Be the Change You Want to Be - My Year with Healthy Lifestyle Choices

Have you ever questioned yourself and your own ability to change your own circumstances to make your life more meaningful and happier? Have you ever thought that life is really hard and that making a conscious change is not worth the trouble? That leaving everything to chance would be the easiest thing to do? Well, I certainly have.

In my vocabulary, it is called procrastination. Leaving everything to that little change that it might get better on its own without continuous conscious effort from ourselves. We do it all the time, at work, at home, with friends, with family and in ourselves. It is the easy way out. Stalling! We don't really want to change, get out of the familiar and form new habits.

According to research what people believe and what they actually do is a very different thing. We might clearly see that we are overweight, that our environment is non-productive, our friendships are destructive to our development, but instead of doing something to change the situation, we cling to the comfort of it and complain about the situation. We might even blame it on something or someone else. It is comforting to think that we are helpless as it is the outside circumstances that depress us and leave us no other options than taking it as it comes. We might as well accept the defeat right there and then. Some of us might make an attempt, for a short while and then fall back to the old habits when we find that it did not work anyway. It was doomed from the start and we knew it. We forget so easily. What we did a year ago is not relevant to what we do today anyway.

OK. So, you want to lose weight! The easiest way is to fast, for a few days and lose 3 kg in the process. Or to buy any of the women's magazines and follow any of the celebrity insights and compare yourself to anyone of the pictures, especially the 'greatest looser' pictures an find yourself wanting. And you are back to your old habits.

So, you want to get more energy. The easiest way is to join any gym for a month and/or take up an exercise regime three times a week for eight weeks challenge. That is habit forming and you can be sure that you've lost some centimeters from your tummy and thighs. But did you really change anything in yourself or did you just make a little payment for the change that everything will be better if you just did something? And how about getting a face lift like the celebrities do or a non-invasive treatment that takes five centimeters from your tummy in 30 minutes treatment for a price.

Or, you want to get healthy in another way by eating supplements. Then going to the nearest chemist will be exciting as they certainly have an array of supplements that is said to work and have a slight possibility of aiding in the good health project you have going on there. I am getting sarcastic here even though it is not my aim with this article.

I tried it all during the last year. That is the point! Everything I do becomes a research project. I have done the research. And here are the results:



1. Losing weight.
During the last year I tried many methods of fasting and dieting.

The one I still find the easiest and the best after years of practice is called the Lemon Detox fast with Neera combined Palm and Maple syrup. It can now be bought from most of the health shops around Australia due to the new packaging and renaming the product with a more attractive brand name (Lemon Detox).

I found the fast involves very little effort in that you only need to follow the directions and forget about eating or drinking anything else except water and herbal tea. The reaction I got from those near me was a question on how I could tolerate to fast for ten days drinking lemons without eating? The answer is that forgetting about eating was easier for me than keeping a schedule of eating whatever was on the list of things that I could eat. The booklet that comes with the syrup has lots of suggestions for diverse needs and personality types. The Australian instructions are much gentler on the body than the once I followed in Finland during the 1990's although the practice is the same. The benefit was that I lost three kilos and my cravings for sugar and Coke disappeared.

The easiest way for me to lose weight in a longer term was to quit sugar altogether. David Gillespie in his book Sweet Poison. Why Sugar Makes Us Fat makes a good case study argument for the refined sugar as poison that can be an incentive for some people who need to have a scientific and historical explanation to why eating sugar has made such an impact in the human nutritional habits. It gives a believable explanation why type 2 diabetes is rampant in our society when before it was not even known.

That was my incentive. The fact that my doctor told me that I could fix my type 2 diabetes threat myself. During the last year my sugar levels have gone from 13 to 5.9 and I lost 17 kilos with no more effort than watching my sugar and refined foods diet.
My daughter who said that she could not give up sweets, especially chocolate, restricted her sugar intake in support of my effort and has so far lost 14 kilos.


My only challenge is in the finding that chocolate is also made with maltitol as a sugar replacement and holidays like Christmas and Easter where kindhearted people you love give you chocolate as a present can give you 2 kilos just because maltitol acts just like sugar in your body or maybe it is the fat. Then it is giving that up once the habit has formed that presents a new challenge.

