Life’s a long, long journey” so we are told, and most of us would not set off on a journey, even a short one, without some idea of where we wanted to go. Yet many people travel on life’s journey with no sense of direction at all.

They travel the by-ways and highways of life taking side roads, detours, even re-tracing their tracks from time to time, and while they may have exciting experiences on their journey, while they may meet interesting fellow-travellers, learn a great deal and see some pretty scenery, they may also be disappointed when they reach their final destination in life.

On the other hand, those life travellers who do have a clear knowledge of where they want to go, who can point themselves in the right direction, and who know when they want to arrive, travel as the Romans did, in straight lines and with great efficiency.

Most of us have careers to think of, futures to secure, people to provide for, things to do. We need maps! We need direction. We need an itinerary. In other words, we need to set ourselves goals.

Goal setting is a very powerful technique that can yield strong returns in all areas of your life.

Benefits of personal goal setting:

• Clear and focused direction giving a sense of security and purpose.
• Maximum use of time.
• Enthusiasm is high for what you want.
• Moving steadily towards and achieving the results you really want and ultimate success.
• Boosted self-esteem, confidence and belief in your ability to make things happen and feel in control.

Research (Damon Burton, 1983) has shown that people who use goal setting effectively:

• suffer less from stress and anxiety
• concentrate better
• show more self-confidence
• perform better
• are happier and more satisfied.

Choosing Your Personal Goals

When you are developing your goals, you’ll want to give yourself a peaceful environment so you can brainstorm. And, you do want to brainstorm, which means: you write it ALL down, and you throw out nothing, no matter how ridiculous it sounds. When you try to mix brainstorming and practicality, you always lose the benefit of brainstorming. You’ll have time later to be practical with your list.

To learn rules of writing your goals down click here

Sometime during this brainstorming exercise, you ought to do like Steven Covey recommends and visualize your funeral. What would be said about you if it were held today, and how does that differ from what you really want to be said about you? Did you leave your family with a financial situation that you really want them to have? From my own experience, I mustily sadly suggest that you also visualize the funeral of your dearest loved ones. You may think you are being as good to your family as you can be, but I assure you that you will wish you had done far more for them if you lose one of them.

Dream of everything you want, and have always wanted in every facet of your life.

Consider what you would do if you had no limitations. Consider what you would do, be, have if money and health (for example) were not obstacles for you. Also, think about the people you admire and what it is that they have, do, and are that you want to emulate. Note that you might even want to consider one of these people to be your mentor, to help you think through these areas (at least partly), and to tell you what he/she has found to be effective for them.

One convenient way of creating your list of goals is to fill in the blanks under the following categories:

• What you want to BE
• What you want to DO
• What you want to HAVE
• What you want to GIVE
• What you Don’t want to BE, DO, HAVE, and GIVE

Click here to learn how to make your personal goals S.M.A.R.T.

To give a broad coverage of all important areas in your life, try to set goals in all of the following categories:

Financial and Career
Do you enjoy your work? Do you feel you are making a contribution to society? Are you living up to your potential? Have you achieved a satisfactory standard of living? Have you planned for your children’s education? What about your own retirement?

Social and Cultural
Does your circle of friends enrich your life and contribute to your sense of fulfillment and well-being? Is there at least one other person with whom you can discuss important life experiences? Do you have interests outside of your career and family (e.g., sports, theater, outdoor events)?

Spiritual and Ethical
Have you ever articulated specific personal values to yourself? Are you living up to those personal values? Is religion important to you? If so, are you happy with the way you are practicing your religion? If not, have you reconciled your relationship with a higher power or with the universe in general?

Family and Home
Have you realized your dream in terms of your home and family relationships? Be sure to use your own personal standards rather than society’s standards.

Mental and Educational
Did you accomplish the educational goals you set for yourself following high-school graduation? Are you still growing and learning? Do you invest in your continuing education on a regular basis?

Physical and Health
How satisfied are you with your current level of physical health? Are you living up to your own standards in terms of diet and exercise? Are you fit enough to do the things you want to do?

Once you’ve brainstormed your list of goals (which you may want to do over the course of a couple of days or weeks), then you can play Mr./Ms. Practical with the list and weed out the ones that just don’t make sense. One way of thinning out the list is to ask, for each goal, “Why do I want this and what good will it really accomplish?” When you find a goal that doesn’t have a good answer to this question, you’ve found a goal you can toss.

