New slants on life wisdom

Don't be irreplaceable. If you can't be replaced, you can't be promoted.

Never test the depth of the water with both feet.

Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes.
That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their
shoes.

Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and
he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.

And finally...

Always remember that you're unique...

Just like everyone else.

Fat people

"If the poor overweight jogger only knew how far he had to
run to work off the calories in a crust of bread he might
find it better in terms of pound per mile to go to a
massage parlor." - Christiaan Barnard

I look around and see overweight people everywhere. It's not a pretty sight and very sad when you realise that just about every one of those people would prefer to be slim. (You might have guessed I don't really believe them when fat people say they are happy with their size - it makes it easier to live with yourself if you can convince yourself you're happy about it.)

But what's even sadder is they're all pushing stuff uphill - and it's runny stuff as well.

Why?

Well everything is working against them. Food manufacturers and sellers load food with fats, salt and sugars because the western world's taste buds have been conditioned to want those more and more. People want instant gratification more and more hence more fast foods are eaten. And even the weight loss industry is against them. The whole shebang is geared toward making a buck out of all the poor miserable suckers who want to lose weight, but struggle with it.

The industry is worth billions and the people behind it know that for every one that does make it to the slimmer side, there's a hundred left who will continue on with their losing battle, buying the latest pill, formula or program with a promise.

In the end though, as bitter a pill it is to swallow, for most people losing the battle, the reason lies within their own minds, emotions and resolve.

Persistence

Last night I woke up to the lovely sound of gentle rain on the iron roof just outside my bedroom window. I was really enjoying being snug and comfortable and the sound of the rain.

Then my cat was there right outside meowing over and over again, because he wanted to get inside I suppose. His sound was a bit annoying because I just wanted to hear the rain, but I had to admire his persistence. For some reason I took the situation as a message to be persistent myself with something I'm faced with at present. So I ignored the cat and was more persistent than he was so he eventually went away.

I hope that's an omen that if I'm persistent I will eventually conquer my challenge.

Pushing it

I love that feeling of fatigue after a good workout. But if you can't keep a conversation going while doing your exercise routine, you might just be over doing it.

Exercising is a good habit but you don't have to kill yourself.

By walking, running, swimming, cycling, and lifting weights your heart rate will increase and strengthen your heart and lungs. You'll also breathe deeper and get more
oxygen into your bloodstream. Your muscles will tone and strengthen and you'll feel good.

Don’t be like Mark Twain who was known to have quipped: "I am pushing sixty. That is enough exercise for me."

Dark before dawn

It’s always darkest before dawn. So if you're going to steal your neighbor's newspaper, that's the time to do it.

Seriously though, life can sometimes seem pretty tough. You get tired, lose focus, wonder what’s the point and why bother trying. When I do crisis counseling, believe me, there are plenty of people out there like this.

It’s small consolation to know that there are always others even worse off. So what to do? The only answer is changing the feelings and the thoughts. Easier said than done I’ll grant, but it can be.

How?

Using the tapping techniques I use in coaching and counseling can help take the sharp edge off lots of those feelings and thoughts. Give it a try. You have nothing to lose.

Thousand mile journey

You've heard the saying, "The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." Well it could also be said, "The journey of a thousand miles begins with a broken fan belt and a flat tyre."

Sometimes the prospect of exercising or sticking to a healthy lifestyle diet leaves you with a feeling similar to the thousand mile journey because of a broken fan belt and a flat tyre.

If this is how you feel when you start out, guess what?

You won't stay on your program more than a week... and that's being optimistic!

You absolutely must get those feelings right before you start. What are the strong reasons for doing it? Have you written them down and written your goals? Have you got someone to encourage you to keep going when you want to quit? Do you have a system to check progress and inspire you on?

That thousand miles can be made to seem less if you approach it the right way. And if you do, before you know it, you'll have done it. I'm with you if you want to start.

Where's your focus

"There are lots of people in this world who spend so much time watching their health that they haven't the time to enjoy it." - Josh Billings

The same goes with lots of things in life. We can miss a lot of the enjoyment from it by being too focused on getting ahead. Don’t get me wrong – it is important to have goals and take action toward them but it’s how we go about it that makes the difference.

