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Improve Your Well-Being – How Your Attitude to Health Can Help

September 11, 2011 By 1 Comment

By William Newart -

What is Health?

How do you define health? Is it a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being? Is it merely the absence of disease or infirmity? Or is health a resource for everyday life, rather than the objective of living; a positive concept, emphasizing social and personal resources as well as physical capabilities?

Good health is harder to define than bad health (which can be equated with the presence of disease), because it must convey a concept more positive than mere absence of disease, and there is a variable area between health and disease. Health is clearly a complex, multidimensional concept. Health is, ultimately, poorly defined and difficult to measure, despite impressive efforts by epidemiologists, vital statisticians, social scientists and political economists. Each individual’s health is shaped by many factors, including medical care, social circumstances, and behavioral choices.

Health Care

While it is true to say that health care is the prevention, treatment and management of illness, and the preservation of mental and physical well-being, through the services offered by the medical, nursing and allied health professions, health-related behavior is influenced by our own values, which are determined by upbringing, by example, by experience, by the company one keeps, by the persuasive power of advertising (often a force of behavior that can harm health), and by effective health education. Healthy individuals are able to mobilize all their physical, mental, and spiritual resources to improve their chances of survival, to live happy and fulfilling lives, and to be of benefit to their defendants and society.

Achieving health, and remaining healthy, is an active process. Natural health is based on prevention, and on keeping our bodies and minds in good shape. Health lies in balancing these aspects within the body through a regimen consisting of diet, exercise, and regulation of the emotions. The last of these is too often ignored when health advice is dispensed, but can have a pronounced effect on physical well-being.

Diet

Every day, or so it seems, new research shows that some aspect of lifestyle – physical activity, diet, alcohol consumption, and so on – affects health and longevity. Physical fitness is good bodily health, and is the result of regular exercise, proper diet and nutrition, and proper rest for physical recovery. The field of nutrition also studies foods and dietary supplements that improve performance, promote health, and cure or prevent disease, such as fibrous foods to reduce the risk of colon cancer, or supplements with vitamin C to strengthen teeth and gums and to improve the immune system. When exercising, it becomes even more important to have a good diet to ensure that the body has the correct ratio of macro nutrients whilst providing ample micro nutrients; this is to aid the body in the recovery process following strenuous exercise.

If you’re trying to lose weight by “dieting”, don’t call it a diet, first of all – successful dieters don’t call what they do a “diet”. A healthy diet and regular physical activity are both important for maintaining a healthy weight. Even literate, well-educated people sometimes have misguided views about what makes or keeps them healthy, often believing that regular daily exercise, regular bowel movements, or a specific dietary regime will alone suffice to preserve their good health. Despite the ever-changing, ever-conflicting opinions of the medical experts as to what is good for us, one aspect of what we eat and drink has remained constantly agreed by all: a balanced diet.

A balanced diet comprises a mixture of the main varieties of nutriments (protein, carbohydrates, fats, minerals, and vitamins). Proper nutrition is just as, if not more, important to health as exercise. If you’re concerned about being overweight, you don’t need to add the extra stress of “dieting”. No “low-fat this” or “low-carb that”; just healthful eating of smaller portions, with weight loss being a satisfying side effect. Improve health by eating real food in moderation. (For many reasons, not everyone has easy access to or incentives to eat a balanced diet. Nevertheless, those who eat a well-balanced diet are healthier than those who do not.)

Exercise

Physical exercise is considered important for maintaining physical fitness and overall health (including healthy weight), building and maintaining healthy bones, muscles and joints, promoting physiological well-being, reducing surgical risks, and strengthening the immune system. Aerobic exercises, such as walking, running and swimming, focus on increasing cardiovascular endurance and muscle density. Anaerobic exercises, such as weight training or sprinting, increase muscle mass and strength. Proper rest and recovery are also as important to health as exercise, otherwise the body exists in a permanently injured state and will not improve or adapt adequately to the exercise. The above two factors can be compromised by psychological compulsions (eating disorders, such as exercise bulimia, anorexia, and other bulimias), misinformation, a lack of organization, or a lack of motivation.

