easy to understand what buyers want, but difficult to apply into their own market.

The first basic psychologic aspect of buyers is that people buy on emotions and justify it with logic. The article uses a example of a Mercedes. A person does not buy a Mercedes because its a good economic decision, they buy it because their emotions appeal to it. They like the way they feel in the car. Then, after a while, they justify their purchase to others with logic. They say thing like "I need this to look good for clients". They give logical reasons to justify their purchases.

The last major aspect the article gives on the psychology of buying, is That people buy on believability. In order for people to buy your product, you must make the buyer believe that they need the product you are selling. The claim you make must be both beneficial and believable. People are more willing to buy if they believe that the product will satisfy. Both believability, and emotions are necessary in order to make a profit.

Shopoholics

Website: www.TheShulmanCenter.com
Author: Dr. Shulman
Credibility: The Shulman Center is a treatment center for people with compulsive theft, spending, and hoarding.

What makes people want to spend money, even when theres no more money left to spend? Would you believe that some people can be diagnosed with a psychological desease that makes people compulsively shop with no control? Dr. Terrence Shulman is a clinical psychologists and founder of the Shulman Center for people with overspending, shoplifting, and hoarding disorders.

Shulman has helped hundreds of people with there disorders and believes he has cracked down on the causes of treatment methods of excessive spending. Shulman believes that causes of excessive spending are caused by:

• Emotional deprivation in childhood
• Inability to tolerate negative feelings
• Need to fill an inner void
• Excitement seeking
• Approval seeking
• Perfectionism
• Genuinely impulsive and compulsive
• Need to gain control

Shulman also stresses that addicts shop to relieve anxiety and to cope with bigger problems in their life.

Treatments for over spending involve gradual decrease in spending, cutting all charge cards, asking yourself if the item is needed, and shopping with a caring friend. People with severe cases of overspending consult psychiatric help with Centers like Shulman.

People are Like Birds???

Article title: How To Make Your Product Attractive To All Types Of People
by: DJ Heckes (Women Entrepreneur)
Credibility: Article on Business Insider

In The endless search of marketers trying to find the next big product, they have turned to more bizarre psychological methods to try and appeal to all different types of people. A particular Theory purposed by William Marston in 1928. Marston proposed that no matter what your background was, your interests and personality fell in a certain category relating to  1 of four colors. Marston truly believed that your color (usually your favorite color) also told a lot about your personality. The colors were:

• Yellow: Influential and charismatic.
• Red: Dominant and inspirational
• Blue: Detailed and methodical
• Green: Steady, and a Team Player.

This Theory, Known as the DISC theory, was then modified in the late 70s by Gary Couture in order to be used in the economic market. The modifies theory changed the color category, to specific types of bird:

• Peacock - Yellow
• Eagle - Red
• Owl - Blue
• Dove - Green

These new categories made it more accurate to place people in the categories  and the new animals made it 80% more accurate When categorizing people. The New DISC theory has proven as a crucial piece for  retailers to appeal and build a strong bond with their customers.

Retailers Watching Us

Article Title: How Retailers Study us to Maximize Profit
Author: Jay O'Donnell and Sarah Meehan
Credibility: Article in USA Today

Large retail stores such as Target y have been using very controversial methods in studying their average customer in order to maximize their profits. Stores have been using their surveillance cameras and employees to monitor trends of specific types of shoppers. Target has claimed that their observation methods were so well, that they could predict if a women was pregnant, even before the women's father knew.

These drastic claims by Target have made some customers feel violated, and that the stores at which they shop know too much about customers' personal lives. Some of Target's observation methods include:

• Monitoring what paths shoppers take in the store.
• Counting the number of children in the store at a given time.
• Signs with digital cameras that can detect where customers look on the sign.
• Seeing how customers interact with different products in the store.

All these methods, and many more are methods used by Target to understand how and why buyers purchase what they do. Target concludes that people are attracted to big changes, such as drastic bargains, store remodeling, interesting commercials and signs, and customer aprecitation such as bargains of a persons birthday. Target claims that they use psychologists to come to these conclusions. The numbers of Targets success do not lie, and these observations have proven very successful for their profits.

Our Mannerisms and Our Weight

Why are Americans so fat? Why does the size of the average American seem to continually rise and grow? I'm not sure if these are questions that everybody thinks about, but they should be. Maybe if we spent more time analyzing the problem at hand, we would realize what we are doing wrong and fix our problems. Unfortunately, that's not what happens.

So, back to the question - why ARE Americans so fat? Well for one, think about what you are doing right now. You are sitting down in front of a computer screen reading things on the internet. How many calories do you think that burns? I'll tell you... not very many. Alright, so right now you are at school and you don't really have much of a choice. But how about when you get home from school today? What are you going to do? The answer for most of you is probably: surf the internet for a little or relax in front of the TV for a while. Admit it, you know it's true. And to make matters worse, you will most likely be eating a snack to cure your boredom while you participate in those minimally-calorie-burning activities. The bad just got worse - you are not only burning minimal calories, but now you are gaining calories most likely because you are just bored.

