1. The only way I can successfully manage my life is to take care of myself physically and emotionally.   True/False
2. By nurturing my own life, I  increase my capacity to help others.  True/False
3. I eat healthfully and exercise regularly.  True/False
4. I get medical check-ups, visit the dentist twice a year, and take preventative measures to maintain my physical health and well-being.  True/False
5. I set aside personal, quite time for myself on a daily basis either to meditate or simply to let my thoughts drift.  True/False
6. I acknowledge the changes of seasons and engage in activities that coincide with each season (i.e., going to football games in the fall, going swimming in the summer).  True/False
7. I engage in activities that nurture my creativity, such as writing, cooking, painting, dancing or some other creative pursuit.  True/False
8. I feel my life is enriched when I reach out to other people. I make a point of spending quality time with my family and friends.  True/False
9. My personal relationships are honest, responsible, and satisfying.  True/False
10. I notice and heed signals that tell me I’m out of balance:  stress; anxiety; irritability; confusion; resentment; lethargy; insomnia; changes in appetite.  True/False
11. I listen to and honor the requests my body makes with respect to my:  needing more rest; needing more sleep; drinking more water; eating healthier foods; exercising or not over-exercising.  True/False
12. When I need or want to, I say no to requests for my time.  True/False
13. If I have something planned for myself, I don’t just toss it aside when someone makes a request of me.  True/False
14. Even when I’m busy, I still manage to find some time to do things I want to do.  True/False
15. I am happy.  I regularly experience well-being, contentment, even joy.

If you answered false more than true, you may want to take a look at the questions to which you answered false and see if you can incorporate something of  its message into your life.  Please don’t hesitate to contact me at Capital LifeWorks if you would like to explore this issue further.

Best to all, Tricia

The key to keeping your balance is knowing when you’ve lost it. Anonymous

My relationship for M&M’s began during my early childhood.  Often, my mother would surprise my sister and me by giving us each a pack.  She knew our preferences — peanut for my sister, plain for me.  It was a special treat.  I ate them one at a time.  A pack would last all day.  Unbeknownst to my loving mother, I developed an early attachment relationship with M&M’s that would have a fundamental affect on the rest of my life.        

As my brain developed and I started to learn the difference between right and wrong, M&M’s became a reward I would receive for being a good girl.  The behavioral conditioning was fine with me.  I no longer had to wait to for a treat.  M&M’s were my behavioral frequent flyer miles.  I could earn them.  However, the control I gained in securing M&M’s provoked a loss of control with respect to eating them.  I could down a pack in less than an hour.   

Young and unaware of the consequences of my actions, I decided to take a risk.  I began trading M&M’s with my sister and acquired a taste for the peanut kind.  How foolish of me for not embracing them years ago.  Nevertheless, I made up for the loss when I reached adolescence and became somewhat financially independent.  I was at a developmental stage when I could buy all the M&M’s I wanted – whenever I wanted.  I could treat and reward myself to my heart’s content.  I was in M&M bliss.

By early adulthood, I started buying in bulk.  I would get two packs at a time.  One was to indulge what had become my passion.  The other one was to share.  The little candies never melted in my hands.  They never had a chance.  Even worse, my self-discipline slipped through my fingers.  I never paused to consider my actions.  I just gobbled with abandon.  Such were my M&M halcyon days.  

Fast forward to my years working on Capitol Hill when M&M’s became my favorite comfort food.  I had no problem justifying them as “food” and attesting to their nutritional value.  Did you know a pack of M&M’s has more fiber than a medium apple?   Did you know a cup of M&M’s provides 23% of the recommended daily amount of calcium?  What a great way for a busy gal to add fiber to her diet and fight osteoporosis.   

My penchant for M&M’s was no secret.  I had a dispenser on my desk.  People gave them to me as gifts or as peace offerings.  Interns quickly learned they could gain my favor if they helped replenish my supply.   When we changed offices, the movers found enough M&M’s behind my desk to feed a kindergarten class.  I was not embarrassed.  I was amazed I had let so many get away.  What a waste.

M&M’s had become my daily pick-me-ups and my main source of sustenance during late night sessions.   (That’s a lot of M&M’s.)  I ate them to feel good.  If I was feeling good, I ate them to feel even better. They were my lifesavers (no pun intended) during stressful times.  They were my antidote for any unfavorable situation that occurred or might occur.  I chose not to acknowledge it, but they were no longer a treat, comfort or passion.  They had become my drug of choice.