Ask your doctor or physical therapist what exercises are best for you. Your doctor and/or physical therapist can recommend specific types of exercise, depending on your particular situation. You can use exercises to keep strong and limber, improve cardiovascular fitness, extend your joints’ range of motion, and reduce your weight. You should never be too busy to exercise. There’s always a way to squeeze in a little exercise, no matter where you are. Eliminate one or maybe even two items from your busy schedule to free up time to fit in some exercise and some “YOU” time. Finding an exercise partner is a common workout strategy.

Emotions

You may have heard about the benefits of diet and exercise ad nauseam, but may be unaware of the effect that your emotions can have on your physical well-being and, indeed, your longevity. Like physical health, mental health is important at every stage of life. Mental health is how we think, feel, and act in order to face life’s situations. Prolonged psychological stress may have a negative impact on health, such as weakening the immune system.

Children are particularly vulnerable. Caring for and protecting a child’s mental health is a major part of helping that child to grow into a normal adult, accepted into society. Mental health problems are not just a passing phase. Children are at greater risk for developing mental health problems when certain factors occur in their lives or environments. Mental health problems include depression, bipolar disorder (manic-depressive illness), attention-deficit / hyperactivity disorder, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, schizophrenia and conduct disorder. Do your best to provide a safe and loving home and community for your child, as well as nutritious meals, regular health check-ups, immunisations and exercise. Many children experience mental health problems that are real and painful, and they can be severe. Mental health problems affect at least one in every five young people at any given time. Tragically, an estimated two-thirds of all young people with mental health problems are not getting the help they need. Mental health problems can lead to school failure, alcohol or other drug abuse, family discord, violence, or even suicide. A variety of signs may point to a possible mental health problem in a child or teenager. Talk to your doctor, a school counselor, or other mental health professionals who are trained to assess whether your child has a mental health problem.

Control your emotions. If a driver overtakes you on the wrong side, or pulls out of a side road in front of you, don’t seethe with rage and honk your horn; You’re hurting no one but yourself by raising your blood pressure. Anger has been linked to heart disease, and research has suggested that hardening of the arteries occurs faster in people who score highly in hostility and anger tests. Stay calm in such situations, and feel proud of yourself for doing so. Take comfort in the knowledge that such aggressive drivers only increase their own blood pressure. Your passengers will be more impressed with your “cool” than with your irascibility.

If you are in a constant rush, feeling that every second of your life counts, just slow down a little. Yes, every second does count, but consider the concept of quality of life. Compare how you feel when you’re in a hurry with how you feel when you’re not. Which feels better? Rushing everywhere increases your stress level. The body tries to overcome stress by making certain physiological adjustments. Some time after you slow down, the physiological adjustments and the stress symptoms revert to normal. If you don’t ever slow down, the physiological adjustments and the stress symptoms persist. It is this persistence of the body’s response that matters. You may develop physical, physiological or psychological problems, and may not be able to lead a normal life. Many cases of stress are somehow connected with money, or rather the lack of it. Such people struggle to make ends meet or to acquire more material possessions. This brings us to our final discussion: attitude.

Attitude

It is always pleasant to enjoy the fruits of our labors, of course. Sometimes, however, it seems that whatever we do, it’s just not enough to be able to afford that new car or that foreign holiday. So, what do we usually do then? We work harder, longer; we increase the stress on our minds and bodies; we spend less time with our families and friends; we become more irascible and less likeable people. If you find yourself in this situation, just stop for a moment, and consider: Is it all worth it? What is the purpose of life? Surely it is to be happy. You’ll probably be happier if you adopt the philosophy that true quality of life is not to be found in material things. If you convince yourself that you want less, you’ll need less. If you need less, you’ll cope with life more easily, and the happier, and therefore healthier, you’ll be. Buddha called this “enlightenment”. Enjoy a “good-health attitude”. Focus on your abilities instead of disabilities. Be satisfied with what you have, rather than be dissatisfied about what you don’t have and probably never will have.

