A Healthy Life Starts in the Mind

The majority of people want to be healthy, or at least they say they do. No one really wants to wake up each day with aches and pains. If you drive your car for 100,000 miles without any kind of maintenance, eventually it will start to break down and have problems. The human body is much more intricate, interesting, and involved.

Our Creator's intent was for us to have a supreme healthy body, and have dominion over all the Earth. If we try to imagine what Adam may have looked like after God created him, we don't imagine someone overweight and out of shape. We can only imagine someone with the best possible natural body there could be. After all, he was God's own creation. After many thousands of years later, what happened to God's perfect human being? We have come a long way, a long way off course that is. How do we get back to the healthy, vibrant, strong body we were intended to have?

It all starts in the mind. You have to want to be healthy bad enough to do what it takes to be healthy. You have to have a health consciousness. When you awaken, think in terms of being healthy. Start the day with a positive outlook and envision a strong vibrant body that will last a lifetime. Start the day with stretching, exercising, or just some walking.

Continue to think health throughout the day. If you smoke, consider stopping. If you drink, do it in moderation. When eating, proceed with caution. Shy away from the 3 white poisons: sugar, white flour, and salt. Try not to overeat. Avoid processed food. Avoid pork, and red meat. Eat generous amounts of fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Avoid foods with high amounts of fat, saturated fat, and trans fat.

The best athletes know the importance of mental preparation. Mental preparation is not just for athletes. Whether it is a student, a doctor, or an airline pilot; mental preparation is a vital key to success in any field. The most successful people and the healthiest people mentally prepare themselves for the day. "I feel great, I feel happy, and I feel terrific" is a powerful way to program your mind; as you envision being as healthy as you really want to be. Of course this is not a magic thing that just happens every now and then. You need to program the mind every day. When you program your mind to be health conscious, the mind will seek out ways to be healthy, and you will choose whole wheat instead of white bread, and eat an apple instead of a candy bar. Being healthy starts in the mind, and it comes down to making the right choices. Super health is truly one of the best things a person can have, and something that is achievable for most people, especially if this is a priority early in life.

Make the decision today to be healthy. A donut is in the shape of a zero because that is what it adds to your health, nothing. It does not add anything, it only takes away. There are many delicious, nutritious foods available, so don't waste your time with junk that does nothing positive for you. Strong, vibrant health is available to you just as it was to Adam. Go for it.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6982950

kumaran nadaraja

Everyone Ages - Learn How to Do It Gracefully!

There are many stereotypes based on seniors, such as the short-sighted, stooped, little, elderly man or the little, old, hard-of-hearing lady. This is far from the truth for many, who have overcome lots of the challenges associated with aging and live healthy, enjoyable lives. The following are tips you can use to be someone who is still living a fun life while aging.

Keep all medical records. If you see another doctor or visit a specialist, it's helpful to have your own set of records to show them.

It is natural to lose some abilities as we age. At some point, the elderly are no longer able to care for themselves. When this time is upon you, it is time to make a tough decision and choose a nursing home that will suit your needs. It may not be something we want to do, yet it is much safer than living alone unable to care for ourselves. Caring, experienced health care professionals can help with chores and maintenance that might otherwise be neglected if you had to continue going it alone.

 
Speak with your doctor about anti-aging supplements that can work for you. He or she may decide on a program that includes supplementary vitamins, anti-inflammatory medications and antioxidant-rich foods. Using these can increase your activities and decrease your downtime caused by the effects of aging. Make these important when doing your daily routine.

Start saving money from every paycheck for retirement and health emergencies. However, don't neglect to cover yourself for times when your health may degrade or emergencies arise.

It is very important to eat right. Aim for a diet with plenty of fruits and vegetables, and limit your intake of fats and sugars. A nutritious diet assists in the maintenance of mental and physical health in addition to providing the necessary fuel to help you get through the day.

Happiness is contagious, and you should spread it whenever possible. Making others happy will no doubt make you feel happy too. Happiness is free and by spreading it around, it will eventually come back to you!

Improving your diet can combat the effects of aging. Make sure that you eat a wide variety of vegetables, meats, dairy products and sugars during the day to get all of the nutrients that you need. Try to have a few small meals throughout the day instead of three large meals. Pair these up with a few healthy snacks as well.
Avoid frowning to prevent wrinkles. It sounds silly, but it really is true. If you find yourself frowning, give yourself a sharp pinch. In a matter of time you will stop yourself from doing this.

