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MESSAGE #604 SICK AND TIRED?

“In order to change, we must be sick and tired of being sick and tired.”
-author unknown

Today’s message is especially dedicated to the great Alex Ferrara at The Lawrenceville School.

I believe in preventive medicine. I watch what I eat, I exercise regularly, I meditate daily, and I try to stay optimistic. Many people ask me, “Ed, how do you always have such high energy?” The answer is that I take care of myself. Let’s face it, it is easy to be lazy. We wake up late, rush out of the house, oftentimes without eating the most important meal of the day, to sit in our cars and drive to work, so we can sit in front of the computer, then we walk to get lunch and sit down to eat it. Then we sit in meetings and at the end of the day, we go back and sit in our cars to go home and sit at the dinner table, eat, and then sit down to watch TV. Then for a change, we lie down and sleep.

Okay, now for some of you, that might have been an exaggeration, but for others, it may have been eerily accurate.

Preventive medicine is taking action before you become sick. We all know someone who has fought cancer. Though nothing is a guarantee, it certainly can’t hurt to take some steps to decrease your chances of getting it, or increase your chances of surviving it. I recently received some great information from Johns Hopkins on chemotherapy alternatives and cancer prevention. I will share some of the key points below…

1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable size.

2. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has multiple nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic, environmental, food and lifestyle factors.

3. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet and including supplements will strengthen the immune system.

4. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone marrow, gastrointestinal tract etc, and can cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.

5. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs.

6. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer cells by not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.

A) Sugar is a cancer-feeder. By cutting off sugar it cuts off one important food supply to the cancer cells. Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc are made with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural substitute would be Manuka honey or molasses but only in very small amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in color. Better alternative is Bragg’s aminos or sea salt.

B) Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk and substituting with unsweetened soy milk cancer cells are being starved.

C) Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little chicken rather than beef or pork. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer.

D) A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruits help put the body into an alkaline environment. About 20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance growth of healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including bean sprouts) and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).

E) Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine. Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer fighting properties. Water-best to drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap water.. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.

7. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines becomes putrefied and leads to more toxic buildup.

8. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the body’s killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.

9. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor. Anger, un-forgiveness and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life.

10. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells.

Other tips:

No plastic containers in the microwave (glass, pyrex, ceramic are okay).
No water bottles in the freezer (releases dioxins from the plastic).
No plastic wrap in the microwave (toxins drip on to food during heating, use paper instead).

I challenge you to take some preventive measures to ensure a better tomorrow and a higher quality today.

We should spend more time thinking about the future because that’s where we’re going to spend the rest of our lives.


Thanks for reading.

MESSAGE #603 A NIGHT AT THE IMPROV…

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.”
-PABLO PICASSO

Today’s message is especially dedicated to the great Jared Shapiro in Ohio and Harry Houdini. Happy Birthday to two peak performers.

I like to think of myself as Picasso-I am the artist of my own life. It’s easy to go with the flow, and live how society thinks you should live. For example, many people choose to become doctors because their parents were. Others decide to get married because they are about that age. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with being a doctor or wanting to get married, as long as it is truly what you want and you are not on automatic, or as I like to say, a sheep.

So do me a favor-if you see me on the street today in the Princeton area, please come up to me and say, “Hello, Pablo!”

I love being creative. I love learning new ways to do things-thinking outside the box, guerrilla marketing, and gaining new insights from other performers/fields. So I sat-in on an Improv class last night in Philadelphia taught by the great Jill Whelan, who is best known for her role as Vicki Stubing in TV’s The Love Boat and blockbuster film, Airplane! When I learned about this workshop, I immediately thought that perhaps this could help me improve in my motivational speaking, and it certainly did.

The first thing I noticed was the energy in the room-people were extremely nice, and confident. They were dancing around even when not in the spotlight. And it was contagious. In improv, you feed off of each other, so enthusiasm breeds more enthusiasm. But unfortunately, negativity does the same thing. This applies to life, as well.

