"I Don't Know." Is NOT an Excuse

Businesses, communities, marriages, careers, lives are suffering, deteriorating or being destroyed everyday in so many ways. And, although there are numerous causes of this suffering, deterioration and destruction, I am consistently receiving this response as one major contributors - "I don't know."

We define ourselves by our thoughts, words and actions. What are we conveying to others when we say we don't know?

We need to question and ask why we are saying "I don't know my responsibilities in my career, my community or family." If we agree to a role or a job, we need to be crystal clear about what we have agreed to or signed up for. If we are the CEO, president, owner, employee, spouse, parent or volunteer, it is imperative for us to have the expectations clearly laid out before we agree to the position.

Recently, I caught a segment of a reality television show - I honestly can't tell you the name - but the show was about an expectant mother who was seeking help from an expert about becoming a new parent. The good news was she was asking for help in advance - She was scheduled to deliver the following Monday and her meeting with this expert was taking place on the preceding Friday, not quite 3 full days before she would bring into the world a brand new baby. To follow is the bad news...

The expert started with a basic intake assessment to determine how much help and information this new mother-to-be needed. The nine month pregnant woman was not able to answer one question correctly, nor could she demonstrate on a doll how she could care for a totally dependent infant. When the expert asked her to show changing a baby's diaper, she asked, "I have to do THAT?"

The expert decided to take a different approach and here is how the interview continued.

Expert, "Will you have help?"

Mother-to-be response, "Oh, yes we have hired a nanny."

Expert, "Is she going to live in?"

Mother-to-be response, "On, no, she's only here during the day or when we are away."

The expert turned to the audience and mouthed, "She doesn't have a clue."

The sad part of this entire scenario for me is that this response is so, so typical. People jump into situations and don't have any ideas of their responsibilities or roles and that is just a disaster waiting to happen. We have to stop using "I don't know" as an answer and start coming in prepared with research, education, questions and an interest in learning more.

Let's start taking ownership instead of looking for the easy way out or believe me, we will be learning some really hard lessons.

Healthy Cost Savers in the Work Place

The cost of disease in the work place is becoming catastrophic. Currently, it is estimated that the cost of medical services is seven times the national inflation rate. With all the other competing costs that businesses incur, believe it or not, health care is probably the most costly and also the least addressed.

To build the case for focusing on health as a cost saving measure, let's start with some definitions of disease.

According to en.wiktionary.org

Disease is...

1. "an abnormal condition of the body or mind that causes discomfort or dysfunction"
2. "Lack of a feeling of ease; uneasiness"

According to www.understandinganimalresearch.org

Disease is...

• Malfunctioning of the body or any part of the body resulting from any number of influences, including genetic errors, toxins, infections, nutritional deficiencies, and environmental factors.

According to autistics.org/resources/glossary

Disease is...

• "an alteration of a living body that impairs its functioning"

According to montana.edu

Disease is...

• "stress condition produced by the effects of a pathogen on a susceptible host"

Yes, disease is often caused by tangible factors. Overeating, smoking, lack of exercise are the obvious causal factors. The bad news is, the intangibles are the factors that are really causing health care costs to rise. The intangibles such as feelings of helplessness, hopelessness and loss of personal value and worth are much so more costly because of the insidious impacts in all aspects of life and work.

The focus to decrease health care costs must shift from disease management to health management. Wellness programs are a great start. However, to really make a substantial impact, we as business and community leaders will need to focus on totally different frontiers. Frontiers such as Emotional Intelligence (EQ), Conflict Resolution, Leadership, Resilience and other so called "soft skills" are shown to have substantial impact on the bottom line. When companies focus on these new frontiers, there is a much more sustainable health impact on not just the benefit dollars expended but also the productivity costs that are flowing out the door.

Have A Happy and Prosperous New Year

12 Gifts to Self in 2011

1. Set the stage health
   
2. Enjoy sunrises and sunsets
3. Go for walks in nature
4. Read a novel (or two)
   
5. Do something extra at work and tell no one about it
   
6. Try something new
7. Spend an hour or a day in silence
   
8. Create a development plan and goals that support growth and development
   
9. Be open to finding my talents
   
10. Be kinder to self
    
11. Hold myself accountable for what I control and let go of all that I don't
    
12. List 12 things that I am grateful for and send it to myself as a thank you note
    

What gifts will you give yourself this year?

