To all of you out there, who are trying to stay mentally sharp well into high age: Throw out all of your brain training software or videogames such as memory activities.  You are just wasting time, at least according to a recently published study in the Journal Neurology of the American Academy of Neurology. Instead, start running, biking, swimming, hiking or whatever kind of physical exercise you may prefer. The study showed that only physical activities were a significant neuroprotective factor.

Close to 700 people in Scotland, all born in 1936 and 70 years old when initially surveyed by the researchers participated at the study. They were asked about exercise habits and physical activity level, and also about their social life with friends and family or whether they did mentally stimulating activities.

Three years later, at age 73, the participants were given MRI brain scans. The result was that those, who did more exercise had less age related brain shrinkage and fewer white matter lesions. Participation at socially or mentally stimulating activities on the other hand didn’t make a difference in regards to the aging effect on brain size.

In conclusion, there seems to be no way around it: If we want to stay physically and mentally healthy as long as possible, exercise is the method of choice.

For me, these are expected but not necessarily welcome news. I don’t enjoy working-out and exercise though I’m regularly running 15 to 20 miles per week even in winter. I started a few years ago when age-related weight and health issues became bothersome. As I found out, it’s tough to completely change your lifestyle when you are already over 50 but with self-control and motivation, it’s doable.

It’s much easier when you have outside support and this is where a life coach can really be of tremendous assistance. A life coach will help you to set the right goals and develop a plan with you how to achieve these goals. There are many things to consider: for example don’t set the goal too high to prevent disappointment but high enough to be challenging. Also, if you add roughly three hours of exercise time per week as recommended, where do you find the time in your schedule? What would you be willing to give up to free time for exercise? How could you incorporate physical activities in your daily schedule like taking the stairs instead of the elevator, walking to the post office or mowing the lawn and raking the leaves yourself instead of hiring a company? A life coach will also cheer you on and celebrate your victories with you. I’m a life-coach and psychologist myself and I know I couldn’t have done the change from a couch-potato lifestyle to running a 10 k  without using my professional knowledge for my own benefit .

This being said, it’s a nice sunny and moderately cold November day outside and I will go now for my daily run.

This post was written by Christiane Turnheim. Christiane is life-coach at Coach4U.net and teaches psychology at a community college in Massachusetts. Email her for a free introductory coaching session at ten.u4hcaocnull@enaitsirhc .

More about the topic exercise: http://www.coach4u.net/content/healthy_lifestyle_coaching/#entry_675

Sources for the blog entry: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/10/121022162331.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29

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 “If you want to increase your success rate, double your failure rate” (Thomas Watson). “Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.” (Winston Churchill)

There are many quotes and inspiring stories about optimism, perseverance and how failures ultimately turned into successes. Just think for a minute about Abraham Lincoln’s political career. I think nobody questions that he was a very successful politician up to becoming president. Still, there were several setbacks in his career where he ran for office in congress or senate and didn’t make it – but he never gave up.

Inventor Thomas Edison spent countless of hours on the development of the carbonized cotton-thread filament for the incandescent light bulb. When a reporter asked him about the failures, Edison supposedly answered “I didn’t fail; I found out 2,000 ways how not to make a light bulb.” (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/National_Treasure_(film) )

Most of us would have given up earlier or not even started the endeavor.

Why some people are willing to embark on a long journey toward a difficult goal and others don’t even try is a question many psychologists would like to answer. There is evidence that genes play a role and some people are simply born more optimistic than others. However, there is also evidence that optimism can be learned, which is good news as this means we all can take steps to increase optimism.

