Articles Variety

What Success Means Now

2009-11-29T17:54:00.002-07:00

Success is subjective. It means different things to different people. One person defines success as the ability to pursue one's passion without temporal, spatial and monetary constraints.

Success no longer means the Rolex, Gulfstream or the yatch. Of course, those things are still desirable but the significance of it just dropped down the list a few notches. We've seen a major adjustment in our vision of success in recent years and managed to reorder our dreams for the future.

What's important now tends towards more on meaning and values. These are what really matters now:

1. Working and living where and when you want- the offshoot of the internet and digital lifestyle. The internet makes it easy for people to run business and work from home or anywhere whether from Manchuria to Minnesota or from Maine to Mongolia. As long as you have your laptop and internet you are connected.

What's better working for unforgiving corporate behemoth or working quietly and happily right on your kitchen table, wearing only pajamas,sharing office with your kids at the same time watch them grow. It's like seeing the future. The freedom to take long weekends off,having control over your own life, the authority to choose how you spend your time, to do what you want to do. Autonomy is one of the most valuable rewards of success.

And what shows independence/freedom more than the ability to decide where you work and when. You get to spend more time with your family. A happy family is the key to a happy life. And what a better way to invest your time where you'll get the most return, with the ones you love. How,when and where you spend your time is the ultimate success symbol.

2. Your health-the closet full of Louis Vuitton bags, big house, Mercedes Benz are meaningless if you are not healthy.Good health is rated top ingredient of success.

3. Owning Income property-- buying real estate not just for home living but for income producing purposes( parking lots,warehouses,condominiums or even cottages on the beach area) is an important element in gaining financial freedom. There is a growing number of real estate investment units in the U.S. alone and the number is constantly rising.

4. Having an assistant virtual or not- Imagine having the luxury of outsourcing your work to someone else and dedicated it purely to doing things so you don't have to. That's success alright.

5. Adventures like Tim Ferriss aka the 4hourwork week guy. Motorcycling throughout China for under a couple hundred dollars, swim with the sharks, go kayaking the Amazon river, hot air-ballooning across the Atlantic, scale Mt. Everest, traverse the South Pole etc.

Doing something extraordinary, off the wall and dangerous adds excitement that's makes life interesting. So tell great water cooler stories your colleagues will remember. The courage to face new challenges and the freedom to seek new adventures are both indication of someone who has succeeded in life even if it doesn't cost you a fortune.

6. Giving back and donating your experience- entrepreneurs, engineers, town planners etc. give advice and lend their knowledge to those in need and help draw in more donations. "To do more for the world than the world does for you-that is success". ---Henry Ford.

How Meditation Can Make Your Workout More effective

2009-06-03T18:19:00.002-07:00

Studies showed that marathoners at the end of the finish line after a 10k or 25k run still have plenty of glycogen and ATP ( a chemical that stores energy) in the runner's muscles. Scientists concluded that fatigue sets in when the brain tells them to conserve energy.

The brain doesn't know what is real experience or just imagined. So taking 5 to 10 minutes to visualize and envision running a few miles with energy to spare and affirming and repeating "I'm strong and fast" will restructure your brain to enter a state of bliss while exercising allowing you to workout harder.

Imagine tension draining from your muscle and you will feel your legs will start to move with ease and feel more energized.

Conversely, if your brain doesn't know how much energy you will need for a workout it will send you signals to conserve energy and the body starts to build up lactic acid and make you feel fatigue. That's why unfamiliar routes seem harder.

So if you want to make your workout more effective,picture the action right before your workout. For exanple, arms extending, weight lowering, biceps contracting, weight rising etc. etc.

Six Ways To Remain Your Own Man After Marrying Your Wealthy Fiancee

2009-05-06T01:03:00.001-07:00

Today in the ipod generation more and more women hit the financial big time. More men are assuming the Mr. Julia Robert's status.

This is the delicate art of marrying into money. But marriage is more of a collaborative partnership, not signing up to be someone's servant especially your partner is rich.

The trick here is not to develop an attitude of a kept man. You are still the man and the one who still wears the pants. Financial resources has little to do with being a good provider. First figure out:

1.What you wife values in you patience,honesty, humor and deliver these qualities consistently.

2.Be the best father you can be to your kids.

3.Open a money market account for short term liquidity and mutual fund for long term independence, in the event of a divorce. So you can bear some fiscal responsibility f\or your kids even if your wife is wealthy.

4.Minimize micromanaging on both your parts by contributing the same monthly percentage as your wife to your joint account and set a maximum amount under which it doesn't require joint approval for withdrawals.

5.Set aside a monthly or quarterly schedule for financial review and strategy so that there's no more demarcation of “my” money and “your” money so that it becomes “our” money.

6.Finally, even if it's not entirely equal, divvy up expenses. Your wife covers the bills, you handle the entertainment and vacations. That way you establish your own financial realm.

How To Mine Ideas For Articles

2008-12-14T18:16:00.000-07:00

You know as well as I do that to be a prolific article writer we need to be equipped with techniques in which we can generate ideas easily to write our magnum opuses. This is not only applicable to generate ideas for articles but also to create products and systemize processes as well.

These are some idea generating techniques:-

1. Listing. This have got to be my most favorite technique. I randomly list the thoughts or ideas that I feel are crucial and important for my topic. After that, I arrange out of a seemingly disorganized train of thoughts into an orderly logic one, like from effective to the least, or temporal (past, present and future).

2. Referencing. Look up your basic idea or topic in the dictionary thesaurus, almanac, encyclopedia or quote collection. You might find new ways to extract information.

3. Similes, analogies and metaphors. Compare your topic to another unrelated words.Use the phrase "is like" for example "Niche marketing is like dating." I’m sure thatsentence alone will spew out new ideas.

4. Argue for or against your topic. Investigate what might happen if the statements or facts of your topic were not true. Or you could modify the fact and see if you can apply it in your current situation better than the original one.

5. Take a certain rule, idea, quote, suggestion from guidebooks for sports, card games travel or instruction manuals and apply it to your current situation.

6. See the world from different views. It will allow you to get different perspectives if you role play a different person from different occupations, cultural backgrounds, age groups, sex groups (yes you can cross gender) and different angles from totally unrelated subjects. If you want to push it a little, you can even cross species and assume the personae of your pet parrot or dog. Take note of every comments, questions and interpretation as you examine each perspective.

7. Think of a topic and its purpose and apply it or re-use it to another field or area. Just like finding another market for your product. For example if you are planning an online advertising strategy , try looking at the same topic but this time use it for offline purposes.

8. Consider your topic in different ways:-describe it-compare it-substitute it-combine it-modify or distort it-eliminate it-reverse it-associate it-analyze itNow investigate what thoughts, ideas and answers might come up. See any connections, underlying tones, patterns, motifs or themes between them?

9. You can engage in wishful thinking. Write down your craziest, wildest ideas without inhibitions, without physical limitations, no morals, no rules, etiquette and laws. After that try to rationalize your wacky ideas into practical ones and see what happens.

10. Ask yourself the six journalistic questions:-who, what when, where, why and how.

11. Mind mapping and webbing. Instead of words and phrases think visual, in terms of charts, shapes, (like circles for mapping and webbing) tables and diagrams.

12. Frame your material as a letter as if you are writing or chatting to a friend. You will feel relax and trust me, ideas will flow.

]3. You can start in the middle or the end. Writing a good article doesn’t always mean starting at the beginning This method works if you really don’t know how you want to start an article.

Vacuum Laws of Prosperity And The Cosmic Laws Of LIfe

2008-12-14T18:06:00.000-07:00

This concept is quite new to me despite the fact that i've been in this world for over quarter of a century.call me over the hill or antiquated, but i feel there's always something new that we can learn at any stage in life.i

'm referring to randy gage's vacuum laws of prosperity. it states that nature abhors a vacuum,abyss or chasm or anything that's suggests empty space.and since the inherent nature of the universe is good,any vacuum will always be filled with good.

consider for example, you walk down the beach you will leave footprints in the sand. give it time, the tracks will be filled thru the buffeting winds and endless surge of the waves. so if we want to manifest prosperity in our lives,we should create a vacuum. let go of something negative,create a vacuum and give it time it will be filled with something positive. we have to let go,so that we can create a room for the positive to come into our lives.

a case in point, if we are stuck in a bad relationship,take courage,let go and you will find someone worthier for you. it takes faith to be able to do that. if we want money,give away money. if we want love, give hugs,kisses and love.what goes around comes around. what you sow is what you reap. call it karma.

Why You Should Be Kind To Yourself

2007-09-03T22:14:00.000-07:00

At several times in your life, when you made mistakes, do you say to yourself "Boy was I stupid" or "I’m a loser and I think I’ll always be." Is this what’s going on in your mind? Is this your internal dialog when you made a major boo boo?

The key here is be kind to yourself. Recognize your strengths and weaknesses and accept your temporary failure. Human beings are not perfect. We will always be making mistakes. Now, if we reject ourselves when we are messing up, we are only being a "fair weather" friend to ourselves. How would you like to have a friend who is so good to you when you are rich and disappears when we are broke and in trouble? You wouldn’t want to have a friend like that would you? So that’s how you are to yourself when you acknowledge your strengths and triumphs, but you don’t accept your weaknesses and failures…..you are a fair weather friend to yourself.

We shouldn’t have to be our own worst critic. We have to consistently squelch self critical thoughts so we would not be crushing our brave and creative impulses. Yes, be kind to yourself. Most importantly forgive yourself. Make peace with failures, forget about them and continue the process of living with an aim of self improvement. If anyone should be your friend, it should be you. If you don’t like yourself, who will?

If Michael Jordan had condemned himself when he missed those 9,000 shots in his basketball career, he wouldn’t be considered today, the greatest basketball player of all time.

Reframe failure

Think of failures as mere guideposts to tell us not to go and travel the same path again that lead us nowhere. Failures move us forward in the direction of the achievement of our goals. To rise above failures is a far greater victory, thus bring us more satisfaction and self respect.

For example you are an aspiring stage actress, forgive yourself if at first you will flub your lines and miss your cues, or if you struck out when you most want to be a major league baseball player. Think of a toddler who’s learning how to walk. He stumbles and falls on his face, yet gets up and tries again. Babies don’t just jump up from the crib and waltz and glide across the room.

So praise yourself for every effort you make regardless of the results, instead of harping on your weaknesses. You must focus on your strengths. You deserve credit for everything that you attempt to do. Praise yourself for efforts that don’t work out, as well as those that do.

Remember that even if you do fail some good can come from it. When failure becomes a painful experience, you will mature. You will have more sensitivity and sympathy. You have more depth. Become more appreciative.

If you can love and respect yourself in failure, worlds of adventure and new experiences will open up before you. You fears will vanish. Your self image unshakeable, You have stronger foundation. You won’t let transitory misfortunes defeat you. You will be happy.

Take risks if you must, if you fail, stop wasting your time consistently berating yourself.
Smile and laugh at your blunders, errors, past mistakes and faux pas whether major or minor. Don’t take life seriously. Watch out for the saboteur (" I want to but I can’t" mentality) inside of you. We only have to accept the fact, that our visas are gong to be stamped one day….. that we are not getting out of this beautiful world alive. So we have to learn and savor every hour. Truly experience every sweet moments of life. Appreciate the fascinating journey we are taking. Winning or failing, you win by just being here on this wondrous planet.

Zeroing In On Self Discipline

2007-09-01T00:26:00.000-07:00

“He who conquers his self is mightier than he who conquers a city.” I forgot who said that line but the message stuck with me. It means have control over yourself first before you can have control over other things outside of yourself.. Private victories precede public victories. It all starts within you. Self- discipline and self control are major components if you want to master yourself. Self-mastery is a pre-requisite to transforming yourself into changed and better individual.

The words self discipline and self control are enough to make you cringe. It means deprivation. It means loss of freedom. Sacrifice. Delayed gratification. But think of the rewards when you are able to discipline yourself. It’s enough to get you motivated.

What separates the winners from the average people is that the winners reach a level of self-mastery accomplished through self discipline. Winners do not lose heart and become devastated by their misfortunes. They don’t become slaves to bad habits. They don’t become professional pleasure seekers just to run away from pain and boredom. Think of Bill Gates, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Oprah Winfrey etc. you and I know, these people have more challenges and responsibilities than us average joes. But they get, what they want, they become who they want to become ,because they have dominion over themselves. They have mastered themselves first and foremost.

Now look at how your normal day unfolds. Are you aware that there are potentially numerous opportunities for you to feel down and feel good in a single day? If your goal is to be healthier and to lose a few pounds do you crave for a stick of cigarette and smoke it, or do you raid the refrigerator and gobble up the last slice of cheesecake or do you gulp a glass of martini or pop pills just to make you feel better and calmer when you are having a tough day?

The difference between the winners and the average people is, the latter is often affected by their physical and social weather. If the weather is good they feel good. If it’s cloudy and raining, they feel gloomy. When people treat them well, they feel well. When things are not going their way, they yell, become defensive and just overall cranky. The average people put their emotional lives around the behaviours of others. Empowering other people to control them.

Now let me ask you. Are you that way? Do you allow yourself to tossed by the fickle fumblings of fate? Why not be the navigator and take the helm and steer any course to any place you want to be, instead of being just a mere passenger in the voyage of life.

Winners or achievers on the other hand, carry their own sunshine .You can’t tell if they are having a good day or not. They work steadily and their performance is superior. They are still influenced by physical, social or psychological stimuli but they respond in a positive manner.

You will know you are blazing a new emotional trail of self-discipline when you no longer feel the need to buffer your stress, anxieties and discomfort with alcohol, drugs, oversleeping, overeating , excessive arguing, cigarette smoking, compulsive sexual patterns, saying “yes” when you mean “no”, and procrastinating.

As you attempt to make a new positive behavior and begin winning, you may feel physical discomfort temporarily such as headaches, backaches, nausea, sweaty palms, hot flashes, blurring eyes and muscle aches in different parts of your body like the neck, arms and legs ( if symptoms persist though, consult your doctor.)

Winners manage to pull through all these temporary discomforts, stay with it, hold on until eventually bring about the significant changes they have set in the beginning. If they do lapse back into an old habit they had hoped to break, they get back on the wagon as soon as they can and keep trying again. They focus on what changes they have accomplish in between slips.

You know as much as I do, that to discipline oneself is easier said than done. Up until now I can’t say I have all my ducks lined up. I still struggle with the right actions on a moment by moment basis. I can feel cigarette screaming for me when I receive disturbing phone calls from family and friends or when I receive an unexpected bill or a customer missed an appointment. It’s tough. But I’m holding on, not anesthesize myself with destructive habits. I’m staying with my discomfort. This is a new place for me. But I know it’s going to be temporary. I now know that it’s better to be a little uncomfortable and give myself an opportunity to develop some new and positive behaviors…than to keep traveling on the same old comfortable path (smoking) which is going nowhere.

When you can say that you have control and discipline yourself successfully, the range of possibilities for discovering who you are can be endless. There are no ceilings on your talent, no boundaries on excellence and no limits on your creativity. Go on…continually master yourself through self discipline….conquer yourself…so that you could change your life to a win.

“Test Your Can’ts”

2007-09-01T00:22:00.000-07:00

“ I can’t function.” “I can’t focus.” At one time or another we have all been afflicted with this kind of negative thinking. Especially when we feel an occasional bouts of the “blues” or worse yet experienced profound depression.

