Become an Automotive Technician

Become an Automotive Technician

The Automotive Industry & Automotive Technicians

Have you guys (and gals) seen all the new hybrid cars out there? These gasoline-electric vehicles are becoming more and more common, and this is just the beginning. It will probably be only a matter of time before these hybrid cars are the dominant cars on the road. With these new hybrids becoming more and more mainstream, the door to the automotive technician industry is wide open to anyone who wants to learn more about these hybrids, and other cars, and how they work, and how to fix them.

Automotive Degrees & Automotive Training

To work in the automotive industry you have to have a thorough knowledge of all kinds of cars, including how they work so that you can diagnose and fix a problem quickly and accurately. Many automotive technicians learn their skills through formal training programs. These are available in some high schools, or through an automotive training or degree program from a vocational school or technical college like UTI, the Universal Technical Institute . With automotive training, or an automotive degree you will not only become qualified to work with different kinds of cars, but with motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles, motor scooters, mopeds, and small engines as well.

Are you the kind of Person to be an Automotive Technician?

I’m sure that there is a lot of training involved to become an automotive technician, but before all of that a genuine interest in cars and engines and how they work is a must. Also, being a good troubleshooter and problem solver, a good communicator, and good with your hands will undoubtedly help you to succeed in this field. And not only succeed, but really enjoy it as well.

If you love cars, or know a lot about cars, and if you are the type of person who likes to see the results of your work, and get a feeling of accomplishment form your work, you will probably really enjoy working in the automotive industry. Training at a technical school like UTIcan be the first step to making a career in the automotive industry a reality.

Become an Automotive Technician

Become an Automotive Technician

Ale Fischer is a freelance writer who contributes to go-2-college.com, an Education Portal and College Guide.

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What is Mindfulness?

The concept of mindfulness has actually been around for thousands of years. Its origins can be found in the earliest Buddhist teachings (2500 years ago). It has been used over the centuries in traditional eastern contemplative practices like Hatha Yoga and other meditation practices. Zen masters taught mindfulness to enlightened monks in the ultimate acceptance of their own existence.

However, the way we use the term here, Mindfulness should not be confused with inward focused mysticism or spirituality. Today Mindfulness not only refers to the acceptance of one’s reality but what one does with that reality. As we use it, Mindfulness is the skill of living in the moment and relating to the world in a nonjudgmental and reflexive as oppose to reactive fashion.

In recent years, science and westernization have adapted Mindfulness so that it can be cultivated daily, used without years of practice, and be compatible and useful within almost any modern human activity. Mindfulness is simply an introspective method for grounding your thoughts, emotions and behaviors in the reality you are currently experiencing, so you can stand back, observe, understand yourself more fully and take care of your needs.

The act of Mindfulness is the ability to focus your attention on your inner thoughts while letting go of past or future worries. It will take some practice to witness your thoughts popping up and then going away without self-criticism, but it can be achieved by most people without extensive training, just daily practice. For instance, just watching your breathing can have a calming effect on your mind and slowly restore your sense of well-being. When you quiet your thoughts about what you have to do and your feelings dictating what you want to do, your intuitive mind takes over. Here you gently move from dwelling on the past or future to being focused on what you are doing right at this moment. Being in this state of Mindfulness allows you to listen to your gut and discover what you truly need. Mindfulness allows you to acknowledge your feelings, witness your thoughts and redirect yourself away from distraction.

We live in era of constant upheaval and change. Actually, most of us get through life on autopilot. Our brain gets filled with restless ideas and memories that are hard to keep track of especially when we become stressed. We tend to “tune out” and just “try to get through the day.”

Everyone’s mind naturally wanders, but when you practice Mindfulness you are aware of your mind wandering and can gradually redirect it back to the present. Mindfulness allows you to gently quiet all the noise in your head. Paying attention to your breathing, tracking your thoughts, or scanning your body for tension are just few of the many ways to reduce mental chatter. With Mindful practice, you can learn to remove the tendency to jump to conclusions, make assumptions and idle judgments, and recognize that your negative or positive feelings are coming from you and not the external world around you.

Dr Marsha Linehan, founder of Evidence Based Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) says we need to adopt a “Reflexive Mind” in order to cope with distress and change. Here, your mind is trained to act like Teflon, nothing sticks to it long enough to attach. Mindfulness has been shown to bring calmness and patience to those who embrace the practice. People who practice daily Mindfulness are processing life rather than analyzing its content. The ultimate state of Mindfulness is mental resiliency.

In fact Mindfulness can also help you stay focused and aware even when you are engaged in mundane activities such as driving, eating, and walking. Research has shown its positive effects on boosting the immune system, managing pain, reducing stress and cultivating personal awareness.

A beginning Mindful sequence may involve:

- Sitting in a quiet and comfortable location

- Thinking about where you are and what you are doing at this very moment

- Closing your eyes

- Allowing thoughts about what already or will happen move in an out of your consciousness with your non-judging mind and gentle persuasion

- Focusing on the sensations of breathing each breath and noticing what that does to your belly, nostrils and lungs

- Making note of every thought and feeling that comes up and then returning to your breathing to further anchor your attention

- Observing your mind but, not getting stuck on any one particular thought or feeling as your breathing becomes more natural, full and steady

- Opening your eyes and looking at something you have seen before with a fresh perspective.

What are Affirmations?

Affirmations are declarative statements about something you now know, did, or intend to do. When you use an Affirmation you are not only being aware of your thoughts, but you are taking conscious control of them. When you say, write, read or even think of an Affirmation, you are, in effect, taking steps to acknowledge what is worthwhile about you.

Studies have shown that most of our daily thoughts are negative. Working with Affirmations makes you aware of how self-defeating thoughts chip away at your creativity. Affirmations help you create a new reality and visualize what you essentially want out of life.

Negativity can threaten your health and happiness. In fact, when you are not paying attention to your thinking, you are more liable to pessimistic and not realistic or optimistic. The more you are aware of what you are actually telling yourself, the more upbeat you will sound. Using command based phraseology, keeping the Affirmation in the present tense and making it reality based offers you more reinforcement. Repeatedly telling yourself that you are, or will be, deserving, healthy, and successful, the more your positive determination will flow. You’re more likely to see a bounce in your step and a lift in your life by using daily Affirmations.

What are Mindful Affirmations?

