Posted on April 30th, 2008 — in Web Of Self Improvement
In Part Three, I promised we would get into the resources. Before we do, however, let’s discuss a treasure that most of us have been exposed to, but don’t take nearly enough time out of our day to focus on - the power of prayer. This may offend some people, but I hope it does not; as that is not
my intent.
As humans, we have progressed in so many ways, but we have lost touch with our bodies, nature, and the power of prayer. There seems to be a spiritual renaissance, of sorts, going on in the “new age” movement.
However, there are a large number of children growing up with no spiritual guidance at all. There are many reasons, and excuses, for this, but a large portion of this generation of children could grow up, out of touch, with their spiritual health.
Always remember that “whole health” deals with mind, body, and spirit, as they are interconnected. If these three components are healthy, you are in good shape at any age.
What does this have to do with success? Well, God does make the ultimate ally. Your prayers do honor God’s presence - by giving thanks, and asking for help, in times of need. You will feel much better, and prayer applies to every religion.
Personally, the importance does not lie in what religion you are; however, a lack of religion does seem to run parallel with depression. This is classified as spiritual illness, which will have a negative effect on you mentally, physically, or totally.
The concept of God does not apply to all religions, but the concept of prayer does. If you try it, you will heal from the inside - out.
The following resources start from classics that my Grandfather gave to me as a child.
The Law of Success, by Napoleon Hill - 1928
How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie - 1936
Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill - 1937
The Power of Positive Thinking, by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale - 1952
All of these books can be found in audio format, which makes them very
handy, especially if you are commuting in your car. Each of these books can
also be found on my desk, or in the book case, in my office. Over the years, I had to replace some of the old books my Grandfather gave me, as the worn pages separated from the bindings.
I extend my apologies to the many other great authors, who I did not list; that would be a very large book, within itself. The fact is - this is a good starting point before venturing out and discovering the hidden treasures in print, eBooks, or audio books.
Now you have the last hidden treasures to carve your own path to success. If you put these principles into action, there is no way you can fail. May your journey be a pleasant and safe one.
Paul Jerard, is a co-owner and the director of Yoga teacher training at: Aura Wellness Center, in North Providence, RI. He has been a certified Master Yoga teacher since 1995. He is a master instructor of martial arts, with multiple Black Belts, four martial arts teaching credentials, and was recently inducted into the USA Martial Arts Hall of Fame. He teaches Yoga, martial arts, and fitness to children, adults, and seniors in the greater Providence area. Recently he wrote: Is Running a Yoga Business Right for You? For Yoga students, who may be considering a new career as a Yoga teacher.
www.yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html
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Posted on April 30th, 2008 — in Universe Of Psychology
Things appear to be fine in your organization. There is a sense of calm flowing above the cubicles. Employees are interacting in a respectful way and are working well as a team.
Then your company lands a huge new contract. Everyone is working overtime. Voices are rising and fingers are pointing. The majority of your day is spent playing referee. You walk outside to see if there is a full moon in sight. When you return, there is another employee in your office waiting to complain about a co-worker.
Conflict in the workplace is inevitable. When you throw a group of people together, in close quarters, differences are bound to surface. But, the news is not all bad. Some conflict in the organization can be beneficial. Differences of opinion encourage creativity, change and progress. If addressed early, conflict can also provide insight into larger issues that may be brewing.
Sources of conflict
When situations get out of control, they can be difficult to address. Familiarizing yourself with the following common sources of conflict will help you to diffuse situations before they occur:
Lack of clarity - Employees wind up in turf wars when boundaries aren’t clearly defined. A well-written job description, along with clearly defined reporting relationships can help prevent this situation.
Limited resources - In today’s environment where people are asked to do more with less, there is often conflict over time, money, supplies and even space. When you observe conflict in the workplace, determine if employees have adequate resources to do their work. Whenever possible, include employees in the resource allocation process. This will provide them with a better understanding of how allocation decisions are made in your organization.
Conflicts of interest - Individuals fighting for personal goals and losing sight of organizational goals can create quite a ripple in the organization. Continually remind employees how their personal goals and efforts fit with the organization’s strategic business goals.
Power struggles -The need to control is at the root of many workplace conflicts. Who should have that information? Who should be involved on that project? Who has the corner office? Recognize that power struggles exist. Teach employees how to manage relationships in the organization so they can effectively navigate through political mine fields.
