Nice little article by Rubel Shelly that is so true! Enjoy!
The first time anything new and creative is proposed, it gets labeled. And the label put on these novel things is likely to be "risky." Can't you just hear it?
"Let me get this straight, Orville. You and Wilbur are building a machine that will do what? Heavier-than-air flying machines are the riskiest hoax anybody ever palmed off on two gullible boys like you Wrights. Get a real job!"
Or maybe it was somebody's harebrained idea of talking pictures, black and white children attending the same school, or people walking on the moon. More than one person was berated simply for giving voice to such "silly" ideas.
It turns out that some of the people who dared to propose such outlandish possibilities are now regarded as geniuses - revolutionaries - heroes. And it was only because they dared to question others and to question themselves. They challenged the limitations others were willing to take for granted.
There is something in your profession or business, your family or church that could be done better. A situation could be more productive. A relationship could be healthier. An objective could be clarified. Some lofty ideal to which all in the group give lip service could actually be implemented. But I warn you up front: Like restoring a car or house, it will take twice as long as you thought, cost far more than you anticipated, and strain every important relationship in your life!
Only you can decide if it will be worth it to undertake something so ambitious and costly. There will be false starts. There will be embarrassing mistakes along the way. But the potential outcome could be as important to your personal situation as the achievements of the Wright brothers, Rosa Parks, and Neil Armstrong were to their time and place.
The problem with our world is not that there are no more frontiers to challenge and conquer. It's that there are too few explorers. There are too few people willing to ask the obvious questions and challenge the traditional wisdom. In a word, too few of us want to take the risks that could make us look stupid.
If you are fortunate enough to have a dream in your heart, be willing to make mistakes in pursuit of it. Be a risk-taker. You just might change the world.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Strategic Leaders Look Farther Ahead
Another great article by John Maxwell. Enjoy!!
America seems to be waking up to its weight problem. Popular reality television shows Biggest Loser and Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution inspire viewers to shed pounds, or better yet, to avoid putting them on in the first place. Bestselling books, Eat This, Not That! and Cook This, Not That! teach readers how to order and prepare healthier foods. Health-conscious supermarket chains Whole Foods, Fresh Market, and Trader Joe's cater to shoppers concerned about nutrition.
With Americans aspiring to better diets, you might expect PepsiCo, known for its sugary drinks and salty snacks, to be in a perilous position. Yet, thanks to the strategic leadership CEO Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo was able to anticipate the trend toward healthier diets and adjust its course. Today, PepsiCo enjoys a diverse line of products and has the agility to feature nutritious brands.
Take a Long Range View of the Future
When driving a car, you don't fix your vision only a few feet beyond the front bumper. Instead, you peer into the distance so that you can anticipate curves in the road, locate upcoming turns, and steer clear of any potholes or debris on the roadway. Looking farther ahead gives you the reaction time needed to pilot the car safely to your destination.
As CEO of a corporation whose financial size exceeds that of many countries, Nooyi has tremendous responsibility to steer PepsiCo in the right direction. She must look years ahead, not only to ensure the future profitability of PepsiCo, but also to ever-enhance its influence as a global citizen. To lead well, Nooyi makes a practice of projecting herself into the future. Doing so allows her to identify market trends in advance and gives her time to position PepsiCo to capitalize on them.
As early as the mid-1990s, while serving as chief strategist of PepsiCo, Nooyi saw consumers turning to more nutritious products. In response, she spearheaded the acquisition of Quaker Oats Co., giving Pepsi a heavyweight sports drink (Gatorade) and recognizable health foods like Quaker oatmeal. Later, she purchased Tropicana so that Pepsi could add a prominent fruit juice to its lineup. Meanwhile, she convinced executives at Pepsi to abandon their foray into fast food by selling Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and Kentucky Fried Chicken. As a result of Nooyi's efforts, by 2006 only 20% of Pepsi's sales came from soft drinks compared to 80% for rival Coca-Cola.
Conclusion
As a leader, you're responsible to look ahead, sense impending change, and make the course adjustments necessary to keep your organization on track. Remember: you cannot see the future with your nose to the grindstone. To lead strategically, it's essential to withdraw from the urgency of day-to-day business in order to plan the direction of your organization's future.
America seems to be waking up to its weight problem. Popular reality television shows Biggest Loser and Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution inspire viewers to shed pounds, or better yet, to avoid putting them on in the first place. Bestselling books, Eat This, Not That! and Cook This, Not That! teach readers how to order and prepare healthier foods. Health-conscious supermarket chains Whole Foods, Fresh Market, and Trader Joe's cater to shoppers concerned about nutrition.
With Americans aspiring to better diets, you might expect PepsiCo, known for its sugary drinks and salty snacks, to be in a perilous position. Yet, thanks to the strategic leadership CEO Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo was able to anticipate the trend toward healthier diets and adjust its course. Today, PepsiCo enjoys a diverse line of products and has the agility to feature nutritious brands.
Take a Long Range View of the Future
When driving a car, you don't fix your vision only a few feet beyond the front bumper. Instead, you peer into the distance so that you can anticipate curves in the road, locate upcoming turns, and steer clear of any potholes or debris on the roadway. Looking farther ahead gives you the reaction time needed to pilot the car safely to your destination.
As CEO of a corporation whose financial size exceeds that of many countries, Nooyi has tremendous responsibility to steer PepsiCo in the right direction. She must look years ahead, not only to ensure the future profitability of PepsiCo, but also to ever-enhance its influence as a global citizen. To lead well, Nooyi makes a practice of projecting herself into the future. Doing so allows her to identify market trends in advance and gives her time to position PepsiCo to capitalize on them.
