11 Powerful Ways to Expand Your Life This Year
>> Friday, July 17, 2009
1. Define your future. Describe the life you'd like to live. The future you see defines the person you'll need to be. Identify the traits and qualities you'd like to acquire. Think bigger than yourself. An acorn that only thinks as an acorn will never become a mighty oak. Stretch yourself. You are undoubtedly capable of more than you ever dreamed is possible for you. 2. Become the person who would achieve your goals. As you develop the skills, knowledge, relationships and demeanor of the 'future you,' your goals will be the natural byproduct of your growth. Spend an extra hour each day in the study of your chosen field. 3. Give more than you must. Nothing advances until somebody does more than they are paid to do. Always deliver more value than others expect. Don't require others to acknowledge your generosity. Give with 'class.' 4. Make time for what you love. If you don't live fully, you deny the world your potential contributions. Your 'play' sometimes contributes as much as your 'work.' What you love reveals the value you bring to the world. 5. Refine your Inner Circle. We define ourselves through our key relationships. Explore the mix and depth of those with whom you spend most of your time. Release those who limit you and connect with those who can help you live more fully. 6. Resolve your unfinished business. Either deal with it or discard it. Say your apologies, face your fears, pay your debts, express your gratitude and get on with living. Don't let yesterday drain value from today and tomorrow. Break out of the limited world of your past and start to grow. 7. Rethink existing habits and routines. Describe your typical day and then reconsider every aspect of it. Change or expand the places you go, people you see, things you do, and the time you devote to each. Try new things. Learn a new language, go someplace different, do some things you'd typically pass by. Find out what your possibilities really are. 8. Lighten up. Stop stressing over things that only matter to you emotionally. When life isn't fair to you, get over it quickly. Take your misfortunes as 'course corrections' rather than 'catastrophes.' Let go so you can grow. 9. Tighten up. Sloppiness in life allows more variables to creep in and spoil your plans. Stay on target, increase your self-discipline, master the art of self-motivation. Sometimes details matter a lot. 10. Profile yourself. Keep a journal of your goals, concerns, fears, and dreams. Review it at least once a year. Look for patterns that reveal your core values, natural velocity, natural intelligences and recurring situations. Realize how life ebbs and flows for you. Notice the natural cycles of life. Know yourself. 11. Invest in yourself. Set aside a portion of each year's income to acquire new tools and teachers to increase your potential. Refine your systems, get expert coaching, attend special conferences, cultivate a study group, appoint a board of advisors. You are your only true asset. Send part of today ahead to the person you'll be in the future. Article Source: http://www.salesopedia.com/index.php/lifestyle-articles1-10715/133-lifestyle/541-11-powerful-ways-to-expand-your-life-this-year
Overcoming Clutter In Your Personal Environment
Long after the zenith of Greek society, the world continued to admire Greek contributions to literature, the arts, philosophy, and science. To emulate the Greeks was considered to be in good taste. To this day, the Golden age of Greece is revered as one of the most splendid eras in human history. As with much of history, a great deal is lost or altered over the ages. In the Greek city-state of Sparta, for example, during its heyday in the 5th century B.C., the typical Greek citizen was served by 20 slaves. They rendered their masters all kinds of breathing space which allowed their masters time to devote to whatever they wanted. Mercifully, no one today has dominion over others. If you are a head of state, an executive, or the parent of three cooperative teenagers, you certainly can delegate much of what you face in order to gain more breathing space for yourself. If you're like most people, more often than not you have to rely on yourself to get things done -- and that's fine, because you can handle it. You don't have to allow junk mail and too much information to jam your intake valves. The lack of clear priorities and goals, or negative choices need not impede you. You are in control of what enters your environment. The Danger of Accommodation In the world to come, it's conceivable that all people of all nations will live in free and democratic societies. Thereafter, a valid measure of freedom will be the freedom to address the problems confronting our planet and development as a species. We can't get to this higher agenda if great masses of our population continue daily to rake through the morass of the over-information era. Professor John Kenneth Galbraith studied poverty stricken societies on four different continents over several years. In his book, The Nature of Mass Poverty, he concluded that the reason why some societies remain poor century after century is that they accommodate poverty. As difficult as it is for people to live in abject poverty, Galbraith found that they are not willing to accept the difficulty of making a better life for themselves. Our society appears poised to accommodate clutter on all levels, as if this is the way it's always been and the way it must be. Individually and in unison, our ticket to more breathing space is to refuse to accommodate the overglut. The Larger Environment Individually and collectively, the primary issue before us is attaining a clutter-free society. The larger issues of environmental clutter and the long-term vitality of the earth are directly related. After all, if we can’t manage our desks, or the spaces in our homes, how can we pretend to be any more competent in managing the larger environment? I don't want to be part of a decaying society of individuals who can't manage their own spaces or the spaces that belong to everyone. I don't want to live in a society or a world of time-pressed people who have nothing left to give future generations. My guess is that you don't either. I choose to live in a society made up of people leading balanced lives with rewarding careers, happy home lives, and enough space to enjoy themselves. For years to come, the pace of life for much of the world will speed up even more. The future will belong to those nations populated by individuals who steadfastly choose to maintain control of their lives, effectively draw upon their resourcefulness and imagination, and teach others around them to do the same. Individually and collectively, we need to preserve and expand upon our sense of breathing space, so that we have the energy, creativity, and resolve to meet the challenges that we face, and the greater ones forthcoming. In the words of Edwin Hale: "I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. Just because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do that which I can do." We need to attain breathing space for ourselves and then to teach others. For the good of all, we need to share new perspectives freely. We owe it to ourselves and to those who come after us. Article Source: http://www.salesopedia.com/index.php/lifestyle-articles1-10715/133-lifestyle/937-overcoming-clutter-in-your-personal-environment
