Journey to Fashion

9 Tips on How to Advance in Your Career

Fri, 16 Apr 2010 14:35:04 +0000

1. Approach your work and projects with the mindset that you want to do the best you can to help the company.  This can mean to improve customer satisfaction and increase revenue, or it could mean looking to minimize scrap or waste to help in delivering company profitably. It is important to understand the linkages of each business objective and metric into the top company objectives (assuming you are working for a for-profit institution) of revenue, profit and cash flow.  If you are unclear about the linkages you need to ask and find these out.
By focusing your effort and communicating on why you are doing this, you will increased the value of your personal brand within the company.

2. Always make your boss look successful and do everything you can to make his or her life easier.  This can be counter intuitive to many people as there are many bad bosses in this world.  But even with a 'bad boss' your objective should not stray. In a healthy environment when you succeed your boss succeeds as well and in turn your department reflects that success.  If your boss is observant he will be delighted with your performance and will look to reward you and grow your career.  If your boss is mature he or she would be open to having you grow within the company in another role although they will try hard not to let you go- which is not a bad thing.
The way to do this is to understand the way your boss is measured and make sure you go the extra mile to ensure that your contributions deliver results for your boss. Also you may find that your manager isn???t aware of some risk items or opportunities in your department and that you would be willing to help.  This attitude is not about kissing up to your boss as that isn't the point- it's about making sure your function is running effectively.
If you can't stand your boss try to transfer or find another job.  Many people try to sabotage their boss to get them thrown out.  Doing this will most certainly backfire and take you both down.  All bad bosses have qualities you can learn from, even if you become aware of behaviors you can't stand you can use this to ensure you never copy these behaviors in your career.

3. When you complete an activity let the results speak for themselves. Nobody likes credit stealers or people who trumpet their horn but if your activity or project delivers results by all means communicate the data and result. This can be done via email or normal summary reports but should definitely be written up in your appraisal.

4. Be friendly with the office receptionist, executive secretary and office manager.  These people often are aware of general information or happenings in the office and are often close to people who are influential in the organization. If they find you as a friend they can be a powerful ally.  This is more the case in informal / matrixed organizations where the organizational structure is not clear.  Often being polite, respectful and friendly with these people can pay big dividends.  Those who act rude or superior to these functions do so at their own risk.

5. Find a mentor if you can in the organization. This may be your direct manager or it may not but should be someone who is more senior than you and has a lot of experience in the organization.  It is often good to find someone who is slightly outside your job area so you don't step on any toes.  The idea is to use someone to help you in your career development and can provide general coaching on your development.  A lot of this is informal and is done through meeting for lunch or coffee and talking about things outside of work. Make the time fun for the mentor and respect this persons time.

6. If you have subordinates make sure you coach and develop them.  The goal is to have your subordinates skilled enough so they can take over for your job.  Otherwise if there is an opportunity for an internal promotion you may not get it because you are too critical to stay in your position.  There is always a slight risk that you will be made redundant if your subordinate can do your job and there is a downturn in the company with not enough work to do.  However that is a risk you should take as most good company leaders will become more aware of your potential and want to keep you in the company. If you are made redundant your skills in developing people will make you more attractive in a new company.
Typically when you first start your career your success or failure depends on the results you can deliver by your own efforts or ideas.  This was particularly true for me as I started out as an Engineer.  However, as you progress in the organization your success now rides on how well you can manage people to deliver results for your organization or department.  People really are the biggest asset in every company!

7. Be a team player. That means maintain respect for other people, regardless of their level.  Everyone has a job to do in the company and it is important for you to respect people for who they are and what they can deliver for the company. That doesn't mean you have to like everybody, but you should be able to work with people you don't like from time to time.  If you take the time to get to know people and approach them with an attitude of mutual respect you will find that we are all not so different.  Everyone has strong and weak points and having a positive attitude will set you apart from the pack.

8. Be a continuous learner.  This may manifest itself in the form of learning a new product line, a new corporate system or learning a new technology. Today the world is so dynamic that you need to adopt an attitude of being open to learning new things otherwise you will be passed by.  Once you have a few of these chapters under your belt your confidence will improve and you won't hesitate to take on a new challenge.  It actually gets easier the more you do it.  As a personal example, I moved to Southeast Asia 3 years ago and took the effort to speak, read and write Thai.  It was very tough at first and by no means am I an expert. However the act of doing this has opened doors to other job opportunities and given me more credibility with the locals.  It's also was quite fun and has helped to keep my brain active and mind fresh.

9. Lastly, be passionate but remember when it comes to working it is based on a business relationship.  You are there because it's mutually beneficial to you and your employer and this should be the case over the duration of your career.  If this changes for a length of time then it is ok for you or your employer to initiate a change (either within the company or to move on somewhere else) and this isn't meant to be personal.  Keep some perspective and have fun during your career.

Tags - career

14 Tips to Stay Young

Sun, 28 Mar 2010 10:16:45 +0000

We can not make time stop by, but always we could find some way to reduce the negative impact time putting on us. And here are some tips may help us.

1. Let go of the myth of inevitable decay.
Scientists are discovering that the more you buy into the notion that getting older means losing your mental acuity, the more likely you are to succumb to it.  Yale University psychologist Becca Levy, Ph.D., explores psychosocial influences on aging, particularly, how older individuals' perceptions of aging affects cognition and health.
Through her research she has found that older people shown negative words about aging, such as senile, before taking memory tests did significantly worse on the tests than those shown positive words about aging, such as wisdom.  In fact, people who saw positive words improved their scores. Levy has also shown that in cultures with a more positive view of aging than the culture in the United States and other western countries, older people perform better on memory tests.
In addition, her research has shown that older individuals with more positive self-perceptions of aging lived 7.5 years longer than those with less positive self-perceptions of aging.  Even hearing decline can be predicted by a person's stereotypes of the elderly.

2. Floss regularly.
Research has shown a distinct connection between periodontitis and cardiovascular disease. Consider this: a study found that men under age fifty with advanced periodontal disease were 2.6 times more likely to die prematurely and 3 times more likely to die of heart disease compared to men with healthy teeth and gums. The most common cause of periodontitis is poor oral hygiene, and daily brushing and flossing and regular professional cleanings can greatly reduce your chances of developing this condition.
In addition, flossing and clogged arteries also may be related. Research has revealed that the same bacteria in tooth plaque are also found in the deadly fat deposits that obstruct arteries. Researchers speculate that bacteria from the mouth may enter the bloodstream and contribute to inflammation and artery clogging.

3. Keep a positive attitude.
Since 1986, University of Kentucky scientist David Snowdon has been studying 678 nuns hoping to discover secrets of the brain. In particular, what happens to the brain as we age. His findings, known as the Nun Study, have shed some light on how to live a mentally active life well into old age. One of his findings is that a positive emotional state at an early age might help ward off disease and even prolong life. In fact, there is a growing body of literature that shows a correlation between a person's attitude and their physical health, mental health, and longevity.

4. Exercise
James M. Rippe, M.D. is a best-selling author, world-renowned cardiologist, and founder of the Rippe Lifestyle Institute.  He explains that if you look at all the risk factors for dying, the one that is most predictive is fitness level. In addition, an older person with high cardiovascular fitness is healthier than a younger person who is physically inactive. By increasing your fitness level, you can actually roll back your biological clock.