Certainly stay focused on what you want, but never focus even in the slightest on what is NOT wanted. When we think about what we don’t want and what we are trying to avoid that’s when we start to attract those very things and miss the enjoyment we could have.

So as a simple rule of thumb, if you aren’t enjoying what you’re doing, check where your focus is.

Calorie cutting tips

When cooking a dish with both vegetables and meat, reduce the amount of meat by 1/3 and increase the amount of vegetables by 1/3. You won't notice much difference in the meal size or enjoyability but there will be fewer calories and fat.

Use spices and herbs for flavoring rather than butter or rich sauces to spare the calories. Garlic, basil, oregano, and thyme add lots of flavor without the fat.

Eat beef jerky, carrots, other raw veges and celery sticks instead of chips and cookies.

Diamond comes from coal

Lack of activity destroys the good condition of every human being, while movement and methodical physical exercise save it and preserve it. - Plato
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

It can be very frustrating to struggle and toil to achieve your goals but repeatedly meet with setbacks and failure. Margaret Thatcher once said "You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it," and she was absolutely right.

You have to believe that you will succeed! Never admit defeat as long as there is still time to accomplish what you set out to do and you are still able to put in effort.

Your greatest asset is patience; your greatest weakness is succumbing to the desire to give in and quit. Banish discouragement and feelings of impossibility by working hard, doing more, and not giving in! A diamond was only made beautiful after hundreds of years as a lump of coal being succumbed to great pressure and intense heat.

How to let go

In the personal development world we always hear, "think positively," and "focus on the positive". But anyone who's human knows that it's virtually impossible to let go of all the negative stuff we've accumulated over the years.

Einstein once said: "You can't solve a problem on the level of the problem."

Meaning, if the problem is with your thinking, you can't solve it by thinking it away!

So what's the answer...?

I'll tell you what it is, but you have to make me a promise:

You have to promise you'll keep an open mind.

I've been broke, depressed, anxious, sleepless, and terrified.

There are so many books on healing, success and personal empowerment - and I've read lots of them.

But after years of reading and trying self improvement methods I found myself still stuck. It's not that they were worthless, but that they all required willpower. Therein lay the problem for why they didn't work as well as they could.

You can't just get rid of negative thinking with effort of will. That self-sabotage won't stop by wanting it to. Subconscious beliefs and drive thoughts and negative emotions that cause us to sabotage ourselves despite our best efforts.

Well, I discovered the most powerful, life-changing technique on the planet for neutralizing those emotions. It is the missing ingredient to the Law of Attraction.

The ingredient that allows you to immediately let go of everything that's holding you back from achieving what you deserve.

What is it?

It's a simple technique based on ancient Chinese medicine that's been used for thousands of years which I use in my capacity as a counselor and performance coach.

Pick up a copy of my latest book "Eliminate Your Fear" and find out all about it.

Good mottos

I visited a cyberfriend at drowseymonkey.blogspot.com and I really like her attitude: "Do something good today, or don’t do something bad – as long as you do it with humour."

As I say to all the kids I teach, "If you can't say anything good, don't say anything!" She has a good motto don't you reckon?

Wouldn't it be great if the rest of the world had similar mottos to ours. Maybe there wouldn't be so many idiots who jump on the horn whilst driving, or give the finger or verbal abuse at the slightest little thing that irritates them.

I guess it all comes down to another motto of mine; Change the way you think and you change the world. I'd love to hear about any other great mottos you have to make the world a better, more peaceful place. Make it a great day.

How to get the flat stomach

Last time I said fat cannot turn into muscle and muscle cannot turn into fat! However, you can lose muscle tissue and you can gain fat cells. That's what happens to most people.

So if your goal is to narrow your waist line and have a nice flat stomach, the first thing you need to do is decrease the layers of fat that are sitting on top of your abdominal muscles. We all have a flat stomach; it's just some people’s are covered by excess fat. Basically, the leaner you are the flatter your tummy and the closer you'll get to displaying a six pack.

