Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Growing Others Into What They Could Be

"A true Master is not the one with the most students, but one who creates the most Masters. A true leader is not the one with the most followers, but one who creates the most leaders." Neale Donald Walsch, Conversations With God: An Uncommon Dialogue

I was doing fairly well in grades one to three - especially in reading. Then I hit a terrible teacher in grade four. She made school so unhappy and unappealing, she almost caused me to drop out of course I would have waited another few years to make it official. However, in grades five and six I came under the nurturing of Mrs. Westman. I vividly remember her saying after I'd read a composition to the class; "someday I won't be surprised to see your name on a book." Her encouraging words simmered in my subconscious for years and helped me to see new possibilities for myself. Twenty years later my first book, The VIP Strategy: Leadership Skills for Exceptional Performance, was published. It was a real pleasure to present her with one of the very fir5B4st copies inscribed with a warm thank you message. Her family and the local paper ensured that she got the recognition she so richly deserved.

Most people see others as they are, a leader sees them as they could be. Leaders like Mrs. Westman see beyond the current problems and limitations to help others see their own possibilities. It's a key part of our own growth and development. We continue to grow when we help others grow and develop. That's the second half of the two part growing and developing circle. The first part is our own growth and development. We can't develop others if our own growth is stunted. The two parts of the growing and developing circle depend upon and support each other. We develop ourselves while we're developing others. By developing others, we develop ourselves further. This allows us to develop others still further the growth circle spirals ever upward. The reverse is also true. By failing to develop myself and others, my growth and development circle spins downward.

The art of developing others is the art of assisting their self-discovery. The 15th century Italian physicist and astronomer, Galileo put it this way, "you cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him to find it within himself." This leads us to the developing-without-teaching paradox. The ancient Chinese philosopher, Lao-Tzu, described it like this; "superior leaders get things done with very little motion. They impart 5B4instruction not through many words, but through a few deeds. They keep informed about everything but interfere hardly at all. They are catalysts, and though things would not get done as well if they weren't there, when they succeed they take no credit. And because they take no credit, credit never leaves them."

Growing and developing others is one of management's key responsibilities. The traditional view of management is getting work done through people, but strong leaders develop people through work. As managers, team leaders, or team members, we can't be much help in developing others if we don't really know where they're trying to go. Once we understand that, we can work to align their development goals with those of the team or organization. They don't always match, but generally it's not too difficult to bring them together.

A similar approach applies to our parental leadership role with teenagers. The deepest love we can show our sons and daughters is to help them discover their unique purpose and uncover their special talents. That can be especially tough if it doesn't match the dreams we may have for them. Our leadership task is to help them be all that they can be, not what we would like to be if we were in their place.

Excerpted from Jim's fourth bestseller, Growing the Distance: Timeless Principles fo560r Personal, Career, and Family Success. View the book's unique format and content, Introduction and Chapter One, and feedback showing why nearly 100,000 copies are now in print at http://www.growingthedistance.com. Jim's new companion book to Growing the Distance is The Leader's Digest: Timeless Principles for Team and Organization Success. Jim Clemmer is an internationally acclaimed keynote speaker, workshop/retreat leader, and management team developer on leadership, change, customer focus, culture, teams, and personal growth. His web site is http://www.clemmer.net/articles.

Psychological Freedom

Freedom.

Many consider this to be the most important word in the human language. Wars have been fought, lives lost and revolutions won, all for the goal of freedom.

In the film "Braveheart," Met Gibson played William Wallace, a 12th-century Scotsman determined to win f21D7reedom for himself and his country.

While not completely accurate historically, the film's depiction of Wallace's passion for freedom captured hearts and minds.

As I pondered the popularity of "Braveheart" and the coming Fourth of July celebration, I decided to apply the notion of freedom to our emotional and psychological lives.

In order to be emotionally and psychologically free, or to have what I'll call "mental freedom," we need to have "freedom from" and "freedom to."

Freedom from

The past - This does not mean to forget the past. It's important to remember the old saying, "Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it."

But an important freedom is to be free of the weight, or "emotional charge," of the past.

Too much stress - A certain amount of stress is good for us; it leads us to take action. Too much stress freezes us and leads to inaction.

Pressure - Stress comes from the outside, while pressure comes from what we tell ourselves about the stress. It's "how can I ever get all this done?" vs. "I can handle this."

Pressure is an inside job.

Abuse, of any kind - There has been a lot of emphasis recently on the important issues of physical and sexual abuse. At the same time, we also need freedom from emotional and verbal abuse.

Freedom to

Achieve your potential.

Do work you enjoy.

Be yourself.

To dream - Everybody has a dream. What's yours? Go for it.

Think for yourself - Never, ever, let anyone do your thinking for you. Others may disagree with you, and that can be uncomfortable, or worse.

At the same time, as Robert Louis Stevenson once said, "Sooner or later, we all sit down to a banquet of consequences." Make decisions on a daily basis to make sure that's a banquet you would enjoy.

To love and be loved.

To say no. Unless we can say no, our yes really doesn't mean much.

To change - Whether it's a change in direction, in priorities, maturity level, beliefs, or something else equally important, the freedom to change one's life is crucial to mental freedom.

As one person so aptly said, "It's good to be able to change our lives while life is changing us."

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You can also subscribe to The Article Writing & Article Marketing Tips Newsletter delivered to your email inbox twice a month from Jeff Herring, The Article Guy.

Reach Your Goals with Goal Pooling

Goal-pool with friends or acquaintances

Get together with a group of friends or co-workers and host a logistical brainstorming party where all the invitees lay out the goals theyd li5B4ke help with and make plans to meet them, with the help of the rest of the group. The result might look something like this:

Every Monday the whole crew gets together for a half-hour after work to help Barbara make fund-raising calls for her charity (and in exchange, everyone gets invited to the hoity-toity, networking-heaven Christmas party held to thank the donors and volunteers).

On Wednesdays, Bob hosts a scrap-booking dinner where he provides the food in exchange for mooching supplies, equipment and techniques from his more scrap-savvy cohorts.

On Sundays, June hosts a brunch where everybody eats high on the hog in exchange for honest feedback on her catering recipes and presentation/marketing ideas.

Continue goal-pooling until everyone involved has met their goals unless everyone decides to keep going and move on to the next batch of goals!

(c) Soni Pitts

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Soni Pitts is the Chief Visionary Butt-Kicker of SoniPitts.Com. She specializes in helping others reclaim "soul proprietorship" in their lives and to begin living the life their Creator always intended for them.

She is the author of the free e-book "50 Ways To Reach Your Goals" and ove33Er 100 self-help and inspirational articles, as well as other products and resources designed to facilitate this process of personal growth and spiritual development.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Self Esteem - 12 Wonderful One Line Boosters For Your Self Esteem!

Self esteem basically deals with how you think of your own self. You would be surprised at the changes a different attitude to your self can bring, to the situations that you will face in your life. A person with a healthy self esteem is very hard to break. Such people do not take anything including failures as a negative aspect of life. Failure could well be looked upo5B3n as an opportunity to improve your performance you know. For a person with such a positive attitude, their whole life becomes a process of self improvement and growth in self esteem, and rightly so as well.

Humans are the most impressionable at younger ages in their childhood, so this is a great time for the parents to invoke feelings of self happiness and self esteem in their young ones. However, if you have had an unhappy childhood, it does not mean that you have to live unhappy through the rest of your life. It is never too late to help your self esteem even if you are now an adult, in fact it should be a process that remains present throughout life.

You could well join a few therapy classes, attend seminars on self esteem and go through books and articles on the subject written by well known experts on self esteem. However, if you want to remember a few points to always keep in mind, about self esteem, remembering quotations sounds like a good idea. Quotes do tend to stick around longer at the back of the mind than articles and lectures, simply because of their directness and their deep meaning. Read on to learn some popular quotes by a few of the most successful people that this world has ever seen.

- "Low self-esteem is like driving through life with your hand-break on." - Maxwell Maltz

- "The average estimate themselves by what they do, the above average by what they are." - Johann Friedrich Von Schiller5B5

- "The foundation of lasting self-confidence and self esteem is excellence, mastery of your work." - Brian Tracy

- "The man who trims himself to suit everybody will soon whittle himself away." - Charles Schwab

- "The will to do springs from the knowledge that we can do." - James Allen

- "To establish true self-esteem we must concentrate on our successes and forget about the failures and the negatives in our lives." - Denis Waitley

- "Nothing profits more than self-esteem, grounded on what is just and right." - John Milton

- "Outstanding leaders go out of their way to boost the self-esteem of their personnel. If people believe in themselves, it's amazing what they can accomplish." - Sam Walton

- "Respect yourself if you would have others respect you." - Baltasar Gracian

- "Self-pity gets you nowhere. One must have the adventurous daring to accept oneself as a bundle of possibilities and undertake the most interesting game in the world making the most of one's best." - Harry Emerson Fosdick

- "Sooner or later, those who win are those who think they can." - Richard Bach

- "Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new." - Albert Einstein

Abhishek is a self-proclaimed Personality Development Guru and has written several books on this topic! Visit his 43Dwebsite http://www.Positive-You.com and Download his FREE Personality Development Report and discover some amazing self-improvement tips for FREE. Become the best you can become and reclaim your life! But hurry, only limited Free copies available! http://www.Positive-You.com

Self Motivation Techniques

Self motivation, who has not needed some good techniques to motivate themselves at one point or another in their life. It could have been getting up out of your bed early in the morning to go to school or work, or go for that daily run even though it's a little cold outside. If you want to be able to effectively use your mind power to motivate yourself you have to have patience.

