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Remember the moment when the clock struck twelve and you made all these New Year’s resolutions? Eating healthier, moving more? It has been more than seven months now. How is it going? Surveys show that less than 50% of the people are able to keep their promises for more than a couple of months. But do not feel unsuccessful, it is never too late to start a new habit. My tip is not to promise, set goals instead. Then you can have intermediate goals, rewarding yourself. If you miss an intermediate goal, well it is not a disaster, you have a new chance for the next intermediate goal. This feels much better than breaking a promise.
Personally, I have trained quite a lot over the years. I usually go all in when it comes to training. It started with ball sports in middle school and went via group training to gym. To challenge myself, I competed in Athletic fitness when I was in my 20s. I know what it takes to get the desired six-pack when it comes to both diet and exercise. But I also know what you have to sacrifice to keep it. I have to admit that the six-pack is long gone and I have no plans to get it back. Now it's more about exercising to feel good, so diets, bulk and cuts are long gone. For me, exercise has always been a natural part of everyday life. But I know it's not so easy for everyone else, so here are some tips.
If your goal is to start moving more, then my best tip is to find a friend or two. To train is sooo much easier when you have company. I have a training buddy who comes and picks me up 2 days a week for a jogging trip. To be honest when it is -10 degrees or raining, I am not always motivated and I would have missed more than one training without him. At the moment he is on holiday 700 km away but we run together anyway, we are just a call apart. The other days it is usually Tabata on the lunchbreak. And it´s not a dish, as one of my colleagues thought, but a form of interval training that everyone can participate in - no matter your form. We have a small but persistent group here at Garantell, we even go out in the rain and fighting together against lactic acid.
I do not mean that everyone should go out and run at 5h30 in the morning before going to work or getting sweaty at lunch (I realize myself how crazy it sounds). It is important to find your way, what works for you. A good start can be a walk at lunch. Just start walking at a leisurely pace with nice company. It fires up the body that has been sitting still for several hours and you get fresh air as a bonus. I promise that the afternoon will feel much better in both body and mind. If you combine this with standing at your desk now and then, you have come a good way on the right path. The most important thing is not WHAT you do, but THAT you do something.
Moving and getting your pulse up is something that is really good for your brain and it has a lot of other positive health effects:
- You become happier and more alert, this is because, among other things, dopamine and endorphins are released in the brain- You get a better memory and learning ability, the hippocampus which is the brain's memory centers, grows or retains its size instead of shrinking
- You become a better problem solver
- You improve your ability to concentrate
- The muscle cells produce proteins that are analgesic, stimulate and counteract stress and depression
- Exercise also strengthens your immune system and reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease. Movement is positive for your blood sugar, blood pressure and blood fats.
I can go on with the list forever…
After movement, comes the topic healthy food… HERE we have a problem, why is unhealthy food = tasty? Personally, I'm really a “Swedish fika” addict, right now I'm dreaming of a piece of chocolate cake with fluffy cream and raspberries .. mmm…. People who are saying that cake without sugar and butter tastes the same, they are (in my opinion) lying ... My advice is simply not to forbid all these comfort foods. Why should you stop eating tasty things? You only live once! The important thing is that you do not eat it too often. So instead of banning, try adding something that is healthy. If you decide to eat two fruits a day, you are not that focused on (in my case) “fika”. It is better with many small changes than something drastic that you cannot keep up with in the long run. We have the privilege of getting breakfast at Garantell. So replacing the white sandwiches with the dark bread is a good start. And yes, you can keep the jam to begin with. Change takes time.
By starting to exercise and eat a little healthier, you become more alert and have more stamina. You feel and perform better, so why wait? I am not saying it will be easy, you have to fool the brain and be a little stubborn. In the beginning, it can be a bit daunting; you are used to your old routines. But training is addictive due to the endorphins, so after a while you will be as stuck in it as I am.
Light has always had a special place in Sweden. Even in the darkest of winter, as I walk through the city streets there are lights in every window from candles, lamps, and Christmas decorations illuminating the snow clad buildings. It makes me realise how much people actually miss sunshine and long summer nights. The longing for light in Sweden culminates around one of the shortest days of the year- December 13, called “Luciadagen”.
In a company where growth is in constant focus, it is easy to end up in a situation where you constantly ‘just have your head above water’. You know the feeling? The focus is on machines and productivity. You forget things like employee well-being, work environment and tidiness. We are trying to change that! We believe that everything is connected. Order, quality, employee well-being is in line with customer satisfaction. How do we work with this? On many levels actually, but this time I thought I would tell you about our work with property, work environment and the group that has been working with this. Here are some tips to make the workplace more pleasant, based on our experience. Maybe you can get inspired by it!
Have you ever wondered how it is to work in a self-leading team? Does it sound like a dream? Or are you rather sceptical? At Garantell, we are trying to work like this. In all transparency, it is a bumpy road. And this might sound corny, but we are growing every day. I want to share some lessons learned. I think that setting shared goals, growing together, and maintaining a good working environment helps us on the way.
It went so fast. One cannot completely grasp it, but we have a spring feeling in our cold country. We went from -18 to +8°C in one week, so we really did not have the time to let it sink in. The snow melted at a furious pace and most of us removed skates and skis to make room for bicycles and boats…
Digitalization is important to Garantell. From our customers drawing mesh decks, machine guards, rear mesh in the Garantellator online to producing it, everything is automatic. But digitalization is only a tool. Our self-leading teams are at the heart of our company. How those two go together explains our chairman Mikael Axelsson. This time around he has not written a blog, but we made a vlog. Watch it here:
In today’s world, it is important to keep on your toes and be well-prepared for whatever the day has in store. This is so much easier to achieve when you have employees around you with different experience and knowledge. Perhaps you have read the previous blog posts “Different Nationalities, Shared Strength” and “Shared Breakfast, Nourishment for the Soul”, written by a couple of my colleagues. They give the impression that we are like a bag of mixed sweets – a great many people from different countries and different departments. And that really is true. Garantell has all functions and departments under one roof, from Production to Sales, from Development to Painting.
Everything started when I left my beloved Iraq in 2015 and came to Sweden. I had to leave a life, a family, a career and a future. Everything. To start anew. In the middle of summer 2018, I entered Swedish working life. It was Garantell who opened the doors for me. I can clearly recall the day I biked through the fragrant and dense forest to get to Speditörvägen 8. Things I knew for certain: That day was the beginning of a new chapter in my life in Sweden. I was more than ready, full of gratitude and brimming with curiosity. I had great expectations and felt a strong drive.
Time is one of the few things in life that is truly equal – no one can complain or insist that the quota is unfair. Although, the 24 hours a day we all have at our disposal can be utilised or wasted in various ways. However, only the things we manage to accomplish endure over time.
This year, many traditions have had to take a back seat. Due to the spread of the coronavirus, there are restrictions regarding the maximum number of people permitted to gather in one place, and festive events have had to adapt. This has affected the ability to hold everything from weddings to funerals in the usual way. Online funerals have become common in Sweden, while holidays such as Midsummer, crayfish parties or birthdays have been celebrated within the immediate family instead of as is usually the case with the extended family and friends. Christmas, which is considered the major holiday period in much of Europe, is now on the horizon. That too will be different for many people this year, as older relatives are unable to participate in the festivities in the same way as usual.
