Cliff Robertson, Author at Lifestyle, Health, and Communication Concerns

Author: Cliff Robertson (page 1 of 3)

What Is a Toxic Person and Why You Should Cut Them from Your Life

What is a toxic person? Toxic people are mind manipulators. A toxic person is unsupportive. They manipulate you into thinking that you owe them something. Chances are that you have encountered a toxic person and you are still with one. The truth is that the earlier you cut ties with them, the better the outcome for you.

Why You Should Cut Them from Your Life

Below are some reason why you need to cut toxic persons from your life:

They Waste Your Time

Toxic people waste your time by creating problems for you rather than being a help. They can be hard to deal with. Getting them out of your life will give you more time time to obtain happiness and emotional growth.

They Cause You Sadness

One of the reasons for working through things with people is to find happiness. A toxic person does the opposite. Their presence is always gloomy. They take and never give. The problems they cause will rob you of any inkling of happiness that comes your way.

You Will Become More Confident

Toxic people want everything their way. This unpalatable trait has a way of subtly eroding your self-confidence and will make you doubt your communication skills. When you give them a wide berth, you will realize that you will have better communication and relationship skills.

Less Stress

When dealing with toxic people, they account for the bulk of problems you face in life. They leave you to worry about things that should not be your concern in the first place. These problems steal your happiness and add huge stress to your life. When you remove toxic people from your life, you will have fewer problems to deal with, and you will become happier than you are with them around.

There you have it! Above are some reasons why you need to cut toxic persons from your life. Toxic persons corrupt manners, cause you sadness and only encourage you to get involved in bad habits. Nutramedix and Amazing Grass are two brands of products that may be ideal for helping you to manage stress and anxiety that can come from toxic people.

If you are a kind and caring type, you want to be treated equally. However, not all relationships are equal. Some people want to take advantage of your kindness for their own gains. If you have such people in your life, remove them immediately and start giving your time to those who deserve it.

5 Over-Parenting Effects That Impact Children and Teens

July 9, 2020 / Cliff Robertson / 0 Comments

Children with parents who are actively involved in their lives can lead to many positive outcomes. However, there is a line that when a parent crosses can lead to over-parenting and negative outcomes. Research has shown that over-parenting does more harm than good for a child. Here, we will be taking a look at the over-parenting effects on children and teens.

Lack of Confidence

Children that are over-parented grow up to have a shortage of confidence in themselves. If kids are accustomed to their parents doing everything for them, they may grow up not knowing how to do certain things and that can be telling on their confidence. The message that they are getting is that they are not competent enough to do anything.

Anxiety

As you are over-parenting your children you are telling them that the world is not a safe place. They can develop anxiety and keep themselves away from taking on challenges or learning new things. The consequences can be far-reaching as it can impede them from progressing in life.

Unrealistic View of the World

Helicopter parents do not present a realistic view of their children. They are not willing to allow them to do laundry, run errands, or socialize. This leaves them with a distorted view of how things should be like.

They are Entitled

Children may grow up to have an entitlement view where they believe a good job or good things should happen to them without any effort. They are here to getting everything done for them throughout their life and feel that it should continue in their adulthood.

No Essential Skills

Not allowing children to challenge themselves and grow hinders them from picking up essential skills that will be handy in the future. Research has identified that one of the negative effects of helicopter parenting is that the children fail to build a self-identity. Allowing kids to take on challenges by themselves will help them flourish in life.
Above are some negative effects of over-parenting on children and teens. Over-parenting does a huge disservice to young people. It can go as far as a straining parent-child relationship. In situations of divorce, this can also crop up and make the situation worse. Understandably, parents don’t want their kids to fail, but over-parenting won’t stop this from happening. You don’t have to over-parent to be the best mom or best dad. Allow your kids to fail. Let them bear consequences for their actions. With this, you will surely see them blossom and flourish.

What Makes a Person Unattractive?

June 17, 2020 / Cliff Robertson / 0 Comments

In life, many of us strive to find people who think of us as attractive. Not in a physical sense, but more in terms of personality. Unfortunately, there are many characteristics that we possess that can rob us of actualizing this goal. Some of these traits can be found below. Read on to see if any of these are things you should look to change.

