Category: Physical Health

5 Ways to Be Indispensable at Work Without Burning Out

Career Enrichment

11/17/20

Rhonda Martinez

It’s difficult to feel secure or safe in the modern job environment. It’s also really difficult trying to be indispensable without burning out at work. For many employees, job security is one of their main concerns, and many people are afraid that they may get laid off without warning. Businesses from different industries outsource their workforce more and more often, trying to minimize their expenses. This also contributes to creating an unsafe work environment where employees are afraid of losing their jobs at any moment. There’s no surprise that determined and well-motivated employees want to become indispensable members of their teams so that the employer won’t consider replacing them with anyone else. Besides, getting recognition from your boss is nice. Everyone likes to be appreciated and to see that their hard work is recognized by others. Working hard is great, but if you work too hard, your physical and emotional well-being can be damaged, and the disadvantages of hard work might overweigh the benefits. Even employees who demonstrate the best performance often experience problems related to overworking. In fact, high-performing employees are 2.2 times more likely to experience burnout. Various success stories from the tech industry, where people have insane schedules and work all the time, motivate many employees to work more, and to work harder. However, such an approach often leads to burnout and other problems, without helping these employees accomplish their career goals. On the one hand, if you’re a dedicated employee, you may want to make a significant contribution and to add more value. On the other hand, you won’t be able to succeed long term if your work undermines your well-being, and you won’t be able to maintain your peak performance all the time, without experiencing burnout. Here are some tips that might help you become indispensable at work without burning out. Think Before You Agree Indispensable employees are always busy. However, there’s a big difference between being busy and being overloaded. If you want to impress others with your productivity, you may quickly agree to anything and take on more responsibilities than you can actually handle. It’s great if you want to contribute to the business’s goals, but it’s also important to be realistic about your capabilities. Ash Rogers, content writer and reviewer at LegitWritingServices has a point: “When your manager is looking for someone who can take on an extra task or when you see a new project on your desk, take your time and think of your motivation. Why should you say yes?. Perhaps, you don’t want to let others down, or maybe, you want to please your boss. You may also want to do this work yourself because you don’t trust other employees. Anyway, if you analyze your motivation, it will be much easier for you to say no.” Don’t be afraid to talk to your manager. Sometimes, your manager may know if they ask too much of you. Still, they may also be too busy and just forget how busy you are. Keep in mind that one of the main functions of managers is to support employees. Supportive managers will understand why you don’t want to take on another project and will even help you navigate managing your load. Deliver Unique Value The only irreplaceable people are those who can make a unique contribution. In business terms, it means that if you want to be irreplaceable, you need to develop your unique selling proposition. It’s something nobody else will do as well as you. For example, it can be a unique skill or combination of skills, both soft and hard. For instance, a salesperson can develop emotional intelligence skills to sense, understand and influence the emotions of buyers. Employees with high emotional quotient do not allow their emotions to dictate their actions. Therefore, an emotional intelligence is something that can make you a good boss or irreplaceable employee, if combined with great professional skills. You can possess a valuable skill that goes beyond your typical responsibilities, or you can combine skills necessary for your position with additional skills. If you perform a task that no one else can complete, make sure that only you know how to do it. Besides, don’t be afraid to advertise your unique skills. However, this doesn’t mean that you should do everything yourself. Learn to delegate responsibilities and don’t be afraid to hand over your authority to be indispensable and reduce burning out. Otherwise you won’t be able to grow as a professional. Adopt the Middle-Ground Approach Many people think that, when they cannot say no, the only other option is to say yes. Therefore, you may find yourself agreeing to take on some work that you know will make you feel exhausted. However, if you want to be useful for your organization, you shouldn’t be tired or overly stressed. According to statistics, stressed and overworked employees lose 550 million workdays every year. You can avoid the negative consequences of overworking for your health and your organization’s budget by adopting a middle-ground approach. There are many ways for you to make a contribution without doing all the work yourself. For example, if your manager asks you to work on tasks you don’t have time for, you can offer to provide support to those who will work on it. You can also work on another task that will take less of your time. Build Relationships Your relationships with your colleagues are no less important than your skills and the contribution that you make. Building the right connections and developing strong relationships with colleagues can not only make you indispensable at work without burning out, but also help your career growth. To improve your relationships with others, listen to them, and share your time with them. We also recommend that you provide valuable feedback, without criticizing, and take feedback easily. Work on your communicative skills, and your career will certainly benefit from them. Save Your Company Money Always look for opportunities to save your employer money. People

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How to Practice Daily Self Care