Ensure you get enough rest for your age bracket. Sleeping 7 to 9 hours every night is the best way to maintain a good hormone balance. A lack of sleep will more you irritable and stressed making it difficult to enjoy your life to the fullest.

Go see your doctor regularly for checkups and get tested when asked. This enables your doctor to keep tabs on your health and catch any problems that may arise. Do not wait any longer to take control of things.
Stop talking to your unpleasant friends. Find new friends who are more joyful. If you're around people who laugh and smile a lot, you will do the same. This can help you to age well and keep you feeling vibrant. So spend your days with fun people, rather than the grumpy bunch.

Take part in fun activities you enjoy - safely. Maintaining a positive attitude and staying physically active will help you to retain a youthful outlook.

Exercising regularly helps you stay younger, longer. People who exercise regularly are in better health in their old age than those who choose not to. Exercise keeps skin looking supple and young, but it also improves muscle tone, encourages circulation and improves stamina.

If you are starting to feel the effects of age, see if it is your hormones. As we age, hormone levels are reduced and loss of libido, energy and endurance may result. Talk to a doctor to see if it is possible to take hormone supplements if this is a problem for you.

You need to protect your skin now, to help preserve it for when you get older. Skin must always be protected from harmful ultraviolet rays from the sun. If you spend too much time under the sun, you are more likely to get wrinkles and even skin cancer.

Loss of desire can be a serious problem for aging adults who want to continue enjoying sex. Women, especially, should consult a medical professional if they lose interest in sex. A simple hormone treatment could restore your zest for life and sex.

It may be your time to enjoy yourself and the world around you more than you ever have! Use the advice in this article to take control of your life and your health. Make your remaining years of your life the best ones yet.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6962573

kumaran nadaraja

5 Recent Discoveries In Health Science

1. Adding Milk To Tea Blocks Its Benefits

Tea has a reputation for being a friend to your health, and rightly so. From reducing your risk of heart attack and stroke, to protecting your bones, tea's benefits are vast. But you may want to think twice if you're the type to add a bit of milk to your tea. New studies are showing that caseins, proteins in the milk, can actually block many of the beneficial effects. There still seems to be some benefit, but just not as much. Something to think about next time you're deciding how to have your tea!

2. Lack of Sleep Increases Calorie Consumption

Lack of sleep has always been associated with health problems, but recent studies suggest that it could also increase your calorie consumption by as much as 500 or more calories a day! Now whether that's caused simply by the extra time awake being used to eat, or some other factor, has yet to be determined. This is yet another reason to get a full night sleep whenever possible, although not by hitting the snooze button, which has it's own set of consequences.

  

3. Folic Acid Prevents Birth Defects

First of all, what is folic acid? It's simply a "B" Vitamin used in making new cells, and is a necessary component of, you know, staying alive. It's even more important to have the right amount if you're planning on getting pregnant. Starting at least a month before pregnancy, you should be taking in 400 micrograms of the stuff every day. The reward is helping to prevent birth defects of the baby's brain and spine, two components of a newborn you generally want to keep in tact... The easiest way to take in the right amount is a multivitamin or folic acid pill. Just check the label to make sure you're getting 100% of your daily value.

4. Keeping Your Hands Cool Makes Exercise Easier

This is definitely one of the stranger discoveries I've seen. The idea here is that holding something cold in your hands, such as a near frozen water bottle, sort of wicks the heat away from your body, and cools the blood as it circulates through your hands. It works to make the person more comfortable, able to exercise longer and more efficiently, and in the end, burn more calories. In the recent research being done, they're was a significant difference when cooling the hands, even reducing a 1.5 mile run by 5 minutes! The fun thing about this one, is you can test it yourself and immediately see if you notice a difference.

5. Low Omega-3 Levels May Cause Memory Problems

Yet another reason to have fish in your rotation, which is high in Omega-3 Fatty Acids. Low levels of Omega-3 have recently been linked to memory problems, and not just short term. Alzheimer's and Dementia have both been shown to increase when Omega-3 levels are not sufficient. And if you're not a fish person, there are Omega-3 vitamins that can make the job easier.

