A Quick Update and A Big Hello to My Friend Ginette

photo credit: Evgeni Dinev

 

 

 

 

Hi all of you fun loving, groovy and wonderful blog munching funsters. 

I am back after a short absence - my last post was 3 weeks ago.  Did you miss me? 

I missed me.  I missed the real me.  The real me exercises at least 4 times a week, enjoys getting up in the morning to go to the gym and likes to spend time reading blogs and researching on the internet, spending time with friends and is pretty happy in general. 

The real me has hardly surfaced for the last few months.  I have been unwell since mid September and I have only just started feeling better since last week. 

My Exotic Illness
So what debilitating illness did I have that led to this slump? Don’t laugh – well OK you can laugh but only if you promise to read the rest of my post, and come back again in a few days time for the follow up to the last post Chocolate, Pizza, Ice Cream, Wine and the Comfort Zone.  

In mid September had a head cold for about 2 weeks. The rest of the time it has been hay fever.  Yes plain old hay fever.  I have had the flu twice in my life ( I am not talking about the woosy common cold here but actual full blown flu) and can honestly say that at times my recent bout of hay fever was almost as bad. 

I am feeling so much better now and I am back exercising again and once I catch up on a thousand and one things, I will be getting out and about in the blogosphere and the internet in general again.  So watch out because I have got my energy back, and with that comes my weird sense of humour so who knows what could happen.  You can run but you can’t hide!

Change to post frequency
I had originally started this blog with the intention of 3 posts per week.  I have now decided to post about once per week.  I have other projects I am working on such as my weight loss site Forever Change Weight Loss, plus I have a full time job, plus in early 2009 I will be commencing a part time course to gain Certificate 3 and Certificate 4 in Personal Training.   I am going to be a busy girl.      

Special cheerio to a dear friend
Anyhow enough about me.  I want to turn the focus to my special friend Ginette in Queensland.  Ginette and I met in the first year of high school and have stayed in touch with each other over the years.  We have shared some great times together and I hold a special place in my heart for my dear friend.

Ginette has recently has a spinal fusion operation.  Scary stuff, but something that had to be done for the opportunity to live a better quality life.

I am sending lots of love your way Gin (John sends his love too).  Wishing you a speedy recovery and the best possible outcome.  I look forward to hearing about your progress on the road back to health and vitality. Love from Lean.

Chocolate, Pizza, Ice Cream, Wine and the Comfort Zone

photo credit: spaceodissey


It is Saturday and you are contemplating stepping out of your comfort zone. I mean SERIOUSLY contemplating stepping out of your comfort zone.  You are on the precipice.  You take a step and……

Negative emotions come bubbling to the surface and immediately you start to feel uncomfortable.  One of the first instincts is how do I get rid of these negative feelings?  You want to push away these negative feelings because they are unpleasant, and your logical brain says this can’t be good for me. 

It gets worse.  You think you shouldn’t have these feelings.  So now you have guilt layered in over the top of all the other feelings. 

So what do you do about it?

It’s obvious isn’t it?– you get rid of those feelings as quickly as possible.

 photo credit: luckyfly

Just as well you have that packet of biscuits in the cupboard for these occasions because you’ll never know when they might come in handy. 

Other good options are cakes, flavoured icecream (vanilla doesn’t seem to cut it) and of course the ever reliable and faithful chocolate bar, chocolate block, chocolate tuffles, chocolate anything really. 

 
photo credit: VirtualErn

 

If you are more savoury inclined, then perhaps pizza, chips, or a delicacy from the golden arches (they never let you down).

The best one though is that good old standby that never fails - a glass of wine, a beer, a scotch or whatever takes your fancy.
 
But don’t stop at one.  You need at least 3 before those horrible feelings start to go away.  Better make it at least six then.

Ahh that feels much better …burp…belch……oops sorry about that!

The morning after the night before….

You wake up Sunday morning feeling a bit ordinary.  Actually that’s not quite correct.  You feel like crap.  You are suffering from one or more of the following hangovers: sugar, salt, grease, alcohol.

It gets worse though.  In the cold hard light of day you return to thinking about the changes you want in your life and those negative feelings come flooding back.  This time those feelings feel like they are amplified. 

Ahhh where is that packet of biscuits?  Damm there are none left but at least you have 4 slices of leftover pizza for breakfast.

Change can be scary
You really do want to change but the whole idea scares the crap out of you.  There are so many issues to deal with as soon as you start moving out of your comfort zone.
 