Mental Health

11/03/20

Libby Micheletti

Self care has become such a buzzword lately. To be honest, it’s not just a 2020 thing. Self care has been thrown around rather lightly for years now. However, I think it’s with good reason: it’s important! Taking time to ensure your own needs are met is crucial to ensure you’re able to continue functioning, not just at peak performance, but any performance level during times of stress. Which, let’s be honest, is most of the time for most of us, 2020 or not. Daily self care sets the stress-baseline lower, so that when stressful situations come up, you’re not already at a 9-out-of-10 stress level. You have more capacity to deal with life in a functional way. So, yes, self care is good and important. However, self care is more than just the self-indulgent world of Korean face masks and impulse shopping. I think you know that by now. But then what else is it? My favorite way of identifying self care rituals with my clients is something I learned from Dating Coach Amy Young which she calls the “Sacred 6.” There are two important parts of this process. First, it’s important to define what are rituals in your life that meaningfully make you feel better. Second, you create a set of rituals that you try to do every day, or at least a few times a week, not just when you’re feeling overwhelmed. So here we go. Step 1: Define Your Daily Self Care List It’s great to think about self care habits in 4 different categories. I like to think of it in a matrix, which is handy, because then you can fill it out: Feels good Feels bad Is good for me Group 1 Group 2 Is bad for me Group 3 Group 4 Group 1 This matrix helps you think about all the different behaviors you can have in the day. For example, drinking a cup of black coffee in the morning could go in Group 1 (good for me and feels good) because coffee has a lot of antioxidants, it’s a calming quiet moment for yourself, and it’s delicious. I’d even put eating 1-2 squares of good dark chocolate in Group 1 for similar reasons.  Group 2 Then Group 2 might be things like going for a run, meditating, or organizing your apartment — anything that you don’t necessarily enjoy in the moment but has a meaningful positive impact on how you feel afterward. Now, in the long run this Group 2 stuff might make its way over to Group 1 because you develop some positive associations with it, but anything you know is good for you that you tend to avoid goes in Group 2 for now. Group 3 Group 3 could be things like eating a whole pizza, binge drinking with your friends, or calling up someone you know isn’t really good for you just because you feel lonely. These are choices that might feel good in the moment, and we’ve all definitely done this when we’re in a funk, but long term these actions don’t actually make you feel better. You can do them on a Friday or a Saturday night, but they don’t make going back to the office any easier on Monday.  Group 4 Finally is Group 4. Things that you don’t enjoy and honestly don’t have any positive impact on your life. Calling your toxic friend who belittles you. Burning your hand on the stove. You get the idea. We’ll get back to this last group later. So here’s the action. Take some time, make your own matrix.  Step 2: Make a Plan Here’s where it gets good. Look at Groups 1 and 2. Come up with 6 things from those groups that can become your “Sacred 6” as Young calls it. Six things you can do (ideally) daily for your self care. These are 6 small moments where you know you’re taking care of yourself every damn day.  How do you choose? My recommendation is to identify things that have the biggest positive impact on your mental health, which probably means a lot of stuff from the tricky Group 2, to be honest. For example, here’s my Sacred 6: Wake up early and work out first thing in the morning. Group 2. I honestly don’t like waking up early, and working out that early in the morning is hard. My body is sore and sleepy. Bed is warm and usually the cat is cuddling with me. But if I don’t work out before work, I often find I don’t have energy to do it in the evenings, and I love knowing I did something great for myself before most people are even awake. It sets me up for a good day and makes me feel super productive before it’s even 7am. Shower. Group 1. This one kind of goes without saying because I work out every morning, but even mornings where I had to skip the gym for some (God-forsaken) reason, I still shower. I also will shower sometimes at the end of a day or when I’m in a bad mood because the warm water, the rhythm of it, coming out all clean and cozy, just makes me feel better. Coffee. Group 1. I love my morning coffee. As I mentioned earlier, I skip the sugar and creamer, so I think this gets to fall in Group 1. Great start to the day. Get outside. Group 1-2. It depends on the weather really if I want to go outside or not, but I always feel better if I get out of my apartment, move, and breathe real air. Even if it’s just for 15 or 20 minutes in the rain or freezing cold. Tidy up your apartment. Group 2. I’d really rather not. I’d rather sit on the couch or go straight to bed. But taking 10-15 minutes in the evening to wash all the dishes in the sink, put things back where they belong,

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Self Care: What Does It Actually Mean?

Self Awareness

08/17/20

Taylor Morrison

What’s the first word that comes to mind when you hear the phrase “self care”? If you would have asked me that question a few years ago, I would have replied with a list of actions: practicing yoga, doing an at-home facial, or treating myself to a massage. As the founder of Inner Workout, self care is now my life’s work, and I regularly get to play this self care word association game with others. Their answers are never too far off from the answers I gave in the past.  I want to be clear that there’s nothing wrong with these practices and experiences. A massage sounds particularly appealing in this current moment. However, I believe that we’re doing ourselves a disservice if we treat self care as just another item on a long list of tasks. In doing that, we’re limiting our own ability to care for ourselves if we only focus on the physical body. Your self care practices should support your entire being.  What Self Care Actually Means My first foray into self care was a regular Sunday night bath. I’d close my laptop, disengage with my phone, and spend some much needed quality time with myself. I wouldn’t reengage with the outside world until Monday morning. And, while I was consistent in the Sunday evening practice, each Sunday night looked slightly different. Some nights I’d soak with a bath bomb. Other nights I’d create my own concoction of Epsom salt and essential oils. Some weeks I’d soak for over an hour with a book. Other weeks I’d take a quick dip and listen to music before going to bed.  In the beginning, the bath was the act of self care. Over time, it became clear that the real act of self care was me checking in to see what I needed each Sunday night. A new definition of self care began to crystallize, one that Inner Workout continues to use to this day:  Self care is listening within and responding in the most loving way possible.  It’s not about doing a particular workout or skincare routine. It’s not about taking a certain amount of vacation days or getting a massage every month. Self care is an ongoing conversation that you have with yourself – it’s a skill that you build. If self care is a skill that you need help building, BetterHelp can help! That simple mindset shift can create a world of change. Instead of seeing self care as being tied to a specific action, I began to see invitations to take care in my day to day:  I learned how to lovingly respond to my own needs instead of ignoring them in the name of efficiency or productivity.  What Led Me Here: One day, I was sitting on my yoga mat, and a question popped into my head, “What if there was a class that helped people build the skill of self care?” I researched, and I couldn’t find anything that was quite what I wanted. And that’s how Inner Workout came to be.  I enrolled in a nine month yoga teacher training program, and I was quickly introduced to the yogic concept of the koshas, the layers of being. This was the missing piece.  My relationship to self care had expanded beyond caring for my physical body, but I didn’t have the language to describe it. Now, there was a framework through which I could make sure that I was actually caring for my whole self. The koshas, which we talk about as the five dimensions of wellbeing, became the foundation for Inner Workout:  When we engage with each dimension of wellbeing, our self care becomes that much more meaningful. It becomes as multidimensional as you are. It starts to honor where you’re at in any given moment.  Shifting Dimensions We’re dynamic beings living in an ever changing world, which means that our relationship to each dimension is constantly shifting. There are days when I feel really in tune with my emotions but out of touch with my physical body. I go through seasons where I can hear my intuition so clearly, but I feel disconnected from anything beyond me.   The framework of the five dimensions of wellbeing has helped me better understand where I need to focus my care, but that sensitivity to my own needs took time and intention. Inner Workout’s namesake class helped me build that skill. Each class is centered around an intention and blends movement, breathwork, journaling, meditation, and flow.  Unlike another mindbody practices, everything an Inner Workout facilitator offers is a starting point. You’re the expert on your own needs, and each class is an opportunity for you to practice listening within and responding with love.  One of my favorite parts of facilitating Inner Workout classes is looking up and seeing everyone doing something slightly different. People linger in movements or find a different movement entirely that supports their needs. Participants find the position in breathwork or meditation that best serves them. That’s the goal! It means the inner work is working.  Self Care Questions to Ask Yourself: Whether or not you join Ama La Vida’s upcoming Inner Workout class. I hope you begin to broaden your relationship to self care so that it can be as multidimensional as you are. Here are some questions to ponder:  Continue to build the skill of self care. Keep listening. Keep responding.

