The Wingman’s Path

It’s a cold, crisp morning as I pull up to the woods today. It’s just getting light out, and there are no other cars there as of yet. A pretty typical start to my day. I finish my morning walk at the pavilion, and just like almost every other day for the past 15 years, I continue my normal routine by putting on some music, stretching and doing my wingman workout of positive self-talk.

This morning’s workout includes saying “Thank you”, “Yes I can”, and “It’s going to be a great day”. Quietly breathing these words in, while exercising, is a perfect way to begin my day on a positive note.  It’s what I preach, and what I practice.

Today however, seeing how there are no other cars, and realizing I’m alone, I decide to do my wingman workout out loud. While normally, I practice by breathing and feeling the words I’m saying over and over, I’ve found changing things up sometimes helps get the positive energy flowing in a different way. And from my vantage point under the pavilion I can see anyone who might be driving or walking up and return to a more quiet meditative practice before they arrive.

So there I am, screaming, yes SCREAMING, at the top of my lungs, “THANK YOU”, “YES I CAN” and “IT’S GOING TO BE A GREAT DAY”. Over and over and over again.
And I’m feeling the positive energy, and screaming some more.
Smiling, laughing and feeling great, I’m a believer, it is going to be a great day.

When, of course, out of the blue, a woman comes walking by from the other direction. Not sure how I missed her, but there she was.
Busted, I laugh, say hello, and immediately revert to a more quiet wingman workout. She ignores me and continues walking on her way.
No harm, no foul. Or so I think.

My workout over, I get in my car and start driving out, when I see a good friend walking with his dog towards me. Actually, he’s a pretty well known child psychologist who I’ve had the pleasure to consult with on helping children be more positive.

As we meet, I open my passenger side window to say hi. Slowly taking off his headphones and smiling,
he said, “Just to let you know, I’ve been forewarned there’s a crazy guy up there”.

“Guilty as charged”, I said, and we both shared a good laugh.

As I drove away, with a smile still on my face, I thought of how sometimes it takes a little bit of crazy to get back on your right path. And how too often, we allow others to dictate how we should, or should not be.

So for today’s practice, take one minute and get a little crazy. Who knows, maybe it will help you start bringing in some more positive energy, and get you moving in a better direction. It’s certainly worth a try.

Hope you have a ‘crazy’ good weekend,

Michael

Announcing a new program…the Wingman Workplace Wellness Program.

Workplace wellness plans are becoming more widespread throughout the country.  The benefits to employers are clear, healthy employees tend to be happier and more productive employees.  While absenteeism and insurance costs of premiums and claims get reduced, employee engagement and productivity increase.  It’s a winning combination for everyone.

Except, according to the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Gallup Business Journal and a recent Rand Corporation study, they’re not working as best they can.  And the reason is simple… only 24% of employees at companies that offer a wellness program participate in it.

Why? With the focus only on the physical, most plans are communicated to the employees ineffectively, and employees don’t get the whole picture of what wellness can mean for them, their work and their home life.  And without employee engagement, your company is wasting its money.

That’s where the Wingman Wellness Program comes in.  From my background in health insurance to my certification as a life coach, I’ve observed the best ways to lower insurance costs of premiums and claims, and reduce absenteeism.  Even better, from working with Wellness Directors, I’ve taken my brand of positivity and created a fun, interactive wellness program that engages your employees.  Because employee buy-in is the most important aspect of any company program, we will connect in ways that will help them be healthier, safer, happier, more positive, feel better and be more present, not only at work, but more importantly, at home.  Because when things are going well for your employees at home, they’re usually going well for them at work as well.

The reduction in insurance costs, while meaningful, will be insignificant when compared with the increase in productivity and profitability.

Here’s how, and feel free to utilize this on your own.

