wellness

Tag Archive for wellness

A Chi For Yourself “Happy Dance”, And Law of Attraction Re-visited

June 6, 2018 John Uncategorized No comments

Happy was the order of the day when Andrew Matthews visited Chi For Yourself. Andrew reminded us that to be happy we have to emulate happy and successful people. And he says that it’s what you feel that attracts the sort of life you have.

Andrew Matthews is the author of How Life Works: Why Happy People Are More Successful. How You Can Be Like Them!

Listen to last week’s show by clicking on below–

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Recently I had the chance to respond to a blog post and I just couldn’t resist. I rarely do this. The writer read The Secret, did affirmations, and felt this “belief” was all fueled by ego wants. The following is an excerpt of my response. As the saying goes, “Ignorance of the Law is no excuse.”

O.K. kids, time to clear this up once and for all… Law of Attraction does not manipulate anything. And, ego is not the driver of LOA.

Let’s put away our copies of The Secret and get this thing right. Law of Attraction is more accurately known as Law of Vibration.

This vibration occurs in everything in the universe, including YOU. Work on honing your energy or vibration- think gratitude, love, and so on.

You’ll ACTIVATE and work with The Law of Vibration to deliberately manifest. You do this by seeking out ways to optimize your energy and clear the way for the alignment process to work.

Universal Law is not about “believing.” It’s not a faith, a cult, a fad, a superstition, or a parlor trick.

It’s not the fast track to a new Lexus or a winning lottery ticket. It’s been around forever and it ain’t goin’ anywhere.

Honing this magnetic energy as mentioned earlier can have extraordinary effect. It’s constantly affecting individuals, communities, and even countries.

Studies have shown that attractor energies can impact something as basic as water. And, water makes up more than half of an adult male’s body. See Dr. Masaru Emoto’s study

https://thewellnessenterprise .com/emoto/)

Still having a problem believing this Universal Law business? Step off of a tall building and see if you believe in another Universal Law- the Law of Gravity.

Whew! Law of Attraction is not a threat to you or your religion for that matter. You don’t have to convert to a dogmatic creed, do penance, or sacrifice any virgins.

JohnK 6-6-2018

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Overheard: Whatever we plant in our subconscious mind and nourish with repetition and emotion will one day become a reality.

~Earl Nightingale

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Happy Days And How You Can Have Em’: Next CHI FOR YOURSELF

May 30, 2018 John Uncategorized No comments

What’s it take to be happy? We’ll explore that question on this week’s CHI FOR YOURSELF.

Our scheduled guest is Andrew Matthews, author of How Life Works: Why Happy People are More Successful. How You Can Be Like Them!

Andrew teaches how to emulate happy and successful people and that it’s what you feel that attracts the sort of life you have.

You can listen in this Thursday, May 31st at 4 pm Eastern, 1 pm Pacific time at chiforyourself.com.

C’mon, get happy!

JohnK 5-30-2018

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Don’t Let Excuses Destroy Your Momentum

May 24, 2018 John Uncategorized No comments

Are excuses getting in your way? Another week is passing by and you’re no closer to reaching your goal. Or wish. Or dream!

Here’s a gentle reminder from CHI FOR YOURSELF about excuses and what you can do about them.

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ARTICLE:

Excuses. They’re some of the biggest momentum destroyers. But you can overcome the need to create excuses by keeping moving in the right direction.

The smallest actions toward achieving your goal can keep your momentum moving along.

You want your action to be consistent. This will keep momentum moving and your goals on track.

In time, your progress will become easier and your actions will be done without even thinking. You’ll enjoy the actions much more too. And you’ll become more enthused as you realize one success after another.

Here are some common excuses. They’re often used to keep you from beginning or following through with a commitment:

Time constraints –

“I just have too much to do and can’t exercise (or whatever else you need to do). Everyone has the same amount of time, but they don’t set the proper priorities.

Decide what’s most important to you. Then take action after weeding out some of the less important tasks in your life.

It’s too difficult –

You may need to break down the goal into small steps so that you better understand and can complete it. Make it a point to study and analyze what you want and how to get it.

