Caroline vs. Winter Storm Kayla

I hate winter. I hate snow. I hate being secluded and stuck in one place. 

Unfortunately, Winter Storm Kayla made sure I experienced all three. Within the past two days, Grand Island, Nebraska, has accumulated 18.3 inches of snow, average temperature of 28 degrees, with wind gusts up to 50 miles per hour. 

With those conditions, I was forced to my apartment on Tuesday.

5 tips to avoid "get rich quick" pitfalls in "lose weight quick" programs

"Can I get that to go?" "I needed that done yesterday." "But I want this done now?" "Sorry, I'm busy. I have other important things to do."

Do any of these phrases sound familiar? I know they do for me. I'll be the first one in a room to raise my hand if ever asked, "Who considers himself or herself extremely impatient?" It's hard not to be. There are so many things to do, people to see, errands to run that we as a human culture in America especially want immediate results.

We want things to be simple, easy and fast. "Get rich quick" schemes are found on the Internet, through telemarketing phone calls and face to face meetings with sales people. However, if you are like me and my family, you know these are too good to be true.

I remember sitting at the kitchen table for supper when the land line telephone would ring. Dad would answer, look at me, mom and my sister excitedly saying, "We could win a free trip to Hawaii!" Mom and I would look at one another, shake our heads and tell dad to hang up the phone. Sometimes, he would listen to their chatter for a few minutes to complete their "survey." However, he would then need to provide his credit card information, go on a website and provide bank information or make a purchase.

It was too good to be true.

Unfortunately, there are many people out there falling into traps of these "get rich quick" pitfalls. However, it isn't for a trip or money. It's for your health.

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Social media is plastered with fitness, health and wellness tips, workouts, cleanses and "lose weight quick" programs. First, let me say I am glad people are becoming more interested in their health. I am even more pleased that people are starting to research more about food and agriculture! However, there is a fine line between facts and fiction.

What is good for one body may not be great for another.

One works well for one farmer might not work for another.

We are blessed with so many (sometimes, possibly too many) options! How do we avoid the "get rich quick" pitfalls that we might not know about? How do we make the most of our choices?

A shift from encouragement to genuine support

Sometimes, I doubt myself. I doubt myself quite often, really. The past 10 weeks have pushed me beyond what I thought was possible or probable. However, it has also opened my eyes to a bigger question I asked myself, "Why do we get discouraged, unmotivated and filled with self-doubt?"

The Struggle Stage

After a few reflections of all areas of my life, there are some patterns to personal development that can impact us. One of these areas is within learning tasks and performing. Specifically, the Ken Blanchard Situational Leadership II taught me that there are four levels of learning and performing tasks. Right now, in my job and bodybuilding, I am stuck in the second phase: D2.

To give you a quick intro to what this means, I have passed the first stage as an excited beginner, "honeymooner" at D1. I am stuck at D2, where you start to know what you are doing but get frustrated with processes and the unknown, and in turn, have decreased motivation. This is the stage right before D3, where you start really performing and become a high achiever in that task or goal. You guessed it. D2 = struggle stage and lots of self doubt.

A few thoughts I have experienced recently (for bodybuilding primarily, but also for some work experiences):