Also, as you go over your list of goals, you ought to think about how to prioritize them. Not all goals are going to be equally important. You can prioritize them by area (Personal, Family, Spiritual, Professional, Financial, so forth), with each area having a Priority 1 and a 2 and … Or, you can prioritize them absolutely, with respect for area, as 1 through 109 (or whatever). I vote for prioritizing by area, since priorities change too much as your life circumstances change. (It’s a lot easier to make minor mods to one or more areas than to have to redo your whole list of priorities based on changes in your circumstances and preferences.)

Be sure to set big goals as well as multiple goals. Big goals force you to reach in and use the potential that is inside of you. Long-range goals help you to overcome short-range failures. They can also help you to change your direction without going back on your decision.

Whether or not they ever reach the goals they have set, people who set big, long-range goals have been found to have higher self-confidence, higher self-esteem, and greater personal motivation. The bottom line is that more than half the rewards and benefits achieved from goal-setting comes from actually taking your first step in that direction, regardless of the consequences.

Develop The Plan

Then, it’s time to buckle down to turn the list into action steps.

Decide which goals are to be long-term goals and which are to be short-term and which fall somewhere in between. Then, starting with your short-term goals, visualize what it will take for you to accomplish the goal. This will help you in breaking the goal down into steps. Of course, you also need to set deadlines for each of these goals (and steps).

If any of your goals address making a change of habit, you should note that many researchers have found that it takes about 21 days to change a habit. You’ll want to factor this into your planning. Also, when changing a habit, you’ll want to find ways to give yourself positive reinforcement for making changes.

There is a very simple five step process that you can go through to set any goal whether personal or professional. To be effective, the goal you choose must include all five of the following steps:

• Identify your goal by writing it down
• Set a deadline for the achievement.
• List the obstacles to overcome in accomplishing your goal.
• List the skills and knowledge required to reach your goal. What do you need to know?
• Develop a plan of action to reach your goal.

Staying On Track

Once you have decided your first goal plans, keep the process going by reviewing and updating your to-do list on a daily basis. Some people recommend doing this as the last thing done the day before, others as the first thing done in the morning – this is up to you. Periodically review your other plans, and modify them to reflect your changing priorities.

Constantly Evaluate Your Progress
Having an action plan is not enough. The captain will have to constantly evaluate his progress in order to be sure he is on target. Unforeseen obstacles are sure to arise, such as a hailstorm, or increased southerly winds. As a result, he may have to increase his speed or guide the boat in a more westerly direction. In other words, notice what is working and what is not. If an approach is not working, don’t waste your time with it. Change your approach.

Never Lose Sight of Your Goal
Take the time to review your goals every morning when you get up and every night before you go to bed. This will keep them fresh in your mind. If you think reviewing your goals twice a day is too much to ask, maybe you should reevaluate what it is you want. Ask yourself, “How important is it to me that I attain my goals?”

Don’t Procrastinate

Procrastination is a “silent killer”. Understand that the only way to achieve your goals is to take action! Knowledge means nothing if you don’t apply it. How many people have you come across with an unbelievable amount of education working a mediocre job? The world is full of people who don’t apply their knowledge. On the other hand, chances are you know of people with less educational background who apply everything they learn. These people are usually the ones who are most successful in all areas of their lives.

Do something right now that will help you to achieve your goals. There is no time like the present! Get the ball rolling. Each step you take brings you one step closer to the life you want.

Remember the motto, “The road to Someday, leads to the town of Nowhere”. Someday is today!

Finally, you ought to have your key goals in front of you on a regular basis. You should look at them at least weekly to ensure you are making progress and to see if you need to modify your plans in anyway.

There are various ways of accomplishing this periodic review and planning activity. A simple one is to have a memo set up on your Palm or PocketPC in which you have listed your key goals, so that you can review the memo periodically. Of course, you should also have ToDo items set up for each of these key goals.

Another way of organizing your goals is to use a project planner or a database manager.