Tips for dealing with conflict
A strong leader gives employees the tools needed to resolve conflict situations on their own, rather than continuously playing the role of referee. Here are some suggestions to help you transition from referee to coach:
Encourage employees to work things out on their own. Provide them with guidance.
Ask employees what they’ve done to work out a situation.
Look for core causes.
Help the individual focus on specific behaviors, not personality.
Redirect the person making the complaint back to the individual he or she is having the conflict with and offer suggestions on how to approach this person.
Request this person give you feedback on how things went. Offer additional feedback, if appropriate.
Since disagreement is inevitable, it makes good business sense to train employees and management on how to effectively deal with conflict in the workplace. Your investment will reap immediate dividends. Employees will spend less time focusing on one another and more time focusing on your customers. Listen closely. Calm has returned to your organization.
© 2005 Human Resource Solutions. All rights reserved.
Roberta Chinsky Matuson is the President of Human Resource Solutions (http://www.yourhrexperts.com) and has been helping companies align their people assets with their business goals. She is considered an expert in generational workforce issues. Roberta publishes a monthly newsletter “HR Matters” http://www.yourhrexperts.com/hrjoin.cgi which is jammed with resources, articles and tips to help companies navigate through sticky and complicated HR workforce issues. She can be reached at 413-582-1840 or Roberta@yourhrexperts.com.
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Posted on April 30th, 2008 — in Internet Real Estate Resources
Your credit history has a giant impact on the mortgage that you get and the terms that it will have. Lenders will go over your entire history with a fine-toothed comb. They will focus on your credit report, and your credit score.
Your credit report is where all of the details concerning how you handle credit is kept. This report will show any debts that you have had in the past years and how, when and if you have paid them according to schedule on time every month. This report will also show if you have ever filed for bankruptcy. Your credit score is derived from the information on your credit report. The lender will have a formula that they use in order to find your exact score. Some lenders use a slightly different formula for their own purposes. Your credit score will tell the lender whether or not they should trust you with a loan of any size. These scores range from around 300 to 900 and most people fall somewhere in the middle of these two numbers.
Your credit score is come to by putting together several different factors. The lender will look at how well you have been at paying your debts on time. If you have a habit of paying your bills late each month this will hurt your credit score tremendously and the worse your credit score is the worse the terms of your loan will be.
If you have had credit for a long time this looks good on your credit report and will help your credit score, assuming of course that you have been responsible with your credit. And the more available credit that you have the better you will look to lenders. If you have maxed out all of your credit they might think that you are too close to being unable to pay off your debts therefore less likely to be able to pay them back according to schedule.
Before you apply for a mortgage or any other type of loan you should take some time to go over your credit report. The lender is going to and if you can get to it first and then do some damage control. Sometimes credit reports have errors on them and if your does there are some things that you can do to fix this problem. You do need to take care of this though because your credit report is key to you getting approved for a good mortgage loan.
You will need to get a copy of your credit report from all three of the big credit bureaus. They d sometimes differ somewhat and you need to make all of these reports look fabulous.
When you are going over your credit report you need to look for any inconsistencies in the payment dates or amounts. If you have made any late payments or missed any payments recently write them down as well as an explanation because you will probably need this for the lender. And the number one way to get your credit report and your credit score in better shape is to start paying all of your bills on time each and every month.
Martin Lukac, represents http://www.RateEmpire.com, a finance web-company specializing in real estate/mortgage market. We specialize in daily updates, rate predictions, mortgage rates and more. Find low home loan mortgage interest rates from hundreds of mortgage companies! Visit http://www.RateEmpire.com today
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Posted on April 29th, 2008 — in Athlete's Lair
Ski boats are usually fully-equipped 7-8 seater boats with a full-V, multi-chine hull to cut through the water with perfect precision. Most ski boats have a built-in cooler, retractable ski pylon, and an integrated swim platform with boarding ladder. Ski boat rentals usually include the trailer, lifejackets, and gas cans and can be rented for up to 36 hours with advance reservation.
It is important to familiarize yourself with the rented boat as well as with every piece of equipment on it. Also, it would be advisable to learn about the body of water where the ski boat will be steered so as to be aware of any currents, underwater obstacles, or shallow areas. Always have a checklist that includes the precautions to be taken in case of emergencies so that it can be reviewed before each outing.
