1. Tailor an outfit without sewing
SELF’s stylists swear by Topstick tape (WardrobeSupplies.com). The double-sided tape was designed to make toupees stay put, but it works great to temporarily refasten a sagging hem. Topstick can also prevent an R-rated moment if your dress has a plunging neckline. It can keep slipping straps in place, too. For better placement, attach the tape to the fabric first, then your body. For better stick, avoid moisturizing. 

2. Do away with deodorant streaks
Quickly get those embarrassing white marks off your shirt with a Gal Pal (Gal-Pal.com), a reusable pink sponge that swipes off smudges almost instantly. 
3. Keep grease from staining with baby powder
Stylists swear by baby powder to soak up oil. Dripped salad dressing on your lap? Sprinkle the spot ASAP, let it sit, then pat, wipe and repeat. 
4. Buy a new vacuum
If you have allergies, regular cleaning is necessary to control nagging household allergens such as dust mites and pet dander. But your efforts can be detrimental if you use the wrong vacuum. Many vacuums are inefficient because they suck up the allergen and then spit it right back out into the air through the bag. Pet dander in particular is extremely small and can fit through the tiny holes in vacuum bags.
Your best bet: Buy a vacuum with a HEPA (high efficiency particulate air) filter, which can trap particles inside.
 
5.  Wipe down your dog
Bathe your pup weekly, and on high-pollen days, wipe his coat with a damp cloth before allowing him to come indoors. The pollen attached to your dog could send you sneezing.
6. Wipe down houseplants
Fuzzy growths or black stains on the leaves are obvious signs of a dreaded allergy trigger: mold. Wipe off spots, and keep plants near a window so they stay dry. Don’t overwater. Toss the pot if you can’t get rid of the mold. 
7. Shampoo hair before bed
Kick allergy triggers out of bed: Scrub your scalp before you hit the sack to get rid of the allergens that have latched on to your strands during the day. 
8. Put your pillow to work
Sleep soundly with these techniques:
Side sleepers: Slip pillow between bent knees to avoid back and hip pain.

Back snoozers: Tuck pillow under your knees to gently relieve pressure on the spine.
9. More pillow tips
For each of these, keep your pillow under your neck. Don’t choose one that’s too thick so that your head and neck are propped up or angled sharply away from your body.
Stomach dreamers: Skip the pillow underneath your head (it can strain your neck); instead, slide one under your pelvis and lower abs to ease pressure on the back.

Headache sufferers: Consider the Chillow. Changes in pillow temperature may worsen pain. When filled with water, this foamlike pad stays cool.

Sniffle-and-sneezers: Try a pillow with special fibers to thwart dust mites.
 
10. Cool heartburn
Chew a fruit-flavored gum to produce acid-neutralizing saliva, says Stuart Spechler, MD, of the Univ. of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.
11. Sip smartly to ease constipation
Chilled beverages tend to slow down digestion. To keep things moving along, have water or tea at room temperature.
12. Steam away sinus troubles
If you’re congested, headachy or feel feverish, it might be the beginnings of a sinus infection. Boil a few white onions. Breathing in the stinky steam with your head under a towel for several minutes can help open stuffed-up nasal passages, plus onions have proven antiviral properties. (Add beef broth, and you’re halfway to French onion soup!)
13. Mend cuts with honey
Help your wound heal faster with a tablespoon of warmed honey applied on a gauze pad with medical tape. Honey contains enzymes that produce hydrogen peroxide which kills germs, and its antioxidants may reduce inflammation. 
14. Add spice to your morning
Sprinkle cinnamon on your oatmeal and latte. Research published in “Diabetes Care” found that consuming as little as 1/4 teaspoon of the brown powder daily helped reduce blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes. Cinnamon, which has insulin-enhancing compounds, also lowered triglyceride, LDL cholesterol and total cholesterol levels.
15. Sniff peppermint to lose weight!
Research has shown that inhaling a peppermint scent may help you to squelch afternoon munchies.
 

 By Self Magazine’s: 15 Minutes to Your Best Self

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It can cost you as little as $5 per day — who knew?

You know the old saying — money can’t buy you happiness. It makes some sense. After all, lots of very wealthy people are unhappy, while many poor people are happy. Still, just about all of us would welcome being happier — it’s even a part of our Declaration of Independence: the pursuit of happiness.

Fortunately, we needn’t flounder alone. There’s a growing body of research on the topic — and much of it can be applied to our financial lives.

Friendly impact
For starters, the University of Chicago’s National Opinion Research Center has reported that “those with five or more close friends are 50% more likely to describe themselves as ‘very happy’ than those with smaller social circles.” In other words, it’s worth investing in human relationships — by joining clubs, entertaining, going out for meals with friends, or just hanging out with buddies.