There are many different motivation techniques and of course not all work for everyone. However knowing them is just the first step so that you may then pick the ones that you would like to try and see if they work for you.

The first thing is you must be truly interested in the task you want to achieve. If you don't care about something it will feel like it's impossible to feel motivated about it. A good thing to do would be to connect it to your ultimate goal in the end. If you don't want to do an assignment just realize that the sooner you get it over with, is the sooner you can put it in your list of things completed and you don't have to worry about it anymore.

Another good technique would be to strengthen your desire. If it's about losing weight and you don't want to work out think about that dream body you can achieve if you just put in 20 minutes per day of exercise. Sometimes the biggest problem can be lack of energy and you need to do something that will give you an energy boost. Drink some coffee, the caffeine will give you the energy boost you need. Alternatively, you can go outside sometimes just feeling the sunshine and taking in the fresh air can be energizing.

However the easiest self motivation technique of all would be to have better sleep. If you can manage to get at least 5 hours of sleep a day, the quality of it will be more important than the quantity to help rejuvenate your body.

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Working a Depression Treatment Plan That Works for You

Unfortunately there isn't a universal depression treatment plan. Treatments really vary depending on each person's condition. Some people only experience symptoms occasionally and can use self-help techniques to rid themselves of the problems. Others face much more challenging obstacles and need to use medication to get rid of their symptoms.

What is Depression?

Depression is an extremely debilitating mental disease. People suffering from it have a difficult time doing anything, even getting out of bed. They feel worthless, out of touch with the world, they can't sleep, experience anxiety and often times can't figure out why life is worth living. They a general feeling of hopelessness and despair.

Treating Depression

Depression is a serious mental disease however, many who suffer from it will benefit from developing a personal self-help plan. A key component to developing a successful self-help plan is learning to lean on others. Your family and friends are your support system so use them. Once you recognize that you're suffering, share this with your family. Let them know your symptoms. This will help them recognize the problem in many cases before you do, allowing them to help you initiate your self-help plan.

When you feel depressed, you want to stay in doors, change your eating patterns and block yourself off from the world. However, you should do the opposite. When you feel depressed, force yourself to go to the gym and get some exercise. Force yourself to go to a movie with friends. Force yourself to get a good eight hours of sleep and eat right. When you recognize that you're avoiding these activities because you're depressed and force yourself to do them, you'll start pulling yourself out of your the disease.

It should be noted that this type of plan will only work for someone who has mild depression. People who suffer severely or have other mental disorders such as bi-polar disorder, may need to take medication. Medications regulate a person's mental chemical makeup, which has a stabilizing effect. If your self help treatment doesn't work, seek help from a psychiatrist or other mental health professional.

Visit Get Depression Answers to find more depression information. We cover all depressions ranging from childhood depression to depression chat rooms

Self-Marketing Is A Full-Time Job

The most important aspect of being an entrepreneur or small business owner is self-marketing. Self marketing, in itself, is a full time job. And, for a bootstrapped entrepreneur it is a full-time job even more so. Luckily, there are plenty of entrepreneur resources to help you through it to self-market yourself, the best and most popular being the Guerrilla Marketing series of books by Jay Conrad Levinson. Guerrilla Marketing is defined by Wikipedia as an "unconventional way of performing marketing activities (primarily promotion) on a very low budget."

When entrepreneurs deal with self-marketing on a low budget they must realize that there is not one golden technique that they could perform that will draw loads of new business their way. New entrepreneurs and small business owners must perform a variety of marketing activities because no one marketing tactic on its own will be enough. That5B4 is why self-marketing is a full time job.

With that in mind, here are just a few self-marketing techniques that a new entrepreneur should do. If you are a new entrepreneur, dont do just one. Do them all and more.

  • Article Writing: Write expert articles in your area of expertise and submit them to article directories. The most important directory you can submit to is EzineArticles.com. At the bottom of each article that you write you can include a link to your website (if you have one), your business phone number, or an email address. The most important thing to realize with articles is that most people will find your article via a search engine such as Google, Yahoo, or MSN. And, most of the search engines will give you a ranking based on the title of the article. You must make the title keyword rich; use words that you think people searching for your services will type into the search box. Don't write just one article; write plenty.
  • Internet Sales Leads: You can purchase executive contact names and phone numbers from leads list companies like InfoUSA and D&B. Or you can receive free B2B and B2C sales leads from Trade-Pals.com. There is a TradePals category for most business professionals like accountants, advertising & marketing professionals, insurance brokers, real estate brokers, lawyers, engineers, website designers, sales consultants, motivational speakers, financial planners, 5AFand writers, for example. When creating a profile remember that, just like EzineArticles.com, most people will find your profile via a search engine so it is important to create a descriptive profile, especially the "brief overview of services" section.
  • Free Publicity: Free publicity could be the best advertising that you and your business could receive. The media's reach is wide and far. You could try meeting with editors of local newspapers or even news stations. You could send relevant press releases, as long as they are newsworthy. Don't believe the hype that a press release can get you instant publicity. You must realize that the media receive thousands of press releases daily; they don't even read most of them. But again, you must try everything when self-marketing yourself including writing a press release. There are online press release services like PRWeb.com and Send2Press.com.
  • Business Networking: Business networking could be an inexpensive way to learn from other entrepreneurs, to make business contacts, or to receive business referrals. You could join your local Chamber of Commerce or your local BNI (Business Networking International) chapter. As well, there are online business networking websites such as Ryze.com and LinkedIn.com.

Visit Tino Buntic's 474TradePals to receive qualified sales leads without cold calling or prospecting - for free! TradePals provides B2B and B2C sales leads to business professionals in major cities across The U.S. and Canada, including Albuquerque, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, Detroit, Vancouver, Quebec City, Denver, Seattle, Portland, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Ottawa, St Louis, Baltimore, Edmonton, Houston, Dallas, and Las Vegas.

Great Spiritual Movies

Self-Care, the Luxury You Can Afford

Self-care is a choice. When you find yourself feeling sorry for yourself because you "have to" hit the gym, because you "can't" have that piece of birthday cake or because you "wish" you could be like your friend who stays out late doing exciting things, remember that you're free to flop on the couch, have TWO pieces of cake or not go to sleep at all.

You're choosing self-care.

Instead o5B4f asking "Do I have to do this my whole life?" remind yourself, "I GET to do this my whole life, if I keep making the choice to!"

In his book, "Callings", Gregg Levoy writes, "In the Afghani tongue, the verb to cling is the same as to die."

To me, this drastic statement reminds me of the many years I clung to smoking, long after it stopped fitting into my life or my self-identity. I've been smoke-free for almost six years now, and I'm so grateful for the opportunity to share what I've learned in my journey towards self-care.

My favourite self-care principle is to focus on what you want to add in, versus what you need to take out. In order to release the habits you might be clinging to, you need to shift the idea that you'll have to give up things that you love to take care better care of yourself.

When you begin, instead, to ADD nourishing self-care treatments, rituals and habits to your life, you'll become naturally ready to let go of what's not right for you. Because you've sent yourself the message that you're worth it.

You'll become clear about your priorities and will naturally let go of whatever doesn't fit into the new life that you're building a new life of more energy, resilience and tolerance of stress, increased joy and ease of productivity.

TAKING IT TO YOUR SELF-CARE PLAN

Clutter: Instead of imagining you have to clear the clutter from your entire house or office, 5B4instead think about ONE AREA you'd really like to have clear. Think about the purpose that space will fulfill, what you'll do there, what it will look like, what it will feel like and the difference it will make to your life to have that space. Then go about creating (adding in) that space.

Emotions: What's an emotion you'd like to be feeling more every day? What makes you feel that way? Add in activities, people, reading, entertainment options or creative activities that bring about that emotion in you.

Getting off the couch: If you fall into the "couch potato" category (and I certainly did for many years of my life), try to trade the "nothing" you're doing for a "something". In the beginning it could be as simple as adding in a half hour of window-shopping at your local mall. Hey, at least you're up and out!!

New Foods: Browse through recipes in the library or in magazines or newspapers or on the Internet and try a new vegetable or two. Try and eat a different coloured fruit every day for one week. Shift your way of eating and try brand new things instead of just trying to find substitutes for what you're used to eating. Low-fat or sugar-free substitutes never seem to taste as good as the "real thing", they sometimes contain harmful additives, they're expensive and they don't encourage any lasting change or the fundamental shifts that are needed to truly make self-care a priority.

Give w641hat you want to get: Think about the qualities you'd like to be receiving more from the people in your life, and then practice GIVING those qualities at every opportunity.

Instead of thinking about what you might need to give up in order to practice better self-care, think about what you get to add in! And with the many forms of illness and disease that are linked to poor self-care habits, self-care is a luxury you can't afford to ignore!

(c) Linda Dessau, 2005. All rights reserved.

