Category Archives: Changing Your Life
October 12, 2016 HOW TO Eat Right at Work
We’ve all read the dreaded (and irresistible) announcement:
There are donuts in the break room. Help yourself.
Recurring temptations combined with fatigue from early mornings, computer screen stares, and constant desk sitting, make it too easy for a person to abandon any sort of healthy diet in exchange for an easy treat and a sugar rush. There are, however, a few strategies you can incorporate into your work-day routine to combat the dreaded “office diet.”
Plan your meals.
The first and most important strategy is to plan your meal for the next day. If you’re running late one morning and you don’t have time to grab a lunch, fast food and break room treats will most likely be your solution. By packing a healthy meal with plenty of high-energy snacks to graze on throughout the day, you’re giving yourself the ammunition and energy to say no to unhealthy temptations.
Take breaks.
Oftentimes snacking serves as a distraction—and the mindless eating will only get easier as your eyes blur, your neck stiffens, and your legs cramp, all from sitting at the computer for too long. Don’t reach for food when your body really craves a break.
Get up and walk away from your desk to get your blood flowing. This helps to avoid sugar and caffeine cravings brought on by lethargy. If breaks aren’t on your radar when bombarded by your hefty to-do list, try setting a timer to go off at intervals throughout the day as a reminder to step away from your desk—even if just for a moment. By introducing daily buffers to stretch and move your body, your energy levels stay up and your mind (and willpower) stay sharp.
Drink lots of water.
This isn’t news. Water makes us feel good and dehydration hurts. Unfortunately, while it’s easy to snack at the desk, it’s also easy to become dehydrated, which leads to feelings of hunger, fatigue, cravings, and headaches—all symptoms that point to water, but ultimately lead to sugary snacks.
Find office allies.
Everything’s easier with a little encouragement and company. With a communicated purpose, your team can resist temptation by changing the culture around the office—by celebrating good health, together.
It may be difficult, but your eating habits at work will make or break your health routine. Rearrange your priorities—take care of yourself so you can take care of your work (and feel great doing it).
MARGARET SMITH IS A CAREER COACH, AUTHOR, INSIGHTS®DISCOVERY LICENSED PRACTITIONER, FOUNDER OF UXL, AND CO-FOUNDER OF THE TAG TEAM. SHE HOSTS WORKSHOPS FOR PEOPLE WHO NEED CAREER OR PERSONAL GUIDANCE. YOU CAN VISIT HER WEBSITE AT WWW.YOUEXCELNOW.COM
Tags: career coach Margaret Smith, career coach Minneapolis, eat right at work, eating healthy at work, Halloween and unhealthy eating, healthy at work, healthy eating choices in the workplace, unhealthy eating in the office, UXL career coaching
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- Posted under Advice from a Life Coach, Changing Your Life, Goals, Thrive at Work
September 28, 2016 Define Success in Your OWN Terms
Most of my work is and has been people-oriented. Professionally, I spent nearly 30 years at 3M, working in various sales leadership positions. Now, I work with a wide range of clients through my career coaching business, UXL. In my personal life, I am involved in my church; I teach spin at the local gym; and I volunteer for several different organizations. Suffice it to say, I’ve met a lot of people through all these different avenues!
Some of the people I’ve met have been very career-oriented, some emphasize family above all else, some prefer spending their free time volunteering in the community and making a difference. Each person has different dreams and goals and different things they consider important. Because of that, how could there possibly be ONE measure of success?
And yet, our culture tends to paint a picture of success with one brush.
We consider a successful American to have a well-paying job, a nice house, a 401K, a loving family. We see wealth and power as the ultimate definitions of success. But that’s not everyone’s definition and shouldn’t be everyone’s definition.
If you define your personal success based on others’ measuring sticks, you’ll be constantly disappointed. What does success mean to YOU? What gives you satisfaction?
The idea of defining your own success really hits home whenever I volunteer at the Peace House, a shelter for troubled women. Many of the residents define success by having the ability to meet their basic needs—having shelter, sufficient food, and love from their families. They strive for independence, a steady income, a job that they enjoy. Some of them aim to get their GED or a certificate in a trade. For them, sales goals, investment portfolios, and owning a yacht are abstract concepts of success. AND THAT’S OKAY.
“But, wait,” you might be thinking, “my definition of success is meeting my sales goals, tucking some money away, and eventually owning a boat!” THAT’S OKAY TOO.
As soon as you figure out what you want out of life, you can work toward it with confidence. Sure, your definition of success may grow and evolve, but it should always reflect your personal ambitions instead of outside pressure to fit into others’ ideas of success.
MARGARET SMITH IS A CAREER COACH, AUTHOR, INSIGHTS®DISCOVERY LICENSED PRACTITIONER, FOUNDER OF UXL, AND CO-FOUNDER OF THE TAG TEAM. SHE HOSTS WORKSHOPS FOR PEOPLE WHO NEED CAREER OR PERSONAL GUIDANCE. YOU CAN VISIT HER WEBSITE AT WWW.YOUEXCELNOW.COM
Tags: career coach Margaret Smith, defining success, definition of success, personal success, success in your own terms, UXL blog, UXL career coaching
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- Posted under Advice from a Life Coach, Changing Your Life, Goals
September 21, 2016 How does Success relate to Grit?
I recently watched a TED Talk by psychologist Dr. Angela Lee Duckworth on the subject of grit. She first noticed a correlation between success and grit when she was working as a school teacher in a difficult neighborhood. A child’s scholarly success was not necessarily related to their IQ; more often than not, it was related to their dogged perseverance, or grit.
Duckworth left teaching to pursue a career in psychology and made grit the subject of most of her research. She studied diverse groups of people—from military cadets to students to sales people—and, time and again, observed that grit was a key attribute to success.
The people who kept going despite failures or setbacks, the people who were committed to a job or task for the long-term, were the ones who usually succeeded.
How do you foster grit in your own life and your children’s? Duckworth admits that the research is lacking, but a few interesting ideas have cropped to the surface. One study shows that developing a “growth mentality” helps create a gritty personality. A growth mentality has to do with the belief that failure is NOT a permanent state. It is something that creates growth and helps us succeed next time. This kind of attitude puts people in a positive mindset, a “I can do it next time!” frame of mind.
What do you think? Has grit been a part of YOUR success? Is it something you need to work at?
For the full TED Talk, please click the link below:
MARGARET SMITH IS A CAREER COACH, AUTHOR, INSIGHTS®DISCOVERY LICENSED PRACTITIONER, FOUNDER OF UXL, AND CO-FOUNDER OF THE TAG TEAM. SHE HOSTS WORKSHOPS FOR PEOPLE WHO NEED CAREER OR PERSONAL GUIDANCE. YOU CAN VISIT HER WEBSITE AT WWW.YOUEXCELNOW.COM
Tags: Angela Lee Duckworth, grit and success, gritty people and success, link between success and grit, margaret smith career coach, Minneapolis career coach, TED Talk
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- Posted under Changing Your Life, Discussions, Leadership
