life lived by the Book
Tai chi does not mean oriental wisdom or something exotic.
It is the wisdom of your own senses, your own mind and body together
as one process.
If you have been looking for some way to move back into getting a little more exercise, and you find that, like most of us, you are not presently interested in running the full or a half marathon, and you have no interest in lifting a few weights, I have a suggestion to offer you. While both of the exercises that I have mentioned are good for you, to begin a new routine, of any kind, you have got to get your head and heart in the game. You have to want to do it. This comes even before being committed to sticking with it. My suggestion is Tai Chi. But, like any other new undertaking, there are certain points to consider if you are really thinking of joining a group.
Basic Facts
Tai Chi and Tai Chi Chuan are the same. The Anglicized and Americanized spellings do not adequately reflect the CHINESE symbols, so there are a multitude of ways to spell the same thing. There may be an additional character or two on the end of the latter, but the meaning stands the same. Tai Chi is just the shorter version. Tai Chi Chuan means “Supreme Ultimate Fist”. It is derived from a series of kung fu techniques that can be applied as both a therapeutic activity and as a medium of self-defense.
No age or fitness requirements
Tai chi is a good activity for almost any age, teens to the 90s. This art is not common for children though, because the slow movements will probably just bore them to tears. But most likely, the classes that you look into will be targeted at people from the early twenties and so on. Men and women can both enroll in the same class. It is unusual to see a men-only or women-only class within a Tai Chi program. Generally, it is much more beneficial if men and women mix because of the energy this brings to the class.
Being physically fit is not a prerequisite, as it is in some sports. It is really okay that you may be you are stout, thin, overweight, etc. Even people who are wheelchair-bound can do modified movements of Tai Chi. There are even a video program series that is aimed at people with arthritis.
But you do have to be able to maintain a certain level of attentiveness. Like most other forms of exercise, even though this may not sound strenuous, it is advisable to check in with your physician if you are taking any medications to help maintain your current state of health. And if your doctor approves, tell your teacher about your issues so that they can adjust or restrict movements for you.
Is it a martial art, or not? Yes
Tai Chi is both an exercise and a martial art. There are some teachers who give out only the movements that are designed purely for health benefits. There are also a few instructors who focus on the self-defense aspects of the forms. So if you are thinking that you are the type who needs self defense along with your exercise, and you want the best of both worlds, Tai Chi may be a wise choice for you. If your focus is on self-defense solely, then Kung Fu or Tae Kwon Do may be more suited to your tastes.
Tai Chi is a form of an internal martial art that is characterized by soft movements and is a training that is meant to be a relaxing and a much slower speed than most other kinds of martial art.
Don’t go out to buy a new outfit
Many people stumble over getting ready for things and never actually do the activity. You know these people. They need the in fashion tennis outfit, the right bowling ball, new shoes and gloves for weight lifting, a brand new set of clubs. And these people will never move forward because they are focused on the look, rather than the activity. They get stuck in the minutiae, lost in the preparation. Hung up at “Fixin’ ta…”
No such set of excuses will save you from Tai Chi. If you decide to go to a Tai Chi class, you don’t have to shop around for cool clothes. Special clothing is not a requirement. You just have to wear something really comfortable like shoes (preferably soft, like sneakers) or socks work well, and clothing that will allow you to move freely while performing your every move. Do not wear jeans or any constrictive kind of clothing.
While doing the actual class, expect to do some Qigong. This is a form of breathing and meditation that is done by moving your body, or sometimes in a stationary state. Expect to do some “Push hands” or what is known as tui shou. This is an exercise that requires two persons who exchange energy by performing movements leveled with each other. You may also expect the use of weapons like swords, but certainly not at your first class.
Tai chi and Qigong are great, gentle exercises for your heart, mind and body. And, yes, before you ask, I do practice Tai chi, and have even taught a very short basic form. I am also a first degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. And, I am old. 🙂 So, what’s your excuse?