Linda Dessau, the Self-Care Coach, is the author of "The Everyday Self-Care Workbook". To find out more about the book, or to receive her free monthly newsletter, "Genuine Self-Care", visit http://www.genuinecoaching.com/resources.html

Great Spiritual Movies

Monday, July 14, 2008

Avoiding Pity City

"Oh, the holiness of always being the injured party. The historically oppressed can find not only sanctity but safety in the state of victimization. When access to a 5B4better life has been denied often enough, and successfully enough, one can use the rejection as an excuse to cease all efforts." Maya Angelou, American author, Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas

A thirty-eight year old man was at his parent's home for Sunday dinner. He mournfully turned the discussion to his many problems, "I've just left my third failed marriage, I can't hold onto a job, I'm in debt up to my ears and will have to declare personal bankruptcy," he whimpered. "Where did you go wrong?"

Blaming others for our difficulties is the easy way out. That's why it's so popular. A job applicant put this statement on his resume, "The company made me a scapegoat, just like my three previous employers." In How to Save Your Own Life, author Erica Jong writes, "No one to blame!... That was why most people led lives they hated, with people they hated... How wonderful to have someone to blame! How wonderful to live with one's nemesis! You may be miserable, but you feel forever in the right. You may be fragmented, but you feel absolved of all the blame for it. Take your life in your own hands, and what happens? A terrible thing: no one to blame." Rolling Stone journalist, P. J. O'Rourke, adds, "One of the annoying things about believing in free will and individual responsibility is the difficulty of finding somebody to blame your problems on. And when you do find somebody, it's remarkable how often his pic5B4ture turns up on your driver's license."

Turn on any daytime talk show and you'll find endless examples of people blaming everybody and everything for the way their lives have turned out. A little channel surfing could lead to the conclusion that we're living on the Planet of the Aches. As long as these sad souls are playing the blame game and embracing their victim role, they are stuck in that rut. It can too easily become a rut that's really a grave with the ends knocked out. Regular viewers of these misery-series soon end up feeling as helpless and hopeless as the continual parade of victims.

As key players in the whine industry, these shows reflect and help to spread the deadliest disease in society today the Victimitis Virus. The Victimitis Virus is the poor-little-me-syndrome. It's a state of hopelessness and powerlessness to do anything about my problems. It's running from personal responsibilities with excuses like "it's not my job," "I was just following orders," "I am too old to change," or "the dog ate my homework" (that's also the title of a great book on personal responsibility by Vincent Barry). It's the most contagious and destructive infection ever seen on this earth. The Victimitis Virus is usually found along with the Pessimism Plague. Both kill, mutilate, and destroy millions of lives every year. They are also the only lethal diseases that can be transmitted with no physical contact at all. The5B4y are often spread through one-on-one, group, or mass communications.

Symptoms of the Victimitis Virus include bouts of doubt and discouragement diarrhea, constant vomiting of cynicism and snide remarks, pains in the neck (or lower regions) from suspicion and distrust, hopelessness headaches, waves of nausea from pessimism and put downs, and frequent cramps from its-beyond-my-(or our) control language. This "victim-speak" often includes statements like "he/she makes me so mad I can't control myself," "that's just the way I am," "there's nothing we can do," "they won't allow that," "I have to," "I am no good at," "the system won't let us," and so on. We can all add to the list from our personal favorites.

It's very easy for entire groups to become infected with the Victimitis Virus and the Pessimism Plague. Many meetings or family gatherings then turn into "primal scream therapy" or "blame storming" sessions around why a deadline was missed, results are down, or a family member behaved so poorly. The entire group can end up moving into Pity City throwing many Pity Parties with whiny Pity Puppies scampering about barking blame in all directions.

Growing the Distance excerpt bio lines:

Excerpted from Jim's international best-seller, Growing the Distance: Timeless Principles for Personal, Career, and Family Suc3EDcess. Jim Clemmer is a bestselling author and internationally acclaimed keynote speaker, workshop/retreat leader, and management team developer on practical leadership. His extensive and resource rich web site (with over 300 free articles) is http://www.clemmer.net/articles

Friday, July 11, 2008

Why Do You Need to Rid Your Life of Stress

Good or bad, you will always have challenges in life. Oftentimes, the struggles you face will be happy trials, because you can see the positive end result. However, at other times, you trials will seem like a millstone around your neck, causing a great deal of unhappiness and anxiety. So, learn why you need to rid your life of stress, and learn the coping mechanisms lending to contentment in life.

First, unless you get a handle on your stress, it will adversely affect your health. For example, anxiety has a negative effect on blood pressure. Although not the direct cause, always being uptight can only make the problem worse. As most of us know, the end result can be debilitating and even deadly diseases. As the great Bob Proctor said, look at the word disease. It'5A8s merely your body being at dis-ease

One of the most deadly illnesses to come to mind is a heart attack. Medically speaking, you may already have the precursors to an episode, but the majority of people generally experience the pain and full arrest after periods of physical or mental stress. Anxiety is basically the straw that broke the camels back. It's also been proven that stress can potentially activate cancer cells in your body.

The same can be said for strokes. Stress is not the primary cause, but it is definitely a contributor to this often fatal disease. So, in addition to taking care of your physical health, you need to be mentally well. Nevertheless, your physical and mental condition is not the only reason to rid your life of stress.

Anxiety will influence your productivity and effectiveness in the workplace. Being on top of your game is good; but, being constantly stressed will not only make it difficult to stay on task and do the best job possible. In fact, you stress can also influence the lives of your coworkers and the atmosphere at work in general. In addition, how you react to stress may also determine whether you get a promotion or retain your position if your place of employment downsizes.

If your health and your job are being influenced by stress, you can bank on your home life suffering as well. Anxiety will infiltrate your relationships with friends, a spouse, children, or anyon576e else that is important in your life. No matter how hard you try, your inner turmoil will be a source of contention in your personal interactions as well.

Now you know why you need to rid your life of stress. Fortunately, if you want to change how you approach challenges in life, and make anxiety a thing of the past, help is available. Do not wait until all facets of your life have been permeated by tension. You can learn to live stress free.

Paul Sutherland is an Accelerated Business Growth Coach. His company - Daniel Thomas International is also heavily involved in personal development and growth. For that reason a website http://www.perfected-products.com was created. Here you will find some of the very best tried tested and proven methods for creating the life you really want to achieve.

Don't make the mistake of trying the same old things and expecting different results. Make a real difference in your life right now and find out what works in the real world.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Another Reason to Get to Your Nearest Yoga Class

Most of us have heard that yoga is fabulous for cultivating a calm mind and a healthy body. Now, studies are revealing that yoga may be a one of the most valuable answers to our society's greatest health disasters.

A recent study in Channai, India has shown that a yoga practice is fantastic for treating metabolic syndrome, or syndrome x. It can actually reverse the clinical and biochemical changes associated with this aging syndrome.

Metabolic syndrome is one of the biggest causes of premature aging, heart disease, and nearly every other disease that we could think of. It is a catch all phrase that describes symptoms such as high blood pressure, obesity, high triglycerides (bad cholesterol), high blood sugar, and fatigue. While these are health problems themselves, they can also lead to a variety of other serious health issues such as diabetes, heart attacks, and even cancer.

A study by Dr. R.P. Agrawal, of the SP Medical College, Bikaner, India, and colleagues, published in journal Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice evaluated the beneficial effects of yoga and meditation in 101 adults who showed symptoms of metabolic syndrome. In the study, 55 adults received three months of regular yoga including standard stress management yoga postures and a form of transcendental meditation daily. During that time they continued to receive their standard care.

The results show that yoga is anti aging and beneficial for treating metabolic syndrome. Waist circumference, blood pressure, blood sugar, and triglycerides were significantly lower, and "good" HDL cholesterol levels were higher in the yoga group as compared to controls.

Personally, I do yoga for stress release, but this research gives me further reason to jump out of bed and get to my 6:30 yoga class to do those postures (even when it is raining and cold outside).

http://www.defyagenaturally.com

Combining the world's most up to date scientific research on how to stay young natura111Clly in both mind and body with a heartfelt, personal touch. When we have the right information and take some dedicated action, we can be in charge of our health and our aging process.

Yoga for Sciatica

More and more people are seeking out yoga for relief from their pain and ailments. Yoga has become a real option to the doubting public. This will result in yoga instructors seeing more students, in their classes, with disorders, such as sciatica.

Sciatica is the name of a class of symptoms, which result from compression of the nerve roots of the sciatic nerve, or the sciatic nerve itself. The symptoms that result from this compression are most often pain, numbness, or tingling. These symptoms usually occur in the back, legs, and buttocks, but can appear elsewhere in the body.

Other symptoms can include weakness in these muscles and problems with control and coordination. More often, than not, the symptoms occur on just one side of the body.

It is important to remember that sciatica is just the name for the symptoms. The causes can be more complex. As a yoga instructor, you must get the whole story, from your student, with sciatica. When you know the cause of their sciatica, you can more accurately instruct them about which yoga poses will best benefit them.