You want to deal with the issues and move forward but thanks to yesterdays debacle you just have no energy to deal with the issues.  It will have to wait another day.

This whole change business is scary stuff.  Getting out of your comfort zone is a minefield of emotions like fear, guilt, unworthiness, hurt and anger.  These emotions are so powerful and overwhelming.  It is enough to have you scurrying back into your comfort zone in a heart beat.

Eventually if you keep scurrying back to your comfort zone you will run out of energy and feel discouraged.  Sometimes it can get beyond discouragement and you get to the point where you feel exhausted.  Exhaustion is discouragement multiplied and amplified.

Consider Negative Emotions as Tools
By pushing those feelings away using self medication you dampen the intensity of the emotion.  This makes you feel better temporarily.  The price you pay is you also dampen the energy for change.

How about if you looked at these negative emotions in a different way?  Could you open yourself up to the possibility of not wanting to get rid of these negative feelings?
 
How about if you saw these negative emotions as tools? Tools are neutral.  The way you choose to use the tool determines whether it is positive and beneficial or negative and detrimental.

Take for example a knife.  A knife can spread butter on your bread, cut tomatoes for a salad, be used in life saving surgery, be used in a robbery to threaten staff or used to stab and kill someone.  A knife is just a tool that can be used in a number of ways.

Even negative emotions have energy, and that energy can be used as a tool.

How can you harness this energy?  That my friend is for another post.

In the meantime you can help me make the follow up post more meaningful. 

If there is a negative emotion you experience when stepping out of your comfort zone that you would like me to cover in the follow up post - let me know via the comments section.   (You can also contact me via the contact tab if you don’t you don’t want to do this publicly in the comments section)

By the way you can also use the comments section to comment on the post in general or just say hello too. I love getting comments from regular readers as well as new ones too!

A Story About A Major Business Restructure - Part 5

photo credit: gingerpig2000

Today’s post is the final episode of A Story About a Major Business Restructure. 

At the end of the last episode M had to choose between V and D.

V was very positive about the restructure and felt that it should go ahead without delay. 

D on the other hand wanted to postpone any restructure activity, and to help convince M, D produced trump card Nancy who provided a report detailing the reasons why the restructure would fail.

So who does M choose?

Before revealing who M chooses, it is time to reveal the “characters” in this story.  So in order of appearance they are:
  
YPL                      You (Pty Ltd)
T Department        Thought Department (your thoughts)
M                          Your Mind
V                          Thoughts in line with Victory  -aka success, amazing, positive
D                          Thoughts in line with Defeat   - aka failure, mediocrity, negative
C Department      Creative Department (your creative self)
A Department       Action Department (what you do)
Nancy                  A negative person who generally wants to see you fail

So now we know that the characters are a part of us, the story takes on a different meaning.  With that in mind, you can re-read the story here.  Alternatively, read on for a “Reader’s Digest” condensed version.

Part 1 – You are considering a major change in your life
You have many parts that contribute to your overall operation, and your mind controls the most important part, your thoughts. 

Your mind is like a thought factory, busy making lots of thoughts.  Your mind can effectively determine whether the predominant thoughts are going to be positive or negative.

You are considering a major restructure.  This could be any major change you want to make in your life.  For example, it could be taking a new direction in relation to your career, getting fit and losing weight, reorganising your work life balance and so on.

Part 3 (Part 2 was an intermission) - You procrastinate because you are faced with stepping out of your comfort zone. 
You know that the change will be a great benefit to you in the long run, and you make up your mind that you want to go ahead with the change.  It is now or never!

You then start to feel very uncomfortable about going ahead with the change.  You decide to postpone – otherwise known as procrastinating.  You justify the procrastination on the grounds that you need more information.

There is a sense of déjà vu as this is not the first time you have procrastinated.  Each time you procrastinate, your creative side (C Department) is stifled and the action (A Department) of you is ready to go but your mind holds you back.   
 
You need more time to think things over, and this is where your mind starts producing thoughts in abundance.  Some thoughts are positive and some are negative.  Part of you wants to stay put in your comfort zone, so you start producing thoughts at a conscious and subconscious level that will help keep you there.

The other part of knows that you are taking a risk, however the potential positive outcomes from taking this risk far out weigh the negatives.  You know you have achieved great things in the past and here is another opportunity for you to do it again.

