Cliff Notes to Success

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I’ve always been a fan of cliff notes and getting down to the net/net, so here are the cliff notes for today’s blog:

Learn It. Lose it. Love it. Live it. And, laugh.

That’s a pretty simple formula, right?

Here’s the deal: we’re all striving towards life goals, essentially trying to live “larger” in some form or fashion. While the formula above isn’t rocket science, we may need a gentle reminder about how to tap into our best self:

Learn it. One of the best ways to achieve goals is to observe the patterns of success demonstrated by men and women who have achieved greatness. There are reasons these folks rocked it. Keep reading, learning and sharpening the saw. Take notes and do what they do.

Lose it. Create some awesome habits. We’ve all heard that it takes 21 days to create a habit, right? Well, it turns out this is a bit anecdotal. The reality is that it may take longer– or less. What matters is that we keep trying and focus on developing our good habits. They WILL stick, eventually. At the same time, we should drop any habits that don’t serve our purpose. Now. Simply lose them.

Love it. Life, that is. Life provides both sunshine and rain. What’s important is how we embrace what comes our way—opportunities, challenges, or people. Why not consider everything a stepping stone to our future and just say YES with enthusiasm and excitement?!

Live it, like Nike. Just do it, take action. It doesn’t matter if we make a mistake, get off track, or (gasp) fail. Our plans don’t have to be perfect in order to get started. What matters is that we keep going with dogged determination and persistence. If Plan A doesn’t work, switch to Plan B or C, because as long as we keep moving, we WILL succeed.

Last of all, laugh. We take ourselves far too seriously. Tony Robbins suggests considering the big picture and how we will look back on a situation 10 years from now. The odds are it will be with considerably less worry and strife. So why wait? Find humor & laugh more—especially at ourselves. Don’t take life so seriously. It’s certainly more enjoyable on the lighter side.

There they are, the “5 L” cliff notes to success: Learn it, lose it, love it, live it, and laugh.
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Remember, life isn’t about avoiding the storms, but rather how to dance in the rain.

Happy dancing!

~Lisa

(Written for Compete Every Day)

“Water is the only drink for a wise man.”

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Henry David Thoreau said that a loooong time ago and he was spot on. Today let’s talk about hydration and its importance to… well, to just about everything.

When do you drink water? Most of us drink when we are thirsty. Don’t! It takes a while for your body to fully hydrate. When you wait until thirsty, there is a high probability that you’re already dehydrated to some extent. That means whatever our body is doing or needs to do, it will not function effectively or optimally without proper hydration. A great way to get a jump start every day is to start your day with 2 cups of water. So, besides making everything work better, here are a few ways proper hydration helps you be more awesome:

Drinking water helps reduce high blood pressure. Your blood is approximately 92% water.

Drinking water helps reduce symptoms of allergies and/or asthma. See, when you are dehydrated, your body creates more histamines and if you have too many histamines circulating, you will feel congested and have other allergic reactions.
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Drinking water aids digestive disorders by eliminating or at least reducing ulcers, bloating, gas, gastritis, reflex and IBS. You also have less constipation since water is needed to move matter more quickly through the intestinal track.

Drinking water helps flush toxins. Back to the bullet above, a well hydrated bod purges toxins and metabolic wastes better. ‘Nuf said.

Drinking water helps speed up joint and cartilage repair. The padding in cartilage is mostly water and joint repair after workouts or injuries is quicker with adequate hydration.

Drinking water also flushes bacteria out of the bladder. Proper hydration is especially important to folks prone to kidney stones or bladder infections.

Drinking water gets your “glow” on. Seriously, with good hydration the skin can rid itself of toxins which cause irritation, inflammation, acne, dermatitis, psoriasis, and aging.

Drinking water helps you stop gaining weight. The more you drink, the more satiated you feel and…yes, that helps you feel less hungry which results in eating less . Keeping hydrated prevents cells from sending hungry signals to the brain. Besides most “hunger” is actually shared studies where just 2 glasses of water each morning resulted in an 11 lb. weight loss in a year! That’s something to drink up to.

Last, proper hydration is a mood and energy booster.

Until next time, live fit, laugh often, and DRINK UP!

What have you got to gain?

Why I Love Green Tea (& You Should Too!)

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I started drinking green tea 15 years ago shortly after my leukemia diagnosis. It was in my “combat phase” and I started researching anything and everything that was in my control so I could positively impact the outcome. Green tea came up repeatedly as something I should add to my arsenal, so I started drinking it, and I have been drinking 2-5 cups a day ever since. If you haven’t jumped on the green tea wagon, here are a few reasons why you should join me in this habit.