Mindful Affirmations ” are not just inspirational sayings. We use the term as thought provoking phrases that loosely derive from Mindfulness ideas of Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn, who founded the medical and meditative models of Mindfulness. He came up with Eight Stations of Mindful Meditation:

- Smile

- Breathe

- Arrive

- Attend

- Find the essence

- Slow down

- Listen

- See things with a new perspective

Mindful Affirmations incorporate one or more of these active stations into each passage in order to support the Mindful notion of keeping an “open mind,” where possibilities have no limits. They are not meditations as used by Dr Zinn and others. Mindful Affirmations take ordinary Affirmations like “Your self-confidence will carry you on,” and make them more reality based so the reader can gradually acknowledge and accept the truth about their life. An example of expanding the above Affirmation into a Mindful Affirmation would be “I barely thought of my own self-worth until I saw myself going backwards in life. Letting myself go and losing all I had gained made me feel stuck and dependent. I now see how harnessing my self-esteem can help me not only find my way but, carry me through life.”

This phraseology helps to evoke not only the reader’s subconscious mind, but keeps the reader focused on the key of Mindfulness, just being in the moment.

Pain is about growth and is inevitable. Unfortunately, too many of us have become addicted to suffering… but suffering is optional! Mindful Affirmations make our conscious and subconscious minds look at our pain and release our fears about the unknown. Our inner subconscious mind has the desire for change but doesn’t know just what to change or how to do it. Our outer conscious mind desires to be relaxed, in balance and accept our state of affairs. When working in concert our two minds remove expectations/accusations and allow us to gently examine our feelings, thoughts and behaviors about the past without dwelling or being judgmental.

When Mindful Affirmations are written in the first person they can help the reader not only empathize with the writer, but slowly begin to accept and validate their own pain, saying inside themselves, “I guess I am not alone.” Mindful Affirmations not only break down the reader’s self-imposed isolation but offer them options for change such as in the passage, “I now see that responding rather than reacting will build a healthy interpersonal world for myself.”

It has been my clinical experience that each time I ask a patient to read a Mindful Affirmation, they mention to me that they now see their old problem in a different way. One of the core values of Mindfulness is to be able to see yourself and the world around you with a “new set of eyes.”

The focus is on accepting, commitment and learning (refers to “ACT” therapy) a new way of living or looking at life. Mindful Affirmations help the reader’s mind stay engaged while supporting the surrender of old baggage and unfulfilled expectations.

Mindful Affirmations use positive assertions like “I feel happy,” but allow our present awareness to reinforce our declaration giving us clarity of thought to see our options. It is a coping strategy. For example, the statement “When I am stressed I make myself sit and take notice of my surroundings,” supports your inner desire to stay calm and centered rather than be overwhelmed and scattered.

The book takes Affirmations to the next level by first talking about how “I” (the reader) arrived at the state of not being able to take control, what resulted, and how “I” plan to take command of my life in the future.

Using these three components to the Affirmation not only supports the drive to do better, but plants the seed more firmly that “I” will make progress and “I” can learn from my past. Mindful Affirmations are cyclical in nature. Each time a negative feeling comes up the reader has a choice to make good or bad decisions. The truth is that we are more likely to accomplish what we set out to do, if we are keenly aware of how the past made us feel and what consequences may lie ahead.

Mindful Affirmations help you not only face reality, but look beyond it by challenging your old mental dialogue with a new perspective. Mindful Affirmations allow you to step back from life enough to examine regrets and embrace new options. Mindful Affirmations help you discover that who you really are is what keeps you alive, vital and present.

Dr Unger’s new book “Presence of Mind – Mindful Affirmations” is available at the website Store.

Real Psych Solutions ( http://www.realpsychsolutions.com ) provides Real Psychology Solutions: Practical Self-Help Materials for Mental Health and Living Well and is physically located at The Center for Empowerment in Dana Point, CA, but has a global online following. It was founded by Arlene Unger, PhD (PSY) and Stefan Unger, PhD in 2009.

Real Psych Solutions aims to provide useful and practical self-help materials based on the work of licensed mental health and medical professionals, certified lifestyle and wellness coaches and other recognized experts. We have lots of Free Materials and Resources from many Authors, as well as an online Store with valuable and insightful, but economically priced, items.

? 2010 Arlene Unger, PhD. All rights reserved. This article may be reproduced “as is”, i.e. without change or fees.

“One comes to believe whatever one repeats to oneself sufficiently often, whether the statement be true or false. It comes to be dominating thought in one’s mind.”

– Robert Collier

Repetition of words creates repetition of thoughts.

Repetition of thoughts creates reality.

By intentionally choosing the words that wallpaper your mind, you change the tone of the room in which you live and you change the life you are living.

******* The Power of Words *******

We typically dilute our words by drawing them from vague and conflicted states of mind. We present a muddy impression on the creative medium in which we live and our reality mirrors our dull efforts. This is so easy to remedy that you may actually shock yourself with your radical improvement in results as you become more intentional with your affirmations.

Words are not just signposts that point to meaning. When we use them to simply report what we observe it’s like using a racecar to deliver newspapers.

Words are powerful instruments of manifestation. When given an open road they will perform extraordinary feats.

******* Eliminate These Words *******

We use certain words habitually and somewhat unconsciously. By eliminating them from your affirmations, you will automatically begin implementing 2 of the 3 ways to supercharge your affirmations, without even yet knowing what these 3 ways are.

Here are the words to eliminate:

no, not, don’t, doesn’t, never, won’t, can’t, stop, quit, will, am going to, should, want to, plan to, hope to.

Every time you create an affirmation, check for these words. If you find them, reword your affirmation without them.

******* 3 Superchargers for Your Affirmations *******

Supercharger #1

==>Always Affirm in the Present Tense

When you are creating an affirmation, you are like an artist creating a painting. Whatever you affirm with your paintbrush becomes the reality on the canvas. As an affirmation artist, you do not have colors on your palette. Your words are your paint. You are pulling potential realities from the formless realm into the manifest realm through the narrow birth canal of your carefully chosen words.