5. Stress management.
Studies have shown that between 60 and 90 percent of all physician visits are for stress-related complaints. Stress has been linked to everything from the common flu to cancer. In addition, cardiac disorders, hypertension, anxiety, depression, chronic pain, sexual and fertility problems, and diabetes all are exacerbated by stress. In order to increase your life expectancy you need to decrease the probability that you'll get sick, which means you need to lower your stress level.

6.  Meditate.
Deepak Chopra, M.D., the world's foremost expert on the mind-body connection, states in his book Ageless Body, Timeless Mind  that studies have shown that long-term meditators can have a biological age between 5 and 12 years younger than their chronological age.  Levels of the stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline are often found to be lower in long term meditators, and their coping mechanisms tend to be stronger than average.

7. Keep healthy-looking skin.
This tip won't help you live longer, but as long as you're working toward lengthening your life span, you might as well look good while doing it. Retinoids are wrinkle reducers. There are certain beauty creams that contain retinoids, but they can also be found in food, such as carrots. Eating carrots helps balance the pH of the skin's surface, making it slightly acidic. That's good news, because slightly acidic skin fends off bacterial invaders. In addition, dark chocolate improves skin's texture, thickness, hydration, and blood flow.

8. Eat plenty of foods rich in anti-oxidants.
Antioxidants are anti-aging foods. All foods with dark colors in them have some of these really protecting antioxidant chemicals in them. Blueberries are good at this.  Other good anti-aging foods include broccoli, tomatoes, and the acai (pronounced "AH-sigh-EE"), a small fruit from South American rainforests that is often found in the United States in juice. We can eat about five servings of antioxidant-rich foods a day.

9.  Eat plenty of fiber.
Dr. Oz also explains that one key to staying young is to keep your intestines healthy and bowels regular. This takes about 25 grams of fiber a day.  Fiber works by keeping all the nutrients you eat in your intestines and releasing them as needed. It can be found in fruits, vegetables and foods rich in whole grains. Try the following:
* Wrap sandwiches in whole wheat tortillas instead of white.
* Choose whole-grain cereal for breakfasts and snacks.
* Try brown rice or whole-wheat pasta.
* Have steel-cut oatmeal for breakfast.

10.  Get enough sleep.
A study conducted by the University of Chicago Medical Center found that cutting back from the standard eight hours of sleep to four hours each night produced striking changes in glucose tolerance and endocrine function - changes that resembled the effects of advanced age or the early stages of diabetes - after less than one week. Researchers concluded that chronic sleep loss may not only hasten the onset but could also increase the severity of age-related ailments such as diabetes, hypertension, obesity and memory loss.

11.  Keep the mind engaged.
An enormous amount of data uncovered in the last two decades confirms that the brain retains its plasticity-that is, its ability to grow new neurons and the connections between them-throughout life. In addition, brain ailments commonly associated with getting older can also be diminished by keeping the brain stimulated.  Dr. Yaakov Stern, Division Leader of the Cognitive Neuroscience Division of the Sergievsky Center at Columbia University indicates that "Individuals who lead mentally stimulating lives, through education, occupation, and leisure activities, have reduced risk of developing Alzheimer's.  Studies suggest that they have 35 to 40% less risk of manifesting the disease."

12.  Stop smoking.
Dr. Rippe, whom we previously mentioned, also admonishes that if you're in your 50's and you smoke, you are cutting off seven years of your life. In addition to accelerating the aging process, smoking wrinkles skin and makes you look old beyond your years.

13.  Drink wine, in moderation.
Have you heard that red wine in moderation can be good for your health?  Dr. Oz explains that part of the reason is the alcohol and part is resveratrol, a powerful antioxidant that comes from the skins of grapes. Vintners add the grape skins back to make red wine, but they don't do the same process for white wine-so white wine has no resveratrol benefit.  "Resveratrol does one other thing," Dr. Oz says. "It turns on a system in your body that prevents your cells from aging. . . Eighty percent of the benefit of the wine is actually the alcohol, and 20 percent is the resveratrol," Dr. Oz says. "So it's the combination that makes red wine so valuable."  He adds that most people should drink about one glass of red wine a day, though some men can drink slightly more because males metabolize alcohol more effectively than females.

14.  Get lots of love and nurturing.
Dr. Marian C. Diamond is one of the world's foremost neuroanatomists.  She was conducting research with young rats to determine whether enriched conditions accelerated the growth of dendrites.   An enriched environment is one in which 12 rats are put together in a large cage filled with a variety of play objects.  In contrast, an impoverished environment houses one rat with no objects to play with.  The enriched rats ran maze tests faster than the impoverished ones, showing a greater ability to solve problems.
Dr. Diamond wanted to conduct the same experiment with older rats, and she chose 600 day-old rats, which is roughly the equivalent of a 60 year-old human.  However, several of the rats would die around the 600 day-old mark.  She decided to try and improve the rats' longevity by adding an extra ingredient to the experiment: love.  Instead of putting the rats immediately in their control cages after they were cleaned, the scientists involved in the study held them against their lab coats and petted them.  The rats that were petted lived considerably longer than those that were not.

Tags - self-perfection , stay-young

The Other 8 Hours

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 05:31:55 +0000

Your day doesn't start when you crawl out of bed. Your day-and even your life-doesn't really start until 5:00PM.  What you've done with your time after 5:00PM last week, last month, and last year has determined where you are today. How you use the other 8 hours today, tomorrow, and next year will determine your future-they are your only hope to radically improve your life. The 8 hours you sleep are lost. The 8 hours you sell for a paycheck are gone. What you have-really, all you have-are the other 8 hours. Life not only happens in those the other 8 hours, but life is the other 8 hours.
Where you work, the size of your paycheck, the amount of debt you have, what you weigh, the number of people you can count on to help you in an emergency, your connection to God, the relationship you have with your spouse and children, and just about everything else that is meaningful to you is the result of how you've used the other 8 hours.
Look at each of the areas below to see the profound effect the other 8 hours has had:

Family
Even if you met your partner/spouse at work (I did), you needed to put time and energy into it after work if you wanted it to grow and mature. The dates you went on, long walks, and falling in love all occurred during the other 8 hours. Even the disagreements and arguments that make you the couple you are today occurred after 5:00PM.
If you have children, surely their conception and maybe their birth occurred during the other 8 hours. All of the diapers you changed, Elmo you watched, and homework you've helped complete-all of the things you did to build connections with your children today-wouldn't have happened if it were not for the other 8 hours.
The reason my daughter runs up and hugs me when I come home from work is because of the other 8 hours I've 'invested' in her (then again, it's probably the M&M's I bribed her with).
The love (and yes, the lack of love) your spouse and children feel toward you are entirely because of how you have spent the other 8 hours. The connection you feel toward your siblings and parents are based largely on what you've done during the other 8 hours. If you invested them wisely, you probably have some good relationships. If you didn't, you probably don't.

Relationships
The 9 to 5 working hours are a great time to meet people and develop friendships.  I met most of my non-childhood friends while working. It's no surprise. We come into contact with more people and for longer periods during working hours than we do at any other time of the day. But to convert your work relationships into real friendships, you have to spend some of your other 8 hours hanging out and getting to know those people on a different level. It's one thing to chat about the latest American Idol contestant to be voted off around the water cooler or to relive Sunday's big game in the lunchroom, but it's an entirely different thing to share a drink or dinner with someone and really get to know them. Your close friends-regardless of where you met them-became your friends during the other 8 hours.

