Overcoming Addiction: How to Quit Bad Habits

June 5, 2021

First of all, everyone who seeks help with their addiction is a hero. Admitting you have an issue and asking for a helping hand is a truly heroic act. No matter why you’re dealing with addiction and what your hook is, it’s admirable that you’re here.

So, what is addiction? Addiction is defined as any form of compulsive attraction directed towards an activity or substance. This type of obsession is not innate but acquired. And everything that’s learned can be unlearnt.

Focus on Growth

After acceptance, the next stage is learning to be prospective. It might sound naïve, but believing that you can make it plays a vital role in your progress.

Once you’re resolute on quitting bad habits, you should shift focus to other things. Those could be anything from physical activities and meditation to arts & crafts. Think of skills that you’ve been wanting to learn for a while. Why haven’t you been able to put yourself into developing it? It is likely due to spending time on your addiction. But now that you have moved on, you can freely commit yourself to new stimuli in your life.

Some people are addicted to work, with long-hour culture surging more than ever. In this particular instance, it is crucial to concentrate on what makes you – you. Pursue your hobbies and interests, and devote time to improving different, new skills.

Get Physical

Speaking of distractions, one of the best ways to diverting attention from addiction is being physically active. Removing oneself physically from the source of fixation forces you against thinking about it.

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Making daily walks a habit is one way to deal with this issue. Both your physical and mental health will benefit from taking regular strolls. This is especially true if walking isn’t currently part of your daily routine.

If you need a hardcore distraction, working out is recommended. Browse the web for workout plans or look up a personal coach. While lockdown hasn’t been pleasant, it incentivized many PTs to launch apps with customized exercise plans that you can purchase online.

In short, ways to get physical to fight addiction are next to limitless. And you’re already ahead of the game since you’re reading this!

Self-Exclusion

Depending on the type of addiction, people seek various forms of rehab. To exemplify, if you’re addicted to a substance or overeating, the obvious way to leave it behind is by quitting it. There are designated programs readily available for people who need to surrender unhealthy habits with the help of others.

On the other hand, gambling can be addictive, too. This form of adult entertainment is in its essence appealing and a great way to take the edge off. But as with most things involving money, it can easily turn into a vicious cycle of overspending.

If you find that you’re no longer enjoying gambling online, you can read about some helpful self-exclusion tools right here. Anti-gambling software deals with your addiction. By installing and activating any of these apps, you’re blocking gambling sites from your devices for good.

There isn’t a way to go back to your old ways or indulge in occasional betting. So, if you are resolved to quit casinos, anti-gambling software helps. Plus, these programs are often free, as you’ll see in the article above.

Back to Basics

Loud and fast lifestyles eventually drive most people to overburn. And the best antidote to overconsumption is the natural world.

Reconnecting with nature was advocated by famous American author Ralph Waldo Emerson. As early as the 19^th century, when the technology wasn’t yet as advanced at all, the essayist noticed that the everyday rush drove him away from his inner being. In an attempt to understand his true self, Emerson secluded himself in a forest cottage in the wild.

While this extreme approach won’t work for everyone for many reasons, everyone can afford hiking or a road trip to a nearby village a couple of times a month. You would be surprised to see how much nature has to offer to anyone who asks for help.

If you think of recovering from addiction as diverting your focus from the unhealthy past, turning to healthy environments is arguably one of the most nourishing paths to take.

Stay Consistent

Lastly, when in trouble, one must resort to clichés. “Read that again” is probably the most hated sentence on the internet. However, it’s still relevant and it works.

Continually sticking to your new, healthier ways and reminding oneself how long you’ve come will inspire you to thrive further. Being unstoppable is what you become over time; it doesn’t happen overnight.

By showing up every day, staying consistent in your battle against addiction is how you prove to yourself that you’re strong enough to conquer your demons. Addiction can be dangerous, and you’re already proving bravery by fighting against it.

