Avoidance Behavior:
“I’ve been dreading telling her about our financial problems.”

“Mr. Hole-in-One” Kevin Sorbo by Mimi Stuart ©
Live the Life you Desire

When you dread confronting a difficult situation, such as telling your partner you’ve spent too much money, the sooner you face up to it, the better. For some people though, avoidance behavior contributes further to putting off the unpleasant task. Avoidance behavior includes distraction, escape behavior, procrastination and safety behavior.

Types of Avoidance Behavior

1. Distraction involves busying yourself and your mind with activities or thoughts to avoid confronting a problem — making phone calls, eating, shopping, and social media — basically twittering away your time.

2. Escape behavior consists of contriving a way to physically avoid an anxiety-provoking situation, such as faking an illness. Continue reading

Happiness: How to be happy now without conditions.

“Joy” by Mimi Stuart ©

It turns out that this kind of thinking is reversed. It actually works the other way around. If you decide to be happy, then your job and your relationships are likely to be successful and fulfilling.

People who are happy feel better, focus better, think more clearly, have better access to all regions of their brains, have quicker more agile responses to changing circumstances and solve problems better. Happy people are more empathetic and creative, which means they will be more diplomatic, interesting and enjoyable to be around.

In essence, happy people perform better at work and have better relationships.

How do you make yourself happy?  Continue reading