If you simply cannot cope with a healthy diet, exercise and emotional control, but genuinely prefer to eat junk food, be permanently drunk, be under constant stress, and be disliked by others, then enjoy your life while it lasts, but understand that the trade-off is that it will probably not last long. If you accept this willingly, you’ll be happy. There is some merit in the philosophy that it is better to live a short, happy life than a long, miserable one.

Conclusion

Personal or individual health is largely subjective. For most individuals and for many cultures, however, health is a philosophical and subjective concept, associated with contentment, and often taken for granted when all is going well. The evidence that behavioral factors such as diet, physical activity, smoking and stress influence health is overwhelming. Thus, health is maintained and improved not only through the advancement and application of health science, but also through the efforts and intelligent lifestyle choices of the individual and society. Perhaps the best thing you can do for your health is to keep a positive attitude. Optimal health can be defined as a balance of physical, emotional, social, spiritual and intellectual health. Maintain a positive attitude!

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May 1, 2011 – Attitude

May 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company… a church… a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past… we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you… we are in charge of our Attitudes.”

Charles R. Swindoll

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TGIM! (Thank God it’s Monday)

March 14, 2011 By 1 Comment

By Irene Conlan -

So what kind of Monday do you plan to have today?

Many people hate Monday because they had a bit too much weekend and don’t feel so good on  Monday morning. Others dislike Monday because they have to get up and go to a job they don’t like or, worse, hate. Some dislike Monday because they don’t like anything.

But there are people around us who love Monday. Yep! They like going to work, or taking the kids to school or doing whatever Monday morning means they do. They like getting up on the other days of the week, too. They like Monday because they pretty much like everything.

Most of us fall somewhere in between.

What makes the difference? Attitude and attitude is a choice.  Attitude is a complex mental state involving beliefs and feelings and values and dispositions to act in certain ways.  What you believe -  about work, about recreation, about responsibility, about life,  about yourself – all goes in the pie called attitude. What you value also gets baked in that pie so if you value work you will have a different outlook on it than if work is just something you have to do so you have money to spend on something you want.

The problem is that many people don’t really know what they believe and haven’t thought through their values. Their feelings are uncontrolled and all over the place and they tend to be re-active rather than pro-active.They don’t really know what they want and if you don’t know what you want, how do  you know when you have it? Yikes!

It’s hard to make a solid decision on your attitude and how you want to face your day whether it’s Monday or another day if you have no foundation to base a decision on. If you have no data base it’s hard to get the data.

It doesn’t matter how old you are, it’s never too late to think these things through and there’s no better time to start on a journey of self discovery than today. Grab a notepad and a pencil or open a new .doc in your computer and write down the following headings. Later, begin to fill them in with answers that come from both you head and  your heart.

1. What do I believe about:

  • work
  • money
  • family
  • recreation
  • God
  • politics
  • health
  • life
  • all those areas important to you

2. What do I value the most?

3. What do I really want in life?

You may be working on answers to those questions for a very long time to come and that’s o.k. As  you become more self aware the answers may shift and that’s o.k., too. As you begin working to answer these questions, more questions will come to mind. Put them on your list and come back to them later. Make working on these questions a daily challenge and now and then take a glance at your attitude and make note of any shifts there, too. You may get the insight and the courage to make those changes in your life you need to make so that one of these days you can say with enthusiasm TGIM. Thank God it’s Monday!

 

 

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Positive Thinking

February 19, 2011 By Leave a Comment

By Michael Angier -

A few years back, I was asked to present a series of workshops to some high-school seniors on the subject of Positive Thinking.

It’s a subject that’s near and dear to my heart, but I approached the assignment with some trepidation. The idea of leading a group of seventeen- and eighteen-year-olds for fifty minutes was for some reason more challenging than speaking to adults.

What Exactly is Positive Thinking?

Why is it important? How do you develop it? How do you keep a positive attitude in the face of negative circumstances?

And these kids expected answers. It caused me to do some real soul searching as to what I think a PMA (positive mental attitude) is and how to apply it in our lives.