Overcoming Presenteeism - An Unacknowledged Contributor to An Under Performing Workforce

In 2004, Cornell University Institute for Health and Productivity Studies (IHPS) conducted a study that “estimate that companies' on-the-job productivity losses from presenteeism are possibly as high as 60 percent of the total cost of worker illness -- exceeding the costs of absenteeism and medical and disability benefits. “

The term presenteeism was coined by Cary Cooper, a professor of organizational psychology and health at Manchester University, UK, Dr. Cooper describes presenteeism as “an overwhelming need to put in more hours or, at the very least, appear to be working very long hours, is another dangerous symptom of the explosive degree of pressure in the workplace.”

What does all this mean to your company?

The impact of presenteeism gone unchecked results in:

• exorbitant costs,
• ineffective work team , and
• inability to attain key business objectives.

How can you as employers staunch outflow of dollars and productivity lost as a result of presenteeism?

1. Analyze the workplace environment

2. Identify the greatest area of concern

3. Prioritize and select one area to address

4. Create a plan of action to assist employees in managing their ability to cope with physical, mental and psychological challenges

Taking measures to increase awareness to presenteeism and it’s impacts on business results is key. Taking proactive steps to assist employees to deal with work and life challenges is the essential to business success. Ultimately, overcoming presenteeism will help you to build a high performing workforce that benefits both you and your employees.

Make SPACE

Life keeps getting more and more cluttered; more stuff, more information, more competition, more challenges, more, more, more… What happens with all this accumulation and there is no room left - fatigue, dissatisfaction, and disillusionment.

How can we make more room in our lives for increased health, family, productivity, contributions? We can make space.

Select what is important. In Wayne Dyer’s The Awakened Life, he mentioned that when we identify that we as human beings really have one business – the people business. Now I realize that that is my business, so all the other clutter that shows up really moves lower on the responsibility ladder.

In family, social and business, understanding and interacting within relationships can become slightly challenging unless one keeps in mind that serving others doesn’t mean sacrificing self. It does mean to serve others and self in a respectful and healthy manner. This already takes some pressure off.

Prioritize our goals. It’s great to have goals. It’s not so great to have copious, competing goals. Come on, you know exactly what I mean. The job, the family, the interests, the wants and needs certainly can stack up and become almost too distracting. Collect all the goals in one area, make a list and establish what is really important. The rest, cross off the list or move to a “someday” list for future reference.

Assess our resources. Having a focus and then reviewing goals is a great start for making space. Next, let’s identify our resources. What tools do we have in our tool kit – skills, knowledge and talents? Who are the people we know that can help us personally and professionally. What about our experiences and community.

Collaborate with others. Last week, in the United States we celebrated Thanksgiving. I heard on the radio that people were cutting back on how many people they were inviting – too much cost and work. Now I really appreciate how much work a large dinner can be, I have even put together one or two on occasion myself, however this can really clutter life and physical space. Whether it’s a family, community or work setting, we can really make space for more enjoyment, more team work if we learn to collaborate. People want to be included and help. Just ask and one is wonderfully surprised with the results.

Enjoy life. When we know what is important, prioritize our goals, assess our resources and collaborate with others, we can really find joy. If we just choose to make SPACE.

Making the transition to health

We all realize changing habits is hard to do. Too many times we jump into something without proper preparation, knowledge, and planning of the task at hand. We fail, give up and think of ourselves as someone who will never change. Making the transition is sometimes the hardest part.
Here are some ideas to help you in your transition.

First: Understand what you want to change. Is it diet, exercise, a relationship, or a behavior you don't like.

Second: Journal. If you are not in the habit of journaling, now is a good time to start. It's a great way to discover yourself.

Third; Stop judging yourself. Turn off that voice in your head that critiques your every move.

