Bootcamp For Your Mind

Women who speak up at the doctor’s office receive better care

I saw a bumper sticker recently that said “Well-behaved women rarely make history.”  How true that is.  Women need to speak their mind, and do it often, to get everything they want and deserve in this world. 

This philosophy certainly applies to the doctor’s office, where for years women everywhere have felt intimated by male doctors and have been unwilling to ask the right questions about their own health.  When you don’t have the confidence to question medical authority, the results can sometimes be tragic:  misdiagnoses of serious illnesses and critical, unnoticed symptoms have lead to health problems and even death for thousands of women.

A fantastic new article on CNN.com offers 5 mistakes women make at the doctor's office, and shows how speaking up and voicing your concerns can actually lead to better treatment.  I suggest you read the article and apply that type of thinking to other aspects of your life as well.   

In your career, be forward and ask what you need to do to get that big promotion.  In your relationships, don’t let your significant other walk all over you.  Make it clear that you are an equal player in the relationship and as such your voice needs to be heard.

Remember the bumper sticker, and make some noise in your life!

Read the article here!

Click here to visit Amy's site, Bootcamp for your Mind!

Top 10 Ways a Coach Can Improve Your Life

For all those wondering, “what do I need a life coach for”, I give you the following list of some of the many ways that coaching can change your life.

1.      Lose weight – Tried every diet under the sun, and none of them worked?  It might not be the diet plan’s fault.   A coach helps you make a serious plan for weight loss success, then shows you how to stick to it!

2.       Get organized – If you’ve got papers running amok in your office, and miss meetings with regularity, it’s time to talk to a coach.  A great life coach will show you how to structure your day more effectively, and learn to worker smarter, not harder.

3.       Find true love – A coach can help you pinpoint the ideal mate for you, then show you how to make changes in your own life that will attract him or her like a magnet.

4.       Discover talents you never knew you had – One of the great things about life coaches is that they let you talk.  And once you start sharing, and talking openly about your dreams and your goals, you’ll start to realize that you’re better at more things than you ever imagined!

5.       Get your finances in order – Coaches make you more disciplined.  And that comes in handy for anyone who’s ever made years of minimum payments on their credit cards, or struggled to keep their checkbooks balanced.  If money is your trouble, a coach will help you form a solid plan of attack, and get you saving again in no time.

6.       Land a huge promotion – Life coaches are experts at building the self-confidence needed to go in and ask for that corner office.  They also help individuals achieve peak performance on the job – which always gets the boss’ attention.

7.       Unleash your creativity – If you’ve been meaning to sit down and write that Great American Novel, or learn to play guitar or just join a local improv group, a life coach shows you how to take chances, be confident, and get out there and do it.

8.       Have a better sex life – You and your partner say you’re too busy and too tired for great sex.  Your life coach says that’s no excuse – and shows you how to put some spice back in your relationship.

9.       Be a better parent – Now more than ever, having a coach’s expert advice and extra support when it comes to parenting can make all the difference in your life, and your child’s. 

10.   Enjoy more of life – For all these reasons, and hundreds more, a life coach helps you live an amazing life!  Coaches help you work on the areas of your life that need improvement, and take you from good to great in all the others!

Click here to visit Amy's site, Bootcamp for your Mind!

Is Britney finally getting it together?

Well, it looks like things are starting to move in the right direction for Britney Spears and her kids. 

I truly hope that she’s seeing now that what’s important in life is the time you spend with your children, because you’ll never get that time back.  Here’s hoping that she follows the advice I give to all my clients with children:  working yourself to death to make more money doesn’t mean boo if you don’t have a happy, healthy family to share it with.   Or perhaps she realized that her children can be her therapy. 

Again, this isn’t just for celebs:  anyone who needs to slow down and put things in perspective need only grab their kids and read to them on the couch to help put them back in touch with their priorities.   Britney proves that at any moment, wherever we are in our lives, we can STOP and MAKE A CHANGE. 

