Dr. Virginia Gurley, MD in our BlogTalkRadio broadcast last week guided us through a What Do We Really Know About Stress refresher.  She reminded us that stress can help us accomplish goals, but long-term stress can make us feel overwhelmed and is harmful to our mental and physical health.  Why?  Our bodies need to replace worn out cells and long-term stress actually makes our body cells age more quickly; stress can:

1. Shrink the part of your brain that helps learn and remember new things, and also increase the size of the part of the brain that triggers fear and anxiety.   
2. Throws hormones out of sync, especially the control of blood sugar.
3. Makes heart and blood vessels less able to adapt to physical work.
4. Throw off the balance of the immune system, making it more likely to catch colds, infection and inflammation.  

Since we cannot remove all the sources of stress from our lives or ignore the stressors, it is equally important to not rely on unhealthy stress relievers:

1. TV or other online media
2. Gaming or gambling
3. Shopping
4. Eating
5. Alcohol
6. Tobacco
7. Drugs

When creativity does not come naturally to me, I know that my stress barometer is heading the wrong way and I should not go to the grocery store; my struggle with chocolate cake is well known.  Hopefully, this information on stress will nudge you into reflecting on your priorities, or examining the gaps between what you want for your life and where you really are.  In order to ask the right questions, you will need to walk away from your computer for longer than 5 minutes…I’m just saying.  Please tune in for Part 2 as we share some healthy adaptations and connect more understanding on stress.

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I took my question to the Twitterverse and asked what actions my trusted pals intended to take to be happy this year.  Here is a quick scan of some of the answers:

• Respire Profundo and enjoy the moments
• Less worry, focus/take action
• Simplifying schedule, exercising, saying YES only when I truly mean it
• WIN WIN WIN WIN
• Trust God. Professionally? - stay open, continue learning/shifting
• My actions start with "what do I want?" & really listening to my answer.

My question must have struck a cord, because a few of the forward thinkers want to check in with one another during the year to match up the happiness progress to the actions.  If we take a look at these answers, it would appear that "how" to be intentional with the time we have would connect the answers in three ways:

• Expectation.  Ask yourself what your expectations are for yourself.  Or better yet, as  Elli St. George Godfrey said: ask, what do I want? Focus on becoming familiar with not only your strengths and talents, but your desires.  It's time to get in sync and resist rolling into this year the same as the last.  
• Invest.  We all have the same 24 hours, the difference is how we use that time.  Just as Tony Schwartz mentioned in his blog, he realized how much time he was spending online -  and began to feel that "The lure of email and the Internet had come to feel compulsive, irresistible, and increasingly uncomfortable."  Where you spend your time should make sense, after all, we cannot get it back.  Invest your time carefully; it was Emerson that said, thinking is the hardest task in the world.  Have you set aside time to think?  
• Action.  If last year is any indication of 2012 - where information, ideas, new market innovations moved at such a fast clip that feeling overwhelmed became the new normal.  Chances are you not only lost some mojo, but some happiness as well. Identify and focus on actions that will lead to and maintain happiness.  For some, that may mean going to sleep without their iPad next to them.

When racing to beat that deadline or keep up with the speed of the market try not to toss out happiness as if were insignificant.  We have the ability to design how we spend our time, what we choose to focus on, and who we engage with - sounds like happiness to me!      

A special thanks to@SMSJOE 098@bikespoke  @3keyscoach @Tribe2point0 @Natasha_D_G @danielnewmanUV @ambercleveland for such generous responses.  Can you guess who answered, win, win, win?  It can only be one person....

Categories: Time and Energy | 

First of all, nourish your future. Consider that people are living and working longer, and the new normal is to feel completely exhausted from trying to over, out, and super achieve.  John Beeson, the Principal of Beeson Consulting,  just posted an excellent article on The Myth of Work-Life Balance, in today's issue of Harvard Business Review,  where he emphasizes that for executives personal organization is a more realistic goal than trying to achieve a work life balance.  Keep in mind, that Beeson, is being realistic, in light of our rapidly changing business environment.  What may help these executives integrate their work with how they nourish their life, and at the same time enhance performance and competitiveness is making a few simple lifestyle changes:

1. Power down a couple of hours before bed
2. Eat a light dinner - front load calories to the first half of the day
3. Move around through out the day - go outside for a few minutes
4. Sleep in a dark room

Executives are acutely aware of what they can accomplish in their 24 hours and I am always in awe of what some exec's accomplish.  What I see as a risk for executives is the potential of outspending themselves if they neglect to prioritize their personal needs just as they would do for their companies.  Aligned with Beeson's concept of organization, executives that nourish or structure their life/lifestyle for success will be living their "A" game in and outside of the office.  The key is I-N-T-E-G-R-A-T-I-O-N!  