It is important to communicate with the skiers so as to agree upon speeds, lengths of rides, and skiing areas. Also, agree on hand signals and verbal signals for important communications. Get to know the skier’s skill level and adjust accordingly.
It is advised to have one person observe the skier as well as the rope at all times. This makes it easier if the driver does not have to concentrate on the skier and water at the same. Calculate the length of the ski rope and the width a skier can ski to either side of the boat in order to calculate the size of the vehicle driving. When towing a skier, take care not to ever drive closer than 150 feet to any object, vessel, marker or shoreline.
Renting a ski boat can be a lot of fun but it is important to be safe. Check to make sure that all the gear is in working order and always use safety gear before each trip.
Boat Rentals provides detailed information about boat rentals, boat trailer rentals, fishing boat rentals, and more. Boat Rentals is affiliated with Custom Boat Covers.
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Posted on April 29th, 2008 — in Eating Out
The first stage in the wine making process is to crush the grapes. In days gone by the grapes would be loaded into a large vat and the wine maker(s) would gently tread on them to break the grapes’ skins to release the juice.
Nowadays this procedure is almost invariably carried out using a machine called, unsurprisingly, a crusher.
In the case of white wines, after crushing, the juice is separated immediately from the pulp of skins and stalks and fermentation commences.
When making red (and rosé) wines, the juice is allowed to remain in contact with the crushed pulp for a while to add color, body and flavor to the ‘must’ (the juice to be fermented).
Most modern wines are fermented at a relatively low temperature (around 20 C), which results in wine with a fruity character. White wines are commonly made in large, cooled, stainless steel containers but some better quality wines are fermented in oak casks or, alternatively, oak chippings may be added to the must.
Red and rosé wines are usually produced in stainless steel vats or, sometimes, in oak. When the fermenting wine has reached the required color intensity, the liquid is drawn from the vessel, leaving behind the crushed skins and stalks.
Before bottling, wines from different batches may be blended together and matured. Depending on the type of wine, the length of this maturation process can be measured in anything from days to years.
If an “oaky” flavor is desired then the wine can be matured in oak barrels. New oak or old oak barrels can be used depending on the final flavor required.
Even after bottling, the flavor of some quality wines will continue to evolve, albeit at a slower rate. However nowadays, most wines, even expensive wines, are ready for drinking soon after bottling.
Since Neil Best first asked: who made the first wine? he’s been recording his findings at Good Glug. This article forms part of the free Good Glug Wine Appreciation Course. Visit now to get your copy
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Posted on April 28th, 2008 — in Better Home Improvement
Installing vinyl flooring is one of those home improvement projects that is well within the ability of the average homeowner to accomplish. It may seem a little intimidating at first, but once you have done just one room you should have the confidence to be able to tackle almost any vinyl flooring job. Here is the easy way to install vinyl flooring in your home.
First of all, your flooring material needs to be as warm as possible when you install it if you want it to go down correctly. So if the weather has been cold outside, it may be a good idea to leave your vinyl flooring in a warm room for a couple of days to let it actually heat up and become more pliable before you actually start to lay it down.
But once you are ready to get started, just simply roll the vinyl out into the room and see how it lays. Usually it’s best to align the vinyl pattern with the most dominant wall, or the most visible wall in the room first and then work out from there. So do that and see how the vinyl fits with the rest of the room. If it all looks like it’s going well, you can actually start to trim off the excess around the room. Just be sure that all areas of the room are well covered before you start trimming.
Generally speaking, a 2 -3 inch overlap is sufficient when you’re trimming in the room. Once you have all of your general trim cuts made, and the excess vinyl has been removed, you can now start to roughly cut in the corners of the room to make sure that the vinyl will lay nice and flat up against all of the walls.
Now here is where a lot of folks have trouble with vinyl flooring. If there are fixtures in the room, like a sink or toilet for instance, they don’t know how to cut around these obstacles. Actually though, there is a very simple and easy way to solve that vinyl flooring problem. What you need to do is to make a paper template of the floor before you lay the vinyl down in the area where the obstacles are.
