Think Happy!

Ben Pridmore, former World Memory Champion, broke the the ‘four-minute mile of competitive memory‘ back in July. And I’m only just getting round to writing about it!

I’ve competed in Memory competitions and 30 seconds had always been the target, getting closer each year. (The year that I competed in the WMC, the record stood at 34.03.) Due to its quick performance time and the friendly rivalry generated by competitors, the task of memorising the order of a shuffled pack of cards, or Speed Cards, is a firm favourite with both spectators and competitors. It’s the 100 metre dash of Memory competitions - and it doesn’t take all that much longer to complete. (In fact, Ben can remember a pack far quicker than I can run 100 metres.)

How quickly did he do it? Read the rest of this entry »

Learning to relax is, in my personal experience, fundamental to living a life of joy. However, because it sounds so simple, it is often by-passed in favour of more ‘mysterious’, ‘ethereal’ or ‘New Age’ solutions.

One of the the most helpful tools that I’ve found in learning to relax is meditation. When it is not part of a particular religious tradition, meditation can seem pretty mundane, leading us to doubt its benefits. As a result, we miss-out on the effective simplicity of advice like this in an article from metaphysical healer and counsellor, Dina Cramer:

Step One: Creating the space for meditation

‘You can create a personal sanctuary for yourself - a place of peace and beauty- a reminder of your commitment to yourself.’

Step Two: Using a CD

Step Three: Meditation posture

‘The main thing is to find a posture that is comfortable for you, in which you can relax fully.’

Step Four: Breathing Read the rest of this entry »

The Think Happy Aggregator has been disabled until we can find a more suitable format. We will return shortly with excerpts and links to great content across the web.

Our aim is to have a fuller-featured version of the Google Reader listing that you see in the right-hand column of the home page.

Thanks for your patience and understanding.

After I’d written my recent post on Thinking Yourself Happy, I came across this article from a Chinese Business paper.

Most of us are aware of the existence of endorphins, those happy hormones that make us feel good…

“You can reduce stress, promote self-healing and make positive life changes by invoking your endorphins,” says therapist Bodel Rikys, who has practised meditation for more than 30 years.

“It’s not a case of emptying your mind - that’s very difficult to do. It’s about filling it with pleasurable thoughts, which in turn will produce a feeling of wellbeing. The endorphins will turn off the stress hormones, adrenaline and cortisol, and have a positive impact on your body chemistry.”

The exercise that the article goes on to describe is one that I use for relaxation. Read the rest of this entry »

One of my hobbies is what geeks-trying-to-sound-cool refer to as Mind Sports. My main interest is in Memory, but I also try to keep up to standard with Speed Reading - which is a skill that comes in useful all the time. With that in mind, I thought that it might be helpful if I shared some tips.

What is Speed Reading?

Firstly, this is not referring to skim reading. I’m not suggesting that the way to read faster is actually to skip 2 thirds of the reading material! Skimming a text can be useful, but also has it’s drawbacks. (For instance, you are skimming for what you think you know is there, but what if what you really need to find is currently unknown to you?) I’m actually talking about reading the entire text, but doing so 3 or 4 times more quickly.

A better term for what I’m talking about - or, at leat, for part of it - is possibly Range reading. Before I got into this I was reading somewhere between 220-280 words a minute. Now, depending on noise, tiredness, the text, etc. I naturally read anywhere between 900-1100 wpm.

So, you’re not really reading it properly then?

An old lecturer of mine said that he disapproved of speed reading because you can’t really take in what you’re reading and you can’t enjoy it. In my experience, he couldn’t have been more wrong! Repeated research has found that - in most cases - an increase in reading speed has been matched by an increase in comprehension. And where speed has gone down, comprehension has also decreased! It seems that reading more quickly (but still reading properly) actually increases the likelihood of understanding and retaining what we are reading.

There is a simple explanation for this: when we read slowly, our brains get bored! We are probably capable of comfortably reading 3-4000 words a minute and yet - due to bad habits - we force our poor brains to plod along at about 200 wpm! The brain thus flits back and forth and doesn’t actually really read what the eye is lazilly plodding through. Have you ever noticed that the slower you read, the more often you have to go back and read a word, sentance, paragraph or page again? This is because you’re brain is hardly functioning as you read. Worse, by the time your eyes have processed a block of meaning (usually a paragraph or sentance), the beginning of it has left your short-term memory before your brain has a chance to register it!

How do you do it?

