Zenlama Holistic Wellness and Healthy Living for Body, Mind and Spirit
Have you noticed that people love to keep, and make lists? Why is it that everywhere you turn there’s a list for this or that?
Our everyday lives are littered with lists: laundry, grocery, to-do, wish-lists, birthday and anniversaries, catalog and collection lists, top ten lists… And the list goes on.
While it may sound obvious that keeping lists of the things you need to do will help you keep them organized, (so long as you actually use them) there are other benefits to list-keeping that you probably hadn’t thought about.
Long-term dreams and goals
Don’t just keep lists of things that you need to do on a given day, keep lists of your deeper goals and dreams in order to have them in perspective.
It’s important to stay focused on achieving your goals and the best way to do this is by keeping them front and center in your mind. As you might expect, the easiest way to do this is by keeping them front and center in your vision.
Whether you have longer term goals like “Go back to school” or “Lose thirty pounds,” even aspirations that will take months or years to accomplish will seem more relevant when you think about them every day.
Read your lists every day
Put lists of your goals in clear handwriting on a large piece of paper and hang it up somewhere that you can’t miss.
Whether that means inside the doors of your dresser or behind the bathroom mirror, or just on your fridge, you’ll benefit from being aware of the things that you want to accomplish and you’ll stay focused on how to go about doing them.
Why writing things down works
There have been various studies that prove that the act of writing something down makes it more permanent in your brain.
Sadly for those of us addicted to our computers typing dose not have the same effect.
Taking the time to handwrite something makes thinking about it a mental and physical experience and leaves a deeper imprint in your memory, making those goals closer to the forefront of your mind.
Writing things down also helps your brain think about them, not just more but differently.
When you write something down your brain processes it in more ways than if you were just daydreaming. This means if one of your goals was problematic or you were having trouble think of ways to accomplish it, simply the act of writing your goal out could help solve your issues with it. At the very least, it’s a step in the right direction.
Manifest more easily
Our biggest ambitions often feel far-off, out-of-reach.
It’s hard to keep them in your mind when they seem to risky or unrealistic, and it makes us put off our dreams and forget them. Keeping lists can help you make these goals come true.
Author Bio:
Greta Jordans is a psychologist in San Diego. She publishes guest posts on everything from inspiration to disease and nutrition. She’s especially interested in the mental health of patients who have been diagnosed with mesothelioma.
What do you think?
Do you use lists to help you stay on track with your busy life? How do you manage your lists? What works for you – and what have you tried that hasn’t worked? We would love to hear your tips and stories about a natural plant or food cure. Please join the conversation.
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