I could title this article “The Benefits of Proper Hydration” as that is probably more what this is about, but that title didn’t sound catchy enough for my liking.

About 66 days ago I made a commitment to my self that I would drink an appropriate amount of water for my body each day. I made this commitment for only 14 days. Not so long that I wouldn’t stick with it, but long enough that I would start to see some of the benefits. The 14 days came and went and I, as I expected, felt some of the benefits. And now, 52 days after the original 14 days, I am really seeing some extraordinary benefits that I want to share.

I should start by sharing what I mean by the proper amount of water to consume. I was told back in grade school that a person should drink eight 8oz glasses of water per day which would make the total a whopping 64oz of water. Seems like a lot right? Recently I heard a podcast where the person said, “Most people on the planet are dehydrated.” This is due to them not drinking enough water. When asked what the proper amount of water to consume/day was gave the formula of Body Weight in Pounds/2.

For example lets say I weigh 226 pounds. Take that number and divide it by 2 (226/2=113). 113 is the number of ounces of water I should consume daily. To give you an idea that is about 3.5 liters of water/day (3.34 litres to be exact). I then add an extra 10.5 ounces of water to compensate for my daily workout which makes it 3.65 liters of water.

When I first calculated these numbers that seemed like a lot of water to me. That’s over 6 twenty-ounce pints of water per day. (in Canada, like the UK our Pints are 20 ounces. In the US a pint is 16 ounces). However that is what I have been drinking for over 50 days and I can now tell you it has added many benefits to my life.

Before:

For the previous year I have been living a life that included:

• 7 hours of sleep/night if I was lucky and that sleep was fitful. More commonly I was only sleeping 4 – 5 hours per night. I would wakeup exhausted, stressed and mentally dull.
• I would take at least 2 and sometimes 4 antacid tablets/night to counteract my acid reflux. Part of the reason I couldn’t sleep was acid reflux and sometimes vomiting in my sleep. The antacids helped to control that.
• If that wasn’t indelicate enough I never experienced a bowel movement that wasn’t a fight (unless it was diarrhea). I used to call it “Battling a Balrog” (Insert “None shall Pass!” joke here)
• Dulled brain functions. What more needs to be said. Our brain sits in water, and water helps conduct the electrical impulses our brains send. More water = better transmission.

The After:
Note that this before picture wasn’t clear to me, until I started to experience the after picture. I felt I was doing ok. Now that I have experienced my hydrated life I can confirm that it is a far superior way to be!!!

• Sleep: I now sleep, deeply, for 8 – 12 hours/night. While in the before I needed an alarm to remind me to get going, and just incase I was asleep. Now I need an alarm if I need to be up by a certain time because I will be asleep. Something else to note is that while I don’t set an alarm most nights I am able to wake up with in 5 minutes of my desired time by setting the intention for when I need to be up.
• Contributing to the sleep is the reduced amount of Coffee I drink. In the before picture I was drinking easily 50 – 60 ounces of coffee/day and 2 or 3 cans of coke/root-beer. I needed the caffeine and sugar intake to keep me moving because I wasn’t sleeping. A vicious cycle. Caffeine/sugar hit brings me up for about an hour followed by a crash. In a crash situation just add caffeine/sugar.
• Now I only drink 2 cups of coffee/day (24 – 32 oz) and I don’t drink caffeine after 11 am (very rare exceptions to this rule). I don’t drink any pop at all. My day is filled with 2 cups of coffee and 123 ounces of water – I don’t have room for any more.
• In the last 50 days I have taken 2 antacids and that was for the one time I binged on indian food too late at night. Part of my learnings have also been when to stop eating during the day. Part of the reason for the reduced acid is the reduced coffee in my diet.
• “Battling the Balrog” — don’t know what more I need to say about this except that water helps things flow smoothly.
• And finally my Brain is on fire these days. Mentally I feel so acute these days, thinking times are reduced and results are far superior.