To me, Positive Thinking means a “can-do” attitude-an attitude that allows one to see the best in all circumstances. It means facing a given situation and looking for the opportunities that almost always lie within. It’s really a matter of focus. It’s a little bit like when you’re buying a new car and you notice all the cars on the road like the one you’re buying. They were always there before, but you just didn’t notice them because you weren’t looking for them. When you’re looking for good, you’ll certainly find it. That’s Positive Thinking.

Positive thinking is not Pollyanna Thinking. Being a “Permagrinner” is almost as bad as being a negative thinker. It’s an unwillingness to see things as they are and ignore the things that could present a danger to us and our well-being.

We need to be realistic and address the problems with which we’re faced. If you’re tending a garden and ignore the weeds, you’ll find your garden over-run by them. You have to be aware and take care of problems. Positive Thinking is definitely not avoidance.

Negative thinking is all too common. It doesn’t take any effort to be a negative thinker. I call them “Stinking Thinkers”-people with Mental BO. You know the kind of people I’m talking about-the kind of people who brighten up a room-by leaving. They’re cynical and depressing to be around. They complain too much and offer too little, if any, help.

Positive Thinking is infectious. Unfortunately, so is negative thinking. Emerson wrote, “A man becomes what he thinks about all day long.” What do you think about? Where’s your focus? Do you dwell on your problems, or do you focus on the way you’d like them resolved? It’s your perspective that determines whether the glass is half full or half empty.

Our attitude affects people more than we may realize. When we approach problems with enthusiasm and high expectations, and when we share our optimism, we cause others to look at things in new and more optimistic ways. We help shift their perspective.

When I’m hiring someone, I place more weight on their attitude than on their skills and knowledge. Skills and knowledge can always be learned. Positive Thinking can be learned too, but I find few people willing to develop it. The belief is often, “that’s-just-the-way-I-am.”

How Do We Develop a Positive Attitude?

One way is to associate with positive people. We may have to change our environment and even choose new friends. This may seem drastic, but you can’t afford to be with people who drag you down. In order to be successful, you have to have a supportive atmosphere.

We can also read good books. You might want to start with Norman Vincent Peale’s classic, The Power of Positive Thinking. He coined the acronym and phrase “PMA.” Any book that is encouraging, inspiring and positive will do.

No matter how good your PMA might be, it takes constant attention. You eat every day, don’t you? Your attitude is like your body; it needs to be nourished. You need to feed it with good, healthy food-positive people, good books and an inspiring environment. Just like you go to work every day, you need to go to work on yourself every day. If you do, you’ll build and maintain a Positive Mental Attitude.

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This $27 eBook can be yours now at no-cost. And most of the over 100 resources are FREE to access and use.

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Your Attitude Toward Positive and Negative Events Will Make You More Resilient

January 28, 2011 By Leave a Comment

By Sharon S. Esonis, Ph.D. -

When your world is disrupted and shaken by adverse events, it can be extremely difficult to believe that the future will be better. But that’s just what the resilient person has learned to do. To be resilient, you must be an optimist who is confident that there is hope and renewal in the days to come and that this period of being under a very dark cloud is not personal, permanent or pervasive.

The optimist understands that bad things happen to everyone, and just because an unwanted event occurs, it does not mean that it was self-inflicted or engineered by a vicious, vindictive force. The optimist believes that there is a statute of limitations on the length of suffering — that the effects of the negative events won’t last forever, and that the storm need not cause a downpour over other aspects of one’s life. Resilience is about combating and even becoming immune to despair. An optimistic attitude provides some of the tools for such a worthy endeavor.

Helen Keller, an extraordinary woman whose optimism was a masterful force in living a life of purpose and fulfillment in spite of her very challenging handicaps, was born on June 27, 1880. At the age of 19 months she contracted “brain fever,” which today would probably be diagnosed as scarlet fever. She suffered a complete loss of her hearing and sight. She lived in a dark, silent, angry internal world until, at the age of seven, Anne Sullivan came to teach her.

