What a perfect time of year following the culinary excesses of the holidays to inspire an exercise program.

Researchers have discovered that telomeres which are add ons to our chromosomes that were once thought to get shorter as body cells age, can actually grow longer through exercise.

The more kinds of exercise that were reported in studies, the longer participants telomeres grew.

There are so many things we have no control over but this one is major.

Most studies show that exercise programs – no matter what type – eventually fail and weight is regained.

Exercise – 10,000 steps a day can overcome a natural body’s tendency to compromise our life span.

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The gift of someone’s time is worth more than anything money can buy.

And it’s free.

This past Christmas day was the lowest cellphone use of any day in all of 2015.  That means in spite of our technology and connectivity, more people spent time with each other face-to-face, in person.

Digital devices are tools – not relationships.

The only resolution any of us need make in the year ahead is to put our phones in their proper place in our lives.

Hand your phone to your son or daughter and ask them if they’d like to park theirs for a few minutes while they take a walk with you.

Quality time is worth tons of quantity time.

Spend quality time with loved ones – free from distractions – and you will both get and receive a meaningful gift at the same time.

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Like it or not, the gift giver looms large on his or her Christmas list these days.

I’ve heard figures as high as $800 spent on oneself.

Here are gifts to give yourself and they are free.

• Be the person you want to be not the person you become by reacting to someone else’s behavior.  Not easy but rewarding.  Constantly ask “Is this the right thing to do?” instead of choosing the lesser of the alternatives.
• Spend time with someone who is alone this holiday – talk about them, not you.  See how great both of you then feel.  Someone you know has lost a loved one and this season is the hardest of the year to endure.  Reach out to them.
• Disconnect from your digital world as much as possible and focus on being in the company of people you like.
• In front of others including loved ones, tell someone specifically why you appreciate them.  You may make them cry but it can be the most potent gift ever.
• In the 1947 Christmas movie Miracle on 34^th Street one of themes was how the holidays just didn’t seem the same as they used to be back in the day – and that was the same old complaint we hear today but it was 68 years ago!  Different is better.  The past is just a fantasy in our mind.  The present is currency that we can spend.

Happy Holidays to my friends who start each day here!

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Lydia Ko, a Korean-born golfer from New Zealand has perfected how to not let a bad golf shot make her angry.

I want to know this!

After all, golf is the game of life.

A lot of it is Ko’s upbringing and her personality but she is said to have a “whiteboard” for a memory.  As soon as a round of golf ends, she erases it from her mind.  Oh, God, would I love to do that.

Ever watch Tiger Woods?  He makes a bad putt and looks like his blood pressure is up to 350.

More than golf, having a “whiteboard” for a memory can be very helpful in other aspects of our life.

• Holding animosity in (even if it appears justified), turns the hostility against you.  Forget it.
• Most married couples argue about the past.  The past cannot be changed.  Wouldn’t a “whiteboard” here come in handy?  Forget the past, live in the present, and look forward to what can change in the future.
• A lot of young golfers seem fearless.  They attack the game and if they fall short, they shake it off (as Taylor Swift would remind us) and get amped up for what is next.   This is worth thinking about.

Erase that which cannot be beneficial to carry around and get on with living.

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Turns out that slouching over our digital devices is bad for self-esteem.

We’re putting 60 pounds of pressure on our necks when we bend our heads forward 60 degrees.

Studies show that people who have clinical depression assume a posture that is very close to the iHunch.

Amy Cuddy, a professor at Harvard Business School writing recently in The New York Times offered this advice:

“The next time you reach for your phone, remember that it induces slouching and slouching changes your mood, your memory and even your behavior. Your physical posture sculpts your psychological posture and could be the key to a happier mood and greater self-confidence”.

I am so taken by this because it profoundly affects all of us that I not only noted it but wanted to share it with you.

Here’s my takeaway:

• Interacting with these phones even for a little while decreases our productivity and efficiency.
• The smaller the digital device the more damage we do to our posture and ultimately self-esteem.
• The more shrunken and inward our posture, the more submissive we become.
• Keep the head up and shoulders back when looking at our phones – even holding it at eye level to fight these negative effects.

