Understanding The Man-Machine-Theory Of Mind Explained

The first principal of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success, and two of my key focuses are Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), and Health and Wellness. The brain and or the mind is arguably the most critical organ in our bodies. Mastery of the mind is key in the maintenance of proper mental health, and excelling at any task whether it’s in the realm of: academics, athletics, or business. The following guest post discusses this and is entitled; Understanding The Man-Machine-Theory Of Mind Explained.

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What is the mind?

As most of your 100 billion neurons flash intermittently in search of an answer, you realize that in the very process of thinking you are turning to your mind for the solution. While the fact that we are blessed with the incredible ability to think and reason is incredulous enough, what is even more startling is that the mind is capable of much more than simple retrieval of information. Wealth Creation Mastermind’s guide to the kybalion explains a few interesting theories about how the mind works.
A lot of people associate the mind to be a singular and simple concept. When you don’t know something, you turn your mind “on” and the answer “appears”. Because of our conditioning, a lot of us are stuck in this vicious cycle of assigning simple tasks to our mind and not leveraging its true power.

The Mind Explained

The mind is known as the seat of human consciousness. However, the true answer of what the mind is eludes us as we are discovering profound things about it every day. The mind is the most powerful multi-tool you will ever own. It is like a cosmic Swiss knife which has several tools, some of which can even transform your reality and reshape your life.

Most of us have been conditioned from a very young age to be “realistic” about goals – a strongly inculcated belief system of what we can and cannot do. This leads individuals down the path of inaccurate conclusions of who they are and what they are actually capable of in real life. This path typically leads you to wasted potential and regret.

The most successful people you see around you are those of them who took the first critical step towards their journey – they started to believe that they could. This process of mental transmutation, materializing your own reality, is a very real phenomenon and you can use it to make it work for you as well.

Balancing The Mental Ecosystem

The mind is a complex ecosystem that is powerful and resilient, but with a catch – you are the fulcrum that it rests on. What you think and feel about yourself has an impact on what you become. This is because thoughts are self-perpetuating cycles and they manifest itself in ways that are hard to imagine. If you think that you’re failing your way through life, then that is what you’ll end up becoming.

One way out of this is to make a list of all the things that you feel are positive achievements that you’ve been able to garner. Read this list out to yourself (aloud if you’re alone) when you’re feeling down. Something as simple as this can build confidence and redirect your mental thought flow to a more positive place.

Rework Your Self-Belief System

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Self-belief is a powerful tool that you can use to tide you over the worst of times. When this falters, you will find that you are left listless and floundering even when it comes to day to day activities. A lot of us are more talented than we can imagine but if this talent needs to surface, you need a healthy self-belief system.

Search for things that reinforce your self-belief. Don’t hang around with people who mock you for your goals. All that doubts and sarcastic company do are hold you back from your true potential. Don’t be the person who calls it luck when things go your way – believe that you deserve it and work towards getting more opportunities.

Draw Positive Conclusions

People tend to give themselves a hard time – they come to negative conclusions when things don’t go their way. When people are too critical of themselves, they tend toward negative labeling which is again a self-fulfilling condition. You’re setting yourself up for the very goal that your label indicates. Thankfully, you can unlearn all these negative habits and change your perception for the better.

Know that sometimes you are more wrong about you than a lot of other people. It helps to talk to people to understand what they feel about you. Challenge negative views of yourself by stepping out of your comfort zone and meeting challenges head-on. The most important thing you can do is try, the results will eventually work themselves out.

Summing it up

These are just a few things that you can try to unlearn the mental hurdles that have been preventing you from achieving the success you deserve. Hone your mind to accept failures as lessons and keep striving to better yourself.

Having a positive outlook does not magically transform everything around you in a flash. What it does is to encourage you towards optimistic thoughts which can lead to productive behavior. Given time, you will notice that a lot of things about you have changed… and for the better!

Can You Keep One Eye On The Business Ball Without Taking Work Home With You This Evening?

Two of the focuses on of my blog are Career Discussions, and Health and Wellness. When stepping up into management positions, balancing one’s health with the new demands can be a challenge. The title of this contributed post is thus entitled; Can You Keep One Eye On The Business Ball Without Taking Work Home With You This Evening?

