Too Busy Building A Business To Sleep, Exercise, or Eat Well? 8 Quick Fixes to Boost Your Energy

It’s the modern cliche: running so fast and furious through your workday that you don’t have time for lunch. That you get home late for dinner, so you end up getting takeout. And depending on your current age and lifestyle, you’re either up late working on your laptop, watching TV, out for drinks (to numb the effects of the day) or cleaning up after your kids. So you don’t get enough sleep, and wake up groggy the next day, rushing out the door to enjoy your morning traffic jam. Forget about breakfast. Exercise? Ha.

Surviving the day on venti lattes with a triple shot of espresso, a protein shake in a can, an energy bar and a muffin has become routine for so many of us. Heck, when I started my first business, I probably wasn’t even getting that much nutrition. I’d be up at 5 a.m., plow through my day overseeing every detail of the store’s operations, and get home completely exhausted and famished, because I hadn’t eaten all day. So I’d have a big meal, work some more and collapse into bed.

The irony? I was the proud owner of a healthy fast food store. I was selling fresh vegetable and fruit juices and smoothies, and promoting the benefits of getting your daily requirements of vitamins and minerals served in a to-go cup.

About a year into running the business, I realized I needed a major lifestyle makeover. That I wasn’t practicing what I was preaching, and it was having a detrimental effect on my energy levels at work, and my life overall. So of course, I bought a dog. Yeah, I know–that’s not exactly a “quick fix”. But Scooby (my beloved mutt from an SPCA shelter) forced me to slow down and make time for both of us. He needed daily walks, which got me outside and moving my body. He needed to be fed, reminding me of my own body’s needs for balanced nutrition. And he needed playtime and affection, which he generously gave me in return.

If you have children, pets or anyone else who is dependant on you, I urge you to let them be your guide, your health guru. Let their needs remind you of your own, that you’ve been overlooking and ignoring for far too long. If you don’t have anyone in your life who can do that for you, you’ll have to be your own guru. Do yourself a favour and incorporate as many of the following suggestions into your day:

• Start your morning with warm water and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. I’m not telling you to skip the coffee, just don’t drink it first thing. The lemon has an alkalinizing effect on your body, and combined with the water it helps flush out toxins and get your digestive system moving.
• Take a 32 ounce water bottle with you everywhere. Fill it up at least twice and sip it throughout the day. Keeping yourself hydrated helps maintain your energy levels, keeps you from mistaking thirst for hunger and eating when you don’t need to, and keeps things moving through your system.
• Eat as much “live” food as possible. This includes things like fresh produce, raw nuts and seeds. It’s as easy to grab a banana or a handful of almonds as it is to grab a bagel or protein bar, and your body is much better equipped to process whole, live foods–meaning it takes less effort, provides much more benefit, slows the aging process, and leaves us with more energy. Eat something live with every meal.
• Get your daily omega 3 dosage. I know, you’re sick of hearing about how you need to eat more fish or flax seed oil. But omega 3s are proven to have brain-boosting powers, and without them, our minds are much fuzzier. If you’re not keen on seafood, just take a supplement.
• Get your daily vitamin D dosage. Preferably through at least 10 minutes of sunshine a day, but this isn’t always possible, especially for those of us in the Northern hemisphere who don’t get strong enough exposure to the sun for most of the year. So, take a supplement to make sure you’re covered. (But also, get outside!) A vitamin D deficiency can make you feel depressed and lethargic, in addition to making you more susceptible to certain diseases.
• Eat healthy carbs and fats. Don’t fall prey to fad diets that have you cutting out carbs altogether, or avoiding all fats. Fruits, vegetables and legumes are carbs and your brain needs those for fuel. Fruits may be higher on the glycemic index, but they’re also whole foods with nutrients your body craves. Don’t forsake them because you think it will help you lose a few pounds. And moderate amounts of healthy fats like olive oil, avocados and nuts actually help keep you slim because they make your body feel satiated so you aren’t craving more food.
• Get outside, get outside, get outside. I know, you have no time. But even if it’s just five minutes between meetings, get outside.
• Stand up. Make a habit of standing whenever you take phone calls, pacing around in your office. Take every opportunity to get up from your desk and stretch your legs. Go see people down the hall, rather than emailing or calling them. The more sedentary we are, the more lethargic we get, the fatter we get, and the more prone to disease we become.

