At Practice U, we believe in inspiring kids to strive for excellence in their attitude, academics, athletics, the arts and any activity they may have an interest in pursuing. It's important to that all kids, teens, and young adults keep moving towards self-improvement as a result of consistent practice. That being said, here are our 4 uplifting tips to teach your child daily and from week to week. In a nutshell, the more we practice, the better we become. Shop our youth apparel today!
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Tip #1: Self-improvementThere is power and magic that takes place in the activity of practice. We can all identify with this, when we're learning something new. New experiences can create anxiety, fear, and doubt. However with a constant dose of practice, prepare, and repeat, our confidence grows from day to day and week to week. This is what every kid at home and at school needs to feel from within. We believe, practice is the key to moving towards self-improvement. |
Tips #2: Pursuit of GoalsPractice U encourages it's wearers to never give up on your goals and continue to present your best effort. Through the activity of constant practice, the results helps put an end to the phrase “I can’t.” It also helps to have some encouragement and a little bit of success to make it all possible. When wearing our brand, your child is reminded to stay in pursuit of their goals! |
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Tip #3: Healthy LifestyleTeaching kids to be aware of what they eat and drink to feed their mind and body is important. With a focus on clean nutrition and self-examination, we learn over time how clean nutrition is the beginning of preventing underlying health issues such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and sugar diabetes. Our clothing brand is a constant reminder to your child living their healthiest lifestyle. |
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Tip #4: Self-MotivationSometimes, it can be daunting to remain self-disciplined and self-motivated. We often lose sight of what we are trying to attain, and with constant distractions like video gaming and other activities, staying focused can become a bit of a hurdle for kids. However, with inspirational messages of encouragement, our brand reminds your child to stay grounded when they listen to our theme song, The more I practice, practice, practice, the better I become, the better I become. |
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Youth Hoodie Who doesn’t love a good hoodie? When you shop for a Practice U pullover hoodie, you can find several different colors. These hoodies are emblazoned with the Practice U logo so you can remember to be the very best of you and teach your kids to strive for excellence each and every day. |
Youth Jacket When the weather is getting chilly, equip your children with this comfy colorblock jacket. It is made with a 100% polyester shell and jersey lining with mesh insets for breathability. This jacket is great for running and outdoor exercise and features the beautiful timeless Practice U logo on the front. |
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Full Zip Fleece With the full-zip fleece, you can keep your kids warm when they head outdoors for exercise or play. It is a midweight fleece made from soft-spun polyester, making it perfect for early spring or late fall. It also features our timeless Practice U logo, reminding kids to strive to be the very best they can be. |
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Shop Youth Apparel Today Along with our hoodies, jackets, and fleeces, you can also find crewnecks, t-shirts, and more from Practice U. We want to inspire your children to keep moving toward self-improvement and start engaging with new activities. Explore our full collection today and reach out to us with any questions you may have. |
The holiday season is upon us, so it’s time to find some heart-warming gifts for your friends and loved ones. Whether you are getting an early jump on your gift purchasing this year or you’re taking part in the last minute shopping rush, it’s never a bad idea to order inspiring gifts that will help the special people in your life start the new year on a high-note. Check out the great gift ideas from Practice U, and order yours today!
Beanies It’s cold this time of year, and the beanies from Practice U are a great way to stay warm while doing all of your favorite outdoor activities. Our Practice U Thinking Cap beanies promote self-reflection and keep you motivated as you work towards self-improvement. These comfy knit beanies are available in various color combinations, and you can order them with a pom-pom on top or without one. |
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Hoodies Speaking of staying warm and motivated, Practice U also offers stylish and comfortable hoodies that make great gifts for those who never stop working hard and believing in themselves. Athletic men and women will love the ribbed cuffs and sporty, flat drawstring of our Unisex Heavyweight Sport Lace Hoodie, and you can select the perfect color Youth Collegiate Pullover Hoodie for the younger people on your gift list. |
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Letterman Jacket There’s something so official about a stylish letterman jacket, and they look even better with the motivating Practice U logo on the front! Perfect for those who are always working to Master a Higher Degree of Self, our Men's Fleece Letterman Jacket is available in two color combinations and our Ladies' Fleece Letterman Jacket is gently contoured for maximum style and comfort. Order yours today! |
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Gift Cards For those following the quiet inner you on their path to self improvement, the power to choose the gift that inspires and motivates them the most might be the best course of action. In those cases, give the gift of a Practice U gift card and let them the perfect, essential athletic apparel for their needs. Practice U gift cards show the recipient that you recognize their efforts and you support their dedication to getting better every day. Order yours today! |
The holiday season presents a great opportunity to give meaningful gifts that support your friends and loved ones in their journey towards self-improvement. The essential athletic apparel from Practice U makes it easy to do just that. Visit our website to find a gift for everyone on your gift-list, and place your order today!
Physical - Working Out and Improving the Physical You Taking care of your body and increasing your athletic prowess happens one step at a time. It’s not always easy to show up and work on your game, but it’s the only thing that keeps you moving forward towards your goals. Physical activity and practice nurtures the Quiet Inner You by releasing endorphins and providing you with the gratification that comes from seeing improvement in your abilities. |
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Mental - Wearing the Brand That Reminds You To Stay Focused No matter what you are working towards, your mental approach is going to determine whether you accomplish your goals, and how much fun you have along the way. Without the right mental approach, it’s easy to lose focus when the going gets hard. The Quiet Inner You encourages us to remain focused and resilient, and to always stick to the processes that will help us achieve our goals. We hope that every time you look down and see the Practice U logo on your chest or our accessories, it serves as a reminder to zone-in on what you want to accomplish and stay the course. |
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Emotional - Feeling Positive About Life and Life’s Outcomes The Quiet Inner You — and your closeness to it — is greatly determined by your attitude and emotional state. When you lose touch with the Quiet Inner You, it’s easy to view your mistakes as major setbacks. The Quiet Inner You reminds us to accept setbacks as opportunities for learning and growth. Your commitment to maintaining a healthy emotional approach is key to turning self-examination into self-love and self-improvement. Let the athletic apparel from Practice U serve as a reminder of the importance of maintaining a healthy emotional state as you work to make yourself better. |
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Spiritual - Uplifting Others To Be a Light Staying in touch with the Quiet Inner You has a positive effect on everyone you interact with. When you realize the immense power you hold and how you can use it to make positive changes in your life, you will naturally inspire others to do the same. Wearing your Practice U gear can serve as a daily reminder to stay in touch with the Quiet Inner You, and it signals to your friends, family, and teammates that you are there to support them in their self-improvement journey, too. |
At Practice U, we’re proud to make an essential athletic apparel that keeps people in-touch with their Quiet Inner Self, and motivate them to turn “I can’t” into “I can.” Shop our online store to view all of our clothing and accessories. Order yours today!
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Practice You know the saying, “practice makes perfect.” However, here at Practice U, we believe in progress. As long as you’re progressively getting better, you’re moving in the right direction! Practice plays a key part in reaching your goals. Our youth apparel will encourage young minds to feel good in the process. |
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Preparation To reach our goals in life, it starts with what we eat and drink to how we think, train and prepare. Getting rest is also important in laying down our foundation. Believing in these basic fundamental practices, we set ourselves up for success. All that is needed is the Practice U, apparel and accessories to remind you. |
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Rehearsal At Practice U, we appeal to more than the world of sports. Our message is also for those in the world of the performing and visual arts. Instead of calling it practice, we call it rehearsal. Dancers, singers, musicians, actors and more have to rehearse to increase their muscle memory. Our youth hoodies and t-shirts had you in mind to rehearse for your big moment. |
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Repetition As a student athlete, you know that it’s all about repetition. Doing the same thing over, and over again. All the while, you’re getting better, and better, one should also see and feel the difference they're making daily if not weekly. Because it takes time to get there, wearing our Practice U apparel and accessories makes repetition easy with its comfortable feel and timeless reminder logo. |
Practice U wants you to be your best self in every area of life. Whether you’re on or off the field, our apparel is here for you to purchase and feel good when working towards your goals. We have new arrivals for the fall and winter season available to encourage the quieter inner you. Check out our online store today!
When it comes to kids’ athletic wear, there are many choices out there. Some larger brands have slogans that everyone knows, while others have products that are always hot items during the holidays. However, at Practice U, we are more than, just about a clothing brand. We are about the message of encouraging children, tweens, teens, and young adults to embrace the idea that practice builds awareness, confidence, self-esteem, and success.
The Power of Practice One thing we truly believe in is that the more I practice, the better I become. This isn’t just true in sports or the arts— it applies also from classwork to home work, from home teaching to all aspects of life. One of the side effects of the more I practice is the more I gradually become proactive and organized. This practice power has a way of rewarding our work ethic. |
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Inspire Self-Improvement One tagline at Practice U is “Master a Higher Degree of Self.” It’s on all of our apparel and accessories to remind our children, tweens, teens, young adults and beyond to practice the very best of who they are and to move towards self-improvement. By understanding our tagline, a young person can accomplish wonderful things within themselves as they start maturing mentally and become emotionally wiser from their life experiences. They’ll know how to engage with the world around them better in positive ways as they master a higher degree of self. |
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High MVP Character Whenever a kid puts on one of our jackets or t-shirts, we believe our brand inspires our youth to focus. More than that, we want our apparel to inspire them to have what we call the “High MVP Character.” Our MVP stands for Morals, Values, and Principles. These three work as a team. Together they guide a young person’s conscience and mentors their decision-making. It makes him or her a better teammate, classmate, friend, and family member, especially when they are challenged to speak up and stand up for what is right, no matter the situation. |
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Clean Nutrition, Health and Fitness Clean nutrition, health and fitness should be a part of every young person’s life, especially if one is interested in sports, dance, skateboarding or any other physical activity. It’s important for kids to be active, and enjoy promoting a healthy lifestyle within their small or large community. When a kid eats well, and expends energy doing something they love, healthy nutrition can have a profound impact on other aspects of their lives, such as intense concentration. |
At Practice U, our clothing brand is more than, just about the clothes. Our kids’ apparel and accessories are designed to inspire and encourage young people to understand the importance of practice, repetition, preparation, and rehearsal. This is what is required to grow from saying “I can’t” to “I can.”
]]>Several months ago, before I decided to get the coronavirus vaccination shot, I made a decision to visit my doctor to find out what’s going on inside my body before I get the shot. To do so I requested blood work because I wanted to know if I’m in good shape or do I need to address some underlying health issues unbeknownst to me. To be exact, I needed to know do I have high cholesterol, sugar diabetes, any signs of cancer cells creeping in and what is my blood pressure reading? Am I healthy or borderline unhealthy? Having this information was vital because it would put me in a position to make an educated decision regarding the coronavirus vaccination shot. Well come to find out I did have high blood pressure that required taking a low dosage of losartan potassium. I was shocked because I call myself a healthy eater of fruits, vegetables, lean turkey, grilled chicken along with drinking lots of water daily. Of course every now and then, I would eat pizza, tacos, fried chicken, burgers, fries and drink ice cold water with every meal. Unfortunately, I was wrong. Too much inflammatory food was in my system. Recognizing this problem, I began to look into the food I need to eat in order to bring my blood pressure down along with exercise and rest. The changes I wanted to see within myself forced me to think, and keep trying to eat better and exercise daily. Eventually I reached my goal of having my blood pressure lowered from a high 180 over 90 down to 135 over 80 consistently. However, let me tell you, this was no easy task. I had to put on my Practice U thinking cap every day and sacrifice the desire for inflammatory food for a better choice of anti-inflammatory food. It all started with me going to the grocery store reading the labels. Allow me to explain.
The Grocery Store Nutrition Facts Labels
As a result of reading the nutrition facts label that started in 1994, updated in 2016 and again on January 1, 2020, this was the beginning of addressing my high blood pressure concerns. Each can good, packaged meat, boxed, and bagged product, was a lesson within itself that empowered me to make the best choice. Starting at the top of the label with the number of calories and scrolling down to the percentages of saturated fat, trans-fat, cholesterol, sodium, and sugar is what led to me to clearly see and understand the amount of inflammatory ingredients there is in our food. Learning how saturated fat and trans-fat are 2 ingredients that can lead to high cholesterol meaning my arteries are clogging up with a waxy type of substance that will eventually prevent my blood from flowing freely is something I needed to pay attention to. Such food purchases as microwave popcorn, butter, pie crusts, ice cream, cake, crackers, candy and cookies, pretty much the same stuff we see at the movie concession stands are the types of food filled with saturated fat and trans-fat that leads to high cholesterol. Most of us are well aware of other food filled with saturated fat and trans fat that leads to high cholesterol such as fried chicken, pizza, French fries, chili-cheese fries, but not the store grocery store items on the shelf?
The American Heart Association and other groups recommend healthy adults should limit their saturated fat intake to no more than 10% of total calories. For a person eating a 2000 calorie diet, this would be 22 grams of saturated fat or less per day. Equally damaging is the ingredient, sodium or salt. Taking notes from the Food and Drug Administration study, they state “Americans eat on average about 3,400 mg of sodium per day. Consequently, they recommend we monitor and limit our sodium intake to less than 2,300 mg per day—that's equal to about 1 teaspoon of table salt! I say, instead of going up to the full 2300mg, why not consider a low dose of 575mg sodium which would be about one-fourth teaspoon.