You are Always Competitive

Always being in the mood to compete with the people closest to you can make you unattractive. If you are the one that berates your friend’s efforts to try and make yourself look better or more accomplished, you should stop. Show more care and empathy to your friends, offer a helping hand, and allow them to enjoy their moment in the spotlight.

You See Your Friends as Enemies

People who always get into fights with their friends are seen as unattractive. Backbiting or always looking for a reason to put them down won’t win you anyone’s admiration. Instead, they will find you repulsive. You should see your friends as your allies instead of enemies.

You are Self-centered

No one dreams of coming close to a self-absorbed person. Many selfish persons do not realize that they are. When you want it to be all about you, then you are self-centered. Always show care to your friends and let them know they matter in your life.

Nagging Repeatedly

Who wants to associate with someone that complains constantly? This attitude reeks of ungratefulness and it’s highly toxic. If you are a complainer, you will always find yourself lonely. To become attractive, you have to be more appreciative of what you have and complain less about what you do not have.

Not a Good Listener

Do you butt into a conversation when your conversant still have words in their mouth? The chances are that people find this rude and unattractive. It shows you couldn’t care less about their opinions. You are not showing respect, and you are imposing your opinion on them. Maintain eye contact and make gestures like nodding your head intermittently during the conversation to show you are paying attention. This is what makes a good listener.

Not Being Presentable

Making sure that you appear presentable and show even the slightest effort to take care of yourself is important. While appearances shouldn’t matter, that doesn’t mean showing up in a stained teeshirt, bedhead, and body odor is a good idea. Make sure to take care of yourself by brushing your teeth, showering, and washing clothes regularly. You can use products from Derma E, Jane Iredale, and Plant Therapy to support your skin, hair, and much more if you find more conventional products found in the store that leaves your body dry or irritated.

The power to become attractive to others lies in your hands. This is why you need to avoid the reasons that make a person unattractive, as mentioned above. With this, you can get on the good side of friends or new people that you meet.

A Brief Guide for Dating a Highly Sensitive Person

June 10, 2020 / Cliff Robertson / 0 Comments

Highly sensitive persons (HSP) are different from others. They are creative and react to things deeply. Having different neurological wiring means they apply more depth in the processing of information, which sometimes they use to their advantage and also could be their weakness.

Dating a highly sensitive person can be a beautiful thing and at the same time problematic. This is especially true if you want a serious relationship and you are feeling insecure because you are dating someone who is a HSP. So, what do you need to do to be able to make your relationship with a highly sensitive person work out? Here are brief secrets on how to date a highly sensitive person.

They Often Need Quiet Time

Most HSPs are introverts. Exposure to various kinds of stimulation overwhelms their senses and they will need time to recharge. Even extroverted HSPs, after all of their social engagements, still need some time alone. When they seek to have alone time, be willing to respect their wish.

They Love a Deep Level of Engagement

Highly sensitive persons want more than a surface-level conversation. They are open-minded and willing to take the information they will process deeply. Talking about ordinary topics is not what they fancy. Always be willing to chitchat with them on a big topic and with an open mind.

Accept Them

For a highly sensitive person, accepting them for who they are is huge. Some people see them as an oddball. When you accept their personality, they are not just going to love you, but will always be there for you.

Give Them Time to Conform to Changes

At the onset of a relationship, HSPs may seem to be tentative. You should understand that they are doing it not because they are not interested but because they find their new status overwhelming. They are processing lots of dating-related things, including looking after their heart.

Dating a highly sensitive person can be a romantic and amazing thing especially when you know how to deal with them. However, it is important that you are well aware of their likes and dislikes.

Due to their highly sensitive nature, minor things that you often overlook can be a turnoff to them. Nonetheless, the tips above will not only ensure that you date an highly sensitive person but also guarantee that you will date them for as long as possible.

6 Family Fun Night Ideas

May 27, 2020 / Cliff Robertson / 0 Comments

Family fun nights are times when families get to spend quality time together to enhance bonding and to give each member the attention that they deserve. This also includes partaking in games and activities that can be enjoyed indoors or outdoors.