All of the above suggestions will help you not only feel better throughout the day, but sleep better at night. However, if you really want to become as healthy as possible, it will take a little more effort than that. Depending on who you listen to, you need 30 to 60 minutes of exercise a day. And cutting out all sugar, gluten and processed foods will do wonders for you. Adding visualization or meditation into your day can help take you to the next level. But for now, just take a few small steps, and pat yourself on the back for doing that much.

(follow this blogger on Facebook at PeaceAndProfit) 

Bright girls, smart women: often their own worst enemies

By Carol Frohlinger

As if it wasn’t hard enough to be a nice girl, it seems that it is even harder to be a bright, nice girl. The evidence is Dr. Heidi Grant Halvorson‘s piece, “The Trouble With Bright Girls.”

She writes that even if the workplace were an equal playing field that women would still lag behind men. Why? Because smart women (in their youth, bright girls) are often their own worst enemy.

Grant Halvorson cites a study done by psychologist Carol Dweck (author of “Mindset“) in the ’80s that showed bright girls were much more likely than bright boys to throw in the towel when they found learning something difficult. And the higher their IQ, the faster they gave up. Grant Halvorson writes:

Why does this happen? What makes smart girls more vulnerable and less confident when they should be the most confident kids in the room? At the 5th grade level, girls routinely outperform boys in every subject, including math and science. So there were no differences between these boys and girls in ability, nor in past history of success. The only difference was how bright boys and girls interpreted difficulty — what it meant to them when material seemed hard to learn. Bright Girls were much quicker to doubt their ability, to lose confidence and to become less effective learners as a result.

Researchers have uncovered the reason for this difference in how difficulty is interpreted, and it is simply this: More often than not, Bright Girls believe that their abilities are innate and unchangeable, while bright boys believe that they can develop ability through effort and practice.

 Grant Halvorson traces the reason for the difference in beliefs back to childhood messages. Messages girls tend to receive praise them for qualities such as “goodness” or “cleverness” — attributes that are either present or absent — rather than the kinds of messages boys receive assuring them that more effort will pay off, “you can do it if you try harder”.

This finding is consistent with the premise of Nice Girls Just Don’t Get It: 99 Ways to Win the Respect You Deserve, the Success You’ve Earned, and the Life You Want. In it, Dr. Lois Frankel and I recount stories of women from all walks of life including those who are employed at companies firms such as Citigroup, AT&T and Pzifer, not only nice but bright too.

Nice girls, particularly bright nice girls, often feel stuck. Nice girls, more concerned with pleasing others than with addressing their own needs, tend to accept the status quo without pushing back. We knew they hesitate to take action because they don’t want to make waves or be labelled a bitch.

This research adds additional insight – they can also fail to successfully negotiate for what they want and deserve because they give up too soon. Getting support for their agendas, the resources to get the job done, the buy-in from those whom they lead and the credit for the results they have achieved isn’t easy for women.

It can mean many rounds of negotiations and refusing to take no for an answer. Nice girls just don’t have the resilience required. Women who want to get ahead get over the nice girl thing — particularly the bright ones.

Other Reading of interest:

Six ways Women Can Build Career-Enhancing Relationships

Hillary Clinton On Power Of Women And Girls At TEDWomen

Women in the Workplace are Just Too Nice

Why Working Is The Secret To Happiness

11 Blatant, Obvious, Shocking Signs It’s Time for Women to Step Up and Lead

Ways to Think and Act Like a Winner

What separates the winners from the losers – in business, sports, and life? It’s not their accomplishments, which are just symptoms, after all. It’s the way they think.

In a fun, breezy article on Inc.com called “9 Beliefs of Remarkably Successful People,” business writer Jeff Haden traces some of the attitudes that distinguish real achievers from the average 9-to-5ers. In doing so, he provides lots of ideas for how you can reset your own thought patterns and assumptions, to help you achieve more success in your own life.

Here are five of his most remarkable insights:

• Successful people redefine time and tasks. As Haden notes, most people who are given two weeks to complete a task will instinctively manage their effort so it takes two weeks. Achievers, on the other hand, prioritize their effort so that tasks take only as long as they need to take.

“Do everything as quickly and effectively as you can,” says Haden. “Then use your ‘free’ time to get other things done just as quickly and effectively.”

• Experience is irrelevant; accomplishments are what count. Successful entrepreneurs size other people up based on what they have achieved in their lives and careers. What initiatives have you started and/or carried through to success? How did you improve a company, a product, or a situation? What problems have you solved?

If someone says, “I have 10 years in the Web design business,” achievers are unimpressed. You might just have been doing the same things over and over again. “Years of service indicate nothing,” says Haden. It’s what you’ve done that counts.