Then, one late night it happened.  A prolonged Senate session wiped out my supply.  I ran to the candy machine in the basement of Russell Building to get an emergency pack.  As I watched the machine go into motion, I immediately sensed trouble.  Sure enough, the pack never cleared that stupid metal spiral thing.  All of my attempts to tilt, tip, and bang them free were futile.  They just hung there.

A passing Capitol Police officer offered assistance but to no avail.  Jokingly (okay, half jokingly), I suggested he use his gun.  We could shoot them out!  I learned you really should not joke with the Capitol Police that way.  I also learned that my years of using M&M’s as an emotional crutch had caught up with me.  It was time for an intervention.

In order to break my M&M dependency I had to submit to a reality check.  I had to acknowledge that my relationship with M&M’s was nothing more than a bad habit.  I had been engaging in candy-coated self-destruction.  Eating too much of anything is never a good idea.  Ingesting piles of fat-laden calories is a really stupid idea, especially when there are so many healthy alternatives available.  

I had to admit that my emotional eating never made any situation better.  If anything, my own behavior actually made unhealthy situations even worse.  It was time to act like an adult and to take responsibility for my actions. It was up to me to push back hard against my own habitual thinking and behavior in order to stop the madness. 

It wasn’t easy and there were a few slip ups along the way but, eventually, my determination paid off.  My self-discipline returned.  The abuse stopped and I renegotiated my relationship with M&M’s.  I still think they are the best candy in the whole, wide world.  However, I love them (and me) enough to let them go.  Now, only on rare occasions will I let them melt in my mouth.  But I will always hold a special place for them in my heart.

Tricia Ferrone/Capital LifeWorks

Are you putting in 110% effort in the gym but still not seeing the results you had hoped for? The problem might not be in your workout routine. Although you may be following a rigorous strength training and cardiovascular program, a vital link may be missing — proper nutrition. I’ve found over the years that most of my clients will focus and push themselves during a workout, but they all tend to go astray on the diet component of the program. The sad fact is nutrition is about 90% of the battle when it comes to getting in shape. The results will not happen without the right balance of proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals, and total calories!

This is where the meal diary comes in. It’s similar to a personal diary, but rather than recording the day’s events, you write down everything you eat and drink. This can be done in a workout log or even in a standard notebook. Simply divide each day into sections: breakfast, lunch, dinner, and between-meal snacks. All beverages need to be included-water, coffee, tea, milk, alcohol, etc. Little extras like condiments on your sandwich and cream in your coffee also need to be written down. Basic rule of thumb: if it goes in your mouth, it goes in the diary. Recording this information for a week will open your eyes to a lot of potential problem areas that may be slowing down progress toward your goals. It’s surprising how many nutritional mysteries can be cleared up by keeping a written record.

The following are actual quotes from clients of mine, before and after they filled out a meal diary for a week:

The “after” comments were all made before I even had a chance to review the diaries with each client. It’s amazing how writing down what you eat for a week can illustrate problem areas so clearly.

Once you have the diary filled out for a full week, it’s time to review it. Your objective is to see how well your nutritional efforts are supporting what you’re doing in the gym, or as I refer to it: the good, the bad, and the ugly. What are you doing well? What needs improvement? Are you getting too much or too little of certain items? Are there foods that should be cut out entirely?

The first thing I look at is beverages. Believe it or not, this area is every bit as important as solid food intake. Are you drinking enough water every day? If you’re walking around in a state of dehydration, this will affect not only your workout results but also your health.

Water is vital to so many processes in the body, including:
1. Transporting nutrients
2. Digestion and elimination
3. Building muscle (muscles are composed of over 70% water)
4. Burning Bodyfat
5. Keeping the body cooled
6. Hydrating the skin
7. Energy level (nothing will make you fatigue faster than dehydration)

If you are in any state of dehydration, the body will slow down all processes to conserve water. Do you really want to hold back your ability to build lean muscle and burn body fat? Follow the ACSM standard and be aware of urine color throughout the day. If it’s not almost clear or the palest yellow, you’re dehydrated and need to consume more water. Be aware that any caffeinated drink is a diuretic, it will flush water out of your system. And for those using creatine, you must consume even more water than the normal individual. Creatine helps hold water in the muscles to make them appear larger and fuller — without enough water, you’ll experience muscle cramps.

