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What You and Steve Jobs May Have in Common…
Today is the one year anniversary of Steve Jobs’ passing. His death effected me in so many ways. It brought up a lot of emotions about my own mortality, my survival, how I wish I could have helped him with his illness, about living each moment to the fullest and how much time I’ve spent in my life on so many things that, in reality, are not that important. It also had me reflecting on the gifts Steve had to share, his blessing and the impact he’s had on this world. I believe he may be looked upon as the equivalent to Einstein and Mozart because of his genius and the way his gifts impact each and every one of our lives on a daily basis, even after his passing. Apple had a wonderful tribute to Steve on their site today which you can see here.
Because of his passion, Steve never quit even when he was stripped of his most precious creation, Apple. One of the things Steve Jobs exemplified the most is how important it is to focus on our blessings and our passion and in doing so we can change the world.
It reminds me of what I saw yesterday on TV. The Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin’s, daughter, Bindi, was being interviewed. She is carrying on his legacy with such grace and beauty. She said that her dad had such passion that he made a difference in the lives of millions. She went on to say that if one man could do that, you can too.
When we discover our life’s purpose and use our passion to fulfill it, our lives are fulfilled and the unimaginable can be achieved. Today, as I think of Steve Jobs, I see the impact that one person can have when they follow their passion and live their life’s purpose. My wish for you today and every day is that you live your life to the fullest and fulfill your purpose and passion. Imagine if we all did.
Top 10 Success Tips to Getting and Staying Healthy
Top 10 Success Tips to Getting and Staying Healthy
Sometimes we just need a little nudge, the reminder that it’s all about taking that first step. Then it’s about consistency and forgiveness. Here are a few of the things that I’ve found to be so important in starting on any life-changing path. I’ll use the example here for getting healthy, but as you will see, it works for lots of different goals. I can write about each tip forever, but I’m going to keep it short and sweet for now!
1) Decide. First and foremost, you need to choose to do it and then commit rather than saying “someday” I’ll do it. Kind of like my book title Choose to Live. A couple of years ago, when I was challenged by coming up with the title for my book, my new friend, Jill Albani, asked me “What’s the first thing you tell someone when they want to work with you?” I answered, “I tell them they have to Choose to Live”! Simple as that! You have to choose to do it! It was two years ago this week that I pressed “send” and the final version of my book went off to the publisher. Then I jumped in the pool with my clothes on to celebrate!
2) It’s all about taking that first step. Here’s the thing…nothing can change if we don’t do something differently. If something is keeping us from being healthy or happy and we don’t change the way we do things, nothing will change. So just take that first step!
3) Make it manageable. Don’t make it bigger than it is. Set yourself up to win. Break it down into little steps and little wins. If you’re not currently faced with a serious health challenge and you have the luxury of taking little steps, that’s a great way to start. You can look at each aspect of your goal and break it into projects and then steps within the project. Lay it out so that it’s not overwhelming and then choose one thing to start with. The little victories are how you build momentum towards your goal.
4) Set a date and get started – no excuses. I believe in adding new things in before taking things out whenever possible. Nature abhors a vacuum so you are so much more successful when you start adding things in which will ultimately push other things out. Whether it’s adding in a salad, a green juice, more veggies, a smoothie or meditation, it’s all about getting started. After that consistency is the key.
5) Every little bit counts. You may remember this quote from Choose to Live that sums it all up: If you start cleaning yourself out and building your immune system, each thing you do and every time you do it will add time to your life. The first instance will add one minute to your life. The second thing you do might add 5 minutes. Add a different way of helping yourself, and you might add an hour. Be consistent, and before you know it, you’ve added a day, a week, and then a year. Keep going, and you’ve added five years. Next thing you know, you could have a complete shift in your entire biological structure! Every little bit counts and that pretty much sums it up.
