We have a saying in the fighter pilot world, "lose sight, lose fight." Lose sight for just a second of the ground or aerial target, and chances are you'll lose the fight (i.e. miss the target or get shot down). It takes intense concentration, discipline, and focus to keep sight. Your vision is only as good as how well you see the immediate target.
We've all heard the experts talk about vision. Vision paints an inspiring picture of what an organization can become and gives us something to believe in, work towards, and identify with. Warren Bennis calls it ‘a compelling goal.' When we have a vision, we're naturally driven to achieve it and it inspires us to action every day. It gives meaning to our mission as it provides a purpose in all we do.
Henry David Thoreau once stated, "In the long run people hit only what they aim at." He was onto something here. The key word is ‘aim.' Aim requires focus, and lack of focus is a huge factor that leads to failure. Most of us have a decent vision of where we're going. But in my experience, it's rare to find someone with a clear and laser-sharp focus who has the discipline to stay on target to achieve this vision. Long term vision is great, but it's useless unless you stay on target every day and not become distracted by non mission critical items.
"Beware of Distractions Disguised as Opportunities."
This gets to the core of why focus is so critical to success. Focus guides us in the daily activities which lead to the accomplishment of our vision. Think about it. You're entrenched in writing an awesome sales proposal and the phone rings. You're practicing your sales pitch to that huge prospect and an e-mail pops up ‘demanding' an immediate response. You've just sat down to plan tomorrow's schedule and your friend calls to discuss a relationship issue.
One second you're ready for action, the next, you're off target trying to deal with an ‘opportunity' which is simply a distraction designed to help you lose focus on what's important. What you do at that moment is critical.
I'm not saying blow off everything other than the task at hand. But if you're serious about success, you better have your mission priorities straight and multi-task only items that support the immediate mission. Real leaders are great at this.
Vision without focus is like a combat mission without an objective. You fly around going after targets of opportunity but in the end never accomplish anything.
The key to keeping focused is establishing parameters and boundaries for your activities and staying disciplined.
- Silence the phone, shut down outlook, and lock the door to your office.
- Have focus sessions - up to 50 mins of uninterrupted time when you're focused on a single task.
- Delegate, delay, or ignore non-mission critical tasks.
- Hire wingmen and outsource these tasks.
Staying focused is difficult and requires intense training and discipline, something that fighter pilots rely on to win in competitive and rapidly changing environments. In today's world of changing technology, constant communication, and ‘I need it now' mentality, the difference between Top Gun and average is focus.
I hope I made my point clear ;)
Friday, October 24, 2008
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Weight Loss: Lose The Guilt To Lose Weight
Here is something that you never hear anyone talk about when it comes to weight loss. That is, how our emotions come into play when we attempt to lose weight, or to achieve any goal for that matter.
For the longest period of time I thought that guilt way a non-productive emotion. Just recently I came to realize how wrong I was. Guilt is much more than non-productive, it is counter productive. So much so that it prevents us from obtaining our goals, in this case, losing weight.
Naturally, you ask yourself how this works. It is quite simple really. Guilt is the mechanism that allows us to bind together two contradictory thoughts, beliefs, desires or actions.
Here is a simple example, one pertaining to your weight loss program. Let us assume for a moment that you are overweight. It is on your mind a great deal of the time. You are unhappy with this condition. As a matter of fact, it plagues you. It is on your mind constantly and you absolutely plan to do something about it. Maybe you are even in the process of dieting and exercising right now. Okay. So you have had a long, frustrating day. There is a pint of chocolate ice cream with your name on it in the freezer. You know in your heart that eating it will be counter productive. Jeez, it is worse than that. No only will it delay your weight loss, it will actually put weight on your thighs. What do you do? You guessed it. You eat the pint of ice cream.
What is the mechanism that allows this to happen? What is it that allows you to know for certain that what you are doing is against your own best interests and you do it anyway? Duh, it is guilt. Guilt is the means that allows us to bind these absolutely, contradictory actions together. We are dieting (or plan on dieting) and eating ice cream at the same time. Not to beat a dead horse, but what makes this alright in our minds and emotions. Guilt.
