Managing Life for a Wellness Lifestyle
August 30, 2007
IN THIS ISSUE:
- Life Happens
- Managing Life for a Wellness Lifestyle
- Free Wellness Pack
- Introducing our New Guest Blogger - Lena West
- Healthy Habits Workbook
Life Happens (some personal stuff)
I just got back from spending a week with my parents - Freda 87 and Phil 84. That’s why this newsletter is coming out a week late (sorry!) Mom had fallen and bled all over the driveway - and my dad was freaked out. So I flew to North Carolina the next day to help out. I could still see the blood on the driveway (s-c-a-r-y). Because she’s on a blood thinner, bleeding is a bigger problem than usual. 
Spending 6 days with them was a gift for me. For once it was all about them instead of all about me. I even lost my appetite while I was there - had no hankering for snacks or anything! But as soon as I got to the airport, I bought snacks. Wild huh! Now I’m back in my own time capsule in Kansas and I wanted to share some insights I had about life management as it relates to healthy aging.
This is a picture of them on their 60th wedding anniversary. Aren’t they cute!
But first an update about my dog, Jasmine. She’s still limping but she’s been to the 
doggie chiropractor twice and is eating the cleanest food money can buy. I should eat so well! The vet wants her to lose even more weight. I should be so thin!
Several people wrote comments on the most recent newsletter. To read them, go here (bottom of page)
And here’s something cool! My technology and business strategist (and friend), Lena West, is starting a new category in my blog - it’s about her journey to live a wellness lifestyle while living in the very fast lane in New York. It ain’t easy! Lena will spill the beans about her own personal wellness challenges and successes. Read her first post here.
Managing Life for a Wellness Lifestyle
As we age, we might think we’re going to change but what really happens is we get “more so.” So, if you’re a worrier, you become more worried. If you’re sedentary, you become more sedentary.
A while back, I decided to get control of my “more so” so that when I grow up, I won’t amplify my less-than-favorable qualities as I age. One of the reasons I’m thinking about lifestyle management and healthy aging is that I spent the week living with my parents. I wasn’t visiting them, I was living with them. I want to share what I learned from that experience.
There are several life management shifts you can make now in order to make the road easier to travel later. These shifts relate to wellness because life management is a big part of living a wellness lifestyle.
Organization – If you’re disorganized now, you’ll probably be moreso as you age. You can do something to change this lifestyle habit now. When you’re disorganized, important papers get lost in a sea of junk mail creating a stressful situation because you’re always having to look for critical documents. The only solution you may need in order to stay on top of this challenge is to get off junk mail lists. Here’s a free resource that tells you exactly how to get off junk mail lists! Fabulous! Also, keep a recycle bin by the door and sort mail as soon as it comes in. Next, have a designated place for important paper – say a folder, container, or drawer for bills. If yours is a household with multiple people, color-code your folders.
Food – If you don’t have a regular, healthy eating system now, consider putting one in place–before you get too set in your ways. For starters, keep a magnetized pad of paper on the refrigerator so as soon as you run out of an item, you can add it to the grocery list. Next to that magnetized pad, put another one to keep track of your refrigerator’s current inventory–especially the perishables (fruits, veggies, meat). This will help with meal planning ideas so that you don’t end up with fuzzy broccoli or melting mangoes.
Life Routine/Systems/Rhythm – Too busy to have a life routine? If my parents are any indication about whether people get less busy when they age, think again. They’re busier than I am. Life routines ensure you aren’t eating at 10:00pm and going to bed at midnight every night - that’s what my parents do. Their sleep and food schedules are all messed up. Consequently, my dad often forgets to eat and has trouble sleeping.
And, before you know it, the wrong things are driving your schedule – leaving less and less room for doing the things you love. Don’t let life happen to you, don’t live by default…you can determine your own personal rhythms.
Don’t worry that your decisions are set in stone, you can always shift later, but the important thing is to have systems and routines that are based on your individual preferences. These systems are always updatable at will.
Community – Everyone needs a safety net – you fall and hit your head, you get sick. Stuff happens, and if you have a community “bank account,” you feel more comfortable making withdrawals when you need assistance. You get out what you put in. You take care of your community and your community takes care of you.
Be an active participant in your own health care. The time to get vocal about your medical care is not when you’re gravely ill. Your doctor needs to know who you are as a person before you are too sick to come to your own aid. Your medical team is part of your community.
Dig your well before you need your water. For eons people have known that they need to create these kinds of community structures. It’s built into our genetic code, and if you don’t have this, you’re going against your ancestral wisdom.
Making Life Management Shifts
You might say, who cares about these things? Or, c’mon…I’ll do it later. But small things make a big difference. The whole point of making life management shifts is to have all of these areas systematized so that your life is at your fingertips and life becomes less of a drag. You have space left over to do the things that make you happy and healthy. And, while you don’t have to do it all today, the reality is, it almost never gets done later. And if you shift just one thing per month, you will have made 12 shifts in a year. That’s amazing!
Many people resist life management routines because they think it will make them inflexible and rigid–zapping whatever fun is left from their lives. And, the reality is, it could happen because some people want to baton down all the hatches. So, yes, they might become more rigid with more systems. But, if you set out with the intention to create order and routine so that you have more time and energy for what matters most, then you’re more likely to feel that your routines add flexibility to your life. Think of it as having structured flexibility.
If something in this article strikes a chord in you and you can see the benefit of improving your life management style, take a little action right away - before the feeling passes.
Take Action – Nothing Changes Without Action
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Set aside time this week to think about how well you manage your life. If you were doing a performance appraisal of yourself, how would you rate yourself on life management?
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Think of one small thing you can do to get started on improving your life or lifestyle management systems. Mark it on your calendar. Consider it a priority. And do it.
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If this kind of change feels overwhelming, get help. One option is life coaching with me as your coach. Details here.
Your Turn
See the comment link at the very bottom of this page? Click that link and tell us what you think about your own life management style. We want to hear from you!
See comments from the July newsletter here.
To your healthy, happy life!
Get the Healthy, Happy Living Newsletter
and Wellness Pack
New Guest Blogger - Wellness in the Very Fast Lane:
My technology and business strategist (and friend), Lena West, is starting a new category in my blog - it’s about her journey to live a wellness lifestyle while living in the very fast lane in New York. It ain’t easy! Lena will spill the beans about her own personal wellness challenges and successes. Read her first post here here.
Want to take the 21-Day Healthy Habits Challenge?
This 21-Day challenge will help you do these 5 things:
- Get clear on the lifestyle habit you want to put in place.
- Overcome inertia and get started reaching your goal.
- Guide you through small, consistent steps so you can build on your success and achieve your goal more easily.
- Improve your confidence to take action and succeed.
- Teach you new lifestyle behavior skills that you can use again and again.
5 more things it will help you do
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Cheryl Miller is a wellness expert and life coach. She specializes in helping people take action to live a healthy, happy life . . . in this lifetime.
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Cheryl Miller is one of the most innovative coaches in the industry. From her Healthy Fast Food Kitchen to her new Sit and Get Fit Program, she uses humor and proven strategies to motivate her clients into a Healthy, Happier Lifestyle.