Archive for the 'Power Boost: March 2010' Category
By J. E. Davidson
As women, we are usually the caretakers of our families. Husbands, children, elderly parents, and sometimes other family members depend upon us to help them with their daily needs. Employers expect us to fulfill our job requirements. The demands that are made upon us often leave us with little time to take care of our own needs. We become emotionally stressed and physically exhausted, and our health suffers as a result.
We must become proactive in taking care of ourselves, and our own emotional and physical health must become a priority. As women, we must educate ourselves about what we must do to retain our own optimal well-being. Our attitudes and actions can determine whether we struggle through life or enjoy a vital, healthy and rewarding existence.
Having a regular healthcare provider in whom you have confidence is an important first step, but educating yourself on health issues that may affect you can alert you to early warning signs that may need addressed before your yearly checkup is due, or you have an emotional breakdown. Research women’s health issues online, or through non-profit and government agencies.
Bring research material with you when you visit your physician, and be prepared to ask questions. And ask lots of questions! You may want to know about the prescriptions your doctor gives: Is there a suitable generic? What side effects may you expect? Is there an alternative treatment that does not involve medication? You may want to ask about follow-up treatments, the length of recovery time that may be expected, or other issues concerning your health. A quality physician will take time to explain the results of tests, procedures and treatment options thoroughly, and answer any questions that you may have.
Being proactive in your health care involves more than just having a yearly physical check-up, and making healthy diet and lifestyle choices. We must take responsibility for our own emotional health. Having a positive mental attitude and managing stress in a healthy way has powerful anti-aging effects on our bodies.
Stress is a part of life that we can’t avoid but we can either allow it to manifest itself with physical and emotional symptoms, or we can take control of the situation when people, events, and situations make excessive demands upon us. Setting realistic goals and determining whether there is anything we can do to change the situation can keep stress from taking over our lives. Don’t sweat the small stuff, just let it slide! Prioritize responsibilities instead of becoming overwhelmed with too much to do, and don’t be afraid to say no when you already have a full schedule.
Take a few minutes every day to de-stress! Physical exercise is known to relieve stress. A simple walk in the park will do, you don’t need to run a marathon! Take a long, hot soak in the tub with your favorite bath oil after the kids are in bed. Whatever it is that relaxes you, set aside a time each day when you can indulge in your favorite tension-relieving pastime.
Our soul, our inner essence, is unique to each of us and requires nurturing to remain healthy. It is our self-awareness, and defines the values by which we think, feel, and live. Spiritual health can be found by tapping into a source of energy that brings us love, hope, optimism and empowerment. Whatever our religious beliefs are, spirituality and physical health are linked. A healthy spirit can reduce depression and self-destructive behaviors (smoking, drug and alcohol dependence, and suicide for example), boost the immune system, and create a more satisfying life.
By having a proactive attitude about our physical, mental, and spiritual health we can create healthier and more fulfilling lives for ourselves and may also inspire our family, especially our daughters, to adopt this attitude for themselves.
J.E. Davidson is self-employed as a secondhand goods merchant and writer, married with four adult children and many grandchildren
March 01 2010 | Healthy Eating & Living and Power Boost: March 2010 and Your Physical Self | 2 Comments »
Chia-Li Chien (pronounced Jolly Jan) founded Chien Associates LLC in 1993 and has provided strategies and consulting services to companies like, Westinghouse, General Data Comm., Diageo, and many small to mid size businesses.
Chia-Li helps women business owners exit their businesses on THEIR own terms. She gives them a step-by-step plan so they can exit their companies gracefully – a plan based on their dreams, their needs and their goals. With Chia-Li’s help, they establish wealth maps to maximize the value from their businesses to realize their dreams. She helps them create a timeline for leaving their companies, a vision of who their next owners will be, and a financial goal of how much money they want to leave with. Best of all, she helps lead their trusted advisors in a coordinated planning effort – they do the “tough stuff” for the transitioning owners, so they can avoid headaches, while concentrating on exiting their businesses.
