Are We Having Fun Yet? Stress and Exercise

Like taxes, stress is a part of everyone’s life. The “experts” tell us that some stress is good because without it there would be no motivation to do anything! However, if you are like me, serious stress and anxiety makes me feel bad physically – I am unable to eat. This can’t be good!

For most of us, stress is low-level most of the time. Our daily tasks and relationships give us a bit of stress but not major anxiety. The body’s response to low-level stressors is designed to motivate us to action with a slightly raised heart rate and increased mental clarity –similar to the response to caffeine.

In times where stress levels go higher, the responses are what many people call the “fight or flight” response. The body sends blood to the extremities to get ready for action! These responses are normal and good for you – except when the stress levels remain high for a long time. When the body perpetually stays in a stressed state, the systems begin to break down. Think of it like a car engine where the throttle is stuck and the engine is constantly “revved up”. Not only will it consume A LOT of gasoline, but the mechanical parts will wear out faster.

So what to do to protect ourselves from this? RELAX of course….and EXERCISE. Exercise helps us relax both physiologically and, if it’s enjoyable, provides a mental escape from the stressor. The physiological effects of exercise include release of morphine-like chemicals (which include beta-endorphins) that give us a sense of well being. Have you ever heard the term Runner’s High? This is caused by the release of “endorphins” into the blood. Since these chemicals stay in the blood for several hours after stopping the activity, the “feel good” feeling remains for a while.

OK, so we know why exercise can help with anxiety and stress. But what are some of the ways regular exercise keeps us healthy in normal, low-level stress, times?

Here’s some from the top of my head:

Using a daily dose of natural “feel good” chemicals is better than drugs or alcohol!!
Looking fit, healthy and strong (It’s ok to admit that looking good makes you feel good!)
Feeling good from accomplishment and improvement.
Escaping from the daily grind for an hour – change of scene.
Keeping the body systems prepared to handle high-level stress.

The key to lowering stress with exercise is that you ENJOY the exercise that you choose to do. If you hate going to the gym, it’s not going to lower your stress – in fact it probably will add some! Also, studies are showing over and over that even low intensity exercise helps anxiety, so any activity you enjoy is good. For me, when I am under stress, nothing works better than a good sweaty dance session. The music, movement and high heart rate just melt away my troubles. Some of my clients even tell me that the sense of achievement from competitive sports makes them feel less stressed!

The bottom line? To decrease the effects stress on your body, pick a fitness or sports activity you enjoy, do it regularly and HAVE FUN.

Resources:

“Holistic Health News, Remedies for Anxiety” http://ift.tt/1phtfuU

“Managing Stress with Regular Exercise”, http://ift.tt/1phtfLc

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What’s The Goal Of Your Blog Post?

Before you sit down and write the first word of your next blog post, stop and think about what you want to accomplish with your post. What’s your goal? How is this blog post going to help you accomplish something to help you move forward with your business.

Here are some questions you may want to ask yourself:

? Are you writing a post that you hope will get shared across social media and grow your reach?

? Are you writing a post that also invites readers to join your email list so you can get back in touch later?

? Are you writing a post to get the attention of a big brand you’d like to work with?

? Are you writing a blog post to start a conversation with your existing readership?

? Are you writing a blog post with the end goal of selling your readers a product?

? Are you writing a blog post to start a conversation with a fellow blogger in hopes of growing a mutually profitable relationship?

All of the above are valid goals for your blog posts and I’m sure you can add a few more to that list. The important thing is that you are aware of what you’re trying to accomplish with your post.

Then start with the end in mind. If your goal is to get the attention of a big brand you’d like to work with for example, think about a post you can write about your experience with one of their products.

If your goal is to grow your list, think of a topic that’s complimentary to your opt-in offer freebie. Write the content and then transition into an invitation to join your list and download the free report.

Do you see how much easier it is to craft goal driven blog posts when you know what your goal is before you sit down to write? You can reverse engineer the entire process and make sure everything flows well and leads your reader to whatever action you want them to take at the end.

Being able to do that is pretty powerful stuff. It allows you to craft different posts strategically. Write a post that helps you grow your reach. Then work on one that starts the conversation with our new readers. Next work on getting them on your list and finally make them an offer. Intersperse this with posts that help you get the attention of potential JV partners and Brands and you’re all set to not only grow your blog and your audience, but make money blogging as well.