Next on the nutrition facts label is sugar percentages. Based upon what the American Heart Association, guidelines, we should not consume “more than 100 calories per day (about 6 teaspoons or 24 grams of sugar) for most women and no more than 150 calories per day (about 9 teaspoons or 36 grams of sugar) for most men.” In a nutshell when we consume too much inflammatory food, we endanger our health. We find this to be true especially at the fast-food mom and pop eateries and big corporate fast-food chains.
Inflammatory Food in the Fast-Food Chains
The fast-food industry gets our attention through countless commercial ads from TV and digital billboards on the streets and highways to our cell phones and other devices including radio advertisements. They’re everywhere and constantly inviting us to come on in and spend money. Unlike the grocery store labels, we have no idea how much saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, sodium, or sugar is in their burgers, fries, sodas, pizza, hot dogs, corn dogs, chicken wings, sauce, ketchup, soup, and deserts. We just know it taste good eating their food. Eating their food can become an addiction and eventually our problem, not theirs. In exchange for us giving them our money for their food, we gradually get the unwanted diseases and illnesses we didn’t sign up for. What started out as a celebration on every Friday night, Saturday outing and Sunday dinner after church slowly became a reality check at the doctor’s office. To bring our numbers under control we have no choice but to spend extra money for medication. To recover will take a great deal of self-discipline and putting back on my Practice U thinking cap. This is also a time in our life where we begin to think about the benefits of self care, clean nutrition and fitness.
Clean Nutrition and Home Cooking is the Anti-inflammatory Solution
Clean nutrition starts at home in the kitchen with a cook who knows about how to put food together the right way. The cook knows what ingredients to use and not use. He or she measures out how much sodium and sugar will go into the food. They control how much meat we eat, and how much fruits, vegetables, we put on our plate. They look for the best seasoning and herbs such as Mrs. Dash salt free seasoning. And gradually we learn how clean nutrition doesn’t lead us to heart disease, high cholesterol, sugar diabetes and other underlying diseases. As a matter of fact, what clean nutrition does is position our mind and body to work for us. Our hair and skin is healthier. Our teeth and eyes are healthy. We have a chance to live longer and more importantly, we have a chance to impact the lives of those who look up to us. We get a chance to teach our kids, relatives and friends the benefits of clean nutrition by being an example.
Closing
I must admit, having that conversation with my doctor was a catalyst to set me on the right course to address my health issues and prepping me for getting the Covid vaccination shot with confidence. Like anything else in life, there’s taught sense and bought sense. We pay for the decisions we make. Unfortunately, it’s only real when it happens to us and our body. If we want to live beyond 100 years of life, we have to practice a healthy lifestyle filled with clean nutrition, consistent exercising, and rest. That way we can become an example to our kids, grandkids, and hopefully great grandkids. Tell us what you think on Facebook.
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Each year in the month of June, America takes time out to celebrate dads and grads. For the grad, it’s their day to celebrate the accumulation of work required of them to meet and exceed in order to graduate. From kindergarten to college, to trade school or military, graduations are celebrated all over the nation. Such celebrations are usually memorable chapters in the lives of our children and adult children.
Just as the graduates had to earn their way to graduate, so it is true with fathers. Father’s Day is an earned recognition. It is a day where his child(ren) pay honor to him not because he’s good looking and talented, but rather something far more important. It is the accumulation of work he has invested into his child(ren). Little do fathers realize how much of an impact they have on their child(ren) until years later. This is how the tradition of Father’s Day began in America long before you and I were born. Let’s explore the history then look at some tools a father can pass down to his child(ren).
History of Father’s Day
On December 6, 1907, the first Father’s Day started as a result of a memorial service held in memory of 250 fathers passing away in a coal mining accident in Monongah, West Virginia. These fathers worked daily in the coal mines to provide for their families and ended up losing their lives in the process. Their loss was painful and shocking, leaving behind over 1,000 kids fatherless. To honor them, the survivors called that day Father’s Day. A year later another Father’s Day event took place on the west coast in Spokane Washington with a similar sentiment of sadness. Instead of a large group of fathers passing away, it was the experience of a father of six children who lost his wife during the birth of their sixth child. Mr. William Jackson Dodd’s life was changed dramatically when he lost his wife. He had to teach, provide, and guide his children as a single parent. Similar to the widows in West Virginia on the east coast who honored the fathers who lost their lives in the coal mines, the daughter of William Dodd wanted to honor her father for being the man he was to her and her 5 siblings as well. Influenced by the work of the founder of Mother’s Day led by Ms. Ann Marie Jarvis in 1908, the daughter of William Dodd, Sonora Smart Dodd began to speak into existence the idea of a Father’s Day in honor of her father. She suggested to a group of ministers in Spokane, Washington aka Spokane Ministerial Alliance there should be a day where all fathers are honored annually. Sonora Dodd specified the day should be on June 5th because that was the day her father was born. The Spokane Ministerial Alliance agreed with Sonora in terms of all fathers being recognized. However instead of June 5th, they made it official to be the 3rd Sunday of June. It took place on June 19, 1910 also known as Juneteenth in the State of Texas and beyond. With an established date in place, Father’s Day grew over the years from church to church and community to community. It wasn’t until 1972, some 62 years later that Father’s Day became a nationally recognized day with President Nixon signing an official proclamation making the 3rd Sunday of June a national observance for all fathers.
Making a Connection
Looking back at how the first Father’s Day began, we have to admit the children honoring their father after the passing of their dad had to be an emotional time. It was not easy expressing their love and appreciation. In hindsight, today it is no different for adult children who have grown up and come to understand life and all its rich experiences filled with accumulating bills, car repairs, rent and the long list thereafter. As adults, we tend to have conversations with our father that takes us back to our childhood. Through our conversations we tend to share and ask for answers to questions we didn’t understand. This is the moment when Father’s Day becomes real from the heart of a child who is now a grown-up and perhaps a parent. Typically what a new father will do during his childrearing years is pass down to his child(ren) the same tools his father passed down to him. At Practice U we define these tools as a resource we use to help us produce a product. They are necessary to make a job easier to accomplish an end goal. With that being said I will focus on 3 tools we believe will be helpful for fathers to produce a good product within his child(ren). The 3 tools are healthy communication, storytelling and trust, Each tool will address 3 different periods in a child’s life ages 0-10, 10-12 and 13-19.
Healthy Communication
The first period of a child’s life age 0-10 requires the tool of healthy communication. Healthy communication is one of the foundational tools that is needed early on and will be needed in the preteen years and beyond. Getting together with your child one on one and doing things together is one way of enhancing healthy communication. It is during these moments a father shares with son or daughter how much he loves his child as they make things together from Legos to homework to cooking, playing sports, music and more. Healthy communication leads to opportunities to teach boundaries within the household and our society. It allows a father to explain rewards and consequences for doing what's right versus wrong thinking and behavior, what it means to work, how to interact with people and so much more. This is such a meaningful period in a child’s life because it is during these first 10 years of life, our child(ren) will easily comply with everything a father says. They love being rewarded and cared for.
Storytelling That Builds Wisdom
However, as a father’s child transitions into their preteen years ages 10-12, their personality may begin to change. Not all preteens start to show their new disposition during their growing years. But for those preteens who do, they sometimes question the rules of the house or life in general. This is the time where dad has to reach into his toolbox and use story telling as one of his tools to pull his child into a discussion. Pulling stories from a collection of Aesop’s Fables is always a good choice. It allows a dad to use his different voices and funny faces to capture his child’s attention, leading into a discussion that needs to be had. The goal is to help his child see themselves or a lesson about life. For example, one of my favorite fables is “The 6 Blind Men and the Elephant” from an Indian village. The moral of the story is about how different opinions can lead to criticism, put downs and passionate arguments, because each person feels as though they have the ultimate truth. This happens all the time in our society and sometimes in the family. Notice, the opinions in this fable were coming from a blind man’s misunderstanding and perspective. Not ignoring other pieces to pull from this fable, the point is having a discussion after a fable such as this one helps a father to explain acceptable and unacceptable behavior without fussing. It is also the time where dad makes it clear his expectations of his child(ren) along with the do's and don'ts in life. The more dad spends time in finding good fables to use, the more he expands his toolbox using storytelling to build patience and wisdom, teaching his child(ren) to think before you speak, act or react. Listen to what the person is saying and not saying.
Teaching MVP Character that Leads to Trust
The third period is the teenage years, age 13 -19. This period requires a father to continue to stay ahead of the game in moving his child(ren) from accountability to high MVP character to trust. The MVP stands for morals, values, and principles. Each character trait is a mini lesson within itself that leads to the highest level of accountability called trust. Without the MVP lessons ingrained in the brain, there will be no trust. To ensure the father’s child understands, there has to be a time where dad sits down and ask his child to tell me what you remember about high MVP character. Ask questions like, “What are morals, values and principles?” Give me an example. Why are they important? What are you going to say if your friend(s) don’t agree with the lessons I’ve taught you? The talk should be so well discussed that it allows the teen to show he or she is taking ownership. Ultimately, teaching character development is a survival tool a father needs to pass down to his child(ren). To become good at it will require reading books about the subject and talking to other fathers. And here is why. Eventually a teen will ask, “Can I go out on a date or go to a concert without adult supervision? Better yet, "Can I drive the car? Before they start asking those type of questions, dad needs to be convinced his child is equipped with the type of self-disciplined behavior he can trust his child. This lesson amongst many other lessons is what an adult child will remember. It makes a Father’s Day conversation meaningful when a dad hears his adult child’s heart express openly and freely what they learned from the tools he passed down to his child(ren).
In closing, this is why I stated from the beginning, fatherhood is earned. It takes an accumulation of work he has to pour into his child(ren), to produce a good product. Like Mrs. Sonora Dodd, the founder of Father’s Day on June 19, 1910, she too was appreciative of her dad as an adult. Today, it is no different. Children grow up and become adults. They are equipped with whatever they were taught as a child, preteen and teenage years, good or bad. We're all a reflection of our upbringing and practice is where it all begins. Tell us what you think on Facebook.
]]>The origin story of Mother’s Day began nearly 115 years ago with Mrs. Anna Maria Reeves Jarvis. Mrs. Jarvis was a social activist and community organizer during the Civil War era. Her daughter Ann Marie was very close to her mother, picked up on the idea of a day where mothers are honored because her mother kept talking about, “there ought to be a day that recognizes mothers.” On May 9, 1905, the day her mother passed away, Ms. Ann Marie Jarvis honored her great mother’s words at the funeral and initiated a campaign to give recognition to her mother. Three years later, in 1908, Ms. Ann Marie Jarvis celebrated her mother’s legacy publicly, this time on a larger scale in her hometown of Grafton, West Virginia. It is from that event, Ms. Ann Marie Jarvis the daughter of Mrs. Anna Maria Reeves Jarvis became known as the founder of Mother’s Day inspired by her own mother’s legacy of work in the community. As time moved on, many churches and communities began to honor their mothers and gradually it grew from churches, and communities to numerous states.
As a result of the Mother’s Day movement growing, Ms. Jarvis began to campaign more to have Mother’s Day upgraded to an official holiday. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson agreed and signed a proclamation making Mother’s Day an official holiday on the second Sunday of May. That is how it all began, however at Practice U we believe Mother’s Day should celebrated beyond the 2nd Sunday of May and at the very least 3 times in her lifetime if not more because there is so much more we are overlooking. Allow me to elaborate.
My Birthday is Her Mother’s Day
The day that I was born is the day I celebrate and have the golden opportunity to have a do it my way type of holiday because it’s my birthday. It’s a special time where all the sunshine and love is aimed at me receiving gifts, prizes, and entertainment. At least, this is what we have been taught and practiced for years. However, what we have not been taught enough of is on my birthday, it was also my mother’s special day too. You see from her perspective, it was the day she gave birth to me and became a mother. It is the day we tend to overlook and never think about until it is brought to our attention that my birthday is her official Mother’s Day. But it doesn’t stop there. When she has more children, she has more than one official Mother’s Day throughout the year. As for me, I benefit in having more siblings to play with and learn from. So as a suggestion, the next time your birthday circles back around, start a new tradition on your birthday by telling your mother, mom or mama Happy Mother’s Day on the day you were born. Afterwards give her a gift on your birthday.
Second Mother’s Day
The 2nd Mother’s Day is the traditional annual 2nd Sunday of May that we all celebrate. It’s not the same as the day you or I were born unless your birthdate happens to be on the same day as Mother’s Day. That in itself is a super special moment like a leap year baby, because both mother and child have something special and unique to celebrate together every 7 years. If the child happens to be a a baby girl and she grows up to become a mother, her birthday and Mother’s Day will also be as mentioned before, a very special day. How unique is that? Unfortunately, it only happens for just a few girls in a unique little club.
Final Mother’s Day
The final Mother’s Day is not necessarily the final Mother’s Day pending on the healthiness of our relationship with our mother. However, it is the final day we see her face to face. It is a time, we respond in kindness highlighting who she was to us and how much she meant, an opportunity to speak of her legacy and keeping her body of work alive in the hearts and minds of those living like Ms. Ann Marie Jarvis did. Moving in that direction allows us to continue to honor our mother frequently whenever a discussion comes up. That being said, Mother’s Day continues until we pass-away and our loved ones pick up the tradition to honor us as their legend.
