Posts Tagged ‘personal’
Web Hosting For Online Businesses
In today’s competitive world reliable web hosting is very critical especially for the success of online businesses. You need to seek a web hosting company that can provide you with these critical components and much more such as FatCow Review.
Deciding upon a web hosting type can be quite difficult, especially when you are not familiar with the various web hosting types. The following information can help you become familiar with the three main types of web hosting: shared, VPS and dedicated hosting.
Most people start their internet endeavors with a shared web hosting plan before moving onto more comprehensive solutions when upgrading. If you’re looking for an inexpensive way to host your web sites, then you may want to consider shared web hosting for your personal web sites. With shared web hosting, you’ll have access to a plethora of unlimited features that can be shared amongst as many of your web sites as you’d like. There are many VPS hosting types available, with each hosting provider offering half a dozen or more VPS hosting plans. Dedicated hosting gives you complete control over the software configuration of your web server, which means you can choose to use any control panel or server side application you’d like.
The Great American Dream Challenge
Pull Quote: “the secret to living a “dream come true” life is to believe in your dream simply because it matters to you.”
Making Your Dreams Come True
Years ago, people came to America in pursuit of their dreams-work hard, stay focused and you can achieve the American Dream. For many who have attained the basic American Dream?basic freedom, own a home, own a car, have a family, finding a dream that takes us to the next level of achievement can become a fragmented experience. We want this. We want that. We want everything. And ever since September 11th, we want to feel safer and more connected to family, friends and community.
There’s never been a more important time to set forth to achieve your dreams. Without dreams and vision, companies and countries fail, and without our personal dreams, hopes and aspirations, life can become meaningless. For this reason, I propose “The Great Dream Challenge” and I encourage you to take advantage of this support system to achieve your dreams.
The Challenge
If we define a dream as something that you want, that has heart and meaning for you and that you believe in, than what are your dreams? Even if you tend to be overly realistic, you still have dreams or things that you want for yourself and others.
Whether you have a dream or are in need of a new one, whether your dream is for yourself, your community or the world, this is your chance to act, to get help in making it happen and to support others in doing the same. The Challenge here is simple, yet powerful. Pick a dream, at least one, small or large, personal or professional that matters to you and make the commitment to achieve it (or a portion of it) by a certain date.
Here’s how The Dream Challenge works:
- Identify a dream that you are passionate about-something that matters to you.
- Put it in writing, tell others about it who will support you and is committed to helping you overcome obstacles and achieve results.
- Join an organization or online community that will help you get closer to your dreams through volunteering, helping you to build skills, or providing support.
- Learn to make specific requests that will help you achieve your dreams and then share those resources with others.
- Create a broad “Dream Circle” for support and accountability.
- Take serious action.
Many of us think, “I’ll believe in my dream when I see that it’s a sure thing or at least when there’s proof that it’s likely to happen.” But the secret to living a “dream come true” life is to believe in your dream simply because it matters to you. In other words, looking for certainty out in the world is not the place to begin. The place to look is in your own heart. Choose to believe in your dream. Then take action to demonstrate ? to yourself and others ? you really do believe.
My Dream Circle
During tough times or those days when there is no evidence that your dream is possible, much less a good idea, it’s essential to have a place to turn for encouragement. It is important to have a support group around you who are also working to achieve their dreams. When we see dreams can come true, we are willing to dream bigger dreams. That is why I encourage you to create a Dream Circle of friends and accountability partners who are committed to be there to spur you on.
The reality is we all have good and bad days. Personally, there are days that I get distracted and forget my dreams. And then there are the days when the doubters and dream killers ? internally and externally ? become so overwhelming I want to give up. That’s when I turn to My Dream Circle who help me remember and reclaim my belief in myself and in my dreams.
This support system has assisted me through many hard times and the great thing is that it is reciprocal. I can to do the same for them daily. My Dream Circle provides support through ongoing encouragement, coaching, inspiration and, most importantly, accountability for taking risks. We are finding new dreams, partners, investors, volunteers, answers, creative ideas, mentors, friends and fellow dreamers. But beyond networking, educating, challenging and celebrating, we are a community with a shared commitment that is profoundly impacting our lives.
Your Invitation to Dream
If we bring our intentions, offer support and resources to aid each other, what could happen? During a time when many have lost hope, are afraid of dreaming or taking risks, this is the essential time for us to be bold. What would you do if you believed in yourself? What might you change if you believed in your dreams? And how would you alter your life if you knew people would stand by and help you to achieve your heart’s desire?
Dreams are precious and essential and can change your family, community and the world. Your dreams can make you a better and more passionate human being. If no dream is too big or too small, the real question becomes, simply: What matters to you and what are you willing to do about it?
The Great Dream Challenge is to believe in yourself, create a Dream Circle of support, take action and risk and to encourage others to achieve their dreams along the way. I challenge you to do what you need to do now to achieve your dreams and make them happen. The only thing you have to lose by not doing taking the challenge is your dream.
Marcia Wieder, America’s Dream Coach, is a best-selling author and speaker known for giving inspiring and moving talks to AT&T, The Gap and American Express. She appeared several times on Oprah and The Today Show. She’s also writes for The San Francisco Chronicle. To receive Marcia’s free e-book filled with simple steps you can take to act on any dream. Send a request to: info@dreamcoach.com. To experience a Powerful Weekend Designed to Help You Exceed Your Expectations & Achieve Your Dreams, visit http://www.dreamcoach.com
Do you Have the Burning Desire to Lose Weight or Reach any Goal?
