Archive for the ‘Personal Success’ Category
Office for Financial Success reopening begins Missouri Saves Week
Posted: February 22, 2012 at 12:40 am
Office for Financial Success reopening begins Missouri Saves Week
The Office for Financial Success aims to minimize financial stress for MU students after graduation.
Published Feb. 21, 2012
Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies Jim Spain presents Gov. Jay Nixon's proclamation for Missouri Saves Week at the Office for Financial Success's grand reopening ceremony in Stanley Hall.
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With a new location and a newly remodeled space, the Office for Financial Success is open for business.
The office held its grand reopening ceremony at 10:15 a.m. Monday in Stanley Hall after remodeling began this past fall. Formerly located in the basement, the office now resides on the first floor with the Personal Financial Planning Extension and MU Center for Economic Education offices.
"(The office) is more visible for students," Office for Financial Success Director Ryan Law said. "We'll be able to offer services better up here since more students will see our offices and know that we are here to serve them."
A student-run organization, the Office for Financial Success provides free individual financial counseling services for MU students, faculty and staff. Topics discussed include budgeting, paying loans and establishing credit.
"It's a low-pressure environment, a student-to-student relationship and we're just here to answer questions and provide the help needed," Office for Financial Success President Thomas Duffany said. "You don't have to have specific questions. If you want to know something about a general topic, we'll help with that as well."
The Office for Financial Success hosts seminars and prepares presentations to provide groups such as Freshman Interest Groups with basic financial planning information. The office also partners with Volunteer Income Tax Assistance, coordinated by MU Extension, to provide free tax preparation. They have already filed more than 250 tax forms this year and annually average more than 1,300 tax forms.
Being in the same office with Personal Financial Planning Extension staff and the MU Center for Economic Education will make it easier for the Office for Financial Success to provide services not only to MU students, faculty and staff but also to people statewide, Law said.
"All three offices can now team up better to provide more comprehensive, integrated services across campus, the community and the state of Missouri," he said.
The reopening ceremony featured Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies Jim Spain reading a proclamation from Gov. Jay Nixon declaring the week of Feb. 20 as Missouri Saves Week. The reopening kicked off the celebration around the state.
Missouri Saves Week is part of America Saves Week, a national campaign in which nonprofit, corporate and government institutions collaborate to help others save and build wealth, said Brenda Procter, Consumer and Family Economics State Extension specialist.
"We promote solid savings behavior and asset building," she said.
This is the first year MU Extension has celebrated Missouri Saves Week.
"Our faculty is fully aware people are not saving enough to prevent financial emergencies, so we're excited to be part of Missouri Saves and help people develop strategies for saving," she said.
MU Extension is sponsoring events this week across the state to help individuals save and build wealth. Events include a workshop series and radio and social media efforts designed to help Missouri residents with their finances.
Law said during this financial recession, the average amount of student loan debt is $24,000, and some students are graduating with even greater student loan balances, credit card debt and auto loans.
He said the Office for Financial Success hopes to minimize financial stress for MU students after graduation.
"If we can help students be smart about their finances and graduate without a lot of debt, they're going to be farther ahead when they enter the workforce and begin to work toward their financial goals," he said.
Duffany, who learned the importance of having an emergency savings fund after purchasing a car, said planning ahead can help guide decisions and make handling finances easier for students still in school.
"(Financial planning) applies to students even though we don't think how it can benefit us now," he said.
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Office for Financial Success reopening begins Missouri Saves Week
Study Searches for Facebook Markers of Career Success
Posted: at 12:40 am
There's a perception among job seekers that material posted on Facebook and other social networking sites can only hinder their chances of employment. A dumb comment that can never be erased. That photo of you -- bleary-eyed -- building a beeramid with other naked people.
Those can certainly be stumbling blocks. But new research shows that a quick review of a Facebook profile can actually provide a better prediction of job success than standardized tests used for years by human resources departments around the world.
A study soon to be published in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology found that a 10-minute review of a Facebook page can yield not just red flags but also provide an unvarnished look at a job candidate and some strong clues to that person's character and personality.
