MYST 197 How Do You Do It?

Success is the result of finishing a task. But the ability to finish a task is dependent on whether we work toward our goal consistently, and if we enjoy what we are doing to reach that goal. That applies to weight loss, writing a book or running a marathon. If we don’t enjoy the process, we are unlikely to stick with it long enough to see the results we hope to achieve.

And one way to help ensure “working consistently” is to make good habits. Find a process that works and habituate yourself. For example (and this will sound truly trivial) when I sit down to create a podcast cast episode, I need to make coffee first. The ten minutes it takes helps me get into the right mindset for creation. So I always start a production day by making a pot of coffee.

It’s my habit and because I really like coffee, it works for me. When I start my day by following a routine–a routine that has always helped me find success–it becomes easier to continue finding success.

What happens when the ideas fade and I cannot connect with my muse? I wander out to my birds and just relax for a little while. Usually, that brings me back to a place where I can work.

This is two week’s eggs.

In that photo of my studio, you can almost see some of the vintage items we collect. I have hundreds (actually, 594 by actual count) of vintage beer glassware. These are the glasses that relate to that “high quality” beer, more popular in the 60s and 70s, “malt liquor”. Again, it is something like this that helps calm down and reorient to creativity. Yes. I know, it’s odd. I’m okay with being “odd”.

Photos are mine, and cannot be used by anyone else.

All photos published on Pixabay can be used for free. You can use them for commercial and non-commercial purposes. You do not need to ask permission from or provide credit to the photographer or Unsplash, although it is appreciated when possible.

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Music composed and performed by Jason Shaw, courtesy of Audionautix.com

Voiceover courtesy of Matt Young. Matt is a professional voiceover artist. If you have any need of voice-over work, for your podcast, radio spot, or whatever, you can reach Matt by a variety of methods. He is on LinkedIn. On Twitter. And Google+. Follow his Facebook page to learn how to better use social media. Matt was also my guest on MYST 54. Give his story a listen.

MYST 194 Family Advice

“Wow! You’ve lost a lot of weight. I think you might be getting too skinny!”

“Huh. Sure, I suppose YOU are going to just eat a salad while we all eat real food!”

How do those comments make you feel about yourself, about your progress, about your self-worth? Your friends and family might actually think they are making helpful statements but in reality, they are sabotaging you. And if you don’t challenge them, you have chosen to let them continue their subtle sabotage.

Yes. By staying silent, you are telling them they are right.

Now, I don’t want you to throw your salad in their face and scream “Shut up!” (Although, if you are like me, you’ve thought about it.) Try for a more assertive yet firm response. For the first statement:

“Thanks for noticing my hard work. Weight loss has been a lifelong challenge, and my goal is to become as healthy as I can be.”

For the second statement:

“You are right, I do enjoy salads, but when I pay attention, I can–and do–eat the same food choices that you eat. I just will probably eat less than you because I eat only the number of calories that my body burns each day.”

Be assertive. You know your own body. Most people think they are helping when they “give you good advice” but you know what you need to to.

 

Photo via Pixabay by jamesoladujoy  (Two men talking) and geralt (Woman) All images and videos on Pixabay are released under the Creative Commons CC0. Thus, they may be used freely for almost any purpose – even commercially and in printed format. Attribution is appreciated, but not required.

All images from LoseIt are mine, and cannot be used without permission.

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Music composed and performed by Jason Shaw, courtesy of Audionautix.com

Voiceover courtesy of Matt Young. Matt is a professional voiceover artist. If you have any need of voice-over work, for your podcast, radio spot, or whatever, you can reach Matt by a variety of methods. He is on LinkedIn. On Twitter. And Google+. Follow his Facebook page to learn how to better use social media. Matt was also my guest on MYST 54. Give his story a listen.

MYST 191 Preplan

We plan our work days and work weeks months in advance. We keep our calendars with us at all times. In the “old days” we used paper day planners (remember the big “Franklin planners”?) Now all of our calendars are on every digital device we have.

