The Wellness CSI's "illuminations"

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. - Eleanor Roosevelt

As I gazed back and reflected on the past 365, I realized that 2009 has been perhaps my best and my worst year ever. It’s funny, because that’s what I thought about 2008, but my years seem to be getting better and better now that we are 3 days into 2K10.

And so I reflected on what made these past two years so bad yet great at the same time, and how I could leverage these successes for even further improvement. I’d like to share some things I’ve learned about the past two years, and how you might be able to use them to make this next year your greatest year yet.

1. One goal. This will sound crazy to many of you who have so many goals you’d like to accomplish. And trust me, I know how that feels. I started out 2009 with a whole bunch of goals, but I only accomplished about a quarter of them if that. I didn’t realize how things would change for me during the year, and anyway, 9 goals is too many.

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We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. - Aristotle & Leo Babuta Zen Habits…thank you

Our daily lives are often a series of habits played out through the day, a trammeled existence fettered by the slow accretion of our previous actions.

But habits can be changed, as difficult as that may seem sometimes. Finally, you’ll have the tools to change the habits that you found difficult to change in the past” (thanks Gail)

I’m a living example: in tiny, almost infinitesimal steps, I’ve changed a laundry list of habits.

W’ell start off with… The KISS Method:

Keep it stupid simple
Habit change is not that complicated. While the tips below will seem overwhelming, there’s really only a few things you need to know. Everything else is just helping these to become reality.

The KISS steps of habit change:

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 Click on this post, Then you can leave yours for all to see at the bottom:

Gretchen Rubin of the excellent blog The Happiness Project recently did a post with tips for writing your own personal commandments, and it got me wondering: what are my personal commandments?

It’s a tough question, because most of us have a lot of ideals that we’d like to embody in our personal lives. How to choose? Gretchen’s post has a good list of some ideas others have chosen, many of them things I’d like to choose myself.

So I decided to figure out what the essence of my personal philosphy was. I started with a brainstormed list, then simplified down to the essential. Actually, I could simplify even more (you could get away with just one commandment) but I like my list — it helps remind me of different things I’m trying to do.

I originally had 12 things on this list, but I decided to simplify. Here are my Four Commandments:

1. Be very present.

2. Seek to understand and accept without judgement.

3. Be compassionate, passionate and CARE.

4. Do less, live more.

In case you’re wondering what I cut off the list: smile, go slowly, be love, do it now, keep things simple, and be harmless. I also combined some of them (2 and 3 are combos) to simplify.

What are your commandments? Please Click on this or any post to then leave

your comments, feedback, and journy in the space at the bottom of each post…

‘Habits are at first cobwebs, then cables.’ ~ Spanish Proverb

Let’s face it: most of us fail when it comes to sticking to resolutions — so much so that many people swear never to make resolutions again. nd yet the rest of us are eternally hopeful when the New Year comes around, believing without any credible evidence that we can improve our lives, that change is possible, that we’re not going to be stuck in the same old rut again this year. I’m here to tell you that you can do it. It’s possible. I’ll show you how. The Problem with Most Resolutions
While I love the optimism of New Year’s Resolutions, unfortunately, the enthusiasm and hope often fades within weeks, and our efforts at self improvement come to a whimpering end.

New Year’s Resolutions usually fail because of a combination of some of these reasons:

• We try to do too many resolutions at once, and that spreads our focus and energies too thin. It’s much less effective to do many habits at once (read more).
• We only have a certain amount of enthusiasm and motivation, and it runs out because we try to do too much, too soon. We spend all that energy in the beginning and then run out of steam.
• We try to do really tough habits right away, which means it’s difficult and we become overwhelmed or intimidated by the difficulty and quit.
• We try to be “disciplined” and do very unpleasant habits, but our nature won’t allow that to last for long. If we really don’t want to do something, we won’t be able to force ourselves to do it for long.
• Life gets in the way. Things come up unexpectedly that get in the way of us sticking with a habit.
• Resolutions are often vague — I’m going to exercise! — but don’t contain a concrete action plan and don’t use proven habit techniques. That’s a recipe for failure.

