The 8 Things Mentally Strong People Do Every Day

People aren't born with physical strength and no one is blessed with incredible mental strength at birth, either. Mental strength is developed over time by individuals who choose to make personal development a priority. In addition to avoiding the things that could hold them back, mentally strong people create healthy habits that assist them in growing stronger.

Here are eight things mentally strong people do every day to strengthen their mental muscles:

1. They Use Their Mental Energy Wisely

It’s easy to get distracted throughout the day by a variety of unimportant and unproductive tasks. Mentally strong people choose to use their time and energy carefully. They devote their efforts to the things that matter most so they can accomplish their goals.

2. They Reframe Negative Thoughts

Everyone has negative thoughts sometimes, but mentally strong people don't let those thoughts hold them back or drag them down. Instead, they respond to their pessimistic predictions and harsh criticisms with a more productive inner dialogue. They stay motivated to do their best by talking to themselves like a trusted friend or a helpful coach.

3. They Work Toward Established Goals

Mentally strong people establish clear personal and professional goals that give them meaning and purpose. They forgo immediate gratification by keeping their long-term goals in mind, and they view obstacles as challenges, rather than roadblocks to their success.

4. They Reflect on Their Progress

Mentally strong people reflect on their progress toward their goals every day. They set aside time to examine what they're doing well, and they humbly acknowledge areas that need improvement. They hold themselves accountable for mistakes and they constantly strive to grow better.

5. They Tolerate Discomfort for a Greater Purpose

While some people go to great lengths to avoid any type of distress, others endure pain simply to prove they're tough. Mentally strong people, however, tolerate discomfort when it serves a greater purpose. Whether they're exercising when they feel tired, or they're delivering a speech when they feel terrified, they use their pain to become better.

6. They Practice Gratitude

You can't be at your best if you're insisting you deserve better. Mentally strong people acknowledge that they already have everything they need. They recognize their good fortune and express gratitude for all things big and small.

7. They Balance Emotions with Logic

Mentally strong people know their feelings play a major role in their perceptions and behavior. They pay close attention to the ways their emotions could influence their judgment, and they carefully balance their emotions with logic so they can make the best possible decisions.

8. They Live According to Their Values

Although it may be tempting to measure your self-worth by comparing yourself to your competition, mentally strong people don’t fall prey to such distractions. They focus on living according to their values and doing their best, despite their circumstances. At the end of the day they don’t ask themselves, “Did I beat everyone else?” Instead, they ask, “Did I stay true to my values?”

10 Psychological Facts That Reveal a Lot About Us

Over the years, scientists have uncovered many of the human brain’s mysteries and shortcomings that were securely hidden in our psyche.

Today, Bright Side invites you on a journey inside your own head to find out what makes your consciousness work.

1. We’re constantly altering our memories

We tend to see our memories as small movies or video clips. Things that lie on some “shelf” inside our brain, safe and unalterable. But, as it turns out, recollections of past events change every time they pass before our mind’s eye.

Their content is influenced by memory blackouts and by events that took place in the morerecent past. For example, you don’t have clear recollections of all the people who attended a family get-together a couple of years ago, but since your aunt never misses events of this kind, your mind eventually includes her in the memories — even if she was absent on that particular occasion.

2. We can only have a limited number of friends

Psychologists and sociologists have come up with something called the Dunbar’s number — the maximum number of people with whom a person can maintain close ties. So, even if you have thousands of ’friends’ on Facebook, you can only have meaningful communication with 50-200 of them.

3. We feel happier when we’re busy

• Imagine that you’re at the airport, and you need to pick up the luggage. In ten minutes, you reach the claim area and immediately collect your suitcase.
  And now, a slightly different situation. You find a shortcut and manage to get to the baggage carousel in just two minutes. Then, you spend the remaining eight minutes waiting for your suitcase to appear.

In both cases, it took you no more than ten minutes to pick up the luggage. However, in the second scenario, you probably felt more impatient and dissatisfied. This is due to the fact that our brain dislikes being idle and prefers to stay busy instead. And, for every task completed, it rewards us with dopamine, the hormone of happiness.