Make Healthy Eating and Exercise Part of Your Daily Routine
>> Thursday, July 16, 2009
Carbohydrates are good. Carbohydrates are bad. You should eat more protein. You should eat less protein. The less fat you have in your diet, the better. Your body needs a certain amount of fat to function properly. You need to exercise for 30 minutes a day; now the experts recommend 60 minutes. What will it be next? It seems like the guidelines for a healthy diet and lifestyle change daily. It can be hard to keep up with the latest theories and even harder to know who to believe in light of conflicting advice. One nutrition fact you can always be sure of is that fruits and vegetables are a tasty and healthy part of any diet. They are a great way to reduce your risk of cancer, high cholesterol, heart disease, stroke and other illnesses. A Web site created by the Produce Marketing Association and the Produce for Better Health Foundation can help you learn more about fresh fruits and vegetables -- from selecting them at the store to storing them at home. Located at www.aboutproduce.com, the site also provides you with free healthy recipes and ideas for fitting produce and exercise into your daily routine, such as: * Add a serving of fruit with breakfast to start your day off in a healthy way. * Park your car further away from the grocery store or the mall and walk. Get off the bus a few stops early and walk the rest of the way to work. * Choose 100% fruit and vegetable juice for a refreshing break after your next workout. Eating 5 A Day helps replenish vitamins and nutrients the body uses throughout the day. * Take the stairs at the office -- instead of the elevator or escalator. * Put some produce into your lunch with either a salad, some fruit, or 100% juice. * All exercise counts, even if you don't do it all at once. Break up your workout and make it easier to fit exercise into your schedule by taking three shorter walks each day instead of one long one. * During the day, select fruits and vegetables for snacks full of vitamins, nutrients, and good taste. Consider that a recently released study by the Institute of Medicine established new ranges for daily intake of fat, carbohydrates, protein, and daily exercise limits. It also made the important distinction between natural sugars (found in fruit) and added sugars (incorporated into foods during production). The next time you're hungry after a workout, reach for an apple or banana instead of a candy bar. Fruits and vegetables provide a tasty, low-fat, low-sodium snack and are high in vitamins, nutrients, minerals, and fiber. They're also quick and easy to prepare and eat on the road or at home. So the next time you're in a quandary about healthy food choices, just remember: You can't go wrong with fruits and vegetables.
Top 5 lifestyle changes to reduce cholesterol
Carrying some extra pounds — even just a few — contributes to high cholesterol. So losing as little as 5 to 10 pounds (2.3 to 4.6 kilograms) can help reduce cholesterol levels. Start by taking an honest look at your eating habits and daily routine. Consider your challenges to weight loss — and ways to overcome them. If you eat when you're bored or frustrated, take a walk instead. If you pick up fast food for lunch every day, pack something healthier from home. If you're sitting in front of the television, try munching on carrot sticks instead of potato chips as you watch. And, look for ways to incorporate more activity into your daily routine, such as taking the stairs instead of the elevator. Remember that adding physical activity, even in 10-minute intervals several times a day, can help you begin to lose weight. Just be sure that you can keep up the changes you decide to make. Take stock of what you currently eat and your physical activity level, and slowly work changes in. 2. Eat heart-healthy foods Even if you have years of unhealthy eating under your belt, making a few changes in your diet can reduce cholesterol and improve your heart health. 3. Get some daily exercise Whether you're overweight or not, exercise can reduce cholesterol. Better yet, moderate physical activity can help raise high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, the "good" cholesterol. With your doctor's OK, work up to 30 to 60 minutes of exercise a day. Take a brisk daily walk during your lunch hour. Ride your bike to work. Swim laps. Play a favorite sport. To maintain your motivation, find an exercise buddy or join an exercise group. And remember, any activity is helpful. Even taking the stairs instead of the elevator or doing a few sit-ups while watching television can make a difference. 4. Quit smoking If you smoke, stop. Quitting can improve your HDL cholesterol level. And the benefits don't end there. Just 20 minutes after quitting, your blood pressure decreases. Within 24 hours, your risk of a heart attack decreases. Within one year, your risk of heart disease is half that of a smoker. Within 15 years, your risk of heart disease is similar to someone who never smoked. 5. Drink alcohol only in moderation Moderate use of alcohol has been linked with higher levels of HDL cholesterol — but the benefits aren't strong enough to recommend alcohol for anyone who doesn't already drink. If you choose to drink, do so in moderation. This means no more than one drink a day for women, and one to two drinks a day for men. Drinking too much alcohol can lead to serious health problems, including high blood pressure, heart failure and stroke. If lifestyle changes aren't enough ... Sometimes healthy lifestyle changes aren't enough to lower cholesterol levels. Make sure the changes you choose to make are ones that you can continue, and don't be disappointed if you don't see results immediately. If your doctor recommends medication to help lower your cholesterol, take it as prescribed. But remember the significance of the healthy lifestyle choices you've made.You might not need medications to reduce cholesterol. Discover five lifestyle changes to help.