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Live in the here and now instead of the past or the future. Take note of what is happening now instead of being anxious about what might happen in the future. Focus on what is happening now instead of on the situation that occurred an hour ago. |
| 2. Quote |
Set
aside half an hour every day to do all your worrying; then take a nap
during this period. |
| 3. Book Review 'Super Health' by Christian H Godefroy |
Super HealthHow to control your body’s natural defences. The idea behind this book is that we are our own best doctors. We all possess the power to heal ourselves and hold the key to our own good health. This is based on the principle that we cannot separate our physical health from our psychological and emotional health. Our bodies and minds are in constant communication and by using this communication we can use our mind to influence our health. How we react to life determines how well our organism (body) functions. Godefroy points out that this does not mean we can forget about diet, exercise and a healthy life style. What he is interested in is attitude – the way we perceive our health and our bodies has an influence on how we react to any signs of illness. Godefroy looks at how to use the power of the subconscious by using meditation, visualisation, breathing and relaxation techniques to help our bodies overcome any signs of illness and stress. He offers exercises to overcome fatigue and find energy and enthusiasm. There are also exercises for pain management, migraines, asthma attacks, stopping smoking and other addictions and beating insomnia as well as suggestions for dealing with heart problems and cancer. I would recommend this book as it offers tools to take positive charge of your own health. With this book you can experiment with various techniques to find what works for you to improve your health and quality of life. By Alastair Taylor |
Procrastination is something I feel well qualified to talk about. I should have written this column two weeks ago. You see I’m an expert and, may I say, a veteran. I know all the ploys, all the tricks. I think I have raised it almost to an art form. And my Partners respect and admire my skill in this undervalued area. In fact one day some years ago one of my partners gave me a present. I thought ‘how nice, how thoughtful’. It was a pad of post-it like stickies with “Never put off till tomorrow what you can avoid altogether”. My heart swelled with pride. At last my unique talent was being recognised. Thank you, Alastair. Most people don’t have a good word to say about procrastination. You know the kind of thing, procrastination being the thief of time, and all that. Well I think all this negativity is grossly unfair. I know people who would never clean their house, or do any number of other useful, if sometimes pointless, tasks but for the fact that they were putting off something more important. Yes there are a lot of us quietly procrastinating away, and it’s about time we fought back, raised our profile! The fact that so many of us have this trait got me thinking. There might be a ‘procrastination gene’ and sound evolutionary reasons for putting things off. Or perhaps it’s a learned, ‘cultural thing’ that only the most advanced beings have developed. And then I had it. Lawyers. Until recently almost all my dealings with lawyers had been painful (please note that I now know many lawyers and they are all very nice), and to my severe cost I sometimes reacted emotionally and instantly. I cannot and will not say precisely how I reacted for obvious reasons. But I learned, and when the disaster that was our last house purchase happened and my wife wanted to take out a contract on our solicitor, I said ‘no, I understand how you feel but let’s just see how things develop’. And that was a good decision because think of all the arrangements and organisation needed to kill someone like a lawyer and get away with it. Now, especially in my dealings with difficult others, I procrastinate away good style. Believe me, it works. Try it and save yourself a lot of grief. Until the next time, and that could be longer than it should be… Alan Bradshaw |
| 5. How To Understand Ourselves and Achieve Our Potential |
Sometimes with our behaviours it is as if we are two people: the person we actually are compared to the person we would like to be or know we should be. The late Abraham Maslow, an eminent psychologist, wrote about this with his concept of self-actualisation. So what can we do to continue to develop our own skills and potentials? For example, as far as health is concerned we all know that we should not smoke, that we should take exercise, take several portions of fruit daily, etc, but do we do it? Reading information in a book often produces little real change. For real change the information has to be internalised, becoming part of our new behaviour. An effective way to do this is by repeated listening to cassette programmes. They can be listened to when driving or in the background when carrying out mundane tasks. In 1987 I bought 'The Psychology of Winning' with six cassettes and a workbook. It was my introduction to the products of Nightingale Conant.