Go out and try it for yourself.
Thoughts?
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May you be intelligent, provider of wealth and
protector of the path of truth.
We talk a lot about leadership and entrepreneurship. We write often about sharpening your best tool. You! But, not nearly as much specifically about getting the work done. Important aspects of leadership involve keeping yourself focused and on-task to carry your job or vision to completion. Everyone supplies, or should supply value in their workplace. This you do either by the hours of work you provide as an employee, or with the products and services you sell in your business.
In this fragile economy, if you are an employee, a great performance review may not be enough to guarantee a promotion or even enough to help you keep your job. If you are self-employed, one or two high-quality products or services may not be enough on their own to help you stay afloat.
Give First Mentality
The “Rock” says this stuff so much more eloquently than I can. His tagline as a wrestler, in case you don’t know it, is, “Do you smell what the Rock’s been cooking?”
Value is in the eye of the observer. It is said that perception is reality. That’s not exactly accurate. But, is it true that what people perceive is what they believe to be true. Just think of how much more you would pay for an umbrella in a heavy downpour, as opposed to a sunny day. People who seem fairly easy to get along with and trustworthy with assigned tasks are more useful to their manager than someone who produces a lot of chaos, stress or dissension in team meetings. Now, the people causing the stress may have some valid points and positions, but they are for naught if they are not also perceived as getting the work done. So it stands to reason that they are also perceived as being less valuable if they miss deadlines, especially important ones, on a regular or habitual basis.
Authenticity counts
A product, any product, will be more useful to a consumer if it truly adds value to their lives, and is not destined to find its place among all of the other trinkets on the shiny toy junk pile. In these times, consumers are becoming increasingly desensitized to ads. People are on the lookout for BS. They have become increasingly wary of the bonus offers, the upsells and the added cost of necessary add-ons. They are seeking authenticity. That is what people put a premium value on these days. Authenticity.
Given the expanded competition in the job market, you need to become the best salesman of what you uniquely have to offer to a situation. You need to establish your value to your company in order to get and keep your line of work, as well as to move up to higher positions, if that’s what you want to accomplish.
These same principles hold true for our human capital as well. Do you add value and bring authenticity to the lives of people with whom you work?
Buyers are wary
In terms of products, consumers are feeling whipped and worried and are guarding their buys more cautiously. On the other hand, there seems to be a virtual flood of sales offers. Customers are being more careful at picking out the products and service they perceive to be the most useful to them, and those that they perceive to have the most value.
And worker bee or boss, the item that you need to get best at selling and offering is you. Again, back to human capital, especially in social media, people are looking for authentic connections, not just more sales people.
Once you have found ways to improve your most important product, you, and improve the sensed value of what you bring to the proverbial table, now you need to put yourself in your “customer’s” shoes. Who is your customer? You significant other, family members, manager, boss, investor. As workers and business owners, you must learn to make yourself essential to your team by demonstrating that you are interested in making valuable and useful connections.
Whether you own your own business, or a a salaried employee, the most important product that you have to offer this world is you. You do have a shelf life, though. What’s keeping you from stepping up your game, seeing your true worth, and being your true self?
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Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of
balance, order, rhythm and harmony.
How do they do it? You know those people who work full time and seem to manage to have things rocking along well at home too. They have a secret. That secret is that they work to maintain a good work-life balance. You have, of course, heard the expression “all work and no play makes Jack a very dull boy?” Well the same goes for all play and no work. Focusing too much of any one area of your life, and neglecting the rest, is a sure way to make yourself and the people you care about crazy.
The good news is that you can have better in both worlds. You can work hard and still find time to enjoy your family and friends, and your life. You must take the initiative and decide that you need to create a better balance for yourself.
How?
You will need to adopt a few essential strategies. And, no, it is not always simple, especially in the beginning. Work-life balance is about finding new ways to balance the demands of your work with the demands of your personal life. You actually can be successful and happy doing both; or at least happier.