6) Support Increases Success. Ask for help and support: a mentor, coach or accountability buddy. You increase your success drastically when you have someone else to support you in being successful. For example, a mentor who can shortcut your learning curve, lessen your “mis”-takes, sidetracks or wrong turns and get you there so much faster. I’ve had mentors for years and I’m a mentor to others on their healing journeys, and I can tell you, the ability to reach goals drastically increases. Another great way to increase your success rate is to have an accountability buddy – you’ll check in on each other daily to make sure you have done what you said you would do to get you closer to your goals. That’s why people have exercise buddies. They have someone else who encourages them, which increases their success. I know I’m much more successful when I’m receiving encouragement and time saving shortcuts. How about you?
7) Celebrate Your Success. It’s soooo important to celebrate your wins. A great way to do this is with a Success Journal. At the end of each day, write down all your successes for the day, and I mean all of them…big and small. A great time to do it is just before you go to sleep. That way, you’re going off to sleep feeling good about what you did get done, rather than thinking about what you didn’t get done. I also celebrate and say “nice job” to myself when I do something as simple as drinking my wheatgrass every morning. Oh, and keep celebrating — every win, every time, everyday!
8) Trust your Intuition. Intuition is way underestimated. We all have it, yes we do, some stronger than others, but nevertheless we all have it. It can be our best friend and strongest guide. If something feels really right, pay attention and keep doing it, if something doesn’t, change it. If you get that little feeling, that little voice in your head saying “this doesn’t feel right”, check in to see if it’s fear, resistance or something else saying, “this isn’t right”!
9) Don’t get it perfect, just get going. Perfectionism can be one of the biggest blocks to hold you back and keep you from reaching your goals. It’s a lifelong lesson for me. You don’t have to worry about getting it “perfect”, after all, there is no “perfect”, especially in the beginning. Just get it going.
10) Forgive. Last but not least…and the second most important, (after Decide) is to forgive yourself. If you mess up, forgive yourself and just pick up where you left off. We can be our own worst enemy or our own best friend. We get to choose!
If you would like to find out more about getting to the root causes of what may be keeping you from having a vibrant healthy life, click below to receive our free download “7 ‘Must Knows’ To Create Your Vibrant Healthy Life” along with your complimentary chapter of Joyce’s #1 bestselling book Choose to Live click here
Healing Foods
Click on picture to see video!
Hi Everyone!
OMG I’m so embarrassed…my Christmas Tree is still up! Can you believe it?!?! Well, before we get to that, first I wanted to wish you a Happy 2012. Bringing in the New Year is a great time to refocus your energy on ways to heal your body. One of the ways is by providing the body with key beneficial nutrients so that the healing process can occur. Doing this can help add vibrant years to your life. Check out what happened to my Christmas Tree when it received its key nutrients. So check out my latest video with me and my 8 year old to see why I’m talking about a Christmas Tree a month past Christmas!
In love and friendship,
Joyce and Kevin
Nutrients for Healing the Body
Since we’re talking about how important nutrients are in healing the body, I thought I would lay out just a few great food sources for vitamins and minerals and a bunch of other benefits. I ate tons of each of these items when I began my journey to heal myself from cancer as well as chronic fatigue, sinus issues, migraines, daily headaches, IBS and more. I ate most of this raw, whenever possible, in juices and smoothies or lightly steamed to maintain the most nutrients and minerals.
- Asparagus is vegetable which is high in glutathione, one of the most potent anti-carcinogen and anti-oxidants found in the body. It has more glutathione than any other fruit or vegetable. It also contains rutin, which protects small blood vessels from rupturing and may protect against radiation. It’s also a great source of vitamin A, C, E and B complex, potassium and zinc. These are great lightly steamed, seasoned and served with chopped tomatoes and avocado. Soooo filling and soooo delicious.
- Another great vegetable is broccoli*, which contains twice the amount of vitamin C of an orange. It also has almost as much calcium as whole milk. Broccoli contains selenium, which is a mineral that has anti-cancer and anti-viral properties. Broccoli has such important anti-cancer properties that anti-cancer nutraceuticals are made from broccoli seeds. If you don’t like them raw, just lightly steam and toss with garlic or onion powder and some olive oil, takes just a couple of minutes. You can keep the steamed broccoli in the fridge for a couple of days and throw them in your salad!