What about other beverages?
Sometimes excess calorie consumption comes in liquid form, and that’s not a good thing if you’re trying to lose weight or get better muscle definition. Although fruit juice is relatively healthy (compared to a soft drink), it can sabotage your efforts through high sugar content and calories. Eating whole fruit is always a better choice because you’ll get more fiber and nutrients, without the heavy calorie toll of the juice. Alcohol takes a one-way trip to your body fat stores, as well as impairing muscle performance the following day. Try to avoid or consume in moderation. One word about protein shakes: know what you’re getting. This can be an excellent way to get more protein in the diet, but be aware of fat, sugar and calories. The real danger can be at the smoothie bars located in gyms. A concoction loaded with peanut butter, chocolate and bananas is not the best choice unless you’re an individual who has a hard time gaining weight. A large shake with high-calorie ingredients and yogurt can turn into a nutritional disaster when trying to get lean. As I once joked with a gym owner: “fatten ‘em up at the juice bar and they have to keep coming back to work it off!” (He didn’t see the humor, but you get the point).

Whew! That was just beverages! Now what about your solid food intake?
First of all: breakfast. I know it’s cliché, but breakfast really is the most important meal of the day. Your body has gone eight hours or so without food or water, and your metabolism will stay sluggish without food. Eating breakfast not only gives you energy for the day, but it also helps elevate your metabolism (your body burns calories during the process of digestion-this is also part of the reasoning behind eating 4-6 small meals per day). Skip this meal and you’re slowing down your metabolism-nobody wants that! I advise busy clients who are in a rush in the morning to have at least a cup of yogurt, piece of fruit, protein bar-just get something in your system to get your body started . Avoid the fast food joints-a slimy fried piece of something with cheese between 2 English muffins is not a good nutritional choice! General rule of thumb: if you can get it at a drive-thru window, it’s probably not a healthy food. Remember, we want to get your day off to a good start. Consuming excess fat and calories for breakfast can set the tone for the whole day-don’t do it!

So what about this 4-6 small meals per day? As I mentioned above, it helps elevate metabolism because every 3 hours or so your body is having to digest a meal or snack. This process requires calories, so you’re helping your body get leaner. The smaller meal size helps ensure that your body will have enough nutrients for immediate energy requirements, without storing a lot of calories as body fat. This is the problem with large meals: your body only needs a certain amount of food to keep you functioning healthily. Any amount in excess of this will be stored-as fat. With the 4-6 small meals, the aim is to give your body enough of the nutrients it needs to build lean muscle, while minimizing fat storage. Additionally, the body can only digest so much protein at one sitting. For an individual trying to put on muscle size, this allows him to get the extra protein he needs in a way that the body can efficiently utilize it. The constant feedings will also help maintain a stable blood sugar level, keeping your energy level constant.

As you can see, portion size plays an important role. The nutritionist’s rule is that your protein source should be the size of your fist or a deck of cards (chicken breast, steak, etc); it is also a good rule to follow for intake of starchy carbohydrates. Large quantities of potatoes, rice, pasta, and bread can quickly add up in terms of calories and body fat storage. Although I have serious issues with the Atkins Diet, I do believe we all need to cut down in this area.

A common thread I see in every meal diary is a serious lack of fruits and vegetables. There are so many nutrients that you can only get sufficient quantities of in this food group. Eating a variety will aid your training efforts and energy level. It’s so easy to increase your intake. If you’re on the go, pack a small cooler with portable fruits and vegetables (precut carrots, apples, bananas, broccoli, etc.). Add frozen fruit to a protein shake in your blender. When getting a deli sandwich or salad, load it up with all your favorites. One nutritionist advises trying to eat a variety of colors. Color is often determined by nutrient content. For example, foods high is beta-carotene are an orange color (carrots, yams, sweet potatoes, pumpkin). Fruits and vegetables will also add the fiber your diet needs to help in digestion and elimination.

The little things add up. That creamer you put in your coffee. The whole fat mayo on your sandwich. Is it worth delaying your progress? That “little bit here and there” adds up if you have the cup of coffee 3-4 times a day and eat out for lunch. Why do it when there are lowfat and nonfat alternatives? Another thing-the candy dish at the office or home. I hear the justification all the time : “one little piece won’t hurt me.” Maybe not, but it won’t help you. How many times a day are you dipping into that candy dish? The results on the meal diary may shock you.

As important as it is to eat breakfast, it’s just as important to avoid late-night eating. Those midnight snacks before bed are headed to one place-body fat storage. If you must, make it a healthy low-calorie treat.