We tend to feel lethargic and we procrastinate. If we say, “I can’t” over and over often enough it becomes like a self-fulfilling prophecy and as a result we start believing these self-defeating thought patterns. And the more we don nothing and become more immobilize the more we will be pre-occupied with a flood of negative and destructive thoughts. Consequently, we hate ourselves for being inactive and inadequate. A loser.

It’s a vicious cycle.

We have to break the chain link of this endless cycle. We can overcome pessimistic attitudes, procrastination and depression and change into some active, enthusiastic,
happy and accomplished person. The kind of person we want to become. The person who makes things happened. A winner.

We can do this by testing our “can’ts” by literally sitting down in front of the computer and type just one sentence, and then see if you feel good that you want to continue to write another sentence. I’ll bet nine times out of ten you are more likely to write one more sentence after another. Just to express one thought after another. The momentum gets going.

Many severe depressions have been cracked open with this powerful method.

Master Your Moods

You will have to reapply the “test your can’ts” technique that help you if you want to continue to elevate and master your moods, enough to enjoy doing activities.

Every meaningful activity has a decent chance of brightening our moods. We will soon experience a sense of mastery to counter-attack any distorted thoughts that blocked and slowed us down from the get go.

Mini-goals

By laying out and sticking to a simple plan/schedule for the day can make a lot of difference toward lifting your mood. By scheduling and writing a to-do list for the day you will have a sense of definite purpose to do each activities. At the end of the day you will have fun crossing off items on your to-do list. By doing so, you will feel accomplished and feel proud of your achievements. Surely you mood will be brightened.

Why don’t you try to schedule 30 to 50 activities that will take only a measly 5 to 10 minutes to do. Steve Pavlina calls this “microtasks.” Quit at the end of time you have set aside whether or not you have completed it. Then go on to the next project. Have the courage to walk away from an unfinished task. By doing all this , you may feel thrilled and amazed that you will experience a substantial increase in your productivity and mood. You can kiss your procrastination goodbye.

Begin…Start

No matter how big your problem is, how deep your depression, how enormous your tasks right in front of you and how many long years it will take to reach your goals, it’s almost impossible to fail if you will just get started doing something. It’s the hardest thing to do. But lean. Roll. Crawl. Step by step. Pebble by pebble. You know, these 5 to 10 minute activities( microtasks) isn’t enough to completely change a life. But stacked up a lot of the right few minutes can be enough to change course and have the life you always dream of.

God Will Provide

2007-09-01T00:21:00.000-07:00

Do you feel that things go wrong especially when you have set your whole heart in it? Do you feel you can’t get ahead, make progress that something’s are holding you back from your plans? Are you in need of greater abundance and prosperity yet burdened down by debt?

You need help and need it badly. You may think yourself alone and abandoned. You may think you have no friends who are doing anything to help you. Pray faithfully to God. Wait, wait upon God for guidance. God knows all your troubles. He is watching you. God works in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform. Have faith that God can make things happen for your good. He can bring certain people to help you. He can direct your steps to others whom you may not even know, but who is there to help you. He can cause things to happen hundreds of miles away, which will be to your good.

If you have prayed but as hours passed into days, days into months you might begin to waver. You could see no outward change in your circumstance and you began to wonder how God is going to bring your prosperity about. We, humans will not see. For His ways, are not our ways. We cannot see that our prosperity can come from any place other than the place and the people we know right now.

Look at the birds flying about especially during winter. Nobody feeds them. Nobody shelters them. Yet they survive. We too, may be in a cold and wintry world. We may have financial and other desperate needs. We may be worrying and anxious about the future. But love God and have faith in Him. Wait upon Him. If God cares for these little creatures the birds, don’t you think He won’t care and provide for us human beings?

God works in wondrous ways.

With faith in God, good fortune can come to us in ways we know not. A letter may come from someone you may never have heard from and change your whole life. You may hear a chance word on the street or in a store which may send you off to some place you never thought you would go. An announcement on the radio or an item in the newspaper may give you an idea which may start you off on an entirely different path. All in ways you knew not. Small things which no one, least of all yourself would think are turning points in your prosperity.

Just have faith and complete trust in God.

Following Through And Completing What You Start

2007-09-01T00:18:00.000-07:00

Completion is natural. In the natural order of things and human life there is beginning, middle and an end. People who can consistently complete or finish what they start have power. Not all people can put their ideas into practice and even fewer people continue and follow through on to completion.

Completion is the act that empowers you to fully tap and actualize your abilities, talents and the capability to love. The completion of a cycle is the beginning point for the next energy flow. The more energy that flows through you, the more you participate in life. When we don’t complete our tasks, the energy wanders with no point on which to settle and reflect itself back to you. As a consequence, we experience depletion of energy.

In our lives we simply cannot just exist and just get by. We have to live it. The way to live our lives, is to demand upon our inner resources that expand us as a person. We must learn to acquire the habit to always follow through to completion whatever goals or projects we started to increase the flow of energy in our lives even more and allow us to experience greater heights of love and actualization of the self.

Completion also allows us to prosper and know what we are able to do, be and have. Simply put, when we finish our tasks, we feel proud, satisfied and whole. We are eager to go on the next cycle.

Examine your life and see what you have completed and what is still incomplete. Make a list of what you have completed. Allow yourself for a few minutes to feel satisfaction and fulfillment that you experience from each completion. After you do this, make a list of incomplete projects and goals in your life. No need to be overwhelmed here. Cross off everything you no longer choose to have or do. Let go of it. Get rid of anything you no longer want. This can be energy releasing.

Give up all that drains you. Stop being a pack rat.

Nothing empowers you like doing exactly what you want. Then make a list of those items you want completed but don’t want to do yourself. Hire someone, delegate the task or outsource it. You are leveraging yourself through another person.

Now make a list of what you want to complete yourself. It may be guitar lessons to continue, finishing you Master’s degree or filing important documents.

Power, renewed vitality and zest for life will leap out at the completion point.

Be Better, Be Smarter

2007-09-01T00:11:00.000-07:00

You can’t have too many skills. And the best skills to acquire are those that your friends don’t have. We always have room for improvement.

After a day we are called to perform, project an image of sheer mastery, of being skillful in any arena, still in our private moments we realize that we haven’t fully tap into our potentials.

Admittedly, there are skills we have not honed, strategies not perfected, talents not explored.
What makes us humans, not monkeys is that we can change, we get better and most importantly we do it for the sake of becoming better persons. Each of us has the ability to do anything we want, given an appropriate amount of passion and time.

To get started in our journey to meaningful changes and improvement here a roster of suggested areas to explore and sink our teeth into.

-Be a hero. We have to have the necessary skills especially if we are lifesavers at heart. Learn CPR and first aid. Take courses on how to care for heart attack victims until help arrives. Stop bleeding, dress wounds, treat poisoning and learn the Heimlich maneuver.

-Learn a language. Make it a romance language like French, Spanish and Italian. You learn by speaking and listening. You can memorize vocabulary and conjugate verbs later on. Oral skills first.

-Learn to speed read.

-Negotiate a good deal. One strategy champion negotiators do is they ask for more than what they expect to get in a deal. I have personally witnessed this strategy applied. A popular national radio show was giving away gifts i.e. Ipod nanos, gift certificates and a full tank free gasoline. One gift for every caller that calls the radio station. One guy caller just asked the Dj or radio host if he could get all three gifts. Just like that. And guess what? The Dj gave all three gifts to this caller in one fell swoop. Ask for more than what you expect to get. Who knows ladyluck might smiling at you that particular day.

-Learn few words in sign language. Like “love”-place your hands open palmed atop each other over your heart.

-Make a great speech. Join Toastmasters.

-Polish your appearance. Change your eyeglasses frames. Polish your shoes. Change barbers or hairdresser. Little things can really make a difference.

-Be a volunteer. Probe volcanoes in New Zealand, unearth dinosaurs in Montana, counting big mammals in Peru. This is real life adventure with genuine purpose.

-Learn how to mix vintage cocktails from memory. Cocktails like Old Fashioned, Whiskey Sour, Sidecar, Sazerac and Daiquiri(JFK’s favorite drink, modified by Hemingway).

Daiquiri- pour two ounces of light rum and the juice of half a lime into a shaker of ice. Add a teaspoon of bar sugar or a half ounce of simple syrup. Shake mightily and serve in a stemmed glass with lime wedge.

Ways To Cope With Stress

2007-08-03T18:15:00.000-07:00

It used to be, back in the olden days we saw stress coming. Stress is pretty much like Indians on the horizon. Until lately, it has become unfamiliar because stress is not wrap in the usual package anymore. We don’t even know how to think about these new problems, let alone come up with the answers.

Ambiguities, perfection and trying to do and have it all are taking a toll on us. These days just showing up for life can be complex and difficult. The best ways to untangle the ‘stress knot’ is to attack it one strand at a time. Here are practical ways to cope with stress.

-Pray to God.

-Unclutter your life

-Anticipate needs and plan ahead.

-Believe in yourself.

-Visualize winning.

-Set priorities.

- Review goals and set new ones.

-Get in touch with your feelings.

-Know and meet your needs.

-Say “No” more often.

-Break down large tasks.

-Delegate tasks to others.

-Ask for help.

-Ask for a hug.

-Do things in moderation.

-Consider problems as challenges.

-Look at challenges as opportunities for success.

-Avoid negative people.

-Avoid negative thoughts.

-Stop talking negatively.

-Schedule quiet time for meditation.

-Think today-not tomorrow- is better.

-Smile.

-Work on your sense of humor, or develop one.

-Talk less and listen more.

-Breathe slowly.

-Sit up straight, don’t slouch.

-Stretch your limits, or just stretch.

- Eliminate caffeine beverages.

-Get enough sleep.

-Add a new exercise to your program.

-Complete a needed task.

-Break a bad habit.

-Call or visit a lonely person.

-Do something new.

-Schedule time for hobbies.

-Tell your friends how important they are to you.

-Praise others.

-Praise yourself.

-Enjoy something beautiful in nature.

-Read a book, ebook, your favorite blog or reread a favorite letter.

-Light a candle or a scented incense.

-Take a bubble bath.

-Remember, only go one day at a time.

-Relax!

Why Taking It A Day At A Time Is Not That Effective.

2007-06-17T17:49:00.000-07:00

We have potentially numerous times to feel bad and let down in our daily life. There are also hundreds of opportunities to feel good in a given day. When all things are going our way we feel elated , inspired, always smiling but fifteen minutes after a stressful meeting your previously joyous resolve is out the window.

That is why it is wise to compartmentalize our life in minutes or seconds not days or weeks. Because our emotions can change from one moment to the next. Our emotions can prompt us to overeat, have a glass of beer to calm you down, take a drag of your favorite cigarette or any bad habits. We use our reactions to certain situations as excuses. When we received a disturbing phone call from our parents or in laws, when we drove for an hour and our appointment does not show up, we get an unexpected bill, we lose a job or our spouse’s job, our kid brings home a failing report card. These negative situations make us raid the fridge and eat that wickedly rich chocolate mousse or make us do things we normally shun especially if things are happening the way we want. We should maintain focus and keep our emotions even.

So if you have goals of losing weight, making more money, quitting a bad habit or gaining a good one, your rate of accomplishing them and be successful is how you control your emotions. You have to counter a weak moment in your daily life. It’s important that you believe in yourself and in your abilities.

Manage our emotions well and not give in to excuses when we have a tough day. Even though they are valid and we can’t totally eliminate these deterrent factors, if we do a better job of controlling our emotions we are on our way to whatever goals we like to achieve.

Maintaining a positive mind set, believing in ourselves, telling ourselves we deserve the best we can be, that we can do it and we can achieve our goals. If we do it every day and many times a day and not letting those little nagging, annoying things get us down and tick us off we can be assured of a successful journey in our mission to accomplish what it is we set out to accomplish.

Cashing In On Public Domain Content

2007-05-19T17:56:00.000-07:00

I assume anyone who reads this knows what public domain is. Yes, it’s a literary, musical, photography, motion pictures , government forms, radio broadcasts works that are not protected under U.S. copyright laws therefore own by the public. It’s usually works that are published before 1923. Those publications published between 1923 and 1973 that have copyrights but were no longer renewed are also considered public domain.

Public domain is like a cash cow, many people are making money out of it. Those people who are resourceful enough and creative enough will really reap the fruits of their labor. I’d say resourceful because you have to find a public domain work and tie it up with a hot niche and creative if you can repackage it in a way the people think it’s original and will certainly buy it.
It’s been kind of an insider secret when it comes to making money using public domain content. But not until now that many people are very much aware of it. Though, not too many people know about it and really start the project. But those who do, will absolutely see results.

The first step is to find a public domain work, totally read it and once you know what’s it’s all about, you tie it up with a niche you think is saleable these days. Then you can scan the material and digitized it if you want to make it into an e-book and slap your name on it. And sell it on your website. Yes you can do that.

Actually there are many ways you can repackage a public domain content like you can cut and slice it and turn it into articles for your website and article directories to generate lots of traffic for your site, you can turn it into an e-book to distribute at your site for viral marketing purposes. You can use it as a newsletter content and build your mailing list, also you can take bits and pieces of it and turn it into training courses and upload it to your autoresponder so people can subscribe to it.

Others repackaging ideas are for: podcast content, blog content, membership sites, mini courses, presentations, teleclass content, webcast content. If you have multi media knowledge you can make it into video courses and instruction manuals You see there are lots of ideas you can use to make it interesting. You just have to present it in a unique way.

One of the popular examples of people who used public domain creatively and profitably was Walt Disney when he made the motion picture Snow White. Snow White is an old European folklore , retold by the Brothers Grimm a hundred years before Walt Disney decided to use it. Disney repackaged it by changing the names, changing the treatment of the story by making it warm, fuzzy, funny and by using the medium of animated film. And today many generations after Snow White is still very popular cartoon character.

Using Public Domain is a painless way to start a project and make money out of it. It saves you a lot of time and effort. You can get your project off and running as soon as you want it. Here are few links you can browse for public domain works:

http://www.projectgutenberg.org
http://creativecommons.org/
http://digitalbookindex.com
http://invisible-web.net/
http://ibiblio.org/
http://census.gov/
http://firstgov.gov/
http://public-domain-content.com/
http://primarilypublicdomain.org/
http://eldritchpress.org/
http://archive.org/
http://pgdp.net/c/default.php

Why We Should Read part 2

2007-05-14T18:54:00.000-07:00

In this technological age of computers, high speed internet connection, cellular phones and cable television, the reading of good books is still one of the precious opportunity to expose young people. Books are of the people, by the people, for the people. Reading is not a luxury but definitely a necessity.

The person who acquires the habit of intelligent reading gets more out of life, for books kindle the imagination and enrich the whole being with grace and power. Reading is the practical, shortest and most inviting way to gather knowledge that stimulates the imagination, broadens the mind, widens the horizon, gives poise, vision, depth of understanding, deeper sympathies, broader comprehension and develop a truly cultured personality.

You know as well as I do, that the best-read men of past and present enjoyed an outstanding distinction over their peers. Think Thomas Edison, Benjamin Franklin and Abraham Lincoln, this illustrious men of their century were all voracious readers. Reading is considered the royal road to intellectual eminence. It has become the passport to respectability and social recognition in our general community life.

