Where do you find happiness? Is it in planning your holiday, taking a day off work, getting together with friends and family; is it shopping, a night out with friends, having a drink on a Friday night or making money? If so, then the chances are your happiness may be short lived.  Because, if lasting happiness was contained in any of the above activities, why is it that our society is plagued with increasing problems of isolation, anxiety, stress, depression and mental health issues?

For many people exercise is something extra to do in a busy schedule. This was not always so. In previous years we had to be active to stay alive. Our more ancient ancestors could only eat what they caught or gathered. Through the ages most work has been physical right up to the advent of the technological age. This included work on farms or factories. Until the 1950s most people had to walk or cycle to get to places, as cars were not commonplace.

Cast your minds back even one generation. To change the television set you had to get up out of your chair. To open the garage door meant getting out of the car and opening the door, walking back to the car and then driving in. Clothes were mainly hung out on lines rather than bundled into driers and dishes were mainly washed by hand

Media images are both a reflection of and a frame of reference for our views of ourselves. For women especially, images of “perfect” bodies are impossible to attain and hence  create stress and anxiety about body image. Young girls are also impressionable. This infographic shows the contrast between a Barbie doll and the average American woman. The take home message is that you can aspire to look and feel better but do not compare yourself to unrealistic models.

I am sure that many of you reading this have heard this before, “Thoughts Become Things.”  Have you ever woken up and thought to yourself, “This is not going to be a good day?” Now looking back, if you didn’t change your thinking pattern at that time, I am guessing you had a very bad day. Now on the other hand, had you woke up thinking that way, and then said to yourself, “I am going to make this a great day, who says it has to be a not so good day” I am sure you would have had an Amazing day!

When we can learn that we are in control of our thoughts, and what we think about most is what we become…life starts to become Amazing! You might be thinking, “How can I control every thought that I have?”  Well, you can’t but you can listen to what your body is telling you.

For the last 50 years it has been known that smoking is bad for your health. Whilst smoking rates have plummeted from over 70% of the adult population to under 20% today (and less than 10% in teenagers), some people continue to smoke.

This can variably be seen as odd strange or puzzling. Yet rightly or wrongly it is legal to smoke and people are allowed to do things, which are “bad for their health”. It is likely the case that most of those who smoke do so because they actually enjoy it. Again whether they should or should not is a moot point.

How many of us have been taught that our genes are predetermined or fixed? That we can’t change our genes? That certain diseases run in families, like heart disease or cancer, may be your eventual reality?

I’m here to tell you that this is not true. Most of us think of genes in what they give us: blonde hair, blue eyes or height, for example. While these genes are fixed, these genes are very few. We are given a set of genes that we cannot change but we can change how they are expressed.

The science of Epigenetics is showing that our genes and our environment are inseparable. What is Epigenetics?

The problems with over diagnosis and excessive use of medication in children with “attention” problems have become so commonplace that they no longer have the capacity to shock.

This is a problem in itself as these recent figures are shocking. In normal circumstances these latest figures would be grounds for a fundamental reassessment of diagnosis and treatment. They would be a clarion call for a reassessment of what we expect of children. They would be a sign, that parts of the medical and education system, as well as parts of government have lost the plot.

Instead they have been treated with a shrug of the collective shoulders.

“…We are all bioengineered with the capacity to let the heart do the talking and the mind do its’ walking.”

When I first registered the domain mindpowercoach.com, the term mind power made perfect sense to me. Surely everybody wants more empowerment and is willing to challenge their thinking in order to become clearer, more confident and able overcome the obstacles?

In workshops, I would go on and on about how to increase your mind power with enough success to keep me persisting.  However, it was not until 2010 before I came to terms with the importance of a detailed purpose. Purpose in every area of life, including health, financial, emotional well being, career or business and especially relationships.

I saw an interesting quote from Clint Eastwood on Facebook last week. He said, “I like the libertarian view which is to leave everyone alone. Even as a kid I was annoyed by people who wanted to tell everyone how to live”. This seemed quite apt in the light of a New York court striking down Mayor Bloomberg’s plan to restrict the size of soda that can be sold. The ban had many loopholes so in effect stopped some places selling big soda but not others.

Meanwhile in Mississippi a law is being proposed to ban the sort of ban that New York was doing. It seeks to ban local municipalities from regulating nutrition.

Could these approaches be further apart?

It is easter time and like most festivals and occasions there are some interesting facts and pieces of trivia around it. This infographic highlights some of them. May I wish all readers of the blog a happy easter.

This reversal of a commonly used phrase is a plea. A plea against the bias that leans doctors towards diagnosing and treating, even when the scientific evidence may not support it. Sure, it is expected that a doctor will diagnose and treat you, but sometimes there is no diagnosis or effective treatment, and pursuing either may be harmful. When in doubt, your doctor will continue to run tests until something comes up, and will continue to treat you for as long as you return with symptoms. Sometimes, not pursuing a diagnosis and not treating a patient are reasonable options. Sometimes they are the best option.

This week I wrote an article for Australian News websites on the latest stupidity to come from Government reports and committees. A 200 page NHMRC document advised that children at daycare not blow out birthday candles on a cake as it was an infection risk. This completely fails the common sense test and stirred a number of comments.

You can read the article at PerthNow or News.com

Once upon a time we did not have fridges or freezers. We did not have packaged food that could be put on the shelf and eaten next year. Food was either eaten or  thrown out. Today scare mongering about safety leads many people to throw out perfectly good food. It is estimated that the food wasted each day would be enough to feed all the worlds starving. Here is a useful guide on the shelf life of different foods.