Categories: Time and Energy | 

Do your day-to-day decisions match what you want for your life?  To achieve your best personal health, begin by exploring what blind spots you may have about lifestyle habits that don’t enrich to your health, and ask yourself “what can I do differently?”   

 Most of us have friends or family where we are accountable for our actions, and lifestyle decisions can be included in those discussions, as well.  I began to think about Charles Handy's concept of the Johari window in relationship to self-care health and lifestyle decisions.  His four room concept is about self-awareness.  Room 1 is the part of ourselves that we see and others see. Room 3 contains the aspects that others see but we are not aware of. Room 4 is the most mysterious room in that the unconscious or subconscious part of us is seen by neither ourselves nor others. Room 2 is our private space, which we know but keep from others.  In other words, are you open to looking at yourself from a different perspective?  This foundational action is key to embracing the lifestyle habits that benefit your health and that match the life you want to create.  Opening up oneself and acknowledging that we are our own unique gatekeeper when it comes to our lifestyle choices is empowering. 

The next step toward being self aware and empowered is understanding  the basics of managing your energy.  The three pillars of what keeps our body rhythms in sync and optimizes our energy are: 

1. Sleep
2. Timing
3. Light

What ties everything together is making the right decisions about how we get our day-to-day lifestyle habits in sync with our need for energy and rest.  For instance, make a conscious decision to turn off the electronics (light) a couple of hours before bedtime (timing); you'll enhance optimal renewal (sleep) → you are more likely to consume the right amount of calories → more likely to have energy → more likely to have a productive work day and home life → more likely to be empowered and self-aware.  Getting our body rhythms in sync increases our self-awareness and opens up creative potential in our lives.  What is most important is embracing positive moment-to-moment decisions that enrich your health and your life.  As Steven Covey has described, we have the power to choose, respond and change.  

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So what does this mean for the everyday person who needs to stay competitive in the market place and still have energy for family, friends and self?  First of all, recognize that people are living and working longer.  It is time to start thinking about personal energy and productivity, because employers are looking into ways to maintain high performing work places.  This past June, Representatives Klobuchar and Paulsen announced the creation of a congressional caucus that will focus on ways for companies to support employee health and wellness.  These initiatives are a positive move that will bring the impact of lifestyle health decisions to a greater level of awareness.  Health decisions, however, are personal and making a commitment for healthier lifestyle choices is an effective starting place.

 The obvious choices are to use less alcohol, tobacco, be more active and choose a healthier diet, but there are less obvious changes to make –  like understanding your circadian rhythm and what will tip the scale to keep you unbalanced and less productive.  Your body is composed of many internal “clocks” that stay in rhythm with light and dark, hot and cold, and activity and rest.  Here are some tips on how to create more energy and a more productive day: 

• Be physically active in the late afternoon.  If you exercise first thing in the morning, your heart works harder in order to send more blood to the skin to meet the core body’s demand to be cooler. That’s why most adults have a peak stamina time is in the late afternoon. 
• If you have difficulty transitioning from sleep to wakefulness, sunlight helps, but when that is impossible, use bright interior lights that give off at least 400-800 lumen.
• Your body anticipates a substantial food boost shortly after waking, and this is key to synchronizing the cortisol rhythm to wakefulness.  Try eating 25-35% of your total daily calories at breakfast – this helps coordinate your cortisol rhythm, gives you more opportunity to burn them off and allows you to eat a smaller dinner. 

Try these tips and you will see an improvement in starting out your day with more energy.   “Well-spent day brings happy sleep,”  Leonardo da Vinci

Categories: Vitality and Performance | Health and Vitality | 

These are wise words, simple and understandable. When I think of true leaders, I don't necessarily picture all the trappings, rather their ability to think and to do so beyond their own perspective.  Today, we encounter complexities that did not exist two years ago, and as a result, work life balance has taken on a whole new meaning.  To stay on top of their industries, leaders, especially today, need to be able to think clearly and the challenge is finding the time, energy, and flexibility.

Consider looking at the time that is available to you and match it up against your goals.  You will feel more in control of your life if you identify goals that are not progressing, apply some flexibility, and consider what might be more personally satisfying.  Yes, alternate goals - like more balance in your schedule.  The current economic environment seems willing to stay and linger for a bit; we can't control that, but we can control how we respond to these complexities.  We can start by carving out time to think!

