Take the New Year Challenge Week 2

Monday, January 09, 2012

Your Health

Assignment: Identify a fitness regime

Ensure that you start this year off right by getting in some exercise each week; exercising will not only make you feel young, but it will also help to extend your life.

This week, try to identify ways in which you can increase your heart rate and burn off the calories. You can manage to sweat, even without going to the gym because you can exercise in the comfort of your home.

"You can use a chair or a sofa and do some triceps dips or you can lay on the floor or on the bed and do some sit-ups or crunches," said gym instructor Cedric Edwards. "If you have stairs in your house, you can jog up and down them or you can use two cans to exercise your biceps or even a broom stick for side bends. You can even go walking or dance in your house for half-an-hour."

Trying to make exercise a part of your daily routine may seem daunting, especially if you have to juggle a hectic job with child care, school and/or a myriad of other obligations. However, making space for it is crucial to helping you extend your life.

"Half-hour for three or four times per week is great. It's about the same time you take to use the bathroom. So try to reserve half-hour per day for yourself and your body," Edwards said.

Your Relationship

Assignment: Identify a date night that both you and your spouse can commit to for the rest of this year.

Between working and taking care of the children, it might be a challenge for you and your partner to get some alone time; and it becomes so easy to put romance on the backburner when you're trying to make ends meet.

But it's never too late to rekindle the flames in your ebbing relationship and there is never a better time than the present to do so.

Now sit down with your spouse and come up with a suitable time that will be your designated date night for the rest of the year.

"This will allow you to get an opportunity to spend time with each other and to get more romantic," said counselling psychologist Lola Allen-Jones. "In the hustle of everyday life, you probably don't get time to spend with each other, so the date night allows you to express your feelings and be comfortable with each other. Otherwise, the romance will fade."

Experience the thrill of getting to know each other on a deeper level as you spend some alone time at home or out enjoying yourself. As for the kids, you can either take them to stay with a trusted relative or hire a professional babysitter.

Allen-Jones advised that the day chosen should be one that both couples would be able to commit to.

"It would also be nice to have an element of surprise, so that although you agree on the day,you can surprise each other with the where and how aspect," she said.

Your Children

Assignment: Spend two hours of uninterrupted time with your child.

As parents, we oftentimes do not get to spend uninterrupted, 'quality' time with our children, which is integral to having them feel loved and a part of the family.

So caught up are we with running the home, work and/or school that we neglect to 'pencil' them in. Child psychologist Camille Lemonious cautions against that.

"It's about building a relationship with your kids, and how you do that is just by spending time talking to them," she said. "They are just small people with fewer life experiences," she said. "Ask them about their friends; ask about their new teacher; ask how school was."

So this week, no matter how busy you get, make the time to sit with your child/ren and talk to them, or play a game with them for at least two hours uninterrupted -- even if that means you have to turn off your cellphone.

Depending on the game that you are playing, take the time to get to really know your child/ren. Talk about their likes and dislikes while you play. Find out things that they like to do and what they dislike. Get as excited about the game you are playing with them as they are. Let them see that you are very interested in what they do.

Your Finances

Assignment: Take the 10/30/60 per cent budget challenge

For those employed persons who now contribute five per cent of their earnings to their pension, Denise Williams, vice-president of marketing at Mayberry Investment Limited, suggests you increase this amount to the maximum 10 per cent.

This will double your pension savings and give you back more upon resigning from your place of work or upon retirement.

She advised that after taking the 10 per cent challenge, it is now time to take the 30 per cent challenge.

"This is where you use 30 per cent of your salary to invest in something that will make your life better," Williams said. "If it's that you want to go back to school, if it's that you want to use it to pay off your student's loan, if it's that you are saving towards a house or a car, put it aside."

She said for companies that facilitate salary deductions, you should have the money taken out before you actually receive it.

"This 30 per cent is the real killer," she said. "It is going to be very painful, but what you are actually doing is saving first and spending after, as against what persons are accustom to -- spending first and saving after."

Then comes the challenge of having to live on the 60 per cent that remains.

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Take the New Year Challenge Week 2