After many attempts to communicate, Miss Sullivan (“The Miracle Worker”) broke through the barriers of blindness and deafness by splashing water on Helen’s hands, while simultaneously formulating in her hand the word for water in sign language. Anne Sullivan became a beloved friend, confidante and guiding force in Helen’s life.

Against tremendous odds, Helen Keller achieved great accomplishments as an author, speaker and activist. She modeled courage, persistence and optimism in ways that impressed so many people everywhere. She traveled throughout the world, campaigning for civil rights, womens’ rights, voting rights and world peace. She was a devoted advocate for the blind and handicapped. By viewing her limitations as opportunities to make the world a better place, Helen Keller was a shining example of resilience, optimism and commitment.

She is an inspiration in telling us, “We could never learn to be brave and patient if there were only joy in this world,” and that “character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired and success achieved.”

More information on how to develop your optimism and resilience can be found in my book on Positive Psychology, It’s Your Little Red Wagon… Six Core Strengths for Navigating Your Path to the Good Life (Embrace the Power of Positive Psychology and Live Your Dreams).

Copyright 2009. Sharon S. Esonis, Ph.D.

Sharon S. Esonis, Ph.D., has spent close to three decades helping individuals thrive and improve their lives through her work as a licensed psychologist, author and life coach. An expert in human behavior and motivation, Dr. Esonis specializes in the burgeoning field of Positive Psychology, the scientific study of optimal human functioning and the core strengths that can lead to the achievement of one’s personally-defined goals.

Her most recent book, “It’s Your Little Red Wagon… 6 Core Strengths for Navigating Your Path to the Good Life (Embrace the Power of Positive Psychology and Live Your Dreams!),” is Dr. Esonis’s contribution to the field of Positive Psychology, presenting proven success factors and strength-building techniques that can lead individuals to a life of purpose, motivation and happiness. It is available on Amazon.com.

Dr. Esonis earned her doctoral degree at Boston College and currently maintains a life coaching practice in the San Diego area. She also teaches Positive Psychology in the Extended Learning Program at California State University San Marcos. To learn more about the power of Positive Psychology and to order her latest book, visit her website at http://www.PositivePathLifeCoaching.com

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Self Awareness – Three Things You Should Know About Yourself

January 6, 2011 By Leave a Comment

By Parthasarathy Rengaswami -

Self awareness means understanding yourself better. Most of us are not fully aware of what is buried deep in our personality. Self discovery is a continuous process. It has no end. The more and more you discover about yourself, the stronger and stronger will your personality will become. You will think better, act better and achieve better. To improve your awareness of yourself, you have to focus on the following areas.

1. What are your strengths?

Every person born in this world is endowed with a variety of talents and skills. We also learn a lot. Learning is not confined to academic learning. We start learning as a child by observing others. Psychologists call this cognitive learning. This means observing a particular behavior, seeing the result it achieves and reproducing the same behavior when you want the same result. Starting from this basic learning, we absorb a lot of knowledge both knowingly and unknowingly. Though knowledge is valuable and powerful, a surfeit of knowledge sometimes acts like a handicap by preventing us from knowing what we are best at doing. We are good at doing several things. But if we can discover the areas where we can excel, then we become aware of our strengths.

2. What are your weaknesses?

It is a well accepted fact that everyone has areas of weaknesses. The weakness may be a personality defect like shyness and inhibition or an undesirable habit we have acquired. Whatever is the weakness, we have to accept it for a fact. Many people deceive themselves by refusing to accept a weakness or by ignoring it. If you have the fear of public speaking, you should accept it for a fact. If you cannot resist the temptation to drink, you should understand that it is weakness. Rationalizing our weak points will not help us. Once you become aware of your weaknesses, you get the power to work towards overcoming them. As long as you refuse to accept your weaknesses, you will be burdened with them and will never think of getting relieved of them.

3. Know what you like and dislike:

We all have individual tastes. We have likings and preferences. While these may not be rational, there is nothing wrong with our having likes and dislikes. Please remember that it is your individual taste that distinguishes your personality. If every one talks highly of a film and if you don’t like it, you should accept your feelings. There is nothing in your having an opinion different from the majority of people. You don’t have to argue with others. But it is perfectly alright to feel the way you do.