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How to Improve Your Posture And Mental Health

Mental Health

08/11/20

Brent Wells

Many people think that poor posture only causes back pain, but it can affect many other areas well. One that might surprise people is that poor posture could hurt your mental health. Below you’ll find more information about why this is and some ways you can improve your posture to prevent it.  What Causes Poor Posture? Poor posture can be caused by a handful of different things. Most of the time, it’s the result of prolonged sitting, especially if you need to do so for hours for your work. Poor posture can also be the result of incorrect desk chairs that don’t support your spine.  Side Effects of Poor Posture Incorrect posture can cause numerous side effects. Some of these include: Does Your Posture Affect Your Mental Health? You might be interested to learn that poor posture not only causes pain, but can affect your mental health. Because you’re putting extra strain on your spine, it can make your back muscles contract. This can stress them and cause your body’s cortisol levels to soar.  5 Ways to Improve Your Posture  Wear Supportive Shoes One way to improve your posture is to wear the correct shoes. Many people don’t realize that if their shoes don’t support their feet, it can cause slouching and back pain. This can be especially harmful if you need to move around a lot for your career. Because of this, it’s important to make sure your shoes will keep your spine aligned and encourage you to use correct posture.  Use Lumbar Support If you sit at a desk all day, your spine will take a beating, especially if your chair doesn’t support you very well. Lumbar support is designed to add extra padding to where your back meets the chair. This helps your spine to keep its natural curvature. Most of the time lumbar support can be found on the lower portion of the desk chair.  To tell if the chair’s lumbar support will work for you it’s best to test it out. After sitting in the chair, make sure that it encourages your shoulders and spine to be straight. It should also keep your feet flat on the ground.  If you’re unable to find a desk chair that features lumbar support, you can opt for a lumbar cushion. This item is made out of memory foam and can be placed behind your back to give support and comfort. There are also a few that you can sit on to help keep your spine aligned.  Get Regular Chiropractic Adjustments Another way to help improve your posture is to get regular chiropractic adjustments. Not only will they help to keep your spine free from pain and poor alignment, but they can boost your mental health. As a chiropractor adjusts your body, it will release endorphins and serotonin – two hormones that can make you feel more positive and free of pain.  To help improve your posture, a chiropractor will use various types of spinal manipulations. They will feel up and down your spine to find areas of tension and inflammation. If they find any issues, they will press on that specific area and twist your body in certain ways to help relieve it.  Some of the most commonly used chiropractic adjustments for spinal issues are the direct thrust technique, cervical spine manipulation, and myofascial release.  Some might be a little hesitant to try chiropractic care because they feel that it will be too expensive. So, how much is a chiropractor’s price? Most of the time your visits will be covered by insurance. If not, sessions tend to be around $65 Stretch  Stretching can also be very beneficial when it comes to improving your posture. Stretching can also boost your mental health. As you stretch, your body will release massive amounts of endorphins. These feel-good hormones work to block pain receptors in your brain. This not only will give you more energy, but can significantly improve your mood.  High Plank This stretch works to strengthen your back muscles as well as those in your shoulders and abdomen. To do the high plank stretch, get on on all fours on the floor. Then, put one foot straight behind you and then the other. Try to keep your stomach muscles tight when doing so. Move your palms so they align with your shoulders. Hold the position for about 30 seconds. Make sure to do slow breathing during this stretch to prevent overwhelming your body. Once the 30 seconds has passed, go back to all fours. You should repeat this stretch about three times.  Downward Dog Downward dog is a popular yoga stretch that keeps your hips aligned. To do it, get down on the floor on all fours and then lift your hips high into the air. Slowly move your ankles back behind you so that your body is in a v-shape. Keep your head lowered and try to stretch your neck. Take about three deep breaths and then return to the original position.  Shoulder Rolls One easy stretch to do to improve your posture is shoulder rolls. To do this stretch, stand straight and move your shoulders up toward your ears. Then, gently roll them back. As you roll them, press your shoulder blades as close together as you can. Repeat this stretch about 10 times.  Spine Stretch To do the spine stretch, sit down on the floor with your legs straight out in front of you. While keeping your back straight, lift your arms up and use them to bend your body forward. You should feel a slight pull in your back when doing so. Once you feel this pull, hold it, and then return to the original position.  Take Breaks From Sitting An important thing to do to help keep your spine healthy is to take breaks from sitting. If you sit for too long, it can create pressure on your lower spinal vertebrae. To help stop discomfort caused by this, you’ll probably try to move your

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exercising daily to improve health