To quote an anonymous author " Without the love of reading the richest man is poor." Very true indeed. We deem life tragic for the illiterate, who have never learn to read but it is just as tragic for those who know how to read but don’t. A man who never look inside a book will stand for hours and watch a parade because it is easier to look at a man’s uniform than to try to understand his mind.

I think one of the most important reasons why we should read is to metaphorically drink from the fountain of wisdom by men of great accomplishments. On little sheets of paper or e-books, these men speak to us, amuse us, comfort us, open their hearts to us.

Needless to say we live our own lives that’s a fact, but we should let the lives of those who have lived before us be our guide. They have already traveled the road which we are about to explore. They furnish us the roadmap and tell us how to read the signposts and danger signals. Thru reading we save ourselves countless, useless experiments and needless blunders by following their advice.

Life is entirely too brief for one to accomplish good deeds and gain eminence by travel and observation alone. We must supplement these by reading. We are smart if we learn from our mistakes, but we are even smarter if we learn from the mistakes of others. Remember that always.

What books to read

I say begin with what you like to read. What would you like most to know? What in particular does your ignorance most disturb you or annoy you? Choose the best person (author) you most like to teach you. If you know the answers to these questions then you are on your way to knowing what books you ought to read.

I’m glad as a child I was surrounded with by far the best volumes. The taste for reading came just naturally. Reading fit me for my calling, prepare me for my examinations, arm me for my profession, train me for my trade, tell me how to win friends and influence people, introduce me to the seven habits of highly effective people, in short get me ready for living.

Building Your Library

2007-05-14T18:51:00.000-07:00

They say that there is no better way to judge a man’s character than to get inside and take a look at his home. It reveals his tastes, strengths and weaknesses, needs and wants, his idiosyncrasies. If a man had a lot of books that told you something about him. The titles of the books he owned told you more. And no books told you even more.

We cannot keep all our personal friends in our house, they go their way and we go on ours. If we must get together and bond once or twice a month that would be great. But sometimes we don’t keep in touch with them due to work and other responsibilities for longer stretches of time. But not so with our book friends, we can keep large quantities of them in our home. A library would be a welcome addition to any household.

We spend enormous amounts of money to buy concert, sports or any other form of entertainment tickets but we have to realize that these are only passing. For a price of a single ticket can buy you decent books that will give you strength and leisure to your mind all your life.

Those who are well- read, read well. Read one book at a time but never one book alone. Well- written books surely have relatives. Seek them out. Learn something about the family if you want to understand the individual, so to speak.

The basics of any decent library are reference books such as encyclopedia, a good dictionary, world almanac, a volume of thesaurus and quotation books. You can buy hundreds of books all at once but that is what we call a collection of books. A library on the other hand is deliberately made. A library is an organism developing side by side with the mind and character of its owner.
When you buy good books with which to build a library, you are buying a lifetime treasure – a wealth of instruction and continuous delight.

Apartment For Books
By Edgar A. Guest

My bookcase long has seemed to me
A great apartment house to be
Wherein my lifetime friendships dwell
Awaiting me to ring the bell.

Each shelf of floor where friends abide,
Wordsworth and Shelley, side by side,
Bob Burns and Shakespeare, Call, they say,
Whenever you may chance this way.

Some friends are old and some are young;
Some gifted with a witty tongue;
Some strong in faith, in wisdom deep
To aid and comfort all who weep.

As in some building’s inner hall
The names appear upon the wall.
So I varied titles read
To find a friend whose help I need.

Defining Perserverance

2007-05-02T19:58:00.000-07:00

To put it simply, perseverance is never, never , never, never, never giving up pursuing your goal. We all have our favorite stories about people whose perseverance blazed the trail for success. One of my favorite is the story of the famous rapper now actor LL Cool J.

When Todd (his real name) was about 15 years old, hip hop music was already in his system. He wrote more rhymes and music than he ever worked on his homework. By that time he went to every record stores and wrote down the labels of every rap record they had. He then sent out his demo tapes to each label- CBS, Sugar Hill, Island, Tommy Boy Electra, Profile, Enjoy etc.

Two weeks later he received so many rejection letters from the record companies. He received enough letters to start a really good fire . He felt like crying but stifled his emotions. Something deep inside him, made him not give up and keep sending those tapes. He knew he was good so he persevered. One day, his mother bought him a 600 dollar drum machine to somehow improve the sound quality of his demo tapes, so he started sending them out again.

His last shot was to send out the tape to Rick Rubin , at that time was still a student but already producing records. Todd didn’t wait for Rick to call him instead he called and followed up about his demo tape. He called Rick everyday. Little did Todd know that his tape was sitting in his dorm room in a big box of tapes with hundreds of wanna-be rappers. Maybe it was just luck or serendipity, that a friend of Rick, was hanging out in his dorm room and just randomly pulled out Todd’s tape from the stacks of tapes and listened to it and liked it. That got Rick’s attention and immediately phoned Todd. That was when Todd got his hard won break. Thus LL COOL J was born and groomed for hip hop stardom.

Whenever you think of successful people whether Hollywood stars, explorers, inventors, entrepreneurs etc. you can be sure they acquired persistence and perseverance first before they accumulated the money and praises.

You can develop perseverance if you know your definite purpose, perpetually backed by enthusiastic efforts .As they say in today’s language be PROACTIVE.

The only break you can afford to depend on, is the break you yourself can make. Just like LL Cool J. His self made break was when he made those demo tapes and the effort of sending them out, following up and being persistent and persevered amidst seeming rejections, but finally, finally muddled through.

So create your own self made break. Persevere until Success happens.

The “Vital Few And The Trivial Many”

2007-05-02T19:56:00.000-07:00

Ever wonder how the likes of Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey and Jerry Bruckheimer spend their time? Aside from the fact that they have secretaries and personal assistants and all but can you picture how they spend their time from the moment they rub their eyes when the morning sun shines through their window until nighttime when they click off that side table lamp?

Well good news for us everyday people, we have some sort of principle or system we can follow to effectively utilize our time. And maybe try to accomplish a little of what those aforementioned famous and accomplished people have achieved. It’s called the Pareto Principle. It’s a century old concept of effective time management but I think it has merits, I think it has some grain of truth in it.

Basically it’s an 80-20% ratio. The small percentage or the 20% ("the vital few") produces 80% of the results, profits, share etc. The 80% (" The trivial many") does not make such an impact. Pareto Principle was originally conceptualized by Vilfredo Pareto, an Italian economist in the early 1900’s.Is somewhat rehashed by Joseph Juran management expert and universally applied to just about any fields of endeavour.

There is an imbalance between effort and results like 80% of what we achieve comes from just 20% of what we do. The purpose of this effective time management concept is to make us identify which of that small percentage that give us the most favorable results and focus and improve on it. That easy. No more stress, no more pulling your hair or jittery nerves over not having enough time to do the things which are important to you.

How does this principle apply to you? If you are an internet marketer find out which products sell more, which customers buy more and focus your time and energy on those facts. If you run ads, find out which ads pull in more leads, check your traffic logs and identify which keywords and phrases bring more visitors and concentrate on those.

I can’t remember the conversation verbatim but somehow this is the gist of the interview.
Romy Garduce, achieved national fame when he, among other Filipinos reached the summit of Mt. Everest sometime last year. It was the first time ever in Filipino History. Since mountaineering is what he does best and made him famous he was asked , why not make mountaineering his main job, other than holding down a more conventional work in an office. He said it doesn’t matter, as long as 20 percent of his time is spent on things he cares and enjoys the most (which is climbing mountains) he is pretty content and happy. So far he’s been to the three highest peaks in each continent namely Kilamanjaro, Acongacua and Mt. Everest. He aspires to traverse the South Pole and go kayaking the Amazon River upstream. But I digress.

To push my point a bit further Nathaniel Hawthorne worked in the Customs office while he wrote the famous novel, The Scarlett Letter in his spare time. Alexander Graham Bell was a teacher when he invented the telephone. It just goes to show that you can spend only a small percentage of your time, but hugely, hugely make an impact on culture, history or business.

Let go…. Go With The Flow

2007-05-02T19:53:00.000-07:00

The mantras "let go" and "go with the flow" are applicable in many ways.

It could mean let go of your materials things you no longer need, sell it or give it away to people who will make good use and value it. Letting go is a kind of release, create a vacuum so that there will be space for something new in your life materially.

It also could mean let go of your negative emotions, unspoken grudges, worry, frustrations, fear, anxiety, limiting beliefs and regret. De-clutter your mind through meditations and affirmations. Let go of bad vibes and make room for more positive feelings like hope, love and faith. Letting yourself open to a range of possibilities leading to the fulfillment of our desires. In doing so, we decrease our stress levels and feel calmer and happier. When you feel the "flow" more positive things will come.

If you want to let your creative juices flow, if you have a big problem to solve at work or simply you want to create something but feel stuck. Letting go serve such purpose. By letting go, your subconscious mind takes over your conscious mind and do the work. That’s why famous artist like Salvador Dali would just dose off and suddenly gets awaken by the sound of the dropping keys he was holding and immediately paint those bizarre images he saw during his near deep sleep state. Dali is a renowned artist who is known for paintings with bizarre and surreal images. Thomas Edison too, was famous for taking naps before he invented something great. They are just examples of letting go of your conscious mind, your awareness and let the subconscious but powerful mind take over.

I’m sure you have experienced that certain state where in you are just flowing in the natural rhythm of life. I especially cherish those moments whether I’m having meals with family and guests or with I’m with a special friend and suddenly I’m ambushed with feelings of unexpected happiness, of contentment. It is just a wonderful feeling to be feeling that good Well, we have to understand that since we are the source of the flowing feeling, we can make it happen more often rather than just an isolated occurrence.

How do we let the "going with the flow" feeling happen again and again? Number one is to let go of resistance and let go of struggle. Accept the present circumstances as they come. Don’t resist. Remember what you resist persists but acceptance dissolves blockages and imbalance. Imagine yourself prop in an inflatable rubber being carried along on the current of the river. Relax and just go with the flow.

If you encounter challenges, don’t resist. Choose to go with the flow. Affirm to yourself "this doesn’t bother me, I choose to go with the flow." And simply let yourself be carried along and enjoy the ride. Like any other techniques, if done on a consistent basis will yield more favorable and lasting results. And expect to experience unexpectedly being ambush more often with flowing and wondrously happy feeling

Timeless Wisdom On Traffic Building

2007-05-02T19:50:00.001-07:00

Traffic or should I say massive traffic to your websites is the ultimate internet marketer’s goal. More traffic means more sales, more income. But in this day and age, everything is available to us, seminars, e-books, tele-conferences, ezines, articles all that information on how to improve our online business is just within anyone’s reach.

With all that information constantly bombarding us we have the tendency to overcomplicate things when in fact traffic generation techniques are simple. It’s the constant effort, the daily consistent action that’s the hard part.

To generate traffic you can do pay per click, if you have the money to begin with. That’s one sure way. I wouldn’t recommend traffic exchanges. Been there done that. For intermediate and expert net marketer traffic exchanges are a bit cheesy. And it’s totally not recommended if you have adsense slapped on your websites.

Reciprocal links, as they say are dead . No visitors would take the time to brush off the dust on your link directories. One way links is the way to go like submitting articles to lots of directories. Well speaking from experience, you know as well as I do, from among hundreds of article directories out there only a handful delivers traffic to your websites. Well I don’t want to be a doomsayer here but let’s examine what really works on a larger sense.

Well to cut to the chase, it’s the reliable old search engines especially Google generously gives you free and lots traffic. So it’s wise to update regularly your website content and slap profitable keywords and phrases here and there and make sure your content is unique if not useful and entertaining. The rest of traffic generating techniques are just icing on the cake.

Just write new content as much as possible, on a consistent basis, never give up until that proverbial "momentum" that "snowball effect" will take place. You are surely well on your way to online profits. Let me reiterate. No need to overcomplicate things.

P.S. If you know any other traffic generating techniques that really work for you please feel free to comment here.Seo Tricks

Maximum Happiness In Minimum Time

2007-04-16T18:24:00.000-07:00

Happiness and inner fulfillment are independent of the external conditions in life. The myth of " I’ll be happy when I get the house in Hollywood Hills, the beamer, the job, the model wife….is very much propagated in our society.

We should realize that we had it backwards. Inner fulfillment should come first to be truly and unconditionally happy.

And how do we go about this? There’s this simple step that can be done on a daily basis in minimum time. Here it is. If you want to be wildly successful in the future, start pretending and acting like one today. Dress better, have bounce on your steps, wear that 1000 kilowatt smile, have a happy disposition and if the weather is bad, bring your own sunshine. Act as if you already own a Fortune 500 company. Whatever you want to be, be that now. Practice being happy now. Pretend until pretense becomes real.

Our brain likes pattern and familiarity. If we always think we are lacking and unhappy, the brain filters the incoming data to support the idea of lack and shortage. On the other hand if we think of patterns of plenty, our brain will filter incoming data to support the idea of plenty or abundance.

We are the ones creating our perception of the reality of our situation in every single moment. If we practice struggle and pessimism we become very good at it. We are going to be unconsciously competent negative thinkers. Pessimism and struggle would soon become automatic, it becomes a habit.

We don’t have to wait until everything is going great before we can practice and feel happiness. We might wait a pretty long time. It’s not because things will never be great but because we have become a master at being unhappy.

On the contrary, we practice whatever we want to be in the future, now. Practice feeling, imagining and sensing how you will feel and doing what you will do when you get where you want to be, today! Now! This moment! By the time you get there you are familiar and comfortable with happiness and success. It’s no longer a struggle.
Instead of stress and struggle, relish the journey of life and achieve the things you truly want with peace and joy.

Three Easy Ways To Tackle Life’s Challenges

2007-04-16T18:21:00.000-07:00

As we grew older, wiser and more mature we have come to devise our own individual unique ways to cope with problems and deal with the daily stress that comes with adult responsibilities. I have listed below my own ways to keep me motivated, inspired and not let life’s journey drag me down. Hope you will find ideas here that will work for you too.

-Sustain a "can do" attitude. Life, like mountaineering is never without hitches. An expedition is never smooth sailing. You can get sick, the weather is bad, you lose your equipment so on and so forth. Pretty much like our lives, it’s not always happy times, sometimes we experience rejection, relationships or business deals gone sour. The key is to focus and stay determined and be patient. You have to keep on keeping on until we reach the summit of our goals and aspirations.

-The swiss cheese method. A swiss cheese have a lot of holes in it right? You attack a problem, use and budget time, do tasks, pay bills and debts the swiss cheese method way. One hole at a time. Do one task, solve one problem, pay one bill or debt one at a time. Do them incrementally and the next thing you know you have accomplished a lot already. Once you have done that, you will feel relaxed and not overwhelmed. People around you will be surprised and amazed why you still have poise and composure when life’s realities of bills and obligations are overwhelming and yet here you are calm and serene. They don’t know you have applied the swiss cheese method way.

-Reframing. When you label something as a "problem" or a "disaster" it is just a semantic frame. In reality, it is just data, problems or disaster don’t really exist until you call it that. It is only when you label or frame the data in a particular way that it becomes a problem or a disaster. By practicing using moderate terms for extreme situations ( for example a "problem" is just a minor inconvenience) we don’t experience adrenaline rush and therefore we remain relax , calm and able to access resources needed to solve the problem. Reframing is to soften the language people use in conflict situation therefore makes the atmosphere conducive to problem solving mode instead of panic mode.