NOTE: This article is one of the component parts of the 9-step WTA3 program contained in the ebook titled “The Action Path -Your Key to Success!” due out in 2005 at http://www.your-key-to-success.com/index_actionpath.html.
- Do you have a Burning Desire? -
Do you have a burning desire to lose weight and reduce your body fat to 10%?
Do you have a burning desire to get a flat, well-toned midsection?
Do you have a burning desire to increase your net worth to $500,000?
Do you have a burning desire to improve your personal relationships?
Do you have a burning desire to start a business next year?
Do you have a burning desire to reduce your credit card debt?
The key phrase is “Do you have a burning desire to…”. We all have hopes, dreams, wants and wishes. Do you have a ‘Burning Desire’ to make the right choices on a daily basis and take positive action steps toward your goals?
Let’s start with a common goal of reducing body fat or losing weight. While losing weight is a more common goal, reducing body fat to your body’s optimum level is the better route to take. For this illustration, imagine you had a personal goal of losing 10 lbs in 30 days. Because you’re smart, you know that losing weight can be accomplished by taking in fewer calories than you burn. This is a law of nature and makes logical sense. Even though we are aware of this basic principle, losing weight continues to be a difficult goal for many people to accomplish. Now the question; do you really have a ‘Burning Desire’ to lose 10 lbs in 30 days? If you’re like many, your answer is “…yes, I have a desire to lose weight…” but in reality you don’t have a ‘Burning Desire’.
Another source for creating your own ‘Burning Desire’ is a program from Tony Robbins titled, Get the Edge! You can see a product review of his program at http://www.your-key-to-success.com/product_gettheedge.html.
To further illustrate our day-to-day choices and the difference between a desire and a ‘Burning Desire’ let’s pretend that you are two days into your diet and you’re at your favorite hamburger restaurant for your usual lunch. What are you going to choose from the menu? What choice are you going to make?
Will it be the usual double cheeseburger, large fries and a soft drink?
Will it be a double cheeseburger, small fries and a small soft drink?
Will it be a single burger, no small fries and a diet soft drink?
Will it be a burger (no bun), small salad (light dressing) and water?
Will you leave your favorite hamburger restaurant and find a different place to eat?
Most will order the usual lunch or might only cut down slightly. You might even justify it by convincing yourself that later in the day you’ll eat less, you’ll exercise more at the gym or you need all this food because you are ’starving’. By choosing to order the usual lunch, you’ve made a choice to take action towards your goal of losing weight. Let me repeat in a slightly different way. By selecting the usual lunch, you have made a (wrong) choice to take (a negative) action towards your goal of losing weight. Every minute of every day you have the power, potential and intellect to make good choices that will help direct you to take positive actions towards meeting your goals. Will you succumb to a need for immediate gratification or can you delay it for a short period with your eye on the prize, of a larger, more gratifying long-term goal.
Was choosing the usual lunch the right choice for you to meet your goal of losing weight? It probably wasn’t the best choice, but only you can make the decision to make the right choice. Your decision to eat a high calorie lunch was probably based on a short-term craving and the need for immediate gratification. After the meal, you’ve met your short-term craving but you’ve moved farther away from your long-term goal of losing 10 lbs. You need to be aware that your day-to-day choices are often based on a superficial need to satisfy your immediate gratification. When short-term wins over long-term, it shows that your immediate gratification cravings have registered more votes in your brain. Your objective it to move the pendulum; make your long-term goals register more votes so you will automatically start taking more consistent and positive action steps. You need to create a ‘Burning Desire’ to make long-term win over short-term.
Don’t forget to check out the other examples, such as increasing your net worth, outlined in other chapters of this book. You can also check out a product review of Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle at http://www.your-key-to-success.com/product_burnthefatfeedthemuscle.html.
Stop reading and take your first positive action step to create a ‘Burning Desire’. You can apply this technique to any goal. To make this exercise easier, use the form in the appendix section of this book.
- List at least 6 reasons why you want to attain a weight loss goal (or any other goal). List both the positive reasons (I want to look good for the Caribbean vacation) and the negative reasons (I can’t fit into my pants). Positive reasons are “What will I get if I attain this goal”. Negative reasons are “What will happen if I don’t attain this goal”.
- Next to each reason you listed above, write a short, visual description of that reason. It’s important that you visualize your reasons. If one of your reasons is “…I can’t fit into these pants…”, describe this visualization as a picture with your stomach hanging over the edge of your belt or waistband. Make sure you complete this visualization description for each reason. As you go through this visualization process you may start thinking of more reasons – go ahead jot them down on your list.
- Take 10-15 minutes and read your 6 (or more) reasons along with your visualization descriptions. Which one or two reasons trigger the most emotionally energized response?
- Take the top 1,2 or 3 emotionally energized reasons, write them down on a business card size piece of paper and place them in your wallet, purse, desk and/or car. For the next 3-5 days, take out this card and read the reasons and the visualization description out loud.
- By the end of the 3-5 days, if you still get emotionally energized and excited; congratulations, you now have created your own ‘Burning Desire’.
