HEALTH: Is Sleep a necessary evil?

Do we need sleep for success?

If you love to sleep, you can’t understand why some would call sleep a necessary evil.  I remember hating sleep and I was sleep deprived for many years while I was happily surviving on 5 hours … or less … a night.

Taking a holistic view of finding happiness and success requires that we make some efforts to have improved health.  One of the simplest ways to maintain vitality is to respect sleep. 

The Only Place YOU Have to Live

The body has a job to do during the sleeping hours to let it repair damaged tissues, improve memory and boost the immune system.  Most of us care about anti-aging for the skin and controlling body weight, but have you read the research on how sleep is a simple, yet effective way to improve health in those areas and many more.

If you thought the benefits were eliminating bags under the eyes and morning grumpiness, please know that sleep helps heart, mood and brain function.

 Sleep helps memory and learning.  While teaching test-taking tips and I learned a technique to retain your study material is to stop studying the night before the test.  Don’t cram and read right before the test, instead stop studying early and get a good night’s sleep.  This allows the information to be stored properly so they can be recalled later when needed.  Your brain is responsible to send signals to the body for physical and involuntary movement.  It also manages problem solving, handwriting, hearing, and memory.

Getting enough sleep is a small price to pay for good health when studies show that your heart will be healthier with 7 to 9 hours of sleep.  Also, honoring the sleep-wake cycle is protection against cancer and other diseases.

When sleep deficient, the body goes into the production of stress hormones increasing blood pressure and the risk for heart attack and stroke.   The stress hormones increase inflammation creating a greater risk for diabetes and depression.   Also, your cells produce more protein during sleep allowing repair from UV rays, toxins, and stress hormones.

Still resisting sleep?  I thought sleep was a waste of time.  I read about inventors or geniuses who needed little sleep, but once I learned how valuable sleep is in causing the body to age, I gained a new respect for it.

Candle Magic

There are many techniques to encourage good sleep habits.  Allowing your body and mind to wind down an hour or so before you go to bed is a proven technique. 

Watching TV news before sleep is bad for your health as stories that portray violence are not good relaxers.  If you choose to listen to media before sleep, a good choice is meditation music and nature sounds for calming the mind and body.  Meditation does not replace sleep, but it is focused time to slow down breathing and relax muscles.

Change your relationship with sleep.  Restlessness, insomnia and sleep problems can be healed.  Seek a professional if lack of sleep continues after consciously preparing for sleep before going to bed.

Yes, we need sleep for success.  We need sleep for health. 

Take care of your body, it’s the only place you have to live.

Joy Harris

Success Coach

You Define Success

Copyright © 2019

HAPPINESS: Success, is there enough for me?

SUCCESS.  There is no lack of success.

How do you define success?  Truth is, success is different for every person.  Everyone must define success for themselves and set about believing that they will achieve it. 

The Sky's Not Even the Limit

I have worked with women who defined success as:

1. Find someone, leave someone, tell someone, ghost someone … find love
2. Start or Finish the book they know is inside them … release creativity
3. Get a job, get a better job, start a project … make more money

Everyone is on an amazing life’s journey to success.  There is no shortage of success.  There is plenty there for everyone.  It is not uncommon for someone to tell you about their journey of discovery or self-improvement efforts to meet their goals.   There are weight loss goals, anger management, career goals and hundreds of personal development and financial goals that help to make people feel successful. 

I have coached busy women for years who realize they must take time out for themselves to improve their situation. 

Step one is making time to think through what success means to you and then allowing that to happen.

I’ll bet you thought I was going to say that once you define what success means, you then need to map out the strategy and exact steps to get there.

Yes, that is one thing that life coaches and coaching programs offer, but my experience tells me that once you know what you really desire and what success looks like to you, it is time to relax, reflect and let success in.  Allow it.  Believe it.  Know you deserve it.

Many are held back by not believing they deserve success.  It’s OK that we have times of doubt, but so many people deflect their success with negative thoughts and feelings.  No matter how you define success you must believe that you deserve it.

My blooming Christmas Cactus

There is no secret that it is a good idea to follow a plan to get to where you want to go but be aware that a lot of time needs to be spent determining if you are ready for success. 

Believe that you can live your dreams and success will find you. 

My approach is to take time to define what you want and then allow it.  Then take strategic steps.  

Baby steps are may be necessary.  Taking time to celebrate even the small wins is mandatory.  Be assured that if anyone, anywhere has been able to achieve success, you can too. 