As early as the mid-1990s, while serving as chief strategist of PepsiCo, Nooyi saw consumers turning to more nutritious products. In response, she spearheaded the acquisition of Quaker Oats Co., giving Pepsi a heavyweight sports drink (Gatorade) and recognizable health foods like Quaker oatmeal. Later, she purchased Tropicana so that Pepsi could add a prominent fruit juice to its lineup. Meanwhile, she convinced executives at Pepsi to abandon their foray into fast food by selling Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and Kentucky Fried Chicken. As a result of Nooyi's efforts, by 2006 only 20% of Pepsi's sales came from soft drinks compared to 80% for rival Coca-Cola.
Conclusion
As a leader, you're responsible to look ahead, sense impending change, and make the course adjustments necessary to keep your organization on track. Remember: you cannot see the future with your nose to the grindstone. To lead strategically, it's essential to withdraw from the urgency of day-to-day business in order to plan the direction of your organization's future.
Great Quote
"Perhaps the most valuable result of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do, when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not; it is the first lesson that ought to be learned; and however early a man's training begins, it is probably the last lesson that he learns thoroughly." - Thomas H. Huxley, 1825-1895, Biologist
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Obstacles? They are there and they must be put down.
Another great article by Chris Weidner. Well done Chris. Good advice for 2011!!
What would you do in that situation? Would you save the day and proceed to victory, or would you run and hide? Running and hiding is tempting when you see the guy all dressed in black, symbolizing your impending doom!
Isn't that what happens regularly though? Our journey to success always has these "Showdowns" that we have to go through if we are going to get there. There are always going to be "bad guys" we have to get through.
Let's take a look at a few:
Fear:
Fear is the pre-imminent "bad guy." He keeps millions of people from success. Here is a secret: There are times when I am stretching myself to achieve all that I can, when I am taking huge risks, that I wake up in the middle of the night and I am so scared I can't sleep! Fear will tell you anything to keep you from even trying! But do you know what takes care of fear? Persistence. You see, everybody has fear. The most successful people I know have fear. But they work through it rather than give up! To be successful you have to have and win that showdown with fear.
Crowd mentality:
I have become increasingly aware of this in recent years. The crowd is loud. They are tenacious in letting you know that they expect you to do things their way or something is just not right. You know, it is the relative who calls you a dreamer. It is the naysayers. They want you to do what is normal. Well friend, nobody ever got successful doing what the crowd does. The crowd is average, that's why they're the crowd! To be successful you have to have that showdown with the calling of the crowd. Hear their voices screaming, "Don't do that. Be like us," and win the showdown.
Doubt:
Success usually takes a while. It rarely comes overnight. And after some time, you will begin to doubt. "Am I dreaming too big?" "Did I take a dumb risk?" "Should I quit and go back to something safe?" Rest assured, it will come. But this is when your vision must be string and you must keep going. Stick with the dream. Don't give up! Overcome your doubt and the doubts of others! To be successful you must have that showdown with doubt and win!
Yes, there will be many showdowns. The above are but a few, though they are the major ones. Maybe you are experiencing them even now. Your time has come. The old western music is playing. Your foe dressed in black grins that devilish grin. He thinks you can't do it. But have your showdown.
Win.
Then ride off into the sunset! It's time to draw pardner! Take aim and win your showdowns.
What would you do in that situation? Would you save the day and proceed to victory, or would you run and hide? Running and hiding is tempting when you see the guy all dressed in black, symbolizing your impending doom!
Isn't that what happens regularly though? Our journey to success always has these "Showdowns" that we have to go through if we are going to get there. There are always going to be "bad guys" we have to get through.
Let's take a look at a few:
Fear:
Fear is the pre-imminent "bad guy." He keeps millions of people from success. Here is a secret: There are times when I am stretching myself to achieve all that I can, when I am taking huge risks, that I wake up in the middle of the night and I am so scared I can't sleep! Fear will tell you anything to keep you from even trying! But do you know what takes care of fear? Persistence. You see, everybody has fear. The most successful people I know have fear. But they work through it rather than give up! To be successful you have to have and win that showdown with fear.
Crowd mentality:
I have become increasingly aware of this in recent years. The crowd is loud. They are tenacious in letting you know that they expect you to do things their way or something is just not right. You know, it is the relative who calls you a dreamer. It is the naysayers. They want you to do what is normal. Well friend, nobody ever got successful doing what the crowd does. The crowd is average, that's why they're the crowd! To be successful you have to have that showdown with the calling of the crowd. Hear their voices screaming, "Don't do that. Be like us," and win the showdown.
Doubt:
Success usually takes a while. It rarely comes overnight. And after some time, you will begin to doubt. "Am I dreaming too big?" "Did I take a dumb risk?" "Should I quit and go back to something safe?" Rest assured, it will come. But this is when your vision must be string and you must keep going. Stick with the dream. Don't give up! Overcome your doubt and the doubts of others! To be successful you must have that showdown with doubt and win!
Yes, there will be many showdowns. The above are but a few, though they are the major ones. Maybe you are experiencing them even now. Your time has come. The old western music is playing. Your foe dressed in black grins that devilish grin. He thinks you can't do it. But have your showdown.
Win.
Then ride off into the sunset! It's time to draw pardner! Take aim and win your showdowns.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
8 Foods to Boost Your Metabolism
Another great health article as we get the new year started! Notice the curry comment!!! Enjoy!
By Joe Wilkes
If you spend any time perusing the fashion mags and tabloid rags in the supermarket checkout line, you'll see a wide array of articles claiming to have discovered the latest "miracle food" that'll burn off the pounds while you sit on your butt and eat. Well, sadly, the news isn't quite that good. Without regular exercise, a decent night's sleep, and a thought-out meal plan, your metabolic rate is going to be dragging. However, there are some things you can eat that'll move the needle into the fat-burning zone. And all of these foods are delicious, nutritious, or both, so why not? Here are eight of the best ones.