Whether you are having a family fun night with your children, parents, or grandparents, here are a list of ideas to make the most of your family fun night.

Watch a Movie

For kids and adults, watching a family-friendly movie together is a great way for a family to stay together and connected. To spice up the experience, have popcorn and snacks on-hand.

Hide and Seek

This game is another fun way of enjoying some quality time with family. To bring this game to a whole new level, play it in the dark. However, you should make sure that the play spot is safe for your family.

Stargazing

In the summer, the sky is full of stars. It is a fascinating sight to behold. You and your family can get outside and enjoy the star-strewn sky on any reasonably temperate night. You can take part in this viewing experience in a park or your backyard. If you live near an urban area, stargazing will be more difficult.

Take a Walk in Nature

Taking a nature walk is the perfect way to enhance bonding experiences with your family. Nature trails and parks are ideal for taking long walks with the family. You can start in the evening and explore nature with your family. To up the fun, every family member should bring flashlights.

Make Family Video

You can record each of the fun moments you are having with your family. Each family member’s dancing and singing can be recorded. Get each member to tell their unique story while they are being recorded. The fun that comes with this activity is amazing.

Family Photoshoot

Having a family photoshoot involves taking some lovely family photos. This can be done in various creative ways. You can have your kids set up their favorite toys in the background. You can allow your family to choose the pose and the color of the background they would want the picture to have.

Family game night offers an amazing opportunity for members of the family to bond and have a good time while playing fun games. Ensure that there is healthy competition and that everyone is involved. With the ideas above, you can organize one of the best family fun game nights filled with wonderful memories.

How to Stay Grounded in Life’s Most Trying Times

May 20, 2020 / Cliff Robertson / 0 Comments

Life can be unpredictable. One moment, everything is rosy. The next, you are facing one challenge or the other. Regardless, giving up isn’t an option. These trying times bring the best out of you.

“When adversity strikes, that’s when you have to be the calmest. Take a step back, stay strong, stay grounded, and press on.” – LL Cool J.

However, how do we stay calm, grounded, and press on? In this post, we will be providing you with insightful tips to help you stay grounded when facing various life challenges.

Stop Worrying

When life’s turbulence has hit you, it is normal to feel sad and downcast about it. But that is not the best way to handle the challenge life has thrown at you. Worrying does not solve the issue, rather it compounds it. If life throws you down, get up, smile, and press on.

Stay Away From What is Causing You Trouble

If you continue doing what that hurts you, then there is no way you can withstand the challenges that come with it. Stop and observe what is happening, and find out how to improve your situation.

Do Not Listen to Negative People

Listening to people that have a negative perspective of life is akin to pouring gasoline into a fire to put it out; it just gets worse. When you are facing hard times, read motivational books, speak with positive thinking people and you will be inspired to stay grounded.

Take Action

Some people when life’s vicissitude has hit them sulk and cry. The truth is that remedy will not come your way if you sit down and get sad about your situation. Get up and put the solutions you have learned into work.

Make Self-Care a Priority

If you want to survive tough situations, you have to consider self-care as essential. When you eat the right food, surround yourself with positive people, you are building your mind and body. Start taking care of yourself so that you will be able to stay grounded and face the storm.

This can also include using supplements that seek to support a healthy internal response to stress and anxiety. Carlson Labs, Perque, and Vinco are supplement brands with products carefully formulated using nutrients, herbals, and other ingredients to provide optimal support for mind and body.

Accept What Has Happened

One of the reasons many are depressed during tough times is that they fail to acknowledge the situation. If it is something you do not have control over, accept it is something beyond you, and move on. If otherwise, get and start looking for a solution.

There you have it! Above are some useful tips to help you stay grounded during life’s most trying times. Never let tough times define you. With the tips above, you can stay grounded and get past any challenge you are going through.

