Blogs – Shelly Najjar, MPH, RDN

4 Steps to Accomplishing Your Goals

Back in January, I posted a series on my other blog about the goal achievement process I use to accomplish many things throughout the year. I also highlighted some stories from people who’ve accomplished big goals in their life or business.

This process works for goals of all kinds and has helped me see progress from the beginning stages to the completed goal.

Here are all the links to this practical series:

Step 1: Assess and Clarify
Step 2: Plan and Take Action
Step 3: Break Barriers and Collect Small Success
Step 4: Reflect and Celebrate

Series Stories:

What process do you go through when pursuing a goal?

What do people value?

I’ve entered a blogging competition and I need your help to win (click here to find the vote for me button). The winning bloggers get to trade places with a blogger in another country for 10 days. My hope for this is to learn more about people, cultures, and what we value by talking with people around the world about their dreams for their lives, and by meeting people living out their dreams and inspiring others to do the same.

Of course, each person has things they value that are unique to them, but there are also more general things that are valued by societies and larger groups of people.

Learning more about our values will help me be a better health care/wellness provider. I will be able to present more appealing reasons for following recommendations, gain practice asking people about their goals and hopes for their lives, and learning what they need to get to the point where they can reach those goals.

Winning a trip like this would also make me a better blogger. One of the requirements is that you document your trip regularly on the blog (of the other blogger). Writing regularly is something that I do on an irregular basis. ;P The trip will also help me better understand what information people want (based on their goals), so that I can share information that help the most people possible.

Based on these reasons, I hope that you will support me in my goal to be a Big Blog Exchange finalist (support me by voting for me). To be a finalist, I need to be in the top 25 in my region (North, Central, and South Americas) by Sept 3. (You can vote once for each blogger competing, so a vote for me doesn’t prevent you from voting for someone from your own country.)

Voting is a two-step process:

Go to http://www.bigblogexchange.org/profile/2014/5757715179634688 and click Vote for Me
Enter email, then wait for the email to arrive and then confirm vote. If you don’t confirm, it doesn’t count.

Also, please share my profile with your friends so they can vote too.

Thanks so much for your support! – Shelly

Second guest post (about Workplace Stress) published on CoreChair blog

In case you missed it, the second guest post I wrote for CoreChair is now available. This post covers the topic of workplace stress. I share some what stress can do to us, some common causes, and one psychologist’s tips on how to deal with it.

Click here to read the post on the CoreChair blog.

Click here to see my writing and speaking experience, and click here to contact me about writing for you.

Passed thesis, have plans, did guest post

Over the last few months, I wrote, defended, and submitted my thesis “Barriers to WIC Benefits Redemption among Participants in Washington State.” That means if everything goes well with the paperwork, I should be graduating this month with my Master of Public Health and be ready to study for the national registration exam for dietitians. My plan is to take this test in February.

I will have more information about the next two things soon, but I just want to introduce them now:

I will be speaking/writing in January and February, and am available for hire for events during that time. Click here to see my writing and speaking experience and contact me to find out more about how you can be my boss.
Of course, I will still be doing things on my Goal List (bucket list), and plan to make a separate blog for it, launching in January. (EDIT: The Goal List blog is live!)

Also: I wrote two guest posts for CoreChair, a company in Canada. The first post (10 Minutes a Day to a More Active Life) went up today, and the second will be up by the end of this month.

Click to visit the article

NutritionJobs Interview

Sometimes it feels like nothing changes, and then suddenly, something happens to make me reflect on the many changes that took place in a short period of time.

Back in August, I was interviewed (via email) for a blog post to be published on NutritionJobs, a job hunting resource for nutrition professionals. They published the interview earlier this month, and you can read it here.

It surprised me how different things are now.

At the time, I had a part-time job for PapayaHead, a weekly dinner plan website. I was testing a new feature that has yet to be released. I was also in my last quarter of classes, struggling to find balance between responsibilities for school and the rest of my life.

Now, I am a full-time dietetic intern (at various locations/rotation sites, see here for which ones). I have fewer assignments so I have more time for hobbies and my Goal List.

It was also good to reread the answer I gave to the question “What advice do you have for others wanting to be just as successful and fulfilled as you?” (This was my favorite question). I was very convicted by the answer I wrote, because I feel like I lose track of that sometimes (no spoilers here, you’ll have to read the interview to find out what I said). Also, I like this question because I didn’t know what advice to give of my own, so I shared advice I got from people I think are “successful and fulfilled”–my parents. I appreciate their wisdom and I hope you will too.

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My herbal tea can do that? Herbal interactions with medicine (New post at Nutrition Nuts and Bolts)

Herbal tea has many health benefits, but it can also have some very serious interactions with medications. In this Nutrition Nuts and Bolts post, I review potential problems and give you some resources you can use to find out if your herbal tea could interact with your medicine.

This post was inspired by1digitalfingerprint, who wrote a post on herbal tea in September, and suggested I expand my comment on interactions into a full post.