Chia-Li received her bachelor’s degree from Central Connecticut State University, and her master’s degree from University of Hartford. In addition, she is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER (CFP) Practitioner, Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor (CRPC), Charter Trust and Estate Planner (CTEP), and Project Management Professional (PMP).
She is a board member and a pro bono director for the Financial Planning Association (FPA) of Charlotte. She provides pro bono services to the community along with CharlotteSave, the Charlotte Housing Authority and many local nonprofit community organizations. She also serves on Pro Bono Advisory Committee for Financial Planning Association on national level. She is an appointed board member of Women’s Advisory Board (WAB) in Mecklenburg County for Board of County Commissioners in North Carolina. She is a member of the Women Presidents’ Organization (WPO), the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO), eWomen, FPA and Project Management Institute (PMI).
She has been married since 1990 and has two children. She was born and raised in Taipei, Taiwan with love of international travel.
March 01 2010 | Cover Story Interviews and Power Boost: March 2010 | 4 Comments »
By Lauren Wilder
“Change comes eventually.” If you don’t recognize this line then you’re obviously not a Lauryn Hill fan, no worries because you can relate to the quote without remainder of the chorus. It’s from her song “Everything is Everything” and that’s exactly how I feel right now. I’m coming out of my transition phase into a stage of understanding. My life since college has changed rapidly from day to week to month. In the past I had the tendency to dwell on the past, but life changes so quickly that I have to keep moving with it. As for the season changing, it’s much anticipated even though I’m hearing Chicago’s spring is a rainy season.
Back in the lovely state of North Carolina lays my buffer, 95% of the people I’m closest to reside there. I have adjusted not exactly gracefully, but I have found that I can manage. I slipped up and I tried to find that buffer concept here in one person. Let’s scratch that, I wasn’t looking, but I thought I found it in one person. It ended exactly how it started, rapidly like life.
I won’t delve into the juicy details because that’s not what my column is about. It is about my enlightenment from lessons I have learned. So my first epiphany of 2010 is that I am my own comfort zone, but even now I find it difficult to believe.
I hopped on a Southwest airplane last summer with the desire to learn and see new things. I came here to start my life. There are many young people my age with the same story, small town and move into the big city. Some have dreams and some want to escape the mundane lifestyle that consists of hanging out at Wal-Mart on the weekend.
I have been reminded constantly that I’m not in my town of 25,000, also that I’m not near the ones that know me the best. I have realized that I rely on them heavily even though I am miles away. Where ever I go now I know that I have to back myself, be my cheerleader, be my own shoulder and protector (for the most part). Also, no one can live my life except for me. There are people here who love me dearly and want the very best for me. I have to want it and do it.
My dear readers I have changed, as much as the weather has, tremendously since I’ve landed here and I have a long way to go.
Lauren Wilder is an up-and-coming journalist who recently moved to Chicago. She shares her adventures with P3 readers every month.
March 01 2010 | Inspiring Stories / Poetry and Other Useful Articles and Power Boost: March 2010 and Your Emotional Self | No Comments »
By Brenda McCoy Hunter
As you probably know, this article is not about stocks, bonds or money. It is about building a better future and a better community. It is about developing social capital. It is about preparing to give-investing in yourself, giving what you have-to significant others, and recognizing that your deposits may go to causes and people outside of your life circle.
Investing in yourself is probably the simplest of these three challenges (of course, we should never confuse simple with easy). It means that you should use take time and use resources to refill, refuel, and refine those assets that you have already acquired or wish to acquire. It may mean adding on to or completing what you started long ago. Investing in yourself means that you understand that nothing stays the same.