• Failure is personal – but nothing to be ashamed of. Where most people distance themselves from setbacks and disappointments (“the economy tanked”; “I was just ahead of my time”), the most successful people own up to their failures. That’s how they learn from mistakes and make sure those errors don’t recur.

“Every successful person has failed. Numerous times,” says Haden. “Most of them have failed a lot more often than you. That’s why they’re successful now.”

• The extra mile is a vast, unpopulated wasteland. Sure, everyone says they go the extra mile, but few actually do. “Most people who go there think, ‘Wait… no one else is here… why am I doing this?” and leave, never to return,” says Haden. “That’s why the extra mile is such a lonely place.”

And that’s why the extra mile always represents opportunity. “Be early. Stay late,” counsels Haden. “Make the extra phone call. Send the extra email. Do the extra research. Help a customer unload or unpack a shipment. Don’t wait to be asked; offer. Don’t just tell employees what to do – show them what to do and work beside them.”

Haden’s advice: whatever you are doing for others, think of one extra thing you can do to add value – especially if no one else is doing that one thing. In the long run, that dedication to service and value will separate you from the crowd – and make you remarkably successful.

Click here to read Haden’s full article – and all nine of his points.

If I were to add one more point to Haden’s list, I would suggest this:

• Guard your time. The only way to get things done faster, or to do more for others, or to squeeze in yet another volunteer assignment, is to manage your time vigorously and ruthlessly.

The most successful entrepreneurs I know don’t spend lots of time at parties, going to movies or watching TV; they’re using “choice time” to get more done. You may consider that joyless buzzkill, but think of the deep inner satisfactions that come with finishing projects, developing innovations, or creating wins for yourself and your team. Then ask yourself: Who has their priorities straight?

(Guest Post from Financial Post)

Good Books Every Woman Should Read

Women like books. We know this. We know it from the statistics -- according to an often cited study by the publishing research firm Bowker, women bought 64 percent of all books sold in 2009 -- from the runaway popularity of female book clubs, and from our own lives. Try just mentioning one of your favorite books the next time you're with a group of female friends. Whether it's "Little Women," "The Bell Jar," or your favorite Judy Blume, someone in the group is almost guaranteed to recognize it and say something along the lines of "god, I looooved that boooook." Which may devolve -- no, evolve -- into a conversation about all the books you've mutually loved and when you read them and why they moved you at that time in your life. It'll be an instant "love, loss and what I read" party. Please do try this at home.

If you play this game for long enough, a few titles will probably emerge as books every woman would benefit from reading. That's what happened in our office this week. Inspired by the Frisky's list of "22 Books Every Woman Needs To Read," we asked the female staff of the Huffington Post which books they consider essential reading for women. Flip through our choices below. They're not in any order, and this is not meant to be a comprehensive list. Instead we hope you'll help us round it out. If you have a suggestion of your own, please email the title and why women should read it to women@huffingtonpost.com.

Alpha Females - Could women have prevented the economic downturn?

As we pick through the wreckage, how can gender help us rebuild a stronger house?

By: Kat Dufresne

Call her the “Alpha Female”: inspiring, confident, bold yet feminine, tough, honest and authentic.

 Ask a scientist, they’ll tell you it’s all down to subtle differences in the way the male and female brain works: women possess a unique and powerful skill set when it comes to communication, intuition, the ability to nurture and empathize with others. What is now undeniable is that the same traits used over countless generations to parent can be applied to management of people and large corporations.

 These subtle differences, and the benefits they can accrue in the corporate world, have historically taken a back seat to more purportedly “male” traits such as aggression, competition, self-assertion, self-confidence, and self-reliance. Looking at the 2008 market meltdown, many are asking if that’s such a good thing after all.

 And indeed, that slavish adherence to the macho market trader model may be changing. The 2008 crash, which brought the global financial system to the edge of doom, has since provoked much soul searching about the lessons to be learned and how such a disaster can be avoided.

 WritesPaceUniversity’s Darren Rosenblum in Feminizing Capital: A Corporate Perspective: “Gendered understandings of economic relations have surfaced, with some arguing that testosterone encourages excessive greed in boom cycles and fear in bust cycles.”

 OnWall St.and further afield, corporate boards are starting to wake up to women’s masterful ability to manage as a valuable tool in the upper echelons of corporate management, one that can help shape business culture and in turn boost the bottom line. These differences in approach – and their enlighteningly complementary nature – may be enough to warrant a quota system to change the balance of power around the top table, according to top European Union officials.