Achieving Goals

When you have achieved a goal, take the time to enjoy the satisfaction of having done so. Absorb the implications of the goal achievement, and observe the progress you have made towards other goals. If the goal was a significant one, reward yourself appropriately.

With the experience of having achieved this goal, review the rest of your goal plans:

• If you achieved the goal too easily, make your next goals harder
• If the goal took a dispiriting length of time to achieve, make the next goals a little easier
• If you learned something that would lead you to change other goals, do so
• If while achieving the goal you noticed a deficit in your skills, decide whether to set goals to fix this.

Failure to meet goals does not matter as long as you learn from it. Feed lessons learned back into your goal-setting program.

Remember too that your goals will change as you mature – adjust them regularly to reflect this growth in your personality. If goals do not hold any attraction any longer, then let them go. Goal-setting is your servant, not your master – it should bring you real pleasure, satisfaction and a sense of achievement.

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Body Combat exercise class

Classes are being formed NOW Click Here to tell us what you want!

Click HERE to get STARTED NOW and get Sept FREE and 25% Off!

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Are you tired of just working out? Do you crave a fresh and exciting workout experience that stimulates your mind as well as your body and leaves you feeling invigorated and ready to take on life’s challenges?

If so, then BODYCOMBAT ® is for you! BODYCOMBAT ® combines powerhouse moves and stances developed from a range of self-defence disciplines including Karate, kickboxing, Tai Chi and Tae Kwondo, in a “take no prisoners”, adrenaline-pumping routine. It is an empowering, athletic workout that will have you “fighting-fit” in record time! Are you tough enough to handle it?

A FRESH AND EXCITING WORKOUT
Lasting an hour, each BODYCOMBAT ® class breaks down into 10 routines. First an upper body warm-up that teaches jabs, uppercuts and hooks, followed by an upper body power-training track that takes those moves and adds some oomph! The next two tracks do the same thing with the lower body, focusing on kicks to the side, back and front. Once you’re warmed-up, it’s combat time – deeply satisfying combinations of punches and kicks. Even the abs track sticks to the theme and the cool-down is something you need to experience to believe.

IS MARTIAL ARTS EXPERIENCE REQUIRED?
No. BODYCOMBAT ® has been specifically designed so that everyone can participate irrespective of their fitness background. There is no sparring or one-to-one contact in BODYCOMBAT ® so your safety is guaranteed. A comprehensive repertoire of blocks, strikes, kicks and punches are taught via a technique session, enabling you to maximise your workout and ultimately attain the results you want faster.

KICK START YOUR TRAINING
BODYCOMBAT ® is an exhilarating and inspirational workout. Its simple yet challenging pre-choreographed routines mean that all enthusiasts, irrespective of their age, sex and fitness ability can enjoy the workout and achieve success. You can control how hard you work by simply increasing or decreasing the range and acceleration of your movements. The synergy of group training and the energy created in each session motivates you to achieve an intensity and volume of work that you would never have believed possible. But be warned…once you have experienced BODYCOMBAT ® you’ll be hooked. Never again will you willingly miss your training session.

COMBAT FAT
BODYCOMBAT ® is a complete all-body workout. The combination of arm and leg movements means that it tones and strengthens your whole body while burning calories more rapidly than you thought possible. In addition to improving your cardiovascular fitness you will also experience improvements in your coordination, muscle strength, posture, agility and flexibility.

RAISE YOUR SELF-ESTEEM
Psychologically BODYCOMBAT ® has been designed to be an empowering workout. Regular participants claim significant improvements in their self-esteem, self-assurance and self-confidence. BODYCOMBAT ® is a great stress-buster. A big part of its magic is that people can throw off the confines of their everyday lives, shedding inhibitions and worries, with moves that include kicking, punching and shouting, coupled with controlled breathing techniques. BE WARNED! Once you have tried it…you’ll be hooked!