Physical Health
The notch you use in your belt, how out of breath you feel after climbing a flight of stairs, and how comfortable you are in a bathing suit are almost entirely dependent on how you have used the other 8 hours. What you choose to eat for breakfast, dinner, desert, and snacks are usually during the other 8 hours. If you've chosen wisely, it shows. Do you exercise? If so, when? While you sleep? No. While you work? No. During the other 8 hours? Yup.

Personal Growth
This category includes your hobbies, educational pursuits, travel, reading, art, and other activities that you find enriching and are passionate about. One of my hobbies is Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and mixed martial arts. I'm not very good, but I enjoy it and I'm better than when I started. I also enjoy learning Spanish (even though those verbs confuse me). Another of my favorite pastimes? Reading. My clients wouldn't appreciate it, and I wouldn't be very successful if I spent my hours between 9 and 5 practicing Jiu Jitsu, learning Spanish, and reading books. No, I can only do these things that I love and am passionate about-these things that help define me as a person-during the other 8 hours.

Spirituality
Your spirituality and faith should follow you wherever you go-during work and during the other 8 hours. But, unless your 9 to 5 job is in ministry, chances are your spiritual growth and deepest connection to God occur during church/temple, small group meetings, Bible study, chanting, volunteering, meditation, or whatever.

Financial Health
Surely your financial health is the direct result of the hours between 9 and 5. It is during this time that you work and earn a paycheck. Your paycheck determines your financial health, right? Not so fast. Obviously your working hours play a significant role in your finances, but you might be surprised at the role the other 8 hours play in the size of your bank account.
Your financial health is determined by just two things . . . your income and your expenses. That's it. No more, no less. Your income is based on what you do for a living and how well you do it. The best sno-cone maker in the world may make a fine sno-cone, but her choice of occupation limits her financial success. Likewise, a brain surgeon who botches every surgery isn't going to be very financially successful either.
What you do for a living is based on hundreds of factors . . . where you grew up, your intelligence, your parents' encouragement, your personality, your interests, chance, etc. What you do for a living also depends on if you graduated high school, if you spent the extra years getting an advanced degree, if you took online courses or night classes to earn an important industry designation, how hard you studied, and your personal network of friends and acquaintances. It is these factors-those that you can control-that have a huge impact on what you do between the hours of 9 and 5.  And guess what? All of these other factors are the direct result of how you have spent the other 8 hours.
So the other 8 hours have a huge impact on our income, but what about the other half of the financial health equation . . . our expenses? You guessed it. Your expenses are the result of the decisions you make during the other 8 hours. How much you choose to spend on rent, the type of car you drive, the clothes you buy, the entertainment you experience, and the toys you purchase aren't decisions you usually make while we are working, and they definitely aren't decisions you make while sleeping. Every single one of these spending decisions-and thousand of others, both big and small-occur during the other 8 hours.
Still aren't convinced?  I need you to buy into just how important the other 8 hours are. If you read this book with the same skepticism you have when you read those tabloid headlines in line at the grocery, it's not going to work. Go ahead. Drink the Kool Aid.  Because once you do-once you realize the power the other 8 hours has had on your life-you will respect and appreciate the power that the other 8 hours can have on your life.

Tags - family , relationships , physical-health , personal-growth , spirituality , financial-health

9 Steps to a Perfect Career Fit

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 02:51:35 +0000

Ask yourself some questions, and figure out what's a best career for you.

1. What are you good at?

2. What interests you?

3. What motivates you and is most important to you?

4. How much money would you realistically like to earn?

5. What level of responsibility do you want?

6. Where do you want your ideal job to be located?

7. What special knowledge would you like to include in your career?

8. What kind of work environment do you prefer?

9. What types of people do you like to work for and with?

Tags - career

25 Ways to Simplify Your Life with Kids

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 07:31:05 +0000

It might seems a little weird to put such an article here, but I have to admit it's a life I'm facing in a few month, with the born of my little baby. I know I will have to give up the old life style and jump into a whole new one, which is totally different mixing both excitment and worriment. That's why these tips light me up. Yes, I will take on a new adventure. And luckily I found these tips on internet to help me.

1.Self-sufficiency. This one tip could simplify your life greatly, over time. However, it will make things more complicated in the short term. The idea is to teach your kids to do things for themselves as they get older and more capable. Teaching them to do something themselves instead of just doing it yourself takes time and can be a little frustrating at first, but it will pay off for years to come. My kids, for example, can make themselves breakfast, shower and dress themselves, brush their teeth, and generally get themselves ready in the morning with only minimal prompting from us. They can clean their rooms, wash dishes, sweep, mop, dust, wash the car. The older ones can cook basic dishes and babysit the younger ones. This type of self-sufficiency has saved my wife and me tons of time and trouble over the years.

2.One calendar. If you have more than one kid, you might have a lot of activities going on that you need to track, from school events such as Christmas performances and parent-teacher conferences to extracurricular activities such as soccer practice, dance classes, or Spring concerts. Organize your life with a simple calendar (I use Google Calendar) and enter all activities and appointments on this one calendar, from kids' stuff to your own goings on. When they hand you papers from school, or soccer schedules, immediately enter everything onto the calendar. Then a quick glance at the calendar each day will help you plan your day.

3.Toy bins. It's an inevitable fact of life that kids have lots of toys, and that they will be everywhere. You will drive yourself crazy if you try to manage them with dictator-like ruthlessness. Instead, let kids play, but have lots of bins where they can toss the toys inside when they're done. Then cleaning up is a cinch - they just toss everything on the floor into the bins, and move on to making their next mess. You can have designated bins for certain toys (this one's for Legos, this one's for stuffed animals, this one's for cars), and also have some general-purpose bins for things that don't fit anywhere else. Don't be too strict about them - the whole purpose is to make things simpler.

4.Regular cleanups. If you're like me, you don't like a huge mess. Teach your kids to clean up after themselves - let them make a mess, but every now and then, tell them it's time to clean up. Be sure to tell them to clean up before moving on to something else, such as lunchtime or bedtime. It's good to have regular times during the day when they do cleanups, such as before bed or before they leave for school, so that the house is always clean at night and during the day.

5.Quiet bedtime routines. Kids thrive on routine, and no routine is better than the one before they go to sleep. Have a regular routine before bed - it might consist of cleaning up, showering, brushing their teeth, getting into their pajamas, and reading a book. Reading aloud to them just before bedtime is a great idea, because it quiets them down after a day of activity, it gives you quality bonding time together, and it gets them into the habit of reading. Plus, it's just something that everyone can enjoy.

6.Prep the night before. Mornings can be a hectic time for parents and kids alike, but they don't have to be. Instead, prep as much as possible the night before, and have your mornings be a little more relaxed. I like to prep lunches, get their clothes ready (and mine as well), and have them shower, get their homework and school bags ready. Then the morning is simply eating breakfast, a little grooming, getting dressed, and gathering everything together before you head out the door. It's a great way to start your day.

7.Don't schedule too much. Sometimes we schedule things back-to-back-to-back, so that every minute of every day is planned out. That leads to stress and problems. Instead, schedule as little as possible each day, and leave space between events, appointments or activities, so that your day moves along at a more leisurely pace. Start getting ready earlier than necessary, so there's no rush, and leave yourself time to transition from one thing to another. A more spaced-out schedule is much more relaxing than a cramped one.

