Why is Good Employee Communication So Important During an Economic Downturn?

November 26, 2012 By

Why is Good Employee Communication So Important During an Economic Downturn?

Maintain staff productivity

No news is definitely not good news from an employee communications perspective. October 2008 research from Weber Shandwick showed that 71% of people felt that their company should be communicating more about current economic problems. Unfortunately, the uncertainty caused by lack of internal communications can cause staff to be less productive. In fact, Workforce Week reported in October 08 that 48 percent of staff said that the economic uncertainty has caused them to be less productive at work.

Maintain operational effectiveness

Uncertainty due to a lack of effective internal communication can cause high performing employees to jump ship. Low morale within remaining staff can impact customer interactions and damage brand identity. Uncertainty can also damage a company’s culture. Competition for internal resources can increase between (and inside of) departments. Focus can shift onto projects that ‘look good’ but don’t really contribute towards real business objectives. Good employee communications can enable you to retain your best employees, protect your company culture and maintain the strength of your brand. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, it costs at least one-third of a new hire’s annual salary to replace them. There are also associated opportunity costs such as lower productivity during re-training to consider. It is much more cost-effective to retain good staff and profitable customers than to replace them.

Retain revenues in a shrinking market

If demand for your organization’s products or services is reducing, in order to keep revenues healthy, it becomes even more important to drive organizational performance to increase your share of a shrinking market. In a competitive marketplace, organizations need to be agile, to reduce process inefficiencies and to increase effectiveness across the business. Effective employee communications plays a critical role in achieving these goals with an investment that’s small compared to value gained. Good employee communication is a competitive advantage.

Employee communication tips during an economic downturn:

Don’t cut employee communications

When budgets are tight and the future looks uncertain a knee-jerk reaction can be to pull back to the bare essentials and not try anything new. Organizations may be tempted to cut costs in areas such as Internal Communications at a time when effective employee communications are even more essential. The Return On Investment (ROI) of effective employee communications can be huge. Watson Wyatt’s 2007/2008 Communication ROI Study showed that: “Effective employee communication is a leading indicator of financial performance…a significant improvement in communication effectiveness is associated with a 15.7 percent increase in market value”. Firms that communicate effectively are also four times as likely to report high levels of employee engagement as firms that communicate less effectively. Good employee communications can also help create an advantage that competitors aren’t likely to have. Involve your Internal Communications team in strategic planning sessions. They will be able to make proactive recommendations on items that have a communication component along with suggested employee communications strategies. Internal communications breakdown can be a major source of inefficiency. As can inaccurate, slow-moving, or non-existent information and mixed messages. Breakdowns cause people and processes to under perform. A good internal communications team can help to identify and eliminate the root cause of communications breakdowns.

Internal Communications Channels – Tips:

Engaging. Use engaging employee communications channels. Overt tools such as Desktop Alerts can be used to achieve maximum cut through for important and/or urgent messages and updates. Digital Signage on screensavers provides a more passive and visual way to raise awareness of key themes. Web 2.0 channels allow you to quickly and easily set up secure online blogs, discussion forums and interactive helpdesks with little budget or IT resource.

Measurable. Ensure the channels you use provide full reporting on message cut-though and readership. This can be particularly important for HR communications during uncertain times.

Track performance. Use staff surveys and polls as a way to assess what’s working, measure attitudes and levels of understanding as well as tracking trends.

Targeted. Use channels that allows messages to be customized and targeted to specific staff groups.

Repetition. Use a range of different ways to communicate and repeat key themes so that messages do not become ‘wall paper’.

Reduce information overload. Use a staff Emag to aggregate ‘news and admin’ updates in order to reduce email overload and the impact it has on productivity.

Drive performance. Use staff quizzes to gather cost savings or efficiency initiatives, reinforce messages and new behaviors.

Build community. Use staff electronic magazines to allow staff to tell their own stories in their own words. Social media channels should be authenticated to employees computers to allow staff to securely participate in online discussion forums and blogs.

Be visible, honest and open “By stepping up and communicating more with their employees, company leaders will enhance their company’s standing, consolidate their position of trust in challenging times and head off any inaccurate rumors or fears.” Harris Diamond, CEO of Weber Shandwick Be willing to communicate before you have all the answers. Employees need communication ‘right now’ to remove uncertainty that may be hindering their productivity. Not communicating with employees does not mean that they are not communicating. It means that you have lost control over any positive messaging and the chances are excellent that your employees are painting a far worse picture than is actually occurring. Tell employees what you know, what you don’t know, and when you will provide further information. Explain the steps the organization is taking to identify issues and resolve problems. Don’t make promises you may not be able to keep. Be open and transparent with performance data. Candor helps gain public support for necessary actions that may follow. Employees rarely feel worse after having positive contact with a genuine, candid leader. A CEO / senior managers blog can act as an ongoing ‘town hall meeting’ that makes senior managers more accessible to staff. Staff can ask questions and seek clarification in a format that is similar to open dialogue.

Internal Communications Channels – Tips:

An RSVP Desktop Alert is an ideal channel for maximising employee attendance of face to face briefing sessions. Such desktop alerts can provide available date, time and venues options and automatically populate the employee’s outlook calendar with the selected appointment. Reporting tools make it easy to see which staff are attending which sessions. You can plan room sizes, catering etc and close off specific date/time options as rooms become filled. Video: Credibility, conviction and passion are best conveyed by visual cues. When face to face is not possible, staff can benefit from seeing engaged and informed senior leaders through video. Consider delivering video messages with a pop up alert notification. Recurrence and/or click through options can be specified to ensure maximum visibility and ROI for video messages. Use Web 2.0 channels that have been specifically built for internal employee communications. Ensure they are easy to use meaning and little IT resource, training or budget is required to implement them.

Be timely Coordinate your internal and external messages and be timely. Employees should hear company news from the company first. Nothing is worse to an employee’s moral than hearing about changes to their organization from media sources or family and friends before they have been informed by their employer. Keep track of when employees last heard from you and schedule when you’ll send updates, regardless of developments.