What if this didn’t work and you’re not emotionally excited – what if you didn’t create a ‘Burning Desire’. Your current goal has reverted back to a wish, a want, a dream or a hope. At this stage you have a few options. First, you should go back to step #1 and try this exercise again. Often during the first attempts, you may not have put enough time or energy into the process. Right now is the time to change for the better – take a positive action step and give it another chance. Second, if you’ve tried this exercise or other techniques and still can’t seem to create a ‘Burning Desire’, than you may need to pick another goal, abandon the goal or change the goal. Changing the goal is not giving up; changing the goal is often one of the best ways to get yourself re-energized, motivated and excited about moving forward.
By taking these 5 steps to create a ‘Burning Desire’ for each one of your goals (large or small), you will make your goals much more attainable, you will start to consistently meet more of your goals and you will have more fun along the path to success. This technique can be used in other areas of your life such as your business (career), your personal finances and your relationships. Other chapters in this book will provide the details on how to use this technique to succeed with more of your personal goals.
Author’s Personal Note: I have successfully used this technique in the area of weight loss and have lost 10 lbs (in 45 days), reduced my body fat by 3% and dropped from a 35-inch waist to a 32-inch waist. What was my ‘Burning Desire’? I had about seven of them, but two created the most passion and drive.
First, was when my youngest son commented about how big my stomach was getting and that I looked out of shape. This comment was my negative reason that drove me to make a change. If I didn’t attain this goal, I would continue to hear these comments . Second, I had a closet full of size 32 pants and was ready to go out a buy more tight-fitting 34 size pants. Since I personally don’t like (despise) spending money on clothes, I created a visualization of all the money I would save by not having to buy another 3-4 pairs of pants. If I did attain this goal, I would have another $150 to do what I love most – invest.
My personal visualization for the first reason was a flat stomach instead of the love handles and no ‘fat’ comments from my son. My visualization for the second reason was seeing $150 invested in 3 shares of a blue chip stock on my portfolio statement, instead of pants hanging in my closet. While my personal visualizations might not get you motivated, these visualizations created enough push, motivation and drive for me to change my dietary habits and eat right (not necessarily less) and exercise more often. Remember, each of you will have your own personal visualizations that will get you to take action.
It was the first time in my 40+ years that I’ve ever wanted to lose weight and while it was difficult to make these dietary and exercise changes; I sacrificed my short-term immediate gratification needs for the benefit and success of my long-term weight loss goal. Not only did I receive gratification from meeting my weight loss goal, but I received even more gratification by knowing that I could make the appropriate day-to-day choices to minimize my short-term immediate gratification needs to meet a long-term, more gratifying goal. It was worth the efforts. Other personal success stories can be found throughout this book.
It’s time for You to take Action!
What are you going to do right now to take one positive action step towards meeting one of your personal goals? To get the momentum moving in your favor, you need to take immediate action. After reading this article, take the next 30 minutes to complete this 5-step process for one of your goals? You don’t have 30 minutes, take 5 minutes to start the process. The key is to take Action. You owe it to yourself to be successful and one key component for making your personal goals attainable, is to create your own personal ‘Burning Desire’. Start it now!
About The Author
For more information about this ebook, “The Action Path – Your Key to Success!”, by Mike Matthews, please visit http://www.your-key-to-success.com/index_actionpath.html. Your-Key-to-Success.com provides a resource for articles, products and services to help you get motivated to take action and succeed with your goals in the areas of your personal finance, your business and your physical fitness. Remember – Dreams will determine what you want in life, Actions will determine what you get in life. Sign-up for our free newsletter at http://www.your-key-to-success.com/index_newsletter.html.
Do you Have the Burning Desire to Lose Weight or Reach any Goal?
NOTE: This article is one of the component parts of the 9-step WTA3 program contained in the ebook titled “The Action Path -Your Key to Success!” due out in 2005 at http://www.your-key-to-success.com/index_actionpath.html.
- Do you have a Burning Desire? -
Do you have a burning desire to lose weight and reduce your body fat to 10%?
Do you have a burning desire to get a flat, well-toned midsection?
Do you have a burning desire to increase your net worth to $500,000?
Do you have a burning desire to improve your personal relationships?
Do you have a burning desire to start a business next year?
Do you have a burning desire to reduce your credit card debt?
The key phrase is “Do you have a burning desire to…”. We all have hopes, dreams, wants and wishes. Do you have a ‘Burning Desire’ to make the right choices on a daily basis and take positive action steps toward your goals?
Let’s start with a common goal of reducing body fat or losing weight. While losing weight is a more common goal, reducing body fat to your body’s optimum level is the better route to take. For this illustration, imagine you had a personal goal of losing 10 lbs in 30 days. Because you’re smart, you know that losing weight can be accomplished by taking in fewer calories than you burn. This is a law of nature and makes logical sense. Even though we are aware of this basic principle, losing weight continues to be a difficult goal for many people to accomplish. Now the question; do you really have a ‘Burning Desire’ to lose 10 lbs in 30 days? If you’re like many, your answer is “…yes, I have a desire to lose weight…” but in reality you don’t have a ‘Burning Desire’.
Another source for creating your own ‘Burning Desire’ is a program from Tony Robbins titled, Get the Edge! You can see a product review of his program at http://www.your-key-to-success.com/product_gettheedge.html.
