Archive for the ‘Stress’ Category

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What’s Your Problem?

April 29th, 2010 by Administrator | No Comments | Filed in Goals and Obstacles, Stress, Uncategorized

Have you ever been in bed trying to sleep when a sliver of light comes under the door and seems to light up the entire room? Or maybe you’ve accidentally left a red sock in with your load of whites and all of your undies are pink from then on? Maybe you’ve made cookies and when you get them out of the oven and taste them, you immediately realize you forgot the sugar?

Much like darkness can’t exist with even a sliver of light, one red sock ruins your load of whites, and forgetting the sugar turns would-be delicious cookies into cardboard, sometimes you are closer to achieving your goals than you realize, but having one too many (or one too few) ingredients won’t allow you to succeed. Reaching your goal may be as simple as figuring out what that ingredient is and adding it (or taking it away).

It’s important to realize that when things aren’t happening the way you’d like them to, there is a reason. Usually that reason is that you are (probably subconsciously) either doing things that hinder your progress, or not doing something simple that would really push you in the right direction.

Here are a few common culprits:

1. Mindset
Playing the role of the victim, becoming a martyr, coming up with excuses, not thinking you are good enough, etc. These are all things that you could be doing that are hindering your progress. Pay attention to how you think and speak about success others have achieved and make sure you aren’t unintentionally adding hurdles to your path.

2. Heart
Make sure your goals come from your heart and soul and not your ego. Maybe you want to be a lawyer just because you think it will gain the respect of your friends and family and not because you enjoy law. This means you like the idea of practicing law more than actually practicing law.

3. Focus
Sometimes (especially for entrepreneurs) it is easy to lose focus. You may see potential in many areas and are spreading yourself too thin. Remember to set priorities about which goals are most important for you and focus on them.

4. Learn
If things aren’t working out like you planned, there could be a piece missing from the puzzle. In business this may mean a marketing strategy. If you can’t seem to run any faster, this may mean training. Perhaps you are tired and lethargic for no reason and you need to add nourishment through supplements and food. Remember to search for pieces that are missing from your puzzle and don’t be afraid to seek professional help.

When you aren’t succeeding at your goal, there is simply something not right. One super simple element may be missing or present (that shouldn’t be). Remember to search for holes and excess when on the path towards achieving your goals. Seek out experts in the field that you need help with that can bring clarity to the situation and spot your problems easily. Remember that there are people out there who have fun playing in areas that you consider problematic.

Reaching your goals can be as easy as adding sugar!

Brandi Hamrick

Don’t Take Your Vitamins or Supplements Within 15 Minutes of Drinking Caffeine!

April 28th, 2010 by Administrator | No Comments | Filed in Stress, health

I recently read about a study that showed that caffeine can block the absorption of vitamins and supplements. It was in my Shape magazine this month I believe. Anywho, it said to try to take your supplements with water and not to drink anything containing caffeine 15 mins before or after popping your pills.

This struck me as interesting because I have taken a multi and a few extra supplements for a while now, but back in January I started on a heavy-duty supplement regimen. I always took the pills with black tea because it was easier for me to get them down and it masked the taste some of them had.

After visiting a naturopath last month, I stopped drinking caffeine completely. He explained my adrenal glands were in a state of fatigue and that I had too much cortisol. He told me that stopping any caffeine intake would help me significantly. He was right. I felt a lot better within 3 days! It helped my adrenal glands stabilize, and on top of that, I am probably actually absorbing all of the nutrients from my vitamins and supplements! Hooray!

Brandi Hamrick

Get Out of Here!!! How to Have Your Next Big Breakthrough!

April 23rd, 2010 by Administrator | 2 Comments | Filed in Goals and Obstacles, Stress

With the weather warming up and flowers blooming, it’s the perfect time to take your thoughts and even work outside if you are able.

I love my office…I have it decorated the way I like and have inspirational things around me, but I have never had a huge epiphany regarding my business while sitting at my desk.

Great ideas come to us when we change up our surroundings and let our mind wander a bit from the norm.

Here are some ideas for ways you can experience your next big breakthrough:

1. Go on a walk. If you take walks regularly, go on a different path. Drive to a new neighborhood or nature path. If you don’t currently take walks, simply try taking one in your own neighborhood.

2. Use your own back yard. Sometimes it’s surprising how little we use our own outdoor spaces. Turn a corner of your yard into your own oasis with a comfy chair, hammock, or even some meditation pillows. Go there the next time you need to read or write a report, or to simply relax.

3. Make your favorite sidewalk cafe your new office for the afternoon. Use that outside corner table with the umbrella as your desk for a few hours. You will be stimulated by your new surroundings and by the people around.

