We are all feeling the pinch of the economy, and doom and gloomists predict we are not at the end of the road yet. Therefore, we are all need to tighten our belts and try to save some money where we can.

So how do we do this, but without losing too much of our lifestyle? Here are a few tips I have come up with which may cut the cost of the 3 E's (eating, exercise and entertainment), but not reduce the fun and fulfilment factor.

Eating

We all have to eat. We may not be rushing out for expensive meals anymore, but there is no need to resort to two minute noodles every night either. It's time to get back in the kitchen and prepare our own meals. Yes, even those of us who are busy and generally don't think we have time to cook - I'm going to prove you wrong! Easy, nutritious meals don't take much preparation, and I've discovered the great 4 Ingredients books which have heaps of yummy meals all taking four ingredients or less to prepare. So no more buying hundreds of ingredients from the supermarket only to spend hours in the kitchen preparing, and throwing out the waste. The recipes are super easy (and delicious!), and you can always add steamed vegies or a salad to eat with them. If you haven't seen the books, I'd have a look today!

Exercise

The weather is now warming up, so ditch that gym membership and exercise in the fresh air. It doesn't cost anything to go for a walk / run, or organise to meet a friend or two in the park to throw around a ball, frisbee or have a hit of cricket. You could even share the cost of a personal trainer with a friend if you need that extra motivation. There are also lots of summer sports to enjoy, such as beach volleyball or beach tennis, which usually cost around $15 to participate in casually.

Entertainment

We don't have to give up our social life either. There are lots of free things to do - for example our Active Spirit Trivia Night at Pugg Mahone's is always popular and it is free to participate (you just need to buy your own drinks / dinner). But there are lots of other things to do - go to the movies on a Tuesday (cheap night), instead of an expensive restaurant organise a dinner party at home (each guest can bring a course - the 4 Ingredients books would come in handy again here!), catch up with friends for a coffee instead of a meal.


I'm sure there are plenty more suggestions - have you got any other ideas?

Sometimes we get so caught up in our busy lives, we forget what we ultimately want to achieve.  I don’t know who originally wrote it, but one of my favourite stories I’ve heard is the story about the Greek fisherman and the Harvard MBA.  Enjoy!  

 

“A corporate executive, on holiday in a small, Greek seacoast village, was strolling by the docks and taking in the local color. He complimented one fisherman on the quality of his catch. “How long did it take you to get all those fish?” he wondered.

“Not very long,” answered the Greek. “An hour or two.”

“Then why didn’t you stay out longer to catch more?”

Shrugging, the Greek explained that his catch was sufficient to meet his needs, and those of his family.

The executive asked, “But what do you do with the rest of your time?”

I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, and take a nap with my wife. In the evening, I watch the sunset on the beach, then go to the village to see my friends, dance a little, play the bouzouki, and sing songs. I have a full life.”

The executive said, “I have an MBA from Harvard. I can help you. You should start by fishing longer every day. You’ll catch extra fish that you can sell. With the revenue, you can buy a bigger boat. With the extra money the larger boat will bring you, you can buy a second boat and a third one, and so on, until you have an entire fleet of trawlers. Instead of selling your fish to a middleman, you can then negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your own plant.

You can ship fish to markets all around the world. In time, you can then move to New York City to direct your huge enterprise.”

“How long would that take?” asked the Greek.

“Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years,” replied the executive.

“And after that?”

“When your business gets really big, you can sell stock and make millions!” exclaimed the executive with zeal.

“Millions? Really? And after that?”

“After that you’ll be able to retire, live in a small village near the coast, sleep late, play with your grandchildren, catch a few fish, take a nap with your wife, and spend your evenings watching the sunset on the beach and then singing, dancing, and playing the bouzouki with your friends.”

A weird coincidence happened to me the other day.  Last week I had a dinner function in the city from which I caught a taxi home.  The following night we had Active Spirit Trivia, and again, I walked to Flinders Street station to catch a cab home.  There was a line of about six taxis, someone else was ahead of me and jumped into the first one, so I jumped into the second.  As I stepped in I got a strange sense of déjà vu – it was the same taxi and driver as I’d had the previous night!  I’m assuming there are hundreds of taxi drivers in Melbourne, and for me to get the same one two nights in a row was amazing!

It then made me think about other coincidences which have occurred in the past and truly amazed me.  There was the time I went to another function in Melbourne, and my friend started talking to an Irish guy who coincidentally had been a contractor at my workplace when I lived in Ireland, at the same time I was there (I didn’t work on his project, but a couple of other people I worked closely with did).  Then as a further coincidence he was good friends with the brother of one of my close Irish friends – how strange to meet someone who knew so many people I did who are across the other side of the world!  I know they say there are six degrees of separation, but it is always amazing when this theory proves itself!

Another coincidence which I found (and again proving the six degrees of separation theory) was when I was scrolling through the “People you May Know” list on Facebook.  Most of the connections made sense, however there was one guy who is friends with one of my Melbourne based friends, but is also a friend of one of my Irish friends.  There is no connection between my Irish friend and Melbourne friend (apart from myself and this guy, who I don’t know).  Again a totally random connection, wow!

Obviously the more people you know, the more chance there is this could happen.   

So by getting out and meeting new people you will no doubt experience this a lot more and add to your own list of “wow” stories.   But there are other advantages to meeting new people:

·         It opens doors to different networks and can prove to be invaluable when you are looking for contacts in certain areas.   