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Looking Out For Your Mental Wellbeing During Social Distancing

This global pandemic has brought humans into a situation we have never faced before. Social lives are disrupted but because of that our mental and physical health is in danger. You might not feel like it in the beginning, but our mental well-being is what we should be careful with. Remaining in your home for too long can affect your mental health and for some it might even cause mental health issues. Looking out for physical health and especially mental wellbeing, not just ours but the ones around us and the ones we love is very important. Let’s have a look at how you can do that. Connect Isolation does not mean you cannot talk with anyone. Loneliness can cause a big mental toll and several mental health issues. The best way to avoid that is connecting with friends and family. This is the time to take care of others and yourself. For instance, if you know that someone near your apartment or home lives alone, connect with them. There are several means to do that face to face chat, connecting on social media or video calling platforms. Know and connect with yourself, your family and friends because we need each other the most during this time. Being active It’s all good to get ready with your workout tank tops, shorts and working out at your home. In fact, working out is the best thing you can do to keep yourself physically and mentally healthy. But once a while, step outside. Get the workout hoodie and pants on to go for a run, or cycling, a walk, or anything else you like. If not just go, sit in a park or something. Because it is a social distancing time, so just don’t work out or run in groups. Stay away from crowded places. Go for a walk, run, or cycling early morning when most of the people would be at home. Do not forget to maintain a healthy diet, proper sleep and rest periods because they are equally important. Practice mindfulness Keeping yourself and your thoughts positive will help a lot to keep your head in the right place. Help anyone else you can do practice the same. Avoid panic situations, news, social media, brawls and fake news, do not forward any information which you do not know is authentic, but beware of the situation around you. Do not worry about the future and especially do not stress over it. Do not stock food and other important items anymore than you need. Practicing mindfulness might be hard at first but doing so will keep you from drowning. Working out, yoga, meditation, helping others, connecting with family and friends, enjoying life, etc. will help you keep calm. Learning Learning something new, something you wanted to learn, and rediscovering old hobbies are some things that will help you get through the situation. For instance, if you have a motorcycle or car learn how to repair it yourself. Try cooking, or learning an instrument, or singing and dancing. Set challenges and timelines to achieve those goals and enjoy yourself. Improve skills that might help you after this pandemic is over. Keeping yourself busy in positive things is the way to go. Teach your family new things and learn some from them. Help them with school work. Helping others This is the best time you can help someone in need. A little help from you can save someone’s life or make their day. Join some local communities, look around you, see what people need, spread happiness and remember to look out for your loved ones too. There will always be someone near you who can appreciate a helping hand. It can either be some food, help with something, or even helping others like a team. Support local businesses and people who are affected by it. Concerned about self-isolation and don’t want to go out? No worries you can provide virtual support. Even a letter or thanks or keep hanging we are here for you, makes a difference. Conclusion While the government is doing what it can to help the ones in need, hopefully. But we as individuals also need to take initiative. For instance, buying food or other needed items in bulk and stocking them is just wrong. To top that, some are selling the needed items for a high price. Take wellbeing as collective and help others by starting with yourself.
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Secured vs. Unsecured Business Line of Credit: What’s the Difference?