                                                        image source: rodale.com

Think back to when you were younger. What would you do for fun as a kid? I know what I did. My friends and I would go play at the park, we would play games outside like tag and capture the flag, we rode our bikes around or walked from place to place, or we would play sports like basketball or tennis. I'm sure many of you readers are babysitters; what do those kids do for fun nowadays? I know the kids that I babysity love their ipods. They could sit there playing games for hours. A lot of times they'll go on their computer and make videos and take pictures on their photobooth. They also love their Disney channel shows. They'll sit in front of their TV browsing through the DVR and On Demand shows which make their favorite shows readily available and with a large variety too - many more shows available than when I was growing up. To simply analyze how kids occupy themselves these days makes it obvious that what is fun nowadays happens to be mostly technology-based and therefore consists of little to no movements (hence little calorie burning).

However, kids aren't the only culprits. There are even services nowadays to order your groceries online and have someone go grocery shopping for you and deliver them to your house.... wow. Face it, our society is lazy and that contributes to our obesity. If you think about what you do every day, I'm sure you can pinpoint which activites showcase your laziness and the status quo of our society. So think about what you do each day. What can you change to make your actions more beneficial to your health?

Source: "Supersize It"

"The Happy Secret to Better Work"

Shawn Achor is a researcher at Harvard University studying happiness along with positive psychology.  He believes that reality does not shape one, but it's the limbs of reality which your brain views the world which actually shapes one's reality.  And if the limbs are changed, happiness, educational, and business outcomes will be changed as well.  

Achor concluded that students attending Harvard University were extremely happy to finally have been accepted into the University.  But after two weeks or so, the student's brains were focused on the workload, complaints, and stress of life at school.  Their goals had moved on. 

Many say that working harder is how people become more successful therefore leading to  more happiness.  But Anchor argues that is a backwards way of thinking.  Due to the constant changing goal of success it is extremely difficult to feel accomplished and happy for long periods of time.  Think about it.  One struggles to get good grades, but then once accomplished must get better grades.  Happiness is on the opposite side of success and one's brain never gets there.  Many think they must be successful to be happier but the brain works the other way.  

Upon these findings, Achor suggested that only ten percent of long term happiness can be predicted.  The other ninety percent of long term happiness does not come from the external world, but in the way one's brain processes the world.  Therefore, Achor believes that it is a necessity to change the formula for happiness and success.  "We can change the way we can affect reality," Anchor preached.  

Furthermore, only twenty five percent of job successes are predicted by IQ and the other seventy-five percent are predicted by one's optimism levels, social supports, and ability to see stress as a challenge instead of a threat.  

There is a a term called happiness advantage which implies that the brain performs much better at a positive stance as opposed to negative (stressful). With a happiness advantage, creativity rises along with intelligence and productivity.  In summary, Achor believes that it is a must to reverse the formula for happiness and success along with talking about the positives of the world.  Random acts of kindness are definitely a start to reverse the formula.  With a new formula, "we can create a world of positivity and a real revolution" (Achor).  So try to start thinking confidently and being happy within yourself.  What truly makes one happy?



Authority: Shawn Achor
Accuracy: posted by reliable source (Ted Talks)
Timeliness: February 2012
Video Source:
http://www.ted.com/talks/shawn_achor_the_happy_secret_to_better_work.html

Habits of success

Habits of Success

Lead 
Habits- sounds like a general term right? before knowing what habits require you may define it like this: Something that you do consistently and it reflects my choices. there is a somewhat accurate connotation with that definition, but Habits go much further. Habit is the intersection of knowledge, skill, and desire. Knowledge is the what to do factor,  Skill is the how to do factor, and desire is the want to do factor. In order to make something a habit in our lives, these three things are required of us. As an infant, we were totally dependent on others. we nurtured off them and were directed by them. after several years we keep growing more and more independent mentally, physically, emotionally, and even financially. But what we should strive for is being interdependent. Interdependence is a way we can combine being dependent on people as well as being independent but create a balance so we do not rely on others too much or take too much responsibility for ourselves.

Main Body
Habits are very important with success. When becoming successful, you have to be willing to have the desire to change something in business, or in your life. You have obtain knowledge to know what your next move is. And you have to develop the skill to know how to make your next move. Success in business revolves around your habits and choices, as well as success in living. Being reliant on people in business is risky. For example: if you rely o n one person to write a business plan and they fail to do it in the time you give them, you can easily be frustrated and possibly have that business plan handed in late. But being too independent can cause a severe amount of stress and could possibly lead to depression due to the fact that not everything you do can be perfect. Interdependence is key because it creates that balance where you can depend on your workers as well as have a goal for yourself to achieve.

