“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:

1. 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!
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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

“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!

by Michelle Bayley

“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

“I don’t run away from a challenge because I am afraid. Instead, I run toward it because the only way to escape fear is to trample it beneath your feet…”

~ Nadia Comaneci

“Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you actually do. Attitude determines how well you do it…”

~ Raymond Chandler