“You are either an anchor or a sail. Which will you be…?”
~ Leslie Fishlock
Don’t let the battle with the bulge get you down. Here are our 5 top tips for losing weight and keeping it off:
- Move your body – exercise and physical activity is one of the best ways to shed those excess pounds. Choose something active that you enjoy so that you will make an effort to do it, rather than it becoming a chore. Remember – sex is great exercise too!
- Cut down on carbs – eliminate or cut down the amount of high carbohydrate foods in your diet. These are high in calories and affect your blood sugar levels which can cause you to get hunger cravings and energy dips.
- Manage your environment – make sure that you do not have the foods and drinks that you are avoiding in the house or around your working environment. Replace them with new healthier options. If you like to pick through the day then fruits such as grapes, cherries and berries are great alternatives to crisps, biscuits and chocolate.
- Plan ahead – failing to plan is planning to fail! Don’t’ get caught out, plan what you are going to eat for the week ahead. Schedule in your shopping trips and make a list of what you are going to buy to avoid temptation.
- Visualise yourself how you would like to look – create a realistic and positive vision of your ideal body shape/image. Do not underestimate the power of the mind – if you see yourself as overweight, or fat, then that is the focus that you are giving your mind/body. Think yourself thin!
“A small-business owner has already determined his potential. An entrepreneur has already determined the world is his oyster…”
~ Leslie Fishlock
I was prompted to write this post after receiving an email newsletter from one of my close colleagues that began by asking a fatal question along the lines of:
“Are you are finding my ’insert subject of whatever you were writing about‘ tips useful?”
Now you might think that’s a quite innocent question and that it’s a good idea to get feedback from you audience, and on one level both are true. However, the problem lays in the underlying message in your question – which implies that you have some doubt about the content you’re sending out. This is what I refer to with my clients as an ‘unintended impact’.
Firstly, do you have some doubt? If so, then by all means seek feedback – but not globally from your whole audience – as this kind of question can undermine your credibility and create doubt in the minds of your audience about whether you really know what you’re talking about. Instead I’d suggest that you seek feedback from a few trusted colleagues (or clients) in your inner network who know their stuff, and see what advice the have. Or speak to a copywriter. That way you’re getting useful input from trusted sources and also ensuring your reputation and credibility remains intact with your audience. If you don’t have any doubt, then be more conscious of the language you use when communicating.
In the event that you do want to seek input from your audience, then it’s better to do it more explicitly. Send out a specific email asking them what their challenges are. Tell them that as a business you’re always looking for ways to add more value to your clients and subscribers and ask them what topics and support they’d really be interested in hearing/reading about. Again, no unintended impact and lot’s of useful information gleaned!
I notice similar unintended errors like this all the time when reading online content or out networking and meeting people in person. I frequently observe people promoting themselves and their business, yet at the same time apologising for themselves or their business in some way, or behaving/communicating in a way that implies that they don’t have total confidence in themselves or what they have to offer. They’re often unaware of it, yet it has a considerable impact and does them a great disservice . I’m sure you’ve noticed it from time to time to. Or even if you haven’t noticed that specifically you’ve walked away from a business conversation or communication with doubt in your mind about the person you’ve been engaging with. They might have even said all the right things, but something’s niggling at you that you can’t put your finger on. The sad thing is that when we do this, we rarely get feedback about how we’ve come across, the prospect will just go elsewhere.
Sometimes this happens as a result of an actual lack of confidence, other times is due to a genuine desire to provide valuable input, or some other equally innocent intention. Unfortunately it doesn’t really matter why it’s occurring, the impact is pretty much the same.
It’s natural that we all have doubts and good intentions, we’re all human after all. What’s important is being aware of how you’re coming across and ensuring that you’re always putting your best foot forward as much as possible. Use that trusted network to get feedback from and hash out anything you’re not 100% sure about, and be totally confident and consistent with the messages you’re putting out to your clients, prospects and your audience.
Remember what you say is important, but how you say it is even more important – the core message you’re sending out comes from a combination of both – but the latter always says more than the former!