The Benefits of BODYCOMBAT®
BODYCOMBAT ® has been designed to reduce stress, improve general well-being and vitality and encouraging assertiveness and self-confidence.
BODYCOMBAT ® is an intense cardiovascular workout and helps to provide excellent cross-training for a variety of sports such as football, basketball and tennis.
BODYCOMBAT ® is an effective calorie burner and helps promote changes in body composition resulting in a leaner and more toned body.
BODYCOMBAT ® improves muscle strength and speed of movement enabling you to react faster.
BODYCOMBAT ® requires mental activation and therefore helps to improve focus and concentration.
BODYCOMBAT ® encourages perfect posture as it relies on core stabilisation and hence strong abdominal muscles.
BODYCOMBAT ® is an empowering workout which is great fun to do… Are you tough enough to handle it?
What the members say
“This has to be the ultimate way to relieve stress. I now get rid of my anger and frustrations in the studio instead of taking them out on my boyfriend!”

Eleanor Martin, Journalist, London

“BODYCOMBAT ® is a tough, action-packed workout, not for the faint-hearted…Step aside Jackie Chan!”

Johnathan Cunliffe, Animator, Stratford-upon-Avon

“A powerful, dynamic, sensational workout that leaves me feeling in control of my life and ready to take on the world!”

Caroline Bennett, Personnel, Wigan

“Anything more explosive would carry a government warning!”

Jamie Hunter, IT, Manchester

“BODYCOMBAT ® works and you can see the changes right away. I’ve never been so happy with my body and I feel great!”

Coping with DIFFICULT PEOPLE is ALWAYS a problem…..especially if that difficult person is you!.. so the Question we must ask is have I EXAMINED myself enough and taken personal responsibility for who I am?

So the first truth is that the first person we must know is ourselves, which shows you may be self aware.

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If you do something temporarily your results will be temporary. Fitness is a lifestyle – not a phase

 ”A good plan violently executed today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow” General Patton

How to Begin

1. Choose an activity that you enjoy. The best exercise for you is the one you’ll actually do, not the one you think you should do. Walking is a great place to start since it doesn’t require special equipment and you can do it anywhere, but you can try any activity that involves some type of continuous movement like cycling, swimming, running, aerobics, rowing, stairclimbing, etc.
2. Start with 2 or 3 days of your chosen activity a week with a rest day between workouts.
3. Begin with a 5-10 minute warm up of light cardio to gradually increase heart rate.
4. Increase your pace and intensity to slightly harder than comfortable (about a Level 5 or 6 on the Perceived Exertion Scale or you can use Target Heart Rate to monitor intensity) and go as long as you comfortably can. Begin where you ARE, not where you want to be. You may only be able to exercise for a few minutes at a time, but that will change quickly if you’re consistent.
5. End each workout with a cool down of light cardio and stretch the muscles you’ve worked to relax and keep your muscles flexible.
6. Each week, increase your workout time by a few minutes until you can work continuously for 30 minutes a session.
7. Don’t worry about distance or pace. For the first few weeks, focus on showing up for your workouts and building time. You have plenty of time to work on your speed and distance.
8. After 4-6 weeks, change your routine by adding another day of exercise, increasing your pace/intensity, adding a new activity and/or increasing the amount of time you exercise.

Tips for Better Workouts

• Make sure you have quality shoes for your chosen activity.
• Start slowly. Doing too much too soon can lead to injuries and misery.
• Try new activities. Doing the same thing can lead to plateaus, boredom and injuries.
• Be ready for exercise by feeding your body regularly throughout the day and by staying hydrated.
• If you’re sore or tired, give yourself extra recovery days if needed.

How Hard Should You Work?

When doing cardio, you should learn how to monitor your intensity to make sure you’re working effectively. One way to do this is to make sure you’re working within your target heart rate (THR) zone. This target heart rate calculator helps you determine your THR or keep track of how you feel with a perceived exertion chart. Always be aware of how you feel when you exercise. If you feel dizzy or lightheaded, stop immediately and rest or call your doctor. If you’re not breaking a sweat, speed it up.

Variety will keep your body and your mind challenged, so after the initial conditioning period (about 6 weeks of consistent workouts), vary your workout intensity and time. Each week, do a long, slow workout–45-60 minutes at the lower end of your THR and one short one–20-30 minutes at the higher end of your THR. Your other workouts can be between 30-45 minutes, in the middle of your THR.

Today we are going to Salute Our Hero’s. With the 4th of July now upon us I really want to encourage all our readers to take sometime out to really remember what our Men and Women in uniform do for each of us and the price they pay daily for you and I.
Please take a few minutes to reflect on the message in the Video, and please feel free to comment below.

