January 2021

YOUR HEALTH

Winter’s chill often makes our joints ache a bit more, especially the older we get. If you were an athlete and very active in your youth like me, you might have some old injuries that tell you when the weather is about to change! Our joints need attention, just like our muscles. In fact, if you haven’t had a bone density screen, you might want to consider one so that you have a baseline to work with. Don’t believe you can’t improve your bones, because you can…at any age! I’ve had clients in their 70s reverse their osteoarthritis!

Because an old hip injury flared up, I had some X-rays done recently, and my bones were “exceptional.” All my weight lifting and exercising is paying off, keeping my bones dense and strong. Remember, as we age, we can lose bone density, so it is important to maintain your resistance training.

How can you support your joints besides weight-bearing exercise? My go-to supplements are: Glucosamine with MSM, Wobenzym PS, Omegas, and Collagen. Let me break each of them down for you.

Glucosamine helps your bones regenerate. MSM is a natural anti-inflammatory, so it helps reduce arthritis (osteo or aging joints). Wobenzym PS, on the other hand, is more of an anti-inflammatory for auto-immune issues, like Rheumatoid arthritis. Anyone who has a wacky immune system should consider taking this daily. With the pandemic, production was behind, and I ran out for three weeks. Oh, my heavens how I hurt! This was confirmation of how much it helps keep everything functioning. You are familiar with fish oils / Omegas, and you will want to get a good combination of 3, 6 and 9. Omegas help lubricate the synovial fluid that surrounds your joints. When it is cold, it is actually this fluid that hardens and makes it hard to move. Once you are up and about, the fluid warms up and becomes more mobile, equating to less pain. Lastly, Collagen is an overall anti-aging product that helps your body produce healthy cells. Healthy cells improve not only our joints but our skin, hair and nails. I do the powder form and drink it before bed. You can mix it with anything (orange juice in the morning or a mid-day smoothie). As with any supplement, please check with your doctor before introducing new products to your system.

Everyone’s body is different, and their joints will wear out at a different pace. Some will experience very little change while others deteriorate rapidly. It’s the luck of the DNA gene pool and what you do or don’t do to support the joints. Since we have no control over our DNA, we should be giving our very best efforts to support our joints on a daily basis the best we can. Obviously, a healthy diet rich in vegetables and fish will improve your joints, too. A body in motion will stay in motion, so stay active! Listen to your body’s aches and pains, but don’t let them stop you. Adjust accordingly and rest if you need to, but stay in the game! Here’s to healthy joints in 2021!

 

YOUR LIFE

I am so ready for 2021 and do hope it is better than last year. Good grief. Too much! I did, however, have some positives come out of 2020, and I suspect you did, too. Researchers found that a majority of us found new hobbies or got back to ones we had forsaken. What was yours? I got back into creative activities like painting. In fact, I did a ton of projects that ended up being birthday and Christmas gifts. They weren’t cheap, but I enjoyed expressing myself and hope friends and family appreciated the love that went into them. My husband about had a heart ache with my Christmas postage bill in December – DOH!

I committed to vlogging last year and posted something on social media every week. My intent was to contribute something of value to the world – inspire and encourage people on their journey. As many of you know, I filmed and recorded a bunch of workout videos for You Tube so that folks could exercise safely at home. These were a gift so that everyone would stay safe and healthy. A great gift back to me would be your subscription to my You Tube channel as well as positive comments and reviews. Thank you!

I continued to write, a passion of mine, and I made a concerted effort to check in with friends and family. I think the craziness of the world forced many of us to slow down and appreciate the relationships we have. I hope it did for you, because at the end of the day, it is the people in our lives that make life special and worth living.

We don’t know yet what 2021 will hold, but let’s remember to bring the positive lessons learned from last year with us. The hardships, struggles and frustration strengthen our resolve, and that will serve us moving forward with whatever comes our way. I wish you much success and happiness in the coming months!

 

YOUR CAREER

                The word culture is thrown around a lot, but my experience is that most companies have a disconnect between what they say and what they do in regards to culture. The classic case is the company who says they are hip and Generation Y friendly, yet they do not offer flexible work schedules and are rigid with their dress code. Just because you put down on paper what you wish your culture to be doesn’t mean that is necessarily the case. Although culture can be determined by leadership, it is ultimately sustained or destroyed by your employees. Meaning – your people need to embrace the culture, emulate it and be encouraged in it.

 

Something unique about my approach is my FIT Leader Formula: a foundation in human behavior, insights into leadership development and training on how to be successful without sacrificing one’s health. My formula starts by first understanding your people and diving into what exactly your culture looks like. Culture is driven by what motivates people, such as giving back to society, gaining knowledge (theoretical) or making money (high Utilitarian). No aspiration is better or worse; they are just different. But if you are all about making money, and your staff wants to volunteer, you have a disconnect. The insights provided by my assessments can help you discover why you might be experiencing high turnover and high-levels of employee dissatisfaction.

 

COVID has dramatically changed the landscape, and many employees are still working from home (WFH). I caution you about WFM as it doesn’t work for everyone’s personality style or home situation. WFM has to be a case-by-case basis involving productive conversations with employees and managers.

 

My exclusive leadership development provides tangible tools to motivate, lead, guide and mentor employees to become achievers. Of course, growth isn’t obtained in just one session, but we create an excellent foundation. Training, coaching and my FIT Leader Forum can keep the momentum going, converting average team members to high-performance rock stars!

 

I know times are tough and funds are tight, however, the expense of not investing in your people is greater than what you would spend with me. Losing good people hurts not only your bottom line but morale. It will, eventually, destroy the positive culture you are trying to cultivate.

 

I’d be happy to chat about your specific needs and how my FIT Leader Formula can elevate your business in 2021!

 

MONTHLY FEATURE

Something you might not know about me is that I offer Phantom Shopping services where I go under cover and experience your business from a customer’s perspective. It might be a brick and mortar, online shopping cart, customer service phone call or even an HR hiring portal, all of which are crucial to your success. Yet, you are losing customers every day who are going to your competition.  In today’s fast paced world, it is too easy to click on something else. You may think you are doing fine, but it is only the extremely disgruntled customers who take the time to write a scathing review. Countless others just move on, and you never know you lost them. You don’t know what you don’t know, so give me a call, and we can arrange a Phantom Shopping service so that you experience great growth and success in 2021!