4. We can memorize only 3-4 things at a time

Studies show that our brain can store no more than 3-4 pieces of information at once. In addition, this info can only be preserved for 20-30 seconds. After this time, we forget it unless we keep refreshing it in our memory over and over again.

For instance, you are driving and talking on the phone (don’t do that!). The person on the other end gives you a number, but you can’t write it down so you try to memorize it instead. You repeat the number again and again, so as to preserve it in your short-term memory until you can disconnect and write it down.

By the way, the fact that we find it easier to remember 3-4 pieces of information at a time explains why so many things consist of 3-4 digits or lines. This applies to phone and credit card numbers and even to the paragraph you’re reading!

5. Our visual perception of things differs from their actual appearance

Our brain constantly processes information received from sensory organs. It analyzes visual images and interprets them in a form accessible to us.

• For example, the reason for us being able to read a text quickly lies in the fact that we’re not actually reading it. We simply notice the first and last letters of each word, and intuitively fill in the rest, based on our past experience. As the saying goes: “It dsoen’t mtater in waht odrer the ltetres apepar in a wrod, if the fsirt and the lsat lteters remian in palce.”

See? We look at groups of jumbled letters yet perceive them as proper words! And this doesn’t just happen with texts.

6. We spend 30% of our time daydreaming

Imagine you’re at work studying an important document. Suddenly, you realize that you’ve just read the same sentence three times in a row. Instead of analyzing the text, your mind was wandering.

Scientists from the University of California say that every day we spend 30% of our time daydreaming. Sometimes (for instance, during long trips) this share increases to as much as 70%, but there’s nothing wrong with it. Studies show that people who love to wander in the clouds tend to be more creative. Also, they’re better at solving problems and getting rid of stress.

7. We can’t ignore 3 things in life: food, sex and danger

Have you ever wondered why people always stop to look at the aftermath of a road accident? Even though bystanders find the sight distressing, they continue to gawk.

Such curiosity is triggered by our “ancient brain” — a section responsible for survival. Its function is to constantly scan the environment, posing (and answering) 3 questions: “Can I eat that? Can I have sex with that? Can I be killed by that?” Food, sex, and danger are still the things fundamental to our staying alive, so we can’t help but pay attention to them.

8. We need as much choice as possible

As part of a recent study, scientists set up two tables in a supermarket. On the first table, they placed 6 types of jam, on the second 24. As a result, 60% of customers stopped to try jams at table #1. However, when it came to making purchases, table #2 proved 4 times more popular.

Why did this happen? As we already know, our brain can only focus on 3-4 things at a time. Therefore, making final decisions is easier when there’s a limited number of options (i.e., 6 types of jam).

Nevertheless, we always crave variety. We love to browse through a wide range of products — that’s why we’re more likely to stop by the table with 24 types of jam (although, in the end, we’ll still go for the same brand we’ve bought man

9. Most of our decisions are unconscious

We’d like to believe that all our actions are the result of careful planning, but in reality, 60-80% of our everyday decisions are made subconsciously. We don’t think about doing those things, we just do them.

Every second, our brain receives millions of units of data. To prevent over-exhaustion, some of the work gets relegated to the subconscious. Pocketing the keys, turning off the lights, closing the front door — we perform such actions automatically, without thinking.

On the downside, this often leads to self-doubt. For instance, when we arrive at the office and suddenly begin to fret over whether or not we’ve turned the iron off.

10. There’s no such thing as multitasking

Studies show that we can only perform one cognitive activity at a time. Try talking and reading at once or writing a letter while listening to an audiobook. Most likely, nothing good will come of it — our brain just can’t focus on two tasks simultaneously.

However, there is an exception. If the second activity is purely physical and automatic (the type of thing that we perform on a day-to-day basis), then it is possible to combine both tasks. For example, you can talk on the phone while walking. But, even then, there’s is a good chance of tripping and losing track of conversation.