As a side note, passing away is not an easy time. It is however a part of life that goes back to the days of Adam and Eve when they chose to sin, and mankind lost out on the opportunity to live forever. Sometimes the question comes up asking, “What if only Eve had sinned, and Adam did not? Great question. The Bible is clear regarding that starting with Genesis 3:17-19 and answering it in Romans 5:12. Since these are the rules of life, it should be noted, this is just another reason why we have the traditions of honoring the living while they are alive. May the legendary work of our mothers continue to live in our hearts as it did with Ms. Ann Marie Jarvis.
Final Thoughts
In closing, because of the work that Mrs. Anna Maria Reeves Jarvis did in the presence of her daughter Ann Marie, Ms. Ann Marie Jarvis became known as the founder of Mother’s Day. Her mother had 9 children, unfortunately 7 of her children passed away early in infancy. She had 2 more children later on which included Ann Marie. In 1902, Ann Marie’s father passed way at age 73 and her mother passed away at age 72. Ms. Ann Marie Jarvis lived to be 84 years old, passing away in 1948 never married and had no children to continue her legacy or work. Her work however continues through us because each year we celebrate and honor our mother, mom or mama, we continue her work and keep it alive. Ms. Ann Marie Jarvis work continues to exist in the history books and on the internet.
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This coming Thursday, April 22, 2021 will mark the 51st anniversary of our Earth Day celebration in the United States. This year’s theme is “Restore Our Earth”. At Practice U we agree with the Earth Day agenda because of the science, visual evidence, and consequences of our past practices. Introduced to us in 1970 by Senator Gaylord Nelson a democrat from the State of Wisconsin, Earth Day has always been about spreading the awareness message of clean air, clean land, and clean water for the past 50 years. Like most movements from the 60’s and 70’s, changing old habits to newly improved daily habits can feel like a struggle that continues to this day. It’s no different than other campaigns we experience such as equal pay for women, fair and equal voting rights for all people, immigration to citizenship, and minimizing poverty in communities all over America. It’s so unfortunate, it takes decades for us to see the importance of change from local leaders of our communities to state officials and congress to keep moving towards self-improvement. Earth Day is just another example. Fortunately, it’s not all doom and gloom, because due to the numerous efforts from the past to the present, activists and politicians have made some progress with getting corporations and congress to recognize our climate and environmental conditions. That being said, let’s explore the accomplishments made from 1970 to the current steps taken in 2021. Afterall the eyes can’t see what the mind doesn’t know.
The Legacy of Earth Day
One of the major accomplishments of Senator Gaylord Nelson’s efforts in implementing Earth Day in 1970, was the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency commonly known as the EPA. As a federal agency, this department had and still has the legal authority and responsibility to regulate pollution from cars and other forms of transportation. Such regulation helped the transportation industry to focus on cutting the amount of pollution emitted into our environment. Consequently today we electric cars, trains and low emission buses in our cities. The signing of the Clean Air Act on December 31, 1970 along with the Clean Water Act of 1972 and Endangered Species Act signed in December 28, 1973 has also helped. These acts have lead the way globally because our Earth is a shared environment. Recognizing, there is no super power nation that can clean up our air and water by itself, the Earth Day campaign has expanded to the implementation of Earth Day lessons taught in our schools nationwide, recycling programs and the creation of their website earthday.org. The website has been informative and has a left an ongoing legacy to future generations.
1980’s
In 1980, Senator Gaylord Nelson continued to push his vision of a clean Earth and safe environment for all of us by becoming a counselor for The Wilderness Society. His message and leadership led to Woodbury, New Jersey to become the first city in the America to mandate recycling. Since 1981, many other states joined the movement to recycle plastic bottles, aluminum cans, paper and glass bottles. To this day, the recycling program continue help reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills, preserve the cutting down of trees to produce paper and cutting down the use of minerals from Mother Earth to create glass, plastic and aluminum cans.
From the 1990’s to 2020
The 1990’s marked the 20th anniversary of Earth Day. During the 20th year anniversary, 140 countries joined the movement celebrating Earth Day globally. Ten years later in 2000, the EPA scientists presented a link between global warming and waste, proving that reducing our garbage and recycling will cut down the greenhouse gas emissions that affects our ozone layer. In 2003, the state of California became the first state to enact the first e-waste recycling law. Shortly thereafter other states followed the e-waste recycling movement. As the ongoing efforts continued to grow, it eventually led to the United Nations choosing Earth Day as the day to sign the Paris Climate Agreement in 2016 under President Barack Obama. Unfortunately, the next president withdrew the United States from the agreement. In February 2019, the Green New Deal was introduced. Even though it was blown up as a bad idea from members of congress, there were many who viewed the Green New Deal (GND) as a good idea with the heavy question proposed, “How will we pay for it?” Those who support the GND maintain the goal and purpose is for the United States to reach “net zero” greenhouse gas emissions by 2029. In addition to, the GND goals and purpose, it also includes addressing a wide variety of social ills, starting with guaranteeing all Americans “a job with a family sustaining wage, adequate family and medical leave, paid vacations and retirement security, high quality education, adequate housing and health care”. Other features of the bill include the end of fossil fuels replaced by green energy jobs that provide green energy homes, cars and planes. What an amazing plan?
In 2020, the Climate Change and American Diet Act partnered with Yale along with Earthday.org and released a report to educate Americans to consider better food choices and eating habits. The report presented the connection between plant-based food that helps prevent global warming. It’s an interesting correlation that hopefully more Americans will participate in eating more plant-based food one bite at a time.
Final Thoughts
Should you be interested in learning more, we at Practice U suggest 2 resources. They are earthday.org and Mom’s Clean Air Force featuring a brief history of the Green New Deal. Conclusively, when we collectively see, feel, and understand the importance of moving towards self-improvement, we collectively win moving ourselves towards preserving our shared environment. After all, “The eyes can’t see what the mind doesn’t know”. Tell us what you think on Facebook.
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This year two major time-oriented events will occur within the same week of March 2021. The first event will be Daylight Savings Time scheduled for Sunday March 14th for 48 states in America. The two states excluded are Arizona and Hawaii. According to several reports the State of Hawaii decided not to join the 1966 Uniform Time Act. Three years later in 1969, the State of Arizona opted out of the Uniform Time Act due to the extreme heat they experience annually in the summertime. Reports state their reasoning was due to the extreme heat from the sun which would stay out in the summer until 9 p.m. instead of 8 p.m. Because their region is mostly a desert region, it’s understandable.
The second major time-oriented event is the first day of Spring on Saturday, March 20th. Spring is usually a time where many of us start the tradition of Spring cleaning every room starting with changing the batteries in the smoke detectors and noticing how much dirt and dust has collected on the ceiling fan lighting fixtures, windowsills, and more. It’s like a scene from the story book, “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie”. One thing leads to another and before you know it, you’re into deep cleaning the whole house. It’s not a bad outcome, but more like a chore which leads us to understanding this universal practice of house cleaning is not just only for women, but equally important house cleaning is for the men and children, too. This thing called practice is truly a verb, meaning it requires action from everybody. Let’s explore some more about the importance and power of practice.
Practice is A Life Skill
According to most definitions of the word “practice” in the verb form, it means to perform an activity, exercise or a skill repeatedly or regularly. The results of the verb form practice is, it improves or maintains our proficiency to the point it becomes a habit. Some people like to call it muscle memory or automaticity. Others use the synonyms and call it rehearsal, studying and/or training. I like to use the words preparing, repeating, perfecting, and refining. Bottom line is each one of the terms emphasizes action, movement and to accomplish something.
But where does it begin? Ultimately, the activity of practice starts in the home where we the adult(s) teach our little one(s) how to walk, feed themselves, make up their bed, write their name and so much more. Once taught or shown, our childr(en) are be given the opportunity to rehearse it so that it becomes their responsibility. All adults then must continue to teach and reteach more lessons to the kids, teens and young adults to maintain the expectations so that they understand the level of what is acceptable and not acceptable. When they learn what is considered clean versus not clean, what’s right versus wrong or what is respectful versus disrespectful, they rise up to that level. That’s the power of the teaching and reteaching with high standards. It’s repetitive training that leads to preparing our child(ren) for life. That’s why practice is a life skill from Spring cleaning to year-round teaching.
Practice Also Leads to Self-Discipline
As our young child(ren), grow into teen(s) and later into young adult child(ren) they should experience the value in their hard work. Earning their grade and money is a lot more valuable and meaningful for them than being given everything they want. The more they practice, the better they become. Eventually the life lesson takes over and leads them towards a sense of independence, confidence, and self-esteem. Should our child(ren) fail, that’s fine because they learn the value of practicing or studying their way out of their failure and self-discipline will ease it’s way into their hearts and minds. As it is true with adults, it is also true with children, life’s setbacks, disappointments, and injuries has a way of teaching us hands-on what it means to be or become self-disciplined. It starts with reflecting and starting back over with what we were taught at home and at school. For many of us, we have to experience the old saying, “Experience is the best teacher, but the tuition is high”, meaning we have to pay a price for not listening to what was taught. We decided to do things our way and learned the hard way we should have done it the right way. Hmm…
Practice Leads to Success
Eventually when we really begin to listen and take to heart the importance of practice, preparation and studying we discover there’s power in practice and might I add patience. Both lessons are valuable, like Spring cleaning the brain mentally and emotionally. No more shortcuts because we’re tired or full of anxiety. We all get tired from the consistent grind and complain about what we have to go through to get it completed. However, when we reach that goal, pass that test, get that job done, we look back and recognize there is definitely some power in practicing, preparing and repeating it. It’s refreshing and rewarding.
This is why the Practice U staff and I classify you as a Practicologist with a capital P. You specialize in progressively getting better each day you wake up and start your journey, developing a routine, setting your boundaries, sharpening your memory, enhancing your critical thinking skills and so much more. When we apply the lyrics from our Practice U theme song, “The more I practice, practice, practice, the better I become, the better I become”. it makes perfect sense. In a nutshell, it’s the TM-I-PPP principle where the more you practice putting in the work, the more your work pays you. When you see and feel the pay-off happening in your life, you find yourself teaching it to others to help lead them to move towards self-improvement. What an amazing life cycle. Gradually you and I are representing the legacy of the Practice U brand. Tell us what you think on Facebook!
From time to time when pursuing our dreams and goals we are often challenged with questions that make us think about why we make certain decisions or think and feel a certain way. Pending on how the conversation is flowing the questioning can sometimes be perceived as destructive criticism or constructive criticism. Destructive criticism by definition is when someone is challenging our ideas, character, and/or ability. Pending on how it is perceived, their challenge can hurt our pride, have negative effects on our self-esteem, confidence and perceived as an attack or insulting. Constructive criticism for the most part, is useful feedback that usually helps us to improve and move forward. How we respond to criticism is where the difference lies. Whereas some people may walk away and discount the criticism, others may say, “Thank you, I’ll try to do better or I apologize for the hurt I have caused”, Unlike those responses, the not so kind person may fight back with words to hurt the person who hurt them or get physical and lay hands on the attacker’s mouthpiece. They may use profanity, send a threat and tell everybody who’s willing to listen. I’m sure many of us can relate to this because we’ve witnessed such behavior in real life, on the internet like social media and on TV. What’s really interesting is asking ourselves why do some people respond with such fire and disrespect while others do not? Perhaps the answer lies within what they were taught on how to handle criticism. Whereas some childhood lessons were about fighting back, other people learned a better way to handle their critics. To that end, let’s explore a forgotten Indian fable the Practice U staff, and I hope will help.
Remember, Lest We Forget
Like most fables, this forgotten Indian fable starts off with the traditional words of “Once upon a time” and continues with the narrative about six blind men who lived in a village and heard there was an animal named elephant brought into their circle. The six blind men were curious and wanted to know what is an elephant? Understanding they were all blind, the only way for the men to determine what is an elephant, they had to touch it and rub their hands and fingers all over it. When the first blind man touched the tusk of the elephant, he said with confidence “Oh yeah, this elephant is strong and smooth, therefore it must be a spear. When the second blind man touched the trunk, he said, “Ooohhh…this elephant is a snake, because it’s long and thick like the Burmese python”. The third blind man differed with both of them, because when he rubbed on the ear of the elephant, he believed it felt like a fan to him. Consequently, he said, “Nope, the elephant is a fan”. The fourth blind man rubbed all along the side of the elephant, and said, “Oh yeah, that’s it right there. An elephant is like a wall, therefore I say it is a big, gigantic wall”. The fifth blind man experienced something totally different. He said, “Naw bro, the elephant is a big tree” because he touched and rubbed up and down all along the big wide feet and leg of the elephant. The sixth blind man touched the tail of the elephant, and concluded, “Bruh, all yaw wrong. This elephant is a rope”. Needless to say, after hearing one another and their 6 different perspectives, they began to argue against one another, which led to criticizing and insulting one another.
The Turning Point
Fortunately, a wise man passing through the village saw them angrily attacking one another with words of disrespect and high emotions and asked, “Why are you men arguing? They told the wise man what they believed is an elephant. When they finished, they asked the wise man to tell them which one of them were right? Well…(pause)…when the wise man said, “You are all correct!”, their mouths dropped. They asked, “How in the world on God’s green earth is it possible that we can all be correct”. The wise man said, “Well…(pause)…each of you touched a different part of the elephant. That is why each one of you are correct. An elephant consists of all those characteristics that you described.