Always consult your doctor before making any changes in diet, exercise, or anything else related to your health.

 

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6948988

kumaran nadaraja

Healthy Lifestyle For Wealthy Lifestyle

All the delicacies on your table are a waste if you are not feeling well. You can't enjoy your favorite movie if your eyesight is weak. You can't enjoy anything in this world, despite having everything at your disposal, if you are suffering from a disease. You can't deny the importance of health.

Health is the ultimate goal in human life. Normally people sacrifice their health in their efforts to gain wealth. Lastly they find even their wealth useless when they develop some incurable diseases. Even huge amount of money fail to recover your health. Once you lose your health you will lose everything soon.

During your young age you don't understand importance of health. You ignore healthy lifestyle. You escape exercises and rest. The basis of your choice of food is taste and not their nutrition value. Junk food is what you take in breakfast, lunch and dinner. All this leads to slow decline in your health. When you realize your mistakes, it's already too late for you to reverse the situation.

Even top notch personalities have fallen prey to faulty lifestyle and untimely death. Hectic schedule, stress, lack of awareness and pollution has contributed to health problems today. You can lead a happy and healthy life by following a few health tips.

Healthy food
You must have balanced diet in your breakfast, lunch and dinner. Your diet must include leafy vegetables and high fiber stuff. 2500 calories is the daily requirement of a healthy individual. If you are taking more than this, it will cause obesity. On the other hand taking less than this quantity will make you malnourished. Taking strenuous exercises burns a lot of calories. In that case you must take more calories to compensate energy loss. Your food must not contain too much of oil and fat. A lot of vegetables and fresh fruits will save you from various deficiency diseases.

 
Exercise
You might have noticed that your right hand is stronger and bigger than the left hand. It is because you use your right hand more than your left hand. When you take proper exercise more oxygen and nutrition are equally distributed in your entire body. Exercise will keep you free from many diseases.

Rest
After whole day's work, when you take rest, your lost vigor is regained. You feel refreshed and rejuvenated to work again. Busy schedule might be preventing you from taking adequate rest. If you continuously deprive yourself of this much needed requirement, you will soon develop signs of accompanying diseases.

Entertainment
Health means physical, mental and social well-being. Like food, rest and exercise, entertainment is also a part of healthy living. It takes care of your mental health and plays a key role in de-stressing you. You must also take out time to spend with your friends and neighbors. Socialization will not only keep you stress free but in case of problems you will get timely help from your neighbors as well.
Besides above things you must also have a health care plans as a preventive measure. There are certain diseases which develop silently inside your body. You don't have any signs and symptoms unless your condition goes beyond initial stages. It is sometimes difficult to reverse the condition at a late stage. To prevent a disease before it is too late, you must go through routine checks every year.

These routine checks must include urine test, blood sugar, blood pressure and eye sight. If you are above 25 years of age it is necessary to get ECG done every year to monitor proper functioning of your heart. Prevention is always better than cure.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6967054

kumaran nadaraja

Change: You Are In Control

Change is something that we all have strong feelings about. Some changes are fun and exciting, while others are terrifying. We look forward to the exciting changes and we dread the terrifying changes. No matter what the change is, we have very significant feelings before, during and after each one.

The difference between a fun change and a scary change is often minor. More specifically, the difference comes down to two things. There are two important factors that determine how we feel about change. These same two factors also determine how these changes go for us.

The two factors that determine how we feel about change are not unlike what determines how we feel about anything else. The two factors are:

Perception and Preparation

Perception determines how you feel about change. It's pretty simple: if you look at something as scary, you will not look forward to doing it and as many of us have experienced, it will likely be scary for you as you go through it. If you perceive something as fun and exciting, you look forward to it and it generally goes well for you.

Preparation is what determines how the change will go for you. You can perceive something as scary, prepare accordingly and actually change the outcome because you are prepared for the situation. Preparation is what we do to get ready for a change. Preparing doesn't guarantee success, but it is difficult to reach it without some preparation.

Change may be what drives major impact in our lives, but if it is perceived as part of the routine, it becomes part of the routine and therefore, it's no big deal.