Broke, Stressed And Disgusted

2007-04-16T18:16:00.000-07:00

A How-Not-To-Guide:

Hypothetical question: If you won 100,000 dollars what will you do with it first?
If you think of what you are going to invest it in or earn with it then you are going to be successful. If you first, think of what you are going to buy with it then hmmm….you are going to have a pretty rough time financially.

Let’s admit it, saving is boring. It’s not about oversize plasma tvs or fancy vacations. Saving and budgeting are essential ways to financial freedom. I know, I know nothing new and phenomenal here.

Even if you are not an expert on tax exempts or budgeting you just have to DO THE MATH. It’s like, you don’t care about dentistry, but you have to brush your teeth!

Forego these rationalizations: " I worked hard at my job so I deserve these 1,000 dollar boots", "I can’t wear anything but pure silk against my skin," or " Genuine leather is me." Instead adopt this attitude: " If I don’t own it, I won’t have to dust it."

It is those odds and ends that we spend money on, if accumulated can amount to a lot. Don’t spend it on trifles that are gone in a flash. There are far more thrills in a life of control, than there are in a life of abandonment.

You don’t need to take a course in accounting to learn the formula. You don’t have to keep detailed account of your expenses either.

A wise budgeting plan consists of three parts, a plan to save and invests, a way to control all living costs and a solution to the problem of debt.

It’s the 10%-70%-20% plan after taxes and tithes. Out of your income you get ten percent for your savings, seventy percent allotted to your costs of living and 20 percent to pay your debts. Pretty simple huh? Just make sure you have the discipline to adhere to the plan and you will never be in trouble financially again.

One very important thing, pay yourself first. Keep a part of every dollar you earn before you pay the bills. That’s the way it should be. If you wait to save after you pay all your obligations, surely there won’t be any money left. I’m guilty of this myself, that’s why I found myself at the end of the line broke. But now I know better.

Now, one more question I promise this is going to be the last question for the day. Which do you think is in better financial position? A. some debt and some money? B. no debt and no money? C. more debt and more money? If you answered A or C, you want financial health. If you answered B you don’t understand financial health and I’m afraid you are suffering from the case of the "shorts."

Earn Money As A Scuba Diving Instructor

2007-04-16T18:14:00.000-07:00

If you love exploring the undersea world with thousands species of exotic fishes, hundreds kinds of corals and hundreds marine species then you enjoy making money as a scuba diving instructor.

But first things first, before you can teach scuba diving lessons you have to be a diver first and foremost. You can be a diver by, first taking up open water diver course, then advanced course, the rescue diver course, then dive master course and finally dive instructor, absolutely in that order.

You will need to spend money on the courses and equipments ( rent or bought). Equipments such as buoyancy control device, regulator, swim mask, snorkel, fins, booties and wet suit plus resort accommodations.

The open water course is familiarizing yourself with the basic equipments and practicing within a controlled body of water like a swimming pool before venturing out to the open sea. Then you take practical and theoretical exams to be certified as an open water diver.

The advanced course entails night diving, drift diving, deep diving, wreck diving, boat diving, cavern diving. underwater photography and videography. The rescue course is having to go thru twelve different problem or emergency situations and the student have to solve or help himself and other people during that aforementioned situations. The dive master is a level of professional status, must dived sixty times or more to qualify as an instructor and must pass a three day test to get your dive instructor license.

You can choose to join international organizations like PADI (Professional Association Of Diving Instructors) basically the largest group of the world’s divers. It’s an advantage to get crossover certifications from different organizations. The point is that the certification is internationally recognized and you can teach anywhere in the world.

You can opt to earn money as scuba dive instructor full time or just part time. You can tie up with dive shops to refer clients to you . You can also offer consultancy services or operate a dive shop. If you are successful then who knows you might go into the whole beach resort business in the future.

Earn Money As A Tourist Guide

2007-04-16T18:11:00.000-07:00

Tourist guides are most often than not, the travelers first contacts in a foreign country. To be a successful tourist guide you must have excellent communication skills and preferably knows two foreign languages aside from English. Multi-lingual guides make ten percent more money. You also must be presentable, friendly, punctual and articulate.

Aside from language proficiency, you must take a seminar sponsored by the Department of Tourism to get accreditation which is a requisite to secure a permit to work as a tourist guide. After you get your permit associate yourself with travel agencies. They serve as your booking agents. They give you your clients and returning travelers.

Your fee should be based on one flat rate for the whole trip. Ask your customers for a deposit which is approximately1/3 of the package cost of the tour to confirm their reservations. This will protect you in the event that individuals cannot make the trip for whatever reason.

Just like any field of endeavour, you can specialize like taking tourists to golf tours, kayak/canoeing tours, historical sites, museums or even camping trips. Some guides only handle transfers like taking the tourists from the airport to the hotel and vice versa. It really depends on what kind of deals you sealed.

Tourists don’t expect their guides to know everything but you must know a little about everything. So brush up on the history and culture of whatever country you currently live. So you can give tid bits of vital information as you go around your destinations. You should also be punctual and offer prompt service. Remember the travel agencies you are connected with, ask guests for feedbacks of your service. And if they like your services you will always count on repeat business.

If you like the outdoors, meeting new people, speaking different languages then earning money as tourist guide may be for you. By the way on lean season, tourist guides mostly augment their income by conducting private language lessons and as an interpreter.

How To Beat Mediocrity With The Most Practical Time Management Principle

2007-04-07T18:36:00.000-07:00

I used to feel proud of myself when I crossed off the items on my to do list after accomplishing the tasks that I set out to do. But then I realized I haven’t really accomplished much in my life. Or at least accomplish the thing that really matters to me.

Sometimes we kid ourselves with trying to do too much, appearing extremely busy with so many activities that we are not really mastering or excelling at any one thing. That’s what I did, I was crossing off the wrong items or should I say the low priority activities.

The best thing to do is really knowing and setting what your most important goal is and how long to do you think you can accomplish that goal. I call this my A1 goal. The things that are urgent for the day but do not contribute to my A1 goal I call my "maintenance tasks" like doing the laundry, paying bills, balancing checkbooks, house repairs, grocery shopping, cooking etc.

I now schedule the time in accomplishing my A1 goal, by scheduling I mean I block that time ex. from 8 to 10 every morning that’s just reserve for doing my A1 goal. Nothing can come in the way during those hours. No interruptions, no distractions. And the rest of the day I can now do my maintenance tasks. Life is not that stressful once you have done what is the most important to you in the long run and at the same time the knowledge that your day is unfolding smoothly because you still have the time to do your chores.

It’s just a matter of knowing that one thing, you want to accomplish and going for it. Not wanting to do a hundred things different things all at the same time. Mediocrity is definitely the outcome of trying to spread yourself too thin with not so important activities. To quote someone, "If you want to raise prize winning roses there’s no need to raise also petunias."

Do You Make These Mistakes When Negotiating?

2007-04-07T18:29:00.000-07:00

Let’s face it negotiating is part of our daily lives from trying to convince your boss to give you a pay raise, the landlord to give you a reasonable rent control and to convincing someone to be your girlfriend or wife. It’s all a matter of convincing or persuading. Though some of us are good at negotiating I can say there is also a lot who suck at it. But like any other skills, negotiating can be learn and hone to a polished degree through constant study and practice. Let’s first examine our negotiating boo boos and try to correct them.

-We talk more instead of listening more. Top negotiators get all the important information they must have from the other party. By listening more they position themselves to know their deadlines which a very crucial information in negotiating. If we talk more, then we are revealing way too much like our deadlines, or issues that are important to us that the other party may make comprising very hard for us. Once they know our deadlines, the one worst that can happen is that the other party might stall and wait for the deadline which makes us concede to a lot, just to take our pressures off. Play you cards close to your chest.

-We show that we are smart alecks. If we let the one we are negotiating with that we know everything, they will let their defenses up and compete with us. On the other hand if we act like we are not so informed, its human nature they feel sorry for us and even try to help us, which makes the deal run smoothly.

-We are shy or lack confidence to let the other party know what we want or expect. We should aim high and shoot for the stars, if we are unsuccessful then we just have to deal with the occasional "no" and that’s about it. But if we succeed, who knows we might make the world our oyster.

-We are impatient. If patience is not one of your virtues then I exhort you to cultivate it. Even if our negotiations do not come out the way we want it at first, we have to now that changes can happen, That’s a fact. It’s one of the laws of nature. Change. Topnotch negotiators will play on changing circumstances that will favor them. Big concessions occur in the last few hours regardless of how long the negotiation has taken.

Those are just few of the common mistakes we commit. But armed with these new knowledge and if we keep on practicing good negotiation techniques then we are on our way to having more benefits and ultimately more success.

Things T0 Do This Summer

2007-03-10T19:00:00.000-07:00

It’s summer once again. Here are things to do to make your summer enjoyable, profitable and productive.

-Take summer classes.

-Start a regular exercise plan and lose weight.
-Take baking lessons.

-Go horseback riding

-Clean and redecorate your bedroom.

-Read all the classics.

-Learn a foreign language like French.

-Pack a picnic lunch for two.

-Go mountain biking with friends.

-Take driving lessons.

-Attend an acting workshop.

-Take voice lessons.

-Weed out any unused clothes from your closet.

-Donate old clothes to charity.

-Set up personal reference library of dictionaries, thesaurus, a volume of quotations and writing guide to bolster your writing skills.

-Walk your dog.

-Set aside a day to pamper yourself, sleep till noon, give yourself a manicure and pedicure, deep condition your hair and go for a body scrub or massage. Go to a foot spa , saloon or facial care center.

-Whip up a batch of homemade brownies for your friends and loved ones.

-Learn to windsurf.

-Go skating with friends.

-Go jogging.

-Take art/painting lessons.

-Organize a slumber party with friends.

-Jump rope.

-Take up something offbeat. Try your hand at tae kwon do, sign language or calligraphy.

-Take a trip abroad.

-Make custom decorated t-shirts.

-Raise and sell plants.

-Run a garage sale.

-Hold a car wash business in your neighborhood.

-Learn photography.

-Visit local museums with friends and family.

-Take sewing lessons.

-Learn the Japanese art of origami.

-Volunteer to non profit organizations.

-Take up computer lessons.

-Take cooking lessons and be a gourmet.

-Get a summer job.

-Take swimming lessons.

-Learn a new sport.

-Teach your dog new tricks.

-Organize a family reunion.

-Join a retreat and renew your faith.

-Collect stamps.

-Start a seashell collection.

-Visit fine tourist spots nearby.

-Clean up your attic and recycle old materials.

-Make a scrapbook of your favorite personality.

-Start a backyard vegetable garden.

-Learn skeet shooting.

-Take drum lessons.

-Fix your family album.

-Take up ballroom dancing.

-Join a basketball or volleyball league in your area.

-Learn to knit yourself a sweater.

-Take pottery classes.

-Go to the beach.

-Learn fencing.

-Improve your tennis or squash game.

-Learn bass guitar.

-Take up the cello.

-Write a short story or poetry.

-Go diving or snorkeling.

-Learn jewelry making.

-Join a mountaineering club.

-Start a diary or journal.

-Join an art, film, music appreciation club.

-Assemble 1000 piece puzzle and have it framed.

Learn to cross-stitch.

The Power Of Creative Visualization

2007-02-27T18:35:00.000-07:00

Do you know that not everyone is privileged to know the power of creative visualization? And are you aware that when you relax both body and mind in special ways you will have access to this amazing power to accomplish things that otherwise seems impossible? This process is called creative visualization.

Creative Visualization Techniques

When you are in a meditative state, you can use visualizations and affirmation to reprogram your subconscious mind and make it work to accomplish things that you want. You can use your subconscious mind to do it for you whether you want to improve your business, personal relationships and self image.

Yogis have been doing this for centuries. Thru meditation and visualization they attain an altered state of consciousness that allow them to accomplish what most of us consider miracles. What Gandhi accomplished for his country seemed an impossible feat. Gandhi was known to practice meditation.

By holding a mental picture of what you want you will feel emotionally positive , happy and upbeat and able to achieve much more than you normally can.

My first experience with visualization happened ten years ago , give or take. I wanted to sell a painting because I thought it would make a nice profit. I didn’t know much about art or how prices of paintings are calculated. I totally had no idea. All I knew then was that if the artist of that certain painting passed on the price of that art piece would immediately start to soar.

So what I did was I visualized, I dream about it all night for several months. I knew deep inside that I can sell the painting for a very lucrative profit. The quest of selling the painting consumed me.

Thru my regular meditations and visualizations, I found it incredibly important to do my research about the painting and the artist in an unhurried, thorough way. I traveled several miles to visit the birthplace of the painter. I learned how much all his other paintings cost and compared it to mine.

So armed with all the knowledge from my research , preparation, my meditation and visualizations I was subconsciously preparing myself in the event someone will purchase my painting.

Then one afternoon a quite inebriated man , accosted me and told me his boss wants to buy my painting. I never really took him seriously at that time, but I politely set an appointment. The next morning he and his boss came to see and examined the painting. His boss liked it. I named my price. The deal was sealed. I sold it! It was quick and easy, like I’ve already rehearsed the scene.

The power of creative visualization made me feel confident , made me have faith in myself and truly believe that I can achieve what I wanted. And to think, it was seemingly impossible because I did not do any advertising or promotion.

Through creative visualization, I tricked my subconscious to feel the reality that I wanted and eventually achieved it.

Self Motivation Tips To Get Ahead

2007-02-27T18:30:00.000-07:00

Straight out of college I took over the family business. Learning new skills , earning and spending money were all first time experiences and a big turn on for me.

Time passed. We aged and grow more mature. I noticed the motivation and drive I once had , were not there anymore. I felt the need to find personally meaningful work to have inner fulfillment.

After many years of being in the same work you suddenly find yourself at a crossroads of new career choices. I’m sure you feel that too once in your lives.

We need to understand that drive and motivation are all perishable commodities. Motivating forces are individually different for each person. What motivates us also often change overtime . Here are few self motivation tips you might want to try, to add zest to your career and your life.

1. Keep the challenge fresh. If you get to a point in your work or hobby, when there’s nothing to do but maintain what we’ve accomplished so far, there’s a big drop off on your drive. You get bored and there’s nothing to look forward to. So every now and then we need to keep creating new challenges.

2. Motivation comes after action. Most people believe that we need to be motivated before we take action. Metaphorically, that’s putting the cart before the horse. Try doing the thing that you have been putting off just for a few minutes. Just to make it bearable at first. Surely after that you feel like doing it already.

3. Strike a balance. Without energy, motivation doesn’t take you so far. To avoid burnout, pursue outside interests, get physical exercise and maintain close relationships.

4. Reward yourself. Give yourself a treat after a job well done. Buy new clothes, go to the spa, buy perfume etc. Indulge.

5. Re-evaluation. Periodically hear our inner voice and summon our inner strength to perpetually find the work that fires us up.

You can choose to apply two or three of these self motivation tips that you feel more suitable to you.

In my case, I have crawled my way out of the rut by consistently looking for newer challenges and exploring set of new skills I want to acquire and develop further.