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Managers are always told that they shouldn’t take work home with them. We all need a break now and again, after all. By taking care of admin into the early hours, you’ll soon start to suffer. Keep this going for too long, and you could experience the notorious ‘manager burnout’. If that happens, your work will suffer. You may even have to take time out. Whatever happens, it won’t be good.

Instead, managers across the world work hard to switch their business phones off and leave their laptops in the office. And, the chances are this is an effort you also attempt to get behind. Good for you. Prioritizing your own time is part of what makes you such an excellent manager.

The trouble is, leaving the office at five and switching off altogether could leave you stalling in the morning. Rather than getting straight to work, you’ll have to take a little time to get back into things. Often, that’ll leave you behind before the day has even started.

Hence why we’re going to suggest something revolutionary. While you still want to leave work at the office, it is possible to keep your mind on the ball regardless. All you need to do is make use of the following outlets during your down hours.

Podcasts

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We all love a podcast, don’t we? Whether we’re listening to Serial or The Daily, this is now the way many of us choose to unwind. Lucky for you, there are plenty of business-based podcasts which can help you relax while teaching you a thing or two. Shows like Fire Nation can teach you about every aspect of entrepreneurial life. In episodes like this one where JLD chats with Joe Kashurba, you can even learn how to grow your business. Options like the Social Pros Podcast can even teach you about content marketing and everything social media. While fun and interesting, these options also fuel the embers of your business fire, rather than putting it out overnight.

YouTube videos

Who doesn’t spend at least some of their evening browsing YouTube? If you get stuck in loops of cat videos, opt instead for inspirational business-based channels. The official TED channel includes talks for individuals from every industry, including business. You may also want to subscribe to entrepreneur-specific YouTubers such as GaryVee. His business advice has gained him well over 1.5 million subscribers. Watching these guys, you’ll feel like you’re relaxing with a past time you love. But, you can bet you’ll learn a few useful tidbits.

Listen to industry news

While we can’t help with any specific suggestions, it’s also crucial you listen to industry news. By finding field-specific radio stations, you can get your fix of what’s going on in the rest of your industry. That can help with everything from finding your target audience, to keeping them interested. Rather than listening to 80s pop music on your way to and from work, then, consider sticking this on and learning something you wouldn’t otherwise.

Demi Lovato: Here’s What Led Up to Her Overdose

A major focus of my blog is Health and Wellness – see my interview with fitness expert James Tate, and my post regarding Chris Herren’s visit to Northern Virginia to discuss his battles with substance abuse. In Pop Culture, we often see celebrities fall victim to the same addictions and vices as everyday non-celebrities. A recent case is recording artist Demi Lovato. The following guest post by Sam Cardigan discusses what led up to her overdose. The image of Demi Lovato used in this post is attributed to Timothy Hiatt of Getty Images.

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In a sad development for fans of Demi Lovato, the singer suffered a setback in her battle with addiction when she was recently brought to the hospital for an apparent drug overdose.

The Los Angeles Police Department responded to an emergency at her home where she was reportedly found unconscious. She was reportedly treated with Narcan, a medication to immediately reverse opioid overdose, prior to being transported to the hospital.

Lovato has been open about her years of struggle with substance abuse. Just last June, she admitted relapsing after celebrating six years of being sober last March.

In the song “Sober”, which dropped June 21, the former Disney star sang about her struggle. Some of the lyrics seem to refer to her cravings for substances that are manifested by shakes and cold sweats. Demi then talked about not wanting any of those feelings as she pled for someone to call her when they were over.

She further sang about the people who never left her and who had been with her during her years of struggle. She finally asked for forgiveness as she acknowledged she is no longer sober.

The “Tell Me You Love Me” singer openly spoke of her substance addiction, eating disorder, bipolar disorder, and depression. She has also publicly shared about going to rehab to address these problems. Here is a look back at her history leading up to this tragic overdose:

Trying Out Drugs in 2009

In Demi’s 2017 documentary Simply Complicated, she shared that she first tried cocaine in 2009 when she was only 17 years old. Her friends were the ones who introduced her to the drug, which she was scared to try at first because her mom had cautioned her about it. Still, she did try it and claimed she “loved it.”

