10 Tips to Handle Change

We all have to deal with change whether we like it or not. Yesterday, I posted HERE how I have some impending changes coming up that I'm not excited about. If you need to deal with an unexpected change (job loss, medical illness), or even a conscious decision to change (to lose weight, or quit watching TV) these steps will help you through the process.

 

1. Be Prepared – If you're losing your job or losing your home, you probably have some idea that change is happening. Use this time to update your resume, or save that extra money, cut down on unnecessary expenses and put off future travel or large purchase plans. People may call you lucky if you are prepared for this change, but really it was your preparedness meeting opportunity. Wouldn't it be great if you got a new job, or sold your home before you lost it? Likewise, if you are making a conscious decision to change by going on a diet or quitting smoking – it helps to be prepared. This could involve rearranging your cupboards and donating all fattening snacks and foods that will sabotage your diet efforts. If you want to quit watching TV, disconnect it and move it out of the room. If you want to quit smoking, get some substitute to satisfy your oral and tactile senses – like gum, a toothpick to chew on, or a fake cigarette to hold..
2. Find Your Purpose – One of the first things to do when you are faced with change is to consider your alternatives. Figure out why you do what you do. What is the motivation behind your job? Or where you live? Why will you tolerate the change? Do you have to? Do the benefits of accepting the change outweigh other options? For example, I work for the State at a lower pay because I think its worth more vacation time, flexible work hours and I thought job security.

If the change has been forced on you, figure out your best choices and follow through with a plan that meets your goals in life. If you are told by your Dr. to quit smoking, consider all the cost savings and health benefits. If you want to lose weight, pull out some old clothes you outgrew when you gained weight and make it your goal to fit in them again.

3. Seek To Understand – what will the new change mean? Find out where the official rules or policy are that govern your new situation. What exactly do you have to change to comply? If its important, find out why the situation happened so you can avoid having it happen again. If the situation is within your control, educate yourself so you can prevent it from happening again. Remove yourself from the temptation if your change is a result of lack of self control – spending too much money, smoking cigarettes, and eating too much food can easily be stopped with will power. Try to understand what triggers or root causes you are having trouble with, and seek to overcome them.
4. Find Support from others in the same situation – If you can't do it all by yourself, get together with others who will understand your dilemma. Either in person, or in online forums you can find a support system to share ideas, solutions, struggles and situations. Hopefully, this will make you realize its not that bad and others have overcome greater obstacles and you can too. Others will have tips and experiences on how they successfully handled the new situation. It will be motivating to hear success stories of how people got out of debt, or quit smoking, or lost weight or got a new job.
5. Let Go – Once the change is taking place, break the attachment to the previous situation. Quit putting yourself in the situation where you crave what used to be - its over. Change your routine so you don't miss the past routine. And most important, quit complaining about the change. Now. Put it out of your head and move on.
6. Acceptance – This is an important step in the process, acceptance. Remember you can only control yourself. It is your attitude that will determine how the changed situation will affect you. Try to be like a duck in water, and let it slide off your back. If you are struggling with a diet or quitting watching TV, playing games on the internet or quitting smoking – you are in charge to convince yourself that you just can't do that anymore. Remember the SEED of Change (Sleep, Eat well, Exercise and Drink water) to help you stay strong during this time of acceptance.
7. Look for the Good – Soon you will have realized that this is the way its going to be now. This is the time to find the silver lining, or the good things about the change. Is your health better? Do you have more money in your pocket? Have you improved your time management skills? Have you learned new skills in your efforts to adapt? Think back and determine what is better now that things have changed, do you have more choices? I'm betting the answer is yes to a lot of these points.
8. Find Your Peace – One important thing is to take time and find your spiritual strength through this change whether it is through meditation, prayer, nature walks, solitary time, exercise, religion or other peaceful activity. This time of reflection is where you can strengthen your will power and convince yourself you're on the right path. Clear the clutter from your mind and find peace in your new situation.
9. Be Active – Do not stagnate, do something to deal with the new situation so it gets better. If you lost your job, find ANY job to keep busy. I'm lucky to have two part time gigs doing guest services for concert and sporting events. While the pay is poor, it is income and something to do. If I'm denied using my coupons at one store, I'll try shopping at a competitor to see if the process is easier. Fortunately, more stores are accepting competitor coupons so there are more choices to shop. If you crave a cigarette or a twinkie, get away and walk a bit to get your energy up. If you want to less screen time (PC or TV), pick up a book to read, or listen to a radio talk show, or better yet – engage in a social activity with others.
10. Help Others deal with the Change too – Once you have successfully mastered the change and adopted to embrace it as part of your life, its important to share your experiences with others who would benefit from your learning. Share it online, twitter, facebook, in a blog, in a meeting or at the park or grocery store. Let others see how you have successfully dealt with what you once thought was a terrible turn of events in your life. Offer solutions if sought, ideas, tips and encouragement to others who are struggling with the same change.

Change Is On The Way

A couple things are going on in my life that are about to change. I'm not too excited about either one, and both changes are out of my control.

 

One is the Florida State Budget that our new criminal governor Rick Scott is proposing will mean possibly a 5% pay cut (for pension contributions) for both DH and I, or our jobs could be eliminated in the 8% state worker reduction. Hopefully we're not one, or two of the 8700 out of 655,000 workers let go to help "balance the budget". There are a host of other proposals that affect our retirement but that's not my immediate concern since I'm a long way off from retiring (I hope). The sad thing is that the monetary compensation is so low for some staff that a 5% pay cut will put them below the Federal Poverty Guidelines and they'll be eligible for food stamps and other assistance (which will increase demand on state services). I'm hoping some genius in the math department of some University sues the State citing discrimination for these proposals and they get rejected. It happened before HERE.