To make the most of the meal diary tool, analyze the results in combination with your workout log. Do they both add up to progress in your program? Look for trends-when do you tend to eat less healthy or stray off course? What causes this? Do your eating habits suffer when you work long hours? What about weekends? Business or pleasure travel? Times of high stress? Boredom? How did the day’s meals correlate with your energy level and quality of workout? If you are trying to gain weight, are you getting enough quality calories? If trying to lose weight, how many calories are you taking in? Can this be reduced?

Remember that the process of working out tears down your muscles — it’s the proper nutrition and rest that will help rebuild them. Are you giving your body everything it needs to accomplish this? Protein’s main job is to build and repair muscle — are you getting enough? Feeling fatigued by mid-afternoon? Excess caffeine and sugar intake can lead to an energy crash later. As you can see, it’s not necessary to make huge changes. A little tweaking and modifying of your current diet can lead to greater progress toward your goals. It helps to be aware of what you’re eating: calorie content, protein, carbohydrates, fats. Know what you’re putting in your body. It’s all very simple. What you eat will do one of two things: it will either help you build lean muscle, or promote storing body fat. Remembering this will help you to make healthier choices. Fried fish or grilled salmon? Fresh berries with whip topping or fudge cake? I think you know the answer…

*****

Be sure to visit Doug’s site for more information about his personal training services and programs, and for additional expert advice on health, fitness and nutrition.

http://www.eightprinciples.com

First, let me be clear about something, I am not advocating becoming a slug.  On the contrary, I encourage my clients (staffers and non-staffers) to engage in regular exercise. My concern here is that, given how crazy the next few weeks will be on the Hill, trying to establish a new routine right now is risky business.  An exercise routine requires a time commitment, and the amount of time you will have to devote to anything besides work is going to be in short supply. If you try to start a new routine now, there’s a good chance that you won’t make it far out of the gate.  An unsuccessful attempt won’t help you now and, since the experience could reinforce an underlying mindset against exercise you might be harboring, it will sabotage a future attempt to start a full exercise program.  

However, what you can do right now is to start priming yourself so that you are more likely to engage in regular exercise once recess rolls around. You can begin right now by tweaking some of your daily and usual behaviors so that you incorporate at least some exercise into your workday. I’m talking about simple things that you already know you can do. For instance, walking instead of riding; taking the stairs instead of the elevator; or doing something totally radical like stop working for a few minutes to take a brisk walk around the halls or around the block (it’s okay – you earned a few minutes).

Personal Trainer Doug Murphy recommends using a small, lightweight and inexpensive pedometer and setting a goal of taking 10,000 or more steps per day.  “It’s a simple and effective way to track your activity level, and enables you to set progressively more challenging goals and attain them. The more steps you take, the more calories you burn. Not only will you be preparing yourself for an exercise program (goal-setting, tracking, and accountability), you will actually have started one!”

Obviously, these are not physically demanding tweaks. Still, any exercise is better than no exercise, and what these tweaks can do is help reverse the physiological and psychological effects of stress (and you certainly will have plenty of that). They make you stop and focus on yourself for a few minutes, which is something that seems to happen less and less when work gets crazy.  They also help bring your awareness to your behavior and chip away at any possible underlying mindset you might have against exercising. If anything, the challenging part about tweaking is being aware, of and taking advantage of, all the tweaking opportunities your workday presents. But, before you pooh-pooh this, why not check it out and challenge yourself and see how many times and how many different ways you can integrate some kind of exercise into this workday.

      
Once you start engaging in these small behavioral changes, don’t be surprised if you suddenly find the inspiration to take things to the next level and incorporate even more exercise into your daily life. Maybe you will go from taking the stairs to taking 5-10 minutes here and there to lift some weights, dance around the living room, or do push-ups and crunches while watching television. Be sure to mix it up and alternate doing cardio, strength-building and stretching exercises in your short workouts. Whatever you do, try to do it a minute longer each day and ratchet up the intensity each time.  If you reach a point where you’re doing three 10-minute workouts a day, give yourself a break every 4^th day.  Rest is important, too.

Short workouts might not seem like a lot of exercise, but they can be just as effective as long workouts, and their schedule-friendly feature makes it easier for you to keep with the program even when you get crazy busy. Even better, your short workouts don’ t have to be elaborate in order for you to experience results. Just have fun with them and be creative. By the time recess rolls around, you will have developed new behaviors and a mind-set whereby exercise is no longer something you’re still thinking about doing, it’s something you’re actually doing.