Choose your words in the present tense so that the reality you choose becomes experienced now. Now is the only time that has the mystical power to pour forth a manifestation. If you word your affirmations in the future by saying, “I will…,” you keep that carrot dangling in the fictitious future and you pull the plug on the power of your affirmations. A surefire way to begin an affirmation is with the sacred words, “I am…”

Supercharger #2

==> Always Affirm in the Positive

You are bothering to create an affirmation because you are living something unwanted and you desire a change. It is only natural that you would understand your desire as not wanting what you’ve got. But if you point your affirmation toward getting rid of a habit or condition, if you say what you will not do, or if you affirm that something will go away, you are actually chaining yourself to it.

It simply does not work.

In fact you’d be better off not to affirm at all because this sort of negative affirmation is like affirming the opposite of what you want. Remember, to affirm means to make firm. It is the process of bringing things into form. Remember also that the universe does not hear the word “no.” So whatever you are talking about, whether you are affirming or denying it, you are in effect, affirming it.

Instead of saying, “I will quit smoking,” which is both in the future and negative, say something like:

All my actions are healthy and intentional. I choose my actions and I enjoy all my choices. I am in charge of my actions. I have healthy life affirming habits. I love being in charge of my life.

Supercharger #3

==> Feel as if it’s Already True

Once you have a well-chosen phrase to affirm, one that is positive, in the present tense, and feels good when you consider it, enter into its world. Step into the affirmation as if it were already your reality. When you say it, imagine that it is already true. Feel how you would feel if it were already manifest. Steps 1 and 2 build a powerful rocket. Step 3 lights the fuse and sends it off with a blast.

Affirmations can literally change your life. They are free. Everyone has equal access to them, and they work day and night, always ready and willing to bring your good to you. Use these 3 superchargers every time you do an affirmation process and watch your life transform before our eyes.

Find out more about the power of affirmations at the Affirmative Contemplation website at http://www.AffirmativeContemplation.com . You can receive Dr. Rebbie Straubing’s Free e-Course, 7 Secrets for Manifesting Your Heart’s Desire, at http://www.yofa.net/7secret.html . Dr. Rebbie Straubing is a workshop leader, Abraham Coach, and inspirational writer.

How to Become a Wellness Coach

How to Become a Wellness Coach

Since switching careers in 2005 I’ve found it absolutely astonishing the amount of questions I continually get from people interested in becoming a wellness coach. Back when I was in the environmental software industry I can’t remember one time that a person had asked me to provide an informational interview! Now it seems that I get a request for this at least monthly – and I love sharing what I do.

With all these requests in mind, I thought it would be a good idea to share my experience with wellness coaching, provide some background on what exactly coaching is, and give those of you with interest in learning more a foundation for making decisions as to how you might want to move forward.

What is a Wellness Coach?

This is an excellent question and a good starting point for these discussions. ‘Wellness’ has become a popular word as of late – and it carries with it a vast array of meanings based on who you talk to. Wellness coaches support their clients in creating lifestyle change such that they get more of their definition of wellness into their lives. You notice that I emphasize a key element of coaching is to listen to and understand how the client defines wellness as that is really what is important to improve their life.

How does a Wellness Coach differ from a Nutritionist or Trainer?

There are many Wellness Coaches that are nutritionists and personal trainers, however not all trainers and nutritionists are Wellness Coaches (and vice versa). The biggest difference is the approach that is taken towards achieving goals. A personal trainer is typically hired to provide guidance, motivation, education, hands on support and to tell you how to achieve your goals. This support is very appropriate in many cases. A nutritionist has a similar function, they are trained to provide information, guidance and design a recipe for success when someone has very specific dietary needs and goals. Again, they serve a fantastic role in supporting their clients through the questions they have.

A Wellness Coach takes a much different approach when working with clients. Fundamentally a coach assumes that you have your own answers. Certainly there are opportunities for education and sharing information when appropriate (and this information should be shared only in the coaches areas of expertise), however the focus of a wellness coach is one of empowering the client to clearly see for themselves the most appropriate path forward such that they can make sustainable, long term lifestyle changes. This is much different than telling them what they need to do today. It involves discussing goals, a vision, and designing a plan together.

A wellness coach will ask empowering questions to the client that re-enforce their compelling reasons to make healthy lifestyle decisions rather than telling them the reason why they should make change. A coach will provide tools for motivation, goal setting, self discovery and embrace the fact that no two clients will need to have the same approach in making lifestyle change. As you can see the quality and depth of conversation that a wellness coach and a trainer will be very different.

Corporate and Private opportunities for Wellness Coaching?

10 years ago, there were very few people operating under the title of ‘Wellness Coach’. For that matter the term ‘Life Coach’ was extremely rare to come by as well – both are careers that have been recognized in the mainstream today. Many Wellness Coaches operate their own business. They draw from their background, market themselves, and present a coaching offering to clients that benefit from their services. Typically a wellness coach will work with clients in the area of nutrition, exercise, weight control, stress management, and some coach on areas of relationships, sleep quality, disease management, and life balance. If you are interested in knowing the specific areas that a coach focuses on – refer to his/her biography, as the topics can vary. Generally speaking, unless the coach is branching out into other talents/markets, they tend to focus on these primary areas.

With the growing trends towards increased longevity and increased waist size – it seems that the market for these talents would be huge. The truth is that there is a huge need – however as a new occupation just gaining recognition in the mainstream society you still see relatively few wellness coaches in relation to conventional healthcare practitioners, nutritionists, trainers etc. This is often why you see many coaches wear multiple hats.

Many more opportunities are beginning to arise in the corporate environment. A number of progressive companies (including Sutter Health in Northern California) are recognizing the value of designing healthy lifestyle’s as a preventative measure such to curb escalating health care costs. A handful of employers are offering wellness coaching programs as an employee incentive. Its simply good business to show this commitment to their employees. Implementing Wellness Coaching programs creates a corporate culture of health and wellness, it facilitates learning, and most importantly is welcomed by employees looking for the key to making sustainable lifestyle changes.

For those wondering if they can get a job with a company offering these services, you may find that these corporate jobs at the moment are few and far between (but there are always opportunities if you create them). I personally expect a number of new wellness initiatives to explode in corporate America within the next decade. A large part of this will be varieties of wellness coaching programs.

What kind of training do you need to be a Wellness Coach?

A good question to ask is what differentiates a wellness coach from a nutritionist or trainer. The fact of the matter is that there are no ‘requirements’ for an individual to label their business as ‘coaching’. We see this trend in executive coaching, life coaching, business coaching, and real estate coaching. There are no laws that require a certain certification to call yourself a coach in any field! So go ahead and call yourself a coach – but be ready to explain why you are a coach and not a trainer etc. when someone asks (obviously this is not my recommendation).