There are other reasons, but the ones above are easily sufficient to stop resolutions from succeeding. The 6 Changes Method
So what are we to do? Take a look at the 6 Changes Method, along with a new site called 6Changes.com, to solve these problems:

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A guest post written by Mike O’Donnell. Sugar, sugar, sugar. It’s everywhere. It’s in our drinks, it’s in our foods, and it’s hidden in places we never would think of. Many would call sugar their friend in time of need, but in fact their so-called “good friend” could turn out to be their worst enemy in disguise. Sugar for many is something they may have been battling with for a long time, but the past is the past. Time for sugar to be seen for what it really is, and for us to take back full control of our lives. Here’s a simple three-step process to help you start to win back the battle for your health. It is said that Americans average 180lbs per person per year!

• First Step – Awareness of what Sugar Really Does to Your BodyI think most people I talk to will say they “know” that they shouldn’t have sugar, but they really can’t help it. To me that is a lack of true awareness of what sugar does to oneself. I don’t think many people will say that they want to hurt their body on purpose, but unless they know it’s really happening they will continue down that road. Sugar is slower to impact our health (as we don’t die from an overdose right away), and it’s that slow destructive process that is the most dangerous. Unfortunately most people don’t know the damage until it has already been done (diabetes for example). Let’s look at what is really going on with sugar from inside our body’s point of view.

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 It’s been awhile since I’ve written about the Slow Food movement, but I really believe it’s the answer to many of our problems: health and obesity, the hectic and stressful pace of modern life, and the lack of happiness in a complex and often burdensome world.

• Stop rushing to eat. Set aside more time for eating, for shopping and preparation, for enjoying life. Stop rushing to fast food places because it’s convenient — because it’s not so convenient to be hospitalized. Instead, make time, and take things a bit slower.

• Prepare your own meals. I know, who has the time? You do. Make the time, and cook simple meals without a lot of ingredients or preparation time. It takes 10 minutes to whip together a healthy and tasty lunch or dinner. And it can be a lot of fun (get the family or your partner involved). Preparing your own meals is healthier, frugal, and you know you’re eating good food.

• Eat real food, not processed. Buy fresh ingredients such as fruits, veggies, whole grains, nuts, beans, and the like. Use ingredients you can recognize, not things filled with chemicals. Don’t use prepared food if you can avoid it — microwaveable or boxed foods are not the best. Avoid processed food at all costs.

• Eat slowly and mindfully. Too many people stuff food down their gullets these days. It’s not healthy, and you’ve just consumed food without enjoying it. Instead, take the time to chew your food, to taste it, to be present as you eat.

• Enjoy the food. Fully savor each bite. Appreciate the miracle of the food you’re eating, and be grateful you have that bite at all.

• Take time to breathe, and smile. Before you begin to eat, smile, and take a deep breath, reminding yourself to be present and enjoy the food. Between bites, instead of rushing to the next bite, breath, relax, enjoy. Savor the moment.

• When drinking tea, just drink tea. When eating, just eat. Be fully present. Don’t read a book or surf the net or drive or work or anything else but eat and drink.

• Good conversation. OK, the exception to the above rule: eating with friends and family. Fast food has destroyed the good meal and conversation, because we’re rushing as we eat and don’t have time for a good talk. Bring it back.

• When you do eat at a restaurant, make it a good one. Avoid the fast food places, but also the chain restaurants (Chilis, TGI Fridays, Lone Star, Olive Garden, etc). Go to locally owned restaurants where they use real ingredients and really make good food. These may be more expensive, but you’re not supporting a corporation and your food will be better, and even if it means eating out less that’s OK — quality is more important than quantity.

This is the Anti-Fast Food Diet — a way to not only lose weight and get healthier, but to change your life to one of simplicity, moderation, and joy.

Abandon fast food, and all the values it brings: mass consumption, mass production, the exploitation of workers, the destruction of the environment, the destruction of small local businesses, the corporatization of our culture.

Instead, embrace Slow Food. Here’s how.

“There are some people who eat an orange but don’t really eat it. They eat their sorrow, fear, anger, past, and future.” - Thich Nhat Hanh

“When you eat with awareness, you find that there is more space, more beauty. You begin to watch yourself, to see yourself, and you notice how clumsy you are or how accurate you are. … So when you make an effort to eat mindfully…, you find that life is worth much more than you had expected.” - Chogyam Trungpa

If you’re interested in a life of Interval Fasting, check out my new ebook:   Eat Less Live More!