Source and Reliability: 
Author: Stephen R. Covey Author of the book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. He has to know what he is talking about.
Accuracy:  Stephen Covey researched tons of material to write this book.
Timeliness: Copyright 1989

Discussion Questions: 
How hard is it really to make something a habit even though their are only few things required?

Does the amount of something affect its price?

The amount of something does affect its price, think about it. There is so much water out there in the world that we can always use. The price of water that you buy in the store is significantly cheap. The price of water is cheap because there is so much of it. There are several cases and gallons of water at mostly every store. If the store chose to raise the price of water then there wouldn't be as much to sell. People wouldn't buy it at that store they would just go somewhere else. On the other hand there is a limited amount of diamonds in stores. Diamonds are generally used for jewelry. There is not a large amount of jewelry in many stores, Therefore the price of the diamonds/jewelry go up. If there is a lot of one good in a store then it generally is cheap. If there is very little of one good in a store then the price is higher. This is just like how it is outside of stores. Diamonds are scarce therefore they are very expensive. People just want diamonds they don't need them to survive. People also want water and they need water to survive so its cheap. Diamonds and jewelry are wants and water is a need. Not just diamonds but scarce resources are very expensive and things like water or toys are cheap because they are not scarce. This can all change in the future. More and more diamonds are going to be discovered in the next few years. Then they will not be considered a scarce resource. The price of them will go down and they will become cheaper. On the other hand water can become scarce in the far future. Waters price will go up because there wont be as much of it. It's like diamonds and water are going to switch places. Why do so many people want diamonds over water?
SOURCE: Global Issues In Context
TITLE: The Price of Goods
SOURCE: JSTOR
TITLE: Diamonds and Water affect prices
http://www.jstor.org/stable/info/2463857?&Search=yes&searchText=water&searchUri

http://find.galegroup.com/gic/retrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=Relevance&tabID=T006&prodId=GIC&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchId=R7&searchType=&currentPosition
SOURCE: fashionbizinc.org

  

Left A Note on the Counter

Do notes change much? In the case of suicide not really.

Notes have been found to not be very useful as a primary data source. Leaving a note will not change if the suicide will happen or not. It will not very change the method of suicide or even the health of the individual.

Notes are left more often by people who live alone or have tried suicide before. Notes are an insignificant source of data for research.

Why do you think people leave notes?

Source:capl.washjeff.edu

Proquest

A Comparison of Suicide Note Writers with Suicides Who Did Not Leave Notes

Source: http://search.proquest.com/docview/224867935/13A6F2D51C2456CDA29/16?accountid=6222

Introverts vs Extroverts!

 Introversion vs Extroversion. Most of you probably don't quite know what that means.
 Introverts are people more reserved, quiet, and shy. They usually enjoy deep conversations. Extroverts then to be more outgoing, talkative, and energetic.

In today's society, extroversion is more popular then introversion. At job interviews, you have to be present yourself as fun, energetic, good with people, etc. But for introverts this may be harder. Introverts have a harder time conforming to that. David Watson of U of Notre Dame says that 70% of people are in the middle and 15% are at either end.

Since introverts are more socially estranged now, introversion is related to certain disorders like social anxiety or depression.

What do you think you fall under?

Source: schaver.com

 

 Usa Today:Time for introverts to get some appreciation by Sharon Jayson
http://yourlife.usatoday.com/mind-soul/story/2012-01-23/Time-for-introverts-to-get-some-appreciation/52761332/1

Gross National Happiness?

      Elizabeth Mata, who wrote this article on Opposing Viewpoints, says that other countries have gotten on board to measure their overall happiness. Starting this trend was the King of Bhutan who declared this gross national happiness was more important than gross national product.

      Mata makes a good point proving that relationships can really determine happiness or not. She says that when there are conflicts in relationships it can inturrupt happiness and can make people sad or hurt that any kind of relationship isn't working at the moment. This proves that even the slightest complications in relationships can stop us from being happy.

       Elizabeth even goes as far to say that no materials can lower happiness if all your relationships are close and located in the soul. Mata talks a lot about the significance of praying to God in order to improve or fix relationships that will in turn increase happiness.

Can people still fix and keep relationships in other ways than just praying?


http://www.prayingpals.org/images/234_Praying_Pals.jpg













This article is reliable because it is found on Opposing Viewpoints.

The Fundamentals

Mark Harrison is a certified NLP coach and writes blogs on thechangeblog.org. He offers programs like 30 Days to Change Your Life and Getting the Life You Want.
http://www.thechangeblog.com/success-in-life/

http://rhythmofsuccess.com/

Mark posted a blog entitled The 5 Fundamentals for success in life: How to Be Successful in Life. He brings up 5 key points that everyone should follow to become successful in life.

1. Be Proactive
Mark brings up this point and personally it's my favorite of all  of the points. You have to learn that your life is not a predetermined path. You are in control of you own destiny and can make your life how you want. You can't just sit back and expect everything to fall into place and for your life to be a smooth ride. You have to take the controls and guide your life.