So that is interesting – then what kind of training do I typically need. Well a strong foundation in nutrition, exercise physiology, stress management, or combination of these will be a great starting point. To truly master coaching, I would recommend going through an accredited coach training program to learn the keys to communicating as a coach and supporting people in finding their own answers. Typically one of these courses takes 12 months to 3 years as they require a number of practical application hours as well. There are a variety of programs with different emphasis, so my suggestion is to find one that fits well with you.

There are programs specifically tailored for wellness coaches to learn the fundamentals of coaching in relation to health and wellness. These tend to be shorter courses (on the range of 3-6 months) and are not accredited by the major credentialing organizations. The most popular example is wellcoaches – an online/on phone training program that gives you the basics and foundation of becoming a coach. This is a great start – my personal preference is a full life coach training program as it goes into great depth for developing listening schools and understanding client perspectives and I found the program I attended to be absolutely fantastic.

As a side note – I strongly believe that within the next 10 years we will also see a change in the coaching industry. The International Coach Federation and other credentialing agencies are pushing strongly to honor and recognize the title of ‘Coach’ or- similar to that of RDA, MFT etc. The current credentials available through the ICF are ACC (associate certified coach), PCC (professional certified coach) and MCC (master certified coach).

The Future of Wellness Coaching

Having a private business and working in the corporate environment I’ve seen huge changes in the past couple years alone. I have no reason to believe that wellness coaching will slow its pace of growth. As I introduced this article, I mentioned how often I am asked the question of what it is that I do and how can I get involved. This is exciting to me as it shows me how much interest and concern there is in changing our countries wellness perspective. This is exciting to me and seeing the shift in our mentality and lifestyle to one of prevention rather than treatment is a huge step in the right direction.

For those of you interested in knowing more about coaching, there are numerous articles posted throughout this website on coaching models, how to create lifestyle change and personal development. I hope you find these resources useful in your journey in wellness.

“If you’ve found this site useful, please link to it so that others can benefit!”

Be Well

How to Become a Wellness Coach

How to Become a Wellness Coach

Written by Doug Nau, i-grow.net

Doug Nau received a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Studies from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1996. In 2003, he attained his Masters in Busines Administration from the University of Arizona. Doug has been trained as a life coach at the Academy for Coaching Excellence in Sacramento, CA and in addition to running ‘The Wellness Coach’, he also works part time as a Lifestyle Management Coach with the Sutter Health system in Northern California. Doug is a member of the International Coaching Federation and has been successfully in business since early 2006.

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Abandoned, Abused Animals – Become Animal Foster Homes!

Abandoned, Abused Animals – Become Animal Foster Homes!

If you love animals and want to help them you should consider being an animal foster parent. You can volunteer to take animals into your home and take care of them until the rescue can find a “permanent home” for the animal. Most rescues prefer to put dogs in homes where you have a fenced yard, a safe home with ample room for the dogs. If you have children they will consider your children’s ages as well. Many small breed dogs aren’t always good with small children in the home under 12 years of age.

You will need lots of love, patience, understanding and time for the cats or dogs placed into your home. The animal will probably have some bad traits that you may need to work on as they have may have accidents in the house that you will need to correct or house train them. Also the dogs may have other issues that they will need some training with to make them better pets to potential owners. Whatever basic skills and training you can give the animal will help them become more appealing for their prospective families.

The animal rescue will want to have reports on how the animal is with you, your children and cats, dogs that they get along with. If you don’t have any other pets you can take your dog or cat to visit family or friends to see how well they get along with others, their children or pets. You need to see how well the animal interacts with others. If you drive the dog to the park you can record how well the dog travels in the car and how well they interact with other dogs at the park. This helps the animal rescue give new prospective owners information about their future pet so it makes it easier to place the animal in a new home.

Foster parents will also be responsible to take their animal to the vet for vaccinations, spading/neutering, dental care or any other needs of the animal. Most rescue groups pay for these costs so make sure they do before you proceed to do any work on the animals.

Fostering animals is hard work and you can become attached to the animals that you care for but you are helping many animals find good homes instead of being euthanized. It will also bring you great satisfaction that you helped one more animal to find a good quality home and then you can go on to help another.

You will need lots of love, patience, understanding and time for the cats or dogs placed into your home. The animal will probably have some bad traits that you may need to work on as they have may have accidents in the house that you will need to correct or house train them. Also the dogs may have other issues that they will need some training with to make them better pets to potential owners. Whatever basic skills and training you can give the animal will help them become more appealing for their prospective families.

The animal rescue will want to have reports on how the animal is with you, your children and cats, dogs that they get along with. If you don’t have any other pets you can take your dog or cat to visit family or friends to see how well they get along with others, their children or pets. You need to see how well the animal interacts with others. If you drive the dog to the park you can record how well the dog travels in the car and how well they interact with other dogs at the park. This helps the animal rescue give new prospective owners information about their future pet so it makes it easier to place the animal in a new home.

Foster parents will also be responsible to take their animal to the vet for vaccinations, spading/neutering, dental care or any other needs of the animal. Most rescue groups pay for these costs so make sure they do before you proceed to do any work on the animals.

Fostering animals is hard work and you can become attached to the animals that you care for but you are helping many animals find good homes instead of being euthanized. It will also bring you great satisfaction that you helped one more animal to find a good quality home and then you can go on to help another.

Abandoned, Abused Animals – Become Animal Foster Homes!

Abandoned, Abused Animals - Become Animal Foster Homes!

Jeannette McQueen-Nobbs or Queenie1 has written some articles and was published. She has also written an eBook.

Her blogs are:
http://petsweecare.blogspot.com
http://ancestrynme.blogspot.com

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How to Become a Costume Jewelry Vendor

How to Become a Costume Jewelry Vendor

If you have decided that you would like to try your hand at becoming a costume jewelry vendor, you will need to consider a few things that will have a tremendous impact on the success of your business. Finding a niche and branding are two things that are often overlooked by many first time business start ups.

