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 christiane@coach4u.net

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 christiane@coach4u.net or call 781 777 2791.

 So, what is holding you back? Fear of the unknown? Afraid that you would have to take a pay cut? Doubt about your skills and abilities? Feeling “too old” for starting over?

It’s true, making a career change can be a scary prospect – but think of the payoff: Loving again what you do, feeling challenged, seeing purpose, helping others, having fun… In all, working in your dream job means so much more than just getting a paycheck.

It’s not an empty phrase when I say that it is never too late to make a career change. In my college classes, I have every semester a few students, who are well into middle age. They are eager to learn, inspired by their goals, and therefore are often the highest achievers in class.

If you have a strong desire for a career change, don’t allow your fears to hold you back.

Many people find it difficult to find the energy, time and information needed for a successful career change. They worry that they may make a wrong choice and waste money on expensive retraining programs.

My Career Coaching Program can help you to find the right career for you.

I will help you:

• Identify your interests and abilities
• Explore career alternatives
• Find your dream job
• Compare and evaluate education and job training options
• Make an action plan witha  step by step guide to achieve your career goal
• Plan your finances
• Overcome roadblocks and obstacles that you may encounter on your way to a more satisfying new career.

 Email me to find out more:  christiane@coach4u.net

 Christiane Turnheim is psychologist and Life & Career Coach. She also teaches Psychology at a Community College in Massachusetts. Visit her website at www.coach4u.net

In the US, full time employees and those with a higher income are more likely to get paid vacation days than part-time and low wage workers. And despite having on average only nine days of paid vacation, roughly a third of employees with vacation benefits don’t take all of the vacation days they receive. Many believe that management perceives it negatively if they take vacation. A typical fear in these days of high unemployment is that workers are afraid that they may get replaced if they don’t give 110 % and therefore they rather forego on the well deserved time-off. About 25% of those, who do take vacation, stay connected with their company by checking work email or taking phone calls from the office while on vacation. About one third of employees admitted in an Expedia.com survey that they feel guilty about taking time off.

They shouldn’t – because it’s not only in their own interest if they use their vacation days to relax and refresh. There’s also a benefit to the employer: Workers who don’t get a break will become exhausted and burned-out over time. They are no longer able to perform to their full potential. They are also at risk for depression and other health issues, which may end up to cost the company more than the vacation days. On the other hand, workers who come back after a break with new energy and new perspectives and ideas will be more productive.

Therefore, talk to your employer about your vacation needs and how the company can even benefit from it. Plan ahead and talk to your co-workers about your vacation. Ask a co-worker to cover for you if necessary and offer the same favor in return. Final advice: don’t take work with you and avoid checking emails. It’s quite unlikely that your office will fall apart just because you take a few days off.

And with these lines, I say “Good bye” for two weeks. I will be on vacation in Austria!

Christiane is a Life and Career Coach. She also teaches psychology at a community college in Massachusetts. You can reach her via her website http://www.coach4u.net or email her.

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.

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

First step, find out why you gave up on your goals. Did you want to lose weight and were frustrated because you didn’t shed the pounds as fast as you had hoped? Was it too difficult to stop smoking altogether? Did bad weather or sick kids keep you from going to the gym regularly? Review what happenend and how you felt about your commitments as long as the memory is relatively fresh.

The main reason why many people don’t follow through with their New Year’s resolution is that they want too much too fast, and they strive for perfection. Any setbacks, and they give up. If you think that’s you, take another run on your goals – this time only slower and allow for slip-ups.

First, when setting your goal, follow the SMART rule: Define your goal in a way that it is specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-bound. For example, instead of “Eating healthier” commit to eating two pieces/servings of fruits and a salad and to drink one glass of orange juice daily for the next three months. At the end of each day, you will know whether you kept to your plan. If not, ask what kept you from achieving your daily goal and then make corrections.  If you discover for example that you would prefer salad or cooked vegetables over fruit, go for it.

Don’t be a perfectionist. If you didn’t eat any fruit before, it’s already progress to eat one piece of fruit, even if your plan called for two. Therefore, give yourself credit for it.  Don’t focus on how much you fell short of your goal, instead think positive and focus on how much you achieved.

Take babv steps. If you want to lose weight, don’t aim for losing ten pounds in a month. By aiming too high, you are setting yourself up for failure. Set a realistic goal, like losing one pound per week. If there is a week where you don’t even achieve this goal because of a birthday party or because the muffin in the coffe shop just was too tempting , see it as a learning experience. Temporary set backs are normal, so don’t beat yourself up about perceived weakness.

Tell other people about your goals, and write reminders or use motivating pictures and put them at places where you will see them often. 

And if you still struggle, hire a Life Coach to support you. Think of all the seemingly perfect celebrities you may admire. Most of them have personal trainers or nutritionists to help them stay on course. So, it’s nothing wrong with a little outside help. And if your goal is about your health, see it this way: a little money spend now on a Life Coach could save you later more money spend on doctor fees and hospital bills.

Written by Life Coach Christiane Turnheim. Visit her website at www.coach4u.net or email her christiane@coach4u.net

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

The youngest workers are particularly unhappy: Only about 36% are satisfied with their job.

There are several reasons for the growing dissatisfaction:

According to the survey, workers find the work itself less interesting. Further, the satisfaction with job security is down – no wonder with an unemployment rate of about 10 %. Rising costs of living and health care are also to blame as many workers had to accept a cut in income when companies downsized production and work hours.

Christiane Turnheim is psychologist, college teacher and Life & Career coach. Contact her at christiane@coach4u.net