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Fort Wayne Site of the Day

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Spring Fever?

Every once in awhile we feel stuck. Or at least restless. Here's 4 ideas from the DLM Blog to consider:

4 Cures For Overcoming The Onset Of Mental Rigor Mortis

Posted: 01 Apr 2011 07:56 AM PDT

'By having an open mind, you will ward off the onset of mental rigor mortis or vision arthritis.'

The number of years denoted by the calendar and your birth date are no reflection of how old you really are, or how healthy you are in your spirit, soul and body. I have met twenty-one year olds who, in their mind and attitudes, are older than some whom I have met in their eighties.

Age is not a matter of chronology. Age is a matter of attitude, and of the state of your mind.

So to keep you from suffering from mental rigor mortis and vision arthritis, here are four cures that will keep you ‘young at heart’ and ‘young of mind’ for many years to come.

1. Keep Learning
   People who work a job and who do additional study outside of their working hours attract advancement. In this day and age there is no excuse for not pursuing some external study.
   
   Personally, I attend seminars, take online courses and position myself to learn new things at every opportunity. I make certain that I am always a student, because I have enrolled in a lifetime of learning.
   
   By doing this, your mind is stimulated, new ideas are sparked, fresh insight is revealed, and a different perspective is gained.
   
   I pay for some of this learning, but it is amazing how many complimentary courses are available – both offline and online in written, audio and video format.


2. Keep Reading
   Now I’m not talking about the newspaper here. I’m talking about selective reading of material that stimulates your brain, challenges you through questioning, and causes you to take notes.
   
   In addition to books, set up Google Reader on your computer so that you can be alerted about great articles that have just been written in blogs all over the world.
   
   Join your local library, and that way you have access to an incredible array of material for free.
   


3. Keep Great Company
   I’m a firm believer of the power of coaches and mentors. The greatest value of having these people in your world is that they are unafraid to ask you the hard questions. In addition they also keep you accountable.
   
   It is so easy to lie to yourself, and to fail to fulfill the plans that you have proposed to move you forward in life.
   
   Whether they are paid or unpaid really doesn’t matter. But make sure that you meet on a weekly basis for at least an hour for an extended length of time. Watch how that relationship makes you sharper in every area of your life.
   
   In addition, the conversation focused on your personal improvement – whether in person, or over the phone or via Skype – will develop you in your communication skills and perception.
   


4. Keep Pursuing Great Goals
   In my wallet I have a list of my goals that I carry with me and refer to on a daily basis.
   
   On this year’s goal list I have my:
   
   • Major goal for the year
   • Travel goals
   • Financial goals
   • Spiritual goals
   • Mental goals
   • Physical goals
   • Social goals
   • Business goals
   • Future goals – that spread beyond this calendar year
     
   In addition, next to my bed I have a major two-year goal that I am pursuing, and the financial reward for that goal once achieved. It is written on my note pad so that I see it and speak it each night before I go to bed and each morning when I rise.
   
   So by learning, reading, keeping great company, and pursuing great goals you are offsetting the disease that afflicts those who remain staid in their thinking and unchanged and unchallenged in their thought processes.

By maintaining an atmosphere of stimulated thinking, mental rigor mortis and vision arthritis will have no power over you. Healing shall be yours.

And here’s something to think about: Are there any other strategies that you have employed to maintain good mental and visual health?

Motivational Memo: The older I get the younger I think.

Written on 4/1/2011 by Peter G. James Sinclair . Peter is in the 'heart to heart' resuscitation business and inspires, motivates and equips others to be all that they’ve been created to become. Receive your free inhalation of 'motivational' life by subscribing to his Motivational Memo Blog today!

Photo Credit: lululemon

Fort Wayne Site of the Day

There's that sale coming up... Click on Pic

Video Time: Fur Coat?

P.E.T.A. might even approve of this one:

Fort Wayne Site of the Day

In case you're new to town... Click on Pic

$1000

Last week we premiered the Dave Ramsey Radio Show on one of my radio stations, WGL-AM 1250 which you can also listen to online here. We carry his show from Noon to 3pm daily.