Eight steps to increase optimism:

1. Don’t wait for life to happen. Set a goal and also define subgoals to mark progress toward your ultimate goal. Then make an action plan to implement your goal.
2. Celebrate milestones, for example when you reach a subgoal.
3. If there are setbacks, don’t give up immediately on your goal. Focus on  ways to overcome setbacks and remind yourself how far you have come already..
4. At the end of each day, recall positive events of the day. Find three things that you are grateful for that they happened. This can be mundane things like finding a parking spot quickly.
5. Surround yourself with positive and optimistic people. Over time you will learn from others to see the glass as half full.
6. Make sure that you do every day something just for fun. As more positive experiences you have, as more will you enjoy your life.
7. Exercise regularly. Studies show that physical activity acts like a natural antidepressant.
8. And last, but not least: Team up with a life coach to have someone who gently pushes you forward toward your goal, keeps you on track, is your cheerleader and sounding board, and helps you to overcome obstacles on your way to success. You will be amazed what a life coach can do for you!

 Written by Christiane Turnheim. Christiane is a professional life and career coach in Massachusetts and teaches psychology at a community college in the Boston area. She is author of the e-workbook “Job Satisfaction – Learn To Love Your Job”  . Email her at cten.u4hcaocnull@enaitsirh

Work- life balance  and opportunities to learn and grow  are the most important factors for job satisfaction according to a survey developed by Office Team, a staffing service. Read more

Improving wellness by doing more exercise and eating better is a popular New Year’s resolution. However, by now – not even two weeks later – many people have  a hard time sticking to these goals or even gave already up. According to a study by Richard Wiseman in 2007, ultimately more than 80 % of the resolutions will fail.

My experience with my clients is that many people simply want too much and too fast without being able to incorporate necessary life style changes into their daily life. If you didn’t exercise for many years, don’t expect suddenly to spend five hours in the gym per week.

I was asked recently how it comes that I’m able to stick to my running regimen of 15 – 20 miles per week for two years now though I was never running before. Here is my answer:

After several failed attempts earlier, I did two things differently in 2010:

First, I started with a small step, just learning to run a half mile daily. I was in such a bad shape that this was difficult enough, however it took only a few minutes out of my daily schedule. I could afford these minutes and this way, I experienced at first the advantages of more exercise in the form of feeling better and being more energetic before I had the price to pay – giving up something that I did for fun to free up time for exercising. Once I got in better shape, I slowly increased the distance. The pounds started to come off when I was at about two miles per day. The weight loss was of course a big motivator and today I’m running in average a 5 K on most days of the week. I lost more than 30 pounds and I am in a better shape now than I was 20 years ago.  I’m sure had I started with a longer distance right away, I probably would not have made it.

The second reason why I’m still running is that I learned to incorporate the exercise into my daily life. It takes out 30 to 45 minutes every day, and to make this work, I started combining my errands with running. I do as much as possible local now and run to the post office, library, hair dresser, subway station etc., often carrying a small bag. I found out that it doesn’t take much more time than going by car because I can use a different route when running without having to stop at traffic lights, and of course at my destination, I don’t have to search for a parking spot. Being able to combine exercise with errands makes it much easier for me to stick to my close-to-20-miles-per- week- goal.

In summary, like many people, I also had failed in the past with my resolutions. Two points  made all the  difference in 2010: starting slow and finding a way to combine exercise with my day to day life .

Christiane Turnheim is life coach in private practice and psychologist instructor at a community college in the Boston area. You can reach her at ten.u4hcaocnull@enaitsirhc

There is something about a New Year that entices many people to make resolutions to change their lives for the better. They decide to break some habits, live healthier, do more exercise, lose weight, or reduce stress… Of course, you don’t need a New Year for making resolutions, and therefore the following recommendations apply also to goals you may start to pursue anytime throughout the year

What often happens when we start to work toward a goal is that for the first week or two, we manage to stick to our plan. The problems start as time goes on and ultimately, most of us end up back with the old habits and routines which we were trying to break.

One of the main reasons for giving up on the resolutions is simply that many people want too much too fast. Changing ingrained behaviors takes time and effort, and occasional setbacks are to be expected.  If you want major changes in your life – and losing 40 pounds for example or starting daily exercise will require big lifestyle changes – you will be more successful if you take it one step at a time.