Friends Everyone Should Have

2007-02-27T18:25:00.000-07:00

Back when I was a young kid, I remember I used to think my father’s friends were loser guys. They hang around the house all the time. They were always available to do him favors. I wondered what my dad saw in them.

Fast forward to the present time. I’m all grown up. I have prided myself to having friends in high places. I always feel that having richer friends than I, is what’s it all about.

Then one day I was asked to house sit a relative’s house away from the hustle and bustle of the city. I was all alone in that big house. My loneliness was palpable. I picked up the receiver and called my friends. But lo and behold, they were not available for some bonding time. And that was the occasion I needed them most. And why wouldn’t they be available all the time? They have the means to do other stuff with other people than little old me.

The moral lesson of my story is….ban the idea of having one kind of friends ( in my case my well-to-do-chums). Having a variety of friends who can EACH bring something different into your life is the way to go. So you can have more options, who to call in your own "away from the city, house sitting chores" episode.

After many years, I now come to understand and appreciate my dad’s choice of friends.
Let’s push this a bit further and try to gain a much wider variety of friends. You need a friend to:

-Coach or mentor you on your career moves.

-Explain the psyche of the opposite sex.

-Consume kegs of draft beer with.

-Do PR for you especially to your romantic prospect.

-Hook you up with someone from everywhere such as a plumber, the vice mayor and the local acupuncturist.

-Do you favors like Sancho Panza to Don Quixote.

-Someone to lend you his Porsche 911 turbo.

Eleven Forms Of Distorted Thinking

2007-02-27T18:23:00.000-07:00

If we find ourselves annoyed, irritable, depressed, unproductive or simply confused then our thinking process goes along these lines of distorted thoughts. By identifying which categories we usually fall trap into, we can easily untwist our deceptively distorted thoughts.

1. Black and white thinking- you look at things in absolute all or nothing. There are no gray area for you. Ex. " I’ll be at his mercy once he finds out how inexperienced I am."

2. All Embracing- you look at a bad situation in your life and see it as a never ending pattern. Ex. "If rejects me I’ll never be able to overcome my inexperience, because everyone else will also reject me once they find out.

3. Mental Sponge-you soak up all the negative details, leaving out the positive ones or vice versa.

4. Disregarding the positive- insists that the negative weighs more than the positive .Ex." Even girls who have boyfriends look at me, make eyes at me and flirt. It makes it seem like I’m a home wrecker".

5. Mind Reading- there’s an assumption of negative reaction from people which is unfounded. Ex. "he’s prejudged me without giving me a chance".

6. Fortune Telling-you irrationally predict that things can’t change or will turn out badly. Ex. "I will look like a fool trying to talk to her".

7. Inflation or Deflation- it’s either you blow things out of proportion or shrink their importance inappropriately. Ex. "She’s fantastic".

8. Emotional Reasoning-you rationalize things from how you feel. Ex. I Feel like a loser therefore I must be really one.

9. Shoulda , coulda , woulda statements. You tell yourself, you should have done this, could have done that, lots of "musts", "oughts" and "have tos". Ex. " But if someone rejects me, it means I should be doing something differently".

10. Tagging- you point out your weaknesses and mistakes and tag yourself as a loser, jerk, failure etc. Instead of identifying the cause of the problem you can learn from or try to correct it.

11. Blaming- the easy way out, you blame yourself or others or external events for something you were not entirely responsible. Ex. "But if he rejects me, I’ll think less of myself, because he will be rejecting my value system.

Earn Money As A Foreign Language Translator

2007-02-27T18:20:00.000-07:00

You don’t have to study formally a second language. If you are lucky enough to grow up in a family where Spanish, Russian, Italian, German etc. are spoken aside from English, then you are very much qualified for the job.

Translators are in great demand in hospitals , schools and calls centers. Also in companies doing business overseas, for specialists who need foreign publications translated as well as foreign language schools.

You could command top dollar depending on your fluency and the complexity of the material to be translated especially if it’s a sophisticated business translations involving scientific and technical translations.

You can also give private lessons in a foreign language at you home. You can charge by the hour per student. Even if you have fulltime job you don’t want to give up you can give classes in the evening and free-lance translation of books and articles can easily be done on weekends.

Run your classified ads in the literary or trade publications, scientific journals and large city newspaper.
This is just one of the ways to make money by using your bilingual activity.

Earn Money By Organizing A Consignment Shop

2007-02-27T18:17:00.000-07:00

Consignment means people give you merchandise and get paid only if and when you sell the merchandise.

By means of advertising in classified ads, you invite people to bring used items such as clothing, dishes, unmatched silverware , children’s toys, small appliances without paying out a cent until you have made the sale.

Tell them how much you are willing to pay for the items and the terms of until when you are going to put them up for sale. Give them the option to claim those items back if they are not sold within the limited time. Usually, in consigning, u can have a markup profit of ninety percent from these items.

You need a place to display the goods particularly a large room in the commercial district. Just scout for lower rental rates so you can have lower overheard when you have just started your business. You need lots of shelves and racks, corrugated boxes to hold clothing and inexpensive pipe racks to hold items like coats, dresses and suits that can be hung on hangers. You don’t have to repaint your display room. After all you want to give an impression of a bargain feel about your shop. Display the items neatly in strategic locations. The customers should feel free to browse through the boxes and shelves without the feeling they are messing up your shop. It should have a look of pleasant clutter.

Scrutinize the goods that come in, make sure the clothing are clean, the toys are not broken, the dishes and glassware should have not too many chips. You want to sell them as is, no reconditioning needed.

Aside from advertising in classified ads and the modest rent if you have a retail outlet, you only invest in a few items like receipts and sales slips. Because you will give out receipts to everyone who brings in merchandise for consignment. On it you state the price you will pay them if the goods are sold and the time you wish to hold the goods and you give receipts to your buyers as well.

Consignment shops originally started to raise money for charities until only later, it got mainstream. Some consignment shops specialize only in items like children’ toys or books etc.

If you are successful in your consignment shop venture you can branch out to a larger space where you can accommodate bigger stuffs like used television sets, washing machines and dryers , computers in running order.

So there, another one of the many making money ideas to try out and if you are successful then good for you.

Earn Money: Be An Art Broker

2007-02-18T22:40:00.000-07:00

Make more money by selling art. I had a brief stint selling a painting several years ago. It was like a whole new world was open to me. I have met interesting people. Met a professional poker dealer (yes from the Bicycle Club), Hare Krisna devouts , antique dealers etc. all because I was selling a piece of art they were interested in buying. I had a first hand experience that there is a lot money to be made in selling art.

Owning a piece of art thrills people. But not everyone can afford a masterpiece. What we are talking about here is the kind of art that is not "mass produced". The kind that is saleable, but of good quality. Specially made by your local artists and painters. This less expensive art is in the form of lithographs, original etchings, woodcuts, sketches and of course paintings.

The first that you should do is round up local artists whose works are, you think is worth representing. How do you do this? Attend art shows and art classes, join art clubs and distribute business cards as well as collect them. Or you could run a small ad in the newspaper asking local artist who likes to have someone represents them to call you. You will be busy talking on the phone for a week when a slew of interested artists will call. Have them sign an agreement that states you are authorize to sell their works at a specified time and the standard commission of the art broker is one half or one third of the selling price.

Do not rent a commercial space just yet, instead improvise a gallery right in your own home and display your collection of "merchandise" artistically after all art is your business. As far as insurance coverage is concern it is usually the artist’s responsibility for insuring his own work.

Now to promote your art products you can offer to put on free art shows at your local library, school or church group. Develop a story about the artist and his work in your local newspaper, do this for every artist you represent. Get to know and hobnob with your local interior decorators, architects, buyers in department stores and furniture stores and don’t forget your local picture framers. Associate yourself with very good local framers. This is where your public relations skills are tested.

Your opportunities for growth will come in two ways , adding more artists in your string and therefore more products to sell and increasing your prices if some artist will gain more reputation and following. So why don’t you sell someone’s art and earn money being an art broker?

Earn Money By Manufacturing Custom T-shirts

2007-02-18T22:39:00.000-07:00

The first thing that you will need is a great quantity of plain white t-shirts. Choose good quality t-shirts that are pre-shrunk. You can ask for catalogs of wholesale t-shirt manufacturers such as Hanes, Fruit of the Loom, etc. or if you are resourceful enough to seek out not so popular brands but of quality and less expensive kinds thne go for it. You can purchase tshirts at a low price if you buy them in bulk or wholesale.

Next thing to acquire are non water soluble paints, decorative stencils, sequins, felt transfer letters, compressor and airbrush gadget, then you are ready to make your own creations. Read fashion magazines and cruise your local malls and get the feel for what’s hip and popular, but don’t be limited to what others are making and wearing, be innovative and original. This is crucial for your success. You have to be unique.

Dye the t-shirts with permanent color, then you can add your personal brand of artistry . Paint, silk screen, air brush or add handiwork with stitching, sequins, studs or whatever your creativity takes you.

Next take samples around at various retail outlets in the mall like boutiques , army/navy store, sport shops or even high end dress shops. These are all potential marketplaces for your products. Give people reason to want your t-shirts for their local basketball, baseball or bowling teams and as advertising for store owners who might want their store names on t-shirts as give-away items.

Sell a hundred t-shirts a week and you can net a considerable income. So there, another money making idea for you.

Earn: Be a Locksmith

2007-02-18T22:34:00.000-07:00

Another money making idea is thru locksmithing. It is an ancient craft for which there is still a great need. There is greater need now because of the increase crime rate. People are constantly changing and adding locks and that’s one source of repeat business. And also people are constantly losing their keys and that’s one way to make money fast by duplicating keys.

If you enjoy tinkering with mechanical gadgets then you have an aptitude for locksmithing. You just need a specialized tool like key duplicating equipment, grinding wheels and other shop machinery. You can avail courses from correspondence school or by being an apprentice with a skilled locksmith.

If your service is available 24/7 then you will be able to command top dollar for a single house call. In addition for your service, you can also sell locks ,safes and other specialized hardware right from your own shop or home workshop. As you gain more experience, your list of customers will also grow then you can offer security consultation service and maybe expand into burglar and fire alarm installation, safe and vault work.

This is particularly a good work at home business opportunity if you are retired or semi retired, if you do not want to work full time and yet would like to develop a skill that will earn money for you and requires little overhead.

Selling Medical Equipments and Supplies

2007-01-31T20:09:00.000-07:00

I live in a country where rice is the staple food. And what does it mean? It means that a major percentage of the population are diabetics. Rice when processed by our digestive system become glucose. So that means too much sugar in our bodies. Anyways, how do we see that as a money making opportunity as well as helping diabetics? It’s really pretty simple. This is how my cousin and I did it.

My cousin works for a multinational company that deals with medical equipments and supplies. He got a huge discount if he purchases merchandise from where he worked. He supplied me with blood glucose monitoring systems (the portable ones) and test strips. ( the paper strip where in you put trickles of your blood to be inserted in the portable machine to know you blood sugar level.)

I made money selling those monitoring systems for a profit or I charged for a fee if a person wants to know his or her blood sugar level or I sold the test strips only. I got like residual income from people with diabetes who buy test strips because they have to keep monitoring their blood sugar over and over again, and that means they keep buying test strips from me over and over again.

It was a pretty neat way to earn money. It was conducted in a very small and experimental scale so we never really bother with the legalities. Six months into our small business my cousin quit his job, was lured into the high stakes world of real estate and I no longer have a supplier. Thus, my medical supplies peddling days were over.

The bottomline here is , there are opportunities and ways to make money around us , everyday.We just have to be very keen and sensitive and take advantage of it.

Astrology/tarot Readings

2007-01-31T20:06:00.000-07:00

I’m going to start off with the kind of business that I’m directly involved with. I have been a professional reader for over ten years now. I have accumulated throughout the years a steady client list here and abroad. I get paid for my services in cash or in kind. Getting invited to dinner or parties most of the time is one fringe benefits that I really enjoy just because of my skills.

How to Start:If you have an interest in this field, have an appointment with a reader. Experience what’s it like to have someone do a reading on you. Then gather knowledge through reading books or the internet. Once you get the hang of it , practice doing readings yourself on friends and relatives. You get better as you practice consistently.For reasons that should be obvious, people love to have their horoscopes done, believe it or not. To get a glimpse of the future is a nearly irresistible temptation.

Where to do it:Your home will do just fine. You don’t need a mysterious setting. With the stereotypical drawings of moon and stars etc. But if you like it that way. Ok go ahead. Whatever floats your boat.How you earn money:Depending on your experience, your fees are paid by session. My rule of thumb is, charge no more than you spend on what you pay for a movie. After all, readings do have its entertainment value is it not? Don’t overcharge you don’t want to give off a con-artist impression right? As long as you make each customer happy they keep coming back and that means steady business.Back End

Products:Your customers whether in person, by mail or email and phone calls are a prime audience for printed charts ,books, birthstone jewelry, wall hangings and dozens other items. You can contact local publishers and suppliers of these materials and negotiate on a consignment basis. So you won’t need that much capital to augment your income from your readings.

Ways To Make Money Through Business

2007-01-31T20:03:00.000-07:00

I grew up in an environment where home based business was a way of life. My mother used to own a home bakeshop. In my eyes it was natural for strangers to come and go in our house. Our kitchen was bigger and busier than most average family because of all that baking going on. As young as eight years old i was already introduced to the life of business.

Suffice it to say, my teenage years were spent acquiring the necessary skills for the business like cake decorating, sugar and gumpaste flower molding and of course baking. During summer vacations I conducted short term classes for students and moms. It was an early training for me and an opportunity to earn money to buy all the knickknacks any teenager would love to own.

For that particular summer I generated enough money to buy a top of the line stereo system.

My early experience taught me to be aware of best business opportunities, money making ideas and lots ways to make money. In short it taught me to be entrepreneurial.There are lots of work at home business opportunities to make more money.

This blog is also about discovering and exploring such money making ideas to be able to plan an organized program and immediately put it to action and well on your way to earn money.

Five Best Formats In Writing Articles

2007-01-23T02:19:00.000-07:00

5 Best Formats In Writing Articles

If you are a beginner in online marketing, who is on a tight budget and know nothing about arbitrage(Pay per click) . Your best bet for advertising strategy is article writing. Writing online articles is the best way to generate traffic to your websites and will cost you nothing.

The internet is mainly about information. And what a powerful way to have many visitors at your site than by offering relevant information through the articles your write.

You can’t gain momentum just by writing one article. You need to crank out as many articles as you can in order to gain a wide readership to have a following. So here are my 5 favorite formats in writing online articles the fast way:

1. Tips/ Advice/Lists- easy to read, lots of white space chunks of information. Example: Ten ways to…. Three steps for,,,, Six ideas that….

2. Cause/ Effect- you set up a situation and describe the result or you may want to trace multiple causes and effects. This format uses lots of transistion words such as due to, as a result, therefore, so that, consequently, thus, for that reason…..

3. How to - this is an oldie but still a goldie. Readers are perennially curious. In order to pique their curiousity offer information, teach something about things that interests the readers.

4. Problems / Solutions- state a problem and give one or more solution. Solutions are arranged from least to most effective.

5. Myth/ Truth- plenty of absurd and ridiculous ideas are floating around in our pop culture that are still believed to be true but actually are just a myth.

