Louise Greally Coaching

I was at the Raby Bay triathlons on Sunday in Brisbane, not competing in them now.  As much as I’m into exercise, I’m not a triathlete by any means.  I was there to support my fiancé and his friends.

What an inspiring day.. Over one thousand people of all ages pushing themselves mentally, physically and emotionally.  When I first arrived the category that was racing were people mainly in their 60s!!

How cool is that?  I know people in their twenties who moan if they’ve to walk more than 10 minutes and these people were 60+ doing a triathlon!

However, the main message I took from being there was the power of encouragement.  Seeing people line the streets to shout competitors on, sometimes people they knew and a lot of the time people they didn’t.

I was clapping like a lunatic (on my own at one stage while the others were racing) for everyone that went by me because I could see the lift they got from encouragement.  During his cycle stage I shouted out to my fiancé that he was doing great.  He then sped up and passed lots of other bikes when he heard his name.  Afterward he said he got a real boost from it which helped him speed up!

It reminded me of our mate Craig who ran the New York marathon last year.  There was one stage that he ‘hit the wall’ and didn’t think he’d be able to finish the marathon.  He said it was a horrible feeling and he was terrified he’d have to stop. Suddenly lots of spectators shouted out his name (as his name was on his shirt).  Craig said it changed everything for him- he went from feeling exhausted and that he was unable to make it to feeling great and running his way to the finish line.

How powerful are words of encouragement?

We don’t realise how our simple words of encouragement can positively impact those we speak them to.

Think back on your own life, how many times have words of encouragement helped you or even changed your life?

How many people can you encourage more- from yourself, to family, friends and co-workers?

Here are some wise words to ponder:

“A word of encouragement during a failure is worth more than an hour of praise after success” Anon

“Nine tenths of education is encouragement.” Anatole France

“You need to be aware of what others are doing, applaud their efforts, acknowledge their successes, and encourage them in their pursuits. When we all help one another, everybody wins.” Jim Stovall

“One word or a pleasing smile is often enough to raise up a saddened and wounded soul.” Therese of Lisieux

“There is nothing better than the encouragement of a good friend” Katharine Butler Hathaway

Personal development encouragement, inspiration, marathon, Personal development, triathlon

Increasing your savings/ mortgage repayments can be easy for lots of people yet painstakingly difficult for many too.  This usually has very little to do with how much we earn but rather the habits we have around money.

Realistically most of us buy far too many things we don’t need and often waste thousands of dollars per year… (think of all those shoes/outfits/magazines/books/cosmetics/food items you don’t use)

This article is for anyone who is at the stage where they need to cut back some bad habits and keep more money in their pocket- here are some ideas.

• Shop once a week and in a supermarket or even better a low price one (many of these are brilliant quality). This can reduce your bill by up to 50%.
• Plan your weekly meals to avoid having to go back to the shops or buying take out.
• For food, clothes or any type of shopping write a list first and only buy what you need.
• Don’t buy something just because its on sale!  This is false savings unless you purposely set out to buy it!
• Shop around to see if you can get a better deal on your phone, electricity, interest rates etc.
• Turn off your water heating system during the day or at times when it wont be used.
• Learn to do your own nails, hair etc.
• Go on holidays low or mid season.
• Put loose change into a money jar until its full.
• Cancel any subscriptions you don’t use- gym, magazines, tv.
• Go to the cinema on cheap Tuesdays.
• Use money off vouchers.
• Buy your petrol during the week or on the days when its lowest.
• Plan your money in advance so you avoid having to use another banks atm and the $2-$5 charge.
• Change your mortgage repayments to weekly or fortnightly.
• If you cant afford something, save for it- don’t put it on the credit card.
• Join the library instead of buying books.
• Don’t open a new packet or box of an item if you still have some left in another box/packet. Ie use your bread, sauces, food items, cosmetics until they run out.
• Invite friends over for dinner/drinks instead of going out.
• Fill your water bottle before leaving the house so you avoid having to buy one.
• When you get a pay rise, instead of upgrading your debt by upgrading your car/house etc- upgrade your savings!!
• Shop around for the best insurance for your home, car etc.  Don’t cut necessities but make sure you’re getting the best deal.
• Instead of buying a new outfit, mix n match accessories or buy new accessories instead of a new outfit.