 The European Commissioner of Internal Markets Michel Barnier said earlier this year he wasn’t opposed to Europe-wide quotas for women in the board rooms of publicly traded companies.

 “Women have a collective interest in advancing and ways of dealing and thinking that are more long term,” said Patricia Bradshaw associate professor of organization studies atYorkUniversity. “Women’s connection to the generations means they bring an empathy and capacity to look long term that the short-term bottom line focus overlooks.”

 Aside from the longer-term view, women are seen as being much stronger on corporate oversight than their male colleagues, with a greater attention to detail.

 Professor Daniel Ferreira of the London School of Economics found women at the board level had a better attendance record than their male counterparts and were more involved in corporate life through various subcommittees.

 Addressing a Women of Influence Corporate Power Player series, Canadian Tire Corporation chair Maureen Sabia told of her experience as the only woman at the table in her first board meeting.

 Sabia said she was immediately struck by the fact that the CEO, who was often the chairman of the board, expected the directors to rubber stamp management’s recommendations. This state of affairs, she says, created a dependency on management, the very people the board of directors was supposed to oversee and evaluate.

 “I can vividly remember in my early days on the board having the temerity to express an opposing point of view, and I asked that it be recorded in the minutes,” she recalls. “Well, the hostile response I had from the chairman – who loftily informed me that such dissent had never been recorded before and would not be now – really (made for) an interesting afternoon. I hasten to tell you however that my dissent wasrecorded, in part because I insisted on it and in part because the general counsel came to my aid and reminded the chairman that every director had the right to have his or her vote recorded. And in those days, for that man, it was a career-limiting move.”

 (Then with characteristically dry and self-deprecating wit, she acknowledged in question period that “There are boards I’d love to sit that I think I’d be too big a nuisance for.”)

 In the LSE study, companies with weak corporate governance in particular benefited from having more women on the board, with attention to pay and bonuses particularly strong. “More and more, compensation packages are being tied to performance,” Sabia says. “The setting of individual targets and holding those people accountable for meeting those targets. Even if the company does extremely well, you may not be  getting that bonus.”

 Susan Tose Spencer, a former general manager of the Philadelphia Eagles and entrepreneur whose companies have combined revenue of $50 million says there are 12 different character traits that women bring to a business that can boost corporate success.

 She agreed with Ferreira in that one of those is attention to detail and oversight.

 “Women do their homework,” she said.

 Though perhaps more importantly, Spencer said women have a more intuitive management style and are able to empathize with their staff in a way that generates trust and loyalty.

 “Women are able to communicate in a very special way, not just with our mouths but with our body language, our faces,” she said. “We listen and can remember what was said and it’s clear that it’s a skill set that women have that men do not.”

 “If you come out of a meeting and ask a man and a woman about what happened you will get different answers. Women have a tremendous edge when it comes to connection.”

 She said at the end of the day, the ability to empathize doesn’t necessarily mean she will act differently from her male colleague, but she is likely to have found a deeper connection with her team. This makes her more inclusive in her style and more willing to adopt a collaborative approach. And ultimately that has been proven to be a more effective way of problem solving. Scott Page, an economist at theUniversityofMichigan, has used mathematical models to prove a diverse group will solve a complicated business problem better than a homogeneous group.

 So, to the key question – now frequently debated in the media – of whether or not the 2008 market meltdown would have happened with a greater female presence in senior management. Would they have been less risk-averse and less inclined to overlook discrepancies in the pursuit of profit?

 “They certainly would have asked a lot more questions,” Spencer said. “Men do not want to show their ignorance. Women will intuitively ask the right questions.”

 It’s possible that the willingness to ask the right questions and challenge the status quo that women bring to the boardroom is likely to be a much more valued commodity in top management.

 “Women can bring a different perspective,” said Patricia Bradshaw, associate professor of organization studies atYorkUniversity. “I really believe that boards should play the role of loyal opposition, they can no longer be the chummy boys’ club where the board and chief executive agree about everything just because they golf together, they need someone to challenge the assumptions.” And where they stand three or more strong, women are poised to stare boldly across the boardroom table and ask the tough questions.

Women & Girls Lead!

• Women hold only 3% of clout positions in the mainstream media (telecommunications, entertainment, publishing and advertising).
• Women comprise 7% of directors and 13% of film writers in the top 250 grossing films.
• The United States is 90th in the world in terms of women in national legislatures.
• Women hold 17% of the seats in the House of Representatives (the equivalent body in Rwanda is 56.3% female).
• Women are merely 3% of Fortune 500 CEOs.
• About 25% of girls will experience teen dating violence.
• The number of cosmetic surgical procedures performed on youth 18 or younger more than tripled from 1997 to 2007.
• Among youth 18 and younger, liposuctions nearly quadrupled between 1997 and 2007 and breast augmentations increased nearly six-fold in the same 10-year period.
• 65% of American women and girls report disordered eating behaviors.