The big deal in many lives right now is health. We all want to be healthy, but the statistics show that most of us are not. It is not the fault of fast food. It is not the fault of work. It is not the fault of our families. If we are unhealthy, it is because we are doing unhealthy things.

Change is a big part of this. The fact that many are unhealthy is often related to change. It is a change that they are afraid to make that is causing the current situation. Often it can be a minor change that leads to the major results that they are looking for, but there is a problem preventing them from making this change.

The problem involves the perception of the change, the preparation they have made or are willing to make regarding this change, or all of the above. When it comes to living healthy, the perception is often that it will be very difficult or that it will not be successful because of the difficulty. With this mindset, many choose not to prepare simply because they know how difficult it will be. Well, guess what, you just fulfilled your prophecy.

Perception becomes reality. What happens when we prepare for a great vacation, think about how much fun we are going to have and allow ourselves to do just that? Usually, the vacation does turn out great. We relax, let go and enjoy ourselves from start to finish.

What happens when we assume that the work day is going to long and difficult? We continue to see task after task come our way and we continue to struggle with them. The day gets more difficult until it finally ends when we say: "Wow, that was long and difficult day." Just like you thought it was going to be and just like you prepared for it to be.

Preparation is not something that just happens. We do it no matter what, but how we prepare and what we prepare for is what makes the real difference. Preparing for a day that is out of control is easy. All we have to do is say: "OK, day, go crazy and I will just wait for it to happen."

If you are preparing to be unhealthy, I have some good news for you. You don't have to do anything. When you get up in the morning, just eat whatever is in front of you and let your schedule be in control of you as you just float through the day.

Perception and preparation come together. When they do, that is when we have success.
They come together when you are able to perceive something clearly and realistically and prepare accordingly. Notice, I said clear and realistic. I didn't say easy. I didn't say that in order to do successfully make a change, it has to be an easy change. That is not the case. If you can perceive a change for what it really is, you can prepare to take action as you will need to. When you do that, you will be successful.

Health is all about change. Making changes to your daily routine will bring you results that pay off for life. In order to make these changes, you have to perceive them as something you can actually do. If you look at a change as an impossible dream, you will never realize it.

Setting goals becomes the best way to make perception work for you. Set a goal that you can actually reach. Reach it and set another one. Keep doing this and you will be changing. As you change, remember how well you are doing compared to your perception.

Change does not have to be scary. Change is good as long as you are ready for it. Perception and preparation are the keys to making change work for you. If you can perceive it as possible, you can get started. If you can prepare for successful completion, you can take the steps you need to take.
You are in control of the changes you can or cannot make. You decide whether you can change or not.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6968686

kumaran nadaraja

Why we need Life Insurance & Medical Card

Always comes into our mind...Do I really need a life insurance or medical card? Is that so important for me? It's okay, my company covers for me, and also medical card, then what for I need an additional one?

All this is a common question that use to rings in our head. I, personally don't blame if you too have this same questions in your mind. Who I'm gonna blame then. On my perception, my own perception, its the Insurance Agent's fault. Why I need to blame them instead? Because, few of them never educate their clients on the importance of Life Insurance...they never give proper advise to their clients...the plan they proposed to clients doesn't meet the clients' needs and purpose....no proper service after sales...they just tend to forget about their existing clients, no proper service and move to another client just to make more money and income. And due to these few Agents, clients' feel insecure, never taken care of, resulted to never believe in Insurance. Certainly, its not Insurance Company's fault, but the Agents itself.

But, there is successful Insurance Agents that fulfill the client's needs, deliver the proper message and service whenever the clients need it and that is why they are successful. They take care of their clients very well. Take care here means, the Agents is always reachable whenever been contacted by the clients.

Now, back to our previous questions above. Before you answer that questions, please answer yourself to this question. Do I really need a car insurance? I believe, everybody will say YES...the reason is to protect us against a loss or accident which may result in serious damage to our car or injury to another person. When we purchase a car insurance, we are in fact protecting our investment, which, at today's prices, is probably the second most valuable asset after our home.

And, how about OUR LIFE...YOUR VERY OWN LIFE...who gonna protect yourself with enough protection rather than you yourself? Who gonna pay for our medical bill when we are in need? Who gonna take care our family when we are no more around?

And that's the reason I say, we really really need Life Insurance and Medical Card. Just to make sure, we don't give trouble to our family members or others when we are hospitalised or after our death.