8.Have dedicated family times. Try to find regular times in your schedule when you do nothing else but spend time together as a family. For some people, dinner time works well - everyone sits down to dinner together as a family, and no other activities are planned at that time. For others, weekends, or maybe just one day of the weekend, work better. We reserve Sundays as our Family Day, and try our best not to schedule anything else on that day. It's something we look forward to. Weekends in general are for our family, as are evenings - all work gets done on weekdays, before 5 p.m.

9.Simple clothing. It's best to buy clothes for your kids that will match easily - choose a similar color scheme, so that you're not always digging through their clothes to find stuff that matches. Go through their clothes every few months to get rid of stuff that doesn't fit (kids grow so fast!) and donate the old clothes to relatives or charity (or pass them on to a younger sibling). Keep their wardrobe simple - if it doesn't fit neatly in their drawers, you have to get rid of it or get rid of something else. Don't stuff drawers, or you'll make it hard to find stuff. Also, socks are usually a challenge - use mesh bags, one for clean socks and another for dirty ones. Then throw the dirty mesh bag in the laundry, and socks won't get lost (or at least, not as often).

10.Always prep early. I try to make it a point to look at the schedule in advance (usually the day before) to see what's coming up. That allows me to prepare for those events or activities early, so that we aren't in a rush when we're getting ready. For example, on soccer days, we make sure that all the soccer gear, plus folding chairs and water bottles and snacks and whatnot, are all ready to go beforehand. Prepping early makes things a lot easier later on.

11.Always bring snacks. Kids always get hungry. So be ready - if you're going on the road, pack some snacks in baggies. Crackers, cheese, fruit, carrot sticks, PB&J sandwiches, graham crackers, peanuts, raisins all make good portable snacks. An insulated lunch container with re-usable ice packs help keep things fresh. Also always bring plenty of water, as kids are always thirsty. Can't help you with the urgent bathroom breaks, though.

12.Baby wipes and emergency kit. There will always be messes. Be ready. Baby wipes, even after they are past using diapers, are indispensable for all kinds of messes. Pack them in a little 'emergency kit' that might include medical supplies, reading material, activities, a towel, and extra clothes - anything you can think of that might prepare you for anything that regularly arises.

13.Pack spare clothes. We have a little carry-on luggage that's always packed with a couple of changes of clothes for each kid - good clothes (for a party or something), regular clothes, underwear, socks. This way we're always ready, if there's an accident, or should they want to spend the night with grandparents or a cousin while we???re out at a party or something. It's indispensable.

14.Create weekly routines. Aside from regular family times (mentioned above), it's good to have a weekly routine that's written out and posted somewhere everyone can see it. A weekly routine might include regular practice times, house cleaning day, washing the car, yard work day, errands day, recurring appointments, etc. This makes the schedule more predictable for everyone, and eliminates a lot of surprises.

15.Communicate as a family. Regular communication between family members solves a lot of problems. Have regular times when the family can talk about family issues. Dinnertime is a good time for that. We also have a weekly 'Family Meeting' where we all sit down and talk about household issues, we compliment and thank each other, we plan our Family Day, and we play a fun game at the end.

16.Go on dates. If you have trouble finding alone time with each child (whether you have one child or more than one), setting up 'dates' can be a good way to ensure that you do things together. Make a date with your child for a specific day and time, and together you should decide what you want to do on that date. It can be something simple, like taking a walk in your neighborhood or in a park, reading together, playing board games, sports or video games, or it can be something like going to a restaurant or movie or amusement park. If you have lots of kids, you might have to rotate dates with them.

17.Create alone time for your spouse. It's easy to become so busy with your kids that you forget about your significant other. Don't let this happen - it's a sure way to drift apart and lose that bond that led you to having a family together. Keep the relationship alive by getting a babysitter (maybe once a week) and doing something together, just the two of you.

18.Let things go sometimes. I'm not always good at this, but it's something I work on constantly: don't always be so strict. Let things go. They're kids - let them live. I have a tendency to be very strict about things, but I remind myself constantly that it's not worth all the hassle to get on their cases about things. Instead, let things go, and just relax. They'll turn out just fine in the end, as long as you love and support them.

19.Make decluttering a family event. I like to set aside one day every few months when we go through all the stuff in our rooms and declutter. We do it together, and it can be a bonding time. We end up with trash bags full of junk, boxes full of stuff to donate or give to family, and in the end, much simpler rooms. It's very satisfying.

20.Spend quiet time at home. Often we get so busy that we're on the road all the time, going to one thing or another. And when we have family time, that's often spent on road too - going to movies or restaurants or other fun events. But that can be exhausting, and expensive. Instead, try to spend time at home as often as you can. You can watch a DVD instead of going to the movies, and pop some popcorn. You can play board games or go outside and play a sport. You can read to each other, or by yourselves, or tell stories. There are dozens of things you can do at home that cost nothing, and that are relaxing and fun.

21.Create traditions. Kids love traditions, from holiday traditions to family traditions. My mom likes all our kids to come over before Christmas to make Christmas cookies, or come over before Easter to color eggs. The kids love those traditions. You might also create some traditions at your house, whether that's a family dinner time, Family Meetings or Family Day, or anything that brings you together. If you make it a regular thing, and give it special importance, it will be a tradition, and it will be something your kids remember into adulthood.

22.Make cooking and cleaning a family thing. Cooking and cleaning can be complicated things, and they can take your time away from your kids. Doing these activities as a family solves both problems - having everyone pitch in can really simplify cooking and cleaning, and it gives you quality time together while teaching your children valuable life skills. Make it fun - let them choose recipes, go shopping for ingredients with you. See how quickly you can clean the whole house - if my whole family pitches in, we can do it in about 30-40 minutes. Make everything a game or a challenge.

23.Reduce commitments. This tip applies to both your commitments and your kids' commitments. If you have too many, your life will be complicated. If you reduce your commitments, your life will be simplified. It's that simple. Make a list of all your family's commitments and see which ones align with your priorities, and which ones are the most important. Which ones give you the most joy and benefit? And which ones just drain your time and energy without giving you much back in return? Keep the essential commitments - yours and your kids - and eliminate as many of the rest as possible.

24.Get active. These days, kids can become very inactive (and unhealthy) with all the TV, Internet and video games they consume. Get them active by going outside with them and taking walks, going for swims, playing sports. My family likes to play soccer or kickball. Play freeze tag. If you run, let your kids run with you, at least part of the way. Get them bikes and go to the park. Do challenges, like races or pushup or pullup challenges. Make it fun, but get them active. How does this simplify your life? It means they consume less media, which in my opinion is a complicating factor. And even better, it gets them healthy in an inexpensive way, reducing your healthcare costs down the road.

25.Focus on doing, not on spending. Too often we send messages to our kids about how to live life, based on what we do: we like to go shopping, and eat out, and go to the movies, and so our kids learn that having fun means spending money. We focus on material things, and therefore so do they. Instead, teach them (by talking but also by your actions) that what's important is doing stuff, not buying stuff. Go for walks in the park, play outdoors, play board games, read, tell stories, play charades, cook and clean, go to the beach or lake, build stuff, wash the car. Spend quality time together, doing stuff that doesn't cost money.