These ideas are especially beneficial for those of us who work at home, but changing things up can work for anyone in any profession!

You Grow Girl!
Brandi Hamrick

Are You An Oddball? How Being an Oddball Can Help You Succeed!

April 16th, 2010 by Administrator | No Comments | Filed in Goals and Obstacles, Stress, Time Management, health

Did you know that only 1% of people make over 350K a year? That means that 99% make less than that. If you want to be in that top one percent, that means you have to think and act differently that 99% of people. You have to go against the grain, and that probably means doing things in a different way than most people you know and are are around.

I love this statistic because it creates a mindset shift, not only about money, but about all areas of your life. Maybe you have no desire to make 350K a year. Maybe you just want to make a comfortable living while staying home and working less. Maybe money and business isn’t your end goal at all. Maybe you want to achieve optimal health, reach a fitness goal, or get a degree. You still need to act differently than people who are not doing whatever it is you want to do.

Whatever your “end goal” happens to be, you can rest assure that going against the grain and being an “oddball” will help you get there faster.

Health
Are most of the people you know healthy? And by healthy, I mean really healthy (energized, not sick very often, at a good weight, get enough sleep, not moody, etc.)… not the American definition of healthy. Most people opt to live with mediocre health and see a doctor when they are sick, then get a shot and some antibiotics. Chances are, if you want to have optimal health, you will have to incorporate dietary, lifestyle, and exercise habits into your daily life in order to prevent disease in the first place. This may mean you choose to go for a walk instead of watching TV, eat a salad when you would rather have fried chicken, and seek the help of other health professionals (nutritionists, personal trainers, naturopathic doctors, holistic doctors, etc.). You have to go against the grain and do things differently than the majority of people you know.

Biz
In business, if you want to achieve huge success, you have to plan on being a huge success right from the start. You want to play big and reach as many people as possible. You don’t want to stay small and mediocre…everyone else is doing that!

Academic Goals
We all know of “Bill Gates” types of stories where someone quit college and then went on to open a very successful business. And, maybe for some people, this is going against the grain. But, for some professions, you must obtain a degree to have a license to work (doctors, nurses, teachers, etc.). If your goal is to finish college for whatever reason, you must do things differently than the people who are flunking classes and dropping out. This may mean that you have to spend weekends studying while others are out partying. It also may mean you sacrifice other areas of your life for just a little while to see your end goal.

If your goal isn’t to get a degree, but to advance your life and business, you still need to stay on top of what’s happening in your industry. This may mean being a part of networking groups, going to seminars, and reading related magazines and journals when you’d rather be going to a movie.

I am not saying that you should never have leisure time. On the contrary, having “real” leisure time (really relaxing and not having the crackberry and laptop out) is crucial to success. And, by the way, it’s different than what most people do. Having dedicated work time and dedicated leisure time is a must, just be sure the two don’t overlap.

You have probably heard sayings about it “being lonely at the top.” Some people may regard this statement as putting yourself above others, but what I think it means is that you are on top of your biggest goals and dreams (your hearts desire). You will not let anything or anyone get in your way. You may have to decline social events at times, get past fear, and do things differently than most people you know, but it will payoff big-time when you achieve those goals!

So the next time you find yourself at home on a Saturday night studying, leaving your family for the weekend to go to a seminar, or asking for dressing on the side of that salad while your friend has the cheeseburger, relax… and own your oddball status!

You Grow Girl!
Brandi Hamrick
www.yougrowgirl.net

It Is What It Is!

March 9th, 2010 by Administrator | 2 Comments | Filed in Stress

Have you ever noticed that we live in a society where everything is either good or bad, right or wrong?

The next time you have a conversation with someone (or listen in on one) notice how every topic is immediately put into categories: right or wrong, good or bad. Everyone usually jumps in during the discussion to tell their opinion of whether they think the topic of interest is good or bad, right or wrong.

While your listening, pay special attention to see if there is any person who doesn’t “label” the situation (there probably isn’t).

Have you ever listened to a conversation about death, divorce, or a layoff? These topics are always good or bad, right or wrong, and may even change categories in just a few seconds. Here are some examples:

*Some friends are sitting around talking about their other friend’s divorce. It’s so “bad” because she had signed a pre-nup 20 years ago and has devoted her entire life to raising her children. She is left with no money and no career. This is BAD…Until one friend points out that being dirt poor would be better than living one more day with that scum bag hubby…BAM the divorce is now GOOD, just like that!

*Susan has lost her job and the company has gone under. She is left with no benefits, retirement, or severance…things are BAD…Until she realizes she will finally be free to write that book she has been putting off for years…then BAM things are good.

Do these transitions sound familiar?

You may be asking, “But Brandi, isn’t it good to find the silver lining? Aren’t we supposed to make lemons out of lemonade?”

