Seriously though, I’d like to share that information with you now. It is my hope that you will find something that can work for you. Use what works in a “self-coaching” manner.

I like to go for a walk. I’m a jogger, so walking slows me down, and allows me to experience a different intensity. It’s very calming, yet revitalizes me.

If I choose to go for a run, I’ll try a new route. This allows me to focus on where I’m going and the time. Otherwise I’m so distracted when I’m stressed, I’m just out there. And that really doesn’t do much for me.

I pray. Sometimes in the privacy of my bathroom (toilet area), but always while I walk or run. Always. I can just feel the relief and help coming.

Yoga works really well for me. It allows me to focus on my breathing. Deep breathing is very calming, and yoga does this. It’s also invigorating. I do Power Yoga, so my heart is pumping and I break a sweat. Yoga also gives me a feeling of overall strength.

I put on my gloves! Yep. I’ll get out my boxing bag, glove up, and kick and punch. Now, I’m not just throwing these out there and hurting myself. I’m very focused. Yet the power it gives me relieves stress, tension and that feeling of hopelessness.

Do you see a pattern here? I change my focus, concentrate on my breathing, pray, and acquire strength and power.

That’s my personal recipe for stress reduction. Let me know how you do.

Manage, as defined by Dictionary.com is: “To bring about or succeed in accomplishing, sometimes despite difficulty or hardship; to take charge or care of; to dominate or influence.”

The two definitions of “relief” that I like most, as defined by Dictionary.com are: “a feeling of cheerfulness or optimism that follows the removal of anxiety, pain or distress;” and, “removal or lightening of something oppressive or distressing.” (Medical Dictionary)

When I asked you to choose an area of your life to explore right now, outside of health, what did you choose? Now think about this:

• Did you feel a physical response to just the thought of it?
• Did it feel like Eustress (good stress) or Distress (not so good stress)?
• Would you like to relieve it, or manage it?

As simple as these questions are, they are something to think about. Remember, stress, good or bad, will cause not only a psychological but also a physical response. Being able to recognize the signs early and act (not react) on them is key.

A few years back, I had been asked repeatedly what I did to relieve stress. Nope. They didn’t ask me what I did to “manage” it. I had been asked so much that I finally wrote a short article on it called, “What do YOU do to relieve stress?”

It’s been pretty popular over time, and I’d like to share it with you here. Subscribe to my Blog to make sure you don’t miss it next time!

After you’ve read it, be sure and leave a comment on whether you think I focused on stress relief or stress management. Hmmmm. Good one, huh?

I have had clients over the years that come to me primarily for weight loss. What I have found, time and time again, is that when they have a lot of stress in their life, they run into difficulty achieving the weight loss goal they have in mind. Sometimes they lose the initial weight and then plateau. Sometimes they can’t even experience the initial weight loss. And though rare, I have a couple of clients that actually gained weight, regardless of our efforts initially.

What we see here is a psychological response (to life stresses) that sets off a physical response. That physical response comes from a chemical response, when the body thinks it has to fight. It’s fearful of what’s next. The body prepares for that, and when it doesn’t have to do what’s expected…what happens to all that energy that was produced? It’s stored. As fat.

One of my clients was going through some very personal stress, and it showed up as an inability to reach her goal weight. As soon as that stress (ful person) was removed from here life…BAM! Weight loss! I’m not kidding. And from there it’s been a consistent downward climb to her goal weight, and goal body fat.

In her case, it wasn’t just how she responded to the stress, but the stressor itself. It had to go! And when it did, her improved psychological performance spilled over into her physical performance.

To this day, she is my most committed, most consistent, most successful, and certainly my most valuable client.

When it comes to change, how might stress be showing up (on) you?

By Casey Sollock
QuitToGrowRich.com

I LOVE the subject of QUITTING!  Don’t you?  In fact, I love QUITTING so much, I teach everything from a QUITTING perspective.  So, let’s look at health from a QUITTING perspective.  Instead of thinking about what we need to “start” to create good health, let’s explore what we can QUIT to create our best health!  And, when I say, “health,” I mean total wellness…physical, emotional, and spiritual!

Let’s look at physical health first!  I’m going to make you really happy!  Ready?  Ok.  QUIT dieting!  Yep.  No more dieting.  Dieting means denial, and that is no fun.  QUIT denying yourself!  Choose a healthy lifestyle and enjoy food in moderation.  Ok, now that we’ve QUIT dieting, I want you to think about ONE thing you can QUIT this week in order to create better physical health.  Yes, that’s right.  Only focus on this week…and only focus on ONE thing you can QUIT!