Establish A Flexible Schedule
The more rigid you are, the less likely it is that you will be able to develop a work-life balance that is actually successful for you. You have to understand that there will be times when work requires more attention and other times when your personal life requires more attention. It is certainly much easier to balance the two when you allow a little flexibility in your schedule. Always leave a little bit of room for the unexpected. That way you are never taken completely by surprise.
Balance Your Workload
As much as you can control this situation, you will need to be sure that you take on enough work to keep you busy, but not so much work that you constantly feel like you are a heartbeat away from overwhelm, and that can’t create some better balance in your life. Take on additional tasks at work only when you feel up to it, and you know your family time won’t be impacted by you coming home late a couple of nights in a particular given week. Likewise, don’t overbook yourself with family and friend events unless you can balance your personal obligations with your work ones successfully.
Prioritize Your Activities
There are going to be times when you just cannot get everything done. Amazing, I know. Don’t panic! As long as you have prioritized your activities you will be able to ensure that you are able to take care of the most important things ones first, and you can always catch up on less important activities at a later time.
Delegate
This is extremely hard for most people. But, any seriously successful work-life balancer knows that you simply cannot succeed unless you know how to delegate. Know who you can turn to in a time of need and who has a skill-set that is compatible with your actual needs, so that when the occasion arises you can dish out some of the items on your plate to others. Notice that the sentence doesn’t read if, but when.
Delegation isn’t just for official ‘work’ tasks. You can also delegate personal tasks including the laundry and other chores. Work-life balance is easier to create when you schedule enough time for your personal interests and work tasks. You can do this by organizing your schedule and taking great care not to overburden your plate at any particular time.
Also remember that to achieve a successful work life balance you must put your personal life at or near the top of your priority list.
If work is your only priority, then you cannot succeed at both. Finding meaningful and challenging work is an important aspect of any quest for work-life balance. The good news is you don’t have to give up one or the other. You can manage to work and still raise your family and do the things you love, and be successful!
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A great leader’s courage to fulfill his vision
comes from passion, not position.
John Maxwell
You know the question. Are leaders born or made? The answer is Yes.
Some people are born with some innate talents that lend themselves to making them good leaders. But these traits do not guarantee that a good, much less great leader will emerge. A leader is formed, and the whole process begins inside the most dangerous place you will ever encounter, your own mind.
How can you become, be seen as, transform yourself into a stronger leader who inspires others, drives people toward excellence, holds people accountable, and instills a sense of trust? The first important step is that you need to study and learn what makes a great leader, great, in the first place. The next step is to learn yourself and master you. You are your brand, your product, your sales item. Are people buying into what you are selling? If not, take a step back and breathe. Here are some areas that you may need to give attention to after honestly evaluation who you are, and what you bring to the table.
1. Control yourself
Every leader in history who has ever been perceived as great, for the long haul, has had to become a master of self-discipline and willpower in order to remain focused on the bigger picture. If you don’t have set goals, or you do not possess the drive to achieve them, how can you expect to be able to lead others to attain theirs?
Follow through in everything you do. As challenging as this will may be, you need to be disciplined enough to be where you need to be, be there when you need to be there, whether you want to be there or not, and come prepared. By being strong enough in your resolve to resist the temptation of giving up, you are setting an example for others to follow.
You must learn to choose your emotional response to all situation very carefully. Sometimes, as difficult as this may be for you, you will need to practice the art of silencing your inner thoughts, especially when they are inappropriate to the situation in order to continue to set a more positive and productive example.
2. Know and project your goals
If the people you are trying to lead do not completely understand the deeper meaning in their work, they may not be able to share your vision or work ethic. In every step of the way, communicate with your team members to make sure that everyone is on the same wavelength and so that everyone knows what is expected of them.
Get, and keep your team involved in the planning process and in the implementation of your ideas. This helps everyone have a greater sense of ownership toward the final result.