The Communication Benefits of Music

May 17, 2020 / Cliff Robertson / 0 Comments

Introduction

It is often said that music is food to the soul, this is no exaggeration for music is like a language of its own, more elaborate, fluid and powerful. There are many types of music and various instruments for making music, from drums to pianos to vintage guitars. No matter the type of music or the instrument used to make it, music is a means that people can communicate their intentions, emotions, and parts of themselves that mere words cannot comprehensively convey. Music can ease communication with people that find it hard to communicate due to physical or mental disabilities, this is part of the reasons music therapy is a vibrant field. Music can have profound effects on people, whether physical or emotional, or both, it can communicate things subtly, music can be used for adverts, in social settings and it is also an inextricable part of the culture. Music is a major aspect of communication, both symbolic and literal. In this article, we will explore some of the communication benefits of music.

Communication Benefits of Music

Music Helps to Maintain Concentration: in communication, it is of utmost importance to concentrate on what is being said to you and what you are saying, a lack of this can result in miscommunication and the information that you had desired to pass will not be effectively passed and received. This problem can be solved with music because music is very interesting and easy to concentrate on for a long time, using music to communicate can effectively solve the concentration problem and your information will be passed better and on a deeper level.
Music Aids Eye Contact and Nonverbal Communication: when you incorporate music into communication you cannot help but engage in nonverbal communication including eye contact which in turn increases the effectiveness of communication.
Development of Vocabulary: music encourages the use of words and weaving these words with other words to form rhymes and rhythm, music also involves the use of repetition, all these develops the vocabulary of people and our communication is better for it.
Development of Sentence Construction: as already stated, music involves the repetition of words and sentences, hearing them repeatedly helps us to better appreciate their meaning and understand what they convey. When you understand music well your ability to construct sentences whether simple or complex is bound to increase.
Phonological Appreciation: communication involves many aspects and to communicate effectively you need to have a sound grasp of phonology. Your appreciation for syllables, rhythms, alliteration, and rhyme can take your communication skills to the next level whether written or verbal. You would be able to break words down to their smallest components, know their meaning and sounds, and rearrange them. There is no form of communication that does this better than music, this will benefit your ability to communicate tremendously.
Music aids the understanding of sequencing in communication: all languages have rules just like music, one of these rules is sequencing. This is the order in which components in a form of communication is presented to make the most sense, be it the way words in a sentence are presented or sounds in a word or sentences in a body. Music makes it easier to understand sequencing and this benefits communication.
Healing of the Body and Soul: music as a deep form of communication has helped people in innumerable ways, music can help you express your emotions, vent your anger and frustration, people can understand how you feel better when you communicate through music because they feel it deeper. After you engage in all these you can find inner peace. Medical research has shown that there are many health benefits of music which include regulating your breathing, improving your emotions, and helping to lift depression as well as increasing your motor skills.

Conclusion

There are many benefits of music, I hope our exploration of some of them in this article enlightens you.

How to Avoid Parental Alienation in Shared Custody Divorces

April 28, 2020 / Cliff Robertson / 0 Comments

Divorces are known to have a harmful impact on a parent-child relationship. The manifestation of parental alienation in a child can happen in several forms. A parent can deny the other parent custody of the child and actively seek to turn a child against that parent. For example, due to the mother’s anxiety over losing custody of her child, she might indirectly say hurtful lies about the father.

Parental alienation in kids can lead to depression, eating disorders, anger issues, educational problems, drug addiction, and more. With rates of divorce having increased over the generations, parental alienation through a divorce is steadily on the rise. In some cases, the parental alienation dies down over time. There are also rare cases where it does not lessen, which can result in devastating blows to the victim. However, for parents going through a divorce, there are some ways that both of you can work together to prevent parental alienation.

Always See Your Child

It can be discouraging and frustrating when your ex is stonewalling your efforts to reach your child. However, this doesn’t imply that you should throw in the towel and lose grip of your child. They need you in their life and will appreciate that you didn’t quit trying to reach them. Keep fighting and doing everything humanly possible to contact them. Your efforts are going to pay off someday.

Visit a Therapist

Additionally, you can avoid parental alienation when in shared custody by visiting a therapist or expert. Going to a therapist can help you identify parental alienating and help nip it in the bud. They can also help you provide evidence for support of your case in court.