Donald Kluemper, a management professor at Northern Illinois University and one of the lead researchers on the study, said that companies have used personality and IQ tests for ages to gauge the potential of job candidates. As it became clear that more companies were scanning the Internet for information on job applicants, Kluemper and his team set out to establish how much reliable data can be gleaned from such sources.
"Hiring specialists were just trying to eliminate someone who was doing something inappropriate," Kluemper said. "What we did is try to assess the personality traits in a similar way that they might be assessed by a standardized test."
Several "raters" were given two hours of training on how to evaluate a Facebook page and answer specific questions relating to personality. They would then spend five to 10 minutes evaluating pages; a total of 274 were reviewed.
This excerpt from the study shows the type of indicators they were looking for:
"Those high in agreeableness are trusting and get along well with others, which may be represented in the extensiveness of personal information posted. Openness to experience is related to intellectual curiosity and creativity, which could be revealed by the variety of books, favorite quotations or other posts showing the user engaged in new activities and creative endeavors. Extroverts more frequently interact with others, which could be represented by the number of SNW (social networking websites) friends a user has."
The researchers followed up with the job candidates after six months and got performance reviews from the supervisors of 69 of them, about 25 percent of the original group. Across the board, the study found that these relatively quick Facebook evaluations more accurately predicted success than standard tests.
"I think one of the differences is that you change the frame of reference," Kluemper said. "You're asking the rater, 'Is this person a hard worker?' On a personality test, the employee would be asked, 'How hard a worker are you?' One of the criticisms of self-reporting personality testing is that it can be faked. On a Facebook page, that's a lot harder to do."
I find this study fascinating and a harbinger of what's to come as our online lives continue to bleed into our professional ones. Companies will undoubtedly grow more strategic in the way they evaluate people, and to ignore potential gold mines of information would be absurd.
Kluemper stressed in the study and the interview that companies cannot just run out and start trying to do this kind of evaluation. There are myriad legal issues to consider. Kluemper noted, "Every question that you can't ask in a job interview is on Facebook."
I spoke with Max Drucker, chief executive and president of the California-based Social Intelligence Corp., which contracts with companies to run social media background checks on job candidates. By using such a company, employers are exposed to only the parts of a person's online profile that can legally be used in hiring decisions.
Drucker said it's no secret how much companies have begun using the Web to screen applicants. A Microsoft survey released last year found that 70 percent of recruiters and human resources professionals have rejected candidates based on information found on the Web.
But Drucker said this new study demonstrates the wealth of information, beyond just negatives, that can be mined online.
"If it's a marketing or PR or sales job, having a strong online presence may be an indicator of success," Drucker said. "If a person is applying for a technical job, participation in industry blogs or other technical locations may give a more three-dimensional view of what this job applicant is like."
But caution is more than highly recommended.
"If employers are going to use publicly available social media, I would encourage them to obtain consent from the job applicant first," Drucker said. "They also need to provide the candidate with an opportunity to dispute any disqualifying information that comes up, and they should have clear criteria for what they're looking for online."
Job seekers must be careful as well. It has become a mantra among career experts: Don't put anything online that you don't want an employer to see. Yet according to another recent Microsoft survey, only 44 percent of adults think about how online activity might affect their reputations.
It would be refreshing if people could start viewing their online profiles as an asset and be less scared about what employers might find and more proud of what they have to offer. It's also my humble guess that, as time goes on, employers will be less inclined to ding job applicants for minor online indiscretions and more apt to view the whole of what's out there.
But we're not there yet -- by a long shot.
Kluemper calls the information that people leave online "behavioral residue." Given that most of us exist on terrestrial and virtual planes, it seems fair -- and I'd bet more often than not beneficial -- that we be judged both by what we bring to the table and what we leave behind.
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Study Searches for Facebook Markers of Career Success
Is Citrix Finding Success in the Cloud?
Posted: at 12:40 am
Christopher is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network -- entries represent the personal opinions of our bloggers and are not formally edited.