It’s never too late…especially when it comes to our kids.

Read the latest on the Brit here

Click here to visit Amy's site, Bootcamp for your Mind!

The best way to create a schedule for your kids

When your kids get old enough to handle a basic schedule (beyond tying shoes at 8, using potty at 8:15, etc) it's the perfect time to start building lifelong good habits about decision-making, responsibility and respect.  Here's the trick:  you want to give them a hand in the creation of their own schedule, while still getting them to do everything you want and need them to get done.  The way to accomplish this is to give them choices.  Nuts you say?  On the contrary, as long as the choices you give them are all within the scope of what you want done, it's going to work out great.  For example, you want your child to play a musical instrument – that point is non-negotiable.  But why not give them the choice of any instrument they would like to play?  You've empowered them and still gotten what you wanted out of the situation.   By making them an active participant in their own lives you will be making them into more fully-formed individuals and not just robots who follow orders well.  And they'll respect you too!  In fact, the years before they become a teen-ager is when you REALLY have to reach them – and show them that you are not the enemy!  Once they hit their teens, forget about it, they won’t be responsive again until they’re at least 30.

Click here to visit Amy's site, Bootcamp for your Mind!

Even more tips for a happy life!

I got such an amazing response from my post, 10 things to do tonight to make this a kick ass week, that I felt obligated to share more simple ways to get happy and be healthy.

Enjoy!

1.       Take a 30 minute walk every day.

2.       Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day

3.       Don’t stay up late. (That’s why TIVO was invented)

4.       Drink more green tea and less coffee

5.       Don’t feel like you have to win every argument. 

6.       Don’t gossip.  It’s negative thinking you don’t need in your life!

7.       Have a purpose every day

8.       Always feel like the best is yet to come

9.       Smile more

10.   Don’t be jealous. That’s even more negative thinking you don’t need.

11.   Give of yourself.  Donate your time or money to charity

12.   Eat a bigger breakfast and a smaller dinner

13.   Get organized.  Remove the clutter from your life.

14.   Find a great life coach and start working towards your goals

Click here to visit Amy's site, Bootcamp for your Mind!

Enter the Bionic Dolphin!

I’m not quite sure which aspect of this story I find more inspiring; the fact that when properly motivated, a group of brilliant scientific minds can develop a complicated prosthetic device for marine animals, or that a freaking dolphin can find away to carry on after major life trauma and no tail fin!

Either way you look at it, this is one for the books – and continued proof that a) smart people can do anything they set their mind to, and b) dolphins are more human-like that we can ever imagine.

Click here to read about the bionic dolphin!

Click here to visit Amy's site, Bootcamp for your Mind!

Today is Male Appreciation Day!

I want to talk about men today. I think men are pretty freaking amazing.  And, in many ways, they get very little support. Often we blame men for what isn’t working in life.  Everything is their fault, they never do enough and they can't get it right.  In fact, I have declared today Male Appreciation Day!   

Why all the fanfare?  I was reminded today, while I was reading an article that said that men everywhere had stopped taking interest in having sex with their partners, that guys have problems too – just like the rest of us.  Think about it…GUYS losing interest in sex?  They must have some serious issues for it to come to this!

But the fact that there's no therapy geared towards men is an even bigger problem.  And if we don’t fix it, then what?  No sex? Who are they supposed to talk to?  Everyone needs to understand that men need support too, they need to feel needed and important and they need a way to deal with whatever issues they are facing.    It's important to our society that we have healthy men – physically and emotionally.

To this point there has not been much of a market for "male therapy."  Generally speaking, psychology is too problem focused for men and does not appeal to them.  But, men, like everyone else have problems and obstacles.  They just have not had a way to deal with those problems.

Coaching is an answer for men   I love working with men and have had tremendous success helping them achieve their goals and prosper in all aspects of their lives.   

