Surround yourself with greatness

Who you choose to surround yourself with matters.

Select friends who reflect your values. Surround yourself with people who will drive you to be better, support your decisions and challenge you to be a better person.

You will notice an immediate change in your attitude and outlook. Surrounding yourself with great people isn’t the same as having a bunch of ‘yes’ men or women. These friends will share your values but provide challenges to help you grow and learn.

Create the reality you desire and bring the best friends along for the ride.

Make it the best day!

-K

Buying local

In the late grasp of summer the farmer’s markets are in full swing. If you haven’t been to any of your local choices, take this weekend to investigate!

There is not only an opportunity to get fresh produce, but this a great chance to buy local and know where your products are coming from.

Support your local merchants, (Food, clothes, etc) and try out a farmers market.

Don’t forget to sample the products and engage in a conversation with the proprietors. Who knows what you will learn.

Make it the best day!

-K

Goals

What is your ultimate goal? Is it to retire in 5 years? Sky dive everyday until you are 90?

Whatever that goal is, plan a route to get there. Create one big, huge goal. Then work backwards to find the best way to achieve it.

You will surprised by far you can break down a seemingly impossible goal and make it a reality.

As Bill Murray said in the hilarious movie – What about Bob? – “Baby steps Dr. Marvin, baby steps.”

Single out your goal. Plan the steps to get there. Put it on a timeline and make it happen!

Make it the best day!

-K

 

Snooze

The snooze alarm. Your favorite button on the clock or your phone?

What if you woke up feeling refreshed and didn’t hit that darn thing every morning?

Give it a try to see how you feel. Instead of staying up watching TV for the last half hour before bed, turn off all electronics and go through your nighttime routine.

The lack of artificial light will help your body get ready for sleep. When you fall asleep quicker you have the opportunity to get more rest.

Better sleep equates to more energy in the morning and waking up feeling refreshed.

Give that snooze button a rest and wake up when that alarm goes off.

Make it the best day!

-K

Tuna Salad

Here is a healthier take on a pretty tasty dish. It omits mayo and replaces it with avocado. Served on bread or toast it is quite the tasty treat. Feel free to get creative, add hot peppers for some spice or bell peppers for color. Don’t forget it will be green because of the avocado!

Ingredients:

  • 2, 6-ounce cans tuna. Prefer solid white albacore packed in water
  • 1 ripe avocado, roughly chopped
  • 3/4 cup minced celery
  • 1/4 cup minced red onion
  • A splash of a spicy mustard will give it a nice kick (this is optional)
  • 2 teaspoons lemon juice
  • 2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro or parsley
  • Salt to taste
  • Freshly ground black pepper

Mash the avocado with a fork and then add the rest of the ingredients on top of that. Mix well to combine and season to your taste!

Make it the best day!

-K

 

Treadmill workout for the dog days of summer

Summer heat and humidity getting you down?

Here is a quick treadmill workout that be done walking or running! Your speed will be based on personal preference. I have supplied the length of interval and the incline percent.

Warmup for 5 minutes with a light jog or walk

45 seconds walk or run at 3% incline

1 minute walk or slow jog at 3% incline

  • Repeat the below segment for five times ( Alternating between the 5 minute on segment and the 30 seconds off)

5 minute walk or run at 6% incline

30 second walk at 6% incline

This is a quick workout with the intensity that can be adjusted by altering speed or incline. You speed will be personal preference.

Make it the best day!

-K

Daily blog

Seth Godin is a bright mind. He is actually where I got the idea for the daily blog. Every day I stop by his page sethgodin.typepad.com to read his insights. Lots of great ideas flow from his mind and I couldn’t resist sharing his post from this past weekend.

Managing the gap

There’s a space between where you are now and where you want to be, ought to be, are capable of being.
A gap between your reality and your possibility.Imagine that space as a gulf or a chasm and you’ll become paralyzed, stuck in the current situation.
And refuse to see it at all and you’ll merely be self-satisfied, and just as stuck.The magic of forward movement is seeing the space as leap-sized, as something that persistent, consistent effort can get you through.
The most likely paths are the ones where you can see the steps.Your problem might not be that you’re not trying hard enough. It might be that you’re seeing the opportunity in the wrong way.
His post echos what I talk about on a daily basis. Managing your mindset and seeing your success. I would suggest stopping by his page everyday as well for a different insight and view. His posts are short and sweet, but filled valuable nuggets.
Make it the best day!
-K

Explore

Explore your neighborhood, your town, your city and your state.

Have you done all that already?

Get out of the country!

With our finite time to roam and adventure around the earth make the best and the most of it! See what other cultures are like. Explore their food and the art. Take in a foreign city at midnight under the lights.

Life is about adventure. Packing up a tent and camping in the middle of anywhere!

Sipping a wine and eating a snack on the sidewalk.

Create adventure at every turn. Make the world your playground. If you can only go around  your town or state, explore places you have never been!

Take a step outside your comfort zone and your routine. Bring a friend or record it with photos.

Constantly create.

Never stop exploring!

Make it the best day!

-K

Gratitude

It’s easy and rewarding.

Someone holds the door for you, “Thank you”

A significant other cleans up or cooks, “Thank you”

Your mom or dad call, “Thank you”

Two words that will bring a smile to your face and have good feels all over your body! If someone thanks you, tell them “You’re Welcome”. Try to avoid the self-defeating statements like “It was nothing” or “No big deal”

Embrace gratitude and see where it takes you.

Make it the best day!

-K

Fear of Failure

Confronted with a decision, our gut instinct is to choose the path that avoids failure. Which path is less likely to result in failure? That is not necessarily a good or bad thing in itself.

However, when we look at the decisions we make throughout the day, how many times did we take the safe path? How many times did we take the ‘riskier’ path that could have resulted in failure but also a greater reward in the end?

It is an instinct to choose the easy path to our chosen version of success. Nine times out of ten if we knew one path would give us less than modest returns, but require little effort. We would end up taking that road. What about the other road? A little more effort but instead of a 1/2 step forward it is a leap?! How do you get that reward? You have to be willing to accept failure.

Failure in itself it not bad.

If you fail, you will learn more from your experience and be able to move forward faster and with more knowledge.

We know this from famous quotes about failure being the first step to success.

“Failure isn’t fatal, but failure to change might be” – John Wooden

“If you don’t try at anything, you can’t fail… it takes back bone to lead the life you want” – Richard Yates

“You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the door on the past. You don’t try to forget the mistakes, but you don’t dwell on it. You don’t let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space.” – Johnny Cash

Rethink what failure is. Why have we classified it as bad thing? If your choices that you made throughout the day were down the ‘risky’ path imagine where you would be at the end of the day.

Leaps and bounds from where you woke up, instead of a 1/2 step from where you were.

Make it the best day!

-K