How Exercising Everyday Brings Out The Best In You

05/29/20

Editorial Staff

Exercise is said to be the remedy to almost every health problem you might have from memory loss, Alzheimer’s illness, depression, and many others. However, due to the hectic and very stressful work schedules, you most likely have found yourself cutting down on exercise. This mostly happens as exercise is often regarded as the least important activity, so you start by scaling it down and eventually stopping altogether. In this article, our fitness.life provides a useful list of some of the reasons you must incorporate exercise in your daily routine. Consequently, you will get to understand why exercising daily has outstanding benefits for your body and brain.  Exercising Daily Helps Lose Weight  Do you wish to lose that excess weight? If you are, then ourfitness.life recommends exercising every day as one of the best ways of achieving your goal. However, for your physical workouts to be effective, you also need to stick to a healthy diet.  It would be best if you started small instead of trying to rush yourself into trying to lose weight all at once. Some of the ways of doing this include taking the stairs, walking around the office, parking farther from your office or grocery store, or taking a walk during lunch break. As time passes, you can gradually advance to more intense workout routines that burn many more calories.  Exercise Helps Reduce Anxiety Levels  Regular exercise boosts your mental and physical energy, relieves stress and tension, and improves your overall well-being by producing endorphins. Therefore, this makes it an effective and natural treatment for anxiety. Exercise does this by getting you up and moving, thereby allowing you to pay close attention to your surroundings rather than zooming out.  For example, as you exercise, you get to notice the feeling of wind rushing through your skin, your breathing rhythm, or your feet’ sensation as they hit the ground. As a result, this adds a mindfulness element into your life that allows you to concentrate on how your body feels while exercising. This then assists you in freeing yourself from continually worrying as well as quickly improve your physical form.  Exercise Helps You Sleep Better  Poor sleeping patterns are usually associated with a broad range of health issues such as depression, diabetes, and cardiovascular illness. It is thus evident that having enough sleep is vital to boost your overall health. One of the most effective and cheap ways of improving your sleep is by exercising regularly.  One research published in the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine in December 2014 showed that working out resulted in better sleep. This research is further backed by another study published in the Journal of Sleep Research in October 2015. Therefore, if you are looking for an effective solution for your sleep disorder, exercise is, without a doubt, the go-to solution. You not only benefit from better sleep but also other health benefits without having to deal with any adverse side effects.  Exercise Helps Alleviate Certain Health Conditions  Regular exercise is known to be effective in improving your overall health, and this helps deal with particular health ailments. One of the most acclaimed is how exercise helps improve your heart health. It does this by producing high-density lipoproteins, which is the good cholesterol type, whereas lowering the harmful triglycerides. This helps in not only maintaining your cardiovascular health but also averting risks of getting a cardiovascular illness.  Workouts also help prevent specific ailments, including type 2 diabetes, arthritis, stroke, depression, plus types of cancer, for instance, skin, breast, and cervical cancer.  Exercise Sharpens Your Memory  Are you looking to boost your memory? If so, you need to incorporate regular exercise into your daily routine as it sharpens your memory, and this then helps in learning new concepts a lot faster. This usually happens because sweating according to research increases the production of cells in the hippocampus, responsible for learning and memory. It is in line with this that studies connect the brain development of kids to their physical fitness.  This does not, however, mean that exercise for improved brainpower is only beneficial to children. As an adult, training often also sharpens your memory, which is essential in improving your workplace productivity. According to one research, running sprints help improve the retention of vocabulary in healthy grown-ups.  Exercise Helps Prevent And Treat Depression  Whereas depression is currently the main cause of disability worldwide, only a handful of treatments are effective in treating it. Moreover, these effective treatments are either trial and error, hard to find, and need time to take effect. This however, cannot be said of physical activity which research shows to be more effective compared to these other kinds of treatment for certain types of depression.  Research shows that working out each day helps in the treatment of depression. This happens thanks to the antidepressant effect of training that is partly moderated through serotonin, a brain chemical that does this partly through a bone-derived neurotrophic factor and also contains certain antidepressants. In contrast, not being physically active makes you more vulnerable to getting depression.    If you are suffering from depression, exercise is not an appealing activity, which then hampers the treatment of this condition. Exercising helps reduces the risk of getting depression in the first place.  Exercise Ensures The Gradual Aging of Muscles  When you reach your forties and fifties, muscle mass usually begins to reduce due to reduced physical activity and aging. As a result, this causes muscular atrophy, which then leads to several health conditions, for example, joint pain. Therefore, as you get older, it becomes vital to maintain or increase your muscle mass by strength training. By doing this, you will build muscle mass to increase balance and strength as well as burn more calories.  Exercise Helps Tone Your Muscles Exercising daily will not only help in burning excess calories that help you slim but also tones your muscles and removes body fat. This does not necessarily mean achieving the body physique of bodybuilders, which is as a result of targeted and intense workouts. It instead means freeing your body from the

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How To Strengthen Your Immune System During COVID-19

04/13/20

Sophie Bibbs

“We don’t have much control over this virus. BUT, we do have some control over our own immune system and how strong it is to battle this virus, or any others for that matter.” Ok, I’m going to say it, the ‘C’ word…coronavirus. I’ll admit, it’s stressing me out. I hate that feeling of something happening around me, disrupting my plans and having absolutely no control over it. I feel like I want to get back in the driving seat and kick that virus’ butt. Anyone with me? The thing is, we don’t have much control over this virus. BUT, we do have some control over our own immune system and how strong it is to battle this virus, or any others for that matter. A strong, healthy immune system is going to mean you’re much less likely to catch something and if you do, you’re going to be much more capable of beating it and recovering quickly. How do we strengthen up our immune system and get it ready for the fight? We look to our gut. 70% of your immune system is in your gut. So, if you want to strengthen it, the best way to do that, which will have the biggest impact, is by strengthening your gut. I’m going to give you 3 of my best strategies for putting your gut first: Eat Fresh: The sweet stuff (sugar, high fructose corn syrup), simple carbs (white bread, donuts) and processed foods don’t do your gut any favours. They are super easy to digest so never reach the good bacteria in your gut that need feeding. This leaves them hungry, and they start to feed on the lining of your gut, breaking it down and weakening it. So, ditch these foods as much as you can and swap them for fresh, whole, ‘real’ foods. My general rule is, if the ingredients list is as long as you’re arm and you can’t pronounce half of them, ditch it. Look for whole foods (there’s no ingredients list on an apple) or those with the fewest ingredients possible. Load up on good bacteria: Sounds gross, but you need lots of good bacteria in your gut to keep it healthy. At a time when your immune system is under threat, this becomes even more important. Those good bacteria are going to ward off any bad ones that’ll compromise your health.  Another word for these good bacteria is probiotics, which is being banded around a lot at the moment, and used in every product’s marketing messages. However, probiotics are simply live bacteria. You can get them from supplements, but also from foods prepared by bacterial fermentation. Probiotic foods include yogurt, kombucha, kefir, sauerkraut, tempeh and kimchi. Adding one, or a few of these, into your diet on a daily basis will help boost the amount of good bacteria in your gut. Chill out: A healthy gut isn’t just down to what you eat. It is hugely affected by the amount of stress you’re under. When your body is under stress, it shuts down systems that don’t require it, such as digestion – cave man days. It can also wear away that gut lining we talked about.  So, as much as it may be extra challenging in the current environment, this is the time to make extra efforts to chill yourself out. You don’t have to sit on a cushion and meditate for an hour a day, but find something that relaxes you and do it on a daily basis. That could be yoga, deep breathing, a run, music, chatting to a friend, guided meditation through an app….whatever floats your boat. Any one of these gut love strategies is going to make your gut stronger. That, in turn, is going to strengthen your immune system. So, focus on giving your gut some love right now and show that virus who’s boss. Now, put it into action! Pick one of the above gut love strategies and focus on it every day – that could look like a ‘real food’ lunch, a spoonful of kefir in your breakfast, or a daily walk.  Choose the one that makes sense for you and get started! You now have the tools you need to stop wondering and starting to strengthen your immune system.