This paper template needs to be made of very solid and tough paper that will not rip and tear easily. If you use the toilet as an example, you lay enough paper to cover one half of the toilet’s footprint on the floor and cut the paper in so that it fits up nice and tight to the edge of the toilet. Then you use another piece of paper to do the same on the other half of the toilets footprint.
Then you can remove the paper, tape both sides together and it will give you a perfect pattern for the bottom of the toilet so that you can make a good, clean cut on the vinyl that will fit exactly right when you lay the vinyl down. Just repeat this process for each fixture in the room that cannot be removed, like a sink or tub.
Once you have the vinyl cut out in advance for all of the obstacles in the room and generally cut in for each corner of the room, you can now put down your vinyl adhesive and began to install the flooring itself. Be sure to use a utility knife that is both safe and sharp, as a dull knife will create more problems than it is worth. Make your final cuts up against the walls and finalize any trimming that needs to be done around the room fixtures, and you should be done.
Then just be sure to give the floor enough time to dry out thoroughly before opening it up for regular traffic. If you use these suggestions for installing a vinyl floor, it should be a simple and easy task to complete.
Thad Pickering writes on many consumer related topics including home improvement. You can find discount vinyl flooring and vinyl garage flooring by visiting our Home Improvement website.
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Posted on April 28th, 2008 — in Money + Finance
Trading money in the global markets can be great way to make more of it, it can also be a lesson in how to lose money quickly. More than $1 trillion is traded every day on the foreign currency exchange (Forex), and yet no centralized headquarters or formal regulatory body exists for this form of trade. Foreign currency exchange is regulated through a patchwork of international agreements between countries, most of which have some type of regulatory agency that controls what goes on within their respective borders. Thus, the foreign currency exchange actually is a worldwide network of traders who are connected by telephone and computer screens.
Although more international policing of money trading has occurred in recent years, authorities have had some successes exposing scams and frauds that victimize traders, especially newer ones. So if you want to try this wild world of trading, you need to be wary and not depend entirely on experts. Sure, experts can help you in explaining the working of foreign exchange markets and how the language of the Forex and its risks are unique, but you need a lot more training before you even consider entering this extremely risky trading arena.
If you have ever traveled outside the United States, you have probably traded in a foreign currency. Every time you travel outside your home country, you have to exchange your country’s currency for the currency used in the country you are visiting. If you are a US citizen shopping in England and you see a sweater that you want for 100 pounds (the pound is the name of the basic unit of currency in Great Britain), you would need to know the exchange rate. And that’s the way foreign currency exchange is used by the average shopper, but foreign currency traders trade much larger sums of money thousands of times a day.
Trading provides detailed information on Online Trading, Option Trading, Currency Trading, Forex Trading and more. Trading is affliated with Stock Trading Systems.
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Posted on April 28th, 2008 — in Best Health, Eating Out, Nutrition Tips + More
Good fats?
Fat is typically associated with obesity, heart disease and other ailments. Efforts to trim waistlines or become more heart-healthy, have led many people to cut down on the amount of fat in their diets.
Most people now know that trans fat is bad for you, but not all fats deserve a bad rap.
In fact, fat is an essential part of your diets and some fats are actually good for you and should be consumed regularly! Omega-3 fatty acids, also known as “essential fats” need to be consumed from food since your body can’t produce them.
While all types of omega-3 fatty acids are beneficial to your health, some research suggests that the most reliable form is found in fish and fish oils. This is because seafood contains the EPA and DHA forms of omega-3s, which are easier for the body to process than the plant-based ALA form.
Omega-3s…please!
Omega-3 fatty acids, found in seafood such as canned tuna and salmon, can offer important health benefits:
- Lowers blood pressure and cholesterol
- Decreases the risk of heart disease, stroke, and blood clots
- Reduces the risk of macular degeneration, the leading cause of age-related vision loss
- Aids in fetal development and infant brain, eye and nervous system development
- May help alleviate the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, Crohn’s disease and other inflammatory diseases
May help protect against certain cancers such as breast, colon and prostate.
Get hooked on seafood.
In addition to being rich in healthy omega-3 fatty acids, seafood provides a number of other important nutritional benefits:
- Seafood is heart-healthy since it is naturally low in saturated fat.
- Seafood is a source of high-quality protein. Protein is important for providing satiety or fullness in a meal. Protein also helps to slow down digestion of carbohydrates in a meal, which improves blood sugar control for individuals with diabetes.