To further illustrate our day-to-day choices and the difference between a desire and a ‘Burning Desire’ let’s pretend that you are two days into your diet and you’re at your favorite hamburger restaurant for your usual lunch. What are you going to choose from the menu? What choice are you going to make?
Will it be the usual double cheeseburger, large fries and a soft drink?
Will it be a double cheeseburger, small fries and a small soft drink?
Will it be a single burger, no small fries and a diet soft drink?
Will it be a burger (no bun), small salad (light dressing) and water?
Will you leave your favorite hamburger restaurant and find a different place to eat?
Most will order the usual lunch or might only cut down slightly. You might even justify it by convincing yourself that later in the day you’ll eat less, you’ll exercise more at the gym or you need all this food because you are ’starving’. By choosing to order the usual lunch, you’ve made a choice to take action towards your goal of losing weight. Let me repeat in a slightly different way. By selecting the usual lunch, you have made a (wrong) choice to take (a negative) action towards your goal of losing weight. Every minute of every day you have the power, potential and intellect to make good choices that will help direct you to take positive actions towards meeting your goals. Will you succumb to a need for immediate gratification or can you delay it for a short period with your eye on the prize, of a larger, more gratifying long-term goal.
Was choosing the usual lunch the right choice for you to meet your goal of losing weight? It probably wasn’t the best choice, but only you can make the decision to make the right choice. Your decision to eat a high calorie lunch was probably based on a short-term craving and the need for immediate gratification. After the meal, you’ve met your short-term craving but you’ve moved farther away from your long-term goal of losing 10 lbs. You need to be aware that your day-to-day choices are often based on a superficial need to satisfy your immediate gratification. When short-term wins over long-term, it shows that your immediate gratification cravings have registered more votes in your brain. Your objective it to move the pendulum; make your long-term goals register more votes so you will automatically start taking more consistent and positive action steps. You need to create a ‘Burning Desire’ to make long-term win over short-term.
Don’t forget to check out the other examples, such as increasing your net worth, outlined in other chapters of this book. You can also check out a product review of Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle at http://www.your-key-to-success.com/product_burnthefatfeedthemuscle.html.
Stop reading and take your first positive action step to create a ‘Burning Desire’. You can apply this technique to any goal. To make this exercise easier, use the form in the appendix section of this book.
- List at least 6 reasons why you want to attain a weight loss goal (or any other goal). List both the positive reasons (I want to look good for the Caribbean vacation) and the negative reasons (I can’t fit into my pants). Positive reasons are “What will I get if I attain this goal”. Negative reasons are “What will happen if I don’t attain this goal”.
- Next to each reason you listed above, write a short, visual description of that reason. It’s important that you visualize your reasons. If one of your reasons is “…I can’t fit into these pants…”, describe this visualization as a picture with your stomach hanging over the edge of your belt or waistband. Make sure you complete this visualization description for each reason. As you go through this visualization process you may start thinking of more reasons – go ahead jot them down on your list.
- Take 10-15 minutes and read your 6 (or more) reasons along with your visualization descriptions. Which one or two reasons trigger the most emotionally energized response?
- Take the top 1,2 or 3 emotionally energized reasons, write them down on a business card size piece of paper and place them in your wallet, purse, desk and/or car. For the next 3-5 days, take out this card and read the reasons and the visualization description out loud.
- By the end of the 3-5 days, if you still get emotionally energized and excited; congratulations, you now have created your own ‘Burning Desire’.
What if this didn’t work and you’re not emotionally excited – what if you didn’t create a ‘Burning Desire’. Your current goal has reverted back to a wish, a want, a dream or a hope. At this stage you have a few options. First, you should go back to step #1 and try this exercise again. Often during the first attempts, you may not have put enough time or energy into the process. Right now is the time to change for the better – take a positive action step and give it another chance. Second, if you’ve tried this exercise or other techniques and still can’t seem to create a ‘Burning Desire’, than you may need to pick another goal, abandon the goal or change the goal. Changing the goal is not giving up; changing the goal is often one of the best ways to get yourself re-energized, motivated and excited about moving forward.
By taking these 5 steps to create a ‘Burning Desire’ for each one of your goals (large or small), you will make your goals much more attainable, you will start to consistently meet more of your goals and you will have more fun along the path to success. This technique can be used in other areas of your life such as your business (career), your personal finances and your relationships. Other chapters in this book will provide the details on how to use this technique to succeed with more of your personal goals.
Author’s Personal Note: I have successfully used this technique in the area of weight loss and have lost 10 lbs (in 45 days), reduced my body fat by 3% and dropped from a 35-inch waist to a 32-inch waist. What was my ‘Burning Desire’? I had about seven of them, but two created the most passion and drive.
First, was when my youngest son commented about how big my stomach was getting and that I looked out of shape. This comment was my negative reason that drove me to make a change. If I didn’t attain this goal, I would continue to hear these comments . Second, I had a closet full of size 32 pants and was ready to go out a buy more tight-fitting 34 size pants. Since I personally don’t like (despise) spending money on clothes, I created a visualization of all the money I would save by not having to buy another 3-4 pairs of pants. If I did attain this goal, I would have another $150 to do what I love most – invest.
