Bright Advice #27: Stay on track.

This past week has been rather eventful celebrating a birthday catered by delectable Filipino food and also moments where it was filled with just unnecessary nuisance. Despite all that goes on, I must continue and focus on what I got to do, right? Easier said than done especially when life has so many distractions. Everyone has their own schedule and situations to deal with, but it's how you deal with it that matters.

Don't get me wrong, I too get sidetracked with scrambling thoughts, but honestly, I always have time to ponder. What needs to be done is my priority and I should not let events cloud my thoughts. On top of that, doing other objectives keeps my mind out of the dumps if I do feel a little down. Learn to take care of yourself before you try to attack on other obstacles that come and go in your daily life.

Thank you.

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Mr. Brightside

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We got it better than most.

We often do and use a lot of the same things everyday, but never take time to appreciate it. John Bang, a student of UPENN, currently is in Korea and wishes to share with us on how we shouldn't take regular commodities for granted. 


Thank you John for your post.
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After spending more than a week abroad (if you really wanna know where, read on), I've come to a few conclusions as to what I've taken for granted in the good ol' U.S. of A.

One of the things I've taken for granted is my Audi A4. Auto commercials have always seem to equate cars with independence and freedom. Imagine having to drive without more than a foot's distance between your car and the others surrounding you on all four sides. You now have a picture of what it's like to drive in South Korea. If you're a claustrophobic, don't consider driving here.

Having experienced the mental strenuousness (albeit not firsthand) of driving in Korea, I'd say one of the things I'm looking forward to most is cruising along at 70 mph, if not faster, on California's freeways again.

Air pollution. You hear that word repeated again and again by environmental advocates these days. I want to tell people, relax! Live a little. Of course we shouldn't be dumping nuclear waste into the oceans or emitting gases that cause acid rain from our factories, but it's plain and simple: technology will be the answer to our problems. It always has been.

If you're still fixated on air pollution, go abroad to a developing country who doesn't have standards or laws regarding the burning of trash, such as Ghana. Go to China, where air pollution's unavoidable in cities
like Beijing and GuangZhou. These countries' industries need regulation, but also better technology, which is what the U.S. has always invested in.

It's not so bad in the States. Stop complaining. Now go out there and start finding solutions to these issues like global warming! Become a scientist or something. My advice to environmentalists? Instead of telling other people what to do, start with yourself.

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Bright Advice #25: See the good in others.

Everyone you meet has a good side, whether or not it is evident on the first encounter. There will be times when you meet someone and already you get a negative vibe. You might feel that it is hard to start up conversations or things might become frustrating.  Learn to see the good in people, even if you may not want to.

If you surround yourself with negative people, the only thing they will do is put you in a negative mood. Try to see the good in people - everyone has a good side. When you learn to see the good in others, it will be less stressful when talking to them or being around them. Now, if you are somewhere where you have no choice but to be around negative people, learning to see the good in them will make things a little more tolerable for you.

Be positive with the people around you, and also with life in general. When you see the positive aspects of negative people, apply the same thinking process with life. The more positive you are, the more motivated and awake you will be.

Upon learning how to see the good in others, be sure to be able to differentiate between that and sucking up. Just because you might not be around people you like doesn't mean you have to be down and negative. Develop the skill to see life in a positive perspective. Pretend you're stuck in traffic for the next hour, but it's okay. You just downloaded some new music to jam to on the way home. There are always brighter alternatives, just learn to notice them.

It is about focusing on the little things and finding the positive in them. The more positive you find in people and the things around you the happier you will be. You will also be more motivated to make it through everyday and reach your goals.

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Bright Advice #24: Mending broken relationships.

Happy Valentine's Day! Even on this day of love, it's not always how it is pictured. Sometimes relationships come to a deep hole, and if we learn to fix these broken relationships, it helps bring ease and peace to the body and soul. Here are some ways to help mend or create healthy relationships with friends, partners, and family members.

See both sides
When relationships start to fall apart it builds stress for both sides. Both might feel a sense of anger, sadness, disappointment, or even fear as a result of the situation. Although these feelings will be bottled up inside you, learn to be mindful of the other side's feelings too. Ask yourself 'How are they feeling right now?' and 'Will they be okay?'

