Past issues

Mindconnection eNL, 2001-10-28

In this issue:

1. New courses
2. Recommended reading
3. Fitness tip
4. Holidays and waist lines
5. Holiday travel and safety
6. Thought for the day

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1. New courses

Mindconnection is continually adding new courses. Here are links to some of our latest ones:

11 Habits of Highly Defective People:
https://www.mindconnection.com/product/CRS-ELEVENHABITS.html

Assessing Nuclear Power Plants and Terrorist Attacks:
https://www.mindconnection.com/product/CRS-ASNKTKS.html

Best ways to get out of debt:
https://www.mindconnection.com/product/CRS-DEBTRED.html

How to Buy a Used Car--and Not Get Ripped Off:
https://www.mindconnection.com/product/CRS-BUYUSDCR.html

How to Reduce Your Auto Insurance Rates:
https://www.mindconnection.com/product/CRS-AUTOINS.html

Problem-solving:
https://www.mindconnection.com/product/CRS-PRBLMSLVG.html&Category_Code=0045BUS-SKILLS

Stress Management:
https://www.mindconnection.com/category/CRS-001BUS-SKILLS.html

2. Recommended reading

Please check our recommended reading page: https://www.mindconnection.com/booksrecommended.htm. This is a great way to make yourself interesting at all the upcoming holiday gatherings.

3. Fitness tip

Your back is key to your mobility and your appearance, but most of us neglect to develop our backs, or even take care of them. A properly developed back gives you good posture and stability, both of which increase your "presence" in a room full of people or in a sales presentation.

Back exercises include deadlifts, bentover rows, and the King of All Exercises, the squat. If you don't know how to do these exercises, you can get an exercise book for free at your local library. You should work your back every 3 to 4 days (about twice a week).

What about posture? Even most gym rats disregard posture. Pull your shoulders back, even when you are sitting. Your back should have a gentle S-curve in profile, but your spine should follow a straight line in the vertical plane. Most people's spines do not. Get a posture exam and correct what needs fixing, and you can say goodbye to the aches, pains, and health problems that plague people who have bad posture.

4. Holidays and waistlines

Most of us put on weight during the holidays, and the added fat is permanent because we never work it off. This is the season when folks increase their waistlines. Doing so puts you at higher risk for diabetes, stroke, and other ailments.

To prevent this from happening, here is what you do:

• Don't eat any pastries, pies, or cake. You can do it--I have done so for years.

• Give yourself one "free day" when you can pig out, this way you are not depriving yourself.

• Don't eat a carbohydrate by itself.

• Eliminate egg nog and other sugary junk from your diet.

• Forego the stuffed turkey, so you don't end up looking like one yourself.

• Find an outdoor activity to enjoy, so you are not sitting around the television.

• Don't drink booze--there is absolutely no net health benefit to drinking wine or other alcoholic beverages, despite the booze industry's claims. You can add phytochemicals and other anti-oxidants to gasoline--that doesn't mean you should drink it.

5. Holiday travel and safety

The ultimate in travel safety is staying at home. But, if that is not what you want to do, then observe some other cautions:

• Get your rest. Many of us stay up late during the holidays, then try to drive or negotiate crowded mass transit. A person who is 20% sleep-deprived has the same mental acuity s/he would have if legally drunk.

• Don't drink and drive. And that means a 24-hour period before driving.

• Check the tires on your car--if they are more than 2 years old, they may have insufficient traction regardless of how many miles you think they "have left" in them. Better yet, have a tire shop check your tires.

• Replace your wiper blades. This is cheap, and it ensures you will be able to see when you need to. Don't wait.

• Replace your battery if it is more than two years old. Why? The prediction is for a brutally cold winter. You will need all the battery you can get--surely, you don't want to be stranded in sub-arctic temperatures. You can buy a battery for the cost of one trip with the tow truck. It's a "pay me now/ pay me later" scenario. Only, if you pay later, you will freeze your a-- off waiting for help or changing the battery yourself. Plus you'll have to reset the gizmos in your car--what a pain.

• Practice keeping a bubble of space around your car. Too many people (about 95% of drivers) follow too closely. This is the only cause of a rear-end collision, and most collisions are rear-end collisions. You should have about 2 seconds of room in good weather and about 4 seconds if it's icy. Develop this habit while the weather is good.

6. Thought for the Day

 The economic downturn we are seeing has been in play for the past 10 years. Don't fool yourself into thinking the economy suddenly took a downturn. We had record layoffs nearly every year Bill Clinton was in office, and we will probably set new records still.

This economy is the result of many factors coming together, and it won't change soon. However, you can protect yourself by continually developing marketable skills and continually building relationships with other people.

Mindconnection has inexpensive courses to help you with those skills; the relationship-building is up to you. Suggestion: make a list of 5 "professional contacts, right now. Call one of them on Monday, the next one on Tuesday, and so on. Tell each person what you admire about him or her, or why you find that person good to know. That's it. Just spread some good will. It'll come back to you. Next week, 5 new names.

Wishing you the best,

Mark Lamendola
Mindconnection.com

Authorship

Except where noted, this e-newsletter is entirely the work of Mark Lamendola. Anything presented as fact can be independently verified. Often, sources are given; but where not given, they are readily available to anyone who makes the effort.

Mark provides information from either research or his own areas of established expertise. Sometimes, what appears to be a personal opinion is the only possibility when applying sound logic--reason it out before judging! (That said, some personal opinions do appear on occasion).

The purpose of this publication is to inform and empower its readers (and save you money!).

Personal note from Mark: I value each and every one of you, and I hope that shows in the diligent effort I put into writing this e-newsletter. Thank you for being a faithful reader.