Happy Tweaking,  Tricia

How It Begins

A stress habit starts as a conscious reaction to some outside stimulus.  For example, the stress you feel while you are stuck in traffic when on your way to an important meeting. While you sit in your car and fume, your brain is busy tagging that experience as a stressor and establishing an associated memory in which it equates traffic with stress.  Then, whenever you are caught in traffic (even if you are not in a hurry), your brain recalls the associated memory and you register a stress response.

Unless you aware this is happening, and unless you tell your brain to stop, the process will repeat.  On each repetition, it finds a shorter route through your brain circuitry, allowing it to occur faster each time.   Within a short while, the process has transformed your original conscious stress reaction into an automatic unconscious reaction — and you have yourself a stress habit.  Continuing with our example, this is why you might stress out so easily whenever you sit in traffic, or get stressed just thinking about traffic.

Does Any of This Sound Familiar?
The type of people most likely to develop stress habits fall into two basic groups. Let us refer to them as Group A, the people who seem to feed off stress; and Group B, the people who seem to fall victim to it.  Each group has a specific set of habits, although it is possible for a person to exhibit symptoms of both groups.

The stress habits of the people in Group A include believing they work best when under pressure or in a crisis mode; being impatient; disliking situations in which they are not in control; and becoming easily annoyed by situations other people usually take in stride.  They will often talk about how busy they are and yet they will seldom turn down an opportunity to take on more work or responsibility.  However, their eagerness does not necessarily result in positive outcomes.

The stress habits of people in Group B include using stress as a way of compensating for feelings of fear or inadequacy; becoming easily distressed or overwhelmed; being   reluctant to initiate solutions to their problems; and having a tendency to employ unhealthy coping strategies, such as over-eating or self-medicating, on a regular basis.  They also develop mindsets that become increasingly constrictive, making them prone to focus on obstacles or difficulties as opposed to opportunities and benefits.

Such a Bad Habit
As with most habits, the longer you have a stress habit it the harder it is to break and the worse it becomes.  As your stress level increases, so does the threat it poses to your physical health and well-being.  A high stress level also adversely affects on your emotional and behavioral functioning.  It diverts your attention, skews your perspective, restricts your thinking, and promotes regressive, passive aggressive, or avoidance behaviors.

You can never derive any real benefit from a stress habit since both its short-term and long-term effects are either self-destructive or self-defeating.  Nothing good can come from relinquishing your self-control over to the effects of stress or making stress a staple of your life.

But Here is a Good Idea
It is very difficult to notice when your brain initiates a stress habit.  However, now, you at least know what signs to look for so you can tell your brain to stop! If you have a stress habit, I urge you to get the help you need to get rid of it. Think about how foolish it is to have this habit and how it is actually making you miserable.  Stop being your own worst enemy!  Besides, with all the stress that exists in our environment or naturally occurs in your life, why in the world would you want any more?

PBS aficionados are, no doubt, familiar with Dr. Dyer’s teleseminars and lectures on health, healing and spiritualism.  However, this is one of his earlier works (reprinted several times), that discusses issues such as self-esteem, owning one’s emotions, and building confidence.  The book also offers advice and exercises aimed at eliminated problems in these areas.  It is a perfect primer for anyone interested in getting the basics for managing his or her own life.  The fact that the book is still being printed is proof of its value.

Our First Reaction

                Uncertainty is the immediate psychological response every one of us experiences when confronted by any type of change. Although an individual’s personality, perspective, and self-esteem all play a role in how that person deals with change, even the strongest and most resilient of us are vulnerable to the sense of uncertainty it incites in us. This is because every instance or type of change indicates that some element of life as we knew it is over.  We know that things will never be the same, but we do not know how this change will affect our lives and influence our future. Our uncertainty starts to provoke feelings of confusion, angst and self-doubt, but uncertainty alone will not derail the transformation process.  It is when we fail to examine and come to terms with our uncertainty that it can quickly manifest into fear, and that is when the wheels start to come off the bus.