- Dandelion greens are one of the things I really recommend. If you can get them into your juice, it’s a great way to tolerate them since they can be bitter and are more tolerable in the juice. They are beneficial for digestion and are an anti-viral. They are also used to treat and prevent breast and lung tumors and premenstrual bloating. They’re high in vitamin A and Vitamin C and contain calcium and potassium as well.
- Another great leafy green to try to juice or build into your diet is kale*, which eases lung congestion and is beneficial to the stomach, liver and immune system. It’s an excellent source of calcium, iron, vitamins A, C and chlorophyll.
- Then there are onions, which are an excellent antioxidant and contain anti-allergy, antiviral and antihistamine properties. They actually aid in cellular repair.
- Avocados are also awesome in so many ways. They contain 20 vitamins and minerals including fiber, potassium, Vitamin E, B-Vitamins and folic acid. They can be used in place of other fats like mayonnaise and butter. They are also great for making a smoothie creamy. Just put the avocado in first with either a little unsweetened coconut milk or water and then add the avocado. Blend that up first and then add the rest of the ingredients like cucumbers, spinach, a little berries. I throw a half to a whole avocado in all the smoothies I make for my kids, even the fruit smoothies. The kids don’t notice the avocado and it’s providing them with lots of added benefits and making the smoothie creamy. Many people avoid avocados because they have the reputation of being fattening but they are high in mono-saturated fat, which is easily burned for energy, but even with that benefit, pay attention to how many you are eating because they can add on weight if you’re not careful. One a day is usually good.
*A note about cruciferous veggies (like kale, bok choy, collards, broccoli etc): they can suppress your thyroid when eaten raw, so if you have a thyroid issue, you should eat them cooked instead. You’ll lose some of the nutrients but you’ll still get a lot of benefit from them. If you do suspect a thyroid issue, it’s important to work with a holistic professional specializing in the thyroid.
So these are just a few key foods to get you started. Of course, there’s so much more but I thought it would be helpful to see why some of these foods are so beneficial and how easily you can incorporate them into your diet. Mangia!
What Are We Up to Now?
Wow, where did the time go? I’ve been wondering that a lot lately especially since I you may not have heard from me in a little while. Do you ever ask yourself that? I’m asking myself that all the time. Doesn’t it seem like the time just keeps going by faster and faster as we get older. I’m certainly wondering the same thing when I look at my children. It’s still hard to believe that my baby is growing up. Those of you who have read my book Choose to Live will remember the funny tales about her, my little undercooked purdue chicken. She was just 8 months old when I was first diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 33 and 3 years old when I was told that there was nothing that could be done to save me. That was 11 years ago this month. In fact it was 11 years ago exactly this week. I still think back to that day and think about how it could have all been so different if I hadn’t said No, you will not tell me my outcome and decided that I was going to find a way to live. So as most of you know, Kevin and I have been cancer free for 11 years and have done all kinds of really cool things since then. It’s also pretty cool that it happens to be breast cancer awareness month. So my beautiful little baby is now 14 and this week in the same week as I was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer 11 years ago, she had her Confirmation. Wow, there was so much emotion as I sat next to my 87 year old mother in law and I realized just how blessed we both were to be there. It could have all turned out so differently if I had made a different choice back then.
As a family, we place a huge emphasis on “experiences” more so than material things. So when I asked her what she wanted for her confirmation, she said she wanted to go to the hibachi grill with some friends and family to celebrate. We had a great time as they chef chopped and diced and flipped knives and pieces of zucchini through the air and we had to catch them in our mouth. It was a lot of fun, a great experience in so many ways. A question that I get asked a lot is what are your tips for going out to eat? So read on for the article on “must knows” for eating out!
One of the questions I am asked most frequently is “What do you do when you go out to eat?”