Why?

It’s because we are busy! We have so many demands on our time that trying to remember everything is a guaranteed way to forget something–and it probably won’t be a minor “to do” list item. Our time is precious and limited. Our time budget is not infinite and once a minute is gone, it is gone for good Most of us know how we are going to spend almost every waking minute.

So why are we so flippant about our calorie budget? We log our food. (Sometimes.) We measure our food. (Sometimes.) We weigh ourselves and take action based on the scale. (Sometimes.)

I think it is because weight loss is something that can be started over. And over. (How many times have you started over?)

So start making decisions earlier! Preplan your meals, just as you preplan your work week. And have a decision on how you will handle the unexpected situation, such as the totally-expected “Hey, it’s my birthday so have some donuts!”

And at home, take pre-emptive strikes. Purge all tempting food and then don’t bring it back in. If it isn’t in the house, it’s harder to “accidentally” eat it.

Photo via Pixabay by rawpixel

All images and videos on Pixabay are released under the Creative Commons CC0. Thus, they may be used freely for almost any purpose – even commercially and in printed format. Attribution is appreciated, but not required.

Transparency. This is what I ate.

All images from LoseIt are mine, and cannot be used without permission.

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Music composed and performed by Jason Shaw, courtesy of Audionautix.com

Voiceover courtesy of Matt Young. Matt is a professional voiceover artist. If you have any need of voice-over work, for your podcast, radio spot, or whatever, you can reach Matt by a variety of methods. He is on LinkedIn. On Twitter. And Google+. Follow his Facebook page to learn how to better use social media. Matt was also my guest on MYST 54. Give his story a listen.

MYST 119: Cooking For Yourself

Cooking for yourself is not difficult!
Cooking for yourself is not difficult!

Photos via Pixabay.com by RonPorter.

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Music composed and performed by Jason Shaw, courtesy of Audionautix.com

Voiceover courtesy of Matt Young. Matt is a professional voiceover artist. If you have any need of voice-over work, for your podcast, radio spot, or whatever, you can reach Matt by a variety of methods. He is on LinkedIn. On Twitter. And Google+. And you can read his really nice, contemplative blog. Matt was also my guest on MYST 54. Give his story a listen!

Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

“Yesterday’s home run don’t win today’s games!” Babe Ruth
Today is a new day. You woke up. That is your first reason to celebrate!

What you ate yesterday does not matter anymore. It is gone. You logged it. And in logging it, you accepted responsibility for your actions. That is a second reason to celebrate, because you are making conscious changes to your habits.

What you are going to do tomorrow does not matter. It has not happened yet. But you are already making plans for what you want to accomplish, which is yet another cause for celebration. You are learning to take control of your situation rather than simply react to what happens around you.
You can only control what you do today. You will log your food, you will make good choices. You will move more that you used to. You will stay positive, confident in the belief that you CAN succeed!
You will take one more step toward success. Today. Right now.
Success is inevitable if you treat every day as another day to make good choices. You have the power! Even though I have not met anyone here, I believe in all of you, because you are here, reading my words. You are dedicating your day to yourself, to reaching for success. You are important and you deserve success!
I am honored to be surrounded by such friends. I receive comments from readers who say that I help them, but it goes both ways. Being accountable to you helps me stay focused on on track.

Have a powerful day!

MYST 44: Dr. Chester Goad: Find Success Even After Initial Disappointment!

Dr. Chester Goad
Dr. Chester Goad

Chester is a “leadership geek” by his own description. He is an educator, college director of disability services, and former legislative aide who helped co-author Tennessee’s “Dyslexia is Real”. He  believes that when something is broken, and needs fixing, someone needs to step up and do what they can to find a solution.