The reason that 26 percent of people start their own business is that they want to be their own boss. A business line of credit can be a big help in making you successful at being your own boss. It is one of the easiest ways to ensure that you always have cash on hand should you need to make quick purchases for your business or even to do any investment. A line of credit provides a cushion for your business. There are two main lines of credit, they are secured and unsecured. What Is a Business Line of Credit? A line of credit is an open-ended loan. You can use this loan for any purpose that you want. In many ways, it is similar to a credit card because it is a revolving loan. You can use the line of credit as many times as you want. There is a limit on the amount of money you get but there is no expiration date on it. Secured Line of Credit Whether you want a small business line of credit or a line of credit for a larger business, secure lines of credit are available. When you get a secure line of credit, the assets of your company will be used as collateral and they can be seized if you fail to pay off your debt. The advantage of getting a secure line of credit for your business is that the bank usually gives you a higher credit limit because they are more confident about getting the money back. The interest rates will also be lower. Unsecured Line of Credit When a lender gives your business an unsecured line of credit they are assuming greater risk. An unsecured line of credit is a lot harder to get. Often an unsecured line of credit is only given when the company is well-established and has a good reputation. The lender will often compensate for giving an unsecured loan by offering high interest rates. If you are looking for an unsecured line of credit, the experts at Alto Capital can help you achieve your goals. The Benefits of Secured and Unsecured Lines of Credit The biggest advantage to getting these types of loans is that you can use them repeatedly and you will not have high minimum payments. You also do not have to pay in full as long as you keep your payments up-to-date. The flexibility in accessing and repaying a business line of credit is a major advantage, even if the business line of credit rates vary. Get a Loan The business line of credit that you can access is directly related to the type of business that you have. It is up to you to look at your business’s needs and assets to decide which line of credit is right for you. Whichever line of credit you choose make sure that you are capable of repaying, so that you don’t ruin your business’s credit score. If you want more financial tips, please visit the business and financial tips section of the website.
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‘Cookies’ track your every move online. Now there’s a fight over what should replace them

For decades, “cookies” have been tracking you around the web. They’re the snippets of code that uniquely identify your browser and allow those shoe ads to follow you from site to site after you visit an online storefront. Soon, their time may be up. Third-party cookies have increasingly fallen by the wayside as the public has become more protective of privacy rights in an age of algorithms and data. Some major browsers including Firefox and Safari now block third-party cookies by default, further reducing their usefulness to advertisers. And Google has already said it’s planning to do the same in its browser, Chrome. But last week Google (GOOGL) went further, announcing it will soon stop tracking individual people’s web browsing altogether for advertising purposes when Chrome finally drops third-party cookies. If that sounds like a big deal, that’s because it is. In a blog post explaining the change, Google said that once tracking cookies are eventually blocked by default on Chrome, the company won’t build or support browser technology designed to perpetuate individual-level data tracking. The announcement laid out Google’s intentions for what comes after the death of the third-party cookie, something it and many others in the industry had been anticipating for years. The future of tracking-based web advertising, Google argued, will be more abstract, relying less on an individual’s browser history and more on what groups of internet users may be viewing at any given time. Given Google’s enormous role in the advertising world and its control of the world’s most popular web browser, the company has the potential to determine how the next generation of ad technology works. But Google’s vision is not the only one. Sensing that change may soon be on the horizon, privacy advocates and others in the industry have put forth different ideas about how the future should unfold. At the same time, policymakers are erecting new regulations and questioning Google’s dominance in ways that could have a significant impact on the company’s ability to carry out its plan. A more anonymous way of tracking? To understand what Google’s pitching, it helps to think about Facebook. Facebook also makes its money by serving ads. It doesn’t directly sell user information to advertisers; instead, it offers advertisers the opportunity to target ads to certain categories of Facebook users based on that data. Slicing and dicing people’s identities by their relationship status, the pages they’ve liked and even the content they click let Facebook sell access to highly specific groups. The system being developed by Google and others in standards-setting forums is based on the same principle, according to policy experts. Brands would be able to advertise to “cohorts” of internet users who share similar traits as defined by an algorithm. But unlike today, the marketers wouldn’t have access to specific data about individual members of the cohort. The approach being championed by Google would theoretically give users more power than Facebook’s model. Rather than centralizing all user data under one roof, internet users’ web history would remain stored in their own browsers or on their own devices. Depending on which version of this idea is implemented — there are many — users could have settings that let them control what information their browser shares with the world. Ads for shoes and camping gear might still follow you around the internet this way, but advertisers would now be blasting those ads to you and thousands of others as a group, not as an individual. That concept, which Google is currently testing, is designed to take the place of third-party tracking cookies, which can track you from site to site and develop a highly detailed picture of your browsing history for advertising purposes. “It fundamentally creeps people out,” said David Chavern, president and CEO of the News Media Alliance, a trade association representing news publishers. So if you’re a tech giant like Google whose business depends on user tracking, Chavern said, “you want to be ahead of these curves.” Privacy advocates are wary Google says its vision of the future helps improve user privacy while still offering advertisers the same ability to target audiences. “Advertisers don’t need to track individual consumers across the web to get the performance benefits of digital advertising,” the company argued in its blog post. “Advances in aggregation, anonymization, on-device processing and other privacy-preserving technologies offer a clear path to replacing individual identifiers.” Some privacy experts agree that the Google-backed proposal would be an improvement over the status quo — at least in theory. “For me, it’s a good step and a good signal, but I’d want to see the final package of solutions,” said Ashkan Soltani, an independent privacy and security researcher and a former chief technologist at the Federal Trade Commission. One of the most important factors to watch, Soltani said, is how the user controls are designed. Do they offer a one-click mechanism for users to opt-out of all data sharing? Can users pick and choose what types of data to share with advertisers? Are the controls easy for an average person to find and use? Others are more sceptical, arguing that the proposal just trades one form of invasive monitoring for another. “Google, please don’t do this,” wrote the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights group, in a blog post. In the post, EFF technologist Bennett Cyphers argued that depending on how small each cohort is and the ability for clever companies to cross-reference that data with other available information — such as your email address — it may well be possible for third parties to figure out who you are, anyway. “We should imagine a better world without the myriad problems of targeted ads,” Cyphers wrote. What the ad industry wants Some in the advertising industry are working on an alternative to Google’s approach. A competing standard being developed under the Partnership for Responsible Addressable Media — a group comprised of the Interactive Advertising Bureau Tech Lab, many ad-tech companies, Unilever, Ford, IBM and others — >>Read more
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Private vs Government-Backed Student Loans

