Hmmmmmm

I have been thinking all week about what to write in today's blog. But I have been so busy that nothing funny or eventful has happened. So here are some of the ideas that flew threw my head this week:

• It's fall and I LOVE fall and everything that means. I have been eating pumpkin food and lattes like crazy. 

• I have been so busy I can't even see straight and woke up at 9am today (really late for me)

• My dogs are the most amazing creatures and the best buds a person could have

• I really don't have time to exercise, but I guess I can squeeze a 30 minute power work out

• I finished my last grad school class - EEEEEKKKKKKKKKK

• I'm supposed to do a thesis now???

• Cooking food and meals to eat healthy and be prepared is exhausting, but very worth it

• I have great friends

• I am so blessed to be able to go visit my college friend Kendra in Pittsburg next week and run a half marathon with my older brother (his first) in Maryland and be with my younger brother around his birthday and make him a cake :)

• My mom is coming to visit this upcoming weekend and I am excited to hang out with her

• Iowa plays Minnesota in football. Rivals!!

• I miss Truman (my college) like crazy every fall because that was my favorite time. Going back to school, settling in, and training for long races by running every square mile of that town from corn fields to down town

• I have mice living in my house that I do not appreciate. I am all about building community and finding a safe place to live, but NOT in my house

• I had the great fortune to discuss future career opportunities for myself yesterday and am excited to move forward with some of those

• I saw two deer walking through my neighborhood while out on a walk with my pups this morning

• I could go on and on

But the point is. SLOW DOWN. I feel like my life is going 1,000 miles per hour right now and what I really want is to sit outside and look at the pretty trees and drink coffee with a scarf and jacket on.

Take time to look at the trees, listen to the birds, and think about all the awesome things in your life. It's far better than thinking about all the negatives and the stress. 

It's more than just football........

Iowa Hawkeyes vs Northern Iowa Panthers.

My mom and brother are graduates of UNI and my younger brother is currently at Iowa. But this post is not about education, it is about football!! Disclaimer - I was never a fan....until recently.  For some reason this summer I found myself saying...when is it football season?? What??? That is not like me at all.  But after this weekend I think I have figured out why I enjoy it. 

This is the third year I have gone to an Iowa game and each one has been a different experience.  The past couple of years I have woken up at 4am to drive there and tailgate.  Play some lawn games, eat some great food and people watch.  This year the game was a little later and there was no tailgating fun.  However, we walked through all the different parking lots and observed people and behavior.  

 But what I realized is....it's more than just football.  It's about being a part of something, a group, being loyal and connected.

And of course it's about wearing underwear and boots carrying an American flag.

How cool when you even find someone wearing the same outfit as you?? Hahahaha. 

 Then you go into the stadium and it's an amazing environment with the energy and excitement and you can't help but be pumped up!!!

And then they play "back in black" and you get goosebumps when it's 90 degrees outside.

But the overall point is about being a part of something. It does not have to be football, but are you a part of a group? Church, book club, knitting club, volunteer group, etc.  We are human beings and we need to be connected.  

Here are a couple articles to spark your thinking. 

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/ulterior-motives/201203/it-is-motivating-belong-group

http://experiencelife.com/newsflashes/the-health-benefits-of-volunteering/

Take some time this week to think about groups you are a part of and how that affects your life and if you are not currently a member of a group - START ONE!!! 

Tough Mudder

This last weekend I went to Cascade, Wisconsin for my third Tough Mudder event. I did my first one last summer and it was by far one of the most challenging athletic events I have participated in. This one was no different.

The weather was perfect. Around 50 degrees at the start and maybe 70 when we finished. The course was great and we were rocking! 

There is nothing like finishing a Tough Mudder. 

Jessie went all the way across the Funky Monkey monkey bars....




AND I conquered my nemesis - EVEREST. A skateboard type ramp that you have to sprint up and hope someone grabs your hands and then you swing your feet up and they pull you over. In Wisconsin last year it took me 4 times and in Minnesota in May the rain and mud and short runway made it so I had to eventually just walk around. So this was redemption - 1st time!!! It was amazing. 

I have to say....it was a different experience this time because it was just the two of us. At both of the previous Tough Mudder events, we had friends to help us on obstacles. But this time we got ourselves over the huge 10-12 foot Berlin walls without help and conquered our events. 

But what I wanted to focus this blog post on is my experience at Culver's. When in Wisconsin..you eat at Culver's! We stopped Saturday night and the teenage staff there was awesome. When was the last time you saw teenagers work really hard, be very nice and accomodating, and go out of their way to assist you? They were so nice and helpful we decided to stop on the way back home. The manager at that time made sure the Green Bay (yuck) game was on for the customers, a girl came around to our table and asked if we needed refills, and another girl was sweeping the floor. I sat there in shock at how hard these kids were working. What is sad is you really don't see this very often anymore. I went right home and sent them a comment card to show my appreciation. 