When considering retail jewelry as a business, it is important to realize that there are different types that people buy. This is good, because it gives you an opportunity to find a specific demand for which you can be the sole supplier within your demographic. This will also help you develop a specific brand which will set you apart from any competitors. A big mistake people often make when starting a business is that they feel that they need to be everything to every one. As backwards as this seems, this waters down your appeal and may actually hurt you in the long run! Remember this: When you try to be all things to all people, you become nothing to everybody. What makes you special as a business is what separates you from your competitors. This means that you need to build limits for yourself and stick to them.

A good exercise for starting businesses is to write a positioning statement. Taking the time to sit down and figure out what exactly is special about what you have to offer, and exactly who your target market is going to be will have a huge impact on the success of your business later on down the road. This positioning statement will come in handy when it comes time to make tough business decisions.

Various niches withing the costume jewelry market are: cheap jewelry, antique jewelry, collectible jewelry, signed costume jewelry, rhinestone jewelry, jewelry from particular era’s such as the 1940′s. The list goes on and on. You can go online and find good wholesale costume jewelry vendors for just about any of these markets.

How to Become a Costume Jewelry Vendor

How to Become a Costume Jewelry Vendor

Knowing what you want to sell, and who you want to sell it to are two very basic but often overlooked aspects of learning how to become a costume jewelry vendor [http://mywholesalecostumejewelry.com/?p=23/]. For information about what it takes to become a costume jewelry vendor, visit My Wholesale Costume Jewelry [http://mywholesalecostumejewelry.com/].

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Get Cheap Online Means Tested, Or Real Free Means Test, Become Chapter 7 or 13 Bankruptcy Qualified

Get Cheap Online Means Tested, Or Real Free Means Test, Become Chapter 7 or 13 Bankruptcy Qualified

THE FEAR OF MEANS TEST IN BANKRUPTCY: IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE DIFFICULT OR DREADED OR COSTLY. YOU COULD GET CHEAP ONLINE MEANS TESTED TO KNOW IF YOU’RE QUALIFIED TO FILE CHAPTER 7 OR CHAPTER 13.

Put simply, the procedure known as “means test” in personal bankruptcy, is generally viewed among bankruptcy lawyers and other professionals as probably the most hated, most odious and tedious undertaking in personal bankruptcy filing. The procedure has been variously described by bankruptcy lawyers and practitioners, in terms such as this: “the most difficult part of filing for bankruptcy.”

One observer, Daniel Sitarz, a bankruptcy professional and author who practices law in Florida, calls it: “perhaps the most complicated form that the federal government has ever devised for use by the general public,” adding that “It makes income tax returns look like child’s play. It is a very complex form, with very difficult mathematical calculations.”

Another attorney, Susanne M. Robicsek, a North Carolina practitioner, put it this way:

“My personal experience with the Means Test has been that it has made bankruptcy more difficult on lower and middle class clients and gives absurd results for many people… Determining how to calculate the income to use in the Means Test as well as what expenses are allowed to be deducted is confusing for even the most experienced bankruptcy lawyers, and I believe it places an unnecessary burden on many innocent debtors. Since the results of the means test can be bizzare, I find this requirement to be ridiculous.”

IN FACT, THIS ‘TEST’ MAY HAVE BEEN DELIBERATELY MADE TO BE DIFFICULT JUST SO YOU’LL BE SCARED AWAY FROM FILING BANKRUPTCY!

In deed, some bankruptcy experts have made the point that the ‘means test’ form is unnecessarily tedious and complicated, and that it has been made to be so purely by deliberate design. That it is deliberately drafted to be EXACTLY that way by the banking and credit industry lawyers who crafted the new 2005 law that introduced the means testing process into bankruptcy practice, so as to achieve what is said to have been the original primary objective of the industry in getting the new law enacted in 2005. That objective, they say, has been simply this: to frustrate and try to discourage debtors from using the bankruptcy option, especially Chapter 7, in freeing themselves of their debts by making it more difficult, more taxing, and more expensive for the average debtor to afford or to

undertake bankruptcy.

“It was designed [to be as highly complex in order]…to discourage people from using bankruptcy to eliminate their debts,” said Daniel Sitarz, the Florida bankruptcy lawyer, author and expert in the field, who has studied the issue.

The primary design and effect of the 2005 Bankruptcy Act, according to another bankruptcy expert, has been “to discourage the use of bankruptcy to eliminate debts,… and to make filing for bankruptcy far more complex and confusing,…[thus, Congress] brought extensive changes to the bankruptcy law, many designed expressly to discourage the use of bankruptcy to eliminate debts.”

HOW REALLY DIFFICULT OR FEARED IS THE THAT PROCEDURE FOR DEBTORS?

Actually, a whole lot! So confusing and complicated is this 7-page means test form, that it has been estimated that the number of man-hours required to put the form and the calculations of the form together, the can be compared to that needed to prepare two or three complete bankruptcies under the old bankruptcy laws. However, it should not be treated as being so difficult that a debtor cannot readily become Chapter 7 or 13 qualified.

Basically, the process is a long, 7-page document with about 85 questions that you have to answer and a series of multiple mathematical calculations that you have to perform. Filling out this form and doing the countless number of mathematical calculations it requires, involves having to gather different standardized data and information for various personal expense items that may be allowable to the bankruptcy filer from many, many different government agencies (mostly through their websites on the Internet), and requires you to make a multitude of mathematical calculations by following instructions provided in the form. You will have to obtain various IRS and U.S. Census data (generally obtainable from either your local Bankruptcy court’s office, or online from the website of the U.S. Bankruptcy Trustee’s office) in completing the form.

Completing this form relies not just on the personal financial information that’s under your control, but requires access to complex and multiple data compiled from various agencies, ranging from the IRS to the Census Bureau and the Department of Health and Human Services, and others, to be able to answer them. Consequently, the answers to the questions posed in this form require the virtual brain power of a really smart computer. So much so that for a newbie trying to find out if he qualifies to file bankruptcy, or Chapter 7 or 13, it could take him days, even weeks, of sheer frustration, confusion, drudgery, and waste of previous time!

The Result?

One major result has been the impact on the cost of filing bankruptcy. Since the new bankruptcy law and its introduction of the means testing requirement became a part of the personal bankruptcy process in 2005, many commercial attorneys who do bankruptcy, have often complained that they now operate under many strict additional restrictions and greater paperwork placed on them by the new law regarding their practice, a major part of which new additional paperwork, they say, has been the means test requirement. The charge for bankruptcy work attributed only to the fact of the means test operation alone by bankruptcy lawyers and law firms, has been estimated to be upwards of $250 per debtor just for the means testing work, which fee then gets passed on to the debtor as the overall billing for a client’s filing work.