1. Fish. Most of us have read about the benefits of fish oil, which is full of heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Found in many common oily fish like mackerel, trout, sardines, herring, tuna, and salmon, it can also be taken in capsules (at least 300 mg/day) by those who are averse to seafood. Fish consumption has been found to boost your calorie burn by as much as 400 calories a day. Fish is also full of great, low-fat, muscle-building protein (which requires your body to burn more calories to digest it). And now's a great time to get fishy, as fresh wild-caught salmon is in season.
2. Dark green leafy vegetables. These include arugula, chard, chicory, collard greens, dandelion greens, kale, mustard greens, and spinach. They are full of vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, and lots of fiber. While the vitamins are great antioxidants and very healthy for you, the fiber is where the rubber really meets the road as far as your metabolism goes. Your body expends a lot more calories digesting fiber and protein than it does simply digesting carbohydrates. This is called the thermic effect—the amount of calories required to digest food can sometimes be almost as much as the number of calories in the food itself. Dark leafies also contain many B vitamins, which are necessary to produce the enzymes for metabolism. Most other vegetables are high in fiber and low in calories and can boost your burn, but the cream of the crop, nutritionally speaking, are the dark green leafy vegetables. So listen to Popeye and eat your spinach!
3. Tomatoes. Tomatoes have gotten a lot of good press lately, as they contain high levels of the antioxidant lycopene, which has been proven to have several anti-carcinogenic properties. And like the dark green leafy vegetables, tomatoes are a good source of fiber. But tomatoes can also work overtime to flush fat, as they contain citric, malic, and oxalic acids, which support your body's kidney functions, helping your body eliminate more waste and fat from your system.
4. Blueberries and other whole fruits. Whole fruits contain lots of fiber, and many contain so much, they can be said to have "negative calories," meaning your body burns more calories digesting them than it stores. One cup of blueberries only has about 80 calories, but it has 4 whole grams of fiber. Your body will expend much of those 80 calories digesting those 4 grams of fiber. Blueberries also contain lots of antioxidants, and are believed to lower cholesterol and regulate blood pressure. Plus they taste great! Try adding them to a high-fiber unsweetened cereal or oatmeal in the morning to get your metabolism up and running at the start of your day.
5. Whole grains. Well, if you've read this far, you've probably gotten that fiber is key to keeping the metabolic fires burning. Whole grains are one of the best sources of dietary fiber. This is where careful label reading comes in. Lots of items that are purported to contain whole grains only have just enough to make the claim truthful, and may in fact be full of insulin-spiking carbohydrates or sugars, which will take your metabolism in the wrong direction. Check the ingredient list of your breads and cereals carefully and make sure the lion's share of the ingredients is whole grains.
6. Chilies, curries, and other spices. Ever eaten a particularly spicy meal and felt your heart race a bit faster and your forehead start to perspire? The capsaicin found in many hot peppers and other spices can fire up your metabolism while it fires up your mouth. In fact, some studies have shown a 50 percent increase in metabolism for 3 hours after eating capsaicin. So it helps to keep a bottle of hot sauce on hand at mealtimes. You can also use spices to add flavor to recipes instead of salty or fatty ingredients to help kick your metabolism into a higher gear.
7. Green tea. Researchers have found that green tea consumption can increase calorie-burning by up to four percent. It's believed that green tea accomplishes this by helping to increase metabolic rates, as well as fat oxidation. Studies have also shown that green tea can reduce sugar cravings and help inhibit enzymes that slow digestion, thus raising metabolic rates. Green tea's thermogenetic properties are convincing enough that Beachbody includes it in its ActiVit® Metabolism Formula. In addition to its metabolic properties, green tea is loaded with antioxidants and polyphenols, making it one of the most healthful beverage choices around.
8. Ice water. Almost every nutritionist will recommend drinking eight 8-ounce glasses of water every day, but did you know that if you drink ice water instead of room-temperature water, your body will burn an extra nine calories per glass? Drinking room-temperature water can burn about 16 calories per glass—that's 25 calories per glass for ice water. So eight glasses of cold water a day can be responsible for burning 200 calories! Besides, water is necessary for all your bodily processes, including the ones that control your metabolism. If you're underhydrated, your body will underperform. Water also flushes out fat deposits and toxins, which can hamper your energy.
Remember, a good night's sleep and smaller, more evenly spaced meals can be your best metabolic friends. And the best thing to really get your metabolism going is exercise. You can burn up to 1,000 calories an hour with Turbo Jam®. And because stress has been found to produce cortisol, a steroid that inhibits the metabolism, we recommend that you try and relax . . . and have a blueberry. Or a fish!
By Joe Wilkes
If you spend any time perusing the fashion mags and tabloid rags in the supermarket checkout line, you'll see a wide array of articles claiming to have discovered the latest "miracle food" that'll burn off the pounds while you sit on your butt and eat. Well, sadly, the news isn't quite that good. Without regular exercise, a decent night's sleep, and a thought-out meal plan, your metabolic rate is going to be dragging. However, there are some things you can eat that'll move the needle into the fat-burning zone. And all of these foods are delicious, nutritious, or both, so why not? Here are eight of the best ones.
1. Fish. Most of us have read about the benefits of fish oil, which is full of heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Found in many common oily fish like mackerel, trout, sardines, herring, tuna, and salmon, it can also be taken in capsules (at least 300 mg/day) by those who are averse to seafood. Fish consumption has been found to boost your calorie burn by as much as 400 calories a day. Fish is also full of great, low-fat, muscle-building protein (which requires your body to burn more calories to digest it). And now's a great time to get fishy, as fresh wild-caught salmon is in season.