What Are We Thinking

                Once fear intertwines with change, it does not take long for a downward spiral to occur. We start to focus only on our fear and we fail to focus on the challenge that change is presenting us: namely, whether or not we will use it as an opportunity to alter our own lives.  The fact is every situation of change provides us an opportunity to either add a new and positive element to our lives or eliminate an element that has been or will soon be working against us.  However, when we fail to address and eradicate our fear of change we practically guarantee that we will fail to meet its challenge.  Instead, we engage in self-defeating behaviors, such as avoidance strategies, and we become caught up in additional negative emotions, such as hurt and anger.  Our expectations about the future become impracticable, unfounded or exaggerated. Our stress levels soar and cause us to develop real, and sometimes serious, physical ailments. We feel hopeless and helpless, and we act accordingly. 

                Despite its origin, form, or nature, change is unavoidable and, one way or another, it is going to affect our lives. However, when we turn change into a fear factor, we not only fail its challenge, we torpedo the entire transformation process. We refuse to acknowledge the change, and we evade it instead of embracing it.  We begin to dwell so much on the past that we mentally paralyze ourselves. By this time, there is no way we can incorporate the change into our lives because we are incapable of implementing the purposeful steps needed to do so.  As a result, we miss any and every opportunity to use the change to our benefit.  Instead, we fall victim to change and the most we can do now is hope for the best.  Good luck with that.                 

                Change comes in many forms. It can be anticipated or unexpected, initiated by an outside source, or we can initiate change ourselves.  The ironic thing about change is that it is a constant part of life, but we still manage to struggle with it. At best, every one of us has an extremely limited, if any, ability to control change. What we all do have, however, is the complete ability to control our emotions and our behaviors when confronted by change. Being able to express openly your feelings and concerns about change, and finding a means of support for working through the transition process, is the best way to ensure that you will meet the challenge, seize the opportunity, and use change as a way to enhance your life.

If resolutions are supposed to be about making some kind of change in your life, then mine were the “fruitcake” of change — a holiday tradition that is not taken seriously and easily discarded. For me, once the holidays were no longer a priority, neither were my resolutions. Like holiday decorations that had lost their appeal, I put — or threw – my resolutions away. Soon – very soon – I would forget about them until the next holiday season rolled around and I engaged in the traditional cycle once again.

The cycle always began with my vowing to make a lifestyle change by either starting or stopping some behavior on January 1. If I resolved to stop doing something (like over-eating or smoking), chances are I would seriously indulge — or over indulge — in that behavior right up to 11:59pm, December 31. (This only made actually stopping the behavior extremely difficult.) If I resolved to begin something (like exercising regularly) on January 1, chances are I would keep finding reasons to re-schedule the kick-off date. (It’s too cold, it’s too late, I’m too tired, etc.) My pitiful self-deceptions and ridiculous excuses were actually a necessary part of the traditional cycle.

As each day of the New Year went by, the holiday season would drift further and further away. Likewise, I would traditionally drift further and further away from my resolutions and the changes I thought about making in my life. Instead of serving as a means to an end, my resolutions had become nothing more than temporary, if not momentary ideas. The traditional cycle would be complete when nothing – and I mean nothing – changed. That is until one year when I finally had an epiphany. Hallelujah!

I realized that, as a vehicle for affecting change in my life, my New Year’s resolutions were powerless from the start. The problem was my tendency to treat declaring a resolution as a goal in and of itself – another holiday tradition, like decorating my home, that I needed to check off my “to do” list. As a result, I was neglecting to focus on or assign any true and separate value to the real goal – the actual lifestyle change — my resolution was supposed to help me achieve. Eventually, it became obvious to me that making a real change in my life would require a different approach, and so I began my personal revolution.

From then on, instead of coming up with what were for me meaningless New Year’s resolutions, I focused on the changes I really wanted to make in my life. Instead of spotlighting a specific, arbitrary stop/start date, like January 1, I concentrated on developing a reasonable plan for implementing real change in my life. Instead of having the whole thing just drift away, I stayed motivated and committed to my goals by reminding myself how my lifestyle changes would allow me to exercise greater control over my life. As a result, instead of repeating an inconsequential holiday tradition, my revolution led to amazing accomplishments.

If, like me, you find New Year’s resolutions have become non-starters for implementing any real change in your life, please don’t be shy about sharing your thoughts and stories here. However, you might also consider starting your own personal revolution sometime this year. Skip the resolution stuff but consider what it is you really want to achieve. Then, go deep into your heart and soul and truly connect with the changes you want to make your life in 2010.

I wish you all a Happy New Year filled with amazing accomplishments. Viva la revolution!

Tricia Ferrone
Capital LifeWorks, http://capitallifeworks.com/