Fourth: Stay the course. Sometimes the changes we make go against the "norm". It's not what everyone else is doing. It's hard to be different. Stay true to your heart and listen to yourself.

Fifth: Seek out resources and support. Be knowledgeable about what you are trying to accomplish. Seek professional help if you feel that it's needed.

Journal Exercise: This is a great way to raise your level of awareness about yourself.
Pick an area of your life you want to work on. Let's take physical health for example. Write a letter to yourself and describe everything about your physical health. Write it as if you were writing to a friend or stranger and had to describe yourself to them. You may be surprised at what you learn. I know I was.

Judy Rienzi

A Business Imperative: Focus On HEALTH as the Essential Element

To succeed today in business factors have to be in play. There is tremendous focus, realistically so most times, but not compulsively so all the time, on the financials, the products, the tangibles. Yes people are always a forerunner but let’s be honest, often times people are mentioned as a focus in terms of production, service, efficiencies, labor costs which include those pesky health benefits. We control, monitor, measure, all in attempts to become leaner and as a result do become meaner. This does not translate into being more effective, more customer/employee/stakeholder friendly.

The business imperative now becomes, how can I optimize the most valuable asset of the organization – the people?

Let’s start by creating a clear definition of health – and no you don’t have to be a doctor or a nurse or therapist - to understand health, but you will need their expertise and advice to help you create a healthier workforce.

Health is elusive to define and ways of thinking about it have evolved over the years. Three leading approaches include the "medical model", the "holistic model", and the "wellness model":

· The medical model emphasizes treating specific physical diseases. Subsequently today a typical definition of health is “the absence of disease and the presence of high levels of function.”

· The holistic model of health is exemplified by the 1947 WHO (World Health Organization) definition, "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity".

· The wellness model was developed through the WHO health promotion initiative. The definition that resulted "The extent to which an individual or group is able to realize aspirations and satisfy needs, and to change or cope with the environment. Health is a resource for everyday life, not the objective of living; it is a positive concept, emphasizing social and personal resources, as well as physical capacities." (Health promotion: a discussion document. Copenhagen, WHO, 1984.)

Becoming a central focus, HEALTH now supports all aspects of life, not the just the physical aspects. As the essential element, Health emphasizes additional aspects social, family, ethics (includes spirituality or religion), mental, career, financial and life’s purpose (consider Viktor Frankl’s classic book, Man’s Search for Meaning). The Business Imperative - treat HEALTH as the Essential Element for individuals, companies and communities to not just survive but thrive.

Laura and Judy

Energy Sappers

Are you less productive at work and at home because you lack energy? Do you feel like your always playing “catch up” but never really do? Do you create goals but lack the motivation to accomplish them?

Energy is our capacity for action-our capacity for accomplishing what we want in life. Energy levels change daily, and sometimes throughout the same day. What causes these fluctuations? Let’s begin to explore what is sapping your energy.

1) Physical Health: Your diet, exercise, sleep, and health practices affect your energy. Write down your self-care habits.

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2) Mental Health: Your emotions, negative self talk, and stress levels can sap your energy. Write down the negative thoughts that affect you.

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3) 3) Behaviors: Your actions, relationships with family, friend and co-workers, and your relationship with yourself all affect your energy. Do you over schedule yourself? Write down your behaviors as you see them.

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4) Environment: Your work and home environment affects your energy. Are they clean, organized, conducive to good health; does your home provide comfort and joy? It is a place you are proud of?

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Create a daily log of what saps your energy, what gives you a boost, and what steps you can take to shift the energy. The key to change is being aware of what needs to change. Prioritize and begin to work on those areas that you value most.

Judy Rienzi

A Healthy Leadership Approach to Change - Flexibility

Although we may not want to acknowledge it, Change is inevitable. Because of this inevitability, we can choose to actively resist, accept or actively engage. Research is showing the degree of flexibility an individual, group or organization possesses often times determines the degree of leadership and success.

Healthy flexibility does not mean with each change we bend and adapt in any direction. It does mean that learning how to deal with change more effectively can actually optimize the experience to ensure that the change or the decision not just accepted but is positive.

