Four Reasons to Quit Your Job

By Jack and Suzy Welch

What criteria can you use to determine if you have been with the same company too long?

A friend of ours, an investment manager at a highly regarded company in the Midwest, who drove to work one morning, parked his car in the usual spot, and then found he simply could not bring himself to get out of the car. “I guess I stayed on the farm one day too long,” he joked later. When we asked him what went wrong, he answered, “It wasn’t one thing. It was everything.” No wonder he drove home and called in his resignation.

Obviously, most people don’t decide they’ve overstayed at their companies in such a dramatic fashion. Usually, angst about work creeps in, and then builds until it consumes you. And that can happen early or late in a career. Gone are the days when, after graduation, you took the best available job and stayed for as many years as you could possibly stand, frustration be damned. These days, it is not unusual to hear of perfectly legitimate careers built on multiple job stints.

So, to your question, how can you tell when it’s time to move on? We wouldn’t set out specific criteria as much as offer four questions to help sort out an answer.

The first is so simple it almost goes without saying, but the fact that a lot of people don’t confront it, including our friend who ended up stuck in his car—a Harvard MBA, by the way—suggests we should go ahead and put it out there: Do you want to go to work every morning?

This is not a matter to be over-brained. Does the prospect of going in each day excite you or fill you with dread? Does the work feel interesting and meaningful or are you just going through motions to pull a paycheck? Are you still learning and growing?

We know of a woman who worked in consulting for seven years. She loved her firm and had originally planned a career with it, but suddenly started noticing that she wished every weekend was five days long. “Basically, I felt like we were putting together massive books in order to make recommendations to people who knew more than we did,” she said. “Every day at the office, I felt a little bit more of a hypocrite.” She now happily works on the “front lines,” to use her phrase, in the marketing department of a retail company.

Second, do you enjoy spending time with your coworkers or do they generally bug the living daylights out of you? We’re not saying you should only stay at your company if you want to barbecue with your team every weekend, but if you don’t sincerely enjoy and respect the people you spend 10 hours a day with, you can be sure you will eventually decide to leave your organization. Why not make the break sooner rather than later and start cultivating relationships at a company where you might actually plant roots?

Third, does your company help you fulfill your personal mission? Essentially, this question asks whether your company jibes with your life’s goals and values. Does it require you, for instance, to travel more than you’d like, given your chosen work-life balance? Does it offer enough upward mobility, given your level of ambition? There are no right or wrong answers to such questions, only a sense of whether you are investing your time at the right or wrong company for you.

Fourth and finally, can you picture yourself at your company in a year? We use that time frame because that’s how long it usually takes to find a new, better job once you decide to move on. So peer, as best you can, into the future, and predict where you’ll be in the organization, what work you’ll be doing, whom you will be managing, and who will be managing you. If that scenario strikes you with anything short of excitement, then you’re spinning your wheels. Or put another way, you’re just about to stay too long.

To be clear: We’re not suggesting people quit at the first inkling of discontent. No matter where you work, at some point you will have to endure difficult times, and even a deadly dull assignment, to survive a crisis or move up. But it makes little sense to stay and stay at a company because of inertia. Unlock your door and get out.

Jack Welch is Executive Chairman of theJack Welch Management Institute at Strayer University. Through itsExecutive MBA program, the Jack Welch Management Institute provides students and organizations with the proven methodologies, immediately actionable practices, and respected credentials needed to win in business.

Suzy Welch is a best-selling author, popular television commentator, and noted business journalist. Her New York Times bestselling book, 10-10-10: A Life Transforming Idea, presents a powerful decision-making strategy for success at work and in parenting, love and friendship. Together with her husband Jack Welch, Suzy is also co-author of the #1 international bestsellerWinning, and its companion volume, Winning: The Answers. Since 2005, they have written business columns for several publications, including Business Weekmagazine, Thomson Reuters digital platforms, Fortune magazine, and the New York Times syndicate.

