We people are just more comfortable doing what we've done

We regret changing to something new...even if it's the right thing to do!

by Harris Jensen, MD

Editor, Good Day Journal

In a recent study, people were asked what their level of regret was when they got a guess wrong--about whether a tennis ball landed in the court or out of the court.

Those who got the answer wrong...and they made a change from their previous answer...regretted their answer more.

We just don't like to change our minds, do we?

Self Esteem Is Valuing Yourself...Only If Others Like What You Do!

Dump It!

by Harris Jensen, MD

Editor, Good Day Journal

Wikipedia has a great article showing how common ideas of valuing yourself, often taught in grade and high school, are self defeating!

Read this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-esteem

HJ

Meditation Can Be An Antidepressant Too!

The Field Of Mindfulness Cognitive Behavior Therapy Has Much Evidence Behind It To Show It Works

Fort Collins Psychiatrist Records Mindfulness CD

Free Audio File Available In This Article!

by Harris Jensen, MD

Editor, Good Day Journal

Fort Collins Psychiatrist Records Stress Managment CD

Mindfulness Approach Backed By Research

by Harris Jensen, MD
Editor, Good Day Journal

Managing stress by taking a good, long walk is about as American as apple pie.  I mean, Henry David Thoreau extolled the virtues of a walk in nature in his essary "Walking," 150 years ago.

But you can get more out of a walk by developing your powers of mindfulness.

Hit counts jump to 9,011 in 2009 after addition of new charts, music, books and audio books!

Light therapy and quitting smoking articles by Northern Colorado Psychiatrist gain top hit counts!

by Harris Jensen, MD

Editor, Good Day Journal

The Good Day Journal just started out as a whimsical idea.  Let's put out some articles about what people are doing to make a better life for themselves.  In our first year, we got 5,000 hits.  Not bad!

But this year the hit count almost doubled!  The addition of the web page free stuff is credited for doubling the traffic to the web site.  Find it at http://gooddayjournal.com/freestuff.

Free Stuff is a page of free downloads.  Just click the item and download it!  Items include the four step stress managment model that you see to the left:)

Nature Images and Jazz Music Combined...

Mystic Mountain Moments DVD brings soothing music and soothing images of the Rocky Mountains to your DVD player

by Harris Jensen, MD

Editor, Good Day Journal

Mark Sloniker is one of the all time greats in jazz, I think.  I love his soothings, rolling sounds, his great lyrics...you can find him most Saturdays at Jay's Bistro and he's always the same.  Upbeat, joyful, loving life for all the wonder and meaning it brings.

Now his music is joined with photography of nature that conveys that same attitude of wonder and gratitude.

To see more, check it out on Amazon.com at

http://www.amazon.com/Mystic-Mountain-Moments-Fall-Memories/dp/B0026ZQE7...

Enjoy!

HJ

"The Four Secrets For Successful Living"

Combines The Most Powerful Elements Of Several

Psychotherapy Strategies Into One Powerful Approach (Updated 5/14/09)

by Harris Jensen,MD

Editor, Good Day Journal

(To get the PDF book now, click GET BOOK and go to bottom of the article and click the blue words "The Four Secrets For Successful Living.pdf" to get book, or click the blue audio ".m4a" file, "The Four Secrets -- Preface.m4a, " to hear the book read by the author!  The audio file will start playing shortly, and after the full file is downloaded you can save it to your computer and burn it to a cd and listen to it wherever you want to!  You may be able to go to "file" on your browser and "save page" and save the audio file to your computer.)

Growing up, I had a hard time learning to believe in myself.  Finally, a camp director caught me doing some actions well.  He not only told me I did a "good job" but said this was evidence of continued promise for success.

I had what it took to succeed.

This is the approach used in motivational psychotherapy. Help people see they can generalize from successes in one area to other areas that currently leave them "stuck."

The weakness in that approach is one often needs some sophistication in naming irrational thoughts.  That is the approach used in cognitive behavior therapy.  And sometimes that isn't enough.  In situations involving the need for communication skills, interpesonal therapy can train thos

e.

I've pulled together these diverse approaches in my book, "The Four Secrets For Successful Living."

