Place your success in the tasks you can control

I recently had a hard week and work, nothing seemed to be working right, was making those easy mistakes and was struggling to feel good about myself.  I am sure we have all had weeks like that.  In the evening I would go home discouraged and found it hard to get started on anything around the house.

I then realized a concept that is probably well known to everyone else but is a new concept to me.  A job is a big part of my life, for me in IT it is huge.  Every week I am on call meaning they can call me in if there are issues at the plant.  When things aren't quite an easy of a fix that they think they often look for someone to blame.  This leaves someone leaving work with a bag of guilt.  Do my bosses feel the same way about their work?  No!  So why do I?

I decided then and there that when I am at home, i need to place my priorities and efforts as well as my value on things I can control, and things I can make a difference on.  For many years I have owned several small based business that I haven't put a lot of effort into.  Why, often I felt tied to my work, and felt that I would be interrupted or I would miss a call, all sorts of reasons this job held me back from doing things I wanted to do, something that I can learn to do better and something that I would feel would bring me successful feeling that I desired.

Maybe you are in the same boat as me, coming home exhasted from work, with nothing but the TV to fill you evening, which will bring you no fulfillment.  I think that everyone should have a project, something that they love to work on that will bring them joy.  Here are what I believe should be critera for making room in your life for something that will bring you that feeling of success:

1. Should bring you together with people that also strive success
Becoming successful at your plan means to surround yourself with successful people that will fuel your passion and support you while you work towards your goal.  These people can come from different walks of life and may even be part of your existing social circles.  They will be there to support you and may correct you as you work towards you goal.

2.  Should be something that you enjoy.

Nobody will work hard on something they don't enjoy doing.  It then becomes a job.  To truly feel success you need to enjoy what you are doing.  For me, health and wellness as well as helping people with technology are things I believe are good things to be a part of.  I work with a great team that encourage me to grow my business and to chase success.

3.  This may involve something new

Sometimes, we all have a great idea that we think can change the world.  I would encourage everyone to chase or at least look at these ideas to see if it is something that you can pursue.  A new challenge often brings together people who chase success.

I hope this helps you choose to put your plan in action, whether that means starting at the gym or a home based business venture.  I encourage you to start.  Please comment if you have some other great advice.

The Importance of water in work and life

One of my major habits of living a healthy lifestyle is the source of fluid I put into my body and I'm been looking for a way to change this as my new year is looking to improve my health, lose some weight and move my life into the next phase of life as healthy and strong as I can to make sure I prevent other health issues.

I'm 42 years old, and work in the IT Field.  I don't drink coffee but rather the past few years consume pop as my drink of choice.  My work day starts at 7am and often I grab a quick pastry and a Coke product to wake me up and get me started.  I can eat it quickly and am off to work with the morning fixes that seem to be the start of every day.

Unlike other IT jobs, my job in manufacturing requires me to do a lot of walking which means I don't spend a lot of time at my desk.  My Fitbit registers up to 10 miles per day of walking before the end of my work day, and I guess I would spend less than 25% at my desk.  This often means I don't drink a lot of water during the day but rather take a coke on the run at lunch.

Deanna Waters, a health and wellness expert posted this the other day which really got me thinking about how important putting water into my bodyd every morning and each night:

Being a Fitbit user, I know I can track my water consumption using their application.  And in reading other articles going to start with a glass of water first thinkg when I get up and one glass before I goto bed.  As well, going to work on tracking my water consumption consistantly in my Fitbit app, to ensure I drink more during the day to meet my goals.  With all of these health benefits it should move me towards my goals as well as leave less of a craving for pop.

Let me know how you ensure you drink enough water.  Would be interesting to know some other methods to help me with my change.