The singer-songwriter also claimed she was curious about drugs and alcohol because her birth father struggled with those substances and chose them over his family.

Rehab for Anorexia, Bulimia, and Cutting in 2010

Also in the documentary, Lovato talked about an incident with one of her backup dancers—a physical altercation that led the then 18-year-old singer to seek treatment for physical and emotional issues.

Lovato said she just remembered going up to the dancer and everything else was a blur. However, she remembered how everyone was freaking out about what happened and that she texted her mom the words, “I’m sorry.”

Shortly after that, her representative released a statement saying she was owning responsibility for her actions and that she was seeking help. During this treatment, Lovato learned she has a bipolar disorder.

Acknowledging Bipolar Disorder in 2011

In April 2011 or three months after leaving rehab, Lovato bravely revealed her bipolar disorder during an interview with People magazine. Around this time she also opened up about her bulimia and cutting issues.

Entered Sober Living Home in 2013

She spent most of the entire year of 2013 in a sober living home in Los Angeles. It was right about this period when she admitted to struggling to survive as little as half an hour without using cocaine. She also said that she would sneak some of the substance inside the airplanes.

In an interview, she said that she would wait for everyone to fall asleep and then sneak into the bathroom and do her thing there.

But Lovato claimed that she had her last drink in January 2012 and that she has been attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings just like any other person struggling with addiction would do.

Struggle with Sobriety Between 2013 to 2018

The singer opened up about her struggles to remain sober in an interview with Glamour last December 2016. She acknowledged that she didn’t stay sober even after coming out of rehab. She further said that she occasionally has issues, with some days being difficult while the other days are easy.

In March of 2017, she took to Instagram to share how long she has been sober. She posted about how proud she is of her journey and how, “my higher power (God), my family, friends, and everyone else,” supported her.

Drug Overdose in 2018 and Her Road to Recovery

It was initially reported that Lovato had a heroin overdose but she has not been in rehab for heroin addiction in the past. She remained in the hospital longer than expected due to complications — a source told People that she had a fever and some signs of infection, and also was being treated for issues generally associated with a drug overdose—but was, “expected to make a full recovery.” As of Aug. 7, the Skyscraper singer was reportedly out of the hospital and in rehab.

A Cryptocurrency App Case Study

The following guest post comes courtesy of Al Hill, Co-Founder of www.Tradingsim.com. It focuses on a case study for Cryptocurrency Apps – a topic related to my posts which discussed both Bitcoin and Blockchain Technology. While this post discusses Apps for financial transactions using Cryptocurrencies, it worth noting that the Big Words Blog Site is not involved in giving personal financial advice to readers and is not liable for any financial decisions made by readers. This post contains several infographics. Click on the images to enlarge them.

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Why do a case study on cryptocurrency apps? Well, it wasn’t up to me. There is just too much demand according to the number of searches from Google.

There are a lot of case studies on the web related to bitcoin and cryptocurrencies apps, so we wanted to do things slightly differently by defining a methodology to remove any inherit bias from the equation.

The study focused on 4 main factors on a normalized exponential scale of 1 to 100.

• Social Power- Social power is a custom ranking metric we created by weighting the numbers of followers across social networks: Facebook (45%), Twitter  (35%), and LinkedIn (20%)

• Total Number of Installs (provided only by the Google Play App Store)
• Total Number of Reviews
• Rating on the Google Play App Store (the IOS App Store only provides “4+”)

So, after inputting these data points into our algorithm, what did we come up with? An awesome top 10 list for you to explore!

The top graph depicts the overall rating based on our methodology. Now, if you are a true data geek like me, please have a look at the supporting numbers in the table below.

As you can see, the methodology did create some separation between the best in breed.

Blockchain is the clear technology leader providing a framework solving many business challenges, one of which is the cryptocurrency market, so the 100 rating was not a shocker.

Some of the other apps are news outlets or provide the ability to track the value of currencies, which won’t measure up in terms of value add against apps that allow you to buy cryptos or use them as a form of payment.