Don’t overwhelm yourself with too many things to QUIT!  For example, I made the conscious choice to QUIT eating so much sugar.  Notice I didn’t say totally eliminate sugar…because for me, that’s unrealistic (even though it would be a good thing to do)!  But, if I think about totally eliminating sugar, that stops me in my tracks before I even get started because that is so overwhelming!  So, instead, I made the decision to QUIT consuming so much sugar.  How did that look in real life?  Well, I eliminated a sugary snack, or my daily Dr. Pepper, each day.  How about you?  What is the one thing you can QUIT this week to create richer physical health?

Emotional health is important, too!  How are you feeling emotionally?  Positive, happy, fulfilled?  Or, negative, unhappy, and stressed out?  Take a serious look at yourself and your emotional health.  Go ahead.  Do it now.  I’ll wait.  Now, if you are stressed out, what is the ONE thing you can QUIT that will relieve some stress?  Maybe you need to take something off your too-busy schedule?  Maybe you can QUIT saying ‘yes’ to everything so you can focus on those values and priorities that are most important to you, thereby relieving some stress.  Maybe it’s time to QUIT neglecting yourself and find a way to refresh and rejuvenate, increasing your happy feelings of well-being.  I invite you to QUIT neglecting your emotional health!

Finally, let’s not forget our spiritual health!  Are you in close communion with God?  Are you spending time with Him each day and deepening your relationship?  Or, is there something you need to QUIT in order to find that time?  Maybe you have been overwhelmed with the thought of reading through the entire Bible.  Well, QUIT feeling like you have to consume it all right now!  Focus on one book of the Bible to read this week.

Maybe you are so busy in your life that you have lost your connection with God.  QUIT running, take a deep breath, and BE STILL!  Allow yourself the time to converse with God!  When you have a connection with God that runs deep and wide, it makes life easier to handle.  I encourage you to deepen your connection this week and see how good you feel!

This is your time.  Today is a new day!  Create your life intentionally.  QUIT to grow rich in health!

Casey understands the power of Quitting, and she loves to share her message! She is a Christian women’s speaker, life-purpose coach, and author. Casey is passionate about developing women leaders so they can create their RICHEST lives…rich in purpose, rich in passion, rich in relationships, rich in health, and rich in God!  Her favorite question to ask is, “What do you need to QUIT to lead your richest life?!”  She teaches women of all ages how to “lead their life,” even in the midst of the multiple roles every woman holds.  Her book, Should, Could, and Would, encourages leadership thinking and taking action! While its rhyming style, fun words and engaging illustrations capture the attention of young children, the inspirational leadership message speaks to all ages!  Casey invites you to visit her website, www.QuitToGrowRich.com, for more information about her coaching and speaking, and to find out about creating your personalized Quitness Plan!

Well, at the beginning of the show, they would end the lead in with, “There’s a signpost up ahead. Next stop…The Twilight Zone.” Ever feel like that? Ever feel like the path you’re on is taking you straight into The Twilight Zone?

Let’s take a moment and consider a path to be on by choice. I want you to choose an area of your life to explore right now. Here’s a few to consider (in no particular order):

• Health
• Fitness
• Spiritual
• Personal
• Professional
• Performance
• Social
• Leisure
• Friends
• Relationships
• Family
• Mental
• Emotional

And within each area, there are different paths to choose from. Have you chosen the path less traveled? Maybe the path of least resistance? And why?

Many times we choose to travel the same road, the same way, and get the same results. And the results we get are less than what following our purpose in life would yield. And yet, onward we go.

Each path will hopefully get you to your goals in that area of your life. It takes a careful process of goal setting, planning and a little creative thinking to get you through. Sometimes it’s pretty painful along the way, and yet, we resist change. Not because change is bad. Not because change is hard. But because change means…something has to change.

I love this quote about change by Dave Ramsey: “Not until the pain of the same is greater than the pain of change will you embrace change.”

The way you live all of the above areas of your life combined (with possibly others), is your lifestyle. What that means is, every area must be traveled. Every area must be taken care of. You haven’t? How’s that workin’ for ya?

Sometimes we ‘don’t go there’ because it can be as foreign and scary as entering The Twilight Zone. Sometimes we don’t go there because of past painful experiences. Sometimes we don’t go there because we don’t want to change anything about ourselves, even if means the outcome, the end result could be…better.

Let’s go there for a minute. Let’s say that change is an issue. Let’s say that you might have to ‘quit’ something to gain momentum on the right path. Quit? That’s a scary place itself!

But the word ‘quit’ isn’t always a negative. Seriously! I’m not kidding!

Let’s step away from the whole Twilight Zone experience and explore the joy of ‘quitting’ to achieve success in your purpose, on your chosen path. (That’s a mouth full.)

I want to introduce you to The Queen of Quitting, Casey Sollock. Casey asks the question, “What do you need to QUIT to live your richest life?!” Wow! That’s powerful! Stay tuned. Casey will be here next time to help explain what that means.