So is this improved lifestyle entirely thanks to water. Yes, and No. By increasing my water, which decreased many of the less helpful fluids, in my life my body is better able to function and flourish. Add to that regular sleep and exercise and I finally feel what it is like to be normal.
Now, bearing in mind that for me I didn’t notice substantial change in my physical body for about 28 days, my challenge to you is to try your own experiment with water. Even just for 14 days and see how much better you feel. Initially you might feel even more off as the toxins leave your body, stick with it for 14 days and trust that you will start to see the win.

I just finished watching the movie “Taken”. IMDB’s synopsis of the movie describes it thus:

A retired CIA agent travels across Europe and relies on his old skills to save his estranged daughter, who was kidnapped on a trip to Paris to be sold into prostitution.

One of the most memorable quotes in this film is when Liam Neeson speaks to the captures and says:

I don’t know who you are. I don’t know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don’t have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that’ll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don’t, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you.

At this point he goes and does what he does best. Fights his way through an army of thugs, dirty cops and rich villains to try and save his daughter.

I found myself thinking and feeling he is the man that every man wants to be. He stops at nothing to protect his family and anyone who comes between him and his family will suffer. He is singular in purpose, passionate about his family and never gives up. The biggest difference between Bryan (Liam Neeson) and most men I know is that Bryan spent years training as a CIA operative. He sacrificed his wife, marriage and family for his country. As the move starts his wife is married to another man and Bryan has almost no relationship with his daughter. He sacrificed his whole life to attain the skills that we watch and marvel at through out this film. While he was on his journey to save his daughter I wasn’t thinking about what attaining these skills cost him. I didn’t think, “Yeah, he might get his daughter back but, it cost him his whole life.” It cost him 12 years of his daughters life and his marriage to be able to step in and make the bad guys pay for 3 days.

Is it worth it?
In the moment of being able to accomplish this task I’m guessing yes it is worth it, but should we sacrifice our whole lives on the chance that one day we may have to step in and kick 50 bad guys asses and save our family? I find my self asking the question, how would it be different if he’d been more available and not lost his wife, marriage and relationship with his daughter? Would his daughter even have been put in that situation if he’d been around more, if he’d been there? What would it look like?

It is easy to see how Liam’s character is a hero and very easy to admire this character. We find it easy to see extraordinary men step up and be their best self in extraordinary circumstances and think wouldn’t it be awesome to be that guy. I’d like to put a quote in here, but I can’t find the source to quote so I’d like to paraphrase a quote I hear once and I don’t know where it comes from. ‘The degree to which we put another person on a pedestal is the degree to which we let our self not be extraordinary in our own way’.

Essentially, its easy to step up when our world is coming to an end, but we don’t put the same value on being extraordinary every day when our world is not in crisis. The most recent example of this I watched was BOATLIFT – An Untold Tale of 9/11 Resilience (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18lsxFcDrjo). In this documentary we see how half a million people were evacuated from lower Manhattan during 9/11. I thought well its easy to get organized when there is a clear objective and goal and the world is ending and nothing else matters. What about when our lives are going well, good, great, or awesome? Even the opening frame of the film is a quote, “A hero is a man who does what he can” – Romain Rolland. Note: the quote makes no mention of the circumstances around this action just that a man does what he can. Please know that I do find the Boatlift story inspiring and an amazing tail of human greatness, what I wonder is why don’t we do this when there isn’t a disaster to deal with.

Wouldn’t it be amazing to see a movie about a guy who day after day gives his best self to him self, his family, his friends and his community. A movie where a man does what he can to ensure that his world is taken care of. Nothing out of the ordinary. Just a great husband who loves his wife and family. Nothing remarkable about him except that he is an essential part to his thriving community. Nothing god-like about this man except his great heart and spirit which he generously shares with anyone who needs it. While I find it awesome to admire a man who can do physically stunning feats and kick ass I believe that it is better to be a man within your self, a man within your family, a man within your community and a man within the world.

Imagine the movie of your life. You are on your death bed, your family and loved ones are gathered around you and smiling. Through a series of flashbacks we see you at various ages and periods of your life. In the present day where you are living your last moments each person smiles and thanks you, there are only tears of joy and gratitude. The people around honor you and tell you that your work is done, that you are the greatest man they have known. You are: “The Man we all want to be.” My question is what did you do in each of these flashbacks? Who were you and who are you that people gather to honor you and to thank you for your service?

