goals: weekly update

General:

• Read a few chapters from 'The Success Principles'.
• Read the first chapter of 'Smart Choices: A Practical Guide to Making Better Decisions' online at books.google.com. Looks good, still planning to pick it up.
• Polled fans of the Choose Better Facebook page for their thoughts on Mastermind groups.

Strive always for impeccable health:

• Inquired about taking yoga classes from a friend who teaches it. Planning to take my first yoga class next Thursday.
• Searching the College of Physicians & Surgeons of British Columbia (https://www.cpsbc.ca/) to find a family doctor who is accepting new patients.
• Set up an appointment to meet with a new family doctor in Yaletown.

Take every opportunity to get out of my comfort zone:

• Set up an account with http://www.ufile.ca/ to file my own taxes this year.

Pay off all debt:

• Increased RRSP contributions from 7% to 15% per pay period.

Own a road bicycle:

• Committed $54 to my road bicycle fund.

Invent something:

• While hiking into our camp this weekend, I came up with the idea for an invention that would make it easier to haul supplies.

opinion: when studies contradict each other

With each new study on various aspects of nutrition contradicting the last, what should we believe?

I think a good approach to this issue is to pay attention to these studies, but use your own common sense when it comes to making decisions about what you eat.

Just as our conscious/gut almost always tells us the right thing to do in other areas of our lives, I believe that most of us have the innate ability to determine what is a good food choice, and what is a poor food choice. After thousands of years of evolution and living off the land, I believe our brains and bodies know what's good for them and what's not.

If you held up a series of flash cards, each with a different type of food on it, I think most people could tell you immediately whether or not that item contributes to good or bad health. Lean, organic beef? Frozen burger? Bag of chips? Unsalted nuts?

Nutrition is an art and a science. And as such, will likely not be fully understood for many, many years to come. For a long time yet studies will continue to contradict each other. My suggestion would be to pay less attention to the studies, stop looking for short-cuts to good health, and follow your instincts when making decisions about what you put in your mouth.

goals: new goal (38)

New Goal (38): Always strive for impeccable health.

I noticed that while I already have a few goals that ultimately feed into this one broad goal, I didn't have a goal which encompasses all the other little things that contribute to living with impeccable health. So, if I make a choice to improve my health for a reason other than for one of the goals I have already listed, you'll find it recorded under this one!

quick tip: stave off hunger with rye

If you're trying to keep your caloric intake down, rye may become your new best friend. According to one recent study comparing a breakfast of rye bread or rye bran versus a similar wheat based breakfast, rye did a much better job of keeping you feeling full, longer. Not only through the morning, but right through into the afternoon as well. Rye bread worked well, the rye bran even better.

I can corroborate this result first hand. Usually in the morning now I'll have about a cup or so of oat bran. I've noticed that since including oat bran in my breakfast I can pretty easily make it from 8am through until 11am or 12pm without feeling hungry (and for those of you who know me personally, I am always hungry!). I know oats aren't rye, but I'm pretty confident that the results would be similar.

And don't forget, eating foods high in fibre will help you stay regular. Something I can also testify to!

Give it a try and let me know what you think...

opinion: added sugar

My reply to this recent article on NutritionData.com

http://blog.nutritiondata.com/ndblog/2009/08/new-guidelines-lower-the-bar-for-added-sugars-even-further.html

--

Thank you for writing this article Monica. Based on what I have learned in my life about added sugars and their effects on ones body, I fully agree that limits should be posted on nutritional labels just like as with trans-fats.

On a side note, have you noticed that nutritional labels seem to be disappearing off of some fruit juice and 'medicinal' beverage containers?

To my point though, you ask how hard it would be to limit yourself to 25 grams of added sugar a day…

Personally, during the work-week (but to a lesser extent during the weekend) I make it a policy to limit myself to 0 grams of added sugar a day. I know for some people, this may seem too militant to fit within a balanced lifestyle, but I have to disagree.

Based on the many studies that have been done, we can say with fair certainty that added sugars, especially refined sugars, not only have no nutritional value to us, but serve ultimately to negatively affect our quality of life and health. In fact, depending on how often added sugar is abused by someone, one could draw a number of parallels to the dangers of drug addiction. For some, sugar (along with other factors) could kill you faster than smoking throughout your whole life!

With that said, I believe it's really just a matter of reconditioning oneself to live without added sugar. We know it's bad, so commit 100% to removing from your diet whenever possible.