2. Take Responsibility
We are in control of our own behavior. How we tolerate others is our responsibility. If we let others walk all over us and let them tell us what to do we will not be successful. So if we are not in control of our own lives it is our responsibility.

3. Be a Good Leader
To start, Mark says that we have to learn how to lead ourselves. Once you can lead yourself in the right direction you will be on your way to success.  Afterwards you have to learn to lead others. The help of others on your path to success is crucial because you can't do it alone.

4. Don't Let Fear Stop You
Fear is just an idea. You have to overcome fear and move on with your life. Anytime something changes or you try something new there will be fear because you are out of comfort zone. You can't be afraid of putting yourself out there and trying new things. But most importantly, you should not fear failure. "Failure is the foundation of success, so long as we learn from it."

5. Never Stop Learning
Mark says that one of the most important things is to always be learning. Learning is how we grow in life and if we stop learning we stop growing. If we stop growing we stop moving towards success.

What do you think of these five points? Do you think any more points should be added to make a complete list of fundamentals?

Love to be Loved

This PBS article summarizes why close relationships are important to humans.
Characteristics of close relationships are

•  to love and be loved
• mutual understanding
• caring
• direct help in times of trouble
• celebration of good times
• validation of self-worth
• security
• diversity of ideas and influences to help us grow and learn
• fun

These characteristics are crucial to our happiness and even well-being. By feeling secure in any relationship, it opens up possibilities of exploring instead of worrying on survival tasks.

The author of this PBS article says relationships are good for our happiness because they are lasting. According to the "hedonic adaption" principle, which says that we quickly adapt to changing surroundings, people who win the lottery find themselves just as happy as before. Because the effects of money don't last while relationships usually do, we will continuously get positive emotions from relationships especially as they grow.

Do people have to fit all these characteristics into every relationship? Are they all necessary to achieve happiness in every person you are close with? Can you be just as close with someone that doesn't carry as these traits?



This article was written from a combination of sources by Barbara L. Fredrickson, Ph. D and Ed Diener, a professor with which Mr. Chokshi worked.

Image found from Bing.

Spending On Others.

Michael Norton, narrator of Ted Talk: How to Buy Happiness, emphasizes the point in which money can buy happiness when you don't spend it on yourself.  For instance, CNN wrote a report on when people win the lottery.  People think winning the lottery will make one's life amazing, but in reality their live's actually fall apart.  Most frantically spend all their money and proceed into debt, while some have friends/family who bug them for money.  Eventually, those social relationships are ruined along with debt rising.  

Everyone fantasizes what they would do if they won the lottery. Many people's ideal dream consists of getting a private yacht near an exotic island, buying a snowy mountain with a secluded log cabin, etc.  Basically, all these visions involve becoming antisocial, though.  Money simply makes people selfish. 

So Norton and his team conducted an experiment to see if being pro-social instead of antisocial would contribute to one's overall happiness.  One VanCouver morning, Norton and his team handed out envelopes to people around the city saying spend this money on yourself before five o'clock.  And others received envelopes with money to spend on others.  At the end of the day, it was concluded that people who spent money on themselves did not get much out of it, but did not get less happy.  On the other hand, people who spent money on others got much happier.  

Norton wanted to further his research and extend his experiment to other parts of the world.  He altered his study by using charities instead of people around the cities.  In almost every country in the world, people who gave money to charities were happier people than those who didn't contribute.  

Overall, Norton believes money can buy happiness, but it is simply what/who the money is spent on.  What people nowadays don't realize is one doesn't have to do amazing things to make oneself happy. It is the thought that counts.  Spending money on other people has a bigger return than spending on yourself.  Everyone must stop thinking about which product to buy yourself and start thinking about what you should buy for other people.  When was the last time you bought something for someone else?  Did their smile on their face make you happy?



Authority: Michael Norton 
Accuracy: posted by reliable source (Ted Talks) 
Timeliness: April 2012
Video Source:
Ted Talks: Michael Norton How to Buy Happiness
http://www.ted.com/talks/michael_norton_how_to_buy_happiness.html

High Income But Unhappy

Lead:

We all know the saying money can't buy love, but people today are willing to give up hours with their families and sleep for that extra income. More that 2500 people were asked which would make them happier-- A job that paid $50,000 with eight hours a sleep, or a job that paid $90,000 with a small amount of sleep. Majority of people chose to take the $90,000 desite the fact it would make them less happy. 

Main:

Many people today have become more involved in their work than ever. People have spent extra hours in their offices despite having very little leisure time for themselves, and their families. Of the people surveyed, the ones who said that they would rather have the higher income chose it because it would: 

• Make their families happier.
• Higher social status
• A purpose

Source and Credibility:

Authority: Daniel Miller, Journalist for Mail Online

Accuracy: Survey taken of 2500 people 

Timeliness: August 24th, 2011, pretty recent, this shows the way our country has evolved into being so money hungry.