Part 4 – Your thoughts determine the direction you take
Your victory mindset is creative and prepared to take calculated risks.  When considering making big changes in your life you may be able to envisage some hurdles that you will have to overcome.  With a victory mindset you can reflect and draw upon other times in your life when you have successfully overcome obstacles.   A victory mindset approaches life changes with passion and enthusiasm. 

Your defeat mindset always comes up with reasons why you shouldn’t go ahead.  In fact if you think about it, there is never an ideal time to go ahead.  Your defeat mindset focuses on past failures.  The defeat mindset wants to anchor you to the past rather than moving forward. 

What about Nancy?
Nancy could be a friend, partner, family member, work colleague etc who feels they have your best interests at heart, however, the Nancy’s of the world are generally protecting their own interests. 

They feel threatened by the whole concept of you changing and moving forward in your life, and they think you will leave them behind.  They will come across as the “voice of reason” and will be armed with a myriad of reasons why you shouldn’t go ahead.  Some Nancys even go further than this and try to sabotage your efforts to change.

Where have I seen Nancy Before?
In this story, Nancy is a familiar character.  Have a look the head shot of Nancy in Part 4 (towards the bottom of the post). 

Now compare that with the photo at the start of the story about the triplets in Positive Thinking vs Positive Focusing.  Yes that is Nancy on the right of the photo.

Surprise, surprise negative Nancy is the wicked step sister of the positive triplets.  And don’t think you have seen the last of negative Nancy either.  The wicked step sister will be returning to this blog sometime in the future.   

And now what we have all been waiting for. Who does M choose – V or D?

I can’t tell you that because the choice is yours.  You have control over your mind and therefore your choices.  You choose what M does. 

Are you going to choose a victory mindset or a defeat mind set? 

Are your predominant thoughts positive or negative?

Are your thoughts going to set you up for success or failure? 

Are you going to let the Nancy(s) in your life hold you back?

Are you going to choose to live an amazing life or a life of mediocrity?  

You choose the direction your life takes.  Do you choose Victory or Defeat?

A Story About a Major Business Restructure - Part 4

photo credit: Torley

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today’s post is Part 4 of A Story About a Major Business Restructure. 

This post will be difficult to follow if you have not read the earlier posts. 

The links to the earlier posts are here  Part one,  Part 2, Part 3 (note you can skip Part 2 if you like as this was an ad break/intermission from the story).  

To refresh your memory, in Part 3, M was about to talk to V and D separately.  M will decide between the advice and ideas given by V and D.  The outcome of these discussions will determine the future direction of YPL, and whoever is not chosen out of V and D will be asked to leave YPL. 

V is positive about the restructure
M talks to V first.  V states that restructure at YPL should be viewed as essential as YPL clearly needs to grow and not stagnate as it currently is.  V outlines a comprehensive and ambitious plan that will provide enormous short term and long term benefits to YPL.  V emphasizes the need to move forward now rather than waiting. 

V acknowledges that there could be some hurdles along the way, and then states that no matter what happens, YPL has a committed workforce of highly skilled workers who are capable of overcoming any challenge.  V reminds M of several changes made at YPL in the past where significant obstacles were overcome and YPL emerged stronger after meeting and getting through the various challenges.

V’s passion, positivity and enthusiasm are contagious and by the end of the time with V M is feeling revved up and pretty excited about the prospect of following V’s plan.

D feels that now is not a good time
Now it is D’s turn.  D states that there are too many internal issues to be sorted out and that combined with external issues such as the current global economic climate, clearly indicate that now is not a good time to commence a restructure.  D highlights some previous occasions where YPL went ahead with a change prematurely and the difficulties that YPL went through as a consequence. 

D produces a trump card
D asks to be excused for a moment and brings in his trump card, Nancy (yay - finally there is a real name being provided in the story).  D introduces Nancy to M as an experienced business analyst who has witnessed many restructures similar to what is currently being proposed at YPL. 

Nancy wastes no time advising M that the restructure at YPL is doomed to fail.  Nancy points out that she personally knows of more than 5 companies similar to YPL that went ahead with similar plans and all of them failed. 

Nancy produces a report that details every aspect of the restructure and against each she has listed the issues that will make it near impossible for each part of the plan to succeed. 

M has a lot to think about
M thanks D and Nancy for their time, and alone in the office begins the onerous task of weighing up all of the information provided by V and D, as well as Nancy.  M wants to make sure the right decision is made.