My personal visualization for the first reason was a flat stomach instead of the love handles and no ‘fat’ comments from my son. My visualization for the second reason was seeing $150 invested in 3 shares of a blue chip stock on my portfolio statement, instead of pants hanging in my closet. While my personal visualizations might not get you motivated, these visualizations created enough push, motivation and drive for me to change my dietary habits and eat right (not necessarily less) and exercise more often. Remember, each of you will have your own personal visualizations that will get you to take action.
It was the first time in my 40+ years that I’ve ever wanted to lose weight and while it was difficult to make these dietary and exercise changes; I sacrificed my short-term immediate gratification needs for the benefit and success of my long-term weight loss goal. Not only did I receive gratification from meeting my weight loss goal, but I received even more gratification by knowing that I could make the appropriate day-to-day choices to minimize my short-term immediate gratification needs to meet a long-term, more gratifying goal. It was worth the efforts. Other personal success stories can be found throughout this book.
It’s time for You to take Action!
What are you going to do right now to take one positive action step towards meeting one of your personal goals? To get the momentum moving in your favor, you need to take immediate action. After reading this article, take the next 30 minutes to complete this 5-step process for one of your goals? You don’t have 30 minutes, take 5 minutes to start the process. The key is to take Action. You owe it to yourself to be successful and one key component for making your personal goals attainable, is to create your own personal ‘Burning Desire’. Start it now!
About The Author
For more information about this ebook, “The Action Path – Your Key to Success!”, by Mike Matthews, please visit http://www.your-key-to-success.com/index_actionpath.html. Your-Key-to-Success.com provides a resource for articles, products and services to help you get motivated to take action and succeed with your goals in the areas of your personal finance, your business and your physical fitness. Remember – Dreams will determine what you want in life, Actions will determine what you get in life. Sign-up for our free newsletter at http://www.your-key-to-success.com/index_newsletter.html.
The Truth About Exercise and Why Its Not Always Good for You!
Exercise is often regarded as a panacea for many things…”if you want to lose weight, you must exercise”; “if you want to get those feel good endoprhins racing, take some exercise”; “if you want to help with stress, you should take up exercise”.
All of this may be true but there are times when exercise is NOT a good thing and should be undertaken with caution or proper supervision. A good example of this is stress. Although exercise is often promoted as a means to work off all your stress, physiologically exercise actually puts stress on your body.
What happens when you get stressed about something? You might start to sweat; your heart races; your blood pressure goes up; you breathe a little heavier….what happens when you exercise? You sweat, your heart pumps faster, you breathe harder. Physically, your body’s response to exercise is exactly the same response to a stressful situation.
So if you are in a stressed or even ‘distressed’ state and this has been the case for a while, your body will have been placed under enormous pressure to maintain its equilibrium (also called homeostasis) throughout this period. If you then add exercise to the mix, the additional stress that exercise puts on your body may just push it to breaking point. Your immune system could shut down and make you susceptible to illness, your blood pressure may rise dangerously high and you may feel dizzy or nauseous because your heart is struggling to pump blood fast enough to your muscles and brain.
And for the guys wanting to pump iron and bulge those biceps, if you are stressed (either from work or even from a cardio workout), you will have cortisol – a stress hormone – pumping round your blood. Cortisol inhibits the production of testosterone – another key hormone that is needed for muscle growth. If you pump iron with cortisol in your blood, your ability to produce testosterone is limited and you’ll therefore be wasting your effort to bulk up your muscles. So if you’ve just done an aerobic workout and stressed your body and then go into the weights room, you’re not going to see as much progress as you think you should.
But…..I do NOT want to put anyone off exercise, especially aerobic exercise that helps to keep your heart & lungs healthy. In fact, as a personal trainer that’s the last thing I want to do!
Exercise can be a great stress reliever and the perfect way to wind down after a day of frustration but if you are stressed – and by this I mean truly & physically stressed out – try and de-stress first with some relaxation and meditation, before placing your body under any more stress with 10km on the treadmill. And if you want to build bigger muscles, don’t do any aerobic exercise in the same workout – or even on the same day – as a resistance workout.
And if all else fails and you are unsure when and how to exercise safely, consult a fully qualified and registered exercise professional.
Lea Woodward is a qualified personal trainer in the UK. She runs a health & fitness company, activOne, that provides personal training, massage therapy and training resources to other personal trainers see http://www.activone.co.uk
The Truth About Exercise and Why Its Not Always Good for You!
Exercise is often regarded as a panacea for many things…”if you want to lose weight, you must exercise”; “if you want to get those feel good endoprhins racing, take some exercise”; “if you want to help with stress, you should take up exercise”.
All of this may be true but there are times when exercise is NOT a good thing and should be undertaken with caution or proper supervision. A good example of this is stress. Although exercise is often promoted as a means to work off all your stress, physiologically exercise actually puts stress on your body.
What happens when you get stressed about something? You might start to sweat; your heart races; your blood pressure goes up; you breathe a little heavier….what happens when you exercise? You sweat, your heart pumps faster, you breathe harder. Physically, your body’s response to exercise is exactly the same response to a stressful situation.
So if you are in a stressed or even ‘distressed’ state and this has been the case for a while, your body will have been placed under enormous pressure to maintain its equilibrium (also called homeostasis) throughout this period. If you then add exercise to the mix, the additional stress that exercise puts on your body may just push it to breaking point. Your immune system could shut down and make you susceptible to illness, your blood pressure may rise dangerously high and you may feel dizzy or nauseous because your heart is struggling to pump blood fast enough to your muscles and brain.