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6 Steps to Ending Bad Eating Habits

A client wrote, “Help me! I thought I was finally getting a handle on my weight issue but the sugar is killing me. I had an awful day. I won’t even tell you what I ate today because it is just so unbelievable. All I will say is that 90% of my food today consisted of sugar! I really, really need some help getting past these cravings. I am no doubt a sugar addict. If I could get past this there is no doubt that I will reach my goal.”

If you see a little of yourself in this message, you’re not alone. Many describe themselves as sugar addicts. They believe if it were only for that one thing, then they could reach their weight loss goals. If you believe only one thing stands in your way of losing weight, consider this: What if that one thing (an addiction to sugar for instance) were gone? Do you really believe, “If I could get past this, there is no doubt that I will reach my goal,” or is it an easy excuse to stay stuck?

If I told you I could show you a way to stop craving sugar, would you want me to show you how?

Think about that for a moment. Close your eyes and really think it through. You’ve said if only you didn’t crave sugar, then you could lose weight, but is that really true for you? Ask yourself these questions:

Would you eat differently, and if so how?

Would you act differently, and if so how?

What else would change, and what would stay the same?

What would you lose?

What would you gain?

Until you know what you want, know you can achieve it, and know what else will change (i.e. how your life may be different), you can’t discover any obstacles that first must be considered. For instance, you may want to stop eating anything after 7 PM yet your husband doesn’t come home from work until 8 and he wants you to join him for dinner. That’s an obstacle.

If you’ve got a habit of watching your favorite TV show with a bowl of ice cream, then breaking that habit is another obstacle.

If you don’t work out ways to overcome your obstacles perhaps through discussion and compromise with your husband, or habit breaking exercises for your ice cream habit, there’s bound to be a problem. Just saying you’re not going to do something any mroe rarely works. Instead determine what might stand in the way of achieving your goals, find a way around them, and you’re much more likely to actually achieve those goals once and for all.

The statement, “if this one thing were handled, then everything else would fall into place” is an “If Then” statement and gets people into trouble. They want a fairy godmother to make it all better. A strong belief that one single thing such as, “eating sugar is my problem,” sets you up to fail, especially if you really like eating sugary foods.

Getting a handle on your cravings is not an all-or-nothing proposition. You must leave room for occasional deviations. It’s not the occasional side trip that causes weight trouble, it’s the road we usually travel.

In NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) a good starting point is the exercise called Establishing a Well Formed Outcome. “Well formed” means it meets all criteria of a well thought-out end result.

NLP: How to Create a Well Formed Outcome & Get What You Want

Here are the steps to creating a well formed outcome:

1) State what you want (not what you do not want). “I want to weigh 135 pounds.”

2) Determine whether you can achieve it (do you believe it is possible?).

3) What resources do you have and what do you need (time, money, gear, clothes, equipment, coaching, whatever).

4) Check whether anyone else is involved and any potential obstacles that may come up regarding others. Think of everyone involved in your day-to-day life.

5) Picture yourself “as if” you’ve obtained what you say you want and see if that picture fits. Do you like what you see?

6) Put together a plan of action for the achievement of your outcome.

While it may seem like a lot of effort simply to decide what you really want, going through these steps at the beginning helps you find potential obstacles which previously stopped you from moving forward. For example, if you decide you want to join a gym and start exercising every day but you’ve forgotten you don’t even own a car and just lost your job, that exercise plan might not work out right now. If you did join a gym, you’d end up not going and then you’d think you’d failed, yet it was the plan that failed, not you. You didn’t think it through.

A better plan in this instance may be doing exercises at home, or within walking distance (or simply walking for exercise). Later, when you do have transportation, you can rethink the plan and perhaps join a gym then. There are always options.

It’s better to look at what you want from every angle, then put together a plan you know can and will work. Then when you know what you want, you’ll also know you can make it happen and begin by taking that first step toward making it a reality.

“Achieving a Well Formed Outcome” is one of the sessions in the Ending Emotional Eating 8-Week Workshop. You can also find more information on this popular and well known NLP process by searching for “NLP Well Formed Outcome” in your favorite search engine.

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One Signup Per Day

How I Generated One Signup A Day For My Business

In 2008, I joined a leads generation system called LeadsLeap. At that time, this system generated an average of 1 signup a day for the business that I was promoting.

Soon I got to know the founder, Kenneth Koh, through a few support correspondences. This is where I got the report from that I am sharing with you.

Time flies. Businesses rise and fall. Many popular leads generation systems back then are now no longer seen.

But LeadsLeap continues to flourish, and my network in LeadsLeap continues to grow, even though I haven’t promoted it for years.