Will M choose V and go ahead with the restructure or will M choose D and postpone the restructure?  All will be revealed in the next post, which will be the final post in the series A Story About a Major Business Restructure.

Who do you think M will choose?  Do you think M will be influenced by D’s “trump card” Nancy?

Do you have any final advice for M?

A Story About a Major Business Restructure - Part 3

photo credit: David Boyle in DC

 

 

Today’s post is Part 3 of A Story About a Major Business Restructure. 

At the end of Part 1, the story about a business called YPL was left on a knife edge. 

Readers anticipating finding out what happened to M, V and D tuned in to Part 2 and were bitterly disappointed, as part 2 was an ad break.

The Story  Continues
So finally the story continues.  As a reminder, below in orange, is where the story was left at the end of Part 1.  Today’s post will not make much sense unless you read Part 1 in full (only 350 words), you can read Part 1 here.
 
To make matters even more desperate, M has decided that unless something drastic is done then YPL could be floundering for many years and may never recover.   M takes the drastic step of deciding that today is D day, there is no more point in putting it off any longer, a decision has to made and this will determine the fate of the employees in T Department.  Forever.

M looks out the window and sees the rain clouds gathering and ponders what has to be done that day and…..

M Feels Uncomfortable about the Impending Changes
…feels a sense of anticipation and also a sense of foreboding.  M is starting to feel uncomfortable about what could be about to unfold and the future direction of YPL.  M is having second thoughts about moving ahead now and decides to postpone any action pending a full review of all possible options.  M has a sense of déjà vu and then remembers why.  This is not the first time action has been postponed at the eleventh hour.

M intuitively knows that the restructure is in the best interests of YPL, however M just can’t shake off that nagging feeling that something isn’t right or that perhaps something has been overlooked in the plan.   M is also concerned that other Departmental heads may want to move ahead prematurely, and in an uncoordinated manner, which could cause more harm than good.

M Calls a Meeting of Departmental Heads
M is the highest ranked departmental head at YPL and as such has the final say on any changes within YPL.  M is a little concerned that other departmental heads may try to push on regardless and therefore M decides to call an extra ordinary meeting of the Department heads.  M advises them to hold off on any action in relation to the restructure until after a comprehensive briefing has been received from V and D.  (Under pressure M relies heavily on V and D for advice and knows that their advice and opinions will be crucial in order to determine the future direction) 

Most of the other Department heads resent M’s power play, however they reluctantly agree to the delay, basically because they have no choice.  The head of C Department is sick and tired of being stifled by M.  The head of A Department is pretty pissed off too, as A Department has been on “red alert” standby ready to swing into full production mode so many times in the past only to be mucked around by last minute changes instigated by M.

M Delivers an Ultimatum to V and D
M senses the undercurrent of discontent and wastes no time in summoning V and D to the executive board room.  M quickly brings V and D up to speed on the events to date.  M advises a comprehensive briefing is needed from both of them, and then a decision will be made about the future direction of YPL.  M allocates time to see V and D separately and will talk to V first and then D. 

M is acutely aware of the differing view points of V and D and knows that their advice will be poles apart.  Therefore M decides that the best way to resolve the current situation is to make a choice between the direction recommended by V or D.  M advises V and D that whoever provides the most sensible, realistic and credible recommendation will be promoted to second in charge of T Department, and the one not chosen will be asked to leave as they will not fit in with the future direction of YPL.

Who will get the nod from M?
V is an up beat, positive character and likes to be creative and take some risks.  V has a fantastic team and M has been very happy with V’s performance lately.  V suspects that D is up to something although V knows that at the end of the day V’s ideas should be no match for D.  V has done a lot of ground work recently and feels pretty confident that M can be won over. 

D on the other hand is not a risk taker.  D is down to earth, pragmatic and wants to protect YPL from any risky activities that V is bound to recommend.   D has a trump card that will be produced at the right moment, and expects that this will help counter anything that V proposes.  D is quietly confident too as M has often sided with D’s advice in the past and can’t see why this time should be any different.

You will find out in the next post what tactics V and D use to try to win over M.
 
Who do you think will get the nod from M?  Do you have any advice for either V or D?

A Story About a Major Business Restructure - Part 2 - Weird Eco Friendly Intermission

photo credit: Zepfanman.com

 

 

 

This is part 2 of the story about a business called YPL.  You can catch the first part of the story here. 

 

Here is a quick recap for any lazy sods out there who can’t even be bothered to click on the link to part one:

In part one, you were introduced to a business called YPL.

