Blog Archives

You Are What You Eat - Part Two

30/12/2013

In Part One I talked about the food you eat and how you need to develop trusted information sources to help you sort out the truth from the lies.

As said before, everything you take into your life ends up as part of you, forming who you are. The music you listen to, the books you read, the air you breath, the water you drink, the friends and colleagues you have, the food you eat, the movies and TV you see, the radio stations you listen to, your family, your school or university, your beliefs and values, the thoughts you think. All these things create who you are and how you behave.

Today I will talk about thoughts. Your thoughts become things so choose the good ones, says Mike Dooley. And choosing means learning to be conscious, to live mindfully.

The Merriam Webster Online dictionary says that a thought is an idea, plan, opinion, picture,etc., that is formed in your mind: something you think of. Most of us, most of the time are not aware of the information we take in and how it becomes anchored through repetition and reinforced by pain and pleasure. Our experiences filtered by our previous conditioning,learning, values and habits come from all these different input sources.

To get right to the point, our habits, beliefs, values and behaviors are just there and we are not generally aware of them, how they were formed and how we automatically react to various stimuli in our life. The good news is you don't really have to understand how your thoughts and behaviours were formed or come from to make changes. Changes are made through mindfulness of our lives, how we think and behave.

Developing a mindfullness practice teaches us how to see who we are and how we think and behave, especially automatically or habitually. When I watch myself and how I use my day, such as waking with loud music, watching the Late News of Murder Mayhem and Deception just before attempting to sleep, hanging out with negative and critical people, reading very judgemental newspapers I can begin to see that these inputs create a certain state in me. In this case quite negative, critical and unpeaceful view of life. This of course influences in turn all my other experiences.

So if I want to change something negative and critical and fear producing to positive, open minded and peaceful then I must change the inputs. Get rid of the fear, the criticism, judgementalism and deception and replace it with the truth.

Lets take another example. The people you spend your time with. Do they have an influence on how you experience and live your life? On your successes and happiness? The answer is a big Yes. If you hang out with folks who are often critical and know everything there is to know about life then you become affected by these people.

If you want a more successful, happy and interesting life one thing you can do is change certain elements such as people who you spend your time with. Replace these inputs with those type of people that lift you up not put you and the world down. Now you have begun to change your thoughts and your beliefs and consequently behaviours.

Change your thoughts and beliefs and you will change your behaviors. When your behaviors are changed your life changes. If you do this mindfully life will swing in the direction you want not the wants and desires of others.

Some references to seriously consider are the following. Eckhardt Tolle, "A New Earth". Probably his clearest and best book. Thich Nhat Hanh, a world renowned Vietnamise buddhist monk, wrote "The Miracle of Mindfullness". Byron Katie: "Loving What Is: Four Questions That Can Change Your Life. Also known as the work." Jon Kabat-Zinn, " Mindfullness for Beginners".

SO take control of your thoughts and beliefs and have a great year.

“Two people may suffer the same disappointment, one might be saddened, the other understanding.
Two people may receive the same insult, one might be hurt, and the other compassionate.
Two people may have the same disagreement, one might be angered, the other feel love.
How you react to circumstances, people and things, IS A CHOICE, YOUR CHOICE... based on YOUR use of understanding yourself and living mindfully."

Live, Love and Laugh, Bob and Marianne,

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Merry Christmas to Everybody on the Planet

25/12/2013

Now is now and then was then! Christmas has changed a lot over the years and it is very different today.

What has changed? Well, for me the technology has changed dramatically. The close feeling of Christmas is still there, but in some different forms.

We love visits from friends and family. It is wonderful to sit around and share some food, friendship, love and laughter. We are grateful for the cards we get and for the emails and text messages people send. We are happy to pick up the phone and hear a Christmas greeting from a familiar voice. It is good to phone someone and hear their loving voices and wish them Christmas Happiness and love.

We are pleased that we deal with our human greediness by limiting the value or number of presents we give. We are happy to see that some deserve more than others. Not everyone has equal needs.

I still feel that Christmas at its heart is about being grateful and sharing love and wealth. Sometimes we still have to work at delivering what we believe and self awareness and self acceptance helps us do just that.

Marianne and I wish all of you a very Merry Christmas.

Communications and Cultural Differences

15/12/2013

Krakow, Poland, a lovely well preserved and interesting Middle Ages City of about 1,4 million people. Today, with its 21 Universities and technical schools it houses well over 200,000 students. In the 1600s it was one of central Europe's most important cities and is home to one of Europe's oldest universities.

We are here now because Marianne gave a course on Cultural Differences and Good Communications in the workplace to about 75 engineers. They say that training a group of engineers in so called soft skills is a challenge.

Understanding cultural differences and how to communicate is essential to doing a good job professionally and completely in a corporate milieu where there are mixed cultures.

We have written a lot about communication skills before so will only speak about cultural differences and how they affect your life and job performance. However, remember that good communication skills are an important part of all of this.

The leading guru internationally in the area of the importance of cultural differences in the workplace is Dr. Geert Hofstede who came out with the Five Dimensions of Culture in a report in 1970 which he has revised and updated since, the last being 2010.

This tool is very useful to understanding core differences between cultures and helps on two main points. The first is to understand ourselves and how we think and behave. The second is to give us useful information about other cultures we may work with. This understanding leads us to better possibilities for teamwork and improved individual and company performance.

Regarding the first point, in life in general and on the job specifically, you must understand how you think and behave at a deep cultural level to know how or what you must change to get to the new destination. In other words, "here I am where I think and function like this" but want to get over "there", the corporate culture for example, therefore I must change certain beliefs and behaviours to complement the corporate culture not work against it.