Here is how it helps stress managment:  A person let's say comes home and his children are screaming and that gets on his nerves.  Instead of yelling, he sees he's having an emotional response--that's normal and expected--that is the first of four steps in solving problems effectively.  Seeing that, and that emotions don't inform his decisions, he takes the "energy," as it were, from the emotions, and directs that energy to talk to his girlfriend.  "Boy these kids get on my nerves," he self discloses, "but I love you and I love them!  I wonder what we can do. You are good at working with their rascally behavior?"  She suggests they play hide and go seek, a game outside that will redirect the kid's energy, which is up in part because they are frustrated about being inside, and about Dad being at work all day.  He is now at the second step of successful problem solving, the thinking step, and he's gathering information, resisting the urge to go back to the first step, the emotional response step, because that wouldn't bring him any more information.  It's information he needs now to make a well informed decision.  Thanks to his girlfriend's help and her thoughts, he's got that information.  Then he swings into the third step, the action step, and makes a well informed decision that the family can focus on what works for "us," and vote on what we as a family want to do.  He's encouraging "us" thinking, and modeling the four step model.  The kids vote to play...what else was possible?  But the structure of how they relate to others is different.  There is an order and direction here, based on he and his girlfriend working together in a loving way.  The fourth step is observing the situation you started with.  It's changed!  But he is seeing the situation in a new way, informed by his  thinking, guided by his love and devotion for his family, and energized by his emotions--not misguided by them.

Does this make sense?  If so, read the PDF book below!

I am not satisfied with the self help books out there.  After 15 years of work as a psychiatrist, I keep seeing people read books and make the same mistakes.  Whether the mistakes are -- thinking errors, interpersonal skill deficits, communication mistakes, motivation problems--the books just are not communicating well enough.  So I've just simply pulled together the very best of all those books and put them in one.

I think alot of self help books are hopelessly boring.

No color pictures!  No sound!  No drawings!  No color drawings! My pdf book has lots of color illustrations.  And some books have no CD audio book...hello isn't this the internet era where multimedia approaches help people learn everything from software to meditation?

So I have added an audio book version...and an audio and PDF versions of the book are  available here for free at the bottom of this article.  Click "read more" at the end of the article here, then go to the bottom of the article and you will see the .pdf book, "The Four Secrets For Successful Living.pdf."  Click the .pdf file to download it.  It has dozens and dozens of color pictures to help you learn key concepts! 

Then click the audio files and download them...they may start playing in a minute or less after clicking them...a full download may take several minutes or longer.   The preface of the book took about 25 minutes to read.  Then, once the audio file has fully downloaded, save that audio file to your computer, if your software permits that.  At any rate, open up the .pdf file and move forward to the preface to the book.  Then play the audio file "The Four Secrets--Preface" and  you can listen to me read the book while you read it. 

I think people learn best from both reading and listening to a book being read.  That way you get both the auditory and visual information at the same time.  I think some people learn more effectively if they get both auditory and visual information at the same time.  At any rate, do as you wish, and hope you enjoy the pdf and audio book.

As an added note, the clock face used in the book is available for download as a jpeg file at the end of the story, here.  Just click on the blue link for "clock face" and you got it!

Have a good day!

HJ

Journal Release First In Series Of Nature Music Videos
Nature images and jazz music make for relaxing moments...

"Autumn Treasure" is ready to web stream to you right now, just click the play button below!

Hit the "square button" in the lower right hand corner for full screen mode...thanks to You Tube, you've got video...

The .m4v file at bottom of article is ready to download to your computer to transfer to your ipod as well...for free!

Click this link to see the video on your ipod or iphone at You Tube!

Key words: relaxation, nature photography, nature video, jazz music, Mark Sloniker, stress managment
by Harris Jensen, MD
Editor Good Day Journal

After several years in development, it’s here!  A collaboration of two Colorado artists has yielded a series of four movies totaling about 90 minutes of relaxing nature images and soothing jazz sounds.
Mark Sloniker, a well known jazz artist in Colorado, has produced a number of CD’s (see marksloniker.com) which have been used as movie soundtracks before (ABC Sports and Public Television) but this is his first collaboration with Jensen.
Now is Jensen an artist?

Journal Releases Free Meditation Audio File!!!

Yours for the downloading at the bottom of this article...

just click on the blue "attachments" link below!

by Harris Jensen, MD

Editor, Good Day Journal

The audio files below review an introduction to meditation or mindfulness training.  With a little humor involved in the process!

Our lives can be so stressful, but nothing beats quieting our busy brains down, so they simply accept each moment as it comes to it.

We often "resist" each moment as it comes to us.

We may do that by thinking too much, feeling too much, worrying about the past, worrying about the future, planning, dwelling on how things are not how you like them.

Hey, we are good at fighting the present moment!

But that is where we live.

We have no other time to live in, but now.