 

Anyway, the other change that is coming is the upgrade of the Publix check out registers so they are more defined in coupon acceptance. It has been likened to Target registers, which are such a pain that most serious couponers won't shop there. From some comments on the web in forums, it appears some stores have already made the change. This change will create chaos at the registers when people use coupons that were previously okay to use, but now are refused by the machine. There will be a lot more "go backs" (abandoned carts that staff have to put back product on the shelves) from frustrated shoppers who just walk out. Granted this change will cut back fraudulent coupon use, and the smash and grabbers who clear the shelves of good deals, but it will mean more money comes out of my pocket because I'll be denied using as many coupons as possible.

 

Now, I know that these changes probably do not affect you, and you make be thinking they are minor and trivial and that there is nothing to do but just deal with it. I usually don't have drama in my life but these impending changes are stressin' me out. I need to deal with it. But How? How do you deal with things you just have to accept and have no input into, and they affect you daily?

 

Find out tomorrow with my 10 Tips to Handle Change.

#Publix Changes

My love affair with Publix is over, its moved onto the part of a relationship where there are some uncomfortable situations. My last three trips to Publix have sucked, and especially today. I walked away from the checkout and said forget it, I'm not shopping here.

 

I know things are changing and Publix tells us that the couponing has gotten out of hand. They are losing money, especially on honoring competitor coupons. Today I saw this sign: Attention Customers, Effective Sat 8/28/10 we will no longer accept competitor coupons from Albertsons, U Save, Save A Lot, and Whole Foods.  We will only accept, Aldi, Target, GFS, Sweetbay and Winn Dixie.

 

So at least I was warned, so I didn't even bother with pulling out my SAL coupon. But as luck would have it, there were 2 Thermacare on the shelf. That should have been a red flag. Whenever Thermacare is in stock it means the store believes the $5 off PQ requires 2 products, not one Thermacare. Anyway, I said I didn't want it then, but DH said NO WE DON"T WANT ANY OF IT. He was pissed, and called the store manager over to say we wouldn't be purchasing from their store any longer.

 

Anyway, we needed some fruit for making fruit salad and went to another store close to our house. I asked the store manager if I could use the $5 off $25 Save A Lot coupon and he said yes. But if there were a lot of other coupons they like to have that coupon used at the end. My order was $34 and I told him I didn't think it would be over $25 at the end. The young male cashier suggested we just use that coupon first, and the manager said "sure, that works" and walked away. I paid $0.79 and the dude complimented me on my great shop.

 

Thats the way it used to be and what my expectations are, to have a pleasant trip.

10 Lifestyle Changes

Here are 10 lifestyle changes you can make to lower your blood pressure and keep it down. For more detail see source HERE

1. Lose those extra pounds and watch your waistline

Blood pressure often increases as weight increases. Losing just 10 pounds can help reduce your blood pressure significantly. In general, the more weight you lose, the lower your blood pressure. Losing weight also makes any blood pressure medications you're taking more effective.

2. Exercise regularly

Regular physical activity — at least 30 to 60 minutes most days of the week — can lower your blood pressure by 4 to 9 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg). And it doesn't take long to see a difference. If you've been sedentary, increasing your activity can lower your blood pressure within just a few weeks.

3. Eat a healthy diet

Eating a diet that is rich in whole grains, fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy products and skimps on saturated fat and cholesterol can lower your blood pressure by up to 14 mm Hg.

4. Reduce sodium in your diet

Even a modest reduction in the sodium in your diet can reduce blood pressure by 2 to 8 mm Hg. And bigger cutbacks mean greater reductions in blood pressure.

5. Limit alcohol consumption

Alcohol can be both good and bad for your health. In small amounts, it can help prevent heart attacks and coronary artery disease and potentially lower your blood pressure by 2.5 to 4 mm Hg. But that protective effect is lost if you drink too much alcohol — generally more than one drink a day for women and more than two a day for men.

6. Avoid tobacco products and secondhand smoke

On top of all the other dangers of smoking, the nicotine in tobacco products can raise your blood pressure by 10 mm Hg or more for up to an hour after you smoke.

7. Cut back on caffeine

The role caffeine plays in blood pressure is still debatable. Drinking caffeinated beverages can temporarily cause a spike in your blood pressure. And some studies show that people who drink caffeine regularly have a higher average blood pressure, suggesting that caffeine might have a long-term impact. But other studies show you can develop a tolerance to caffeine so that it doesn't affect your blood pressure.
To see if caffeine raises your blood pressure, check your pressure within 30 minutes of drinking a cup of coffee or another caffeinated beverage you regularly drink. If your blood pressure increases by five to 10 points, you may be sensitive to the blood pressure raising effects of caffeine.

8. Reduce your stress

As with caffeine, the influence of stress on blood pressure isn't settled. Stress or anxiety can temporarily increase blood pressure.
You need to know what stresses you before you can try to reduce your stress. Take some time to think about what causes you to feel stressed, such as work, family, finances or illness. Once you know what's causing your stress, consider how you can eliminate or reduce stress.

9. Get regular health care

If you have high blood pressure, you may need to monitor your blood pressure at home, or use the monitor at Walgreens or Publix.

10. Get a support system

Supportive family and friends can help improve your health. They may encourage you to take care of yourself, drive you to the doctor's office or embark on an exercise program with you to keep your blood pressure low.