This has implications for both management and the workforce. Management may need to adjust its style to get the most out of the employment relationship. The employees may need to adjust their thinking and actions. Adjusting means taking action to implement the understanding, not just logical or academic understanding.

Learning to be truly mindful about your own culture and the others culture is the same process in any relationship, on the job, at home or socially. Being more aware of your self and the others always gives the possibility for improved relationships and performance therefore improving the happiness quotient. Here I refer to cooperation and teamwork.

This raises the question, "What does it mean or look like to be truly mindful of the others in a relationship? I will talk about this another day.

Learn about yourself and build mindful relationships!

Live, love and laugh, Marianne and Bob

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You are What You Eat - Part One

10/12/2013

You are what you eat. What does that really mean?

Everything you take into your life forms who you are. The music you listen to, the books you read, the air you breath, water you drink, the friends and colleagues you have, the food you eat, the thoughts you think, the movies and TV you see, the radio stations you listen to, your family, your beliefs and values. All these things create who you are.

Today we are going to talk a little about the food you eat.

This will not be about a new weight loss diet. It will not be about a new super energy high potency, increase your libido diet. This is about a "taking care about what you eat and where you get it from" diet. This is about eating healthy to prevent serious health challenges. In the process you may well lose weight.

You are what you eat and you are responsible for creating that healthy or unhealthy person you will be. This is not as easy as some may think as it means getting good at finding and trusting truthful sources of information. We live in a world where information is constantly manipulated and given out in a limited form to tell a more favourable story for those whose main agenda is often about making money or supporting a partially true or misleading story.

Renowned neurologist David Perlmutter, MD, in his most recent book, Brain Grain, blows the lid off a topic that's been buried in medical literature for far too long: carbs are destroying your brain. And not just unhealthy carbs, but even healthy ones like whole grains can cause dementia, ADHD, anxiety, chronic headaches, depression, and much more.

Dr. Perlmutter explains what happens when the brain encounters common ingredients in your daily bread and fruit bowls, why your brain thrives on fat and cholesterol, and how you can spur the growth of new brain cells at any age. He offers an in-depth look at how we can take control of our "smart genes" through specific dietary choices and lifestyle habits, demonstrating how to remedy our most feared maladies without drugs. With a revolutionary 30-day plan, GRAIN BRAIN teaches us how we can reprogram our genetic destiny for the better.

Read this book it is a trustworthy source and will change dramatically how you see your food and perhaps the way you eat. Absolutely priceless information!

The next important health and food information source is Dr. Joseph Mercola the founder of Mercola.com the World's #1 Natural Health Website. Dr. Mercola is also somebody to trust having no hidden agendas and a wealth of free information about food, our diets and the dangers that lie in the present healthcare system and technologies such as Vaccinations, for example.

To quote Dr. Mercola: "My motivation, whether you are a member of the Mercola.com community, or have just heard about me for the first time, is to make you as healthy as you can possibly be. This involves:

Providing the most up to date natural health information and resources that will most benefit you and,
Exposing corporate, government and mass media hype that diverts you away from what is truly best for your health and often to a path that leads straight into an early grave.

Mercola.com is not, in other words, a tool to get me a bigger house and car, or to run for Senate. I fund this site, and therefore, am not handcuffed to any advertisers, silent partners or corporate parents.

When I offer or recommend products, I do so because I have actively researched them and find they are the best in that category for your health. I ignore substandard products, and products not directly pertinent to your health, regardless of any potential financial upside."

I cannot think of a better source of information on food, health and the risks of outdated and profit seeking medical treatment systems. All this information is free and to the point. No fluff and hidden agendas.

Good health, happiness and growing awareness on the choices you can make for a better life.®

Live, love and laugh, Bob and Marianne.

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How to Get a Good Idea

1/12/2013

When is an idea "good"? That is, when do you know you have a "good idea"?

Do you know what the answer is?

You don't know until you try it out. So that is the point! Get out there and try, then you will know for certain. Before that it is just a guess, right.

Robbie Burns said; "The best laid plans of mice and men gang aft aglay. " Old Scottish for; the best planned ideas often don't become the goals you hoped they would. In many cases they just don't work. In other cases we are not interested or commited enough to push on through to the other side. Or maybe it was a bad idea to start with.

One measure of a good idea is can you get it up and running? In other words, is it something you can start successfully enough that it resembles what you thought about? And even if it doesn't look exactly like what you expected, perhaps it leads to something else exciting, interesting or profitable. So a good idea is something that leads to some other interesting possibilities not just the original concept.

One of the other things that creates a framework for a good idea is does it meet your goals and objectives? What are your goals and objectives? Are they real for you or avoidance of reality?

Here is a reality test for you. If you achieve these goals will you be satisfied? In what way? Are you being honest with yourself?

So to test a good idea is to go out and try it out and see what life brings. Be serious and make a committed start. This can be magic by itself.

Have a magical week. Live, love and laugh, Bob and Marianne.®

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Authors

Bob and Marianne own SteppingStoneLifeCoaching.
Marianne, a Norwegian, is a Certified Life Coach, former Conflict Resolution Counsellor. She has also studied five years at the University of Stavanger.

Bob has over 12 years experience as a life coach, career and business counsellor. Bob also worked for some years as a strategic policy analyst. He has a Masters in Public Administration and also worked as Business Consulting Services Manager in Canada.

Please note that all the written material in this blog is Copyright, but can be used or quoted if the source www.steppingstonelifecoaching.com is quoted. Concerns or questions, contact us please.
And please leave a comment, we would love to understand you a bit better.

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