The Take-Away
So, what is the point in this story? What can I take away from it? The answer is simple. The moral of the story is whereas individual truth may be partially true, it does not mean that it is the ultimate truth. When we see things based upon our experiences and perspective, we tend to speak from that perspective. Imagine, if the six blind men were willing to talk things through by walking around the elephant together or invite one another to come over to their side of the elephant to see if they would get the same impression they perceived when they touched the, tusk, trunk, ear, side of the body, big wide feet, leg and skinny tail. They could have been a little more sensitive, or understanding and willing to compromise. This would have required some patience that would have lead to wisdom, class, and dignity, not greed, foolishness, and profanity. This is what Practice U means when we say Master a Higher Degree of Self. It really takes practice to get there, to not allow ourselves to be governed by our theories, opinions, partial facts intertwined with our emotions and eventually criticism.
Final Thoughts
If we can understand that, then let’s make that connection in other areas of our lives particularly when we hear differences in politics, sports, religion, pop culture and other topics. Sometimes, we need to pause and monitor ourselves when we feel the need to prove our point and not try to understand the other person’s perspective. When doing so, we make progress and avoid acting like the six blind men misjudging the elephant based upon our own perspective.
Conclusively, we can all do better if we practice, rehearse, exercise patience or train ourselves to stay focused. This is true in family life, at work, school, after school competition with sports, music, dance, and/or team projects and many other areas. Having this Indian fable locked into our memory bank can be extremely helpful when it comes to criticism aimed at us or others. Give it some thought as you continue to work on presenting the very best of who you are while pursuing your dreams, goals and moving towards self-improvement.
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When I was kid, I remember hearing older people saying, “There’s taught sense and bought sense in life. You can listen to what I’m telling you now or you can go on and learn it on your own. Let me know how it turns out for you.” Fast forwarding to the future, it didn’t take long to recall the wisdom that was being passed down to me from my parents, teachers, mentors and older people. It was the type of info I needed to comprehend but didn’t think it was important. They were right as I lived the life of a foolish person unwilling to listen. Now that I’m older, I find myself passing down the same life lessons to my own family and circle of friends. The circle of life is truly amazing. If only we would listen the first time and take heed to the advice we were given. Well, thank God for second chances that gives us the gracious opportunity to rebound from our setbacks. Let’s explore 3 phases we go through unknowingly when rebounding. Hopefully we get a chance to identify where we are on our journey and return back to pursuing our dreams, goals and moving towards self-improvement.
Phase 1: Shaking My Head in Disbelief and Uncertainty
The first emotion one may feel when devastated by their bad news is shock, disbelief, and uncertainty. Shocking bad news because of a bad decision I made, loss of a friendship, financial debt, or health issues due to unhealthy eating and drinking habits are the things we tend to do to ourselves. This phase one requires us to take full responsibility of our actions. Like being in a deep hole in the ground, we have to go through this process without blaming anyone or anything to climb our way out. During this phase, we need to reflect on how did I get into this situation and explore what am I going to do to recover from it? It’s the same approach we take after a car accident or someone breaking into our home. Instead of blaming, we reflect and explore ways to prevent it from happening again. Moving ourselves from phase one is part of the rebounding process. Once it becomes clear in the mind, the next step is to act on the plan.
Phase 2: Regaining My Strength and Balance
Phase two is where we are ready to share with a trusted person who can help us process our thoughts, validate our thinking and/or guide us to a better place in the head. Talking it through is beneficial because we get a chance to hear ourselves talk it out loud. During the talks, we should be challenged to think. Phase two takes us further away from phase one because phase two involves hope in comparison to phase one where we were in disbelief. For some, it may require some long-term counseling or therapy. Like a broken muscle tissue requiring physical therapy, phase two is also a place where we practice using the tools introduced and apply them to regain our strength and balance. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to add spiritual counseling to get the ultimate balance on life. Memorizing scriptures and putting them into practice builds the spiritual self-esteem. It’s something to consider when reaching out for help. Reviewing and rehearsing what we have learned to the point of it becoming muscle memory is key to regaining our stability. This work will place us into a state of confidence and assuredness that we can move forward without fear. Phase two is truly an important phase because it requires hands on work. No work, no growth.
Phase 3: Maintenance and Helping Others
Phase three is the outgrowth of the work done in phase two. This is where we are ready to move on. Our mind is clear. Our pathway is clear. We are aware of what we need to do and recognize we can continue to grow so long as we are practicing the tools acquired in phase two. A part of phase three is exercising, resting the mind and body, clean eating and building up a network of supportive friends who are willing to continue to encourage us and hold us accountable. Life is just beginning and the one thing we don’t want to do is repeat the mistakes that placed us into phase one. That being said, everything we do at this point is about maintenance. Stay focused, avoid distractions, and continue to grow by helping others. Remember there’s taught sense and bought sense. Do the right things, the right way and chances are I will be better for it.
Final Thoughts
In closing, it would not be a bad idea to become familiar with the stages of grief. The information found in the stages of grief tends to focus on issues like divorce, death, and various levels of emotional pain. The more one learns the clearer it becomes we are not alone. Rebounding from setbacks is the beginning of getting back to where we were, only this time it is better because of the knowledge accumulated. Now I can pursue my dreams, goals and move towards self-improvement.
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When the crowd witnesses your talents on full display and you hear them react saying “Ooooohhhh”, we say quietly to ourselves with a great big smile, “Hmmm…the results of Practice U.” You’ve got the crowd in the palm of your hands as you dazzle them and hold their attention with what you’re saying or doing before their eyes and ears. Seldom will the crowd think about the countless hours you put into your craft to evolve into what you are today. Between the days of practice and rebounding from the loses, there were also the days of experiencing some obstacles such as personal, financial and relationship obstacles. Relationship obstacles are outside our control like working with undisciplined minds, uneducated people, politics, cronyism and nepotism. Other obstacles are fear and doubt which are normal because they are the result of a first time experience, a lack of practice or the opposite of practice. However, the obstacles I’m referring to are the results of our own doing. They exist because we’re so driven and passionate about achieving our dreams and goals that we don’t see what we are doing to ourselves. We sometimes over work ourselves into becoming a different person. Let’s explore five of these obstacles and see if we can help someone along the way.
Distractions Are Designed to Break My Focus
The number one and biggest obstacle in the world a person can expect when pursuing their dreams and goals is "distractions". Making it personal, distractions are designed to break my focus and cause me to look away. At first, we don’t see it as a distraction until later on when we see and feel the consequences of our decision(s). We say things like, “I didn’t know or I got caught up in what started out as fun and now I’m so far removed from my original purpose, it’s hard catching up.” Some of the leading examples of distractions are social media, multimedia, money, pretty women and handsome bros saying, “Come on over.” These distractions are basically, temptations or a test of our social norms and boundaries taught to us by our parents, schoolteachers and mentors from childhood and teen years to our young adulthood years. Our social norms are our core teachings such as morals,
values and principles. At Practice U, we call them the MVP qualities of our inner character. Morals teach us the difference between right and wrong, fair and unfair, or acceptable and unacceptable behavior and language. When it is wrong or unfair, we may say “Uuuhh…Dude, that ain’t right.” Moral thinking leads us to assess our values. Values teach us to hold onto the important teachings that we were taught. For example, in our family, we value the Bible, loving hugs when we greet one another, respect, honesty, privacy and a whole lot more. Our collection of values reflects back at who we are. Family values also lead us to our family principles. Think of principles as rules or a belief with boundaries that constantly remind us about the right way and wrong way, more importantly the rewards and consequences of the right way versus the wrong way. We don’t realize how deeply rooted we are in our family morals, values and principles, until we are challenged by our peers. People that come into our lives as friends may not have the same high MVP qualities that are emphasized at home, school, church or other organizations. If we are not grounded and deeply rooted, then we easily follow their distractions. Consequently, our friends’ bad habits become our bad habits, until we learn to take a hard stand, and say, “No, that’s wrong. I’m not about that life. That’s not for me.” Resisting distractions helps us to grow up, get pass the temptation, and stay focus on our dreams and goals. Remember, distractions are the biggest obstacle in the world.
Impatience Will Eat Me Up
The second big obstacle is the obstacle of impatience. Impatience happens a lot when we’re passionate, driven and/or in a hurry. We want our results right now, or ASAP! When it doesn’t happen, we become frustrated, irritable, critical, and sometimes insensitive to other people. This type of obstacle blocks our blessings when we offend people who could be of help to us. To overcome our impatience, we have to learn how to exercise patience. At Practice U we define patience as “thinking before I speak, thinking before I act and thinking before I react”, because what I say and how I say it can and will affect how the listener will decide to help me. Sometimes a little counseling can be helpful, as well as getting some rest, working out and a proper diet. The goal is to get impatience under control.
Pride Can Turn Me into a Stubborn Person
The third big obstacle that we can expect is the obstacle of pride. Pride at a reasonable level may say things like, “I know, or I already know that” meaning you are confident and proud of what you know. No harm in feeling that way. That’s good and we’re proud of you for knowing what you know. However, when you are working daily on your dreams, goals and feeling your independence, you sometimes get a little cocky because of the confidence you carry, or hype, praise and recognition you receive. When you buy into the hype, pride can set in and cause you to resist parental rules or simple suggestions so much so, you become a stubborn hard-headed individual. Like impatience, this obstacle of pride can cause people to walk away or discipline you.
Arrogance Can Diminish My Image
The fourth obstacle is arrogance. Arrogance is that offensive attitude of superiority that follows pride. It says, “So what, I don’t need your help, or You can’t tell me what to do!” How often have we heard those words? We need to check ourselves, because it is possible, we are becoming self-destructive to ourselves and offensive to the people who admire us such as our family, friends and fans. We are so caught up in being arrogant and defensive when questioned, we don’t see ourselves turning into a monster. If not caught early on, it may take a painful lesson in life to humble us. We may have to lose a few things in life such as opportunities to participate in an event, fan support, money or our health. It’s not a good feeling when we are rejected because of our arrogance. These are the consequences of the choices we make. As arrogance diminishes our image, our market value depreciates like a good car (person) that's lost it's shine. Having an offensive attitude of superiority is not what you want to become when pursuing your dreams and goals. Besides, children, teens and young adults are watching and your arrogance teach them how to be arrogant as well. Our society doesn't need more arrogant people.
Revenge Can Weaken Me Spiritually
The fifth and final obstacle is revenge. Revenge is most evident when training and rehearsing or practicing and preparing for competition is a part of reaching our dreams and goals such as sports, dance, theater, debates, designing a project or anything I'm passionate about. Revenge says, “because you hurt me, I want to hurt you back. You need to feel my pain. When I crush you, I’m going to celebrate your loss.” Slowly we’re growing into the Sith Lord Darth Vader. To overcome this dark side of ourselves, we need help in seeking better ways to understand how to monitor our passionate drive. Fueled by our emotions and uneducated friends or influencers, we can become evil, ugly, foolish and weakened spiritually as a result of copying the immorality we see on TV, videos and on social media. Look to better examples to educate yourself on how to grow towards wisdom, class and dignity, not revenge, foolishness and profanity. When you do that, your mind and heart will be at peace.
Closing
In short, when we know about these 5 obstacles ahead of time, we should be better prepared with what not to do when pursuing our dreams and goals. Another way of looking at these 5 obstacles is to view them as liabilities. We must do all that we can to avoid these liabilities because they’re all negative and counter-productive. It’s something to think about when moving towards self-improvement.
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In the words of a child who says from time to time, “I can’t do it or I don’t know how” we find ourselves as parents and teachers saying a familiar chant “Yes you can.” We say these words because we want our child or student to grow up believing in themselves. With constant words of encouragement and consistently showing our children or students how to resolve their problem, we aim to recreate a more confident person. When they see how to reach their goal, they go a long ways with guidance and even further, with independent practice.
However, there are times when we as adults just don’t have it to give. We’re tired, overworked, hungry and sometimes super sensitive. We are not at our best. We need a moment to get it together because we see and feel it. We all want to be a better person. That being said, consider these 3 basic reminders or better yet 3 basic tools to add to your toolbox.
First Get Some Rest
First and foremost, the body is not a machine nor is it guaranteed to stay healthy forever. We all have weaknesses and have to treat our body right. All 4 domains mental, emotional, spiritual and physical need our daily attention because it cannot go on forever without getting replenished with the proper restoration, rest for short. Before we are able to help our child and/or student, our mind must be clear and free of fatigue. The muscles in our back, shoulders and forehead must be relaxed. Our stomach must be satisfied with healthy fruits, vegetables and water nutrients and not an over consumption of red meat, sugar, salt and additives placed in our food to cause side effects. Our spirit must also be fed with spiritual medicine that is good for the whole body. Proverbs 4:20-23 . When we experience a lack of proper rest, our body can and will eventually work against us and possibly cause it to slide gradually into obesity, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, poor mental health, which can lead to consistent stress and possible early death. None of these side effects are good for the body. We must treat the body and mind with extreme care by allowing it to get plenty of rest, daily.
