Mental Fitness PRACTICE “Building Willpower”

February 10, 2015 by Leave a Comment

Kelly McGonigal lists 5 strategies that have been scientifically proven to build willpower. They include:

1) training your willpower physiology
2) forgiving yourself
3) making friends with your future self
4) predicting your failure
5) surfing the urge

Not all of the have to be used, and personally I like 1 and 5 the most. I suggest that you watch and share this video 🙂

http://youtu.be/V5BXuZL1HAg

Filed Under: 1 Mental Fitness, SMARTmessage, SMARTplace, SMARTsteps

Mental Fitness PRINCIPLE Self Control – Don’t Lose It

February 10, 2015 by Leave a Comment

Willpower; You can lose it…

Research conducted by Roy Braumeister suggests that self-control (one of two important traits linked to success in life) is a consumable resource. That is the more you use it, the more difficulty you can have in both doing and not doing (resisting temptation). He was able to demonstrate this depletion in self-control by simply asking participants to watch a movie and ignore the words that flashed across the bottom of the screen (which requires self-control). Taken in total there are many observations that can be made concerning self-control (after reading several research papers on the topic):

– self control is needed to both do things that you need to do and to avoid the things that you should avoid.

-as consumable resource, it is better to expend it doing things that are important vs avoiding things that you should not do

– those who are good at self-control, seem to minimize the things that they need to avoid (probably giving them more energy to do the things that they need to do)

– self-control can be built like a muscle, the key strategy is to minimize temptation at times that your self-discipline bucket is depleted, and allow adequate time for recovery.

– when building self control, it is better to start small, and monitor your behavior.

– daily rest and Sabbath are likely very important has they likely replenish your allotment of self-control

– the wisdom in The Lords Prayer; “lead me not into temptation, but deliver me from evil”

To hear from Roy Baumeister check out this video :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibui4M4eito

Filed Under: 1 Mental Fitness, SMARTmessage, SMARTplace, SMARTsteps

Mental Fitness PRINCIPLE “Ask It”

February 3, 2015 by Leave a Comment

This is the third in another lecture series from Andy Stanley on making good decisions.  This is one is about effective managing of  your most important asset…

“Ask It PT 3: Time Over Time” from Your Move: http://yourmove.is/episode//

A very important question to ask: What is the wise thing to do?

Filed Under: 1 Mental Fitness, SMARTmessage, SMARTplace, SMARTsteps

Nutritional Fitness PRINCIPLE – Good Living

February 3, 2015 by Leave a Comment

This link will take you to an interview with Bernando LaPallo who’s is now 113, giving his secrets on life and eating.  Notice how good his skin looks.

Key practices:

1) Faith and a good attitude

2) Regular exercise

3) Fruits and Vegetables (blue berries, greens, and beans)

4) Cinnamon  and herbal teas

Learn from a master : )

http://youtu.be/v0MVco9s0SQ

Filed Under: 2 Health - Index Finger, 2 Nutritional Fitness, SMARTmessage, SMARTplace

SMARTmessage 1-4-15

January 7, 2015 by Leave a Comment

 

  • General
    • We have completed a cycle through mental, nutritional, and physical fitness.  We will now cycle through them again, paying attention to the principles, practices, and products that help us improve in these areas.  We will probably notice that the principles may not change much, but gain greater insight in the the practices and products that help us.
    • This time through it is also recommended that you consider actually doing the SMARTsteps wellness program which may be downloaded here.  This can be a great companion to our efforts.  Each week you will be given three task to complete.  Most who go through this find that they have less stress, and its easier to manage their weight.  The program is free and can be downloaded here  http://www.betterme.us/welcome-to-betterme/smart-steps-to-better-health/
  • SMART target Self Developement 
    • PRINCIPLE (jblessman) Mastery is a book written by Robert Greene.  He examines the lives of those who have been exceptional in our history and distills the principles and practices that seem to help them attain that status.  He suggests that because of our access to information it may be easier to accomplish these great feats of personal satisfaction.   http://www.amazon.com/Mastery-Robert-Greene-ebook/dp/B007V65PBK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420569371&sr=8-1&keywords=mastery
    • PRINCIPLE (jblessman) While our collective knowledge seems to doubling at an every accelerating rate, the wisdom of the bible is timeless.  If you have never read the bible in its entirety consider getting the 1 year Chronological Bible in the New Living Translation.  Not only will allow you to finish in a year, but it will be organized how matters occurred.  As an example right after you read about David hiding in a cave, you will come across the psalm that was written at the time.  This will give you greater insight into the psalm.  It is recommended that you just dedicate time to reading the passages for that day and if you get behind, don’t try to catch up just read the passage for the day.  I know a person who has read the bible yearly for better than 10 years and has an exception command of the wisdom contained within.  http://www.amazon.com/One-Year-Chronological-Bible-NLT-ebook/dp/B006MK0JB2/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1420569773&sr=1-2&keywords=one+year+chronological+bible
    • PRODUCT (jblessman) Fanche Do is a timer that is based on the practice of Pomodoros.  The idea is that you work on a project for 20-30 minutee blocks, WITHOUT INTERRUPTION.  You will be amazed at how much you can get done this way.  Following this principle you will begin to recognize and control interruptions.  http://pomo.onevcat.com  You can educate yourself about “pomodoros” here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique
  • SMARTtarget Nutritional Fitness
    • PRODUCT (jblessman) Baking Soda.  There has been much talk and debate about the benefits of an alkaline diet.  As I have reviewed much of this information I can say the following; 1) when you compare our diet to that of our ancestors, there is a much greater propensity to acidity than to alkalinity; 2) the most alkalinizing foods tend to be the green vegetables and may account for their health benefit.  I have seen accounts of people who report the medicinal benefits of baking soda.  Often they will place 1/2 tsp in 8-16 oz of water, and note benefits from this.  You can give this a try, but I would limit to no more than a tsp per day as it can be a heavy sodium load (so monitor you blood pressure).  This is the quickest way to alkalinize your diet while you look for foods that can assist you.
    • PRINCIPLE (jblessman): Pastor Lane commented this past sunday on the concerns for dairy which should probably only be used during our youth as there are growth factors present which we should avoid in later years.  There is truth to this.  Once such growth factor is Casein, which seems important in protein metabolism.  Interesting that it makes up 20-40% of human milk, but 80% of cows milk.  This difference likely supports the need for the cow to double its size within the first month of life, were as humans do this over 3 months.  The questions becomes, is this beneficial for us as adults given the concerns for both obesity and cancer?  Does dairy support these conditions? Some feel that they do.  I do find it interesting that while mammals do consume their own milk (and not the milk of another species), this is a practice that only exist during a youthful growing phase and not beyond.  Food for thought…
  • SMART target Mental Fitness
    • We are back to the season of looking at mental fitness.  You may go back to review the postings from before either here or at www.BetterME.us.  Just to highlight some suggestions; 1)
    • -Ask yourself the Four questions; 1) am I being honest with myself, 2) what story do I want to tell, 3) is there a tension that deserves your attention, and 4) which choice would be most honoring to God.
    • -4-7-8 breathing
    • Importance of sleep
    • Importance of keeping a gratitude journal
    • let the forum know of your favorite practice : )
Filed Under: SMARTmessage, SMARTplace