The new year always serves as a good time to restrategize our workout regimen. Sure, there are some who may just be getting started with a renewed commitment to fitness in 2020, but for those of us already hitting the gym regularly, we can consider ourselves ahead of the game.

However, with so many options out there in terms of types of workouts, the benefits you can gain from doing them and the best place to partake in them, a personal game plan can be one factor that stumps you on your way to shaping your fitness goals for the new year.

There is no question that 2019 was synonymous with the Peloton bike and app. The personalized fitness approach it offers with live class accessibility at your fingertips from the comfort of your home has reshaped people's access to quality workouts. It wont be losing its luster in 2020.

With "self-care" being one of the biggest buzz words of 2019 and the benefits of meditation going mainstream, its difficult to ignore the benefits daily meditation might bring to your life in 2020. At places like Bldg 7 Yoga in Wyomissing, you can acquire skills to sink into the silence of meditation, and at Body Zone Sports and Wellness Complex, Spring Township, you can take classes to learn about stress and how to reduce it.

Jason Kelly, Director of Wellness at Body Zone, emphasized the importance of taking care of yourself so that you can take care of others.

Self-care is not selfish, Kelly said.

Regardless of the path you choose to get fit, gyms in 2020 will be making more of an effort to help you get the most out of the time you invest in taking classes.

Sarah Vecchio, director of fitness at Body Zone, said a new trend she sees on the horizon for group fitness classes is making fitness more of an experience.This includes incorporating lighting, loud motivating music and themed workouts to push you to your max.

Here are some fitness trends that are sure to make their mark in the new year:

Sipping and socializing

Sup and Sip classes combine a workout with mingling over Prosecco afterward.

Expect more opportunities to mingle with your workout buddies and the chance to broaden your social circle. Offerings called Sup & Sip and Bar & Bubbles at Body Zone give members the opportunity to mingle with a glass of Prosecco after a workout. Given the success they have had in offering these classes, they will continue to be offered in 2020, which goes to show that people are increasingly looking at the gym as a place to get more than just a workout.

Mindful meditation

Mindfulness and meditation apps to help reduce stress make it easy to include the practice of meditation as part of our lives. You dont have to devote tons of time daily to reap big benefits, and learning some breathing techniques and guided meditations through the apps can be key to getting you started. Yoga studios like Bldg 7 Yoga, Wyomissing, offer the skills needed to get you started on your journey for those who prefer learning in a live setting.

Penchant for Peloton

You dont have to invest in a pricey Peloton bike or Peloton treadmill to reap the benefits of a Peloton workout. With their app, you will have access to all of their workouts to add fitness into your life on your own time in 2020, with no gym necessary. You can get a digital membership to Peloton free for the first 30 days to see if it will provides what you are looking for in a workout. Whether you choose to do the workouts in your home or outdoors, you can participate in live or on-demand classes.

Floating fitness

If working out on land has become tedious and youd like to switch things up a bit, it might be time to consider reaping the benefits that working out on water can bring. Floating fitness offerings, like stand-up paddle board classes, now offered at gyms with pools, are definitely worth considering in the new year if you are looking for some variety in your regimen.

Self-care strategies

Gyms and studios are offering more educational opportunities to learn about things like nutrition, stress and meditation. Here, Dr. Ike Shibley, nutrition expert with Body Zone, presents a talk titled "What is Gluten?"

By offering classes that reinforce self-care and help restore not only muscles but also the mind, yoga figures to be a form of exercise that will be on cue for 2020. However, some gyms and studios are going beyond just offering classes to cater to your self-care regimen by offering educational opportunities to learn about meditation, stress and nutrition, as well as other ways to reinforce self-care awareness through knowledge.

Email Courtney H. Diener-Stokes: life@readingeagle.com.

Here is the original post:

Latest trends will help make 2020 the year you commit to be fit - Reading Eagle

Mindfulness it seems like the latest buzz topic but truly incorporating it more into my life has been the most transformational, life-giving tool for managing the mama & mental-load and staying steady in this frenzied, modern world were trying to keep pace with. So, Im beyond ecstatic to see the hustle til it hurts culture fizz out, and living/working mindfully catch momentum as we enter a new decade. Burnout is not a virtue and a mindfulness practice a catalyst for keeping it at bay.

What is mindfulness?

Mindfulness is the intentional accepting and non-judgemental focus of ones attention on the emotions, thoughts, and sensations occurring in the present moment.

I know what many are thinking lifes busy, I got things to plan, goals to crush and no time for this get quiet businessbut just as mindfulness guru Gabby Bernstein affirms When you live in the moment, when you take life one day at a time, something wild happens. Not only do you feel calmer, grounded and mentally clear but you actually accomplish more.