That may mean going back to school, but if you want it badly enough, it’s worthwhile.

Too old (or too young) –

Look at older folks. Some have accomplished what seemed like impossible feats in their later years.

And look at those who’ve reached phenomenal success at very young ages. If you have the will and commitment to gather the momentum you need – you’ll succeed.

The time isn’t right –

You might think you’ll do it when the kids are out of school, when you retire, or when your finances are in better shape.

Chances are, the time will never be quite right to begin the motions to reach your most lofty goals. Begin now – even in small increments – to create the momentum necessary to move you along.

What are some of the excuses you’ve used in the past? Did they keep you from completing a project or beginning the process to reach a goal?

Decide whether your excuse is valid or a momentum killer that’s holding you back.

JohnK 5-24-2018

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Overheard: “It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one.”
~ George Washington

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Breaking Up With Busy: This Week on CHI FOR YOURSELF

May 9, 2018 John Uncategorized No comments

Being busy has become a status symbol in society. Overworking and under-sleeping are two of the byproducts of this. But what does all the busyness accomplish?

Our scheduled guest on this week’s CHI FOR YOURSELF has written a book that shows you how to reclaim your time and get off the busyness hamster wheel.

Yvonne Tally is the author of Breaking Up with Busy: Real-Life Solutions for Overscheduled Women.

Be with us for the interview with Yvonne Tally on Thursday, May 10th, at 4 pm Eastern, 1 pm Pacific time at chiforyourself.com

JohnK 5-9-2018

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Feeling Hungry? Get A Plan!

May 2, 2018 John Uncategorized No comments

Picture this. You come home from work stressed, exhausted, and hungry. You decide that tonight might be a great night to order in.

Do you find yourself doing this two or three times a week because your life is so busy? The scenario isn’t meant to shame, Most of us have been there.

Life doesn’t stop because your day has been crazy busy.

The kids still need to eat. The laundry still needs to get done. And you still have a night of balancing your checkbook ahead of you.

Let’s be honest, who would have time to even think about cooking with a schedule like that? This is where the importance of planning comes in.

When you’re able to plan your meals ahead of time you won’t need to hit that drive-thru window. You’ll already have your dinner ready, all you need to do is heat it. With everything already in place, you can focus on other things while your food is cooking.

Taking one or two hours a week to plan your meals might seem like a hassle. But this can save you hours in the future.

Doing something once a week is a lot easier than doing it several times a week. One trip to the grocery store and one afternoon in the kitchen. This can produce an entire week of meals for your family.

But planning your meals is only the beginning. You can also plan your trip to the grocery store.

What was once a headache can be a breeze when you have a categorized list in front of you. Make an Excel spreadsheet and list your grocery categories in bold, (frozen, produce, meats, etc.).

Then put each item under the appropriate category and print it out. Now you have an easy-to-use, focused list that will keep you on track.

And, your printout can be a template for your future grocery lists.

JohnK 5-2-2018

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Overheard: “True healthcare reform starts in your kitchen, not in Washington”

~Anonymous

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Bringing Change To Your Life: Ya Gotta Want It!

April 25, 2018 John Uncategorized No comments

Bringing change to our lives is great conversation fodder. But, are we really doing what it takes to bring about change?

Today’s article will give you some ideas to kick-start the process of changing your life.

While we’re on the subject of change, I hope you had a chance to hear the CHI FOR YOURSELF interview with Julie Simon. Our topic was emotional eating. Getting an upper hand on that tendency can bring major change to your life.

You can listen to the show by clicking on below:

Some of the talking points from the interview:

Emotional eating defined
Julie Simon’s experience as an emotional eater
Re-wiring the brain for better eating
Weight loss as a New Year resolution
Emotional eating: women and men

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ARTICLE

People often say that they have at least one wish or desire to change something about their lives. Unfortunately, they often don’t move to change this.

They’ll say that their reason for not attaining their goal is lack of motivation. Then there are those who would say this is a lack of effort rather than a lack of motivation.