Internal Communications Channels – Tips: Pre-schedule messages: Pre-schedule messages to coincide with market or media releases. Formats like desktop alerts and scrolling news feeds achieve high message cut-through. Scrolling news feeds: If you use RSS feeds in your press releases/newsroom or website, set up an employee scrolling news ticker so staff automatically receive the news releases the second they become public. This is especially important for publicly listed companies as this can be a good way to make sure you keep employees in the loop as much as possible. Use a channel that that doesn’t require staff to take the time to opt in to important RSS feeds. Alternatively, if you want to personalize announcements to staff, you can also easily create an internal news ticker and schedule it to appear at an appropriate time.

Manage Rumors Manage rumors. Get information out early and explain that you will provide regular updates, rather than letting rumors proliferate whilst you wait. In the absence of alternative information, staff may accept available rumors as “the truth” (if the rumors weren’t true they would have said so) causing you to lose your best people first. Some organizations set up an online discussion forum specifically as a ‘rumor mill’ where staff can anonymously post anything they have heard. Executives may not want to sanction a rumor mill. However, rumors exist regardless of the channel and a discussion forum provides an opportunity to correct them quickly. Limit potential damage from managers’ informal conversations that are overheard and serve only to undermine other communications efforts or create rumors. Use secure channels for electronic ‘manager only’ communications. “Today, whatever you say inside of a company will end up on a blog, So you have a choice as a company – you can either be proactive and take the offensive and say, ‘Here’s what’s going on,’ or you can let someone else write the story for you.” Rusty Rueff, a former HR executive at PepsiCo.

Internal Communications Channels – Tips:

Web 2.0 channels: set up secure online forums that are authenticated to individual employee’s computers. Ensure that the level of access, moderation and anonymity can be easily specified for each forum and/or specific staff groups. Set up automated desktop alerts to notify specified moderators that new posts require moderation or an answer which can help ensure responsiveness.

Involve managers in delivering messages

Employees prefer communicating with their immediate manager than with any other level of management. This is especially relevant during times of uncertainty. So use your team. Make sure they know how and what to communicate, and that no one is a bystander. It is also helpful to get a wider communications support team in place – not just the core communications or management team, but a wider network of champions, supporters and coordinators. What will the company look like if it’s successful? This vision needs to be expressed at a high level and then translated down to individual departments and staff in terms of what it means to them. Line managers and supervisors are a great resource for providing this context. Measure and manage the effectiveness of line manager communication with employees. What gets measured gets done.

Internal Communications Channels – Tips:

Staff surveys and employee polls can help you measure the effectiveness of managers as communicators. A short poll to assess how well each employee understands key messages can be related back to individual managers to provide a measure of the manager’s communications effectiveness. What gets measured usually gets focus and priority. Blogs: Get with it and get key managers to blog about the current economic situation and related initiatives. Encourage staff to ask questions and seek clarification. Staff blogs will help staff realize that managers are human too and they are doing all they can to minimize the impact upon the organization. Interactive secure helpdesks. Set up secure web 2.0 channels as staff helpdesks. Managers can meet online to discuss strategies, share ideas and to plan. This is especially useful when managers are in different locations. Schedule and target messages so that, when appropriate, mangers can be targeted with updates, via a desktop alert or scrolling news ticker ahead of their teams. This allows them plan how they will react and provide further context when their team are subsequently updated, and to prepare answers to possible questions from staff.

Provide 2 way communications channels

Provide opportunities for two-way communication. Invite employees’ questions, concerns and suggestions. Welcome all kinds of feedback including negative comments…sometimes people simply need a place to vent frustrations before they emotionally move on. Acknowledge emotions and probe deeper to understand the real issues. Use face to face meetings for sensitive issues and allow plenty of time to hear responses and answer questions. Staff may think of additional questions later on, therefore channels should be in place to address these subsequent questions. Web 2.0 tools can provide an opportunity for a genuine conversation as an alternative to ongoing face to face meetings. Other alternatives such as opinion polls and suggestion boxes can also be put in place.

Internal Communications Channels – Tips:

Staff opinion polls allow you to ask for information on specific issues. Even though it is not face to face, they can be used effectively to keep information channels open. Online staff discussion forums can provide a virtual meeting where people can share their ideas, opinions, and if necessary, let off steam. Staff Discussion Forums allow people to post ideas anonymously. This is a good option for finding out what staff really think. In case this all sounds too risky, use a highly secure platform that provides a range of moderation options to allow you to keep a close eye on the conversations. Targeting options will also mean that you can set up specific secure forums targeted to specific groups (meaning that negative feeling doesn’t have to ‘infect’ the whole organization).

Focus on outcomes and drive performance

Don’t overly focus on cost cutting and productivity messages. These messages are clearly important but it is also necessary to help staff stay positive by inspiring them, highlighting genuine good news stories and keeping focus on future opportunities rather than just the current pain. Show your strengths. Reinforce the core competencies and values that make your organization successful. Talk about how they will help the organization thrive in the future. Maintain a positive focus on achieving performance targets. Don’t let negative views of the economy be an excuse for failure to meet targets.

Internal Communications Channels – Tips:

Use a staff electronic magazine format that makes it easy for anyone in your organization to contribute news items. Include articles showing how employees are modeling new values or implementing new strategies Screensavers as digital signage: Use screensavers as a communications channel to paint a picture of the future, promote top performers, show visual representations of achievement against target, carry motivational images etc. Countdown clocks on screensavers can also be a great motivational tool to create a sense of urgency when the end of the financial year is in sight. Scrolling news tickers: A daily news ticker for targeted employee’s computers carrying the latest sales, production or performance figures. Staff Quizzes: Use staff quizzes to increase capability and motivate staff (injected with some humorous options and with a prize incentive). Web 2.0 channels: Provide an interactive online helpdesk to allow staff to ask questions about any aspect of the business or their role. Nominated moderators can provide support in an evolving, tag-able and searchable repository of knowledge.

