Tag Archives: choices

If it came from a plant, eat it

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“If it came from a plant, eat it. If it was made in a plant, don’t.”

-Michael Pollan, Professor, UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism

Image of today's quote

Image from Harmless Harvest

A few weeks ago, at the turn of the new year, millions of people committed for the umpteenth time to live healthier lives. Among the keys to success is the focus on optimal, high-quality nutrition.

In general, the fewer ingredients on the label, the better the choice. Or, choose only those made by Mother Nature herself. A simple way to decrease poor choices is to do the majority of your shopping around the periphery of your market, and avoid the aisles full of items produced in a plant.

EXERCISE:

Consider turning your next shopping trip into a food safari. Bring more tasty, naturally grown foods into your home and body. Reducing or purging many of the packaged items already in your cupboards and fridge will reduce the chances of making poor choices.

 

Make a Life

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“Don’t let making a living prevent you from making a life.”

—John Wooden, former UCLA Basketball Coach

Image of today's quote

Image from quoteaddicts.com

Who do you know in your professional circle who has a great deal of regret because they did what today’s quote warned us against?

Over 30 years ago I had dinner with Frank, the Senior Vice President of the pharmaceutical company where I was a rookie sales representative. He had a huge job running the U.S. sales for what was then a four billion dollar Fortune 500 organization with more than 1,200 sales people in 20 regions spread across The United States.

On the surface, he exuded great success and accomplishment. Yet at the end of our dinner, he confided in me that his marriage, his relationship with his children, and even his health had suffered due to his job. His coaching for me was to not make the same mistake.

EXERCISE:

How can and will you change yourself so that making a life and making a living can be part of the same great journey?

Grab a Star

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“Most look up and admire the stars. A champion climbs a mountain and grabs one.”

—Author Unknown

Image of man on mountaintop grabbing stars

Image from CDP Safe

What stars are you reaching for these days? To what degree do you leap out of bed each morning, eager to jump into your personal or professional quest?

Perhaps you, like many, simply examine and admire the efforts or accomplishments of others through social media, or more traditional methods.

You may also compare yourself to others and get excited to summon your own “Go For It!” perspective.

EXERCISE:

What personal or professional mountains will you begin or continue to climb today, to grab your own star with the heart of a champion?

Friday Review: Choices

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FRIDAY REVIEW: CHOICES

What sort of life are you choosing? Here are a few choice-related posts you may have missed. Click on the link to read the full message.

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“Life is all about choices. How many people are trapped in their everyday habits: part numb, part frightened, part indifferent? To have a better life we must keep choosing how we’re living.”

 

 

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“Words empty as the wind are best left unsaid.”

 

 

 

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“Easy Street is a blind alley.”

 

 

 

 

 

too many choices

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“You have too many choices. The process of elimination is your sedimentation tank. What remains are the priorities.”

—Laurent F. Carrel, Messages from Melanie

Image of the aisles of a superstore

Image from brainfodder.org

When was the last time you visited a big-box supermarket? It has been estimated that the number of food products in these megastores are in the tens of thousands. Clearly it is impossible to get everything in our shopping cart, so we all go through some process of elimination. We use criteria such as healthiness, value, shelf life, and taste as factors to make our choices.

EXERCISE:

What criteria do you currently use in your personal and professionals worlds to filter out unhealthy or undesirable options that do not serve your highest priorities?

How could being more selective improve your world?

Rainbows Won’t Wait

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“The work will wait while you show the child the rainbow, but the rainbow won’t wait while you finish the work.”

-attributed to Patricia Clifford, Film Producer

QC #964

Image from Flickr by Elvis Kennedy

Do you sometimes feel life has passed you by?

Do you tell yourself you will have time – on the weekend, on the vacation, when you retire – to get to the things that matter?

Are you missing too many rainbows?

We cannot schedule the rainbows of our lives – we must seize precious moments as they occur.

EXERCISE:

How can you be more intentional and tuned into your world, so that you can find greater joy and fulfillment in life’s special moments?

Walk Your Talk

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“You cannot talk your way out of something you behaved yourself into.”

—Stephen Covey, American self-help author

Image from nxtlvlc.com

Image from nxtlvlc.com

Actions speak louder than words. They are all we really have to turn our dreams of a better future into a reality.

Consider a business leader whose behavior is inconsistent with the core values and corporate vision he claims to follow.  Consider the individual who constantly brings up his interest in health and wellness, yet makes unhealthy choices and rarely engages in physical activity.

EXERCISE:

Where in your life can you bring greater alignment between your words and your actions?
To whom, beside yourself, will you make the promises? What added support will be required to ensure this new level of personal responsibility?

Choices Reflect Your Hopes

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“May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.”

-Nelson Mandela

image from www.cbc.ca

image from www.cbc.ca

There are two primary schools of thought regarding what spurs people into action. The first is what I call the “avoiding pain” strategy, in which people examine the bad things that may occur if they don’t take action. Some sales methods take advantage of this approach by turning up the level of pain in order to compel people to buy a product or service.

The alternative strategy, suggested in Nelson Mandela’s statement, could be called the “pleasure strategy.” Here, a compelling and hopeful objective mobilizes us to choose certain actions and behaviors that will help us realize our desirable future.

EXERCISE:

What will you do to make the majority of your life choices—personally and professionally—from a more hopeful perspective?

A Better Way

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“There has got to be a better way.”

—Steve Jobs, late CEO of Apple, Inc.

Image from openculture.com

Image from openculture.com

My wife and I recently saw the new Steve Jobs movie. Regardless of your views about him as a person, he sure did exemplify today’s quote, and the Apple mantra of “Think Different.”

Perhaps much of the controversy about his life and leadership style was about how he always pushed the limits of what was possible, which sometimes involved pushing many of those around him out of their comfort zones.

Throughout my coaching career, I have encouraged my clients each and every day to be prepared to break their current patterns if they want new worlds to emerge.

To do otherwise would be insane.

EXERCISE:

Where in your personal or professional world would embracing a “There has got to be a better way” philosophy actually make things better?

“Life has no remote…”

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“Life has no remote. Get up and change it yourself.”

-Mark Cooper, author of Edelweiss Pirates, Operation Einstein

Image from Flickr by Keith Williamson

Image from Flickr by Keith Williamson

If you were to walk through your family room, den, entertainment area, basement, or home theater, collecting all your remote control devices, how many would you have?

In many ways, we have developed into a remote control society, frequently looking for the simplest and least effort necessary to change things for the better. It’s so easy to delete, fast forward, or hop over commercials to get to the sporting event, sitcom, or drama that interests us.

Our lives, however, usually play one show, entitled “Our Lives,” and we cannot click a button to change it easily.

EXERCISE:

Where in your personal or professional life is it time to get out of your chair and make the necessary changes you desire?