One of the rules of the class was that, whatever someone does, “It must be brilliant.” I really liked this because it promoted creativity and kept a positive vibe throughout the scene. Afterwards, tips on how to improve were given. At one point, Jill said, “Don’t doubt yourself-stay in the moment.” We can all use this, on the field, at work, and in school. Much of sports psychology is focusing on staying in the present and not worrying about the past or future.

There were some great exercises that Jill used in the workshop. My favorite was something called “Freeze-tag.” The group made a semi-circle and two people were in the middle acting out a scene, using animated physical gestures. At any time, someone could shout, “Freeze!” and both actors would freeze in whatever position they were in. The person who froze them, chose one actor to take the place of, started in their position, and then proceeded to create a brand new scene out of that position. So if someone was bent over tying his shoes, the new actor could turn it into someone hiking a football. It really promoted creativity and it was extremely hilarious.

I asked Jill how improv could help you in other areas of life, and she said, “Improv helps you be more supportive of the people around you, it helps you create your own energy (you get what you give), and it helps you listen.” Whelan also felt it important to “show” instead of “tell.” That means, take action instead of talking about it.

There are many benefits of improv, not only for aspiring actors. It can help you focus, listen, perform under pressure, gain confidence, and work better as a team. Oh, and it makes you laugh, a lot. And we all know the health benefits of laughter.

For more information on Jill Whelan and her improv classes, visit: http://www.jillwhelan.com/



Thanks for reading. And thank you Jill.


MESSAGE #600 THIS IS A TEST…

“Life is not a talent game-it’s a strategy game.”
-ROB GILBERT, Ph.D., Professor of Sports Psychology, Montclair State University

Today’s message is especially dedicated to all my loyal blog readers.

This is Message #600. Is this a big accomplishment? Some may say yes. While I am certainly excited that this is #600, by no means do I think that I have made it. Arthur Ashe said “Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is more important than the outcome.” I am doing what I love and trying to make a difference; and I am definitely enjoying the journey.

One of the keys to success and mental toughness is that you can do anything with the right strategy. If you have seen me give a lecture, you know that I perform magic tricks, to prove this point. The strategies to my 600 messages were that I was committed to posting them every morning, I enjoyed doing them, and I did it whether I wanted to or not.

Focus on the process, not the product.

Click on the link below and see if you can figure out the strategy to this test given to 2nd graders in China. You have two minutes. Leave your comments.

http://www.funstufftosee.com/frogleaptest.html

Thanks for reading.

MESSAGE #598 BE GREAT…

There are no menial jobs, only menial people.

“If a man is called to be a streetsweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, ‘Here lived a great streetsweeper who did his job well.’ “
-MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

Do you have to be the most skilled to start to be great?

Not at all.

Whatever you do, at whatever level you are at, give it your all-in your sport, in your job, at school and at home. People will notice, especially you. Trust me.



Thanks for reading.

MESSAGE #549 GREAT JOB, BESSIE…

I read something interesting the other day. In a study done at Newcastle University, researchers found that cows produce more milk if they are given names. When more of a personal touch is used by the care-takers, the cattle could produce up to 500 more pints of milk per year.

So if you’re in sales, or a boss, teacher, coach, romantic partner or teammate, try giving a more personal touch to others. If people feel more like a person than a number, they are more likely to give more and get better results. Use people’s names. Compliment them. People will reach their potential quicker if positive reinforcement is used instead of negative reinforcement. Below are two examples:

Good: “Pam, I really liked the way you stayed focused even towards the end of practice when you were tired.”

Bad: “That’s the fifth ball you hit into the net! Go run five laps!”

Treat people better and they will perform better.


Thanks for reading.

MESSAGE #509 ARE YOU ON AUTOPILOT?

What is the first thing you do in the morning?

What is the last thing you do at night?

I would bet a large amount of money that it is almost always the same thing. We are habit-forming creatures. Most of what we do is automatic – unconscious.