Citrix Systems (NASDAQ: CTXS) believes that it can see the future, and it’s in the clouds. Or at least the virtual space that we are all being urged to put our trust in, for it is here that Citrix is making a play. It believes that the concept of the ‘personal cloud’ for businesses, where each employee has a cluster of applications, data, and friends, will see it be a market leader in a multi-billion market by 2015.
In its efforts to gain a foothold in this space, Citrix has acquired ShareFile for an undisclosed sum. The company has 2 million business users from 14,000 corporate customers and counts Pepsi, MetLife, and T-Mobile amongst them. It also bought AppDNA, an application management and compatibility specialist amongst other smaller acquisitions. It also has a new partnership with Cisco, aimed at the large-scale desktop virtualization market.
Fourth quarter earnings were better than expected, with revenues up 17% from the same period last time round and earnings per share of $0.58, beating market estimates of $0.50. It gave guidance for 2012 of $2.72 per share on the bottom line, though it did pull back its first quarter earnings forecast to around $0.50 per share against market expectations of $0.56. It was this reticence on earnings growth that caused the shares to slide on the day of the announcement, falling around 4% to $65. This reticence was caused by management conceding that acquisitions made are unlikely to add to the bottom line until the second half of the year. The company is concentrating on building its capacity for increased offerings to potential customers.
Since then, in a little more than two weeks, shares have moved up to $75, bouyed by a positive technology market and increasing customer favor toward the cloud solution. Shares of Citrix competitor VMware (NYSE: VMW) are trading at $99 on a price to earnings ratio of 59. Citrix shares trade on a price to earnings ratio of 40, with a forward price to earnings ratio of 24 (VMware’s forward price to earnings ratio is 32.5).
Operating margins at both companies stand around 19%, though VMware has a far bigger bagful of cash -- $4.51 billion against Citrix’s $740 million. Citrix has no debt, while VMware has $450 million of debt.
While VMware’s business model may be a little more advanced than Citrix’s, and evidenced by the market’s higher rating, both face incredible challenges. Citrix’s ability to acquire more capacity without moving into debt is now limited. However, perhaps the biggest challenge will be to live up to market expectations in the face of increasing competition in the marketplace. While there are new, small companies looking to make it big in the cloud on almost a daily basis, the competition from Microsoft (and its Sharepoint ad Office 365 offering) and Google (and its Google Docs) should not be underestimated.
Citrix shares have reached what was a strong level of resistance in November. With analysts’ median 12-month price target at $80.33 in sight, and management softening of earnings expectations, I think the recent run-up in share price could be part of a last hoorah before the price falls away again. For me, there is more downside risk than upside potential.
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Is Citrix Finding Success in the Cloud?
Biosensors measure sporting success
Posted: at 12:40 am
21 February 2012 Last updated at 19:01 ET By Katia Moskvitch Technology reporter, BBC News
As she takes off her shorts, multiple Olympic medallist and Slovenian athletic sprinter Merlene Ottey carefully checks her leg.
The object of her close attention is a tiny patch stuck to the skin.
Inside it, there is a miniature biosensor that monitors her muscle fatigue levels during training and competitions.
The data is then transmitted wirelessly and in real time to a team of scientists and coaches, who analyse it and come up with ideas to help her prevent injury and improve performance.
To help get rid of those extra seconds, vital in athletics. To win.
Ms Ottey trains hard, and regularly - but as the 2012 London Olympics come into focus, the time athletes have left for training is inevitably slipping away.
Muscle issues
The 52-year-old has been on the track for several decades, and although she hopes to qualify to take part and do her best in the upcoming Olympics, her body is understandably different from what it used to be.
Continue reading the main story “Start Quote
Biosensors are a new frontier in sports - now we can get the data from performing athletes wirelessly, continuously and in real time”
End Quote Dr Leslie Saxon USC Center for Body Computing
"I cannot train like 15 years ago - I have been training for more than 30 years, and my muscles have gradually become less balanced," says the athlete, who has previously represented Jamaica at the Olympic Games.