Of course it’s always good if you can find the positive out of any situation you are faced with, but here’s the problem: sometimes we are so quick to “label” things that we bounce back from good or bad, right or wrong again and again. This drains us physically and emotionally. In these cases it would be more beneficial to say the situation just “is what it is,” and let it be. This allows you to lift yourself out of the problem and see it from a place where you can make a rational decision.


Labeling things good or bad, right or wrong immediately gets your emotions involved, and, quite frankly, some things just aren’t worth getting your emotions involved!

It’s just easier for our minds to process things when we can throw them into a category or put a label on them. The truth is, though, most things aren’t black or white…they are gray.

This is good to keep in mind if you are running a business because you know that your clients and customers think you are either good or bad, right or wrong (hopefully good and right ;) ). Even people who have raved about you and your business for years can chunk you into the bad and wrong category in 20 seconds flat after a rude intern answers your phone.

However, it may benefit you to practice taking the label off of things yourself. The next time something happens, try not to judge it right away. It could be possible that it isn’t good or bad, it just is what it is!

Let’s practice:

-You get a flat tire. You can cry, cus, and whine about it (letting your anger get the best of you) or you can say “it is what it is” and read a book until AAA gets there.

-You find out a friend isn’t who you think she is. You can cry, gossip, and think about it constantly (while driving yourself crazy in the process and still not getting any answers), or you can say “it is what it is” and put your energy into something you can control.

For the next week, try not to judge anything or throw a label on situations too quickly. You will probably find this way of life easier and a lot less stressful. Maybe it just “Is What It Is!”

You Grow, Girl!
Brandi Hamrick

Take Your Belly Breaths!

March 2nd, 2010 by Administrator | No Comments | Filed in Stress

If you’ve ever done yoga, pilates, or studied meditation, you’ve probably heard the term “deep belly breaths.” They are the type of breathing where you fill your lower abdomen with air on inhale and then flatten the air out on exhale. For most of us, our “normal” way to breathe is to actually do the opposite of that and suck in our stomachs and take in shallow breaths.

Breathing deeply has tons of benefits including: supplying more oxygen to the body so that we are more alert and energized, helping supply our organs with more air and stimulate the lymphatic system in order to help our immune system, and relax.

If you are interested in learning more about how to do belly breathing or want to learn more about the benefits, simply do a google on deep belly breathing and you will have enough info to keep you busy for a while.

In the meantime, simply be aware of your breathing. Set your watch or phone to go off every hour and take 5-10 deep belly breaths.

Another fun fact: Have you ever seen the little ancient Chinese figurines that are slim all over but have big swollen bellies? They aren’t fat. Their bellies are meant to symbolize the fact that they are breathing properly and have air in their bellies!

Brandi Hamrick
www.thequeenbcoach.com

Just Say No!

February 25th, 2010 by Administrator | No Comments | Filed in Goals and Obstacles, Organization, Stress, Time Management

Feeling stressed or overwhelmed? If you feel like you don’t have enough time to do everything you need to do, then you are saying yes to things you shouldn’t. We all have enough time to accomplish everything that we need to, so look over your list and see what you can say NO to.

Remember, you have time to do anything you actually need or want to do, just not EVERYTHING under the sun!

Brandi Hamrick
The “Queen B” Coach
www.thequeenbcoach.com

What Do You Have to Lose?

January 29th, 2010 by Administrator | No Comments | Filed in Confidence, Goals and Obstacles, Stress

“Ever notice that ‘what the hell’ is always the right decision?” -Marilyn Monroe

Do you ever long to get out of your comfort zone, try new things, or really go for your dreams? What if you were confident enough to try for even the most out of reach goals?

Obviously, Marilyn Monroe had enough guts to go for her dreams, otherwise she wouldn’t be the icon we all know today. This quote from her displays her attitude on trying new things. When you step out of your comfort zone, doors are opened for you that you never could imagine in your own thoughts. You allow destiny to take course and let God align things in your favor.


I believe that we each have our own destiny but we have to get off the couch and take action sometimes to claim it!

What are you afraid of? Sometimes this simple question helps me overcome fear. We tend to worry about things too much on the path to achieving our dreams, and that can interfere with our success significantly.

Remember, having ‘concern’ can be beneficial because it can help you plan for obstacles that may pop up. Then you can easily hurdle over them and achieve your goals in record time. ‘Worry,’ on the other hand, is concern combined with fear, and that is not okay. Fear can petrify you and hold you back.

The next time you catch yourself ‘worrying’ about something ask yourself, “is this a genuine concern, or does this come from a place of fear?” If it is a genuine concern you will be able to come up with solutions for the potential problem before it even comes up and it won’t hold you back!


