Health Benefits of Drinking Green Tea

How To Deal With Your Shy Child?

Does your child feel embarrassed to talk to strangers? Does he worry excessively about what others will think about him? Does he always tend to avoid social situations? Is he always hesitant about making friends?

Is your child shy? Remember, shyness is normal, but only to a certain extent.

Shyness stems from an exaggerated sense of self, and generally, the shy child feels easily embarrassed and worries about what the other person will think of him, or of any particular actions of his.

Although it may be true that shyness cannot be cured, one can learn how to handle it, so that one may be able to cope with the various situations that life hands out.

Also remember, extreme shyness can, if left untreated, turn into what is known as ‘social phobia’, which describes an intense fear of social situations, and the child will be left with a phobia of attending public functions and social gatherings, leading to a fear of interviews, of getting a job, of meeting people, of any kind of situation at all that may involve an interaction with a group of strangers, in a strange environment.

If you feel that your child is excessively shy, take action now. Do not wait! You will be paving the way to a better future for your child.

Here are some expert recommended strategies to help your child overcome his shyness:

• Connect with your child
• Never ever make your child feel bad about his shyness. It is something that he cannot help, and if he only could, he would not be a shy person.
• Empathize with him, even if you are a bubbly type of person and cannot understand why your child should be shy.
• Try to let your child know that you know what it feels like, and if applicable, let him know that you were also a shy child. You could let him know how to face situations that frighten him, and how you did it as a child.
• You could teach him strategies that would help him deal with his shyness. You could do your own research, or consult a psychologist who will guide you. Ask your friends and relatives what they did to help their shy child. Follow whichever method suits your child best, but do not keep harping on it; it will only make the situation worse, and he may become even shier than he was before.
• Enroll your child in a variety of situations in which he has to interact with a group of children of his age, like for instance, a sports activity, a painting class, a debate club. This will make him meet new people, and allow him to make new friends. He could also use his newly acquired strategies to overcome his shyness.

No matter what you do, try your best to make your child face his shyness with the intention of overcoming it, before he reaches adulthood. A shy adult in general terms is an under-achiever as compared to his more open peers.

Start today!

How To Deal With Anxiety Disorders In Children?

My friend’s daughter was a normal teenager, with all the usual teenage rebelliousness.

Little did we know that the girl was suffering from a severe form of anxiety disorder till the day she attempted suicide, leaving a letter saying that she felt that she was unable to cope with life any more.

Where did my friend go wrong? Why did she not recognize the seriousness of the symptoms of anxiety disorder in her child? What could she have done about it? What can she do now?

These are some of the issues that will be addressed now, and here are some tips to help you cope, if you feel your child has an anxiety disorder.

First and foremost, what are the symptoms of anxiety disorder? The child has a heightened sense of worry and anxiety, as distinguished from normal anxiety, which may manifest itself physically in nervous sweating, headaches, nausea and vomiting, and mentally affect her thinking and cognitive abilities and skills.

The child may be restless, suffer from phobias, remain keyed up and on edge, and may find it extremely difficult to recover from the anxiety attack plaguing her.

If you find any of these symptoms in your child over a sustained period of time, consult your doctor immediately. You could help save your child’s life.

How do you deal with anxiety disorders in your child? Remember, these disorders are treatable, and you as a parent must watch out for symptoms and deal with the anxiety in consultation with your doctor. Here are some suggestions:

• Make sure that your child is given proper nutritious food. A healthy diet is half the solution to a healthy mind and a positive outlook towards life.
• You must ensure that your child gets enough exercise and outdoor aireveryday. Physical exercise helps in the circulation of blood through the body and the brain, and will release the ‘feel good factors’ that will help your child improve her outlook towards life and overcome her anxiety.
• Your physician will provide you with a plan for coping, and for evaluating the stress your child is under, so that you may be able to help her cope better.
• Your physician may offer medication, and this does work, but make sure that the dosages are kept under moderation and not used over the longer term.
• For severe cases, psychodynamic therapy is offered today, and while this addresses your child’s underlying fears and anxieties, you as a parent can help her cope.
• Behavior therapy is also used in certain conditions, and such therapy has proven to be greatly useful in alleviating the symptoms of anxiety disorder in your child, no matter what may have caused them.

Do not worry; maintain a positive outlook towards life yourself, and believe that everything will be back to normal shortly. Most importantly, believe in your child, and make sure that she knows you love her and care for her. A loving parent can do more wonders for a child than the best medicine in the world would be able to. Keep trying!

Successful Negotiation Skills

Have you ever heard these words, “That’s it! Take it or leave it!” or “Don’t tell me to do this again! I will not!” or have you said these words yourself: “I am wasting my time with you! Negotiating with you is a completely useless activity!” or “I will meet you in the courthouse soon. Good bye…”

If you have heard or said these words at any point of your life for any reason, it is time you learnt one very important fact of life: that you cannot do without negotiation, no matter where you are or what you are doing.

While some people may say that negotiation is an art, some others may say that it is intuitive, and one need not have to actually learn how to negotiate with others.