Once you believe and do not hold yourself back, you’ll be surprised at how easily you move through the steps to success.  The sky is not even the limit.

Joy Harris

Just For Fun

Success Coach

You Define Success

#WEALTH #Success #SuccessCoachJoy #LiveYourDreams #BelieveinYourself

Copyright © 2019

WEALTH: Success, team or individual effort?

Following Your Dream = Full Life Satisfaction

In Matthew Kelly’s 2007 book, The Dream Manager, we learn about the profile of a company, where dream manager is a position in a fictional mid-size company.  Employees can meet regularly with a dream manager to discuss defining their dreams and working toward a plan to “live their dreams.”   

Today’s companies expect their employees to be creative and put their ideas to work for the advantage of the company.  Many companies expect people to work together as a team for better productivity, more centralized focus and the motivation to do their job efficiently.  

How do they motivate people to be great employees?  They encourage team members by listening to them as individuals.

Following Your Dreams

In The Dream Manager, Matthew Kelly describes employees openly discussing their personal dreams and how to fulfill them.  Employees talk through the importance of finishing their education, buying a house and pursuing creative hobbies.  The dreams do not have to be about climbing the corporate ladder, building a better department or sealing the deal.   The concept of having an assigned dream manager illustrates that people who are happy in their personal life more productive employees. 

People have feelings and circumstances and situations which cause them to get distracted, make mistakes or lose focus on the job.  But people who work toward personal goals and have someone to help build a plan, tend to be loyal, contented employees, committed to excellence in their home and work.

There comes a time when you realize you need a team to get your ideas to market, promote your work and sell your products or services.  

Challenges occur when your team does not understand working together or focusing on a common goal. 

Teamwork is talked about in most companies, big and small, but it is the forward-thinking company who realizes teams are made up of individuals who work better in a cooperative environment where team members are happy.  

Many of us do not get close enough to our co-workers to know if they are “living their dream”, but companies who celebrate personal accomplishments and support people taking positive actions are ahead of the pack in getting the most motivation out of their workforce.

The solopreneurs among us are proud to be their own boss and set their own hours.  I have seen many to rise to the top with a home-based business that allows them to set the bar for excellence, set the pace and build income driving projects and campaigns that allow them the financial wealth to live their dreams.  Eventually, they may rely on virtual assistants, graphic artists or webmasters to help keep the pace and achieve the level of excellence they desire. 

It is important to know that a little encouragement of everyone on the team or everyone who supports your dream should have and build a dream of their own.

Theodore

Joy Harris

Success Coach

You Define Success

#BookReview #Wealth #Success #FollowYourDream #LiveYourDream #Solopreneur #Teamwork #TheDreamManager

The Dream Manager is available at your library, local bookstore or through my affiliate Amazon link: 

Copyright © 2019

HAPPINESS: Short Heartfelt Meditation

Happiness is contagious.

Some say they have experienced something “heartwarming” and that makes them happy.

Does the heart have the capacity to “warm up” or have its own feelings?

Modern science has proved that there is a healthy coherence between your brain and heart.  In fact, your heart has more capacity to produce feelings than your brain.  Your heart has the strongest electrical and magnetic fields in our body, even stronger than your brain.  Your heart and brain are in constant communication as your heart is sending signals to your brain to communicate with your body.

Our feelings and emotions are creating waves of energy that radiate to a field that is felt throughout our bodies and beyond.  They now have technology that can measure the field of energy around your heart which sends vibrations to your body, the whole room and can be felt all around the world.

A worthy life goal is to “let happiness in”.  Allowing happiness invites more happiness for you and the world.  It is contagious.

Science has identified brain-like cells that are concentrated in the heart that has been dubbed “the little brain in the heart”.  These cells in the heart can learn and think independently from the neurons in the brain and they can remember and communicate with us, even without the brain. 

We have been conditioned that only the brain communicates with us but we have learned that by harmonizing the heart and brain we are able to deeply feel compassion, display intuition, and process information more quickly.

Gandi said, “Happiness is when what you think and what you say, and what you do are in harmony”.

It is important to harmonize your heart and brain and it can be accomplished in 3 amazingly simple steps.  Find a comfortable chair and follow along: 

1. Bring your awareness to your heart.  This can be done by placing your hands in the middle of your chest with gentle pressure, using fingertips or palms, it does not matter.
2. Then slow down your breathing, then slower.  Breathe in through your nose and breathe out through your mouth.  (Taking about 6 deep breaths becomes a signal to your body that you are ready to get in touch with stillness.)  Then just breathe normally.
3. The next step is to spend a few minutes creating a deep a feeling in the center of your chest.  An example of a deep feeling is compassion, appreciation, gratitude or feeling deep care -- for yourself or others.  Choose one of these deep feelings or any combination of them.  Then return your awareness to your day.