Yep, mindfulness can actually make you more productive by bringing clarity & calm, essentially bringing more flow & less frenzy to your daily living. Future-tripping and hustling til it hurts, she highlights, are counterproductive. The key is acting/working from a pIace of spiritual alignment, and taking time to get still is how we begin the process of operating from this grounded space. I can personally vouch for this notion and only have to depart a few days from my mindfulness practice to notice why I need it in my life.

When you master your mind, you master your life Dianne Collins

Wellness is so much more than achieving peak physical fitness via a killer workout and controlled diet. Wellness embodies nourishing the mind, body & spirit. Mindfulness targets the mind & spirit pillars in the wellness trifecta, and when mental fitness is the focus, benefits flourish to all other facets of our lives.

Mindfulness doesnt rid our lives of stress, but it certainly helps with managing it. These last two years have been some of the most stress-filled of my life job transition, tremendous loss, fixed salary to self-employment, ill loved ones, treading difficult parenting waters weve never had to navigate before. I choose not to dwell on the heavy, but it has often left me weighed down & weary and why Ive leaned into activities that focus on mindfulness even more. Mindfulness practice helps me from feeling stuck and where I find clarity on my next steps to move through the muddiness of life.

True meditation is about being fully present with everything that is including discomfort & challenges. It is not an escape from life. ~ Craig Hamilton

Those whove followed the blog and our social channels have heard/seen me incorporate my favourite mindfulness practices in my day, but with a new decade upon us, and many thinking about incorporating new habits/practices that can positively impact their life, I wanted to dish them out here, hoping they may encourage you to try something new & life-changing. Here are my favourite ways & resources to incorporate mindfulness a very full life:

MEDITATION

I never considered myself the meditating type before. I couldnt get my head around the hype of just sitting with your eyes closed doing nothing. Im going to say that if I knew how transformational this practice is I would have started long, long ago. I could be having the most stressful, overwhelming day, and the aches and racing mind and heart to prove it, and when I make time to get still and get into a mindfulness meditation I feel completely relaxed and achieve a level of mental clarity I would not have otherwise. Thats why I love this book.

Unplug: A Simple Guide to Meditation for Busy Skeptics and Modern Soul Seekers

Its for beginners (still me!) skeptics (once me!) and people who feel theyre too busy for it (um, most of us!) and gives simple, practical ways to introduce this life-changing practice into our lives.

Its called a practice for a reason. The more you do it the easier and more transformational it becomes. You know that saying Be still and know? This is what meditation does for you. Our minds fill up with all kinds of clutter and can leave us feeling scattered. Im telling you, when you cultivate silence and get still through mediation, you may get the answers to the things that are causing you unease. I know I have. Its really unbelievableuntil you try it! This book is a good warm up to itbut if youre ready to practice, I love this

The Calm App

One thing I love about meditation is its mobility no need for excessive amounts of time or specific conditions to incorporate it in our days. You can practice anywhere, anytime, and why I love having access to the Calm app on my phone.

Calm is an award-winning app for sleep, meditation and relaxation, available in both the App Store and Google Play store. I like spending the 10 minutes while my morning coffee is brewing doing the Daily Meditation which has a theme with accompanying wisdom at the end. Ive tried other apps (like Headspace), and have to say being led with the calming voice of Tamara is one of my reasons for sticking with this one.

The Calm app is free to download but a paid subscription to Calm Premium gives access to over 100 hours of premium content, including an ever-growing library of advanced meditations, soothing Sleep Stories, calming nature scenes, a breathing tool and Calm Masterclasses. I enjoy it so much I renewed my subscription this year.

Silence isnt emptyits full of answers

Miracles Now: 108 Life-Changing Tools for Less Stress, More Flow and Finding Your True Purpose

I adore Gabby Bernstein and everything shes put out, including the Universe Has Your Back. I also loveMiracles Nowbecause she gives quick and effective tools (108 of them) to combat things all of us experience daily or at some point in our lives, like stress, resentment, burnout, frustration and jealousy. Not everyone has time each day to devote chunks of time to other spiritual practices like yoga or deep meditation. Gabbys tools offer ways to achieve peace and calm inside us immediately. I think Ive folded down almost half the pages in the book. This ones too good! I also love her blog where she dishes out wisdom on mindfulness and offers videos to guide your meditation practice.

Guided Meditations on YouTube

Keeping at your practices is as simple as a search on YouTube for guided meditations. I like going this route if theres something specific I want to work on meditation for clarity, for anxiety, for positive energy, for healing for example. Like mobile apps, this way is easily accessible and you can choose from a variety of options that suit your time and narrator voice preference.

GET WARM

Im sure this is no surprise, but the feeling of warmth ignites a feel-good, relaxed response in our bodies and has the power to bring you into the present moment. Having a warm bath with lavender Epsom salts or essential oils & participating in a hot yoga class are two of my favourite mindfulness activities. Both get you in touch with breath & body awareness keys to a mindful, grounded state.