Engage Staff in reducing inefficiencies

Involve staff and solicit their ideas for cost reduction and efficiency campaigns. Enlisting the help of employees to cut costs lets them know that ‘we are all in this together’. Once a few success stories are found, highlight them in staff communications channels (printed magazines, newsletters, E-Mags, etc). Tell stories about what departments or individuals are doing to reduce cost or increase efficiencies. Offer rewards or a personal thank you for good ideas and initiatives.

Internal Communications Channels – Tips: Staff Surveys: push staff surveys and opinion polls directly to employee computer screens. Use this format to get staff to submit cost savings and efficiency ideas. The level of persistence for uncompleted surveys can be specified thereby ensuring maximum staff participation. Often the ideas and suggestions received can have a dramatic and positive impact on the business. Online staff forums: use a platform which allow secure discussions to be set up for targeted groups of employees. Discussion forums of this nature can be an excellent way to gather business improvement ideas and suggestions Staff e-mags: Select an easy to use format that allows any member of staff to submit articles. Encourage staff to submit short updates about what they or their department are doing to reduce cost and/or inefficiencies.

Why is Good Employee Communication So Important During an Economic Downturn?

Why is Good Employee Communication So Important During an Economic Downturn?

Article by Sarah Perry. Questions and comments to info@snapcomms.com. Visit http://www.SnapComms.com for innovative internal communications channels, tips and tools.

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Affirmation statements -we hear them spoken often by motivational speakers, authors, writers etc., but what can we personally do to harness the power of affirmations in our own lives?

Think about a time in your life when you desired to make a change – something major, like finding a new job, moving to a new city or home, or something less momentous like a New Year’s resolution to improve your overall health. Can you think of a past experience like that? Now, think about the tools that you used or steps that you took to help guide you through that transition and keep you focused on achieving your goals while making that change.

These tools in effect, involved you setting in motion a series of events to accomplish the goals you’d set out for yourself, and one of the easiest ways to achieve success is to create affirmations.

Affirmations are very easy to use and quite powerful once you get the hang of practicing this daily exercise. Affirmations keep you focused on what’s important to you and help you achieve positive transitions. Basically an affirmation is a declaration that something is already true and has come to fruition in your life in the present moment. You have to believe what you are looking to achieve or obtain has already arrived in order for ‘it’ to show up in your life.

If your desire is to create personal well-being, first choose a phrase that describes what you desire. For example, if you desire to adopt a healthier lifestyle, then your affirmation statement could say, “I feel good and look good when I live a healthy lifestyle.” Or “I enjoy the great feelings I get from exercising daily.” Short powerful statements are more focused and work much better to bring about results than long, drawn-out paragraphs.

There are some rules to follow when creating an affirmation that I’d like to share with you.

Rule # 1: The phrase must be in the present tense, such as “I feel good”, as opposed to “I will feel good” which implies that at some point in the future you ‘might’ achieve your goal. Remember to phrase your affirmation as if your desire.

Rule #2: The statement must always be written from a positive perspective, instead of a negative one. For example, you wouldn’t say “I don’t feel good when I am not healthy” as this places your health – which you are trying to change – in a negative context. Always phrase your desire/affirmation statement in a positive context and in the present tense.

Rule #3: Repeat often. After you create an affirmation, write it down on something that you can keep with you, like a notebook or card to put in your purse or wallet, or place it somewhere that you look at often throughout your day such as on your bathroom mirror or your desk at work. Make sure that you read your affirmation statements as many times during your day as possible.

Studies have shown that using the power of affirmations can lower stress and I have found this to be true in my own life. When I get clear about what I want in my life and focus on my desires with affirmations every day, I am more content and peaceful. What we focus on grows, so the more you focus your attention on your affirmations, the more likely you are to create positive changes in your life and achieve your dreams.

My favorite book on affirmations and the power of healing is Louise Hay’s, You Can Heal Your Life. In this fascinating book you can learn more about the healing power of affirmations and how you can harness them to improve your overall health and well-being. And frankly, who wouldn’t like to live a healthier, more serene life in these turbulent times?

Using the power behind affirmations can truly change your life for the better. Put this into practice this week by writing down three short affirmations about three areas you’d like to make positive changes in your life. Be sure to state your desires in the present tense and in a positive way. Practice repeating these statements as many times as you can for 7 days and see what wonderful changes reveal themselves in your life.

September 27, 2012 By

Inspired by her passion to support others on their own personal growth journey, Carolee Laffoon founded Affirmations To Go, a company which encourages people to create lasting personal affirmation products to carry with them daily to keep them focused on their goals, hopes and dreams. Carolee publishes a monthly newsletter “Affirmation Inspirations” to share her favorite affirmations, inspirations, and product specials. Visit Affirmations To Go and sign up to receive her newsletter as well as participate in her special monthly Affirmations product giveaway.

Filed Under: Affirmations Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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.

September 18, 2012 By

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.

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Acupuncture During IVF Cycles – Does it Work?

September 6, 2012 By

Acupuncture During IVF Cycles – Does it Work?

Using Traditional Chinese Medicine acupuncture as a supplementary natural therapy alongside in vitro fertilization techniques (IVF) has become a substantial business in certain parts of the world. The London underground, for example, recently featured advertisements for a prestigious acupuncture clinic specializing in just that – and lets juts say it won’t be cheap to buy that advertising space these days. This article explains some of the issues involved in testing acupuncture with real patients,. It also presents some of the  positive results from scientific studies that may have sparked interest in the practice, some of the inconclusive results and why the studies findings might be like that. This should help explain both some of the controversy and scientific basis for the practice in today’s’ society.

Anyone interested in the topic might be happy to discover there have been some studies conducted recently into whether acupuncture has had any success in improving treatment outcomes from IVF cycles. Within the West, the standard accepted within medical research is a significant statistic generated from a randomized controlled trial. This study design uses a group or groups of participants who try the intervention studies and another group who do not try it, the control group. In the case of studying a new technique, drug or other medical aid, it is routine for the control group to be receiving the standard therapy of the time, to see how it compares to the results of the ‘novel intervention’, the new idea. The participants should be allocated into the groups through a random selection process. The highest standards of evidence is felt to come from those trials where the study is of a double-blind design. That means the researchers, anyone else assisting the study and the participants are not aware of the allocation of the groups. The blinding  practice is felt to eliminate potential bias.