When we are just going through the motions, we take things for granted, limit our improvement, and experience less satisfaction. How often do you have the same practice sessions?

I see people train the same way every single day. They can probably do it in their sleep.

This is not good.

What can you do?

Do one new or different thing in every activity you do, whether it’s practicing your sport of instrument, studying, working, or spending time with friends/family.

Put the fork in your left hand when eating (if you are right-handed) or when someone asks how you are doing, tell them honestly, instead of the normal, “Good.”

In other words…

STAY CONSCIOUS!


Thanks for reading.

MESSAGE #502 STAY IN THE PRESENT…

Many people go through life looking through the rear view mirror. They are always looking in the past. The key to reaching peak performance is staying in the present. Instead of thinking about past failures, think about how your actions today will help you improve your performance, relieve stress and make you happier.

You can think about the past, but don’t live there…

Tomorrow’s blog message from Tasmania.


Thanks for reading.

MESSAGE #500 STRESS RELIEF…

I have a feeling someone reading this message has been stressed.

Perhaps you were stressed about your sport, your job or your relationship.

Stress is the biggest killer in the world.

So how can you decrease stress in your life?

I was just meditating on my balcony on the Diamond Princess Cruise Ship. I was looking out at the ocean. The blue water was crashing alongside the ship with a calming sound. The air smelled fresh. I had gratitude for everything I have in my life, the good and the bad.

What can you do?

Meditate.
Listen to some calming music or sounds of nature.
Be grateful.
Watch some comedy.
Work out.

I know what you’re thinking, I don’t have the time…

Well guess what?

If you’re too busy to make time for relaxation…

You’re too busy!


Thanks for reading.

Tomorrow…Snorkeling with sea dragons in Melbourne.

MESSAGE #487 HOW TO GET TO THE NEXT LEVEL IN SPORTS AND LIFE…

Today’s message is especially dedicated to Adina Schicchi.

How can you get to the next level?

Well, let me ask you this…

Who is your team? Now, I’m not just talking about a sports team. I’m talking about a work team. A relationship team. A friendship team.

Do you surround yourself with people who support you? Who push you? All the successful people in the world have a good team around them. I’m motivated, but I still have great people around me so I can stay motivated. And it’s a team, so we motivate each other.

Maybe this story will help paint a better picture…

The rich father gathered the young men around a swimming pool filled with alligators. He promised his daughter in marriage, a sports car, two oil wells, and a top position in his company to anyone who had the courage and skill to swim across the pool.

Immediately, a young man splashed in and swam like blazes to the other side. The crowd went wild, clapping and cheering as the hero made it across. The rich father ran to his side, congratulated him, then asked, “Which prize do you want first?”

“First,” the young man sputtered, “I want the name of the guy who pushed me into the pool!”


We all need a push sometimes. There are things we don’t even know we’re capable of until we get out of our comfort zones.

So look at your team around you and see if they’re pushing you forward or keeping you back.

Start to get comfortable being uncomfortable.


Thanks for reading.

MESSAGE #470 A LOTTA PEOPLE DO THIS…

Today’s message is especially dedicated to Ms. Kontos’ wonderful students.

Do you do a little a lot or a lot a little?

Let me explain…

If you do a little a lot, you are doing a small amount often, or frequently.

If you do a lot a little, you are doing a large amount not very often, or infrequently.

Situation #1: You practice tennis one hour a day, six days a week.

Situation #2: You practice tennis six hours a day, one day a week.

Who will perform better?

Situation #1: You study for one hour a day, six days a week.

Situation #2: You study for six hours a day, one day a week.

Who will perform better?

If you cram for an exam, you may get decent results short-term…at best.

But if you do a little bit every day, you will get great results, long-term.

Don’t cram the most important exam you’ll ever take – LIFE.

Do a little bit every day. Get a little better every day.


See, the purpose of this blog is not to give you something to eat…it’s to make you hungry. Hungry to become better and hungry to become great.

Who’s hungry?

Okay, I need to go eat…see you tomorrow.


Thanks for reading.