YPL is undertaking a major restructure, and this means that jobs could be in jeopardy for employees in the T Department, the most important part of the whole business.   

In part one, you were also introduced to the key players in T Department, M, V and D. 

M calls the shots in T Department and has two hard working supervisors V and D.  

Here is a comment (copied straight from my comments section on the last post) from a rather anxious and concerned citizen, Dave Fowler of Teach My Children Well:

“Oooooo I’ve got my knickers gripped, because this is knicker gripping stuff.  I really NEED to hear how this finishes. I’m worried for V&D. And a little bit for M. Tell me it has a happy ending. Go on, tell me.”

The whole issue of change and restructure at YPL is still a vey sensitive subject, so I was not able to provide much reassurance to Dave.  Here is what I was able to advise in excerpts taken from my response to Dave:

“…..This story may take a few twists and turns…..I can also divulge a surprise appearance later on in the story, and it will be someone who will be familiar to you but that is all I can tell you for now.”

Well, Dave and the rest of you are going to have to grip your collective knickers for a bit longer to find out how it all pans out, because it is time for an intermission.  Not just any old intermission though this one is “green.” 

Before we go to the intermission, a special mention goes to Tara Cain of From Dawn Till Rusk who was promised a free plug for her blog for being the first to respond to my very tricky question what was unusual about the photo in Positive Thinking vs Positive Focusing.  (the story was about triplets and the photo was of 4 women)

During the intermission you can drool over the must have green gadgets I am showcasing for your viewing pleasure.  Also during the intermission, please take the time to check out the blogs of Davina, Vered, Barbara, Dave and Tara.  They all have great blogs covering a myriad of topics. 

 

ECO FRIENDLY INTERMISSION…

4 green must have gadgets and gifts for discerning environmentally aware geeks:

1. Greening the streets using pedal power
A rocket scientist Fred (not his real name) recently retrenched from NASA, joined the local greenie group and designed this “Bloom” bike attachment, which disperses seeds carried inside bubbles using bike power.

Seeds are co-mingled with a bubble mixture and once you start pedaling, you release the floating seeds which land in cracks and crevices throughout the city streets. 

Over time, the seeds grow into flowers and plants to create a green “fringe” to sidewalks and streets.

It appears Bloom Bikes have taken the world by storm.  Bloom bikes are standard issue for Greenpeace employees and volunteers. 

Fred is currently discussing a multi million dollar deal with organisers of the Tour de France.  Lance Armstrong’s come back hinges on the acceptance of the Bloom bikes as the standard bike for all Tour de France teams. 

You can get in on the action too as I have managed to persuade Fred (real identity withheld for security reasons) to share the specifications for his truly remarkable engineering feat - see below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Green alternative to TV
Once you have had your dinner and you feel like relaxing in front of the TV, forget the idiot box inside, it’s time to venture outdoors instead.  With the solar powered insect theatre, you can be entertained for hours by moths and other insects.    

In case you were wondering, you will be pleased to know that insects are not trapped, they are free to come and go as they please.  

It’s like watching your very own David Attenborough wild life documentary only this one is live.   I wonder if they come in a wide screen version?

 

 

 

 

3. Recycled blender lamp

If you have recently had an engagement/wedding, chances are you have received “duplicate” presents.  More than likely, you have a spare blender or two lying around (blenders are the new toasters). 

You could sell it on EBay or you could recycle it and create an environmentally savvy conversation piece to show off in your home.

Isn’t it just beautiful?   

  

 

 

 

4. Bilingual plant

Two Japanese manufacturers, toy makers Tomy and Takara, have both produced bean plants which sprout to reveal a special message.

The gift comes with a choice of six different messages such as “Good Luck” and “I Love You” inscribed through the plant with a laser beam.

The plants have a message in French on one side, and a message in Japanese on the other.  Just what we need - a smart bean sprout with something meaningful to say.  

Is it too late to nominate a bean sprout for the US presidential candidate? 

A Story About a Major Business Restructure

photo credit: JoshBerglund19 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a short story about a business called YPL. 

YPL has many divisions within the business, but today’s story is about the most important part of this business called the T Department.

The T Department has a general manager called M who calls the shots.  M has two supervisors under him who are very obedient and hard working. 

The supervisors names are V and D.   Both of the supervisors have access to a strong and capable workforce, they each have their own pool of workers who can be called upon to swing into action at a moments notice. 