Due to the delicate nature of the nerves in the lower part of the spine, yoga poses must be done carefully and correctly. Certain asanas (Yoga postures), which include straight-leg forward bends, can often aggravate sciatica and should be avoided. However, any asana can be modified for the specific needs of the student. Forward folds c774an easily be modified, by allowing the knees to bend.

Encourage students, with sciatica, to be patient and steady with their yoga practice. The areas around the sciatic nerve, and nerve roots, must be strengthened and stabilized.

Through specific sequences of poses, and moving properly between poses, circulation is improved in the pelvic region. Simultaneously, the muscles are strengthened. This approach will effectively begin to relieve the sciatica symptoms, resulting in less pain and freer movement.

Copyright 2008 - Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500, has written many books on the subject of Yoga. He is a co-owner and the Director of Yoga Teacher Training at: Aura Wellness Center, in Attleboro, MA - http://www.aurawellnesscenter.com - He has been a certified Master Yoga Teacher since 1995. To receive a Free Yoga e-Book: "Yoga in Practice," and a Free Yoga Newsletter, please visit: http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Reach The Success You Truly Desire

Ever have those days where no matter what you try life seems to be a series of one step forward and two steps back?

Well today is the very best day to take charge of your life and develop strategies to achieve personal success. You will need to work hard and make a commitment to your personal success plan, but once you break the inertia you will find that small achievements will help you gain momentum, and each step forward will attract more success.

1. Take a look at the one and only person responsible for your success- YOU. To be successful you must take complete responsibility for your actions. You can't pin your success or your shortcomings on anyone else.

2. Develop and nurture a successful self- Start by smiling more, look to the positive side in everything. Don't list all the reasons why something is hard and you can't do it, find the reasons even if it is only one to start with of why you can do something. You must develop a successful persona to become a successful person.

3. Make the decision today- Decide today that you will be successful. Praise yourself for past accomplishments, take stock of your strong qualities and work to nurture and improve those that are underdeveloped. You have a purpose and a mission you must sweep aside the negative clutter and defi5B4ne this purpose and begin today to fulfill yourself.

4. Always begin with the positive- every morning you wake up, every time you speak with other people. Always stick with the positive. Associate with positive people. People who have also made the commitment to success. Avoid negative people at all costs. They will not only drag you down. Their negative actions and thoughts, their pessimism, whining, and complaining is a toxin and you need to steer clear of it.

5. Visualize and write down how you desire to live successfully- think of the things that are meaningful to you. Things that give you pleasure, comfort, and fulfillment. Then being as specific as possible write down how you want to live. Don't listen to any of the negative, just concentrate. Write down every detail, where you live, what your house is like down to the decor. What you and your friends are passionate about, what kinds of community projects do you donate your time and money to. After writing everything down copy the most vivid and important things into a new journal. One you have chosen just for this. Make the journal come to life with drawings, photographs, magazine clippings, articles, and poetry. Images and words that will help your vision of a successful life crystallize in your mind. Look through this journal several times a week. Every day visualizing living that life. Make all of your actions in accordance with that successful life.

6. Defin4Fe what success means to you- Concentrate on what you are best at and what bring588s you satisfaction and fulfillment. Using your vision of how you want to live, write down and then read out loud what success means to you. Otherwise you won t know when you have achieved it.

7. Study and make the commitment- Read books and magazines about people who are successful in your eyes, and ways to become more successful. Develop a daily methodical systematic approach to reaching your goals and take one step towards your success.

Keep your mind in the moment don't let it wonder to negative discourse. Focus your attention on your vision of success. With a resolute attitude you are well on your way.

About The Author

BZ Riger-Hull. www.in-spiros.com For valuable free articles, assessments, & practical success tools mailto:A1@smartautoresponder.com Certified as a Success Coach, Four Agreements Facilitator, & Tele-Course leader We help you communicate powerfully, reduce stress, Strategically Attract success, & increase your financial well-being.

bz@in-spiros.com

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Posture and Gymnastics

For athletes participating in sports like swimming and gymnastics, there is a need to assume a totally different body posture compared to other sports to be able to complete well. This posture can carry over to their personal lives as well, and one can easily identify a swimmer or gymnast by the particular way they stand, walk or carry themselves. While football and basketball are "leg based" sports, swimmers and gymnasts have assimilated a decidedly hunchbacked posture because of the "hand based" orientation of their particular athletic activities. The hunchbacked posture in gymnastics is part of the sport's proper form and is known as "hollowing out". Constant training in this posture can lead to the athlete's assuming the same form in the daily course of his or her life, which is potentially a cause for serious injuries in the knee, shoulder, neck and lower back.

The Fundamental Athletic position in most land-based sports requires the athlete to assume a medium stance with 5B4the hips back, and the chest and head aligned with the spinal curves. This posture enables swift movement forward, backward or sideways. It is the basic position assumed for squatting, deadlifting and executing Olympic lifts, as well as to maximize leg, hip and back power during leaps and jumps.

A gymnast assuming the proper position hollows out the chest, push the head forward, tucks the hips in and contracts the spine. The only instance when a gymnast takes on the fundamental athletic position is during landings or dismounts.

Athletes beginning their gymnastics training at a very young age while their bones are still undergoing growth and development will encounter problems with the gymnastic posture. This is especially true when they reach puberty and the end of their growth cycle. The "hollowing out" posture, and even the specific manner gymnasts are required to run, can become a fixed poste for young gymnasts, and this can cause serious and long-lasting side effects when they are older. Most gymnastics programs aggressively cultivate this peculiar posturing in young gymnasts. Strength and conditioning exercises have been geared to develop exactly that: training gymnasts in the required stance, thereby generating imbalance. This is a great disadvantage for female gymnasts who are made to forgo upper body conditioning altogether.

Former parallel bars gymnast, Mark Alexander, having worked with fellow athletes for m5B4ore than 30 years, has observed that most female gymnasts from the Elite level are unable to perform push-ups or maintain a sturdy handstand. Most gymnastics clubs have misguidedly neglected to encourage flexibility exercises among their gymnasts, instead leaving them to fend for themselves.

Alexander's first sport was gymnastics, and at the age of 14 started a mostly skill-based training. He remembers having experienced mastering tricks before being aware of any inherent weakness, and without even attempting to develop basic strength. The sport principles require that a gymnast lands and remains grounded, or "stuck" in the same landing position. For this reason, most gymnasts executed landings with rigidly straight legs, bending only at the hips to establish balance. The result of this is an L5 - S1 fusion that could go undetected for a great number of years. Because of a lack of leg strength or proper lumbar curve positioning, dislocated knees were a frequent occurrence during attempts to "stick" a full twisting back.

As an analogy, consider gymnastics training as jumping off a roof and landing motionless with legs straight. Jump over and over, dozens of times each day, six days a week, over a period of several years. The impact generated by these landings are way beyond the gymnast's body weight. And the higher the altitude of the jump, the more force is involved. Landing mats are a mere token, and seldom help. Floors in 59Bgymnasiums act as mini-trampolines, allowing young athletes to soar to ill-recommended heights. Although there are foam pits available to cushion landings, they prevent the athlete from actually learning how to steady their bodies for actual competition.

Without the needed leg, hip and back conditioning allowing a gymnast to assume the correct position during landing, instead of diffusing, the impact is centered into the joints and bones. This is the explanation behind the never-ending injuries sustained by Elite and lower-ranked gymnasts. Most of these injuries last long into retirement.

for more information on gymnastic injuries visit http://www.gymnasticsrescue.com

Educated Decision Making in Exercising

Whatever workout technique you choose, take precaution doing them the wrong way can pose injuries. Always stretch before exercising, and if you feel awkward while exercising, you're probably in the wrong position. If you're just beginning, start off slow, it takes a little while to perfect your technique. You should feel your muscles stretching; you should not feel pain while working out. While working out you should begin to feel a burning sensation; this shows that it's working! Don't forget the number 1 rule of any exercise program: Drink Plenty of Water!!!

Aerobics- is nothing more than anything to get your heart pumping. You can get a good aerobic workout from swimming, dancing, running, any number of things to really get the lungs working and blood pumping. 5B4There are also good aerobic video's and techniques such as step aerobics, dance aerobics etc. A good aerobic workout should be done 2-3 times a week, with the addition to muscle building techniques (if you are looking to get in shape). No matter the reason to start an exercise program, aerobics is the one technique everyone should do; it will dramatically increase your energy, and overall health!

Yoga- it's important in yoga to have the right choice in clothing. Yoga is stretching meditating, and relaxation techniques. You should be completely comfortable in loose clothing that will stretch with you. Yoga unites the mind and body; you are more aware of your movements, it teaches you meditation, and how to emphasize on your breathing, and muscle groups. Knowing forms of yoga will help you in every aspect of life. You will learn how to brush the outside world away and focus on you!

Pilates- is a great technique to use with strength training. While strength training builds shape and build mass, weight exercises make muscles tight and shortened. Pilates are designed to stretch and lengthen those muscles giving you a balance in your workouts.

Weight training- is the key to building muscle mass; weather your male or female looking to build muscle, tone your body, extreme workouts, or just basic exercise. Weight training is the key to getting results. The key is to find the right workout for you. Try not to focus 554on just one part of the body though, try to keep a balance throughout the entire body by working as many muscle groups as you can.

