Feeling Great--It Take Willpower, Determination and a Hard Head (Part IV)

The pressures on our time today are enormous. It definitely takes a lot of will power and determination to eat well and keep up a regular a workout program. It also takes a hard head, or some people call it, a cold heart.

Consider these two situations. My friend Ron knows he shouldn't drink alcohol. He suffers from headaches almost every time he does. And Amy knows that sugar is one of a couple very real causes of headaches in her life and that she needs to avoid it like the plague.

Ron and his buddies were taken to an Atlanta Falcons vs. Oakland Raiders game by a vendor. Ron, who has lived in several different parts of the country was now living just outside of Atlanta. He was a die hard Raiders fan since he was a small child. The Raiders had a pretty good team that yea. He really wanted to rub it in to his native Atlanta friends after the Raiders beat the Falcons, as he was sure they would. Ron was feeling outstanding right now.

The setting was fantastic. They were in the company climate-controlled sky box sitting back relaxing on nice chairs looking down on fans in the bleachers shivering. As the game proceeded, they watched a middle aged gentleman reach over the top of other fans to get his drink while they sat back comfortably and feasted on a nice catered meal. Tender sliced beef, chicken cordon bleu and pasta salad, the whole 9 yards, And yes, of course, the liquor was flowing. Ron was well aware of liquor being one of the leading causes of headaches for him, but the temptation was awful. Amy, on the other hand, was invited to a party for an old classmate. Her friends house was decorate to the max. All kinds of party favors in honor of the great achievement of turning 40. Of course, there was a birthday cake that looked out of this world, along with soda and wine coolers galore. Everyone was mercilessly indulging themselves.

What are Ron and Amy going to do? Is Ron going to cave in to the peer-pressure and drink that beer or two? Is he going to rationalize away the danger and say 'sometimes I can get by with one?' Is Amy going to justify a piece of cake and a cooler by saying 'just this once?' They are both very well aware of the consequences, but food and drink make a devastating temptation. It takes a hard head to do what's right. It takes a tough minded person to turn down that momentary pleasure for the overall good.

Enjoy yourself and have fun!

Tom Thorne
www.FeelingOutstanding.com

Feeling Great--It Take Willpower, Determination and a Hard Head (Part II)

It seems that everything is working against the rules of good health in today's society. For example:

Here on the east coast, the good TV shows come on at 10 p.m. The network channel news broadcasts don't start until 11:00 p.m.

• The 40 hour work week we grew up with is rapidly becoming a thing of the past. Many salaried employees find themselves toiling away at an 45-55 hours per week, aned some even much more. And this is what is expected. Do you ever get a headache?


• It also seems like the drive to and from work keeps getting longer. If we work 50 hours per week and spend 2 hours per day driving to and from work, that's a total of 60 hours. A lot of time. What happened to that utopian society that was predicted 30 years ago? And many of us have to put in time on weekends as well. The telecommuter, who has the luxury of working form home is some times no better off. When I telecommute I often start an hour early and work late. If I have my PC at home over the weekend it's almost guaranteed that I'll log in for some work time.


• When I was a kid, it seems that I rarely had a lot of homework. I did most of the work during class. Through their school years, my kids (the last of which will graduate this year) were often bringing home 2-3 hours of homework per night. And guess what that means, my wife and I, as woefully prepared as we were at times, got to help them!


• The extracurricular activities that kids are involved in today are outstanding, but they are also very time consuming. Gone are the days when our kids could play an unsupervised game of baseball, basketball, volleyball, soccer or football in the yard or neighborhood park with some friends. Now everything has got to be a big coordinated effort with uniforms and umpires and crazy parents sitting in the stands barking about every call the referee or umpire makes.

What I'm trying to say is that the pressures on our time are enormous. Sometimes we wonder who has time to exercise? It definitely takes willpower and determination to eat well and keep up a regular workout program. In my next blog, I would like to make a few simple suggestions that may make a seemingly impossible task at least a little easier.

At Feelingoutstanding.com we are all about trying to help with our everyday lives. We are not going to offer a miracle drug that will cure all your ills at the drop of a hat. What we are going to suggest are proven, natural remedies that do help over time.

Here's to your helath, here's to Feeling Outstanding!
Tom Thorne
http://www.feelingoutstanding.com/

Feeling Great--It Take Willpower, Determination and a Hard Head (Part II)

Are you feeling outstanding today? How easy it is to wake up in the morning, get ready for work, pour a cup of coffee, grab a cinnamon roll, hop in the car and head off to work. Ah, that great and mesmerizing smell of that coffee. How scrumptious that cinnamon roll tastes. As we get to work, we lavish in a second or third cup, or maybe a soda. Now, we are ready to take on the world. Consider what we have just done. Was that really a nutritious breakfast?

What about lunch? A fast food burger or even a fast food salad laced with preservatives? Please don't misunderstand, I know there is a time and a place for fast food. I know that sometimes we find ourselves in precarious situations where fast or "junk" food is the only option. How often does that happen though?

Will Power and Determination
We are all aware of the basic rules of health; things like diet, exercise and sleep. We have heard these pronouncements again and again. But how many of us really put these good practices into action? It takes a lot of willpower and determination to stick to a balanced and healthy diet or a good exercise program. Or, to make sure that we get enough sleep. It seems that everything is working against the rules of good health in today's society. In my next blog we will take a look at a fews of the plethora of factors that seem to be working against us.

Keep on thinking the higher thoughts, don't be discouraged!
Tom Thorne
http://www.feelingoutstanding.com/

Health and Wellness--A New Approach, or an Old Approach? (Part II)

I'm so glad that my days of feeling like this are not even close to as often as they were for 40 years of my life, it feels outstanding.