The chain of command at YPL is like a well oiled machine.  M doesn’t even have to give specific instructions to V or D.  V and D are almost telepathic and are able to swing their individual workforce into action immediately based on a general direction or overall feeling.

Are you still with me?  Are you on the edge on your seat?  I didn’t think so - that’s OK this isn’t meant to be a horror/suspense story although it can be if you are not careful.  Geez now she is getting all cryptic - what is going on?  Anyhow back to the thickening plot.

There is about to be a major restructure at YPL and one of the outcomes of this will be a downsizing of the total workforce in the T Department.  Not only that, but one of the supervisor jobs could be in jeopardy too.  How will M determine which employees will stay and who will go?

To make matters even more desperate, M has decided that unless something drastic is done then YPL could be floundering for many years and may never recover. 

M takes the drastic step of deciding that today is D day.  There is no more point in putting it off any longer, a decision has to made.  This will determine the fate of employees in T Department.  Forever.

M looks out the window and sees the rain clouds gathering and ponders what has to be done that day and…..To be continued….

Read Part 2 - A Story About A Major Business Restructure - Part 2

Read Part 3 - A Story About A Major Business Restructure - Part 3

Read Part 4 - A Story About A Major Business Restructure - Part 4

Take 2 - How Do You Sharpen Life’s Pencil?

photo credit: russelljsmith

This is the third post in the occasional Take 2 series (2 posts covering the same subject in a different way).

Today’s Take 2 posts examine the analogy of sharpening your life like sharpening a pencil, and provide some food for thought about how to do this. 
 
The first one is by Gentleman Savant (his real identity remains a mystery) of a newish blog called The Gentleman Savant.  I recently posed the question to Gentleman Savant - How do you sharpen life’s pencil?  This post Ask The Gentleman Savant: Special First Edition! is his insightful and witty response.

The second post is called Sharpen Your Life Like You Sharpen A Pencil by Tim Milburn of studentlinc.

Of course I am a sucker for metaphors and analogies so I could keep milking this theme a bit more.  I won’t though as I am up early tomorrow to attack some gym equipment (aka exercise) and I think my Take 2 guests have done a splendid job with this topic, and provided plenty of food for thought.

Please feel free to use the sharpener I have provided above in the photo, and now with pencils at the ready it is time to share your thoughts.

Positive Thinking vs Positive Focusing

photo credit: DavidDennis

 

 

Triplets Tina, Fiona and Betty get together at their favourite café for their 55th birthday. 

After a 3 course meal they go for a walk to their favourite park and sit down for a chat. 

Talk soon turns to their weight.  To their surprise they discover that they all weigh 86kgs and they immediately start talking about losing weight.  The triplets discuss their goals and all agree on a long term goal of getting down to 70kg. 

This long term goal is a bit daunting, so they make a pact to lose 6kg in 10 weeks and then they will reward themselves with a one week holiday together and discuss their plans for continuing toward their longer term goal.

All 3 women are motivated and want to lose weight, and all 3 women are fairly positive but in different ways….

  

Positive Thinker - Tina
Tina goes home and tells her husband of the plan.  He points out that losing 6kg may not make a lot of difference.  Tina, being the positive thinker that she is puts time aside over the next 2 weeks to research the benefits of losing weight.  Tina is pleased to find lots of information on the internet indicating significant health benefits to losing weight.  Tina then decides to join a gym nearby and wonders what she should be looking for.  After another week of research, Tina decides on a gym nearby that has some fun fitness classes that she knows she will enjoy. 

Tina is bursting with motivation and joins the local Forever Change gym and in the first 2 weeks of joining, she does 5 classes per week.  After 3 weeks at the gym Tina is so disappointed to find out that two of her favourite group fitness instructors have left the gym, and their replacements are nowhere near as good.  Tina takes a week off from exercising to work through this issue and be positive about it.  The following week Tina is back exercising again. 

In week 7 of the 10 week period, Tina is really busy at work and only manages to go to the gym twice a week for the remainder of the 10 week period.  photo credit: star5112

 

In the second half of the 10 weeks, there were lots of functions at work and a busy social life, and Tina over indulges with both the sweet & fatty foods and the wine. 

At the end of the 10 weeks Tina is feeling positive as she has lost 2kgs, and is confident that she can continue to lose weight.  Tina knows that she has what it takes to get her goal weight of 70kgs eventually.