How to Get Rich in Three Easy Steps

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 07:42:36 +0000

People don't believe how simple it is to accumulate a significant amount of wealth, but it really is quite easy. All you need is a bit of discipline and to know the three steps necessary anyone can take to grow a significant net worth. The steps are:

1. Spend less than you earn. This is THE key to getting rich. Said another way, save a portion of all you make.

To spend less than you earn, you may need to earn more or spend less.

2. Invest your savings regularly in good, solid investments. I like index funds.

3. Do this for a long time, letting the power of time and compounding work for you.

That's it.

Yes, it's that easy. Don't punch me before you give it a try ^_^

Tags - get-rich

50 Quotes on Living A Life of Adventure

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 05:53:57 +0000

Life is long, as it takes one great effort to live decades and finish the journey of life. Also life may be short, especially when you are nearing the end of it and looking back. Often we hear the elders regretting for something that slipped away just because of this or that. That must be tough for one to endure, I mean you did not recognize how many beautiful landscapes you've missed until you are nearing the end of an adventure. Luckily there are so many great guys living an adventurous life and not mean to share their insights. Don't be afraid, there are not boring fat report, only some incisive words costing you less than 10 minutes. But think, after you read.

Here are 50 quotes on living a life of adventure:

1. "One way to get the most out of life is to look upon it as an adventure." - William Feather

2. "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." - Henry David Thoreau

3. "As a well-spent day brings happy sleep, so life well used brings happy death." - Leonardo da Vinci

4. "Somebody ought to tell us, right at the start of our lives, that we are dying. Then we might live life to the limit every minute of every day. Do it, I say, whatever you want to do, do it now." - Michael Landon

5. "A person should set his goals as early as he can and devote all his energy and talent to getting there. With enough effort, he may achieve it. Or he may find something that is even more rewarding. But in the end, no matter that the outcome, he will know he has been alive." - Walt Disney

6. "Death is more universal than life; everyone dies but not everyone lives." - Alan Sachs

7. "Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go." - T.S Eliot

8. "If things seem under control, you are just not going fast enough." - Mario Andretti

9. "Do not lose hold of your dreams or aspirations. For if you do, you may still exist but you have ceased to live." - Henry David Thoreau

10. "I am convinced that it is not the fear of death, of our lives ending, that haunts our sleep so much as the fear that as far as the world is concerned, we might as well never have lived." - Harold Kushner

11. "Follow your bliss, and doors will open for you that you never knew existed. Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls." - Joseph Campbell

12. "When a resolute young fellow steps up to the great bully, the world, and takes him boldly by the beard, he is often surprised to find it comes off in his hand, and that it was only tied on to scare away the timid adventurers." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

13. "Believe me! The secret of reaping the greatest fruitfulness and the greatest enjoyment from life is to live dangerously!" - Friedrich Nietzsche

14. "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain

15. "Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing." - Helen Keller

16. Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming - "WOW - What a Ride!" -Anon.

17. "I do not want to get to the end of my life and find that I just lived the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well." -Diane Ackerman

18. "Look, I really don't want to wax philosophic, but I will say that if you???re alive, you've got to flap your arms and legs, you've got to jump around a lot, you've got to make a lot of noise, because life is the very opposite of death." - Mel Brooks

19. "The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it." -W. M. Lewis

20. "Remember what Bilbo used to say: "It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to."" - J.R.R. Tolkien

21. "Always remember, it's simply not an adventure worth telling if there aren't any dragons." - Sarah Ban Breathnach

22. "A man practices the art of adventure when he breaks the chain of routine and renews his life through reading new books, traveling to new places, making new friends, taking up new hobbies and adopting new viewpoints." - Wilfred Peterson

23. "If we all did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves." - Thomas Alva Edison

24. "It is never too late to be who you might have been." - George Eliot

25. "And the day came when the wish to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." - Anais Nin

26. "Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear." - Ambrose Redmoon

27. "If one advances confidently in the direction of one's dreams, and endeavors to live the life which one has imagined, one will meet with a success unexpected in common hours." - Henry David Thoreau

28. "Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

29. "We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand - and melting like a snowflake." - Marie B. Ray

30. "A ship is safe in harbor, but that's not what ships are built for." - John A. Shedd

31. "The purpose of life, after all, is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience." - Eleanor Roosevelt

32. "Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anais Nin

33. "Never forget that life can only be nobly inspired and rightly lived if you take it bravely and gallantly, as a splendid adventure in which you are setting out into an unknown country, to face many a danger, to meet many a joy, to find many a comrade, to win and lose many a battle." - Annie Besant

34. "It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life and in change there is power." - Alan Cohen Quotes

35. "When you set out on your journey to Ithaca, pray that the road is long, full of adventure, full of knowledge." - Constantine P. Cavafy.

36. "Don't die without embracing the daring adventure your life is meant to be." - Steve Pavlina

37. "If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun." - Katharine Hepburn

38. "At dusk the three of us encountered an elderly lady and her beagle hiking toward us. Teetering along on a walking stick, she wore a motoring cap and held a bunch of wildflowers. I said hello and asked her where she was going. She replied in Welsh, "Rydw i yna yn barod." We looked to Erica for a translation. "She said, "I'm already there."" -"A Ramble in Wales," from National Geographic Traveler

39. "Keep trying. Stay humble, Trust your instincts. Most importantly, act. When you come to a fork in the road, take it." - Yogi Berra

40. "It's not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly...... Who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat." -Teddy Roosevelt

41. "The only question in life is whether or not you are going to answer a hearty "YES!" to your adventure." - Joseph Campbell

42. "I'd been having dreams lately, drunken dreams with their peculiar lucidity in which the Experience Trail, the High Seas seemed to call louder and louder, more and more insistently with a voice that was at the same time music-a siren's song that almost threatened me if I refused to obey its quixotic urgings . . . " - Sol Luckman

43. "......adventures don't come calling like unexpected cousins calling from out of town. You have to go looking for them." - unknown

44. "The reason most people never reach their goals is that they don't define them, or ever seriously consider them as believable or achievable. Winners can tell you where they are going, what they plan to do along the way, and who will be sharing the adventure with them." - Denis Watley

45. "There is no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing." - Sir Rannulph Fiennes

46. "A man does not climb a mountain without bringing some of it away with him, and leaving something of himself upon it." - Sir Martin Conway

47. "And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair." - Kahlil Gibran

48. "Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary." - Steve Jobs

49. "Adventure isn't hanging on a rope off the side of a mountain. Adventure is an attitude that we must apply to the day to day obstacles of life." - John Amatt

50. "Plunge boldly into the thick of life, and seize it where you will, it is always interesting." - Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

Which Matters More - Shoes or Men?

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 14:20:35 +0000

Gals' love for shoes is no stranger on fashion magazine, but I'm still astonished by the result a study showed. In a poll of 1,000 women, 92 percent remembered the first pair of shoes they bought with their own money, but less than two in three could remember the name of the first person they kissed. While 96 percent felt remorse for throwing away a pair of shoes, only 15 percent felt bad about dumping a boyfriend.

"People always think of women storing old love letters in a shoebox, but in many cases, the shoes themselves are even more precious."
"Women treat shoes like best friends. And it seems their footwear memories last longer than those of their past lovers."

Above words may give some clue to help you enter the gal's brain or heart nowadays. No matter good times or bad, shoes will always be there for you. The high heels may hurt your ankle, but never your heart.

Alas, what a world! What happens to the boys and gals??