Let’s take a look at some reasons why people don’t put the effort into making a lifestyle change.

1. Lack of a reason

To make any type of change in your life you need to have a good reason to do so. Having a goal is wonderful but the reason you have to reach that goal fuels your decision.

Those reasons could include attracting more money for a move to a new location. or for funding more opportunities.

2. Setting too large a goal

Weight loss is a perfect example. If you want to lose 70 pounds don’t focus on this amount.

Instead, you can set smaller goals, say 7 pounds a month. That can help you stay on task.

If you meet this goal in less time that’s great. If you’re struggling, don’t give up. Refocus and set your next monthly goal at 5 pounds.

3. No vision

Having a vision of what you want is a great way to stay motivated. This is why it’s smart to keep track of your goals.

You can do this in various ways, depending on your goal. If that goal is to lose weight then keep photos and images of your progress.

If it’s another type of goal you might want to keep a journal or blog about your journey.

This way you can see what you are struggling with and what you’re accomplishing.

4. Lack of Support

Not having a support network can hurt your efforts to bring change to your life. Getting support from family and friends can be a big boost toward realizing your goals.

Put these four factors into practice. You’ll find that you have both more drive and more commitment.

And, you’ll finally start making those lifestyle changes you’ve dreamed about.

JohnK 4-25-2018
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Overheard: “There is no man living that can not do more than he thinks he can.”
~ Henry Ford

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Boost Your Confidence by Making Better Decisions

April 2, 2018 John Uncategorized No comments

You’re starting another week. Another week of decisions you’ll need to make. But somehow those decisions don’t get made.

It’s one of the more frustrating situations you (and those around you) can face. You can’t seem to make a decision and stick to it.

There can be many reasons why you lack the confidence to make decisions in your life.

As a child your parents may have made all your decisions for you. And you weren’t supposed to question them..

Or it could be that you don’t like the pressure decision making puts on you. You question whether you’re making the right decision. And you’re fearful about how your decision will affect others.

You may feel very anxious at the thought of having to make a decision.

Here are a few ways to recognize if you’re someone who lacks the confidence to make decisions:

You would rather have someone else make the decision for you –

Passing the decision-making process to another could show a lack of confidence.

You never make a decision –

Other people may be relying on you for a decision, but you let weeks or months slide by without deciding.

When you do make a decision, you second-guess yourself –

This is another demonstration of lack of confidence in your abilities.

Regardless of what led to an inability to trust yourself you can become better if you work at it.

Here are some ideas for improving your confidence and making good decisions.

Make an “unofficial” decision –

This is a decision that’s not yet set in stone. Make a decision, and live with that decision for a day.

For example, you’ve decided to upgrade to a bigger house, and you have the money saved up. You find a house that you really like that fits all the criteria you want in a bigger house.

It has a big yard, a deck, and an attached garage. But, you have trouble making decisions.

You may find that you try to talk yourself out of it. You begin to worry how you’ll afford it, the increased heating and cooling costs, and so forth.

This is where it can help to make an “unofficial” decision. You have to decide that you will or will not move.

Pick one, and live with that decision for a day. Convince yourself that the decision is a real one.

Then see how your decision makes you feel. This can be a good way to test decisions before making them official.

Knowing that you can still change your mind, if it doesn’t feel right, can be comforting.

Recognize decisions that are reversible –

For example, you’re having a tough time choosing a color of house paint. Start by picking some swatches. Then make a decision rather than fretting over the perfect color.

If you start painting and don’t like the color you can just reverse course and choose another color.

Ask yourself: what is the worst that can happen? –

Not all decisions are life altering. If you begin by making small decisions (like choosing which movie to go to) your confidence can grow as time goes on. You’ll be better positioned to make bigger decisions as time passes.

Write down the pros and cons of each decision you are considering –

It might help if you put your ideas on paper. List what you like and don’t like about them.

Seeing rather than only thinking about the options can make it easier to come to a decision.

JohnK 4-2-2018

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Overheard: “To change a habit, make a conscious decision, then act out the new behavior.”

