Ezine: Jump Into Life!

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Jump Into Life! E-zine
Pump Up Your Energy, Creativity and Joy
This is a monthly "as I can get to it" newsletter with ideas, resources, stories and inspiration. If you are like me, you find it hard to get to those weekly ezines you subscribe to. (I either save them to read all at once or delete them feeling guilty because I might be missing something important. My hope is that this will arrive JUST when you are ready for a boost of energy and inspiration.)

April 2002 Volume #2
Kathie Hightower
kathie@jumpintolife.net

IN THIS ISSUE

Energy Tip
A Key Creativity Question
Happiness Research: What it Means to You
Fun Products
Workshop Info

Energy Tip: MOVE!
Okay, you know that exercise will give you more energy. Energy does beget energy. But sometimes it’s hard to remember that when you are dragging — and for a lot of folks it’s just too hard to find the time. Well, no more excuses. Our time excuse won’t cut it anymore. Why? You don’t have to do the 30 to 40 minutes of aerobic exercise that we all have in mind as a minimum
in our "to do" lists. For health purposes — and for energy — that 30 minutes can be split up into smaller segments spread throughout your day.

In fact, research shows that if you take a ten-minute walk, you will increase your energy for a full hour (for some people it works for two hours). Better and cheaper and less fattening than a double shot latte. For more ideas of how to fit short spurts of exercise into your day and a great resource that shares even more ways, read the longer article at
www.jumpintolife.net/writingenergy.html.
The article is titled Exercise for Energy — One Short Moment at a Time.

One Key Question for Creativity
So…you have a great product or a great service or a great program. Well, don’t stop there. Ask yourself, "how else can we use this?" Just planting that question in your head on a regular basis — and even better, brainstorming that specific question with a wide variety of people, some from within and from without your organization — can help your company, your organization go from "good to great."

As Jim Collins says in his new book, Good to Great, "good is the enemy of great." If we think "this is good enough" we won’t add the innovation that\ is necessary to survive in today’s market. There are lots of other questions to ask yourself but for today let’s start with this one.

If you look around, you’ll see examples everywhere of companies who have asked — and obviously, keep asking — that question.
M& M candies. I don’t even remember what size package they started with, but they now come in all different sizes, they come in peanut and Reeses and crunch versions. How else can we use it? Well, how about packaging them in small bags as
Trick or Treat items? How else can we use it? Well, how about adding colors. M&Ms are now available in 21 colors, so that you can match them to your event – lavender favors for your wedding, corporate maroon and gold for your product kickoff, colors to match your favorite team for the big Super Bowl event.
Ketchup. We see it everywhere — in large family plastic container sizes to cute little bottles for hotel room service to the small foil packs for airplane meals. I’m still waiting to see them adopt the European toothpaste-tube size packaging — much more convenient for camping and picnics. How else can we use it? Well, how about adding some food coloring? Or whatever they do to turn that tomato red into purple and orange and icky green. Why? Kids love it. This "how can we use it" is so easy to see in product innovation. But it also applies to services and programs.
My local salon/day has provided makeup lessons and applications for awhile. But how often do you need that — or even think to do that? And you don’t want those experts just sitting around waiting for a client. So now they offer all kinds of special event makeup applications. They’ll do the makeup for your whole wedding party — and have the space to do that. Even better, they now offer "complimentary makeup touchups" after any salon or spa treatment. Now when your makeup is a little worse for wear after a hair shampooing and cut or after that facial or after steaming in the hydrotherapy bath, they touch it up for free. And of course do a much better job than you’ve ever done, so you are often inspired to schedule that makeup lesson you might never have considered.
I spoke at the Pierce County Staff Development Day conference last year. The whole focus of the conference was "Hero Stories." They were encouraging the different departments and divisions to share hero stories of people and programs from their area. Why? Well, to acknowledge and celebrate them first of course. But it’s another way to ask "How else can we use it?" If we know about a great program in one division maybe that could be applied effectively to another area to improve their operation.

So ask yourself, "How else can we use our product or service or program?" You just might push your company from good to great.

Happiness Research — What it means to you
One thing I’ve always talked about always in my seminars is "focusing on the good." Giving gratitude for what you have. Research reported on in the US News & World Report issue of September 3, 2001, backs this up. A study by the University of California-Davis found that "people who wrote down five things for which they were grateful in weekly or daily journals were not only more joyful; they were healthier, less stressed, more optimistic, and more likely to help others."

I’ve kept a gratitude journal for quite a while. I don’t record in it daily anymore because I now have the habit of reviewing what I’m grateful for when I’m falling asleep at night. But I find myself turning to my journal monthly or so, usually if I’m going through a bit of a slump. Reading through the list and adding to it puts me right back into a feeling of abundance.

Try one of these methods to start.
Get a journal you like.
Sit down and write down 100 things you are grateful for. Small and large. Even if you don’t reach 100, just working towards that will throw you into that "wallowing in abundance" mode.
Make a list of ten things you are grateful for. Each evening for 30 days, read the list and add one more. By the end of 30 days you’ll be living in abundance thinking.
One last thing — as a military spouse, I am fortunate to get perspective as we move around and live and travel in different places. We know that we live in one of the most (if not THE most) abundant places in the world. If you need a little reminder of how great we have it, just go see the movie Kandahar. Filmed before Sept. 11, it shows what life is like for the women (and the people) of Afghanistan. Grim, chilling, hard to imagine. And it immediately puts your problems into perspective — reminding you of your level of abundance.

Share a Tip
Do you have any energy or creativity tip or resource to share? If I use it in a future ezine, I’ll send you a Simple Joys Booklet in thanks. Email me at kathie@jumpintolife.net

Fun Products
While we work on our Follow Your Dream While You Follow the Military™ book, we have some other products that can help you create and live your dream! To order any of these call Kathie tollfree at 866-569-5695 or email or fax in an order— see contact info at the bottom. And, yes, I can take Visa or MC (does that make us professional or what?) The easiest way to order is to go to the product part of the website, www.jumpintolife.net, and download an order form to fax or mail or call in.

Creative Living Audiotape Set:
2tapes (120minutes) on the joyful living concept & goal achieving tools, tips & resources) $12

Your Enchanted Life: A Journal of Discovery & Delight (a playbook full of exercises & action steps) $18

Simple Joys: Little Things That Make a BIG Difference (a pocket-size book with one idea per page) $6
*similar ideas in a booklet that can mail in a #10 envelope are in the Joyful Living Booklet $3

Magic Rainbow Glasses (see the good in Everything) $6

As Is pewter pins (Show the world you are already quite wonderful just the way you are – faults and all!) $25

A Jump Into Life Workshop at your company or organization?
I do one-hour, four-hour and all day programs (and I prefer the longer ones — so much great info to share). Check out the workshops at www.jumpintolife.net/workshops.html.

Forward this Ezine
Feel free to forward this ezine to your friends. I’m happy to have you use any of the articles in this ezine (or any posted on my website) in your newsletters or publications providing you ask me first, include the byline I provide and then provide
me with a copy for my records and celebration!

Copyright 2002 Hightower

List Maintenance
To subscribe:
Send an email to kathie@jumpintolife.net with "subscribe" in the subject line. If you’d also like to be on my snailmail list for very occasional mailings, include your snailmail address and a note of how long you expect to be there.

To unsubscribe:
Send an email to kathie@jumpintolife.net with unsubscribe in the subject line.

Contact Me
Kathie Hightower
Jump Into Life Seminars
kathie@jumpintolife.net
2908 N. Warner Street, Tacoma, Wa 98407;
Tollfree866-569-5695; 253-761-8161; 253-759-4009(fax)

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