75 Skills Every Woman Should Master

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 01:11:42 +0000

       Always I preferred the articles full of list, as it never fails to give a clear map to tell one how to take straight and effective action, and it's especially exciting when the action could make improvements. Here is a great one with a full list for gals to improve herself. Trust me, it will do you good very much.

      1. Learn to take criticism. Women often respond to criticism in one of two ways: they jump to defend themselves and fail to consider whether they're being offered constructive criticism which could help them, or they take the criticism to heart and feel poorly about themselves as a result. When criticized, pay attention to who the criticism is coming from, the motives the person may have for offering the criticism, and consider whether there is something you can learn from the criticism. If there's nothing useful for you to learn, then simply brush it off; on the other hand, if you conclude that there may be some truth to what you're being told, take corrective action.
      "Criticism is something we can avoid easily by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing". - Aristotle

      2. Basic car maintenance. Car maintenance is not the sole domain of men; you probably spend a lot of time in your car and should have at least a basic idea of what's under the hood. Also, you should know how to change a tire and jump start your car. At the very least do the following: know who to call in case of an emergency; make sure you always have a spare tire that is properly inflated; don't let the gas go below the one-quarter mark; know how to check the oil and radiator fluid; purchase a first aid kit for your car, as well as a flashlight, jumper cables, flares, and a car charger for your cell phone; also, take your car in for regular maintenance.
      (The "Dorothy Sebastian changes a tyre" photograph is courtesy of spiralsheep).

      3. Know how to invest intelligently in something, whether it's stocks, bonds, real estate, precious metals, or whatever you think will be the next equivalent of having bought Microsoft or Google stock when these companies were just getting started.

      4. Acquire the skill of communicating assertively. Communicating assertively means that you make sure you're calm, you know what you want, you speak directly to the person concerned and not behind his/her back, and you communicate your needs and - when appropriate - your feelings in an honest, clear, and direct manner. Do not beat around the bush. At the same time, there's no need to be confrontational.

      5. Know how to use power tools. There are few things more empowering than being able to drill a hole in a wall and hang up pictures on your own.

      6. Take a self-defense class that can teach you how to size up a situation and be able to act in the best manner to get away. Hopefully you'll never, ever, have to use what you learn in the class but knowing that you can defend yourself gives you self-confidence that a would-be attacker can recognize, and which makes them view you as a difficult target.

      7. Practice your poker face; don't let them see you sweat. Emotions are an important component of most social interactions, and being able to communicate your emotions and read the emotions of others effectively will go a long way toward helping you succeed in life. However, there are times when it will be in your best interest not to let others read your emotions. Be prepared for those times by perfecting your poker face. Putting on a poker face doesn't necessarily mean that you drain your face of all emotion and make it completely expressionless. It means that you act completely natural, as if whatever the situation is, it hasn't caught you off-guard or thrown you off balance.

      8. Learn to smile to show joy or amusement, not to please others. Smiling at the wrong time can signify to others that you're a push over.

      9. Breast self-exams have long been advocated as essential for early breast cancer detection. Learn how and perform one on a monthly basis.

      10. Learn to delegate. Always ask yourself whether doing the task that's in front of you will get you closer to achieving your goals, and whether you're the right person to take care of said task. If it doesn't get you closer to your goals and someone else can do it within the range of quality that is required for that particular task, hand it over to them.

      11. Bounce right back after a hard fall. Resilience is one of the most important traits you can have to succeed in life. If you think that those who are very successful don't fail, think again. Often, the higher up someone is, the greater the number of falls they've had on their way to the top. The less time you spend wallowing in your loss and the faster you get back up on the horse, the more quickly you can resume your ascent to the zenith.

      12. Stick to your guns. They say that a new idea goes through three stages: first it's ridiculed, then it's violently opposed, and then everyone thinks that it was obvious. If you believe that you have a great idea, see it through to the end.
      "All great truths begin as blasphemies."- George Bernard Shaw

      13. Be informed. Glance through the newspaper each morning and read the articles that catch your attention more in depth; get CNN breaking news sent to your e-mail address; watch the news on your favorite news channel; and read a periodical such as "Time Magazine" or "Newsweek" every week.

      14. Take a compliment: A lot of women respond to receiving a compliment by putting themselves down. "I don't know how I did it, I guess I just got lucky"-, by pointing out their weaknesses. Writing is something I do well, but don't even think of asking me to do anything that involves math, I can barely add or by attributing the glory to somebody else. It was really Jack's input that made this possible. Own your accomplishments and simply accept the compliment graciously.

      15. Resist the urge to gossip. Gossiping is toxic. In addition, every time you open your mouth, even if you're talking about somebody else, you're telling the world who you are. If you gossip you're telling others that you're petty, hateful, and insecure.

      16. Be passably good in at least one sport -whether it's jogging, skiing, golf, ice skating, swimming, baseball, basketball, tennis, you name it.

      17. Be worldly. Choose a country other than your own and learn not only the language that is spoken there, but also study their customs, their cuisine, their art, their folklore, and their history.

      18. Be able to talk intelligently about the environment. At the very least watch "An Inconvenient Truth" , a documentary depicting Al Gore's crusade to expose the devastating harm we're doing to the environment, and start taking action to reduce your carbon footprint.

      19. Know when, how, and how much to tip in different situations, ranging from taxi drivers and waiters, to bellhops and your hair dresser.

      20. Be able to grow and care for something in the plant family, whether it be bonsai trees, roses, tulips, orchids, or even ferns.

      21. Have a favorite author and know why he/she is your favorite. (It can be J.K. Rowling, but if you're over twelve, think carefully about this one). Read every book he/she has ever written and be able to describe his/her writing style and favorite motifs.

      22. Be able to do something artistic with your hands, whether it be drawing, creating mandalas, playing a musical instrument, sculpting, beading, knitting, making pottery, or making jewelry.

      23. Be able to create a book proposal. Everyone has a book in them, whether it be a children's book, the biography of someone you admire, a memoir, a collection of short stories, a novel, or even a book filled with interesting photographs you've taken with short captions to explain each one.

      When she was in her early twenties, the author SARK (Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy), who has written books such as "The Bodacious Book of Succulence" and "Living Juicy", put an ad in the newspaper that read, "If you make obscene phone calls, call me". This was the way in which she conducted research for a book she was going to write on obscene phone calls. She even managed to get interviewed by the Washington Post and the New York Post about her "book", have a meeting with Doubleday's senior editor, and present a book proposal. Unfortunately, she then proceeded to spend her time partying instead of writing the book, but you get the idea: you can write a book on just about anything.

      24. Learn basic CPR- cardiopulmonary resuscitation- and the Heimlich Maneuver. If someone were choking or going into cardiac arrest in front of you, wouldn't you want to know what to do?

      25. Play one card game really well: it can be poker, rummy, bridge, and so on.

      26. Learn to sell yourself. Prepare a three minute infomercial about yourself highlighting your most important skills and accomplisments. Then practice it until it sounds natural and unrehearsed when you say it. Important people are very busy, and when you're face-to-face with one of them you have a very small window of opportunity to make a good and lasting impression.

      27. Have a stress management strategy. Studies have shown that almost 90% of illnesses can be traced back to stress. In addition, people who suffer from high levels of stress tend to have trouble sleeping, be overweight, have trouble concentrating, and are easily irritated. Stress management techniques can include: reframing the situation, learning to live in the now, humor, laughter yoga, repeating a mantra, creating rituals, having realistic expectations, and so on.