The most effective way to flatten your stomach is a combination of strength training (with an extra focus on mid-section), cardiovascular exercise (short, intense workouts), and stable blood sugar (keeps you from adding additional fat and makes it easier for the body to use body fat for fuel). Exercise contraptions cannot eliminate the layer of fat that lies on top of your abs. All they can provide is some variety to the exercises you do.

So you know what you've gotta do hey? Get sweaty, pump some iron and eat right. Also see my article on the missing aspect of reducing the stomach flab that I haven't mentioned here.

Fat & Muscle not the same

Despite all the good information that's around about losing weight, I still hear of people trying to trim their waistline by doing abdominal exercises.

The focus is on thinning the waistline. That's fair enough but success means using a wider approach than just exercising the abs.

You need a basic understanding of what it is you are trying to trim down. We're talking here about the difference between fat and muscle.

Fat around your waistline is excess calories and is primarily stored in layers on top of your muscle tissue. It is a completely different substance and cannot possibly turn into muscle. Muscle is made up of fibers that contract or shorten to produce movement. They in turn can never turn to fat.

Exercising that area will strengthen the muscle tissue that is all around that area contributing to good core strength. Exercising that area alone won't do much to get rid of the flabby spare tyre. I'll tell you tomorrow what will.

Growing up

"The greatest day in your life and mine is when we take total responsibility for our attitudes. That's the day we truly grow up". - John Maxwell, author and public speaker

Life is about experience. That’s how we learn. We can blame painful lessons on inexperience, youth, and other people, but once an adult, you must claim your choices and their consequences as your own. Taking responsibility is sometimes a hard pill to swallow.

Life is all about attitude too. Negative attitudes affect your life by creating cynicism, a pessimistic outlook, and often a lack of confidence. Take note of the ways you are escaping responsibility for your attitude. Do you continually blame situations, friends and family, or life in general for your poor mindset?

Certainly the world around you has influence on you, but how you respond to that world is up to you.

When I don't respond well, my life becomes painful... all the more painful in fact because I know I'm responsible (even if other s are involved). In short, whatever I get, I've set up the attraction for. Becoming a mature person means taking control of your emotions and attitude. Keep your attitude right and life will respond accordingly.

What I have to be careful of is not beating myself up. Accept responsibility, get a kick in the pants, then pick up and move on - that's the thing to do. I find the Emotional Freedom Techniques help me get through those times and back to the right attitude a lot quicker.

Storing up for the winters of life

"Be wise in the use of time. The question in life is not how much time do we have. The question is what shall we do with it." - Anna Robertson Brown, author.

One of Aesop's most famous fables that’s even been made into a movie, is about an encounter between a grasshopper and some ants. All summer long the ants had been toiling away, saving up grain for the long winter. All the while the grasshopper merrily - yet foolishly - squandered his time without a care in the world, making no provisions for the cold winter to come. Of course the grasshopper found himself starving and begged the ants for food. They replied, "Since you were foolish enough to sing all the summer, you must dance supper-less to bed in the winter."

Leisure time is certainly important for rejuvenating an overworked mind and body, but bone idleness is just a step away from foolishness. Think about the future that you deeply desire for yourself. Plan and take action towards it. There's nothing wrong with stopping to smell the roses, as long as you keep moving along the path.

In working out I regularly have a layoff for a week. Sometimes, generally over the winter period in fact, I ease off for a bit longer. That's just because it's colder and darker in the mornings and unless I'm really disciplined I don't get up as early.

But I always get back into into it sooner or later. I've stopped and smelled the roses, maybe for too long at times, but then kept moving along the path to a great body and good health. Anyone can do it.

No big deal, celebrate anyway

A friend was telling me she talked at her local library in front of 10 people a while ago. She said, "I was scared for the first few minutes and then I relaxed a bit and it went okay. And now, they want me back! I'm still a bit scared but excited."

Now a lot of people aren't going to think it's any big deal you speaking to 10 people at the library. But that's ok. They don't get it you see. What's big about it is you do it even though it's scary.

This is the 'Magic of Thinking Small' and celebrating your small victories.

