Page 14 March 2, 2017 EL SEGUNDO HERALD 4 Mindful Strategies for a Healthy 2017 (BPT) - Losing weight and increasing exercise commonly make the top of New Year’s resolution lists. Yet many people fall short of their wellness goals each year. What can you do differently in 2017 to ensure you’re among those who succeed? “Mental health and taking time for yourself can greatly improve your chances of achieving your health and wellness goals,” says the Mayo Clinic. “It’s important to realize that changing any behavior is often a complex process that requires you to address the mental as well as physical aspects of the change you want to achieve.” Below are helpful strategies from the wellness professionals at Mayo Clinic to assist you in achieving your goals this year: Be on Your Mental Game Weight loss is a common New Year’s resolution goal, but to achieve it, you’ll likely need to do more than simply change your eating habits. Behaviors, thoughts and emotions may be playing a role in keeping you from shedding pounds. For example, not getting enough sleep can thwart better eating and exercise habits. Sleep deprivation can hinder your ability to control your emotions, interfere with positive thought processes and make you too tired to exercise regularly. Being aware of factors that contribute to negative habits not only can help you succeed, it can also help you sustain the changes. Be Aware of Self-Talk Everyone has an integral dialogue, and it’s the voice we all believe the most. Is yours negative or positive? The voice of your selftalk can greatly affect your confidence level. Pay attention to your self-talk and evaluate if what you’re telling yourself is actually true. When self-talk turns negative, try to challenge it and find a more positive way to look at the situation. For example, turn “I always fail at losing weight because I eat too much” into “I enjoy eating fruits and vegetables and can easily eat three servings a day.” It will take time and practice to learn how to turn negative self-talk into positive, so be Seniors patient with yourself. Fight Boredom with Fun And Creativity People fail at wellness goals for many reasons, including boredom. Approaching your goals with a creative and fun attitude can help keep them fresh and exciting - and keep you on track! Try learning something new or vary your routine. For example, try a new recipe or modify your usual food choices. Learn to use a new piece of equipment at the gym, or take an exercise class to learn something you’ve always wanted to do. Dance around the house, take a healthy cooking class, read a book, travel, check an item off your bucket list or create a list if you don’t have one. However you define “fun,” if you enjoy what you’re doing, you’re more likely to want to keep doing it. Prepare to Overcome Setbacks No matter how committed you are to a goal, setbacks are normal. Don’t let them derail you. Planning for setbacks and how you’ll overcome them can help you stay on track for the long term. When planning how you’ll reach a desired behavior change, try including some what-if scenarios. For example, if your fitness routine includes a yoga class after work and you get delayed, think about what you could do to still meet your exercise goal. You might be able to substitute another class or use body weight exercises at home. Having a back-up plan in case your original goal doesn’t work out can help you avoid “all-or-nothing” thinking. If you experience a setback, be compassionate with yourself; change is rarely easy. Giving yourself a break will help you dust yourself off and get back on track. By taking a mindful and proactive approach to your health, you’ll be on the way towards achieving your wellness goals through 2017 and beyond. To learn more about healthy living, visit www.mayoclinic. org/healthy-lifestyle. For more information on customized wellness programs at Mayo Clinic, view our Healthy Living Program. • School Board from page 2 facility should improve uptime of applications, and that the District would own the new data center as an asset. Cons to Option 1 included a significant upfront capital expense ranging from $693,000 to $1.1 million; annual power costs estimated at $28,000; that it is costly to maintain facilities power, cooling, cabling, etc; that the space used for the new data center could be better utilized for students and teachers; and that a District-based data center would not equal the quality and uptime of the proposed offsite facility. Option 2 would house the data center offsite, on El Segundo Boulevard, with VPLS solutions. The pros of off-siting the data center that the presenters listed included a greatly reduced risk of outages related to power issues; elimination of capital expenditure costs to the District, which were listed at anywhere from $600,000 to 1.1 million; and the fact that outsourcing the data center would allow the District IT staff to focus more on student and teacher service. According to the presentation, one of the downsides to Option 2 is that the District would incur an operating expenditure cost to rent space, power and connectivity to the center. Preliminary financial numbers were crunched, with outsourcing the data center to VPLS saving the District substantially each month prior to taxes and set-up fees. After the presentation, Board member follow-ups tried to ascertain the amounts of the “taxes and fees” that were not included in the preliminary proposal, as well as charges to be incurred by the District during “non-peak “ usage periods. Both Gauna and Watkins threw their support behind offsiting the data center, with