      28. Don't simply accept what you're told, go see for yourself. A lot of people -and women are particularly prone to this- go through life without ever questioning what they're told. Learn to look at everything from several different perspectives and ask yourself what you truly think. Where do you stand on important issues? How do you think things should be done?

      29. Learn to be comfortable with ambiguity. The world is not black and white; people are not entirely bad or entirely good; you'll often run across two proverbs that say exactly the opposite, and both will be right.

      "The truth is rarely pure and never simple." - Oscar Wilde

      30. Be able to perform at least one dance style reasonably well: Tango, Merengue, Salsa, Waltz, Belly dance, Ballet, the Polka, Flamenco, Krumping, Lambada, Tap dance, the Foxtrot . . .
      (The "Tango Legs" photograph is courtesy of dark_mephi).

      31. Have knowledge of mayor artistic movements, major artists, and indispensable masterworks. Art is making a come-back.

      32. Learn to regulate your own moods. Being able to self-regulate anger, to bounce back from disappointment, and to shift your focus to a more positive range of feelings when you're feeling down is vital to your productivity and to your success.

      33. Develop your interpersonal skills. Interpersonal skill is the ability to understand other people, to know what motivates them, and to be able to work cooperatively with them. It involves reading other people's body language, their tone of voice, their gestures, and understanding their style of communication. Daniel Goleman explains in his book "Emotional Intelligence" that rapport "stems from emotional attunement, from the capacity for empathy."

      34. Project strength with your body language. Stand up straight. If you have a tendency to slouch, you can use the following dancer's trick: run an imaginary cord from the base of your spine, through the spine, up through your neck, and out the top of your head; now pull the imaginary cord upwards and feel your spine straighten. Also, women should try to avoid tilting their head during business conversations since this can signify submission.

      35. Hold other people's gaze. People consider others who hold their gaze during a conversation to be more self-assured, trustworthy, and reliable than those who are constantly looking away. In addition, several coaches suggest the following trick:

      Imagine a triangle with the base at the listener's eyes and the peak in the middle of the forehead: that's the "business gaze". This is where you should be concentrating when you want to be taken seriously. On the other hand, if you're at a social gathering and want to be more flirtatious, imagine an upside-down triangle with the base at the listener's eyes and the apex at the mouth and concentrate your gaze in that zone.

      36. A firm handshake helps make a good first impression. The features that characterize a firm handshake are the strength, duration, and completeness of grip. In addition, refer to #35 above: when you shake hands with someone you should also use eye contact.

      37. Stop worrying about what others think of you. The American psychologist Abraham Maslow - noted for his conceptualization of a "hierarchy of human needs" - argued that the self-actualized person is independent of the good opinion of others. Do what you think is right for you and don't alter your behavior simply to please others.

      38. Have a reasonable knowledge of history. To get a good overview of how thought has evolved and how different inventions have affected humanity, I recommend you read "The Discoverers" by Daniel J. Boorstin, as well as "A History of Knowledge" by Charles Van Doren.

      39. Know that there are predators. In "Women Who Run With the Wolves", Clarissa Pinkola Estes explains that all creatures must learn that there are predators out there. In addition, she adds that early training to "be nice" causes many women to ignore their inner alarm system. She goes on to say: "To understand the predator is to become a mature animal who is not vulnerable out of naïvet??, inexperience , or foolishness."

      (The "Wolf Menace" photograph is courtesy of Byrd on a Wire).

      40. Have a basic knowledge of world geography. Many people have seen the YouTube video of Miss South Carolina during the 2007 Miss Teen USA pageant where she's asked why she thinks polls show that one-fifth of Americans can't locate the USA on a map. It's actually hard to watch. Purchase a World Atlas or at the very least a book such as "Geography for Dummies" to get an adequate overview.

      "U.S. high school graduates will: Sell to the world; buy from the world; work for international companies; manage employees from other cultures and countries; collaborate with people all over the world in joint ventures; compete with people on the other side of the world for jobs and markets; and tackle global problems, such as AIDS, avian flu, pollution, and disaster recovery" We need to open global gateways and inspire students to explore beyond their national borders."" Vivien Stewart, Becoming Citizens of the World, Educational Leadership

      41. Adopt a method for connecting with your inner self and getting centered. You can choose from several different methods, including journaling, meditation, tai chi, Qi Gong, yoga, or spending time in nature.

      42. Know where your money is going. Create a spending plan (also known as a budget). Keep track of your expenses and make a conscious decision as to how you're going to spend your money instead of spending it indiscriminately.

      43. Learn how to develop a business plan. In "Rich Dad/Poor Dad", Robert Kiyosaki compares the mindset of his father ("poor dad")-who held several degrees and an important position in the government, but struggled financially", with the mindset of his best friend's father ("rich dad")-who never even finished high school but left his son a financial empire. "Poor dad" saw his job as his source of income for life and he taught Kiyosaki to depend on his employer for his financial well being. On the other hand, "rich dad" taught Kiyosaki that he should get a job to learn and to acquire the necessary skills so that he could go on to start his own business and become financially independent. Learn to create a business plan so that you can start moving toward financial independence.

      44. Learn how to create passive income. Passive income is income that does not require your direct involvement. You make a strong initial effort to get this type of income started, but then you do minimal work thereafter to keep it going. It can be income derived from royalties-for example, you write a book-, income derived from patents-you invent something-, income derived from real estate, and so on. Brian Lee at geniustypes.com swears by bulk candy vending machines to create passive income. There are many ways to create passive income and the key is to be on the look-out for passive income producing opportunities.

      45. Learn to be flexible. An example that is often used to illustrate the benefits of flexibility is the bamboo and the oak tree. The strategy of the oak tree is to grow strong and solid to withstand the onslaught of strong winds. The strategy of the bamboo is to stay flexible and to bend with the force of the wind. In a fierce storm the oak tree is often destroyed, while the bamboo-having swayed with the force of the wind-survives.

      46. Learn how to make mistakes. Many people attach great stigma to failure and are therefore afraid of making mistakes. However, we need to accept that failing is simply part of the process and we should learn from our mistakes and move on. Think of mistakes as stepping stones on the path to success.

      "Punishing honest mistakes stifles creativity. I want people moving and shaking the earth and they're going to make mistakes." - Ross Perot

      47. Be able to forgive yourself. As Maya Angelou so wisely said, "You did what you knew how to do, and when you knew better, you did better."

      48. Be able to tell if someone is lying (this was taken straight out of Esquire's list).

      49. Have some knowledge of economics, particularly how economic policy affects the wealth of a nation. A good source is the book and DVD, "The Commanding Heights of the Economy."

      50. Know when to cut your losses. The best poker player knows when and how to fold. When the odds say he probably won't win, he just leaves his money in the pot and lays down his cards. He doesn't go on throwing money into the pot desperately hoping to salvage the situation. There comes a point where the best thing you can do is to simply cut your losses and move on.

      51. Have a Big Vision. No matter how small your domain may be at the present moment, you should set a big, long-term vision for yourself. Come up with a powerful statement of where you are headed and what your life will be about.

      "We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people will not feel insecure around you. We were born to manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not in just some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." - Nelson Mandela

      52. Learn to receive. Women are often masters at giving but have a difficult time receiving. The yin and yang of life is to give and receive. Practice receiving by focusing on your breath: everytime you breath in you're receiving. Accepting gifts, help, and complements from others should be just as easy.