But the fact remains that most people do not know the basics of how to negotiate in such a way that you will be able to get what you want, and it would help greatly to learn at least the basics.

Here are a few tips to get you started:

• Be willing to negotiate: Negotiate, even if you think and know that it is rude, or if you feel too shy to do it. Remember, there is more to making a deal than simply shying away from it, and if the other person knows that you are shying away from it, he will take full advantage of it, and why not? Anyone would!
• Try not to get too involved emotionally in the negotiation process. While some people may start to shout and scream in anger, others may react the opposite way, but the trick is to remain firm, remain calm, and know what you want, and wait patiently until you get it, using your negotiating skills.
• At times, you may need to sign a contract. You may not like what you are reading, and may feel that such stipulations must not be there. What do you do? Do you simply sign it, or do you cross off the things you don’t want? You must choose the latter option; after all, you are the person signing the contract, and why should the other person get all the benefits?
• Another trick is to try to never be the one to name a figure. When you are asked, “What is your hourly rate?” do you fumble and quote a figure that is lower than what you intended to quote? I used to do exactly that, until I learnt my lesson. I ask the other person to quote his rate, and I have often found that the figure he quotes is, most of the time, much higher than I would have dared to quote.
• If you do not want to be rushed into making your decision, make up an imaginary figure of ‘authority’ that you have to defer to before deciding. This will buy you more time, and let the other person think that you have an expert someone to talk to before deciding.
• Even if it is difficult, try to walk away, acting like you are not interested. This will help the other person decide rather quickly, especially if he is impressed with you and does not want to lose you.
• Be prepared. This in itself can pave the way for excellent negotiation skills, and when you know what you want, what you wouldn’t mind giving up, and what you would eventually settle for, it is a matter of ease to negotiate for the best deal.

The 7 Keys To Turning Bad Habits Into Good Habits

Quitting smoking was one of the most difficult things to do — in fact, many of them fail when they tried quitting.

Each time you fail in your quit attempt, you feel guilty and weak and unsure of your ability to overcome such difficult hurdles.

But looking back on it, it was the failed attempts that teaches the most about what works and what doesn’t.

Research on change of habits and have multiple strategies for success in your plan.

There are a few keys to changing bad habits. Create a plan based on these keys, before you start to implement your habit change, so that you are well prepared and well positioned for success:

1. For each habit, identify your triggers. What situations trigger your smoking habit (waking in the morning, having coffee, drinking alcohol, stressful meetings, going out with friends, driving, etc.)? Identify all of them, for each habit.

2. For every single trigger, identify a positive habit you’re going to do instead. When you first wake in the morning, instead of smoking, what will you do? What about when you get stressed? When you go out with friends? Some positive habits could include: exercise, meditation, deep breathing, organizing, decluttering, and more.

Read more at Zen Habits

Parents’ Positive Attitude Influences Their Children

Possessing a positive attitude in life will help you tide through many a disaster, and conquer many a storm.

If you are an individual with a positive attitude, it means that you are a person who focuses on the positive side of life, while trying to ignore the negative, at least to a certain extent.

Adopting a positive attitude will help you cope better with your life and with the problems it deals you with unfailing regularity, and helps you deal with stress and its related problems.

Remember, nobody is ever born with a completely positive attitude; it is something that has to be developed and polished over a period of time, and the extent to which you can do it would again depend upon your positive attitude towards life.

As an adult, and as a responsible parent, it may be entirely up to you to make sure that you develop a positive attitude in your child, so that he can face the challenges of life as he grows into an adult.

Here are some tips to help influence your child into being the positive person that you are:

• Teach your child to never ever say the words, “I can’t!” Not only will this sort of statement make him feel inadequate, it will also make him lose his self worth, and develop a negative attitude in him. He will feel that he is no good at anything he does; he will not succeed, and that he need not even try for it. Instead, teach him to say, “I won’t!” This will give him a sense of control over the situation, and make him take up the responsibility for making such a choice. You as a parent must get rid of this attitude and teach him to think positively.
• Teach your child to recognize the point at which he has started to think negative thoughts. For instance, when he is painting, he may make a mess, and this may start him thinking, “Oh! I am no good at this! Maybe I should simply give up!” Teach your child to think instead, “Oh! I may have made a mess this time, but it doesn’t matter! I will try harder next time!” This way, he can become a positive thinking person, and this attitude will be reflected in all his actions.
• You as a parent must grab every chance you can to tell jokes, laugh, and generally act silly. When you adopt this attitude with your child, and make him smile and laugh along with you at every chance he can, then you are on your way to building a positive energy filled happy home.
• Grab every chance you can to say, “I love you!” to your child.
• Grab every chance you can to demonstrate the affection you feel for your child, in a physical way, even if he makes it clear that he does not like it. Hug your child, pat his hand, smooth down his hair (I know he hates it!) pat his back, and offer him kisses every now and then. Even if it looks like he does not appreciate all this, it will influence him greatly in his attitude towards you, and towards life in general. He is on his way towards becoming a completely positive person, because of you.

Remember, small things go a long way, and it is time now to develop that positive attitude in your child already. What are you waiting for?