As the relationship comes to any disputes, each side has their own perspective and expectations. These are a result of beliefs and past experiences. If you really know the other member, you can picture the conflict from their point of view. When you learn to see things from their perspective, it gives you a more clear understanding to how/why they are handling the situation thus far.

Take Responsibility for Your Part
If each person does not take responsibility of their part in the relationship, then things won't get better. Learn to not blame or criticize one another for all the wrongdoings, but rather focus and hone in on what caused this situation.

Even though the situation may be clear that one side had more fault  than the other, one can still step back and think what led up to this point? When you build a mentality of finding out WHAT was the cause of the issue, rather than WHO's fault it was, this will bring a sense of relief and aid you with fixing that broken relationship.

Make Amends Where Appropriate
Sometimes all it takes is to make amends. Try an apology or even a small gesture, done from the heart of course, can go a long way towards creating a healthy relationship.

Decide what needs to be done to reconcile the problem. What does the other person need? Would forgiveness, acceptance, or appreciation help? Use your intuition to determine what would help to create a healthy relationship.

Communicate Effectively
The last part to help improve a broken relationship is learning to communicate effectively. When both of you sit down and discuss how you feel with honesty and sincerity, the tensions lessens and you've begun to rebuild the relationship.

Notice how I said communicate effectively. This is not the time to continue blame or see who can make the other feel worse. Go into this conversation with an open-mind, with the thought of fixing the situation only in your mind. Relax and calm down. Then you are able to share how you truly feel and let the other person know the reasons for your actions.

And to those that are just perfectly happy with everything. Happy Valentine's Day once again.

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Bright Advice #23: Good music, good time.

For many people, music is the quickest way to have fun while working. Cue your computer to play a string of upbeat and relaxing tunes during the appropriate times. Notice that your stress levels don’t rise easily, as you have a continuous stream of energy to hurdle each task. When you’re starting to tire out, sing along to your favorite tunes, especially during the chorus. You might be surprised with the amount of energy you’ll have right after.


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Bright Advice #22: Be polite.

If you want people to like you and want to get to know you, politeness helps a lot. I'm not saying you should suck up to them, but treat them with respect. There's a trend for being rude these days that comes from the movies and TV. It's fun to watch, but that's not how the real world works. When Ashton Kutcher is rude and nasty, it's fascinating - when you're rude or nasty, you're just someone who's not worth having anything to do with. Everyone knows what you're supposed to do to be polite - put it into practice and you'll go far with making new friends.

Save money, eat more?

Everyone loves saving money. With Valentine's coming up, check out www.Groupon.com. Now you can get a bouquet of roses, originally for $40, half off! This is only one of the great offers Groupon.com has. Each day, Groupon features an unbeatable deal on the best stuff to do, see, eat, and buy in your city. By promising businesses a minimum number of customers, you get discounts you won't find anywhere else. No membership fee is needed, and it's fast and easy to sign up. Don't miss out on some of the great deals that could help save you money!

Decide and Move On.

Our brains have way of creating a synthesized happiness when we don't get what we want - it's often difficult for us to make a "wrong" choice. Thus, it's just better to decide on something and move on. 

A scientist stated that our brains can not tell the difference between synthesized and actual euphoria. Even when we make the "wrong" choice, our minds find a way to make us feel as if that choice was ultimately in our best interest; to the brain, this feeling created shows no difference than actual happiness. 

We often are horrible at predicting how we are going to feel later on, so when time is spent figuring out what to do over a simple matter, it is actually just wasted efforts. Even though waiting for the right opportune time to make a choice is important, when it comes down to small decisions in our daily lives, it is better for us to pick something and continue on. In the end, we're happy with either decisions so long that we don't have to waste any more time in our life pondering over petty things.

Bright Advice #19: Ways to stop procrastinating.

1. Make a list of everything you need to do
• As mentioned previously, obtaining an organizer is mighty handy to help you visualize the tasks needed to get done. With this, learn to create a self-monitoring system. 
2. Make note-taking a habit
3. Break a big job down into smaller parts
• Something may seem daunting because of how much needs to be done. However, if broken down into smaller sections, it is easier to attack this job. Focusing for just 10 minutes could possibly help you get started.
4. Put what needs to be done right in front of you
• When you lay something right in front of you, you have no other option but to look at it, well, eventually. Just focus your attention on what needs to get done, even if it's for a brief moment.
5. Keep reselling yourself on the benefits of doing what has to be done
• If you constantly remind yourself that you need to get your job done, it will keep that motivation pumping.