Discussion Questions: 
Is getting less sleep and less leisure time with family and friends worth getting money that will be most likely spent on your family? 

Synthesis and Plan

In my time researching success I have used what people other successful people have done in the past to strengthen my understanding of what is need to be a success. Its weird to see that if you talk to the most successful people around the world that they will all share a few comparable mental attributes. While learning about the attitudes of success people I also learned about what NOT to do. As I further my research on the overall topic of "success" I need to keep the following questions in mind:

what uncontrollable factors affect your success?
how do you develop the attitudes of the success?
how do you find the right career for you?

Synthesis and Plan

I am currently researching happiness and its relationship to wealth. So far, I've looked at statistics that tie together money and happiness. These stats have shown there may not be a direct relationship between these two factors, especially looking at countries like South Korea. Countries like Bhutan and some western European nations have taken their country's happiness so seriously that they are using Happiness Meters instead of GDP to measure their success as a nation. Many studies I have researched also seem to prove that happiness is subjective to the socio-economic state of those around you. Homeless people in India are happier than those in America because the standard they compare themselves against is lower. People would choose to make $50,000 a year while everyone else is making $25,000 rather than an option that would leave them poorer than their peers despite making a substantial salary. All of these factors tie in to the true source of happiness, which I have yet to research.

I want to focus on these aspects of happiness in upcoming research:

• Can you train your mind to be happy?
• Can your family limit/expand your happiness?
• Happiness and Criminal Rehabilitation
• Does everyone deserve to be happy? Is that possible to achieve?

Synthesis and Plan

I have learned about the key qualities to have if you want to become successful. The more important one include:

• They are generous and kind. 
• They take pleasure in helping others achieve
• They finish what they start. While so many spend their life starting things that they never finish, successful people get the job done – even when the excitement and the novelty have worn off.

I have also seen ways the money is not the dominating factor of success. In my research a quote i love was that "its almost always the things money CANT buy, which brings people the most joy". For example, love, family, and moral. I have also see that there is a difference between having success in life, and having success in living. Success in living is much more important and people have a higher utility through living than success in life.

Question I am still curious about:

How can you determine what career is best for you? 

What other factors contribute to being successful? (Family, growing up, etc...)

Synthesis & Plan

My general topic that I have been researching is why do diamonds cost more than water. I have broadened my topic into different ideas. Some of my ideas are should people want diamonds, are diamonds really worth their cost, and why people need to conserve water now. These are some of the ideas that I have discovered this far. All of these topics that I have researched are connected to my original topic, why do diamonds cost more than water? I am interested in learning more about why diamonds cost so much compared to water. I have found some answers to my questions but not all. Some questions that I plan on answering is why water costs more in some places in the world than in the U.S. I would also like to research if their are alternate uses to diamonds instead of just jewelry. I would also like to research what we can do to better distribute scarce resources. These three topics that I plan on researching are going to help me figure out why diamonds cost more than water. I have found out so much information about diamonds and water. I have an idea of why diamonds cost so much and why water is so cheap, but i want to find out more.

Synthesis & Plan

A few main ideas I have discovered following my research deal with the many factors that actually contribute to one's happiness.  I have found that some say happiness depends on how one remembers his/her past events in life.  Some say gaining money doesn't make one happier, but losing money will decrease overall satisfaction.  Others argue that the "things" money buy do bring pleasure temporarily.  And the rest agree that one's drive for money comes from one's surroundings and peers. Therefore, many, many different contributions affect one's overall happiness.  And the source of happiness is sometimes different for different people depending on previous factors in one's life.

Do poorer countries generally hold happier people?  Why does money make some happy?  Does having more money make your life more stressful? 

Synthesis and Plan

So far I have been researching definitions of success and what people consider success. I have found two definitions of what people consider success. The first is just being happy. Instead of considering money and power as success you should strive to be happy in life. The other definition is leaving a positive impact in whatever you do. Your life work should be something that benefits others and whatever you do should make at least one persons life better.

As I continue researching I plan on looking at the question how to achieve success. I am going to look at life coaches and what they have to say. I am going to see what advice they have to offer those who seek it. Also, I am going toresearch real life examples of people who were successful and see how they achieved it.

Synthesis and Plan

My research so far has been focusing on the psychology of buying. I was originally perplexed as to why some people were attracted to certain things and not others? What makes a product attractive? What brain senses are involved when shop? All of these topics I am diligently researching. After consulting my peers I have found some interesting new topics of interest in my area of study.

Some of the topics suggested by my peers include:

• Focusing on individual cases of over shopping.
• Research why people go out of their way to over shop.
•  Is there a disorder for over shopping?
• How can a person with low income still want to exceed their budget?
• What possess people to spend on things they cannot afford?

I will use these newly purposed topics of research to broaden my search on the psychology of buying. At the same time I will also try to use these topics to eventually narrow down my search into more of a condensed subject. Perhaps it will be why people over buy.  