Certainly I run into times when I'm eating out, or perhaps may be served a meal made by friends/family where you can't fully control what goes into your meal. But these should be the exception.

Just like breaking any addiction, it's tough at first. But stick with it and you will be successful. The benefits are a longer, healthier, thinner and happier life! And with new products hitting the market like Stevia (a no/low calorie sweetener that does not affect your blood sugar levels like sugars), there are options for those who need more than just willpower to break their addiction to sugar in the beginning.

No excuses. Just make the choice to not consume added sugar and stick with it!

goals: weekly update

General:

• Downloaded 'personal brain' mind mapping software to help me organize and plan around my goals.http://www.thebrain.com/
• Read a several chapters from book, 'The Success Principles'.
• Added 'Smart Choices: A Practical Guide to Making Better Decisions' to my 'to-read' list

Pay off all debt:

• signed up for CNNMoney.com to track my stocks over time

Grow ChooseBetter.org to become a world known brand:

• Told 4 friends about ChooseBetter.org

Completely quit smoking:

• Did not smoke any cigarettes this last weekend, even after having a few glasses of wine

Run a full marathon:

• Discussed some of the issues I've been having with my knees while running with Chris, Gail and Melissa. They all recommended going to a store like 'The Running Room' to have my running style analyized for the correct shoe.

Take every opportunity to get out of my comfort zone:

• Signed up for a first aid course through work

goals: new goal (37)

New Goal (37): Take every opportunity to get out of my comfort zone.

They say growth happens when you get out of your comfort zone. Makes sense to me. Learning to ride a bike was uncomfortable and so was learning how to become an effective sales person. Both skills I'm quite fond of today!

goals: new goal (36)

New Goal (36): To get ChooseBetter.org on the Oprah Whinfrey show.

Oprah has the magic touch. Just about anything she endorses turns to gold, so what better way to gain publicity for ChooseBetter.org than through her!

Oprah? Are you reading this blog yet? :)

goals: weekly update

In General:

• Read several chapters of the book, 'The Success Principles'.

Become a published author:

• Posted my goals on ChooseBetter.org.

Create a charity:

• Inquired as to how I can help volunteer for a friend's charitable organization, Education Generation. I want to learn as much about running a charitable organization as I can.

Start and own a successful business:

• Introduced ChooseBetter.org and the concept to my boyfriend's best friend. He is a programmer and may be able to help with some of the technical aspects of setting up the ChooseBetter.org ecommerce site for reselling products that will help people improve their lives and the lives of those around them.


• Found the case study of a successful ecommerce business on the Small Business BC website. Emailed the owner of the company asking for an opportunity to learn more about their experiences getting an ecommerce site going.


• Sent out mass message on Facebook to all friends looking for people who have setup and run a successful ecommerce site before.

Grow ChooseBetter.org to a world known brand:

• Told 5 friends about ChooseBetter.org.

Pay off all debt:

• Attended a Manulife presentation at my work to learn more about investing retirement savings.


• Stayed after the presentation to discuss investment strategy. I'm considering moving my RRSP into higher risk funds because of the sale on stocks and I'm young and can risk it. Energy stocks look like they'll go up (they always do), and Canadian banks stand to gain a lot as the market improves because they bought a lot of assets during the crash.


• Moved my investments to a more aggressive plan - 70% towards CDN large cap equity, 10% towards US large cap equity, and 20% to international equity.

• Committed 54% of my most recent paycheck to debt repayment.

Own a road bicycle:

• Committed $100 towards purchasing my bicycle

goals: my life goals

A couple blogs ago I said I was going to share my goals with you. So without further delay, here they are! Over time, I will likely add more goals to this list. Each time I do, I'll update the list so you can see what has changed. And as mentioned in my previous post, every time I do something, anything, that attempts to move me forward towards achieving my goals, I will log it in this blog. So at the end, when I've achieved every goal, you'll know exactly how it was done, one step at a time.