·         It makes life interesting, as everyone has their own fascinating story to tell. 

·         By talking with different people about a broad range of topics we widen our own knowledge, and make ourselves a lot more interesting to talk to.

So how do we expand our networks?

·         Join a club.  This could be a sport or hobby club which is of interest to you.  Or if you don’t have one particular interest, a general activity provider, such as Active Spirit which is free to join, will give you the opportunity to meet people while doing a wide range of different activities which you are interested in.

·         Step out of your comfort zone and talk to people!   If you are in a lift, start a conversation with someone you don’t know.  Same goes if you are out at a bar, or another event.  People are generally quite happy to talk (particularly if you talk to them first), and you never know who you might meet.

·         Organise activities where you invite friends to bring along other friends.  Apart from getting to meet new people, it’s usually a case of “the more the merrier” so you should have a fun time!

One of my personal goals is to expand my networks and meet lots of new people.  This is already happening through Active Spirit, and now study has finished, I’m planning on doing whatever I can to get out and meeting interesting new people. 

Have you got any stories about amazing coincidences or any suggestions for expanding our personal and business networks?  If so, I’d love to hear them!

I’ve got a big weekend of study ahead, with an exam in just over a week. My last exam ever (well, I guess I should never say never – but for the short term anyway!) so I really need to knuckle down and study!

How is it then I seem to find a million things to do rather than pick up a text book – cleaning the house, brushing my cat, watching way too much Big Brother (yes, I am one of the few who does), writing this blog – everything except what I should be doing? That’s because I’m procrastinating! I’m sure you know what I’m talking about – it could be about a number of things, such as going to the gym, making that phone call – I bet some of you are even procrastinating about booking your first Active Spirit event. Well procrastinate no more!

I want to have a productive weekend of study so I thought I’d put together some tips to stop my procrastination in its tracks. Here's my list of tips:

1. Break the task into bite sized, achievable goals.

2. Set a schedule. By writing it down, you have something visual to keep you on track, and it is very satisfying to strike it off the schedule when you complete a task.

3. Do the small tasks first – but make sure they are relevant to achieving your goals. It will give a mental boost by marking off the “little” tasks first and you will feel a sense of achievement and progress.

4. Do the unpleasant tasks first and get them out of the way.

5. Work in small blocks of time.

6. Make sure you allow yourself enough time to get it done. If you don’t leave yourself enough time you will end up just feeling stressed, and it could mean you procrastinate more as you feel overwhelmed by the deadline.

7. Set yourself rewards as you finish certain steps. Better still, put a visual reminder of your reward in front of you of as you do your task, which will help re-motivate if you feel procrastination creeping in.

8. Look at the bigger picture. Remind yourself why you are doing the task in the first place – there is usually a really good reason and by looking to the long term will give you that extra motivation to start. For example, I’m studying to finish my MBA, or if you are procrastinating about going to the gym, remind yourself about the marathon you want to run in 6 months time.

9. Eliminate Distractions. I know, it’s easier said than done (especially on these cold, wintery nights when it’s easy to sit on the couch in front of the TV and heater) but by removing distractions it will help you remain focused.

10. Eliminate all but the essential and focus only on what matters. This will reduce our “To Do” list, and make it all feel more achievable.

11. Do it with a friend. By tackling the task with a buddy it will motivate you to take action. Or an alternative is to create public accountability and ‘report’ your progress to someone else. By adding this responsibility of knowing you have to report progress to someone else, it will help keep you on track.

12. Recognise your achievements. Even if you only get a little bit done, recognise you are still a step closer to your goal and pat yourself on the back.

13. Just do it! The sooner you tackle it the sooner you will get it done and can move onto something else.

Do you have any other tips for beating procrastination? If so, I'd love to hear them! And in the meantime, I’d better get stuck into the study……

After inwardly debating whether or not I should add a blog to Active Spirit, I've finally decided to take the plunge!

I think deciding to write this was mostly because I found an interesting (free) challenge which I wanted to share so you could register too - and yes, I could share it with you in the newsletter, but why not in a blog too?   

I'm talking about the "Active Family Challenge" found at   http://www.goforyourlife.vic.gov.au/hav/articles.nsf/docs/PAFC?open, which the Victorian Government is currently promoting.  It's challenging families (and a "family" consists of households anywhere from one person to eleven people!) to participating in at least 30 minutes exercise every day between March 9th and April 20th.  As a bonus for registering, and to inspire you to do more, you receive 15 family passes to a number of Victorian YMCA's, and also a 10% discount to Rebel Sports.  I've registered - although I try to always walk around the park near work at lunchtime and try to play Beach Volleyball weekly, I could still do with more exercise!  So I figured by announcing my intentions publicly in this blog I'm more likely to follow it!!!  I truly believe it's so important to be active, but I also know how difficult it can be to fit it into our busy, everyday lives.  One of Active Spirit's goals is to get people active and enjoying life, so I think it is a great challenge for us all to undertake!

I'm also planning on incorporating some Active Spirit events into using our YMCA vouchers so register today (it is free!) and I will hopefully see you at one of our "Come 'n Try" sessions at a local YMCA.  And even if you don't come to any events, it might make you think about getting your daily exercise fix, so it's all good!

So get active, go to the website, register, and join the Challenge.  And if anyone has any new ideas for any ways to meet our 30 minutes a day challenge, I'd love to hear them!

Best wishes,

Melissa

 

 

 

Hello world !

My first blog post text.