BLUE SPACE

Go where theres water. More & more research is revealing the therapeutic benefits of being near natural aquatic blue space & the positive impact on mental wellness. Watch & listen to how it moves. While being near an ocean & waterfall is my fave, its also as simple as finding a river/stream in your own neighbourhood. https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/minding-the-body/201903/can-blue-space-provide-therapeutic-benefits.

SOCIAL MEDIA TIME-OUTS

I earn a part-time income on social media and wont bite the apps that feed me but theres a difference between using social mindfully (for tips, insights, recommendations, marketing, connecting) and letting it completely distract us from being present in our own lives. Theres also a likeliness where using it for inspiration can become an unhealthy infatuation and lead to unrealistic comparison. Giving myself a designated chunk of time to complete my social media work & connect with people I want to engage with and then tapping out helps keep me from wasting away precious time. Regular scroll free weekends help tremendously too. What you may find after practicing a bit of digital discipline is that your greatest source of inspiration doesnt come from a feed but from engaging fully and enjoying your own life & not admiring or trying to imitate someone elses.

NOTICING

Were so busy keeping up with routines and schedules its easy to forget to just slow down, pause, look around and appreciate the beauty around us. Operating on auto pilot, were depriving ourselves of the gift of noticing. Getting out in nature, being mindful of our surroundings and stopping for just 5 minutes each day to notice the simple things (the way the snow sits and glistens on the trees, the colour of the sky and clouds, the smells in our surroundings, the brightness of a flower, the fullness of the moon) improves our mindset.And the more I practice this Pause.Breathe.Appreciate way of life, I see how my kids, especially our daughter, have begun to notice more of the simple things in their day too.

One of my favourite things to do on a blah day is go for a drive, look for scenery that uplifts me and get out to take photos.Photography has become one of my favourite mindful endeavours too. Finding the beauty in and gratitude for lifes simple pleasures has truly been a catalyst for many of my positive mental shifts, even during heavy times.

How have you incorporated mindfulness into your life and how has it helped you live more intentionally?

View post:

Hustle Culture is Out, Mindfulness is In for 2020 & Beyond - Thrive Global

The holidays can be a chaotic time of year. It may feel difficult to step away to get in an in-depth meditation session or yoga class during such a busy time, so chances are that you might be forgoing these important self-care tools completely. The amazing thing about meditation is that it is a tool that can calm your body, mind, and nervous system in just a few minutes.

If youre starting to feel frazzled by end of year deliverables, family visits or holiday shopping, gratitude can ground you in what is good right now. Gratitude is one of the most incredible practices. Truly, taking just a few moments to express gratitude can change your whole mindset. How to do a mini gratitude meditation: Stop what youre doing and write down, or simply think about, three things for which you are grateful.

Did you know that your emotions get trapped in your body? Sometimes all it takes to release stress from your mind is to release the pressure from your body. Doing a quick body scan can help. How to do a body scan to release tension in your body: Close or soften your eyes and breathe. Simply notice how your body feels. Begin to notice any areas that are holding tension, notice them without judgment. Continue to breathe. After a minute or two, begin to imagine the tense areas fill up with air on your inhale. On your exhale imagine the air releasing from your body.

Repeating a mantra can help place your brain into a meditative state quickly. I like to use a mala bracelet, which I take out any time Im feeling overwhelmed. I repeat a mantra over and over in my head as I go through the beads. A mantra that you may find useful during the holiday season could be: I am calm, I am grounded.

Adding a layer of mindfulness to your day-to-day activities can make you feel more grounded. Here are a few ways to incorporate mindfulness into seemingly mundane activities: Eat slowly and really taste each flavor hitting your tongue. Go for a walk and take time to notice the things around you. Go slowly and really take everything in.

This mini meditation can be done literally anywhere. Heres how: Take a few moments to close or soften your eyes and notice your breath. Deepen your breathing. If its helpful you can count the breaths, breathe in for 4, hold the breath for 7 and exhale for 8 counts. Continue doing this for up to 5 minutes. A few places that you can incorporate this min meditation into your daily life include :

Meditation can be a life transforming practice. I find that my meditation practice is best put to use not at a silent retreat atop a mountain, but during the stresses of daily and seasonal life.

More:

5 Mini Meditations To Help You Stay Grounded During The Holidays - Sporteluxe

Leaders have specific characteristics that define them as figures that others look up to and as people. Effective leaders typically have a routine with key habits and processes practiced daily. While most people have heard about The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey, many leaders don't follow that model. Truly great leaders develop their own set of habits that dictate how their days go and how they can reach their fullest potential.

What are some of the practices that define today's great leaders? Fifteen members of Forbes Coaches Council explain the patterns of behavior that they think good leaders should adopt, and how those actions can make them into more successful individuals in the long term.

Forbes Coaches Council members offer insight on the customs of good leaders.