Sorry to everyone that my blogs got kind of out of order but here the part II to this subject. The 'arcacum' secrets that my buddy gave me to good health. If they sound trite, consider how many really practice them.

1. A regular exercise program. He does a good, solid workout in an eight day cycle. Day 1 is designed for the upper body, day 2 is for the abs, day 3 is geared toward the lower body. Day 4 is a rest day. Then days 5-7 are somewhat different routines but once again for the upper body, abs and lower body. Day 8 is another rest day. He doesn't go overboard. He doesn't work out for hours at a time. His routine generally lasts between 30-45 minutes. But the key is consistency. Of course, he is not perfect at maintaining the 8 day schedule, but he does keep it up very well.

2. Diet. Our 49 year old friend watches what he eats and drinks. Once again, he is not on a crazy diet where he partakes of copious vitamins and minerals daily. What he does do is eat in moderation with a good balance. He takes a small amount of supplements daily, and he sticks to it. To him, the biggest factor is that he does not eat foods that he knows or strongly suspects do not agree with him, no matter how delectable or socially acceptable they may be. That can mean turning down food or drink at times when it is against his will. Mr. 49er considers his health more important than the temporary pleasure obtained from items that he knows will come back to haunt him later.

3. Time with his creator. One more thing that he specifically mentioned was that he tries to spend private time with his Lord and creator every day.

We have all seen many people who get hooked on wild and crazy Superman diets that promise the world, or fad exercise programs that guarantee to make a Hercules out of us in an "incredibly short time." These things do not work, I have never seen one that does. Maybe Mr. 49ers balanced approach is something we should all consider. It works for him.

Have a great day, enjoy yourself, and do your best.

Tom Thorne
http://www.feelingoutstanding.com/

Theory X, Theory Y and Feeling Oustanding (Part II)

This manager looks like she is more comfortable with her staff!

A theory X manager really does not view his employees with much respect Let's take a look at how Douglas McGregor explains a Theory Y managers attitude toward his staff is.

• Most people consider effort in work as natural.
• People will apply self-control and self-direction in the pursuit of organizational objectives, without external control or the threat of punishment.
• Commitment to objectives is a function of rewards associated with their achievement.
• People usually accept and often seek responsibility.
• The capacity to use a high degree of imagination, ingenuity and creativity in solving organizational problems is widely, not narrowly, distributed in the population.

What McGregor then went to theorize is the self-fulfilling prophecy notion. What managers treat their employees as is what they tend to get. If a manager (Theory X) views and treats employees as though they dislike work and need to be forced to produce, he will have a disgruntled crew who takes breaks every chance they can.

On the other hand, if a manager (Theory Y) views and treats his/her workforce as imaginative, creative, willing and able to solve problems and work toward the common goals he/she will have a creative team that is able to come up with new solutions and ways to do things better, faster and cheaper. What McGregor in a nutshell is saying is that a Theory Y manager will more often than not have a more productive team than a Theory X manager.

This is a worthwhile thought to ponder on. Is McGregor on to something? In my next blog we will start to turn this inward toward our own health.

Have a great day, and do your best!

Tom Thorne
http://www.feelingooutstanding.com/

Theory X, Theory Y and Feeling Oustanding (Part I)

The worried manager. I wonder how he feels about his staff?

Arguably, the most influential book on management theory was the classic writing 'The Human Side of Enterprise' by America social psychologist Douglas McGregor. In this classic book he introduced his radical Theory X and Theory Y philosophy. This concept has been taught to one degree or another in colleges and universities throughout the United States since. And to some extent it still receives attention today.

McGregor's thought was that management viewed employees as either a Theory X type or a Theory Y type of individual. Hence the terms, Theory X and Theory Y managers. In Summary a Theory X manager views employees as follows:

• The average person dislikes work and will avoid it if he/she can.
  
• Therefore most people must be forced to work toward organizational objectives with the threat of punishment.
  
• The average person prefers to be directed and to avoid responsibility. He/she is relatively un-ambitious and wants security above all else.

In my next blog we will take a look at the opposite side of the spectrum. What McGregor calls a Theory Y manager. Then we will make a comparison in real life and see how on earth this relates to our health.

Have a blessed evening, a good night's sleep and a great day tomorrow. Let's keep our thoughts on the higher plane and reap the benefits that are ours if we do so.

Tom Thorne
http://www.feelingoutstanding.com/

Health and Wellness--A New, or an Old Approach?

I once knew a man who had been through a lot in his life. Several broken bones, a couple of concussions, a lot of stress, damaged brain cells, etc. But this fellow was quite unique. Shortly after he celebrated his 49th birthday he challenged a much younger friend to a push-ups contest.

This man, who we will call Mr. "49er", despite all of the 'stuff' he had been through in life still looked like he was in pretty good shape. He was definitely not a muscle bound "Hulkster" or anything like that, but he was not overweight and just looked generally healthy. As the contest unfolded, Mr. 49er won hands down. He did 70 good, nose-to-the-ground push-ups, and he probably could have done a few more had he been pushed! His endurance was outstanding. I was quite impressed.

I asked this chap what his secret was. He replied that there was no secret. When he explained it to me, he was right. Everybody has been taught these principles since they were young children. The problem is that few practice them. Here are the keys he gave me to health and wellness. In my next blog I will share those 'arcanum secrets' with you.

I went down to my kitchen yesterday and noticed a bottle of Peter Gilham's Natural Calm Magnesium Supplement in my kitchen that I had purchased at a local health food store a while ago. I also noticed that the price tag was $21.95, and I know I wasn't offered a discount. This exact same product in the same quantity is offered by Feeling Outstanding for $15.95. The prices on the Feeling Outstanding web page are very good!

Here's to your health, here to saving money also!

Tom Thorne

http://www.feelingoutstanding.com/