Here are six tips that when followed will make success with (New Year’s) resolutions more likely:

1)      Don’t make too many resolutions– you will have more success when you focus on one at a time. If for example you have three things in your life you want to change, then make a priority list and start with the most important. A year is long,  and you can work through your list as the year progresses

2)      Find out the degree of commitment to your goal. How strongly do you wish for it? Ask yourself the following questions: On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is “not at all” and 10 is ”extremely”:

•  How important is it for you to change the particular habit/situation
• How confident are you that you can stick to necessary behavior changes
• How ready are you to actually start with the changes today and stick with them for …… weeks/ months

Only if you are really committed to your goal, you will have a true chance for success

3)      Don’t reach too high with your goal to avoid feeling overwhelmed. Instead take changes slowly, step by step. Behavior changes need time, often months or even years, to become part of the new YOU. If you never exercised before, you most likely won’t have the strength to exercise daily for an hour or two. If you always ordered take-out and rarely ate vegetables, you may miss your usual food too much and give up on the eat-healthier-plan.  

 Also, for many goals you must make changes in your daily schedule to carve out time for exercise or for cooking. I experienced this myself when I decided to exercise more about two years ago: I first started to run for only 10 minutes per day – actually I didn’t have breath for more – and then I slowly increased this time in one minutes increments.  After two months, I was at two miles five times per week, now – almost two years later and more than 30 pounds lighter, I’m running a 5k five to six times/week and occasionally, I’m running a six- miles- lap. If anyone had told me at the beginning that I would do this today, I would never have believed it and if this had been my plan from the start, for sure I would have given up.  

An additional perk is that by starting slow you can enjoy more successes along your way. There is something to celebrate and to be proud of each time when you accomplish a step and then reach higher for the next goal. Nothing is more motivating than success.

4)      When setting goals follow the SMART goals rules, which say that a goal should be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-bound. For more about these rules, read my blog about SMART goals.

5)      Last but for sure not least: Be patient with setbacks. They are normal occurrences and actually to be expected. View setbacks as learning experiences, not failures. From a setback you can learn what to do differently. If you relapse into old behaviors, ask yourself: What worked for a while? What is the part that is not working so well? What kind of adjustments would help? Did something happen that you didn’t anticipate? What triggered the slip? Was this a sudden stumbling, or was this gradually building up? What would help to be better prepared next time? In regards to your action plan how to achieve your goal, what do you really like about the plan, what do you dislike? How can you change the plan to make it work better for you?

6)    Work with a life coach! Changing long standing habits and routines is not easy and it’s rarely a straightforward path. In fact, it could take up to two years until the new behavior turns into an automatic routine and the path to success may feel more like a roller coaster with lots of ups and downs.

That’s the reason why many people work with a life coach to accomplish a goal. Having someone at your side, who cares about you and your goal will increase your success rate.

As your life coach, I would design the SMART goal with you, define the action plan and then work with you through all the ups and downs, adjusting the action plan when necessary. For more information email me at ten.u4hcaocnull@enaitsirhc or call 781 777 2791.

Currently, job satisfaction is down to a record low in the US. About 55 % of Americans are unhappy with their work, according to a recent survey by the Conference Board research group.

Are you unhappy, too?

This eWorkbook will help you to identify strategies to get a satisfying job. “Learn to Love your Job” is not just a book to read. You will get 2 in 1, an eBook and an eCourse. “Learn to Love your Job” combines information with questions and self-tests about your own experiences and attitudes. You will also learn more about strategies to improve your job situation.

After reading the eWorkbook and doing the exercises, you will have a better understanding of your needs and what you are expecting from a job – besides a good salary, of course. You will know what makes you happy at your workplace and what triggers unhappiness.

After reading the eWorkbook “Learn to Love your Job” you will be able to answer among others the following questions:

• What are the 5 most important job satisfaction factors?

• How important are good relationships with co-workers for me? Do I have a strong need for building relationships with co-workers and/or customers?