When applying the randomized controlled trial approach to acupuncture, the inherent structure can be problematic. Traditional Chinese Medicine acupuncture does not use standardized interventions. That is to say, while a standard does of a pharmaceutical drug can be tested for many patients with the same diagnosis, it would be extremely rare to find a group of patients whose symptoms and signs were so identical they would all be given exactly the same points at the same time over the same time period. The condition of each patient is an expression of the dynamic changing nature of the body’s most fundamental substance, Qi, and therefore naturally over the course of some appointments, even patients with similar starting signs and symptoms would tend to progress through the use of different points over time. This difficulty aside, any clinical trials of acupuncture do not include the TCM diagnosis within their structure. Patients may be recruited into the trial according to a conventional medical diagnosis and then treated using s strangely ‘standardized’ set of acupuncture points, regardless of what their diagnosis might be within the  medical theory of TCM. These teething problems aside, there have nonetheless been some encouraging studies investigating the effects of needling some common acupuncture points before, during and after embryo transfer. This stage is of course crucial to the success of IVF cycles, so dependent on implantation. The rationale appears to be clear, to see whether using the acupuncture at certain points which were felt to benefit general functions within TCM gynaecology theory could improve the outcomes of IVF patients by comparing it to the control group, who had no such adjunctive therapy. Some studies tried to use fake acupuncture needles as a placebo device for the control group, or needle points which they thought would have no effect on the reproductive organs.

The Positive Outcome  Studies

3 studies stand out as having found a positive benefit. Their methodology was similar and comparable, needling Traditional Chinese Medicine acupuncture points before and/or on the day of embryo transfer during IVF cycles (1, 2, and 3). The results showed enhanced numbers of pregnancies in their study groups receiving acupuncture alongside IVF. All of the research authors suggested this was due to an improved blood flow in the uterine arteries, and referred to a previous study of uterine artery flow during acupuncture courses as evidence (4). This was felt to be the important mechanism at work as a good arterial supply to the uterus is associated with more favorable conditions for embryo implantation within the uterus.

There are also systemic reviews which also indicate favorable outcomes. Systematic reviews take a number of individual clinical trials which all should ideally use similar methods to apply the same type of intervention and compare it with control groups in each study who do not receive the intervention. The goal of the review is to identify any trends across the studies’ results. Two systematic reviews also indicated higher live birth rates among patients trying acupuncture and IVF together (5, 6); however, its also true not all studies and reviews have been so positive about using acupuncture as an adjunct for IVF patients.

One No Positive Outcome  Study  And Some Negative Appraisal of Mechanisms At Play

Another individual clinical trial used similar methods to those three mentioned earlier – but found quite different results (7). The authors of that fourth study were not able to confidently conclude that the acupuncture and IVF group fared any better in terms of pregnancy rates than their IVF only control group of patients. One of the systematic reviews I have already mentioned here also indicated it was of the opinion that any positive action of acupuncture was due to the placebo effect. This would mean a psychological effect was altering the results for the participants in the intervention (acupuncture) group, rather than any direct effect on biological processes due to the needling (6).

What Does This All Mean?

The results from the studies are somewhat confusing, to say the least. The authors of the study which found no beneficial effect did suggest that they simply hadn’t conducted the tests on a powerful enough scale to have a positive effect show up in the statistics (7). There has also long been heated debate in both the TCM and scientific community as to why acupuncture has effects and whether they are indeed, just down to patients imaginations, or whether it does something on a biological level. The body of evidence leaning towards the biological effects argument is strong, yet the review did choose to overlook this (6).

TCM practitioners may point out that much of TCM is routine in China, its birthplace, where individual case reports are the norm rather than the comparative studies favored in the West. Detractors point out that a minority of conventional medics in China have spoken out against TCM as it is not fully understood by conventional science and therefore claim that it is unscientific. Nonetheless there is some compelling evidence to support the use of TCM alongside conventional medicine – if patients get better outcomes, that can only be a good thing.

References:

1. Dieterle, S, Gao, Y, Hartzmann, W., Neuer, A. (2006). ‘Effect of acupuncture on the outcome of in vitro fertilization and intracytoplasmic sperm injection: a randomised, prospective, controlled clinical study’. Fertility and Sterility. 85 (5), p. 1347-1351.

2. Paulus, , W.E, Zhang, M., Strehler, E., El-Danasouri, I & Sterzik, K. (2002). ‘Influence of acupuncture on the pregnancy rate in patients who undergo assisted reproduction therapy’. Fertility and Sterility. 77 (4), p. 721-724.

3. Westergaard, L.G. et al. (2006). ‘Acupuncture on the day of embryo transfer significantly improves the reproductive outcome in infertile women: a prospective, randomised trial’. Fertility and Sterility. 85(5), p. 1341-1346.

4. Steiner-Victorin, E., Waldenstrom, Andersson S.A. & Wilkland, M. (1996). Reduction of blood flow impedance in the uterine arteries of infertile women with electro-acupuncture’. Human Reproduction. 11, p.1314-1317.

5. Manheimer, E., Zhang, G., Udoff, L., Haramati, A., Langenberg, P., Berman, B. & Boulter, L.M. (2008). ‘Effects of acupuncture on rates of pregnancy and live birth among women undergoing in vitro fertilisation: systematic review and meta-analysis’. BMJ. 336 (7643), p. 545-549.

6. Cheong, YC., Hung Yu Ng E & Ledger, WL. (2008). ‘Acupuncture and assisted conception (Review)’. The Cochrane Library. 4, p.97-108.

7. Smith, C., Coyle, M. & Norman, R.J. (2006). ‘Influence of acupuncture stimulation on pregnancy rates for women undergoing embryo transfer’. Fertility and Sterility. 85 (5), p. 1352-1358.