I found this blog post on the web and it is exactly what I'm talking about from my experience at Culver's. It is from "Motivation Shots from the Doc" 


Unfortunately, most of us have grown up in a negative culture where it’s much easier to tell people what they did wrong rather than praising them when they succeed.
Research in the United States found that 65% of employees received no recognition for good work in the past year.  Similar research in other countries of the world shows comparable results.
Other research has shown that the number one reason people leave their job, and customers take their business elsewhere, is that they don’t feel appreciated.
And if you think about it; many people leave their partners for the very same reason!
If customer’s leave an interaction with you or one of your team feeling better than they did before, then they’re much more likely to:

• Come back
• Recommend you to other people
• Spend more with you.

If one of your team feels better after an interaction with you then they’re much more likely to pass that feeling onto a customer.
“The way you treat your staff is the way they’ll treat your customers” – Karl Albrecht
If you give five positive comments to one negative comment to the other people in your life, then you’ll have:

1. More happy customers
2. A workplace that’s more productive and more fun
3. More friends
4. Better relationships
5. A healthier, happier and longer life

Remember – “Hand out warm glows, not dampeners.”

Next time you see or experience something positive, tell them!! The benefits will far outweigh the time it took you.

Have a great week and as always, if you like my blog, please do me the honor of sharing with your friends and family.

Lindsey

List on a Stick

So people always ask me "which fair is better - Iowa or Minnesota?"  I always say "the Iowa fair is more about the fair with some eating and the Minnesota fair is about the eating with some fair." 

As I prepared for eating at the Minnesota fair, I of course recruited friends. More friends = more food to eat. So I ended up with 3 friends for a total of 4 people to eat.  We decided that we should make a list because there were so many good foods. Then I had a brilliant idea. 


LIST ON A STICK. Everything you eat at the fair is on a stick, why not our list? So our food list went onto a stick.

Now I felt like I was ready. 

And we brought food stickers to put on when we ate a food.  Since there was a lot of sharing happening, you could only trade out one of your foods for something else if approved by the group. The best part of "list on a stick" was the ability to put it up in the air if you lost your friend and they could see you. Simply brilliant. And who doesn't love stickers?

Of course I started with turkey to go. No bun - they give you extra meat. Protein to start me off before grease, sugar, and fat.

Here are a few more pics for fun that chronicles the food. 

The final picture shows how many foods we ate. Now you might start to think ..... these girls are sick. Their goal is to eat as much as possible? Not necessarily...but there was so much good food to eat. Poutin (fries, melted cheese curds, gravy), turkey, cheese curds, breakfast lollipop, deep fried slider, fudge puppy, bacon ice cream, cookies, deep fried Oreo's, just to name a few.

The point of today's blog is not about fair food, but about prioritizing and organizing. I used to be an incredible list maker and for some reason I really got stuff done. Not everyone operates this way. But man...we felt accomplished when we (almost) completed our list. 

Below is a link to an article about why lists help us. 

I think I'm going to start list making again. How about you?

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101056819

As always, have a great week. And if you enjoy my blog, please do me the honor of passing it on to your friends and family.

Lindsey

Grass isn't always greener

I was at a physical therapy appointment the other day.

Here's a quick "small world" story on how I got to this particular clinic.

A couple years ago my mom and dad went to a physical therapy at a clinic in Marshalltown, Iowa, my mom chats up her physical therapist. 

• Where did you go to college? (Truman State University)
• No way, so did my daughter. What year did you graduate? (2006)
• No way, same year as my daughter. What program were you in? (Exercise science)
• No way, same as my daughter.
• Did you know her? (I don't think so)
• No, you don't remember...cool...I will ask her.

So my mom relays the conversation to me and I say "I think I remember having classes with him." Fast forward to last year and my mom's pt Grant and his wife (my dad's PT) are moving to the Twin Cities to start a physical therapy business. Fast forward to now and I go there for physical therapy as well. Small world. 

Anyway, I am in the clinic doing a challenging exercise and I hear a song coming from next door. There happens to be a custom car shop where many of the Minnesota Vikings go to get their cars all tricked out. The song has these lyrics....

"The grass isn't always greener on the other side, it's green where you water it."

10 seconds to guess the song.

I say to Grant, "isn't that funny...they are playing Justin Bieber next door?" He laughs and I say "it's even better that I know that song" And then I picture a MN Viking driving their newly tricked out car jamming to Justin Bieber. Hilarious visual. Pause and picture it :)

Now before you make fun of me for liking that song, that particular lyric has some darn good meaning. 

"The grass isn't always greener on the other side, it's green where you water it."

Don't we always want what we can't have? Or what we don't have at the moment? 

• More money
• More friends
• Better job
• Better house
• Better car
• More vacation
• More time
• Etc
• Etc
• Etc
• Etc
• ETC

But instead, let's take time to think about what we do have and how to make it better. It can be challenging, but so rewarding. 