Afterwards Take Time to Focus and Reflect
After a goodnight’s rest, the mental part of us need to follow up with a morning moment to focus and reflect. To illustrate, let’s use a mirror. Each morning we wake up we eventually make our way to the glorious mirror in the bedroom or bathroom. While in the presence of the mirror we see a reflection of ourselves pointing back at us. We make the decision to focus and clean up our appearance by addressing our face, hair and body. The reflection forces us to look at ourselves and take action steps. We pay close attention to detail, looking at what needs to be done before moving forward. Sometimes throughout our day we address this process again in a public bathroom. We focus on our hair, our teeth, our breath, stuff possibly hanging from our nose, the way our clothes fit on our body and so much more. This is especially true with those who like to take selfies. We are looking in the camera that’s reflecting like a mirror what it sees and forces us to focus on ourselves our strengths and weaknesses before taking that snapshot. Notice the correlation between the two activities. Reflecting has to do with looking back at ourselves and focusing has to do with looking forward. Both are needed in presenting the very best of who we are mentally, emotionally, spiritually and physically. Whereas selfie pics are mostly about our physical appearance, rest, focus and reflect is about our mental, emotional, and spiritual appearance. The inner person needs just as much work as the outer person.
Then Start Moving Towards Self Improvement
If we can understand the importance of these 3 tools: rest, focus and reflect, then perhaps we can understand they are the keys to addressing some of our weaknesses that have developed into what we call bad habits. There are no shortcuts in pursuing our dreams and goals without breaking through our weaknesses. Sometimes a weakness could be copying other people’s bad habits or allowing my emotions to dominate my common-sense thinking. If I want to break bad habits, I have to focus and reflect because this is about me moving towards self-improvement.
The good thing about this process is it is reachable if I am being honest with myself and willing to do the work. Like the child or student who says, “I can’t do it or I don’t know how.”, I have to admit my shortcomings. When a child says, “I can’t or I don’t know how”, this is a child’s way of saying I need help with this problem. Learning from a child, we need to find someone we can trust to help us with whatever our concern may be. In the process, we can’t quit or give up. We have to be willing, to stay focused, disciplined, honest and surround ourselves with a positive group of people. The great thing about reaching our goal is once we learn, we grow consistently through practice. Taking a note from the Practice U universal theme song video, you can’t help but to repeat the hook to yourself as a reminder. “The more I practice, practice, practice, the better I become, the better I become.” Simply stated, it’s the TM-I-PPP principle, doing things the right way and benefitting from it as I grow towards perfection, maturity and wisdom. Take a moment to reflect on these tools and tell us what you think.
Next month, we’ll continue our journey with 5 obstacles to expect when pursuing my dreams, goals and moving towards self-improvement. Until then, stay tuned…
]]>Before we dig into this health sensitive subject regarding cancer, I want to preface myself by saying that as a member of the Practice U staff, we do not claim the position of being medical experts. We are merely reporting what we have learned from researching what other medical experts have written. Having said that, in this final part of our 4-part series on health, fitness and nutrition, we want to take a look at dormant cancer cells that are asleep inside our body and look at the types of food that show signs of preventing cancer developing cells from surfacing within the body, better yet my body because it’s personal.
How Cancer Cells Grow
According to the researchers from the Canadian Cancer Society, and others such as the American Cancer Society and The World Cancer Research Fund, they all agree to the following.
“Our bodies are made up of trillions of cells grouped to form tissues and organs. Genes inside the nucleus of each cell tell it when to grow, work, divide and die. Normally, our cells follow these instructions and we stay healthy. But when there is a change in our DNA or damage to it, a gene can mutate. Mutated genes don’t work properly because the instructions in their DNA get mixed up. This can cause cells to divide and grow out of control, which can lead to cancer.
When genes work properly, they tell cells when it is the right time to grow and divide. When cells divide, they make exact copies of themselves. One cell divides into 2 identical cells, then 2 cells divide into 4 identical cells, and continues go on and on. In other words, cells normally grow and divide to make more cells only when the body needs them, such as to replace aging or damaged cells.
But cancer cells are different. Cancer cells have gene mutations that turn the cell from a normal cell into a cancer cell. These gene mutations may be inherited or develop over time as we get older. Genes also wear out, or develop if we are around something that damages our genes, like cigarette smoke, alcohol or ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun.
A cancer cell doesn’t act like a normal cell. It starts to grow and divide out of control, instead of dying when it should. They also don’t mature as much as normal cells, so they stay immature. Although there are many different types of cancer, they all start because of cells that are growing abnormally and out of control.”
The question we have to ask ourselves is, what can I do to help remove the cancer cells out of my body when I go to the restroom to eliminate the toxic stuff from my intestinal tract, bloodstream and urinary tract.
3 Action Steps to Help Prevent Cancers to Grow
Most cancer researchers agree the first step eat plenty of fruits, vegetables, beans and drink lots of water daily will lower my risk of cancer. In other words, I need to say “No” to processed food like hot dogs, bacon, sausage, greasy fried food, sugar and salt in order to say goodbye to cancer developing cells. Secondly, I need to exercise on a regular basis. I need to avoid or limit myself of alcohol and finally give my body a fair amount of rest so that it can recharge and work for me daily. Third, I need to maintain a healthy weight as much as possible and avoid stress as much as possible. By being proactive and learning how to relax and train the mental and emotional components of our body to adjust with ease can be an attribute to rising above your circumstances. Each one of us are different. Whereas some will turn to the Father in Heaven to pray, read His scriptures and meditate on the reading, others will meditate with relaxing music, take up yoga or exercise. Bottom line is we all need to explore what works best for us individually.
Closing
In short, when I treat my body right, it will work with me and for me. However, eating healthy is a choice. At Practice U, we challenge our readers to do yourself a favor during this month of October aka Cancer Awareness Month. Consider practicing healthy eating habits and continue this practice throughout the month of November especially during Thanksgiving and December during the Christmas season. Don’t give up on clean eating, clean drinking, exercising and resting properly. After all, practice is where it all begins.
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Buy 1 Meal Deal for $4.99 and get the 2nd cheeseburger FREE, gave me a big round belly. In Part 1 of our 4-part series on health, fitness and nutrition, we wrote about food that prevents sugar diabetes and help us to live a healthier life. In part 2, we wrote about food that lowers our high cholesterol levels and explained what goes on in our digestive system from the moment we chew our food to the elimination of the food. This time in Part 3 of our 4 Part series, we’ll take a look at high blood pressure and how we can get control of it through the food we choose to eat. But first let’s look at a few challenges we all encounter.
Inner City Food Challenges
In the inner cities, the first thing one should notice on every street corner is a number of fast -food restaurant chains, family owned eateries and local liquor stores. At first look, we may question, “What’s wrong with that? That’s normal because that’s what I grew up with. Well that’s not normal in the suburban neighborhoods, only in the poor black and brown neighborhoods? The evidence is all around us, if we pay attention to detail. The liquor stores on every corner are loaded with chips, cookies, candy, beer, wine and some hard liquor. And the fast-food chains are competing against one another with their mix and match 2 sandwiches for five dollars, not including the fries and drink. When children, teenagers and young adults grow up in such communities and all we see for food is the processed food such as crispy chicken sandwiches, cheeseburgers, fries, soda, pizza, hot dogs, noodles and prepackaged microwaveable quick fix foods loaded with over 500 to 1000 milligrams of sodium, we become conditioned to the taste and the desire to eat healthy food becomes less and less attractive. Eating right, becomes an inner-city food challenge.
Hyped Up Food Advertisers
Add to this environment, the TV commercials advertising the meal deals, the movies advertising their version of the meal deals, and the entertainment industry promoting drinking and smoking certain brands we brain wash a generation of young people to believe this is the good life. This is in my opinion the beginning of generational high blood pressure and many other diseases to come. If you can visually see and understand this big picture, then perhaps you can understand what we put in our bodies starts with our home community and what we’re surrounded with. What we eat is just as important as the air we breath.
The Doctor Visit
Since all food and drink ends up in our blood stream, the nurse or doctor needs to take a look. The normal procedure is the nurse or doctor will connect us to a blood pressure machine and may order bloodwork to find out further what’s going on in our body and blood. Between the blood pressure monitor and the blood drawn from our arm, our blood tattle-tells on us every time. It lets the nurse or doctor know whether or not we have been eating balanced meals or something else.
In short, think of our blood vessels as the small tube that we see inside of a water gun. When that small tube is restricted with particles of dirt or Kool-aid sugar, it takes more pressure for our index finger to squirt the water out. Likewise with the heart, it takes more work for our heart to pump blood through our blood vessels. The more the heart muscle has to work, the weaker it becomes over time. It eventually gets tired and we feel tired fast from just a little bit of work. In time we begin to see and feel the consequences of our health choices. At that painful moment, we decide to go visit the doctor. Fortunately, the medical staff will give us their recommendations to help move us toward self-improvement.
How to Prevent or Lower High Blood Pressure
So, what are the types of food that we need to eat to prevent or lower high blood pressure? The answer lies within this short, short list of food eaten daily. We all need to eat more fruits such as green apples, strawberries, blueberries, oranges, grapefruit and melons; green vegetables such as broccoli, spinach, collard greens, cabbage along with carrots, cauliflower and other foods such as black beans, bran, and drink lots of water. Each of these items listed helps remove the build-up all around the walls of our blood vessels and allow our blood to flow freely. Remember clogged blood vessels is caused by eating too much processed food filled with additives, salt and sugar intertwined with stress and a lack of sleep leads high blood pressure. Clean blood vessels will help the body to lose weight, feel lighter and energized to go exercise. That being said, think of fruits and vegetables as your lifetime medicine from now on. You’ll see and feel your body changing for the better, especially when you add to your routine getting plenty of rest so that your body can work for you each day. In closing, pass on your love of eating right to your loved ones, especially if you’re living in the inner city. Eating right, is above all things an excellent practice. After all, practice is where it all begins.
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In Part 2 of our 4-part series on health, fitness and nutrition, we want to take a look at cholesterol because the more we become aware of how cholesterol works, the more empowered we become in knowing how to take care of body. Secondly, it is important because too often many of us have high cholesterol levels and don’t know to what extent due to a lack of doctor visits to have our blood work done or fear of going to the doctor to hear bad news. For others it is we can’t afford to pay for a doctor’s visit. Consequently, reading becomes the source for information needed to give insight. That being said, because this is about you and your body, let’s look at cholesterol from a practice u-ology approach and get a visual understanding.
What is Cholesterol?
Many scientists and nutritionist agree with cholesterol being described as a waxy substance that helps our body make cell membranes, many hormones and vitamin D. It starts in two places. The first place is the food we eat. The second place is the liver. When our food is digested from mouth to stomach it turns into smaller portions of liquid food that travels through our blood stream to the other organs in our body such as the liver. The liver is like a washing machine. It separates the good ingredients we need for the body such as the creation of cell membranes, hormones and vitamin D from the dirty toxic ingredients we don’t need. The liver sends it out to out intestinal tract to be eliminated in the restroom. That is the process that every digestion system goes through under normal circumstances. Our liver is designed to make our cholesterol naturally. However, when we consume too much of the types of food that can cause damage to our chemical balance that’s when we began to see and feel the impact of excessive cholesterol.
What Causes Cholesterol?
The types of food that causes high cholesterol are food such as fried meat, fish and eggs, butter, cheese and milk. Each one of these desired foods has cholesterol in them. For many families, breakfast may consist of fried bacon, sausage and eggs, with buttered toast and jelly. Hmmmm… it taste so good. Later on in the day for lunch, one may decide to eat a meal deal or mix and match sandwiches such as a cheeseburger and chicken nuggets with French fries and a soda followed by dinner on a Friday night pizza or hot dogs and chips with a beverage. When we add up all the fried greasy food we eat in a day or day after day for weeks, months and years, we don’t see or feel the damage we’re doing to our body. Like many things in life, it takes time to realize what we have done.
At Practice U we believe digestion truly begins the moment we see the advertisement of the unhealthy food we love to eat. We can taste it before it hits our mouth. Our minds are made up. That’s what I want to eat. Therefore we go hunt down that unhealthy processed food that satisfies our urge.
Consequences of High Cholesterol
Unfortunately, there are consequences with too much fried greasy, buttery, dairy type food and not enough self-discipline. It takes awareness and consistent practice to change old habits to good habits. One of the major consequences of high cholesterol is poor circulation. Poor circulation is caused by too much of the waxy substance in our blood that flows to our heart, brain and the rest of our body. When our blood vessels are clogged, we become candidates for a heart disease, heart attack, stroke and unfortunately death. If that’s not enough consider our poor black and brown communities where we see on every street corner several family-owned fast food eateries, liquor stores and or corporate owned fast food chains that our kids turn to fill their empty bellies. This is why our black and brown communities have such health challenges with not only high cholesterol, but also high blood pressure, high sugar diabetes and more. We’re not aware of what we’re doing it to ourselves.
Foods That Lower Cholesterol
So, what are some steps that we as a people should take to help reduce high cholesterol? The answer is eat lots of fruit, green vegetables, grains and drink lots of water. Fruits, vegetables and grains such as oatmeal don’t have any cholesterol, which means our liver will make all the cholesterol our body will need naturally. Secondly, exercise more often. Third read the labels on the back of packaged microwaved food. The nutritional percentages on trans-fat, saturated fat, sodium, sugar and the additives are in the food to help preserve the taste and flavor. Read the number of calories when ordering food at a fast food restaurant and dine in restaurant. Be proud to be called a practi-co-lo-gist by staying consistently aware of what you put in your body. At Practice U, we believe that the more you practice your awareness, the stronger you’ll become.