DISCLAIMER: This article does not constitute medical advice. It cannot be used as a substitute for professional medical advice. It should also not be used to make any decision as to whether to undertake any form of treatment. Readers with any health concerns are advised instead to see their doctor. For those seeking advice on Traditional Chinese Medicine, likewise please consult a qualified practitioner or professional body representing them in your area. Many thanks.

Acupuncture During IVF Cycles – Does it Work?

Acupuncture During IVF Cycles - Does it Work?

Daniel James Clark writes from both a scientific background and having witnessed some unexpectedly poisitve results of Traditional Chinese Medicine acupuncture. Daniel has a whole blog on acupuncture use with difficulties conceiving, including hard to find info on studies. To benefit from Daniel’s investigations, visit http://www.acupunctureandinfertilityguide.com/; to find out general info on Traditional Chinese Medicine, here’s one of his practitioner buddies: http://www.tcm-acu-herbs.com.

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How To Save Your Home From Foreclosure During the 2010 Mortgage Foreclosure Scandal: Defenses, Forms

September 3, 2012 By

How To Save Your Home From Foreclosure During the 2010 Mortgage Foreclosure Scandal: Defenses, Forms

Efforts by homeowners to stop foreclosure sales were given a boost this week as evidence of lender misconduct was publicized. During the past several days, attorneys general in all fifty states have announced investigations into misconduct of lenders and mortgage loan service companies. It has become clearer than ever before that many thousands of homeowners have valid legal defenses to lenders’ foreclosure complaints, and that thousands of foreclosure cases nationwide are tainted by faulty procedures and documentation. By relying on “robo-signers” and invalid documents, some lawyers for the banks appear to have engaged in impermissible procedures, leading courts to deny banks’ request for foreclosure judgments. Courts have also ruled against banks for deceptive “pick a payment” or adjustable rate schemes. In this environment, homeowners who file foreclosure defense forms with their local courts are increasingly able to save their homes and stop foreclosure. In today’s environment, an answer to a foreclosure complaint or motion to stop a foreclosure sale is a powerful tool, and can lead to the cessation of foreclosure proceedings.

This article will summarize how the current mortgage foreclosure scandal developed, and the foreclosure defense opportunities available to homeowners who wish to stop foreclosure and save their home.

(a) Stage One of the Crisis (2008 – 2009): News of Financial and Legal Irregularities on the Part of Lenders and Loan Servicers is Sporadically Reported as the Number of Mortgage Foreclosure Cases Increases

Throughout 2008 and 2009, news was percolating that mortgage lenders, and the companies whom they rely upon, appeared to have engaged in questionable practices. Generally, articles of such misconduct were buried deep within the back pages of mainstream media, and the reports were short on details and gave little in the way of practical guidance to struggling borrowers. The articles made mention of several different types of misconduct, including:

The failure of lenders and loan service companies to lawfully document the assignment and/or transfer of loans;

The use of false affidavits and/or affidavits that were executed through “robo-signing”, in attempts to circumvent the procedural and substantive rules required to lawfully effectuate a foreclosure;

The submission of documents that were never notarized and/or acknowledged, in violation of basic foreclosure rules which require notarization;

The failure to provide legally-mandated notice to homeowners before and during foreclosure proceedings.

Although the widespread extent of such practices was not yet apparent, it became increasingly clear that lenders had little regard for the welfare of the general public. For example lenders instituted foreclosures against homeowners whose livelihoods had been destroyed by the tragedies occurring on the Gulf Coast. From September 2009 to September 2010, foreclosure activity in Louisiana jumped by approximately 30%. In Florida, California, and Nevada, entire communities were decimated by the foreclosure crisis.

(b) Stage Two of the Crisis (November, 2009 – September 2009):

News of possible foreclosure irregularities spread like across the nation like a foul wind. Last week, attorneys general in all fifty states announced investigation into unlawful foreclosure practices. Furthermore, beginning in late 2009, and continuing to the present, increasing numbers of trial judges have dismissed some foreclosure actions due to irregularities in legal and financial documents and some lenders’ failure to follow basic foreclosure procedures. Recently, even the law firms representing the banks have come under scrutiny, with some of the largest foreclosure mills subject to judicial inquiry.

On July 7, 2010, New York’s Supreme Court denied a major bank’s request for an order of reference (an essential aspect of any NY foreclosure proceeding) based on a bank’s failure to prove that it actually possessed the note and mortgage at the time that the foreclosure action was filed. The court noted that the alleged endorsement presented to the court by the bank was on a separate page from the promissory note, and made no specific reference to the note. Similar decisions were issued by courts in Florida and Ohio.

On October 9, 2009, the Attorney General of New Jersey announced that a major financial institution agreed to pay $3.98 million dollars in connection with allegations misleading and deceptive practices in marketing adjustable rate a/k/a/ “Pick-a-Pay” mortgages.

(c) Stage 3 of the Crisis: Protect Yourself and Save Your Home.

In increasing numbers, homeowners and courts have taken lenders to task for financial improprieties This profound realization has served as an epiphany for tens of thousands of homeowners, inspiring and empowering them to fight against foreclosure. In record numbers, homeowners in judicial foreclosure states (such as New York, New Jersey, Florida, among others) now file answers to foreclosure complaints and question lenders about foreclosure practices and procedures. Judges are now more aware of the extent to which homeowners have been victimized, and courts have not hesitated to deny foreclosure judgments to banks. Some lenders admitted that lenders lack the documents required for foreclosure. In other instances, homeowners successfully argued that loans resulted from deception, particularly adjustable rate loans.

In non-judicial states (for example, California, Nevada, and others), homeowners began to file complaints and motions for temporary restraining orders, stopping foreclosure sales.

Homeowners have also discovered that in this new environment, they do not necessarily need to hire expensive lawyers to protect their rights. Forms for answering foreclosure summons and complaints, and for obtaining temporary restraining orders to stop foreclosure sales, are available online, and such foreclosure defense forms may be filed directly with the court.

