Success Secrets

LET’S TALK

Success Secrets:

Keys to Tapping Your Own Potential Success is the business oftrying to improve the thingsyou do. It’s growing anddeveloping. It’s acceptingbigger and greater challenges.And it begins withhaving a dream.

To find your dream, askyourself what your passionor purpose is and thenpursue it. After you have awell-defined purpose andknow what you want to do,a master plan of action — abusiness plan, if you will,for your future — is essential.Finally, you must have

persistence to stick with itand make it happen.

Keys to success

Look at the following list oftalents and characteristics.You’ll probably realize youpossess many of them; andthose you lack, you canacquire.

Successful people:

■Have ambition. Theywant to accomplishsomething. They havecommitment, pride and selfdiscipline.They’re willingto work hard and go theextra mile.

■Are strongly motivated toward achievement.People who excel in life arethose who produce results,not give excuses.

■Focus on things that are most important day in and day out.As a result,they’re not just busy, they’reproductive.

■Learn how to get things done.They use theirskills, talents, energies andknowledge to the fullestextent possible.

■Have the courage to admit they’ve made a mistake.They don’t wastea lot of time, energy, moneyor other resources tryingto defend a mistake or baddecision. When they make amistake, they admit it, fix itand move on.

■Work with and cooperate with other people.They have a positive,outgoing personality. Theysurround themselves withpeople who offer them help,support and encouragement.

■Are enthusiastic.They’re excited by whatthey’re doing, and theirexcitement is contagious.People want to work withthem, do business with themand be with them.

It’s easy to be enthusiasticif you like what you do.And let’s face it, life is too

short not to enjoy it.

Eating Together Pays Off

How often do you and your familyall manage to sit down together fordinner?Your answer means far morethan a chance to find out what’s goingon at your child’s school.

A HarvardMedicalSchool studyfound the odds of being overweight were15 percent lower among children whodined with their families most days.Other Harvard research shows that familiesthat dine together eat less fried foodand drink less soda. They’re also twice aslikely to have five servings of fruits andvegetables a day and drink more milk.

Your child’s health and waistlinearen’t all that’s at stake. The NationalCenter on Addiction and SubstanceAbuse at ColumbiaUniversity found thatteens from families who almost never eatdinner together are much more likely touse illegal drugs, cigarettes and alcohol.

University of Michigan researchshowed family meal time was the singlestrongest predictor of better achievementscores and fewer behavioral problems.

“Let children set the table, help decidewhat you’re going to eat and help preparethe food,” says renowned Harvard pediatricianT. Berry Brazelton, M.D. “Then,when you sit down, it’s not just Mommy’sor, in some cases, Daddy’s meal — it’severybody’s meal.

Be flexible, too. Philadelphia-areadietitian Althea Zanecosky, whorecently organized a family mealsconference, tells parents:

■It doesn’t have to be dinner. If Daddoesn’t get home until 8 p.m., Mom andthe kids can have dessert with him.

■It doesn’t have to be every day.Eattogether as often as you can and make ita pleasant experience.

■It doesn’t have to be gourmet.Choose time-saving foods like storecookedchicken, microwave veggiesor prepared soups.

■It doesn’t have to be home-cooked.Takeout is OK.

■It doesn’t have to be at home.Eating out occasionally can be fun.

Late-Breaking Health News

>Drug reactions send more than 700,000 Americans to the emergency room (ER) every year.

Accidental overdoses and allergicreactions to prescription drugswere the most frequent causesof serious problems, accordingto one study published inThe Journal of the American

Medical Association.

Researchers found a smallgroup of commonly prescribeddrugs — including insulin for diabetes,warfarin for clotting problemsand amoxicillin, a penicillin-likeantibiotic used for many kinds ofinfections — were to blame for manyof the problems.

People 65 and older faced morethan double the risk of needingER treatment.

A popular antiaging supplement was found to have no proven benefits.DHEA, marketedto increase muscle strength andpeak endurance, muscle mass andglucose tolerance, produces nosuch effects, according to a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Spring 2007 2

Mayo Clinic researchers restoredDHEA in older men and womento levels usually found in youngpeople and determined there wereno beneficial effects on age-relatedchanges in body composition, physicalperformance, insulin sensitivityor quality of life.

The researchers advise peopleto stop using DHEA because it’sunlikely to offer any antiaging effect.

The health advantages of eating seafood outweigh the risks,according to a report issued by theInstitute of Medicine in Washington,D.C. These conclusions could calmfears that contamination from pollutants,such as methyl mercury,and microbes, such as bacteria andviruses, make seafood consumptionunsafe.