Sources for Miss Representation documentary stats

HOW TO BE A GOOD WIFE: Then: 1950's and Now 2012

How To Be A Good Wife: Then (1950's) And Now (2012)

The following is supposedly an excerpt from a 1950's high school home-economics textbook:

• •  Have dinner ready: Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal -- on time. This is a way of letting him know that you have been thinking about him and are concerned about his needs. Most men are hungry when they come home and the prospect of a good meal are part of the warm welcome needed.
  • Prepare yourself: Take 15 minutes to rest so that you'll be refreshed when he arrives. Touch up your makeup, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh-looking. He has just been with a lot of work-weary people. Be a little gay and a little more interesting. His boring day may need a lift.  
  • Clear away the clutter: Make one last trip through the main part of the house just before your husband arrives, gathering up school books, toys, paper, etc. Then run a dust cloth over the tables. Your husband will feel he has reached a haven of rest and order, and it will give you a lift too.  
  • Prepare the children: take a few minutes to wash the children's hands and faces (if they are small), comb their hair, and if necessary, change their clothes. They are little treasures and he would like to see them playing the part.  
  • Minimize all noise: At the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of the washer, dryer, dishwasher, or vacuum. Try to encourage the children to be quiet. Be happy to see him. Greet him with a warm smile and be glad to see him.  
  • Some don'ts: Don't greet him with problems or complaints. Don't complain if he's late for dinner. Count this as minor compared with what he might have gone through that day. Make him comfortable. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him. Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in a low, soft, soothing and pleasant voice. Allow him to relax and unwind.
  • Listen to him: You may have a dozen things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first.
  • Make the evening his: Never complain if he does not take you out to dinner or to other places of entertainment. Instead, try to understand his world of strain and pressure, his need to be home and relax.
  • The goal: Try to make your home a place of peace and order where your husband can renew himself in body and spirit.

Now: 2012 (Shannon's Version)

Have dinner ready: if possible, put whatever you can into the crock pot and have it on simmer so it's ready when you both get home from a long day of work. If possible, have the kids have the dinner table set and away you go to have a nice dinner! If they're old enough to make it and home before you are, even better! They have to learn how to cook sometime for when they're going to leave the house. If not, what's on the takeout/delivery menu OR if hubby is home first, ask what he's cooking.

Prepare yourself: you've had a long hard day at work or scheduling play dates, etc with the kids. Take at least 15 minutes to yourself if hubby's home and let him have the opportunity of catching up with the kids while you gather your thoughts and have some "me" time. If you can't have quiet time at home, just excuse yourself, go grab a Timmy's or Starbucks tea, juice or coffee and take a quick drive to a park or waterfront. Have a meditation CD playing quietly or just enjoy the silence.

Clear Away The Clutter: ah, everyone should take care of themselves. If they put it there, they can clean it up too. You're not a maid and they all have to learn responsibility and cleaning up! Make a chore list and have everyone scheduled to do certain chores. If you can afford it, hire a maid and you're helping to support another person and their business while they help make your life easier.

Minimize all noise: Ask Johnny to turn down the ear buds that is blaring his music and probably destroying his ear drums. Otherwise, everyone should run up to you (or dad) when you come home. If there's music on in the background, dance and say "oh yeah, let's celebrate - I'm home!" If hubby's home, great! If hubby's not home, great! Enjoy that one on one time with the kids or, just take that moment again for yourself.

Listen to him: well, if he's only going to grunt a few words when he comes home, then it won't take long. If you have to, grab a glass of wine so you can swish it in your mouth and preoccupy your mind

Make The Evening His: Go out with the girls for a "girl's night" or lock yourself in your bathroom with wine, candles, a good book and bubbles. I'm sure he can find something of his own to do. Get him the new "Maxim" or tell him the remote is all his for the night.

The Goal: to get through the fast paces that life has to offer on a daily basis with as much sanity as you can....all the while feeling a sense of accomplishment, purpose and hopefully hearing the words "thanks", "I love you mom", "I love you honey" and "you're the best"...even if you have to pat yourself sometimes. Everyone else will come around.

Thanks for viewing! As always, have a great day and remember to "Empower yourself and inspire change in others"