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8 Simple Ways to Nip Stress in the Bud

By James DiMaio

If you speak to a doctor about reducing stress in your life, he will likely tell you to revamp your diet, lose weight, get more sleep, exercise more, and/or give up alcohol. While yes, all of these things will dramatically increase your ability to take stress in stride, the mere thought of pursuing any one-much less all-of these goals is stressful. How will you begin? How will you keep going? Yikes.

There is a simpler way. You can choose just one moderate lifestyle change. That's all it takes to get you on the road to feeling better. Once you master one easy change and it becomes second nature, you can use the energy and increased vitality you've created from that first step and put it toward making another tweak. It's not a quick fix, but it's a doable fix. And that's the very best kind of change.

If you want to start getting a grip on your stress levels, commit to just one of the following list of 8 healthy behaviors. Sticking to even one of them can help you feel better instantly.

Which one should you choose? Whichever feels the easiest, whichever you feel will offer you the greatest benefit, or whichever is calling you. There is no one right answer.

1. Get a full night of sleep on most nights.
Ideally you'd be in bed by 10 and sleep for 8 hours every night-sleep regulates your hormone levels, refreshes your mind and promotes clearer thinking, and gives the body a chance to repair and restore itself. But some days there just aren't 8 hours to spare. Make it your goal to prioritize sleep on most nights, giving yourself some wiggle room to stay up late once in awhile. As much as possible, try to get into a routine of going to sleep and awakening at the same time each night and morning and notice how your energy and clarity rise.

2. Get exercise 4 days a week.
Few people can hit the gym every day. Instead, aim to workout more days per week than you skip it. If formal exercise isn't for you, opt for doing something active (walking to work, playing tag with the kids) 5 or 6 days a week. You'll sleep better, your digestion will hum, and your body won't feel so creaky.

3. Eat a home-cooked meal every day.
Food nourishes the soul as much as the stomach. When you eat out, you are not only more likely to eat less healthfully and consume more calories, you're also losing the benefit of having someone who loves you (this includes you) prepare your food for you. Eating more home cooked food will keep you grounded and healthy.

4. Schedule some quiet time (without your mobile).
The busier you are, the more you need time to do nothing. Silence gives you time to digest the day's events and to hear your true thoughts and feelings. Vegging in front of the TV doesn't count. Neither does checking your email on your phone. Dedicate 10 minutes a day to just be.

5. Stay hydrated.
Even mild dehydration can cause fatigue and brain fog. Thirst can also be misinterpreted as hunger and trigger a raid on the leftover pastries in the office kitchen-which in turn causes a blood sugar spike and subsequent crash. Start each morning with a big glass of water and stay on top of your game by always having a glass of water at the ready.

6. Play with your friends and family regularly.
Play boosts creativity, fun and levity-all great antidotes to stress. Doing it with people you love boosts your connection and support system. Study after study has found that people with strong social networks are happier and healthier for longer than people without. So find a way to invest in your relationships-it will pay you back in myriad ways.

7. Cut back on caffeinated beverages.
Caffeine may make you feel mentally sharp, but it eats away at your well-being in important ways. First, even moderate caffeine intake can make it harder to sleep at night, and poor sleep is a major culprit in feeling fuzzy and blah. Caffeine is also dehydrating. Get mindful of how much caffeine you consume and choose your beverages with care. Avoid soda as much as possible and try half decaf if you really need that coffee fix. Better yet, do you really need another cup of coffee, or could you take a 5-minute walk around the office or outside and get the same result with less downside?

8. Find a manageable way to give back to your community.
You don't need to single-handedly save the world. But the more connected you feel to the community around you, the more resilient you'll be in the face of stress. Is there some simple way you can get involved in something outside the walls of your home and office? Finding a meaningful activity that you enjoy can sustain you when times get tough.

So take the first step to getting your Mojo back and choose just one of these moderate lifestyle changes. It is all you need to start increasing your energy... and that energy will be the very next step in making even more healthy changes!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=James_DiMaio

8 Simple Ways to Nip Stress in the Bud

Cost Justification of Vehicle Wraps

by MIKE REESE on JUNE 19, 2012

Can you afford vehicle wraps? Maybe the better question to ask is, can you afford not to have them?

After studying the cost of advertising in the Yellow Pages, I have sometimes advised customers to reduce the amount of advertising dollars they’re spending in the Yellow Pages and to put that money into a vehicle wrap that can last them three to five years.