Here are some simple leadership steps to healthy flexibility:

1. Name the change, clearly and factually. This may seem apparent but often times we notice a difference and move instantly to like or dislike. When we identify the facts regarding the change we actually have specific information that can help us to make more thoughtful decisions. We meet a new person - Fact - meeting someone new is a change. At this point. we don't know if that change is positive or negative.

2. Identify the risks. This the time to do a cost benefit analysis. What are the costs to me, the team, the family, the community or company at large. We often stay focused in the area of what's in it for me and greatly limit the potential affects of the change. This successful business woman wants to join a community wide task force, boat loads of money, short on ethics. What are the risks?

3. Clarify the degree of vulnerability that the change will elicit to all involved. Same example, the resources that the woman brings to the table are quite useful. Providing codes of conduct and standards up front. She joins the group. She attempts to make some decisions that may not align with your standards. The group shares the ground rules. She agrees and supports or gets angry and threatens to leave and take her money. Now, we need to determine the degree of risk

4. Find the healthiest support systems. These support systems need to be internal and external. Thinking through the above situation independently - my vote lose the money and find another source of income. I can lose my money, I will not lose my character. If the group disagrees, I now have a second choice - accept the change or leave . I gracefully and factually share my concerns. The group makes a choice. Desperate for the dollars, the vote is to follow her recommendations. I make the choice to leave the group or the job and still have my character and self respect.

Four simple, but certainly not easy steps. For me this a healthy leadership approach to change.

Health Value-Positive Thinking

Book Review

Dr. Joseph Murphy, author of the classic book The Power of the Subconscious Mind, has written a "Maximize Your Potential" series of books. The one I will be referring to is "Maximize Your Potential Through The Power of Your Subconscious Mind For Health and Vitality". In this book, his prescription for healthy aging lies within ourselves through positive thought.

You aren't old until you lose your curiosity and you heart becomes weary and unresponsive. As long as you're involved in life in many ways, you can't grow old in spirit. You only become feeble (no matter how many birthdays you've had), when you've lost touch with the youth, ideals, and spirit of your times...when you've ceased to grow and learn".

Do you know people who "think" themselves old? Just because you are of a certain age, does that mean you have to act and think of a certain age? Our negative thoughts sink into our subconscious mind, manifest problems in our body, and shorten life. If we have a poor mental attitude, then we impose our own self limitations.

As a minister, Dr. Murphy's book is both spiritual and inspirational. He focuses on aging, however the suggestions in this book are for any age. His principles for vibrant health lie in our thought process, ideas, beliefs, and mental attitude. Of course we all have to take responsibility for our body-eating well and exercising; but isn't that also part of our mental attitude?

Dr. Murphy's ideas are practical, trustworthy, and timeless. The central mind-body theme "is that new thoughts, ideas, attitudes and beliefs create new conditions".

Judy Rienzi

Health as a Value

The way to spend your time and energy wisely is to know the values by which you live. These values direct your decision making ability, your choices, and your behaviors. In times of crisis, especially a health crisis, our values come into focus. We become acutely aware of what's important in life and what our priorities are. This is why health is our number one core value, It is the value from which all else is determined.

Take a moment to list your top five values. These are the principles you use to make your decisions and are non negotiable.
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____________ _______________
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If respect is one your values, then isn't respect for others and ourselves a health value?
If responsibility is one of your values, then isn't our responsibility to take care of ourselves a health value?

Health encompasses our whole being in all aspects of life; physical, mental, social, family, career, and finance. Your ability to examine all parts of your life and grow as a person is your total health.

Focusing on life through your health value will direct you toward spending time and energy where it counts the most and where it is needed the most. Ask yourself, "What is important to me"? "What gives my life meaning"? "What do I value"? After you answered these, ask yourself "What role does my health play in all of these answers"?

Health as a Value will give your life purpose, and direct you toward living the life you want.

Judy Rienzi

We're all Health Leaders

Are you influential in leading your community back to health? Did you know every choice you make impacts your environment? Building healthy communities begins with focusing on individuals and the community as a "whole". The physical, social, emotional and spiritual needs of the "whole" community are of equal importance.