Request to See Your Child in Writing

If you are fighting against parental alienation in court, you can ask to see your child in writing to gather evidence to support your case. By making this request, you will have irrefutable proof that your ex is acting selfish and denying you custody of your child.

There you have it! Above are some ways to avoid parental alienation in shared custody divorces. Parental alienation is a very bad thing for a child or parent to experience. No child should be denied the care of a parent or a parent denied custody of their child. You can avoid this situation by adhering to the measures above.

4 Steps to Stop Selfishness in Relationships

April 21, 2020 / Cliff Robertson / 0 Comments

Being selfish does not get you far in a relationship. People will always leave you when they get a sense that you are self-centered. Are you someone that does not care about your partner’s feelings in a relationship? Are you obsessed about your partner giving you attention while you do not reciprocate that same attention? If this sounds like you, then you are selfish.

For any relationship, the partners should be willing to share a bond, make sacrifices, and watch each other’s back. If you are selfish, you can still snap out of it and save your relationship. Below are several ways of how to stop being selfish in a relationship.

Understand That Your Partner Has His or Her Own Life

Your partner has their own set of beliefs, habits, and ways of doing things. Once you realize this, both people will be more comfortable with themselves, and your relationship will work better.

Put Their Interest before Yours

Making your partner your priority is one way of setting the right course in any relationship. You have to put yourself second. Your partner’s happiness should be your primary aim, and as a result your happiness will follow.

Be Empathic

Walking in your significant other’s shoes can be an eye-opener. Before you make any decision, think about how it will affect your partner. For example, before you pick a fight with your partner, think about how it will make them feel. You are bound to be less self-absorbed when you start showing empathy.

Be Willing to Take Criticism

Some people in a relationship are so egocentric that when their partner gives them flak all hell breaks loose. You don’t have to comment on every little thing or make a big deal out of minor issues or conflict. Likewise, both partners should agree to giving and receiving constructive criticism.

Since relationships are all about making sacrifices, being selfish is one of the surefire ways of destroying your relationship. Fortunately, you can still get out of this situation by following the tips provided above. Still, struggling to figure out the right path forward? Then check out our list of ten things you can do to save a relationship!

How Aging Parents Can Talk with Family About Health Concerns

April 14, 2020 / Cliff Robertson / 0 Comments

Talking to aging parents about health concerns is not a simple conversation to have. However, that should not deter children from talking to aging parents about their health because it is very important. But how can you talk to them and get them to open up? Below is a rundown of several ways to talk to aged ones about their health.

Respect Your Parents’ Dignity

As you are talking to your parents about their health, it is important to do so with respect. It is important to maintain a parent-child relationship. It is their health and decision to make whether to listen to you or not. They are more inclined to listen to you if you respect their dignity. If you feel they aren’t able to make those decisions, you will need to speak with a lawyer about obtaining guardianship over them.

Maintain Consistency

The more persistent you are about talking to your aging parents, the more likely they are to come around. While you are being consistent, ensure that you are not disrespectful.

Be Empathic

It is important to see things from your parents’ point of view. Normally we see things from our perspective rather than from theirs. Being empathic helps us to relate better to them about their wants and needs.

Be a Good Communicator

Express your concerns rather than forcefully telling them what to do. Listen to their opinions and ask open-ended questions that further discussions rather than a closed question that will make them dismiss the discussion abruptly. Allow them to take control of the health talk, and they may be more willing to adapt to changes.

Have Other Family Members Present

Lastly, older parents may only want to discuss health concerns in the presence of immediate family. If you have siblings, make sure they are present. Avoid outsiders unless you feel that those people may bring a better approach that is more convincing.

If you aren’t at the stage where such serious conversations need to take place, but rather they have lifestyle habits that you feel aren’t beneficial, then the conversation might wind up being different. Maybe they aren’t seeing a doctor, following a regime of prescriptions, they smoke or drink, or you want them to consider supplements from brands like Irwin Naturals, Metagenics, and Bluebonnet. No matter the reason, consult the above tips but alter them in a way that will yield good results.

Talking to your aged parents about their health is not easy, but if approached in the right way, you may find that the results are better. The tips discussed above are a good way to talk to them about health concerns while also strengthen your relationship.