In no particular order, here they are:

1. To marry the love of my life, Chris
2. Travel across the world for a year
3. Become a published author
4. Produce a complete album of original music, selling more than 1 million copies
5. Bike ride across Canada, from the west coast to the east coast
6. Go on an eco-tour in Alaska
7. Learn another language
8. Take dancing lessons
9. Gain a black belt in a martial art
10. Volunteer my time in countries less fortunate
11. Create a charity
12. Take cooking classes
13. Start and own a successful business
14. Invent something
15. Quit drinking entirely
16. Quit smoking entirely
17. Run a full marathon
18. Grow ChooseBetter.org to become a world known brand
19. Establish a wellness/educational retreat, subsidizing those who can't afford it
20. Learn how to play the violin
21. Learn how to play the guitar
22. Establish an alternative to the regular K - 12 school curriculum that focuses on life skills, entrepreneurial skills, creative arts, and tailors to the individuals interests, strengths and goals
23. Drive a motor home across North America
24. Become skilled in music production
25. Live in a foreign county for a year
26. Pay off all debt
27. Own a grand piano
28. Own a nice cabin on a lake
29. Own a road bicycle
30. Own a lynx with adequate facilities to care for it
31. Own a zero foot-print home in Brander
32. Own a restaurant
33. Have a personal library in my house
34. Have a sound production studio in my house
35. Own an Audi R8
36. Get ChooseBetter.org on the Oprah show
37. Take every opportunity to get out of my comfort zone
38. Strive always for impeccable health
39. Compose music for videogames

adventures: garibaldi lake and black tusk

As I see it, part of making better choices includes replacing poor choices with new activities, distractions, or projects. For myself, I find it easy for Chris and I to fall into a weekend pattern of going to the bar with friends, or hanging out on a patio somewhere enjoying a few mojito's especially when the weather is nice. Now I'm not saying that these are a bad way to spend some time, because I don't believe they are (everyone needs to just hang out and let loose now and then), but when they become the norm, that's when I find myself in an uncomfortable position.

For me, drinking on the weekend encourages another bad habit of mine: smoking cigarettes. Up until a few years ago I was a regular pack-a-day smoker. On December 19, 2005 at 11pm I decided to change that and I quit full-time smoking for good, cold turkey. But even though I never think about smoking during the week or when I'm not drinking, the minute alcohol touches my lips, I need to light up.

With that said, the easiest way for me to curb smoking is to curb drinking on the weekend. And the easiest way to curb drinking on the weekend is to replace drinking with other activities. Activities like a 2 day, 30 km hiking to lake Garibaldi and the summit of Black Tusk mountain. When you've made a plan in advance, it's a lot easier to avoid your bad habits. (I can assure you there are no bars at the top of Black Tusk, and the 7000 foot climb would be highly unforgiving to those who are hung-over!)

Knowing this, I've decided to make events like our hike last weekend a more regular thing. Ideally a once per month adventure that anyone who wants a fun, memorable alternative to a less than ideal weekend can join.

If that sounds like something you want too, head over to the Choose Better Facebook page and become a fan today. New events will be posted to the page regularly. And while you're there, check out some of the pictures from our first adventure to Garibaldi Lake!

goals: getting from here to there

If you were to ask my boyfriend, he would likely tell you that I have big aspirations for my life. He would likely also add that sometimes I lack the follow through to achieve these lofty goals, but none-the-less, I tend to dream big: I want to be self-employed; I'd like to produce a record; I'd like to create an entirely new school system that teaches creativity, life skills, problem solving, and encourages the entrepreneurial spirit; I want to travel the world; I want to help people realize their own potential. The list goes on and on...

I believe that within us all we have such amazing potential, if only we are willing to believe in ourselves, our goals, and take a few more risks. Too often though I think we aim lower than we should. We believe that it's other people who are destined to change the world, become the first black president, or solve issues like world hunger. We're taught to settle for a respectable, decent paying job, a house, a trip to some place warm once or twice a year, and to put a little away every paycheck so that we can comfortably retire when we're tool old to really enjoy our new found freedom.

I do not accept that. We should be doing everything we can, every day, to get exactly what we want, no matter how lofty or ambitious you think your dreams are. The trouble is, dreams like self employment, solving world hunger, or becoming a care-free globe trotter can seem a bit overwhelming at first. Where do you start? How do you get there from here? This is usually the point where peoples best intentions for a better life die. And this has been my experience as well in many ways up until recently.

So what I've decided to do is keep track of how I achieved my goals on the Choose Better blog. Every step of the way to get from where I am today, to achieving each of the goals I have in life. You'll know what I researched, who I talked to, what I asked for, what I sacrificed, what I risked, what didn't work, what did, where I went, and how I did it so that one day anyone could look back at my experience and read, step-by-step how it was done. (This also happens to be the first step in one of my goals: to write a book and have it published).

I'm not sure exactly how all the pieces are going to fit at the moment, but I do know that other people have done what I want to do and there is no reason why you or I can't have the same successes in my life.

So what are my life goals? I'll be posting those soon so you can all hold me accountable to acheiving them! :)

Until then, CB.