Well, first and foremost — I eat!! I know…it’s a little more complicated than that when you want to eat healthy, but it’s a start. I know that it can be challenging when you are out to dinner with friends and family or maybe at a party. You might even dread it or say I’d rather stay home. Trust me I really know, I’ve been there. If you know anything about me or my story you know that prior to being diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, my diet was pasta, pizza, candy, ice cream and any other carb I could get my hands on. Oh, and by the way, veggies and salad, I didn’t even know how to make them or order them, so I didn’t! Truth is, I didn’t like them and didn’t want them. Now I LOVE them! I even crave them, and even more importantly I love the way I feel when I eat them. No one is going to say that making changes like this is easy—certainly not me anyway. It was one of the hardest things that I had to do in my life – keeping in mind that I had to go completely 100% cold turkey overnight; I literally did it in a day. Once I did make the changes though, I realized how incredible I felt and that I was making progress in improving my health. When that happened, it gave me more incentive to continue.
So I thought I would throw together a few tips that might help with that little dilemma of what to do when you go out to eat.
1) MINDSET – This is always the most important thing that I focus on when I work with people who are ready, or nudged, to take the plunge to a healthier lifestyle. If you are doing this because you just want to look and feel healthier or because you have a health issue and you feel now is the time to take control of your health. There’s a whole lot more to it, but I figured I would just give you one possibility to help you stay strong. That is…when you are with family and friends, make it about the experience, not the food. Treasure the fact that you have friends and family who want to be with you and hopefully who you want to be with. Next would be…don’t think about this as a forever thing, just look at it as one step at a time, one day at a time. Lastly if you can avoid it, you don’t want to go cold turkey and completely transition your diet and lifestyle in one day and then go out to eat the next day. If you have the flexibility, plan out your success as best you can.
2) TAKE CARE OF YOU! So often we are worried about what people will think, we feel like we are an inconvenience or we are too embarrassed to feel or look different so we don’t do something that is important for us and we don’t ask for what we need. So…ask your friends if they would be willing to try a new healthy restaurant or avoid the ones that you know have your absolute favorite dessert in the whole wide world so that you won’t be tempted. Also, if you know certain things are a real temptation for you ask them if they don’t mind supporting you in not having them brought to the table which leads me to the next tip.
3) EAT FIRST, ASK QUESTIONS LATER – Very often I eat before I go out to eat and I definitely eat a lot before I go to a party. If you are full, you are much less likely to be tempted.
4) REMOVING TEMPTATION – Your willpower is strongest before something is put in front of you, so don’t have it put in front of you! When you call ahead to make a reservation at a restaurant let them know that you have a very special “health related” diet and really need help sticking to it so could they make a note not to bring bread or dessert to the table. Your willpower is strongest here. Next when you arrive at the restaurant before sitting, remind them that you don’t want any bread or dessert brought to the table and don’t sit until they have told the waiter. Your willpower is so much stronger at this point. When you sit, before they bring anything over remind them again. And of course when they are clearing the plates from dinner remind them not to bring over the dessert menu or cart . I understand that if other people are with you, they might want bread but why not ask ahead of time if they can support you in this. Trust me, it really does get easier and easier to have the willpower, especially when you start feeling great!
5) A LITTLE ON THE SIDE – When ordering dinner, confirm what comes with a meal and make sure that they aren’t adding anything extra to the plate like that cream sauce that would put you over the edge.
6) KEEP IT SIMPLE – This was one of the best words of advice I got when I first started on this path. Keep it simple, slow and steady wins the race. Ask the chef to prepare a huge salad as an appetizer with lots of fresh or grilled veggies on it, maybe some olive oil and fresh lemon juice, and even some herbs. Then you can have grilled chicken or fish with no sauces, just lemon and garlic and lightly steamed or grilled veggies on the side. If you are just transitioning, you can even bring your own gluten free wrap if you want to fill yourself up a little more. I always manage to find something on the menu that I can tweak a little and still enjoy.
7) THINK AHEAD – See if they have a menu online, call ahead or pop in a day before and pick out what you know you can eat. If you have to make substitutes then think of those ahead of time, write it down. That way when you get to the restaurant, you don’t even have to continue to be reminded of other options and to be tempted by opening the menu.