To all of you men who are practicing this life being the man you want to be I honor you. Continue your work we need more like you.

To those that are called to step up at this point: Congratulations! Welcome it is good to have you with us.

To the women: For every man you know if he takes an action, makes a choice or any time he is the best man he can be, TELL HIM! Let him know how his choices and actions are the actions of a great man, let him know what it means to you to have someone like him in your life.

I look forward to 2012 – The Year of the man we want to be!

P.S – There is a movie about a man who day after day does his best to be his best. If you havn’t seen it yet is is popular around christmas and is called “Its A Wonderful Life”

I know what your thinking: “Next Stage Jevon? We haven’t heard from you in months and now you have a next stage?”

Yes I do.

I’ve made many choices this year which have altered the course of my travels, and although my destination remains unchanged the path has. Starting this July I will begin a 10 month program on personal and executive coaching. While this is a new program for me it ends up being a continuation of the work I started 2 years ago, but moves out of being strictly facilitation and broadens the tool selection at my disposal. Also by the completion of this program I will be eligible to be certified by the International Coach Federation (http://www.coachfederation.org/)

I’m looking forward to the final leg in this journey and would like to begin this stage by thanking all of you who have supported me so far on my journey. It is through working with all of you that I have traveled this far and experienced so much. I could not ask for better traveling companions and from my heart thank you all.

So here is to the next stage of the journey, to all of you who have been there before, and to all of those who have yet to join me.

Salut!

There is a Buddhist saying, “If you want to know your past, look into your present conditions. If you want to know your future, look into your present actions.” The clue here is that our present holds the answers which we need in order to navigate from where we are to where we want to go.
Join Jevon for an evening of discussion and fun as we explore tools and techniques which can be used to determine your current position, allowing you to map out the course that will lead you to your desired destinations

Date: April 29th, 2009
Time: 7:00 pm (Doors open @ 6:45)
Location: Britannia Room, 125, 6940 – Fisher Road SE (Evoco Inc)
Phone: (403) 861-2574
Email: jevon@thewarriorsvoice.com

Overview:
Now that we have defined what a Vision is (Vision, Mission and Values – Part 3: Vision) it’s time to create, clarify and focus on your Vision. There are many techniques to do this. Meditation is a popular technique and the one which is attractive to me, but there is also ‘Vision Board’, ‘Vision Video’ and ‘Mind Map’. I will discuss and give examples of each of these techniques. There may be other tools which I have not yet discovered so don’t be afraid to go and do a little research to find other ways that work for you.

Vision Tools for Creation of Vision:

Meditation: What is Meditation? Meditation is the act of being conscious and mindful. Sleeping is not meditation as you are not conscious. Jon Kabat-Zinn describes it as, “Simply put, it [Mindful Meditation] is a method for paying attention in your life, on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally.” It is not about Not-Thinking, but rather it is about not following your thoughts as thoughts are about the future or the past and not the present. There are many excellent sources on meditation and I will include some in the links section.

The type of meditation that works for visioning is not about being in the present moment but rather to project your self into the future and to feel and experience your life as you would like it to be.

1. You may play soft music or light a scented candle for relaxation.
2. Start off the session with some stretching exercises and coordinate them with long deep breaths.
3. Sit in a comfortable upright position with your hands placed lightly in your lap.
4. Close your eyes, relax your body and focus on your breathing. Do not judge or change your breathing, just notice it as it flows in and out.
5. Once you feel completely relaxed, at peace and your mind is calm, begin the visualization.
6. See yourself at the end of your life (far in the future), feeling completely content and satisfied with everything you have achieved and having done everything you wanted to do. What does it feel like? Experience how you would feel when you have accomplished these things.
7. Write down what you have seen as your long-term goals put these goal in each area of your life or as Stephen Covey says, “Your Roles”. For me these roles include: Husband, Son, Contribution to the community. These should be where you want to end up in life, so they should be grandiose.
8. You can then work backwards to make short and medium term goals that are more achievable. These will be milestones to help show you that you are on your path and be in the direction of your expected outcome.