Looking at ’smart’ in a whole different way…
Ever wondered how smart you are? Traditionally intelligence has been understood as a single measure of ability that is largely set in stone from birth. In this conventional view, smart people have greater abilities and resources they can apply to any situation. The smarter you are, as often measured on an IQ test, the better you can handle anything in your path. Much research has supported this showing that people with high IQ’s did better in school, regardless of the subject, and over time this view has taken hold and shaped both our popular understanding of intelligence and our education system.
However, given that most traditional education draws on the same narrow range of performance that IQ tests measure, that correlation means little in understanding ’smart’ in everyday life and work. Advances in neuropsychology, evolutionary biology, and child development show us that the ‘one-horse’ view that tends to dominate how we view intelligence is tragically flawed. Flawed, because it can’t account for performance outside of school, across the full range of human activity – intelligence as a chef, as an author, as an athlete, as a mother. The traditional view of intelligence is ill-fated, because we dampen human potential as long as we believe there is one linear scale of intelligence.
To find a better way to express human potential, Harvard education professor Howard Gardner spent years studying intelligence across disciplines and across cultures. He synthesized what he learned in his model of Multiple Intelligences (MI), and identified eight distinct intelligences:
- Bodily-Kinaesthetic – Using your body with comfort and skill.
- Interpersonal – Understanding and connecting with others.
- Intrapersonal – Understanding yourself and managing your thoughts and emotions.
- Logical-Mathematical – reasoning using math or logic.
- Musical-Rhythmic – Making music or making sense of tone and rhythm.
- Naturalist – Understanding processes in your environment.
- Verbal-Linguistic – Reading, writing, speaking and listening.
- Visual-Spatial – Conceiving and mentally manipulating images.
(Source: Howard Gardner, descriptions by Dario Nardi and Pam Fox Rolin)
This work changes how we can think about intelligence, from “how smart you are” to “how you are smart?” In this view, ’smart’ means using the best of yourself to succeed in your environment.
The way you succeed is likely to be very different to the way someone else succeeds at the same task. Intelligences are typically used in combination, with distinctive combinations enabling different people to achieve similar results. For example, a top athlete will need highly developed Bodily-Kinaesthetic Intelligence; beyond this, some athletes may be powered by the inner drive of Intrapersonal Intelligence, others by the pacing of Musical-Rhythmic Intelligence (even in non-musical sports), and others by their application of Logical Mathematical Intelligence.
Take a few minutes to read through the different intelligences listed and identify how you are smart. Then begin to look at those around you with new eyes and try to identify how they are smart. Keep a note of your ‘strengths’, where you are smart, and begin to draw on these as you work toward a more successful and fulfilling personal and professional life.
Advanced tip: To take this new awareness to the next level, as you begin to look at both yourself and others with new eyes, try not to compare or measure yourself against them. I know it’s not easy as the old paradigm of ‘how intelligent are you’ has trained us all to compare ourselves in this way. However, the reality is much different. We have all developed our own range of different skills, strengths and abilities, and whilst ‘Person A’ might be better at maths, or science, or music than you, I’ll also bet that there are a bunch of things that you’re better than them at – so the comparing thing is really quite redundant at the end of the day. Even though it is a hard habit to break. Try and focus instead on how much you’ve developed the skills, strengths and abilities that your really want and need – and where you want to develop further next. Don’t worry so much about other people and how you compare, just focus instead on continuing to raise your own game so you are playing to the best of your ability - in whatever arena of life or business that may be…
“We dampen human potential as long as we believe there is one linear scale of intelligence…”
“You’re the only person who knows what’s right for you. The only one. If you already know what this is, commit to it, and if you don’t, commit to nothing. Only you know…”
~ tut.com
How happy are you with your career? It can often be hard for us to pin down what might be bothering us about our work.