16 Essential Secrets of Body Language

Up to 80% of the information we receive from a person in conversation is transmitted non-verbally. A lot of the time though, we don’t understand precisely what feelings they’re trying to express through their body.

We decided that it was time to uncover the secrets of body language. Some of these can really help you understand what a person is thinking and feeling, even when they don’t say a word about it.

Compared to men, women have a lot more body language clues when they like someone. If she licks or bites her lips a lot and plays with her hair more when she is around someone, she is definitely attracted to them.

11 Surprising New Facts About Your Personality

1. People can smell your personality

People can guess your personality by simply smelling your t-shirt.
The study showed that people were as accurate at guessing personality when smelling their clothes as when watching a video of them.

Not all personality traits were easy to spot, though.
The researchers found that people were good at identifying these three personality traits:

• neuroticism,
• extraversion,
• and dominance.

2. Helpful people have more sex

People who help others out have more sex.
The more altruistic people are, the more sexual partners they have and the more frequently they have sex.

Could it be, then, that being nice to other people is the ultimate aphrodisiac?

Who would have thought it?
Professor Steven Arnocky, the study’s first author, said:

“It appears that altruism evolved in our species, in part, because it serves as a signal of other underlying desirable qualities, which helps individuals reproduce.”

3. Optimists report higher quality of life

Optimists report higher levels of mental and physical functioning than pessimists, research reveals.
Dr Toshihiko Maruta, the study’s first author, said:

“The wellness of being is not just physical, but attitudinal.
How you perceive what goes on around you and how you interpret it may have an impact on your longevity, and it could affect the quality of your later years.”

Researchers studied 447 people who were followed over 30 years.
Their personality was assessed, along with their physical and mental functioning.
It turned out that pessimists had a lower quality of life, on average.

4. People read personality in your movement

The way people move could provide a unique insight into their personality.
People who move in similar ways display better collective behaviour.
The researchers think this means that people who move the same way will be able to interact more effectively as well.
The study suggests that each person has an ‘individual motor signature’ which defines how they move.

5. Being in love reduces neuroticism

Falling in love helps to stabilise the personalities of people who are neurotic.

Love helps people who think pessimistically to approach life with more confidence and see events in a more positive light.
Neuroticism is explained by Dr Christine Finn, the study’s first author:

“Neurotic people are rather anxious, insecure, and easily annoyed.
They have a tendency towards depression, often show low self-esteem and tend to be generally dissatisfied with their lives.
However, we were able to show that they become more stable in a love relationship, and that their personality stabilizes.”

6. Feeling entitled leads to disappointment

The personality trait of entitlement can lead to chronic disappointment.
Entitlement is believing you are better than others and deserve more than them.
Unfortunately people who feel entitled often enter a spiral of habitual behaviour that is toxic.
From anger they tend to lash out at others, blaming them.
At the same time they continue to tell themselves that they are special.

7. People get nicer as they get older

People get nicer as they get older, in contrast to the stereotype of the grumpy senior.
The finding may be a surprise to those that believe people never change.
They do — even if only a little.
The three main changes to personality that occur, on average, with age are that people get:

• more conscientious,
• more agreeable,
• and less neurotic (moody).

8. Fear of the unknown related to anxiety disorders

Fear of the unknown is the personality trait that underlies many anxiety disorders.
Social anxiety, panic disorder and specific phobias all have fear of the unknown at their heart.
Someone who is sensitive to uncertainty may spend a lot of time worrying what is going to happen to them.
For example, people with panic disorder are constantly worrying that they are going to panic.

9. People read our personalities with one glance

People read a surprising amount into our faces, just from one glance.
Men who have large noses, square jaws and small eyes, are apparently telling the world they prefer short-term relationships, research finds.
Women with larger lips and wide eyes are sending the same short-term relationship signal — whether they like it or not.

10. Narcissists like bitter foods

Having a preference for bitter tastes is linked to psychopathy, narcissism and everyday sadism.
A predilection for tonic water or coffee, therefore, could indicated some psychopathic tendencies in a person’s personality.
In contrast, people who dislike bitter tastes tend to be more agreeable, the researchers discovered.