Even against the greatest of odds, there is something ingrained into the human spirit. A magic blend of skill, faith, and valor that can lift your certain defeat to an incredible victory. Keep away from people who try to belittle your highest ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you can become great too and facilitate joy. Delete negative people from your life & enjoy

Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example.” Mark Twain (1835–1910) American writer

Be a great example if not for yourself be one for your kids!… your Friends! ……….Your co-workers!! Fill in the Blanks!

Have a great Day everyone as we begin the first session of the day!

By Kittredge, Betsy Miller
on June 10, 2010 9:47 AM
Improving Meal Quality, Expanding Access and Filling Nutritional Gaps

For millions of families, the meals their children receive at school or in child care are their only chance at a healthy meal all day. In 2008, more than 16 million children lived in homes without access to enough nutritious food. America’s children should not have to go hungry – they should have access to healthy foods year round that will help them thrive physically and academically.

We expect children to come to school prepared to learn but hunger and poor nutrition can present major barriers to their success in the classroom. And, since hunger does not take a summer vacation, providing children with year round access to healthier, nutritious foods means children won’t go hungry just because school is out.

The Improving Nutrition for America’s Children Act will dramatically improve children’s access to nutritious meals, enhance the quality of meals children eat both in and out of school and in child care settings, implement new school food safety guidelines and, for the first time, establish nutrition standards for all foods sold in schools.

This new legislation will answer President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama’s call to reduce childhood hunger and support school and community efforts to reduce childhood obesity.

Specifically, these new investments in child nutrition will:
Improve Access to School Meal Programs

* Increase the number of eligible children enrolled in the school lunch programs by using Medicaid/SCHIP data to directly certify children who meet income requirements without requiring individual applications and requiring states to establish and execute a plan to increase rates of direct certification.
* Provide enhanced universal meal access for eligible children in high poverty communities by eliminating paper applications and using census data to determine school wide income eligibility.
* Increase children’s access to healthy school breakfasts by providing competitive grants to school districts to start up or improve their program.

Improve Access to Out of School Meal Programs

* Ensure fewer children go hungry year round by providing meals for over 225,000 children through seamless meal service for children in school based and community based summer and after-school programs, and in low income rural areas.
* Improve access for children in home-based child care by reducing administrative costs for sponsors of child care meal programs.

Help Schools and Child Care Improve the Quality of Meals

* Assist schools in meeting meal requirements proposed by the Institute of Medicine by increasing the reimbursement rate for lunch by 6 cents per meal — the first real increase in over 30 years.
* Enhance funding for nutrition education in schools to support healthy eating and school wellness.
* Promote stronger collaboration and sharing of nutrition education between child care programs and WIC programs.

Encourage Public/Partnerships in Communities

* Connect more children to healthy produce from local farms by helping communities establish local farm to school networks, establish school gardens and use more local foods in school cafeterias.
* Leverage public and private partnerships to help reduce childhood hunger and promote community-wide strategies to improve child nutrition and wellness.

Improve Food Safety Requirements for School Meals Programs

* Ensure school meals are safe for all students by extending food safety requirements to all areas in which school food is stored, prepared, and served.
* Support improved communication to speed notification of recalled school foods consistent with GAO recommendations.
* Ensures all foodservice employees have access to food safety training to prevent and identify food borne illness such as through web-based training.

Streamline Program Administration and Support Program Integrity

* Increase efficiency, improve program administration, support services and program access and modernize the WIC program by extending period of certification for children, increasing support for breastfeeding, and transitioning from paper food vouchers to an electronic benefit program.
* Strengthen School Meal program integrity and remove program silos in after school meal programs by simplifying program rules and affording schools greater flexibility for addressing program costs.

Supporters of the Improving Nutrition for America’s Children Act

Ignore the breif advertisement and the beginning of the video

With Fathers day just around the corner a new government ad to bring the awareness that we all should have a have about HEALTH RISKS that were given to us from our parents. Be Aware.. Be Proactive and Begin a Health Improvement Plan!  Call us to let me help you Identify what YOURS are and how you can begin prevent or delay their manifestation in your life so you can live a happier healthier life with your wife and kids! Wives.. You will probably be the ones to call and set up the appointment. 445-0033

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