Often what stops us from getting things done is the size of the task at hand. Kaizen, a Japanese management concept for incremental (gradual, continuous) change (improvement); breaking tasks into small, manageable steps is an excellent method for approaching most any task we have to do.
Kaizen is also a way of life philosophy based on making little changes on a regular basis. Kaizen is about finding new, creative, and effective ways to improve one’s life…from tackling the mundane to managing our stress, to attaining our life vision.
Want to put Kaizen in action in your life? Visit my web site and download your free Kaizen In Action worksheet!
Have a joyful day everyone...
Rita
www.ritaschiano.com
*From Live A Flourishing Life
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Stress Triggers: And How To Identify Yours
Each of us has situations that can make our heart race, our blood boil -- deadlines, interviews and teenagers, to name a few. Knowing what causes you stress is vital and powerful information and the beginning steps toward living a healthier, stress-reduced life.
Stress is the body's reaction to a mentally or emotionally disruptive or upsetting condition; to adverse external influences capable of affecting our physical health. Many of us are so accustomed to stress that we are blind to the effects it has on our bodies. In an article... (Read full post at The Huffington Post and AOL Healthy Living.)
Stress is the body's reaction to a mentally or emotionally disruptive or upsetting condition; to adverse external influences capable of affecting our physical health. Many of us are so accustomed to stress that we are blind to the effects it has on our bodies. In an article... (Read full post at The Huffington Post and AOL Healthy Living.)
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Letting Go of Yesterday's Hurts
If you can tell a story about how you were wronged last month, last year, five, even 10 years ago with the same vehemence, anger and ire, then you have not let go of it! What happened has happened. What was done is done. Over, finis.
Like a dog with a bone, we can gnaw on old wounds or injustices, reliving every detail over and over, thereby keeping them raw in our minds. Picking at our painful past keeps us from healing psychically and emotionally and threatens our physical health. Letting go increases physical and emotional well-being.
Read full post at AOL Healthy Living and The Huffington Post.
Like a dog with a bone, we can gnaw on old wounds or injustices, reliving every detail over and over, thereby keeping them raw in our minds. Picking at our painful past keeps us from healing psychically and emotionally and threatens our physical health. Letting go increases physical and emotional well-being.
Read full post at AOL Healthy Living and The Huffington Post.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Paying Attention in Class Saved Family’s Life
Wednesday, June 1 was like most end-of-the-school-year days. The
classroom was hot and stuffy, as was the air outside, thick and heavy
with moisture…telltale signs of a storm brewing. Nothing about the day
seemed out of the ordinary. Strong thunderstorms are not uncommon when
hot, moist air co-mingles with a cold front. It was just a typical New
England spring weather day.
Nearing the end of the school day, the 3rd grade teachers in 9-year-old Megan Frisella’s class had completed the day’s lesson plan. Being conscientious teachers, they opted to introduce a new lesson and selected a study plan about wind. In the remaining minutes of class that day, Megan and her classmates learned about the power of wind to foster energy, and they learned about the dangers of wind in hurricanes and tornadoes. Little did anyone know — or even conceive of the probability — that this last minute lesson would save a family’s life.
A few hours after Megan returned home from school Amy Frisella, Megan’s mother, heard that a tornado may be headed for their hometown of Sturbridge, MA. Megan spoke up and told her mother, “My teacher said you got to get away from the windows and go to a safe room.”
Now, the last tornado to hit in Central Massachusetts occurred in 1953, and so Megan’s mom was bracing for nothing more than a severe thunderstorm. However, having listened to her daughter talk about what she learned in school, Amy decided to treat the situation like a fire drill.
She took Megan and Megan’s 6-year-old sister Hailey, their 2 cats and the hamster, to the “safe room” in the basement where there were no windows, just as Megan had been taught. Less than a minute later, the house shook.
“It was just like a movie,” said Megan’s mom. “It sounded like a train.” Twenty seconds later, covered in soot, the Frisella’s emerged from the basement to discover their home had been severely damaged by a tornado.