Our role in assisting communities toward health begins with being an effective role model. It is human nature to mimic the habits of others. Commit to your own good self care for others to follow. Collaborate with co-workers to create strategies for stress management and exercise programs, and healthy food options in your organization. Be a facilitator of change by building positive relationships, and developing good communication skills.

We are all health leaders when we motivate others to seek their own good health. Promoting community health begins by setting an example of self responsibility and taking responsibility to help others.

Judy Rienzi

Health - Interventions to Flourish

The source of the word health comes from old English word haelth or hal. One of my favorite definitions is "a flourishing condition." When families, communities, and organizations flourishing, they are considered healthy.

Interestingly enough, over the course of time, the definition of health has come to mean managing disease. Subsequently, to have financial health, professional health, physical health, mental health, social health, ethical health, social health, or ... health, the focus has over time shifted to disease management. Health, as it was originally intended, back in the 12th century in England was much, much more positive.

What if we changed our focus? What if we approached health in all aspects of our life to help us grow and prosper? These questions I have been pondering a very long time.

It still amazes me (I'm an RN) to know that we spend more time and money using some type of prescription, generally medication as the primary intervention for returning people to health. This same approach is used to return business back to health, only the prescription is a popular or trendy "formula" that has been prescribed and applied. I am not saying that medications and formulas don't work. They certainly do. That being said, they are not the only interventions to help people and business to be healthier. In fact, sometimes they actually can harm if they are not evaluated and modified appropriately.

What if we considered interventions for individual and organization that were more cost effective and has a lot less side effects? Shifting the focus to interventions that help people develop positive attitudes, habits and behaviors is showing startling results. For example, the more we hone our communication effectiveness, the more we can reduce misunderstanding, mis- diagnoses and mistreatment. Improving our strategic thinking will help us achieve a weight, a style, a product or service that can sustain and even help individuals, communities and businesses to flourish. These are just the tip of the "emotional intelligence" iceberg.

The interventions that start with internal focus will help enhance and/or minimize the external interventions. Remember, health is all about developing "flourishing conditions." What interventions will help you to flourish?

Use Our Mind to Change Our Energy

Lately, I have been struggling with insomnia-waking up every hour. As you can image, I've been feeling pretty awful with overwhelming fatigue. I could feel the energy I was producing, not just physically and mentally, but the energy surrounding me spiraling down. I did what we all do when we feel desperate-I looked for a quick fix. I felt out of control. I called my physician and began experimenting with different medication to help me sleep. I didn't like any of them but settled on Ambien. I still didn't sleep through the night and felt hung over during the day. I spent half the day immobilized.

After a couple of weeks, I knew I was done with this level of desperation. I had a bit of a pep talk with myself, changed my mindset, and created a new plan. That night I stopped the Ambien, even though I knew it would be a terrible night. The next day, I got on the treadmill and walked, and implemented a new health plan.

I took control of myself. I'm still tired, but the energy I have created within myself is positive, giving me a new outlook. As a result, I even feel better physically and mentally.

Our mind is powerful and in the controls of our life. I have a long way to go. I created enough positive energy to push through the fatigue and take different action to feel better and fulfill my goal - getting quality sleep.

Remember that old saying " A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste!" I used my mind to create positive energy to make me feel better.

Judy Rienzi

Overcome Desperation - Build Resilience

Housing crisis reaches full boil in East Point; 62 injured

Headline from Atlanta News
http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/housing-crisis-reaches-full-589653.html

In the last few days, over 30,000 people waited in Atlanta, Georgia for over 3 days in stifling heat in an attempt to gain some relief to their housing issues. In desperation and anger, people were and a city were horribly injuried. This headline is not necessarily unusual today, in fact it is becoming quite common place.

What is one way to overcome this increasing sense of desperation?

Build resilience.