That is why monitoring her body's response during extreme effort is important - and this is where technology comes into play.
Sports and technology have long been merging to help athletes, with engineers developing the most aerodynamic bobsleigh shapes, or using the best materials to create the fastest bicycle.
But recently, one more factor has emerged - bioscience.
It allows researchers to get really up close and personal with an athlete's body reactions, providing a much better understanding of physiology and biomechanics.
And although sensors measuring, say, heart rate, have existed for some time, and are even available commercially from sports companies such as Nike, the most recent developments are really cutting edge, says Dr Leslie Saxon from the University of Southern California's Center for Body Computing.
"Biosensors are a new frontier in sports - now we can get the data from performing athletes wirelessly, continuously and in real time," she says.
"We can record things like acceleration and position, heart rate, respiration and fatigue, combine the measurements, and mash them up using sophisticated statistics and analytics, to get a complete picture of an athlete's fitness, and more insight into what his or her body metrics look like during a performance.
"This provides a complete view of what factors influence the performance - and that has to do with what you'd eaten and how much you'd slept the night before."
The data is then used to develop a more personalised approach to training, enhancing performance, as well as to predict what might put an athlete at risk, facilitating the very early diagnosis of, for instance, cardiac arrest.
And biosensors also help prevent injury and extend an athlete's career, adds Dr Saxon.
Tech and talent?
One of the companies developing biosensors in Europe is a Slovenian firm TMG.
Its head of R&D Srdjan Djordjevic says that although talent is still vital, it is simply not sufficient anymore.
"Technology, such as better diagnostic tools, is important - not just to improve performance directly, but also to find less destructive ways for adaptation, which means less injuries and other problems such as overtraining," he says.
In the past few years, TMG's sensors in the areas of muscle diagnostics, training optimisation and injury prevention have helped athletes of different levels - from local clubs to national teams and Olympic Committees - in football, athletics, cycling, basketball, alpine and cross country skiing.
Merlene Ottey, being a Slovenian athlete, uses their sensors regularly, but TMG also has international partners - for example, UK Sport.
This public body that directs the development of sport in the United Kingdom has teamed up with a number of organisations on a project called ESPRIT - the Elite Sport Performance Research in Training with Pervasive Sensing.
"Sensor technologies are becoming smaller and more sophisticated, allowing us to better understand how an athlete is responding to training over time and thus giving us a better insight into what it is important for them to maximise their development," says Scott Drawer from UK Sport.
"Sensors can measure forces, speeds and angles, and now we are beginning to understand how the physiology also impacts on some of these outcome measures.
"The real edge will be how all the data is pulled together in an integrated way to understand the individual.
"Projects with rowing, skeleton, hockey, cycling, rugby, wheelchair racing, shooting have had an impact."
'Continuous readout'
Queen Mary, University of London, has decided to take part in the ESPRIT project.
Continue reading the main story “Start Quote
An athlete under duress is more like a patient undergoing shock state, therefore the body is in extreme conditions”
End Quote Pankaj Vadgama Queen Mary, University of London
Professor Pankaj Vadgama, one of the leading researchers, develops tiny needle-based biosensors for detection and monitoring of oxygen, glucose and lactate - to make sure that the levels, and therefore the athletes, are all right.
Just recently, in December 2011, his research reached an important milestone - the group started first-ever human trials.
"An athlete under duress is more like a patient undergoing shock state, therefore the body is in extreme conditions," he says.
"We've learned over the last twenty years that physiological parameters such as oxygen in the breath and heart rate, give very valuable feedback on the performance status of an athlete.
"But what we haven't been able to get until now is continuous readout information - that's the novelty value and the unusualness of want we do."
There have been a number of serious challenges in developing the biosensors, explains Prof Vadgama.
Continue reading the main story London 2012 - One extraordinary year
For instance, the team has found that glucose and lactic acid can best be measured invasively - by sticking a needle with special enzymes on its tip under the skin.