Career plateauing (flat lining) is a term that I found and challenged people with several decades ago as I led career development sessions. It defines what happens when you stop pursuing a goal or challenge on the job. It leads to burnout and decline. The scary discovery was that this condition moved across other areas of your life as well-outside the job-physical, personal, spiritual and social areas were negatively impacted. The journey doesn’t end when the job stops. Growth is a natural part of living and there is no stage where you stop growing and learning and sharpening…going slower is acceptable. Two quotes that spurred me on earlier: Mark Twain’s: “The person who does not read good books is no better than the person who cannot read.” and from the children’s corner: “When you’re green, you’re growing; when you’re ripe, you’re rottening.” The books and literature you continue to read, the people you meet and experience, and the new activities in which you engage are all investments.
As you invest in yourself, you bring something to relationships and situations to share…Investing in others means giving and sharing. It didn’t appear controversial to me; but, I occasionally encounter someone who argues ‘what for’. So let me begin by sharing the statement that keeps me focused in the event that I forget my spiritual mandate: “If you don’t reach down and lift them up, the sheer weight of them will pull you down.” It is not an original statement, but one that challenges me on many levels. If you have disengaged from the work force, you may look at the activities that you wanted to get involved in but didn’t have the time. You may look at a neighborhood issue that needs the knowledge and leadership that you have acquired over the years. There may be an issue that needs to be addressed and you are now available to give time to it.
On the subject of diversifying, I will just reiterate that the world has changed. There are many reasons not to invest all your ‘eggs in one basket’. The greatest is that the basket may cease to be. You should not limit your relationships and giving to people in your age-group, neighborhood, congregation, social club… you get the picture. You never know who holds your card, will hold your hand or answer your call. f it they are in your space, it is probably for a reason; give unconditionally.
In closing this conversation, I want to be completely real about this call to giving and investing: You may not receive pay, acknowledgement or appreciation for your work and contributions. You may give and no one will notice right away; but, remember that it is ultimately not about you. Hopefully your stream is being constantly filled and your need for appreciation met from inside. You are your greatest asset!
Brenda McCoy Hunter is a public speaker, trainer and the author of Answering the Call: Six Steps to Leadership and Service. Her flagship seminar, “Creative Horizons” focuses on succession leadership and offers an opportunity for pre-retirees to plan for success after their present job ends. She can be reached at 615-319-1223 www.BHunterassociates.com
March 01 2010 | Business Strategies and Tips and Other Useful Articles and Power Boost: March 2010 | No Comments »
By Karyn L. Beach
My friend Timogi is an incredible woman. She is a poet, clothing designer, business woman and motivational speaker. She hosts what she calls Sistah Parties. At a Sistah Party , Timogi has a table filled with random kitschy knick knacks and two stacks of cards, one with quotes and one with questions. The women at the party each come up to the table and pick an item or a card and Timogi explains the significance and allow the women to discuss it. I love Sistah Parties and I’ve been to several. I never get bored because each party is different.
I attended a Sistah Party a few weeks ago and a woman got up and picked up what looked like a DNA molecule. She handed it to Timogi. Timogi looked at it and said, “Our DNA determines a lot of what makes us who we are. It determines our gender, our height and any number of things. But what we do with what our DNA has given us is up to us.” Then she went over to the woman who selected the molecule and handed it back to her. While she is holding it, Timogi said, “It’s in your hands .”
WOW…
So many times, we let our gender, our race, or our socioeconomic background define us. When we do that, we fail to realize that our destinies, the paths we choose and the choices we make, are really in our hands. It truly is up to us.
In 2010, the only thing that can stop us is us. I am an African-American woman, I recognize that those two factors play a role in who I am and how I experience this world. Yet, those things for me are filters. They are lens that help shape my perceptions.
They are not obstacles. They are not barriers. They will not stop me.
I don’t know you personally but I know that you have your struggles, your demons, and your complicated pasts. However you got to where you are, the rest is now up to you. It’s in your hands .
Karyn L. Beach is a life coach, corporate trainer and editor of the P3 Power Boost.
March 01 2010 | Inspiring Stories / Poetry and Other Useful Articles and Power Boost: March 2010 | 1 Comment »
Next »
