Obama and change

It's impossible to miss the inauguration of the new US President Barack Obama in the news. His campaign mantra was "change" although what changes he is planning to make are less clear.

The one million people lining the streets of Washington however, felt the need and desire for that change. It is in situations like these where we see how clearly, that emotions are more powerful than logic.

In any contest between logic and emotion, logic will lose. For much of the time, when the emotion is anxiety or fear this stops us being all we can be. Logic may tell us that we have skills and resources that we can use to achieve our goals, but if fear gets in the way we will often feel paralysed and unable to make a step forward.

Today however the emotions are positive; hope is filling the USA in a situation where many people are struggling to keep their jobs or pay their bills. This time, that ability of the emotion to overwhelm logic is a wonderful thing. Just possibly this hope will enable people to look past the difficulties of the immediate situation and use all their resources to achieve a brighter future.

Travelling somewhere?

Driving today can be an exercise in frustration with delays and slow journey times draining the productive time from your day.

So why not use that time to catch up on the latest information?

Download podcasts and MP3s to a CD or your MP3 player and listen to the latest business and personal development whilst you travel.

Use freecorder or a similar program to record live audio feeds. If you need to convert MP3s to a WAV file (for burning to a CD) then the Open Source program, Audacity is superb.

I use Nero to burn CDs but there are plenty of other choice out there. Each CD will give you about 60 minutes of listening time.

Now you're ready to tackle that long journey and if there are delays your time will not be wasted.

Blue Monday?

According to reports on the UK broadcaster the BBC, today is the most depressing day of the year. Dubbed Blue Monday by some, the combination of the poor weather, credit card bills arriving in the post and the general economic gloom come together to create the most mood sapping day in the year.

You may have your own way of combating the low mood but if not. try these methods to improve your outlook:

1) Get outside in the daylight.

Low light levels are linked to depression, go outside and spend time in daylight, even if the sun is not shining.

2) Check your diet

Without daylight our vitamin levels can be lower in winter than in summer so you may find it helpful to insure against this by taking a multi-vitamin suppliment. (Watch for too much Vitamin A if you ar pregnant though)

3) Count your blessings

It's not very fashionable but the old church teaching of counting your blessings can serve to remind you that not everything is dull and gloomy.

4) Do something that makes you laugh

Laughing releases all kinds of feel good chemicals into the body. As the old saying goes (with apologies to Readers Digest) Laughter is the best medecine.

Or try visiting the web site of the Optimist Society. That should cheer you up!

A natural cure for stress and anxiety

Sometimes the simplest things are the best.

Stress and anxiety have a variety of causes but the chemicals that are released in the body are the same. Adrenalin and cortisol are the big chemical messengers but they are many more.

These chemicals are designed to get us to either fight the threat or run away from it. What often happens of course is that we have these feelings whilst in an office environment and neither fighting or running seems appropriate there.

So go for a walk. As you exercise, your body will use up the unwanted chemical messengers and your anxiety will naturally diminish.

A diary is a useful tool for change

A journal or a diary might not seem like a powerful tool for personal change and realization, but it is.

Most change happens gradually and yet what we want and what we notice are the big "crash, bang zing" changes. As a consequence we tend to disregard positive gradual change and that also stops us being a joyous about the change as we should be. There just wasn't enough "crash bang zing".

To avoid this problem I recommend that you keep a journal or diary to record your thoughts each day. From day to day it may seem as if little has changed or improved but as you review a week or a month at a time those positive changes become so much more clear.

A diary; simple eh? But so useful.

Some days are for thinking and some for doing

Some days with your mind as sharp as a razor, clear strategic thinking is easy and insights are gained into the most difficult problems.

Then there are the days when it seems hard to marshal your thoughts into a logical sequence. Days when just keeping going is a major challenge. This what I call a plodding day; a day when things get done mechanically, without much thought.

The trick is to recognise which day is which. Trying to do your thinking on a plodding day is counter-productive and results in frustration.

Likewise, doing a plodding job on a day when your mind is fizzing with new ideas will not deliver the best results either.

So match your tasks to how you feel and be more productive whatever kind of day you are having.

Champix (Chantix) and cravings

I met someone recently who decided in the Autumn of 2008 to stop smoking. He had already tried going cold turkey, patches and nasal sprays and knew that they did not work for him.

So he went to the Quit Smoking Clinic at his family Doctor surgery where they prescribed Champix (also known as Chamtix in the USA).


After about 2 weeks of taking the drug he stopped smoking; so far so good. His stomach was knotted with pain each morning and his digestion was not working like it used to but he had stopped smoking.

By January 2009 this man was desperate, because the Champix had done nothing to deal with his cravings. He may not have been smoking but he still had in place all the old links and associations with smoking.

He went back to his Doctor who said why not give the drug another go? The man was not keen, he remembered the stomach cramps. Then as almost an afterthought, the Doctor added "you could try hypnosis for the craving".

What a shame the Doctor did not mention this to the man last October! There would have been , no drugs, no side effects just the change to becoming a non-smoker.

Sadly, at least here in the UK, Doctors are not able to prescribe hypnosis as a quit smoking aid.

When hypnosis has been demonstrated again and again to be more effective than all others forms of therapy for smoking, why is it not something that a Doctor can write a prescription for?

An old method but still a good one

Half way through January those New Year resolutions may not have the power they once had at the start of the month.

Here's an old technique but still a good one for when you are trying to stop doing something.

Take sturdy elastic band and put it around your wrist; we want the blood to keep flowing, so make sure it is not too tight.

Now each time you have that thought cross your mind that you want to stop, pull out the elastic band and let snap back on to your wrist...ITS GOING TO HURT!

You will begin to associate 'that' thought or action with the pain of the band snapping back into place and pretty soon your unconscious mind will build the connection that this unwanted thought or action will lead to pain; it wont take long.

Then those unwanted thoughts or actions will occur less often. Used in conjunction with other methods this will help you stay on track with those New Year resolutions.

Try it today.

Quick tip for the day

Put your important documents on a memory card or stick so that you can access them wherever you happen to be.

Many of these devices have password protection built in ; use this if you are carrying scans of personal ID documents.

Sunday Night-preparing for the week ahead

Do you plan for the work week ahead or fly by the seat of the pants?

A little bit of planning goes along way to avoiding disasters; so tomorrow morning, before you dive headlong through the front door to start your day, take a few moments out.

Think about what you need to achieve your plans for the day and then make sure you have it.

I could tell you the story about the trip to the airport and the sudden realisation that I didn't know where my passport was but you may be able to guess that stress that I instantly felt.

So what do you need for your perfect Monday?