Ann Quasman's WomanTalkLive A more conscious conversation

Articles from the WomanTalk Live Experts – Week of February 13th

Check out the great articles and tips from the WomanTalk Live Experts this week:     

The Spark Factory: Creative Panic to Creative Power
Susan Bishop, Unlocked Box
Philosophizing about internal creativity saboteurs when a creative undertaking is NOT in front of you is a totally different ball game from confronting and navigating that same saboteur when an actual creative opportunity has presented itself…

Make a Smart Move:  Technology and Real Estate
Seth and Alyce Dailey
Wading through all of the real estate websites that are out there can make even the most technologically savvy person feel like a beginner again.  Not all websites are created equally…

WellPower: What Paula Deen Wishes She Knew About Diabetes
Kim Fabian, Director, The Maryland Metabolic Institute at Saint Agnes Hospital
When celebrity chef Paula Deen discovered she had diabetes, I don’t think anyone was very surprised. For years, she has touted and prepared tempting dishes loaded with fat and sugar. I’ll admit, some of her concoctions look great, but…

ToolBox TomGirl: A Respectable Receptacle Replacement
Jo Ellen Soesbee, CEO, Reliable Repairs
Once you have determined that it really IS the receptacle – let’s move on…

More Than Money: Fearless Foundation Action Plan – Budgets for Getting Out of Debt
Leonard Raskin, CEO, Raskin Global
The obvious reason to budget is to gain control over your expenses. What many people don’t know is that budgets are also one of the best ways to become debt free…

Relationship Recharge: Keep the Conversation Going
Lori and Bob Hollander, Relationships Work
Why is communication, the lifeblood of relationships, so difficult? A big part of the answer is that we interpret messages through filters…

Women in History: Did You Know?
The Maryland Women’s Heritage Center
Did you know that Mary McLeod Bethune…

The Spark Factory: Creative Panic to Creative Power

Susan Bishop

Philosophizing about internal creativity saboteurs when a creative undertaking is NOT in front of you is a totally different ball game from confronting and navigating that same saboteur when an actual creative opportunity has presented itself.

The reality is we can talk about our fears forever, but unless we put ourselves in fear-inducing creative situations and practice navigating the saboteur voices, we stay stuck. We miss chance after chance to take the next step toward developing saboteur navigation skills we can count on.

The very genuine responses to February’s Sandbox suggest that many of us spent at least some time staring our creativity saboteurs square in the face. Some may have even wondered if they’d ever be able to make the “I’M CREATIVE!” claim for real.

And this is great. It means we have the chance to take that next step – because:

If you felt any level of fear at all about the Sandbox (or any creative opportunity you’ve had recently), you took a risk.

You opened the door (no matter how far); you moved out of your comfort zone (if only by a step); you allowed yourself to go far enough to put your saboteurs on high alert: 

“Hey, GUYS! She’s about to stick her neck out!
Everyone to your posts! Stop her by whatever means necessary!!!
DO NOT LET HER MAKE A FOOL OF HERSELF.” 

Even those who contributed a comment – experienced some level of saboteur harassment.

The only difference is how much practice and skill a person has in navigating the saboteur onslaught. The reality is we’re all in the same boat.

And that does sound true, doesn’t it? Yet our human tendency to judge our insides by other people’s outsides means that, at times, we can feel like we’re the only ones who are scared.

So, it can help to know that even though the creativity saboteur singing in the practiced creative person’s ear may not be straight-up saying, “You’re not creative,” it is saying SOMETHING. And to move forward that person still has to navigate the fear. After all, any saboteur voice has the potential to steer us into the rocks, stopping us from taking life-enhancing, game-changing, goal-getting creative chances.

Shifting from panic around creativity (or whatever the emotion is for you) to power (the ability to move forward despite the saboteur) is one of the most important works of our lives. Sleeping within our inherently creative selves are tangible gifts of our creativity. Gifts so magnificent, they’re worth taking the next step. Starting now.