These needles have to be as non-disturbing as possible, explains the researcher, as running with a needle stuck in your body could be understandably unpleasant, to say the least.
So the scientists made them very tiny, only a couple of millimetres long.
And to ensure that the body does not reject the needle as it would a splinter, the team uses special biocompatible and communicative materials.
Fan experience
But besides helping athletes, the data from biosensors can also be used for something completely different.
For instance, says Dr Saxon, her department has already started experimenting with getting the sensors' readings… to fans.
"You can use that same data that you're collecting to measure athletic performance, health, wellness and prevention, to create an immersive fans' experience," she says.
"What if I record my own heart rate while watching my favourite football player play, looked at my response and compare it to his response on the field?
"You can do a lot of fun things with this data."
And it is happening elsewhere, too - Formula 1 fans, for instance, can watch video clips on YouTube of F1 drivers during a race, and see their heart rate readings.
"As this technology matures, there will be more and more biosensors out there," says Dr Saxon.
"It is truly the next frontier in sports and technology."
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Biosensors measure sporting success
SUCCESS STORY: A central Iowa couple takes the road to healthier lives together
Posted: at 12:40 am
Erin Kiernan & Sonya Heitshusen Reporters
4:10 p.m. CST, February 21, 2012
When you see Shirley and Craig Phinney working out at the gym today, you’d never guess they used to be couch potatoes. A few years ago, Craig was weighing in at more than 300 pounds. Shirley hated what she saw in the mirror and she’s the one who decided they needed to make a change.
“I got fed up,” she says with a shrug. “I told him, ‘here’s your ultimatum: you can do a fitness program or a personal trainer’ – that was it. There wasn’t a third choice and I wasn’t going to give him one because this was our life!”
Shirley wasn’t the only one trying to give Craig a wakeup call, so was his doctor. He remembers the conversation well. “He said, ‘Craig, you’re killing yourself and you’ve gotta do something.’ It was the second time he told me I was near death.”
The first time was February of 2009. Craig was diagnosed with colon cancer. He eventually received a clean bill of health and returned to his job as an Ankeny police officer. He and Shirley also started “Cops Against Cancer”.
“With our organization we’re helping families where insurance doesn’t,” Craig explains, “we’re helping them with things like lodging and gas and meals. We approach those families and say – we can help, let us help.”
Shirley and Craig knew they needed help getting fit so they started training with Daniel Wright and Rebecca Meyer of “Biggest Loser” fame and life started to change. Craig can’t keep the smile of his face when he talks about it. “I was 53-years-old, a non-athlete and I was able to do stuff I’ve never been able to do before in my life!”
Even a serious knee injury didn’t derail the workouts. Craig and Shirley kept at it, dropped a ton of weight together, and want others to know they can do the same thing. “No matter the obstacle or what you’re going through, there’s a way, you just have to make it in your mind that you’re going to do it.”
You can help the “Cops Against Cancer” help other families by participating in a fitness challenge on March 3rd. For details: http://www.copsagainstcancer.org/
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SUCCESS STORY: A central Iowa couple takes the road to healthier lives together
Dental Top Doc Legends Mailing List – Video
Posted: February 21, 2012 at 12:36 am
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Author Ted Bagley Talks about His Struggle to Find Inner Peace
Posted: February 20, 2012 at 9:32 am
New Book follows the author’s unpredictable journey and reveals the toolkits to his success.
Simi Valley, CA (PRWEB) February 20, 2012
From the author that brought readers The Tragedy of Darkness, a magnificent novel of love and tragedy, comes another memorable read. This time, Ted Bagley lets them glimpse My Personal War Within: “A Struggle to Find Inner Peace”.
My Personal War Within is a novel primarily set in Birmingham, Alabama, during the 50s and 60s and the turbulent days of the Jim Crow Laws, the Ku Klux Klan, and the John Birch Society. These were difficult times for those growing up black in a country struggling to give identity to a race that played such an important part of its infrastructural growth. The author carries the readers on a ride through his life from the sometimes raciest streets of southern cities like Birmingham to corporate America where he is today. He very skillfully shows how family values, relationships, the military, and education were the tool kits to his success.