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How Coaching Can Help You With Your Gut Health

01/06/20

Sophie Bibbs

Do you ever feel sick of a belly that makes you look 6 months pregnant? Does it seem like you have a million food intolerances? Do you feel like you have no control over your unpredictable gut? Maybe you have wondered how coaching can help with your gut health? Or maybe, you feel like you’ve tried EVERYTHING yet you’re STILL left lying on the sofa too uncomfortable to move, not being able to fit into any of your clothes other than your ‘bloat day’ dresses? You think you’ve done so many healthy things for your body, yet still can’t go anywhere without worrying about running to the toilet (or wishing you DID need to go!)? Have you become frustrated because you just can’t figure out how to make yourself feel better. There’s so much information out there but you’re overwhelmed and unsure about where to start? If any of that resonates with you, health coaching could help you. How? I’m going to walk you through what working with an Ama La Vida health and wellness coach actually looks like. Specifically what the process looks like when we explore how coaching can help you with your gut health. What Does Working With A Health Coach Mean? Working with an Ama La Vida health coach starts by defining what health means to you, then developing a personalized plan to get you there. Your coach will be there with you, guiding you through a proven process, and giving you the support and accountability you need to get you to the healthier, happier, less bloated version of you that you want to become. Working with a coach gives you a structured approach to taking control of your gut health and is a built-in accountability system to keep you on track. Even when you encounter roadblocks or struggle to stay motivated, your coach is there every step of the way to help you get back up and keep moving forward. The ALV Health and Wellness Method is our comprehensive, structured health and wellness coaching program. There’s a lot of structure built into it, but also a lot of flexibility within that, so I’m going to share with you exactly what it looks like and why it works to get you the results you’re looking for. Why The Process Matters You may be wondering why we have a process in place around health coaching…why we don’t just go with the flow and take each coaching session as it comes. It’s because following a process gets you results. It’s normal to follow processes at work, to keep us on track and make sure we get stuff done. However, we don’t normally have these in place when it comes to our health. This means that we don’t make changes and end up just soldiering on with our discomfort, never giving it the focus it deserves. It’s time to change that. There are 3 key reasons why this process works: Structure: There is so much information out there on gut health. It’s everywhere at the moment! The problem is, there are so many things out there you could try..food intolerance testing, an elimination diet, yoga, probiotics, etc, the list goes on and on. Chances are you don’t know where to start and then you end up not trying anything..and staying stuck. Having a process gives you a structure to follow, so you don’t need to use your precious time and brainpower trying to figure it out. All you have to focus on is following it. Proven Process: You’re starting from scratch, but we’ve worked with hundreds of clients to help them feel better. We’ve taken everything that’s worked with those clients to give them a flatter, happier belly, to put this process together, so we know it works.  It’s Tailored to You: Yes, we have a process, but our process has flexibility built into it. No two people are the same. Your diet is unique. Your lifestyle is unique and your goals are unique. Our process doesn’t give you a cookie-cutter plan. It gives you a unique plan to meet your goals, that fits in with your diet and lifestyle. The ALV Health and Wellness Gut Health Coaching Process ALV Health and Wellness Coaching is a 12-week long program that takes you step by step through the process of identifying your health goals, coming up with a plan to help you reach them and then supporting you through making the diet and lifestyle changes needed to achieve those goals. We make sure this all fits into your life, so these changes are sustainable for you. Each week your coaching consists of completing online exercises in our proprietary eCoaching platform. Then you meet with your certified health and wellness coach to dive deep into your findings and ensure you are progressing toward your goal of a healthier, happier gut. We work through a framework called the ADIT Method. The framework consists of 4 key phases, which we’ll walk through one by one. Since our coaching is highly personalized, your journey will be different from someone else’s. However, this is a rough overview of how your journey to a happier gut could look. Let’s dig into exactly how coaching can help you with your gut health, we will start with assessing! Assess: It Starts With Understanding Where You’re At We start by assessing where you are right now with a personalized gut health assessment. This happens via a questionnaire and our first coaching session. You’ll complete the questionnaire prior to our first session, which means we can hit the ground running straight away and make the most of your time. In that session, we’ll talk through your answers and go through them in more depth. In this assessment, we’ll go through where you’re at – your current struggles, diet, lifestyle, career, emotions, social life, spirituality, physical activity and more. We’ll also look at where you want to get to and how you want your life to look.  We’ll dive deep, leaving

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practical tips to help you manage stress in the midst of chaos

Managing Stress in the Midst of Chaos

Self Awareness

11/05/19

Jesse Simpson

Did you know that up to 80% of illness and disease is precipitated by stress? While doctors once thought our genes predetermined our destiny, we now know that it’s our internal and external environment which signals our DNA to effectively turn on a disease process. Today I‘d like to talk to you about stress, the long-term effects of stress and finish by sharing some strategies and practical ways to help you with managing stress in the midst of the chaos life can bring. The stress response, also known as the fight or flight response, evolved as an immediate reaction to physical threats in our ancestors’ environment. In a state of stress, our immune system is effectively turned off to put all energy and biological resources to dealing with the situation at hand. Once our ancestors escaped or killed their threat, the body would return to a state of homeostasis, where it was able to rest, relax, and regenerate cells. Our immune system would then turn back on where it would be able to fight off foreign invaders, illness, and disease. Although there are different types of stress, today I’ll focus on emotional stress which is a state of mental or emotional strain resulting from demanding circumstances.  So where did stress go wrong? The answer is in chronic emotional stress.  Chronic stress comes when we believe we have little or no control over managing the stressor. Emotional stressors are things like the kids are yelling, traffic, bills, a breakup or fight with your spouse, or mostly anything else that taxes your system without being an immediate threat to your life. These sort of life matters are normal and don’t necessarily have to trigger a chronic stress response, but in our overworked, overwhelmed, “you are not good enough the way you are” world, they lead to lasting stress which can be detrimental to your long-term health. The fight or flight response kicks on just the same, whether you be in an actual fight for your life or you are dealing with stressors from your spouse, siblings or boss. Work-related stress falls in this bucket too.  Did you know that nearly half of working Americans are chronically stressed on the job? Did you know that Monday morning between 9am-12pm is the time of day and week when we have the most heart attacks in our country? We have to learn to better manage our stress before it consumes our lives.  Unrelieved emotional stress leads to anxiety which can cause depression and physical disease. You can literally be stressed to death, which is why it’s so important to take back control and create calm in the everyday chaos of life.  According to the American Psychological Association, chronic stress is linked to the six leading causes of death: including heart disease, cancer and suicide. Unmanaged stress and emotional trauma is the root cause of many, if not most psychological conditions, as well as addiction to alcohol, substances and food. It leads to anxiety, neuroses, depression and a whole host of preventable and manageable disease processes.  We must be proactive, in order to preserve our long term health, happiness and well being. So while humans are highly adaptive creatures and we can withstand nearly anything, in order to survive the modern world we must start to make stress management a part of our daily lives. I’d like to offer a 5-step framework for you to add to your stress-fighting toolbox to help you effectively manage stress. Framework for managing stress in the midst of chaos:  5 A’s Awareness In order to address a stressor, we must first acknowledge its existence. We must be aware of what is truly causing our stress, before our dis-ease leads to disease. Call the stressor out by name, separating yourself from it, then identify a path around it or straight through to the source. For this to work, it’ll take a willingness to have uncomfortable conversations, ask uncomfortable questions and take on a new approach and perspective to what is truly the cause behind the discomfort. Often times, these are nagging feelings of lack of self worth, a poor self image and unrelieved emotional trauma we’ve been carrying around since we were kids. Fortunately, our mind, just like our bodies, is malleable. Through the power of your own awareness, you can start to face the stressors wreaking havoc on your life. To pinpoint the pain point ask questions like: Acceptance Although we are the creators of our lives, there will be times when things seem unfair, unjust, or downright wrong. Maybe someone cut you off, flipped you off, or you lost a dear friend, family member or your job. Perhaps you misjudged, misspoke or made a mistake. Welcome to the human experience! Dwelling in the past serves no one – neither does worry, judgment, rumination or regret. Let go of the memories and reminders that keep you tied to the stress response. Instead, train yourself to take action using the fuel from the pain of your past to propel you forward. Have the courage to practice forgiveness and acceptance of your current state and know that you are only a few small changes from an entirely different experience in life.  Action Be proactive, instead of reactive, which means taking action to confront your stress before it consumes your life. You must take care of yourself or you will be ineffective in your ability to serve your family, your community and the planet. Self-care is not selfish. It’s vital to our ability to effectively manage stress and become emotionally fit in our increasingly overworked and overwhelmed world. Action is the most important ingredient for the recipe of a stress free life.  Meditate, exercise, journal, preplan, practice, prioritize, go for a walk, or find some other way to proactively address the stressors predictably popping up in your life. Surround yourself with people that bring out the best in you and be sure to create space so you can rest, relax, and feel