- Seafood provides many different vitamins and minerals needed for long-term health. Vitamins A, B and D, as well as calcium, iodine, and selenium are just a few of the vitamins and minerals you will find in seafood.
It’s easy to add omega-3s to your diet.
- Sprinkle a tablespoon of ground flaxseed over your cereal, oatmeal or yogurt for a healthy dose of omega-3s with breakfast.
- Most people don’t realize that canned tuna contains omega-3s. To jazz up a classic tuna sandwich, consider using flavoured tuna (such as lemon pepper or sundried tomato) as an alternative.
- Whip up a veggie omelette using omega-3 enriched eggs and enjoy with a side of toast for a speedy lunch or dinner.
- Make your own vinaigrette salad dressing and use flaxseed, canola or soybean oil to increase your omega 3’s.
- Instead of white bread, opt for whole grain bread containing ground flaxseeds.
- Add half a can of light tuna or a few walnuts to your garden salad for a healthy boost of omega-3s.
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Posted on April 27th, 2008 — in Web Of Self Improvement
Are you squandering time and energy because of absent or weak
boundaries? Take this simple self-assessment and see how you
measure up.
Answer true or false for each of these items:
1. I am generally present, wherever I am. When I’m at work, I’m
100% at work. When I’m home, I’m 100% at home. When I’m in a
meeting, I’m in that meeting. When I’m with my kids, I’m with my
kids. And so forth.
2. I do not spend time with people I don’t really want to spend
time with.
3. I am honest with myself about what I will do and what I will
not do.
4. I am clear in my communications with other people about what
I will do and what I will not do.
5. I am not pressured into saying “Yes” when I want to say “No.”
At work, in my community, at home, in my relationships.
6. People know that I am reliable. If I say I will do something,
they know I will deliver.
7. I do not rescue other people.
8. I own my schedule. My schedule does not own me.
SCORING: True = 1 point, False = 0.
Totals:
7-8: You have strong, clear boundaries. Keep up the good work,
and trust yourself to know when and where to build new
boundaries or strengthen the old ones.
5-6: You have some strong boundaries and could benefit from
strengthening others. Some focused work on your part could
deliver huge results for you.
Under 5: You are dissipating precious focus and energy through
weak or non-existent boundaries. You can make some quantum leaps
in your quality of life if you choose to strengthen these
boundaries.
Next Steps: For a boundaries “tune-up” or to check-in about one
of the above items contact me at sharon@stcoach.com for an
initial consultation at no charge.
Copyright 2002-3, by Sharon Teitelbaum, all rights reserved.
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Posted on April 26th, 2008 — in Money + Finance
The advent of the internet has opened up the possibility of
cheaper life insurance for all.
In years gone by, if you were considering life insurance you
would probably have invited an insurance salesman from your
favourite insurance company to meet you or alternatively gone to
your local insurance broker. But rarely would you have been
courageous enough to get competitive quotations. It just wasn’t
done. You trusted the salesman to do the best for you and surely
you thought, life insurance is somewhat technical and requires
specialised knowledge. All very cosy. All very expensive. How
life has changed!
People now realise that life insurance is not that complicated.
If on a scale of 1 to 10, buying car insurance online rates 9,
life insurance must be a 7 or 8. This has opened up the Internet
as a prime arena for cut-price life insurance. That’s not to
imply that life policies bought on the Internet are in any way
substandard. No, you’re most likely to end up with a policy from
one of the UK’s big insurers like Norwich Union or Legal &
General and they’ll be exactly the same policies as you could
buy anywhere else. It’s just that the intense competition on the
internet and efficiency and simplicity of the system, means that
most online brokers decide to cut the commission and roll back
the savings into lower prices.
Ah yes I hear you saying, 7 or 8 implies that life insurance is
more complicated than car insurance. Yes it is - but that
doesn’t mean that it represents a problem. The companies selling
life insurance online recognise that many clients feel that some
level of personal advice is useful and indeed, necessary. They
accommodate this with a mix of useful information on the web
site and more often than not, with a short telephone
conversation with a life insurance adviser prior to you buying.
This provides reassurance and helps to ensure you really do get
the policy options you need all at rock bottom prices.
Buying online certainly is a good idea.
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