For the first time in over 52 weeks, I am taking a vacation from writing! I encourage you to review any or all of the previous posts that were written each week to capture the pulse of culture. Please check back next week for the beginning of my second year of the "Little Changes Big Results" blog. I also want to invite you to visit me at Little Changes Big Results TV for regular video posts, coaching packages, and more!
Be encouraged,
Becky
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Sunday, August 22, 2010
An Amazing Last Act by Cubs Coach...
Chicago Cubs coach, Lou Piniella, unexpectedly retired today—after decades in baseball. In an emotional departure from Major League Baseball, he gave his team an abrupt notice that he would be leaving his post—and not because of controversy or contract disputes. Piniella’s mother, who lives in Florida, has been very ill. After missing four days of coaching this month and already contemplating an end-of-season retirement, Lou felt it was not helpful to the team or his family to wait any longer, saying, "My mom needs me home and that's where I'm going."
Not considered by most sports writers or fans as a sensitive leader or compassionate coach, Piniella was more often recognized as a competitive and hotheaded MLB manager because of his crazy antics and irate outbursts from the dugout.
Piniella's departure caught my attention for this reason: rarely does anyone leave a high profile position, much less resign from a successful and public career to return home to take care of an ailing parent, child or spouse.
Lou’s raw emotion today, his strong commitment to family, as well as the obvious love he has for his mother is perhaps one of the finest moments of his career.
Whether you are a coach, a parent, a son or a daughter, sibling or spouse, you are a leader whose actions speak louder than words. Consider today what little changes you might make in your work life that will impact your family life. I am confident you will not only see big results, but you leave a lasting legacy.
Be encouraged,
Becky
Not considered by most sports writers or fans as a sensitive leader or compassionate coach, Piniella was more often recognized as a competitive and hotheaded MLB manager because of his crazy antics and irate outbursts from the dugout.
Piniella's departure caught my attention for this reason: rarely does anyone leave a high profile position, much less resign from a successful and public career to return home to take care of an ailing parent, child or spouse.
Lou’s raw emotion today, his strong commitment to family, as well as the obvious love he has for his mother is perhaps one of the finest moments of his career.
Whether you are a coach, a parent, a son or a daughter, sibling or spouse, you are a leader whose actions speak louder than words. Consider today what little changes you might make in your work life that will impact your family life. I am confident you will not only see big results, but you leave a lasting legacy.
Be encouraged,
Becky
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Eat, Love, Pray
I’ve not read the best-selling book nor seen the movie, Eat Love Pray, but the title alone has the potential to create a template for a short, personal inventory of your physical, emotional, or spiritual health at any given moment.
We have to EAT to exist. Most of us make daily food choices that are either driven by impulse and convenience or meticulously calculated and planned, (or some erratic combination of both). Yet, over the past decade the increased awareness of the detrimental impact that high fat or extra-sugary foods or drinks can have on our bodies has been enough to force the average person to reconsider what and why they EAT. What (or how much) we eat is not the only consideration. Many of us eat for comfort, to relieve stress, or to drown our sorrows. Yet with the increase of obesity, high blood pressure, and diabetes impacting all age groups, more of us are realizing that we must become healthy, sensible, self-controlled eaters. We understand that limitless, indulgence isn’t good for us, thus eating healthy is not an option if you want to live longer. We know we must change, but how?
To truly enjoy our lives, we have to LOVE others and ourselves. The majority of mental health experts suggest that the quality of love we received (or missed out on) in childhood is a great indicator of how we will love as adults. How we were loved as children also determines how we perceive or feel about ourselves as adults. If we were fortunate to have been given great love as children, we will find it easier to experience loving relationships as adults. But love is a decision, as much as it is an emotion. To love is to forgive, give, wait on, encourage, and believe in others. Anyone can decide to love.
To PRAY is to communicate with heaven. The online dictionary defines prayer as “speaking to God, a deity, or a saint, for example, in order to give thanks, express regret, or ask for help.” Merriam’s Dictionary similarly describes prayer as “addressing God with adoration, confession, supplication or thanksgiving.” Why is it important talk to God? There are a variety of reasons. A soldier who is in battle would say that talking to God gives him peace. A mother of a seriously ill child pleads with God for supernatural intervention, knowing that neither money nor medicine guarantees health. Prayer ranges from pleading to praising, from asking to thanking; from questions posed to answers received. To pray is to look up, to see life from an eternal—rather than temporal—perspective. Prayer releases hope. And we all need hope to get through the tough times.
Today…
(1) Consider what little changes you can make to what, why, and when you EAT in order to improve your health—less fat, less sugar, smaller portions, or fewer calories per day?
(2) Decide to make little changes in the way you LOVE others and yourself—eliminate a hurtful word from your vocabulary, hug more often, apologize more quickly, or forgive more easily?
(3) What little changes can you make in the way you PRAY? Try kneeling before you get into bed, journaling your two-way conversations with God, or consider visiting a monastery for a silent retreat.
I’m convinced that little changes will ultimately lead to big results in our lives.