• Do I need challenges in my work more than pay and benefits?

• How important is work for me? Am I just working for the money?

• What bothers me most at my workplace? My supervisor, not receiving recognition, or the working environment….?

• How can I improve my relationship with my boss?

• What can I do to make my work more interesting?

As the last two questions demonstrate, you will also learn how to change and improve the problem areas at your workplace so that you can finally say:

 I Love my job!

Chapter Overview:

1) What exactly is job satisfaction?

2) Why does job satisfaction matter? – Your health and job satisfaction. Test yourself: How satisfied are you at your current workplace?

3) Why are you working? Learn to distinguish between motivation and satisfaction!

4) What gets you out of the bed and to work every morning? Is it just the money? Or are you someone who needs challenges? How important are achievements and making a difference? Do you need interactions with other people? Read what famous psychologists say about motivation. (Herzberg, Maslow, Discrepancy theory, McClelland)

5) Role of key elements: Leadership and leadership styles, co-workers, salary and benefits. Take a test to determine your job happiness triggers! Discover also what you dislike most about your job.

6) How to get your dream job? Strategies to improve your current workplace.

7) Make an Action Plan, and start moving toward your Dream Job.

Don’t spend one more day in a dissatisfying job!      

Would you like to know more about the eWorkbook “Learn to Love your Job”? Call me at 781 777 2791 or email me.

How to be happy at work? The answer: Be happy in your life.

According to a new study published by the British Psychological Society people, who feel generally happy in their lifes are more likely to like their jobs. On the flip side, those who are unhappy in life are unlikely to be experiencing  job satisfaction. Also, looking for a new job is probably not the solution as those dissatisfied with their lifes will probably find something wrong with the new job, too.

So, what can you do? Psychologists still discuss and research the genetic component of happiness. However, it’s never genes alone.

People, who are unhappy in life and in their jobs have most likely learned certain thinking styles, behaviors, and expectations that hinder them to achieve happiness. Possible causes could be for example black and white thinking and perfectionism (if it’s not perfect, it’s awful), unrealistic expectations, focusing on negative aspects and neglecting positive events and so forth.

The good news: As these thinking styles, behaviors and expectations are learned, they can be unlearned.

Can money buy happiness?

An old question about which many books are written. To a certain degree, money is certainly important for happiness. Living in poverty is definitely no fun: If you have to worry day and night how to pay for rent and  groceries,  it’s difficult to enjoy life. On the other hand, being wealthy is not equivalent to being happy – countless stories about with life struggling celebrities in the tabloid press may serve here as confirmation.

A worldwide Gallup survey shed now more light on the most important factors, which make up happiness and the role of money.

According to the Gallup World Poll (136,000 people in 132 countries participated), life satisfaction and enjoyment of life are the two main components of happiness.

Life satisfaction, defined as the feeling that life goes well, increased with rising personal and national income. Hence, money is an important factor for satisfaction. However, the other component, life enjoyment defined as positive day-to-day feelings, depended also on other factors, such as feeling connected to other people, having personal freedom and feeling respected.

Original report here

Do you also occasionally wonder how some folks manage to go to the gym three or four times per week for an hour or more? I do, because with kids, house, garden and last but not least, two jobs squeezing out time for the gym seems impossible. I do know, it’s recommended – still, I don’t have time for it and this is no excuse. Now, at least, I don’t need to feel guilty anymore about the little exercise I do.

A study at McMaster University in Canada has shown that doing several times per week high-intensity interval training (HIT) is as beneficial for your health as  traditional long term exercise. For the study, volunteers did three times per week ten one-minute sprints on a stationary bike with one minute rest in between. In total they got 30 minutes of exercise. The results of the study were  published in the March issue of the Journal of Physiology .

What I learned from this study is that in good conscience I can replace hours of endurance training, for which I don’t have time in my busy life,  with a few minutes of intense exercise on my stationary bike. Works for me.

Christiane is Life coach and psychologist. Contact her at www.coach4u.net