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I have been taking karate for quite a few years now. I’m a second-degree black belt, so not quite a beginner. It takes lots of hard practice to get this far…yet I am pretty sure that I would still have a great deal of trouble using it against an attacker, especially one with any size behind them.

Early in my university years and again when I was working within a college, I took a couple of basic self-defence courses. They did two things. They enhanced my awareness of the dangers and gave me ideas for options that I could use. They were definitely worthwhile.

Fear is powerful. And so it should be. Fear keeps us on our toes. It warns us to not be in dangerous situations. Even the best karate move is not to be there when the attack comes in.

Take One Action Today To Build Your #Resiliency! Tips For Building Resiliency and Celebrating Personal Self-Defense Month

Consider your answers to these questions.

Do you know what to do if someone grabs you? If not, you may need to take a course on basic self-defence strategies

Are you aware of your surroundings? Don’t become complacent, even in familiar situations.

Are you confident in yourself and do you carry yourself in a confident way? Learn how to walk with confidence. This can be the difference of a potential attacker thinking that you are an easy target and them moving on to the next person.

Take your personal safety seriously. Be prepared. Be Aware. Look like you know what you are doing.

Want to find more strategies to coping with stress? Check out my website at worksmartlivesmart.com

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Have you worn a milk moustache today? January 11th is milk day, the anniversary of milk being first delivered in glass bottles.

I grew up on a dairy farm. Milk was a part of every meal. I can still remember my dad skimming the cream off the milk for his cereal and the first time I stayed with my aunt who ‘bought’ her milk from the store, and thinking that it was so watery. Nothing at all, like what I was used to.

Even after 7000 years of drinking it, milk is still very controversial. Many say we need it for bone growth, but there are those who say we shouldn’t drink it, as it can increase our risk for certain diseases.

Take One Action Today To Build Your #Resiliency! Tips For Building Resiliency and Celebrating Milk Day:

Watch what you drink. Add more water and milk to your diet as opposed to pop and other sugary drinks. Studies show that kids and adults who drink milk are less likely to consume sugary drinks which add no nutritional value to their diet.

If you are having trouble sleeping, try a cup of warm milk. The chemicals in milk, along with the warmth of the drink, can help to produce that sleepy feeling.

So to honour my dad and brother, here is a little milk day humour…..

Q: What did the farmer call the cow that had no milk?

A: An udder failure.

Don’t forget that you can find more tips for promoting health, by checking out my Live Smart blog at worksmartlivesmart.com

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Are you and your family spending too much time as couch potatoes?

Although this is Family Fit Lifestyle Month, healthy habits should be a lifelong journey. I recently asked my sons what life lessons they have they learned from me (risky question but I wanted to know). I was proud to hear some of things that they said. Both of them said that one of the important lessons was around eating right and exercising often. They said that it has helped them to be good athletes and to feel good. (So all that harping around eating their lunch and working hard at practise has paid off after all). They saw me involved in fitness activities even when I was not naturally good at them. And they saw me having fun anyways.

Take One Action Today To Build Your #Resiliency! Tips For Building Resiliency and Celebrating Family Fit Lifestyle Month:

Reward participation in fitness activities. Be each other’s cheerleader.

Have fun. Fitness shouldn’t be boring or feel like drudgery. If it does that you haven’t found the right activities. Some of us prefer activities that we can do alone. Some of us need the watchful eye of a coach. Others prefer team settings. Fitness activities should be something that we look forward to.

This year, set a few goals for creating a healthier family.

Looking for more ways to build your resiliency? Take my free on-line vulnerability test at worksmartlivesmart.com under the resources and courses tab.

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“What do you say?” “Thank you”

As parents, we probably said this a lot, as we taught our children to be thankful for the gifts that they received or when others did nice things for them.

Are You Thankful?

I think as adults we sometimes forget to be thankful. We often focus on the difficulties and on the things that are not going right and sometimes we lose sight of the things that are going well and the blessings that we have received.

A line of wisdom goes…You cannot welcome more abundance into your life until you have said thanks to the universe for all that you have. January is the month of new beginnings. Let’s kick it off by being truly thankful.

Take One Action Today To Build Your #Resiliency! Tips For Building Resiliency and Celebrating National Thank You Month:

Make a list of all that you are thankful for in your work and personal life. Be specific. True blessings are the things in your life that resonate importance and touch your core.

Know that when we are full of thanks, we radiate this to the people around us and we impact them in a positive way.

Hang out with people who are truly thankful. It is contagious, and you will feel energized, and inspired.

