YOUR HEALTH
I have been a fan of magnesium for quite some time. Most of us do not get enough of it from our diet and our bodies are in a deficit. Magnesium is the fourth most common mineral in our body and is gaining attention of the medical community. Did you know that we need magnesium for our brain cells, heart muscles, and artery linings? Neither did I. I just knew it promoted bowel regularity, but magnesium is so much more! Proper levels of magnesium help prevent cardiovascular disease, strokes, diabetes, and osteoporosis. It evens wards off depressions and migraines! What really got my attention was how magnesium fights against chronic inflammation. Inflammation not only is the root cause of many diseases, but it ages us all prematurely.
Life Extension Magazine calls magnesium the “orphan nutrient” because so few people really understand its importance. Upwards of 80 percent of us do not get enough on a daily basis, putting us at great health risks. Contributing to our magnesium deficiency is pharmaceutical drugs, processed foods, filtered water (we used to get magnesium from well water), and age (the older we get the less our body produces). Symptoms of low magnesium levels include: abnormal heart rhythms, restless leg syndrome, sleep disorders, insomnia, muscle spasms, confusion, and even seizures. General recommendations are 420 mg for adult males and 320 mg for adult women.
No where will you find an easier solution than just taking higher doses of magnesium every day! It is a low-cost supplement available at most stores. Researcher Paul Mason has spent his life studying magnesium and predicts that 4.5 million deaths worldwide would be prevented each year with proper doses of magnesium. I get the magnesium and potassium combo and take it twice a day, every day. It helps me sleep better and keeps me regular. Start the New Year off with better health!
YOUR LIFE
As a speaker and author, all of life’s challenging experiences are potential material. Sometimes I could use a little less material! Right before Christmas, we had a pipe burst under the garage floor. A water geyser spewed water several feet high through the seams! Oh yes, we had a problem. We immediately turned off the water and called our home warranty company (American Home Shield, which I DO NOT recommend) to get it fixed. They guaranteed that a plumber would be assigned to our case and assess our issue within 24 hours. A plumber came out with minutes to spare of 24-hour window. He looked at our wet garage floor and said, “Yup, you have a leak.” He left.
Apparently, a “leak finder,” not to be confused with the leak whisperer, would need to come out and pinpoint the exact location of our busted pipe. We waited yet another day for this person, who was the only one in the Phoenix area with the equipment to do so. She looked at our wet floor and said, “Yup, you have a leak and it is right there.” We were told the plumber would come right after that to fix the leak. Well, an entire week went by. We left multiple messages and Emails with no response from the plumber who, by the way, took some money from us and never returned. American Home Shield told us that we could not use another plumber and that the ball was in their court. In other words, sucks to be you!
Living without running water is inconvenient, to say the least! I hit the wall and was extremely frustrated with the lack of customer service. No one had any sense of urgency. I called a friend to go have some Chinese for lunch to get me out of the house and away from the drama. When we were done, I opened up my fortune cooking, looking forward to a positive word. This is what I got (seriously, I couldn’t make this up): “Come back later…I am sleeping. Yes, cookies need their sleep, too.” Are you kidding me??
As we approached TWO full weeks of being without running water (do you realize how much water you use every day to do those extravagant things like showering, washing dishes, doing laundry!?) and receiving absolutely NO help from either the home warrant or assigned plumber, we took matters into our own hands. We hired our own plumber and demanded our home warranty pay what they would normally cover. This plumber was half the price and did a better repair job (relocating pipes instead of patching it).
The lessons in all of this, you ask?
- Keep a sense of humor! We have the choice to either laugh or cry. When I read my fortuneless fortune cookie, I burst out laughing and said, “Oh yeah, this is great material for a speech or blog.” This was just my lot right now. Crying wouldn’t change anything anyway.
- Be grateful it isn’t worse. Sometimes things go hard, but things could always be worse. We weren’t sick or facing unemployment.
- Appreciate what you do We can take things for granted and seem to only learn to appreciate the good times when we go through the difficult times. They remind us how, in a flash, things can change.
- This too shall pass! Trouble doesn’t stay around forever; good times will return. What we fail to comprehend is that good times won’t last forever, either. Make the most of them and enjoy every minute of them! Seize the day!
May you have running water and all your other needs met this year! When the stuff does hit the fan, try to keep your sense of humor.
YOUR CAREER
Ah, another year begins! We have a clean slate and blob of clay to work with. We have the benefit of lessons learned from last year. Mistakes were made, things went wrong, and perhaps some goals weren’t met. But, we get to take that knowledge and apply it to another year. Think of it as learning the secrets of the Fire Swamp, as the character Wesley says in the movie, The Princess Bride. You can move forward knowing where some of the pot holes are and how to avoid them. Have you decided where you want to go in 2017? Have you charted your path and created a road map? You won’t hit the target if you never identify what it looks like.
Most people over estimate what they can accomplish in a year but drastically under estimate what they can achieve in a decade. Society has become one of instant gratification. News that used to take days to be reported is instantly posted. For many, making long-term goals is challenging. They get frustrated, bored, impatient, and give up.
I’ve been coaching individuals and helping them make dreams come true for over 20 years now. One of the keys I share with clients is to chunk down their big goals into smaller, shorter-term goals. Something you want to complete by the end of the year needs to be broken down into monthly goals with weekly action items. Once a quarter, you need to evaluate your progress. Are moving closer to or further away from your end goal? What adjustments need to be made to your weekly goals? Make the necessary corrections and continue on your path.
The old saying that the only way to eat an elephant is at one bite at a time holds true. Accomplishing your goal doesn’t happen with one major attempt. Rather, a series of little movements keeps you on track and ultimately reaches the final destination. Best of luck to you, and may 2017 be a great year!
MONTHLY FEATURE
Are you tired of not getting what you want or getting where you want to go? Has another year passed, and you aren’t any closer to your goal than you were the year before? You, my friend, aren’t alone. Plenty of people set goals, but only some actually achieve them.
If you ready to turn the corner and give your stagnant aspirations wings to fly, then this booklet is for you! Get ready to reach YOUR goals in record time with my new booklet: Reach the Goal in Record Time!