  1. It may prevent several types of cancers. Oral, prostate, breast…the list goes on. This is why I added it to my arsenal to begin with.
  2. It fights FAT. Green tea contains a powerful antioxidant called “EGCG” which inhibits metabolic syndrome. Here’s another thought: if you sub 1-2 cups of green tea for one soda each day, in a year you’d save > 50,000 calories. Lions and tigers and bears…OH MY! That’s 14 pounds…
  3. It prevents the build-up of cholesterol in the arteries and improves blood flow which means it reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease.
  4. What’s good for the heart is good for the brain. More recently, green tea has been shown to help block the formation of plaques linked to Alzheimer’s disease.
  5. What’s good for the heart and brain is also good for the eyes. Turns out the catechins in green tea can penetrate the tissues of the eyes boosting eyesight.
  6. It improves insulin use by the body and stabilizes energy. Drinking green tea helps prevent sugar crashes leading to fimageatigue and irritability.
  7. It provides anti-allergy and immune system support by reducing the allergy antibody immunoglobulin.
  8. Green tea is anti-aging. GIVE ME ANOTHER CUP! The ECGCs in it are 200X more powerful than Vitamin E in fighting free radicals causing skin damage and wrinkles.

Are you ready to join me?  If so, consider adding a little freshly squeezed lemon as that enhances the absorption. If not, read more about additional benefits and come on over to the GREEN side of life!

What have you got to gain?

Choose fit, live strong, laugh often.

Maintain Your Mojo (or, Finding Focus in CrAzY times)

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It’s soooo easy to lose focus these days. With all our technological tools, productivity apps, and lifestyles of convenience, we’d be a bunch of smooth, focused goal-achieving machines, right?  Masters of our universes. Yet the reality is that it’s far too easy to get caught up in the busyness of life. Social status updates, emails, texts, twitter,  checking the stock exchange or game scores, and 24/7 availability make it ever-so-easy  to lose focus on what matters most: our friends & family, our health, career goals, and co-creating our universe.  Life happens. But if we’re not careful, we find ourselves caught in a costly conundrum and we miss our mojo.

Sometimes it’s something big—like a relationship ending, the loss of a job, the death of a friend, or an investment gone bad that initiates the detour.  For many of us, it’s nothing big—just the small, incremental creep of exponential external stimuli. We know when this happens. We feel it. We feel run down. Negative thoughts creep in. We find ourselves in reactive mode, out of control, and depressed. Along with this, our immunity drops. Darn it, our mojo is missing! Our actions are not aligned with our goals.

To get it back, try following these three steps:

  1. Start with the end in mind. Remind yourself of your goals, and then start small. Do you have action steps and know the next steps to take? If not, this could be what’s throwing you off. (Actions should be Specific/Measurable/Attainable/Realistic/Timeframe = SMART.) Post your goals and next 3 action steps where you see them. Consider them first thing each morning and again before bed. Allow a few minutes of quiet time each day.  Vison boards might be helpful—or post it notes.  Do your friends and family know your goals? Share them and enlist their support.
  2. Identify the distractions and know what breaks you down. While I ‘m not a fan of dwelling in the past, noting distractions is important in order to set necessary boundaries—especially with technology. Limit the # of times you check your email or phone. (For example, limit email to 3 times a day for X minutes and initiate “phone free periods”. There are apps to help you manage!) Resist the technology urge and remember a distracted reactive state of mind leads to rushing, carelessness, and loss of focus. Figure out what distractions to give up and set limits on those that are essential.
  3. Consider excuses, and then be nice to yourself. Some of our biggest obstacles lie in our heads. Attitude IS everything and the mind can be a powerful friend– or foe. The good news is: that’s in your control, however it may take practice. Like Henry Ford said, “Whether you think you can or can’t, you’re right.” Find a mantra to help and replace negative thoughts. J Focus on the things you do right and forgive yourself for the things done wrong. Then get back on track and recommit.

Remember, the great thing about this wonderful life is that every day brings an opportunity to begin again. And, when you say yes to one thing, you say no to something else. Choose your yeses and you’ll find your focus.  It will feel good. Then, hellooooo mojo!

Until next time, choose your fit. Live strong. Laugh often.

(blog written for Compete Every Day )

What have you got to lose?