“The Author has created a warm and heartfelt depiction of his life from boyhood through manhood, with memorable quotes worth reading. He takes time to explain to the readers just how important the early foundation and family values are to his eventual career success.”—Sandi Witherspoon, Attorney at Law/EEOC
“Brilliant recounting of the author’s unpredictable climb up America’s corporate ladder! However, Bagley gives us more than a run-of-the-mill autobiography; rather, he shows us how powerful a tool that a belief in your own self-worth can be in overcoming life’s obstacles.”—Rosemarie Rhodes, Judge- EEO Atlanta
My Personal War Within will be featured at the 2012 Bologna Children’s Book Fair Book Exhibit in Bologna, Italy, on March 19-22, 2012.
For more information on this book, interested parties may log on to http://www.Xlibris.com.
About the Author
Ted Bagley, a vice-president at a large pharmaceutical company on the West Coast, was born in Birmingham, Alabama to Ted and Eddie Mae Bagley both deceased. His brother William Bagley, recently retired, resides in Indianapolis with his wife Larnell and daughter Jennifer. After graduating from high school, Bagley joined Uncle Sam’s Army where he served in the Old Guard, a ceremonial unit in Ft. Myer, Virginia. After serving for several years in that prestigious unit, he was sent to Viet Nam at the height of the conflict. At the end of his military career, he continued his degree at Ohio State and later graduated from Franklin Business Law School in Columbus, Ohio. After college, he joined the General Electric Company’s world-renowned Executive Leadership Program where he served in many capacities of the human resources field. After working his way to the executive ranks, the author left GE to join the Russell Corporation based in Atlanta, Georgia. After several years with Russell, he joined Dell Computer in Nashville, Tennessee. Bagley currently is an executive with Amgen Pharmaceuticals in Thousand Oaks California. His hobbies are bike riding, reading, skating, and minor car repair. He has a wife, Debra, and four children, Marcus, Chantal, Christopher, and Jared. The author’s passions are: public speaking, counseling, working with young people, and exercising. He has written two novels, The Tragedy of Darkness and My Personal War Within.
My Personal War Within * by Ted Bagley
“A Struggle to Find Inner Peace"
Publication Date: October 28, 2011
Trade Paperback; $19.99; 179 pages; 978-1-4568-7958-7
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For more information on self-publishing or marketing with Xlibris, visit http://www.Xlibris.com. To receive a free publishing guide, please call (888) 795-4274.
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Author Ted Bagley Talks about His Struggle to Find Inner Peace
Mainstream media ‘whitewashed’ debate, says Guan Eng
Posted: at 9:32 am
By Yow Hong Chieh
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 20 — Lim Guan Eng has decried what he claims are attempts by the mainstream media to “whitewash” MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek’s personal attacks against him during Saturday’s debate.
The DAP secretary-general pointed out that while he had stuck to the topic of debate, Dr Chua had not only launched personal attacks against him but also MCA’s immediate past president, Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat.
“If personal attacks are the criteria for success, then there is no doubt that Chua is the victor,” he said in a statement today.
“However, I had refused to engage in personal attacks as a debate should be a healthy contest of ideas, ideals and principles.”
Lim cited as an example of mainstream “whitewashing” the erroneous report by MCA-owned, The Star, in which he was quoted as saying: “We do not agree the prime minister must always be Malay because we want the people to decide.”
He said that while he respected the right of the English-language daily to present a partisan slant of the event, The Star’s “lies” were patently false and untrue.
The Star today published a correction on page six and apologised for attributing the quote to the Penang chief minister.
Such tactics will not work as the debate was shown live, Lim said, adding that this was the reason why his second debate with Dr Chua next month must also be telecast live to prevent any distortion of facts.
He also slammed The Star’s columnist, Baradan Kuppusamy, for claiming Lim had requested the second debate to repair the damage from his first outing.