This is how to get things started. Small steps. Tiny victories. These tiny steps build your confidence and give you the power to stretch yourself even more.

These steps are worth celebrating because they're the first steps to building something great.

You were born to do something great.

There's greatness inside of you. Discover it.

How? Start by thinking about what you enjoy, where are your strengths and passions.

As long as you don't beat yourself up, you'll realize you really do have great things to offer others.

Breathe From the Diaphragm

Have you ever watched a baby breathe? You'll notice that their belly expands with each breath. This is how humans are supposed to breathe, from the diaphragm. The baby's diaphragm is creating a suction that pulls oxygen into the lungs.

Yet even though we breathe non-stop every day all day, most people have forgotten how to breathe properly.

As we get older, many of us unconsciously switch from natural deep diaphragm breathing to shallow chest breathing.

To experience diaphragmatic breathing, place your hand on your waist. Take a deep breath and expand your belly; your hand should move outward as you inhale and inward as you exhale. If you practice this, you will find that it gets easier and easier to take deep, full breaths from your diaphragm.

Your most important choice

What is the one thing that would truly make you happy? It might seem like an easy question when your mind immediately yells out 'money' or 'a better job'. But deep down what are you seeking?

Could it be peace of mind?

After all, feeling happy is a mental thing. In fact feeling anything is a mind thing sparked by our response to events around us and the thoughts we think.

It begins with accepting yourself, your life, and your circumstances. Then making choices to focus on the positive, your hopes and dreams and refusing to entertain fearful thoughts. Back that up with positive action to keep you busy working toward what you want rather than trying to avoid what you don't want.

During this life you'll have many hard days - long work days, sleepless nights, worrying about the future, etc. Where you put your focus is your most important choice. This week, think about the joys of your life. Find creative ways to enjoy the little bumps in the road.

Breathe deeply

You can live without sunlight for years, without food for weeks, without water for days, but without oxygen, you will die in a matter of minutes.

There’s no doubt oxygen is life. Your body runs on oxygen. The more oxygen you put into your lungs, the more energy you will have. To have a healthy body that is full of energy, one of the things you can do is develop the habit of deep breathing.

Most people only breathe into the upper part of their lungs. Notice how you breathe. You will probably find each breath is fairly shallow.

So make a conscious effort to breathe more deeply and you'll get:
* More energy
* Less stress
* Stronger immune system
* Better mood
* Improved quality of your blood
* Better elimination of toxins
* Rejuvenated glands
* Better posture

Go on, take a big deep breath now.

Happiness

"A great obstacle to happiness is expecting too much happiness."- Bernard de Fontanelle, French writer.

We’re always looking for happiness aren’t we?

Most of the time we think of it as something 'out there' to be found. Happiness is really just a state of mind, not a way of life or a destination that you'll reach one day. Bumps in the road of life are to be expected, and we mustn't let them ruin our days.

A typical pattern of thinking is that if a combination of factors would just fall into place THEN we would finally be happy. But in reality satisfaction can only come from within. It is a mental game played within your head between your hopes and your fears.

When you let the fears win you are unhappy. When your hopes and sense that everything will be okay wins, you find happiness and peace of mind. So refuse to even contemplate your fears and focus instead on believing that you'll be okay.

Amazing mind

The Phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan miund.

Acordnig to rscheerchers at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy , it denos't
mtater in waht oredr the ltetres in a wrod are, the olny ipnoatmt
tihng is taht the frist and lsat leteer be in the rghit pclae.
The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a
porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by
istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

Amzanig huh?

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day guys.

What a great opportunity to remind yourself of the reasons why you strive for something better. Whether it's a better body, a better income, a better life in whatever way, the emotional reasons why are most important.

And this is also a good time to contemplate the relationships in your life. Living is really all about relationships. Do what you can to positively add to yours today, or repair any that are strained or damaged. Don't wait till it's too late.

My daughters often make their own cards to me. I treasure them more than any bought ones I've ever received. And my daughters are in their twenties!! Somtimes they even make up little booklets. They're priceless. Make it a great day fellas.