Synthesis & Plan

1. Experts are not even unified in treatment or actual causes of suicide. Even in terms of suicide help. 
2. There are more than just one reason for suicide, but the main one is depression. 
3. Drugs are a double-edged topic in the suicide realm. On one side they help/prevent suicide while on the other there is a possibility of causing the thoughts.

I plan to answer: Alternatives to antidepressants, How people overcome these challenges, Looking into genes for traits, and the breaking point. 

Synthesis & Plan

My blogs started out all over the place but now I have an idea of where I want to go with What Makes People Happy. I want to focus on how relationships and money make people happy, along with the relative happiness of different countries. So far I've found...

-Once you make a certain amount of money, you don't become any happier
-if you make under a certain amount of money, it can bring misery
-you will be happier if you spend on other people rather than yourself

I plan on answering and researching more on relationships and other countries since I have mostly done money up until now.

-Does having a husband or wife make one happier than having money?
-Do relationships with pets offer happiness too?
-What are the "happiest" countries? Why?
-At what age do romantic relationships play a big role in ones happiness?
-How important are friends in terms of happiness?

Ted Talks

Brina Gartlan
Blog #4
Ted Video-Happiness

http://www.ted.com/talks/michael_norton_how_to_buy_happiness.html
This video is very credible because first of all it was found by Mr. Chokshi. Secondly, Michael Norton and others at TED produce many videos often of different topics of discussion and research was done for this specific video. This one was filmed at Cambridge in Massechusettes.

At first, Norton begins right away saying the statement 'money can't buy you happiness' is indeed wrong. He is even very blunt when he states, "this article is about how their lives get ruined" when people win the lottery and the reasons behind it. You might think that winning 5 million dollars in the lottery will give you everything you ever wanted or needed, but in fact most people spend the money right away and go into debt, as well as worsening relationships because of family and friends begging for money.

Michael Norton then proceeds to show us how money can make us happy. He emphasized the point that is not whether you spend the money or not, its what you spend the money on that creates happiness. Throughout almost every country in the world, TED and Norton discovered mosy countries were happiest when they recently donated money to charity. The result from the research in Canada also proves this point. He found that spending money on others instead of keeping or spending it on yourself makes people generally happier.

I agree with Norton and his findings.  Even from personal experience, you tend to feel better after you do something nice for someone else rather than only doing things for yourself. I'm not saying that you should spend all your money on other people in order to have maximum happiness, just that sometimes spending on others rather than yourself will create happiness.

Basically, it doesn't matter what you spend it on, just that spending on others will make you happier than always spending on yourself.

How much is the right amount of money to spend on others? What is too much or too little?

http://www.moneyhowmuch.com/2012_04_01_archive.html

The Grass is Always Greener on the Other Side

Walk into any local library or Barnes and Noble and you are likely to notice a significantly large 'Self-Help' section with books lining the shelves all attempting to solve what may be humanity's greatest question. How can we become happier? Close your eyes and imagine what would make you really happy right now. Most people will automatically visualize material goods such as new clothes, a fancy car, and a luxurious home as these are the trademarks of the ultra rich. But what makes us come to the conclusion that these people are actually any happier than us at all?

According to Brooks', even money does not provide sustained happiness. "In a 1978 study, two psychologists interviewed 22 major lottery winners and found that the joy of sudden wealth wore off in a few months.They had a harder time than others enjoying life's prosaic pleasures: watching television, shopping, talking with friends, and so forth." Brooks' article cites an economic term called the 'hedonic treadmill' to explain this mindset. This basically means that humans are extremely adaptive, even to money they earn. So if someone is currently making $45,000 a year, they will crave more. Yet, even if they get that $75,000 salary they always wanted, suddenly $100,000 starts looking good. It is part of human nature to constantly look ahead and crave more.

A recent study conducted at Harvard makes clear that our happiness is very subjective. They asked students and faculty participating to choose whether they would rather make $50,000 a year while everyone around them made $25,000 or make $100,000 while everyone else made $200,000. In this hypothetical situation, prices of items would not change so making more money just allowed the purchase of more luxury items. A majority, 56% of participants, chose the first option which left them with less money but richer than their neighbors. Yet, the conclusion made from this study does not prove money equals happiness. In contrast, it simply proves that feeling richer, more successful, and overall better-off is the key to true happiness. And if this is the case, is it possible that with such a subjective mindset towards money, happiness may never be attainable at all?

Source: SIRS Knowledge Source

Brooks, Arthur C. "Does Money Make You Happy?." Christian Science Monitor. 24 Jun 2008: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 08 Nov 2012.

Successful People's Common Qualities

Successful people look for opportunities where others see nothing. They are the ones who are fearful like everyone else, but are not controlled or limited by fear. Successful people have qualities like these in common. Most everyone who is successful has a purpose, they are solution focused and ready to solve a problem. Successful people never blame anyone, they instead take responsibility and do something to fix or better a bad situation. Not everyone can have these qualities, but the most successful and driven to be successful have to become this way in order to be successful. This success is not about money, but instead is about how one acts and what one will do to manipulate the guide of becoming successful.

