Now that you have created a burning desire to be fit, healthy and attractive, and have begun secretly conspiring to satisfy your desires, the obvious question becomes…How?There are so many different types of fitness products to choose from… all claiming to be your perfect fitness, health and physique solution.* So many recommendations…
* So many famous personalities…
* So many advertisements…But which fitness product will work best for you?Here are some characteristics to look for when choosing a fitness product.The more of these characteristics the fitness product has… the better the chance you will succeed in achieving your fitness, health and physique goals.Your Physical Fitness Program Must Be… EffectiveWhile this characteristic seems like a no-brainer… you would be surprised at just how many people are actively using a fitness product that will never give them the results they seek.Many people say they want improve their level of fitness… and get a bodybuilding product.Big muscles are not necessarily indicative of a high level of fitness.Many people say they want to lose fat… and get an aerobic endurance product.Aerobic training is only a part of the fat loss equation, and will not produce the lean, muscular, athletic body most people want… regardless of all the hard work. The point is, make sure the fitness product you choose is designed to get the results you want… or you are doomed to failure before you begin. If you want to increase fitness, improve health and develop an attractive physique… look for fitness products designed to produce these results.Your Physical Fitness Program Must Be… InterestingLet’s face it, if you are not interested in the fitness product you choose… you will not use it long enough to see results.I don’t care if the fitness product was proven to work by thousands of scientific studies… it will have no positive effect on your fitness, health or physique if you don’t do it.And you won’t do it… if it does not hold your attention and peak your interest.No matter how many times you say…”This time I’m not giving up until I get the results I want.”… you will eventually give up if the fitness product is not interesting to you.Don’t force yourself to struggle with a fitness product you hate… look for interesting fitness products that fit into your lifestyle and match your personality.You should look forward to physical training… not dread it!Your Physical Fitness Program Must Be… ModifiableThere is not one fitness product in existence that can be all things to all people… regardless of what all the slick-tongued advertisements say.Fitness products must be modifiable to your goals, needs, abilities and limitations… you must be given a degree of freedom to make the physical fitness program uniquely your own.You have different wants and needs.You have different strengths and weaknesses needing specific attention.You must be able to take an active role in the use of the fitness product… modifying it into your perfect fitness program.Cookie-cutter programs claiming long-term results do not work.Look for fitness products that can be easily modified to your unique situation.Your Physical Fitness Program Must Be… Sustainable The more the fitness product is dependent on machines, devices and other complexities… the easier it is to destroy.What happens when the machine is not available, the device breaks or the complexity you have based you entire fitness program on is lacking?Your physical training comes to a grinding halt!I am not saying you should stay away from fitness products that use machines, special equipment, etc… only don’t choose a product that makes you dependent upon them.You are responsible for your fitness success… not the availability of a piece of equipment, or access to a machine.Look for fitness products that help you sustain physical training in your lifestyle no matter what the circumstances.Your Physical Fitness Program Must Be… ProgressiveThere are many fitness products out there presented as a fixed workout.”Do this over and over again and you will get the results you want.”And the workout may be effective in the beginning… for some people and for a limited amount of time.Unfortunately, any workout program not part of a progressive over-all plan is doomed to failure.This is why you still need fitness products with all the free workouts out there.A workout without a progressive plan is little more than manual labor… and will fail to take you where you need to go.Any improvements you see in the beginning will quickly disappear, leaving you asking, “What do I do now?”Then it is off to look for another workout to try.Make sure the fitness product you choose is progressive in nature… and not just “add more weight” either.Progression on many different levels is probably the most important aspect of any successful fitness program.Your Physical Fitness Program Must Be… MeasurableThe pursuit of fitness, health and physique is a journey… and like any worthwhile journey, it should be documented.The ability to measure your progress will keep you on the track of success… enabling you to see where you’ve been and where you’re going.Make sure the fitness product you choose comes with a workout journal, or that one can be easily made… Don’t underestimate the importance of a workout journal.Your workout journal will help you…* judge if your physical training efforts are getting you closer to your goals…
* decide if you need to modify your fitness program…
* and determine if it is time to switch to something completely different…… ultimately guiding and documenting your fitness success.Look for fitness products making it easy to measure their effectiveness… how else will you really know if it is working for you or not?Use Your Common SenseIf the fitness product…* attracts you…
* speaks to you…
* excites you…
* and ultimately makes sense to you…… it is probably the right fitness product for you.After all, only a physical fitness program you actually do, and that becomes a part of your lifestyle, will give you the long-term fitness, health and physique benefits you seek.Now that you have a burning desire to be fit, healthy and attractive, have secretly conspired within yourself to achieve your goals and know what to look for in a fitness product, there is only one thing left to do… act!In part 4, I’ll show you how knowledge without action us useless.
Part 3 – The Road to Fitness Success – Choose Your Fitness Products Wisely!