In this updated report ‘One Signup A Day 2.0’, I’ll share with you what LeadsLeap has done for me over the years.

I’ll also share with you my experience in getting clicks and how I convert clicks into signups.

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How To Craft A Good Call To Action At The End Of Your Post

If there’s one thing I see a lot of bloggers do wrong, it’s not giving their readers anything to do at the end of the blog post. Put yourself in the shoes of your readers. You read a great article, get to the end and there’s no call to action. What do you do? You go back to Facebook or go watch some cat videos on YouTube. Why not give your readers something more. What if they wouldn’t mind learning more from you or connecting with you via email or social media or even take you up on a product recommendation? That’s what a call to action at the end of your blog posts is all about.

Encourage Them To Comment And Interact With You

One of the easiest ways to craft a call to action is to ask your readers to leave you a comment. Invite them to share their own experiences on the topic, a tip, a recipe etc. In other words, ask them to comment on the post.

Example: What are your favorite ways to end your blog posts? Do you use a particular call to action? Leave me a comment below and let’s talk.

Invite Them To Connect Further Via Social Media

If growing your social media reach is a goal, consider adding some calls to action on to “like” the blog post on Facebook, share it on Twitter, pin it on Pinterest etc. Or share one of your social media profiles in the call to action and invite them to join you there.

Example: Got questions about crafting calls to action? Let’s talk about it on our Facebook page. (Link to your Facebook page).

Make A Recommendation

Sometimes it makes sense to make a sale and monetize your blog post in your call to action. This is also called pre-selling. You talk about a topic and then at the end make a recommendation for a product that helps your readers learn more or take the next step.

Example: There’s a lot more to be said about crafting a strong call to action. Take a look at this guide to learn more.

Invite Them To Join Your List

Often the best thing you can do at the end of your blog posts is to invite readers to join your list. Once you have them on your email list, you can invite them to come back and read other posts, comment on them, join you on your favorite social media platforms and of course make offers to your readers.

Getting them on your list should always be your first priority, so use that call to action often.

Example: I have a lot more to share on the topic of blogging and would love to email you with more tips and strategies on a regular basis. Just enter your name and email below and we’ll get started right away. As a thank you, I’ll even send you my guide to writing strong blog post titles that will grab your readers’ attention.

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The Elevator Pitch: First Contact

Entrepreneurs with businesses in early start-up differ on what they believe to be the most important element, although many professionals will argue that creating a solid business plan should definitely be the first step.

A well-crafted business plan lays out all the details and strategies, includes projections for revenue and spending, and will be reviewed in detail by bankers and venture capitalists. But in fact, the most important document that should be created even before the business plan is the “elevator pitch.”

The fact is, most people will not read a business plan unless they have been motivated to do so beforehand. The elevator pitch is that motivating factor. It’s the hook that gets them into the room. It’s the catchy jingle that gets people to pay attention to the ad. It’s the best parts of the business plan, without the boring details. The elevator pitch is the place for the excitement, not the place to include all the technology, buzzwords and explanations.

An elevator pitch should be able to be condensed into a single-page presentation, short enough to be memorized, or read easily within a few minutes—that’s how it got its name, it’s a pitch that’s short enough to be presented during the course of an elevator ride.

The elevator pitch condenses your business concept into something that can be presented in about a minute or two—essentially, the parts that matter, the very “essence” of the business.

The elevator pitch skips the hard-core financials, and gets straight to the heart of what it is about the business that really gets you excited. That’s what this pitch is about—you don’t need the proof of concept here yet, that comes in the full-length business plan. The elevator pitch is the commercial that gets people interested.

The elevator pitch should be inspirational and creative, hitting the high points of your business concept, and should accomplish the following:

• Hit the high points of what it is you hope to do
• Summarize the problem/solution aspect of your concept
• Describe the business model—how is it going to make money?
• Create excitement on the part of the reader/listener
• Describe the profit potential without having to bring out charts and graphs
• Tell why you/your company are well positioned to accomplish your goal
• End with a call to action

The first couple sentences are the most critical, and should present your core concept. If you can’t tell what it is you want to do in two sentences or less, then you need to simplify your concept. There will be plenty of time to get into all the details later, once you’ve captured your audience’s interest.

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Peggy DiSalle Doing FBLive Valentus Corporate Call

Peggy DiSalle Double Diamond

What I really love about the way Peggy conducts herself on the videos is her Passion in not only how she presents herself but how she makes others feel as well.

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