And for the guys wanting to pump iron and bulge those biceps, if you are stressed (either from work or even from a cardio workout), you will have cortisol – a stress hormone – pumping round your blood. Cortisol inhibits the production of testosterone – another key hormone that is needed for muscle growth. If you pump iron with cortisol in your blood, your ability to produce testosterone is limited and you’ll therefore be wasting your effort to bulk up your muscles. So if you’ve just done an aerobic workout and stressed your body and then go into the weights room, you’re not going to see as much progress as you think you should.
But…..I do NOT want to put anyone off exercise, especially aerobic exercise that helps to keep your heart & lungs healthy. In fact, as a personal trainer that’s the last thing I want to do!
Exercise can be a great stress reliever and the perfect way to wind down after a day of frustration but if you are stressed – and by this I mean truly & physically stressed out – try and de-stress first with some relaxation and meditation, before placing your body under any more stress with 10km on the treadmill. And if you want to build bigger muscles, don’t do any aerobic exercise in the same workout – or even on the same day – as a resistance workout.
And if all else fails and you are unsure when and how to exercise safely, consult a fully qualified and registered exercise professional.
Lea Woodward is a qualified personal trainer in the UK. She runs a health & fitness company, activOne, that provides personal training, massage therapy and training resources to other personal trainers see http://www.activone.co.uk
The Southwest Airlines Way – AchieveMax® Top Ten Book Review
Over the years, several books and countless magazine and newspaper articles have been written about Southwest Airlines. Numerous MBA programs highlight the Southwest structure, its culture, its CEO, its low fares and other reasons as to why it is the bright spot in an otherwise dismally performing industry. Fortune magazine calls Southwest Airlines “the most successful airline in history.” With a market value greater than the rest of the U.S. airline industry combined, Southwest Airlines is an amazing company with amazing management practices. No one, however, has completely captured the real explanation of why Southwest succeeds.
In a previous review, I highly recommended NUTS! (Southwest Airlines’ Crazy Recipe for Business and Personal Success). This laugh-a-page, inspirational book captured all the delicious myth, disarming magic, original insights, and upbeat stories of a high-energy, caring, playful culture that’s sometimes hard to believe. I enjoyed it thoroughly and recommended it to anyone and everyone striving to create and maintain a successful and productive culture.
Now comes The Southwest Airlines Way … an in-depth profile, based on eight years of field research on the airline industry. In this book, the author, Dr. Jody Gittell, has managed to identify and even quantify the powerful formula of Southwest’s success. This effortless read is filled with actual examples of business processes at Southwest as compared to other airlines. You can easily see how basic practices based on internal values at Southwest, such as investing in leadership development and people, have made such a big difference. In fact, the findings reveal that Southwest’s success is due to building high performance relationships with its people, customers, unions, vendors and suppliers, and the public in general.
Full of frontline tales of Southwest’s innovative management style, this compelling book unveils the secret ingredient, high performance relationships, that has enabled Southwest to sustain a steady 10% to 15% rate of growth throughout its 32 year history while also turning a profit when few others can manage to break even. This great read reveals 10 practices that Southwest Airlines uses to build high performance relationships, and how they can be implemented in any organization-with dramatic results. The good news is that Dr. Gittell clearly identifies and explains each of these practices in a highly readable way that is also backed with data. The hard part is that these are not quick fixes and that the evidence indicates that most, if not all, of the practices must be adapted/adopted if another organization is to duplicate the success of Southwest.
This no-nonsense analysis takes a more serious look at the airline that continues to fascinate friend and foe alike. Learn why Southwest Airlines is valued higher than all other major U.S. Passenger air carriers combined. Learn how, in the wake of 9-11, Southwest could keep all of its employees working and continue its unblemished record of growth and profitability as other airlines laid off thousands, begged Congress for money, and filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Learn how American, Continental, United and other airlines have tried to imitate Southwest-and why they have failed.
You may not find yourself laughing as often as you did while reading NUTS!, but you’ll certainly walk away with a greater respect and much deeper insight into the unique culture that will undoubtedly continue to fascinate everyone for decades to come.
More than 100 business book reviews written by Harry K. Jones are available at http://www.AchieveMax.com/books/.
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Harry K. Jones is a professional speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a firm specializing in custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has made presentations ranging from leadership to employee retention and time management to stress management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. He can be reached at 800-886-2MAX or by visiting http://www.AchieveMax.com.
Bloggin for a Reason
For some it’s just a fun thing to do, while some others feel they will soon be left out; they soon join the crowd. Everyone who uses the internet knows someone who has a blog. Now what do you find in a blog that you dont find anywhere else? Nothing? If you are a friend of the blogger you visit his blog probably because you want a sneak peek into whatz happenning in his life right? don’t deny that? been there done that! oh, and if you are a blogger yourself you visit other blogs thinking that the other guy reciprocates.
So why do you blog? Ask yourself this question. If you can’t answer this I can tell you why you blog -
1. You wanted to be famous like the friend of yours getting all the attention? You want people to give you more attention and listen to you more.
2. You are socially disabled and the only contact you have is with the computer. You obviously have not taken a bath in a week or more. And you believe that the only people in existance on the planet are living on the internet.