2. Dark green leafy vegetables. These include arugula, chard, chicory, collard greens, dandelion greens, kale, mustard greens, and spinach. They are full of vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, and lots of fiber. While the vitamins are great antioxidants and very healthy for you, the fiber is where the rubber really meets the road as far as your metabolism goes. Your body expends a lot more calories digesting fiber and protein than it does simply digesting carbohydrates. This is called the thermic effect—the amount of calories required to digest food can sometimes be almost as much as the number of calories in the food itself. Dark leafies also contain many B vitamins, which are necessary to produce the enzymes for metabolism. Most other vegetables are high in fiber and low in calories and can boost your burn, but the cream of the crop, nutritionally speaking, are the dark green leafy vegetables. So listen to Popeye and eat your spinach!
3. Tomatoes. Tomatoes have gotten a lot of good press lately, as they contain high levels of the antioxidant lycopene, which has been proven to have several anti-carcinogenic properties. And like the dark green leafy vegetables, tomatoes are a good source of fiber. But tomatoes can also work overtime to flush fat, as they contain citric, malic, and oxalic acids, which support your body's kidney functions, helping your body eliminate more waste and fat from your system.
4. Blueberries and other whole fruits. Whole fruits contain lots of fiber, and many contain so much, they can be said to have "negative calories," meaning your body burns more calories digesting them than it stores. One cup of blueberries only has about 80 calories, but it has 4 whole grams of fiber. Your body will expend much of those 80 calories digesting those 4 grams of fiber. Blueberries also contain lots of antioxidants, and are believed to lower cholesterol and regulate blood pressure. Plus they taste great! Try adding them to a high-fiber unsweetened cereal or oatmeal in the morning to get your metabolism up and running at the start of your day.
5. Whole grains. Well, if you've read this far, you've probably gotten that fiber is key to keeping the metabolic fires burning. Whole grains are one of the best sources of dietary fiber. This is where careful label reading comes in. Lots of items that are purported to contain whole grains only have just enough to make the claim truthful, and may in fact be full of insulin-spiking carbohydrates or sugars, which will take your metabolism in the wrong direction. Check the ingredient list of your breads and cereals carefully and make sure the lion's share of the ingredients is whole grains.
6. Chilies, curries, and other spices. Ever eaten a particularly spicy meal and felt your heart race a bit faster and your forehead start to perspire? The capsaicin found in many hot peppers and other spices can fire up your metabolism while it fires up your mouth. In fact, some studies have shown a 50 percent increase in metabolism for 3 hours after eating capsaicin. So it helps to keep a bottle of hot sauce on hand at mealtimes. You can also use spices to add flavor to recipes instead of salty or fatty ingredients to help kick your metabolism into a higher gear.
7. Green tea. Researchers have found that green tea consumption can increase calorie-burning by up to four percent. It's believed that green tea accomplishes this by helping to increase metabolic rates, as well as fat oxidation. Studies have also shown that green tea can reduce sugar cravings and help inhibit enzymes that slow digestion, thus raising metabolic rates. Green tea's thermogenetic properties are convincing enough that Beachbody includes it in its ActiVit® Metabolism Formula. In addition to its metabolic properties, green tea is loaded with antioxidants and polyphenols, making it one of the most healthful beverage choices around.
8. Ice water. Almost every nutritionist will recommend drinking eight 8-ounce glasses of water every day, but did you know that if you drink ice water instead of room-temperature water, your body will burn an extra nine calories per glass? Drinking room-temperature water can burn about 16 calories per glass—that's 25 calories per glass for ice water. So eight glasses of cold water a day can be responsible for burning 200 calories! Besides, water is necessary for all your bodily processes, including the ones that control your metabolism. If you're underhydrated, your body will underperform. Water also flushes out fat deposits and toxins, which can hamper your energy.
Remember, a good night's sleep and smaller, more evenly spaced meals can be your best metabolic friends. And the best thing to really get your metabolism going is exercise. You can burn up to 1,000 calories an hour with Turbo Jam®. And because stress has been found to produce cortisol, a steroid that inhibits the metabolism, we recommend that you try and relax . . . and have a blueberry. Or a fish!
20 Secrets of Very Fit People
Great article! Enjoy!!
By Chalene Johnson, creator of Turbo Jam®
Here are a few helpful, healthy "TurboFired" tips. Read them, then print and post them so you have them as a daily reminder.
1. Keep a water bottle with you at all times and drink from it often. Water is the drink of choice, but if you don't enjoy plain water, than liven it up! Try adding a squeeze of fresh lemon or lime juice to your water bottle. You can also drink Propel Fit Water®, VitaminWater®, or some other form of healthy enhanced beverage with zero or very few calories, but remember: pure water is best.
2. Look at exercise as a pleasure and privilege, not a burden or chore. Think positively about the changes regular exercise will bring about in your body and your life. Rather than obsessing about your next meal, get excited about your next workout!
3. Eat well-balanced meals and remember that excessive calories, even if they are fat free and high protein, will turn to excess weight. No matter what the latest fad diet is, extra calories always equal extra weight!
4. Limit your caffeine intake and your exposure to smoke—even secondhand smoke.
5. Focus on short-term fitness goals with an emphasis on completing daily exercise.
6. Keep a daily log of what you're actually eating. This includes grabbing a handful of chips here, the crust of your kid's sandwich there, and ALL your snacking.
7. Enjoy an occasional (once a week) "unhealthy" treat, but never an "unhealthy" week or "unhealthy" vacation.
8. Enjoy contributing to the health of others by having a partner or friends to exercise with, as well as recruiting others who have the desire to feel better and have more energy. Have a neighbor who walks every morning? Ask if you can join in!
9. Avoid monotony by introducing new forms of exercise to your routine—in addition to your regular workout, try biking, hiking, swimming, or rollerblading to keep you motivated and inspired.
