Every New Year we make resolutions that are forgotten just a few weeks into the year - Quit Smoking - Lose Weight - Get more active - Take up a sport The usual suspects right? But why not revisit some of these old resolutions and take on a challenge that could change your life in 2014 Here some top ways to challenge yourself in 2014

1. Top Ways To
Challenge
Yourself in
2014

2. Introduction
Every New Year we make
resolutions that are forgotten just
a few weeks into the year
– Quit Smoking
– Lose Weight
– Get more active
– Take up a sport
The usual suspects right? But why
not revisit some of these old
resolutions and take on a challenge
that could change your life in 2014
Here some top ways to challenge
yourself in 2014

3. THE SPORTS CHALLENGE

4. Facts
• In 2013 26% of Women & 19% of
Men are classified as “inactive”
• “inactive” meaning that a lot of us
are “coach potatoes” and do not
work out in any way or form!
• Bad times for our waists, literally! On
average our waist circumference
increased by 70% (1993 until
present) for both men and women
So why not change – with a great sports
challenge…

5. Ideas
Run a Marathon – A challenge indeed! But is it fun? Well ‘actually’ it has been proven
that running on a regular basis makes you a happier person. So not only does it
improve your fitness and health – it will turn any frown around!
Running really not your thing? Well, try a “Bikeathon” instead. There are two major
events the London Bikeathon and Birmingham Bikeathon. A marathon on a bike! PAH
that must be easy peasy right? Well, both events cater for different levels with 3
routes 26miles, 52miles and a meaty 100miles. Definitely means that properly padded
cycling pants are a MUST!

6. THE WEIGHT CHALLENGE

7. Facts
• In the UK 64% of adults are classed
either as being overweight or obese
• Being “inactive” is not doing us any
good – more people are suffering
from high blood pressure and
diabetes
• But why? Well, not only have we
become “couch potatoes” our jobs are
less active (sitting behind desks), and
our good friend the TV is keeping us
strongly in its grip!
So why not take on the weight
challenge…

8. Ideas
OK we could just go for the usual suspects, but why
not make it a fun challenge, here are some wacky
weight loss challenges you might want to take on:
• The newest craze “twerking” yes Miley’s moves
have become a respected form of weight loss
• OR you could combine your bikeathons
preparation with some “cycle karaoke” – Yep who
knows you might get a music career out of it – or
get kicked out of your local gym
• You don’t want to exercise by yourself? Well why
not include your pet dog. Yes you read right!
Perfect challenge “Doga” which is practising Yoga
with your dog. Don’t get too excited your dog
won’t suddenly perform amazing Yoga positions
but will be more of a prop

9. THE LANGUAGE CHALLENGE
Bonjour!

10. Facts
Most Spoken Languages
Manadrin (Chinese)
Spanish
English
Hindi
Arabic
Portuguese
Bengali
Russian
Japanese
Javanese
A study carried out with UK parents shows
that TV shows such as “Dora the Explorer” is
increasing the amount of babies & toddlers
signed up for foreign-language classes (Who
would have thought?)
Parents could be onto something because:
1. People “just” thinking in another
language make better life decisions
2. Achieve higher marks at school
3. Enjoy better career prospects
Plus a study from the University of Chicago
suggest that being able to talk a second
language might help prevent dementia later
on in life
WELL – Get on the language challenge
then…
You might want to start with the
top 10 languages above. And YES
Javanese is a language (which is
spoken in Indonesia)

11. Idea
You are dreading to learn a new language – it will take up
time, it’s expensive and you really hate sitting in a classroom?
Well, here some more fun ideas that could support your
language challenge:
1. Like dining in restaurants? Well, it’s a great way to learn
a language. Go to some authentic restaurants and study
the menu in your desired language – next step try and
order your food in that language
2. Like Soaps? Why not switch from EastEnders to a soap
in the language you want to learn. You won’t believe
how much you will learn and understand by simply
reading body language and mimic
3. Got a smartphone? Ok this one is for the brave
amongst us, switch your language settings to whatever
language you want to learn. It might be a struggle at
first – but soon you will get the hang of it.

12. THE TRAVEL CHALLENGE

13. Facts
• 56.5 million British citizens made visits abroad
• Spain and France make up 34% of all visits abroad
• 154,000 British citizens have moved abroad in the last year
• 1.3m University graduates now live overseas
• In fact 400 Britons emigrate every day
So why not join them and take on the travel challenge…

14. Ideas
So you want to travel the world, explore new places, cultures
and get one heck of an experience. Here some suggestions
that could help you along on your travel challenge:
1. Become a constant traveller: Some people will make
that decision to leave everything behind and just travel.
Spending time in different countries and getting by on
odd jobs.
2. Become an world explorer: Others will take a break
from life for a year or two, sum up their savings and
explore the world as far and as much as they can
3. Become a settler: Some people travel, fall in love with
the country, and never return. Others find new exciting
opportunities and set up a new live as an Expat or
resident.
Ok if you have never travelled, and still want the odd kick,
you could just start travelling by visiting some of the top 10
holiday destinations (baby steps before you are ready for the
leap)
1 Spain
2 France
3 Greece
4 USA
5 Italy
6 Turkey
7 Egypt
8 Croatia
9 Thailand
10 Dubai

15. Summary Before Final Challenge
So, by now you have:
• Changed from inactive to active by
taking on some crazy sports
challenge
• Lost some weight balancing your pet
dog whilst doing “doga” and got that
body of steel you always wanted
• Learnt a new language, which you
have used in your travels around the
world
• You have seen all the countries you
would love to live in
Now you are ready for the final
challenge …

16. THE JOB CHALLENGE

17. Facts
• Employment figures in the UK have
been pretty glum unless you are in IT
(in that case forget about this challenge
and stick to what you are doing!)
• Unemployment stands at 7.2%
meaning 2.3million people are out of
work
• The UK only has 1460 hours of sunlight
per year from a possible 4383 – bad
times!
• Better job prospects can be found in
Norway (3.2% unemployed),
Switzerland (4.8%) or Austria (4.8%)
• No wonder increasingly more people
are looking to walk out of their jobs
into an expat live somewhere sunny!
Top UK Expats Destinations
Australia
USA
Spain
Canada
Ireland
France
New Zealand
South Africa
Germany
UAE
Don’t limit yourself to
“English” speaking countries.
Get your language challenge
on and benefit from Tax Free
packages, 365 days of sun
shine, nicer food, and some
better job opportunities…

18. Ideas
Your job is boring, you hate waking up each day and
walking into that office? Why not make a change…
1. Shift your skills! Why not go back to University, get a
professional certification or retrain totally. Some if
this you could do in evening classes or even online
2. Find a new company! It’s hard to leave well known
surroundings and taking on the challenge of
integrating into a new company. Overcome the fear –
but don’t leave your current job until you got that
new opportunity under your belt
3. Go Expat! You really fed up and you just got to make
a drastic change. Well, why not go Expat. If you are
brave enough you could find some great
opportunities abroad. However, be careful, if it
sounds too good to be true – it most probably is. If it
is your first time it would be best to go via a
professional recruitment agency. They will know the
laws, requirements and will deal with all the
paperwork.

19. BE BRAVE IN 2014 AND
CHALLENGE YOURSELF!

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@martinnathalie9

21. Sources
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England-are-alarming-reading.aspx
• http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2014/03/language-study
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• http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0775272.html
• http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/jobs/9877132/Career-change-how-to-
make-it-happen.html
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