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**LET'S TALK**

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| ##### SPRING 2007 HEALTHY BODIES ● SOUND MINDS ● A SAFE PLACE TO WORK |
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**Success Secrets:**

***Keys to Tapping Your Own Potential Success*** is the business of
trying to improve the things you do. It's growing and developing. It's
accepting bigger and greater challenges. And it begins with having a
dream.

To find your dream, ask yourself what your passion or purpose is and
then pursue it. After you have a well-defined purpose and know what you
want to do, a master plan of action --- a business plan, if you will,
for your future --- is essential. Finally, you must have

persistence to stick with it and make it happen.

**Keys to success**

Look at the following list of talents and characteristics. You'll
probably realize you possess many of them; and those you lack, you can
acquire.

**Successful people:**

■ **Have ambition**. They want to accomplish something. They have
commitment, pride and self discipline. They're willing to work hard and
go the extra mile.

■ **Are strongly motivated toward achievement.** People who excel in
life are those who produce results, not give excuses.

■ **Focus on things that are most important day in and day out.** As a
result, they're not just busy, they're productive.

■ **Learn how to get things done.** They use their skills, talents,
energies and knowledge to the fullest extent possible.

■ **Have the courage to admit they've made a mistake.** They don't waste
a lot of time, energy, money or other resources trying to defend a
mistake or bad decision. When they make a mistake, they admit it, fix it
and move on.

■ **Work with and cooperate with other people.** They have a positive,
outgoing personality. They surround themselves with people who offer
them help, support and encouragement.

■ **Are enthusiastic**. They're excited by what they're doing, and their
excitement is contagious. People want to work with them, do business
with them and be with them.

It's easy to be enthusiastic if you like what you do. And let's face it,
life is too

short not to enjoy it.

**Eating Together Pays Off**

**How often do you and your family all manage to sit down together for
dinner?** Your answer means far more than a chance to find out what's
going on at your child's school.

A Harvard Medical School study found the odds of being overweight were
15 percent lower among children who dined with their families most days.
Other Harvard research shows that families that dine together eat less
fried food and drink less soda. They're also twice as likely to have
five servings of fruits and vegetables a day and drink more milk.

Your child's health and waistline aren't all that's at stake. The
National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University
found that teens from families who almost never eat dinner together are
much more likely to use illegal drugs, cigarettes and alcohol.

University of Michigan research showed family meal time was the single
strongest predictor of better achievement scores and fewer behavioral
problems.

"Let children set the table, help decide what you're going to eat and
help prepare the food," says renowned Harvard pediatrician T. Berry
Brazelton, M.D. "Then, when you sit down, it's not just Mommy's or, in
some cases, Daddy's meal --- it's everybody's meal.

Be flexible, too. Philadelphia-area dietitian Althea Zanecosky, who
recently organized a family meals conference, tells parents:

■ **It doesn't have to be dinner**. If Dad doesn't get home until 8
p.m., Mom and the kids can have dessert with him.

■ **It doesn't have to be every day.** Eat together as often as you can
and make it a pleasant experience.

■ **It doesn't have to be gourmet**. Choose time-saving foods like store
cooked chicken, microwave veggies or prepared soups.

■ **It doesn't have to be home-cooked**. Takeout is OK.

■ **It doesn't have to be at home.** Eating out occasionally can be fun.

**Late-Breaking Health News**

**\>\>Drug reactions send more than 700,000 Americans to the emergency
room (ER) every year.**

Accidental overdoses and allergic reactions to prescription drugs were
the most frequent causes of serious problems, according to one study
published in *The Journal of the American*

*Medical Association*.

Researchers found a small group of commonly prescribed drugs ---
including insulin for diabetes, warfarin for clotting problems and
amoxicillin, a penicillin-like antibiotic used for many kinds of
infections --- were to blame for many of the problems.

People 65 and older faced more than double the risk of needing ER
treatment.

\>\>**A popular antiaging supplement was found to have no proven
benefits.** DHEA, marketed to increase muscle strength and peak
endurance, muscle mass and glucose tolerance, produces no such effects,
according to a study published in *The New England Journal of Medicine.*

***Spring 2007** 2*

Mayo Clinic researchers restored DHEA in older men and women to levels
usually found in young people and determined there were no beneficial
effects on age-related changes in body composition, physical
performance, insulin sensitivity or quality of life.

The researchers advise people to stop using DHEA because it's unlikely
to offer any antiaging effect.

\>\>**The health advantages of eating seafood outweigh the risks,**
according to a report issued by the Institute of Medicine in Washington,
D.C. These conclusions could calm fears that contamination from
pollutants, such as methyl mercury, and microbes, such as bacteria and
viruses, make seafood consumption unsafe.

Based on a review of previous studies, researchers also concluded the
heart benefits of eating salmon greatly outweigh what some studies have
suggested is an increased cancer

risk due to dioxin contamination found in farm-raised fish.