1. Engage Employees:  Because this is the most important aspect to your company’s wellness plan, I will…
   1. Lead Wingman Wellness Lunch & Learns to establish a positive culture of wellness.  This will immediately help reduce stress, improve employee mental wellness and increase the positive energy in the workplace.
   2. Communicate the program.  It’s crucial to continually promote its importance to ensure employees are informed and participating.
   3. Conduct a needs assessment. Determine employee needs, interests, concerns and schedules.
   4. Institute programs that target those issues as well as other important health concerns.
   5. Explain each program through every communication channel available.  Employees often look for information in many different places for solutions to a variety of issues for themselves and their loved ones.
   6. Encourage feedback. It will ensure employees are engaged.
   7. Involve spouses and significant others. Adding support from home will increase success by helping employees stay motivated.
   8. Generate a monthly newsletter to help employees stay enthused.
   9. Create an atmosphere of health by adding incentives and/or wellness competitions.
   10. Offer Biometric screenings to help employees identify risk factors and create their own custom path to wellness.
   11. Promote alternative ideas. Provide group and/or one on one employee sessions with health coaches, meditation, fitness trainers, chiropractors, alternative healers and yoga instructors.
   12. Set up health fairs, safety meetings, wellness presentations and other events to keep everyone focused.
   13. Identify available wellness resources through your insurance companies, county health departments, hospitals and/or communities and help employees to access those resources.
2. Evaluate:  Set goals, measure progress and continuously revise program to maximize results.
   1. Employee Participation.
   2. Absenteeism.
   3. Insurance claims.
   4. Insurance costs.
   5. Productivity.

Healthcare costs, along with chronic diseases and conditions such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, obesity, and arthritis are skyrocketing, but they can be controlled.  Getting employees to participate in a wellness program will go a long way in doing so.  It will also improve the health of your company’s bottom line.

To Your Success,

Michael

How do you find your new normal when your whole world seems to have changed?
I’ve been pondering that as I prepare for my part in a special presentation… Taking Care of the Caregiver.

A Workshop for Moms with Children with Special Needs
Awakening Your Power of Intuition

I’m honored to join Carol Weinman, Esq., founder of Autism Advisors & Advocates LLC, for a special workshop for moms with children with special needs. The topic will be navigating the system by tapping into your inner voice, trusting your gut, and becoming your child’s best resource.

Carol not only specializes in the legal essentials of children with special needs, from representing student’s rights to protecting and advocating for them in the courtroom, she’s a mom of a child with autism.

I will be discussing best practices for keeping positive, staying present and finding your power.

My preferred practice when facing challenges comes from my favorite mentor, Dr. Bernie Siegel. When visiting with Bernie last year, he had me join him as he spoke to cancer survivors at the Veteran’s hospital in West New Haven, Ct.

In my coaching, when speaking with clients facing obstacles, I often think back to that day.
It was there I heard Bernie say, “Ask yourself what am I to learn from this.”

“What am I to learn from this”?
I have found this simple question gets our minds searching for positives, and often, all it takes is a little positive momentum to get us moving in the right direction.

You can’t rush science, but when you can get it on your side, you can move mountains.

For our Positive Energy Project this week, give it a try. For one minute, ask yourself, “what am I to learn from this”, and see what comes up.

And let’s start moving some mountains.

AUTISM ADVISORS & ADVOCATES LLC

Two workshops for MOMS of children with Special Needs.

The Power of Intuition and Positive Thinking in Navigating the System.

Saturday, October 25, 2014 1-4:30 pm
Hampton Inn, 1500 Easton Road, Willow Grove, PA 19090

Wednesday, November 5, 2014 9:30-12:30 pm
135 E. State Road, Doylestown, PA 18901
Join Carol S. Weinman, Esq., Advocate/Consultant and Founder, Autism Advisors & Advocates LLC, and Michael Gross, Certified Life Coach, as they teach you how to tap into your inner voice, trust your gut, alter your perception and become your child’s best resource. This workshop provides valuable tools to help moms feel more hopeful, empowered and less overwhe

To register: visit
http://www.autismadvisorsandadvocates.com/Workshops.html
email:
or call 215-715-2361.
Cost is $35.00. Enrollment is limited to 15.

Bringing more positive energy into our businesses,
our homes and our lives.

Tuesday, October 28, 11am.
Thursday, November 6, 7pm.

I’m so looking forward to seeing what ‘Our Positive Energy Project’ can do for you. It’s gotten off to such an exciting start.

Started from meetings with hospitals on ways to improve healing rates, it’s grown to helping many individuals and businesses improve their situations.

How? By offering a variety of processes and one-minute practices to keep you moving in a positive direction. Just like going to the gym helps you get stronger, doing these exercises helps you bring more positive energy into your life. And positive energy helps everyone be more successful.

