On your way to creating the wealth and happiness you so desire? Have you forgotten to invite along your healthy body?

At Christmas this year I observed a great disparity of focus by people on their health. Some totally ignore it and eat and drink all that they can as if there is no tomorrow others are so health conscious that they focus on the exact portions, the constant assessment of the possible carcinogens contained, or what possible imbalance that ingesting that food may create. 

What both of these groups fail to realise is that what they think about, or what they say to themselves gives some very loud signals to their body.

 What you think really does matter.

Leanne owns a highly successful florist shop and in addition grows much of her own flowers organically. Every time I've spoken to her since we first met, Leanne has had a persistent dry cough, coupled with a sore throat. I made comment recently and she expressed concern that she only eats organic health foods and was concerned that even these may contain carcinogens. Of course she didn't smoke or drink alcohol. She'd been to many traditional and alternative health professions with no positive outcome. 

Leanne had a great approach to her business and its ability to touch the lives of those who experienced her arrangements. When I last visited her business and observed all the activity it became evident that a key member of her staff was most disrespectful of her and actively undermined her to the other staff. She was aware of this but was most hesitant to address the issue one on one. 

We discussed the issue and after some consideration Leanne observed that in a number of other areas she was unwilling to voice what it was that she felt in case she upset the other person. 

Her cough issue was that she just couldn't swallow the way things were and was afraid to speak up to address the core issue facing her. We discussed some options available to her in addressing her staff member issue and she agreed to "set things straight" before then end of the day, however uncomfortable. 

She called me yesterday to wish me a Merry Christmas and to arrange a time to connect next year and her cough had miraculously disappeared. 

Action: Enjoy your food and respectfully address issues in your business when you know action is required.

Avoid: Worrying about illness lest you invite it in and avoid putting things off lest they grow beyond what they should be. 

Working yourself to death.

Fred took over the thriving trucking business from his Father and Uncle about 15 years ago. He reached this point when his Uncle had a heart attack and as fortune, or misfortune, would have it he was between jobs as a concreter. Soit seemed the obvious thing to do at the time. 

The big problem was he had no real interest, enthusiasm or passion for the business. It was just a business, the means of making a living, but not having a life. 

One of Fred's daughters showed a great deal of promise as an athlete and Fred took up running. Why he still doesn't know, may be to connect with his daughter, may be to loose some weight and get fit as his doctor suggested. What ever the reason, he got fitter, lost some weight and it helped manage his anger at being tied to a business he wanted to run away from. 

Fred called me to discuss how he could best prepare the business for sale. At 45 he'd had a health scare which changed his perception about what he was doing and what he wanted to do. 

What happened to his loyalty to the "family business" or the years he'd spent building it into a small (in trucking terms), but highly profitable business? 

His changed view of his own mortality made him realise that he wanted to pursue his passion for fly fishing and making fly's. He had a well respected "hobby" business making flies and selling them on eBay and a couple of fishing related web sites to people all over the world. He also took friends and their family on fishing trips and was a regular on the local radio station on a Saturday morning. 

At our last meeting before the final negotiations with then new buyer he showed me a copy of some information he'd cut from a magazine 

In various surveys joggers were followed up over some 20 years to see what effect their jogging had on both their mortality and disease rate. 

It was found that people who took up jogging because of their fear of dying were many time more prone to dying of a heart attack than those who stayed an extra hour in bed. In actual fact these people were jogging themselves to death.

Fred has a new view on life, business and exercise. He's now walking because he loves it, he goes fishing every weekend as it's his passion and his health has never been better. 

Action: Enjoy exercise for the joy of it and work in a business that connects with your passion

Avoid: Exercising yourself into the grave and working yourself to death in a passionless business.

What kills us is our thinking 

All too often I come across people who perceive themselves as being successful but it's all a façade. An external persona built up for appearances to achieve an end where, when the chips are down, they would sooner not be. They dislike their time at work and can't wait till Friday. They dislike themselves for not doing something about making a change. They bottle this internal frustration and disappointment until something goes bang, (usually their heart) or the pain gets too bad. 

Action: Live a life you connect with, not one that meets someone else's perceptions of success.

Avoid: Working to achieve other people's goals for your supposed success