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If we were to jump to the future and then look back on our lives, two of the questions we might find ourselves asking are: 

1. What did I spend my time on?
2. Why was I so busy? 

Let's consider that we all have the same 24 hours in a day.  Most of us work no less than 8 hours a day, and within that day, there are times where you are the most productive. For me, don't call between the hours of 10AM and 2PM, I'm writing - I actually feel creative, my energy level is rocking, my thinking is clear - a different story after 9PM.  When I began to rearrange my schedule to my peak productivity times, there was an immediate impact on my sense of productivity, balance, and energy.  I actually have time to examine my goals, and strange as this may seem, my goals are bigger, I accomplish more... and there is more balance. Go figure.  The key is taking time to reflect on what I need to change. 

We all want a life worth living.  So, if you were to redesign how you spend your time, how would you align your peak productivity times to accomplish your life goals?  

Categories: Health and Vitality | 

When picturing someone who realizes their possibilities, does that person also look like a person with a great deal of personal energy?  We have previously addressed that one of the most important steps to feeling energized is to get enough sleep; now, let's explore changing the way you think.  One helpful tip is remove 'tail-enders' - yes, you heard me, correctly. According to Feinstein, Eden & Craig, in their book, The Promise of Energy Psychology, "tail-enders involve a limiting self-image that instructs you that the desired state is not possible, you are not capable of it."  Their example, "But, if I lose the weight, others will expect me to keep it off," or in this case, my example, 'if I tap into my possibilities, I may have to make different lifestyle chioces."  Feinstein, et al, goes on to suggest to bring your goal, even if dimly recognized, into the forefront, write it down; doing this may reveal attitudes that are keeping your goals from becoming a reality.

Thinking differently is the first step to changing anything in our lifestyle, so let's start with understanding that a key resource for restoring your energy is your circadian synchrony- in other words, the timing of light, ambient temperature, the timing of meals, fluids and activity are all related and need to be in sync.  It's also important to realize that your personal energy is renewable!   Your possibilities will take you as far as you have the energy to discover and act on them. Being open to and connecting with the elemental energy and rhythms of the natural world like sunlight, the sky, the signs of the current season, the time of day, is an ever present source of energy that automatically makes us more open.  If you are making daily lifestyle choices to sync up, you are stoking your daily source of energy - consider the possibilities!  

Categories: Time and Energy | Health and Vitality | 

We are all born with a unique body clock and getting in sync with our body rhythms will produce the energy and vitality needed for our optimal personal and professional productivity. For example, sunlight and temperature cycles regulate the timing and effectiveness of basic behaviors such as sleep, physical stamina, cognitive performance, alertness and appetite. If you are cooped up in an office all day, chances are, your energy starts to deplete sometime in the afternoon.  Taking a break for even 5-10 minutes will reset your energy levels. The midday sunlight will increase your mental alertness, the movement will warm your core, and the fresh air will stimulate your breathing.

One important tip to remember is that what we eat is only half of the equation - appetite and metabolism are intricately related to sleep and light exposure. One recent study found that just a single night of insufficient sleep leads to increased appetite and the consumption of 350 to 500 more calories than are consumed after a night of 7 to 8 hours sleep.  Nothing diminishes your productivity or how you feel about yourself, more than feeling sluggish and bloated.

Understanding when your greatest stamina peak is huge. Studies have clearly demonstrated that in healthy adults, physical stamina is greatest in the afternoon. The later afternoon peak in core body temp and the mid-afternoon decrease in skin blood flow may be the reason. I find that I am the most productive late to mid afternoon; please don't call me before 10 AM, I'm really not myself.

The absolute most important energy tip is to get your sleep! Start winding down a couple of hours before you go to bed. Turn it all off..your iPhone, iPad, laptop, television. Here's the reason why: the light at night can cause elevated night time cortisol and slow wave sleep disruption. 

Start making a few of these lifestyle changes and you may find that success is waiting for you right around the corner, and all that you ever needed was to turn out the lights! To listen to Dr. Virginia Gurley, MD talk more on finding your stamina peaks listen here!

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One area that is holding promise is Lifestyle Medicine where promoting a healthy lifestyle engages consumers in new levels of conversations with their physician. Lifestyle medicine is defined as the application of environmental, behavioral, medical and motivational principles to the management of lifestyle-related health problems in a clinical setting [2]. 

I recently, had the opportunity to discuss with author physician, Dr. Stuart Seale, MD and innovator physician, Dr. Virginia Gurley, MD,  the importance of personal health choices, sleep, nutrition, and how personally rewarding it would be for both physician and patient to connect over the elements of integrative and lifestyle medicine.  The discussion over what truly constitutes health and how this topic relates to the fundamental changes needed in our healthcare system coming from physicians is not only motivating, but a call to action for all of us in healthcare to look at our own health behaviors and willingness to be mindful for a healthier lifestyle. I hope that you enjoy this podcast where two physician thought-leaders are doing more that philosophizing, but leading the way in transforming the way we think about and create health.  

Categories: Sleep Improvement | Weight Control | Time and Energy | Vitality and Performance |