Creativity: How To Achieve It

2007-01-23T02:11:00.000-07:00

Creativity is not a gift. It is something we have to work for. If you think you are either born creative or non creative, then you are laboring under a mistaken notion. Creativity is within everyone’s reach. Master these strategies to unleash your creative potential.

-Saturation. Research is the first step to creative thinking. The great inventor Thomas Edison initially gathered and studied all the data and previous experiments of other inventors. He filled his mind first with all the facts before he tried to solve the problems himself.

-Incubation. Having done all the work on a conscious level, the second step is a passive one. By relaxing, loafing and letting go, all you have learned and experienced in your lifetime will simmer in the part of your brain. We call it the subconscious mind. It works in a mysterious way, converting the data into new concepts and patterns. Salvador Dali, the master of surrealism used to sit in an armchair and hold a key over a plate on the floor. When he fell asleep the sound of the key hitting the plate would awaken him. Immediately he’d sketch the bizarre images he was seeing. That’s how he got to paint all those prize winning paintings of his. Artists, writers, inventors etc. should always have a laptop, sketchpad or notepads handy. You never know when a creative surge of inspiration may hit you.

-Broadening. The more diverse knowledge you have, the greater your potential for creative output. So it’s important to provide a free channel for the flow of ideas. Be aware of the slightest intimation of ideas. Walk through stores , galleries and parks. Seek impressions. Be nosy. Learn from everyone. And get it in writing fast.

-Verification. This is where brainstorming steps in. In the process of brainstorming there’s a continuous exchange of ideas within a group or among your colleagues. Thus creating a stockpile of creative ideas. Though some ideas may be rejected by the majority, it helps if you balance private sessions to team meetings. This generally generates twice as much new concepts compared to the solely brainstorming group. After all creativity is almost always as individual process.

Drawing Your Own Treasure Map

2007-01-23T02:09:00.000-07:00

Setting goals is old hat. But there is a new way to look at it. Do you ever wish that your current circumstances were different? Do you wish you have a better job? Wish your children were more discipline and well behave? Wish you were thinner, drive your dream car, less financial problems, more compatible with your wife or girlfriend?

We secretly hope that a bolt of lightning will wipe out our misery in one crackling instant. But wishing and hoping don’t bring about change. Goals do. Setting goals outline the steps you can follow one day at a time to make change possible. Like treasure maps, goals show the way to riches so wonderful you can’t even imagine. Setting goals reassure you that if you follow the path, you will arrive at the destination you want.

I used to wait for a bolt of lightning to reduce all my worries to nothing. I wished that I will find the kind of work which I most care about and wish to be able to utilize my favorite set of skills on a daily basis. More than anything in the world I wanted, not to worry and feel jittery when it’s the time of the month to pay the bills and the rent. I had a whole boxcar of wishes and wants but no goals toward which my train could travel. Therefore I didn’t move one inch closer to fulfilling those wishes.

When I meditated I began to ask myself what choices I had about changing my life. I could continue to wish I were different or I could commit myself to setting goals and acting out the changes I needed to make to achieve them.

Taking action on your goals and commit yourself to achieving them, is the most important part in your goal setting.

You can apply techniques like creative visualization, affirmation and “acting as if” you already become the person you want to be. We can’t force things to happen the way we want, but we can attract the things we want if we are in harmony with the things we’d like to attract. That means acting as is we already achieve our goals and be the person we already want to be.

Once you have your own set of goals, draw your own treasure map you can stop worrying that you will never find the way to that particular treasure. It is a promise that further treasures are in store.

When I did my visualizing and affirming I had this burning desire to write about things that interest me, improve my literary skill and somehow inspire people who read my articles. Writing this, is a step towards that goal. With my treasure map handy , I don’t feel lost anymore. I have a direction now. I am more confident than ever. I will just persistently follow the map made up of goals that shows me the way. And I will surely reach the destination I want. All this, because of my decisiveness in setting goals.

Finding Happiness

2007-01-23T02:06:00.000-07:00

Does this describe you? Your career is the envy of everyone you know. Your relationship with your partner is a non stop lovefest, money seems to drop out of the sky and you are so healthy you can’t even remember your last sniffle. You say this is not you? Good. If you have this wrong notion that, if you don’t get 100 percent of what you want such as the supermodel girlfriend, multi-million dollar record contract, the gulfstream jet you just not have anything. That’s being a full throttle 100 percent of a person. And you are a prime candidate for a cardiac arrest. Life is a series of compromises. As long as you are satisfied at least seventy-five percent of getting what you wanted then you have a fighting chance to be happy.

Here are some why- didn’t-I- think –of- that ways in finding happiness.

-Attitude is better than aptitude. People often lose their jobs not on the basis of proficiency but because of personality .It is the same thing with promotions. So be nice.

-Dress Better. The knowledge and feeling you get from being well groomed and immaculately attired give you more confidence, heightened self respect, bring increased faith in yourselves. If you have the look of success, it’s easier to think and achieve success.

-Be spontaneous. We become slaves to routine. Shaking things up periodically might prove exciting and enjoyable.

-Find creative solutions. If you have grown tired of your old set of wheels and you can’t afford to buy a new one. Why don’t you occasionally rent, let’s say a convertible mustang (if that’s your thing) for the weekend. Drive your guts out. No stress over car payments or wear and tear, just the new car smell and miles of open road.

-Take time-outs. We have cycles of high energy and low energy throughout the day called ultradian rhythms. We yawn, lose our concentration, make mistakes if we experience the lows. By taking twenty minute breaks every couple of hours we give our body a chance to rejuvenate itself for the next cycle. Power naps, short walks, meditation, socializing, listening to music or doing low concentration tasks are all ways to take short breaks. We can significantly increase our productivity and more than make up for the lost time. Increase productivity means increase satisfaction equals happiness.

-Put money in perspective. After we have meet our basic survival needs like the roof above our heads, food on the table, clothing and acquire little comforts like a car, two week vacation etc. Satisfaction actually decreases the more we buy. In other words, more spending brings less fulfillment after our basic needs are met . When the subject is money ask yourself “what is important?” and “how much is enough."

How To Be Happy

2007-01-22T01:59:00.000-07:00

In finding happiness we must understand that it’s not a feeling to be awaited. Happiness is definitely within our control. Although sometimes we ourselves sabotage the ways to finding happiness. We pursue these images of perfection in any symbol like a Ferrari F50, !00 foot yacht, a supermodel girlfriend and all that hype the media is selling us. Well you might think these things will make you happy but probably won’t.

Just ponder on the downside of owning these tangible artifacts of perfection. You will shell out tens of thousands of dollars in luxury tax, annual insurance, maintenance, storage plus expenses for super premium fuel only. And how about half the male populace hitting on your gorgeous girlfriend? Can you sleep with your one eye open for the rest of the time you have a relationship with a supermodel? Can you go the distance of having a relationship whose 100 percent all about her 24/7?

Happy people usually nurture habits that make them the way they are. Acquire these habits in order to learn how to be happy.

They have the habit of gratitude. They count their blessing and reflect on the positive aspect on their lives.

They have more pursuits and passions for sports , music, art etc. The more passions and pursuits they have the ore happiness you feel.

Learning how to be happy and feeling happiness are an obligation we should do for ourselves. No one will do it for you.

How To Know If He Is The One

2007-01-22T01:56:00.000-07:00

This is a checklist if you want to know the guy you have the hots for is worth keeping. It doesn’t matter if someone you’re dating is a deadringer for Tom Cruise or Enrique Iglesias as long as he has integrity, flexible, giving and treats you with compassion.

You don’t have to know the person since kindergarten days, these subtle hints speak volumes about that person. He has:

-A German shepherd. A goldfish or a niece he is fond of. Even owning a plant is a good sign. This shows the person is not commitment phobic. He has the affinity for nurturing and be constant to something in life.

-Sense of humour. Being able to laugh together helps diffuse tension. Life is serious enough as it is. It doesn’t matter if he has a PHD in nuclear engineering , if you can’t laugh together your relationship is going to fizzle. Just make sure you have the same kind of sense of humor. If he laughs at the Three Stooges and you just look and stare or he doesn’t get why you find Jerry Seinfeld funny, well you better think twice.

-A good relationship history. If you can bring up the subject tactfully without asking for details, you can ask “what’s the longest relationship you’ve ever had?” If the guy answers “20 ex gfs lasting only after the usual three drinks, then you better look for the nearest exit. A person’s commitment history is a huge part of his emotional make up.

-Curiousity about you. Whatever you told him one day, he remembers it the next. Like the names of your chums, the organizations you belong to, even minute details like how you love zucchini. Most people don’t even remember you told them you had gallbladder removed. Listening is a good asset.

-Has integrity. On sure fire way to test this is to check if his actions match his words. If he says one thing, and do another then it’s one big red flag. Like if he says “Baby you are my number one priority” but if he is always habitually three hours late on your dates, then steer clear from the kind who blows smokescreen on your face you can’t even see the trees through the forest. Another way is to watch how he treats his friends, his mom, even waiters. Listen to what his neighbors, co-workers and pals say about him. Great physical intimacy and world class conversation can’t make up for basic integrity and trust.

-Passion about something. This is across the board. When a person exhibits a zest for life, it is attractive, very irresistible . If the one you’re dating works a regular nine to five hour job, but still manages to practice his lines at the community theater after office hours or he religiously smash his way at the local tennis court to become a nationally ranked tournament player then I’d say he’s a catch. When you are in presence with someone who is perpetually enthused and impassioned about something or a cause, you feel a connection with our own sense of excitement, power, energy and thrill that makes us feel life is worth living many times over.

-The hots for you. All the other attributes listed above won’t matter one bit if, there’s no spark. If the chemistry’s missing you will never make a connection. There has to be something in him like the way he smiles, wrinkles his nose, when he laughs, moves, looks and smells….that would make you want to fantasize about getting together intimately. Same goes for him, how he feels attracted to you.

To ditch or not to ditch our little black books , to delete or not to delete entries in our blackberrys all depends if we find potential dates worth our time and effort.

In Pursuit Of Happiness

2007-01-22T01:55:00.000-07:00

When we are in a state of true happiness , studies how that there iare actually certain biological changes occur. There is increased activity in the brain center that inhibits negative feelings and quieting of those that generate worrisome thoughts. There is also an increase available energy and enthusiasm for whatever task is at hand. We have the drive to strive toward a great variety of goals.

Here are bits of insightful and I might add offbeat tips to nudge you back into that state of ephemeral true happiness:

-Don’t be an ingrate. Everyday ask yourself “What do I have that I am grateful for?” Your list like your health, your decent income, your solid relationship etc. By the time you are done checking off your list all the feelings of gloom and doom will have flitted away.

-Ignore the stock market. Chinese researchers found a direct link between the daily performance of the stockmarket and the mental health of those who closely followed it. So give your investments time and give yourself a break.

-Go Tandem. With a bicycle built for two, you get both exercise and social benefits. Meet your future wife or husband. Join a tandem club.

-Your mantra is “moolah moolah”. Have a motto, mantra or phrase usually short and rhythmic one, that you repeat for positive affirmation. It can be simple as “It’s like a prayer” or “life is good”. Mantras are use to tap us into an “enlightened state.”

-Avoid highway gunplay. Don’t fly off the handle when someone cut you off on the road. Rather than trying to run them off the highway, slow down, let them in and avoid confrontation.

-Garden. You got your hands on something you can pull right out of the ground. That way you have a fightable foe. The sense of accomplishment that comes from clearing a weedy patch, watching seeds turn into flowers or pruning out dead wood will last for hours.

Whether you are rich or poor, famous or not it is our obligation to ourselves to find true happiness.

Meditation Techniques

2007-01-22T01:51:00.000-07:00

Learning meditation techniques is easy as abc. If there is one discovery in my adult life that I’m grateful for it’s learning meditation techniques. I wondered why I didn’t stumble upon it sooner.

I am product of a broken home. I grew up insecure. A classic worrywart is what I used to see myself.. I worried about this and that. Outside I came out okay , I graduated in college, worked in the family business but inside I was crumbling. Endless loops of useless concerns invaded my mind. I lived my life that way until I learned about meditation techniques. Now I’m calmer, happier and able to manage whatever challenges that life has in store for me.

My own techniques of meditation here’s how I do it:

1. I pick a quiet place, instead of sitting comfortably I prefer lying down, my arms on my side.
I close my eyes and take deep breaths. Inhale through my nose and exhale through my mouth. When we are anxious we tend to take shallow breaths and that will even make us more anxious. Because the acid-alkaline(ph) level in our blood is not balance. We should remember to take in a balance amount of oxygen (by breathing or inhaling) and breathe out the same amount of carbon dioxide.

2. I focus on my breathing. It’s one way to practice mindfulness. When you are focused on your breathing you can’t think of something else, not the past nor the future because I am in the moment with my breathing. I am in the present.

3. I tighten and release every muscle in my body in the count of four. Make a fist count one, two, three, four then open my hand slowly , count one, two, three, four. I repeat doing it with my neck, arms, abdomen, thighs ,legs, and toes until my whole body feel so relaxed.

4. Once I feel so relaxed and my body feels so light, in my mind I go to my secret resting place. Secret resting place is any place you have been in or want to be where it’s quiet, peaceful and generally gives you a nice, warm, calm, secure and happy feeling. In your mind’s vision it could be you quietly sitting by the serene, shimmering, silvery lake surrounded by green grass, you hearing the chirping of the birds, feeling the soft breeze on your velvety skin as the tall, green trees swayed. Or you as a child snuggling feather mattresses in your grandmother’s house. Only you, know what’s your secret resting place. I watch my thoughts go by and simply observe. Like watching a foreign movie with no subtitle.

5. I allow myself for re-entry in the conscious world. I move my fingers and then my toes. Do a few neck rolls. I open my eyes.

Pay off:
Right after meditating I feel relaxed and clam and at peace with myself.

To get the full benefits of meditation, you need to practice it consistently, because the results are cumulative.

By meditating regularly you can develop the ability to view stressful situations with detached calm. If your boss snaps at you, you might smile instead of yelling back.

Through my years of doing the proper meditation techniques I am now able to deal positively with the daily stress that comes with adult responsibilities.

Practical Guide In Pursuit Of Hapiness

2007-01-22T01:47:00.000-07:00

The pursuit of happiness is the most basic of all human rights. But we should know that happiness is a state of mind. It is ephemeral. You cannot reach a permanent state called happiness and remain there all the time. For some, true happiness is called “flow”. Flow is when you are totally focused and zoned in to what you are doing at the moment that you are oblivious to the outside world and to the passing of time.

To achieve flow, we can creatively find ways to dodge the bullets of frustration, worry and depression into practical relaxation methods consequently help us to find true happiness.

Here are some ideas to try:

-Count your blessings. Develop that gratitude attitude. Pause each day to reflect on some positive aspect of your life and experience a heightened sense of well being. When you are appreciative and thankful you are subconsciously attracting more things in your life that you are going to be thankful for.

-Scent the air. Research finds the benefits of aromatherapy in relieving stress are real. Keeping a green apple on your desk may calm your nerves. Scent of vanilla and lavender may induce relaxation. People exposed to rosemary had lower anxiety levels. Nowadays, there are variety of plug-in air fresheners and essential oils , diffusers, potpourri, incense sticks and scented candles.

-Laugh out loud. Studies have shown that stress fighting brain chemicals are released when you laugh. Some even believe all it takes is a smile to ignite a positive mood.