The Frisella family is alive and unharmed today because of several factors…teachers who embraced their role as educators, who taught an extra lesson rather than blowing off the remaining minutes of the class period; a young girl who paid attention in class and who listened to her teachers; a parent who listened to her child and who recognized the value of a teachable moment.
At KidsTerrain, we believe that children, families, and teachers are life's greatest treasures. And we believe in the value of listening and talking to kids. On Wednesday, June 6, teachers talked, a child listened, a child talked, a parent listened, and a family’s life was saved.
Written for KidsTerrain, Inc. Reprinted here with permission.
Nearing the end of the school day, the 3rd grade teachers in 9-year-old Megan Frisella’s class had completed the day’s lesson plan. Being conscientious teachers, they opted to introduce a new lesson and selected a study plan about wind. In the remaining minutes of class that day, Megan and her classmates learned about the power of wind to foster energy, and they learned about the dangers of wind in hurricanes and tornadoes. Little did anyone know — or even conceive of the probability — that this last minute lesson would save a family’s life.
A few hours after Megan returned home from school Amy Frisella, Megan’s mother, heard that a tornado may be headed for their hometown of Sturbridge, MA. Megan spoke up and told her mother, “My teacher said you got to get away from the windows and go to a safe room.”
Now, the last tornado to hit in Central Massachusetts occurred in 1953, and so Megan’s mom was bracing for nothing more than a severe thunderstorm. However, having listened to her daughter talk about what she learned in school, Amy decided to treat the situation like a fire drill.
She took Megan and Megan’s 6-year-old sister Hailey, their 2 cats and the hamster, to the “safe room” in the basement where there were no windows, just as Megan had been taught. Less than a minute later, the house shook.
“It was just like a movie,” said Megan’s mom. “It sounded like a train.” Twenty seconds later, covered in soot, the Frisella’s emerged from the basement to discover their home had been severely damaged by a tornado.
The Frisella family is alive and unharmed today because of several factors…teachers who embraced their role as educators, who taught an extra lesson rather than blowing off the remaining minutes of the class period; a young girl who paid attention in class and who listened to her teachers; a parent who listened to her child and who recognized the value of a teachable moment.
At KidsTerrain, we believe that children, families, and teachers are life's greatest treasures. And we believe in the value of listening and talking to kids. On Wednesday, June 6, teachers talked, a child listened, a child talked, a parent listened, and a family’s life was saved.
Written for KidsTerrain, Inc. Reprinted here with permission.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Tornado Relief Centers Supplies Needed
URGENT HELP NEEDED - Area tornado relief centers are in need of donated plastic bins to collect personal items. They also need licensed and insured tree service people with bucket trucks. Contact Alix McNitt at the Chamber of Commerce in Sturbridge at 774-200-4157 if you can help.
Central Massachusetts communities effected by tornadoes include: Sturbridge, Brimfield, Monson, Southbridge, Charlton, as well as Springfield and West Springfield in the western part of the Commonwealth.
Central Massachusetts communities effected by tornadoes include: Sturbridge, Brimfield, Monson, Southbridge, Charlton, as well as Springfield and West Springfield in the western part of the Commonwealth.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Seize Your Power
Happiness is as much about what you don't want as it is about what you do want. You have much more power over your happiness level than you probably realize. When you make positive changes in yourself and your environment, you raise your disposition toward happiness.
Studies show a big gap between what we believe will make us happy and what actually does. Often, we have the tendency to overestimate how things will affect us, thinking we'll be much happy “When” or “Down the road.”
So stay in the moment. Focus on happiness here and now.
Have a joyful day everyone. And remember to live a flourishing life.
Rita
www.ritaschiano.com
To learn more about how you can live a flourishing life, please visit my web site, www.liveaflourishinglife.com.
Studies show a big gap between what we believe will make us happy and what actually does. Often, we have the tendency to overestimate how things will affect us, thinking we'll be much happy “When” or “Down the road.”
So stay in the moment. Focus on happiness here and now.
Have a joyful day everyone. And remember to live a flourishing life.
Rita
www.ritaschiano.com
To learn more about how you can live a flourishing life, please visit my web site, www.liveaflourishinglife.com.
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