Having a circle of financial buddies is also valuable. You can bounce ideas and experiences off each other. Perhaps you have decided to buy umbrella insurance for your home. Tell some friends about it, and they may, too, possibly preventing a massive future loss. You might even consider forming an investment club — that way you can share research into companies and discuss the merits of various investments. You can stop short of actually pooling your money, too, if you want.

The power of giving
Meanwhile, at the University of British Columbia and Harvard Business School, researchers have found that spending money on someone else can boost happiness — even as little as $5 per day.

What should you do with that information? Well, as a longtime advocate of saving and investing for retirement, I can’t suggest that you give away massive chunks of your income. You’ll need much of it one day. But you can (and arguably should) consider being generous toward those in need.

At The Motley Fool, we’ve raised millions of dollars for some wonderful charities, and we recently dedicated our Foolanthropy efforts to ridding the world of financial illiteracy. I invite you to click in and learn about some very effective organizations that are turning many people’s lives around, including many young people. Food and clean water are always vital. But financial ignorance can ruin lives, too.

More tips
Would you believe you might also buy happiness at Starbucks? That was suggested in a Money magazine article: “Don’t discount the satisfaction you can get from something as trivial as a good cup of coffee. Furthermore, casual encounters with familiar people like the barista at your local Starbucks or the guy at the newsstand have a bigger effect on your happiness than you might realize.”

Want another tip? Get a pet. Yes, a pet will cost you money, but four-legged and furry friends have been shown to boost happiness.

One more? Have experiences — they tend to offer more happiness than possessions. Travel. Have adventures. Yes, Coach (NYSE: COH) might want you to think that you’ll be a happier person with some fancy leather luggage, but spending that money on a Carnival (NYSE: CCL) cruise or a trip to Paris might make you happier. (Not many people seem to realize this, though — Carnival shares have underperformed the market for most of the past decade, while Coach shares have been all over the map — up nearly 130% in 2003, and down nearly 30% in 2007.)

Here’s a sneakier way to get happier: Relocate. Some have suggested that one way to be happier is to live in one of the nicest homes in your neighborhood. Realtors probably agree, as it doesn’t bode well for your property values, but as you drive home each day, you’ll feel good — comparatively speaking.

Secure security
Finally, here’s a very Foolish way to get happier: Get your financial ducks in a row. We tend to be happier when we feel safe and secure. It’s hard to feel comfortable and secure when we know we haven’t contributed to an IRA in several years or we’ve got $15,000 sitting in a savings account, because we haven’t gotten around to putting it in that amazing mutual fund we found.

So go ahead and do what you have to do. Dig yourself out of debt. Buy those stocks you want to own. Build an emergency fund. Consult a financial planner and make up a detailed plan for a secure retirement — or do it on your own, with our help, via our Rule Your Retirement newsletter service, which you can try for free. All these things will help you sleep better at night and be happier.

Remember the words of The Partridge Family: Come on, get happy!

by MotleyFool.com

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If you want to be happier, forget spending dollars - and focus on how you spend your time. Sure, a bigger house and a fancier car might briefly put a smile of your face. Yet academic studies suggest that simply amassing more stuff won’t bring a permanent increase in your happiness. So what will? I dug through some of the work done by economists and psychologists, and came up with these nine tips.

1. Make time for friends. According to a 2006 report by the Pew Research Center in Washington, 43% of married people say they are “very happy”, versus 24% for those who aren’t. “Married people spend less time alone,” notes David Schkade, a management professor at the University of California at San Diego. “There are parts of your brain that are stimulated by the presence of other people. You’re more active and energetic and engaged.” For the same reason, seeing good friends on a regular basis can also bolster happiness. “The data is coming in thick and fast on the value of friendships,” says Andrew Oswalk, an economics professor at Warwick University in England. “The data suggest that making your friends a priority will have more bang for your buck than making your next promotion a priority,” he notes.

2. Forget the pay raise. While regularly hitting the town with friends will likely increase your happiness, you probably won’t get the same boost from spending hours at the mall. True, you are initially thrilled when you buy that new dress or that flat-screen television. But the thrill quickly fades and you start hankering after something else. The same thing happens when you get a pay reiase. Soon enough, you are taking the extra money for granted and you’re feeling dissatisfied again. Experts refer to this as “hedonic adaptation” or the “hedonic treadmill.”