3. Praise highly and criticize constructively
The way you praise and criticize others can make all the difference in being able to lead your team effectively.
Be certain that you publicly praise the people who do excellent work for you. You will give that person a sense of accomplishment and the drive to continue to do better.
When someone does something wrong, offer constructive criticism, but do it privately. Offer concrete suggestions and solutions to how they can improve the process and take the time to answer any of their questions. They are much more likely to accept your input more willingly if they know that it is done to help and not to cause harm, or maliciously.
4. Know your people
You cannot really lead a group of people, especially if you are just starting out, unless you have begun to understand their hopes, dreams, struggles, pains, and goals. All of the good intentioned chatter in the world mean nothing to them unless you have a true sense of the people that you are working with.
Talk to your team members and get to know them. Getting to know each other on a personal level will help strengthen the bonds between you. They will want to do better for you because you are more than just a “boss.”?
But, remember, it is much like parenting. Be their leader, first, and their friend second. You are their leader and that means that sometimes you will have to make difficult decisions. These decisions should not be affected by personal relationships.
5. Make the hard call
There will be times when you will have to bite the bullet and make some unpleasant decisions. Firing, demoting, and holding people accountable for their actions can be very difficult at times. As a leader, it is your responsibility to handle these matters.
Regardless of where your leadership role takes you, believe that you can be a strong leader. Remember that in order to lead others, you must be disciplined yourself. After all, your actions will usually speak much louder than anything you can ever say.
In order to gain the respect of others, strive to lead by example in every area of your life.
Thoughts?
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A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity;
an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.
Think for a moment. If you were to place second in a writing contest, would you be jumping for joy and push yourself for even better results the next time, or would you be discouraged and find an excuse not to join in and try again?
In life, you will always be faced with choices to make. You may choose to have a pessimistic point of view and live a chronically self-defeated life, or you may choose to take the more optimistic route and be rewarded with a more challenging and fulfilling life.
Why you should nurture an optimist’s point of view
Optimism has been linked to positive mood and good morale, to academic, athletic, military, occupational and political success. It has also been linked to popularity, good health, and even to a longer life.
On the other hand, given the current state of affairs in the world, both in the States and abroad, the rates of depression and pessimism have never been higher. Depression affects adults as well as younger people. And, the elderly are affected even more. The most common age of onset of depression has dropped from 30 to 15, and some people are afflicted with periods of depression for their entire lives.
What’s the reward?
Optimists expect the best
The defining characteristic of pessimists is that they tend to believe that bad events will last a very long time and undermine everything they try to do, and that they are usually at the center of the fault.
The truth is that optimists are confronted with the exact same hard knocks of this world. What makes a huge difference is the way in which they explain their misfortune. It’s the total opposite. They tend to believe defeat is just a momentary or temporary setback> they believe that whatever is happening is confined to this one case, and that it is not their fault.
Optimists tend to focus on and plan for the ‘problem’ at hand; the problem right before them. They use ‘positive reinterpretation’ to get through. In other words, they are much more likely to reinterpret a negative experience in a way that helps them learn and grow. Such people are unmoved by a bad situation. They perceive it as a challenge and try harder to overcome it.
They won’t say things that a pessimist would rapidly fall into. You will never catch an optimistic person saying, “Things will never get better,” “If I failed once, I must not be any good at this, so I may as call it quits,” or “If I am experiencing misfortune in this part of my life, then it will spread out into my whole life.”
The positive expectancies of optimists also predict better reactions during transitions to new environments, unexpected tragedies and unlikely turns of events. If they fall, they will stand up again. They see opportunities for growth rather than obstacles that lead to quitting.
People respond positively to optimists
Optimists are proactive and less dependent on other people for their happiness. They do not feel the need to control or manipulate other people. They usually draw people toward them. Their optimistic view of the world can be contagious and influence those people they come into contact with.