How To Save Your Home From Foreclosure During the 2010 Mortgage Foreclosure Scandal: Defenses, Forms

How To Save Your Home From Foreclosure During the 2010 Mortgage Foreclosure Scandal: Defenses, Forms

Marc A. Rapaport is an attorney with 18 years of experience, and he is regularly featured in the national media. Mr. Rapaport is the founder of http://www.StopForeclosureForms.com, a leading supplier of foreclosure defense forms, including answers to mortgage foreclosure complaints, and motions to stop foreclosure sales. Http://www.StopForeclosureForms.com offers printable foreclosure defense forms for all fifty states. Mr. Rapaport is also the founder and principal of Rapaport Law Firm, PLLC, a New York-based full service law firm. Mr. Rapaport has appeared on NBC News, Law.com, AboveTheLaw.com, Harpers Magazine, New York Magazine.

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The Relationship Between Thyroid Problems And HRT During Menopause

August 28, 2012 By

The Relationship Between Thyroid Problems And HRT During Menopause

The thyroid is a small but important gland that is located in the neck, and its function is to produce hormones that are controlled by the pituitary gland. TSH, or Thyroid Stimulating Hormone, is sent out by the pituitary gland and results in the production of thyroxine by the thyroid. Thyroxine affects a number of functions in the human body, and this includes moods, heart rate, body heat, metabolism, body heat, skin and hair growth, memory, energy, and periods.

Thyroid problems and HRT

There are a number of links when it comes to thyroid problem and HRT. Firstly, one thing to note is that some of the symptoms of thyroid problems can be very similar to those of menopause. This means that women of menopausal age that develop thyroid problems may not even realize anything is amiss, putting the symptoms down to menopause. These conditions can often come about at around the same time in a woman’s life, and therefore if your doctor does not suggest it, you may also want to ask for a thyroid function test if you go to see your doctor for menopausal symptoms. As many as 26% of women are diagnosed with low thyroid function around the time of menopause.

Another thing to note is that thyroid problems can be a result of the onset of the menopause. Dr Christiane Northrup cites the work of John R Lee MD when she writes that “there appears to be a cause-and-effect relationship between hypothyroidism, in which there are inadequate levels of thyroid hormone, and estrogen dominance.”

Estrogen needs to be balanced by appropriate levels of the hormone progesterone. If it isn’t, and estrogen levels are too high, it can block the effect of the thyroid hormones. This means that even if your body is producing enough thyroid hormones, they are not able to be effective, and symptoms of hypothyroidism can be experienced.

The problem with this scenario is that normal thyroid levels generally show up in a medical test, so it is difficult to diagnose. If a woman is estrogen dominant and then given more estrogen with HRT, this can make the thyroid problems worse.

In order to reduce the risk of thyroid problems or to help ease thyroid problems HRT patients should ensure that they have their thyroid function tested regularly, as well as her other hormone levels. This means at the start of HRT treatment and also in the event that you change your HRT or change the dosage that you are taking. And given that depression is associated with thyroid problems, if this is not helped, or becomes worse after taking HRT, then the wider hormonal picture really needs to be taken into account.

There are a number of thyroid function tests that can be carried out in order to try and monitor thyroid problems or function. Thyroid problems can include hypothyroidism, where the thyroid in under-active, and hyperthyroidism, where the thyroid is overactive. The symptoms of each of these thyroid conditions can vary.

With hypothyroidism the symptoms can include depression, weight gain, fatigue, sluggishness, itchy and dry skin, dry or thinning hair, muscle cramps, constipation, feeling cold, joint aches, facial swelling, mood swings, snoring, dizziness, light sensitivity, problems with periods, exhaustion, and forgetfulness.

The symptoms of an overactive thyroid, or hyperthyroidism, include irritability, nervousness, brittle hair and thinning skin, weakness in the upper arms and thighs, excessive perspiration, increased bowel movement, increased heart rate, shaking hands, lighter periods, weight loss, and fewer periods.

In order to try and avoid thyroid problems HRT patients should seek advice from their doctor with regards to regular testing whilst on HRT. And those that feel that they are experiencing the onset of the menopause should also speak to their doctor about thyroid testing to ensure that the symptoms are not getting confused and their thyroid problem does not go undetected.

The Relationship Between Thyroid Problems And HRT During Menopause

The Relationship Between Thyroid Problems And HRT During Menopause

Learn more about progesterone hormone therapy here. Rebecca writes on menopause issues, including this article on whether insurance covers HRT.

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How Credit Counseling During Personal Bankruptcy is Different in Canada and the United States

August 6, 2012 By

How Credit Counseling During Personal Bankruptcy is Different in Canada and the United States

Credit counseling became part of the bankruptcy process in the United States with the passage of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005. As a result of this legislation, your Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy case will be dismissed if you cannot prove that you completed a credit counseling session, with an approved credit counselor, within the preceding 180 days.

In other words, in the United States, your bankruptcy will not start until you can prove that you have completed credit counseling.

This is in direct contrast to the personal bankruptcy system in Canada, where credit counselling (yes, in Canada we spell it with two l’s) is an integral part of the bankruptcy process, but it is completed during the bankruptcy, not before you file.

It appears that the American bankruptcy reform in 2005 was championed largely by large credit card companies and other lenders, and they argued in favor of the credit counseling requirement primarily, it would appear, as a way to talk people out of filing bankruptcy. The mandatory pre-bankruptcy credit counseling session, among other things, discusses alternatives to bankruptcy. Since credit counselors do not also serve as bankruptcy attorneys, it is logical to assume that they will, at the very least, make sure all debtors are fully aware of their non-bankruptcy options.

In Canada, the process is somewhat different. First, all bankruptcies are handled by private individuals, generally with an accounting background, who are licensed by the federal government. In Canada, practicing lawyers are not permitted to act as trustees in bankruptcy. The trustee handles all aspects of the file, including collecting assets from the debtor, and distributing the proceeds to creditors.