After all, practice is where it all begins..
Since the time of my conception and spending time in my mother’s incubator, my body’s digestion system has always been designed to process the food I eat and drink to give me life and energy. Whatever I eat or drink is understood to be healthy and nutritious. However for most of us, as we become more independent, there are times, we get caught up in a bad food habit that becomes somewhat addictive and harmful in the long run. One of those harmful addictions is eating lots of carbohydrates such as pasta, white bread, white rice or consuming foods high in trans fats such as frozen dinners and peanut butter. Add to this list of our morning routines breakfast cereals, liquid desserts like flavored coffee and donuts or a fruit juice. Then for lunch we eat take in a fruit flavored yogurt or drink a sugary beverage with our French fries and burger or some processed packaged food. Little by little without getting an annual blood test to check our blood levels we end up harming ourselves because what we have been eating has become habit forming. One of the side effects of eating the wrong type of food repeatedly is diabetes.
What is Diabetes?
Diabetes is when my pancreas stops or can not break down the sugar I have consumed. My body needs a certain level of sugar to flow through my bloodstream or blood cells because that’s one of the ingredients that gives my body life and energy. However when I consume too much sugary foods, my pancreas will start overworking, pumping more insulin causing my sugar levels to rise and set me up for type 2 diabetes. Whereas prediabetes and type 1 diabetes can be reversed, type 2 diabetes has no cure. What can be done is lose weight, change my diet well and exercise. These steps can help me as well as others manage the disease, which leads to what are the types of food we should eat to prevent sugar diabetes going forward?
The Healthy Tradition Starts with Me
To begin with, research has shown that most of our habits starts with family traditions or children, teenagers and young adult children left to their own decisions. There is prevention power in parents teaching their children, teenagers and young adult children to eat fruits and vegetables to combat a number of diseases beyond sugar diabetes. Broccoli, carrots, cabbage and spinach are four of the friendliest vegetables to eat on a regular basis because they are low in starch and keep our blood sugar levels in check. Sometimes they’re referred to as anti-inflammatory foods. Fruits such as avocado, grapefruit and blueberries are great. Whole grains such as bran, oats, and brown rice are good to eat as well as plain yogurt and garbanzo beans. In addition too, I cannot say it enough drink lots of water daily. Water keeps the digested food moving through the digestive track as you eliminate in the bathroom from the rectum. As for the types of meat, we here at Practice U highly recommend to avoid eating a lot of red meat such as beef (hamburgers and pizzas), pork (tacos and burritos), lamb, goat, venison and veal. Avoid eating lots of processed meat such as sausage with breakfast, hot dogs, salami, ham, cured bacon, canned meat and beef jerky from the grocery stores and corner liquor store because they all have been treated with salt and other additives before being sold to retain their flavor and shelf life.
Training the Brain
I encourage you to take a moment to talk to someone who has prediabetes, type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes. I believe when you hear their story, you’ll understand how important it is to eat right and break away from some family traditions, weekend traditions or Sunday after church traditions. Prior to going over to the big gathering consider eating a green apple or banana before sitting down at the table. This early start will help limit your consumption of all the food your eyes can see. After all, you just want to get full. No need to overload the stomach with unhealthy food. Train the brain to do better. Instead of eating fried meat, choose baked, broiled or grilled meat. If you’re frying the meat at home, choose peanut oil instead of shortening. Cut back on the salt and sugar intake and make a plate that is at least 50% vegetables and 30% meat. Making changes such as these we believe are the beginning of breaking away from some of your past unhealthy traditions. It doesn’t matter if your traditions were family traditions or weekend with the friends traditions, paying attention to what you put in your body is better than going to the doctor and being told by the doctor(s) you have to get on meds to help bring your blood levels back to normal. Not to mention, you may have to pay for your meds out of your own pocket.The aftermath is no joke. Ask a diabetic.
In closing, practice remembering that while all the small corner fast food eateries and corner liquor stores are making big profits off our consumption of their goods, you and I become victims of what they advertise and promote such as buy 1 burger, fries and soda get a 2nd burger free ads. We’re the ones who suffer and end up with sugar diabetes from one kid to the next kid to a family of people. Remembering the consequences is a good practice for all of us individually and collectively. In a nutshell, practice is where it all begins.
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Provider
Let’s go back in time after high school. One of the many reasons a young adult male enters into college, military or perfects his craft is so that one day he will be positioned to provide for his family. Having a secure job and a variety of skills to help bring in income should be the first and most important priority of a young adult male or female ages 18 to 30. In a nutshell a provider prepares to provide. He has more than just a car, car insurance and apartment. He has legal financial investments making money for him or her. He pays his bills on time to keep his credit score portfolio in good standing. He has his life insurance and income taxes in place. He is disciplined with money management, seldom overspends unless necessary. He thinks about the consequences of his decisions before stepping into something. He has a few mentors such as his father along with other older men and women with experience and evidence of success. These are the kind of thoughts every young man or woman should have because they’re walking into young adulthood with lots of wild dreams that needs guidance and recommendations to assure minimum headaches. The band around the house loves it when his young adult boy or girl start slow and gradually grow.
Manager
The band around the house, is also a responsible manager of his family protecting his child(ren) from hearing, seeing and experiencing negative nonsense. He exposes his kid(s) to positive uplifting thoughtful experiences and people. He is intuitive in working with his wife. Their relationship grows as a result of their numerous conversations. He learns through their talks and observations of her how to take care of his wife, address her needs and arrange the household in such a way that it leads her to be a better wife and mother. He’s aware that being the band around the house does not mean he’s the dictator and everyone in the household must submit to his demands. That is not the mindset of a good manager or steward. Being the band around the house requires love, thoughtful words, encouragement and continuous learning. From that type of leadership comes the next generation of great parents through his kid(s).
Teacher
In addition to, being a great provider and manager of the family, the band around the house is also a teacher, disciplinarian and counselor explaining how and why we do or do not behave a certain way. He teaches about high MVP character. The MVP stands for morals, values and principles. He is mentally, emotionally and spiritually aware of his strengths and weaknesses but willing to learn how to move towards self-improvement in his areas of weakness. He’s connected with how it feels to rebound from setbacks and failures so much so he can be a source of encouragement to his own child(ren). He’s wise enough to learn ahead of time before his child(ren) become of age how to perform basic maintenance and repairs on the family car. Before a father’s child(ren) graduate and leave the nest, his child(ren) should know how to change the oil, check the radiator and brake fluid levels, change a tire, possibly change the front brake pads and rear brake shoes and how to pull codes when the check engine light comes on by going to the local AutoZone store and asking the store clerk for the FREE diagnostic scan tool to show you how to connect the device to your car and bring it back for the store clerk to print out the codes and recommended repair. He also teaches his child(ren) about house repairs and what a generator is about in the event of a power outage. Such life lessons as these are valuable for child(ren) because it prepares his child(ren) for independent living.
Leaves Behind a Legacy of Preparedness
The more a father passes on such life lessons these, the more he’s passing down an inheritance and legacy. Unfortunately, many fathers think of an inheritance as money or the family business. However other fathers view inheritance as a wealth of knowledge and wisdom to help his child(ren) prevail in life with inner strength. Prepared with mental, emotional balance, financial wisdom and spiritual application, a father’s child(ren) can thrive through the tough stuff in life because of what their father taught them. I call this type of legacy “character substance”. No family business or large amount of money can replace “character substance”. Whereas money helps to secure their financial future hopes and dreams, it can not buy maturity, patience, the ingredients of a healthy companionship, or a high MVP character (morals, values and principles). In short, fatherhood starts with how a young man purposely plants his educational and financial foundation so that he’s prepared to provide for his family long term with job security and benefits. Fatherhood will have its share of ups and downs filled with learning as you start slow go and grow. Starting slow gives a person time to assess and reflect before moving onto the next step. In addition to, when a father adds a mentor along the way, his journey can be a lot easier. Having said that, as we all prepare for the traditional Father’s Day of celebration on Sunday, June 21, 2020 consider giving your dad or mentor a gift from our online store. The content and apparel choices are a great source of encouragement to say, “Thank you dad or mentor” for being that gift in my life you’ve come to understand and respect.
Tell us what you think at iampracticeu@practice-u.com .
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If you were to ask a teacher today, what motivated you to get into the teaching profession? Chances are you would get a wide range of answers because we all come from different experiences. While some may say they were motivated by a teacher, coach or counselor in school, others may say they were motivated by wanting to make a difference in the lives of kids who aren’t getting what they had when they were growing up in school. They would say, they saw teaching as an opportunity to help the next generation to move forward in life and upward in their thinking. Looking at these responses, it’s obvious that thousands of our teachers today ranging from childcare to the collegiate level entered the profession of teaching to give children, teenagers, young adults and seasoned adults a great educational experience even in the midst of a current pandemic. Whether we know it or not, our teachers are our next set of frontline workers during the COVID-19 season. What a challenge we all have to share in with our teachers. That being said, the staff of Practice U want to express their gratitude to all our teachers in the countless neighborhoods and communities they work in.
Thank you for
Morals, knowing the difference between right and wrong, acceptable and unacceptable behavior and language, or fair versus unfair treatment to another human being. In a nutshell, morals are the boundaries within our social norms. For example, "It is morally wrong to backtalk or insult your parent, teacher, coach or the referee and vice versa. It’s demoralizing when adults insult other adults or children.”
Values, living out the importance of a belief or behavior. For example, "It’s important to him that a female wear clothes that cover up her breast and buttocks. It’s important to her that a man wear his pants and a belt on his waistline to cover up his buttocks. We value our family and fun times. I value my life, respect, privacy, peace and being debt free, because it’s important to me. I also value a clean bathroom, clean kitchen and clean bedroom."
Principles, acknowledging the rules of life that guides a person's conscious and behavior. For example, "I don't try to hurt people, because I don't want to get hurt myself. I don't lie or cheat people because I don't like being lied to or cheated on." When we're taught these social norms or codes of conduct, it becomes the force field that keeps us civilized and working harmoniously.
In short, these are just some of the many lessons that our teachers, coaches, counselors and support staff have taught us; the building blocks for all of us to refer back to in our lives. Because of these countless lessons, this is also why we here at Practice U also believe, our teachers should be paid at the very least a starting salary pay of $100,000 annually. It makes no sense to be the primary and secondary teachers of all society and get paid less than lawyers, politicians, engineers, and doctors. Without our teachers, we would all fall behind. So, on behalf of the many students, parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and foster parents we say, “Thank You” to our teachers. We appreciate your practice and helping us move forward towards self-improvement.
Practice is where it all begins. Tell us what you think.
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During this time of the COVID-19 crisis, we hear a lot of noise from people throuhout the United States anxiously seeking to get away from the pressure of the Safer-at-Home executive order and guidelines. It seems the longer we are forced to wait, the stronger the desire to gather with other people or services we miss grows. The emotions are dominating common sense and the welfare of the nation is at stake. Why is that? Why is it that we as a people can’t seem to practice patience? To answer this question lets look at the benefits and consequences of being impatient.
The Journey
One of the benefits of being impatient is it blesses those who are observing and listening to the decisions other people have made. We didn’t participate with them, we just watched, as if it were a scene from a movie. We see victims and victors. The victims are the ones who lost. That lost can range from their health, self-respect, status, a relationship with someone or their Creator. The victors are the ones who gained the insight and wisdom, learning what not to do. We learn that waiting is better than rushing and the importance of practicing patience is valued. Most of us would call this type of thinking, “taught sense versus bought sense”. The bought sense becomes a personal lesson that brings new meaning to the very soul of that person’s pain. The deeper the hurt, the more one will remember. Ultimately, patience is a journey that always leads to wisdom.
That being said, let’s look at the cause of the decision to be impatient. One of the causes is a person is emotionally charged and can’t see how their emotions or built up frustrations has the type of power and control to override their common-sense thinking. Another cause is mental stress, worried about how I’m going to make it. Stress has never been a good thing for anybody. The side effects of stress is, it breaks down our immune system and other vital organs, because the immune system needs to rest in order to recharge. The voice of reason says get advice, make an educated decision based upon facts, not emotions. The impulsive voice says the opposite. Unfortunately, in some cases, when we make a bad decision, the consequences can be so devastating, it takes a journey to repair the damage done. Gradually we learn that rebounding from the words we spoke, the actions we took or the reaction I initiated becomes my personal injury or personal setback. If you know anything about a sports injury or a financial injury of some sort, the one thing that is required when trying to rebound is it takes time to heal. Personal injuries take us back to practicing patience all over again. It’s just one of those laws of nature we have to live within whether we like it or not.
To translate, this is what we are experiencing in real time with the COVID-19 crisis. “We are in this as a team together”, is what we hear on the radio, TV commercials and read on the digital billboards, the internet and in the news. Athletes understand the journey as a team. Highly emotional people don’t always get it. With the COVID-19 crisis, the consequences of being impatient does not only affect the individual but also our community, city, county and state. However, if we see ourselves as a member of the whole team or community, then we’ll obey the laws of nature and come out of this pandemic together maturing towards wisdom. If not, then we have to go back into the same wait room, again.