      53. Protect Your Computer. Install a virus protection program and once a week do a virus scan and spyware check.

      54. Learn to make quick decisions. Make as many on-the-spot decisions as you possibly can, and then move on to the next thing. If you keep postponing making decisions on small things, they'll accumulate and will end up eating away more of your time than if you had simply made a quick decision for each one. The more decisions you make, the better you'll get at making them.

      55. Learn to negotiate. Negotiating is much more than knowing how to get a good price when you're buying a car or how to ask for a salary raise; almost everything you do in life involves negotiation. You negotiate with your spouse, with your children, with your friends, with your boss, with your co-workers, and so on. If you learn how to negotiate effectively you can move away from confrontation and toward cooperation. At the same time, good negotiators look for constructive ways to make the pie bigger so that everyone wins in an argument, instead of either forsaking their piece of the pie in order to keep the peace, or taking the pie away from somebody else.

      56. Learn to cook at least the basics. Planning your meals in advance and eating at home is good for your wallet and for your health.

      57. Speed Reading. We're all being bombarded with information on a continous basis, a lot of it in written form. There's the newspaper, the blogs you subscribe to, reports, e-mails, magazines, books, newsletters . . . You need to develop a strategy to get through this reading material quickly with an acceptable level of comprehension and retention. I use PhotoReading which teaches a whole-mind reading system. Among other things, you go through the reading material quickly several times, using a different technique each time. You also read with a purpose so that your mind can help you pick out what is important to you.

      58. Time Management Skills. There are countless systems and methods to organize your time. Pick one of the several methods available, learn it, and apply it. You can also study several of the methods available, mix and match, and come up with your own hybrid. Just as by creating a budget you take control over where your money goes, by creating a system for managing your time you take control over where your time goes.

      59. Get organized. Getting organized includes decluttering, giving a "home" to each of our belongings, and creating processes so that we know where to put and what to do with all of the items that come into our lives.

      "Organizing is the process by which we create environments that enable us to live, work, and relax exactly as we want to. When we are organized, our homes, offices, and schedules reflect and encourage who we are, what we want, and where we are going."- Julie Morgenstern

      60. Create a Sacred Space. In the book "Sacred Spaces", Denise Linn explains that our homes are symbolic representations of ourselves. Create a sanctuary for yourself and for your loved ones, a place of healing and regeneration.

      61. Don't take things personally. Realize that what others say and do is not because of you, it's simply a projection of their own reality.

      62. Think "Yes" instead of "No". Imagine "Yes" instead of "No". Say "Yes" to life instead of saying "No". The author SARK suggests that you make little signs that say "yes" and post them all over your house.

      63. Develop the skill of goal setting. Numerous studies have shown that people who set goals achieve more in life than those who don't. Use the "SMART" acronym when setting your goals:

      -Specific: Don't just say "I want to lose weight". Instead, write down something like the following: "Lose 10 pounds in 2 months by following a diet of 2,000 calories a day, jogging for 40 minutes 5 times a week, and lifting weights at the gym 3 times a week."

      -Measurable: Each time you get on the scale you can measure your progress.

      -Achievable: While losing 10 pounds in 2 months is achievable for most people, losing 50 pounds in 2 months probably is not.

      - Rewarding: Make sure you establish goals because it's something that you really want, as opposed to setting goals based on things other people want for you.

      -Timeline: Things have a tendency not to get done unless there's a clear deadline. In our example, "2 months" is a clearly delimited time period for accomplishing the goal of losing 10 pounds.

      64. Think creatively. The world needs people who are willing to look at problems from a different perspective, to ask how things can be made better, to look for different alternatives, and to come up with new solutions and novel ways of doing things.

      65. Take smart risks. I once read that most people don't play to win, they play not to lose. What if you stopped playing it safe? What if you risked making a fool of yourself, being ridiculed, and perhaps falling a couple of notches down the ladder you've been steadily climbing, for the opportunity of winning at the game of life?

      66. Nurture others. This is a skill that a lot of women have down pat. However, it's an important skill and worth mentioning. Mother Theresa was a big proponent of the concept that people need to feel cared for as much as they need food, shelter, and water.

      67. Nurture yourself. You're not doing anyone any favors-least of all yourself-by failing to take good care of yourself. Make sure that you take time to eat well, exercise, and have some time to yourself to get in the tub and read your favorite magazine, go for a walk, or spend a couple of hours at a spa. When you get on an airplane the stewardess always explains during the safety presentation that, in case of an emergency, you should put your oxygen mask on first, and then help your children or those around you with theirs. Likewise, you have to take good care of yourself first, so that you can give your very best to your loved ones.

      68. Set clear boundaries. Setting clear boundaries has many different connotations, two of the main ones being the following:

       -First, there's a time and place for everything. There's a time for work, and there's a time for relaxation. When you get home from work you should drop everything related to your work before you walk in the door. If you work at home you need to make the boundary between work and relaxation even stronger. You can create a ritual of washing your hands and face when you're ready to transition from work to relaxation, changing your clothes, or anything else that helps send a signal to your mind that it's time to shift gears.

      -Second, set clear boundaries on your time. Do not allow yourself to be interrupted when you???re in the middle of important work and do not commit yourself to doing things you don't want to do.

      69. Learn to network. Networking is the most important way of fostering relationships and business contacts. Being a good networker means that you have a wide circle of people from whom to get information and call on for help, and with whom you can share ideas.

      70. Trust your intuition. Intuition is when you know something without being sure how you know it. If you're not comfortable with the notion of a sixth sense, then simply think of intuition as the triggering of the cumulative experiences and knowledge that you've gathered through the years.

      71 - 75. Be authentic; Set your own agenda instead of being pulled into the agenda of others; Break the rules; Do the unexpected; Be unforgettable.

Tags - self-perfection

Where did your money come from?

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 12:58:16 +0000

Did you have any idea about your money? Where did they come from? How did you make personal financial plan?
If still this never occurred to you even during this world depression, still you spent as many as you could on pretty things you favored without any saving plan, then you've been out.
Fashion ladies always learnt new stuff once situation changed. What this financial crisis taught was: always prepared for the unpredictable winter.
Here is the coordinate system made up of four quadrants to show where did the money come from. It gave you a full picture about money and helped you making plan accordingly.

Employee: Most of us situated in this quadrant: secretary, sales, engineers, workers, even professional managers. You are an employee as long as you work for a company, or someone else. This provided you a stable income periodically, like monthly, quarterly, even yearly. Maybe every employee would express their dissatisfaction to their work if being asked, including you and me. But remember, this provided your security financially even if not making you pretty rich.
Self-employee: It means you work for yourself. You could be a freelancer, a web master, or even running a store on internet. Whatever you engaged in, it needed courage, persistence, and willing to learn some new staff to make yourself professional. It's full of challenge. But once you make it, it brought you fabulous experiments and extra income.
Boss: This quadrant was even smaller, as it means you have an organization (enterprises or non-profit) working for you. You must take responsibility for your organization and the staff within. You must bear the results no matter good or bad.
Invest: If above options meant to make money by working. This quadrant is about money makes money. Scared by the plunge of stock market, and try everything you can to avoid 'invest' There are other conservative but safer financial products still work. Learning something about personal finance was good for you. But before invest, save first.

Tags - money , personal-financial-plan