2. Getting more energy through exercise and supplements.
My only and most enjoyable exercise habit has been walking our dog. And that itself is an effort for me who just do not like anything to do with physical strain except when doing it in a social context which I do not have anyway.

So, I tried the gym. I paid for it in order to have an incentive to go there. But no, it did not stick. I had no friends to go with except a paid companion and that is no fun. I tried to take up an eight weeks challenge for myself combined with supporting a charity. After one week, I found an excuse not to go. At least I am supporting some young girls for education with that payment I made. So no amount of money as incentive has been effective enough to get me into exercising. Nothing came of it. What my brain knows to be a best method for losing weight is something I just do not want to do. I tried other non-invasive fat loosing methods instead.

The first one was the ultrasound fat burner. I believe, it actually aided my weight loss last year. At least it was fun although a bit painful. But since I had paid for it, I went through with it and in the process found some other cool things about the modern beauty industry I never would have known otherwise. The benefit of it for me was the experience.

The second non-invasive fat losing technique I am trying is iLipo. So far it has not had any effect but it has been fun. Much more fun that any gym I ever went to. Trying all the machines that shake, massage and squish you in effort to lose weight has been an experience I would not give up. The judgement is still out on its effectiveness, though. I will keep you posted on that.


The best and the most beneficial to my changing appearance during the last year has been the Nu Skin Galvanic Face and Body Spas combined with the Pharmanex supplements, especially Vitality and now R2. I have tried many others as well.

There has been a long time habit in our family to eat supplement as it was a firm belief of my grandfather that the food quality in Australia was not enough to sustain all the vitamins and minerals. He used to order his supplements from those considered by his research the best suppliers and I believed that this contributed to his and my grandmothers long life span despite lots of health risks.

In 2005 after a longer struggle with stress at work and an operation I was recommended Matagenics Fibroblex Plus and Meta A & B Complex as a repair by my friend and massage person. And wow what a difference it made to my life. I could feel how it literally went to my 'bones and sinew' and made my life easier. I supplied the supplement to my daughter and my daughter-in-law after their childbirths and both had really good results. Unfortunately the effects of these supplements are not lasting and in time after 7 years of usage I could not feel the benefits any longer although I am sure they helped.

So, last year I was looking for new things, especially as I knew there was so much new medical research done in the world after the Human Genome was completed. Not only that but there has been a tremendous change in the approach to healing practice as well. There was bound to be more efficient methods and supplements on the market. That's when I was introduced to AgeLoc Science as an approach to resetting the cellular and attacking the cause instead of repairing the damage after diagnosing the signs.

The AgeLoc Science and its friendly positivistic approach of changing the gene-expression instead of using the gene manipulation as the rule to design new human beings as a preferred human behavior also came as an answer to my idea historical research on what really can happen with decoding the human DNA. Instead of looking at it as a treat, we can find a more positive and constructive approach that is based on the same science.

Nothing in my former experience had prepared me in embracing this as a possibility. So I tried it all. I have taken the supplement as recommended and found that they really work. I now feel like I did in my late 20's before giving birth to my third child. I know this because I can remember how I felt then and how much energy I had then in contrast of how little energy I had a year ago. My family has also experienced the benefits in me being able to do much more with them, like going shopping for whole days and going to movies in the evenings after a full workday.
And after my resent blood tests, my doctor says that from the evidence he is convinced that LifePak and Optimum Omega have been a contributing factor in my excellent results. That's good enough for me.

The benefits I have acquired with using the spas can be seen in the picture. It is real.


3. Self-Development and life choices
I find it impossible to go through change without incentive or motivation. The modern brain science tells me that I need a lot of dopamine as a fix and seeing myself in a more presentable light might be one but it does not stretch to maintain my need to change in order to improve my life circumstances.

So, of course the last year has also been full of books and chatting with friends and finding new ideas on all areas that life can bring. My favorite books are in the picture apart from The Positivity, by Barbara Fredrickson, which I have passed on already.