Some things that successful people have in common include: 

• They are generous and kind. They take pleasure in helping others achieve
• They are resilient. When most would throw in the towel, they’re just warming up.
• They are open to, and more likely to act upon, feedback.
• They don’t hang out with toxic people.
• They don’t invest time or emotional energy into things which they have no control of.
• They have an off switch. They know how to relax, enjoy what they have in their life and to have fun.
• Their career is not their identity, it’s their job. It’s not who they are, it’s what they do.
• They are more interested in effective than they are in easy. While the majority look for the quickest, easiest way (the shortcut), they look for the course of action which will produce the best results over the long term.
• They finish what they start. While so many spend their life starting things that they never finish, successful people get the job done – even when the excitement and the novelty have worn off.

Source and Reliability:

Author:Dan Waldschmidt

Accuracy: No sources cited, however, it is a very interesting a factual blog and people seem to agree.

Timeliness: Aug 18, 2008. pretty recent 

Discussion questions:
With the points given, do you think this is an effective way to describe someone who may be successful?
Would it be hard to do one or two of these on a daily basis?

What are you waiting for?

A Slightly Different Definition

Daniel Scocco is a blogger on DailyBlogTips.com and posted about success. His view of success is a little different from everyone else's and I feel it's worth taking a look at.
http://www.dailyblogtips.com/what-is-success/

Daniel considers success as his work having a positive impact on others. He wants what ever he does in life to change someones life for the better. This definition is a lot different from other definitions I have looked at. All of the others equate happiness with success but this blog doesn't even mention it. In a way he mentions happiness but it's focused on the happiness of others. If his work positively impacts someone they should be happier.

He brings up a couple of great examples. Bill Gates and the late Steve Jobs first started their companies hoping to come out with the newest technology that will change the world. I think I can safely say that for the most part their products have both shaped the world for the better. I'm sure they welcomed all the money that came from their products but as Steve Jobs said, he wanted to make a "dent in the universe."

He also brings up a good point on why looking at success as money and power isn't a good way to look at it. A drug deal can have a lot of money and a lot of power and some people would look at him as successful if their view of success was money. But because his "product" negatively affects people in life he can't be considered successful.

With college coming up quick and our jobs and careers after that, it is a good idea to have a grasp on what you think is success. For some, money and power might be success. Or maybe just being happy is success. Or just having a positive impact on others in life. What is your ideal definition of success?
http://usqedu.wordpress.com/tag/success/

Should people want diamonds?

Diamonds are something that people buy for a lot of money. Many people buy diamonds for different reasons. The real question is, should people want diamonds? Diamonds are a very scarce resource now a days but sooner or later more and more diamonds will be discovered. The value of diamonds right now is very high but that can change at any moment. The cost and value of diamonds is going to go down in the future because more diamonds will be found, therefore there will be many to sell in stores for lower prices. It's like the value of water. Right now it doesn't cost much for a pack of water bottles or a gallon but in the future the cost will go up. Water will become more scarce so then the price will raise. This brings us back to the question of should people want diamonds? Right now yes people should want diamonds because they cost so much and the value of them is so high. In the future diamonds won't be anywhere near the cost they are today. If you're someone who wants to save up diamonds and you want to sell them in the future for more money than they're worth today, then I suggest that you change your approach Sell them now because you will be able to sell them for so much more money because diamonds are so scarce. Why do people continue to buy diamonds for so much money?
SOURCE: Global Issues In Context
TITLE: Diamonds'value is not forever
SOURCE: Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center
TITLE: Good start for diamond prices
http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/NewsDetailsPage/NewsDetailsWindow?failOverType=&query=&prodId=OVIC&windowstate=normal

http://find.galegroup.com/gic/retrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=Relevance&tabID=T006&prodId=GIC&resultListType=RESULT
SOURCE:beartoons.com

What Actually Contributes to One's Glee?

So what actually contributes to one's happiness? Some may say money, some may say materialistic goods, and others may say family.  But in the grand scheme of things, many different things add to one's true happiness.  

In the article, "Unselfishness May be Key to What Makes People Happy", The New Zealand Herald explains that happiness "is the confusion between experience and memory - basically it's between being happy in your life and being happy about your life".  Therefore, happiness is "how the story ends and how we remember it that determines our overall satisfaction with it."  Think about it.  If the event ends well, the memory will also end well, but if it ends horribly, the memory will too be remembered horribly.  

Furthermore, The New Zealand Herald describes how citizens with an average income of about $75,000 or less "get progressively unhappier the poorer they get and people above that income do not get any happier, but they do feel a greater sense of satisfaction with their lives."  On the other hand, those people who receive $75,000 or more do not initially have to be happy. Would you classify yourself as happy right now? 