As director of disability services on his campus, he hosted an ongoing film festival (one movie was  “Lars and the Real Girl”) and it was poorly attended. But because of his “dog with a bone” attitude, he stuck with it. Several weeks later, he learned that an anonymous community member had attended the festival and agreed with what he was trying to accomplish. That anonymous audience member started an endowment ($500,000) to support his work with disability services. He was reminded that you never know when that “one right person” will hear your message at the exact right time. Never despair if initial successes are not overwhelming, but keep working toward your goals!

He wrote a book, soon to be released, which tries to find the unity of spirit that is currently missing in the halls of governments as well as among the people. Life and politics have become devisive and Chester believes that greater good will result by changing from “red states” and “blue states” but by blending, combining and collaborating and becoming “purple states.”

Read Chester's Book to Help Heal and Grow Our Country!
Read Chester’s Book to Help Heal and Grow Our Country!

Chester suggests that you try Dr. Enuf soda when you next visit Tennessee!

Some books that he reads and recommends are:

My Homemade Artisanal Bread :

My recipe (for 4 one-pound loaves)

Whisk together:

3 cups tepid water (95-105F)

1 tablespoon yeast (any dry yeast)

1 tablespoon salt (any type)

Stir in 6.5 cups of flour. Any flour works, but 100% whole wheat is a challenge. Mixing white with whole wheat and/or rye work well. I usually use at 4 cups general purpose white with 2.5 cups of whole wheat. As long as you use a total of 6.5 cups of flour, you will end up with bread.

Stir just until everything is wet and combined. Do not knead–ever. Cover loosely, and let rise on the counter for 2-3 hours (if you forget overnight, don’t worry, it will not ruin the bread.) Place in the refrigerator overnight.

The next day, cut 1/4 of the dough out. Dust with flour. Working quickly, form the dough into a ball. Let the dough rise for 40 minutes. These make free-form round loaves, not rectangles.  Do not bake in traditional bread pans.

Preheat oven and baking stone to 450. Boil 2 cups of water, and pour into an oven safe dish and place in the oven while pre-heating. (The water creates steam to help develop a very crunchy crust. It will work without the steam, but the crust isn’t as nice.)

When the dough has risen, make several shallow cuts in the surface of the dough. Sprinkle corn meal on baking stone and place dough on the corn meal. Bake for 35 minutes.

The dough will keep in the fridge for up to 14 days and as it ages, the flavor develops into more of a sour dough character. When the last of the dough is used, do not wash the container. Immediately refill with the ingredients for more bread (this will quickly develop that wonderful sour dough flavor.

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Music composed and performed by Jason Shaw, courtesy of Audionautix.com

Voiceover courtesy of Matt Young. Matt is a professional voiceover artist. If you have any need of voiceover work, for your podcast, radio spot, or whatever, you can reach Matt by a variety of methods.

He is on LinkedIn. On Twitter. And Google+. And you can read his really nice, contemplative blog.

I NEED Your Help! (Updated!)

A podcast in iTunes is allowed eight weeks, just 56 days, to be potentially featured in the “New and Noteworthy (N&N)” category. I have long since passed out of that time frame.
I am in my last days of being eligible for iTunes New&Noteworthy status. As of this morning, I am #42 in All categories of New & Noteworthy.     BUT!!!!  You can still help. If you have not listened and left a rating in iTunes, I NEED you to take action now.

Even though I am no longer in N&N, I still need ratings and reviews. Those are the main method that iTunes uses to evaluate the value of a podcast, and podcasts which have better ratings, reviews and download numbers are placed higher in the search rankings. And that is how new people find the show.

And I may have neglected something. Using iTunes isn’t necessarily user-friendly. It occurs to me that some may not know how to review on iTunes.

Here are some instructions:
1) click here and follow to “View in iTunes” – under logo (can be done after you listen to your chosen show(s).
2) Once on iTunes in the middle over the show listings is “Details”, “Ratings and Reviews” and “Related”.
3) Click “Ratings and Reviews”.
4) Next to “Click to Rate” there are 5 gray stars. Click the number of stars you think my show deserves
OR
5) Underneath that is “Write a Review”. That allows you to write a review AND leave a star rating.
Thank you so much in advance for helping promote these shows.