3. Dont’ trade up. Research indicates that, once folks achieve a fairly basic standard of living, it takes a lot of additional money to bring about even a small increase in reported happiness. Yet your income and wealth could still loom large - if you start comparing yourself with those around you. For instance, if you moved to a neighbourhood you can barely afford, you would likely be disgruntled. The reason: You will be surrounded by wealthy families, and that will be a constant reminder of your relative financial standing. “If you can look out your window and see the neighbours with lower incomes, you’ll be happier,” Prof. Oswald says. “People are very keen to move into the elite neighbourhoods. They don’t realize that they won’t be as happy as they expect. That’s the curse of being human.”

4. Keep your commute short. Moving into a ritzy neighbourhood would be even more harmful to your happiness if it means a longer commute. It turns out that commuting is one of life’s least pleasurable activities. While we’re usually pretty good at adapting to hardships, it’s hard to adjust to commuting because it is so unpredictable. One day, you will breeze into work. The next day, you will sit steaming in traffic for 45 minutes. To make matters worse, a longer commute means less time for leisure. And the research says we enjoy leisure more than work.

5. Count your blessings. Your pleasure from your new house and your latest pay raise may subside. But you may be able to revive some of the good feelings by taking a few minutes to count your blessings. Remember how wealthy neighbours can make you feel poor? What matters is what you focus on. Instead of obsessing over your neighbour’s riches, try focusing on the riches you have - and that will likely make you feel happier.

6. Enjoy a good meal. In surveys, eating ranks as one of our favourite pastimes. “It’s a relatively pleasant activity and it satisfies a basic need,” Prof. Schkade notes. “But if you aren’t focused on it, you won’t enjoy it as much. This is why the French enjoy their food more. They are less likely to eat alone and they are less likely to be doing something else at the same time.”

7. Challenge yourself through exercise. Leisure is more pleasurable than work. but you should also think about how you spend your leisure time. After a long day at the office, you might be inclined to stagger home and collapse in front of your new flat-screen television. But in fact, the research suggests you’ll be happier if you are more active. Suppose you start a new exercise program. The key : Set goals that are challenging yet achievable, because you will enjoy the sense of progress. Also look to change your exercise program occassionally, so the pleasure you receive doesn’t start to fade. As an added bonus, regular exercise will leave you healthier, and that should further increase your happiness.

8. Volunteer. If you want to help yourself, try helping others - by engaging in charitable activities. Not only does it make you feel valuable, but also you see other people doing good deeds, and that makes you feel better. It makes you realize the world can be a good place.

9. Give it time. Surveys have found that reported happiness tends to be U-shaped through life, with folks becoming increasingly grumpy as they approach their 40s and than recovering from there. Maybe our happiness gradually declines as we fail to fulfill our youthful ambitions, only to revive once we accept our lot in life. Alternatively, maybe this midlife unhappiness reflects the time pressures faced by those in their 40s, as they juggle work and family. But whatever the reason, you are likely to grow happier as you grow older. Not sure any of the first eight tips will do the trick? Maybe you just need to give it time.

by The Wall Street Journal

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Happiness, rather than working hard, is the key to success, according to research published today. Cheerful people are more likely to try new things and challenge themselves, which reinforces positive emotion and leads to success in work, good relationships and strong health, say psychologists.

The findings suggest that happiness is not a “feelgood” luxury, but is essential to people’s wellbeing. What is more, happiness can also extend across an entire nation, with people in “happy” nations being more likely to have pro-democratic attitudes and a keenness to help others.

The link between happiness and success was investigated by a team from the University of California Riverside, led by Professor Sonja Lyubomirsky.

First, they analysed questionnaires that ask people about multiple aspects of their lives. “For example, they show that happy people tend to earn higher incomes,” said Prof Lyubomirsky. Having established the link, they wanted to discover the cause.

“Almost always it has been assumed that things that correlate with happiness are the causes of happiness, but it could be just the opposite - that those things tend to be caused by happiness,” said Professor Ed Diener from the University of Illinois, another author on the paper.

Other studies revealed that having a sunny outlook on life appeared to precede good fortune.

“There was strong evidence that happiness leads people to be more sociable and more generous, more productive at work, to make more money, and to have stronger immune systems,” said Prof Lyubomirsky.

Meanwhile, experimental studies showed that an instant injection of high-spirits could generate success. “Inducing a happy effect leads people to make more money in a computer simulation.”

The research shows that while success can put a spring in someone’s step, people need happiness in the first place to achieve success.

According to the study, around four out of five people in modern industrialised nations are happy at any one time.

Success was not just about earning lots of money. “We define success as obtaining the things that culture or society values, whether it be friends, close family, money and income, or longevity,” said Prof Diener.

However, sorrowful people are not condemned to a life of failure.