In a supporting study, researchers at the Harvard School of Public
Health also found that eating fish carries significant health benefits.
Based on a review of previously published

studies, researchers found that eating 3 oz. of farmed salmon a week
could reduce the risk for death from heart disease by 36 percent and the
risk for overall death by 17 percent.

Vitality-ON-Demand

**A world of additional health information available via your
computer**.

You may think of this publication as just a newsletter. But would you
believe it's also an access index to one of the largest databases of
family health and personal self-care

data around? With our free Vitality-on-Demand (VOD) service, you can get
all of the information you need any time you want it!

Visit ***www.vitality.com*** for more articles and to search for topics
you would like to

learn more about.

It's simple. And it's free.

Via the Internet: Visit our home page at ***www.vitality.com*** and
press the Vitality-on-Demand button to search by keyword. Or click on
Special Reports to access the articles listed below.

**SPECIAL REPORT**

119 Identity Theft

120 How to Quit Smoking

541 Sensible Weight Loss

542 Lowering Your Cholesterol

543 Reducing Your Stress

544 Walking for Fitness

545 Workstation Comfort

546 Fixing an Aching Back

547 Start An Exercise Program

548 Controlling Allergies

549 Lowering Health-Care Costs

550 Living With Arthritis

551 Dealing With Headaches

552 High Blood Pressure

***Spring 2007** 3*

Lower Your Financial Stress

**It doesn't have to be income tax** time for you to feel the burden of
financial stress.

Whether your credit card balances are soaring, or you and your partner
are arguing constantly over nickels and dimes, there are things you can
do to relieve financial stress.

You need to take action if the money coming in is less than the money
going out or you're relying on plastic for essentials, such as food or
rent.

To improve your financial health:

**Set priorities**

If you're in a relationship, talk openly with your partner about what's
important to you. Write down your short-term and long-term financial
goals. Urge your partner to do the

same. This will help you determine which areas you need to work on. And
realize that you may need to compromise to come up with shared goals.

**Set up a budget**

Write down where all your money is going --- mortgage and car payments,
food, gas, telephone, clothing, etc. Then, see what can be adjusted so
you can live within your means. If there's nothing left to trim from
your budget, you may need to think about new income sources.

**Stop taking on new debt**

This may mean putting away credit cards and cutting back on extras, such
as eating out or going to concerts. If you're used to enjoying expensive
forms of entertainment, you may need to seek cheaper options. Do you
really need a second car, or could you take public transportation?

**Get in touch with your creditors**

If you can't pay what they want, explain your situation and ask about
setting up an acceptable payment schedule. They may be willing to work
with you.

A credit counselor also may be able to help you dig yourself out of
debt. But, be wary of counseling organizations without credentials,
especially if they charge high fees. A safer bet is the National
Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC) at ***www.nfcc.org***. For
little or no money, an NFCC counselor can help you develop a plan for
addressing your financial situation.

Debtors Anonymous, at ***www.debtorsanonymous.org***, is a 12-step
program to help people recover from compulsive overspending.

It's possible to get out of debt, though doing so may require new ways
of thinking and acting. As soon as you start taking decisive steps, your
financial stress should start to ease.

**Sticking With New Habits**

**Taking action to change old habits isn't easy**, so if you've made
some positive changes, you should feel good about what you've
accomplished.

***Spring 2007** 4*

Many people find, however, that the hardest part of developing new
behaviors is sticking with them. Here are some ways you can maintain
your new habits. With time, they'll become second nature.

**Pat yourself on the back**

Only you know how much hard work you've put into your new habit, so you
are the best person to give yourself a pat on the back --- and a reward.

For example, if you've quit smoking, treat yourself to a night out with
friends for every two weeks you remain smoke-free. If you're trying to
lose weight, celebrate each week's

weight loss by going to a movie. Eventually, you'll notice how much
easier you breathe without cigarettes. Or how much more energy you have
without the extra weight.

**Learn to deal with lapses**

No one is perfect, so have a plan for dealing with small lapses. If you
are learning to eat in a more healthful way and you go on vacation, you
may find your eating habits slip a bit. You can deal with the lapse by
getting right back on track when you return home.

**Remain flexible**

Flexibility is key to maintaining new habits. For example, you may have
planned to exercise in the morning but find it easier to exercise on
your lunch hour. By being flexible, you also allow for changes that may
occur in your life.

Learning to maintain new behaviors is an essential part of the process
of change. You may slip up along the way, but don't get discouraged.
Persistence will pay off in the end!

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| **The Federal Consortium EAP provides assessment, counseling,         |
| referral, training and consultation to federal employees and agencies |
| throughout the United States.**                                       |
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| *Information published in Let's Talk is the opinion of the sourced    |
| authors. Personal decisions regarding health, finance, exercise and   |
| other matters should be made after consultation with the reader's     |
| professional advisers. All models are used for illustrative purposes  |
| only.*                                                                |
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| ### *Copyright © 2007 All editorial rights reserved.*                 |
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***Spring 2007** 5*