In the nutritional field the winner is David Gillepie, hands on. His books have certainly inspired me beyond just looking at food but to actually start paying attention to what is in the food I eat. I also now own a very cool App called FoodSwich that allows me to scan everything I buy and see if there are healthier varieties on the market to try.

In the business strategy field my son recommended Business Model Generation and I have been fascinated by the approach. And you can also Business You. How cool is that!

In the motivational and changeological fields there is Barbara Fredrickson with her positivity research and Les Robinson with the psychology of change. What a combination. And the coolest thing is that on Pinterest I can now collect pictures for My Positivity Portfolio as a reminder to see how positive I can get.

In the spiritual field I will choose The Healing Code by Alexander Loyd. What an impact it had on me and judging from my friends to whom I have spread the message, it is a huge source of solace in many ways. I use the method and feel better for it continuously.

And in the end it is back to my old favorite anyway. It is back to the roots with the Blavatsky Quotation Book, edited by Winifield A. Parley. I better check what it says for March the 31st:

"The pivotal doctrine of the Esoteric philosophy admits no privileges or special gifts in man (sic), save those won by his own Ego through personal effort and merit throughout a long series of metempsychosis and reincarnations." (SD,1,17)

How suitable is that for the last words for 'being the change you want to be' right now.
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Inspiration Application; Marketing the Best of You!

Last week I was at the Westside Business Women's Breakfast meeting listening to a very interesting and thought provoking talk by Deborah Jackson about marketing the best of you.

Deborah is a client attraction specialist who has written a book called Easy Marketing for Women. It is Pink!

She has chosen to write her book for women because she feels that most of the books on marketing have been written with men in mind and mostly take their examples from their experience. Her book highlights the female experience of joggling many tasks at one go.

Of course, when listening to talks at breakfast meetings, they are always condensed to their shortest essentials and to get the full benefit, you must then read the books and follow their advise to know if it works. Like other times, this is my speciality. I like following advice, if it leads to something worthwhile.

So, that is what I did. I read the book and followed the leads where it took me. I created a folder on my iPad memos for pursuing the best of me, everything I get inspired about and everything I could do if I wasn't doing what I do now. This takes serious contemplation. My folder contains headings suggested by Deborah, such as Branding, Passion, Reasons, Customers and Ideas.

For a week now, I have been putting some of my efforts into building a make belief company on what I do best. I have had discussions with friends and workmates on what they think about what I do best. It has been a very interesting experience. I really recommend Deborah's book for those who are thinking about starting a business or are seriously concerned about marketing the best of themselves to the well thought target groups.

My Experinnce

Listening to Deborah and other motivational speakers in many seminars over the last few months has left me thinking about inspiration application as a concept.

Every now and then we do need inspiration. Sometimes the inspiration we hold leads to action. If it does not, then we have lost a very valuable opportunity. Sometimes, the action we take is shortsighted as we may think that we know what we want but in the end, what we wanted wasn't what we really needed or what was the best of us.

Deborah gives us good practical tools for considering our marketing strategy. It can be applied everywhere, even in marketing the best of you.

Thank you for taking time to read my blog. Here is a link to Deborah's Website:
Here is a link to Westside Business Women's Website


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Contemplation on Newly Learned Goal Setting Methods and Futuristic Thinking Processes

Recently I attended two very interesting small workshops about goal setting and futuristic thinking processes.

The first one was a lunch workshop at Jimboomba organised by the Logan Country Chamber of Commerce, the second was an inspirational breakfast talk organised by the Westside Business Women at Springfield Lakes. Both were concerned about the future, one with a personal focus and the other with a more of a global business focus. Both were about creating that little edge that makes us reach for more and allows us to dare to take a premeditated leap of faith towards the presently desired future possibilities.

From both seminars, I acquired a book. Paula McSporran gave me a link to her eBook The Smart Start; The Basics of Goal Setting and Craig Rispin let me download the eBook version of How to Think Like a Futurist; Know First, Be First & Profit First'.



My experience

For many, many years I have recorded goals for myself and my businesses. Every now and then I have picked up a new method on how to evaluate my existing situation and how to set new goals for the future. I have received lots of mentoring and advice on what would be the best way to take action.