Two things are important in life. Earning money and maintaining good relationships. If you want to be happy and successful, you should focus on these two areas of financial success and harmonious relationships.

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Self Awareness – Why This Is Important

January 4, 2011 By Leave a Comment

By Parthasarathy Rengaswami -

What will be your answer to the question? ‘Who are you?’ You may answer this in various ways. You may answer this question with your name, your profession, your relationship with someone or some other way. You are a resident of town X, an employee of company Y, a customer, a voter, a complainant, a respondent and so many other things. Most of these things have nothing to do with your real self. Self awareness refers to your understanding of your personality, specifically your strengths, weaknesses, desires, ambitions, feelings etc. Self awareness becomes important because this knowledge will help you make choices in your life.

Have you ever accepted something offered to you or asked of you and have later felt that you should not have accepted it? Almost every one has this experience at some time or the other. Having this experience is good for you. It makes you understand the need for understanding yourself better. If you had had self awareness, you would not have accepted something that didn’t go with your wants, tastes or personality. If you are a young man and a beautiful girl asks you to marry her, will you readily say yes? Not likely, even if she were a ravishing beauty. This is because you are aware that beauty is not the only thing to look for in a girl, that you would like to marry. There are people who are momentarily unaware of this and accept the proposal mesmerized by the girl’s beauty. As a result they suffer an unhappy marriage. A similar situation may arise for a girl who may fall for a man’s looks or riches, only to discover too late that he was not the type of husband she had wanted.

Some decisions you make due to lack of self awareness can be reversed. If you take up a job that is not suitable to you, you may change your job though you would have lost some part of your life by spending your time in the job and feeling miserable. But some decisions like marriage will be more difficult to reverse and even if you reverse the decision, the consequences will live with you for a long time.

So, how do you gain self awareness? Sit down, take a note book and write things about you. Start with what you possess, your talents and skills, your knowledge and expertise etc. Then, write down your weaknesses, your likes and dislikes. Keep this list with you. Come back to this quite often. You may have to modify the list as you discover more about yourself and as you change yourself. This exercise will activate your self awareness whenever you have to make choices and help you make the right decisions.

Two things are important in life. Earning money and maintaining good relationships. If you want to be happy and successful, you should focus on these two areas of financial success and harmonious relationships.

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The Secret to Happiness – It’s All in Your Head

September 12, 2010 By Leave a Comment

By Sherry Essig -

If there’s a word that seems destined to provoke fear, anger and sadness, it’s “cancer.” So imagine my surprise when my friend Angela, after being diagnosed said, “I had great news; it’s only stage three.”

Great news?!

It’s all in how you think about it. The facts were what they were. She couldn’t control them. But she could control her attitude.

You can always choose your attitude.

Every day brings a mix of the good, the bad, the routine and the out-of-the-ordinary. But that’s not what determines your experience. Your attitude does… even if that may feel somewhat counter-intuitive!

Your perspective is one of the few things in life that’s 100% within your control.

Change your thoughts, change your experience.

My client Art, a talented photographer and videographer, adopted a simple change in perspective that dramatically changed how he experiences his least-favorite activity: film editing.

While he loves producing his extraordinary museum documentaries, he hated editing hundreds of hours of video down to a mere few hours for a final piece. In fact, he dreaded it so much that it ruined the entire project for him!

Until he viewed editing through a new lens.

His work is exactly the same. But he no longer thinks of it as “beating this piece into submission.” Instead he focuses on how he’s interacting with the film to craft the story. As a result, his entire experience has changed.

Develop a one-track mind toward happiness.