By this time you are saying to yourself, do not be silly. This is the most ridiculous thing that I have ever heard. Well, stop and think about this for a few minutes. Find other examples in your life where this can apply. You will discover that it is no so silly after all.
When you come to the realization that this may in fact be true, you should be asking yourself what can be done about it. The easy answer, on the face of it, is to just stop feeling guilty. Easier said than done.
You see, guilt has a small army of allies. This army of allies only strengthen the power of guilt. These allies include, but are not limited to, low self esteem, self pity and a general negative outlook on life.
By now, the picture is beginning to look hopeless. Not so. The fact of the matter is that there are a number of people who lose weight every single day. What is it that they do to successfully lose weight? What is it that I can do to duplicate their success?
The single, most important and powerful thing that you can do is to set your goal. When you establish this goal it has to be set in stone. Ghandi use to talk about taking a personal vow. I take this to mean to establish your goal at the highest and deepest mental and emotional levels. When you do this then every action that you take will contribute to arriving at your goal. That includes the slips and missteps.
Anyway, there you have it, something to think about. If you have tried to diet and lose weight in the past, and were unsuccessful, perhaps you have gained some insight as to why. With some self reflection perhaps your next attempt will be your last.
For the longest period of time I thought that guilt way a non-productive emotion. Just recently I came to realize how wrong I was. Guilt is much more than non-productive, it is counter productive. So much so that it prevents us from obtaining our goals, in this case, losing weight.
Naturally, you ask yourself how this works. It is quite simple really. Guilt is the mechanism that allows us to bind together two contradictory thoughts, beliefs, desires or actions.
Here is a simple example, one pertaining to your weight loss program. Let us assume for a moment that you are overweight. It is on your mind a great deal of the time. You are unhappy with this condition. As a matter of fact, it plagues you. It is on your mind constantly and you absolutely plan to do something about it. Maybe you are even in the process of dieting and exercising right now. Okay. So you have had a long, frustrating day. There is a pint of chocolate ice cream with your name on it in the freezer. You know in your heart that eating it will be counter productive. Jeez, it is worse than that. No only will it delay your weight loss, it will actually put weight on your thighs. What do you do? You guessed it. You eat the pint of ice cream.
What is the mechanism that allows this to happen? What is it that allows you to know for certain that what you are doing is against your own best interests and you do it anyway? Duh, it is guilt. Guilt is the means that allows us to bind these absolutely, contradictory actions together. We are dieting (or plan on dieting) and eating ice cream at the same time. Not to beat a dead horse, but what makes this alright in our minds and emotions. Guilt.
By this time you are saying to yourself, do not be silly. This is the most ridiculous thing that I have ever heard. Well, stop and think about this for a few minutes. Find other examples in your life where this can apply. You will discover that it is no so silly after all.
When you come to the realization that this may in fact be true, you should be asking yourself what can be done about it. The easy answer, on the face of it, is to just stop feeling guilty. Easier said than done.
You see, guilt has a small army of allies. This army of allies only strengthen the power of guilt. These allies include, but are not limited to, low self esteem, self pity and a general negative outlook on life.
By now, the picture is beginning to look hopeless. Not so. The fact of the matter is that there are a number of people who lose weight every single day. What is it that they do to successfully lose weight? What is it that I can do to duplicate their success?
The single, most important and powerful thing that you can do is to set your goal. When you establish this goal it has to be set in stone. Ghandi use to talk about taking a personal vow. I take this to mean to establish your goal at the highest and deepest mental and emotional levels. When you do this then every action that you take will contribute to arriving at your goal. That includes the slips and missteps.
Anyway, there you have it, something to think about. If you have tried to diet and lose weight in the past, and were unsuccessful, perhaps you have gained some insight as to why. With some self reflection perhaps your next attempt will be your last.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Fastest Way to Lose Weight-Learn Ways to Lose Weight
Are you losing hope already on your weight problems? Do you feel tired because you have tried almost all possible ways and techniques to shed those extra pounds away? Do you want to really lose them permanently?
If you feel you are at the end your dreams; cheer up because there is still hope because the fastest way to lose weight is here and will open new doors of opportunity to achieve that ideal weight for you. Every thing is possible, discover and learn ways to lose weight fast, effective and safely.
