"Listen Up" Weekly Wisdom

 

How are your listening skills?

We all need to stop talking so much. There I said it. 

There is nothing more ridiculous than people talking over each other. Someone talking and the other person not listening is just totally unproductive. Even it if is about something simple like what should we watch on TV tonight. 

When someone is sharing with you something personal, it is important! Are you listening?  Here is an example I overheard this week at a restaurant I was at. A young lady was sharing with a friend about how she struggles to make dinner for her family each night. She doesn't like doing it, she doesn't want to do it and she knows most of the time it is not healthy. I about fell out of my chair that the friend says, oh its easy this is what I do. Why don't you just do something like that? And then she continues to share all the meals she made this past two weeks as the young lady continued to look more and more defeated. 

We don't know everything. We are not doing it better than everyone else. We might have more experience or different tactics to doing a task but we are still not superior. Sometimes people just need to be heard and we just need to sit there and listen. Once someone is done talking and IF they ask us for advice or an opinion, then we can chime in because they want us to. 

It has truly become the "me show" in our society with a look at me and listen to me mindset. It is never wrong to share with the world your knowledge or expertise if it is helpful to others. We need to do more of that but we need to do less of sharing what you did today, what you wore today or even what you ate today. Most people are just trying to do the same and get through the day. They do not need to feel inferior to someone who is appearing to be doing it better. 

We all need to work on our listening skills. 

#quality | #embracethehellyeah

~AE

"Give The Compliment" Weekly Wisdom

 

When was the last time you gave someone a compliment?

This is the 1 way to support someone who means something to you. 

It doesn't have to be exclusive to family or friends. What about hairdresser, company that cuts your grass, the checker at the grocery store, the classmate from high school who was nice to you on a day that was horrible. It is never too late to bring a smile to someones day and give them something very special. 

We shop for special occasions, like birthdays, anniversaries, baby showers - finding a special gift for that special someone in our lives. But why do we only wait for special events - those expected events? Let's get cozy with the unexpected for once. 

That's why compliments are fantastic - they can be given anytime and are even better when it is unexpected. You can send a text, an email, write it on a mirror in lipstick, send a note in the mail - whatever is really easy for you to share the love. 

I challenge you to do this once a month, give the compliment. Give it to someone who really needs it. Maybe it is a friend or family member, but I ask that you look outside your circle. I also recommend you schedule it - without any idea of who it will go to because the timing of your life will lend to the person it will be given to. 

It's the gift that keeps on giving. 

#quality | #embracethehellyeah

AE

"Dress For Success" Weekly Wisdom

 

Do you even lift bro?

I have been listening to a lot of podcasts and reading books on keeping the brain and body in tip top shape as we age. Of course all of this education leads back to the basics many of us are very familiar with:  eating nourishing foods, decreasing stress, sleeping more, practicing self care and moving more. The emphasis keeps falling onto moving more. Exercise - the dreaded "E" word. 

The more muscle we have, the better off we live. We are physically and mentally stronger, we are less susceptible to injury and we can pull this lever to counteract "not-so-nourishing" lifestyle habits like eating more sugar and drinking alcohol. The principal of "you cannot outrun your fork" still reigns true but instead of running/cardio,  we need to think more about strengthening with resistance. Resistance training will stimulate more muscle fibers and keeps the structure of our bodies more intact as we age. Do you want to be able to get out of a chair, do you want to be able to go up and down stairs safely, do you want to be active on vacations, do you want to prevent fractures?  

You gotta lift, bro. 

You can use your bodyweight to get started or use resistance bands, or use 1 pound canned of green beans. Start somewhere, start now and don't look back. The more muscle you have the decreased mortality you have AT ANY AGE. I think that is reason enough to do it and the payoff is better than any article of clothing I could buy. 

#quality | #embracethehellyeah

~AE