1. Take Time To Be

As a society, we are focused on the next goal and the never-ending to-do list. We do not spend enough time just being. This means complete silence at times to let your thoughts flow through you, write thoughts down and listen to what your subconscious is trying to tell you. Some of the best ideas I have come up with have not been when I am doing, but when I am just being. - Galit Ventura-Rozen, Empowering U

2. Start Each Day Offline

Its amazing how many clients jump on their phone or tablet first thing in the morning to check the markets, see what emails arrived overnight or simply browse their Twitter feed. Consider starting each day free of online activities. You might meditate, pray, exercise, read or spend time with your spouse or kids instead. The possibilities for starting the day healthier are endlessjust not online. - John Hittler, Evoking Genius

3. Take Time To Connect With Yourself

As leaders, the stuff we do drives us to show up determined, focused and decisive. Leaders push down uncertainties and emotions and we do everything we can to be free of or ignore gut feelings. Spend time connecting with your heart, gut and head each day. The people you are leading are fully human and they deserve to have you show up in the same way. - Brian Gorman, TransformingLives.Coach

4. Establish A Morning Routine

Begin each day with a morning routine that sets you up for success. Your morning routine might include meditation, exercise or a gratitude practice. By taking care of yourself first, you will be able to contribute to others, navigate difficult situations effectively and increase your ability to lead and listen. It's best if you finish your routine before you turn on your phone and computer. - Gina Lavery, Gina Lavery Inc.

5. Track Your Physiology

We tend to overlook our physiology in the world of leadership. We talk about having emotional intelligence, providing motivation and increasing the likes, but a lot of our ability to do these effectively lies in our physiology. I use tools and techniques with my clients so they can scientifically track their physiology and make actual beneficial improvements they can see to have more impact as a leader. - Cody Dakota Wooten, The Leadership Guide

6. Walk Around

Most leaders get set into a routine where they talk and meet with the same people every day. Great leaders break that habit by walking around and meeting new peopleespecially employeeswhen they're not expected to. Informally dropping in on a team or part of the organization you seldom interact with will make you a more authentic, grounded and approachable leader. - Eric Beaudan, Odgers Berndtson

7. Set Your Intention For The Day

Before checking the various mediacalendar, voicemail, emailthat will distract you and demand your time or attention, set your intention for the day. Activate the mindset that will drive your actions to create the leadership impact and influence you want to have rather than getting bogged down merely reacting to external forces. Lead your day before it leads you. - Mia Eng, Cognascent Inc.

8. Implement Reading Time

I have had the pleasure to work with many entrepreneurs over my career. The single factor that all the successful ones had in common was their reading habits. It goes something along the lines of there being a time block set aside to catch up on readings. Short of a disaster that has to be dealt with, that time is nonnegotiable and will stay off limits for any other activity. - Kamyar Shah, World Consulting Group

9. Embrace Relentless Learning

Effective leaders understand the value of continuous learning and also realize that it can happen anywhere and at any time. Commit yourself to learning something new each day, whether it be from your barista, frontline employees, board or grandchildren. Intentionally adopting a learning mindset creates the space for openness and curiosity and allows you to show up as a relentless learner. - Palena Neale, Ph.D, unabridged

10. Practice Daily Meditation

Meditation is like a Swiss army knife that has more unpredictably positive outcomes than any other good habit, but take the time to learn the right way to do it. It's not about not thinking as many people believe; it's about realizing you're not your thoughts. The result is more energy, less friction due to judgment, clearer decision making because you don't need to be right and much more. - Josef Shapiro, Clear and Open

11. Create A Meaningful Habit

Im from the village that says you should create your own habit. Someone elses habits may not necessarily be a fit for you. Create a habit that has meaning to you and your employees and acknowledges their contributions. I pass out a chocolate square at least two afternoons a week to each employee every week. It keeps me conscious of who Im leading and how much I appreciate their contributions. - Thomas Larkin, Communico, Westport CT

12. Prioritize The Habit Of Gratitude

Committing to a daily gratitude journal practice where you write a list of three or more things you're grateful for each day can be transformative for leaders. It's simple, quick (mine takes about 90 seconds) and orients you toward positivity every single day. When you journal about positive stuff at night, it helps you sleep better. Journaling in the morning can help you get off to a great start! - Kate Dixon, Dixon Consulting

13. Practice The Art Of Visualization

One natural ability to develop is the art of visualization, which can be extraordinarily powerful on top of a regular habit of meditation. Our capacity to use our imagination through purposeful visualization can be a differentiator for leaders, and layering visualization on top of meditation adds a multiplying effect. As a starter, try visualizing various scenarios from a relaxed state. - James Glasnapp, James Glasnapp Coaching

14. Ask How Questions

Leaders make tons of decisions daily, so it's crucial that they have good problem-solving skills. What doesn't help is asking too many "why" questions that cause you to dwell on the problem. For example, "Why did this happen to me? Ask more "how" questions instead, like "How can I fix this issue? You can go from powerless to powerful and successful. - Lizette Ojeda, Dr. Lizette LLC

15. Lead With Energy

Integrating a daily physical fitness routine prepares leaders for the mental and intellectual challenges they face. Regular exercise is one form of self-care needed for a leader's well-being as it allows them to sustain the emotional energy required to lead an organization. By modeling self-care, leaders encourage similar behaviors in their employees, which in turn impacts their well-being. - Jonathan Silk, Bridge 3 LLC

Visit link:

15 Daily Habits Of Great Leaders - Forbes

As many people make New Year's resolutions related to their health or finances, Daymond John, an investor on ABC's "Shark Tank," suggests that you focus on something equally important in 2020: work-life balance.