If every single approach you've had tried to lose weight failed you, it is understandable that you would feel bad but for you to stop hoping is wrong. You can not just give up because you've failed - you are not the first person who failed. Many have tried but never lose hope and they never say never to try new techniques.
That's the spirit.
Although there are no techniques in particular that offers instant results, for sure you would find fastest way to lose weight and shed off those extra pounds in your body. Fastest in a way that you would see results in the most realistic time frame of program even those diet pills in the market should be given some allowance to see efficacy, right?
Learn the most sensible, realistic diet plan to lose weight. Forget those fad diets in the market like cabbage soup, calorie watch diets, or those diets that would ask a person to consume particular food type - avoid them.
Think of your body as a machine that has an engine to maintain to function well. Most of these fad diets do violate the purpose and principle of having a good nutrition so they failed. Continued regimen of these kinds of diets would just lead to the following:
"Digestive discomforts
"Bad breath
"Flatulence
"Pale skin color
"Dizziness, among others
Your digestive systems may face difficulty because some diets would just let you skip meals which is to dangerous. Some diet such as cabbage soup might result to discomfort and accumulation of gas in the stomach. If you have stomach discomfort, it is possible that you may have bad breath, too. If you will notice most dieters suffer also from halitosis or bad breath, this is due to unhealthy consumption of food and usual skipping of meals. This may lead to serious systemic halitosis or bad breath.
If you just do a little research, you'll see that the reason you've failed in the past diet workouts is because you lack the right knowledge on dieting. But now, success is within your reach - do the fastest way to lose weight.
The fastest way to lose weight should be done by:
"Eating fruits instead of sodas to enhance our digestive systems' function
"Consuming raw vegetables for the body to absorb the nutrients
"Following a balance diet - no strict diet on particular food
"Drinking plenty of water for hydration instead of energy drinks
"Doing some simple target area exercises
"Having a healthy lifestyle; avoiding vices
"Sleeping appropriate hours to regain strength
There is no shortcut but there you may find these tips to be the fastest to lose weight ideally and in a realistic way.
If you feel you are at the end your dreams; cheer up because there is still hope because the fastest way to lose weight is here and will open new doors of opportunity to achieve that ideal weight for you. Every thing is possible, discover and learn ways to lose weight fast, effective and safely.
If every single approach you've had tried to lose weight failed you, it is understandable that you would feel bad but for you to stop hoping is wrong. You can not just give up because you've failed - you are not the first person who failed. Many have tried but never lose hope and they never say never to try new techniques.
That's the spirit.
Although there are no techniques in particular that offers instant results, for sure you would find fastest way to lose weight and shed off those extra pounds in your body. Fastest in a way that you would see results in the most realistic time frame of program even those diet pills in the market should be given some allowance to see efficacy, right?
Learn the most sensible, realistic diet plan to lose weight. Forget those fad diets in the market like cabbage soup, calorie watch diets, or those diets that would ask a person to consume particular food type - avoid them.
Think of your body as a machine that has an engine to maintain to function well. Most of these fad diets do violate the purpose and principle of having a good nutrition so they failed. Continued regimen of these kinds of diets would just lead to the following:
"Digestive discomforts
"Bad breath
"Flatulence
"Pale skin color
"Dizziness, among others
Your digestive systems may face difficulty because some diets would just let you skip meals which is to dangerous. Some diet such as cabbage soup might result to discomfort and accumulation of gas in the stomach. If you have stomach discomfort, it is possible that you may have bad breath, too. If you will notice most dieters suffer also from halitosis or bad breath, this is due to unhealthy consumption of food and usual skipping of meals. This may lead to serious systemic halitosis or bad breath.
If you just do a little research, you'll see that the reason you've failed in the past diet workouts is because you lack the right knowledge on dieting. But now, success is within your reach - do the fastest way to lose weight.
The fastest way to lose weight should be done by:
"Eating fruits instead of sodas to enhance our digestive systems' function
"Consuming raw vegetables for the body to absorb the nutrients
"Following a balance diet - no strict diet on particular food
"Drinking plenty of water for hydration instead of energy drinks
"Doing some simple target area exercises
"Having a healthy lifestyle; avoiding vices
"Sleeping appropriate hours to regain strength
There is no shortcut but there you may find these tips to be the fastest to lose weight ideally and in a realistic way.