11. Optimists live longer

Being positive has been linked to living longer by new research.
People lived longer if they were more:

• optimistic about the future,
• closer to other people,
• decisive,
• and felt more useful and relaxed.

26 Mind-Blowing Psychology Facts That You Never Knew About People

Learning something new about yourself is always interesting and entertaining. And understanding the psychology behind the way we behave, treat others, and express ourselves can be even more appealing.

Today, we here at Bright Side have compiled a list of the most surprising psychology facts that can help you better understand yourself and others.

1. Any friendship that was born in the period between 16 and 28 years of age is more likely to be robust and long lasting.
2. Women generally prefer men with deep husky voices because they seem more confident and not aggressive.
3. The people who give the best advice are usually the ones with the most problems.
4. The smarter the person is, the faster he thinks, and the sloppier his handwriting is.
5. Our emotions don’t affect the way we communicate. In fact, the very opposite is true: the way we communicate has an influence on our mood.
6. The way a person treats restaurant staff reveals a lot about their character.
7. People who have a strong sense of guilt are better at understanding other people’s thoughts and feelings.
8. Men are not funnier than women: they just make more jokes, not caring whether other people like their humor or not.
9. Shy people talk little about themselves, but they do this in a way that makes other people feel that they know them very well.
10. Women have twice as many pain receptors on their bodies than men, but they have a much higher pain tolerance.
11. Listening to high-frequency music makes you feel calm, relaxed, and happy.
12. If you can’t stop your stream of thoughts at night, get up and write them down. This will set your mind at ease so you can sleep.
13. Good morning and good night text messages activate the part of the brain responsible for happiness.
14. Doing things that scare you will make you happier.
15. The average amount of time a woman can keep a secret is 47 hours and 15 minutes.
16. People who try to keep everyone happy often end up feeling the loneliest.
17. The happier we are, the less sleep we require.
18. When you hold the hand of a loved one, you feel pain less keenly and worry less.
19. Intelligent people tend to have less friends than the average person. The smarter the person is, the more selective they become.
20. Marrying your best friend eliminates the risk of divorce by over 70%, and this marriage is more likely to last a lifetime.
21. Women who have mostly male friends stay in a good mood more often.
22. People who speak two languages may unconsciously shift their personalities when they switch from one language to another.
23. Being alone for a long time is as bad for your health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.
24. Travel boosts brain health and also decreases a person’s risk of heart attack and depression.
25. People look more attractive when they speak about the things they are really interested in.
26. When two persons talk to each other and one of them turns their feet slightly away or repeatedly moves one foot in an outward direction, this is a strong sign of disagreement, and they want to leave.

Tired of belly fat? Here are five home-made remedies to get rid of the 'visceral fat'

1. Lemon-water-honey concoction: Take 2-3 slices of a lemon, and boil it in 2 cups of water until it reduces by half. Then mix a teaspoon of honey in it and drink it early in the morning on an empty stomach. Continue for 10 days and see the results for yourself.
2. Triphala churna with hot water: Triphala is known to be a boon for people with stomach related issues and diabetes. It is a trusted medicine for improving digestion and metabolism in Ayurveda. Made from equal proportions of amala, baheda and haritaki, it is widely known to kick away belly fat. For optimal results, mix 2 spoons of Triphala powder in a glass of lukewarm water and drink it early in the morning on an empty stomach.
3. Replace your cooking oil with the good old coconut oil: Is there anything that a coconut oil cannot do? The coconut oil is a must ingredient for a number of remedies for our health issues. From giving you a healthy hair and glowing skin to kicking those stubborn fats off your tummy, the coconut oil does it all. It is enriched with a high quantity of MCTs (medium triglycerides), which is quickly converted to energy by the liver to enhance your metabolism rather than being stored as fat.
4. Add green tea to your daily routine: Maybe its time to swap your lovely cup of tea and coffee with green tea. Belly fat reduction and green tea are known to be best friends. Green tea has catechins which boost the metabolism, attack your belly fat and melts it away. It also is known to speed up the liver's fat-burning ability.
5. Drink plenty of water: Water is an elixir not only for life but also for reducing belly fat. Eight-ten glasses of water improve digestion, reduces bloating and enhances metabolism. Water, when replaced with your daily intake of sugary or supposedly 'diet' drinks, decreases your daily calories intake and trims your overall weight along with your belly.