But does this testing really need to be so dreaded or feared? Does it have to be so expensive?

Actually, you can today readily Get Cheap Online Bankruptcy Means Test on the Cheap, Or Real Free Means Test to Determine You’re Qualified To File Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 Bankruptcy -. without the hassle or hype, and at the most inexpensive and affordable costs, that you can well afford

For, the fact is that, actually, the degree of the hype and purported “difficulty” and complexity which many have often attributed to the means testing procedure, or the rather inordinate degree of dread, fear and stress with which the topic is treated by some, is in some ways unduly overblown and over exaggerated. To be sure, truly the means test exercise is a time-consuming, immensely confused and confusing operation which could often unnecessarily involve expenditure of many previous man-hours of tedious labor, especially to the untrained hand. But here’s the point: it does not have to be! Even with its famous nominal “difficulty” and seeming complexity, doing the means test paperwork – essentially completing the bankruptcy Official Forms 22A & 22B – could easily be made to be a far less intimidating, less tedious, less costly, and less stressful and “difficult” experience for both the preparer of the form as well as the debtor himself for whom it is meant!

Steven Jakubowski. A Chicago lawyer, calls the means test “BAPCPA’s barking dog.” “It turns out there is more bark than bite to the means test,” he adds, in that because of the many modifications that have been made to the means test procedures over the years since its inception, “only a handful of debtors will ever flunk it.”

John T Orcutt, a knowledgeable North Carolina bankruptcy attorney, says of it, it is “more of a pain than preventative.”

Stephen Elias and his co-authors of a book on bankruptcy filing procedures, says of the means test: “It turns out, however, [that] very few people need to worry about this new test: Contrary to what the supporters of the BAPCPA thought, the vast majority of those who use Chapter 7 have little or no income to spare. As a result, almost every one who wants to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy can still do so.”

AND THE REASONS?

There are several reasons why many with real intimate knowledge of the true workings of the bankruptcy system, have a view of the means test procedure as simply nothing more than a “toothless, paper tiger” undeserving of being feared or glorified in any way.

1. First, for the average debtor, chances are you probably are not even subject to the means test, in the first place. This is because, in actuality, unless you fail the so-called “Median Test”- which is the very first part of the Means Test – you probably won’t have to do the Means Test at all. Only about 15% of some chapter 7 bankruptcy filers have been estimated to fall under this category.

2. The means test is replete with so many “loopholes” so that any skilled hand experienced in means testing procedures, can almost always get the debtor a “pass” in a means test. Said John T. Orcutt, the knowledgeable North Carolina bankruptcy attorney: “Even if you have what a means test problem, an experienced bankruptcy attorney [or other professionals similarly experienced in simple form completion] may be able to navigate the issues and get you passing with flying colors.”

Orcutt gives away some of the tricks of the trade this way: “Where there’s a means, there’s a way….there are loopholes to the Means Test. For example, you can time your bankruptcy filing so that your average income is as low as possible. So, if you’ve lost your job,…you [may] delay your filing so that your income for the past six months falls below the ‘Median,’ and thereby bypassing the Means Test.”

THERE’S NEW, BETTER, BUT CHEAP & AFFORDABLE REMEDY

The central point I want to make, is that what it really comes down to, in a nutshell, is that the supposed “difficulty” associated with the means testing procedure, is actually much ado about nothing being sounded mostly by some bankruptcy attorneys. One can today readily Get Cheap Online Means Tested, Or Real Free Means Test, to Become Chapter 7 or 13 Qualified. You can readily calculate bankruptcy mean. With nothing more than just a little training or coaching or some experience in the process, one can almost always readily undertake, successfully, the completion of this form called the “means test,” much like the average person who completes his own tax form does nowadays year-after-year, with only some little outside assistance from a tax form preparation assistant without much ado or fanfare! Or much scare or fear, or much expense! – Get Cheap Online Means Tested, Or Real Free Means Test, Become Chapter 7 or 13 Bankruptcy Qualified

The point is that the American debtors and consumers need not be told or be given the impression that they legitimately need to dread and fear means testing. Nor, do they have to be told or given the impression that means testing is or should be a costly undertaking! It ought not to be so, for the facts on the ground do not actually support or bear out that claim.

This writer has made one recent rather comforting discovery. That, fortunately for the American consumers and debtors, you can get cheap online mean tested, or get real free means test to become Chapter 7 or 13 qualified. There are now today a handful of credible real free online bankruptcy test providers available, which are trained and experienced specialists doing only that procedure. They would get debtors who’re merely interested in filing bankruptcy and first knowing whether or not they qualify to file for bankruptcy, fully means tested at fairly cheap and affordable prices for the average debtor. Prices which, since they are for preparation of the routine Means Test form, are more in line with charges you’d find from your average tax preparer for preparation of your routine annual tax return forms!

FOR FOLLOW-UP INFORMATION

The good news today is that you can today, without having to endure the traditional hassle, fear mongering, or high expense of doing it, calculate calculate your bankruptcy mean easily, you can get cheap online means tested, or get real free online means test, to determine you’re qualified to file chapter 7 or chapter 13 bankruptcy.

To get more information about this subject matter, or about how to get a cheap or real free online means test provider that will provide a high quality means test document but without hassle or hype and at the most inexpensive and affordable costs, please visit this site: http://www.FreeBankruptcyMeansTest.com

Get Cheap Online Means Tested, Or Real Free Means Test, Become Chapter 7 or 13 Bankruptcy Qualified

Get Cheap Online Means Tested, Or Real Free Means Test, Become Chapter 7 or 13 Bankruptcy Qualified

Benjamin Anosike, Ph.D., has been dubbed by experts and reviewers of his many books, manuals and body of work, which dwell largely on self-help law issues, as “the man who almost literally wrote the book on the use of self-help law methods” by America’s consumers in doing their own routine legal chores – in uncontested divorce, will-making, simple probate, settlement of a dead person’s estate, simple no-asset bankruptcy, etc.