Mostly, I have succeeded in determining what to do and how I wanted to go forward with my life. Mostly, I feel, it has been determination, positivity and good luck that has brought me there. I feel that I have gotten everything I ever really wanted and much more of what I never consciously knew I wanted. Does that sound familiar?

I have 30 years of records on my methods of personal goal setting and action taken from that. For the first 15 years, I followed a very simple advice from the collective of feminist mentors by traveling around the world in conferences, picking up trends and researching the accuracy of them in relation to the Scandinavian situation and taking social action for Human Rights, especially Women's Rights.

The last 15 years have been more structured. I have followed many leads and methods from doing all the exercises in the Experimental Guide to James Redfield's The Celestine Prophecy to experimenting with affirmations learned from Victor Boc's How to Solve All Your Money Problems Forever. I also have been inspired by many motivational speakers that have given advice on goal setting.

Paula's workshop

I was very intrigued by the simple and strait forward manner of the goal setting method Paula McSporran proposed in her workshop. It is to write a story of your 'best year yet' dated one year from the day you are writing it. The story will allow you to imagine what you really want to do in a short time-frame.

The next step is to write down what you need to start, maintain and finish in order to create your 'best year yet' in quarterly sequences. The most important step is to take action to realize your goals into reality.

This means that if you want to travel overseas for Christmas, you actually need to book your flights or if you are looking for a job, you have to write an application and send it. Wishful thinking is not productive for efficient and clear goal setting.

Re-program your brain

The most important reason why you need to be clear of your goals is that it will re-program your unconscious brain to work for the goal and attract situations that will aid in realizing your desired future.

One interesting recently released movie called 'Source Code' is based on the quantum hypotheses that there are many possible futures for us and that every decision we make will create a new pathway into the future. The goal setting processes rely on much the similar idea. Once you have programed your brain to focus on a goal, your unconsciousness starts drawing suitable circumstances your way to make it a reality.

What if you want conflicting things?

After the workshop, I went home and wrote a story about my best year yet based on what I felt and wanted on the day I wrote it. That was two weeks ago. I also took action on the most obvious things, the once I have control over. Now things have changed.

Since most of us look at life through our emotions rather than cold reasoning, it is about right that we would have conflicting feelings on a daily bases. So, now I need to write another story. The good thing is that, our brain is so plastic that it will re-program itself any time.

My conclusion from this experiment is to write a new story of the 'best year yet' every couple of months. That will enable me to determine what it is that I really want. After that exercise I probably will have some real goals for starting, maintaining and finishing.

A huge thanks goes to Paula for her practical advice. I think it is really important to start somewhere and keep on doing it.

What about the futuristic thinking?

Incidentally, a week from Paula's workshop I attended a breakfast talk by a professional futurist and a motivational speaker Craig Rispin. That allowed me to think of the future more in terms of the 'bigger picture'.

Craig is a very inspiring and enthusiastic speaker. It is impossible to get a still picture of him while he is talking. This probably is a good demonstration of the fact of how quickly the world is moving towards the future.

In 30 minutes, I learned a lot about how to think like a futurist. For example, we now have 468 million mobile net devices in the world. We are in the digital age and it has to be taken into consideration when determining business goals and strategic plans for the organisations we work for.

I also was reintroduced to many successful past futurist thinkers. According to Craig a futurist is a reverse historian. I can certainly relate to that. After reading his book, I am thoroughly convinced.

When applying what I learned to community capacity building and aged care, I can definitely see that there is lots to take in. Futuristic thinking applies to all areas from how and where to place your marketing strategy to how to strategize for finding opportunities in the growing new communities around us.

After these experiences I am re-ascertained that innovation is the key, both to personal growth and the business growth. Thinking outside the box is immensely important for the future of humanity in the global digital future with the aging population.

References:

Boc, Victor (1997) How to Solve Your Money Problems Forever, Perigee Trade

Redfield, James & Adrienne, Carol (1995) The Celestine Prophecy; an Experimental Guide, Bantam Books

Link to Paula McSporran

Link to Craig Rispin


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