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5 Tips For Fitness

Achieving Goals

09/25/19

Jesse Simpson

Your physical body is your one and only vehicle through this life. Take care of it because no one else will. We get no do-overs. Although there are many different dimensions of wellness, today, on National Fitness Day, let’s talk about the love it or hate it dimension of fitness. This post is a list of my 5 tips for fitness in your everyday life.  If you’re still fighting fitness, it’s because your subconscious mind says you’ll fail. Fortunately, fitness is a tool that can be used to strengthen and sharpen your mind, and body, so you move to a more connected and congruent state. With practice, fitness will help make you feel more alive.  Whether you work out now or know you should read on to uncover 5 tips on how to make fitness stick. Start small. When a toddler first learns to walk, do we expect them to take one step and then sign up for their first marathon the next day? Of course not. It even took Patrick Makau Musyoki, a few years before he ran his first 5-K. Fitness is an integral part of your health and happiness. If you have a habit of neglecting your fitness routine, start small to build it back up. Day by day start to build exercise into your routine. Over time, this will radically transform the way you think, look and feel. Fall in love with the process, each time you get out of bed and step out the door, and all of the little wins that come with each new milestone and PR will start to taste that much sweeter. Step by step you will be well on your way to freedom from the fitness blocks that prevent you from the long, healthy and vibrant life you were meant to live. Dream big, but start small.  Make it a habit. Do you know you need to exercise, but always find an excuse to not show up? You’re not alone. Humans evolved to talk themselves out of doing much of anything outside of the oh-so alluring comfort zone. We self-sabotage our own success by letting our habitual thought patterns and paradigms tell us we shouldn’t even start. If this describes you, it’s time to rewrite your habits in a way that empowers you to be healthy and free. Once you’ve built the habit, all of the thinking is removed and fitness becomes a part of who you are. Now you’re unstoppable! Fitness is the perfect place to cultivate the discipline that will ripple out to all areas of your life. Take all the overthinking and self-sabotaging away by making fitness a habit. Get outside. I’ll never forget standing above the clouds looking down on Machu Picchu, as the rain cleared and a rainbow stretched across the sky, after a 4-day trek through the Andes Mountains.  Nor will I ever forget the untouched beauty and 80-foot wax palms spanning the Cocorra Valley in the coffee region of Colombia, or trekking the Cocora Valley in Southern Peru while condors flew overhead. The East Rim to Observation Point in Zion National Park is just as spectacular. Have you heard of Humantay Lake? It’s incredible! You simply cannot find views like this inside of a gym or in front of a screen. There’s no telling what you will find inside of yourself or out in the world once you get outside and move. There is an unlimited number of hikes, walks, runs, climbs, swims, bikes and more, in your backyard and all over the world just waiting to be explored.  Take your fitness outside and go find them for yourself! Make a friend. Have you ever thought about making a friend with someone on the trail or at the gym? When we find people with the same goals and interests, we’re more likely to stay focused and accomplish our mission. On this mission of fitness, it’s best not to go at it alone. In all areas of our lives, we need someone to push us to think bigger and dig deeper. Fitness is no exception.  If you bring a friend with you when you workout, you’re more likely to push yourself further, work out longer, try new exercises and laugh harder. For accountability, friendship, teamwork, and the challenge find a new friend and bring them along with you next time you take on the gym, track or trail.  Try something new. Field trip to the trampoline park anyone? I went for my first backflip on a tramp at the age of 28. It was my time.  There’s something about dodgeball fights and backflips that make me come alive. I don’t care if the average age around me is 8. Every time I leave I am hyperventilating and drenched in sweat. It’s amazing! There are a whole lot of events, teams, and opportunities that are waiting for you to take on. I think it’s your time. Pick up basketball, paintball, frisbee golf, cartwheels, dance, and yoga are all things that are healthy for the body and mind. We’ve got softball, kickball, dodgeball, and volleyball. If you like races, there are mud runs, fun runs, tough mud runs, obstacle course runs, triathlons, 5K’s, 10K’s, bike races and more. If you like music check out these runs with DJs or yoga with DJs. Check out the 13 toughest races in the world. What else am I missing? There is truly an event, team or tribe for everyone up for the challenge of fun, sun, sweat and trying something new. If something is missing, maybe you should create it. Discipline is the greatest muscle in the human faculties we can flex to truly master ourselves. Fitness is the perfect realm to play around as you cultivate a deep sense of discipline and respect for yourself. That does not have to mean mindlessly running anywhere on a treadmill, in a box gym that smells of spray tans and overpriced training packages. It’s ok to have some fun to

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a lamp and a bed to help you think about your nightly routine

