In the news... Massage, Kettlebells, Smiling, and Motivation - Articles I found interesting this past week.

Hi,
It occurred to me (duh!) recently that I spend a lot of time reading articles, news, and posts from other sources about health, fitness, and both personal and business development that maybe I could help like-minded folks by publishing a weekly post that aggregates some of this other information. NO way I am going to be inclusive of everything that's out there, I just want to find and point out what I think may be helpful info. Love to hear some comments on this first attempt. - Bruce

Health

Lately I've been considering getting a massage, maybe on a regular basis for general health and well being, to de-stress and chill out a bit. I know lots of people who get and swear by regular massages, but I don't know much myself. This article from Mark's Daily Apple earlier this week was helpful.
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/why-you-should-book-a-massage-today/

Fitness

Kettlebells. I've only been aware of kettlebells for a couple of years but I hear more people are using them. Why? This article from Shape  helped me understand more about their appeal.
http://www.shape.com/fitness/workouts/kettlebell-workouts-top-7-ways-make-trend-work-you

Personal Development

Wow, this matters! I've always been big on smiling, but I never knew there were so many studies about smiling and health. Check out this video by Ron Gutman published on TED.
http://www.ted.com/talks/ron_gutman_the_hidden_power_of_smiling.html

Business Development

One of the toughest things for people who are independently growing their own business can be motivation. So what motivates people? An article that just posted today on Forbes.com addresses this very topic.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/actiontrumpseverything/2014/03/01/17-ways-to-motivate-yourself-to-do-great-things/

So there you have it, the first four articles. What do you think? Love some comments here, or find me on Facebook, follow me, and share your thoughts.

Writing When You Have No Choice

OK, so maybe the title for this post is a teeny bit misleading. Of course we have a choice. If we didn't want to write we wouldn't have to. Unlike an automatic body function, like, say breathing, we can't consciously control whether we breathe or not - we can hold our breath for a while, but if we hold it long enough and pass out, we'll start to breathe again. Few of us write in our sleep (I wanted to say "No one", but some might beg to differ). So, yeah, we have a choice.

It just doesn't seem that way.

I have the tremendous good fortune to be married to Marge Brown. There are many reasons why she's a perfect match, not least is our shared need to write.

So maybe that's a better way to describe the urge, the compulsion, the draw to write. Perhaps a better title for this post would have been "Writing Because You Need To"? What do you think?

It seems to me this urge, desire, obsession, whatever-you-call-it to write is something you have or don't have and if someone doesn't have it, it's not part of their reality and may not even make sense.

But Marge and I each have the need to write and we're stuck with it. We accept that writing is part of who we are as individuals and as a couple so we choose to enjoy it and indulge ourselves to satisfy the inner pressure that builds when one of us doesn't write.

In my case this need to write didn't become part of who I am until my mid thirties. I'd always been an avid reader and in college I majored in English. My first career after my undergraduate years was as a teacher of English in a high school. So of course I wrote, but there was no big draw for me. I wrote because I could and I had to, first as required during my education and latter by my job.

But something happened when I was 34 or 35 that started me and it was like I suddenly was turned on to writing. It's as if I turned a corner in time and around that corner was a new me who wrote quickly and easily and enjoyed most every minute of it.

I'm still around the same corner and will never turn back. For me writing is just part of who I am. I write email, blog posts, social media messages, short books, longer books, jokes, inspirational pieces and even short notes of encouragement. While my main work is being a health and fitness coach, I seek opportunities to write within that context and I also continue to write self help how-to books and personal development works. It's a business, yes, but it's fun!

So really, as I hope you can tell, I have no choice.

The World's Best Meal Replacement Shake

Are you looking for a healthy meal replacement for better nutrition, more energy, sheer convenience, or weight loss? We know Shakeology is the best choice. If you're interested but would like to try it first, go to www.BrucetheCoach.com and click the Free Shakeology box to sign up and have a free sample mailed to your home or office. Also, this is the last day to sign up for our November 30-Day Fitness and Weight Loss Challenge, which you can do by clicking the appropriate box on the same page.

You ARE Perfect!

As a being you are perfect, we all are. But don't let that hold you back.

Many of us fall into the trap of not doing something because we "Can't do it perfectly" or "It's not perfect yet". Don't let that be an excuse.

You may never, probably will never do something 100% perfectly, likely none of us do. But that's OK, because we already are perfect as beings.

So don't be afraid of your success and don't hold back - get active and do things, whatever your actions or expressions of yourself may be.

The world can use, it very likely needs, what you have to offer, so bring it on! And don't worry about being perfect, you already are!

The Starfish Story

Loren Eisley's "The Starfish Story" is meaningful to me because it's about making a difference, one act at a time. This video is my retelling of "The Starfish Story".