A few days before we started the show, this AOM Blog shared this story:

Why and How to Start an Emergency Fund

Why do you need an emergency fund?

Because sh** happens and it can be expensive.

Kids end up in the emergency room; your car goes kaput in the middle of New Mexico; your water heater springs a leak. We’ve all experienced these setbacks and their accompanying bills. Some of us have suffered the misfortune of getting laid off and being without a source of income for months. Many people don’t plan for emergencies in their monthly budget, so when the poop hits the fan, they’re forced to take on expensive credit card debt to cover the bills.

An emergency fund is insurance for you and your family. Having cash on hand to cover unexpected expenses has two big benefits. First, it gives you peace of mind. Instead of wringing your hands worrying about where you’re going to come up with the money to cover an emergency expense, you simply transfer money from your emergency fund to your checking account. Crisis averted.

Second, and more importantly, it helps you get ahead financially. Instead of taking on more debt by using your credit card for emergencies, an emergency savings fund will prevent you from digging yourself deeper into a hole.

An added benefit of an emergency fund is the feeling of pride that self-sufficiency gives a man. You can’t beat it.

Where to Stash Your Emergency Fund

Your emergency fund should be liquid and easily accessible. While it may be tempting to get a higher interest rate by putting your money in a CD or mutual fund, those savings devices make getting to your money difficult when you need it most. Instead, opt for a boring old savings or checking account with a local or online bank.

Local banks. Local banks are great places to stash your emergency fund because you probably already do business with them. Just visit a branch and ask to open a separate savings account for your emergency fund. Depositing money into your account is easy because you can do the transaction in person. Ensure that your savings account is connected with a checking account, so you can easily transfer emergency money to your checking account when you need to spend it. The downside with brick and mortar banks is that the interest rate isn’t that great, but this isn’t a big deal because we’re not trying to get rich on the interest from our emergency fund.

Online banks. Online banks are a great place to keep your emergency fund because they typically have higher interest rates and lower costs and fees than the brick and mortar variety. A few years ago online banks like ING Direct and Ally had crazy monthly interest rates between 2%-4%, but they’ve since gone down to about 0.8-1%. Not fantastic, but still better than most traditional banks.

I keep our emergency fund in a checking account with ING Direct. The free debit card makes the money easy to get to when I need it.

The biggest drawback with online banking is the inconvenience. You can’t go into a branch to deposit money; to fund your online account, you have to connect it to a traditional bank. And if you don’t have a debit card for your online account, getting to your money can be difficult. You’ll have to request a transfer from your online account to your traditional account and wait three to four business days for the transaction to clear.

Personally, I find this inconvenience a helpful firewall that ensures I don’t cheat and dip into my emergency fund for things that aren’t really emergencies. But just do what works for you.

Should I keep some cash under the mattress? It’s not a bad idea to keep part of your emergency fund hidden somewhere in your house. Natural disasters and zombie apocalypses can knock out banks and ATM machines for days and even weeks, cutting you off from your money. $300-$400 in cash is a good amount to have on hand. Hide it in your mattress, store it in a fireproof safe, or even keep it in your bug out bag. For style points, keep your emergency cash in a secret book safe.

How Much Do I Need in My Emergency Fund?

When Kate and I were working on paying off our debt, we followed Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover. I know Dave has his critics, but his plan worked for us. Dave believes you should create a $1,000 emergency fund before you start working on paying off your debt. That way, you can use this small cushion for emergency expenses, instead of adding to your debt by using your credit card.

After paying off your debt, you begin building an emergency fund with enough money to cover three to six months of basic living expenses. We’re talking the bare necessities here. That’s about $5,000-$25,000 for most folks. This fund is designed to cover most big emergencies and provide enough money to live on in case you lose your job.

Emergency Fund Goal #1: $1,000 Fast!

Our $1,000 emergency fund came in handy several times during our debt repayment process. When I was in law school we had a few emergency car repairs that came up. We also had to make a couple of unexpected visits to the hospital. Instead of having to use credit cards, we were able to pay for these expenses with cash from our emergency fund. No new debt!

