More and more Americans are using their hard-earned vacations to get healthy and fit. In fact, fitness vacations are a hot trend – with Pilates replacing pina coladas and personal trainers serving as your tour guides. It makes sense, because people and especially women want to take better care of themselves. But the key to getting the maximum benefits is to prepare yourself to work as hard as you can, learn a new way to eat and exercise so when you come home the fat keeps coming off and stays off long-term.

Experts say that jump-starting a new fitness regime is actually easier on vacation because you are not tempted by a full refrigerator or a cookie jar in the kitchen. Your trainer will be able to help you plam your meals and make better food choices – information which will help you take off pounds and keep them off.

Here are a few tips for a successful fitness vacation:

1. Choose holiday destinations with plenty of physical activities. Instead of going to the usual tourist sight seeing trips abroad, choose holiday activities that require you to burn calories and yet have fun.

2. Before beginning, be sure to have your fitness assessed by the trainer.

3. Speak to the trainer before you head out of town and prepare everything you will need for your trip, so you have no excuses once you start a new plan and no distractions.

4. Do something active every day, trying to incorporate different cardiovascular, flexibility, and strength exercises within the time you are away.

5. Always make sure your instructors are certified, licensed professionals.

6. Find out in advance the logistics behind the activities the establishment offers. How long does the activity last? How much training and or skill level is needed? What equipment will be needed? What is the action plan? How safe is it?

7. Consider your individual needs. It’s important to take a fitness vacation for the right reasons. Make sure the trip will allow you to return rested, relaxed, and with enough energy to resume your daily routine. Also, the trip should produce happy memories and peace of mind.

Be sure you can afford the trip and that it won’t break the bank and that it is the right time in your life to take this kind of vacation.

The best thing about your fitness vacation? You can deduct it from taxes! That’s right! Did you know that certain fees associated with weight loss may be tax deductible! For several years, the IRS has considered certain weight loss fees as tax deductible.rul.Tax deductions may be available for fees associated with weight loss. The only caveat: A doctor’s prescription may be required. Happy Travels!

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This woman had what I call “But It’s Just Me” Syndrome. In other words, she was thinking: When will they find out I’m a fake – it’s just little ole’ me?

Of course, she isn’t a fake. In fact, she’s light years from it. But her comments stood out to me because it showed me that even a business owner who is closing in on doing a million dollars in business this year can struggle with the same self-doubt that others do who are not yet at that level. I see it over and over. Many of us share the same thoughts, feelings and internal chatter. I believe that we are all more alike than we are different. Our commonalities are so much greater than we know.

If you find yourself suffering from “But It’s Just Me” Syndrome, here are some practical things that you can do to quickly distance yourself from energy-depleting thoughts and get you back on track so you can continue to serve the people you are meant to serve and enjoy your life:

1. Start hoarding: Keep every card, note, email and tweet that comes to you expressing gratitude. Post them on a bulletin board or somewhere you’ll see them frequently. If you get too many to keep out in clear view, place them in a binder. The great thing about having a binder is that you can take it to trade shows to help showcase your brilliance or just read through it from time to time to give yourself a boost.

2. Fill in the blank: “The results I help my clients achieve are…” Make a list of 30-40 results you have helped your clients achieve. The more specific you can get with this, the better. Take it in and realize how much you have given those clients. Perhaps it’s more organization, peace of mind, more money, clarity, focus, a strategy, a product they need, etc.

3. Read your testimonials: This is a very valuable tip, and it’s reason enough to collect testimonials! Yes, you should use testimonials in your marketing, but when you start to question your value or if it’s time to raise your rates, read through your testimonials and take note of how much you have helped others accomplish. It’s a real eye-opener.

4. Tally up the numbers: Start looking at your numbers. For example, how many people have you helped in the last year? How many new subscribers joined your ezine list? How many referrals have you gotten? Remember that people will not pay money to work with you, read your ezine or put their own reputations on the line if you’re not great at what you do. These statistics tell a compelling story about you and the value you bring to your community.