What I've learned is that if men are struggling with issues, they don't want to get into all the gooey, messy reasons about WHY their problems exist and what the root causes are.  They're men, and by nature they are SOLUTION-oriented.  Just show a man a problem, give him a set of tools and he will try and fix it.   And that's really what life coaching is all about:  digging in and finding solutions.  Men need life coaching for sex, relationship and other important issues – and they are likely to take to it more quickly than psychology.  It's in their nature.

Click here to visit Amy's site, Bootcamp for your Mind!

Amy's TV Pic O' the Week: What you can learn from American Idol (yes, you!)

Have you been watching the latest run of American Idol?  I know that most of you have been, even if you pretend you don’t like it. Most of us seem to have some addictive fascination with the show.  Over-produced and over-hyped or not, we love it.  Want to know why?  It’s because American Idol gives us hope, both for ourselves and our future.  Ok…before you completely diss me or call me loco, let me explain my thinking…

·         American Idol gives talented people who otherwise might have gone unnoticed a chance to shine and show their talents to the world.

·         For added dramatic “weight” the show provides the back-story behind these people so you get to experience their journey with them and support them

·         Then, you get to see their transformation right in front of your face.  This is the best part of the show for me.  Most of these kids have never played for an audience outside of friends and family before and you see them, over the months getting better at performing, singing, confidence, sportsmanship, and their ability to take feedback.  This is where the show really transcends its subject matter.  These kids are becoming stronger as human beings in their ability to handle criticism and still continue – it is a real test of strength, persistence and resilience.

These are all the same reasons I love the internet and reality TV – they level the playing field and give everyone equal access to a shot at their dreams, especially those in their late teens and early 20’s.  Young people face so many challenges, that when something like Idol comes along and offers positive possibilities it should be commended.

And there’s value in this show for the rest of us as well.  Watching can give you motivation to get out there and take risks and try something new in your own life, and for that it deserves special mention.   

Remember, if American Idol can change these young people’s lives, why can’t it inspire YOU to do something that's important in your life?

There’s still time to catch up with the show and get a little inspiration for yourself, click here to see the remaining contestants and hear them sing!

Click here to visit Amy's site, Bootcamp for your Mind!

Do it for the planet: musicians who are going green

I believe that we all have to band together to improve the environment and keep our planet healthy for generations to come.  I also strongly support those artists who use their fame for more than just lear jets and gated mansions - and really leverage their high-profile lifestyles to share the importance of going green.  Some musicians take it to an even greener level, incorporating best environmental practices into their day-to-day operations.  Check out the link below to learn more about these green jukebox heroes!

10 Musicians Going Green and Making a Difference!

Click here to visit Amy's site, Bootcamp for your Mind!

Amy's Coaching Success Stories: Weight Loss! More Money! A Great New Relationship!

My Client Mona came to me because she was fat, broke, ugly and miserable.  Her words exactly.  What I uncovered in the first session was that she didn’t like herself, at all.  She actually believed that she was “unlovable.”  So, she was.  She overate, let people cross her boundaries, didn’t ask for the pay she deserved – all behavior that supported her underlying beliefs that she was unworthy and unlovable.

After that initial session, I created a plan for Mona to begin treating herself respectfully whether she felt she deserved it or not.  If she didn’t follow through, she would be fired from the program. I worked closely with Mona to remove sabotaging beliefs and create empowering ones.  I also created a series of assignments and exercises custom made for her that she would do every day from eating right and exercising to budgeting and taking care of herself. I walked side by side with her through every obstacle and every breakthrough. 

In three months, Mona lost 27 lbs, moved into a new apartment, got promoted and started dating.   Mona learned that by having someone help her every step of the way, adopting new beliefs about herself and taking actions that support those beliefs, she could, very quickly, begin getting everything she always wanted.  What she didn’t expect was that that man she started dating during the process would eventually become her husband.

To hear more of Mona’s story, visit www.bootcampforyourmind.com!