Watkins saying, “I think this is the way that we should go. By the time we built it [data center], it would probably be outdated.” District Executive Director of Educational Services Marisa Janicek made the final presentation of the evening, which revolved around what is termed the “California Accountability Model and School Dashboard”--a new multimeasured metric that the State of California is using to hold school districts accountable to achieving stated goals of meeting the needs of students. Nine consent agenda items confronted the Board, including two spring assemblies slated to take place at Richmond Street Elementary School; instructional assistant training to help teachers work with “students with moderatesevere autism spectrum disorder;” and the special education extended schoolyear program. Both of the RSS assemblies approved will take place on April 27 during “STEAM Night for families.” One assembly will feature Play-Well TEKnologies, giving attendees the opportunity to build a motorized vehicle that “can travel around the room on a string, high above the ground.” Other challenges will be offered, providing “hands-on” science learning for the students and their families. The second RSS assembly is entitled “Kids Reptiles” and will give attendees the opportunity to interact with reptiles for up to three hours.” Next on the agenda was the acceptance of gifts to the District, including nearly $645 donated by Kroger Co. (Ralphs) to the Middle School. Among the action items noted were a consultant agreement with Travis Allen from iSchool Initiative to provide professional development for an in-service, non-pupil day on March 10 that will focus on digital learning in the classroom; a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the group Digital Promise to develop what is termed “blended learning opportunities” for students; and a resolution proclaiming March 6-10 as National School Breakfast Week. Moore then quickly reported on upcoming items on the District’s informational calendar, with Friday’s talent show at Center Street Elementary School grabbing a mention. During reports, Board member Jeanie Nishime emphasized the need for more parental support of the PTA at El Segundo Middle School, and other members cited the recent budget study session that took place last Saturday. Superintendent Moore, commenting on the four-hour meeting that took place on February 25, pointed out that the Board and CBO Susan Aceves had spent the time reviewing Governor Brown’s proposed budget, and the possible effects on the District. Wrote Moore, “This proposal, as it presently stands, will require the District to consider budget reductions. Although the Department of Finance and the Legislative Analyst’s Office predict a brighter economic picture, the District must plan for a balanced budget in June.” The next regularly scheduled El Segundo School Board meeting is penciled in for Tuesday evening, March 14. • Finance 2017 Looking Bright for Small Business Owners (BPT) - The year 2017 is still in its infancy, but research shows small business owners feel this year could be one of the best in recent memory. A new survey, commissioned by Staples and conducted by Wakefield Research, found that 85 percent of small business owners surveyed reported feeling “optimistic” about the small business climate in 2017. That’s good news for the owners as well as for their communities, because for many, this optimism is motivating owners to put earned revenue directly back into their businesses and employees. According to the research, 97 percent of respondents said they plan to increase investment in their companies this year, while 67 percent plan to hire new employees. Those fresh hires also appear to be in line for better benefits, as 72 percent of small business owners report they plan to increase staff compensation in 2017. “We conducted this survey to better understand the pulse of small business owners and to further identify those priority product and service areas in which we can help our customers achieve success in 2017,” says Frank P. Bifulco Jr., chief marketing officer, Staples. The survey included 502 small business owners across the country. For purposes of the research, small businesses were defined as companies that had 10 or fewer full-time employees. While the research found that small business owners are optimistic about 2017, it also provides a favorable outlook for the years ahead. In fact, many small business owners report they hope to make small business ownership a family tradition. Ninety-one percent of those surveyed said they would encourage their children to start their own business, and 93 percent said they felt running their own business was the best kind of job satisfaction there was. Finding the Tools to Support Small Businesses For small business owners across the country, optimism can often be directly tied to market success and having the proper tools to support future growth. Staples Print and Marketing Services offers a comprehensive suite of services, providing everything from business cards and logo design to marketing materials and signage. Small business owners can find additional support materials online by visiting Staples. com and the Staples Small Businesses Hub. The Hub is a resource that offers expert tips, information and industry advice - everything a small business owner needs to grow their business in 2017 and feel even more optimistic in the years to come. To learn more about how Staples can support the initiatives in your small business, visit Staples.com. •
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