Concern=okay
Concern+Fear=Worry (not okay)

Much Love,
Brandi Hamrick
The “Queen B” Coach
www.brandihamrick.com

Lift Your Spirits in an Instant: Call a Loved One

January 12th, 2010 by Administrator | No Comments | Filed in Brandi's Life, Stress, Uncategorized

If you could use a pick-me-up, try calling someone that you love and trust. Someone who loves you unconditionally can offer love and support like no other kind.

This week while recovering from surgery, I didn’t think I felt like talking on the phone. My Aunt Judy called (she is one of my favorite people, I wanted to be just like her when I was growing up) and it truly energized me. I was feeling drained and run-down and after chatting with her for a while I felt much better. We only see each other about once a year, and it was so good to catch up.

Call an old friend or loved one and reap the benefits of reaching out to someone you care about (and that cares about you).

Brandi Hamrick
The “Queen B” Coach
www.brandihamrick.com

“Don’t THINK Positive… BE Positive!”

January 12th, 2010 by Administrator | No Comments | Filed in Confidence, Stress

Everywhere you turn these days you hear and read about ways to think more positively. Thinking positive is a great way to start changing your thinking habits for the better, but this week I will challenge you to take your thinking up a notch. Instead of merely thinking positive, I want you to actually be positive about situations you are faced with.

The difference in actually being positive and just thinking positive is GINORMOUS! Allow me to explain.

Let’s say a problem pops up into your day. To make it more concrete, let’s use the the example of losing your job. Imagine for a second that you lose your job. You immediately are upset, confused, and start worrying about the future. These are all very normal, valid reactions and I am not in any way saying that you should not allow yourself to feel those emotions if you need to. In all of your worry, anger, doubt, and confusion you try to break yourself out of it. You start saying to yourself, “self, you need to thinking positive about this situation.” You may recall some exercises that have helped you in the past and you start writing down good things that may come from your situation: I will get to spend more time with my family, I will get to go back to school, I will get to explore new career opportunities.

This is a very healthy way to view the situation, no doubt. In fact, if most people could view that particular situation in that manner, they world would be a better place. But, that is still only thinking positive about losing your job. You will probably have to work hard to snap yourself out of worrying. There is still an even better way to handle a disappointment.

Now imagine hearing the news that you lost your job, and although you are shocked, you are at peace with your situation right from the start. You don’t drain yourself by going through all the motions of being upset. You KNOW that everything will work out okay. You KNOW that when one door closes another (usually better) door opens. You KNOW that God is in control and that there may be lessons and experiences you need in order to become the person that you are supposed to be. You KNOW that you and your family will be okay. In your heart there is no pressure or weight of a thousand bricks pressing on you.

Doesn’t the second example sound like a better response to any bad situation? So what makes the second response of actually being positive so much better?

The second response is a better response because the faster that you are at peace with a situation, the faster you will be able to productively move on. The person in example number 2 is likely to be able to pull themselves together faster and see opportunities that the first person may miss because. The first person is also much more likely to be in his/her own head a lot and reacting from the ego. This may consist of replaying the event over and over in their head, still feeling bitter or angry, or worrying. If the person could clear their head and be at peace with the situation, they would have a clear channel of receiving ideas and have a constant flow of creativity. This is a much more productive way to spend the brain’s energy and thoughts. It is also likely to get the person out of the situation faster.

So how do you go from thinking positive to being positive?
Thinking positive requires the knowledge and awareness that thinking positive has benefits over thinking negatively. This is a much better situation by far than thinking negatively, giving up, and being defeated. But, if you want to go from just thinking positive to being positive, you must back your positive thoughts up with FAITH. Faith is the missing ingredient of people who have to constantly remind themselves of why they should think positive that people who are positive have.

If you can’t seem to be positive about a situation, keep thinking positive. It’s okay to have to force faith and positivity at first. If you pull yourself out of enough situations by thinking positive, it will condition you to eventually be positive. One day a situation, that would have at one time, really shaken you up and caused worry won’t affect you at all. Then you will truly be positive.

In the meantime, simply be aware that there is a step above merely thinking positive and challenge yourself to get there.

Being positive and having faith are what creates that characteristic we often find and admire in centurions called resilience. If you live long enough you are inevitably going to experience bad situations in your days. It’s how you handle those situations that will predict the outcome.

What is my favorite way to transition into a place of faith?
This question: “If you truly believe in a loving, caring God, that put you here for a reason, what would you ever have to worry about?”

I find that the faster I can go from a state of worry to a state of productivity, the faster the situation is just a tiny little speed bump in my rear view mirror!


Here’s to Faith!
Brandi Hamrick
The “Queen B” Coach
www.brandihamrick.com

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