In other words, their cost for a one-year ad in the Yellow Pages would pay for vehicle graphics, which would last for three to five years. Additionally, they would get more impressions than they could imagine — and more than the Yellow Pages could generate.

In a previous blog post, I talked about how you can get 700 – 1,000 impressions per mile that you drive in your community, depending on its size and demographics. The more you drive your vehicle, the lower your cost per impression, because you’re receiving so many impressions day after day, month after month, year after year.

When you look at your advertising costs out there, the cost of having a wrap done is very small in comparison to some other avenues of advertising for the amount of impressions that you get. A wrap can cost anywhere between $1,800 and $4,000 — depending on the type of vehicle you are wrapping. Total price depends on the square footage of the part to be wrapped, size of the vehicle, and the difficulty level of wrapping the vehicle.

So let’s say you get a $2,500 vehicle wrap, and that wrap stays on your car for three years. That works out to $833 per year, or $69.14 per month. (Let’s round that up to $70. You’ll see why in a second.)

If you drive your car five days a week, 20 days per month (and generally, these vehicles are driven much more than that, so this is a conservative estimate), for 10 miles per day, that means you’ll have at least 7,000 people who see your vehicle each day.

Five days of driving per week, and that’s 35,000 impressions. Multiply that by four weeks per month, and you’re at 140,000 impressions.

$70 divided by 140,000 impressions equals $.0005 per impression, or five-hundredths of a cent.

Where are you going to find another advertising channel that can do that for such a low cost?

And even with one vehicle wrapped, people will get the impression that you have more than one around. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gotten calls from customers, telling me “We’ve seen your trucks everywhere.”

I have only the one truck that has been wrapped, but people think I have an entire fleet. So believe me when I tell you that vehicle wraps have been a real boon to my SIGNARAMA store, and have helped me become one of the leading vehicle graphics experts in the area.

If you’re interested in learning more about vehicle wraps, talk to one of SIGNARAMA’s knowledgeable staff for more information on how vehicle wraps can help you market your business just by driving around. For more information, just contact your local SIGNARAMA store for a quote or with any questions you may have.

Article Source: http://blog.signarama.com/cost-justification-of-vehicle-wraps/

Cost Justification of Vehicle Wraps

Common Signage Terms

Have you ever dealt with a vendor who made you feel dumb…someone who peppered his speech with terms that were foreign to you? That can be a problem in many industries, as those in them feel very comfortable using terminology that sounds like Chinese to the rest of us.

 The sign industry is not immune to this situation, so in the interest of combating it, we plan to regularly provide a glossary of some of our commonly used terms. We are well aware that having educated customers really helps us do our jobs better.

Here are a few definitions to get us started:

 ADA Signage—ADA stands for Americans with Disabilities Act, a measure passed in 1990 that created specific standards and regulations regarding accessibility, signage, and more. Proper ADA signage includes parking signs, exit signs, bathroom signs and braille signs.

  
Dimensional Letters--- 3D letters and numbers, made from a variety of materials from foam to solid metals.
 

Monument Signs—A monument sign usually features a company’s name and logo, and stands alone in a highly visible location near the entrance.

 

Vinyl Signs—A petroleum-based material, vinyl is affordable and often used in making signs. Vinyl banners are very popular, cut vinyl lettering is a common application, and other types of vinyl signs are all over the place.

 We work hard to ensure we don’t talk over customers’ heads, but if you ever feel lost, please stop us and ask for an “English” translation.

 

Common Signage Terms

Messaging with Decals

When you think about getting your message out using decals, what do you envision? If you’re like
most people, you probably believe you’re limited to small decal stickers—but you’d be wrong. We can provide you with a variety of decal options that will enhance the way you communicate with current and potential clients and differentiate your business from the competition.

 We invite you to consider:

• Bumper stickers
• Window decals
• Floor graphics
• Wall decals
• Rear window decals
• Custom decals

 We’ll work with you to bring your creative ideas to life, using our world of shapes, materials, sizes, colors, typestyles/fonts and special features. We use state-of-the-art equipment to produce decals that are small enough to put in sticker books and large enough to serve as artwork on entire walls.

In addition to choosing your custom look, you also have options when it comes to adhesion, since offer a wide range of vinyl material with differing grades. Need a decal that can be easily removed? You’ll want a low-tack sticker. Prefer a floor decal that can withstand heavy traffic? You’ll need a high-tack sticker.