3. You do not really care what people think about you. You want to drown others in your personal agony. You come up with some thoughtless contradictions that you think others will like to argue with you about.
4. You want to have a say in all things that is happenning around you. You want to talk about what you ate this morning, which side of the bed you got up etc. You have an agitated head that wants to express all the million bits of thoughts that is entering your head.
5. You want to be a self-proclaimed town crier. You think of those eyeballs of people who know you who are constantly looking for important updates about another person they know. You want to be the first to announce a friend’s wedding date that the others know about already. You want to keep the rumour mills turning.
6. You think you are very important in the society. They want your opinions to be read and heard. You want to give profound insights and meaningless thoughts that you feel will affect the society at large.
7. You want to be a writer and you are only practising your skills.
8. You have a lot of time and maybe you are even jobless at the moment.
If you said YES to any one of these and that is the only reason you blog, you probably need to rethink about what you want to do with your blog to put it to better use today.
Now I will tell you the reasons why I blog.
a. A blog is a very important source of information online. We know we are constantly on the lookout for more data to process and blog is an all important source. No denying that. I want to be a source of such useful information.
b. I have a business and I need to promote my business online. If I own my own blog? I can self promote my services to you and because you know me you are probably going to recommend me and refer your friends.
c. I know that Search Engines like contents. Blogs are a great way to get my site noticed by the search engines. Because a blog is fresher than static sites, search engines love to visit blogs to index them. If I talk about my business in my blog and put a lot of keywords related to my business, people are more likely to find me when they search for something in google and they find the link to my business site and visit it. Believe me internet works that way and this alone is a very good reason why you need to have a blog.
d. I want to establish myself as an expert in my field. The more people are going to hear about me and my business, the more likely they are to put their confidence in me.
e. Blogs are a great way to position my company in the eyes of my existing clients. In other words, giving it a more human face.
Here is what Jonathan Schwartz, president and chief operating officer of server maker Sun Microsystems had to say about blogs after he started his blog himself and found that it was a gold mine. “It’ll be no more mandatory that they have blogs than that they have a phone and an e-mail account,” Schwartz says. “If they don’t, they’re going to look foolish.”
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates is considering starting a blog, says a company spokesperson. Filmmaker Michael Moore began a blog on July 4 to promote his controversial new movie, Fahrenheit 9/11.
I blog for a reason, do you???
Joji M John is the CEO of 2edge Solutions http://www.2edge.com, a webdevelopment firm specializing in ecommerce & CMS development. He also owns a number of successful websites.
For more information visit http://www.jojisayz.com
Curse of Competence: How Being Good gets in the way of Becoming Great
Just before the storms hit last winter, my father-in-law and I replaced 26 feet of fence on my property. I must say, for a couple of non-handyman-sorts like the two of us, it is a very well done fence.
The fence posts are appropriately spaced and perfectly vertical. Four nails are equally distributed on the fence boards to allow for shrinking and expanding. The boards are evenly spaced and level across the top and bottom.
The whole job took less than five hours from start to finish and several of the neighbors have complimented us on both the quality of the work and the speed we accomplished the job. For my first fence job, it is very well done.
Would I like to do it again? Not on your life!
On occasion, I can appreciate the need to get one’s hands dirty to take care of an important job. Sometimes, a person has to do what a person has to do. It was also a good opportunity to dabble in a task that allowed me to grow competence in an area where I am admittedly weak. To save time, money, and the headache of finding, identifying, and monitoring a fencing contractor, it was simpler for me-with my father-in-law’s help-to complete the job personally.
But just because you can do a thing, doesn’t mean you ought to. The same can be said for companies who expend time and resources performing a task, because they can as opposed to if they should.
Sometimes, companies can end up performing tasks or undertaking roles that they really should not. Mix a little operational necessity with situational urgency; add in a dash of latent personnel competence and a company can find itself performing a function that my father would call, “not its best and highest use.”
While it is laudable to shore up weakness, a company should never fail to consistently capitalize and leverage its strengths, its highest and best use. There is a curse in competence. Competence is merely the minimum ability to carry out a task. Why should companies curtail-or at the very least strongly reconsider- activities for which they are merely competent?
* Competence hampers growth ? If competence is the minimum ability needed to carry out a task, it requires little or no effort. Growth requires rigor. Where is your time best spent: on activities that make you and your company better or on activities that offer little intrinsic reward for their completion? Growth requires sacrificing what is comfortable. Rigor commands your full attention. You can choose either growth or competence. There is no room for both.
* Competence masks distinction ? When you deliberate where to go out to eat, one of the earliest questions you ask is, “What kind of food do we want: Mexican, Chinese, Italian, Steak, Seafood, Vegetarian, etc.” Now imagine if you had half dozen restaurants to choose from and they all offered all choices. How would you choose? Your potential customers have the same problem when they are looking for someone who does what you do. In a crowded marketplace, you do not want to look like everyone else. Distinction is strongly correlated with success.
* Hedgehog Principle ? In his book, Good to Great, Jim Collins identifies factors that set the best companies apart from their competitors. Within the Hedgehog principle, he identifies “What can we be best in the world at?” as one of the key questions that the best companies answered. There is much more to be gained by being the very best at one thing, rather than very good at a number of things.