If you have never done meditation or visualizations before, it may take several practice trials, but when you do get the clear vision of what you want your life to be, it will be a profound experience. I know for my self that I have found my path when I can’t help smiling or giggling. These are signs for me of true excitement. This exercise should also be repeated as many times as necessary and on a regular basis in order to realign yourself with your vision, as well as to accommodate any changes as your life progresses.

Vision Board – A Vision Board is a collection/collage of images which represent the goals and dreams you want to attract and achieve in your journey. It can serve as a reminder and
keep you focused on where you are going, kind of like a map. It is important to be specific on this board, for example if you want to attract a car then it is important that you have a picture of the exact model, year, color you want.

Creating a vision board is as simple as having a flat piece of cardboard, a pair of scissors and some glue. Then go though magazines and find pictures on the web, cut them out and paste them on your board. You can also include words or affirmations like “I Love my new house” on the board. Then hang or place this board in a spot where you will see it daily to remind your self of where you are going.

NOTE: Be sure to notice when each of these items appears in our life and be grateful for the abundance. If you are not thankful then you will diminish how much you attract.

Vision Video - Similar to a Vision Board a Vision Video is a collection of pictures and movie clips that you put together to watch on a daily basis and remind your self of where you are going. Add to this movie a piece of music that you find inspirational. These videos can be made with many free/cheap pieces of movie making software like Windows Movie Maker or iMovie.

Mind Mapping – A Mind Map is a diagram of ideas (words and images) that center around a key concept. Researchers claim that is more effective than a list as it actually represents the ideas in the same way our brain thinks about them. I have included a link to a video where Tony Buzan describes what and how to do a mind map so I will not go into great detail here.

Although I’ve not found an example of how to use this tool to create Vision, the way I’d approach Mind Mapping my vision is to have the central piece be me at some future time (e.g. Me at age 90) and then draw out the links and concepts of what I have achieved at that point.

Conclusion:
So now I’m going to spend some time trying these techniques and focusing on my vision. I plan to start with one or more mediation sessions to clarify my vision and as I do this I will likely spend sometime putting that into a vision board to remind my self.

I will ‘document’ my progress in future entries. If you are called to do so, please share with us your own journeys.

Thanks again to those before me who have shared their knowledge and wisdom in the area of creating guidance tools.

Walk in Peace,
Warrior Jevon:In-Service

Sources and Resources:

Meditation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nwwKbM_vJc

http://www.mindfulnesstapes.com/

Vision Board:
http://ezinearticles.com/?How-To-Create-A-Vision-Board-And-Attract-Your-Goals&id=430204

http://videotutorialoutpost.wordpress.com/2008/07/09/how-to-create-a-vision-board/

Mind Maps
http://www.jcu.edu.au/studying/services/studyskills/mindmap/

http://www.flyingsolo.com.au/p231811849_Creative-planning-techniques-mind-mapping.html

Vision Statements:

http://www.flyingsolo.com.au/p245813700_How-to-create-a-vision-statement.html

http://ezinearticles.com/?How-To-Create-Your-Vision&id=957304

http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Cornelis_Boertjens

http://top7business.com/?id=573

In the third part of my journey on Vision, Mission and Values I will be discussing Vision in detail and presenting to tools and techniques to assist with this. For a review of what I have already discussed please see my previous articles in this series. Vision, Mission and Values – Part 1: Overview and Vision, Mission and Values – Part 2: Values and Beliefs

Overview:
What are Values, Vision and Mission? These are tools designed to focus and guide to you in your life’s goals. We create these so that we can measure our daily actions and insure that we are on track with where we want to go. With these we are able to take a critical look at what we are doing, where we are putting our energy, and decide if it is assisting us in getting where we want or if we are doing something that will hinder us.