A version of this column originally appeared in BusinessWeek Magazine.

How to cook moist chicken breasts and tenders Every Time

Boneless skinless chicken breasts (aka BSCBs) — is there anything more boring? They are all too often served dry, chewy and tasteless. I usuall avoid now BSCBs in favor of more succulent boneless, skinless thighs. I do have one method, however, that makes unfailingly juicy and tender boneless skinless chicken breasts. Need some chicken for a salad, or to top some pasta? This is the method. It takes some trust, but believe me — it works flawlessly every single time.

This method takes trust; you can't check them or really watch them cooking. But I promise that if you follow this method exactly you won't be disappointed. I learned it from the old Joy of Cooking, which gives this method its special label: Cockaigne, reserved for only their personal favorite and best recipes.

I usually do this with about 1 pound of chicken breasts at a time. It gives me enough chicken for a
few days of salads and lunches.

What You Need
Ingredients

1 to 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon freshly chopped herbs (optional)
Olive oil
1/2 tablespoon butter

Equipment

10-inch sauté pan with lid

Instructions
1. Pound the chicken breasts to an even thickness with the handle or flat of a knife.

2. Lightly salt and pepper the chicken breasts.

3. Mix about a half teaspoon of salt in with the flour along with a little pepper. Chop the herbs finely, if using, and mix in as well.

4. Quickly dredge the chicken breasts in the flour, so that they are just lightly dusted with flour.

5. Heat the sauté pan over medium-high heat. When it is quite hot, add the olive oil and butter. Let them melt, and swirl the pan.

6. Turn the heat to medium. Add the chicken breasts. Cook for just about 1 minute to help them get a little golden on one side (you are not actually searing or browning them). Then flip each chicken breast over.

7. Turn the heat to low. Put the lid on the pan. Set a timer for 10 minutes, and walk away. Do not lift the lid; do not peek.

8. After 10 minutes have elapsed, turn off the heat. Reset the timer for 10 minutes and leave the chicken breasts in the pan. Again, do not lift the lid; do not peek.

9. After the 10 minutes are up, take the lid off, and tada! Soft, tender, juicy chicken breasts that aren't dried out in the least. Doublecheck them to make sure there is no pink in the middle. If you want to be absolutely sure it is cooked, you can use an instant-read thermometer to check (the chicken should be at least 165°F). Slice and eat.

http://goo.gl/AOHbAq

Junk food diet causes laziness, study says

LOS ANGELES — A diet full of processed food isn't only a potential cause of obesity, it can also lead to fatigue and laziness, according to new research.

In a study, rats were split into two groups and either given a normal diet of mostly unprocessed foods, like fish and corn, or a highly processed diet with lower quality ingredients, according to researchers from the University of California Los Angeles. They said the rats on the simulated junk food diet gained a significant amount of weight and became more tired and sedentary.

The findings apply to humans because their physiological systems are similar to rats, according to lead researcher Aaron Blaisdell.

"Overweight people often get stigmatized as lazy and lacking discipline," lead researcher Aaron Blaisdell said in a statement. "We interpret our results as suggesting that the idea commonly portrayed in the media that people become fat because they are lazy is wrong. Our data suggest that diet-induced obesity is a cause, rather than an effect, of laziness. Either the highly processed diet causes fatigue or the diet causes obesity, which causes fatigue."

  Enlarge image
The rat on the left was on the "junk food" diet.
Credit: Courtesy of UCLA
Researchers measured the rats' activity levels by giving the rats tasks like pressing a lever to receive rewards of food or water. The overweight rats did not perform as well, according to the study.

"The rats on the junk food diet demonstrated impaired performance, taking substantially longer breaks than the lean rats before returning to the task," a release from UCLA reads. "In a 30-minute session, the overweight rats took breaks that were nearly twice as long as the lean ones."

Blaisdell said the study also suggests obesity and cognitive impairments are caused by a pattern of consuming junk food and not just the occasional binge. After six months, researchers switched the rat's diets for a period of nine days, but didn't see any significant change in weight or activity during that time.

