Resolve to restore that which is lost

Millions of people make new years resolutions, and the majority never even get past day one at making them stick. Unfortunately, I hate to admit, but I am often times one of the these people. My misfortune at sticking to all my goals is likely due to the fact that I lean toward the unrealistic expectation that I can achieve "life nirvana" in ALL areas, in less than a week. Right. And I will soon be Mother Teresa too.

Well, if there is to be any success, we must first and foremost make up our minds what it is we REALLY want to accomplish. Resolution does, after all, mean to be resolute, firm, determined, and have unshakeable faith. Can we really believe in OURSELVES with unshakeable faith? What is it we are resolving to change and WHY. For that matter, what is your ultimate WHY? What drive you in life more than any other thing? You may find it challenging to believe whole heartedly at first that you CAN achieve that which you desire, but we can enlist those who do believe in us or can help us in this way. Two are always better than one.

Ultimately, though, we are human. We must see that we cannot accomplish everything in our own strength. Humility is key here. Albeit we try pretty hard and have fairly good success in life most of the time. So, what is your measuring stick? How will you know if you have succeeded? Make a concrete list of ideas about what you are trying to achieve, how you will know you have achieved it, and by when you will achieve it. This should help you weed out the unimportant stuff. Who has time to do it all?!

Lastly give yourself a little wiggle room. Life is much too short to always beat yourself up for not making the world's best charts. It is in life's little successes and failures that we often reap the greatest reward anyway. We have all lost a little bit of the child in us as we hurry from deadline to duty. What have you lost in the sense of your time, character, or goals that you want to restore?

Take steps forward with unshakeable faith to tell a friend, celebrate life everyday, and then make each stumble a part of your dance. What may end up being restored, is exactly that unshakeable faith in you you were looking for in the first place.

Creative Calorie-Burn Exercises

Everyone knows that time is short and exercise is hard. So, here are some suggestions to up the daily burn and some suggestions for quick calorie blasting exercises:

Increasing your daily calorie expenditure basically means that you are simply adding in more movement throughout your day that causes your body to require more calories for that day to sustain itself. Some easy ways to accomplish this are pretty obvious, but not always at the forefront of our conscious mind. This is my reminder...

1. Park at the farthest spot from the store door or at the opposite end of the mall from the store you are trying to reach.
2. Take the stairs. Even in your own home. Rather than piling things at the bottom and taking big load up at once, choose to take the items up one at a time as you gather them.
3. Fidget. It has been researched and proven by the Mayo Clinic that those who fidget (picture a knee bouncing like crazy or the gal who can't stop twirling her hair) burn 70 to 100 calories more per hour when they stand compared to laid-back people who stand still.
4. Eat regularly throughout the day. Your body conserves energy by lowering your metabolism when it has not eaten for quite some time. So skipping breakfast, skipping meals, and going on starvation diets are counter-productive to weight loss. And the ultimate tendency is to eventually give in and binge.
5. Do a short circuit of 10 push-ups, 10 squats, and 10 lunges on each leg. Repeat as many times as you can in the amount of time you have.
6. Jump rope. It's not just for kids!