An integral aspect of contemporary financial aid packages, student loans can bridge the gap between scholarships and grants and educational-related expenses. Student loans generally fall into one of two categories: federal and private. This, of course, raises the question — what are the basic differences when it comes to private vs government-backed student loans? Federal Student Loans Recommended by experts as the first choice of funding when it comes to academic borrowing, federal student loans offer several advantages. Among them are fixed interest rates, income-driven repayment plans, and forgiveness programs. Additionally, many federal student loans are subsidized, in that the government makes interest payments as long students are enrolled in classes on at least a half-time basis. Within the category of federal loans are four basic varieties. These are Direct Subsidized, Direct Unsubsidized, and Direct Plus; the latter of which are either Grad PLUS or Parent PLUS. Parent PLUS loans are issued to students’ parents while Grad PLUS loans go to students pursuing post-secondary studies. By and large, federal loans (other than those of the PLUS variety) are granted without credit checks. Flexible repayment is another benefit, in that monthly payment amounts can be income-based. Moreover, repayment schemes can be altered after loans are granted. Government-backed student loan repayment is typically deferred until after graduation but kicks in if the student leaves school or their enrollment status falls to less than half-time. Interest rates are usually (though not always) lower than those of most private student loans as well. Another key benefit of government-backed loans is the availability of loan forgiveness programs for graduates who enter fields of employment considered to be of service to the public good. Private Student Loans Offered by banks, credit unions, and other types of financial organizations, private student loans are recommended when U.S. Department of Education financial aid packages fall short of what you’ll need to cover your academic-related costs. Interest rates on private student loans can be either fixed or variable and can be lower than those charged on federal loans under certain circumstances. Organizations like Juno organize private borrowing into collectives of students to help bring the associated costs down as much as possible. Applying for a private student loan is much like applying for any other type of financing. Your credit history and income level will be considered before an offer is made. On the other hand, unlike federal loans, private loan amounts are limited only by your perceived ability to repay. Moreover, with a strong credit score, you might find yourself with a lower interest rate than you could get from a federal loan. On the other hand, many private loans require payments while students are still in school, though others will permit deferment if enrollment requirements are met. Is One Better Than the Other? Those in the know tend to agree that you should go for subsidized federal loans first. Your second choice should be unsubsidized federal loans and you should go for private loans if you need even more money. Among the factors, you should consider when determining which private loan to take is whether the interest rates are fixed or variable. You’ll also want to know whether payments can be deferred until you’re no longer in school at least half-time. And ideally, the loan will be granted with no pre-payment penalty if you find yourself positioned to pay it off before it runs full term. This can save you quite a bit of money on interest payments. Ultimately though, choosing between private vs government-backed student loans comes down to whether you can cover all your costs with federal money. In many cases, private student loans can be the difference between earning your degree and being unable to cover the costs of doing so.
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Best Practices: 5 Ways to Ensure Your Business Isn’t Targeted By Hackers