There doesn't seem to be a quick fix to the problem, he said.

Researchers said other side effects of the junk food included the growth of numerous large tumors throughout the rats' bodies and an increased appetite.

On a personal note, Blaisdell said he cut processed foods out of his diet five years ago and has noticed a big improvement in his health and cognition.

"We are living in an environment with sedentary lifestyles, poor-quality diet and highly processed foods that is very different from the one we are adapted to through human evolution," he said. "It is that difference that leads to many of the chronic diseases that we see today, such as obesity and diabetes."

The research was published in the April 10 edition of the journal "Physiology and Behavior."


Read more at http://www.ksl.com/?nid=1012&sid=29485588#GhRBaAC9XS2Y9Eoo.99

This Is Why You Have Food Cravings

Have you ever wondered why you crave certain foods, even when you’re not hungry? There are a few possibilities to explain your food cravings. Here are the three most common causes of food cravings, along with tips to fight them:

Simple conditioning

The first possible cause for your cravings is classical conditioning. Much like how the sound of a bell
triggered Pavlov’s dogs to salivate, certain activities, people and places can trigger you to crave certain foods. In fact, I’m a victim of this type of craving. I like to watch movies with my family on Thursday nights, and movie night also happens to be when I'm most likely to say, “You know what? I feel like eating pizza!” In reality, my body does not have a physiological need for pizza every Thursday at 8 p.m. For whatever reason, I have conditioned myself to crave pizza on movie night. To be honest, I'm not sure why I started associating movie night with pizza, but because I am aware of it, I have been able to break this unhealthy habit.

It’s as simple as that. Once you figure out what triggers your craving, you will be better able to combat it. Just to clarify, when I say “simple” I am really referring to the concept. Actually breaking the habit can be tough. To break a habit based on conditioned food cravings, you have to do two things. First, figure out when the food cravings tend to occur so you can see if there’s a pattern. Second, determine what specific foods you crave at those times. Can you think of any life experiences in which a food is connected to a specific food? Are there any emotions connected to the food? Do you feel sad? Do you feel upset, anxious, happy or afraid? Once you know the “why” behind your food cravings, you can begin to actively fight them. Remind yourself, “My body doesn’t need this food. I have conditioned myself to crave this food, and I can condition myself to stop.”

A Physiological Craving

Sometimes we get food cravings for physiological reasons. For example, I began to notice a craving for salt every time I was very stressed and every time I did an intense workout. After doing some research and getting a few testing done, I found I have this craving for salty foods because my adrenal function is on the low side. The adrenal glands are responsible for sodium retention and regulation in the body. Since my adrenal function is low, it does not retain and regulate my sodium levels properly, and this is exacerbated when I am stressed and when I exercise. Since I lose so much sodium in my sweat when I work out intensely, it makes sense I crave salt afterward. Now that I know this, I make sure I have healthy options available after my workouts to satisfy my salt craving. I bring things like vegetable chips so I don’t turn to a bag of potato chips or French fries instead.

Stress has a similar effect as exercise in that it impairs the adrenal glands’ ability to regulate sodium levels, which causes salt cravings. When you can identify scenarios like this, you can get tested to determine if you are deficient in certain vitamins or minerals.

Addiction

If you don’t think your food craving is a result of classical conditioning or a vitamin or mineral deficiency, there’s a chance you’re addicted to the foods you crave. While you can be addicted to any food, sugar seems to be the food most people struggle with.

Certain foods, like sugar, stimulate the reward center of your brain in much the same way drugs such as cocaine and heroin do. These foods cause your body to release endorphins, which are your “feel good” hormones, every time you eat them. The method to kick a food addiction isn’t hard, but it requires a massive amount of passion and commitment. The first thing you need to do is detox your body of the food you are addicted to. In other words: You need stop eating those foods. This isn’t easy, because you will go through a withdrawal process, but it’s critical you stick to it if you want to kick the habit. The good thing is that you only have to do this for about two weeks. After the detox period, you can begin to introduce the food back into your diet very slowly.