How to Lose Weight the Right Way - Ten Top Tips to Lose Weight
It is a well documented fact that diets do not work, this is because dieters do not know how lose weight the right way. Over 90% of dieters fail to lose weight permanently. You do want to keep the weight off permanently, right?
The restrictions that accompany all diets are too much of a burden for you to follow long term, and for those few who manage to adhere to them long term and lose weight, what happens when they finally come off the diet? The weight comes back, slowly but surely. So if you want to lose weight permanently, you must make permanent changes to your lifestyle, so that when the weight does come off, it stays off.
So what changes can be made? You should be looking for multiple small changes to your diet, changes that are easy to make and and easy to keep to. A good rule of thumb is to ask yourself if you will be able to handle the change for the rest of your life. If you answer "no" to this question then it's probably better not to take on the change in the first place, because you will probably soon pile the pounds back on after discarding the change.
Try using skimmed milk, sugar substitutes, low-cal soda, in fact there are low-calorie alternatives for most of today's popular foods. Drink more water, eat more fresh fruit and veg. You know this stuff, it's not rocket science, but it does need you to commit. Maybe today will be the day?
No weight loss program can be successful without exercise. Even the fad diets all proclaim that they will be ineffective without exercise. The "E" word can be pretty scary for many people, because it drums up images of leotards, gymnasiums and sweaty bodies. Exercise doesn't need to be like this, there is only one rule when it comes to exercise; whatever it is, do it EVERY day without fail, (or at least five days a week). So it could be something as simple as walking or cycling.
In the long run, fifteen minutes' walk each day is more effective than a two-hour gym workout. For most of us the gym workouts will stop some time in the future - let's face it, most of us don't need much of an excuse to skip the gym today, do we? By contrast, a walk is something that we can do every day, without the need to give it up.
The equation for weight loss is as simple as it ever was: burn more energy than you eat. This can be done through reduction of energy intake or an increase in energy burn - preferably both. In short, eat less and move more. The top ten tips to lose weight are based on these principles. If you want to lose weight fast, this list is probably not for you.
Yes, it is possible to lose weight fast, but it is also highly probable that you will put it all back on as quickly as you lost it. This is a long term plan, it will take six to 12 months to have significant effect. This can be quite a demoralizing thought, but remember; a pound lost using this system is a pound lost permanently.
1. Forget fad diets they don't work
2. Make a decision to exercise each day. Start tomorrow. Walk, cycle, swim - anything is fine.
3. Explore the possibilities of small changes you can make to your daily energy consumption.
4. Stop eating fried food. Broil, steam, bake, roast, boil, microwave but DON'T fry!
5. Set a time in the evening - say 6 0' clock. Make a rule NEVER to eat after that time.
6. Get at least 8 hours' sleep each night. If you are tired out during each day you will resort to high energy candy bars, cakes and cookies to boost your flagging body.
7. Eat breakfast. Yes, you've heard it before - don't ask the reasons why, the statistical fact is that almost all people who lose weight permanently also eat breakfast. So just DO IT!
8. DON'T cut out carbohydrates. Your body and brain need carbs (NOT from sugar!) so eat them, preferably with fiber, eg wholemeal bread and pasta, potatoes with the skin on.
9. Eliminate fat. This is the most important change you can make. Fat has a massive calorific value, so do your best to find alternatives. Yes, your body needs fat, but don't worry, no matter how hard you try to eliminate it, thanks to today's processed food environment you will always eat some of fat no matter how hard you try not to.
10. Don't be impatient, you want to lose weight permanently, not lose weight fast. This is a long term deal.
The restrictions that accompany all diets are too much of a burden for you to follow long term, and for those few who manage to adhere to them long term and lose weight, what happens when they finally come off the diet? The weight comes back, slowly but surely. So if you want to lose weight permanently, you must make permanent changes to your lifestyle, so that when the weight does come off, it stays off.
So what changes can be made? You should be looking for multiple small changes to your diet, changes that are easy to make and and easy to keep to. A good rule of thumb is to ask yourself if you will be able to handle the change for the rest of your life. If you answer "no" to this question then it's probably better not to take on the change in the first place, because you will probably soon pile the pounds back on after discarding the change.