John recently posted a photo of his two-year-old daughter, Minka, on LinkedIn, with the caption: "I MISS HER SO MUCH! IS WHAT WE DO REALLY WORTH IT?"

The CEO and founder of the clothing company FUBU explained that he "personally struggle[s] with this dilemma." Although John has experienced a lot of success in his career, he questioned, "Is it really worth it if I can't be there every night to kiss my amazing wife and put my little girl to bed?"

Work-life balance is a topic that John is passionate about, but he's been candid about his issues with it in the past. When he founded FUBU in 1992, he said that he "didn't have a life" because he was working so much, he told Lewis Howes on the "School of Greatness" podcast in 2018.

"Work/life balance is the toughest thing that we will always be challenged with," John wrote on LinkedIn. "It will never be perfect and it will personally change for you over time."

John prompted his LinkedIn followers to concentrate on work-life balance in the new year, sharing that he wants to continue to spend time with his daughter as she grows up. John also has two older daughters with his first wife, Yasmeen and Destiny, and has said that he regrets not being there for them at a young age.

"I really kind of mentally said to myself, I'll get to know my daughters when they're 10 or 15 years old, because there is no time now," John told Howes.

Now, John's attitude has changed. "I have the opportunity to be able to give as much love as I can," he told Howes.

"As we all set our New Years goals, make dealing with your personal work/life balance goals one of the most important things on your list," he wrote.

Regardless of your job, John wrote that "you are not alone" if you're still figuring out work-life balance. He suggested "small changes" to achieve that goal. For example, John has said he schedules time to hang out with his daughter or call family members, because it's the only way to ensure that it happens.

"If you want #worklifebalance, you need to make it a priority to steal away time for yourself no matter how small it is. It will add up over time and you won't regret it," he wrote in an Instagram caption in November.

There's not a one-size-fits-all solution for work-life balance, as other business titans have shown.

Some people, like Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, prefer to think of it as "work-life harmony" instead of "balance." Singer and entrepreneur Beyonce revealed in a recent interview with Elle that balancing work and life is "the most stressful thing."

Disclosure: CNBC owns the exclusive off-network cable rights to "Shark Tank."

Like this story? Subscribe to CNBC Make It on YouTube!

Don't miss:

Here is the original post:
'Shark Tank' star Daymond John says this should be the most important goal at work in 2020 - CNBC

Tobias Lutke, founder and CEO of Canadian e-commerce company Shopify, says working 80 hours each week is not necessary for success.

"For creative work, you can't cheat. My (belief) is that there are 5 creative hours in everyone's day," Lutke said in a tweet on Thursday. "All I ask of people at Shopify is that 4 of those are channeled into the company."

The Shopify CEO shared his opinion in response to an ongoing conversation on Twitter, as some were debating whether working nights and weekends in addition to a standard day of work is necessary for success.

"Most people that changed the world were workaholics," one CEO tweeted on Christmas Day.

But Lutke begged to differ.

"I've never worked through a night," Lutke said in a tweet on Thursday. "The only times I worked more than 40 hours in a week was when I had the burning desire to do so. I need 8ish hours of sleep a night. Same with everybody else, whether we admit it or not."

Lutke is worth about $3.6 billion, according to Forbes, and built a company with a current market capitalization of about $48 billion by "treating everyone with dignity and not falling into the fallacies and trappings of some orthodoxy," as he said in the Twitter thread.

He added on Twitter, "I'm home at 5:30 pm every evening. My job is incredible, but it's also just a job. Family and personal health rank higher in my priority list."

And Lutke is not the only billionaire in support of getting enough sleep.

Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon, told Thrive Global in 2016 that getting eight hours of sleep "makes a big difference for me, and I try hard to make that a priority."

"For me, that's the needed amount to feel energized and excited," Bezos said.

Bill Gates also agrees with sleeping well and avoiding all-nighters although, during his early days at Microsoft, Gates believed sleeping was "lazy," as he wrote in a Dec. 10 blog post.

"I routinely pulled all-nighters when we had to deliver a piece of software," the self-made billionaire wrote in his blog. "Once or twice, I stayed up two nights in a row."

Later on, he realized "that my all-nighters, combined with almost never getting eight hours of sleep, took a big toll," adding that sleep is extremely important for good health and focus at work.

Like this story? Subscribe to CNBC Make It on YouTube!