Neuroscience, Cognitive Behavior therapy and Applied Behavioral Analysis all tell us, “With nothing more than mental training, we can rewire our brain to help us achieve our goals”.

See what you can accomplish with your own Positive Energy Project.

Positive Energy Project Workshops:

Bringing more positive energy into our businesses, our homes and our lives.

Tuesday, October 28, 11am.
Thursday, November 6, 7pm.
$20

Michael Gross will lead the workshop. He is a Certified Law of Attraction Life Coach, owner of Be Your Own Wingman, a company dedicated to helping people bring more success into their lives, and Co-Host of the Talk-N-Angels Radio show.

Register: Call 609-975-8379, or
email, .
Please include your name and phone number.

The Center, Life in Balance
43 South Main Street
Medford, NJ 08055
This week’s practice comes from the work I’ve been doing with some clients recently to help them change the same old story they’ve been telling for too long now.

The practice is to say for one minute, “Let it Go, Let it Go”.

Try it, and start writing your story the way you want it to be.
As always, take an extra 30 seconds and email me how it feels.
To Your Success,
Michael

Talk about shifting paradigms…

This past weekend I was asked to judge the Miss Easter Shore, Atlantic Shores and South Shore, Tiny, Little & Pre-Teen Beauty Pageants.
The comments I heard from clients and friends ranged from, “You mean like Toddlers and Tieras, that’s awful”, to “What kind of Mom would have her child in one of those”.

Some of the winners along with lead judge and “Big Sister” Devon Vanderslice, Miss NJ Sweetheart, 2014.

With those warm and fuzzy comments still in my mind, I drove to the competition, not quite knowing what to expect.

I found it to be the exact opposite.
It wasn’t young girls being overly made-up and sexualized. Actually it felt more like young girls joining a team, making new friends, and being mentored by the older girls.
It felt like they were joining a sisterhood, where everyone looks out for everyone else. There were no bathing suits, crazy outfits or backstabbing. And there were no losers.

On the contrary. The pageant system, at least the one I saw, which is a part of Miss New Jersey and Miss America, seemed very similar to the teams I played on in my youth. Instead of it being soccer or baseball, it was pageant, and instead of older team members giving me advice, some of which I still remember to this day, it was older girls, all pageant winners, helping their ‘little sisters’.

And if there’s one thing I’ve found in my coaching and conversations with women who come through the pageant system, it’s that they are team players, they are smart, and they are confident.

Something every parent wants for their child.

Selfie with fellow judge and former Miss NJ, Ashley Fairfield.

For this week’s Positive Energy Project, we’re going to do a practice I gave to a client last week, because she called me yesterday to tell me how well it was working. Speaking of the Positive Energy Project, I’m thrilled with the responses I’m receiving.

“It’s given me my confidence back”.

“Heightened mood for sure today.”

“I began to feel as if someone had just done something very special for me, or I had just had a great bit of luck.”

 
So, starting today, for one minute a day for the next seven days, say out loud or to yourself,

“Thank you for the good news coming my way today”.

It works best if you can think about receiving good news and how you feel when you receive it. But don’t worry if you can’t, because neuroscience tells us it will work even if we don’t believe it.  

And send me an email to let me know how it’s working for you.

Still Practicing,

Michael

Just set up 2 new Wingman Workouts.
They’ll be at The Center, Life in Balance in Medford, NJ,

The Dates: Tuesday, October 28 @ 11am.
Thursday, November 6 @ 7pm.

The place has fantastic energy, but seating will be limited to 12.
More info will follow.

As for Our Positive Energy Project, we got off to a strong start with many people emailing me about their one minute of positive energy. Only a few kept it up the entire week. I’d like to improve on that.

So let’s try it again this week by practicing shifting our vibration to one of success and good fortune. For one minute say the word, “Congratulations”, to yourself, over and over.
And practice the feeling of success, by noticing anything you’ve done well, from your smallest achievements, (I like to get my vibe going simply, by congratulating myself for just being on time) to your largest triumphs.

Take an extra 30 seconds and email me how it feels when you do it, and anything you might notice as a result of it. I’ve found this extra step enhances the positive focus of our minds.

As General Patton said,”Accept challenges so that you can feel the exhilaration of victory”.

Appreciate you being with me on this. Let’s continue to challenge ourselves to feel better, increase our positive energy, and improve our individual and global circumstances.

To More Positive Energy,
Michael