November 2011

10 Steps to Jump-Start Your Day

Building Health & Wellness into the Plan Right at Your Front Door

1. Daily Affirmation - Develop a powerful positive mindset to start the day. Say or do something that inspires you to succeed and reach for your dreams and goals in life. This daily process helps to wake up your inner strength and empowers your self esteem. Imagine waking up each morning, bursting with excitement, energy and joy for the new day! Your positive attitude each day is the fuel for success and producing a feeling of peace and harmony within. Affirmations can be expressed by reciting, visualizing, meditation, exercising or taking responsibility for our lives and learning from each chapter to grow in wisdom. I have a collage of pictures that I mount on the front of my laptop screen; others may recite an empowering verse or prayer before starting the day.

2. Task Management/Goal Setting - Form a task or to-do-list the night before to organize your mind for the next day of things that are on your agenda to be completed. Some of the bigger projects you may want to split a bit. Project management is defined as the discipline of planning, organizing, securing, and managing resources to achieve specific goals. By mapping out the activities of the day and generating an organized task list the night before, you should become a lot more organized and successful in confronting the challenges of the day. It's encouraging to be able to look back at the generated list at the end of the day to see what you accomplished. Keeping a daily or monthly calendar or journal of events and establishing a personal list of short and long term goals for yourself really compliments this process as well.

3. Fuel the Body with Nutrition - It's been called the most important meal of the day. Eating a healthy breakfast empowers the mind and body with fuel and energy for the day. A nutritious breakfast also helps people focus and allows a person to manage their emotions throughout the day. It engages the body to stimulate metabolism in maintaining body weight and fills the pallet to reduce the need to indulge in snacks between meals. Plan ahead and make breakfast simple. Breakfast should include plenty of fiber, protein and fluids for hydrating the body in getting a good start for the day.

4. Strengthen the Body Through Engaging in an Exercise Plan - Intentionally plan for including aerobic/cardiovascular activity into your day to invigorate and strengthen your body, mind and spirit. Cardiovascular exercise includes an activity in which you move your large muscle groups for 15 minutes or longer while maintaining an increased heart rate. It is encouraged to engage in aerobic exercise 30 minutes each day for 5 days of the week. Whether it is walking, running, swimming, aerobic dance, biking, or participation in sports, exercise and body strengthening is recommended to promote a healthier lifestyle.

5. Take into Account Personal Health, Hygiene and Body Image - We can't always change how we look or our body shape, but we can highlight our best features and participate in healthy lifestyles by eating healthy food, exercising and working on feeling good about ourselves. Personal grooming and how one dresses for the day portrays one's image and self esteem. Many factors contribute to the image we project on a daily basis: clothing, grooming habits and hygiene, posture, social etiquette, body language, tone of voice and demeanor to name a few. Have FUN highlighting your best features, skills and personality traits. Start the day with a SMILE and LISTEN for opportunities to learn about others in building healthy relationships.

6. Serve Others & Do a Good Deed for the Day - Serving others gives a feeling of self-fulfillment and contentment. This can be done in a number of ways: listening to others, educating, volunteering, participating in community service projects, helping and sharing. Reach out to individuals, families and the community for opportunities to serve, volunteer or simply do a good deed for the day....the benefits are rewarding!

7. Preparing Yourself for Conquering the Roadblocks of the Day - Utilize your resources and creative problem solving abilities if you confront challenges during the day. Divert stressful situations into creativity, empowerment and learning. Try to keep a positive attitude and open communication channels to help resolve possible conflict.

8. Include Recreation or Play Time into the Day - We all need to experience having FUN and to be able to LAUGH and tease with one another in a constructive manner! By nature, humans are born to play. Playing is instinctive and fundamental to our existence. Playing helps us survive and thrive by connecting us to other human beings and to sources of energy and excitement within ourselves. By being engaged in playfulness, both kids and adults become more inventive, smart, happy, flexible and resilient. Play stimulates fun, a source of calmness and relaxation, as well as a stimulation for the brain and body. Both kids and adults need to allow themselves to engage in play and recreation during the day to encourage healthy lifestyles.

9. Focus on the Family, Friends, and Relationships - They form the backbone of your existence and provide the love and support of your core values, goals and character base. Communication is the key for success. Plan family time each day/week to bond with family members or significant friends and relationships.

10. Time Out for Rest and Relaxation! - "Free Your Mind" and take some time for yourself. Relaxation can help to shut out the noise and experience a piece of mind or calming experience to alleviate stress symptoms and to help you boost your energy and mood for experiencing a better quality of life. Getting ample sleep and relaxation can generate a "balance" in life for boosting one's energy and mood. Everyone seems to have their own unique way of relaxing, whether it be a walk in the woods, meditation, grilling on the deck, reading a good book, yoga, massage therapy, watching a good movie or soaking in a tub of bubbles surrounded by candles....ENJOY! You deserve it after a long, hard day on-the-job or parenting children!