  1. Choose one situation. Focus first on one aspect of your life that’s stirring up strong negative emotions. It could be a task similar to Art’s editing, a challenging relationship, or something at work.
  2. Name your current attitude. Simply describe your view… don’t judge yourself or your emotions!
  3. Identify alternatives. Regardless of the facts, you can choose a variety of reactions. Consider your options and get creative, even wacky, to push your thinking. Move around the room. Step outside and peer through the trees. How would a four-year-old see the situation? How about a ninety year old? Come up with at least five alternatives.
  4. Choose your new perspective. Then practice daily. You’re creating new brain-tracks. It will take time for your new view to replace the old one. Remind yourself by placing sticky notes on your bathroom mirror, in your car, on your desk. Journal about it. Dance around the room three times a day chanting it. Anything that works to keep it top of mind.

It’s not what life hands you that dictates your experience.

It’s how you think about it. Attitude trumps facts. Managing your perspective will go a long way toward helping you get and stay unstuck.

Get Sherry Essig’s FREE “Getting Unstuck and Relieving Stress” kit along with her newsletter, The Way You Live Your Day is the Way You Live Your Life™, at http://www.flow-dynamix.com/getting-unstuck-and-relieving-stress-EZ.

Sherry Essig has over 10 years experience providing business-life coaching services and programs that help professionals live inspired, energized and unstuck. With a career spanning 25 years in the corporate world and running her own business, she knows what it takes to create change at work and in life.

You are welcome to reprint this article as long as you include the entire article and this resource box.

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Change Your Attitude – Turning Adversity Into Opportunity

August 18, 2010 By Leave a Comment

a18By Bill Hogg -

Despite the doom and gloom of today’s economic downturn, smart leaders look to history for learning. History tells us that now is not the time to cut important foundational programs, but to leverage current conditions for competitive advantage so they emerge from this economic downturn better positioned for success.

One area that seems to be under pressure is workforce size and employee engagement. Many firms will cut back in this area; some will see this as an opportunity to strengthen their teams through strategic hiring, downsizing and internal communications.

In these times of uncertainty, it is especially important to go above and beyond to strengthen employee engagement. Leaders may set the direction, but employees make things happen, including building and maintaining competitive advantage. Happy, engaged employees aligned with your corporate values, goals and strategy produce amazing results. A culture of pride of ownership permeates the entire organization and results in better products, better customer service and better business results.

The first step (and arguably the most important) is communicate, communicate, communicate. Don’t sit in your office and send out e-mails; walk around and reach out to folks personally, and coach your managers to follow your lead. Really talk to employees about what is going on – and listen to what they say; it’s amazing what you can learn from them.

If you don’t already regularly survey your employees, it’s a good idea to have a confidential employee survey program to get the feedback you can’t get in person. These can be set up easily using free online survey tools.

However, to be effective, you must act on the results and communicate early and often that you plan to do so. And remember that this is not a once-and-done process.

Your customers and distributors also need reassurance in these difficult times. Making an effort to connect with them now will pay dividends over the long term. Brand loyalty leads to competitive advantage, and customer loyalty boils down to excellent customer service, which enables trust and confidence. Now is the time to reach out and communicate.

Leverage technology tools to enhance regular ongoing communication. Electronic newsletters, wikis and blogs are powerful ways to regularly update your employees, customers and distributors and get their feedback. Streaming video and podcast updates about how you are weathering the storm also are excellent tools.

Look for quick wins that will serve customers and stimulate sales in the current economy. Are there new products with lower pricing you could offer? Would a review of their current services to ensure they are maximizing any discounts or product combinations make sense? These initiatives demonstrate you appreciate their situation and the lower margin pain you feel now will be rewarded when customers come back for your products and services when things turn around. Plus they are a great opportunity to talk to your customers and potentially identify issues before they consider moving their business elsewhere.

Also, make sure you employees are ready to respond with a higher level of empathy and support for the customer. Now is not the time to offer bad customer service, as emotions are running high and customers will vote with their feet.

Times may be difficult, but regular, meaningful ongoing communication will ensure everyone is focused on the goals of the organization and working in the same direction.

Bill’s passion is improving business results by working with leadership teams to change employee behaviors. He does this by equipping leaders with the principles, processes and tools to cultivate and influence an engaged customer-focused culture that recognizes improved performance and productivity.

As well, he is a dynamic, results-oriented speaker on the importance of a customer-focused culture, either as a guest speaker or acting as a facilitator of a group discussion/workshop.