New Delhi: Belly fat is really stubborn. It is frustrating at times when you cannot fit into your favourite dress or buy that dress in the store you have been eyeing for long for obvious reasons. While everyone wants to look their best, getting rid of the 'visceral' belly fat is also beneficial for one's long-term health. Belly fat is known to increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and also breast cancer in women. And if you are running short of time to hit the gym and shed those extra kilos, worry not. We have got you covered with our list of homemade remedies that can kick away that flab off your waist. So keep reading on, to know what would actually help you shed that belly fat without having to slog in the gym. 

Asian Cup Qualifier: India Reach Bishkek Ahead Of Kyrgyzstan Clash

India's football squad reached here on Sunday for the final encounter in the AFC Asian Cup 2019 qualification round against Kyrgyzstan. India, who have already qualified for the quadrennial continental showpiece by topping the Group E with 13 points from five matches, will face the hosts at the Dolen Omurzakov Stadium on Tuesday.

India had defeated Kyrgyzstan in the first leg between the two sides.

India and the Kyrgyz Republic have already secured their berths in the AFC Asian Cup next year but coach Stephen Constantine is expecting nothing less than a tough fight from the Central Asian outfit in their favourable home conditions.

"They are a very good side. They have good quality all over the field but so do we. They also have the home advantage this time around. We will have to be very careful to maintain our focus and try to get the three points", Constantine said.

India had defeated Kyrgyzstan in the first leg between the two sides

Kareena Kapoor Trolled For Looking Like 'A Skeleton', Asked To Start Eating

 Kareena Kapoor's religious gymming appears to have paid off - the 37-year-old actress looks a lot like her size zero self from a few years ago - and people aren't entirely impressed. Kareena, who gave birth to son Taimur in December 2016, recently walked the ramp for her "favourite" designer Manish Malhotra in Singapore and a behind-the-scenes moment from the show, featuring Kareena and best friend Amrita Arora, has been flooded with vile comments on Instagram. Kareena, who was dressed in a Manish Malhotra ensemble - an embellished bralet and lehenga, was trolled for looking "too skinny" and was asked to start eating and gain weight. "Kuchh kha liya karo," she was told. The trolls also added that she resembles a "skeleton" because of her toned midriff. "Seems like Kareena underwent some treatment to look skinny," read one of the comments while another speculated that Kareena might be suffering from malnutrition.

"What happened to Kareena? She looks like a skull," wrote another follower in the comment's section. Some also said that the actress looked older than her age: "Amrita looks fab and you look aged."
 

Kareena Kapoor and Kartik Aaryan were Manish Malhotra's showstoppers for the night:
 

Kareena Kapoor has been frequently photographed hitting the gym in the last year and shed her post-pregnancy weight within months. Her strict work-out regime allowed her to resume work commitments - she returned to filming Veere Di Wedding after a short maternity leave.
 

In 2008, Kareena made headlines for becoming a "size zero" for Tashan. Kareena, who reportedly starved herself before shooting a beach sequence in a bikini, fainted on the sets of the film.
 

Kareena Kapoor in a still from Tashan (courtesy YouTube)

Those who remember, Deepika Padukone was subjected to similar trolling after her photoshoot for the jewellery edition of Vanity Fair UK in July last year. "Dead body" to "anorexic" are some of the adjectives she was referred to with. She was also told to "eat a burger."
 

Kareena Kapoor will next be seen in Shashanka Ghosh's Veere Di Wedding, which also stars Sonam Kapoor and Swara Bhasker.