Diet- No matter the workouts you choose, you have got to find a diet that goes along with it. Diet does not mean cut out all the foods you love, it simply means to watch what you eat, and there are so many diets out there it's hard to choose the right one. You have to research what kind of workout you want to begin with, and what diet would maximize your results. This can include calorie diets, protein diets; maybe you have special needs such as diabetic, or fiber diets. You have to do the research and learn the right diet for you!

For more resource information check out these other sites:
http://Fit4LifeToday.com
http://LosingIsEasy.blogspot.com

Stop Eating C.R.A.P. - The American Diet Is Filled With It

The American diet is full of C.R.A.P. (Caffeinated, Refined, Artificial, and Processed) Foods. We need to be more mindful of what we put into our bodies. We also need to be mindful of the internal pollution we put into our minds. The mind-Body connection tells us that all thoughts produce neurological and immunologic (Bio-Chemical) Changes. Begin to eat for your health; Eat for your metabolic type, be present with each mouthful, chew food to liquid and change your thoughts to practice positivity while eating. We are how we eat. If we eat in a stressed, rushed manner we are creating more of the same in our lives. When we begin to eat in a calm, meaningful and relaxed manner we become more of the same. Be very careful not to eat in anger as this can cause the same in the intestinal tract. An angry meal leads to an angry stomach, all of which can result in bringing the body into dis-ease. Stay away from the three white devils ( white flour, white rice and white sugar). Eat for peace not for stress.

STRESS leads to a metabolic imbalance as well as an energetic imbalance. There are 5 types of Stress (information provided by the C.H.E.K. Institute)

1. Psychic (spiritual, mental, emotional) 2. Nutritional (insufficient quantity or quality) 3. Chemical (toxic substances, non-nutritional dietary excesses) 4. Physical (postural, structural, traumatic, degenerative, thermal) 5. Electro-Magnetic (x-ray, microwave, geomagnetic, cosmic, etc.)

We must all learn to use UN-STRESS strategies to help keep us healthy:

Meditation, Visualization, Prayer, Yoga, Breathing, Tai chi, Budokon, stretching, hobbies, nature walks etc. These strategies serve to enhance the quality of our lives.

We also need to remember that every emotion is connected with a thought and vice versa- so emotional release therapy is important. Think of this as an emotional Detox. Just as it is important to detox the body, it is equally important to detox the mind.

We also need external help through: REIKI, ROLFING, WATSU, Chakra Balancing etc. We must take care of our bodies and mind- we can manage stress more effectively when we are fed well, well rested, well exercised and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Provide for your spiritual needs: The human body functions much best with attitudes of love, gratitude, forgiveness and humbleness.

Your health and stress level are extremely vital to each other. Your health should be the number one priority in your life. Release stress and get on with your path to live a healthy life! Purchase a great meditation CD at http://www.angelhealthinc.com/meditation.html">http://www.angelhealthinc.com/meditation.html

Marti Angel, MA "America's Health and Expert Lifestyle Coach" is a Certified Holistic Nutritionist, Yoga Professor, RYT, Certified Meditation Instructor, Certified Metabolic Typing Advisor (Health Excel, Inc), Nutraceutical Consultant, Certified Health/Lifestyle Coach, motivational speaker and founder of the number one alternative therapies site on the web http://www.angelhealthinc.com/

Attracting Your Fitter Body

Have you wondered whether you could use the power of your thoughts to help you lose weight and get fit? Of course you can! There are a few things you need to do to make sure you succeed.

First of all, you need to realize all the negativity being thrown at you about weight. You get told all the time that if you eat a particular food, you will get fat. Or, you get told that because others in your family are overweight, you are destined to be fat. Perhaps your mother told you that it was much harder to lose weight after 40, so now you simply do not try as you get older. These are common things we all hear and accept as truth. What you believe to be true becomes the reality. You have made your efforts much more difficult, even impossible, by taking these thoughts and attributing authority to them.

Examine the ideas and beliefs you have about exercise, fitness and diet. If you believe that sitting at a desk all day without ever getting any exercise will cause you to gain weight, then that is what will happen. What we expect to happen determines what actually happens. If you want to change the outcome, you have to work on how you think first. Starting now to change how you think and what you do will bring very real results in changes to your body. The good news is that you have complete control over every outcome.

A lot of us confuse self-image with our bodies. Your true self is what makes you YOU, your skills and abilities and what is in your heart. The type of body you have is not your true self. How you see your body however can and does affect how you feel about yourself. Changing your thoughts will change everything. When you look at yourself in the mirror every morning, do you make a disgusted face at the image? How much negative energy did you just spoon-feed yourself (pun intended)? When you are feeling negative, you attract more of the same.

In order to start attracting better things for yourself and realize the fitter body that you used to have or have always wanted, stop judging yourself. You only have this one body and it needs your care. You can change it so that you can live a healthier, happier life. Starting right now, look in the mirror and love yourself, as clichd as that sounds. Just try it and you will be amazed at how much better you feel. If you feel better, your thoughts will be more positive. In turn, you will become better motivated to start attracting the things into your life that will bring that fitter body to you.

Robin Skeen
http://www.robinskeen.com

Robin lives i419n the lovely state of Ohio, USA. She is a freelance writer and her website contains her reflections on inspired personal growth - transforming body, mind and spirit so you can live your best life NOW! To find out more, visit today at http://www.robinskeen.com and check back on a regular basis for free reports and eBooks.

Friday, July 4, 2008

Bob Doyle Used The Secret To Manifest All He Ever Wanted

The first thing you should probably know about Bob Doyle is that he found the secret after he realized in January of 2002 that he could no longer continue to work his corporate job any long and just up and quit with out having any back up plan or a secondary job lined up! Let me stress that he had no safety net what so ever and he had 3 children at home who relied on him for their safety and well-being! Since personal development was always of great interest to him, he set out On the road to share with others what he had learned in his own life About creating your own reality while meditating on a regular basis for the prosperity he was so desperately seeking in his own life during his time off. It was during that period that he came across a critical truth about The Law of Attraction. He had become so focused on his idea of how to attract the wealth he was himself seeking he failed to realize that he had gotten in his own way.

He began to grasp the fact that while he was working so hard to figure everything out on his own he was actually failing himself by not letting go and letting the universe find the answer for him instead. He finally understood how he was actually blocking the way to his own success, and that he needed to let some things work themselves out without his own coercion delegating the How and the When. Once he realized this subtle yet vital truth, he decided 5B4to ask the universe to guide and direct him by learning to fallow his own intuition without question. Then, through what at first appeared to be a series of events each unrelated to the next the answers began to emerge and he found himself not just On the road again but On the right road instead!

Thats when things really began to take off. It was at that time that he began to truly understand The Law of Attraction and Wealth Consciousness. As he began to live the principles of these two concepts 24/7 he once again found his sense of purpose and passion. Further still he committed himself to remaining on course and his first year of doing so he earned a whopping six-figure income! He is still so fixed on helping others help themselves that he has developed an on line program entitled Wealth Beyond Reason and he openly shares his insights with those seeking greater fulfillment in their lives. I strongly suggest it to those open to this new way of looking at what life itself has to offer when we believe we can achieve!

Bobs no nonsense approach to things is a refreshing change from the typical hoopla and hype often seen on the Internet. If down to earth, simple, practical and basic is your preferred speed, then he is probably your guy. You might also enjoy looking on line for related material about Bob on google. I found lots of sites full of information on Mr. Doyle and the way his website at Wealth 7D1Beyond Reason. com is set up all the information you may be seeking is easy to navigate as well. However if the Internet is not your thing you can head on over to Amazon and pick up his booked also entitled Wealth Beyond Reason!

Karen Giardunio is a single mother who resides in the mountains just north or Boulder Colorado. Through the power of the sweeping concept of "The Law Of Attraction!" she was able to personally connect herself with two of the leading experts in the field of Internet Marketing and Personal Development. It is through these great mentors that she has begun to change her life and obtain an unlimited wealth of knowledge and understanding of the need to share and serve others in order to obtain her own hearts desires. So, she now offers frustrated Network Marketers that are looking for more ways to make money while learning how to win at the recruiting game to accomplish those goals. You can just go to http://www.moneymakerdaker.com to find your way to the simple step-by-step applications that anyone can master that will show you how you can take control of your own life by creating a potential 6 figure income helping others succeed. The two mentors mentioned above will be working for you! They will share their money making system and guide you every step of the way.

Begin Each Day With a To Do List

Time flies faster and faster each day. Technology gives the impression that we can accom10FBplish more in less timeyet, observation and studies reveal America is falling behind in the race as a productive force. To improve your rate of productivitythere are some easy and simple things you can do.

Do avoid over scheduling your day. It seems like scheduling every minute is the logical and practical solution. However, it has the opposite effect. Some things will take longer than you expected, because there will be interferences that you cannot predict. If you are scheduled to the max, you will have no room to absorb the miscalculation on time. Plan to schedule about 75% as productivity and 25% free time to give yourself flexibility.

Do avoid saying, Yes to everything. See my article, Freedom to Say, No. http://ezinearticles.com/?id=391631 Saying Yes to everything is like cholesterol clogged arteries. Your system is overloaded with stuff you have difficulty handling. Sometimes you will need to say, No to yourself. If you want to read a book, you will need to say, No to watching your favorite TV show. If you want to start a business, you will need to say, No to time wasters or other lesser important things.