But what makes Coinbase so popular?

The real story with Coinbase is the large number of reviews for their app.

With the largest count of over 600k reviews, this was not by chance. Coinbase has a clear growth strategy focused on 4 pillars:

1. Create a simple retail exchange that allow consumers to invest in digital currency
2. Enable professional traders and institutions to trade digital currencies
3. Create an interface for people to make payments with digital currencies and developers to build applications that utilize this payment network
4. Simplify the development process and even invest in some partners that have awesome ideas

This approach creates evangelists that not only use Coinbase’s products, but also scream about them from the rooftops.

You of course will need to determine which app works best for your needs, but how people are sharing and using the application is likely a great measure.

To access the full case study, please visit: https://tradingsim.com/blog/crypto-apps-study/

Al Hill
Co-Founder, Tradingsim.com

The Best Apps for Crypto Investment

I am pleased to present my first guest post for the Big Words Blog Site. It comes courtesy of Michael Kordvani, the Head of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) of the App development agency Fueled, and it discusses the best Apps for ‘Cryptocurrency’ (Crypto) Investment – a topic related to two of my posts which discussed both Bitcoin and Blockchain Technology. While this post recommends the best Apps for financial transactions using cryptocurrencies, it is worth noting that the Big Words Blog Site is not involved in rendering personal financial advice to readers and is thus not liable for any financial decisions made by readers.

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There are now loads of different cryptocurrencies to invest in, but how do you keep track of all your investments, and the changes in the market?

No doubt you’ll want to use your smartphone to manage your crypto investments. While we’re not always in front of our PC, we’ve usually got our smartphone to hand, and when it comes to cryptocurrencies, things can change fast. Being able to access your investment data quickly, any time you like, wherever you are, is pretty much vital.

Blockchain development has been highly concentrated in the area of crypto investment apps, so you have plenty of choice when it comes to apps to use. Here’s our pick of some of the best apps for managing your crypto investments…

Coinbase

If you’re new to crypto investment, then Coinbase is a good choice as it’s very easy to use. Setting it up and then making sense of the information displayed is very simple. It’s very popular at the moment with more than 10 million customers using their system.

Gemini

Gemini is another popular choice, and currently benefits from slightly lower fees than Coinbase. This is an intuitive app with lots of reporting capabilities and some great graphs to help you make sense of all the information it presents.

Blockfolio

Blockfolio is particularly useful for anyone with a diverse portfolio. It’s a powerful tool that can seem complicated at first, but it’s well worth spending the time getting to grips with it if you’re dealing with a wide range of investments across several cryptocurrencies. Blockfolio tracks more than 800 different cryptocurrencies and sends push notifications to your smartphone when levels reach your predetermined threshold.

Investing.com Cryptocurrency

If you tend to trust apps from long established companies, then take a look at Investing.com Cryptocurrency. This company has been giving us investment advice for over 10 years now so it’s no surprise they’ve moved into the cryptocurrency market too. Through their app you can track 1300 different cryptocurrencies in real time, and you have the advantage of seeing historical data too. This app will also allow you to set alerts for when your goal price has been reached.

Bitcoin Wallet from BTC

This app from BTC is easy to use and is nicely designed to be simple yet efficient. It’s very secure and has reasonable transfer fees. It offers a good backup system, so you’ll never lose your data, and you can also transfer Bitcoin via QR reader. This app only deals with Bitcoin though, so if you’re investing in other altcoins, then you will probably want to look at our other recommended apps rather than this one.

Xapo Wallet

If security is top of your priority list when choosing a crypto investment app, then they don’t come much more secure than Xapo Wallet. The Wall Street Journal described their security as ‘the Fort Knox of cryptocurrency storage’. It gives you three layers of security and it’s also very easy to use with a smooth interface.

BitTrade Scalping Terminal

BitTrade Scalping Terminal is ideal for those of you who want to make big profits on the small price movements that are so common in the cryptocurrency trading world. It is a cryptocurrency scalping tool that boasts a clean interface, demo trading option for those of you who are new to the process to learn the ropes with, and best of all, it’s browser-based so you don’t even need to download it.