Hackers are people or organizations that use computers to obtain unauthorized access to data. Security hackers, in particular, will look for weaknesses in business networks for financial gain. Many business owners never think they will become victims of a hacking attempt, but it happens more than you think. Thankfully, you can reduce the risk of your business being affected by taking the following steps. Outsourcing Your IT Services You might believe you’re more than capable of handling your own computer systems, but when you outsource IT services to an MSP, you benefit from years of expertise and some of the best protective software in the industry. Managed IT service providers can maximize your system’s performance, protect your network against cyber threats, provide convenient cloud services, and even offer automated backup and disaster recovery services in the event of an unprecedented cyber-attack. While you perform your daily operations, someone else can take care of all the behind-the-scenes work to keep your business safe from cyber threats. Essentially, you won’t need to lift a finger. Train Your Staff Unless you take active steps to inform your employees about the dangers lurking on the internet, there’s no guarantee they’ll know those dangers exist. The internet can be a wonderful place to learn new things and perform essential business tasks. However, it can also link your business to a network of criminals seeking sensitive information to bring your company to its knees. Set policies for protecting business information, provide best practices for creating passwords and implementing multi-factor authentication, and teach your team how to spot suspicious emails. The more your employees know about cyber attacks, the more confident they can be in avoiding them. Use Up-to-Date Software Updating software can be frustrating. It can seem like as soon as you install one update, another is waiting in the wings, ready to take more of your time. As frustrating as they are, software updates are essential for providing an additional layer of protection against new threats. For example, failure to update your software might allow hackers to break through your network’s defenses and take valuable company information. This is the last thing you want, so when those update notifications come in, be sure to accept them. Invest in Security Packages Running a business is expensive, and you might see security packages as an unnecessary cost since they add nothing to your average working day. However, having the most secure system might prevent cyber criminals from causing significant financial hardship. At a minimum, consider a secure sockets layer (SSL) to protect user information, a web application firewall for protection between your data connection and website, and scanners to regularly scan software and websites for malware, viruses, and bad code. Anti-malware and anti-virus programs are also vital as they protect your business against ransomware attacks, spoofing, email phishing, and more. Secure Your WiFi Network Hackers frequently drive around in their cars using high-powered antennas to scan for poorly protected or unprotected networks. If they find what they’re looking for, they’ll target your finances, passwords, and finances. Wired networks are undoubtedly more secure, but many businesses need WiFi for flexibility. In that case, you can gain a layer of protection for your internet connection by disabling the service set identifier (SSID) to hide your network and make it invisible to WiFi snoopers. There might not be any way to protect your business against all cyber attacks, but you can certainly prevent most of them. Take the actions above, and your business should be far more secure than you thought possible.
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Overcoming Addiction: How to Quit Bad Habits

Focus on Growth

Get Physical

Self-Exclusion

Back to Basics

Stay Consistent

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