Why not EAT right, LOVE generously, and PRAY passionately one day at a time?
Be encouraged,
Becky
We have to EAT to exist. Most of us make daily food choices that are either driven by impulse and convenience or meticulously calculated and planned, (or some erratic combination of both). Yet, over the past decade the increased awareness of the detrimental impact that high fat or extra-sugary foods or drinks can have on our bodies has been enough to force the average person to reconsider what and why they EAT. What (or how much) we eat is not the only consideration. Many of us eat for comfort, to relieve stress, or to drown our sorrows. Yet with the increase of obesity, high blood pressure, and diabetes impacting all age groups, more of us are realizing that we must become healthy, sensible, self-controlled eaters. We understand that limitless, indulgence isn’t good for us, thus eating healthy is not an option if you want to live longer. We know we must change, but how?
To truly enjoy our lives, we have to LOVE others and ourselves. The majority of mental health experts suggest that the quality of love we received (or missed out on) in childhood is a great indicator of how we will love as adults. How we were loved as children also determines how we perceive or feel about ourselves as adults. If we were fortunate to have been given great love as children, we will find it easier to experience loving relationships as adults. But love is a decision, as much as it is an emotion. To love is to forgive, give, wait on, encourage, and believe in others. Anyone can decide to love.
To PRAY is to communicate with heaven. The online dictionary defines prayer as “speaking to God, a deity, or a saint, for example, in order to give thanks, express regret, or ask for help.” Merriam’s Dictionary similarly describes prayer as “addressing God with adoration, confession, supplication or thanksgiving.” Why is it important talk to God? There are a variety of reasons. A soldier who is in battle would say that talking to God gives him peace. A mother of a seriously ill child pleads with God for supernatural intervention, knowing that neither money nor medicine guarantees health. Prayer ranges from pleading to praising, from asking to thanking; from questions posed to answers received. To pray is to look up, to see life from an eternal—rather than temporal—perspective. Prayer releases hope. And we all need hope to get through the tough times.
Today…
(1) Consider what little changes you can make to what, why, and when you EAT in order to improve your health—less fat, less sugar, smaller portions, or fewer calories per day?
(2) Decide to make little changes in the way you LOVE others and yourself—eliminate a hurtful word from your vocabulary, hug more often, apologize more quickly, or forgive more easily?
(3) What little changes can you make in the way you PRAY? Try kneeling before you get into bed, journaling your two-way conversations with God, or consider visiting a monastery for a silent retreat.
I’m convinced that little changes will ultimately lead to big results in our lives.
Why not EAT right, LOVE generously, and PRAY passionately one day at a time?
Be encouraged,
Becky
Sunday, August 8, 2010
We're not getting healthier, we're getting heavier!
As an ACE Certified Fitness Instructor for over two decades, I have been required to keep my nutrition education current by regularly taking online courses, even attending the renown Cooper Clinic in Dallas to acquire their “best” advice for helping men, women, and students achieve then maintain weight loss.
Yet, I’m discovering that most Americans are simply not paying attention to the health reports.
This month, the CDC reported that obesity has hit a new, national high:
"The nation's waistline is expanding -- with nine states reporting more than 30 percent of their residents are obese -- a far cry from 10 years ago when not one state had such a high prevalence of obesity, researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say.
In 2007, only three states reported an increased prevalence of obesity above 30 percent -- Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi," Dietz said during a telephone press conference. Now, there are nine states that exceed [that mark]: Missouri, Kentucky, West Virginia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama."
If you fall into the category of obese, overweight, or struggling to lose even ten pounds, I want to encourage you to make even one little change in your diet that will have a big result in your overall health, in addition to expediting weight loss.
Here are a few simple ways you can begin to cut back on or burn calories:
(1) Start by eliminating sugar. A helpful article on the Family Education website suggests that sugar is number one food additive in America. To eliminate unwanted calories from sugar, begin by reducing sugary drinks and sodas from your daily diet. Start by simply removing sodas from your home and only drink them when away home. Next, be diligent to read all labels on packaged foods, searching for one of the 25 different names used for sugar in your packaged foods—such as dextrose, sucrose, fructose, glucose, and maltose…
2) Increase your physical activity each week. I'm sure you already know this, but by burning 500 calories each day for one week (or 3500 calories), you will lose one pound of weight. Find a friend and develop a workout plan that has variety and intensity--begin with twenty and increase to forty minutes--by walking, biking, jogging, climbing stairs, or gardening, etc.
(3) Eat less fat. Eliminate up to 500 calories daily from your current diet by avoiding fried foods or full-fat creams/milk/cheese products. If you do, you're guaranteed to see immediate results.
Perhaps it’s time for you to answer the following question no matter what state you live in: Are you getting healthier or heavier? If you're getting heavier, it's time to get healthier!
Be encouraged!
Becky Tirabassi
Yet, I’m discovering that most Americans are simply not paying attention to the health reports.