Until then, I invite you to consider a path to explore that, if you were to step it up a bit, would improve your lifestyle. Let me know what you’re considering by commenting below. I can’t wait!

Every time I run, I like to plan my path, my journey. My decisions are based on my purpose. Here are a few things I think about:

• How long or how far do I want to run? (Distance or time.)
• Do I want to be on the main path and see a lot of people? (Connecting.)
• Do I want to be on an off course path with a different view? (More to process and enjoy.)
• Am I simply trying to get my time in, or do I want to take time to enjoy my surroundings? (A deeper time of gratefulness.)
• Am I up for doing hills, or just a flatter course with a few inclines? (Work myself hard or just enough to know I’ve been challenged.)

You get the idea, right? I’m never there just by chance alone. I’m there by choice, even if I’ve taken a chance. Either way, I’m there on purpose with a purpose.

Such is life. A journey.

Life is a journey, and the path I’m on is by choice, even if I’ve taken a chance, either way, I’m here on purpose with a purpose.

I remember the first time I ran the River Walk in San Antonio, TX. Our hotel was right on the River Walk, and I set out early that first morning so I could take my time. That was my first choice. I wanted to enjoy the view and explore the area so I’d be somewhat familiar when we went out later in the day.

There I stood on the street level, looking down on the ‘path’ and wondering which way to go. I chose to take a chance and go the way that was opposite of where most of the shops and restaurants were. My purpose for that was to go in an area probably less traveled while I was fresh and alert.

Even the other morning, although my run was in my neighborhood, I just wanted to put some time in and see how my neighbors had decorated their yards. So, I chose to run for time. I knew the time I had would allow me to run about 2 miles. But once I did my walking warmup, I totally felt like doing intervals. Knowing this could take me just a few minutes longer, I chose to take a slightly shorter route to save time.

When I got to my 1 mile point, I was so into what I was doing that I forgot to turn around! Next thing I knew, I was 2 blocks past that mark, and 1 block from the next turn around point. I chose to go on to complete about 2.5 miles and enjoy the great morning air. I’m so glad I did.

So while a little ‘autopilot’ took me into ‘chance’ mode, I was still in a position to ‘choose’ what I would do next. I maintained my ‘purpose’ of running for time and enjoying the scenery. It only took me a few extra minutes, and I stayed on my path.

Totally the way life is sometimes, isn’t it? We get on autopilot and end up in a place by chance. Then we must choose to maintain our purpose. This is the best way to make life choices work for you, rather than against you.

What’s your journey like right now?

Whenever it’s someone’s birthday, I like to tell them to have a great Birthday WEEK! I want them to celebrate all week, this time that celebrates their birth.

Well, that’s what I’d like for you to consider this week. It’s not just a Monday holiday, and we go have a cookout with family and friends the Saturday before. Nope. Let’s at least consider keeping this at the forefront of our minds all week. It’s Freedom Week!

When I googled 4^th of July, I found a video clip of George Washington, smack dab between a video titled, “Forth of July Barbeque,” and another titled, “July Fourth Hot Dog Eating Contest.” Interesting, huh?

I believe there’s a slight difference between the freedom written about back in 1776, and the freedom they’re exercising at the Barbeque and the Contest. Ya think?

While I must admit that in the right setting, I’ll step outside my healthy eating rituals and partake of some family favorites (using portion control wisdom!), this is not a license for me to binge, gorge or snarfle. (We used that word as a kid. Have no idea how to spell it.)

Freedom has a lot to do with choices. I’m so thankful for the freedom offered us here in the U.S. I’m thankful that most of what we do everyday is by choice, not by force.

I invite you to:

• Consider all the choices presented to you everyday.
• Consider all the freedom you have in most, if not all areas of your life.
• Exercise gratefulness.
• And use your freedom to make choices that save and preserve the precious life given to you.

I invite you to take a step back in time and enjoy your family while you’re all Celebrating the Declaration of Independence. Practice gratefulness (and portion control). Happy Fourth of July WEEK!

• Too easy.
• Had a couple of challenges.
• Felt good.
• Felt it the next day.
• Did it every day.
• Did it several times.
• It’s a keeper!
• Added it to my exercise routine.

When you first read through it, I hope you had a positive mindset and thought that even these simple movements would matter. I hope you felt that it would take you closer to your goal in your body and your business.

What?

Yes, your business. Believe it or not, I’ve done similar routines myself before a client call or client training session. What this does is help me transition from one thing to another by relaxing and preparing my mind and body for whatever I want to do next. My thinking is clearer and I can work out a few “kinks” in my body from the previous task.

You know what it also does? It helps improve my circulation and targets/strengthens my postural muscles so I can look and feel more confident and energized.

I encourage you to revisit this “10-step System” and approach it with the mindset that, you too will benefit in your body and your business by movement that matters.