-Serve soup, live longer. Volunteer. Isolation only magnifies your worries. Helping others will change your perspective from what you can get from people, to what you can do for them. Your self respect, sense of accomplishment and life satisfaction will increase if you help others. Self sacrifice may also help you live longer.

-Get a grip. Keep a hand exerciser or tennis ball in your desk and give it a few squeezes during tense times. when stress shouts adrenaline into the bloodstream that calls for muscle action. Squeezing something provides a release that satisfies our body” “flight or fight” response.

-Take the dog for a walk. There are numerous studies that attest to the stress relieving benefits of owning a pet.

-Visit a quiet place. Libraries, museums, gardens and places of worship provide islands of peace and calm . In today’s frantic world find a quiet place and make it your secret get-away.

Follow these suggestions and basically exert your right as human being , the pursuit of happiness.

Why You Don't Need Excuses

2007-01-22T01:34:00.000-07:00

You are accountable to you. What, who, where you are today are the results of the choices and actions you took.

Excuses are the very anti-thesis of dedication and hardwork. Are you sometimes guilty of making excuses especially when things go awry or your inability to make things happen the way you want? Excuses like too shy to date, not enough capital to start a business so on and so forth. The excuses get more outrageous everyday. Achieving a better life through hardwork and persistence are replaced by the excuse mill. Living excuse- free isn’t easy, but refusing to accept anything but the best from yourself can only lead to future success. And when you achieve success you will have no need for excuses.

Following the path of least resistance.

We look for challenges that requires less energy and present fewer obstacles. You can’t buy a well-developed body or buy a par golf score. Those are available only through intelligent, consistent work to anyone who is willing to apply his mind, body and spirit toward the life goal of personal mastery.

In today’s world, we celebrate the instant millionaire, the instant celebrity. We are constantly brainwashed a sugar coated vision of the good life filled with easy, painless overnight success.

Excuses are the products of our fears and frustrations. Of the stumbling blocks and walls we have hit and given up on. The next time you think you can’t do something, look around. Chances are you will find someone without your advantages succeeding at the very task you are struggling with. Like the paraplegic attempting to climb the highest mountain or someone entering a triathlon without the benefit of sight. Perhaps then you will come to realize that only by accepting the challenges that come your way can you realize your full potential. It is never about the summit we scaled. I believe our worth is measured by the challenges we face around the bend , by the endless path to personal mastery we never stop trying tread.

How To Conquer Worry

2007-01-20T00:08:00.000-07:00

Worrying is the heart of anxiety. Our mind spins on an endless loop of low grade melodrama. One set of concern leading on to the next and back again. We all experienced it right? More so with chronic worriers. When the same cycle of worry intensifies and persists it will become a full blown anxiety disorders such as phobias, obsessions and compulsions . But of course these are extreme cases.

Worry makes us clench our jaws and lines our faces with wrinkles. Turns the hair gray and in some make it fall out. Ruins our complexion with all skin rashes and pimples.

We have to lose ourselves in action so we won’t have the luxury of time to stew and fret about things that might not happen. Here are my two favorite worry busters that I would like to share to you. You might find an idea or two that you like.

Some people when they are bothered by thoughts of worry, would immediately head off to the gym, badminton or basketball courts or to the local batting cages and sweat off their worries away.

I like the idea of exerting effort and sweating off my worries as well but with a double purpose. As the saying goes “hitting two birds with one stone” so when I’m baffled, annoyed and pressured , I drown all my ugly thoughts in sweat by doing household chores. Cleaning my room, bathroom, doing my laundry, stuff like that. I go from one part of the house at a time until I get to clean up the whole house. It’s quite meditative too, the repetitive motion of brushing on the right side and on the left side of the wall for example. I used up my adrenaline rush and channeled it positively plus my house gets all clean, fresh smelling and spotless and to top it all off I get feelings of pride and accomplishment .

Secondly, I pray. Nothing can beat that. I turned all my problems over to a power greater than myself. Prayer is a practical thing. It helps us to put into words exactly what is troubling us. It gives us a sense of sharing our burdens of not being alone and we can always tell God. So why not link ourselves now with the mysterious powers of nature that take and lead us in hand?

How To Take Charge Of Your Moods

2007-01-20T00:01:00.000-07:00

Do you spend a longer time just trying to shake off a bad mood? Are you aware that moods are contagious?

Moods are like a virus it can be swiftly and subtly passed from person to person. Happy or sad like a virus, some of us are the transmitter while others are susceptible to catching. Mood swings are normal. We need to have emotions. But we don’t need them to control us. Here are ways I found and applied to take charge of my moods.

Moods drift from one person to another via slight, unconscious and unintentional signals, such as facial expression, posture or tone of voice. Just seeing someone express an emotion can evoke that mood in you. Understanding the contagious nature of emotions can help you screen out unwanted moods.

Respect your rhythms. Your mood varies throughout the day, based on shifting levels of energy and tension. Schedule your most important tasks in your “peak” or high energy times. For example, I’m a morning person . I do my writing, if not schedule important meetings in the mornings. I call it my A1 block time. Nothing gets in the way with my self appointed block time. Evenings are usually reserve for my “robotic” activities like sitting on the sofa, relaxing, watching tv and let the boob tube do the thinking for you. Each of us has different individual “peak” times, so recognize it and take advantage of it to increase your productivity Avoid arguments and unpleasant social interactions during your low energy times, if you want to short circuit a full blown bad mood.

Be aware of your biological processes. Sleep, health exercise and foods you eat and don’t eat very much affects our mood variations. If your sleep deprived , you surely are going to be cranky.

Brainstorming Techniques

2007-01-19T23:59:00.000-07:00

Brainstorming is one strategy for something creative to come into fruition, Write all ideas, the good , the bad, the ridiculous and funny ones. Scrutinize. You can do self-quizzing to come up with a solution to a problem, a wonderful product etc. Here are a list of questions to creatively spur you to open the floodgates of streaming ideas.

-Other uses. Is there a new way to use this?

-Borrow or adapt. What other ideas might be adaptable?

-New twist. What other shape?

-More so. Increase strength. Ex. Extra strong beer.

-Substitutes. What replaces?

-Less so. Eliminate? Ex. Antenna –less mobile phones

-Rearrange. Transpose cause and effect.

-Reverse. Do the opposite.

-Combine. Combine purpose. Ex. Benjamin Franklin dislikes switching eyeglasses so he invented the bifocals.

How To Get The Most Out Of Your Workout

2007-01-19T23:57:00.000-07:00

When you have finished an exercise, there’s ultimately a feeling of exhilaration of the knowledge that you have achieve something. In order to get that peak experience in every workout you have to:

-Develop total Concentration. Learn to focus your eyes on one point during an exercise and stay aware of how the muscle feels performing each exercise.

-Breathe properly for concentration. Use gentle abdominal breathing to relax your body and deep full thoracic breathes to focus your energies before an exercise.

-Focus your mind. Count repetitions to yourself, to help focus your mind and increase your power of concentration.

-Stay in the moment. Don’t let your thoughts wander to any other time or place. Be here and now. Be one with the iron.

-Learn to relax. To develop total intensity, you need to learn to relax. Tensing your whole body is counter-productive. It simply drains you of energy.

Always feel free to leave out a set, decrease the poundage or slow down your cardiovascular routine. Forget target heart rates those fitness gurus are forever imposing. Your main concern is getting the most out of your every workout and making sure you are not fatigue and sore so you can be present for your next exercise session.

Champions/Winners

2007-01-19T23:53:00.000-07:00

Champions , winners , spiritual millionaires and go getters are just a few terms we tag successful people in pursuit of excellence in their professions. Be it in art, sports, politics or business endeavor they belong to the top echelon of the society. They display distinct set of qualities that separates them from the mediocre lot. What are these qualities? So that we can emulate those enviable characteristics and apply it in our own circumstances.

-They move forward in anyway they can. They find the arena that interests them and via hard work they create their own breaks and opportunities. By doing so they generate their own luck.
-They get going. They start in the smallest way by becoming educated or trained. Then they will take any job that will eventually give them the experience they need. Because they work more and procrastinate less they prosper, They know that talent is ninety-nine per cent perspiration.

-They get to work right now. They have little time for agonizing about yesterday or speculating about tomorrow. They are too busy living their exciting “packed” schedules today.

-Even when everything looks bleak, winners fuel themselves with continued optimism and determination. They persevere knowing that it may take years to become successful. Problems and frustrations are an incentive for them to work even harder.

-They know that learning isn’t easy. The learning curve represents one struggle after another.

Men and women of great accomplishments still achieve those incredible feats inspite of frustrations, problems and obstacles that confronts them. Just like you and I have. But still they manage to accomplish great things because they are not reactive. They are….

PROACTIVE

Whether they have a good day or bad day, their superior performance is steady. They do things regardless of the present circumstances. They don’t let little things bother them. They bring their own sunshine. They are happy.

What To Do About Workout Plateaus

2007-01-18T22:24:00.000-07:00

Don’t you feel how frustrating it is working out religiously but you can’t seem to make any visible progress? Many months into your weight training programs you can’t see any changes in your muscle and fitness? That particular occurrence is called plateau.

The secret to get over your exercise plateau is muscle confusion. Professional bodybuilders use this technique every time they reach plateau. And so they never have trouble in their bodybuilding programs.

Muscle confusion is a technique to varying your workout routine, to keep your muscle guessing and thus spur growth and definition.

Here are some ways to do muscle confusion:

-Change the order of exercises.

-Change the repetitions and the weights. Ex. High reps with light weights, medium-medium combo, low reps with heavy weights.

-Change the length of rest intervals between sets.

-Vary the tempo of exercises and length of rest intervals within a routine.

-Pyramid some of your movements.

-Do descending sets on others.

-Superset, triset, giant set when appropriate.

-Do forced reps, cheating reps, descending set when appropriate.

-Use the pre-exhaustion technique whenever possible.

-Increase/decrease the number of movements each day.

-Increase/decrease the number of repetitions for each exercises.

-Do basic exercise followed by isolation movements and isolation exercises followed by the basics the next.

- Vary the number of rest days between sessions for a specific body part.

-Occasionally train something two days in a row, perhaps even using the same routine both days.

- Change to different machines that theoretically work the same muscle groups.

- Vary the width of your grip on the bar and the width of your foot stance.

- Change the angle of the bench you are using, even if its only by a couple of degrees.

As a result of the constant change of your building muscle routine, your muscles are kept constantly off balance and therefore constantly responding.

Things You Must Do To Get A Better Job And Get That Promotion

2007-01-18T22:17:00.000-07:00

Charting your course toward a better job or promotion will involve how to acquire the requisite skills and knowing how to sell your talents. These steps tell you how to get that one position to the next but also how to get from one profession to the next.

-Be a good presenter. Learn to acquire a compelling voice, learn to enunciate clearly and project enthusiasm. Practice. Presenting is theater. Act it out, persuade, not impartial or solemn. Join speaking club like toastmasters . Scan the yellow pages and check out voice teachers and take lessons. Enroll in an acting class.

-Write well. Short, clear, crisp sentences. No spelling mistakes. Good grammar. Never dictate. Always edit or rewrite. Persuasive writing is always conversational in style, not academics. Just like you are talking casually to a friend at a dinner table.

-A talent for ideas. Read everything. Learn to read fast and digest them. Keep up with trade journals that your bosses read. Regularly check out best seller list of books, movies, music, products and ask why this? Why now? Monitor top tv shows, pick up a magazine you’ve never read before. Scan another industry’s reports. You need to tap into what’s going on in the world. Find out what the other people are up to. Browse today’s culture for signs of the future. The more you know about trends, the more ideas you generate and the further ahead of the pack you are. Innovative thinking is a tremendous commodity. To get ideas constantly clip, file, bookmark, highlight anything interesting you come across. Stay informed.

-Do more than asked. Don’t just spin the wheel , learn to go the extra mile.

-Contribute to the bottomline. Prove your worth in monetary terms. Help the company make more money more than it will cost them to pay you. If the company has a lean staff you could suggest to organize an internship program with local colleges where students would provide free help in exchange for a course credit. Bring along ideas for boosting circulation if you are interviewing at newspaper or magazine company. If you are working at architectural or law firm name potential clients you could bring and deliver.

None of these steps will help you, if you don’t put this into action . Work at it consistently until you get your desired results.

The Big Secret In Life

2007-01-18T22:15:00.000-07:00

I’ve combed through a library of inspirational and motivational books. I tried to uncover secrets of successful people. I thought there must be a specific strategy,a technique, an insider’s secret in order to have the life you want, to achieve your dreams. But guess what? All the books I have bought, borrowed and read all say the same thing. And that is, there are no quick fix, magic pill or potion to achieving whatever we set out to do like, reaching a career goal, losing weight or improve our relationships. Anything worth achieving is available through intelligent and diligent hard work to anyone who is willing to apply his mind, body and spirit toward the life he or she wants.

We live in a ready mixed society. We have come to expect gratification immediately and we look for possible shortcuts in our undertaking. But if you want to master yourself and be the best that you can be, you must be able to surrender completely to the demand of the quest. Personal mastery takes continual practice and gains pleasure in repetitious acts.

Whatever your goal you have this year, you can get there as long as you are willing to roll up your sleeve and be honest with yourself about the preparation and work involved.
Each time you make a decision to move toward the life you say you want ask yourself, “ Will I persevere when I most want to quit? Will I pull myself out of bed for my daily run even if I don’t feel like it?” We all know that if you raid the fridge every night and never hit the gym, surely you will get fat. If you don’t work at earning a living, you will always be broke. If you don’t invest time in your relationships they will fade away and as a consequence you will get lonely and sad.

Now I know the BIG SECRET IN LIFE. And that is, THERE”S NO BIG SECRET. There are no back doors , no free rides. There’s just you, this moment and a choice. Choose only good old consistent and unrelenting hard work.

Even if we hit those inevitable plateaus, when we are not making visible progress. Take Heart. Just keep on keeping on. One day, you will have the life you have always dream of.

How To Be Brilliant At What You do

2007-01-18T22:11:00.000-07:00

Are you not in awe watching people who do their work so excellently? Don’t you feel goosebumps when you imagine Michael Jordan’s innovative style of playing basketball? How about Michael Jackson’s signature dance move the moonwalk? Don’t you ever wonder how J.K. Rowling wrote such an engaging and riveting series of best selling books?

These aforementioned names of celebrities are people who do their jobs very, very well at extraordinary level. They have style and smooth flow. Just like a true master skier, who became one with their skis, the mountain and the snow. He loses himself in skiing as a master dancer loses himself in the dance. The effort disappears and what is left is the experience of effortlessness.

I speak not only of highly glamourous people but also the “everday people”. The plumbers, carpenters, bakers etc. who do their work with such ease and economy of movement.

When we sit back and marvel at the success of others in their area of expertise we should remember that there are no secret formulas, no sleight of hand tricks, no miracles. .There’s only good old hard work. You get it by practicing and doing it over and over until you arrive at excellence.

In the autobiography of Larry Bird entitled “Drive”, his coach used to tell Larry “No matter how many hoops you shoot, somewhere there’s a kid out there taking one more than you do. If you dribble a million times a day, someone else is dribbling a million and one”. So Larry stayed another extra hour practicing even after his regular practice was over. Larry Bird was a major player in the Boston Celtics decades ago. That team won more NBA Championships than any other teams.