Try using skimmed milk, sugar substitutes, low-cal soda, in fact there are low-calorie alternatives for most of today's popular foods. Drink more water, eat more fresh fruit and veg. You know this stuff, it's not rocket science, but it does need you to commit. Maybe today will be the day?
No weight loss program can be successful without exercise. Even the fad diets all proclaim that they will be ineffective without exercise. The "E" word can be pretty scary for many people, because it drums up images of leotards, gymnasiums and sweaty bodies. Exercise doesn't need to be like this, there is only one rule when it comes to exercise; whatever it is, do it EVERY day without fail, (or at least five days a week). So it could be something as simple as walking or cycling.
In the long run, fifteen minutes' walk each day is more effective than a two-hour gym workout. For most of us the gym workouts will stop some time in the future - let's face it, most of us don't need much of an excuse to skip the gym today, do we? By contrast, a walk is something that we can do every day, without the need to give it up.
The equation for weight loss is as simple as it ever was: burn more energy than you eat. This can be done through reduction of energy intake or an increase in energy burn - preferably both. In short, eat less and move more. The top ten tips to lose weight are based on these principles. If you want to lose weight fast, this list is probably not for you.
Yes, it is possible to lose weight fast, but it is also highly probable that you will put it all back on as quickly as you lost it. This is a long term plan, it will take six to 12 months to have significant effect. This can be quite a demoralizing thought, but remember; a pound lost using this system is a pound lost permanently.
1. Forget fad diets they don't work
2. Make a decision to exercise each day. Start tomorrow. Walk, cycle, swim - anything is fine.
3. Explore the possibilities of small changes you can make to your daily energy consumption.
4. Stop eating fried food. Broil, steam, bake, roast, boil, microwave but DON'T fry!
5. Set a time in the evening - say 6 0' clock. Make a rule NEVER to eat after that time.
6. Get at least 8 hours' sleep each night. If you are tired out during each day you will resort to high energy candy bars, cakes and cookies to boost your flagging body.
7. Eat breakfast. Yes, you've heard it before - don't ask the reasons why, the statistical fact is that almost all people who lose weight permanently also eat breakfast. So just DO IT!
8. DON'T cut out carbohydrates. Your body and brain need carbs (NOT from sugar!) so eat them, preferably with fiber, eg wholemeal bread and pasta, potatoes with the skin on.
9. Eliminate fat. This is the most important change you can make. Fat has a massive calorific value, so do your best to find alternatives. Yes, your body needs fat, but don't worry, no matter how hard you try to eliminate it, thanks to today's processed food environment you will always eat some of fat no matter how hard you try not to.
10. Don't be impatient, you want to lose weight permanently, not lose weight fast. This is a long term deal.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Lose Weight, Don't Lose Your Mind
eight loss can mean many things to many people. It could be an answer to one person’s prayer, a symptom of illness for another. However one views it, it remains to be one of the world’s more universal contemporary topics on earth. You could bring together a weight-conscious German woman and a weight-conscious American together and despite the cultural barrier, they will surely have a feast on interacting on this much debated and worried-over topic.
In a world of instant items and more convenience, less physical effort is needed. Instead of walking up a flight of stairs, one can take the elevator. Instead of walking along the block to buy milk from the grocer, there’s the car to save time and energy. And food is so much more readily available these days. I leave it to your discretion to say which foods are healthy and which are no, but the truth of the matter is that there is just so much efforts on convenience that it failed to take into account to leave a reasonable amount of physical labor to keep one’s self from getting obese or overweight.
Sitting in front of TV with an iced coffee and some bag of chips can already mean 1000 calories. While the concept of counting calories is such an unattractive concept especially if you are used to satisfying your palate with all the good things it can handle in one sitting, there are other alternatives to make sure you get the desired amount of weight loss and not look like a super-sized dinosaur.
For one thing, take some lessons from the French women. They eat frequently but in small amounts only. Often, the bulge problems come in when you eat a few but meaty meals. If you diffuse your food intake during the entire day, it will be burned most likely. To lessen one’s food intake at night can also help. Your body at night is more sedentary and will probably let what you ate at night to stay in your hips forever if you don’t take action.