Do avoid trading what you want at the moment for what you want later. That extra few minutes of sleep might seem like the best thing since your last favorite chocolate, but you know it will only cause you to be late, and then cause you to play catch-up. That new pair of shoes or dress may seem like the most awesome item you could buy for yourself, but if it causes a money crunch for necessary items, they arent worth it. Think about the long-term effects of your decisions one decision at a time.

Do avoid being duped by the clich You can have it all. Having it all is possible, either by having it at different times in your life, or by having a whole lot of helpthink Kelly Ripa, Katie Couric, Barbara Walters, Charlie Gibson, Tom Brokaw, et al. They have hair dressers, chauffeurs, wardrobe attendants and a full staff of people, making sure their every professional need is met, as well as nannies, housekeepers, etc. You can rest assured they aren't grocery shopping or do laundry.

Do avoid adopting the microwave mentality. Appreciate the various stages of projects and goals, as well as the pleasure they give. Be like a roseit begins to bud and unfold slowly and perfectlyas it unfolds we can enjoy its beauty. A relationship can change, being just as beautiful and enjoyable at each stage. Enjoy your journey as you move through each stage of a projectwhether long or short. Observe yourself as you learn in the process.

Do avoid giving up. Never give up. When you make a mistake, or when the wind of life blows in unannouncedand it willbeing as prepared as possible will give you the strength to be able to carry on. If you lose your job, having a reserve of money will ease the transition into a new job and give you the ability to wait to find the right job. When it seems there is no end in sightpush on. The answer is usually closer than you think. Avoid dooms day (fear) thoughts, anger, frustration, or a poor me attitude. No one can stop youonly you can stop you. Keep on until you get what you want.

Do Simplify your life with a few more items you want to avoid. Listen to your heart. Listen to your intuitiona.k.a. gut. Your heart and intuition will readily and easily help you make up your own list of things to avoid. Set your intention on filtering out things that do not give you the most enjoyment/reward.

Do Set you intentions. Set your intentions on what you wantbe specific. I will write a book this year. I will learn to golf. I will improve my golf game.

Dorothy M. Neddermeyer, PhD, author, 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, motivational speaker and inspirational leader. Dr. Neddermeyer empowers people to view life's challenges as an opportunity for Personal/Professional Growth and Spiritual Awakening. http://www.drdorothy.net

Personal and Professional Development

When people ask me about my business, I tell them Im in the learning business that we help organizations, teams and individuals reach their potential through learning. This is a fine statement and it does describe the breadth of what we do, but it often leads to the follow-up question like . . . Do you do personal development stuff or just business skills training?

My answer is yes.

Because I dont believe there is a significant difference between personal development and professional development.

Why do I say that?

The Reasons Why

Since my opinion might differ from yours, or perhaps youve never thought about it this, it makes sense to explain myself. There are at least five major reasons why I think personal and professional development are the same thing.

Learning is Learning. We were granted an amazing potential for learning at birth. Most of us havent used very much of that potential. Its like we are mowing our lawn with a jet engine. Sure the jet engine has enough horsepower to turn the blade, but it has virtually unlimited potential that isnt being used. When we are learning we are increasing our 5A8capacity to learn more because we are flexing and exercising our learning muscles. In other words whenever we are learning we are increasing our capacity to learn even more.

All Experience Counts. One of the powerful ways that we learn is by connecting new learning to what we already know. As we continue to build our knowledge and experiences, it allows us to make new connections faster. In other words, the more we learn, the more successful we will be at learning new things and in most situations; more quickly with deeper understanding.

Were a Whole Package. It isnt like we go to work and dont use anything we know from our personal life to be more effective professionally. And while we may not need to know how to repair rotating drum equipment at home those skills might help you diagnose the problem with your washing machine. And even though you dont have to back up the system database at home, you might be able to deal with your home PC better because of what you learned at work. And while you hope youll never need to follow the new Customer Service procedure at home, that procedure might teach you something a following a process, or being more understanding when you are the Customer.

The bottom line is that we are complete humans, and as such we take our entire work knowledge home, and bring all of our personal knowledge and experience to work. So any form5B4 of growth or development will benefit you both personally and professionally.

The Most Important Skills are Always the Most Important. Where does being a better listener help you at home or at work? Both, of course. When you learn how to coach more effectively at work does it make you a better parent? It sure can!

We could make a long list of these valuable skills, from communication to dealing with conflict, to learning how to learn, to giving better feedback to being more creative you get the idea (and have probably thought of five other examples yourself by now). There are many skills that we might learn as self improvement that will help us at work, and vice versa. So why label it one or the other?

Serendipity Rules. Because our learning grows based on connections, you never know when something you learned on the Discovery Channel might give you an aha at work, or that the insight shared by the seminar leader at work helps you solve a vexing problem at home. Again, all development, all learning, all growth helps us in all parts of our lives.

But Wait

Does all of this mean that as I become a better knitter or bowler, Ill be more productive and successful at work? Yes, for the reasons I described above (and some others too).

That doesnt mean that your organization should send everyone to knitting class or bowling lessons, but it does mean that t53Chere is substantial merit in supporting any form of learning regardless of the content.

In the end, my goal is to help you view all skills more broadly in their application instead of classifying some things as personal development and therefore they dont matter at work.

Learning is learning. Personal development is professional development.

When you stop worrying about the distinctions, but rather think about the applications, you serve yourself and others much better.

Kevin Eikenberry is a leadership expert and the Chief Potential Officer of The Kevin Eikenberry Group (http://KevinEikenberry.com), a learning consulting company. To receive a free Special Report on leadership that includes resources, ideas, and advice go to http://www.kevineikenberry.com/leadership.asp or call us at (317) 387-1424 or 888.LEARNER.

Bob Doyle Used The Secret To Manifest All He Ever Wanted

The first thing you should probably know about Bob Doyle is that he found the secret after he realized in January of 2002 that he could no longer continue to work his corporate job any long and just up and quit with out having any back up plan or a secondary job lined up! Let me stress that he had no safety net what so ever and he had 3 children at home who relied on him for their safety and well-being! Since personal development was always of great interest to him, he set out On the road to share with others what he had learned in his own life About creating your own reality while meditating on a regular basis for the prosperity he was so desperately seeking in his own life during his time off. It was during that period that he came across a critical truth about The Law of Attraction. He had become so focused on his idea of how to attract the wealth he was himself seeking he failed to realize that he had gotten in his own way.

He began to grasp the fact that while he was working so hard to figure everything out on his own he was actually failing himself by not letting go and letting the universe find the answer for him instead. He finally understood how he was actually blocking the way to his own success, and that he needed to let some things work themselves out without his own coercion delegating the How and the When. Once he realized this subtle yet vital truth, he decided 5B4to ask the universe to guide and direct him by learning to fallow his own intuition without question. Then, through what at first appeared to be a series of events each unrelated to the next the answers began to emerge and he found himself not just On the road again but On the right road instead!

Thats when things really began to take off. It was at that time that he began to truly understand The Law of Attraction and Wealth Consciousness. As he began to live the principles of these two concepts 24/7 he once again found his sense of purpose and passion. Further still he committed himself to remaining on course and his first year of doing so he earned a whopping six-figure income! He is still so fixed on helping others help themselves that he has developed an on line program entitled Wealth Beyond Reason and he openly shares his insights with those seeking greater fulfillment in their lives. I strongly suggest it to those open to this new way of looking at what life itself has to offer when we believe we can achieve!

Bobs no nonsense approach to things is a refreshing change from the typical hoopla and hype often seen on the Internet. If down to earth, simple, practical and basic is your preferred speed, then he is probably your guy. You might also enjoy looking on line for related material about Bob on google. I found lots of sites full of information on Mr. Doyle and the way his website at Wealth 7D1Beyond Reason. com is set up all the information you may be seeking is easy to navigate as well. However if the Internet is not your thing you can head on over to Amazon and pick up his booked also entitled Wealth Beyond Reason!

Karen Giardunio is a single mother who resides in the mountains just north or Boulder Colorado. Through the power of the sweeping concept of "The Law Of Attraction!" she was able to personally connect herself with two of the leading experts in the field of Internet Marketing and Personal Development. It is through these great mentors that she has begun to change her life and obtain an unlimited wealth of knowledge and understanding of the need to share and serve others in order to obtain her own hearts desires. So, she now offers frustrated Network Marketers that are looking for more ways to make money while learning how to win at the recruiting game to accomplish those goals. You can just go to http://www.moneymakerdaker.com to find your way to the simple step-by-step applications that anyone can master that will show you how you can take control of your own life by creating a potential 6 figure income helping others succeed. The two mentors mentioned above will be working for you! They will share their money making system and guide you every step of the way.

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Your Words And Thoughts Have Power

Even though they might seem relatively innocuous, our words and thoughts do, indeed, have a lot of power and in fact determine what our own reality is.

We are not the first to recognize this fact. In fact, wise people throughout the ages have seen just how prevalent this is. For example, William Blake, the poet, said, "We become what we behold." The Buddha himself said, "With our thoughts we make our world." These are just two of the wise minds that have seen this process evidence in action.