Master your Morning by Nailing the Night Before

Presence

07/18/19

Jesse Simpson

Did you know what you do the night before significantly affects how you show up the next day? While the morning mindset, movement, and motivation routine will work wonders to shake the cobwebs off, there’s no replacement for a solid amount of shut-eye. I recommend adding these habits and upgrades to your nightly routine to help your mind clear, body relax and sleep improve. I do not buy into the idea that in order to be successful your sleep has to suffer for extended periods of time. After a few days of not getting a solid 6 to 7 hours, I am irritable and angry. The quality of my work, relationships, and life, in general, takes a hit so I’ve made it a priority to create an environment that allows me to fall and stay asleep. Over the years, I’ve tried everything under the sun to get a solid night’s rest. In my experience, I suck at sleeping. It’s like the military and fire department has permanently disrupted my body’s ability to fall and stay asleep. Unlike my fiancé, who drifts off as soon as her head touches down, I used to toss and turn and stand and sit in an attempt to finally fall asleep. I’d turn on the white-noise fan app, put earplugs in, and, even with blackout curtains, still put a shirt over my eyes to catch the chance of any other light. I put magnesium in my chamomile tea and am always on the lookout for supplements that support sleep. I’ve had a lot of experience with restless nights and there are a few things I’ve learned. So how do I nail my nightly routine? Excellent question! The following article goes over habits and rules I’ve implemented into a nightly routine that puts me in a headspace to reduce stress, sleep better, and wake up more refreshed. My hope is that they’ll save your sleep, just as they did mine. Stretch For the same reasons, you’re stretching in the morning add this to your nightly ritual. Stretching will help you destress and unwind before a restful night of sleep. It frees up tension built up in your back, legs, and mind. After a long day’s work, it’s certainly tempting to flop down on the couch. Just don’t miss out on the opportunity to relax your body and unwind your mind so you’re better set up for a night of slumber. If you do sit down and watch TV, slide off onto the floor and do your morning mobility routine once more. Add some static stretching and foam rolling to release all of the energy bound up from a long day’s work. Focus on stretches and exercises that loosen up tight hips and shoulders and relieve back pain. If you sit down a lot, chances are your hip flexors are tight, your hamstrings are overstretched, and your back is weak. Correct these imbalances with a couch stretch, hip bridge, and any and all of these you can do on the floor while catching up on your favorite show. Try this: Spend 10 minutes static stretching and foam rolling each night before bed. Hit all major muscle groups, sinking, slowly into a deep stretch for 20-30 seconds at a time.  Shut off your devices What you do the final hour before bed determines the quality of your rest, the details of your dreams and how you show up the next day. Don’t sabotage your sleep by staring at a screen. Do not be lured in by likes, shares or media that’s manufactured to distract you. We’ve been emotionally conditioned to buy into the illusion that we must always know what’s going on with everybody, at all times, all around the world. We don’t. If you must know the happenings of the world or respond to social media requests, set aside some time during the day to scan the screens.    My favorite thing about a phone is the airplane mode feature. When you’re at work, be ready to respond and react to meet the incoming demands of your clients, customers, and coworkers. Once you get home, especially during the crucial last hour before bed, put your phone in first-class mode and find some time for yourself. Once you do, you’ll start to see your sleep quality improving alongside your memory, focus, and mood the next day. Remember to keep your phone in airplane mode at least until after you’ve wrapped up your morning routine.  Try this: Stick to just one show or a specified amount of screen time then power off and slide your phone into airplane mode, at least 1 hour before bed.   Sit down and reflect Everything you have right now in your life is a culmination of your past thoughts, ideas, and decisions to this point. It can be easy to lose sight of the fact that we’re in charge of where we steer this ship. The final hour before you sleep is a sacred time to remember, reflect on, and learn from the day. Each night brings a new chance to evolve and grow. If you are dissatisfied or after more growth, more love, more freedom or anything else under the sun, take the time to sit down and reflect each night to track how much closer you are to obtaining it. It’s never too late to course-correct. Everything that happens to you is a lesson you need to learn. The faster you learn the lesson, the faster you level up in life. Take some time to reflect, grow and let go each night by asking yourself the following 3 questions. Write down your worries and unfinished to-do’s and look for any silver linings or hidden lessons from the day. Ask yourself: What worked well for me today? What could have gone better? How did I grow? Try this: Make reflection a part of your nightly routine before you go to bed by answering the above-stated questions. Show gratitude Cultivating feelings of gratitude is

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man going for a morning run because he believes in making his mornings matter