8) OH NO! NOT MY FAVORITE! If you are going to a friend’s house, ask them not to make your most favorite highest temptation foods and bring an alternative. There are lots of health food places that make things you can bring.
9) PARTY ON! If you are going to a party, bring something that’s healthy for you and that you love to eat so that you make sure you are taken care of. It helps if it can be something that others will love as well, don’t try something too radical. Something that I always bring to parties is a huge salad with lots of good stuff in it like cut up red, yellow and orange peppers, roasted peppers, some nuts and maybe some sunflower seeds or pepitas. I don’t mix it up ahead of time, I put it all on top of the salad because it looks prettier that way. Then for an additional splash of color you can put some fruit juice sweetened dried cranberries in the center or on the side. You probably don’t want to eat them because of the high sugar content and you don’t have to, but others will be enticed to dig in if they are there. Quinoa is another great side dish that is filling and you can put in your salad to fill you up. Quinoa is great because it is a great replacement for rice and pasta and has many amazing benefits. It is basically tasteless and is great at absorbing the flavors easily of seasonings and sauces.
10) BE EASY ON YOURSELF! If you do slip up, and have something that you know you shouldn’t have, don’t beat yourself up over it. Savor the experience and know that you are making progress and doing better than you ever had before!
Obviously, I’m a big proponent of eating healthy, right? There is so much to share about the topic of “Avoiding Temptations” that I dedicate an entire class to cover this in my Vibrant Life Virtual Intensive.
“This multi‐faceted approach healed us of not only our own life‐threatening health issues of stage 3b and stage 4 cancers, but also chronic fatigue, depression, anxiety, chronic headaches, migraines, intestinal issues, severe sinus issues and more.” Are you frustrated that you feel sick, tired or lousy and no one can tell you why? Join Joyce O’Brien, author of Choose to Live, as she shares the secrets to creating a vibrant life brimming from the inside out with physical, emotional, and spiritual health. Get to the root causes of your ‐ or your loved ones’ ‐ health and well‐being issues using the 7‐Step VIBRANT process.”
Would You Like to Create Your Vibrant Healthy Life to Ignite Your Vibrant Healthy Business?
I’m honored to have been invited as a guest speaker in Dallas in just 16 days for the largest women’s business organization in the country and I would love for you to join me!
July 14 – 17 is the 11th Annual eWomenNetwork International Conference & Business Expo, and I, along with 2,000 women from all over North America, will be there to network, connect, collaborate, hire each other, buy from each other, joint venture, learn and party!
This is much more than a conference, it’s an EXPERIENCE!
I have been blown away by eWomenNetwork for a number of reasons including the generosity of the founders, the power of their conference and their humanitarian work, especially, as it relates to people with cancer. One of the organizations that they helped support and grow, that pulled at my heart strings, was the Jack and Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation. At this foundation, they treat families to WOW! Experiences that give children who will lose their Mom or Dad to cancer timeout to create indispensable memories as a family.
I would love for you to join me for this Conference. It will also be an opportunity to hear me speak, live, as I share my story and the keys I have discovered to creating a vibrant healthy life.
What Sandra & Kym Yancey, the Founders of eWomenNetwork, have put together to accelerate your success is nothing short of amazing. Because I am speaking this year, I want to share with you my personal discount code. This code will save you $645 off the regularly $1,495 registration fee, making your tuition just $850 to attend.
AND…here’s the extra special news. When you register with my discount code, which is: joycevip
You also get:
- Access to my teleseminar “Create YOUR Vibrant Life: Discover the Major Culprits that may be Zapping Your Energy, Creating Your Chronic Health Issues and Preventing You from Living YOUR Vibrant Life!” ($497 value)
- A complimentary copy of my #1 bestselling book Choose to Live along with the companion CD ($48 value)
- A complimentary One-on-One Vibrant Health Session With Me ($750 value)All of these bonuses are worth over $1,250! When you use my code, you get them all for free!
** Here’s my code again: joycevip
For complete Conference details and to register, just go to:
http://www.ewomennetworkconference.com
I really hope to see you in Dallas and give you a big Texas hug!
Lots of Love,
Joyce