The goal is to get this $1,000 emergency account funded as quickly as possible. You also want to ensure that your account constantly has $1,000 in it, so whenever you use funds from your emergency account, you’ll want to replenish your fund as soon as possible.

“Alright,” you might be thinking, “This sounds good in theory, but how am I going to scrape together $1K when I’m barely making ends meet as it is?”

I know pulling together $1,000 can seem daunting. I’ve been there. We built our emergency fund when I was in law school. Kate and I were both working part-time, but we were barely getting by. Despite that, we were able to fund our $1,000 emergency stash in just two months. The key to creating a $1,000 emergency fund in a short amount of time is 1) increasing your income quickly and 2) cutting big expenses. In short, hustle and sacrifice.

There are a myriad of ways to cut expenses and increase your income. Listing them all would be a post in and of itself. So here are a few ways that helped Kate and I build our $1,000 emergency fund. I’d love to read what worked for you.

1. Have a yard sale. Taking part in a garage sale went a long way in helping us quickly reach our $1,000 goal. We piggybacked on a yard sale Kate’s parents were having and gathered together all the crap we hadn’t used for months and the things people had given us when we got married that we’d never used, and sold it. At the end of the day, we netted about $250, and it went right into our emergency fund savings account. The other added bonus was our place was cleaner and tidier without the extra clutter lying around.

2. Sell your old DVDs, books, and video games on Amazon.com. I’m a book hound. I love reading books. When I was in high school and college, I would often go to the bookstore once a week to browse and buy a new book. Consequently, I had amassed quite a collection of them. So I signed up as a seller on Amazon.com and put up all my old books on the site that I knew I would never read again.

It’s amazing how fast those books went. Of course, selling on Amazon or eBay can be a pain. I spent many of my weekends packaging books and standing in the line at the post office, but the time commitment paid off. I earned about $100 from my Amazon.com sales blitz.

When Kate and I got serious about paying off our debt, I curbed my book-buying habit significantly and became a zealous patron of the library (I freaking love the library).

3. Cut the cable. Cable TV is expensive, and let’s be honest, most of the shows on there are crap. Cutting cable from your budget can easily give you an additional $20-$100 a month depending on how much you’re spending on your plan. And if you’re really desperate to watch some of your favorite tv shows, check out Hulu.com. You can watch many shows on there for free.

4. Get a second job/work odd jobs. I’m sure you’re a busy man. You probably already have a job and a family. Or maybe you’re going to school full-time and working a part-time job as well. But if you’re serious about getting your financial house in order, you’ll be willing to make the sacrifices necessary to reach your goal.

Don’t be picky about the kind of second jobs or odd work you take on. Personally, I’m of the opinion that no work is beneath you so long as it’s ethical and you give it your best. There are lots of flexible jobs you can work on the weekends or in the evenings. Deliver pizzas, bartend, wait tables, mow lawns, retail.

I have one friend who was doing the Dave Ramsey plan and wanted to fund his $1K emergency fund ASAP. So he bought some numbered stencils and some black and white spray paint, and knocked doors all weekend seeing if anybody wanted their address painted or repainted on the curb. He charged $10 for his services. In one weekend he made $400 and in one month he had his $1,000. This guy knows how to hustle.

5. Stay in on the weekends. For Kate and I, an average Friday night out could cost $20-$50. By limiting ourselves to just one night out a month, we were able to contribute $100 more a month to our fund. We just had to be a bit more creative with what we did on the weekends.

6. Shop for a better auto insurance rate. You’ve seen the commercials on TV claiming you can save a boat load of money by switching auto insurance plans. Take them up on their claim. Visit Progressive, State Farm, Geico, American Family, and esurance to see if you can save a $100 or more by switching to them.

If you like your auto insurance and don’t want to switch, give your insurance company a call to see if they have any safe driving or customer loyalty discounts. You also might ask if you can reduce your rate by paying a lump sum once or twice a year instead of paying every month. Kate and I saved about $100 making that switch.