Make Your Mornings Matter with Mindset, Movement, and Motivation

Achieving Goals

07/01/19

Jesse Simpson

Humans are wired for structure and routine. The certainty they provide creates order in the midst of chaos. But I’m not talking about the type that has you thinking, feeling and doing the same thing every day without any conscious thought. I’m suggesting you need a structure that provides you with balance, clarity, energy and focus to actually realize your goals.  Daily structure provides the space we need to maintain our sanity throughout the day. The consciously created morning routine is the calm in the storm. Starting in 6th grade I was regularly getting kicked out of school for fighting, skipping class, and cussing out teachers. My broke, single mom of four kids could barely keep us all afloat. I was reckless, angry and headed down a very dark path until I met a mentor that helped me clean it up just enough to graduate early from high school and join the Marine Corps. Over the next four years, I went on three deployments, was meritoriously promoted twice, and recognized as “Marine of the Quarter.” The military provided the structure missing from my childhood. In the US Marines, structure is a way of life. Wake up call is at 5:30 am and you’re down in formation ready for physical training by 6 am. After the morning run, you clean up, shower and shave before 8 am. Although each day was a bit different, and some were busier than most, there was clear order and a chain of command. We knew where we needed to go, what to do once we got there and who would yell at us if we didn’t get it done. We thrived as a team because we had the structure and sense of direction a team needs to succeed. Comfort Zones and Discipline Leaving the comfort of comradery and unmistakable structure and sense of purpose, many veterans find the transition difficult. There’s no wonder why so many fall on their face once they leave the service. The vacuum caused by a lack of meaningful structure is the reason humans lose their way. Too many return home leaving too much up to chance or circumstance. If you’re not willing or otherwise unable to build systems in your life that will help you succeed, you are destined to fail. But structure and routine aren’t just for Marines and troubled teens. You need them too.  Had I known that it was even possible to alter my mindset, mood, and motivation through my own personal action, my childhood and my military transition would have been quite different. Now, everything has changed. I believe, with the right structure and support, any dream can become a reality for every single person willing and ready to work for it. Coaches, mentors and great friends and family provide the support but, if structure is lacking in your life, you must create it for yourself. Let this morning routine serve as a starting point. The discipline it takes to damn near religiously follow this sort of structure is one of the first steps needed to maintain sustainable success. The following 3 habits are the missing links in your routine to make you more positive, present and proactive so you can enjoy the life you’ve created. Don’t let off now, read on to learn the new habits to take your mind, body, and soul to the next level every single morning.  Adding these to the start of your day is a surefire way to transform your life. These habits should be used in addition to the habits learned in Part 1. If you missed out on that, catch up here.  Now, let’s jump back in!  Mindset – Meditate What? Mindfulness is simply being aware of your thoughts, feelings, emotions and experience. Do you hear the birds chirping? Feel your heart beating? Do you recognize that you’re a bit tired and weary today? Meditation is a life changing practice that brings mindful awareness to all of that. This is not a fad. It’s been bringing peace to people around the world for centuries. No single habit will inject as much space, energy and clarity into your life than regular and consistent practice of meditation. Sit down and enjoy!  Why? Too much stress? Meditate. Anxious or angry? Meditate. Feeling down or depressed? Meditate. Trouble sleeping? Meditate. Short-term memory loss? Meditate. Want to completely and drastically change your life, outlook and perspective in a matter of a few weeks? Meditate. Meditation provides an abundance of mental, emotional, psychological and social benefits. There’s a whole host of scientifically backed benefits of the regular practice of mediation, if you’re into that kind of stuff. Speaking from personal experience, meditation has changed my life, saved my relationships and clarified my path and purpose. With regular practice, I’ll bet it will do the same for you.  How? There are a number of different meditation practices and platforms for learning more. Find the one that best serves you. The 6-Phase Meditation is a great way to learn the fundamentals of different meditation techniques. If you’re interested in a more straightforward way to meditate, and learn about the human mind, try the Waking Up app. For more basic guided meditations, check out Simple Habit or Headspace. Be sure to download our ALV meditation guide. At the most basic form, you can start the practice of mediation by sitting comfortably upright in a quiet room. Next, follow the feeling of your breathe as you inhale and exhale. Your mind will start to wander and once you notice that it has, gently guide your awareness back to the breath. Don’t let those thoughts that say “it’ll never work or “this is stupid” or “meditation isn’t for me” derail you. That’s your ego, and it’s scared of the freedom you will gain once you break from its grasps. Acknowledge the thoughts that pull you up and onwards and let go of the those that no longer serve you. Following the gratitude practice from Part 1, meditate for 5

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mornings ready to be mastered

Master Your Morning With Mindset, Movement, and Motivation – Never Hit Snooze Again.

Achieving Goals

06/11/19

Jesse Simpson

The following is Part 1 of a Master Your Morning series meant to help you start each day the right way. Over the coming articles, I’ll introduce a handful of keys habits to implement to your morning routine. Adjust these ideas to match your age, interests, and ability to start each day proactive, positive and present. It’s a choice to let excuses, ego or lack of effort get in the way. Once you manage to overcome these blocks and master your morning you open the door to a new realm of personal power, freedom, and growth. Feels good, doesn’t it? What are you waiting for? Let’s get started! Why Did I Want To Master My Morning I spent all last spring selling nearly everything I own. I sold my car, gave away clothes and purchased a one-way ticket to Costa Rica with no real plans on when I’d return. For a full year before I decided to walk away from what I once thought was my dream career, I was depressed, overstressed, and overwhelmed. I felt stuck in a career and I couldn’t imagine living this way for the next 20+ years. Really, I was unhappy with myself. I dreaded the day and hated the life I had created. It seemed I was at the mercy of my bad mood and, after a back injury kept me from the gym, I crumbled to the lowest point of my life.  I was sick of living life looking forward to retirement. I was desperate. It wasn’t until I stumbled across a video that described the power of a morning routine did I realize I could start to break away from my bad mood and attitude if I set out to create a routine for myself. I realized I was living a life dictated by chance and circumstance, not one that I consciously created. I learned in that video that it’s rarely some big break that makes someone successful, but rather a set of planned habits, routines, and behaviors that they start up to build and sustain their success over time. There is a method behind the magic. I learned that in order to climb out of the hole I had dug for myself, I’d need to take complete ownership of myself and the best place to start was my habits. It’s true, either you make your habits or your habits will make you so I dove in an attempt to take back control of my life. It worked. How I Started Mastering My Mornings I started to build my morning routine and have worked to master it every day since. This simple yet life-changing daily practice laid a foundation of freedom that carried me on what ended up being a 10-month around the world backpacking trip. The trip was so incredibly rich with experience and growth. It was truly better than I could have ever imagined, and I’m a completely different person than I once was, but none of it would have happened, had I not made the decision to take back my life nearly 2 years ago. If I would have not begun to master my mind, body, and mood when I was at the lowest point of my life, none of this would have ever happened. In the age of information, ignorance is a choice and I was ignorant. I was ignorant to the fact that I, and I alone, was in charge of creating a life that I love. This morning routine laid the foundation for me to do just that and more. I’m more focused, productive, patient and positive than ever before because I am now no longer living a life dictated by bad mornings and moods. I’ve instead consciously created habits that get my mind, body, and motivation on track so I can go out and have an amazing day. Although quitting your job and moving away might not be for all of you, intentionally initiating this morning routine is. After some trial and error, I created habits that first pulled me out of my darkest days and then pushed me on a trip around the world. I’d like to share it with you. We’re going to start with mindset. Mindset – Gratitude What? The habit of gratitude is a subtle yet incredibly powerful practice that shifts your perspective to all things positive.  It allows you to direct your focused awareness to and actively look out for the good things going on in your life. By training your brain to notice the good things about each day, like some sort of magic, more things to be grateful for appear. No matter where you are, what has happened or how you feel, there is always something to be grateful for. Do not miss this opportunity! Why? Gratitude increases energy and empathy and reduces anger and aggression. It can improve your sleep and increase your self-esteem. By saying “thank you” and being grateful we can strengthen our relationships and resiliency and even make new friends. Who wants to be friends with someone who can’t manage common courtesies? Don’t let that be you. There are a number of subtle yet serious health benefits that come along with this habit not including the fact that it is absolutely free. With gratitude, you get to create your life by choosing what to focus on and there’s no personal freedom as powerful as that. How? It’s time to acknowledge how far you’ve come. It’s time to appreciate your unique skills, strengths, and abilities. Now is the time to acknowledge the people in your life and all of the opportunities that have made you who you are at this exact moment in time. Each morning after you jump out of bed write, type or tell someone the 3 things you’re most grateful for in your personal and professional life. Next, take time to acknowledge 3 things you are grateful for about yourself. There’s a reason you’re here and the reason you’re reading this.

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