These steps work together to create harmonization between your heart and your brain.  Practice it for a short time daily.  Repeating this exercise helps your overall happiness as it positively impacts aging and immune response along with overall healing.

Let me know your experience with this meditation in the comments below.

Joy Harris

Success Coach

You Define Success

#Happiness #Heart/BrainCoherence #Coherence #GreggBraden #Heartmath #Meditation

WEALTH: Success is your choice

WEALTH:  Career or Entrepreneurship; a coach can help

Women have broken the glass ceiling and have moved into leadership, management, and business ownership. 

Some of us are going from no job to a job that barely meets our needs. 

Some of us are working but underemployed, with little chance for more hours or more pay. 

Hearts

Some of us work at a job that we may “like” but we are working only for the paycheck … trading hours for dollars, but we don’t get the chance to work with “heart.”

If you are looking for improving your present work situation (or creating opportunity) you will need to develop these habits to get noticed by the boss.  Improving these qualities will set you up for a promotion or a raise:

1) speaking up at work demonstrating that your ideas should be developed,

2) building the confidence to secure leadership roles and teamwork qualities and

3) developing rapport with management to display that you are ready for more responsibility.

A Coach Can Help.

Many of us looking for increased income are considering work from home opportunities.  Starting a business allows you the freedom to set our own hours and fire your boss.  It is empowering to work on own goals. 

Entrepreneurship is the main way to see income match the effort.  Meaning, no matter how hard we work at our 40 hour a week job, the pay will be the same.  But when we apply ourselves in entrepreneurship… or we take time off … our pay reflects our effort.

That is a benefit of owning your own business.  You will need to develop work efforts that are needed to set off on the business ownership journey.  Improving these qualities will set you up for a loyal, buying audience and an unlimited income: 

1) refining your message to your specific audience

2) building a list of interested folks to interact with for future announcements and sales letters or

3) developing your strategies and marketing plan to continue to build your brand online.  Those efforts build your expert status and will eventually pay off, even if you don’t see it now.

Whether you are looking to improve your chances in your present industry or strike out on your own with a part-time or full-time income from working at home, a Success Coach can work with you to build confidence and help with increased wealth.

Coaching Sessions with 

Success Coach Joy:

Live 1:1 sessions are Rare, Affordable and Guaranteed to help you define success and work toward it.

Start-Up / Gear Up Packages

PROFESSIONAL CAREER TRACK:

Speaking up and offering fresh ideas to management

Building confidence in leadership and teamwork

Role-playing for management presentations or interviews

~  OR  ~

ENTREPRENEUR TRACK:

Home business audience targeting

Building a mailing list

Building strategies and marketing plans

Inquire in Comments below:

Joy Harris

Success Coach

You Define Success

Copyright © 2019

HEALTH: Instant Stress Relief – 3-min. massage

USING MASSAGE FOR SELF CARE

After a day at a desk writing, studying or working an 8-hour day, it is important to do self-massage for stress relief.  Whether you drive a truck, work in the field or create beauty for a living, we all can benefit from a 3-minute spa moment.  This works.

From My Yard

Begin by taking a few deep breaths.  Breathe in deeply through the nose.  Allow your torso and lungs to fill up with air.  On the exhale, allow your muscles to relax.  Relax your shoulders, then relax your whole body and your face muscles.  If you start with deep breathing every time you begin meditation or relaxation for a spa moment, it is a signal to your body that you are ready to be still and invoke healing.  After about 6 breaths, just breath normally.

Close your eyes, rub your hands together for 30 seconds to warm them up.  When your hands are warm, cup them over your eyes and allow your eyes to be calmed.  Then begin rubbing your temples.  Rub down your jawline.  Also rub your palms, fingers, and hands.  Feel free to use a lotion or moisturizing cream, but it is not necessary.  This is something you can do on the job or anywhere, any time.  This can be done in 2 and a half or 3 minutes.  Do each step to a slow count of 15 to ensure you are allowing enough time to relax and get maximum benefit from this self-massage.

Vase of Flowers on my Kitchen Table

Let me know how this worked for you below.

Joy Harris

Success Coach

You Define Success

#HEALTH, #MeTime, #StressManagement, #StressRelief, #SuccessCoachJoy, #Writer'sBlock, #SelfCare

Copyright © 2019