The Wait Room
Figuratively speaking, the wait room is where a person is forced to sit down and go through the rehab by themselves or together with the assistance of some experts. It does not matter if the rehab is a physical rehab, drug related rehab, financial rehab, emotional-mental rehab or reconnecting with the Creator through the reading of the scriptures. In all scenarios, it will require time and commitment to in order to rebound and heal in the process. It’s very similar to being in the traditional weight room lifting weights. The 100 pounds of weight does not change, but I do. I change as result of reflecting on my decision-making. I change as a result of looking at how I got myself or us into this situation. I change because I reached out to someone or a group and asked for help. I recognize I need to take responsibility for my stuff. I need to make things right with the people I have hurt or the injury I have within me. I need to apologize from the heart, not from the head, and make a commitment to do things the right way when moving forward with my thinking. It will take time for others to believe in me, or me to believe in my body to be strong enough to play ball again, which means I have to stay in the wait room.
The hope is that we become more connected with being patient and recognize that patience definitely leads to wisdom and wisdom leads to class and dignity, not greed, foolishness and profanity. In the end, we become an asset to ourselves, our family, teammates, and community. In short, practice is where it all begins. Tell us what you think.
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Hearing awful news, especially with the learning of a loss, is naturally shocking. With Kobe, this was an accident and it was sudden and unexpected. Shock is not only mental, but it is also physical. Shock can make you feel sick and you might get shortness of breath. One reason why people feel denial after they hear shocking news is because they don’t want to feel pain. After the shock wears off and the reality sets in, so does the pain. Kobe’s death shocked the country. Many people had to read the headline to the news twice.
Once that pain sets in, it sets in hard. It is important to note that although this pain can be excruciating, you should experience this pain to its fullest extent. This type of pain is unique and it will make you stronger. It is also important not to hide the fact that you are hurting. This allows people to know how you are feeling and then can help you through this process. Avoiding or rejecting the pain you’re feeling will only make things worse. This also goes along with trying to escape your pain with alcohol or drugs.
Along with the second stage comes the potential of feeling guilty. You may feel guilty or remorse over the things you might have said, done, or not have done to the one who has passed. In the sports world, there is a lot of trash talk and debate over “who’s the greatest player of all time,” but in this certain situation, especially with Kobe’s passing, it is important to step back and celebrate their life as a way to help handle the pain. It is important because this stage of pain and guilt often leads to anger.
This stage is usually a result of opening up a bottle of emotion. This stage is dangerous because people are often frustrated and sensitive. It is important to express how you feel, but also keep your emotions rational. Irrational bursts of emotion can have a lasting impact on existing relationships, and those relationships are important to help you get through this grieving process.
Another direction that people go is that they bargain for a way to escape their despair. This goes along with guilt. In our case with Kobe, you might have felt disdain for Kobe and talked badly about him and you might say something like “I’ll never trash talk another great player if you just bring him back.”
This stage is known as the stage where people on the outside of your grief believe that you should be over it by now. This is not the case. With this stage comes a long period of sadness and can overtake you. Like with stage 2 and pain, let yourself feel it. It is a human and natural feeling and coming out of it will make you better than you were yesterday. That’s what we’re all about here at Practice U.
During this time, you start to realize the true significance of your loss. For Kobe, a lot of people felt the true significance with the All-Star Weekend a few weeks ago. The players either wore number 24 for Kobe or number 2 for Gianna; the MVP trophy was named after him, called the “Kobe Bryant MVP Award;” and Kobe also was in 15 All-Star games. This impacted a lot of basketball fans including us at Practice U. After this stage, we finally start to see the upward turn.
This one is all in the name. Life without the person who was lost starts to become normal again. The reality already set in and you realize that life doesn’t stop for anybody. Life becomes clearer and more organized.
This step embraces everything we strive for here at Practice U. We want everyone to be the best that can be. This means to be constantly improving every single day. This is the step where you start to remember all the good times and are truly thankful for the things they provided you in their life.
Acceptance does not necessarily mean that you are going to be happy. This means you have accepted what has happened and nothing can change that. It is a harsh reality, but by this step, you have already realized that. Eventually, you will be able to look at the one you lost and not feel as much pain. Feeling sadness is natural, especially when losing a lost one. But life does not stop. Happiness, contentment, and nostalgic memories and moments live on as well.
Losing somebody is dreadful. The experience is a journey, to say the least. This is worth it though because you came out of grieving stronger than from when you went in. Here at Practice U, we love the notion of being the best self you can be. Nobody becomes greater without turmoil. One can not improve without struggling. Make sure you check out our apparel to carry the spirit of constant self-improvement.
— Kobe Bryant - 41 — Kobe Bryant, also known as “The Black Mamba,” is the epitome of a legend. The father, husband, son, and brother spent 20 years in the NBA, all of them with the Los Angeles Lakers. When he retired in 2016, his impressive resume included being a five-time world champion, 18-time All-Star, fourth on the all-time scoring list, and two-time gold medalist with the U.S. basketball team. He was also married to his wife, Vanessa, for 19 years and together they had 4 daughters, including their 13-year-old, Gianna, who also sadly passed away in the accident.
— Gianna Bryant - 13 — Gianna Bryant, Kobe’s daughter, is known to remind people that Kobe never needed a son to continue his legacy. She was an outstanding basketball player and had the legitimate potential to be a star in the WNBA. People already saw this and she was only 13.
— John Altobelli - 56 — John Altobelli was an extraordinary baseball coach who led the Orange Coast College Pirates to over 700 wins in 27 years. He helped numerous players in Newport Beach earn scholarships to Division 1 programs and earned Coach of the Year in 2019 by the American Baseball Coaches Association.
— Keri Altobelli - 46 — Keri Altobelli was a mother, wife, daughter, and mentor. She was married to John Altobelli and was extremely loyal to her family, supporting them the best that she could.
— Alyssa Altobelli - 13 — Alyssa Altobelli was the daughter of John and Keri Altobelli and was also Gianna’s teammate for their club basketball team that Kobe coached. In the past, Alyssa competed against Gianna and Kobe highly respected her game.
The Bryants and Altobellis were close with each other and have flown together before.
— Christina Mauser - 38 — Christina Mauser was the top assistant coach for the Mamba Sports Academy’s girls’ basketball team. She also led clinics for WNBA players at the Mamba Sports Academy. She put her heart and soul into the game of basketball and was highly respected by the Bryants.
— Ara Zobayan - 50 — Ara Zobayan was a veteran pilot who was well-versed in Los Angeles flight patterns. This was the only pilot Kobe trusted to fly him. Kobe frequently used helicopters as transportations and Ara Zobayan was always in the pilot’s seat.
— Sarah Chester - 45 — Sarah Chester was an unbelievably caring mother who would do anything for her family. She was known to create a sense of community wherever she was.
— Payton Chester - 13 — Payton Chester was one of Gianna and Alyssa’s teammates. She was also known for her passion for basketball and thrived in the Mamba Sports Academy.
Here at Practice U, we are still grieving from this tragedy along with the rest of Los Angeles, the United States, and the rest of the world. This tragedy reminds us of one of the many things that Kobe left behind: his attitude. Kobe was known for his “Mamba Mentality” and that was something he preached and something we take to heart at Practice U.
Having a Mamba Mentality in the wise words of the Black Mamba himself is, “... to be able to constantly try to be the best version of yourself. It’s a constant quest to try to be better today than you were yesterday.”
Through this process of grieving that we may all be going through, keeping the Mamba Mentality is crucial. We suggest you empower yourself by getting familiar with the 7 Stages of Grief to help you get through this time. Here are the 7 stages, some people only experience 5 of the stages. They are as follows: 1. Shock and Denial 2. Pain and Guilt 3. Anger and Bargaining 4. Depression 5. The Upward Turn 6. Reconstruction and Working Through It 7. Acceptance and Hope Whenever somebody is going through grief, an injury, or any of the unfortunate set of events that are inevitable in this life, they will gradually:
— Get back up
— Rebound from their personal agony
— Turn the corner and start the path of recovery
— Perform daily routines, self-reflect, and transition to acquire a Mamba Mentality
— Feel and understand the journey of the Mamba Mentality as a personal work of daily routines, growing and staying laser-focused on moving towards self-improvement. It does a body and mind good.
Practice U wants you to take this attitude on and off the field, court, or whatever your craft, skill set or talent may be. This all starts with a commitment to become something greater than yourself. Practice may not make you perfect, but it does show you are improving every time you repeat the work. That is something Kobe was religious about. One of the many examples of his dedication to repetitive work is that he practiced harder and earlier than the world’s best players. During the 2008 Olympics, Dwyane Wade said, “Everybody else just woke up… We’re all yawning, and he’s already three hours and a full workout into his day.” Translation, get up early in the morning or stay up extra hours into the night working on developing you before you interact with the world.
While we are all going through this grieving process of the passing of Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna Bryant, and the seven other passengers, we are also wanting to encourage you to grieve with the notion of moving towards self-improvement, embracing that Mamba Mentality attitude and put it into practice repeatedly. Once you put the mentality into your daily routine, we want you to incorporate it in every area of your personal and public life. Be the best parent, son, daughter, friend, student and talented worker you can be. In short, Practice U, “the very best of you,” so that you’ll be able to master a higher degree of self, one day at a time.
]]>If you belong to those who are in desperate need of motivation for some cleaning, take a look at the following tips for getting motivated to clean the house.
One of the best pieces of advice is to actually purchase something new, just to get you started. Usually, when people purchase something new, they want to try it out as soon as possible. Therefore, it might be a good idea to buy a new shiny washing product which smells beautiful and helps you make your personal space fresher.
Music will always help when you have to deal with some boring activity. When you play music and start cleaning, your thoughts wander, and time passes by very quickly. Before you know it, you have cleaned up the whole house, enjoyed the music and dancing to your favorite song!
Just imagine how good the whole house will look like once you are done with the cleaning. Thinking about it will get you motivated to finish as soon as possible because you will want to enjoy your quality time in a tidy space. Therefore, the key thing when getting motivated is the mental image.
It is completely understandable if you don’t want to spend your whole day on cleaning the house. Instead, you can make a schedule and finish it within a few days. In that way, you won’t have to hurry and rush, but you can do one thing at a time and proceed in a slower pace.
We often tend to feel unmotivated if we don’t see the point or the precise goal. So, if your goal is to ‘clean the house’ it might be too broad. However, if you write down that your goal for today is to ‘clean up the bedroom’ or ‘sort the book shelf in the living room’ you should be encouraged and feel more motivated since you know exactly what to do.
Discipline and self-growth are the two very important components of a personality. Practicing these personality traits might be done exactly through chores which have to be done, but we dislike doing them. After we complete an activity like house cleaning, we are likely to feel proud and happy for two reasons: first – we have a clear space around us, and second – we got the whole thing over with! If you want to learn more about how you can improve your self-growth and motivation, you can visit the website called practice-u.com. This brand believes that “confidence is built from continuous repetition, encouragement and rest” and whole story behind the brand is in fact related to ‘mastering a higher degree of self’.
If you don’t have the time to do it all at once, you should consider a method called ‘prioritizing’. This means that you will take the messiest room and clean it up first. In this way, you will do the harder part, and the easier will be left for later. Once you see that the messiest room has been taken care of, you will instantly be motivated to take care of the rest of them.
Writing down the plan for your activities is always a good idea. One of the best motivators is a thick sign next to a chore. Therefore, you should work on your plan, and write down, for instance, the order in which you want to clean your rooms. In that way, you will know approximately how long it will take you, and what you need to do first.
It is much easier to think with some fresh air in the room. Also, once you let the sun rays into the room, you will instantly want to make it tidier and more clean. All of this will motivate you to work, instead of fall to sleep.
Reorganizing the things like furniture in your room may inspire motivation. It doesn’t have to be a big change, but you can simply rearrange the figures on your shelf, or the position of the TV. In this way, you will be motivated to get everything else tidy, so that you can test the new arrangement of things as soon as possible.
To conclude, motivation is one of the key factors when it comes to tidying up your house. Avoid procrastination and use the experience of cleaning your house as an opportunity for self-growth and discipline. Once you start, you will see that with good organization and a few rearrangements of furniture, you will be motivated to finish your list of chores in no time!
]]>Throughout this reading instead of using the word “you”, we will use the personal pronouns “I”, “my” and “me” to help us internalize this as something I need to embrace and do. Having said that, these are our thoughts on ways to move towards self-improvement.
According to nutritional psychiatrist, studies have shown what I feed my brain has a direct connection to what I feed my stomach good, bad or otherwise. Simply stated, I eat according to how I feel. Notice for some people when I’m nervous, I eat or drink something to settle my stomach. When I’m feeling great, I eat any and everything I like. Said another way, my stomach has a brain inside of it that connects to the brain inside my head.
This is where scientists and nutritional psychiatry come together to enlighten our awareness. Both teach us that our brain releases a neurotransmitter called serotonin. Serotonin is what my brain produces and sends to my stomach or gastrointestinal tract. The inner workings of my stomach is protected by the lining that helps me not only digest food but also guides my emotions.