In Canada, prior to filing a consumer proposal (similar to a Chapter 13 filing in the United States) or a personal bankruptcy (similar to Chapter 7), the debtor is required to meet with a licensed trustee in bankruptcy, and the trustee is required to explain to the debtor all of their options, including such non-legislative options as debt consolidation and debt management plans through a credit counselor. The debtor then decides whether or not they will file bankruptcy.

During the bankruptcy (or proposal) the debtor is required to attend two credit counselling sessions.

The first credit counselling session discusses money management, spending and shopping habits, warning signs of financial difficulties, and obtaining and using credit.

The second stage credit counseling session is designed to determine the causes of the insolvency, and to provide the debtor with the skills necessary to avoid future financial problems. The credit counselor will follow up on the principles discussed in the first session, and then help identify non-budgetary causes of financial problems (such as marriage break up, job loss, family problems, excessive gambling, compulsive behavior, and substance abuse).

In contrast to the American system where pre-bankruptcy credit counseling appears designed to talk people out of going bankrupt, the Canadian bankruptcy credit counselling system is designed to help debtors avoid financial problems in the future.

Obviously as a Canadian bankruptcy trustee I am somewhat biased, but given my experience with the over 3,000 personal bankruptcies and consumer proposals that I have personally handled, I can say with confidence that in most cases the debtors viewed the credit counselling sessions as a positive experience. Many people over the years have told me that they learned many money management skills, and the vast majority of people I have helped over the years don’t go bankrupt again, so I believe the Canadian credit counselling system works.

The American system has only been in place for a short period of time, so perhaps in a few years a comparison will be done of both credit counseling systems to determine which approach is most beneficial to people with money problems.

How Credit Counseling During Personal Bankruptcy is Different in Canada and the United States

How Credit Counseling During Personal Bankruptcy is Different in Canada and the United States

J. Douglas Hoyes is a chartered accountant, licensed trustee in bankruptcy, and co-founder of Hoyes, Michalos & Associates Inc., one of Ontario, Canada’s largest personal insolvency firms providing credit counselling, consumer proposal, and personal bankruptcy services. Douglas has served as the trustee in over 3,000 personal bankruptcies and consumer proposals. For information about credit counseling visit http://www.credit-counselling.org, and see also more information about credit counselling and bankruptcy in Canada and personal bankruptcy in America

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Disability Insurance During Medical Residency

July 22, 2012 By

Disability Insurance During Medical Residency

If you’ve stumbled upon this article, then you likely have set off to learn more about Physician Disability insurance for medical residents. Undoubtedly, you have either been approached by an agent, advised by a superior or spoken with peers about this type of coverage. Likely you already know that the best time to purchase a policy is when you are young and healthy – but what is the true benefit for residents and fellows in purchasing Disability insurance during fellowship or residency?

The primary reason to consider purchasing Disability insurance during medical residency is pertaining to the idea that during this time, you are young and likely very healthy. This is an interesting concept however, because all 25-30 year olds are certainly still young, and more importantly feel that their health will remain the same for years. So although you know you should consider protecting your income now, it becomes very easy to procrastinate and hold off on purchasing coverage for weeks, months and years.

The factor of age is simple – every year you delay purchasing Disability insurance will cost you about a 4% increase in premiums. In other words, the cost of coverage will increase by about 3-4% each year you wait. If a Disability policy will cost $1,000 per year today, in three years your premium will likely be about $1,125. Since Disability insurance can be designed to maintain a level premium for the duration of the policy life, it is beneficial to purchase coverage at a young age in order to secure a lower premium, for your entire professional career.

The factor of health is a bit more complex than the average person would believe. The biggest risk a medical resident will run in not purchasing coverage today, is the discovery of an illness that may prevent him/her from qualifying for it in the future. However, there is also the risk of simply discovering a smaller medical condition that still allows one to purchase a Disability policy, but requires an exclusion. Exclusions are used by insurance companies to remove a specific pre-existing medical condition from the disability contract. This means that you will not be covered in the case of a disability caused by the pre-existing condition or any complications that are a result of the pre-existing condition either. Although having a Disability income policy with exclusions is still better than not having a disability policy at all, most people prefer a policy without exclusions if at all possible.

A third reason why residents should consider purchasing Disability insurance during medical residency is in relation to the quality of coverage available on an individual basis versus that available with group coverage. Although it may be your good intention to purchase individual Disability insurance once you leave residency and become an attending, you may no longer qualify for as much individual Disability insurance as during residency. If the hospital or clinic you work for provides you with a group Long-Term Disability program, you will only be able to purchase enough individual Disability insurance to supplement what the Group coverage does not provide – perhaps half as much, if not less, than that which is available during the last year of residency.

Although this may not seem important since you will still have Disability insurance in either circumstance, the quality of each contract is significantly different. By this point you have spent nearly a decade, if not longer, training to become an attending in your specialty. Most physicians prefer to protect their hard work and unique specialty with a Disability insurance contract that will pay them when prevented from performing the duties of their specialty. Unfortunately group coverage does not typically provide this level of protection and once you are already employed and provided group Long-Term Disability, the amount of Physicians Own-Occupation Disability insurance you can purchase will drastically be reduced.

If you are interested in obtaining quality Disability insurance that truly provides income protection for your medical specialty, start by researching information about what to look for in a policy. Read articles that can be found online, but do not solely base your judgment on these. The value of reading articles and websites is to learn about the differences that exist in the various contracts available today. There are many websites providing additional resources and information about Disability insurance for medical residents and young physicians. Take advantage of the resources available over the web, find an experienced agent and work with them to find the best option for you.

Disability Insurance During Medical Residency

Disability Insurance During Medical Residency

Michael Relvas is the owner of MR Insurance Consultants, a financial services firm that focuses on Disability insurance for young physicians. If you are a medical resident, fellow or young attending, our disability income specialists can assist you to better understand what to look for in a Disability policy, find available discounts and obtain the best contract for your specific situation. To learn more, visit the Physicians Disability Insurance Guide, specifically designed for the benefit of medical residents and young physicians.