Article:
Authority: the New Zealand Herald
Accuracy: Many sources cited throughout the article. 
Timeliness: 2011

Picture:
http://www.google.com/imgres?num=10&hl=en&safe=active&tbo=d&biw=1366&bih=667&tbm=isch&tbnid=3JS8Qlu3xff_lM:&imgrefurl=http://www.psmag.com/culture-society/who-needs-god-when-we-ve-got-mammon-5634/&docid=PQ-foFnUsaFL2M&imgurl=http://www.psmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/mmw_religionpaul.jpg&w=626&h=433&ei=78KbUNeNAtTKyQH1kIHgDg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=419&vpy=132&dur=500&hovh=187&hovw=270&tx=118&ty=126&sig=109277912745425518754&page=4&tbnh=140&tbnw=212&start=72&ndsp=31&ved=1t:429,r:72,s:20,i:355

Homeless Study Reveals the Key to Happiness

While exploring wealth's relation to happiness, it is also important to look down on the other side of the spectrum. What factors tie in to the satisfaction or lack of it for a homeless person? In a 2006 study by Robert Biswas-Diener and Ed Diener, they interviewed 3 varied groups of homeless people (from Calcutta, Fresno, and Dignity Village in Portland) and measured their happiness under 2 domains - material and social. Below is the table that describes the demographic of the people included in the study.

Source: THE SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING OF THE HOMELESS,

AND LESSONS FOR HAPPINESS

Although their findings did remain constant with the accepted belief that the homeless people are generally unhappy, they also uncovered some new findings on where their happiness did lie... mostly in the social domain. Below are the statistics for this finding.

Source: THE SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING OF THE HOMELESS,

AND LESSONS FOR HAPPINESS

 

"For example, all three samples reported surprisingly high satisfaction with domains related to the self, including morality, intelligence, and physical appearance. In fact, scores for all self-related domains were substantially above the neutral point for all three samples," the study states.

Surprisingly, the homeless from Calcutta that earned a measly $24 monthly compared to their American counterparts admitted to above-average levels of happiness when it came to family and social relations. Diener and Diener concluded that while these people were acutely aware of their poor living and health conditions, they maintained good, healthy relations with those around them and lived mostly in family units. In America, most of the homeless reported not being able to trust those around them. Also, since the standard of living for the average person is lower in India, there was less social stigma for a homeless person in India.

In conclusion, this study shows us that poverty may not affect your 'self-related domains', and you will continue to be satisfied with yourself, appearance and intelligence. Yet, your 'material domains' will be greatly affected, and your satisfaction will decrease in these areas. Also, the standard with which you compare yourself clearly has an extremely strong relation with your overall happiness. How can we apply this findings into our own lives to achieve great happiness?

Authority: Both authors are American psychologists from University of Illinois and Portland Sate University whose main area of study lies in the Psychology of Happiness.
Accuracy: They cite several other famous studies in their paper, such as ones by Maslow, Sheldon, and Morgan and have a page of references at the end of their study.
Timeliness: This study was reported in 2006.

Source: https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:C-bbtfvQF04J:positiveacorn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/BDHomeless.pdf+&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESgYtANuS-pxeO5kHDhMs-28gRxRMrO0iCsq0v2uceA_HoSDztq86-nNr2mh_9McEOH3QHFXMxeyK0a0Dg34FWA0ieTXo3nrx16Q2oirJnUlOn8oYnqWg__N0Sdiyb-o10IlvtjZ&sig=AHIEtbS7gdpSRLWRKJkXg3DODoRkpPNdkg

Athlete: Success or failure?

Was this runner a success or failure?

How to buy Happiness

I just saw this video and I thought it challenges what some of you were finding about happiness. Check it out. You can use it as one of your sources: Do you agree with his arguments?

Graphing Success

http://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/what-is-success-better-definition.html

Geoffrey James is the writer of "Sales Source" on Inc.com which is the most visited business blog.

Geoffrey recently wrote an article for Inc.com about success and how we look at it backwards. His view is very similar to Shawn Achors view who gave the TED Talk on how we look at success backwards. Geoffrey had two graphs in his blog post that I found very interesting:

Most people think of success as the graph above. However they get there, happy or unhappy, if they are rich they are successful. No matter what they have to do they need to have a lot of money and nice things. This idea of success is flawed. If you are rich and not happy it is not worth it. All of the nice stuff you buy will not make you happy and you will find no enjoyment in your things. Also if you are not happy on your path to success it will be much harder to get there. It has been proven if you are happy doing something you will do a better job. Doing a better job will get you to success faster.

This second graph is a much better representation of what success should be. Your goal in life shouldn't be money and power and nice things but rather just to be happy. Happiness=Success. If you are doing something that you love in your life and surround yourself by people that you care about you are going to live a happy life. If while you are happy you happen to be rich it is just a great bonus. If you are happy and rich you are going to appreciate the nicer things you can now afford.

I'm sure there are people who agree with both graphs that define success. Which graph do you agree with?