 

Positive Focuser - Fiona
Fiona joins the same Forever Change gym the day after the triplets make their pact to lose 6kg.  Fiona wastes no time and does her first weight session the same day she joins up.  Fiona gets annoyed when she has to wait for some of the machines and equipment, and after a few weeks she also finds most of the exercises boring.  Fiona tries most of the classes on offer and doesn’t like the music they use in the cycle class, and feels she looks silly wearing the huge gloves in the boxing classes.  Despite all this, Fiona grits her teeth and exercises hard and consistently does a work out 5 days per week at the gym without fail.

Fiona eats six small meals a day with a healthy combination of protein, carbohydrates and good fats with lots of fresh vegetables and fruit.  Fiona gets sick of eating so many vegies everyday but perseveres as she knows that they are so good for her.  Fiona really misses her daily chocolate muffin for morning tea and her 2 glasses of wine each night at dinner.  Fiona restricts herself to 3 glasses of wine per week but feels she is missing out most of the time.  Why can’t she have her cake and eat it too? 

Fiona can’t believe the unfairness of it all.  Her husband has a custard tart for morning tea and a pie with sauce for lunch most days and 2 glasses of wine with his dinner and never seems to put on weight – how unfair.  She whinges to the women at work about it and they commiserate and share their similar stories with her.

photo credit: mivanov

At the end of the 10 weeks Fiona wants to see how much weight she has lost and knows she will be disappointed if she hasn’t reached her goal as she had to make huge sacrifices by getting up early to go to the gym and missing out on the things she loved over the 10 weeks. 

Fiona is relieved to find that she has lost 6.5 kgs.  Fiona worked hard to lose that weight and wants to savour her achievement, so she decides to have a 6 week break before resuming her weight loss journey.  Fiona is still committed to her goal of 70kgs, but is hoping the next part of her journey is going to be easier and quicker.

        

Both Positive Thinker and Positive Focuser - Betty
Betty joins the Forever Change gym the same day as Fiona and gets started with her exercise immediately.  Betty has researched the health benefits of exercising and commits to exercising 5 days a week at the gym.  Betty keeps a training dairy and writes something positive in her diary after each workout.  Betty found the music in the cycle class a bit weird initially but soon learnt to use it to motivate her to push harder by trying to keep up with the beat of the music. 

By week 3, Betty is inspired by her progress and enjoys the positive environment in the gym and eagerly looks forward to each gym visit.  By week 5 Betty has made huge improvements in her speed on the treadmill and rewards herself with a new pair of shoes she has been wanting to buy for a while. 

Betty realised from the outset that she would have to give up her morning ritual of a chocolate muffin each day and her 2 glasses of wine each night.  Betty does some research and comes up with a list of 20 different healthy snacks that include food that she likes that she can have instead of her chocolate muffin.  Betty enjoys having a variety of different morning tea snacks and hardly misses her chocolate muffin. 

photo credit: adactio

Betty decides to have three glasses of wine per week and is looking forward to seeing her skin and eyes become clearer by reducing from 14 glasses of wine per week to 3.  At the 5 week mark, Betty is pleasantly surprised to find that there are other benefits to reducing her wine intake such as sleeping better.  The money Betty would have spent on wine has gone into a money box to spend on a relaxing massage.  
  
At the end of the 10 weeks Betty looks back over her training diary and is so proud of herself as she has gone to the gym 5 times a week without fail and has learnt so much about the benefits of exercise.  Betty has also found lots of fantastic healthy recipes that she has used along the way so that she never got bored with all of the vegies and other healthy foods she ate.  

Betty jumps on the scales and is delighted to see that she has lost 6.5kg over the 10 weeks.  Betty is already looking forward to the next part of her weight loss journey, and has decided that when she gets to 70kg she will celebrate with a new dress and a new hair style.  Betty reflects on her achievements and starts thinking ahead to what she is capable of achieving.  Betty knows that she can go even further than the original goal of 70kg and decides to change her ultimate goal to 65kg.  Betty can hardly wait to show off her new figure in a new pair of jeans. 

So what have we learnt from this tale of the triplets?

 
First a quick recap:
Triplets Tina, Fiona and Betty started out at 86kg.  The short term goal the triplets set was to lose 6kg in 10 weeks.  They also had a long term goal of getting their weight down to 70kg.

Each of the women were fairly positive but in different ways.  Tina was the positive thinker, Fiona the positive focuser and Betty was both a positive thinker and positive focuser. 