The Career Balance Wheel (left) is a very effective tool to help you assess how happy you are with the different elements of your work. Draw the wheel (left) on a piece of paper (or download it here) and divide each segment in to 10 sections by drawing 9 smaller circles inside the larger circle. Label each segment with the headings listed below (if these are not relevant to your job, then please substitute them accordingly). Use a scale of 1 to 10, to rate your level of satisfaction with each area of your work: 1 is low (mark it down towards the centre of the wheel) and means that you’re not at all happy about that particular area, and 10 is as good as it gets (mark right on the outer edge).
- Use favourite skills
- Working relationships
- Learning and development
- Flexible working
- Control over workload
- Support from manager/supervisor
- Fit with corporate culture
- Salary
What does your wheel look like? Maybe your salary is pretty good and you gave it a 7 or 8 rating. Perhaps you have reasonably good working relationships, so you rate those as a 6, but you have no control over your workload and feel overwhelmed, so rated this area as a 1 or 2? How balanced is your wheel, if you put it on a car or bike – how bumpy would the ride be? Once you have rated each area, take a look at the 3 segments that you rated the lowest. In each of these areas list 3 things that you can do NOW that will make the biggest difference in your current situation.
Then Take Action – NOW! This will help you make some immediate changes that will boost your level of satisfaction with your current job/role.
Now take a deeper look. How are you’re overall scores? Do they generally average high, midway, or low? If they’re generally high, then making the changes you outlined above will bring up your overall scores and you’ll continue to enjoy your work. If however they’re averaging in the mid range 4-6 or lower, then it’s likely that whilst the changes above will improve your current situation – more drastic action is needed. It could be that you’re in the wrong role in your current organisation, that you’re in the right role but in the wrong organisation, or that you’re pursuing a career that’s not really right for you and a complete change of direction is needed.
Whichever situation you’re in, the most important thing is to make a decision to do something about it – NOW! It’s easy for years to drift by doing something you don’t really enjoy just to pay the bills, but life’s too short – right? We spend more time at work in our lifetime than doing any other singular thing, so here at Move Beyond we absolutely believe that whatever you do as your work, to earn a living, it’s crucial that it’s something you enjoy. Don’t settle! Life really is too short and it’s too late when you look back in 10-20 years and think: If only…
“Work isn’t something to pass the time so you can pay the bills. It’s a gift and a spectacular way to access your brilliance and contribute…”
~ Nick Williams
A good way to start find what you need to change is by looking at your scores on the wheel you created. What do you really want? Taking into account your skills, what interests you, and the kind of working arrangements and work life balance you want. By looking at what you value in your life and work, you can start to explore options that are the right fit for you, rather than looking around in too many directions and feeling overwhelmed by choice. Many of us often talk ourselves out of change because we lack confidence, and self beliefs, so make sure you spend some time focusing on your successes and all the things you have achieved along the way too.
Most importantly though, make that decision to do what needs to be done to move towards a more enjoyable, fulfilling and rewarding career and work life today!
“Work isn’t something to pass the time so you can pay the bills. It’s a gift and a spectacular way to access your brilliance and contribute…”
~ Nick Williams
No Excuses – Just Do It!
Great Nike Commercial. I had to post this video as it cuts straight to the chase. No excuses! Isn’t it just so much easier to find an excuse not to do something, not to push that bit further/harder, than it is to dig deep and push through that boundary – whether it’s be a physical, psychological or emotional one. I’m training for a half marathon at the moment, which is a much longer distance than I generally like to run, so it’s a challenge I’m very familiar with at the moment.
One of the key differentiators between those that achieve their goals and dreams, and those that don’t, is finding a compelling reason WHY – that they can connect to and keep hold of when the going gets tough and the temptation is to give up, pull back or put it off until another day. What’s your reason to push through, to do it now, today, as opposed to tomorrow or next week – if at all…
Take a some time to review your vision, goals and dreams for your life and work and then give some further thought to your WHY. What is important about them? Why is it important for your to achieve them? For the sake of what? What is going to have you stay in the game and keep pushing through when the going gets tough? Once you define your WHY clearly and keep connected to it, you’ll find a renewed sense of energy and drive, and your forward progress will both accelerate and be more consistent. Just do it!
“The dream is free. The journey isn’t…”
~ Todd Hartog