For additional information on consulting or speaking opportunities please visit online at http://www.billhogg.ca or
bill@billhogg.ca

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bill_Hogg
http://EzineArticles.com/?Change-Your-Attitude—Turning-Adversity-Into-Opportunity&id=2227605

Filed Under: Emotional Health, Financial Health, Health, Intellectual Health Tagged With: , , ,

Anger and Your Health: How Your Outlook Influences Health and Your Ability to Control Anger

July 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment

By Dr. Tony Fiore – Businessman

The situation: Jane and Anthony have differing ways of viewing the world. Jane is a pessimist (the glass is half-empty), while Anthony is an optimist (the glass is half-full). These outlooks influence how they experience similar situations.

Scene 1: Job loss. Jane is devastated, convincing herself that she is all washed up, she can never catch a break, it is useless for her to try to be successful, and she is never going to succeed at anything.

Anthony, however, has a healthier inner dialogue. He tells himself he may not have been good at that particular job, his skills and his company’s needs did not mesh and being fired was only a temporary setback in his career.

Scene 2: New jobs. Offered a new job, Jane, the pessimist, believes she was able to find a new job only because her industry is now really desperate for people and must have lowered their standards to hire her.

Anthony, however, feels he landed the new job because his talents were finally recognized and he will now be appreciated for what he can do.

As these examples illustrate, optimists tend to interpret their troubles as transient, controllable and specific to situations. Recent research by Dr. Martin Seligman confirms this.

When good things happen, optimists believe the causes are permanent, resulting from traits and abilities. Optimists further believe that good events will enhance everything they do.

Pessimists, on the other hand, believe their troubles will last forever, will undermine everything they do, and are basically beyond their control. When good things happen to pessimists, they see them as temporary and caused by specific factors that will eventually change and lead to negative outcomes.

Optimism creates better resistance to depression when bad events strike, better performance at work and better physical health.

In fact, one long term study at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, found that optimists lived 19% longer than pessimists.

Optimism is also a powerful antidote to anger. Many participants in our anger management classes report their anger lessening as they learn to replace negative thinking with positive thinking.

Here’s some good news for negative thinkers: You can learn how to replace pessimism with optimism.

The starting point is to access your vulnerability to pessimistic thinking by taking the self-evaluation test you can find at http://www.authentichappiness.org

Your responses will be compared to thousands of other people in various categories, down to your Zip Code.

If you scored lower than you’d like, you can become more optimistic. As Dr. Seligman writes in Authentic Happiness, his latest book: ‘the trait of optimism is changeable and learnable.’

There is now a well-documented method for building optimism. It’s based on first, recognizing, and then disputing, pessimistic thoughts.

People often do not pay attention to their thoughts and thus do not recognize how destructive they can be in leading to negative emotions. The key is to recognize your pessimistic thoughts and then treat them as if they were uttered by someone else – an external person, a rival, whose mission in life is to make you miserable!

Basically, you can become an optimist by learning to disagree with yourself – challenging your pessimistic thinking patterns and replacing them with more positive patterns.

Note: This view of optimistic thinking is not the process of ‘positive thinking’ in the sense of repeating silly affirmations that you don’t really believe.

Rather, it is the process of correcting distorted or faulty thinking patterns that create health, career and relationship problems for you.

By teaching yourself to think about things differently (but just as realistically), you can morph yourself from a pessimist to an optimist – and tame the Anger Bee in the process.

About The Author

Dr. Tony Fiore is a So. California licensed psychologist, and anger management trainer. His company, The Anger Coach, provides anger and stress management programs, training and products to individuals, couples, and the workplace. Sign up for his free monthly newsletter “Taming The Anger Bee” at www.angercoach.com and receive two bonus reports.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dr._Tony_Fiore
http://EzineArticles.com/?Anger-and-Your-Health:-How-Your-Outlook-Influences-Health-and-Your-Ability-to-Control-Anger&id=26418

Filed Under: Emotional Health, Health, Physical Health Tagged With: , , ,
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