Discover how to take small steps towards a healthier, happier, less-stressed you by visiting my website at worksmartlivesmart.com

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Negative attitudes and behaviours are usually expressed when our customers are stressed out or they just don’t have the energy to use better communication skills, judgment and manners.

Being stressed out is chronic in today’s society. We often have too much to do, too many decisions to make and are usually running behind schedule. The difficulty behind the negative attitudes and behaviours is that they are highly “toxic” to our staff.

Dealing with difficult customers can make us feel grouchy, out-of-control and can rattle staff to the point where they may quit.

It takes a lot of energy to be positive, to keep things in perspective and to actively fend off this toxic effect. As the leader, there are several steps that you can take to ensure that your staff can effectively handle the best and the worst in these customers.

Take One Action Today To Build Your #Resiliency!

So here are Today’s Tips For Reducing The Impact Of Negative Attitudes and Celebrating Thank You To Your Customer Day:

1. Discuss the types of customers that you may encounter ahead of time. What are some of the common complaints that your staff may face’ Share past experiences and horror stories with each other and prepare answers and solutions ahead of time.
2. Teach your staff how to keep their composure, be assertive and know exactly what it is they want to communicate.

Looking for resources to build your resiliency? Check out my Live Smart blog at worksmartlivesmart.com

#mentalhealth #hr

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Do you hold a grudge?

January is the month of new resolutions. It is also the month to Get Over It. Whatever ‘It’ is.

‘It’ can be very destructive emotionally and physically. It is not to say that feeling hurt or angry is bad, but holding on to hurt and anger for a long time is.

Take One Action Today To Build Your #Resiliency!

Tips For Building Resiliency and Celebrating Get Over It Month:

Weigh the risks. Holding a grudge takes energy and has a negative impact on your health. It can keep you awake at night. It can cause excessive dread and worry and negatively impact your digestion. It can bring about Depression. Weigh out the risks of hanging on to that grudge or negative emotion and see if it really is worth the energy.

Learn to accept what is. You may not hear an apology. The person may never admit their mistake but that shouldn’t be the goal in trying to get over something.

Often hearing someone say sorry doesn’t make us feel better. Only you can change your perspective and focus, so start today and Get Over It.

Looking for resources to build your resiliency? Check out my Live Smart blog at worksmartlivesmart.com

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Having trouble returning to work on Mondays? Feel like you never really left? Struggling with the blahs’?

Studies show that happiness at work may be the most important success factor for a modern workplace and that happy companies make more money!

Your happiness at work is your responsibility. Not your boss’s, not your co-workers’ and not society’s. It’s Yours. However, if you are a boss or leader it is your responsibility to set a culture where it’s easy to be happy at work.

Happiness at work doesn’t only come from the policies, strategies, plans or values. It comes from being able to do great work with great people.

Take One Action Today To Build Your #Resiliency!

So Here are today’s Tips For Building Resiliency and Celebrating Thank God It’s Monday:

Decide to say, “Thank God it’s Monday”. Make sure that you set the intention to be grateful for the fact that you have a job and grateful for the fact that you get to demonstrate your talents to the world through your work.

Smile – it is contagious. Just as negativity is contagious, so is being optimistic, fun and happy.

How you show up in life and at work, matters! If you are just going through the motions, you will be shortchanging yourself and depleting your happiness.

Looking for more tips to build your resiliency? Look for my book on Amazon called Stress Out! 52 Weeks To Letting More Life In

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Everyone hates change.

So many people I know believe that this statement is true. However, the truth be known, people don’t really hate change, they may just dislike the process of changing.

I know that people will only change when the behaviours that they have been using stops getting them the results that they want.

With the start of the new year, many of us have taken the time to reflect on the past year’s events or our life. We may have set some goals for the upcoming year based on these reflections. When we set our goals for the future and aim to be more on purpose with who we want to be, we need to see and feel the past as uncomfortable and realize that life requires change.

Take One Action Today To Build Your #Resiliency!

Tips For Building Resiliency and Celebrating Living On Purpose Month:

Know Your Why. To reach your goals, you need to identify the reason for the change in the first place.

Sometimes it helps to write this ‘why’ down and keep it available, because sometimes when we are in the midst of moving forward and the path becomes difficult, we may forget the reason for the change and give up on it, before we get through it.

Remember that change is not bad, and we don’t need to hate it. Whether the change you are making is a New Year’s Resolution or a life change to live more on purpose, always be kind to yourself.

Looking for more tips to build your resiliency? Look for my book on Amazon called Stress Out. 52 Weeks To Letting More Life In

#mentalhealth #hr