As you can see, there isn’t a simple answer to why you have food cravings. And everyone is different – cravings can be caused by one factor or multiple reasons. That’s why I like to tell people to become their own scientists. If you learn the basics of how your body works, it will be easier for you to make better food choices and kick food cravings for good.

The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food

NY Times
By MICHAEL MOSS
Published: February 20, 2013


On the evening of April 8, 1999, a long line of Town Cars and taxis pulled up to the Minneapolis
headquarters of Pillsbury and discharged 11 men who controlled America’s largest food companies. Nestlé was in attendance, as were Kraft and Nabisco, General Mills and Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola and Mars. Rivals any other day, the C.E.O.’s and company presidents had come together for a rare, private meeting. On the agenda was one item: the emerging obesity epidemic and how to deal with it. While the atmosphere was cordial, the men assembled were hardly friends. Their stature was defined by their skill in fighting one another for what they called “stomach share” — the amount of digestive space that any one company’s brand can grab from the competition.


Grant Cornett for The New York Times; Prop Stylist: Janine Iversen
James Behnke, a 55-year-old executive at Pillsbury, greeted the men as they arrived. He was anxious but also hopeful about the plan that he and a few other food-company executives had devised to engage the C.E.O.’s on America’s growing weight problem. “We were very concerned, and rightfully so, that obesity was becoming a major issue,” Behnke recalled. “People were starting to talk about sugar taxes, and there was a lot of pressure on food companies.” Getting the company chiefs in the same room to talk about anything, much less a sensitive issue like this, was a tricky business, so Behnke and his fellow organizers had scripted the meeting carefully, honing the message to its barest essentials. “C.E.O.’s in the food industry are typically not technical guys, and they’re uncomfortable going to meetings where technical people talk in technical terms about technical things,” Behnke said. “They don’t want to be embarrassed. They don’t want to make commitments. They want to maintain their aloofness and autonomy.”

A chemist by training with a doctoral degree in food science, Behnke became Pillsbury’s chief technical officer in 1979 and was instrumental in creating a long line of hit products, including microwaveable popcorn. He deeply admired Pillsbury but in recent years had grown troubled by pictures of obese children suffering from diabetes and the earliest signs of hypertension and heart disease. In the months leading up to the C.E.O. meeting, he was engaged in conversation with a group of food-science experts who were painting an increasingly grim picture of the public’s ability to cope with the industry’s formulations — from the body’s fragile controls on overeating to the hidden power of some processed foods to make people feel hungrier still. It was time, he and a handful of others felt, to warn the C.E.O.’s that their companies may have gone too far in creating and marketing products that posed the greatest health concerns.

The discussion took place in Pillsbury’s auditorium. The first speaker was a vice president of Kraft named Michael Mudd. “I very much appreciate this opportunity to talk to you about childhood obesity and the growing challenge it presents for us all,” Mudd began. “Let me say right at the start, this is not an easy subject. There are no easy answers — for what the public health community must do to bring this problem under control or for what the industry should do as others seek to hold it accountable for what has happened. But this much is clear: For those of us who’ve looked hard at this issue, whether they’re public health professionals or staff specialists in your own companies, we feel sure that the one thing we shouldn’t do is nothing.”

As he spoke, Mudd clicked through a deck of slides — 114 in all — projected on a large screen behind him. The figures were staggering. More than half of American adults were now considered overweight, with nearly one-quarter of the adult population — 40 million people — clinically defined as obese. Among children, the rates had more than doubled since 1980, and the number of kids considered obese had shot past 12 million. (This was still only 1999; the nation’s obesity rates would climb much higher.) Food manufacturers were now being blamed for the problem from all sides — academia, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Heart Association and the American Cancer Society. The secretary of agriculture, over whom the industry had long held sway, had recently called obesity a “national epidemic.”