Don't miss: In Bill Gates' Microsoft days, he thought 'sleeping a lot was lazy'now he needs 7 hours a night

The rest is here:
You don't have to work 80 hours a week to be successful, Shopify CEO says: 'There are 5 creative hours in everyone's day' - CNBC

NDP Leader Ryan Meili says he is focused on holding the government to account while also offering alternatives for Saskatchewan voters.

Saskatchewan NDP leader Ryan Meili heads into 2020 with a fall election campaign in his sights. It will be his first foray as a candidate and as party leader.

The NDP spent a great deal of 2019 highlighting issues facing emergency rooms and classrooms, and concerns about the level of support for mental health and addictions support.

CBC's Adam Hunter sat down with Meili for a year-end Q and A.

What has been your biggest accomplishment as a party this year?

What we've been able to do is shine a light on some of the real challenges in health care and education in particular. The crisis in our classrooms as well as the hallway medicine that has become the norm under the Sask. Party.

We've got so many people coming forward telling us what's really going on and hearing back, as we're travelling the province, a pretty high level of frustration. This is the most important piece. We're also putting forth some solutions that people are seeing as credible, valuable and worth engaging.

What did you not get accomplished?

I sometimes refer to opposition as the complaint buffet because there are so many things in so many departments that are worth pointing out. It's a tough balance between picking some things to concentrate on as well as making sure you're not leaving anything uncovered.

We've announced our new Saskatchewan plan to move us to renewable energy and in a way that will lower people's bills and put lots of people to work. We've announced a cap on class sizes to get the crisis in our classrooms under control.

What's your criticism of the Premier and the government's handling of relations with Ottawa?

There are things we can do in this province to improve the economy that are actually in our power and that's what's been frustrating is to see more and the Sask. Party, really Premier Moe and the Sask. Party,pointing fingers elsewhere and trying to distract from their own record and missing opportunities to make smart choices here.

Frankly, it seems like they don't really have a lot of ideas about what to do there. And so they're pointing fingers elsewhere or putting out lofty goals but not really having clear, credible plans to actually get them.

The Premier's rationale iswe build the economy and you attract people and create wealth.What do you say to that?

There's also the people side of it and that's what they forget. We need to put people as our first priority. Put that as our main focus. When you invest in people, when everybody's got a chance to have a decent place to live, a decent standard of living, a chance to have their educational personal success. It actually makes you more resilient when times get tough so you're better able to weather tougher times and you're way more ready to take full advantage when things go well.

We've seen under the Sask.Party when things were going fine and prices were high, people were satisfied. The spending went up. As soon as the economy struggled at all, big cuts, a big panic, shutting down STC, cutting health care, cutting social services. They made all these steps backwards because they had no plan for what happens if things don't continue to click along as they'd been lucky enough to see in the previous years.

What can people expect from youand the NDP for the next few months?

I think people have seen a lot of what our approach will be that emphasis on putting people first. Pointing out obviously the troubles under theSask. Party, the lack of ideas and missed opportunities but really coming up with some I think exciting opportunities for us to go forward and renew Saskatchewan.

My focus is to make sure we have a Saskatchewan where everybody's got a chance to do as well as they possibly can and where that shows up in good quality of life for people who are living here.

*Questions and answers were edited for length and clarity

Follow this link:
NDP leader Meili on balance between criticizing government and offering solutions - CBC.ca

In our lifetime, we have all met people with great financial wealth but who seemed to lack substance. And we have also met people who had very little money to their name but deeply felt the extent of our humanity.

As business leaders and entrepreneurs, many of us were trained to separate emotional success from financial success. But the days of "keep your feelings out of business" are long gone. More than ever, we are realizing that it is our moment-to-moment dominant feeling that determines the level of success we experience both emotionally and financially.

Before we go down the rabbit hole called financial emotional intelligence, let me ask you, "What does being financially emotionally intelligent mean to you?"

According to Investopedia, being financially emotionally intelligent has to do with the "need to live within your means. And to live within your means, you must spend less than you make." Do you agree with that definition?

If you do, know that you are not alone. There are many people who think that being financially emotionally intelligent has to do with being financially responsible. Think about it. If somebody borrowed over $100,000 against their line of credit to invest in their personal development, would you call that a financially emotionally intelligent decision? I received a resounding "No!" from those in my immediate environment when I made that decision a long time ago, but back then, I was onto something big. Let me share that something with you.

Financial emotional intelligence is understanding what we feel about money and why. It is really zeroing in on what money means to us emotionally, so we can feelingly welcome more money into our lives and enjoy it. Don't take my word for it. Let's do an exercise together.

Think about the last financial decision you made prior to reading this article. Perhaps you bought yourself a cup of cappuccino. Maybe you paid a supplier or hired a new employee. Whatever that money decision was, did you really stop and take stock of what you were feeling in that moment when the financial transaction took place?

