Work Smart Live Smart with Beverly Beuermann-King

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According to the health index almost 45% of people don't put their health at the top of their priority list and for some it's not on the list at all.

Many of us will experience a critical illness at some point in their life. It's just a matter of rolling the dice. Medical advances mean that we have a better chance of surviving a critical illness.

However surviving a critical illness, such as breast canc...

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Children have been back to school now for a month and we're starting to see the rise of colds and other ailments, both in our children and in our workplaces.

Though these are not usually cases of influenza, it is a reminder that the true flu season is just around the corner, and that we need to protect our families and our co-workers.

Influenza is an infection of the nose throat and lungs caused by the ...

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Do you think the people have always been this stressed?

I'm often asked if we have more or less stress than we did a hundred or two hundred years ago. Our lives are stressful today, but they were way back then as well.

One of the things that helped people to cope was a sense of support. Back then we lived in smaller communities, had families around us, and we knew our neighbors.

Today we live in large c...

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Do you have balance in your life?

Have you ever had balanced?

What does balance mean to you?

Without taking the times to evaluate how things really are, it’s nearly impossible to make the changes you need to make in order to create the life you wish to lead.

Evaluate your life day is an opportunity to sit down and review.

It is a time to pause and reflect.

In my workshops, I help people look at what the...

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‘The change’, ‘the time of life’ – call it what you will, it is an unavoidable fact that all women go through menopause as they age into their 50’s, and 60’s.

However, for some women this natural process is a time of anxiety and distress.

Menopause is influenced by hormones – or more correctly, by a change in hormone levels. Less oestrogen is produced, causing the body to behave differently. However the...

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Squeaky doors. Slow internet connections. No subject heading in an email message. Cracking knuckles. Toilet lid being left up. Being put on hold. Music while on hold. Repeated messages while on hold.

Some of our pet peeves can move from simple annoyances into being rude or aggressive.

Think of road rage. It usually starts because one person was not paying attention or assumed that they had the right to ...

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Are bosses who are fair, supportive, and kind gone by the way of the dodo bird?

If we were to listen to the media, or the complaints from friends and family, you would think that this was true.

We hear about cut-throat bosses. Bosses who are bullies. The ones who steal all of the glory for themselves.

There are bosses who are perfectionists.

And then there are those bosses who only care about the bottom...

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All goody two-shoes, beware. You are not welcome on this day.

Today is a day for all grouches to celebrate their way of life.

According to the Muppet Wiki, a grouch’s mission in life is to be as miserable and as grouchy as possible and pass that feeling on everyone else.

Only then will a grouch be in touch with his or her world and be happy.

Yet even though grouch may show happiness at anyone's misfortu...

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I have a social phobia.

It produces extreme reactions in me.  I get tongue-tied. My voice shakes and my heart races whenever I have to perform in front of others.

I hate snakes. They give me the willies.

Many people have those things in their life that give them the heebie-jeebies. It may be snakes or it could be heights, needles, or even lightning.

Take One Action Today To Build Your #Resiliency!     

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This is health literacy month. So what do you know about medication safety?

I knew that my medicine cupboard had been neglected when I found a jar of Vicks Rub from when I was a kid. Yes, that was a long time ago and yes, it was about time that it was thrown out.

Medication safety isn't just about an expiry date.

It's about safe storage, knowing what medications may interact with other medications, food...

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Well everyone lobs a snarky remark here and there.

A sarcastic person expresses humor in verbal irony by making statements that defy their literal meaning.

For some it's as natural as breathing.

Some say that sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, but the highest form of intelligence.

Whether sarcasm is a sign of intelligence or not, communication experts typically advise us to stay away from this particula...

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It saddens me when we still hear stories of how employees feel hopeless and helpless to change negative situations, and the stress of it all ends up having a good employee leave. We know that engaged employees help our companies to be more creative, productive, and successful, yet some employers still look at employees as being a commodity that you push them to their limits, burn them out, and discard t...

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We are working in a corporate world where our teams are faced with a variety of stressors and a world where many of our teams are finding that their coping strategies are inadequate or ineffective at addressing the numerous stressors that they are facing.

According to research, one in five will experience a diagnosable mental illness.

Mental illness can affect anybody. Stigma and guilt play a role in pr...

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Today is National Depression Screening Day.

There are many who are suffering in silence who are feeling that there is nowhere to turn. The guilt and the shame of not being able to effectively cope with day to day stressors leaves many feeling isolated helpless and hopeless.

Thankfully there is an anonymous online screening tool if you think that you or a family member may be experiencing depression.

Go ...

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A friend confided that her co-worker was a bully, intimidating, and demeaning.

He used innuendos to put other people down. She spent most of her energy trying to stay out of his line of fire.

Dealing with harassment can be very difficult and unfortunately more than 1/3 of employees have experienced it or been impacted by it.

It can trigger a variety of stress-related illnesses, cause relationship diffic...

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True friends are precious, but often we take them for granted.

The saying goes that you can't have too many friends. I disagree. Trying to balance too many friendships, plus a lack of time, equals more stress.

Friendships can protect your health, so it's important to take the time and make the effort to hold on to the friendships that mean the most to us.

We need to let them know how much they matter to...

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For many years I was the educational consultant to the Canadian Mental Health Association in Toronto Ontario in that capacity I developed several mental illness awareness workshops for frontline workers agencies and caregivers.

The most satisfying part of that role was going into a group who may have been fearful of those with mental illness and opening their eyes to the realities. The proverbial light ...

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Is financial stress one of your concerns?

According to one report, the number of calls related to financial counseling are rising at twice the rate of other EAP services.

The top financial issues people were stressed out about were cost of living, credit card debt, mortgage payments, retirement, children's tuition, health care costs, divorce and bankruptcy.

During these uncertain economic times it's ess...

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It is so much easier to teach our children the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic then it is to develop and maintain a positive mental health and to build positive, healthy relationships.

Bully, harassment, disciplinary issues, and conflict often occur because we have not been taught how or have not worked at our own Emotional Intelligence.

It starts with the basics: No emotion is ‘wrong’, but th...