Ho, ho, ho, it's December!

ABOUT ME

In the last few months I’ve had to have a ton of x-rays and scans for a gammy hip and knee

The good news is that the hip isn’t as bad as originally thought (tendinitis) but the knee, well the jury is still out as I await an appointment with the consultant.

One thing I do know is that I’ve been watching what I eat and looking to lose a few pounds.?I know that even 7lbs less will put less pressure on my joints and I WANT to do it.?I don’t even feel it’s a need to, because a lot of my clothes have become a little snug and I’ve not been feeling as perky as I could be.

The point of this is that weight fluctuates – for all of us, even me!

Our weight can go up and down and if we don’t weigh ourselves regularly we don’t notice so much.

One thing I say to clients is that weight loss isn’t linear, anymore than weight gain is.

Why is that??Well if you think you’ve gained 3lbs overnight, likelihood is that’s not the case.

Weight is made up of 4 components – fat, muscle, water and stored glycogen.?A salty meal or over-eating on one day can make it seem like the scales shoot up.?Additionally for women, hormonal changes can see weight fluctuate by up to 7lbs as can air travel.

So don’t worry if you think after Christmas lunch you’ve gained 4lbs, it’s unlikely to be fat!

ABOUT YOU

HOLIDAYS AND HIGH DAYS – THEY ALWAYS HAPPEN SO LET’S MANAGE THEM

I've had a number of clients that worry just as they're about to go on holiday or because they have a period of time with lots of birthdays or events coming up and basically they're not sure how they will cope with their weight during a frenzy of eating and drinking too much.

The eternal debate "How do I manage my weight when it's ***Christmas/Easter/Birthday/holiday" ***delete as applicable if you are currently on a weight loss journey or have recently arrived there (me)

Well the truth is that every year it will be Christmas, someone's birthday or you'll go on holiday. I believe there are 3 options and I've experienced each of them.

1.?????In the main, you carry on as you are, add in some extra activity and continue to lose weight

2.?????You have some extra goodies that you wouldn't normally, be a bit more relaxed but stay the same weight or

3.?????Say "f**k it" eat and drink what you like and then deal with the consequences!!!

Of course each has benefits and disadvantages depending on what your goals are.?You do have goals right? There's another topic. But yes, where are you and where you're going to will play a part in which of the three strategies above you choose. None are right or wrong, but what's important is accepting the outcome depending on your input.

If you’d like to look at those strategies and how to manage in more detail, here’s the link to the full BLOG HERE

SPECIAL OFFERS

It’s not too late to work with me for FREE in December.?So long as we have a decision before 9th December, you’ll get 4 FREE weeks.?Yes totally FREE, so 16 weeks for the investment of 12 weeks.

What that means is we can reset the clock in January and you’ve not lost anything – except perhaps for a few pounds.?

Book an initial free call with me below or DM me.

THREE WAYS I CAN HELP YOU RIGHT NOW

1. ?? Book a FREE15 minute call?with me

2. ?? Download my FREE cheat sheet

3. ?? Get a copy of my book Project You Reclaim Your Body

ABOUT THE INTEIRM WORLD

BY MARK WILLIAMS

This month Mark Williams is our guest writer on the interim world I loved reading this piece on “The Ultimate Success Formula”

Mark enjoys helping people with “Business IT” change. Over his career, he’s held Programme delivery, IT Director, Executive and Non-Executive roles, including in Not for Profit, Financial Services, The Public Sector, Digital Process Outsourcing and Law sectors.

Working together with Gethyn Ellis, a Microsoft “Data Platform” MVP (Most Valued Professional) they help clients with Microsoft Data / Power Platform based Solutions, Delivery, Advice and Assurance.

They host the “Putting the Human into Technology Podcast” (The PHIT Podcast), available on most streaming services, YouTube and Gethyn’s website

Mark posts regularly on LinkedIn about Success, Best Advice, Experience, Helping People, Project Management and “Doing the Right Things”.

To connect with Mark just click HERE You can find out more about Mark HERE

To connect with Gethyn just click HERE You can find out more about Gethyn HERE

The Ultimate Success Formula... or... Is a Change as good as a rest?

Do you suffer from the Monday morning Blues?

I’ve got to be honest... I do! Motivation is a real challenge on a Monday.

I enjoy “Business Change”, it’s what I do...and people tell me I’m pretty good at it, which is nice!

Yet I know I am not “at my best” every single day. Monday morning’s being a prime example.

To completely misquote a famous phrase...!

“Some people perform well (nearly) all of the time. Many people perform well some of time... but All of the people don’t perform well all of the time”.

So when you’re planning out your various Project change and improvement initiatives... maybe for example you use (IMHO!)?“The Ultimate Success Formula” (thanks to Professor Deming)

PLAN – DO – CHECK – ACT.

If you’re anything like I was...??

?You finalise budgets around the same time every year. Before that, you had to work out what you were going to try and achieve the following year.?

?You estimate / plan each project, assign your people, make an allowance for slippage, and because you’re good at what you do, you plan an Early Live Support for a month or two after Go-live.?

?Sound familiar??

?And then what??

?Well your “plan” says that you put people straight onto the next project you’ve planned, because... well that’s making the most of the resources you’ve got, isn’t it???

?(Hopefully you don’t need to cut short Early Live Support because there’s a new project which, yes you guessed it, need all hands to the pump!)?

?Great!?

?But you and your Project teams, will not perform at the same high performing levels all the time??

?So what do you do??

?Organisations usually say that “our people are our most important asset”??

?“Business Teams” often say that “there’s too much change” to cope with alongside their Business as Usual (BAU). They need time to “bed it in”. And they are quite right. No business (IMHO) can keep “change” going at “100 m.p.h”.??

?Why do Project leaders plan our Project teams to always being full on??

?Maybe, like ‘builders’, our house is the last one we do??

?Or...?

?Maybe we need another Ultimate Success formula to follow??

?PLAN – DO – CHECK – ACT... &?

?ENERGY – PACE – MOMENTUM – REST.?

?We plan in Rest, to give us Energy, before we can perform with Pace and Momentum?

?Back to Monday mornings... how do I plan to achieve what I want to that week??

?In short... I have a balanced plan that I know works for me.?

?Firstly, my priority for the weekend is NOT to rest “just” so that I can be at my best when I start work the following week! (I’m fortunate that I’m at that stage of life when I’m not chasing my career, I’m happy to be able to help people IF they want it).?

?Our weekends are about delivering our “life” priorities. I make it a rule (95%+ of the time!) to not “work” on the weekend, so my mind, as a consequence, is “work” rested.?

?But on the Monday, I still need to motivate myself. To be perfectly honest... I like to ease into the week, and I’ll do something which creates some energy. Maybe I’ll walk the dog, maybe I’ll go to the gym.??

?IF there is something that I have to do... I try to make it something which I can easily complete. Something which I can “tick of my list” and feel like I’ve accomplished.?

?I don’t try to do things which require me to immediately get my brain into gear or do something that needs me to be more creative.?

?So,?

• ?Is a Change as good as a rest??
• Have I got the Ultimate Success formula??

?Well, it works for me but in truth, who knows??

?What I do know is that it’s very important to have a balance...?

#project #help #coaching??