The man behind 'The Psychology of Winning' was Denis Waitley, a former naval fighter pilot, who as he got too old to fly from aircraft carriers, went back to university and became a psychologist with a special interest in motivation and achievement. As a psychologist he studied high achievers, including the Apollo astronauts. That programme taught me how to have high expectations and motivation, to improve my self-image. It also helped me to focus on the directions I wanted to develop in, my self-control and self-discipline. It increased my awareness of the need for goals in the short term and in the future. Fifteen years later I use about thirty of these programmes covering every area of human achievement and endeavour. Future articles will look at some of these areas. The Nightingale Conant description of 'The Psychology of Winning'.... Experience
Denis Waitley's best-selling program "The Psychology Of Winning".
Build self-esteem, motivation, and self-discipline while developing the
10 qualities of a total winner. You will also discover the 2 vital qualities
every successful person must develop. These same qualities have helped
athletes shatter world-records. Winning isn't just luck. You need a programmed mind-set to become a champion. To buy or get more information on 'The Psychology of Winning', click here. By Dr David Mason Brown |
| 6. Readers Stress Story |
About a year ago I had a panic attack at work. I had never had one before so it was really frightening - I actually thought I had some kind of heart problem at first! I couldn't breathe, I was getting pains in my chest, and I felt really shakey. At that time I didn't regard myself as someone who got stressed. I had always been able to handle pressure and felt that I could usually handle whatever was thrown at me. That meant I found the panic attack even more difficult to understand, this was something that was alien to my character! It seemed, at the time, like the panic attack just came out of the blue. But now when I look back, I had progressively been neglecting to look after myself. Things were hectic at work, but this meant that I wasn't getting as much exercise as usual - in fact none at all. I wasn't eating properly - always just getting the quickest meal possible so I could spend some time "chilling out" in front of the TV before going to bed. It had got to the point where I wasn't really discussing my thoughts and feelings with my partner because when I wasn't at work I just wanted to 'switch off'. In combination though, I think these things all meant that work had become the 'be all and end all', and in any slightly pressured situations my reaction was out of control, when previously it would have been a healthy adrenaline rush. Retrospect is such a great thing! The lesson to me was that the things I do outside work are what help me to manage day to day life, and if I let them go - I am actually more susceptible to having problems at work. I got some help to deal with the panic attacks in the short term - that involved being taught how to relax, and control my breathing and use positive imagery. But the real benefit was that I was forced to look at the things I had let go of in my life - particularly in my leisure time. In the bigger picture this was what made the real difference! Anonymous. Thank you! The book of the month is on it's way to you! Do you have a story that you would like to send into us for the next copy of 'In Equilibrium'? Perhaps you have a good idea about combating stress at work, maybe you have an experience that you think others would learn from? We are looking for any of your experiences, humourous or deadly serious, signed or anonymous! We will print the best story in the next In Equilibrium, if your story is printed we will send you a copy of the book we reviewed this month. |
As children we play. Children can often be seen playing at work! They may dig the earth, push a plastic lawn mower, wash imaginary dishes or even build something just to tear it down again! The activity for them is not to build something to last, or fix something that is broken, it is play, done for the joy of doing it and the learning how to do it. As adolescents we work because it is demanded of us, by parents, teachers and the like. We clean our rooms because we are told to. The task is meaningless to us and we may even feel resentful about having to do it. We might do it to get a reward, or simply to avoid a row. Later in life work can become more purposeful, we work to achieve a result. The grass is long, so we mow it to have a nice garden. The dishes are dirty, so we clean them to have clean dishes. We tidy the house so that we can find things easily. If we are lucky we find a job that feels purposeful, we may work to raise a family, or to accomplish a social goal. It feels good and useful to see progress from our labour. Unfortunately, for many of us work is just a means to an end. It is "for the money", the act of work has no value to the person doing it. If it only has this monetary meaning work can become boring, routine, and even depressing. So, if we work only for the money, our work may start to seem empty. If we work only for the results of our work it can be problematic because results can be unpredictable. If we can focus on the value of the work itself, we can enjoy it for what it is, regardless of the compensation, regardless of the outcome. By Jan Lawrence |
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Copyright 2002 Equilibrium Associates Limited. |