~Maxwell Maltz

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Put The Brakes on Complaining

March 26, 2018 John Uncategorized No comments

Another Monday morning, and it’s a great time for complaining. Gotta wake up so early. Traffic is always a mess. This job is the worst.

You may not have a lot of options for improving your situation right now. But, you can change how you look at it

This is especially true if you’re a complainer. Let’s look at some ways to ratchet down the tendency to complain.

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How To Avoid Complaining

Remember the phrase from the poem Solitude, by Ella Wheeler Wilcox? The line is, “Laugh, and the world laughs with you; weep and you weep alone”.

The same can be said for complaining. If you’re a chronic complainer, you may want to rethink that tendency.

One problem with complaining is that too much of it becomes less effective over time. Are you really unhappy with every situation you’re presented with?

It could be a sign that you have other negative situations going on in your life. You need to choose your battles, as they say.

Let’s say you have several situations that make you unhappy. Pick the one you most want to focus on for improvement.

It will be easier to get your point across if you limit the frequency of your complaints.

There’s a right time to complain. But it should be done in the context of offering up alternatives.

Be part of the solution and not part of the problem. If you only offer a complaint, how is that helping solve the problem?

Offering solutions will show your willingness to have a stake in solving the problem.

A good approach is to come up with more than one solution whenever possible. This will help get more people to see your side of the story.

If you’re someone who complains a lot, take a step back. Think about others who are chronic complainers as well.

How did you react to their constant stream of complaints? Did you think to yourself that the person should try to help solve the problem?

If you answered yes to this last question, this is how others are thinking when you complain.

Complainers often feel like no one’s listening to them, usually with good reason. And the increased frustration could lead to their alienation from the group.

This is not a good situation. Management could be more likely to let the complainers go. Or the complainers might take it upon themselves to leave.

Complaining is considered negative thinking, but it’s a changeable habit.

Begin that change by shifting from negative to positive thoughts.

Your peers will likely find fewer faults with you. And they won’t go out of their way to avoid you if you maintain a positive attitude.

If you find that you complain a lot and people are avoiding you it may be time for some changes.

JohnK 3-26-2018

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Overheard: “When you change the way you look at things, the things

you look at change.”

~ Max Planck

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Change, The Power Of Self Development, And This Week’s CHI FOR YOURSELF

March 21, 2018 John Uncategorized No comments

This week’s episode of CHI FOR YOURSELF takes a look at fear, anxiety, and A Course In Miracles. We’ll welcome Corinne Zupko. She was challenged by anxiety at an early age.

But she found a way to heal from rather than just coping with fear and anxiety. That way included A Course in Miracles.

Corinne Zupko is the author of From Anxiety to Love: A Radical New Approach for Letting Go of Fear and Finding Lasting Peace

Hear the interview on Thursday, March 22nd at 4 pm Eastern, 1 pm Pacific time at chiforyourself.com

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ARTICLE:

Unlock Your Power Of Self Development

Life is about change. Even when we’re not aware of it.

An honest look at ourselves can assure that the changes take us in positive directions. But the honesty can be difficult since it requires perspective.

If you look at a painting too closely you might not be able to appreciate it. Back up a bit and you get a clearer vision of the whole artwork. You see it in perspective.

Life can sneak up on you with hints that might help you unlock your power of self- improvement. But until you’re ready for change you won’t see them. And the ready point may happen when you hit rock bottom.

It’s a little like the well-known frog principle. If you try placing a frog in a pot of boiling water, what happens? He jumps right out. Why?

Because he is not able to tolerate sudden change in his environment. He knows that water is too hot for him.

But put him in cooler water then turn the gas on and he won’t move. The water gets hotter and hotter until it’s boiling. You know how the story ends.

Your situation may be like the frog’s. You stay comfortable in a bad situation. You may think that one more cigarette or drink won’t hurt. You find yourself addicted and you can’t stop.

Pain teaches us lessons. Pain that is strong enough to make us see that our comfort zone is not so comfortable anymore.

We can ignore the warning signals for a long time, but finally, something hits home.