The reason I am stressing the importance of noticing our dominant feeling when money crosses our hands in any form is because we make decisions emotionally before justifying them rationally. Allow me to explain.

Each one of us has a "little" thing called our ego-mind. In every moment, our ego-mind uses the dominant feeling we are experiencing to dip into the pool of beliefs and memories we have associated with that specific feeling. In other words, our ego-mind is constantly validating itself.

When your latest financial transaction took place, what were you feeling about money in that moment? Feel into that feeling and identify the belief/memory that specifically came up for you. Be honest with yourself. Do you now notice how your belief/memory validated your feeling?

It is important for you to be self-aware of this because that belief/memory you just referenced about money determined the next thought you had, which ultimately led to your next financial decision, whether that decision was successful or not.

This is why financial emotional intelligence is an ongoing feedback loop that leads us to experience exactly what we believe about money as we justify to ourselves every single belief and memory through our dominant feeling in the moment.

I get it. It can be daunting to realize that we are the powerful common denominator in every experience we have since we are the ultimate validator of our financial emotional intelligence expressed reality. When I realized that truth for myself, I massively invested in my personal development. I was done fooling myself.

Back then, despite being a finance economist, chartered financial analyst, and emotional intelligence coach, I could not, for the life of me, answer what money meant to me emotionally and why. I had a terrible relationship with money.

After much sweat and tears, I have become the financial emotional intelligence coach who assists business leaders and entrepreneurs in experiencing their ultimate level of success emotionally and financially. I am living debt-free and enjoying a thriving, compassionate relationship with money.

Since I only know what I am living, here are four great advantages of being financially emotionally intelligent:

Letting go of stereotyping:Now that you know there are financially wealthy people who deeply feel the extent of our humanity, keep looking for that evidence.

Owning our lives emotionally and financially: Beliefs are learned, which means they can be unlearned by consciously associating more positive feelings with money. Challenge every money belief you have.

Developing deep, meaningful relationships: When we understand that we are the common denominator in every experience we have, then we understand at a much deeper level how our feelings and money are always walking together and shaping both our business and personal lives. Make money fun again.

Creating the ultimate legacy of success: Financially emotionally intelligent people often ask themselves, "What will others say about me at my eulogy?" and they take inspired action accordingly. Lead by example.

Financial emotional intelligence is the predictor of ultimate success because it is our dominant feeling that constantly determines the kind of business leader and entrepreneur we are. Being financially emotionally intelligent is the most humane thing we can do.

Read more from the original source:
Why Financial Emotional Intelligence Is The Predictor Of Ultimate Success - Forbes

Purpose, passion and a design that pops are all central to success on the social-media platform.

December 30, 2019 5 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Many would argue that understanding how to express a personal brand on social media is one of the most challenging things to do, and yet its necessary, and easier than you may think. A good rule of thumb? Think, What would I do if I were a business?

Although people and their personalities are fluid, adding consistency to what and how you post will equate your personal page with a brand to your followers. The important note here is to continue expressing the brand consistently, because it takes, on average,five-to-seven brand impressions for people to notice what youre doing. Compounded over time, your followers --even the ones who are strangers -- will start to feel like they know you, particularly if you follow these three guidelines.

Related: You Need a Personal Brand. Here's How You Build One.

While you may have many passions and interests, followers want to know what theyll get from you consistently. So, if your one big passion is sustainability, gear your captions and content towards that realm. If you suddenly add posts about digital marketing tactics, it gets a bit confusing for followers who come for your insights on sustainable initiatives.

Sometimes, a good starting place for this big question is considering what you most want to say. Youre the one who will be creating the content, so what is in your heart that you want toteach or share with others? I know that this can be a bit muddy at first, so I recommend writing a personal manifesto. New York Timestech writer Thorin Klosowski suggests that the manifesto should lay out your topics (what you most want to focus on) and your principles (your beliefs and intentions) and do so with strong, affirmative statements. Rather than, I want to be an authoritative voice for women in STEM, write, I AM an authoritative voice. Put this manifesto by your desk or make it your phone wallpaper.

Companies create visual brand books with their logos, colors, fontsand overall brand feel. This is an important step in the creative process of building a business, because it engendersa sense of familiarity for the consumer over time. NDash Marketing VPMatt Solar blogs for Marketothat the psychology of color can help [you] establish trust and familiarity by soliciting the right emotions and increase the brand recognition with the desired reactions that they may provoke.

These colors and fonts can then be used on your Instagram story and any graphic-design posts within your feed. Again, the more consistent you are, the more quickly a follower will recognize that the post is from you when they see these branded markers.

As far as choosing the color goes, I personally went with a dark pink, simply because I like it. Studies find that colors like blue or red are the most popularly used for business brands, but this choice is all personal for you. If you choose a color you like, youre more likely to also have that color as your coffee tumbler or notebook color, so it keeps everything consistent. None of this should be calculated, necessarily. These are just ways to emphasizewhat you already love and express.

