Solutions for the New Year

Join me on January 10th, 2 p.m. - Calistoga Spa Conference Room, Downtown Calistoga.

New Year resolutions are one of the most common ways people try to change their behavior. Starting off the New Year with good intentions, only to slip back into our old, unwanted behavior, before the end of January! This year, let us make solutions. Learn how to implement these solutions and achieve your goals in life.

This talk will be on how the brain works and how you can use this knowledge to achieve the goals you want to achieve. This hour will be a gift to yourself: motivate you, excite you, and quite possibly…change your life.

See you there.

Circle of Influence

Who is your circle of influence?
If you want to make changes in your life to benefit yourself and those closest to you...it's important to look at those people who spend the better part of a day with you.
This is a known: Influence is inevitable simply by your being there.
This means...it changes/alters your behavior if only one other person is in your presence.
Who is an influence in your life?

It also means...you can change/alter another person's behavior just by being in their presence.
How do you use that influence? Responsibly?
Make it a plan to spread goodness.... to those around you.
Surround yourself with what you want. Be it...books, people, lifestyle, sounds, smells, etc.... all play a part in influencing you.
Be aware of influence.

Goals & Challenges

I wouldn't call myself a couch potato. I mean, I'm fairly active - I might be considered a french fry. ~grin. I am not so active as to volunteer to jog for pleasure (what?) or go on long hikes. It hasn't really been my thing. My thing has always been more mental health and nutritional health. This new move into muscular health is much needed.

One great hypnosis session and I was motivated to wallow in the depths of my closet to find some workout clothes (bought years ago with good intentions).

My new goal: a 10k or half marathon.

~The people who know me are still having a hard time fitting the word 'running' with my name.~

After some great advice - I traveled to the local Fleet Feet, had them assess my feet, recommend a shoe, and some moisture wicking socks. (Extra expense spent on good shoes saves money later with less injuries)

I started looking for books that would be in line with my goals of getting fit. The lastest educational book find is: The thrive diet. Great for people who want to exercise and eat the right things to have maximum recovery.

Also, I was clued into a wonderful training schedule (even for the couch potato) at runnersworld.com. I printed off a copy of it and posted it in my kitchen. I'm marking off the days as I do them.

This all began June 1st.

My report: I have a new favorite smoothie straight from the Thrive Diet book. Lemon juice, blueberries, ground flax, and ingredients that create a refreshing lemonade feel. Yummy!

Also, if I add sprouted or soaked nuts, grains, or seeds to my morning smoothie it really boosts my energy for the day!

It's been three weeks. I look better, I feel great, I haven't missed a day of training, and...I have lost 8 lbs.

I will keep you posted on how LONG my motivation lasts.

One more step toward practicing what I preach.

Hypnosis...changes lives.

Behavior revisited

ANYTHING that is reinforced, is likely to occur again.
This is true for all sane behavior. Be it human or animal.
Lets us get better acquainted with reinforcement. What is reinforcement? A reinforcer is a stimulus that follows a behavior. Now there are two kinds of reinforcement - positive and negative. Positive reinforcement is when something (a stimulus) happens after a behavior - causing that behavior to strengthen.
Negative reinforcement is when something (a stimulus) is removed - causing the behavior to strengthen.
Yes... you read that right. BOTH cause the behavior to strengthen.
For example:
Positive reinforcement - if a person gives a dog a treat every time he lays down - he will start to throw that behavior to them. He will lay down more and more... if they continue to positively reinforce his behavior.
Negative reinforcement (escape) - if a mouse is being shocked and realizes that pushing a lever makes the shock go away... the mouse will push the lever.
Negative reinforcement (avoidance) - if a person knows that when the buzzer goes off, he has ten seconds to push a button before a loud annoying sound plays over loud speakers - the person will push the button to avoid the sound.
One more example of both positive and negative reinforcement is a parent and child at the store. On the child's side of things if they give out a negative reinforcer such as screaming; in order to avoid the child's 'fit' a parent will hand the child something from the store (candy, toy, games), increasing the chances that the next visit to the store...the child will apply the negative reinforcer. On the parents side of things if they positively reinforce negative behavior (a screaming fit) with something the child wants - it increases the chances that they get exactly what they are reinforcing... a screaming fit. This is what you call a double whammy!!

So now, go out and with an animal or a person you interact with daily - list a behavior that you find annoying. Then take a look at yourself and at the situation and try to figure out WHAT you could be doing to reinforce it.
You might see what is reinforcing the behavior - if you do... you can simply stop reinforcing it. You might have a hard time finding what is reinforcing the behavior - if this happens... list an opposite behavior. Ask yourself, "What behavior would I like to have in its place?" When you know what it is... start reinforcing it. For example: when taking a child to the store you can simply stop reinforcing the child and let them cry. At the same time you can have a bag of raisins or a deck of Old Maid cards in your purse and when she is quiet (even for a second) you can say..."oh thank you for being a good shopper" as you hand over ONE raisin or ONE card. Reinforcing her quiet behavior - reinforce as many times as you can as you walk through the store.
Just note: 'reinforcing good behavior' as many times as possible should happen a few times. After that...we switch to the 'variable reinforcement schedule' (yes...go ahead and look that up!)
The unwanted behavior would become extinct if they didn't get a reinforcement out of it and/or a more wanted behavior can be reinforced; time to become a detective!