A pioneer and intellectual and moral leader of the 1970s-based “you do your own law” movement and a lifelong vehement advocate and veteran of historical battles for the right of the American consumers to perform their own tasks in the area of routine legal matters, Anosike was one of the pioneers who fought and survived (along with many others of courage) the lawyers’ and organized bar’s stiff war of the 1970s and ’80s against American consumers and entrepreneurs who merely sought, then, to use, write, distribute or sell law-related self-help books and kits for non-lawyers to do their own law, upon the lawyers’ claim then that such was purportedly “unauthorized practice of law” or “practicing law without a license.” Anosike holds graduate degrees in labor economics and management and a Ph.D. in jurisprudence.

Once characterized by a review of the American Library Association’s Booklist Journal as “probably the most prolific author in the field of legal self-help today,” Dr Anosike is the author of over 26 books and manuals (and countless number of articles) on various topics of American law, including 4 volumes on personal and business bankruptcy filing, in a lifetime of dedication. For more on the subject matter discussed in this article, or on how to get a low-cost, affordable bankruptcy filing, or the author’s other books and manuals, visit this site: [http://www.Afford-Bankruptcy.Com]

Content About : Get Cheap Online Means Tested, Or Real Free Means Test, Become Chapter 7 or 13 Bankruptcy Qualified Article

Broken heart, hurt and loneliness are three perfect ingredients, which, when mixed together, make our lives dull and miserable. These three things can easily take over our lives and once part of our lives we can see nothing but unhappiness. Very little do we know that we can become happy again and learn to appreciate the feeling of love again through love affirmations. A love affirmation is a simple statement that we continually say to ourselves, which, over time, can help to bring about permanent changes in our lives.

Love affirmations help us to rediscover the love we have lost. An affirmation is a thought that we have during the day which is directly linked to our sub-consciousness. These love affirmations guide our sub-consciousness into a certain direction which can either have positive or negative effective.

To bring about a change in our lives through love affirmation we first need to start thinking positively and wave a good-bye to all our negative thoughts which leads to a unhappy life in the first place. For example instead of ‘nobody loves me’ start thinking ‘everybody loves me’. The key behind reuniting with love is to start loving yourself in the first place and feel confident about you. Adopting a positive love affirmation about yourself such as ‘I was born out of love’ can be very helpful in helping you regain your self esteem after a breakup or a rough fight.

Secondly change your attitude towards others. Respect their feelings and think that everyone deserves love just like you do. Once you adopt this love affirmation, love will find you. You will no longer see life as miserable but will find it to be filled with love.

Wording used in love affirmation is of great significance. Only use words that are simple and can be easily accepted by your mind, only then will power of love affirmations work. Preferably try to use word ‘love’ when making use of a love affirmation. Something along the lines of ‘I am worth loving’ or ‘I will find my true love’ or ‘I am committed to loving …’ are all good examples of love affirmations.

Love affirmation can not only be used to find love for yourself but it is also about discovering God’s love. For example thinking ‘I will love others as extensions of my own Self, and of the love I feel from God.’ will draw you nearer to God and His universal love.

Love affirmation also helps you understand your companion and builds a strong bond between couples. Even to find romance you first need to find your inner-love which can only be achieved through love affirmation.

Love affirmation can also be used to draw ourselves closer towards nature. Learn to love nature and most importantly spend time with nature more often. Try thinking about good things such as ‘I love the smell of fresh flower’ or ‘I feel refreshed’.

To get used to love affirmation, note down any positive thought you have during the day maybe on a piece of card or whichever way is convenient to you. During initial stages of love affirmation technique we might get negative thoughts as well. Note these negative affirmations as well and at the end of each day try replacing them with something more fruitful thought. Review your affirmations twice a day to have a maximum effect of love affirmation. Initially it takes time to step out of a dark miserable world but once you succeed in taking a step nothing can stop you and with the help from repeated love affirmations you will ultimately stop at nothing but love.

Robert Watson is a certified hypnotherapist with the ABH and the NGH, and has worked with affirmations and subliminal messages for over ten years. Visit his Subliminal Messages [http://subliminal.green-machine.info] website for more information about using affirmations and subliminal messages to help you lose weight, quit smoking, have a more positive outlook and more.

Want to Become an Auto Detailer? Car Detailing Book Review for Mobile Auto Detailers

Want to Become an Auto Detailer? Car Detailing Book Review for Mobile Auto Detailers

As a former franchisor of mobile auto detailing trailers and mobile car wash trucks throughout North America, I worked hard to turn my once small business and one-man operation into a business that would make the E-Myth author Michael Gerber quite proud. I created manuals to do the work, and a franchise-able concept.

At that time I read every book on auto detailing I could find. Including one, which I’d very much like to recommend in case you are considering starting such a business of your own someday – the name of the book I want to recommend to you, and one I have long enjoyed myself is:

“Auto Detailing for Show and Profit,” by David H. Jacobs, Jr., Motorbooks International Publishers and Wholesalers Inc., Osceola, WI, (1986), pp. 84, ISBN: 0-87938-216-3.

The book has chapters on the “detailing basics” and supplies needed, and even tools of the trade required. Learn how to clean engine areas, car interiors, exterior, and types of paint. Learn about the types of waxes, applying hand wax or using a buffer. Learn how to finish the job to perfection, and even painting inside the engine compartment. This book is perfect for the auto detailer just starting out or for a classic car buff, who likes to buy and sell, or just win at car shows.

Now then, most auto detailers learn from doing, or they shadow another expert auto detailing individual for many weeks to get the hang of it. Then, they may go off on their own, or work as a continued apprenticed. In my many years in the business, I’ve often watched new auto detailers destroy several customer’s cars over the course of 4 to 6 months, and ruin the paint.

It’s very important that those in the profession do the best they can, so they don’t give auto detailing a bad name. Sometimes that requires both street smart, and book reading. There are very few really good auto detailing instruction manuals out there, although there are a few on the Internet. This particular book is more than adequate, and it is one I would highly recommend to anybody who is serious about the car detailing industry.

Once you learn the tricks of the trade so to speak, what works, and won’t, then you can begin to get a feel for which types of products you like the best, and fit your particular style of detailing. And this book is a very good place to start. Please consider all this.