Well I have some really good news for you then.

But first, another question. What can you do in 5 minutes. How about 10? And 15 minutes? Okay, that was 3 questions really. But the answer to all three is: A lot!

And to demonstrate what I mean, I want to gift you with something really simple. What I have for you today is a quick routine that you can call your new “10-step System” to get in 5, 10 or even 15 minutes of body movement to energize your day. I don’t care what level you feel you are at physically (high, low or somewhere in between), I want you to do this, okay? Because right now, nothing is too small if you can physically do it.

1. Can you sit down and stand up? If so, grab a firm chair or stool, sit with your feet and knees hip-width apart and parallel, and do just that, 8-12 times.
2. Can you walk on your tip toes? If so, from your chair or stool, take as many as 12 steps forward on your toes.
3. Can you walk on your heels? If so, from that point, walk back to your chair/stool on your heels.
4. Can you raise your hand (like asking permission)? If so, alternate raising your hands for 8-12 counts.
5. Can you open your arms wide and slightly back, like getting ready for a big hug? If so, open up while inhaling, and then just relax your arms, while exhaling, 4-8 times.
6. Can you sit down and stand up again? If so, with the same foot and leg position as before, do that 8-12 times again.
7. Can you side step, like you’re trying to get out to the aisle from a center seat? If so, side step to the right as many as 12 steps while standing tall. Now side step back to your chair/stool while standing tall.
8. Can you stand on one foot/leg? If so, stand behind your chair/stool or close to a wall (just in case!), with your feet hip-width apart and parallel. Stand tall, hands on back of chair (or touch wall). a) Lift one foot slightly without shifting your hips/pelvis; b) Now raise both arms straight out to the sides with palms facing up (still standing tall!); c) Finally, bend both elbows and tap your ears with your finger tips (keeping the elbows back!). Do this 2-4 times while balancing. Then release and relax. Repeat on the other foot/leg.
9. Can you open your arms wide and slightly back, like getting ready for another big hug? If so, open up while inhaling, and then just relax your arms, while exhaling, 4-8 times.
10. Can you hang your head down? If so, just stand tall, arms at sides, feet parallel. Now just tilt your chin down toward your chest and let it relax (still standing tall!). Eyes closed. Chill for about a 2-4 breaths.

That’s it! So simple. So quick. So effective. And here’s the coolest part. You can do this once a day, twice a day, to break from your computer, even before bedtime…whatever!

It’s just my gift to you to get your body moving in ways it was created to. Cool? Cool.

Let me know how you feel afterwards okay?

First, let me share one of my challenges with one of my systems in business. I love my laptop. But I also love paper. Well, I don’t really love paper, but I do have a hard time letting it go. It doesn’t matter if I have an important document stored on my computer or not. I want to print it out. But then what?

I need to file it somewhere. Oh, the horrors!

That’s a system I’m challenged in. I have a filing system. A couple, actually. But guess what? If I don’t actually put that system into practice, I end up with piles of paper that when looked at, are screaming, “File me!”

Okay, so first I have to even have a plan, a system for filing, and then I actually have to put that plan into practice so that I can see that it works. Tah-dah!

What are some other systems that are important in (your) business or profession? Systems that you tell others are important. You teach them they must have “this” in place to achieve “that.” How many can you come up with?

Most executives and entrepreneurs think that the only place having systems is important, is in their business. Nothing could be further than the truth. Let’s talk about some other systems.

• Do you have a system for feeling and being healthy?
• Is there a discipline that you practice everyday that allows you to achieve a healthy lifestyle?
• How about a healthy weight?
• What’s your system for making sure you have a healthy checkup?

Ahhhh. Now I’ve got you thinking. Or at least I hope I do.

You see, nothing…nothing is more important than your health. Not your j.o.b. Not your c.l.i.e.n.t.s. Not your b.i.g. audience. Not your h.u.g.e. bank account. Not even your m.a.s.s.i.v.e. following. N.O.T.H.I.N.G! (I actually sang that last one.)

And you can fool yourself into thinking that having “no symptoms” means good health. Wrong!

Looking and feeling run down is a symptom. Having a biological age that is 5-10 years older than your chronological age is a symptom. Obesity….is a symptom. Yes, I said the “O” word, and it wasn’t Oprah.

Do you have a plan, a system for putting your life’s “files” in order?

What’s in the file for self-care? (I’m not talking about getting a massage or a manicure!)

Do you have the discipline to carry out this plan daily? (I’m not talking about for 2 weeks or 3 months!)

You may need a Systems Check! Is your warning light on? Should it be??? This is critical. I believe it’s time we discuss it. (Pssst! Email me!)

Otherwise, you could end up with a life/body that when looked at, is screaming, “Take care of me!”