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5 Budget-Friendly Ways To Train Your Brain

We use our brains on a daily basis but, do we bother optimizing its abilities? Well, there are still some people who refuse to let their brain rut. These type of people are curious and intellectually stimulated. If you want to be one of them, start by training your brain with these five ways:

1. TELLING A STORY

Storytelling can strengthen your relationships and help exercise your brain. Its benefits including putting events in a cohesive framework, remembering the events better, associating emotions with the events, focusing on the vital details, and improving your memory in general. In fact, it has been used as a treatment for people with Alzheimer’s disorder.

2. LEARNING A NEW LANGUAGE

Studying a new language makes your brain grow as new connections are made in the process. It may be hard at first but, it is surely rewarding. When your brain makes new connections, you will be able to communicate creatively with more people. Learn a new language online without spending a dollar with Duolingo and other resources.

3. PLAYING SUDOKU

Puzzles in general, will help you to concentrate, sleep, and remember better. One type of puzzle that is very popular is the “Sudoku”. Sudoku is a logic-based numeric puzzle with the objective of filling up the whole grid.

Image Credits: pixabay.com (License: CC0 Public Domain)

Improve your problem solving skills by downloading free Sudoku puzzle App on your iOS or Android device.

4. WRITING THOUGHTS BY HAND

Writing your thoughts by hand on a piece of paper instead of typing them out on a computer screen, can ignite your creativity and fuel your memory. The act of writing it out by hand can stimulate more parts of the brain than by merely typing it. So, try to write your thoughts with the pen you want then, notice how it changes you.

5. HEARING MUSIC

You can widen your brain’s scope by listening to a genre of music that you are not familiar with. Do this with someone who understands that type of music so, he or she can welcome your questions. Listening to music has many benefits such as soothing stress, improving cognitive function, and helping one perform better in challenging situations.

All you need is to hook up the headsets or earphones to your mobile device and play the music as you travel. By doing so, you not only trained your brain but you also got to play enjoyable tunes! 🙂

Image Credits: pixabay.com (License: CC0 Public Domain)

Sources: 1 & 2

Shockingly Free Tips To Boost Your Confidence

Confidence opens more opportunities in business and in life but, how does one boost his confidence?

1. KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

When it comes to elevating your confidence, staying informed is essential. When you know what you are talking about, you are more likely to share, interact, and engage more. Thus, you are manifesting confidence throughout the day! So, you better hit the books before going to events.

2. POWER OF HUMOR

Laughter produces wonderful benefits in your physical and emotional well-being. But, you shall not burst into laughter and look inappropriate! Simply tell a joke or share a funny story with others and laugh along. The benefits of laughing are cumulative and profound.

3. MAINTAINING EYE CONTACT

You can project your power and assertiveness with your body language. With the people you interact with regularly, make it a habit to maintain eye contact and direct your gaze to them while you are conversing. This little gesture will show that you are interested, engaged, and confident.

4. GUIDED MEDITATION

Frequent meditation increases your mindfulness to the present state. It keeps you balanced and focused. It helps increase your confidence by washing out your stress and worries. Also, it allows you to mentally prepare for success.

There is an abundance of free guided mediation videos on the Internet but I recommend this 10-minute video:

5. PRACTICING GOOD POSTURE

Constantly touching the strands of your hair or pulling your pigtail is a surefire giveaway that you are nervous. Instead, walk or sit up straight with your arms uncrossed and chin up. You will appear and feel more confident afterwards.

6. HELP FROM YOUR FRIENDS

Feeling down and incapable? Are you scared to do something new and difficult? Try seeking the help of your friends. Call them over the phone, write them thru email, or private message them via social media platforms and ask why they believe you would succeed. Knowing your positive qualities will help you feel more motivated, energized, and confident.

Image Credits: pixabay.com (License: CC0 Public Domain)

Sources: 1 , 2 , & 3

Free Wedding Planner Tools For A Fantastic Wedding

According to Dictionary.com, a wedding planner is the person responsible for conceptualizing and organizing the wedding ceremony, the reception, and perhaps the honeymoon. A busy couple can certainly hire a professional wedding planner to take off the load on their shoulders.

However, if you have too much time on your hands and do not want to cast a hole on your pocket, you can take on the role of the wedding planner and DIY your way to your dream wedding!

1. WEDDING PLANNER CHECKLIST

So, you have a ring on your finger. Now what is next? Wedding Ideas Magazine shares checklists and tips for planning a wedding in 12 months, 6 months, and 1 month. The first sentence speaks volumes: “The secret to a great day is to start planning early!” Thus, planning a wedding 12 months in advance with this concise planner sounds like a good idea.

Available here: weddingideasmag.com/wp-content/uploads/files/downloads/Wedding-Ideas-Planner.pdf

2. BACHELORETTE OR HEN PARTY

Whether you are planning your own bachelorette or hen party or you are bestowing the responsibility to your maid-of-honor, coming up with the whole event can be stressful. To help you with this, you can use a guide or a checklist too for 12-24 months, 2 months, 1 month, and 1-2 days before the party.

Available here: weddingideasmag.com/wp-content/uploads/files/downloads/Wedding-Ideas-Magazine-Planning-Tool-Hen-Party-Checklist.pdf

3. WEDDING PLANNER SOFTWARE

Do you know that there is a no-cost wedding planner software available to support you in:

Designing the Floor Plan,
Managing the Guest List,
Tracking RSVPs,
Assigning Seating Arrangements,
Generating Guest List Reports,
Printing the Floor Plan,
Printing Place Cards,
Sharing event information with others, and so much more?