Enhance Your Marketing Through Personal Products Promotion
If you are in sales, great customer service and product knowledge are the basic foundation to your success. These skills will undoubtedly increase your production and earnings over time, but growing your business by word of mouth advertising and through past customers referrals will take time. Adding marketing and promotional products to promote your business will be an effective compliment to expand your business faster.If you are in the financial or real estate business, after you have completed a transaction and your customer is happy with your service, they may tell their friends and family for a few weeks. Unfortunately, after a few weeks the referrals will likely stop unless you maintain contact with them. A strong marketing and promotional campaign is a vital key to keeping up with your competition. Promotional campaigns use products that have your name, logo, and contact information on them to help you grow your business and develop recognition in your marketplace. When calling on your lead sources make your sales calls more effective and lasting by offering them useful products that will promote your services. Typical promotional products such as: pens, cups, flash lights, tape measures, and stress balls are all useful items in the real estate and financial industries. If you add a promotional campaign to your marketing endeavors, you should be able to lengthen the time your past customers and lead sources promote you and your business, thereby retaining a higher percentage of your past customers.Promotional items will also assist you in introducing a new services or products that you may want to offer. These new products and services may help you specialize and become more profitable. Becoming an expert in rehabilitation loans, first time home buyer down payment assistance loans, or zero down payment mortgage products and promoting your expertise through marketing and promotional products campaigns will decrease the time needed to capture new business and profits. You can create a marketing promotional campaign to maintain contact with past customers, reach out to new customers at events, or more effectively promote yourself through your sphere of influence. Creating an effective promotional marketing campaign will help you and your contacts spread the news of what you can offer. Promotional items should fit your business needs and can be used as closing gifts, informational pieces, generalized marketing, and employee retention and motivation.Creating an all-encompassing marketing system should utilize all aspects of personal promotion to reach your lead sources, these include: seminars, product knowledge, outstanding customers service, consistent contact, and retention systems to maximize your efforts. Developing a total marketing plan will enhanced your overall image as an expert and increases the likelihood that they will recommend their connections to you.
National Health Care System In Japan And Taiwan – Would It Be Possible For Us?
Every society is affected by any national changes or new movement introduced; therefore, an issue one may think is unrelated to his environment can very well affect him through chains of cause and effect.Health care is an immediate issue that concerns all of us. We all experience it and need it. Let’s serious ask ourselves if the current health care system is satisfactory and available to everyone. Should health, medicare and treatments be available to only selected groups? Many people are voting for the presidential candidate who can restore the present health care system or who can pioneer a better healthcare distribution for our country. Personally, I hope to see a change that health care is available and affordable to everyone.Being able to receive basic health care is a fundamental need of all people. Fulfilling this fundamental need makes people feel secured, and it makes sense that people with better health can contribute more to the society. A realistic and reachable standard of health should be set for all people. This effort needs a non profit driving entity to establish and to maintain it. People’s life and health should not be compromised for the profit of few organizations.Before moving to Japan, I was covered under my parents’ insurance policy in the United States. Their policy covered children of the family until the age of twenty-four. Upon graduating from university, I moved to Japan and started my first job there. I joined the Japanese national health insurance through the company I worked for. There are basically two types of health insurance in Japan: national health insurance and employer-sponsored health insurance. Usually, under employer sponsored insurance, the insurance premium is calculated according to income, number of dependents, and the company’ subsidies. For someone who is self-employed or unemployed, the national health insurance costs a minimum of 13300 yen, or about $110 per month plus a small percentage of income for those who are self-employed. In other words, everyone can get insurance from around $100 dollars a month. Unlike the Medicaid program in the U.S. which is only available to certain low-income groups with specific requirements for eligibility, the Japanese health insurance is available to every citizen and legal residents. There is a ceiling to what the Japanese National insurance covers, but it covers all the basics and beyond.In most cases in Japan, patients choose their doctor and hospital. There is no limitation to the doctors or hospital they can visit. This is a true competition among the clinics, hospitals, and medical practitioners, not for profit, but for quality. The same insurance that people have in Japan gives them the freedom to get second opinions and naturally eliminates those doctors whose practices are in question. The doctor visits, treatments, and medicine are not free; one is responsible for thirty percent of their medical bills. Japanese health costs are much lower than the costs in the United States. Thirty percent of the medical bill is still a reasonable amount one can afford. There are also special cases or categories of illness for which the insurance would give more coverage. If one is late on his payment, his insurance will not automatically be invalid. The insurance will still cover the person as long as he makes up the missed payments. After all, some people do run into difficulties in life at one point or another. Sounds to good to be true? Well, It’s real.Taiwan, a place with no world recognition politically, has one of the top public health care system in the world. After moving to Taiwan due to my husband’s transfer a year a go, I learned and appreciated the system where universal or national health care is available to all more than ever. When speaking of universal, national, or pubic health insurance, people often turn their attention to the well-debated and discussed health care system in Canada. There are those whose views are negative, claiming that the medical service in a single-payer insurance system may not perform at its ultimate, and those whose views are positive, saying that they do not live in fear of ever having to face bankruptcy for outrageous medical bills. From my informal inquiries, more Canadian I came across favor their national health care system. Most of those who favor their national health care system commented that people of Canada are more secured in having their basic physical and psychological needs met.In Taiwan, there is also government-sponsored universal health care for not only their citizens but also for foreign residents who live in Taiwan. Foreign residents can apply for the government-sponsored insurance after proving their legal status of residing in Taiwan. The insurance fee starts from the basic 600NT, or around $18 a month. For people in higher income brackets, their insurance is calculated based on a percentage of their income over the 600Nt. Fees are waived for retired soldiers, those who are physically challenged, and people who have economic disadvantages.Interestingly, Taiwan’s national health insurance has only been established for little more than two decades, since 1985. The government policy-makers studied health care system from different foreign countries and composes the first Taiwan national health care from the ideas and methods of the system of other countries. It was said that Taiwan’s national insurance system is like a completed puzzle made from pieces of which fit its country and people. This insurance now covers the entire population, including foreign legal residents. According to research funded by Taiwan’s National Health Research and Taiwan’s Bureau of National Health Insurance, the cost of health care did not rise after the universal coverage was established (Jui-Fen & Hsiao, 2003.) What does that tell us?A basic health care program can greatly reduce the consequences of illness left untreated. Basic health care does not mean free of charge or mindless spending without control. To build a healthy nation, we should take a closer look at the current U.S. health insurance. After all, a sound nation starts with the health of its people.