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Only one thing can make a person more comfortable with speaking in front of a group.

Not becoming more polished, more knowledgeable or funnier.

The only courage that it takes to hit that presentation out of the park is to be yourself in front of others.

This is no small thing because most of us have lapses of confidence even when we are not standing in front of a group of people.

• Spend every effort to speak to a group the same way you would speak to someone one-on-one.
• Never spend a moment worrying about “what ifs” such as “what if I forget what I wanted to say” or “what if my face gets flushed and everyone sees it”.  “What ifs” are the moments of sabotage we do to ourselves when we are fearful.  They have no useful place in my mind.
• Talk to the people you will present to or speak to in advance of your talk if possible.  Wander out and shake hands.  They will put you at ease and you will feel more confident and accepted when you address all.
• And if you do forget what you were going to say, don’t panic, just review some of the points you have made so far.
• Before speaking, think about what people like about you in one-on-one situations (good listener, real, funny, sincere) and channel some of that when you start speaking.

Shakespeare said one of my favorite things, “assume a virtue if you have it not” so before you begin your talk or presentation, say “I have earned the right to be the best speaker on this topic today”.

And good luck.  You’re going to want to do more speaking from now on.

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Young people in school and college easily make friends – often for life – because it is the only time in their lives when they are likely to be surrounded by large numbers of people within four years of their age and with similar things in common.

All the Facebook friends in the world don’t add up to a true friend.  All the parties you throw or attend, cannot attract another one of the special people who make life richer.

The best way to find a new and exceptional new friend is to be a new and exceptional new friend.

Relationships cannot be forced nor can they be compromised.

Being the fine person that you are 24/7 is the best way to attract a good friend.

And if you connect, rest easy and be yourself because there’s a lot more of what you have to offer where that came from.

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Mayo Clinic doctors say that the value of all the elements in a human body is worth just $4.50.

But if you’re worth $500,000 or $5 million, is the value of the elements in your body then worth more than $4.50?

Isn’t it odd that we identify our self-worth in terms of the money that we have made or have invested.

The cars that we drive or the real estate that we own.

Here’s a new way to look at self-worth.

Think about the people in your life for whom you are worth more than money.

Maybe a spouse, a friend, a child …

Where your spirit is invaluable and you are a unique person who can never be replaced.

What is the value placed on that?

Then, as the author Dr. Amit Sood reminds us, “value yourself based on the highest bidder”.

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Let’s borrow a tactic from sports.

Divide life into smaller components and you’ll likely see more success and less demotivating failure.

• Set time units to measure success.  One month to judge sales revenue increases not one year.  If you have a bad month, you learn from it and start fresh the next month.
• Smart coaches divide their playing seasons into, say, 10 games in which to judge play.  So a losing streak can end after 10 games without bringing down the entire season even though the standings reflect the losses.
• Small periods of time are more doable for most of us.
• Succeeding for multiple short periods can then be looked at as x number of winning periods in a row.
• Some teams that barely make the playoffs can go on to win the Super Bowl.  It happened to the Giants a few years back.  And teams that go unbeaten can lose the big game.
• Judge excellence in shorter measured time periods to build on strengths and eliminate weaknesses without losing heart.

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Bulletin: the two are not connected.

That’s what the Million Woman Study in Great Britain has concluded.

“Happiness and related measures of well-being do not appear to have any direct effect on mortality” according to the study.

It’s a knife to my heart. My wife won’t believe it, either. I have shared the news with friends and they don’t believe it.

Stress and unhappiness MUST cause disease, right?

Stress causes heart attacks, not inflammation or cholesterol or other issues.

But not according to this study.

I share this morning because what’s health got to do with happiness?

Some of the happiest people I have known are cancer patients who are no doubt ill but many of whom have arrived at a way to live more happily in the present.

I knew a radio station owner dying of cancer who gave away his radio station to see it live on and he continued to do the thing he loved, broadcasting, right up until the end.

As I readjust to this shocking research revelation, I am reminded to never postpone joy because that is why we are here.

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