10. Subscribe to fitness magazines to keep focused on health as an overall way of life.
11. Invest in the right tools—new workout shoes, a portable MP3 player or iPod with great music, the right fitness equipment, a new series of exercise videos, etc.
12. Make it your goal to do some form of exercise 6 or 7 days a week. If some days you exercise once in the morning and once in the evening, even better! If you're eating right, exercise will fuel your energy level!
13. Don't compare your body to other people's. Instead, work to be your personal best.
14. If your diet is unbalanced, work to balance it, and make sure you take daily vitamin and mineral supplements for total health.
15. Work to take your exercise to new levels of intensity.
16. Create an exercise schedule the day before, instead of leaving it to chance or waiting to "find" the time. Everyone from busy heads of corporations to mothers who work full-time to the President of the United States can make time to work out every day—you can make time too!
17. Move beyond the boundaries of weight loss and into total fitness. Measure success by the way your clothes fit and not some number on a scale.
18. Stick with eating plans you can maintain indefinitely. Remember that no matter how hard you're working out, if you're consuming too many calories, you'll never see the muscles that lie beneath the layers of fatty tissue.
19. Get adequate amounts of sleep, but remember that people who exercise regularly fall asleep faster and sleep more soundly.
20. Limit alcohol intake to special occasions.
By Chalene Johnson, creator of Turbo Jam®
Here are a few helpful, healthy "TurboFired" tips. Read them, then print and post them so you have them as a daily reminder.
1. Keep a water bottle with you at all times and drink from it often. Water is the drink of choice, but if you don't enjoy plain water, than liven it up! Try adding a squeeze of fresh lemon or lime juice to your water bottle. You can also drink Propel Fit Water®, VitaminWater®, or some other form of healthy enhanced beverage with zero or very few calories, but remember: pure water is best.
2. Look at exercise as a pleasure and privilege, not a burden or chore. Think positively about the changes regular exercise will bring about in your body and your life. Rather than obsessing about your next meal, get excited about your next workout!
3. Eat well-balanced meals and remember that excessive calories, even if they are fat free and high protein, will turn to excess weight. No matter what the latest fad diet is, extra calories always equal extra weight!
4. Limit your caffeine intake and your exposure to smoke—even secondhand smoke.
5. Focus on short-term fitness goals with an emphasis on completing daily exercise.
6. Keep a daily log of what you're actually eating. This includes grabbing a handful of chips here, the crust of your kid's sandwich there, and ALL your snacking.
7. Enjoy an occasional (once a week) "unhealthy" treat, but never an "unhealthy" week or "unhealthy" vacation.
8. Enjoy contributing to the health of others by having a partner or friends to exercise with, as well as recruiting others who have the desire to feel better and have more energy. Have a neighbor who walks every morning? Ask if you can join in!
9. Avoid monotony by introducing new forms of exercise to your routine—in addition to your regular workout, try biking, hiking, swimming, or rollerblading to keep you motivated and inspired.
10. Subscribe to fitness magazines to keep focused on health as an overall way of life.
11. Invest in the right tools—new workout shoes, a portable MP3 player or iPod with great music, the right fitness equipment, a new series of exercise videos, etc.
12. Make it your goal to do some form of exercise 6 or 7 days a week. If some days you exercise once in the morning and once in the evening, even better! If you're eating right, exercise will fuel your energy level!
13. Don't compare your body to other people's. Instead, work to be your personal best.
14. If your diet is unbalanced, work to balance it, and make sure you take daily vitamin and mineral supplements for total health.
15. Work to take your exercise to new levels of intensity.
16. Create an exercise schedule the day before, instead of leaving it to chance or waiting to "find" the time. Everyone from busy heads of corporations to mothers who work full-time to the President of the United States can make time to work out every day—you can make time too!
17. Move beyond the boundaries of weight loss and into total fitness. Measure success by the way your clothes fit and not some number on a scale.
18. Stick with eating plans you can maintain indefinitely. Remember that no matter how hard you're working out, if you're consuming too many calories, you'll never see the muscles that lie beneath the layers of fatty tissue.
19. Get adequate amounts of sleep, but remember that people who exercise regularly fall asleep faster and sleep more soundly.
20. Limit alcohol intake to special occasions.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Want a Great Team? 5 Questions to Ask Yourself
Great article by William C. Taylor. Enjoy!!
Last week, in the spirit of a season in which most of us look at the end of one year, and the start of a New Year, as an opportunity to reflect on our jobs, I offered a set of questions to help you figure out whether it was time to move to a new company or even a new career. This week, in that same spirit, I’d like to address myself to leaders at every level of the organization who want to keep their best people and get the best effort out of them.
Here, then, are five make-or-break questions for leaders who want to make a fresh start for the New Year.
1. Why should great people want to work with you? The best leaders understand that the most talented performers aren’t motivated primarily by money or status. Great people want to work on exciting projects. Great people want to feel like impact players. Put simply, great people want to feel like they’re part of something greater than themselves. It’s the leader’s job to keep everyone energized and determined in a business environment that remains lackluster and uncertain.
2. Do you know a great person when you see one? It’s a lot easier to be the right kind of leader if you’re running a team or department filled with the right kind of people. Indeed, as I reflect on the best workplaces I’ve visited, I’ve come to appreciate how much time and energy leaders spend on who gets to be there. These workplaces may feel different, but the organizing principle is the same: When it comes to evaluating talent, character counts for as much as credentials. Do you know what makes your star performers tick–and how to find more performers who share those attributes?
3. Can you find great people who aren’t looking for you? It’s a common-sense insight that’s commonly forgotten: The most talented performers tend to be in jobs they like, working with people they enjoy, on projects that keep them challenged. The trick is to win over these so-called “passive” job seekers. These people may be outside your company, or they may be in a different department from inside your company, but they won’t work for you unless you work hard to persuade them to join.