Let's say, we have Life Insurance and Medical Card, do we need to worried too much on the cost when we are hospitalised, whereby at the same time, mentally and physically we are weak too due to our sickness or injury? Do we need to worried much of our family if we no longer live in this world? I believe, the answer will be 'NO', because your Life Insurance can reduce the burden in term of financial part. Thats the main reason.

Anyway, don’t blindly accept that you need to buy a policy. Instead, consider these 10 reasons why we need life insurance. 

1. To replace lost income for your family - The most obvious reason why we need life insurance is to provide money to replace our income if we die so that our families can maintain their standard of living. Even in two-income families, the loss of one income can be overwhelming without adequate life insurance.
2. To cover burial and funeral expenses - Even if you don’t have family to provide for, you still need life insurance to pay for your burial and funeral so that you don’t financially burden adult children, siblings, or others with those costs.
3. To pay medical expenses associated with your death - Unfortunately, many deaths are prolonged and a mountain of medical bills can accumulate. 
4. To pay off a mortgage or other debts - Medical bills aren’t the only debt you need to worry about. A life insurance death benefit can allow your surviving family to eliminate monthly house payments, car payments, credit card bills, or other debt obligations.
5. To provide money for settling your estate - If there is an estate to be settled, death benefits are paid immediately upon death, so money will be available to pay costs related to the estate (e.g., taxes) while it’s being settled.
6. To leave an inheritance - A life insurance policy is a great way to leave money behind for your family or for a charitable cause.  Unlike capital gains, death benefits are not usually taxable.
7. To provide for future needs of children - A life insurance policy can supply money for children to go to college. Or, in the case of special needs children, it can provide for ongoing care and living expenses.
8. To provide a source for emergency cash - Many insurance policies allow for cash accumulation, from which you can borrow. Although this borrowing will reduce your death benefit, you may want to have the option if a personal financial crisis arises.
9. To maximize your pension - When you retire you will likely be given an option to receive a higher pension in exchange for allowing the pension to stop when you die. With a life insurance plan, you can eliminate the need for an after-death pension, freeing you to select the higher-pension option.
10. To allow for business continuity - If you own or co-own a business, then life insurance that benefits the company is a way to protect the company’s future in case you die. The same issues that apply to families apply to businesses—if a vital income creator dies, there needs to be money to make up for the loss.   

As there are many reasons why we need life insurance, buying life insurance is a purchase no one should put off. But don’t rush it, either. Buying life insurance off a website or by going directly to a major carrier is a fast way to buy insurance, but it’s not the wisest.

Be smart with your money. Consult an independent Life Insurance Agent who understands all the reasons why we need life insurance and has the market experience to find the best deal to meet your specific needs.

kumaran nadaraja

Don't kill your talent...Take a chance on your inexperienced people

Just  a few days ago, I read an article in The Star, dated 27 March 2012 which was written by Mr Roshan Thiran, a firm believer that talent is developed and not genetic, and has made it his mission to build leaders in Malaysia through his social enterprise, Leaderonomics. Thanks to him for this beautiful article.

This article really attract me and soon I believe, everybody in this world born with a talent, doesn't matter whatever talent it is, it might be administrative works, craft works, management, business or anything, but we never realise it until we ourself started to believe in it. For me, it's a long term process to really believe in our own talent where during that process we learn, we feel the pain, we struggle, experience and finally dare to take the risk (scary word for certain people, but thats the fact) to finally bring forward our talent which ultimately will bring us the success.

I really hope, this article written by Mr Roshan Thiran will be beneficial for all and do enjoy reading it. Its a very long article but I believe, in the end of it, you'll get the beautiful and meaningful message.

  

"SOON after India obtained independence, Prime Minister Jawahar Nehru chaired a meeting to discuss appointing a chief general for the Indian Army. As key leaders discussed candidates and options, Nehru disappointingly claimed: “I think we should appoint a British officer as the general as we don't have anyone with enough experience to lead.” Everybody nodded their heads in support and they started discussing possible British candidates.

This same conversation Nehru had with his leaders half a century ago is the same conversation taking place in many global organisations today. There are always big vacancies to fill yet no one experienced enough to fill them. And most leaders look outside their organisation and even outside the country for that perfect “experienced” person. Nehru's story though, ends differently.