Charles Darwin studied barnacles for eight years and came to know more about them than anyone else. Leonardo Da Vinci made over a thousand drawings of the human hand. You see from these people we can learn that it takes effort to be effortless. And if you are lucky enough to like what you are doing it won’t even feel like work. There’s no way to go but to the top. That’s where they all are, the people who are beautiful to watch while they do their thing brilliantly.

Negative Thinking Is The Culprit

2007-01-18T22:00:00.000-07:00

For every situation in life, we all have a choice. Either we approach it negatively or positively. It doesn’t matter if we have stress in our lives. Everyone does. It is how we see it and how we deal with it that makes the difference.

Anxiety, depression and panic attacks are all physical manifestations if we worry and expect the worst. We may not able to change immediately the circumstances in our lives that cause us distress but we can consciously choose to manage these situations in such a a way that they don’t control us any longer.

We should start looking at the stressful situations and learn more positive ways in dealing with them. If we expect good things to happen, learn relaxation techniques and start exercising then stress will become manageable.

World war 2 fighter pilots left a treasured task like a good book or letter from a loved one half read before they went off on a mission. Just to have a positive expectation and they will be eager to face the enemy, survive and come back to finish what they left undone.

We must perpetually challenge our destructive thoughts and replace with affirmations that encourage us than tear us down.

Our beliefs to a great extent determine how we fare in our life’s missions. If our thoughts, emotions and beliefs affirm us, it will subsequently help us to muster the courage, marshal our physical , mental and emotional energies to accomplish what we set out to do. If we expect the worst, we will lessen our chances of succeeding.

Our thoughts are energies, we must harness and channel it into something positive. We must constantly guard our mental plane, letting only the good, beautiful and serene in.

Happiness

2007-01-18T03:12:00.000-07:00

We are happy when we’re thinking good things and we are unhappy when we are thinking bad things. Our thoughts or what we choose to think about is determined entirely by what you think and what you think is up to you. You can be destitute, alone, living in a cardboard box and still be deliriously happy if you choose to be.

If you are looking for someone else to make you happy ,to give your life meaning, to make your life complete then you are doing things like almost the rest of the world do. And that doesn’t mean its always right. It’s this Hollywood hogwash likes to dish out. We complete ourselves first. We make ourselves happy first. When we achieve that aura of happiness, it’s only a matter of time someone will pick out the vibes we exude. Thus become fascinated, intrigued and naturally drawn to us. They want to try to get some of that happiness for themselves.

Spend a few weeks reviewing your list and retraining your mind. Spend five minutes during the morning when you get up, at lunch and before going to sleep at night reviewing your own personal list. As you continue to do that, you will eventually notice some positive changes in your thinking, the manner you walk, your attitude etc. Here are a few guides in order you can draw up your own individual list.

Guide1. Identify your talents and abilities.
Can you paint? Can you sing? Are you easily able to put on muscle size?

Guide2. Identify your skill level.
Can you fix cars easily? Are you quick with numbers? Do you have fantastic bench press? Whatever your talents and abilities are, think about how eay it is for you to do those things well.

Guide3. Develop you talents and abilities.
Would taking a few classes propel you to greater heights at your job? Would adding different exercises to your routine push you physique to a new plateau? Would fine tuning your diet give your metabolism what it needs to get your body into great shape? Think of how you can fully develop your skills to their fullest potential.

Guide 4. Put those talents and abilities into action.
Action is the only quality that separates a successful person from an unsuccessful one. Many talented people are going nowhere because they fail to take action.

How To Get That Writing Habit

2007-01-18T03:04:00.000-07:00

One screenwriter once said “ Don’t go to writing school, they weed out the eccentric impulses within you.’ He emphatically exhorts not to mimic what’s celebrated but surpassing it.

Here are practical ways to get that writing habit:

1. Determined which are your most alert hours and put all them aside for writing. Plant yourself in front of your computer or your writing tools and spend as much time as you can there. If you miss a day, get back to work the next.

2. Carry a notebook at all times, anything might be material. Jot down initial inspirations; whatever excites your imagination.

3. Know you subject; don’t skimp on the research.

4. Brush up on your grammar , vocabulary and spelling.

5. It’s best to write the way you talk and think, don’t strain for an effect.

6. Respect your readers. Snag their interest as quickly as possible preferably with the first sentence.

7. Spend time organizing your thoughts. Use sentences, paragraphs, chapters like building blocks.

8. Expand, cut, polish, write and rewrite as many times as necessary, then show your manuscript to a trusted friend for comments.

9. Read. Read the writers you admire and the kind of things you like to write-novels, non fiction, articles, short stories , poetry, movie or tv scripts.

10. Get to know other writers. Hang out with them if possible, trade problems, discuss solutions.

Good Conversation Starters

2007-01-06T20:57:00.000-07:00

Good Conversation Starters

Here’s how to dazzle anyone with your witty verbal skills. You don’t have to look anywhere to find good conversation starters. Here are guaranteed icebreaker questions for practically anyone you’ll want to meet.

How To Talk To Anyone About Anything
By Leil Lowndes

Actors and Actresses
Remember you are dealing with an ego that is constantly being bruised by agents, producers and insensitive relatives who don’t recognize true genius when they see it. Begin with:
>How did you prepare for that role?
When you decide you want deep communication with the rising star, let her regale you with stories about her “craft”. Ask her who she “studies under” and what “techniques” she uses.

Architects
Ever wonder where the saying “ well back to the drawing board” comes from? Young architects dream of creating the ultimate structure, but many compromises later, frustration often overwhelms their ambitions. Begin with:
> What’s the size of your office?
Firm is acceptable, but architect-to-architect, it’s “office”. That’s because architects like to feel their place of work is less corporate than a law firm, more level-headed than a “studio.”
>Do you find various state regulations are eroding your profession?
Absolutely! Architects feel the heat from state registration and licensing boards, and from political pressure.

Astrology Buffs
>Do you follow the planets professionally or as a hobby?
Referring to “the planets” rather than “the stars” is an obvious demonstration of your psychic superiority.
>What role do you feel free will plays in astrology?
Even astrologers argue among themselves whether astrology reveals what is predetermined or whether there is free will involved. Ask, then sit back, and figure how much free will you can exercise in changing the subject.

Professional Athletes
Athletes who have achieved the heights have certain qualities in common. Verbal articulation may not be among them. You may need to do some coaxing. Begin with:
>What kind of mental training do you do?
Athletes use an intriguing array of psychological techniques to get themselves in “peak performance” for a game or competition.
>What do you do to get your mind off the game?
Athletes have a tendency to be obsessive about their sports, but they realize it’s not constructive. This question may lead into some other aspects of the athlete that you’ll both enjoy exploring.

Bartenders
Incredible as it may seem, a bartender is a person too, with problems, a life and a desire to talk to somebody about his world.
Begin with:
>How’s business?
The unalterable opener.
>How long have you been behind the stick (or working the wood)?
>Who are the best tippers?
Tipping is a topic of some consequence to a bartender whose major source of compensation can be gratuities. To fortify you with some information: According to a recent survey, the worst tippers at bars are doctors, then lawyers, followed by schoolteachers.

Boat Owners
>What’s her home port? Or Where do you keep her?
The crucial word here is “her”-it separates the sea farers from the landlubbers.
>What do you have for electronics?
You’ll probably hear about “radar” or “loran” their electronic navigational systems. Boys who love toys will tell you about their “GPS” or global positioning systems.
>What’s the worst weather you’ve been in?
Invitation to story hour.

Chess Players
>Do you have a rating?
Most serious chess players hold a rating from the U.S. chess federation. The rankings range from “unrated” or “class E” all the way up to “expert”, “master”, “seniormaster” and “grandmaster”.
>Do you play with the clock?
You are asking if her or she plays”speed” or “blitz “chess. This is a frantic assault where each player has a time limit of no more than five minutes and as little as one.
>Are you a problemist?
You have just asked whether he or she solves or composes chess problems in books and magazines.

Clergypeople
The following questions are safe and sensitive for Protestants, Catholics, Muslims and a variety of others.
>How do you like to be addressed?
Ask this to avoid the Minister/Pastor/Father/Reverend confusion. A clergyman named Frederick Smith might want to be addressed as “The Reverend Doctor Frederick Smith”, “Father Smith”, “Father Frederick” or “Gosh , just call me Fred.”
>For ministers: What style of worship do you use?
In the biz, they categorize it as “evangelical”, ”very formal”, “informal” or “praise-oriented”.
>What part of your ministry do you enjoy most?
Saying “your ministry” rather than “your job” elevates a fairly common question to a level that deserves diligent answer.
>For Rabbis: What’s your affiliation?
You are asking if his congregation is “orthodox”, ”conservative”, ”reformed” or “reconstructionist”.

Collectors
>What is your favorite or most prized (name of gizmo)?
Saying the name of the most cherished object is advisable whenever possible.
>Do you prefer any particular period?
Beer bottles from the 1960’s? Doorknobs from the ‘40’s? Cookie cutters from the ‘20’s?

Cowboys

>Where have you cowboy’d most?
Yes, “to cowboy” is a verb.
>Do you think the ranching industry is in trouble?
This is the hottest topic in cowboy country.
> Do you rodeo any?
Another new verb, “to rodeo”. Some cowboys just do “ranch work”. Others are cowmen who just “rodeo”. Some do both.

Crossword Puzzle Enthusiasts

>What books do you work on?
The insider’s way of asking what puzzle he or she likes to do. If he says The New York Times, give a little gasp of awe. Also ask what day’s puzzle he likes to work on. Monday is easy. It works up to almost impossible Saturday-and Sunday is potluck.
>Do you have a favorite construction?
Puzzles are not simply written. They are constructed by constructors with varying styles.
>Do you do them in pencil or ink?
Kind of revealing, isn’t it?

Farmers
>How’s the weather been?
No kidding. To a farmer, this is vital.

Firefighters
>Are you a professional or volunteer?
You don’t gain brownie points with a career professional by talking about your brother on law, the volunteer firefighter. Conversely, volunteers feel they can do the job just as well and for free.
>Tell me about some of the big ones.

Fishermen
Mastering the fisherman’s language is impossible. Don’t even try. Ask, instead these questions. They’ll help you break the ice with an angler, even if the only fish you’ve ever seen was filleted on your plate.
>What kind of fishing do you do?
For experts and novices alike. The answers will be self explanatory-“freshwater’,”saltwater”. Be sure to ask if her or she fishes from a boat, in a stream or from shoreline.
>Have you ever done any fly-fishing?
For a fisherman, this is the highest art, akin to ballet.
>What kind of lures, flies or bait do you use?
Even if you have no idea what he’s talking about,some of the names can be fun: “lullybugger”, “bucktail”, “corkbug”, “dusty miller”, “Jock Scot,” to name a few.
>What’s the biggest fish you ever caught?
Only if you dare.

Flight Attendants
Lest you haven’t been commercially airborne since the “Coffee,tea or me” days, there have been a few changes,starting with the name. The politically correct term is “flight attendant”, never steward or stewardess.
>What kind of travel privileges do you get?
The airlines offer various travel passes to in-flight personnel and their families.
>What’s your favorite layover?
You have just asked which city of the airline’s routes he or she enjoys staying overnight in the most.

Golfers
If you think like Mark Twain, that golf is the way to ruin a perfectly good walk, take a swing at the following.
>What’s your handicap?
If the answer is in the 20’s or lower, you should show appropriate awe.
>What courses do you play?
This safe question serves a dual purpose. It thrills the golfer and allows you to segue into a lively travel discussion.
>Where’s the U.S. Open this year?
A respectable curiosity because the location changes annually.

Lawyers
Lawyers aren’t really so bad to talk to-if you know what not to say. Do not ask who their clients are. Do not talk about fees. And never, ever ask for legal advice on anything.
>What kind of practice do you have?
In private practice working for himself or herself? With a law firm as an associate or a partner? Working in government or in industry?
>Do you ever get to court?
Some attorneys never do any trial work. Others spend their professional lives in the courtroom doing litigation.

Models
So you met a model. Have some sympathy. As gorgeous as she may be, she’s in a competitive line of work where she will be faded at 26.
>Do you do mostly print or runway?
If she answers ”print” express admiration. Being a photographic or print model is very competitive. If she says ” runway” express admiration. It takes talent to twirl around on a runway. If she says “showroom” express admiration.
>Do you have your head shot with you?
Her head shot is a photo of her face Look at it for a long time. Then say, “Nice commercial shot, but it doesn’t capture your tremendous presence.” Deep.

Pilots
>What type of airplane do you fly?
Don’t shorten to “plane” or you’ll be tagged as a know nothing landlubber.
>What ratings do you have?
A must ask question. There are three basic ratings. A private pilot can take you up in his little tree-trimmer. A commercial pilot is permitted to fly larger aircraft for hire. And if he has an air transport pilot’s license, it means he’s succumbed to “big iron fever” and has ratings to fly for an airline.
>Ever have to make any forced landings?
Invitation to story hour, pilot style.

Vegetarians
>How strict a vegetarian are you?
Here are possible responses, translated :
“Vegan”- I consume no foods of animal origin whatsoever.
“Lactovegetarian”: I eat dairy products, but no eggs.
“Ovovegetarian”: I also eat eggs.
“Ovolactovegetarian”: I consume eggs and dairy products, but no animal flesh.
“Semivegetarian”: I eat dairy products and eggs as well as little fish and chicken but no red meat.
>How long have you been a vegetarian?
Avoid the carnivore’s usual naïve question, ”But how do you get your protein?
>Have you found any restaurants that serve great vegetarian meals?
Dining out is always a challenge. Ask also about any special vegetarian recipes.

White-Water Rafters
>How many times have you gone for a swim?
Rafter’s jargon for “falling out of the boat”.

Wine Connoisseurs
Begin by asking, “where are most of your bottles from”? This is a safe question, because you are probably more familiar with terrestrial geography than the solar system of wine varieties. Ask also if he or she has a “wine cellar” which in American cities, is probably a temperature-controlled closet in the penthouse, still called a “cellar”. Follow it up with:
>Do you think California has caught up with Europe?
Most wine virtuosos will sing the praises of French wine over California wine.
>I’m looking for a house wine. Anything you could recommend in a good red or white under $50?

Zen Buddhists
Begin by asking, ”where do you sit”? The essence of Japanese Buddhism, Zen is sitting still in contemplation, a form of meditation. People practice zen at home and often go to a “Zendo” or temple . Although there is incense, bowing, chanting and candles in a “Zendo”. Zen Buddhism is not a religion. Buddha is not a god, nor is he worshipped.
>How long have you been a student of Zen?
Zen practioners call themselves perennial students because there is no final level in self-actualization. Never ask, “Are you celibate”?, Can you marry”?
“Why do you shave your head”? or “Why is Budhha so fat’? The answers are respectively, “No”, “Yes”, “Only monks and nuns do” and “I dunno”.

About the author:
Liel Lowndes is a corporate communications coach and consultant. She owns Applause, Ltd. A promotional and communications services company in New York city.

Welcome To My Blog

2006-10-14T22:49:00.000-07:00

i like to write on many topics and this serves as my repository of varied articles some original, some aren't but mainly i try to churn out my own original articles. feel free to use any articles on this blog which may interest you .just don't forget to link back to me. welcome to my articles variety blog.