7. If you’re married, share a car. This is something Kate I have done since we got hitched and still do today. Having only one car saves you big money on car insurance payments, oil changes, and other auto repairs and expenses. Sure, it can be inconvenient sometimes, but it’s also a good way to spend quality time together. Really! Those car rides to and from law school were the few times Kate and I had to just talk each day.

8. Collect and gather your loose change. I was surprised how much money we were able to add to our emergency fund simply by gathering all our loose change around the house and in the car. Sure, you’re not going to fully fund your $1K with just loose change, but I bet you can collect about $20-$40 in change in a month. Every little bit helps!

Emergency Fund Goal #2: 3-6 Months of Basic Living Expenses

An emergency fund with three to six months of living expenses socked away can seem like a hefty goal. If you’ve never had more than $1,000 in your bank account, saving $5,000 to $25,000 may seem downright impossible.

Don’t let the enormity of the goal overwhelm you. Small steps will eventually get you there. Imagine the feeling of supreme, manly confidence you’ll enjoy knowing you have enough money to weather the storms of life.

Where you keep your emergency fund shouldn’t change even though you’ll have more stashed away. We still want these funds to be liquid and easily accessible.

Kate and I are working on this goal right now. It will be awhile before we reach it, but we’ll get there. Two things that are helping us reach our goal:

1. Take what you were paying in debt each month and put it in your emergency fund. As soon as Kate and I paid off our debt, we started taking the money we had been paying each month towards debt reduction and putting it in our emergency fund. We’re already used to allocating this money in our budget, so it’s been easy to redirect it towards this new goal.

2. Make savings automatic. I don’t think much about funding my emergency fund because I’ve put our savings on auto-pilot. With the ING Direct automatic savings plan, I’m able to automatically transfer a set amount of money from my primary checking account to my emergency fund every month.

Have you or are you working towards creating an emergency fund? Share your tips on how you’re getting to this goal!

Fort Wayne Site of the Day

Today's site of the day I discovered last weekend when I picked up a copy of the Fort Wayne Reader. Click on the above pic.

I am truely impressed with the creativity and inspiration that we have in our city. As a member of the Advertising Federation I get to see first hand some of the excellent work that our local advertising agencies produce each year when we have our Addy Awards.

But beyond the world of advertising is a project that was started by Nate Utesch and friends. Nate works for One Lucky Guitar. Nate is one of the 40 under 40 in Fort Wayne that were recently recognized by Business Weekly. And when you click on the pic above, you'll see the website that is devoted to this creative project that I'm refering to.

One more link.This should go to the online edition of the Reader that captured my attention. Click here.

Tech Tip Tuesday

Just some insight this week.

Last summer I bought my first smart phone, a Motorola Droid. It's the first phone I've had that can do more than text, take pictures and make phone calls.

On one hand I like being able to monitor emails, and twitter.

On the other hand, I'm a bit disappointed.

I have friends who have had iPhones for a few years and others had Blackberrys before that.

But the size of the screen and the keyboard are a pain. It's why I still use my laptop for 99% of the work I do.

I've seen the iPad and I'm not sure what I would use it for. There are certain programs that I use for work that are not compatible with an iPad, and I certainly don't need another piece of technology to haul around.

In about a year, I'll be keeping my eyes open to see what I might use for my next phone.

In contrast to my own feelings and usage of my smart phone, they have been gaining in popularity with no signs of slowing down.

Seth Godin shared his thoughts on all of this last week:

Small screens and big decisions

My take: the smaller the screen, the more hurried and less informed the decision ends up being.

Yes, there's more currency, more immediacy, more with-you-right-now-all-the-time and more data being collected. But......

If you're working with a spreadsheet or a thread of correspondence or a set of data, I'm not sure you're doing your best work if you're doing it on an iPhone.

Fort Wayne Site of the Day

Over 100 years old. Hope your mattress isn't. Click on Pic.

How to Rise Shiner

from the DLM Blog:

7 Simple Ways To Burst Out of Bed Each Morning

Posted: 27 Jan 2011 11:49 AM PST

Way before the sun peeks over the horizon, a few chosen people awaken from their slumber and dive head first into their day. These chosen few accomplish a ton before the rest of us would ever consider rising from our nice warm beds.