I have been blessed with so many things in my life. Here are just a few. 

• Great family, friends, co-workers, job, clients
• I had the opportunity to go get an education
• I have a roof over my head
• I have two of the greatest dogs
• I can travel and compete in running and crazy events
• I have a working vehicle
• The sun is shining today
• I live in Minnesota (yes I love MN)
• I wear a tutu to run in
• My list could go on and on. I have green grass.

I recently had a friend make a list of 58 things she was proud of herself for. Amazing what items came up on her list. Her grass just got greener.

Go make YOUR grass greener. 

In case you want to hear the whole song, here it is. Enjoy.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4em3LKQCAQ Feel free to start at 1:30 and skip the beginning. 

Have a great week and if you enjoy my blog, please do me the honor and pass it on to your friends and family.

Lindsey

Deep Fried Butter

I draw the line. Deep fried butter. I refuse to eat it. There is nothing in this world that sounds more unhealthy (and I am even on the good side of butter). I'm at the Iowa State Fair - the best one in the country. Where else would you find such a crazy food item?

I enjoyed many delicious food at the state fair.

• pork chop on a stick
• 1 mini donut
• half of a breakfast sandwhich (no bun)
• a few bites of biscuits and gravy
• half a double bacon wrapped corn dog - yum
• half a hot beef sundae (mashed potatoes, hot beef and gravy, cheese)
• a few bites of a "Nothing Spared Fair Square" (rice krispy treat on a stick with potato chips, pretzels, M&M's, and Oreo's)
• a few bites of a pulled pork sandwich (no bun)
• about 5 mini choclate chip cookies (but no bucket)
• and then.......THE DEEP FRIED BUTTER
• tons and tons and tons and tons of water
• tons and tons of Diet Coke

The deep fried butter must have been inspired by the butter cow and the yearly butter "statues." This year is Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs. 

My relationship with food has evolved over many years. I remember portioning out my SnackWell's mini choc chip cookies into small containers but then adding about 10 cookies more than the serving size (but those don't count!) In college I ate a lot of hot pockets and whole wheat bagels. Most recently I have moved towards more protein, fewer carbs, very little wheat products, a little dairy, and lots of vegetables. 

I was reading the book "Co-Active Coaching" the other day and it talked about the catchy word "balance." I have been especially interested in helping people achieve "balance" and incorporating it in my life. I feel like I have a pretty good balance between work and life. But the question is: do we ever fully achieve "balance?" This book makes the point that we work towards it on a continuum. Are we closer to balance or farther away?

I feel closer to balance in my relationship with food now more than I ever have. Protein makes me feel full, carbs make me feel crappy, healthy fats like avocado, nuts, and oils are awesome, and vegetables can actually be delicious.  Approaching the fair I didn't want to eat tons and tons, but I wanted to experience it. My solution: share, eat a little bit of a lot of things, and drink a TON of water. Did I also mention we walked almost 20 miles while there?

I do not believe in depriving myself of food, even if it is not the healthiest. This is my balance with food.

Ask yourself, where am I on the continuum of balance? Closer or farther away? 

And yes, I did try the deep fried butter. Two bites.

Surprise

It was beautiful weather last Saturday and I enjoyed the evening at the Minnesota Stars soccer game. I go in, walk around, buy a Diet Coke (guilty pleasure) and notice a sign at a booth that says "sign up for the halftime challenge" I think to myself...I should sign up my friend because that would be be hilarious if her name got pulled. But just as soon as I had the thought, it passed. I ran into a client, chatted with her, and went back to my seat.

Great weather, good game, and then it's a few minutes before halftime and all of a sudden I hear my name called on the loudspeaker. "Lindsey Heiserman please report to the booth by the entrance a few minutes before halftime to participate in the challenge."  I knew what had just happened. My friend did to me exactly what I had thought about doing to her. By now she is cracking up, rolling with laughter, and causing a scene. 

I think to myself....

there's no way I'm doing this

this is stupid

I can't believe she put my name in

I'm not wearing the right shoes

what if I look dumb?

what if I lose?

how embarassing!!!!

no one knows me here...oh YES they do...my client is here

After some coaxing and encouragement, I get over it and decide that maybe it won't be that bad.

See for yourself...

In reality...it was really FUN!! Why had I been so uptight? The guy I competed against thought this was the best thing ever and was out there to have fun. So I took his cue and had a great time.

But the best part of the story is my friend. I'm pretty sure this made her day. So when was the last time you surprised your friend or your spouse or significant other? When did you call someone spontaneously? Or buy a card or plan a surprise day or evening?
Or when was the last time you volunteered and got out into the community?

I challenge you to go out and surprise someone and you might even surprise yourself in the process. 

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.  ~Leo Buscaglia


Have a great week.