Optimism seems to be a socially desirable trait in all communities. Those who share optimism are generally accepted, while those who spread doom and gloom, or panic and hysteria everywhere they go, are treated unfavorably, and often avoided.
When the going gets tough, optimists get tougher
Optimists typically maintain higher levels of subjective well-being during times of stress than do people who are less optimistic. In contrast, pessimists are likely to react to stressful events by either denying that they exist, or by avoiding dealing with problems head on. Pessimists are more likely to quit trying when life’s difficulties arise.
Optimists persevere. They just don’t give up or give in easily. They are also generally known for their patience, inching their way one step at a time closer to their goal or elusive dream.
Optimists are healthier and live longer
Medical research has shown that simple pleasures and a positive outlook can cause a measurable increase in the body’s ability to fight off disease. Optimists’ health is unusually good. They age well, and are much freer than most people from many of the physical ills of mid-life. And, they get to outlive those prone to negative thoughts.
So why not try being a little more optimist today? And think positively as you move toward a more fulfilled life.
Two men look out through the same bars:
One sees the mud, and one sees the stars.
Frederick Langbridge
Thoughts?
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Affirmation: I study my own behaviors to make myself better.
Having intimate knowledge of myself facilitates my efforts at self-improvement. Knowing who I am allows me to see my strengths. It also allows me to see my shortcomings and enables me to work at decreasing or eliminating them.
I have in mind a mental blueprint of the person I wish to be.
I take the time necessary to reflect on my words and actions, and to determine if those behaviors exemplify this person. I look at that blueprint every day and take the necessary steps to match my actions with it.
I acknowledge that I sometimes simply react instead of thinking first. I am human. I can get so worked up by others or by unpleasant life situations that my feelings overshadow my goal.
I am a conscious being. I am instantly aware when I disappoint myself by giving into the negative emotions. When that happens, I take the steps needed to renew my focus. I realign my actions with my blueprint and all is right and well with my world once again.
Today, I vow to remain on course and aware of the person I want to be.
I commit to carefully assessing my actions to ensure that they are aligned with my behavioral goals.
Homework/ Self-Reflective Questions Journal Prompts:
1. Do I truly listen to the feedback from others about my behaviors?
2. Is there room for improvement where my behaviors are concerned?
3. How many times do I allow myself to make the same mistake?
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At some point you start seeing the difference
between what you really want, and what is your priority order.
I feel that today I know what I want.
That’s the problem with perspective,
as well as focus and concentration.
One of the biggest issues that keep people from achieving many of their goals is their lack of concentration. Lapses in your concentration encourage disturbances that can get in the way and stall out your progress. If you wish to progress along your road to success, it is absolutely imperative you learn how to concentrate. Here are a few easy to learn and easy to implement exercises that may help you get a better handle on things.
1) Silence or Noisy?
Most people cannot concentrate when it is too noisy, while others work better with music playing or even in a crowded room. If you are not sure which style best suits you, then try out the different environments. How can you do this? Take a notepad and a pencil or pen, or your electronic tablet if that’s what you write with, and try to write a letter or a blogpost if you blog, in all the three circumstances in a set amount of time. Give yourself 10 minutes. That is all you will need to determine which of these environments best feeds your concentration. How? Check not only for length but also for the development of ideas.
If you are not a writer, take a book you’ve been meaning to start. Now write out a few notes describing what you’ve read. Give yourself 10 minutes again. Once again, check for length and depth of ideas you gathered from what you just read.
2) Focal Point
Every morning, before you leave for work or on the way, stare at any object for ten minutes. You can do this while in the toilet, car or bus. You will find this difficult, but whatever happens, do not take your gaze away. Hold it. Wait. And then, as the minutes pass you will find yourself beginning to deeply meditating about things that happened to you yesterday or the challenges you have to face in a few minutes. Congratulations! You have just conquered the art of meditation.