Lim also asked that The Star withdraw Baradan’s column and apologise for allowing the latter to repeat the made-up quote in his analysis today despite printing an errata in the same paper.
He added that his second debate with Dr Chua in Malay and English should not be a repeat of the one held at the weekend, in which nearly all of the questions from the floor had been from MCA supporters.
“How can I answer 12 out of 13 questions in 3 minutes especially when most of them were lies?” Lim said.
“For this reason, I chose not to answer these lies as the debate should be about truth and the policies that PR (Pakatan Rakyat) wants to implement to change Malaysia.”
Saturday’s debate between Dr Chua and Lim was organised by the Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute (ASLI) and MCA’s Institute of Strategic Analysis and Policy Research (INSAP).
The highly anticipated Mandarin debate was broadcast live on Astro, with Malay translation.
Political analysts have criticised the Mandarin debate for veering off-topic and descending into political posturing.
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Mainstream media ‘whitewashed’ debate, says Guan Eng
Success Story: Renee Stanfield
Posted: at 9:32 am
Lesley Young/Special to The Commercial Appeal
A combination of running, weight training and counting calories enabled Renee Stanfield of Tipton County to lose 68 pounds.
Seeing her church friends post on Facebook about participating in the St. Jude Memphis 5K, Renee Stanfield thought she would give it a try.
Her first time on a treadmill opened her eyes a little bit.
"I could not last a minute," said the 43-year-old Tipton County resident.
Rather than shrinking from the task, Stanfield became more determined.
"I knew I had to figure this out for myself," she said. "I had to reach a point and find my ability, so I kept at it."
She kept at it for two months, and completed her first 5K, the EJ Goldsmith 5K, in November 2009.
"I was happy with my time. I had never done a 5K before," said Stanfield, a banker.
Since then, she has run numerous 5Ks, completed two half-marathons, joined the Memphis Runners Track Club, and worked with with a personal trainer once a month for a monthlong workout schedule.
So far, she has lost 68 pounds, and she has no intention of stopping.
"I would like to eventually be 155 pounds, but at this point I would be happy with 180," she said. "I know as you get closer to your goal, it's harder to lose. I'm going to be happy with whatever number I eventually get to."
When she began her training in September 2009, she also began to change her eating habits, combining her knowledge from Weight Watchers, books she had read and watching "The Biggest Loser."
"I multiplied my weight by seven and then subtracted 200 to find out how many calories I could have a day. I started out eating 2,200 calories a day, and as I would lose weight, I would redo the math," she said.
She says she never deprives herself, occasionally allows a Diet Coke with her new water-only drinking regimen, and religiously studies and adheres to food-label serving suggestions.
"I figured if I'm going to run and exercise, I have to change my eating habits to coincide with what I'm doing," she said.
She tries to make it to the gym for 6 miles of running and walking four or five days a week, and bumps up her training to running 5 miles a day when she has a half-marathon ahead of her.
And since summer of last year, Stanfield has met once a month with personal trainer Corey Klein at his gym, Klein Fitness on South Main, to get her weight training schedule.
"I call it the 'schedule of pain,' " she said. "I've learned that running is good, but you have to have strength training. It's an altogether sort of thing."
Mostly, keeps her eye on her goal.
"I use 5Ks as my goal," she said. "If I keep a goal in front of me, I can continue."
Renee Stanfield
Age: 43.
Home: Tipton County.
What she did: Stanfield began training slowly for her first 5K in September 2009, building up to finally completing a half-marathon by running and walking it. Now, she trains for numerous 5Ks and has completed two half-marathons.
Trainer: Corey Klein, Klein Fitness, 338 S. Main, (901) 264-0348 or (573) 823-8753, kleinfitness.com
Advice: "Figure out what works for you. And it's all baby steps. Look at little chunks of weight instead of thinking you have 150 pounds to lose. That number is too big and scary."
Have you lost weight and kept it off, adopted better eating habits, started exercising or had success living a more healthful lifestyle? E-mail your story to sunyata00@gmail.com.
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Success Story: Renee Stanfield