Who are these juggernauts that have command over the morning hours?

In theory, your productivity level shouldn't differ if you rise at 4am or 11am. What matters is the quality of sleep that's giving your mind and body sufficient time to recover.

These early rising juggernauts, these unstoppable agents of productivity, they see things differently. They see these early hours as their chance to lay claim to their share of the day. They rise with purpose, act with determination, and achieve ruthlessly.

The sun has not caught me in bed in fifty years. - Thomas Jefferson

The world is in awe of these special people, so let's take a look at what pops them out of bed like a toaster strudel and what gets them up, sometimes before the alarm!

1. Appointment With Waking
   The harsh truth about the human body is that we're creatures of habit. In some ways this can be extremely inconvenient when trying to take on new things. However, if we allow ourselves to live within the rules of our body's natural cycle, which is a 24-hour circadian rhythm, we will be pleased with the body's functionality.
   
   This means that when you find a waking hour that will work best for you each day of the week, you should stick to it. This will allow your body to want to support you in your endeavor of waking up, and rise you out of bed feeling fresh as a daisy.
   


2. The King and The Pauper Way Of Eating
   The way our bodies function optimally is if we eat like a king in the morning and a pauper in the evening. This means that it's best to eat heavier, bigger portions in the morning because these meals will give us high energy throughout the day and then burn off.
   
   Eating like a pauper, meaning small light meals, in the evening allows us to go to sleep on an empty stomach. If your body is functioning normally, and you don't have stomach ulcers, going to sleep on a mostly empty stomach will allow you to sleep better. This nightly fast allows your body to take it's focus away from digestion and put it towards repair and rejuvenation of the body's cells.
   


3. Living With Purpose
   Young children will do anything to avoid going to sleep at night. These same children are also the ones that can't wait to get out of bed first thing in the world. The simple reason for this non-lazy behavior is that they don't want to miss a thing.
   
   As adults we may need more persuasion than 'not wanting to miss a thing'. This is why we take extra steps in creating fun, life changing goals, and scheduling specific ways of how we'll get a step closer to these goals during this coming day. What we all need is not necessary a cause we're willing to die for, but at least a cause we're willing to LIVE for.


4. Plan Your Day
   We can say we're going to live with purpose, but unless we plan, we can tell ourselves that we'll start living with purpose next week, or the week after that. Planning is one of the fundamental ways to maximize your mind to achieve your goals, and as such it plays a critical role in allowing us to have an awesome day, everyday. We need not do more than take 15 minutes the night before to succinctly organize the next days schedule.
   
   A schedule complete with waking time, most important things of the day, eating and recreational allowances. Having a tight schedule allows me to live out my day with definitive purpose, while getting more done, having more fun, and not wasting precious moments of my life.
   
   
   

   “Happy people plan actions, they don't plan results” - Dennis Wholey
   

   
   
5. The Water Hack
   A bit of water before bed and half a liter as soon as you get up. The water before bed will serve in the rejuvenation process we mentioned above. While you sleep all your cells will fill up with this fresh water and create an over all well being within your body.
   
   The water in the morning does two things. One is it provides your first dose of water to get your mind and body going. Another function, as told to me by my endocrinology teacher (a very qualified person to say this), is that a dose of water in the morning triggers a cascade of physiological functions that engages your digestive system and causes you to excrete feces. You'll feel nice and light first thing in the morning!


6. Work That Body
   In number 1 above I mentioned that our bodies adapt around a 24-hour circadian rhythm. This works for sleep, eating, exercise, and many other bodily functions. We're a pretty efficient physiological machine when you think about it. This is why getting a dose of exercise is optimal in the morning. It gets the blood flowing and stimulates you to function on a higher level.
   
   
   

   "Those who think they have not time for bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness." - Edward Stanley

   
   
   Once you're used to this routine, your body will prepare by providing you with high energy before you start to work out. As you can see, if you wake up with this high energy, you're going to just pop out of bed.
   