4. Are you great at teaching great people how your team or company works and wins? Even the most highly focused specialists (software programmers, graphic designers, marketing wizards) are at their best when they appreciate how the whole organization operates. That’s partly a matter of sharing financial statements: Can every person learn how to think like a businessperson? But it’s mainly a matter of shared understanding: Can smart people work on making everyone else in the organization smarter about the business?
5. Are you as tough on yourself as you are on your people? There’s no question that talented and ambitious people have high expectations–for themselves, for their team or company, for their colleagues. Which is why they can be so tough on their leaders. The ultimate test for people in positions of authority is to demonstrate the same values, attitudes, and mindsets they want to see from the people who report to them.
In other words, as we approach a New Year filled with new worries, problems, and difficulties, the biggest question is the one it’s always been: Are you the kind of leader you’d want to work for?
Last week, in the spirit of a season in which most of us look at the end of one year, and the start of a New Year, as an opportunity to reflect on our jobs, I offered a set of questions to help you figure out whether it was time to move to a new company or even a new career. This week, in that same spirit, I’d like to address myself to leaders at every level of the organization who want to keep their best people and get the best effort out of them.
Here, then, are five make-or-break questions for leaders who want to make a fresh start for the New Year.
1. Why should great people want to work with you? The best leaders understand that the most talented performers aren’t motivated primarily by money or status. Great people want to work on exciting projects. Great people want to feel like impact players. Put simply, great people want to feel like they’re part of something greater than themselves. It’s the leader’s job to keep everyone energized and determined in a business environment that remains lackluster and uncertain.
2. Do you know a great person when you see one? It’s a lot easier to be the right kind of leader if you’re running a team or department filled with the right kind of people. Indeed, as I reflect on the best workplaces I’ve visited, I’ve come to appreciate how much time and energy leaders spend on who gets to be there. These workplaces may feel different, but the organizing principle is the same: When it comes to evaluating talent, character counts for as much as credentials. Do you know what makes your star performers tick–and how to find more performers who share those attributes?
3. Can you find great people who aren’t looking for you? It’s a common-sense insight that’s commonly forgotten: The most talented performers tend to be in jobs they like, working with people they enjoy, on projects that keep them challenged. The trick is to win over these so-called “passive” job seekers. These people may be outside your company, or they may be in a different department from inside your company, but they won’t work for you unless you work hard to persuade them to join.
4. Are you great at teaching great people how your team or company works and wins? Even the most highly focused specialists (software programmers, graphic designers, marketing wizards) are at their best when they appreciate how the whole organization operates. That’s partly a matter of sharing financial statements: Can every person learn how to think like a businessperson? But it’s mainly a matter of shared understanding: Can smart people work on making everyone else in the organization smarter about the business?
5. Are you as tough on yourself as you are on your people? There’s no question that talented and ambitious people have high expectations–for themselves, for their team or company, for their colleagues. Which is why they can be so tough on their leaders. The ultimate test for people in positions of authority is to demonstrate the same values, attitudes, and mindsets they want to see from the people who report to them.
In other words, as we approach a New Year filled with new worries, problems, and difficulties, the biggest question is the one it’s always been: Are you the kind of leader you’d want to work for?
Monday, December 20, 2010
The Two Choices We Face
Nice article by Jim Rohn. Enjoy!!
Each of us has two distinct choices to make about what we will do with our lives.
The first choice we can make is to be less than we have the capacity to be. To earn less. To have less. To read less and think less. To try less and discipline ourselves less. These are the choices that lead to an empty life. These are the choices that, once made, lead to a life of constant apprehension instead of a life of wondrous anticipation.
And the second choice? To do it all! To become all that we can possibly be. To read every book that we possibly can. To earn as much as we possibly can. To give and share as much as we possibly can. To strive and produce and accomplish as much as we possibly can. All of us have the choice.
To do or not to do. To be or not to be. To be all or to be less or to be nothing
at all.
Like the tree, it would be a worthy challenge for us all to stretch upward and outward
to the full measure of our capabilities. Why not do all that we can, every moment
that we can, the best that we can, for as long as we can?
Our ultimate life objective should be to create as much as our talent and ability
and desire will permit. To settle for doing less than we could do is to fail in
this worthiest of undertakings.
Results are the best measurement of human progress. Not conversation. Not explanation. Not justification. Results! And if our results are less than our potential suggests that they should be, then we must strive to become more today than we were the day before. The greatest rewards are always reserved for those who bring great value to themselves and the world around them as a result of who and what they have become.
Each of us has two distinct choices to make about what we will do with our lives.
The first choice we can make is to be less than we have the capacity to be. To earn less. To have less. To read less and think less. To try less and discipline ourselves less. These are the choices that lead to an empty life. These are the choices that, once made, lead to a life of constant apprehension instead of a life of wondrous anticipation.
And the second choice? To do it all! To become all that we can possibly be. To read every book that we possibly can. To earn as much as we possibly can. To give and share as much as we possibly can. To strive and produce and accomplish as much as we possibly can. All of us have the choice.
To do or not to do. To be or not to be. To be all or to be less or to be nothing
at all.
Like the tree, it would be a worthy challenge for us all to stretch upward and outward
to the full measure of our capabilities. Why not do all that we can, every moment
that we can, the best that we can, for as long as we can?
Our ultimate life objective should be to create as much as our talent and ability
and desire will permit. To settle for doing less than we could do is to fail in
this worthiest of undertakings.
Results are the best measurement of human progress. Not conversation. Not explanation. Not justification. Results! And if our results are less than our potential suggests that they should be, then we must strive to become more today than we were the day before. The greatest rewards are always reserved for those who bring great value to themselves and the world around them as a result of who and what they have become.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
10 HARD Ways to Make Your Life Better
Not sure of the author but a great piece. How many of the 10 things listed have you done? Enjoy!!