Merriam Webster defines resilience as:

a: capable of withstanding shock without permanent deformation or rupture b : tending to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change

“We find that people's beliefs about their efficacy
affect the sorts of choices they make in very significant ways.
In particular, it affects their levels of motivation
and perseverance in the face of obstacles.
Most success requires persistent effort,
so low self-efficacy becomes a self-limiting process.
In order to succeed, people need a sense of self-efficacy,
strung together with resilience to meet the inevitable obstacles
and inequities of life.”
Albert Bandura
Canadian Psychologist

ABC's to build resilience:

Assess your current assets and capabilities.

Believe these assets and and capabilities are talents that will help you overcome any obstacle

Create a support system that gives you valuable and productive feedback.

This is just a start, but it's better than sitting there in quiet or public desperation. Wouldn't you agree?

Promoting Health & Wealth - Own Your Goals - own your life

I practiced with a group an exercise w using the Wheels of Life. It was amazing how quickly people discovered that they needed to look at ALL the key elements of the personal and professional (organizational) Wheels of Life as they checked in with their goals. Next they identified that s when connected with the essential Skills and Knowledge (S&A) element is a powerful process.

As we worked with these Wheels of Life, people realized that they now could also appreciate that their goal setting experience had helped or hindered them in their work and life. For example, many had completed their education, achieved certificates, attained degrees and/or landed jobs. This helped to validate to them that they had at least a basic understanding of goal setting. They also came to understand that they didn't realize how setting goals is not necessarily aligned with goal achievement. But it certainly is a great start.

How do the goals we set actually do more than just nudge us in the direction of accessing our skills and knowledge? Or, do our goals actually position us for achievement, success and powerful results?

What if we have a great deal of challenges with conflict, personally and professionally. We set a goal to increase our knowledge of conflict and we will read a book. This is a nice goal, even a good goal, but then what? Remember applied knowledge is even more powerful and setting a goal that will lead us to do something MORE than just read a book takes more work and planning but nets us even greater results. So we set a goal to read a book specific to conflict management such as Crucial Conversations;Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny,Ron McMillan & Al Switzer in the next 30 days. After we read the book, .will identify at least one tip or take away, put that tip into action and then evaluate the effectiveness of that tip.


We just created a WHY -Written, Habit-forming and YOURS, SMART goal - Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistically High and Timed. Each individual pen the goal and decided to own the goal- no one gave us the goal - we each penned our own. Someone else may write. After reading the book, I will teach one technique to my team.

The more we own the goal and make it apply to what we need to enhance with our skills and knowledge the more likely we will be to succeed.

Using the Wheel of Life to help us to identify at least one area for growth or enhancement a month over the course of 12 months will help us to build new habits.

The biggest tip I can give for goal setting is make the goals your own and change your life!

All the best in health and wealth,

Laura

Promoting Health and Wealth _ How to LIVE Our Dreams

Helping us to understand WHY we have our current state of health, wealth and work becomes imperative to our success and joy in life. Answering the questions I recommended yesterday ...What dreams do I have for my physical, financial and career health?,What does extraordinary physical, financial and career health look like, feel like, sound like for me?, How do I behave to ensure that I achieve the level of health that supports my total physical, financial and career health as I move into my flow? and What habits will I need to change, modify, eliminate or enhance my physical, financial and career health?, is a great way to start.

However, even these few questions are more than a one hour, one day event. The key in any assessment process is to really dig - identify your baseline. Now let's go back and really look at each of those questions and look for some additional information.

What is your current physical status - weight, pain/discomfort, doctor visits, any diagnosed disorders or diseases?
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What is current financial status - savings and checking account balances, major debts, credit card debt, assets, income
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What is your current career status - meaningful work, promotes passion and energy, mentors, growth, contribution?
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Learning HOW we live will help us to understand WHY we have our current physical, financial and career elements in our wheel of life. Once determined, we now can, in words of Thoreau,

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.”

All the best in health and wealth,

Laura

Promote Health & Wealth - Dreams to Goals to Flow

Is is my experience that getting into the habit of dreaming, goal setting and being in the flow takes the same amount of energy as any other habit/behavioral change we hope to accomplish. The good news is, everyone, and I do believe everyone, is already better at goal setting than we are aware because goals help us to meet our basic needs. And I do believe, we are just rusty at dreaming and getting in the flow because we tell ourselves dreams and being in the flow are wants and not needs. So we push our wants (and our needs) down because we have made a decision to live our lives in fear and have only our basic needs met.