When do we realize that we need to change diets? When none of our jeans and shirts fit us.

When do we stop drinking sugary sodas all day? When every visit to the dentist reveals that we need painful work.

When do we realize that we need to stop smoking? When we develop a cough that will not go away.

When do we pray and ask for help? Sometimes, not until we know we are about to die.

It’s not easy to change. But change becomes more painful when we ignore it.

Change will happen, like it or not.

Happy people accept and embrace change. You don’t have to feel unbearable pain before realizing the need for self-improvement.

Self-development may not be everybody’s favorite pastime. But if we look at things from a different point of view, we might have a greater chance of enjoying the whole process.

Enjoy the process of unlocking your power of self-development. Then expect a better experience of happiness.

JohnK 3-21-2018

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Overheard: “Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change.”

~Stephen Hawking

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A Conscious Approach to Good Leadership

March 14, 2018 John Uncategorized No comments

This week I want to finish up our look at leadership. If you didn’t hear the CHI FOR YOURSELF interview with Linda Kohanov ( author of The Five Roles of a Master Herder: A Revolutionary Model for Socially Intelligent Leadership) you can click on here and start the player on the page.

Here’s a look at some of the features of a good leader. Could this be you?

ARTICLE:

Do you get frustrated at work when things don’t seem to be happening the way you think they’re supposed to? You see people milling around but nothing gets accomplished.

And in the daily hustle and bustle, do you feel that your goals remain only goals? Then it might be time for you to stand up and do something about it. Most people are content to stand around waiting for orders. It isn’t unusual to adopt a follow-the-leader mentality.

But it could be that somewhere inside of you, you feel the desire to make things happen – to be the head, not the tail. Leadership might be a good fit for you. There’s a saying- “great leaders are made, not born.” Yes, it may be true that some people are born with natural talents.

But, leadership doesn’t develop without practice, drive, enthusiasm, and experience.

And, good leaders continuously work and study to improve their natural skills. This takes a commitment toward constant improvement.

First of all, let’s define leadership. To be a leader, one must be able to influence others to work toward a result. He or she contributes to the organization and cohesion of a group.

Contrary to what many people believe, leadership isn’t about power. It’s not about harassing people or driving them using fear.

It’s about motivating others toward the goals of the organization. It’s getting everyone on the same page and helping them see the big picture.

Aim to be a leader, not a boss. You have to get people to follow your lead. How is this accomplished? People follow when they see that the leader has a clear sense of purpose. People will follow you if they see that you know where you’re going.

Remember that bumper sticker? The one that says, ‘Don’t follow me, I’m lost too’? The same holds true for leadership.

If you yourself don’t know where you’re headed, chances are people will not follow. You must understand the vision and mission of the organization.

Have a clear sense of hierarchy. Know who the bosses are. Who to talk to, and the organization’s goals and objectives and how it works. Being a leader is not about what you make others do. It’s about who you are, what you know, and what you do.

Studies show that a basis of good leadership is the trust and confidence of those you’re leading. If they trust you they’ll likely go through hell and high water for you and for the organization.

Trust and confidence are built on good relationships, trustworthiness, and high ethics. The strength of your relationships will build faith in your capabilities.

Communication is key to good leadership. You must be clear when you impart your knowledge and technical expertise. As a good leader, you’ll want to have sound judgment.

You must be able to assess situations, weigh the pros and cons of any decision, and actively seek out a solution.

It’s this judgment that those you lead will come to rely upon. So, good decision-making is vital to the success of your organization.

Leaders are not do-it-all heroes. Don’t claim to know everything, and don’t rely on your skills alone.

Recognize and take advantage of the skills and talents of your personnel. This way you’ll be able to work as one cohesive unit. Remember, being a leader takes a good deal of work and time. It is not learned overnight.

Remember, also, that it is not about just you. It’s about you and the people around you. So, do you have the drive and the desire to serve required of leaders? Do you have the desire to work cooperatively with other people?

Then start now. Take your stand and be the leader today.

JohnK 3-14-2018

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