6. Figure out why you put things off
• Can't pay attention due to Facebook or Instant Messaging? If you know what causes your procrastination, then great. Avoid those situations/ or scenarios. 
7. Emphasize doing - not doing it perfectly, yet.
• This tip is to help you get started. As long as you get started on your task, it's progress towards the finish line. However, since you spend your time on it, you might as well make the most of it. But getting started is foremost.
8. Force yourself to get started
• Having trouble getting started? Start now. If you have something that needs to get done, why put it off? Finish and move on to other objectives.
9. Establish deadlines for yourself
• If you don't establish deadlines, you won't ever come across finishing them. Make deadlines, and meet your goals.
10. Learn to value your time
• Everyone only has 24 hours in a day. What you do in that time is all up to you. There's nothing wrong with enjoying yourself and putting aside some leisure time, but when you have things that need to get done, prioritize your time. Also, learn to use all the time you have. Those 10 minutes before work/ school can become rather useful.
11. Avoid the telephone/ computer traps
• Nowadays, with technology being a big part of our daily lives, we tend to spend a lot of time on it. If your someone, me included, that gets sidetracked with such things, learn to avoid them when it's time to work. Learn to discourage interruptions.
12. Anticipate your daily needs
• With all the things going on with our lives, it's hard to get some things done on time like we would like. However, if something is due, for the sake of discussion, next week, don't put it off till the night before. Get it done days before, allowing you to either review or edit. 

Bright Advice #18: Working on first impressions.

Practice a strong, firm handshake and the small talk that generally goes along with meeting someone for the first time. People won’t know what to think of you if you have nothing more to say past “Hi, I'm ____, nice to meet you.” Learning people's names is also an important attribute to take on. You never know, you might end up doing work with this person or, with a good first impression, could even potentially land you a date. Be sure and make an excellent one.

Don't burn bridges.

Even if you think you are never seeing the other person ever again, keep the friendship and tie. For instance, if you were about to quit your job, it’d be in your best interest to not let off steam on your boss. You never know when you might bump into him later on in life or need a reference, then wishing you did not burn that bridge. Life has a lot to do with building connections and reputations - at any time you might seek assistance from someone you knew before in the past. Given, there already is a lot of hate and violence that really is not needed in this world. So there is no need to show those sides to those around you.

Bright Advice #17: Take action today.

Ok, lets be honest here. Who procrastinates? I know I use to, but I've been learning to get things done on time. How? Simple. First, know what you want to do, then act on it. Now, that is easier said then done, especially with so many objectives to do each day.

As of late, I've acquired an item that I use on the regular that has helped me not only by accomplishing my tasks, but also keeping my life a little bit more organized. I strongly encourage, for those of you who do not have one, investing in an organizer. Having an organizer is one thing, but learning to use it at its fullest potential is something that could help turn your life around.

One of the most rewarding parts of my day, sadly enough, is highlighting tasks which I finished. It honestly feels up-lifting knowing that I'm able to stay on schedule with my to-do lists in an orderly fashion. Within your organizer, learn to jot down reminders, things to do, or even important up-coming dates. I tend to list the things needed to be done the night before, and as soon as the day starts, I'm on my way staying productive and keeping on track.

Purchase an organizer or calendar, something you are able to carry around, and get your life in check. You'll know what I mean about the self-euphoria you get when you begin crossing-off your checklist. Here's a start, learn to stay on top of things today.

Have a hard time getting tasks done, even with being organized? It might only take 10 minutes to get it done.

Bright Advice #16: Stay in touch.

We come across many people in our lives each day, whether its people we casually walk by or those we associate with. No matter the quantity of people you know, the value of friendship is what's more important. The friendships you choose to establish come with reason, and these reasons are why friendship exists in the first place.

Now, as life goes on, we are occupied with our own tasks and might have less time for leisure purposes. However, as you carry on with your life, remember the things that have helped brighten up your days - hobbies, family, and friends. Life is pretty fast paced, and things come and go, but don't forget the things that helped made life a little easier for you.

The beauty of true friendship is that no matter where you are, the ties you share won't fade. With that said, that is true as long as you don't allow it too. From a simple text saying 'Hello :]' to having a nice lunch to catch up, there are many ways to stay in touch.

Remember your memories and learn to make new ones with those you have done so with already.