How can you catch yourself performing a non-essential competence? To start, ask yourself the following questions:
Is this task compulsory?
Are you are doing something because you have to and not because you want to? There are times when forces external to your business compel you to undertake certain tasks. If you and your people are not passionate about the task, but have to perform it nonetheless, consider an outsourcing arrangement.
Does it align with our purpose?
A purpose statement should embody something that you have a reasonable chance of being. When considering whether a task is essential, ask yourself if it contributes to the fulfillment of your purpose. If it does not, then it is drawing energy and time away from activities that will.
How did we come to engage in this task?
Are you not really sure how you got around to doing a task in the first place. In the exigency of performing your natural function, competencies develop. This is a natural outgrowth of effective performance. However, if after considering the history of a task you cannot clearly remember how you got into the practice, chances are it was somewhat unintentional. Consider that a clue.
There are two factors that combine to encourage you to widen your breadth of competence. The first is our corporate role models. Do you have any Jack Welch books on your bookshelf? I do, too. Welch is great. Many of us can learn from his wisdom.
However, that does not mean your business should become a General Electric. There are very few enduringly successful conglomerates in the world. Do not fall into the assumption that just because it works for one, it will work for all, or most importantly, for you and your business.
The second factor is the Judeo-Christian ethic that encourages you to be a well-balanced person. Balance is laudable. The more options you have, the more problems you can solve. Balance provides options. But, balance is not as helpful if you do not live in and leverage your strengths.
By all means, continue to expand your personal horizons. You will be healthier for it. But, your business is weakest when its activities are too diffuse. As an organization, focus on what you do best. Strive to become the best in the world at it. Resist the comfort that comes with mere competence.
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War Time Hiring: 5 Steps to Attract Top Talent
A recent report, titled “The War for Talent” stated that over the next 20 years, employee talent will be what differentiates successful companies from those going bust. The late 90’s gave us a glimpse of the talent war, but was nothing compared to what’s ahead. Here are five ways to bulletproof your company before the battle begins.
Practice What You Preach
Recent studies of America’s largest companies show that a strong reputation for moral and ethical conduct performed better financially in terms of their returns on investment and equity, and their sales and profit growth. How do you begin applying this in your company? At PrideStaff, every time an employee is hired, the owner takes them into his office and goes over the 10 standards of ethical conduct that the company was founded on. We also review these standards several times a year to encourage their daily application in the company.
Why is it so important to employees that they work for a company with strong ethics and values? Because your personal identity is strongly tied to your corporation. People often make assumptions about others based upon where they work. I know it sounds shallow, but what’s the first question you’re often asked after meeting someone? “So?what do you do?” Employees want to be proud when they answer that question.
Make Every Employee a Cheerleader
Employees are the first direct contact between a corporation and its customers. They are also the single most important source of word-of-mouth advertising that attracts other talented employees.
So how do you start making cheerleaders? You can start by buying everyone pom-poms. I’m not kidding! You need to make your company a fun place to work, a place that encourages employees to build relationships. An employee is much more likely to look forward to coming to work if they have a best friend there. I recommend you check out the motivational program called FISH!, based on the world famous Pike Place fish market in Seattle. It provides a step by step guide to building an amazing corporate culture.
Create and Convey a Strong Corporate Vision
Ultimately, your vision tells your employees and the rest of the world what you do and why you’re doing it. But just hanging up a poster with your corporate vision isn’t enough to build your brand as an employer of choice. Your vision should weave through every employee interaction. From your newsletter to your new hire orientation, your vision should serve as a constant reminder of where you’re going and provide the motivation to get you there.
I think it’s important to point out the difference between a vision and a mission statement. Your vision should provide a higher calling to a greater good while your mission statement should provide a framework for your existence in relation to your clients. The former speaks to the heart while the latter speaks to the mind. Your vision answers the question, “what really matters in this world ” and your mission statement answers the question, “what really matters in my clients world.”
Build Partnerships with Other Companies with Great Brands
In every industry, you can point to one or two companies that stand out from the rest of the crowd in terms of their reputation. Your goal is to find those companies with excellent reputations, who don’t compete with your company, and develop strategic alliances with those companies. Online, this strategy is known as affiliate marketing. I’ve heard other companies calling it a formal referral network. Whatever you call your partnerships with other companies, make sure you leverage those relationships with non-competing businesses that sell to your demographic.
There’s a saying that goes, “Birds of the same feather flock together.” When two or more corporations enter into a partnership or work together; their reputations may be attributed to each other. Keep this in mind as your think about other businesses to form partnerships with.
Become World Famous
Becoming world famous should be one of your major objectives in your long term business strategy. Why? Because building a business that draws the best of the best requires a brand that is known around the globe. How many people do you know that want to work at Microsoft just because it’s Microsoft? Building a world famous brand should be your ultimate goal in the visibility of your business. How do you get world famous? You start working on it today. Remember, the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Mike Nacke is a speaker, author, and consultant to business owners, managers, and recruiters. He has helped companies save millions of dollars by developing unique hiring processes that turn hiring into a measurable science. His clients range from fortune 500 companies to small businesses.
Visit http://www.mikenacke.com for more information on reducing labor costs and increasing workforce productivity.
Mike is currently the Director of Development for PrideStaff, a national staffing and recruiting firm.