Want to Become an Auto Detailer? Car Detailing Book Review for Mobile Auto Detailers

Want to Become an Auto Detailer? Car Detailing Book Review for Mobile Auto Detailers

Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank. Lance Winslow believes it’s hard work to write 21,200 articles; http://www.bloggingcontent.net/

Content About : Want to Become an Auto Detailer? Car Detailing Book Review for Mobile Auto Detailers Article

Affirmations can play a key role in helping you to leverage daily the Law of Attraction (LOA) for your training for a marathon, half marathon, or other endurance race.

What is an affirmation?

The Law of Attraction essentially says, “We become what we think about.” And we attract more of the feelings and beliefs that we regularly affirm. This is the power behind affirmations.

Why should I use affirmations for endurance running or walking?

You should write and repeatedly read affirmations as an endurance runner or walker because they can focus the Law of Attraction on behaviors and beliefs that will support your racing goals.

Who is the subject of an affirmation?

You should be the subject of each of your affirmations, with the affirmation written in first-person, singular form (as in “I am…”). The reason that having you as the subject of the affirmation is ideal is that your unconscious mind has direct control over you but does not have direct control over anyone else.

How should I write each affirmation statement?

As a positive, not negative, statement: Your unconscious mind will ignore any “no” or “not” in a statement. For example, your unconscious mind will convert “I do not slow down as I approach the finish line.” to “I do slow down as I approach the finish line.”; so “I maintain my pace or speed up as I approach the finish line.” is the preferable way to write this affirmation. Another reason to write affirmations in the positive is that they feel better to say to yourself. And that single, good feeling that you attach to the statement as you say it gives it a stronger impact on your unconscious mind than would a mixed-emotions, negative statement. A third reason to write affirmations in the positive is a practical one: Positive statements tend to be shorter than negative statements. So you can write them more easily and read them more easily.

About the present, not the future: Your unconscious mind treats each statement about the present as something over which it has full control. In contrast, it treats each statement about the future as something over which it has no control. In other words, your unconscious mind operates in the present.

As if it were true, even if it is false today: Every time that you read an affirmation to yourself, you are incrementally strengthening in your unconscious mind the belief expressed by that affirmation. Given that your unconscious mind cannot distinguish between fact and fiction, you can read to yourself an affirmation that is not true today with the assurance that eventually your unconscious mind will align your life with that affirmation such that eventually the affirmation is true. In other words, an affirmation need not be true when written or read, but repeated reading of the affirmation increases the likelihood that eventually it will be true.

With specificity: Specific statements have a stronger impact than vague, general statements have on your unconscious mind. For example, “I am a five-hour marathoner.” is more valuable than “I am a fast marathoner.” as an affirmation.

How many affirmations should I have?

The number of affirmations that you have related to your endurance running or walking depends totally on you. Some people prefer to have just a few affirmations. Other people like to have lots of affirmations, including many that are re-worded versions of other affirmations.

Where should I be when I am composing my affirmations?

You should compose your affirmations at a computer in a quiet, private location. You may want to play some inspiring or gentle music while writing them. A few minutes of meditation before beginning could help your writing, too.

Ideally, each affirmation should feel as if it were an expression of your best self — as if your “higher self” were telling you what it believes you are capable of being, doing, or experiencing.

If you are stumped when you initially sit down to type affirmations into your computer, then give yourself a goal to carry around a pen and small notebook so that you record several affirmation ideas as you go about your daily life. You eventually should have enough ideas in your notebook to produce several affirmations when you return to your computer.

What are some examples of affirmations for endurance runners or walkers?

Here are examples of affirmations that are correctly worded for an endurance runner or walker:

“I always breathe aerobically when I run.”

“I shave at least one minute off my personal record in every marathon that I run.”

“I eat exactly what I need for each walk.”

“I give myself permission to run my own race.”

“I stop for water precisely when necessary at water stops while walking my half marathon.”

Why should I record my affirmations to a computer?

Typing your affirmations into a computer document gives you three benefits over handwriting them:

Typing them on a computer lets you craft them easily. The ease of editing text with a computer ensures that you can craft affirmations that are “just right” for you to repeat many times to yourself over the coming days, weeks, and months.

Typing them on a computer lets you update them easily. Having your affirmations in a computer document means that you can refine them easily to suit you better as your needs or goals change but without having to re-write your entire list of affirmations.

Typing them on a computer lets you print them in different sizes. This gives you the flexibility to make a single-page list for scheduled reviews, larger printouts of affirmations for in-your-face display in your bedroom, bathroom, or office, and a wallet-size, laminated list for on-the-go review whenever you have downtime.

How should I read my affirmations?

Always read them as if you believe them, even if they are not yet(!) true.

Always read them with an emotional intensity that will capture the attention and imagination of your unconscious mind.

Read them aloud if at all possible.

Even if you are only reading them silently in your mind, vary from session to session your pace (from a fast-talker to a slow-talker), your pitch or accent (your own voice, the voice of a favorite actor, etc.), and your volume (from a whisper to a gentle shout) — to avoid boredom and to stimulate your unconscious mind in multiple ways with the same affirmations.

When and how often should I read my affirmations?

Plan to read your affirmations several times a day but at least twice a day:

As part of a morning ritual in which you use several LOA methods to prepare you for the day ahead;

Later in the day — and perhaps as you retire to bed — to reinforce them.

If you work at home, reading your affirmations aloud during your workday may be no problem. If you work in an office, in a retail store, in a warehouse, in a factory, or otherwise with other people in your workplace, then consider using your automobile or a secluded outdoor area as your “sound booth” in which you read your affirmations aloud.

What else can I do with my affirmations besides reading them to myself?

Post individual affirmations throughout your home, in your car, or in your office so that you see and unconsciously absorb them even though you do not consciously and deliberately read them.

Record yourself saying your affirmations, mix that voice recording with different background, instrumental songs that are suitable for the targeted periods for playback (such as for running, for stretching, or for winding down at the end of the day), and play the appropriate mixed recordings at least twice a day — such as while training for an endurance race, while driving, while in the shower, or while completing indoor or outdoor chores.

Kirk Mahoney, Ph.D., loves to walk and run, and his SpryFeet.com website provides practical research for runners and walkers. By going to http://www.SpryFeet.com/Reports/, you can get his FREE “Pace Tables for Runners and Walkers” special report, letting you look up paces needed to complete several different race distances within given durations and for different micro-level-pacing methods.

(c) Copyright – Kirk Mahoney, Ph.D. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.