What is a vision? A vision describes where you want to go either personally or organizationally. It must be inline with your values and cannot contradict these values. This does not mean that visioning won’t affect your values. While visioning you may discover that it provides clarity and changes or re-prioritizes your values. This is OK. None of these guiding tools are written in stone. If you find that they don’t work for you then take the time to re-evaluate and modify them so that they are in line with who you are and the direction you want to travel. These statements are likely to shift over time as we our selves develop and grow in ways we did not anticipate.

Stephen Covey often draws a parallel between the United States Constitution and a Mission Statement. He notes that sometimes changes to the Mission statement may be required if it no longer serves us. The US Constitution has since been amended twenty-seven times, the first ten amendments being known as the Bill of Rights. So as we develop and create this guiding tools for our selves it has to be ok to amend them as times change.

NOTE: Personally I feel that when we create these items we should work with them for a significant period of time before changing them otherwise we won’t get closer to our goals. I don’t have a set period of time in mind for my self, but I feel that I must try and make these work prior to changing them.

What are the Elements of a Vision? These can and should be unique to each situation a vision is developed for. For my personal vision statement I will seek to answer the following questions.

Personal

* How does your life look in 5 years, 10 years, 25 years, and at the end?
* Where will you be living?
* What have you achieved in this time?
* How have you grown personally and spiritually?
* How are you a better person?
* What are doing in your non-work time?
* How do you feel about your life?
* How much is your personal income?

Questions to ask around Visioning.

1. Why are you creating a vision? Create a vision because you want it, not because everyone has one. The value of a vision should be in its ability to provide direction.
2. Don’t be afraid to change it. If the current vision is not working and does not inspire you then, throw it out! Decide what you want and start making it happen.
3. Keep it Simple. It will not serve you if you can’t remember your vision and where you are going. So short and memorable is far more beneficial.
4. Focus: It may be necessary to have a multi-layered vision. Some people think you should not have a vision that is too grandiose as you won’t be able to achieve it. For example ‘World Peace’. It is suggested that you bring this down to something that you can see and get too. For my self I have a feeling that having a grandiose vision can be very inspiring, but also note that I may want to break it down into more manageable pieces or milestones. For example if my main vision was to ‘Create World Peace’ I might want a shorter term vision of creating peace in my house and then neighborhood.

Process and Suggestions:

1. A vision is never about the HOW. Do not concern your self with how will I get there. It is more important to put the emphasis on where you want to go and leave the getting there to the mission statement.
2. While you are visioning do not assume that things will work the way they are now. Don’t get bogged down in ‘tradition’ or ‘that’s the way it has been done’. If the way you are doing things now was working that well then chances are you’d already have your vision met. You will probably need to broaden your frame of reference in some aspects of your life, make some changes which will then allow your vision to come to fruition.
3. As you develop your vision it should get you very excited and be full of energy otherwise why would you bother going on the journey. If your vision is not exciting to you then you must be missing an important piece of the puzzle.
4. Creating a vision can take some time especially to fully ‘flesh’ it out. Take the time now so that you are on the right journey for you and don’t forget you can always tweak and modify your vision as it becomes clearer.
5. Creating a clear vision statement for your life and your life can be fun! Take some time out, ask yourself some key questions and allow yourself to dream.

Closing:
I am splitting Vision into two posts so that I can more thoroughly cover it. In the next part I will discuss tools and techniques that can assist us in creating the fullest Vision. I would like to thank all of those who have done this work and provided so much material to assist others, like myself, in doing this work.

Sources and Resources:
http://www.flyingsolo.com.au/p245813700_How-to-create-a-vision-statement.html

http://ezinearticles.com/?How-To-Create-Your-Vision&id=957304

http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Cornelis_Boertjens

http://top7business.com/?id=573

Tools to help you define your values and beliefs:
Creating a list: Start with creating a list of your values. I have included a few different exercises you might try to help you identify your values. When doing these exercises there are a few rules:
1. Don’t Sensor your self or edit your answers while creating the list. This is a brainstorming session and you need to write everything down
2. Include Everything even values which you do not currently have. For example if you value Love and you are not in a loving relationship you still need to include love.
3. Be Honest and Truthful with yourself » Read more: Vision, Mission and Values – Part 2: Values and Beliefs