I have 3 days left in N&N. Please act now!

Make Your Someday Today is a twice-weekly podcast, where we talk to successful people in all walks of life and around the world on Monday, and then on Thursday, I take a specific message from the previous guest and give my “Trevitorial”, where I help you apply that message to your life. The entire purpose of the show is to help all of us overcome our challenges and fears and become the person we want to be, the person we deserve to be.

I Was a Guest Blogger This Week!

I occasionally guest blog for other people. It’s not too often, but it is fun to reach a new audience. This week I was asked to provide a post for LoseIt! Rather than simply copy it, I will encourage you to go there and read my words. (Then, if you feel that maybe your weight is an issue, you can take the app out for a test drive. It is free!)

Here is a link directly to my blog post.

Also, the podcast is a bit delayed. I won’t make my April 1 goal, but it is getting close! Keep watching here. I have seven great interviews recorded and this podcast is going to be awesome! I guarantee it, or your money back!

Oh, wait. It’s free!

Transition Time is Challenging!

Wow!

I am 4 weeks from launching my first podcast. My podcast will be focused on goal achievement–revolving around my weight loss success, but expanding to any goal and success story. And that work–combined with my full time teaching job, and being a husband/father/son–is keeping me from blogging a lot. But my inactivity here is not a sign of total absence.

I’ve had this blog for over two years, and listened to podcasts for even longer. Starting the bog was simple. But why start a podcast? That seems so challenging. The reason “why” is the exact reason I listen to podcasts instead of reading blogs: time! I can listen to a podcast while doing something else. And when I realized that, I knew that I needed to transition to a podcast. But how?

I was absolutely stumped, until I found the right teacher. Meron Bareket of the Inspiring Innovation podcast invited me to be one of his beta-testers for his podcast-developing bootcamp. He created a course with detailed and simple (I needed simple!) instructions, video tutorials and comprehensive check lists. With his help, I am excited to be so close to launching my own.

Have you ever thought about creating your own podcast? Here is a link to the bootcamp that I tested (and successfully tested, I might add!)

Oh, did I mention: his entire bootcamp is free?

If you are even just curious about what it would take (and it doesn’t take much!) go to the bootcamp page and take a look. The “take a look” costs nothing–but the entire bootcamp also costs nothing, so what do you have to lose?

Please note: this blog is NOT going away. Never. But it will evolve to become a part of a larger platform. I will blog and podcast and both will help each other be even more relevant and helpful.

Do me a favor: After you go to the bootcamp site and take a look (or even sign up?) post a note here in the comments. I’m curious: what are your thoughts about his bootcamp? Are you going to give it a try? Let me know here.

A Quick Question?

Just checking here with all you awesome readers.
I am getting ready to start a podcast, based on this blog, but I need a digital logo (in 1400×1400 pixels, but one that also looks good at 150×150). I need that to submit my podcast to iTunes. The podcast is going to be killer-awesome (hey! I can dream!) but it needs the right image to capture people’s attention. I don’t have those skills.
Here is my deal:
I would like to swap services. You create a striking logo for me, and I will promote you on the podcast and associated blogs (both here on Blogger and on the dedicated domain) for up to 2 months. I will promote you as a sponsor of the podcast, with a 15 second pre-roll at the start of the show, and a 60 second mid-roll at about the 2/3 mark. I will close the show with one additional 10 second reminder of your outstanding services.
In addition to my blog readers, I have a large audience of followers on LoseIt, and am in a large group of world-wide podcasters and podcasters-to-be, many of whom are at the same point as I am.
Who can help? Send me a message and we can discuss details.

If you don’t create digital art, but know someone who does, please forward this to their attention. Thank you! Shoot me an email if you can help!