Dare to Self Improve

One of the biggest keys to eliminating stress for me, is having a pretty regular routine. When there are certain tasks that I know MUST GET DONE everyday, I have them “built in” to my routine. Just as we don’t stress out about brushing our teeth, showering, or eating lunch, I never have to worry about writing a post on Today.com, posting on yourdailyremedy.com, or working out. They’re just a natural, unconsciously scheduled part of everyday.

The beauty of including these must-do activities into my routine, is that I waste ZERO time dwelling or thinking about the act of actually doing them. For example, I go to the gym straight from work. If I were to go home first, I know I would waste time puttering around and contemplate not going. The best way for me to get it done without thinking about it too much, is to schedule it immediately after something else, with no break.

Schedule your must-do tasks into your routine, and you’ll no longer have to worry about them -> LOWER STRESS!

It seems like most people I encounter would admit that they feel over stressed. I have had very temporary bouts of stress, and it’s terrible. However, for the most part, I am pretty much NEVER stressed out. In fact, some of my stressed out friends maintain that I’m too cavalier about everything, but I strongly disagree.

How can I be TOO cavalier if I’m feeling soooo much better than my stressed out friends?

Stress directly contributes to a whole slew of health problems including (but not limited to) obesity, high blood pressure, lowered immune response, and (god forbid) hair loss!

So if stress is so bad for us, why do we do it? Well, most people would argue that it’s not a conscious choice. I would agree with that, however you CAN make a conscious choice to become stress-resistant!

And hence we start a new little discussion!

So just a few minutes ago, I was reading a blog I sort of stumbled upon about the benefits of drinking tea. I was already aware of the numerous health benefits different teas offer, but I wanted to see if I could learn anything more. I saw a link that said, “Why should I drink green tea over coffee!”

The brief post made only one point. Something to the effect of, “your body does not know how to digest the acid in coffee and it is cosequently stored in your midsection as bellyfat.” HUH?

Ok, the point of the article is true: yes, green tea is better for weight loss than coffee, but the reason she offers is completely baseless and unproven. The statement that your body stores unkown acids as bodyfat, specifically MIDSECTION bodyfat is not only untrue, but the author offers no reasoning behind it.

Just goes to show, make sure you consult multiple sources AND credible sources when scouring the internet for information.

I really just want to take a moment and encourage everybody to get involved in some kind of charitable effort. We make excuses all the time about not having time etc etc etc, but if you really think about the people you are helping, and the dire straights they are in that we have the power to help, it makes you realize that our excuses are not good enough. It’s also a tremendously fulfilling feeling knowing that your efforts are really making a difference in somebody’s LIFE!

So for those of you in the San Diego are who want to get involved in my Relay for Life, you can start a team at www.relayforlife.org/sandiegodowntownca

This is one of the few charitable events too, where it doesn’t even feel like work or effort! It’s really fun hanging out downtown at the beautiful Embarcadero, and there’s games, activities, live music, and movies all day and night!

For those of you not in San Diego who still want to get involved in Relay For Life, you can find one locally at www.relayforlife.org.

Get involved and have fun!

So what is this charity that I’m involved with? Well, as I’ve mentioned, it’s called the Relay for Life and it’s an annual event (by location) sponsorted by the American Cancer Society. It turns out, Relay is actually the single biggest fundraising event IN THE WORLD! Basically, it’s an event put on by different cities/areas etc. (there’s 5,000 in the U.S. alone) to raise money to fight cancer, increase cancer awareness, and fund research.

The event itself is super fun! It’s comprised of a bunch of teams who, at any given time, have at least one person walking around a track. In the meantime, there’s food, fun, games, and activities related to cancer. The whole even lasts for 24 hours, which means if you’ve stayed the whole time, you’re pretty darn tired.

There’s so much more I could tell you, so I’m going to link a post I recently wrote on my personal blog that really dives in explaining why I’m involved as well as has links to my crazy Relay for Life adventures the last two years.

Enjoy! Check it out here!