I thought you’d never ask! Read the rest of this entry »

After struggling with depression for many years, I learnt a simple truth that has become the foundation of this blog: Happiness is a state of mind.

This should really have been clear to me over 16 years ago. The first counsellor that I saw would speak about Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and tried to help me see that I could begin challenging my depression by re-thinking my thoughts about myself, the world around me and my experience of it. However, though this rang true for me at the time, for some reason I was able to ignore it without seeing it make any real difference to my life. It wasn’t until I was training for the World Memory Championships that I began to look at the power and potential of the human mind in more depth.

Yet, it wasn’t until my latest bout of depression that I began to explore applying the mind to work on itself! I had learnt, via CBT that dwelling on negative thoughts produces negative feelings. When this becomes a predominant state of mind, it can lead to anxiety, stress and depression. So, surely it could work the other way around?

Can We Really Think Ourselves Happy?

Simplifying the issues, to be depressed means that you have depressed thoughts most of the time. By contrast, happy people are, essentially, those who think happy thoughts. This shouldn’t be at all surprising, because we would naturally expect our thoughts to have an influence on the way we feel and how we act.

Read the rest of this entry »

This list of Seven Ways to Get the Most Out of Your Vacations was a timely find for me today.

1. Think about how you got there.

…This experience of planning and preparing is the first lesson we can take from our vacation. While you are on vacation reflect on how productive you were in the days leading up to your departure. You will find lessons you can apply on other days to help you be more productive – and therefore give you more time during your regular life for leisure and relaxation.

2. Start when you leave.

…Don’t tell yourself it will take 2 days or 1 day to “get relaxed.” Relax already!

3. Immerse yourself.

…Experience the things around you. Be in the present moment. Even if things aren’t going like you planned, if the water is cold or it is raining, be where you are… Immerse yourself in what it is. Be present and enjoy it, regardless of what happens.

Read the rest of this entry »

According to a British study of mental health in the workplace, High-stress jobs make young workers twice as likely to suffer from major depression and anxiety disorders. The Guardian reports that 1 in 20 people in the early stages of their careers can expect to experience serious depression or anxiety every year as a direct result of work.

The study is the first of its kind to establish a firm link between stressful working conditions and poor mental health among people who had no previous history of the disorders before their career began.

In Britain, lost productivity due to depression and anxiety is estimated to cost companies £12bn a year. So, it’s no wonder that employers are being called upon to be vigilant for signs of chronic stress in their workplace!

Preparing to Quit Coke

When it came to finally kicking my Cola habit, there were only really a few steps to take. However, before I was ready to drink my last Coke, there were a few preparatory tasks I had to get done. (The very first one, before you move on to any below is to consult your Doctor. If you can, get a full medical while you’re at it.)

Cut-Down

This is, for me at least, a controversial point. In the next post in this series, I’ll suggest that cutting-down is a bad idea when you are quitting for good. However, in the short-term, it will prove helpful.

You can start really simply by deciding not to drink after 8pm, or before 10am. Even if you’re not quitting, this has got to be a good choice.

Pick a day a week to be Coke-free. (WARNING: Buy-in some paracetamol!) Put a limit on how much Coke you’ll drink a day or a week and stick to it. Then, next week, lower it.

Also, decide not to drink Coke in front of your kids. You know that you don’t want them picking up your habit. In fact, while you’re at it, do you really want Coke in your house?

Empty the Fridge!

Before making the decision to quit for good, I decided that I would cut-down by refusing to keep Coke in the house. So, I would either have to go to the shops every time I felt a temptation, or I would have to limit my Coke drinking to when I was out. Read the rest of this entry »

According to a report by Expedia.com, Americans got the least amount of vacation days per year among the countries surveyed, averaging only 14 days, compared to:

• 24 days in Great Britain
• 26 days in Germany
• 30 days in Spain
• 36 days in France.

Not only do Americans get a meager amount of vacation time, they also tend not to use it all!

‘And despite reporting an average of 14 vacation days this year, compared with 12 days in 2005, 35% of the more than 4,100 U.S. adults questioned said they will not use all of their time off, leaving an average of three days on the table.’

Reasons for not taking all of one’s allotted holiday time include, fears over job security, a push to “get the job done”, plus the perception that going on holiday is more stressful than staying at work!

Workaholic? Get away!
It’s not clear whether vacations cause better health or whether they are just an indicator of healthier lifestyles, but taking time off does appear to have physical and mental benefits. Read the rest of this entry »