Some of the most worthwhile things in life aren’t easy. One of the things I dislike most about “power of positive thinking”-style personal development philosophies (such as “The Secret”) is the implication that if you just have the right attitude and the right state of mind, the rest will just fall into place. I think it causes a lot of hurt and disappointment in people who invest their time, effort, and of course, money into these systems and find themselves, one or two or five years down the line, exactly where they were before.
“You must not have wanted it badly enough,” the authors of these philosophies seem to be saying. “There must still be something wrong with you.”
I don’t think that, ultimately, God or the Spirits or the Universe or the world “provides”. I think a lot of times the world puts obstacles in our way, and no amount of positive thinking makes them go away. And I think that a lot of the people who are “successful”, by whatever standard you want to use, have as much “wrong” with them as a lot of the ones who aren’t successful. Maybe more.
In any case, wherever the motivation comes from, the things that really make our lives worth living can be quite difficult. (And who knows, maybe thinking positively helps take some of the edge off of doing the hard stuff?) What’s more, they can take a lot of time to do, and even more time to get right. But I think that doing is the important thing, not the result — throwing yourself into something with all your heart, mind, and soul is the success, not the “growing rich” part.
Here, then, are ten things that are really hard to do but which have an incredible power to make your life better.
1. Start a business
My dad, who has been self-employed almost all his life, used to tell me that “Only jerks work for jerks.” Working for someone else puts you at their mercy and subjects you to their whims — and often their poor management skills. Not only that, but the profit of your labor goes into their pockets.
Starting a business puts you in control of your work life, and your money. It’s hard — small businesses fail every day. But the rewards of even a failed venture can far outweigh the risk. Just knowing that your failure was the result of your own choices — instead of a decision made at a corporate office a thousand miles away — can be liberating.
2. Organize a group
What makes you passionate? Chances are, being around other people who are passionate about the same thing would make you even more passionate about it. Often the only thing keeping you and them from coming together is that nobody’s put out a sign saying “Come and talk!” Getting a group going is a tremendous challenge, and very often the personality of the founder leaves a tremendous mark on the group as a whole. Seeing a group grow and take off can be tremendously awarding — but even failing can teach you important things about leadership.
3. Volunteer
I don’t mean spend Thanksgiving at a soup kitchen, though that can often be challenging enough. What I mean, though, is to make a long-term investment in your community by joining school committees, donating three hours a week in a shelter, hosting a monthly read-along at the library, tutoring at-risk children after school, teaching adult literacy classes at a local prison, or any of a million ways to play a role in the lives of people who need you. Perhaps the most pressing need in our society is for people to take an interest in and engage with their communities.
4. Take an active role in your children’s’ activities
Pick one thing your child does and commit yourself to it. Coach their team, become a Brownie leader, spend a weekend day in the workshop with them, buy a bike and ride along with them — make their passions your own. Don’t crowd them — especially if you have teenagers — but show them that you value something they do by giving them your time and interest.
5. Start a family
I don’t mean have kids. That can be all too easy! Make the decision to have a family, which means to give of yourself fully to another person or several people. Risk being vulnerable by sharing your fears, quirks, and failures with someone else; you might find it makes you stronger than ever before.
This transcends marriage and parenthood. There are lots of people who can’t marry because the law prevents it. There are people who can’t have children. These are not the essential ingredients of family. The essential ingredients are love, mutual respect, trust, and open giving. Find (or make) someone you can share that with.
6. Write a book
It feels really, really good to see your name on a book cover, but it feels even better to know that someone, somewhere, might find his or her life changed by something you’ve written. Share your particular expertise, whether it’s story-telling or woodworking, with the world — or just your family. Time isn’t the big issue (though it is an issue — don’t let the positive thinkists tell you otherwise!) but if you commit yourself to a page a day — a couple hundred words — within a year you’ll have a pretty decent-sized manuscript. That’s something to work with!
7. Learn an art
Take painting lessons, a pottery workshop, a music class, whatever — learn to express yourself and you might find a self worth expressing. Don’t settle for being a “Sunday painter” — devote yourself to an art and master it.
8. Run for office
The world needs smart, dedicated, and upright people to take care of all the fiddly details of making things run. As it happens, running for local office isn’t as challenging as you’d think (which isn’t to say it’s easy) — Michael Moore, the filmmaker, ran for school board while he was still in high school. Just for kicks. And won! It’s fine to have your heart set on the White House or Capital Hill, but try your hand at city councilperson, county registrar, or something closer to home first. And be clean — run for the experience of putting your community on a better path, and not for the power.
9. Take up a sport
Enough with the working out already! Sure, you want to be healthy, but the whole treadmill-running, iPod-listening, 45-minutes-after-work thing is a little anti-social, don’t you think? OK, you want some solitude once in a while — fine. But at least add a sport, something you do with other people. You’ll be spending time interacting with others, while also developing team-building and leadership skills. And, you might learn something from your fellow players.
10. Set an outrageous goal — and achieve it!
The nine tips above are only a handful of ideas about how to make your life better. Maybe you want to record an album, climb a mountain, make the Hajj (the pilgrimage to Mecca), see 20 countries — don’t just settle for tiny goals, push yourself all the way to the edge and figure out how to make the craziest thing you can think of happen. Yes, you’ll have to learn a lot along the way, and plan months or even years in advance — that’s what makes outlandish goals worthwhile.
I don’t want to suggest that you need to do all these things to be happy — doing just one is quite a handful! But if you’re unhappy with your life, if you want to make a change for the better, you need to think big and you need to be ready to put in the work to make it happen. It’s easy to “visualize success” and to “think positively”; it’s not so easy to throw yourself into the unknown and make it work. But if you can make it work, you’ll gain far more than you can imagine.
