1 . The daily life can be busy and at times difficult. It may sometimes feel like bringing just a little more inner peace and calmness into your life is a hopeless wish.     1     Small and smart changes can make a big difference over time. Here are some tips for finding more peace and calmness in everyday life.

Set limits (限制). If your life is overfilled, you may need to set some limits. So stop doing some of the least important things, which honestly don’t matter that much. Set a limit for how many times you will check your mailbox, Instagram,Twitter etc. per day.     2    

Organise your world and your mind.     3     A tidy, clean and ordered space around you brings clarity and order to the mind. So don’t stop there. Simplify and organise your home and life to live in a more relaxing environment.

    4     Reading minds is pretty much impossible. But still we often try it and create anxiety and uncertainty for ourselves. So ask and communicate instead. It may sometimes be a bit hard at first but it can save you and the people around you so much trouble in the long run.

Solve a problem that is weighing heavily on you. Solve your problem and release (释放) all the stress that it is creating in your life. You probably already know what to do, and you are just not doing it yet.     5     So get up from your chair and get started right now.

2 . It’s now, more than ever, crucial to adopting a low-impact lifestyle since all kinds of waste, including that of the fashion industry, are piling up in landfills with astonishing speed.     1     Thankfully, the following tips can help you reduce clothing waste.

·Buy fewer clothes overall.     2     It’s a more cautious approach to shopping and consumption (消费) in general. Think twice about what you will buy and say no to over consumption. You can even try out a minimalist (极简主义的) lifestyle. Shop for what you need only when necessary, keep things simple, and go back to basics.

·Shop for high-quality clothing. High-quality clothes can cost more at first but save you money in the long run.     3     Moreover, quality clothes can make you feel more comfortable and confident, improve your fashion style, and help you look your best.

·    4     Upcycling is very beneficial to the planet and your budget (预算). Instead of throwing old clothes away, use parts of or entire old clothes to make something new and more valuable. You can even create stylish and unique pieces of clothing by upcycling.

·Donate your unwanted fashion items. Do a quick online search for your local options to donate clothes that are still in good condition. Be sure to contact organizations first and ask them what type of clothes they accept. You can donate clothing to for-profit companies or to homeless shelters and family service agencies.     5    

5 . Cultural intelligence, or cultural quotient (CQ) is the ability to manage cultural diversity.     1     It also involves understanding and appreciating cultural differences and being able to adapt to those differences.

    2     For one thing, it can help you avoid misunderstandings and communication breakdowns with people from other cultures. For another, it enables you to build strong relationships with them. Want to improve your CQ? Try the following tips.

If you’re unfamiliar with the culture, chances are you’re not going to adapt well to it. So the first practical aspect of CQ you need to improve is your CQ drive.     3     This drive is the first step towards higher CQ that may help you be open to new possibilities. All you have to do is explore the new situation you find yourself in.

After you’ve motivated yourself to get a bit more familiar with the culture, it’s time to go one step further.     4     Of course, this doesn’t mean you need to become an expert in the said culture. Simply, you should try to get to know the ways in which that culture forms and influences its people’s values and behavior.

Lastly, you need to use what you have learned and come up with a strategy that will help you improve your CQ. You can expose yourself to various media. This is a useful and easily accessible way to learn about how culture affects behavior. Again, it helps if you learn the language of the culture. This may open a whole new world for you.     5    

7 . Act Your Shoe Size, Not Your Age

As adults, it seems that we are constantly pursuing happiness, often with mixed results. Yet children appear to have it down to an art and for the most part they don’t need self-help books or methods.     1     Children’s way is usually more effective than grown-ups’. Perhaps it’s time to learn a few lessons from them.

What does a child do when he’s sad? He cries. When he’s angry? He shouts. Scared? Probably a bit of both.     2     So they don’t influence our behavior. But too often we take this process too far and end up suppressing ( 压 抑 ) emotions, especially negative ones. What we need to do is find a way to acknowledge and express what we feel appropriately, and then again, like children—move on.

    3     If we adults could be obsessed with a bit of silliness and giggling like them, we would reduce the stress hormones (荷尔蒙), improve blood flow to our hearts and even have a greater chance of fighting off infection. All of them would, of course, have a positive effect on our happiness levels.

A couple of Christmases ago, my daughter, who was nine years old at the time, got a Superman T-shirt for Christmas. It cost less than a five but she was overjoyed, and couldn’t stop talking about it. However, too often we adults believe that a new job, bigger house or better car will be the magic silver bullet that will allow us to finally be content.     4    

Having said all above, it’s necessary to add that we shouldn’t try too hard to be happy.     5     Overthinking it will make it more difficult for us to gain happiness. We need to look to the example of our children, to whom happiness is not a goal but a natural byproduct of the way they live.

8 . Vegetables are filled with nutrients. However, kids usually hate eating them. Here are five of the most common reasons why most kids don’t really enjoy them.

Kids lack in exposure. The best way to get kids to eat their vegetables is to ensure that they are exposed to them early on.     1    . Therefore, if you want your kids to love vegetables, start, exposing them early.

The vegetables taste bitter. Kids are super into the sweet and salt y flavors, but sometimes vegetables have a bitter taste. The good news is that the more you eat vegetables, the less unpleasant they’ll taste. If your kids just won’t eat them, you can mix them with other food or cook them differently.     2    .

Kids are allergic(过敏的). Vegetables contain vitamins and minerals.     3    . Some kids are allergic to certain vegetables, making it hard to eat them. So it’s best to find out if your kids are allergic to any vegetables before you try to get them to eat.

Kids are forced to consume. If you have no idea why they don’t eat them, try giving them a snack with some vegetables.     4    . Instead, praise your kids for eating them. Then they’re more likely to try and eat.

    5    . Sometimes kids go with the flow and do what others do. They tend to copy the behavior of their parents. So if you’re not eating your vegetables, your kids won’t, either. The bottom line is that if your kids are picky eaters, it’s probably because of you.

9 . Always late? Here are some tips to break the habit

We’ve all run late before, whether it was because of a missed alarm, failing to find the right outfit, or getting stuck in traffic. It can turn into a routine for some, and if you’re constantly finding yourself on the later side of a deadline, consider these tips to break the habit.

Stop snoozing (小睡)

It’s so easy to keep on pressing that snooze button in the morning. We tell ourselves “    1     ,” but most of the time that isn’t the case, and we end up late and stressed. Just put your alarm across the room to force yourself out of bed, or go to bed earlier.

    2    

A busy lifestyle means a busy to-do list. When a random task comes into your mind, like replying to an email or unloading the dishwasher, say no to the urge. Chances are that it will still be there later.

Take transition activities into account

If you take a bus to school every morning, you probably have to walk to the bus station and then wait for a few minutes.     3    . These activities can regularly slip our minds when assessing time, but they add up!

Reframe your thinking about being early

Earliness is not a waste of time.     4    . Giving yourself those minutes of calm allows you to re-center your mind. Plus, you may even have time to leisurely complete some tasks like replying to emails, reading a book or making a to-do list.

Think and prepare ahead

Consider which activities from your morning routine take up most of your time and tackle them the night before.     5    . Whatever frees up some important time for you the next day is okay.