Finally, every strong personal brand has a product or concept that typifies its personality or is an extension of what the owner loves. For Spanx founder Sara Blakely, its Cheez-It crackers, and for her husband Jesse Itzler, its bananas. It doesnt necessarily have to be a food (although for many, it is),but the idea here is to ask yourself, What do I love so much that my friends think of me when they see it?

I accidentally discovered mine when I took to my Instagram story last year to discuss my baked-potato woes. As it is my favorite food, I had just ordered one singular baked potato from a steakhouse. For whatever reason, this really resonated with people. I started receiving pictures of baked potatoes with kind notes, and a school I spoke at even posted a picture of baked potatoes on their social-media feeds to announce I was cominng.

This is also something you cant overthink. Because it was a food I actually really liked, it was more probable that Id be eating it more often and that I could enhance this marker of my brand with a picture on my Instagram story every time I did. Its silly, but it works. A client of mine drinkstea every night while she plansher following day, so I told her to get in the habit of posting the quote attached to her teabag. I now call this tactic the baked-potato principle --accidentally establishing resonance with an audience because of a quirky thing youve always loved.

Ill reiterate once again: The secret here is consistency. The more you can create content in alignment with your passion, establish clearly visible brand expressions through color and font and find your own baked potato, the more the expression of your personal brand will become second nature. Andyour followers will feel they know you more than ever.

Link:
3 Stealth Ways to Express Your Personal Brand on Instagram - Entrepreneur

Napa, California | December 30, 2019:Success Strategies Inc.sLynda Paulson, CEO and Executive Coach, has added new sales training and public speaking classes for early January. The results-oriented Winery Hospitality Relationship Sales Training one-day workshopwill be held January 13that Cakebread Cellars in Rutherford, California. Andher two-dayimmersion training course, the Executive Speaking Experience, has been scheduled forJanuary 8th and 9th in Napa. This public speaking and presentation skills course provides hands-on, practical, video-recorded exercises, limited to six participants.

ABOUT THE WORKSHOPS

For the sales training workshop, participants will discover their communication strengths, build poise and confidence, and most importantly, develop relationship sales expertise. These skills will be learned through class demonstrations, discussion, role-playing, and team building exercises. Additional course takeaways include:

The workshop also offers optional pre-class mystery shopping of the winery tasting room, website or phone sales as well as a strategy session with the tasting room manager in order to more fully customize the course material for participants. Participants may also purchase Lynda Paulsons book,Romancing the Grape: Relationship Selling for Wine Professionals.

For the two-day public speaking training course, individual hands-on training sessions with personal coaching; 10 video recordings; written evaluations; practical feedback from peers; a manual with tips and techniques of presentation and communication skills; and a hardcover book, The Executive Persuader, by Lynda Paulson, will be offered.

Students learn how to manage their jitters, think on their feet, and develop poise and presence in front of an audience. Advanced skills such as handling confrontational issues are also taught along with learning to respond to audience Q&A with authority. Some past students have called it, Life changing!

Ive always been a bit intimidated about public speaking (my father was a highly respected speaker, you know what that can do to an offsprings confidence.). So when I mustered up the courage to go to Lynda Paulsons Executive Speakers Experience I wasnt sure what I was in for. I can tell you it was an exceptional professional adventure!

She works with a small group of only 6 people and does video!! The video quickly became a valued tool. Just like with skiing, it is incredibly helpful to see your mannerisms and bearing. I watched others grow and I literally was able to watch my own progress. We all walked away with more authentic style and confidence. I highly recommend her workshop. Were an industry of direct communication. Everyone can use some more confidence and polishI recommend taking advantage of this unique training opportunity, stated Colby Smith, Executive Director & Founder of CANVAS, Concierge Alliance of Napa Valley and Sonoma.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?

TAKEAWAYS

ENROLLMENT

Learn more or reserve your seat at:https://winery-hospitality-sales-training-jan2020.eventbrite.com/?aff=WIAorhttps://executive-speaking-experience-jan2020.eventbrite.com/?aff=WIA.Additional classes will be offered later in 2020. Discounts are available for group ticket purchases. Class price includes lunch. Call 775.530.6119 or email[emailprotected]for more information.

ABOUT LYNDA PAULSON

Lynda Paulson has been a sales training coach for more than thirty years withSuccess Strategies, Inc., renowned for teaching sales training, public speaking and communication skills to professionals from over 600 wineries and businesses in the U.S. and Europe. Her coaching techniques have been crafted over decades working with local clients such as the Cakebreads, the Mondavis, the Trincheros, the Martinis, the Wentes and management teams at many local companies. She has also taught training courses at AT&T, American Express, Disney Corporation, Kodak, ING, IBM and many more throughout California, Oregon, Washington, New York, Canada and Europe.

Continued here:
Success Strategies Offers Executive Speaking Experience Workshops in January 2020 - wineindustryadvisor.com