Some of the most worthwhile things in life aren’t easy. One of the things I dislike most about “power of positive thinking”-style personal development philosophies (such as “The Secret”) is the implication that if you just have the right attitude and the right state of mind, the rest will just fall into place. I think it causes a lot of hurt and disappointment in people who invest their time, effort, and of course, money into these systems and find themselves, one or two or five years down the line, exactly where they were before.
“You must not have wanted it badly enough,” the authors of these philosophies seem to be saying. “There must still be something wrong with you.”
I don’t think that, ultimately, God or the Spirits or the Universe or the world “provides”. I think a lot of times the world puts obstacles in our way, and no amount of positive thinking makes them go away. And I think that a lot of the people who are “successful”, by whatever standard you want to use, have as much “wrong” with them as a lot of the ones who aren’t successful. Maybe more.
In any case, wherever the motivation comes from, the things that really make our lives worth living can be quite difficult. (And who knows, maybe thinking positively helps take some of the edge off of doing the hard stuff?) What’s more, they can take a lot of time to do, and even more time to get right. But I think that doing is the important thing, not the result — throwing yourself into something with all your heart, mind, and soul is the success, not the “growing rich” part.
Here, then, are ten things that are really hard to do but which have an incredible power to make your life better.
1. Start a business
My dad, who has been self-employed almost all his life, used to tell me that “Only jerks work for jerks.” Working for someone else puts you at their mercy and subjects you to their whims — and often their poor management skills. Not only that, but the profit of your labor goes into their pockets.
Starting a business puts you in control of your work life, and your money. It’s hard — small businesses fail every day. But the rewards of even a failed venture can far outweigh the risk. Just knowing that your failure was the result of your own choices — instead of a decision made at a corporate office a thousand miles away — can be liberating.
2. Organize a group
What makes you passionate? Chances are, being around other people who are passionate about the same thing would make you even more passionate about it. Often the only thing keeping you and them from coming together is that nobody’s put out a sign saying “Come and talk!” Getting a group going is a tremendous challenge, and very often the personality of the founder leaves a tremendous mark on the group as a whole. Seeing a group grow and take off can be tremendously awarding — but even failing can teach you important things about leadership.
3. Volunteer
I don’t mean spend Thanksgiving at a soup kitchen, though that can often be challenging enough. What I mean, though, is to make a long-term investment in your community by joining school committees, donating three hours a week in a shelter, hosting a monthly read-along at the library, tutoring at-risk children after school, teaching adult literacy classes at a local prison, or any of a million ways to play a role in the lives of people who need you. Perhaps the most pressing need in our society is for people to take an interest in and engage with their communities.
4. Take an active role in your children’s’ activities
Pick one thing your child does and commit yourself to it. Coach their team, become a Brownie leader, spend a weekend day in the workshop with them, buy a bike and ride along with them — make their passions your own. Don’t crowd them — especially if you have teenagers — but show them that you value something they do by giving them your time and interest.
5. Start a family
I don’t mean have kids. That can be all too easy! Make the decision to have a family, which means to give of yourself fully to another person or several people. Risk being vulnerable by sharing your fears, quirks, and failures with someone else; you might find it makes you stronger than ever before.
This transcends marriage and parenthood. There are lots of people who can’t marry because the law prevents it. There are people who can’t have children. These are not the essential ingredients of family. The essential ingredients are love, mutual respect, trust, and open giving. Find (or make) someone you can share that with.
6. Write a book
It feels really, really good to see your name on a book cover, but it feels even better to know that someone, somewhere, might find his or her life changed by something you’ve written. Share your particular expertise, whether it’s story-telling or woodworking, with the world — or just your family. Time isn’t the big issue (though it is an issue — don’t let the positive thinkists tell you otherwise!) but if you commit yourself to a page a day — a couple hundred words — within a year you’ll have a pretty decent-sized manuscript. That’s something to work with!
7. Learn an art
Take painting lessons, a pottery workshop, a music class, whatever — learn to express yourself and you might find a self worth expressing. Don’t settle for being a “Sunday painter” — devote yourself to an art and master it.
8. Run for office
The world needs smart, dedicated, and upright people to take care of all the fiddly details of making things run. As it happens, running for local office isn’t as challenging as you’d think (which isn’t to say it’s easy) — Michael Moore, the filmmaker, ran for school board while he was still in high school. Just for kicks. And won! It’s fine to have your heart set on the White House or Capital Hill, but try your hand at city councilperson, county registrar, or something closer to home first. And be clean — run for the experience of putting your community on a better path, and not for the power.
9. Take up a sport
Enough with the working out already! Sure, you want to be healthy, but the whole treadmill-running, iPod-listening, 45-minutes-after-work thing is a little anti-social, don’t you think? OK, you want some solitude once in a while — fine. But at least add a sport, something you do with other people. You’ll be spending time interacting with others, while also developing team-building and leadership skills. And, you might learn something from your fellow players.
10. Set an outrageous goal — and achieve it!
The nine tips above are only a handful of ideas about how to make your life better. Maybe you want to record an album, climb a mountain, make the Hajj (the pilgrimage to Mecca), see 20 countries — don’t just settle for tiny goals, push yourself all the way to the edge and figure out how to make the craziest thing you can think of happen. Yes, you’ll have to learn a lot along the way, and plan months or even years in advance — that’s what makes outlandish goals worthwhile.
I don’t want to suggest that you need to do all these things to be happy — doing just one is quite a handful! But if you’re unhappy with your life, if you want to make a change for the better, you need to think big and you need to be ready to put in the work to make it happen. It’s easy to “visualize success” and to “think positively”; it’s not so easy to throw yourself into the unknown and make it work. But if you can make it work, you’ll gain far more than you can imagine.
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