Archive for Personal
Entrepreneurship & Well-Being
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If you are not familiar with it, the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index tracks and measures the emotional, psychological and physical health of Americans across all sectors. Their website is a fascinating current and historical snapshot of our country. From their data, many important lessons can be learned about us – individually and collectively.
Recently, Gallup-Healthways published a report that demonstrated that entrepreneurs have the highest overall well-being of any occupational group – despite the fact that business owners work longer hours than any other category. The research shows that working long hours doesn’t actually diminish one’s well-being with the exception of those who are not really engaged in their work.
The Gallup-Healthways report further breaks down the well-being ranking into six sub categories:
- Work Environment. Entrepreneurs score 16 percentage points higher than the next highest occupation. The ranking is based on job satisfaction, the ability to use strengths at work, and the level of trust and openness in the work environment.
- Basic Access. This metric is based on access to basic needs, such as food, shelter, healthcare, and a safe, satisfying place to live. Entrepreneurs placed fourth in this category, trailing Manager/Executives, Professionals, and Clerical.
- Emotional Health. Interestingly – but perhaps no surprise – those working in the Farming/Forestry sectors lead this category, followed by Professionals, Manager/Executives, and Entrepreneurs.
- Healthy Behavior. This sub-index measures four behaviors strongly linked to physical health: eating healthy, smoking, regular consumption of fruit & veggies, and frequency of exercise. Again, Farming/Forestry workers lead this, followed closely by Entrepreneurs.
- Physical Health. This measures nine items that indicate chronic or daily illness. Construction workers rate in a statistical tie with Manager/Executives, then Professionals, Sales, Installation, Farming/Forestry, followed by Entrepreneurs. This is the category where Entrepreneurs rank lowest in the survey.
- Life Evaluation. This measures where people evaluate their present and future lives on a scale of 1 to 10. Entrepreneurs rank fourth in this category, trailing Professionals, Manager/Executives, and Sales workers.
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Cut out excess sources of adrenaline
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Adrenaline is a powerful substance that has a strong impact on the body. From Wikipedia:
Epinephrine is a powerful action, “fight or flight”, hormone and also plays a central role in the short-term stress reaction. It is released from the adrenal glands when danger threatens or in an emergency, hence an Adrenaline rush. Such triggers may be threatening, exciting, or environmental stressor conditions such as high noise levels, or bright light and high ambient temperature.
When in the bloodstream, it rapidly prepares the body for action in emergency situations. The hormone boosts the supply of oxygen and glucose to the brain and muscles, while suppressing other non-emergency bodily processes (digestion in particular).
It increases heart rate and stroke volume, dilates the pupils, and constricts arterioles in the skin and gastrointestinal tract while dilating arterioles in skeletal muscles. It elevates the blood sugar level by increasing catabolism of glycogen to glucose in the liver, and at the same time begins the breakdown of lipids in fat cells. Like some other stress hormones, epinephrine has a suppressive effect on the immune system.
Clearly, adrenaline serves an essential purpose in our very survival by preparing us for the “fight or flight” response when we face danger or stress. But how many unnecessary activities, relationships, attitudes or situations leave us feeling the “rush” of that response?
Too much adrenaline not only has important health implications, but it also distracts us from completing important projects, leaves us feeling anxiety, and intensifies the feeling that time is flying. By identifying and reducing these unnecessary sources of adrenaline in our lives, we would all be healthier, more focused, and feeling less stressed out.
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Protecting Your Credit in Economic Decline
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The “credit crisis” has become ubiquitous. It is being blamed for everything from home foreclosures to a plummeting stock market. Many individuals and most businesses are feeling the pinch from the credit markets today. Which is precisely why it is so important to carefully manage and protect your personal and business credit profile during these turbulent times. Those who are able to survive the current recession with their credit profile intact will have so much the advantage in the economy to come.
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The Lost Art of Giving Thanks
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My appreciation for the Thanksgiving holiday has matured over the years. There was a time when all Thanksgiving really meant to me was a great meal by my grandmother that inevitably turned into an eating contest with my younger brothers, followed by a football game on TV as we lay on the floor, writhing in the bloated discomfort of our engorgement. Then we had pie.
I find myself a lot more contemplative these days about Thanksgiving. It really isn’t about the turkey dinner or the football game anymore. And, while my thoughts during Thanksgiving – and the entire holiday season, for that matter – turn increasingly toward my family, I am also reminded that sincere expressions of gratitude are a tremendous source of both internal and external power in business settings as well.
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What makes an Exceptional CEO?
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