Results
In terms of results it was a tie between Fiona and Betty.  They both lost 6.5kgs. 

Tina got someway towards her goal, as she lost 2kgs, but her results were a lot less impressive than Fiona and Betty’s.  Although Tina was thinking positive thoughts most of the time she was hot and cold in the “doing” department throughout the 10 weeks.  She got distracted from her goal a few times and her commitment to exercise fell away when other areas of her life got busy.  Tina was not consistent with her healthy eating either.

Fiona and Betty on the other hand stayed focused on their goal.  They knew what they had to do and stuck to it.   The only difference was Betty enjoyed the journey, whereas Fiona didn’t.

Two Final Points Relating to Achieving Goals in General
1. If your thoughts are not always positive as you move towards your goal, don’t worry because if you keep moving you can still achieve your goal.
 
2. Keep finding things to appreciate as you stay focused and travel towards your goal.  With positive thinking and positive focussing you can get to where you want and enjoy the journey along the way.

One more thing before I sign off….

The first person to comment on what is unusual about the photo at the start of the story will get a copy of the Forever Change Secret and a free link to their blog in my next post.

There are Four Elephants Waiting for me in my Car

Have you ever parked your car in a large (possibly unfamiliar) car park and then when it is time to go back to your car, you have difficulty remembering where you parked it?

Are you good at remembering faces but not necessarily names?  Are you frequently embarrassed when you are introduced to a group of  people only to forget some if not most of their names 5 minutes later? 

Even worse, what about when you have forgotten someone’s name and yet they clearly remember yours? 

Oh the worry, the shame and embarrassment.  Well fret no more my dear friends because I have cobbled together some simple tips and tricks to help with these dilemmas, and I am going to share them with you right now.
 
OK I lied   
Before I reveal these sure fire tips, I thought it only fair that they be tested by Miss Sieve Brain (me).  I will not be able to sleep at night knowing that I have unleashed these ground breaking methods into the blogosphere without fully testing them first.

So I am going to cover the Where Did I Park My Car?  one first.  This technique has been tested by me and it works.  Provided you follow my method exactly, I promise you will always be able to find your car.  You will have to wait for another post before I reveal my valuable tips on remembering names. 

Another lie
This method did not originate from my brain.  I read about it in a brochure, full of ideas about how to improve your memory.  To give you peace of mind, I have endorsed this method and given it the highest accolade - the Forever Change seal of approval.  This means that you can leave your car anywhere you like and you will always find it.  Plus you get an unconditional 100% money back guarantee if your car is not there - no questions asked.

The Forever Change Secret
This technique is so simple and yet so effective, I almost didn’t want to share it with you.  I was tempted to keep it to myself, that is why I am calling it the Forever Change Secret.  When you use the Secret, you mastermind your own brain and unlock a secret code to enable you to perform this car locating procedure with 100% accuracy each and every time.

The Secret Revealed
When you want to remember where you left something, you need to see it or visualise it in your mind. 

The trick or Secret is that the more absurd you make the image, the more likely you are to remember it.  Here’s how it works.  For example if you park your car on level 3 in row R, you imagine 3 rabbits waiting in your car for your return.  The rabbits are for row R and the 3 of course for level 3.

You can adapt this technique for just about any car park.  For example, I occasionally drive a car to work.  The car park is not enormous so it doesn’t have row numbers etc.  All I really need to do is remember the level and what “side” I parked on.  So I only have north, south, east and west and level numbers to take into account.  If I park my car on level 2 on the western side I have left 2 wallabies waiting for me in my car.  See how easy the Secret is.

How the Forever Change Secret Can Work for You:
Picture this scenario.  You and your partner go shopping at a place you hardly ever visit, and the car park is massive.  You have finished your shopping and are ready to go home.  He/She says  “I can’t remember where we parked the car, can you remember?”  You turn to your partner with a straight face and say out loud  “That’s easy, I left four elephants waiting for me in the car.”  You then say to your partner “Darling, I am a bit worried about you…are you losing it?”

Do you sometimes forget where you left things?  Do you have any embarrassing moments you want to share?  Spill the beans please – so we can sympathise with you and offer support laugh at you. 

Or perhaps instead of laughing at other people’s misfortune you would like to help out.  In that case, what memory jogs and tricks do you use to help you remember where you left things eg keys, cars, etc?

If you liked this article please do not keep the secret to yourself.  Stumble it, Digg it, Share it any way you can so that other people can reap the rewards of the Forever Change Secret.