What words to use, then, that can create this kind of power?

Let's take the often used phrase, "Yes, but." In effect, what you are doing is trying to overcome someone else's opinion by suppressing it. In effect, what you have just done is completely discounted their opinion with the word "but." If you are someone who5B3 does this often (or even occasionally), it really blocks you from being able to communicate effectively with other people, and is also not particularly fair to that person. If you would not use this, you could simply acknowledge the other person's point of view and send the message that although you might not agree with the other person's point of view, you still allow the other person his or her full power. In other words, you don't want to disempower anyone else even if you disagree with his or her idea.

You can overcome this by saying, "Yes, and" instead of, "Yes, but." The word "and" is inclusive, and allows for both opinions to be present and equally valid. It also allows for much more open communication to flow, instead of blocking it.

Your self-talk, too, can be either and powering or disempowering. For example, do you say to yourself a lot of the time that you "must" or "have to" do something? This indicates that you think you have no choice in the matter, when, of course, you do. This type of self-talk disempowers you. If you listen to others talk, you sometimes also can sense this feeling of disempowerment in them.

If you want to change this self talk so that you realize you have a choice in the matter and thus to empower yourself, first, keep track of how often you say the words "should" or "must." These usually instill feelings of guilt or obligation, and thus some this empowerment to a least some extent.5B2

Other more general words that also hinder communication are "never," "forever," and "always." First of all, it is rarely true that something is "always" or "never" true. There are almost always exceptions. Therefore, if you or someone else is using the words "never" or "always," you are generalizing and not truly handling the matter at hand in reality. For better communication, avoid this type of generalization when you speak with someone.

Another word it's usually good to avoid if you can is "try." Of course, if you don't know whether or not you can do something, then you are going to "try" to do something. You won't know whether you can are or not until you try something if you haven't attempted it before. However, for communication situations, it's usually best to avoid this word because if you say you are going to "try" to get a task done for someone, you are not committing yourself to it. Therefore, you should say you either can or cannot do it. By stating whether or not you can firmly, you commit yourself to an answer one way or the other.

The more careful you are with the words and phrases used, the better your communication can be. You'll find that just a little attention to these areas will greatly enhance your communications with others and may even transform your relationships in general. Watch and see what happens. You just might be amazed.

Kevin Sinclair is the publisher and editor of My-Personal-Growth.com, a site that provides information and articles for self improvement and personal growth and development.

Journaling To Track Your Successes

Often times people will start out on projects or set goals and after sometime lose the sight of the end result. They get distracted or they just do not know where they actually started nor how far they have come. For this reason they have little idea of how far they have to go to reach the end result. Using a journal to track your successes in any project or goal can assist you in reaching your desired result. Even the experts in the fields of motivation and inspirational personal growth suggest using the writing down of your successes as a tool to keep you on track.

To write down your successes or accomplishmentsACD helps you to first of all recognize that you have successes. Sometimes when you go through your day, you do not realize that simple little things are in fact a success. This makes you more aware of the things that you do or say that take you one step closer to your desired result.

Writing down your successes creates milestones that you can look back on and see how far you really have come in your journey to your future. There are times when discouragement will get the best of us. However, with a road and markers to look back on it is easier to continue forward and with more enthusiasm than you would have had if you had not taken the time to write down the successes you had in your everyday life.

To write down your successes regularly also encourages habits of success. Once these habits are in place then you become more motivated to do more and be more in the realm of your day. In many cases people who take the time to write down their successes reach their end result and reach them quicker. This allows them to start new projects, have more goals, and dream much bigger than they thought they could.

Once you realized the value and the importance of writing down accomplishments a person can then celebrate their successes. Treat your self to something special when you complete the desire goals you have set. Cheer and applaud! It is amazing how great we feel when we get that kind of recognition for finishing what we start.

Where you have come from determines where you will go

Check out this valuable tool that can assist you in tracking your successes at http://www.365daysofsuccessesjournal.com

For more resources and to learn more about being the best you that you can be visit http://www.inpursuitofwealth.com

From Internet Entrepreneur and Writer Bonnie Holscher

12 Thoughts for a Happy New Year

Live each day so that you will neither be afraid of tomorrow nor ashamed of yesterday. - Author Unknown

H-ope
A-spiration
P-rosper
P-recious
Y-earn

N-etwork
E-ager
W-isdom

Y-esterday
E-loquent
A-dvertise
R-eward

1. To face the coming years problems use HOPE, faith, and your trust in God and His wisdom to guide you to the future thats right for you. You can create your own future by focusing your thoughts on what you wish to accomplish. Know that you are responsible for everything that happens in your life both good and bad.

2. Make it your ASPIRATION to achieve something worthwhile. Learn a new skill, or seek greater knowledge in areas you dont now have. Seek and master new ways to do something thats already been done -and- do it better! U10E9se the power of purpose by giving whatever it is you desire the highest amount of your attention. This determines how successful you will become.

3. Make a concentrated effort to improve, grow, and PROSPER. Increase your financial security. Dare to be happy. Exercise and stay in good health. Keep a positive attitude. Do whatever it takes to improve your personal and business image. And know that your relationship with giving is the spiritual source of your true prosperity.

4. Treat your life, family, friends, and others you meet as a PRECIOUS gift to be enjoyed, and of great value. Regard them with a love that is special and - it will all come back to you. Send forth good and it multiples. Honor every one you come in contact with today, tomorrow, and make it an ongoing behavior. This too, is paid back to you by the Universe.

5. To YEARN is to express compassion. In this coming new year, experience it and show compassion for those less fortunate then you are. Offer ways to help others whenever and wherever you can. Give only good. The more you give of yourself, the more comes back to you. It may help make this a better world.

6. Learn to NETWORK and link to other like-minded individuals; whether its in an educational, business, or social setting the benefits can add to your growth and success. Celebrate and share your abilities so that you can attract more of the same.

7. Be EAGER to learn new things. Opportunities are all around you. Having an intense passion or desire to find new opportunities is the sign of an enthusiastic person. This desire comes from God. In order for you to find new opportunities, always move toward your goal with a spiritual awareness.

8. WISDOM - the ability to make well thought out decisions comes from maturity and understanding. In any given situation, it is wise not to judge until all facts are understood. Be open to understanding anothers point of view. Do you look at the world with a positive or a negative vision?

9. YESTERDAY is a day that has just passed. Now you are free to live in the present. Use each new day wisely and full of gratitude for every hour, every minute, and every second. Set goals for each day and take specific actions that will help you accomplish them.

10. ELOQUENT. Are you confident, persuasive and effective in the way you communicate? When speaking with others how would you rate yourself? Are you always voicing negative opinions? Or, are you positive in expressing your thoughts?

11. ADVERTISE. For those in business, always make the positive features and benefits of your product or service known. Appeal to the emotions of your prospective client. Give quality service and products so that your self-esteem is strengthened and your reputation is valued.

12. - In the coming new year, heres hoping that you will REWARD yourself for any successful personal and business achievements. Improve your skills where and when needed. Change any negative habits, and always follow His guidance in all things you attempt to do.

May this New Year bring you many blessings of good health, dreams to come true, prayers to be answered, and gratitude for all. Remember: Life is a series of new beginnings and in every ordinary moment there are a thousand miracles to behold. -Flavia Weedn

www.distinctivebusinesswomen.com

Copyright 2006

About the Author

Gerri D Smith publishes and hosts an inspirational newsletter for women business owners, individuals eager to improve, and entrepreneurs willing to learn more . And its Free! Subscribers to her newsletter receive many of her well-written articles, special reports, books, offers, and resources that are filled with motivational support, business and personal image improvement, and supportive ideas to help you reach your goals. To sign up, go now to: http://www.distinctivebusinesswomen.com

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Thoughts To Ponder #90

Eric Butterworth was among the leading spokespersons in modern times on "practical mysticism." Eric was considered a legend and spiritual icon in the Unity movement. The author of 16 best-selling books on metaphysical spirituality, a gifted theologian, philosopher, and lecturer, and for over 50 years a teacher of "practical Christianity," helping thou1C80sands of people to help themselves to a more abundant life by the study and application of Truth. He possessed a unique ability to render the most complex metaphysical teachings in simple sound bytes of awareness. He mastered the art of the brief "essayette," of which he has written thousands and is often described as "The twentieth century Emerson."

Don't go through life, grow through life.

Evil, and evil spirits, devils and devil possession, are the outgrowth of man's inadequate consciousness of God. We must avoid thinking of evil as a thing in itself-a force that works against man or, against God, if you will.

Fundamentalists believe Jesus was God becoming man. I believe that Jesus was man becoming God.

God can only do for you what He can do through you.

I am not what I think. I am thinking what I think.

Most people show up for work being physically accoutered but mentally disheveled.

Nothing stops the man who desires to achieve. Every obstacle is simply a course to develop his achievement muscle. It's a strengthening of his powers of accomplishment.

One of the best things to do sometimes is simply to be.

Our job is not to set things right but to see them right.

