Poem and Painting: Solitude at the Beach- Work and Life Balance

Dr. Murad Abel

The sands of summer,

subtle breeze of daylight hours. 

Whips of grass,

rustling in sway.

Salty sea of ocean blue,

A place to sit for a while.

On the shoreline grass,

Where noise is a soft hum.

The waves never stop rolling,
Always keeping the line of land and sea.

A few minutes of walking,
Life's problems step away.

A few hours a week,
Your focus will be at its peak.

The poem discusses the idea that each person needs to find balance in their lives, work life, and goals. At times that balance comes from spending time alone while other times it could be spending time with family or engaging in fitness activities. Each person should discover that which keeps them motivated about life.

Work is a process that is aesthetically pleasing for a great many high performance players. Yet life isn't only about work. It includes other things such as family, friends, goals, and hobbies. Professionals should round out their interests in life to include both work but also non-work activities.

In my experience I have met individuals whose only goal is to progress at work with little regard for the other needs in their life. They may eventually achieve their goal but must give up other things that also have importance. Too narrow of a focus takes away from the flavor of life and leads to burn out.

Find activities and hobbies that help you balance and round out your life. For example, if you like cars but never had a chance to put your effort into one go and find a classic junker to fix up on the few hours you own every weekend. Maybe you want to coach baseball, engage in art, or find something else of interest. The choice is yours!

The Benefits of Laughter for Grumpy Managers

Life is full of trials and tribulations but how we view life makes all of the difference. People look for the magic bullet and the fountain of youth by spending thousands of dollars on clothing, cars, cosmetics, pills, and surgery. The ultimate guide to happiness is in the way you view the world. Laughter is one of the best medicines to keeping yourself positive, happy, and productive.

Laughter has been noted in a number of studies of having benefits for physical health, psychological health, and social graces. It improves upon a number of areas of your life while costing you nothing but a change in your attitude and a new appreciate of life. If you are a grumpy business manager then laughter will likely be a good prescription for you.

Imagine for a moment that you are so focused on your career that you take little enjoyment from other activities in your life. Because you are so serious you are unable to find the comical side of life. Eventually your serious nature will impact not only your health but also your business prospects.

Encouraging more laughter is all mental that creates a habit. It is often the way we think about issues and how we find the silly side of life. If we are optimistic, feeling good, and thinking about the positive side of issues we are much more likely to enjoy laughter than if our thinking is negative.

Some of the beneficial ways to improve laughter beyond patterns of thinking is to watch funny shows, engage in a more spontaneous life, and try and find the positive side of each situation. If you have ever watched Family Guy or The Office chances are you are already to find some of the funny stuff going on.

Having a non-serious side can also be a great benefit for getting along with others. Being positive and laughing about most issues that might torque will help put people at ease around you. It shows a level of confidence that wouldn’t have been expressed otherwise.

Laughter is one of those things we can do for free and costs us nothing but a change in mood. Laughter is a learned skill much like thinking positively is a learned skill. Once we change how we view each situation and decide to enjoy the funny side of life things will seem just a little more jolly. Take a few minutes to laugh at yourself switch from CNN to the Comedy Channel for self-maintenance.

Eating Kale to Improve Health Even When Focused on Your Career

Work and health shouldn’t be opposed to each other. Watching the Baby Boomer generation I found them to be highly engaged in their work but often to the point of sometimes neglecting themselves, their families, and their health.  This can happen to any diligent people focused on their goals. Higher levels of performance can alternatively be found through proper work-life balance that includes the foods we eat that support our mental and physical health. Kale is one of the most critical foods you should incorporate into your diet to protect you from declining health when your focused on achieving career greatness. 

It doesn’t take long to look around any office in America and find people overweight, struggling with their health, and seeking to find some balance in their lives. When you are busy, homemade foods and healthy alternatives are difficult to find. It is much easier to eat lunch at your local restaurant, buy fast food, and generally snack to overcome boredom. Combined with sitting at a desk all day and you are on the fast track to putting your health at risk. 

The Benefits:

According to Medical News Todayeating Kale on a regular basis can lower risks of heart disease, reduce probabilities of diabetes, strengthen bone health, and help skin and hair. Kale is the single leafy substance that can make a significant impact on your diet just by incorporating a few servings every week. If you don't have time to work out then eat right.

How to Incorporate Kale in Your Life:

The best way to use kale, along with other healthy food, is to try and incorporate it into your daily habit. Some top places where you may want to use kale are as follows:

1.       Mix with salad.

2.       Use in sandwiches instead of lettuce.

3.       Chop up and put in soups.

4.       Mix with meat and other foods.

5.       Use as a side dish like other vegetables.

Weight Training for Professionals: The New Rules of Lifting

Strong health leads to stronger brains. Having a balanced life is important for overall success in one’s career. As you look around the office you may notice that many of your colleagues have a few pounds to lose. However, what is most striking is the dangerous nature of being out of shape, having stress, and working many hours. It can lead to heart attacks and other types of ailments. This can take a toll on your overall work performance as well as raise medical costs. Even if you are approaching middle age it isn’t impossible for you to get into great shape. The only question should be how?

The New Rules of Lifting for Life is a great book for middle age professionals over the age of 50. The authors Lou Schuler and Alwyn Cosgrove have done well outlining a workout routine for those who want to trim their waists while not trying to look like the hulk. It provides a nice overview of techniques for those who desire to maintain or improve their muscle tone at their rip age. It is a book for the long haul and not steroid popping teenagers.

A particular nice aspect of the book is that it provides some level of case study about how the muscles work and how they degenerate after a certain age. It also provides some success stories of those who worked out until they are about 70 years old and were stronger than those in their 20’s. The author insists that weightlifting is one aspect but the other half the battle is the diet. One must put the right stuff in their mouth to enhance their training performance. 

The book will bring you through core training, power training, squats, hinge, lunge, single-leg stance, push, pull, combination exercises and metabolic training. It provides an overview of the right techniques with pictures and form. Form is the one of the most important aspects of training making the difference in building as well as reducing the chances of injury. Even more beneficial are graphs and charts one can use to keep track of their own workouts. 

The book provided me a greater understanding of which exercises one should use as they get older. You won’t find much in terms of arm building within this book as most of the exercises are for total body fitness.  Beginners should always focus on the creation of core training before trying to pinpoint certain muscles. Yet as one gets good at combination sets and core training sets they may desire to find a book more related to specific exercises. 

If you are a working professional and are in need of tightening this may be the right book for you. Learn how to balance fitness, work, family and hobbies to develop a meaningful and full life. Each aspect can be used to enhance other aspects of your life. For example, exercise will reduce stress and increase workplace performance. Accomplishments in hobbies can broaden your mind and maintain interest in your core work requirements. 

Schuler, L. & Cosgrove, A. (2012). The New Rules of Lifting for Life. NY: Penguin Group