Based on a review of previousstudies, researchers also concludedthe heart benefits ofeating salmongreatly outweigh what some studieshave suggested is an increased cancer

risk due to dioxin contaminationfound in farm-raised fish.

In a supporting study, researchersat the Harvard School of PublicHealth also found that eating fishcarries significant health benefits.Based on a review of previously published

studies, researchers found thateating 3 oz. of farmed salmon a weekcould reduce the risk for death fromheart disease by 36 percent and therisk for overall death by 17 percent.

Vitality-ON-Demand

A world of additional health information available via your computer.

You may think of this publicationas just a newsletter. But would youbelieve it’s also an access indexto one of the largest databases offamily health and personal self-care

data around? With our freeVitality-on-Demand (VOD) service,you can get all of the informationyou need any time you want it!

Visit formore articles and to searchfor topics you would like to

learn more about.

It’s simple. And it’s free.

Via the Internet: Visit our homepage at andpress the Vitality-on-Demandbutton to search by keyword.Or click on Special Reports toaccess the articles listed below.

SPECIAL REPORT

119 Identity Theft

120 How to Quit Smoking

541 Sensible Weight Loss

542 Lowering Your Cholesterol

543 Reducing Your Stress

544 Walking for Fitness

545 Workstation Comfort

546 Fixing an Aching Back

547 Start An Exercise Program

548 Controlling Allergies

549 Lowering Health-Care Costs

550 Living With Arthritis

551 Dealing With Headaches

552 High Blood Pressure

Spring 2007 3

Lower Your Financial Stress

It doesn’t have to be income tax time for you to feel the burden of financial stress.

Whether your credit card balancesare soaring, or you and your partnerare arguing constantly over nickels anddimes, there are things you can do torelieve financial stress.

You need to take action if the moneycoming in is less than the money goingout or you’re relying on plastic foressentials, such as food or rent.

To improve your financial health:

Set priorities

If you’re in a relationship, talk openlywith your partner about what’simportant to you. Write down yourshort-term and long-term financialgoals. Urge your partner to do the

same. This will help you determinewhich areas you need to work on. Andrealize that you may need to compromiseto come up with shared goals.

Set up a budget

Write down where all your money isgoing — mortgage and car payments,food, gas, telephone, clothing, etc.Then, see what can be adjusted so youcan live within your means. If there’snothing left to trim from your budget,you may need to think about newincome sources.

Stop taking on new debt

This may mean putting away creditcards and cutting back on extras, suchas eating out or going to concerts.If you’re used to enjoying expensiveforms of entertainment, you may needto seek cheaper options. Do you reallyneed a second car, or could you takepublic transportation?

Get in touch with your creditors

If you can’t pay what they want,explain your situation and ask aboutsetting up an acceptable paymentschedule. They may be willing towork with you.

A credit counselor also maybe able to help you dig yourself outof debt. But, be wary of counselingorganizations without credentials,especially if they charge high fees. Asafer bet is the National Foundationfor Credit Counseling (NFCC) at. For little or no money,an NFCC counselor can help youdevelop a plan for addressing yourfinancial situation.

Debtors Anonymous, at,is a 12-step program to help peoplerecover from compulsive overspending.

It’s possible to get out of debt, thoughdoing so may require new ways ofthinking and acting. As soon as youstart taking decisive steps, your financialstress should start to ease.

Sticking WithNew Habits

Taking action to change oldhabits isn’t easy, so if you’vemade some positive changes, youshould feel good about what you’veaccomplished.

Spring 2007 4

Many people find, however, thatthe hardest part of developing newbehaviors is sticking with them. Hereare some ways you can maintainyour new habits. With time, they’llbecome second nature.

Pat yourself on the back

Only you know how much hardwork you’ve put into your new habit,so you are the best person to giveyourself a pat on the back — anda reward.

For example, if you’ve quit smoking,treat yourself to a night outwith friends for every two weeks youremain smoke-free. If you’re tryingto lose weight, celebrate each week’s

weight loss by going to a movie.Eventually, you’ll notice how mucheasier you breathe without cigarettes.Or how much more energy you havewithout the extra weight.

Learn to deal with lapses

No one is perfect, so have a plan fordealing with small lapses.If you are learning to eat in amore healthful way and you go onvacation, you may find your eatinghabits slip a bit. You can deal withthe lapse by getting right back ontrack when you return home.

Remain flexible

Flexibility is key to maintaining newhabits. For example, you may haveplanned to exercise in the morningbut find it easier to exercise onyour lunch hour. By being flexible,you also allow for changes thatmay occur in your life.

Learning to maintain new behaviorsis an essential part of the processof change. You may slip up alongthe way, but don’t get discouraged.Persistence will pay off in the end!

Copyright © 2007 All editorial rights reserved.

Spring 2007 5