Oreos More Addictive Than Cocaine? Study Shows Cookies Might Produce More Pleasure Than Coke In Rats

I have long known that processed sugars were not good for me, yet I have had no problem continuing to ingest insane amounts of junk food over the years. Just today, I was in a situation that would have sent me spiraling out of control just a few short weeks ago. For many years, I have worked jobs that

required me to be in the car most of the day. I never ate breakfast, but I would have my morning Mountain Dew. By around 11am, the beverage would be partially digested, leaving my stomach feeling like a gaping hole of hunger.

I remembered back when this sort of situation would leave me feeling absolutely powerless. Like I had no other option but to hit the closest drive thru. Not just that, but then I'd pull get up to the window to order and decide that i am so hungry, I can't JUST have the Double Quarter Pounder and large fries, I NEED to have a 10 pc nugget too, and a large Coke. The first bite tasted so amazing. The second bite, a little less amazing. By the time I was finished, I would have consumed around 3,000 calories in a single sitting. This was my life, every day.

Today I found myself out and about, I had already drank my breakfast smoothie, and my snack smoothie. I expected to be home by lunch, but ended up taking longer than expected. So now I am driving around many drive thru restaurants that used to be in my eyes the "only solution". Today. I was determined not to let the smell of french fries or cheeseburgers get the best of me. I did end up pulling into McDonald's, but I did not let my stomach tell me what I was going to be eating today.

I took my time, looked over the menu, and decided that I was going to feed my body what it NEEDED at the time, not what my brain told me sounded good at the time. I ended up getting a McWrap with grilled chicken, no dressing, just veggies. I had never had one of them before, and it was quite good, and only 330 calories.

I have finally learned my lesson. For far too long, I have been a victim of circumstance. You CAN choose to hit the drive thru, but you have to make up your mind that you won't just get what your brain thinks will taste good, you have to get what your body needs.

The food industry specifically manufactures food products that are highly addictive. They want us to eat more. Below is an article that I found that helps illustrate the point I just made.

_________________________________________________________________________________


Oreos More Addictive Than Cocaine? Study Shows Cookies Might Produce More Pleasure Than Coke In Rats
By Simon McCormack
Posted: 10/18/2013 12:55 pm EDT  |  Updated: 10/18/2013 1:53 pm EDT


Put down that bag of Oreos and pick up that crack pipe. Just kidding -- please, please don't.

But there is evidence that, at least in one respect, Oreo cookies may be more addictive than cocaine.

As the Christian Science Monitor reports, researchers at Connecticut College designed a rat maze with Oreos on one side and rice cakes on the other. The rats spent a lot more time hanging out and eating the Oreos than feeding on the rice cakes.

In a similar test, the researchers also measured which side of the maze rats preferred when on one side they were offered injections of saline and on the other, there were injections of cocaine or morphine. The rats spent just as much time on the cocaine and morphine side of the maze as they did on the Oreo side in the other experiment.

In both experiments, researchers monitored brain activity in the rats, according to a press release on the findings.

They used immunohistochemistry to measure the expression of a protein called c-Fos, a marker of neuronal activation, in the nucleus accumbens, or the brain’s “pleasure center.”
The researchers found that "Oreos activated significantly more neurons" than cocaine.

"This correlated well with our behavioral results and lends support to the hypothesis that high-fat/high-sugar foods are addictive,” Joseph Schroeder, associate professor of psychology at Connecticut College, said.

Keith Humphreys, professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, told The Huffington Post he's skeptical of the study's findings.

"The cornerstone of scientific quality is peer-review," Humphreys said in an email to HuffPost. "This study hasn't been published in a peer-reviewed journal. It has not even been presented at a conference. All I know is that they put a press release making a series of claims based on a study, the details of which they have not shared with their colleagues. On principle, that makes me doubt their conclusions."

Humphreys also said there are limits to comparisons between food and drugs.