5. Pay it forward: Remember that most people you meet who are in business for themselves will struggle with “But It’s Just Me” Syndrome from time-to-time. In other words, you’re not the only one with occasional self doubt. Take a few minutes and write someone else a note or testimonial each month. Let them know how much you appreciate them. Specifically, tell them about the impact they have had on your life or business. Writing a letter like this does a couple of wonderful things. It allows you to feel and express gratitude while also lifting someone’s spirits. It’s a win/win!

These simple ideas can really give you a huge dose of motivation, remind you of how great you really are and add some pep to your step when you need it most.

Copyright © 2009 Meredith Liepelt

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“If you’re going through hell, keep going.” Winston Churchill.

You have a problem. In order to solve it you’re going to need to make some changes. The thought of that is making you stressed, but the thought of leaving things as they are is even more stressful.

You want to make changes but you know that there are risks involved in doing so. Perhaps you’re thinking there’s someone who won’t approve or someone who may be upset. Maybe you’re wondering where you will find the time to make those much needed changes or you are telling yourself it’s not possible to improve the situation. Whatever you perceive as the risks involved in moving forward is making you anxious, and that is holding you back.

The first step in overcoming your challenge is to work out exactly what outcome you want.

Ask yourself:

In an ideal world how specifically do I want this situation to operate in the future?

The word ‘specifically’ is important here. Decide when you want the situation to have changed and then imagine yourself at that point in the future. Allow yourself to become immersed for a moment in that vision of the resolved issue. Write down now in detail and with clarity what will happen and what you will see, hear and feel when you have resolved this challenge.

The next step is to see this challenge in terms of who you are as a person.

Ask yourself:

Taking into consideration my personal and professional values; my work ethics; my peace of mind; my goals; – am I willing to continue to tolerate this situation as it is now?

Now ask:

What are the risks involved? What specifically am I anxious about? What is stopping me from sorting this out? Make a list.

Now one last question:

Is the outcome I want worth the risks involved in attaining it? If your answer is a resounding ‘Yes!’ then you can now start to work out your action plan to reach the goal.

Stress itself is not the problem. If you want growth and you want change then decide to tolerate the anxiety that will be inherent in it. As long as you continue to balance the risks involved against your desired outcome and who you are as a person your anxiety will begin to dissipate. Then instead of holding yourself back you will empower yourself to move forward.

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Myself and my family recently spent an evening on our balcony star-gazing – watching the annual Perseid Meteor Shower – when the earth passes through a band of wayward comet grit. Many people might just see one shooting star in their lifetime – but, in the space of about twenty minutes, we counted a dozen. It was a humbling experience. Here we were, five insignificant dots on the balcony of a house – no more than a dot on this planet which, in itself is no more than a tiny pebble spinning at high speed through a vast space. That evening, we watched pieces of rock – undoubtedly billions of years old (comets are leftovers from the Big Bang) – spend the last seconds on their existence as they burned up on entering our atmosphere.

As I say, it was a humbling experience and one which gets you thinking about who you are and your place in the world – and the universe. It also gets you thinking about what people believe in – and why, as a client asked me recently, very bad things happen to ordinary people. She asked why “a loving God” would be party to the tragic drowning, whilst on holiday, of her five year old nephew. My answer related to the universe and how it responds to the things that most occupy our minds (her nephew’s mother was always convinced that something dreadful would befall her children and, as a result, was over-protective).

God – who probably does not exist in the traditional religious sense – is not a loving God. God is a responsive God. Quantum physics tells us that there is a mathematically improbable degree of order in the universe because that order is being “orchestrated by an underlying entity or singularity”. Quantum physics also tells us that the energy of the universe is responsive to our energy – responsive to the things that most occupy our minds.