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Repeating affirmations is a self-talk method that has a powerful affect on everyone’s life. Affirmations are effective, because the mind regards often-repeated thoughts and phrases as commands, and starts looking for ways to manifest them in our lives. The mind does not make distinctions between negative and positive self-talk, and treats them both in the same way.

You can use self-talk to your advantage, if you know how. You can fill your mind with positive thoughts, and channel its power toward achievement and success. You can do so by repeating affirmations, instead of occupying the mind with useless or negative thinking.

Affirmations are a powerful mental programming technique, which is not appreciated enough and is not well understood. There is a lot of information available on this subject nowadays, but few really know how to use it correctly, and fewer even try. To some, it seems just as a useless and impractical theory, but when well understood, it puts wonderful and powerful tools into your hands.

Affirm means to “make firm”. By affirming, you make a positive statement that your goal is already accomplished. An affirmation that is often repeated gets into the subconscious mind, which then uses it enormous power to find ways to make the affirmation come true.

We reap whatever our conscious mind sows onto the subconscious mind. Through affirmations we shape ourselves and our lives, according to the image that the words of the affirmation create, be it good or bad.

Give affirmations a try. You have nothing to lose, but only to gain. Try them for a couple of months and see if your life improves.

In order to use affirmations, some basic knowledge is required.

1. The subconscious mind does not recognize the future tense. When you use affirmations, you should always speak using the present tense. You want to achieve your goal now, not in some indefinable future time. Affirm by using phrases, which imply that what you want to happen is happening in your life right now. For example, if your goal is to find a job, don’t say, “I will have a job”, but say, “I have a well paying and wonderful job, which I love and enjoy”.

2. Affirmations need to be positive and made up of positive words.

3. Affirmations should be specific. Tell your mind exactly what it is that you want.

4. It is advisable to keep the affirmations short and easy to remember.

5. You should also include feelings. You should feel that the affirmation is true. Feelings and emotions are the life force of your words. You have to believe what you are saying. You have to convince your mind that the affirmation is true. This is very important if you want to obtain results.

6. You may repeat affirmations at any time you want or at special times during the day. Immediately after waking up and before falling asleep are two very appropriate times, as at these times it is easier to get to the subconscious mind.

7. You may affirm aloud, mentally or by writing down the affirmations.

These are just basic instructions, but they will surely bring you results, if you follow them sincerely.

If you wish to reap the full value of the power of affirmations, you can find further guidance, advice and affirmations at the website http://www.SuccessConsciousness.com, and more detailed information in the book Affirmations – Words of Power.

July 19, 2012 By

Remez Sasson writes and teaches about self improvement, positive thinking, creative visualization, motivation, success, mind power, spiritual growth and meditation. He has been studying and practicing these subjects for many years.

Remez Sasson is the author of several books, among which are, “Will power and self discipline”, “Visualize and achieve”, and “Affirmations – words of power” and is the publisher of the ezine “Consciousness and Success”.

Visit his website: http://www.SuccessConsciousness.com, where he shares his experiences and knowledge through his articles and books!

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If you have already read any materials related to Law of Attraction, you will understand that one of the main purposes for using affirmations is to strengthen our belief system so that we can harness the power of subconscious mind to attract and manifest what we want in our life.

You may start thinking, yes I did start to affirm what I want, but it just doesn’t seem to happen as things just don’t go according to plan and seem worse than before.

In this article, we will explore 5 main reasons why your affirmation doesn’t work:

1. Verbal instead of mind reading – During the time when we are working with an affirmation, we may be just using our mind to read from the material, such as an affirmation book or affirmation card. If that’s the case, our mind will just simply read and observe it, so it doesn’t have enough energy to hold the intention and it will not be able to create a solid belief and programming. The best way is to affirm it out loud verbally. Sound is form of vibration and when we use our voice, it creates a higher frequency, thus it helps to strengthen the belief, so your subconscious mind thinks you are quite serious and mean what you are saying.

2. Don’t be greedy – sometimes we just want everything in one go, especially when it comes to affirmations. Our ego may think, ‘the more affirmations we read, the better it will go!’ But do you know, when we are reading a list of affirmations, we tend to lose focus of which affirmation we are actually focusing on? Because of this, the mind is not able to register the affirmation since it has already become confused. To counteract this, why not just pick 1 affirmation and focus on it with all your energy and enthusiasm? I would suggest that affirmations are done at least twice a day for 5 to 10 minutes every time.

3. Lack of perseverance – affirmations mean we keep on affirming what we want so that it becomes a part of the positive belief in our mind. But, most of the time we tend to lose focus and become distracted by external factors such as work challenges or relationship issues, so it is very important to set your own time and focus on the affirmation everyday without letting external challenges beat you. From the scientific and metaphysic point of view, if we keep on doing the same affirmation for 21 days, it will form a positive habit and programme within our subconscious mind, so why not set yourself a goal, do it for 21 days and also show your faith to God?

4. Lack of Feeling and Emotion – How we are feeling when we are doing our affirmation work directly affects their efficiency. If you are affirming but feeling a fear of lack or you are doing affirmations for the sake of affirming then your affirmations are not likely to work the way you want them too. Our feelings and emotions serve as the “lubricant” for affirmations so if we charge up the affirmation with positive feelings of love, joy and enthusiasm, your manifestation power will be significantly magnified. It is the same process in reverse if you affirm with emptiness or coldness, the feeling will eventually block the manifestation process and your affirmations will not work.

5. Too focused on Positive beliefs – Our subconscious mind is full of a mixture of positive and limiting beliefs that may cause inner conflict. For example, we belief we want abundance, yet we also believe we don’t deserve it. This issue is known as having dual-beliefs. So these two beliefs actually counteract the other, with the end result of nothing being achieved. When we want to cultivate positive beliefs we have to be willing to be honest with ourselves to see if we have any negative and limiting beliefs that may block the “new” positive belief that we are trying to cultivate from being manifested? To do this, create a list of negative beliefs that you may have and clear them from your subconscious mind through affirmation work. By doing this, your new and positive affirmations are able to function easily and effectively.

July 12, 2012 By

http://www.abundancebelief.com

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