Back when I was in the Key Club, I was really good about going to the weekley lunchtime meetings, but, I never participated in anything that took “outside of school time.” It wasn’t even as if I had a lot of other stuff going on. I was just lazy.

I did the minimum amount of work in order to have another accolaid on my college resume. Basically, I joined the Key Club for selfish reasons.

Things are totally different now. I have a LOT more going on outside of my 9-5 job,and have decided to make a huge commitment to the San Diego Relay for Life. This time though, things are different. There is no college application to dress up with community service. In fact, no job, college, or anyone will care if I list my participation.

The time commitment is also much more than there was in the Key Club. So what has changed in me that I’ve decided to become more involved and less selfish? I’ll talk more about the Relay for Life tomorrow, and also how you can get involved in your area!

In high school, I was a “member” of a group called the “Key Club.” Basically, it was a group that would get together and do community service activities.

Yes I was officially a member, but I was a worthless member. I did pretty much nothing in that group, but I still got to put it on my college resume.

Recently though, I’ve become involved in another charity. This time though, I’m doing it differently. Not only am I going to the meetings and contributing, but I’m taking a leadership role!

So why am I doing a 180 and treating this time completely different than my “faux” charity efforts in high school? Well, a big reason is the actual gratification and FULLFILLMENT that comes with giving something of yourself and asking for nothing in return.

I’ll talk more about this charity tomorrow!

When it came time to asking for a girl’s phone number, I used to always chicken out. The interactions always ended great because I never had to “put myself out there” and express any interest! BUT, everything thereafter was terribly unfullfilling.

Then I realized I had nothing to lose. If I don’t ask for her number, I’ll probably never see her again. If I DO and for some reason she says “no”, the outcome is still the same…I’ll never see her again. BUT, if we exchange numbers, then there is always the possibility for something GREAT!

This last Sunday, I was at a sports bar by myself, watching my beloved (yet terrible) Kansas City Chiefs play. I started talking to a very cute girl who was also a Chiefs fan. We bantered all morning, but nothing particularly notable, flirty, or anything like that. When it was time for me to leave, I knew I had to try and get her number. The old me would have just said, “Nice to meet you!” and been off.

Suffice to say, I got her number and we (hopefully) will be watching the Chiefs game together next week!

Continuing…

Me: “Hey, do you mind if I ask you a quick question? My friends and I are taking a big trip next year and are debating between going to England, watching Wimbledon, then doing a mini European tour, or going to South Africa, seeing the world cup, and doing a little tour there”

Boom! I was in. I’m a pretty good conversationalist, so usually I just need a toe in to get going. I new she was “in to me” because she was playing with her hair. Social AWARENESS!

Anyways, I got her number (this was on Wednesday) and hopefully I’ll go out with her this week (she was out of town this weekend, until Tuesday so nothing has happened as of yet).

This just reiterates the fact the YOU HAVE TO GO FOR IT, and power through your nerves. On the surface, I didn’t want to talk to her, and it would have been so easy NOT to, but deep down, I REALLY wanted to talk to her! I did, and now I’m excited about the possibility of going out with a girl I now have a mondo crush on!

I’ve got another post about “going for it” tomorrow.

Continuing with yesterdays story:

I was sitting in my favorite coffee shop reading “Anna Karenina.” I like coffee shops because there’s always a little bustle around, plus being around people is a nice “reading break” every few minutes when I look up to give my eyes a rest. This time however, when I looked up from reading, I saw an extremely cute girl sitting at a nearby table.

I tried to convince myself: “Ah Arun, she’s not THAT cute. You don’t have to talk to her!”

Then she moved down to sit at the couch next to me. Yes, she really was “that cute” and CUTER! Now I was having trouble reading because I was distracted and nervous. I needed to talk to her! So I piped up and interrupted her studying.

I’ll recount the gist of the conversation tomorrow, but being that this is a self improvement blog, I want to suggest that you take activities that you could otherwise do at home by yourself, and go and do them where there are people around! You never know who you’ll meet and how different your night will be!