Psychology tells us, however, that normal people’s minds are most occupied by nonsense – whether it’s the fifty thousand random, mainly useless, thoughts that pepper the conscious mind daily or the extent to which all normal people’s minds tend towards the negative. There is strong empirical evidence to prove these facts.

As a result, the responsive universe, of which we are an integral part, gives normal people what they inherently expect – varying from the norm of “not too bad”, to the tragedies that pepper the human condition. It’s not that “God” does awful things, it is that we conscious or subconsciously wish these awful things upon ourselves. Buddhism might call it karma, Christianity might say the what goes around comes around – either way, these are the fundamental truths of our scientifically proven responsive universe. We get what we expect.

That truth goes a long way towards explaining our part of the greater whole – it goes a long way towards explaining why the collective nonsensical thoughts of normal people wreak havoc, on a grand scale, in our world – whether that be from war and oppression or the starvation of millions in a world where many feast themselves into obesity. That truth also gives us an insight into how we can live better lives, experience happiness, peace of mind and effortless success. In other words, it’s all in our minds.

We’ve got to change our minds in order to play a positive role in the great responsive universe in which we live. We’ve got to step outside the norm – become abnormal. We’ve got to expect something different and, quantum physics tells us, something different will happen – for us, for those we love and for the world at large. In other words, we’ve got to carve out our own destinies. It is our responsibility – not that of a “loving God”. After all, God loves a trier – God helps those who help themselves.

This extraordinary – or abnormal – journey starts and finishes within. We’ve got to take responsibility for the only thing that we can fully control in our lives – our own state of mind. We have extraordinary inner energy, power and potential. And, yet, normal people only use 1% of that inner power – the rest of it idling destructively on useless thought and the negative. If we want more out of life, we need to invest more than 1% of our mental or spiritual energy in the universe and, in turn, as sure as night follows day, the universe will respond.

The steps on the personal journey that can bring us an abnormally successful and happy life are taken one at a time – moment to moment. No one can commit to being abnormal for the rest of their lives – each of our lives is lived moment to moment in the here and now, the only place and time we have and the only time in which we can commit to being either abnormal, or abdicate our responsibility for ourselves and lapse into horrible normality. Hence, the “power of now”.

The most effective way of taking control of your inner power and potential is to increase your attentiveness to what is happening and where you are, in the present moment. This is easily done by paying attention to what your five senses are telling you. We all did this as children but research tells us that we pay almost no attention at all to our five senses as adults. We need to really, really see, feel, hear, smell and taste where we are. In doing so, we prevent our minds dwelling on useless thought or on the subconscious negative. In doing so, we change our experience of now and, as a result, we change our lives. Most importantly, in doing so, we become more attuned to the free-flowing energy of a responsive universe.

Copyright © 2009 Willie Horton

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Various research organizations around the world have discovered that lack of “Peace of the Mind” over a prolonged period could lead to illnesses such as mental disorders, stress, panic attacks, depression, anxiety, restlessness, sleeplessness and overeating.

In some cases, the prescription has been some “long doses of practical therapy on acquiring peace of mind” without any need for medication. In other cases, depending on the level and intensity of the illness, medication is administered in combination with therapy treatments.

When you are true to yourself, you are producing and emitting a very powerful energy that attracts like bees, because this intelligence within you will glow as “original”, it’s hot and it’s brilliant.

OK, let me just illustrate this with some examples:

We know that all over the world, people generally admire original work, for example, an original painting will be admired closely by those who are interested and highly motivated in this area of work.

The World Famous Mona Lisa painting by Leonardo da Vinci, painted between 1503-1506 is still fascinating to this day, due to the unique and subtle modelling of forms and qualities, which gives it that “original” personal creativity that people love.

And people still admire this creative work with curiosity as to what was going on in the Creators mind when he was painting this masterpiece. It’s not surprising that this admiration for Mona Lisa still goes on, many years after Leonardo’s death in the year 1519.

Another example is the case of entertainment shows like Britain’s Got Talent, America’s Got Talent, which has captured the world all over. These ideas were pure creative thoughts starting from the “Mind at Peace with Itself” of the Creators.