Dorothy M. Neddermeyer, PhD, Life Coach, Hypnotherapist, Author, "101 Great Ways To Improve Your Life." Mind, Body, Spirit healing and Physical/Sexual Abuse Prevention and Recovery. As an inspirational leader, Dr. Neddermeyer empowers people to view life's challenges as an opportunity for Personal/Professional Growth and Spiritual Awakening. http://www.drdorothy.net

J Oswald Sanders

Thoughts of the Day

So often people get so caught up in their daily grind that they stop thinking, when they get home they try to de-stress, but they turn on their TV, the same one they have surrendered their mind too and let it flood information into their heads, most of which is completely irrelevant.

Well, it seems that; Ignorance, Arrogance aB68nd Complacency are nothing more than Precursors of Disaster, Devastation, Doom - doomed to repeat. Doomed, via the law of unintended consequences using the very definition of insanity they decry - I ask why?

And that my friends is my first thought of the day and the one that causes me to write this short article, so let's begin this daily monologue of thought. Perhaps if I take you through my thoughts from today, it might make you think and wake up your mind, maybe you might take it back from the smog of information or the flickering High Definition TV in that living room cave of yours?

A friend today mentioned that the Multi-National Corporate Conglomerate knows No boundaries and he is correct considering that our World is growing closer and closer together now. After all we live in a Global Market Place, there are good aspects to that as well as not so good issues, as well. He asked me;

Has the evolution of the multi-national corporation transcended all boundaries and societies to completely dominate and eliminate society's culture?

Well, I do not believe that multi-national branding has to delete culture, or regional flavor. Indeed, allowing for regional variation by companies helps them "sell more" and therefore they will succeed better when they do. In franchising (I am retired from the franchising industry) we always did, and we competed well.

Adaptation for specific markets is "good business" and it makes sense. Someday, who knows, a World Franchising System, could allow governments, nation-states to operate in similar monetary, trade markets using similar laws. Make the Whole World like the United States - or United Franchise System, so to speak. Then everyone would be on the same team.

The thought occurred to me that it could work, except during times when those in-charge were not working together, kind of like the UN or during Change Management. hat About Changing the Way We Think about How Business is Done? Is that possible? Today, I finished reading a book:

"Rewiring the Corporate Brain - Using the New Science to Rethink How We Structure and Lead Organizations" by Danah Zohar - 1997.

And although I am not a new age type thinker, with all the spiritual fluff, wrapped around a quantum physics reality like a religion, the author did make some good points. And to one of those points and addressing such scenarios as the authors of "Co-opetition" where the future has in store from us a different market place were companies communicate and cooperate for the common good of all, without attacking and worrying about the competition, but rather focusing on the customers.

Sure, that could work and it would work a lot better if the corporation and the employees got along too and focused on what is best for all concerned, sometimes this happens but usually not. We just saw t1BFhe UAW strike at GM and General Motors write down in the third quarter of 39 billion dollars. Then in the same Wall Street Journal issue we read that Chrysler Company laying off 12,000 right after negotiation with the UAW? All this while the Hollywood Writers Picket outside the Studios along side the Homeless - See the point?

Worker's Unions and Global Government Political Impasse are very similar and when one side blames another well, "5B4there you go again!" and it occurred to me that If You Name it - "When you name it, you own it and if you own it, it owns you." Lance 2007. Even the Teamster Truck Drivers are out to get more right at a time when US diesel prices are at the highest point in our nation's history and oil is hovering near $100 per barrel, thus teamster truck drivers are at least for now - No Friend to Logistics.

Right after de-regulation of the industry teamster drivers would run other independent truck drivers off the road. Hurting competition, raises prices for all of us, as it is like a tax on the over all society. Still, those truck drivers are Americans and now 750,000 truck drivers have joined the Truckers Mobile Watch Program as part of the American Trucking Association. So everything is not black and white, no one side is evil and no side is innocent - too bad they will not all work together in a common cause, because the efficiencies and economies of scale would be significant and add to the everyone's quality of life and standard of living.

But, how can you be sure as business person that you are hiring someone who will be a team player and not turn into a problem for your companies bottom line? You cannot tell by their resumes, which made me think about an article I read recently that stated; Long Resumes Becoming Popular. Is a resume that tells a story better to judge a potential team member?

In some companies, the employees a5B4re trained to do every job in the company and thus, if there is ever a problem or disruption, someone else can pick up the slack. If you will read the book; "The World on Time" by Fred Smith - the FEDEx story you will see this point. During the California Fires a helicopter spotted a small fire that was growing, but instead of landing to try to put it out, they were told not to risk it and return to base, the fire spread and destroyed several structures within the hour.

Should all emergency personnel be trained to do some of this fire-fighting, even if on a limited scale. What if we designed pick-up Truck Portable Fire Suppression Spray System Devices for the Forest Service, Rural Mountain Communities and Area Residents? It has been proposed that new mini-fire suppression units needed for USDA Forest Service workers in every vehicle. Could we get some of these devastating fires out before they grew to epic proportions, threatened property, lives and wipes out water supplies?

Or is such a concept simply impossible due to the bureaucracy out there? And if government does nothing very well, then why let them do very much? Should the bureaucracy hold fake news conferences, like FEMA did? Should the regulatory bodies of the Federal Government PR their every move to prove to the citizenry that they are doing something, even when they are not? Is the bureaucracy so big that it cannot get out of its own way? This had me ponde5B4ring the following questions, perhaps worthy of future titles for articles:

  • Why the Justice Department's Industry Regulatory Bodies Fraudulently Deceive the Consumer and Citizen
  • How Government Regulating Agencies Justify their Growth at the Expense of the Taxpayers
  • How Corporations Use Small Businesses as Banks During Recessions and Down Turns in Their Sectors
  • How the Government Allowed Corporations to Crush Small Businesses - Case Study in Labor
  • How Government Regulating Agencies Justify their Growth at the Expense of the Taxpayers
Indeed, we need to fix this problem of government and if we do not we will drown in red tape, which is killing businesses both large and small. Do we need Regulation Reduction to Reduce Recession Risks - or is the recession inevitable, as this ship cannot be turned fast enough before it runs aground? Is there a way to stave off a recession of shallow out its effects on our economy, middle class, currency and employment? I think there is a way, which made me think of writing an article titled:

Recession Proofing a Nation Using Franchising, Small Business Solutions and Entrepreneurial Training

Maybe, I will write this article and position myself as The Portable Franchise Guru or something similar? What if we took such a concept and franchised it out to the world? Networks of net-centric syste5B4ms to help the world, develop micro-businesses and habitats? Maybe, a book needs to be written on this subject; "Low Cost Third World Village Systems - Wells, Power, Microloans, Shelters, Farming Tools - eBook Project"

If we do not do it now then who will do it? Will the next generation come up to the plate and hit a home run, or will we just have to work harder and live longer to do it ourselves, as Life Extension in BioTech Advances. That's great, but will we run out of money helping all the baby boomers grow old, instead of getting them to fix the problems they were assigned and failed to fix? Do we let them off the hook, as it is not a very pretty picture with Pensions, Social Security, Medical Insurance and In Home Care Personnel Shortages.

Still, I thought if the economy holds on then that will pay for the future funds to fix these issues. And yet everyone is debating about the so-called; Coming US Recession, rather than doing something to advert it. The Headlines seem obvious now, well at least to me? With CitiGroup, foreclosures soaring, GM 39 billion dollar charge off, Morgan Stanley questions, Chrysler cutting 12,000 jobs and rather weak economic numbers?

So what's the answer, we have too many outflows from our nation, we are borrowing too much and we have too much bureaucracy and being taken advantage of by preferred nation trading partners. Still, Capitalism with Protectionism decays society rather than Bui59lding it Up and I am no party pooper to capitalism, I believe in fair trade like any true5B4 economist would, still, what happened to fair trade, are we really getting a fair shake?

Some say things will get better and the economy is good, but with housing, construction, transportation and Auto all hurting and issues on the horizon with retail, how can anyone say things are rosy? Yes, I believe that consumer confidence is important and probably accounts for one-third of the game, to keep it going and we do not need any lower consumer confidence going into the Christmas Season, still I see that US Retailers are gearing down and conserving coming into the Christmas bend.

If that is not bad enough, we find that Al Qeada is plotting to attack Shopping Malls, stated an FBI official, who called the threat information credible. Top this with higher fuel prices definitely taking its toll on the consumer, and no more home-equity loan tricks for most consumers to pay off credit card debt and the US Automakers that make up retail economic sales figures and they are currently tanked, expected to remain low - one has to wonder about the economy.

Still, you know markets go up and they come down, industry sectors do their rotations and it is all in the ebb and flow of the river of monetary flow. I guess it is similar to the politics of this recent Water Bill that was vetoed and over-ridden only to be continued, as there is more to the story, before it gets fully funded and spent. The question thus goes back to corporate grow594th, can it go on for ever, always increasing its output and efficiency like Moore's Law or do we need to do a little tweaking on the way we do things?

Well, I need to get something to eat, it is nearly 10:00 am now and I have been busy thinking for over an hour. So, I will continue these thoughts of the day article later, but I hope you will enjoy these thoughts and that it gets you thinking too.

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance is a guest writer for Our Spokane Magazine in Spokane, Washington

Four Noble Truths