If you have a decal dream, we can probably make it come true—even printing decals to use on brick walls that look like they’re painted on! We look forward to assisting you with all your decal needs.

Messaging with Decals

Take A Risk, Move Out Of Your Comfort Zone

By Dave Kahle

What sets the exceptional professional apart from the average? Regardless of what the profession, from sales to psychiatry, the exceptional professionals share certain characteristics. Here's one: The propensity to take risks.

Now, don't get the wrong idea. We're not talking about skydiving, nor are we talking about sinking your life savings in the new start up. We're talking about taking risks that force you to move out of your comfort zones on the job -- risks that will stimulate you to stretch yourself, to become more competent, to gain new skills, to expand your abilities and, maybe, in so doing, help you become more effective and more efficient.

Talk to someone in your profession who has become exceptionally successful. Ask him/her about the risks they have taken in their professional lives. You'll find that almost every successful professional has stretched himself/herself beyond comfort zones a number of different times. It's one of the characteristics of the highly successful professional.

If you can build an inclination to take these kinds of risks into your mindset, you'll grow faster and further than if you remain safely inside of your comfort zones.

 Everyday Risks
 As a salesperson, when you call on a different type of customer than that with which you have become comfortable, you take a risk. For example, when you call on the CEO instead of the marketing manager or production supervisor, you've stepped out of your comfort zone and taken a risk. When you choose a new way to make a presentation, or a new way to contact your clients you are taking a risk.

 When you chose to question and then change some long-entrenched habit, you are taking a risk. When you expand your efforts in any direction that calls for you to stretch and attempt something new, you are taking a risk.

 Increase Self-Assurance
 Some of those risks will turn out well, others will become failures. Regardless, the simple act of trying something different and new will help you. You'll gain confidence in your abilities and you'll learn from both your successes as well as your failures. Your life will expand, you'll grow wiser and you'll become more successful. That is the sure payoff for every risk thoughtfully taken.

 Source: Dave Kahle is a world-class speaker who has presented in 41 states and six countries. He has published more than 1,000 articles, and six books in 10 languages, as well as numerous multi-media training programs. 

www.sdsar.com

Take A Risk, Move Out Of Your Comfort Zone

3 Ways to Get in Touch With Your Creative Side

By Susan Kersley

Although everyone has a creative side, (known as your 'right brain'), and a logical side, (known as your 'left brain'), some people find it a challenge to get in touch with their creative side because they are conditioned to remain on a path which is conventional and proven.

Being creative means being prepared to think 'outside the box' and think of new and original ways to do things.

You may wonder how you could get in touch with your creative side. Here are three ways to do this:

1. Relax 
When you want to be creative it's very important to release any tension from your body so that your mind can be open to new experiences and not be pre-occupied with dealing with tension or stress. It's possible to relax very quickly if you take three or four deep breaths while consciously thinking to yourself that as you breathe out you are releasing tension and as you breathe in you are taking in relaxation. In your relaxed state pick up a pen and start to write down all the potential ways forward you could take to achieve what you want. You might instead find that you would like to use paints instead or a musical instrument to express your new found creativity and explore where it leads you.

2. Visualize 
Once you are fully relaxed begin to think about the project you are attempting to complete and allow your mind to wander over various possibilities rather than immediately going for the obvious logical way to do it. Close your eyes ask yourself what ways there might be to solve or succeed with your project and notice the scenarios which appear in your mind as you do this. You may notice pictures sounds or emotions or a combination of all three. Then imagine yourself moving into the scenario you are thinking about and in that way discover for yourself what might or might not work for you and others. While you consider each possibility and visualize or daydream as if you were already there, you can discover what other people might or might not be doing in relation to you if what you imagine actually happened, and what they are saying to you and others. Be aware of any emotions that come up for you when you visit the various scenarios. Keep a notebook handy to jot down your experiences and insights as a result of your visualization.

3. Experiment 
It's easy to dismiss unusual or different solutions which you haven't tried before but it's important to be prepared to experiment and play with them. Sometimes what is needed is just doing anything even if you are uncertain of the potential outcome. People often think of all the possible ways that something won't work and as a result dismiss the idea of trying as an experiment to see what would happen. The reality is that we can't foretell the future however much we'd like to, so it's useful to go forward into it in a creative and exciting new way.

Source: Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Susan_Kersley  

www.sdsar.com

3 Ways to Get in Touch With Your Creative Side