Losing weight can also be done by exercising regularly and consistently. You don’t need a gym to be able to do so. You can just make a few stretches here and there, but the most important thing is that you ought to do it consistently. Otherwise, it will not yield the results you want to have for yourself. Some good forms of exercise include those with the element of play in them such as belly dancing. It’s really about matching your appetite with activities which will help you burn those calories as instantly as you take them.
Make small choices everyday to lose weight more easily. And set yourself more realistic goals so that you won’t get frustrated and go back to poor eating habits. Instead of taking the elevator, you can choose to take the stairs. It lends to your creativity but for as long as you can exert some physical efforts of sorts to yourself despite a demanding work day, you will definitely find yourself with less pounds and more of endorphins or happy hormones.
Weight loss options also abound in the market. There are weight loss pills, creams and others. These can work for you as well, but it usually has side effects you must prepare for. Furthermore, popping weight loss pills breeds addiction and dependence, and will not help you groom to have self-control and discipline with your food intake—two major things which will help you be in good shape for the long-term.
Those tips were for the case of those who want to lose weight to look good. However, in the case of those bordering on an unknown illness or becoming overboard with weight loss pills, a potential problem presents itself. Whether you are of normal or excessive weight in the past, if you are experiencing sudden and irregular bouts of weight loss, it is something that needs your doctor’s advice. Consult a health expert in such cases, so that you may be able to determine the principal cause of abnormal weight loss. It may be a physical or psychological problem, so make sure it gets treated (check out http://www.weight-loss-resources.com) and that you have a healthy perspective on losing weight.
In a world of instant items and more convenience, less physical effort is needed. Instead of walking up a flight of stairs, one can take the elevator. Instead of walking along the block to buy milk from the grocer, there’s the car to save time and energy. And food is so much more readily available these days. I leave it to your discretion to say which foods are healthy and which are no, but the truth of the matter is that there is just so much efforts on convenience that it failed to take into account to leave a reasonable amount of physical labor to keep one’s self from getting obese or overweight.
Sitting in front of TV with an iced coffee and some bag of chips can already mean 1000 calories. While the concept of counting calories is such an unattractive concept especially if you are used to satisfying your palate with all the good things it can handle in one sitting, there are other alternatives to make sure you get the desired amount of weight loss and not look like a super-sized dinosaur.
For one thing, take some lessons from the French women. They eat frequently but in small amounts only. Often, the bulge problems come in when you eat a few but meaty meals. If you diffuse your food intake during the entire day, it will be burned most likely. To lessen one’s food intake at night can also help. Your body at night is more sedentary and will probably let what you ate at night to stay in your hips forever if you don’t take action.
Losing weight can also be done by exercising regularly and consistently. You don’t need a gym to be able to do so. You can just make a few stretches here and there, but the most important thing is that you ought to do it consistently. Otherwise, it will not yield the results you want to have for yourself. Some good forms of exercise include those with the element of play in them such as belly dancing. It’s really about matching your appetite with activities which will help you burn those calories as instantly as you take them.
Make small choices everyday to lose weight more easily. And set yourself more realistic goals so that you won’t get frustrated and go back to poor eating habits. Instead of taking the elevator, you can choose to take the stairs. It lends to your creativity but for as long as you can exert some physical efforts of sorts to yourself despite a demanding work day, you will definitely find yourself with less pounds and more of endorphins or happy hormones.
Weight loss options also abound in the market. There are weight loss pills, creams and others. These can work for you as well, but it usually has side effects you must prepare for. Furthermore, popping weight loss pills breeds addiction and dependence, and will not help you groom to have self-control and discipline with your food intake—two major things which will help you be in good shape for the long-term.
Those tips were for the case of those who want to lose weight to look good. However, in the case of those bordering on an unknown illness or becoming overboard with weight loss pills, a potential problem presents itself. Whether you are of normal or excessive weight in the past, if you are experiencing sudden and irregular bouts of weight loss, it is something that needs your doctor’s advice. Consult a health expert in such cases, so that you may be able to determine the principal cause of abnormal weight loss. It may be a physical or psychological problem, so make sure it gets treated (check out http://www.weight-loss-resources.com) and that you have a healthy perspective on losing weight.
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