This wedding planner tool is called Seating Arrangement.

Know more about it here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AfmxfzEtekfeatures.htm

4. WEDDING WEBSITE

To take your organizational skills to the next level, you can make a website for your special day. You do not need to have major tech skills or digital knowledge to get started with your own website. Simply use the reliable free website builders such as WordPress.com. Website builders already have the template, plugins, and coding for you.

Inside your website, include the guest lists, RSVP forms, meal requests, gift registry, gift wish list, and anything you want to include. Furthermore, with the help of your website, guests can easily collect and share photos on their Facebook, Instagram, and other social media platforms.

Image Credits: pixabay.com (License: CC0 Public Domain)

How To Learn A New Language Without Spending A Dollar

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could easily upload foreign languages by putting microchips to your brain? Okay, maybe it sounds a tad futuristic and creepy too! However, it is not possible – yet.

Fortunately, you can learn to speak a new language confidently in a relatively short period of time. Here are some tips:

1. TAKE OUT THE EXCUSES AND FEARS

In order to learn a foreign language successfully, you must wash away the excuses and fear inside of you. Whether it is fear of making mistakes, fear of being ridiculed or fear of looking stupid, all your worries will only hold you back. Realize instead that communication is designed to understand each other and never to look down upon someone.

2. SET GOALS

Set an attainable and realistic goal to start with. While you are at it, reward yourself for every milestone you reached. For instance, you may begin with learning at least 50 words in 3-6 months. Then, slowly pick up the pace to learn the grammar too.

3. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF FREE ONLINE COURSES

Upon digging through all the free resources in the web, I found that two websites shine from the rest namely: Omniglot and Open Culture. Omniglot has a user-friendly interface that allows you to find the language you desire from the “language index” that is fixed alphabetically. Simply scroll down to find the course links.

Alternatively, you can browse through the collection of featured lessons provided by Open Culture. It consists of 48 languages including French, Mandarin, English, Spanish, and more. Simply download the audio lessons to your computer or music player (mp3 format) to pick it up easily.

4. DOWNLOAD AN AWESOME APP

Want a fun way to learn a new language? Then, download the gamified language tutor App called Duolingo. I am personally in love with Duolingo. More than just learning the basic phrases, it allows you to test your skills in written and spoken language. This is why “Yo entiendo Español.”

Image Credits: pixabay.com (License: CC0 Public Domain)

5. INTERACT IN THE NEW LANGUAGE

One of the best ways to absorb a foreign language is to interact with others. It will teach you naturally and spontaneously to express your thoughts instead of mentally translating every word before you say it.

Sources: 1 & 2

3 Ways To Go To An ArtScience Museum Exhibition (MBS) For Free

ArtScience Museum located at Marina Bay Sands (MBS) is the world’s first museum that focuses mainly on Art and Science. Exhibitions in this building exude creativity and curiosity as well as the role of these characteristics in shaping our society.

You might have seen the building from afar because of its iconic shape that has “10 fingers” anchored by a unique round base in the middle. The modern and exquisite detailing is perfect for the central themes of the museum. That said, you must visit it at least once.

If you are on a budget, you are in luck! Some exhibitions in the museum are free! You read that right. Not everything in MBS is expensive.

1. PICK UP YOUR FREE-ENTRY TICKET AT THE MUSEUM BOX OFFICE

To celebrate SG50 and Straits Times’ 170th anniversary, ArtScience Museum is showcasing an exhibition on their behalf that is free – for all visitors! From now until October 4, 2015, you must pick up your free-entry tickets to the “Singapore STories: Then, Now, Tomorrow Exhibition” at the museum foyer.

Straits Times (ST) has been the longest running English newspaper in the Lion City.

The exhibition recaptures the tales of our nation since ST’s founding in 1845 through significant articles, headlines, and pictures (i.e., including ones that the public has never been seen before). Imagine having to squeeze and filter through more than 40,000 issues of the newspaper just to give us the best ones! Furthermore, they added a futuristic element by envisioning what Singapore would be like 50 years down the road.

What I liked most about the exhibition are the interactive activities such as testing your knowledge on the Singaporean acronyms, sliding the pictures to see the before and after shots of different infrastructures, and the complementary paper dress-up wherein you can lean more about the different types of Singaporean dresses (e.g., Cheongsam, Sari, and Baju Kurung).

Image Credits: instagram.com/agoncilloanna

2. TAKE YOUR KIDS ON A FRIDAY FAMILY DAY

Every Fridays, families with children can enjoy enriching and engaging exhibitions for free. Only the children (maximum of four) of an adult who purchased a standard ticket will be given the free passes on the same exhibition/s. For the child to be honored with the free-entry ticket, he or she must be 12 years old or under. Furthermore, all tickets are issued for the same day at the museum box office only.

Imagine how much fun your children and your wallet would have when you take them to the DreamWorks Animation Exhibition or The Deep Exhibition. Not only are these exhibitions educational but also they are also interactive.

Read more about the Terms and Conditions, here.

3. JOIN ARTSCIENCE MUSEUM’S FACEBOOK COMPETITIONS

About 2 weeks ago, ArtScience Museum’s Facebook page hosted a competition wherein 10 winners received all-access passes to the exhibitions as well as goodie bags from the museum’s gift shop. The lucky winners have been announced last night. Worry not if you missed your chance because the museum guarantees that there are more giveaways in the future!

So, like them on Facebook at facebook.com/ArtScienceMuseum.

Image Credits: facebook.com/ArtScienceMuseum

Sources: 1 & 2

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