The same would apply to original Music, Creative speeches such as President Obama’s famous Speech in 2004 in Boston, Massachusetts, well before he was elected or any other work that is purely original.

So, the interest generated by those who take time and make the best efforts to create from within is usually Captivating and Magnetic.

For example, if you go back, right back to the principal of anything in life, being creative and true to yourself is fascinating and enjoyable, because you could do it all day without noticing time go by and without strain or anxiety.

Having Peace of Mind to be Creative also captivates other people around you with a sense of encouragement or a feeling of higher aspirations for themselves, knowing that they too can create “peace of mind” and happiness by “enquiring carefully from within”, and then taking the necessary steps to get there.

Peace of Mind takes you to a different level of thought power and sets your mind to discover your own unique personality from within.

So you connect with your inner self in your own special way because this makes it natural to you, even as you go through challenges.

You’ll then appreciate that going through challenges is part of life and as long as you live, you’ll have challenges, so why not co-operate with your inner mind in harmony with yourself, seeking the peace of mind that afford you to fully understand yourself and what you want in life on a deeper level.

You see, some people just drift through life, and then wonder why things just don’t improve in their lives.

All that can change by carefully and gradually getting in tune with your life’s true desires, slowly but steadily.

The exercise of creating “Peace of Mind” should be practiced diligently until “Peace of Mind” is felt from within. Then the habit of maintaining peace of mind should be continued on a daily basis.

In doing this, there must be no mental hurry, strain, or anxiety to the body because when you have peace on your mind in harmony with your inner self, you are connecting with your true inner mind’s desires, understanding that “Peace of Mind” can skyrocket your creative abilities in a magnificent way.

Now, you may ask, how can this process be started when there seems to be so much for people to juggle with in modern day living?

OK, the first thing here is learning how to Relax, so that you can start on a platform of absolute relaxation because this is where you’ll begin to discover your own peace of mind.

Examples of how to start include:.

Breathing and Medication Exercises

You can start with simple breathing exercises and meditation. Look for a quiet location and make yourself comfortable, now take a few deep breaths then exhale with a feeling of ripples of relaxation going through you.

Make this a very personal experience and gradually peace of mind would begin to transpire as part of your personal life. Feel your body accepting this peace of mind and totality basking in your ideal peaceful desires. Make time to do this at least 15 minutes daily, believing that you already have it.

Images of Your Ideal Peaceful Scene

Create mental images of your Ideal desires surrounded with Peace and Love around you. Ask yourself questions like – what would give me a feeling of absolute peace right now? Make this picture as realistic as possible for you, and keep this picture steady in your Mind daily, with absolute belief.

Simple Positive Self Talk

Aim to communicate positively with yourself and others around you on a daily basis and repeat statements like the following at least 20 times a day, once again, believing that this is you, creating absolute peace in your Life.

Ok, let’s say this together:

“I have absolute Peace of Mind in my life and this Peace of Mind affords me a fuller expression of things that I do, in harmony with my true creative energy”

Or you could say:

“Peace of Mind is always present and improving in my life on a daily basis”.

Understand that for some people, it may take some time for these statements to sink in, but do not concerned yourself of this because just as you eat food, this is “Peaceful” food for your mind.

At the same time, don’t seek anxiously to measure how this “Peace” is working within you.

Why?

Because it’s working on a subconscious level and in time it will begin to transpire in your daily life just as you proclaim and believe it.

Other sources of peace of mind would include your favourite music, walking in natural surroundings, your hobby, helping others understand and express peace in their lives, and living with a mental attitude that cultivates peace of mind.

And what would all this do for you?

It will eventually afford you the absolute pleasure of discovering your very own unique “Joy of living” that comes from deep within you. It builds harmony with your conscious and subconscious mind, allowing you over a period of time to eventually become Master of your own environment and circumstances around you, wherever you may be.

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