This month, the CDC reported that obesity has hit a new, national high:
"The nation's waistline is expanding -- with nine states reporting more than 30 percent of their residents are obese -- a far cry from 10 years ago when not one state had such a high prevalence of obesity, researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say.
In 2007, only three states reported an increased prevalence of obesity above 30 percent -- Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi," Dietz said during a telephone press conference. Now, there are nine states that exceed [that mark]: Missouri, Kentucky, West Virginia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama."
If you fall into the category of obese, overweight, or struggling to lose even ten pounds, I want to encourage you to make even one little change in your diet that will have a big result in your overall health, in addition to expediting weight loss.
Here are a few simple ways you can begin to cut back on or burn calories:
(1) Start by eliminating sugar. A helpful article on the Family Education website suggests that sugar is number one food additive in America. To eliminate unwanted calories from sugar, begin by reducing sugary drinks and sodas from your daily diet. Start by simply removing sodas from your home and only drink them when away home. Next, be diligent to read all labels on packaged foods, searching for one of the 25 different names used for sugar in your packaged foods—such as dextrose, sucrose, fructose, glucose, and maltose…
2) Increase your physical activity each week. I'm sure you already know this, but by burning 500 calories each day for one week (or 3500 calories), you will lose one pound of weight. Find a friend and develop a workout plan that has variety and intensity--begin with twenty and increase to forty minutes--by walking, biking, jogging, climbing stairs, or gardening, etc.
(3) Eat less fat. Eliminate up to 500 calories daily from your current diet by avoiding fried foods or full-fat creams/milk/cheese products. If you do, you're guaranteed to see immediate results.
Perhaps it’s time for you to answer the following question no matter what state you live in: Are you getting healthier or heavier? If you're getting heavier, it's time to get healthier!
Be encouraged!
Becky Tirabassi
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Did you have a $320,000 Kindergarten Teacher?
Recently, a group of Harvard researchers and economists found that having a great Kindergarten teacher could translate into increased earnings as an adult!
The researchers interviewed students—now 30-year old adults—from a 1980’s study of 12,000 Tennessee kindergartners called Project Star. Originally, the study was intended to reveal the importance of smaller class sizes. But because the classroom size and socioeconomic mix of each class had been similar, the vast difference in performance as adults could not be explained without looking at the individual impact of their teachers.
They came to the following surprising conclusions:
The students who learned more in Kindergarten because of a “great teacher” were (1) more likely to have attended college, (2) more likely to be saving for retirement, (3) less likely to be single parents, and (3) more likely to earn more money.
The New York Times article, titled, “The Case for $320,000 Kindergarten Teachers” caught my attention not because I have a Kindergartner, nor because of the disparity in the amount proposed that a teacher is worth versus what they earn. I was intrigued with the findings because of the skills mentioned that great teachers taught their young students. They didn't name the subjects of reading, writing, or mathematics. The lifetime skills that the “great” Kindergarten teachers imparted to their students were “patience, discipline, manners, and perseverance.”
If you're like me, you're impressed when young children learn to read, how early they learn to write, or how quickly they can add or subtract. But this study seems to suggest that timeless values are an incredibly strong predictor of a child's success as an adult.
For those of us who fall into the categories of parent, mentor, grandparent, relative, babysitter, neighbor, coach or concerned adult of a 5-year old child (or student of any age for that matter), this study is a mandate to raise our standards and make any little changes in our lives that will have big results in the lives of those we know and love.
Is it time to go back to school and refresh your skills of patience, discipline, manners, and perseverance!?
Be encouraged,
Becky
The researchers interviewed students—now 30-year old adults—from a 1980’s study of 12,000 Tennessee kindergartners called Project Star. Originally, the study was intended to reveal the importance of smaller class sizes. But because the classroom size and socioeconomic mix of each class had been similar, the vast difference in performance as adults could not be explained without looking at the individual impact of their teachers.
They came to the following surprising conclusions:
The students who learned more in Kindergarten because of a “great teacher” were (1) more likely to have attended college, (2) more likely to be saving for retirement, (3) less likely to be single parents, and (3) more likely to earn more money.
The New York Times article, titled, “The Case for $320,000 Kindergarten Teachers” caught my attention not because I have a Kindergartner, nor because of the disparity in the amount proposed that a teacher is worth versus what they earn. I was intrigued with the findings because of the skills mentioned that great teachers taught their young students. They didn't name the subjects of reading, writing, or mathematics. The lifetime skills that the “great” Kindergarten teachers imparted to their students were “patience, discipline, manners, and perseverance.”
If you're like me, you're impressed when young children learn to read, how early they learn to write, or how quickly they can add or subtract. But this study seems to suggest that timeless values are an incredibly strong predictor of a child's success as an adult.
For those of us who fall into the categories of parent, mentor, grandparent, relative, babysitter, neighbor, coach or concerned adult of a 5-year old child (or student of any age for that matter), this study is a mandate to raise our standards and make any little changes in our lives that will have big results in the lives of those we know and love.
Is it time to go back to school and refresh your skills of patience, discipline, manners, and perseverance!?
Be encouraged,
Becky
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