One of Nehru's officers abruptly interrupted Nehru as he started contemplating which British “expat” to bring in: “I have one point, sir. Can I interrupt?”

Nehru nodded: “Yes, gentleman. Speak.”

The officer responded: “Sir, we don't have enough experience to lead a nation, too, so shouldn't we appoint a British person as the first Prime Minister of India too?”

The meeting hall suddenly went silent. Nehru had an “aha” moment and later decided against appointing an “experienced” general but a high potential local.

Almost every business leader I meet complains to me about the same issue they don't have enough good talented people to take their businesses to the next level. According to McKinsey's “War for Talent” study, the most important corporate resource over the next 20 years will be talent. It's also the resource in shortest supply. In fact, the search for the best and the brightest has become a constant, costly battle, with no end in sight. Talent has become the prime source of competitive advantage.

Yet, most of us unknowingly “kill” our talented people. How are we “killing” our talent? By not allowing our people to fulfil their potential. And we do this by curtailing their experiences.

Real learning

Talent can only be developed through experiences and failure. You cannot send a person to a three-day classroom programme on swimming and expect them to become great swimmers. To learn to swim, you need to practice in the pool. No matter how much you listen, read or watch about swimming, without pool practice, you won't be able to swim. Real learning happens when applied in the workplace. Nehru learnt to become Prime Minister of India through the school of hard knocks and experience. Even if he was sent to a “Prime Minister School” (if that existed!), his learning would still ultimately come from doing the job. But when you block your people from the roles they crave, because of their lack of experience, we thereby ensure they never learn.

I recall going through succession planning reviews with a number of senior business leaders in my capacity as a HR leader. Each year, these business leaders would highlight specific talent they had in their teams. But much to my dismay, every single year, those highlighted were deemed “not ready” to take on bigger roles, claiming they needed a few more years to become “ready.” Four years later, the same excuses rang. The story never changed or ever will. As long as we hoard our best talent and never allow them to grow through new experiences, they will never be ready.

Thomas Edison correctly stated that “genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.” Based on research done by Anders Ericsson, we now know just how much “perspiration” is required to become a genius apparently three years at a job or 10,000 hours. Ericsson's research indicates that if you are at your job for about two to three years (depending on how many hours you put into your work), you will master the role. But once you have mastered it, your learning subsides. And for you to keep growing, you need to learn something new.

The most talented people have figured this out and so if you do not give challenging work to them, they leave. They may claim they leave for money or other reasons, but in reality, if you truly give them challenging work which forces them to learn, they hardly leave. (It may be also because they are so busy being challenged, they have no time to do up their resume!)

However, the less talented employees, who love being in their zone of comfort, will stay on (maybe forever). The job becomes easy making it “wise” to continue in this zone of comfort. The real talents, however, know that if they don't keep getting new experiences and developing themselves, they may never achieve their dream. And so they pack their bags to gain new experiences, if you don't provide them.

Final thoughts

I am not at all advocating that experience has no place in our business. In fact, experience is necessary for big roles where failure should be minimised. However, one cannot attain that experience unless someone gives these people a break. We cannot gain experiences unless given a shot at the big stage.

What I want to emphasise is that this “talent disease” which is plaguing our nation can somewhat be curtailed if we build in talent development as part of our business agenda. So, what are some practical things you can do:

1. Demonstrate your commitment to employees by preferring to develop from within versus hiring from the outside. Give your “inexperienced” people a chance. Sure they may take some time to “learn” the job, but in the long term, it will be better for your business.

2. Keep pushing your people outside their comfort zone. They need experiences. Give them projects outside their silos. And when they fail (which they will!), help them get up and learn from their failures

3. Empower your employees make them partners in their own development. Make sure they understand the importance of hard work, learning and pain.

As my three-year-old son always says: “No pain, no gain.” The same goes for all of us.

We need to go through the pain and struggle of new experiences to keep growing. And business leaders need to go through the pain of pushing their best people out to new roles and to take chances on the less experienced. Someone after all took a chance on you previously. Nehru took a chance on his general. So can you."

 

Article picked from The Star (StarBiz Section), 27 March 2012.

kumaran nadaraja