3) Deep Breathing
When you first start out, you can do this while staring at the object from tip #2. But if you want to move toward real concentration, do this as a separate exercise. Sit down on the floor. If its hard, get a cushion. Don’t get stuck in the minutiae of how to get this done. Close your eyes. Breathe. Count the number of inhales. When you have reached 100, start counting backward but this time count the exhales.
Mastering this technique will take you some time, but once you conquer this, move on to some other kinds of things like, simple mathematical calculations, naming the months of the year backward or alphabetically. After that, make up exercises as you like. If any of these seem to stressful and disrupt your breathing and/ or concentration, then that is not a technique that you can use right now; perhaps in the future.
4) Movement
Focus on an animal. It doesn’t matter what you choose- a cat, dog or even an ant or a bird. Watch and follow their every movement as if they existed in a vacuum. Study every tiny spot on their body. The point of this exercise is to learn how to diversify your concentration in such a way that movement does not distract you from your goal.
Try a few or all of these tips and you will start enjoying life to its fullest because you will be able to focus on the things that you want to focus on and ignore those things that are disruptive.
Thoughts?
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The greatest weapon against stress is our ability
to choose one thought over another.
What is stress?
Stress is an emotional and physical response that you show toward different pressures in your life: from the workplace, school and other institutions. Stress reactions include the inability to focus, concentrate, headache and fast heartbeat. Almost everybody has some kind of stress in their life. What is important though, is how we choose to respond and deal with it.
How can you master your stress? Shift!
When working to overcome stress, it is important to recognize first the stress is present, to some extent in every walk of life, every career. So, quitting your job should not be your first response. Stress can affect you personally or individually, and it can also hamper the productivity of teams.
Your work environment may be a major stressor for you, but this is not something that you can always easily control or change. So, instead of trying to control the work environment, you can control your work (to some degree), your response and yourself. You can take one step at a time toward reaching the final goals. The question then is, how do you go about working around stress?
You can reduce the risk of being stressed out by shifting how you see things to a new perspective. What does that mean? A concrete example would be learning to let go of situations where you have absolutely no control. Use that time and negative energy that you usually pour into stressing about and worrying over the things which you cannot control, and transform it instead into positive energy. You need to use the full force of your mind and change your focused energy toward other things which you can control.
Knowing yourself helps you become familiar with your own emotions and responses, and offers insights into how to control them. This shift in attitude helps you to more easily overcome and manage your stress. There are things which you can change, and these are the places you should expend your energy. And there will be things that are simply beyond your control.
Three simple steps
Actually there are simple steps that you can help you deal with most of life’s stressors. Failing to adequately and properly deal with stress during its initial stages may eventually lead to chronic stress condition. Chronic stress is listed among root causes of frequent headaches, ulcers, indigestion, high blood pressure and heart issues.
• Saying “no” to commitments that would require time and energy that you do not have to give, or (and this is tougher) that you do not want to give.
• Get healthier, physically and mentally
• Asking help from other people to lessen the burden.
To deal with stress, you can reduce the stressors in your life to avoid feeling the effects of stress.
Stress prevention
In addition to working on your stress reduction, you also need to pay attention to stress prevention going forward. Stress prevention removes, or at least significantly decreases, the possibility of stress happening. Obviously you cannot avoid every stress in life, but you can approach life in a more prepared fashion.
With this two methods, stress reduction and stress prevention, it is important that you develop the ability to identify which of your emotions are primarily stress-driven. This goes back to knowing yourself well. You can begin to isolate some of those attitudes and/ or learn how to react better to the stressors.
You have to know and understand your limits. After understanding your limits, you would have to learn how to say no. It is different that you know your limitations, but still accept whatever other people say to you.
Working to remove the stress from your life, will help improve your focus. It will encourage peace, tranquility and spirituality within you. You can incorporate stress reduction and prevention in daily life.
With a little personal work, you change your entire outlook and perspective in life.
Thoughts?
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