"There is no doubt that foods and drugs can produce activity in similar parts of the brain," Humphreys said. "However, addiction is about negative consequences such as overdose and death, and that's not parallel for drugs and food. If a heavy heroin user stops using heroin, he is better off. If a heavy eater stops eating, he dies."

It's beautiful outside! Get up and get moving!

I LOVE spring time! Can anyone agree?

A couple weeks ago I planted some Tulips in our front yard with the help of my three little helpers. The last few days, I have been having them help me water them, reminding them that they were the ones that planted the flowers. They get so excited seeing something that they did turn into something so beautiful.

We are hosting the Elders tomorrow night for dinner. One of the Elders is finishing his mission here and heading back home to Hawaii in a couple weeks, so it's sort of a farewell party. Since it will be one of his last weeks here, I told him that he had to pick what we ate for dinner. He opted for steaks, I subsequently promised that we would do a BBQ if weather allowed.

According to the weather reports, it is supposed to be up to 78 degrees here today, which means we'll be doing a BBQ. That also means that we will be outside, so I guess I have to mow my lawn for the first time this year. I have been procrastinating thus far. Normally our grass struggles to grow at all, but right now it is thick and green.

Right as I remembered that I need to mow my lawn, a daily reminder notification popped up on the screen of my phone reminding me to "get up and get moving". I guess that's a sign! I think I'll find a way to make it fun with my boys. Not sure how I will do that yet, but I plan on it!

Yesterday I was brutalized by my trainer. I made the mistake of telling her about my excellent progress in the last couple weeks in my workouts at home. She put the boots to me yesterday for sure! Some may use that as an excuse to not work out, but I will use it as fuel to increase the intensity today. Each day, we should be striving to do better than the day before. Do 5 more sit-ups, 3 more push ups. Bump up the intensity on the treadmill for the last 10 minutes.

Kick it into high gear!

It's almost summer time, I plan on spending most of my time outdoors this year and I want to be comfortable doing it!

Update:

While mowing the lawn this morning I had a "moment". I remember mowing the lawn last year, I would sweat more, and I always felt like I put all of my effort into mowing the lawn. Sometimes I would mow just the front, or just the back. I wouldn't always do the whole lawn because it was seemingly too much to handle. Today, I did it all at once. I even had enough energy to clean up the yard a bit more than I usually would. After that was all done, I even cleaned out my truck. I cleaned the inside of my windows, every square inch. When I was younger, I used to clean my car inside and out twice a week. My car was my image, and I was proud of it. Since I have kids now, I have used them as an excuse to not get back into shape, among other things.

I realized once again today that I can do what I want. No matter what it is. I used to think those were only words. Like what professional trainers told to olympic athletes before a competition, I never thought it pertained to me.

No matter what obstacles may be in your way, you CAN do whatever you put your mind to it.

While this weight loss journey starts as a means to an end, a way to lose weight, you will find out for yourself that it is SO MUCH MORE! Losing the weight is only 10% of the overall journey. Don't be afraid. Take that first step and don't look back.

When I first started on this journey, I could not complete a single push up. Now, I can do 20 or more. I didn't set that as a goal, but when I did the push ups, I burst into tears. What an amazing moment for me. I have been trapped under all these layers of fat for so many years, I finally saw the old me coming back. I saw the ME that used to wash his 20 year old rusted car twice weekly because I was proud of what I was able to accomplish even through all the trials that I had to face growing up.

Most people don't know who I am. They may know that my name is Ryan, but my story is so much bigger than my name. I am not just "that fat guy". When I look in the mirror I see a fat person, but inside I feel the old me coming out. I can't wait to peel back the layers of fat and reveal the real ME that I used to be. You just wait people.

Start with "losing weight" as your goal. Before long, you will find the person inside that you have subconsciously hidden inside for so many years. You will realize how miserable of an existence you have been putting yourself through. You just accept it as it now because you don't think you can change. I am here to tell you, YOU CAN!

Change today so you can have a better tomorrow!