7. Have 'Me' Time: No morning is completely satisfying unless you've scheduled in some 'Me' time. Whether you enjoy meditating to clear you mind and give you laser sharp focus, or reading to gain some new knowledge about the world, make sure you schedule in this time.
   
   There may very a variety of things you enjoy doing, so this will be custom tailored to the individual. The point is that when you have something you REALLY enjoy doing right when you get up, you won't be able to wait until that alarm goes off till you jump out of bed and get to it!

See, that's all it takes!

Written by Alex Shalman who is the author of How to Get a Girlfriend and Practical Personal Development Blog and Podcast.

Photo Credit: aramolara

Fort Wayne Site of the Day

Go up the radio dial as Media Monday continues. Click on Pic.

Fit or Fat

from the DLM Blog:

What Is Your Body Capable Of?

Posted: 26 Jan 2011 06:15 AM PST

Is your body out of shape? Do you want to become fit? No matter how unfit you are right now, it’s not too late to get your body back into shape. All you need to do is to establish and maintain an exercise routine.

In this post, I’ll share with you what has worked for me.

At the beginning of last year, I resolved to get back into regular exercise after a six-year break due to problems with Rheumatoid Arthritis. Now, twelve months later, I’m training in the martial arts again. I’ve turned into a runner, and I’m more fit than I was seven years ago. But I couldn’t have done it all on my own.

In order to find support, I started an 8-week Fitness Challenge on my blog Goodlife ZEN in October of last year. Over one hundred people joined (including Leo Babauta). It was so successful that I’ve now kicked off the Great Fitness Challenge 2011 with over 300 participants. Anyone is welcome - no matter how fit or unfit. What unites us all is the aspiration to improve fitness and lift overall well-being.

I’ve found exercise to be a miracle medicine. It improves your mood, combats chronic disease, helps you manage your weight, boosts your energy level, and promotes better sleep.

Can you get fit at any age?
The story of Bob Hayes, a farmer from Montana, is inspiring. Bob took up running at age 60 when his son encouraged him to take part in a 5km charity run. Bob struggled to complete the race. Afterward he said, “I wasn't feeling as fit as I would have liked to. Perhaps age is catching up on me?” Yeah, well – Bob was about to find out.

After his first run, Bob decided to join a local running club. Some months later, Bob took part in a half-marathon. Then he found that running long distances was what he enjoyed the most. Fast forward 20 years: Bob has turned into a celebrated ultra-marathon runner.

Last year Bob, now 83, completed his 12th LeGrizz 50-mile ultra-marathon (his first was at age 70). His time of 10 hours 47 minutes was 17 minutes faster than three years earlier when he was 80.

At age 83, Bob’s body is in a state many people in their twenties would envy. He says: “I’m in the best shape of my life!”

Can anyone get super fit?
Yes, you can build up your fitness and strength at any age. You might not become a star athlete, but good fitness is achievable for everyone. The key is to start with a routine that’s ‘too easy’. Being fit makes you feel great. It also makes you feel younger.

Bob Hayes says:

"When I'm out there in a race I never think how old I am, I think I'm the same age as the people running around me, so if they're 25 I think I'm 25 and if they're 55 I think I'm 55 so it keeps you young."

How to build up your fitness
Here are four tips on how to develop an exercise routine:

• Tip #1: Do what you enjoy
  If exercise isn’t pleasurable, it turns into a grind. If you enjoy dancing, try something like Zumba classes. If you enjoy a challenge, try martial arts. Or try tennis, rowing, running, hiking, swimming or one of the many other forms of physical exercise.


• Tip #2 Use ‘micro exercise’
  Maybe your life is very busy and adding a fitness routine seems just too much. In that case, try ‘micro exercises’. These are exercises you can do at odd moments. Let me give you a few examples:
  
  • While you wait for dinner to cook: do some incline pushups on the kitchen counter (place your feet 2 feet away from the edge, place your hands shoulder-width on the counter, keep a straight back and do push-ups. If it’s too hard, step closer. If it’s too easy, step back.
  
  
  • While you wait at the check-out in a store: strengthen your ankles and legs by rocking up onto your toes and down again.
    