The important thing we must learn about money is that its not how much you make but how much you keep.  Like health and anything in life there’s a discipline and consciousness required regarding money that needs to be learned in order for it to work for you rather than the other way around.

Finances create wealth, finance, Finances, Personal development, saving, wealth

Did you know that up to 80% of illnesses and accidents can be linked to our emotions?

Do you know that more people have heart attacks on a Monday morning than on any other day in the week and that newborn babies who don’t receive any love (or in medical terms kinaesthetic tactile stimulation) will die within a few days even if they are well nourished and healthy? Deepak Chopra mentions these facts in his audio Perfect Health.

The mind/body/emotional connection within disease, in particular the role the immune system plays is recognised within many health care systems.
Psychoneuroimmunology is the medical term for this connection between the mind, the immune system and the nervous system.

In her best seller “You Can Heal Your Life” by the acclaimed therapist and author Louise Hay, Louise states that all illness is caused by an imbalance of mind, body or soul.
There is a percentage of disease caused in the body due to outside influences such as our diet, our environment we live in, chemicals we ingest in our area, food and toiletries and all these have an affect in the body.  Importantly though so do our emotions.  There is more and more evidence linking emotions to health.  Stress being the most talked about and advertised example.

So if our emotions and emotional health is a huge contributing factor for good health.  Doesn’t it make sense that we look after emotional health in order to live an all round healthy life?

My friend and mentor Paul Blackburn, who is the co founder of Beyond Success tells a story of a client of his who had terminal cancer.  She came to Paul as her last hope.
During their time together Paul tried to discover the feelings around this client being overweight.  She seemed reluctant to talk about it and said she’d been overweight for years, had tried everything and nothing worked. However, as being overweight is usually a sign of trying to protect ourselves, Paul felt there were probably emotions not dealt with here that were linked to the terminal illness.  Eventually the client confessed she had been raped at age 13, hadn’t dealt with it and had been overweight since…
Paul guided his client through the healing process and helped her to deal with the anger and various intense emotions around this incident.   Months later she was disease free, was still alive at the time of writing his book (Beyond Success) and was finally at a healthy weight.  In fact she was on a new diet, she called the ‘eat whatever you like’ diet.. because she ate what she liked and still stayed slim.
The emotions were felt and faced, her disease disappeared as did her weight problems.

There are more and more cases like this being documented and its becoming undeniable that its an area we need to address in order to have both emotional and physical health.
“The immune system, like the central nervous system, has a memory and the capacity to learn. Thus, it could be said that intelligence is located in literally every cell of the body, and that the traditional separation of mind and body no longer applies.” http://www.alternativemedicine.com/A…rapyDetail.xsl.

Not convinced?  Neither was I initially, however if we analyse it in the following way we can come to the same conclusion.

Person A:
Emotionally healthy, would tend to look after themselves and have a lifestyle that leaned towards good health. For example would be less likely to have any addictions or habits like smoking/drinking/over-working that would impact their health.  Would be more likely to eat, exercise and sleep well.

Person B:
Emotionally unhealthy.  Would tend to look after themselves less.  Would be more prone to addictions, irregular sleep, unhealthy eating, little exercise.  All of these factors continuously impacting the body will most likely manifest a disease.

Conclusion:
There are many things that contribute to our health; emotions being a huge factor.
Whether you believe that illnesses can manifest from the mind and our emotions or even if you don’t believe that.. its undeniable that a person in a good state of emotional health will eat better, exercise, sleep better and do the things necessary to ensure they are healthy.
The solution for us all is to look after ourselves physically as well as emotionally.
There are many things we can do to improve our emotional health- self development, coaching, meditation, exercise and yoga are a few tools that can help improve your emotional health.

What steps can you take today?

Louise Hay lists conditions and the emotions around these diseases in You Can Heal Your Life.  Louise’s research states that these links are found in 80% of cases.  You can find the list here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/359921/Louise-L-Hay-Heal-Your-Body

Resources:
The Psychology of Winning. Dr Dennis Waitley.
Perfect Health. Audio. Dr Deepak Chopra.
You Can Heal Your Life. Louise Hay
Beyond Success. Paul Blackburn

Health, Personal development Deepak Chopra, Denis Waitley, emotions, Health, Louise Hay, Paul Blackburn, Personal development