Let me give you some examples. We wake up in the morning and decide to stay in bed or get to the bathroom. Urgent need and we get there. This is a basic behavior, but a goal none the less. So guess what, 100% of us get there in one way shape or form.

Next goal, do I go back to bed or get started into my day? The more I am aware of my dreams and my desire for being in the flow with health, success and contribution will be a direct correlation to how much energy I put into my goals for the day as I move into my work.

Are we getting the idea. This may seem simplistic but I can guarantee you that the bigger our dreams and the more clear we are on how extraordinary our lives can be the more likely we will be to treat D.G.F. dreams(D)to goals(G)to flow(F)as a process.

Now let's go back to the life wheel. Can you see now how assessing what is important you will help you to engage in this DGF process.




Just for today, let's start with the broad categories on the personal side, outer rim of the wheel:
1. To Live
2. To Learn
3. To Leave a Legacy
4. To Love

The first example would fall into the physical category on the outer wheel. The second could actually fall under all 4, if we really think about it. It depends on our D.G.F.dreams(D)to goals(G)to flow(F)- a process. and this becomes for me a DGF- Darn Great Focus for the day! I'm starting to work on it right now. What about you?

All the best in health and wealth,

Laura

Promoting Health & Wealth - From Dreaming to Goals

All men dream: but not equally, Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, to make it possible. This I did.

* T. E. Lawrence, Seven Pillars of Wisdom (1922)


As I continue to study and research, I found the above quote by Lawrence of Arabia. What makes these dreamers by day dangerous? They turn their dreaming into a process. How do people become dangerous? They are the exceptional people that take a dream, clearly define what it means to them, helps them set a positive vision. A vision for greater health in communities and nations, more sensitivity to our environment and natural resources, more respect for our collective assets and talents.

As these dreams become more focused, we can use this dreaming process to establish goals and then act with deliberate purpose and passion. The bigger the dreams the more we need to appreciate our life wheels.





We need and want to keep these life wheels in balance to stay in the flow and live a health-filled, wealth-filled life. Again, let's keep writing down our dreams. Let's make them big enough to capture our talents, our passions, our resources, our values and our joys.

I filling as if today I am already getting into the flow. Dreaming is a great start. Tomorrow, we'll start with goals to build that bridge for the flow into success.

All the best in health and wealth,

Laura

Promoting Health and Wealth - Problems and Questions

In reflection, I realize that one of the biggest reasons that I started this journey is because I wanted to work on my personal accountability. In the past, I have worked very hard on helping others increase their personal accountability and achieve success. Then it dawned on me, if I develop my own personal accountability, I would definitely improve my health and wealth.

Our bodies are wonderfully designed - our body is a reflection of all that we put out in the world, even if what we put out is only a thought. For example, I am fortunately a really healthy person, rarely get sick. For most of my life, however, whenever I would move into a mode of working excessive hours, pushing, pushing, controlling projects or events, I would end up with a terrible cold and then acute bronchitis. As I dug deeper into the cause of this problem, I became aware that my body was telling me to slow down, enjoy the ride and pay attention to the beauty of the experience rather than just plowing through. My body gave me the message loud and clear.

You're working too hard!
This job or project is not for you!
It's time to take a break!

I still didn't totally get the message for other aspects of my life that might be holding me back.. I wasn't really consciously making the best decisions but at least when a cold cropped up, I knew it was time to stop and ask what I needed to change or do differently.

One great resource for helping me in this process to improve personal accountability to help I me to enhance my strength in the questioning arena is great book by John G. Miller, called QBQ - The Question Behind the Question. In my opinion, this is one of the best books in the market today on personal accountability.

This book can be read in about an hour and can help one master the art of questioning. I don't want to give away the essence of the book, it is well worth the investment in time and money.

What about you, any suggestions on how to enhance this questioning, discovery process to help promote extraordinary health and wealth.

All the best in health and wealth,

Laura