  
  
  • While you sit at your desk: lift your feet off the ground and hold them there for 10 seconds or longer. This will strengthen your abs.
  
  
  • While you take a break at the office: do some squats (stand close to your chair, arch your back, and do squats, just touching your backside to the chair each time.
  
  
  • While you’re watching TV, do some stretches.
    
  These simple exercises don’t take up extra time. It’s a simple way to utilize stray moments for fitness.
  


• Tip #3: Use functional exercise
  One of the secrets of getting fit is to change ordinary tasks into exercise routines. Here are some examples:
  
  • Stop using your car for short errands. Instead, walk, run, or cycle.
    
  • Play with your kids.
    
  • Hang out the washing with squats. Leave the basket with washing on the ground and squat down each time you pick up a piece of clothing to peg it to the line. (Make sure your back is straight or hollowed when you do this.)
    
  • Use a staircase instead of the elevator. Get out one or two floors below the floor you need to go to and walk the rest.
    
  • Run up escalators. Make a habit of running up each time you’re on an escalator (if there’s enough room).
  
  
• Tip #4: Start running. Here’s how:
  I started running about four months ago after some previous attempts that came to nothing. This time I was determined to establish a habit of running in order to see how my body would cope with it. Now I love it and have started going on trail runs in the mountains.
  
  This is what helped me to start running:
  
  • Run slowly. It's important is that your body gets used to the action of running.
    
  • Run uphill. It’s a great way to strengthen your cardio-vascular fitness. And it’s easy on the joints because the ground rises up to meet you.
    
  • Alternate walking and running. If you are unfit but would like to take up running, start with very short runs. Maybe run just for 30 seconds, and then walk for 5 minutes or so. Repeat the pattern. As you get more confident, run for a little longer until you are able to run at a stretch without walking.

Unfit? Use easy everyday exercises
No matter how unfit you are, you can improve your fitness. A participant of the Goodlife ZEN Fitness Challenge 2011 wrote:

"I’m in horrible shape – I have actually gotten winded walking around my office. How to get your body back into shape if you are really unfit."

Whatever condition you are in, you can improve your fitness. If you are way out of shape, you need to take your journey of fitness very slowly. At the same time, it’s important to go to your edge regularly - wherever that may be. The edge of your fitness shows up when you get out of breath and you can feel your heart beating strongly.

There are some simple exercises you can do in order to start on your journey of fitness:

• Set a chair back about a foot from a table or desk. Now lean on the top and stand up. Repeat this until you are out of breath.


• Use one-gallon or half-gallon bottles with a handle (2 to 5 litres) as improvised weights. Sit on a chair with a weight in each hand, arms hanging down. Lift the weights chest-high and touch them together. Then bring them apart and return your arms to a hanging position. Repeat.


• If you are very overweight or have joint problems, try swimming or aquarobics. This will improve your cardio-vascular fitness without stressing your joints.


• Start walking. Even a short 5-minute walk will get your heart-rate up and speed up your metabolism.

Exercise with others
The best way to establish a long-term habit of exercise is to join others. It’s fun, and it makes you more accountable. Find others who practice the exercise you enjoy. Join a yoga class, train in martial arts, try Yumba, walk or run with friends - there are many ways to exercise with others.

You can also join the Great Fitness Challenge on Goodlife ZEN (it’s free). We’ve set up a forum for the Challenge and participants can check in each day and report how they’re doing. It’s inspiring to read how other people are going. Some of the participants (like Leo Babauta) are very experienced and offer great tips for exercising. It’s great to have a community with which to connect.

Make today the start of your journey to fitness.

Written on 1/26/2011 by Mary Jaksch. Enjoy more posts by Mary at Goodlife ZEN, and rev up your body in the Great Fitness Challenge. Or, team up with Mary Jaksch and Leo Babauta in the A-List Blogger Club, the acclaimed training program for bloggers.

Photo Credit: Ed Yourdon

Fort Wayne Site of the Day

No, I'm not going to go political on this website, but if you want to send me a link to a local candidates site, I'll probably feature it in the interest of spreading the word about Fort Wayne.

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