Engaging the Saboteur Week One: 

•  Ask someone you consider highly creative what fears she or he encounters when faced with a creative challenge, idea or project.
  
• Go to Idea Tango for a few of the common saboteur voices practiced creative people hear. 

To leveling the playing field,

Susan B.

Unlocked Box – coaching for risk-takers, box-breakers and wannabe’s.

Sign up for the eZine Guts at UnlockedBox.com and get the 10 Un-Rules of Creativity.

Make a Smart Move: Technology and Real Estate

Alyce and Seth Dailey

Technology changes fast these days.  It is hard to keep up with the ever-growing technologies that are out there.  In fact, our elementary age daughters seem to be even more technologically savvy than we are, demonstrating that they are the digital natives, and we are just the digital immigrants!

Wading through all of the real estate websites that are out there can make even the most technologically savvy person feel like a beginner again.  Not all websites are created equally!  Do you know what makes a search engine the SMART site to use?  Here are three criteria we use to evaluate some of the Internet search engines that are out there:

1.  Is the information up-to-date?  Buying SMART means that you are not a time waster.  So why would you waste time looking at outdated information?   Too many sites show properties that have already been sold or are no longer on the market.  This is unhelpful and a time waster.  You want a site that is going to give you the most current, up-to-date information so that you do not waste your time.
2.  Is the information comprehensive?  Buying SMART also means that you pay attention to the details.  Does the site tell you how many days the house has been on the market?  Are there photographs for you to browse?  Does the site reveal prior price adjustments?  These are all important details that a SMART buyer examines in the home buying process, and you need a site that makes these details readily available!
3.  Does the site increase your efficiency?  Once again, buying SMART means that you are efficient with your time.  Having the ability to save searches, to make notes on prospective houses and to communicate with your agent about the properties is another tool that makes your home buying process more efficient.  You want a site that allows you to go beyond browsing, and you need to be able to interact with the search engine as well as your agent in an efficient way.

We’ve come across a search tool that our clients tend to rave about.  Want a free account?
Just click here.

Committed to helping you Buy. Sell. Live. SMART,

Seth & Alyce

***

Whether you’re in the market now, will be soon, or are planning for the future, Seth & Alyce can help you Buy. Sell. Live. SMART.

Seth & Alyce Dailey are REALTORS with RE/MAX American Dream.   They help people buy and sell homes around the Baltimore region and beyond.  Find more about them at www.TheDaileyGroup.com and on facebook .

Contact Seth & Alyce at 800.214.1245 or send a message

WellPower: What Paula Deen Wishes She Knew About Diabetes

Kim Fabian, Director of the Maryland Metabolic Institute
at Saint Agnes Hospital

When celebrity chef Paula Deen discovered she had diabetes, I don’t think anyone was very surprised. For years, she has touted and prepared tempting dishes loaded with fat and sugar. I’ll admit, some of her concoctions look great, but moderation clearly was not part of her recipe.

This is a shame, because as a person whose family has been affected by diabetes, I know how challenging and life-changing it can be to manage—not only for the person who has it, but their loved ones as well. Trust me, you don’t want to have to plan meals for a person with diabetes, and you don’t want to be the person who has to check blood sugar levels with a fingerstick six times or more a day. And you don’t want to be the family that is burdened with the high cost of diabetes medications and supplies.

The great news is, according to our expert dietitians and certified diabetes educators here at Saint Agnes, research shows that making just one healthy lifestyle change can cut your risk of diabetes by a third.

Specifically, the National Institutes of Health found that making any one of these five changes can lower your risk by 30%, and making all of them can lower it by 80%—even with a family history of the disease.