In other words, when I’m feeling okay to fantastic my food will digest within my stomach lining with ease. Bacteria and toxins do not set up and become the internal enemy of my digestive tract. Adding lots of water on a daily basis, helps my stool to flow with ease. On the other hand, when my brain experiences shock, trauma, unpreparedness, or worry and depression the neurotransmitter in my brain called serotonin is sent to the brain in my stomach and my whole body reacts. Depending upon the level of mental and/or emotional happiness or pain I eat or drink accordingly.
To that end, we strongly suggest to prevent oneself from setting their health up for failure, I need to take a moment to regroup and reflect on how did I get to this point and what am I willing to do to get my life balanced again? Who or what influenced me to do what I’m doing to myself? The answer to my question will be the difference maker in moving towards self-improvement. The more positive experiences I encounter, the better I will feel and the more likely my brain will assist me in my recovery. In the end it’s up to me to put in the valuable work to get the results I’m seeking.
No one knows their body better than the person who is breaking it down with hours of work and excessive fun. When the brain and body is tired, it will let us know and say “I need rest” We need to listen to it Unbeknownst to our immediate awareness during the time of getting rest our brain and body is still working. The stomach is still processing the food we have collected and chewed on throughout the day. While we’re sleeping our stomach is also preparing to eliminate what I don’t need.
When I don’t get enough sleep, I pay a price. The consequences of sleep deprivation is my tired brain and stomach releases a hunger hormone called ghrelin. That’s the hormone that is produced in the stomach and small amounts in the small intestines, pancreas and our brain. We sometimes associate ghrelin with term “hunger pangs” When we’re hungry for food we want to eat fast. Consequently the term fast food enters into our hands, mouth and stomach.
On the other hand, when my brain is well rested it releases another type of hormone called leptin or an appetite suppressant. This suppressant helps us to suppress hunger and don’t over-eat the wrong types of food that would otherwise cause weight gain along the waistline. According to nutritionists in the field, there is a diet called the leptin diet. Using the word leptin makes us aware of the hormone released in our brain to our stomach. In short, the leptin diet consists of a wide range of vegetables, fruits, protein sources such as fish, chicken and turkey. That being said, I should think about the power I give my brain and body when I allow it to rest.
In addition to the mental and emotional food and rest required for our brain and body, we also need to include physical exercise. Physical exercise is not just about losing weight, gaining muscle, improve one’s sex life or add years to one’s life. Physical exercise is also good because it revives feeling energetic throughout the day, sharpens up our memory, sleep better and creates a feeling positive self-image. When I look at physical exercise as a medicine, it becomes the type of medicine that keeps my healthy blood cells flowing. Healthy blood cells help my body to fight back diseases and mental illness or challenges such as depression, anxiety and stress. In the end, this type of medicine called physical exercise is far cheaper than me paying for the meds I would be prescribed by the doctor if I didn’t exercise.
Finally, in the midst of the mental, emotional and physical responsibilities one has to take in consideration, there is also the spiritual component that dwells within us as well. Because the human spirit is synonymous to the word “soul”, it’s important to understand the definition of the human soul? Categorized as a noun the term “soul” has two meanings. The first is the soul is defined as a spiritual or immaterial part of us regarded as immortal. The soul never dies. It lives in you forever. The second is the emotional or intellectual energy or intensity as it is revealed in a work of art or an artistic performance.
What we feed our human spirit or soul is crucial, because it governs our decision-making throughout the time we’re here on earth alive each day interacting with people who surround us. Take time each day preferably in the morning if not at the end of the day to reflect on your connection to a higher power that lifts you up into maintaining a healthy relationship with your Creator first, then your family, friends and people you meet along the way. Applying these thoughts will help you move closer towards self-improvement in the school of life.
Write us a comment and tell us what do you think?
Written by Mr. Troy Smith, CEO and Founder
]]>If you are interested in how to jumpstart your personal growth today perhaps the our list of 5 powerful ways to enhance your personal growth will help.
#1 Health First
To perform at your best, you have to be in great shape both physically and mentally. You have to adopt a balanced diet and exercise regularly. This will keep you strong and energized throughout the day. Sleep is also important because it helps you rejuvenate. In life, at some point, all comes down to endurance and energy. Personal growth is about getting engaged and being active. You have to be able to work long hours and go long distances when it is necessary. It is important to stay ready for when opportunities present in front of you.
#2 Keep Learning
Success is closely related to knowledge and education. Well-informed people generally earn more in comparison with the uneducated. In this age of technology, learning is not an issue. All you need is a laptop or smartphone and an internet connection. You can learn from the comfort of your home, or wherever you like. With all these platforms that offer all sorts of courses, you can create your own learning schedule. There are also free alternatives. You can pick a new skill you want to learn and just search the web for free materials.
#3 Don’t Waste Time
Because personal growth is about engaging in different activities related to my goals, this means I have to be relentless when it comes to managing my time. Some people believe the biggest enemy of personal growth and the reason for stagnation is not having enough time to do something. This is simply not true. I might have to quit watching TV or YouTube. When I make that change, I will have the time. If something is important you, you make it a priority. Then, if you have spare time, you can relax in front of the TV, or even better – you could read a book.
#4 Evaluate
Personal growth is not something mystical. It is just an improvement. You have to dedicate time to evaluate your life. Identify your strengths and flaws, understand what drives you to do the things you do and how you can improve. Getting a clear understanding about yourself so that you can put together a plan that involves one step at a time that leads to a single building block and eventually move you forward and upward.
#5 Travel More
Finally, because growing means changing, it is challenging to accomplish the goal(s) when you are constantly surrounded by the same people, in the same environment that produced the person you are now. Traveling away from your group is a way to meet new people, create new opportunities for yourself, and experience new things. When exposing yourself to something new, you will witness a boost in creativity. And when you come back home, you will be fully recharged, full of ideas, and ready to face any challenge.
In short, the decision is up to you in your personal growth. It is a journey that all of us should strive for because the rewards are so much better emotionally, mentally, physically and financially. Invest into yourself starting today and don’t stop. As you grow consider helping others along the way. That’s what Practice U is all about, moving towards self-improvement.
]]>Such distractions demand self-discipline and perhaps some of the strategies listed below to help guide one in the direction of getting the job done is what we all need to take time out to address. Listed below are a few tips for one to wrap their mind around as we explore our weaknesses and strengths.
#1 Understand the Root of Your Procrastination.
Some of the most common causes of procrastination are generally built upon how one feels physically, emotionally and/or mentally. Notice the short list below.
To address procrastination one should consider the opposite of procrastination. We believe the opposite of procrastination is our hero and all-time undefeated reigning champion, “proactive mentality”. Proactice mentality is the person who takes control of his or her situation by causing something to happen positively rather than responding to it negatively after it has happened. Simply stated procrastination has consequences and proactive mentality has rewards. Having said that, correcting the root cause will require each person putting in some work in the area of self reflection on one’s goals and purpose to avoid the consequences. Because no one likes to fail, it is extremely important to understand that in order to move towards becoming a better version of one’s self, one has to self-correct their behavior with action steps.
#2 Break the Task into Small Pieces
Occasionally, when a task seems overwhelming, it is necessary for one to divide the task into smaller pieces or action steps. By focusing the mind on one target area at a time, it allows the mind to absorb even the smallest of the details and master the information. It also allows one to gather a more meaningful understanding of the content and deepen their knowledge base. Each day is day of opportunity to self-improve and self-improvement starts with wanting to do better.
#3 The Power and Importance of Rest
As a student enrolled in the “School of Life”, we learn there certain rules we cannot disobey. One of those rules is the brain and body needs rest. By listening to our body, we learn there are a number of advantages in giving the mind time to rest and recuperate. There is power in getting rest on a regular basis. The brain cells aren’t designed to go on forever. Just like battery cells wear down, we are no different. Regular resting periods and deep sleeps are the difference maker in succeeding with confidence versus just getting by.
#4 Establish a Routine
A routine is defined as a sequence of actions regularly followed or a set program that is done repeatedly. Good routines are the basis of good habits. The more one participates in their routine, the better their habits or muscle memory develops. Practically any subject can be mastered if studied in bite sizes within the daily routine. Gradually the bite sizes of information grows into chunks of digested information. Ultimately this is the direction a student in the “School of Life” should be aiming towards. There’s power in repetition. For example, when you are low on motivation and high on excuses, your habits will keep you going. Set up a study schedule and stick with it for at least 30 days. It takes time to form a habit, but all the hard work will pay off.
#5 Make It Interesting
The idea of making a subject interesting sounds like forcing oneself to get through the drudgery or dull work. Why is it considered drudgery or dull work is because this is how one perceives the task. When the subject is perceived as “boring”, it can be really hard to focus on it for long periods of time. To overcome this hurdle, one will have to become creative. Using today’s technology, one can find other ways of gathering an understanding of the concept through video searching, reading articles and short summaries. During this process, one will discover a lot of repetitive language saying the same thing over and over in similar ways. It is through this constant searching that clarity sets in and the task is no longer perceived as “boring” The subject matter actually has some relevance.
#6 The Promodoro Technique
In the late 1980s, Francesco Cirillo a great mentor for students in the “School of Life”, also as author and businessman created what he called The Pomodoro Technique. The Promodoro Technique is a program he developed to help students understand a powerful time management method. The technique uses a timer to break down the total work time into intervals, traditionally 25 minutes in length, separated by short breaks. His method has been practiced by millions of subscribers to his teaching. The goal is to make learning productive and rewarding. His method teaches one to work with time and lessen the struggle in racing against time.
Conclusion
Organizing your time and work are key for getting motivated to study. These tips will help you achieve your goals and forget about procrastination. Knowing how to use your time and mind wisely is the foundation of your success in every sphere of life. Take time to practice these tips and let us know how it helped.
]]>When we want to do something different, that will help us improve, we will always face resistance. Its source could be internal (our thoughts and the way we think about something), or external – family, friends, haters, or just “common sense”. To overcome this challenge we have to realize that there is nothing we have to be afraid of. We usually fear mistakes and what can they lead to. But the truth is that failure is inevitable and it is a part of a process that leads to success. We have to be able to silence these voices in our heads saying we have to give up from our dreams and to be happy with what we already have.
But this is far from the true nature of the human. We have so much potential in us, and we can do so much with it. Just like Howard Roark (the main character from the Ayn Rand novel “ The Fountainhead” ), we have the power to overcome any obstacle in front of us. And it is all in our heads.
With all the noise that surrounds us, both from inside and outside, we need a tool to help us shut it down. There is no doubt we have to detach ourselves from everything and take some time thinking about what is truly important and how we can realize it. Critical thinking, without any redundant emotions, will help us figure out how to achieve our goals and stay calm.
Meditation may be quite helpful in our efforts to fulfill the goals we set and foster the habits that will make us successful. Through meditation, we are going to silence the mind and increase our self-control. There are somewhere around 50,000 thoughts going through our minds on a daily basis. They can lead to confusion and cause our failure to focus.
There are different versions of meditation – some are based on concentration and focus toward some thought or object, others are all about “follow the places your mind will take you over”.
The best time to meditate is first thing in the morning. This is probably one of the best ways to start your day. Through meditation, you will focus your mind towards your goals, stay calm, and silence all the negative talk coming from your mind.
You can sit in a chair, with open or closed eyes, in silence or listening to nice, calming music (classic or enigmatic). You have to feel comfortable and take the maximum of this experience.
Meditation has been used for centuries in different forms by many of the big religions. It can be beneficial for your sleep, concentration, and blood pressure. This tool will calm you and prepare you for your quest for success, so don’t hesitate to use it.
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These are designed for skaters. Many of those are sleeveless, so if you consider skiing, or skating with curler blades you could use one of those instead of a jacket. Skate hoodies will protect you from wind and allow you to move more freely. They are not expensive, so you will be able to buy multiple hoodies for different occasions. You can choose from pull-over or zippered types.
Slim-fit hoodie provides the person who wears it a slim look. It makes you look taller and slimmer. They are made with much less elastane, which causes this slim appearance. Slim-fit hoodies don’t seem to be uncomfortable, as long as you choose the right size for you.
These came here from Mexico. They are made of very smooth material. Some types of Baja hoodies come sleeveless. If you define yourself as a hippie, these hoodies are just the garment for you. One of their most distinctive features are the colorful designs they are usually available – you could find them in purple and black, or purple and gray, with gold or pink stripes.
Because they are so distinctive, black hoodies are a separate class. Black is a basic color, so you can combine your hoodie with every kind of pants or jeans, no matter the color. Black hoodies look good on anybody and there are so many options when it comes to design. If you don’t own one, make sure to correct this mistake.
This clothing is made for the chilly winter days. Fur hoodies have a solid layer of high-quality fur across the cowl. It also covers the neck and retains warmth. Fur hoodies are often waterproof on the surface. The manufacturers of fur hoodies use mostly fake fur, due to the price of the actual one.
Zip-up hoodies are available in a large variety of sizes, colors, designs, and types. You could use such a hoodie instead of a jacket. You can even choose from different kinds of zippers – thick or skinny, brightly or mild colored.
These are made by luxury brands and have top quality. They are available in many various options (such as with extra-deep pockets, specific design, etc.), and are usually made of high-quality, long-lasting fabrics. Designer hoodies are quite pricey, but you get luxury and perfection when you buy some of those.
Most people prefer those due to they exactly match and cover the whole head. So if you would like to appear as mysterious, the cranium hoodie is just the type of clothing you need. And again, there are many options from which you could choose when you decide to buy one.
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