“Our work suggests that sad people should try to increase the frequency of positive emotions in their lives by doing things that make them feel happy, even temporarily,” said Prof Lyubomirsky, whose research is published in the Psychological Bulletin today.

But there is a caveat: your happiness boosters should not be dangerous, like driving fast, or counter-productive, like eating lots of chocolate.

If you can raise your spirits, the benefits can be manifold. “Happy people are more likeable and more sociable. They are also better able to cope with stress and likely to be healthier and live longer.”

Nor is happiness just an individual pursuit. Happy nations, full of happy people, are more likely to be successful than unhappy nations. “People in happy nations trust others more and want to cooperate with their neighbours,” said Prof Diener.

Governments could keep a smile on their citizens’ faces by ensuring safety and stability.

“Although nations cannot live people’s lives and force them to be happy, they can create conditions - for example, parks, reasonable weekly work hours, a health infrastructure, and good transportation - that influence people’s happiness,” he added.

For governments and individuals alike, it seems, happiness is more than just a hedonistic pleasure.

by: The Guardian

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How do you define a successful life? Is it by how much money or stuff you have amassed, or is it by the legacy you leave behind? All too often we equate a successful life with material possessions. Yet, there are millions of people out there who lead successful, fulfilled lives who may be of modest means. They may not be rich in the financial sense, but they are rich in life and values.

So what are the things we should strive for to make our lives successful and have a positive impact on those around us? Here is a list of traits that I think defines what true success in life is all about. Does your list differ?

1. Sincerity. Be sincere in your actions. Don’t try to deceive or impress others. Be yourself, and do what you feel is right based on your values and beliefs. You will be surprised at how people accept you when you stop trying to be someone you aren’t.
2. Unfeigned. Be genuine in what you do; your actions speak louder than your words. Don’t falsify or embellish events that may have happened. Don’t say one thing and do the other.
3. Wholehearted. Be enthusiastic about what you do. Show it. Be committed to life and everything that you set out to accomplish in life. Devote yourself to your family, friends, and community and commit yourself to being the best father, husband, wife, mother, friend, and neighbor you can be.
4. Honest. Be honest in your dealings with yourself and with others. When others interact with you, let them see someone who is reputable, respectable and genuine. Do what you say you will do and never use fraud or deception to get ahead in life. Let ethics, morals, and honor be your compass.
5. Heartfelt. When you do something for someone, or they do something for you, let your thanks and emotion be openly and outwardly expressed towards them.
6. Hearty. Be someone who displays an honest, warm, and exuberant personality to those around them. Let your feelings show and let them be genuine when they do.
7. Humility. Don’t lead a life thinking you are better than others or are superior to those around you. Modesty and humbleness will leave a far more ever lasting impact on people than trying to show off.
8. Personal integrity. Always follow your heartfelt values, and never let a situation or anyone steer you away from doing what you know is right. Be someone that people can look up to and respect and not someone who trades his or her moral values for material gains in life.
9. Incorruptibility. Let it be known that you stand firm for what you believe in and that your morals, values and actions are not for sale. Don’t let outside forces corrupt the person you are.
10. Sound. Show good judgment and sense in life. Don’t let prejudices or emotions cloud your judgment.
11. Whole. Be focused on what you want to achieve in life. Give everyone you interact with your complete and undivided attention.
12. Courtesy. Practice good manners even though others around you may not.
13. Civility. Graciousness and respect go a long way in life. What is more, they are viral – when people see you doing it they are more apt to practice civility themselves. Be kind to others and extend courtesy towards them. Don’t interrupt people when they speak and don’t dominate the conversation.
14. Wisdom. Gain from the wisdom that is inside you. Understand the inner qualities of people and learn how to understand situations that might be different than we are used to.
15. Charity. Practice kind, gentle, and compassionate treatment of others – especially those who may be undeserving. Learn to extend a hand to help others, even though they themselves may not have helped you.
16. Empathy. Be aware that each person is different and may have different values and beliefs than those that you hold. Be understanding of the feelings and thoughts of others without having to be told or reminded of them.
17. Sympathy. Share your feelings with others and understand the emotional situations that people go through. Put yourself in their shoes.
18. Compassion. When someone is in distress, reach out with a genuine interest in helping alleviate their suffering.
19. Altruism. Think of others without thinking of yourself. Do good things for people without expecting something in return for yourself.
20. Magnanimous. Be generous in life. Give of your time, money and wisdom. Share with others so they can see the true joy and adventures of life themselves.

There are the qualities I think helps lead a person to life a successful life. Clearly everyone’s views will differ, as they should. What are some qualities that you think define success in life?

Written by David B. Bohl of Slow Down Fast.

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