1. Lose weight. The heavier you are, the more fatty tissue you have, which makes it harder for your body to use insulin. Maintaining an appropriate weight over the long term can decrease your risk of diabetes by 70%.
2. Get physical. Exercise can help promote your weight loss efforts, as well as lower your blood pressure and help insulin respond more effectively. Aim for at least 20 minutes of aerobic activity on most days of the week, as well as a few days of strength training to maintain muscle and boost metabolism.
3. Consume more fiber. Foods like whole grains, fruits, vegetables, beans and nuts contain lots of fiber, which helps improve or maintain healthy blood sugar levels.
4. Nix the cigarettes. People who smoke double their risk of developing diabetes.
5. Limit alcohol intake. Too much can cause inflammation of the pancreas, which can interfere with insulin secretion. One drink per day is recommended for women, two per day for men.

Save yourself or your family from being “surprised” by a diabetes diagnosis.

Take control of your health—make a positive change today,

The well4life Team
well4lifeprogram.com 

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Losing weight, eating right and becoming more active are the best ways to prevent diabetes. If these are three of your goals, the well4life program can help. You’ll benefit from personal coaching, group support, exercise classes, educational sessions, meal planning, screenings, discounts on fitness centers and Medifast, and much more! Visit www.well4lifeprogram.com or register for our March 10 free information session by calling 1-866-690-9355.

ToolBox TomGirl: A Respectable Receptacle Replacement

Jo Ellen Soesbee

Are you ready to do your first respectable receptacle replacement? (Say that fast three times) Did you check it with something you know works first? I mean, what if it was the lamp and not the receptacle? You’d feel pretty lame, wouldn’t you? Once you have determined that it really IS the receptacle – let’s move on.

(FYI – receptacle and outlet are interchangeable words here – do you remember from my other article that “a receptacle is an outlet where electricity exits the system through a plug” – so by plugging something in to the receptacle we are creating the outlet – whew – confusing – isn’t it?)

At the cost of sounding like your mother – here I go again. TURN OFF THE POWER!

AGAIN – CHECK TO BE SURE THE ELECTRICITY IS TURNED OFF.

1. After you have TURNED OFF THE CURRENT, unscrew the outlet cover and remove the receptacle from the box in the wall.
2. Check to see if the outlet is “switched” – this means does it turn on and off with a switch (as it does when there’s a lamp plugged into it). The best way to tell is to see if there are two different colored hot wires attached to the same receptacle. You need to look to see if the metal tab between the gold/brass (hot) screws has been removed. Looking at the receptacle face on, they are on the right side.
3. As you complete #2, keep a note or diagram of how the wires are attached to the old receptacle.
4. If you find that the outlet is switched, you will need to remove the tab between the hot terminals on the new receptacle. Be sure to put the wires back the same way they were on the receptacle you removed.
5. Remove the wires from the terminal screws and attach the new receptacle in its place the same way. For a non-switch outlet, the green ground wire goes to the green screw; the white (neutral) wire(s) goes to the silver terminal(s); and the black (hot) wire goes to the gold terminal(s).
6. Place the receptacle back in the hole and secure it with the screws.
7. Replace the cover plate.
8. Turn your electricity back on and check to see if you have current. If you don’t, try plugging in a lamp or hair dryer into the outlet to see if it turns on. If it doesn’t you can try starting over. If nothing works you will need to call in the expert. It may be more than what you can handle as a novice DIY’er.

A smart DIY woman will ask for help for any repair she doesn’t understand or that doesn’t work right. (Not just electrical).

To women holding hammers (and getting smart about electricity),

Jo Ellen Soesbee
The ToolBox TomGirl     

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Besides teaching you how to DIY, I present and lecture to groups of all sizes (and ages) regarding DIY projects, being a woman in business, and basic repairs.

The ToolBox TomGirl and her crew at Reliable Repairs, Inc. are available to help you around your house or business.

Sign up for Jo Ellen’s eNewsletter and educate yourself one home repair at a time.

You can also contact Jo Ellen at 443-286-6923 or joellen@toolboxtomgirl.com.