How the CRTC Will Influence Cloud Computing and Technology Adoption in Canada

December 3, 2012 By

How the CRTC Will Influence Cloud Computing and Technology Adoption in Canada

A ruling by the CRTC has the potentially change the landscape and stump growth for consumer technology as well as business. As it currently stands there are internet service providers that offer a no bandwidth or unlimited internet usage. Fair use net policies exist a reasonable solution for when the network is stressed or being bombarded seems to be a reasonable compromise for most users. The new net-usage policy is based on how much bandwidth you consume.

For users that surf and research topics of interest and for email will not be impacted as much. The rest of internet users that watch videos online, stream and download music will be affected adversely. Internet capping of data rates and usage could affect how technology is used. Higher internet usage fees means that using technology such as your PC, net books, smart phones and iPads can rapidly drop if bandwidth usage is capped.

Services such as Netflix and TekSavvy that depend on internet usage can be influenced in a negative direction if usage is capped. Be prepared to pay more for monthly internet packages and as you scale up.

One of the problems that result will be that of business users that rely on VOIP for their global communication strategies. We recently received an email that we have consumed over 75% of our monthly bandwidth usage which was very surprising as we don’t stream or watch many videos online and this month not much if any streaming has occurred. It then occurred to me that Skype and VoIP are included in bandwidth usage. How will this impact on Vonage users and will this change the way Vonage will be billed and will users revert back to phone service for their business communication needs? How much will your cell phone package go up a month if that usage is capped, business users should brace themselves as their cell packages will increase. Business users that use the net from their smart phones will definitely be impacted. Will paying more for internet surfing impact the way iPads are used in Canada thus limiting adoption, how much will small business owners suffer with these new regulations? This one aspect of this decision.

Another major impact that may result is the adoption of cloud computing or SaaS for vendors. The products of cloud and SaaS vendors can be impacted especially for small businesses who are more prone to adopt cloud based technology. If you are currently using Salesforce, Plex, Netsuite another ERP, CRM or any other enterprise software that is cloud/SaaS based may be in for a surprise in their upcoming bills at least in Canada. This constitutes bandwidth usage so will this influence cloud adoption for enterprise software adoption and by how much especially with services such as backup/storage services, IT as a service and other outsourced services could possibly be affected and what about gaming? Will sales of video game consoles decrease because not only will games have to be purchased but now online usage will be charged based on usage especially length of time when joining gaming communities and participating in perpetual forums.

Something to think about when going cloud; another software evaluation criteria to factor in the TCO equation when comparing software. Incidentally, there is an online petition circulating to overturn this ruling. http://www.Openmedia.ca has accrued over 100 000 signatures so far to overturn this ruling. Feel free to petition this decision if this new ruling seems unfair.

Thank the CRTC for giving the internet companies another way to overcharge their customers. Chime in and let your voice be heard.

How the CRTC Will Influence Cloud Computing and Technology Adoption in Canada

How the CRTC Will Influence Cloud Computing and Technology Adoption in Canada

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Affirmations are probably the easiest and most effective method – compared to the effort involved – known to influence the conscious mind. Many of the world’s most intelligent experts and philosophers have used, and are using this technique, which has been handed down over thousands of years, in various guises such as mantras and prayers. The difference today, because of the now more wide spread knowledge of this technique, is that people from all walks of life are using them to meet people, win tournaments, heal disease and close business deals.

Affirmations are quite simple by their very nature, as all they really are is simple statements repeated regularly to yourself, whether silently or aloud, and practical to you at the time. You can do them anywhere, you decide upon a statement that represents what you want to have happen to you, and then you simply repeat it to yourself over and over again.

As an example, let’s say you find yourself in a familiar situation which normally upsets you and leaves you worn out and stressed, when actually you would prefer to be relaxed and unworried by it, this would be the exact time when using a positive affirmation would be beneficial to you, and in this situation a good example of an affirmation you would repeat to yourself to help change the situation could be ” I feel calm and relaxed, I feel calm and relaxed, I feel calm and relaxed”. Now at this point it is important that you don’t try to force yourself to feel calm and relaxed, just make sure that you keep repeating the affirmation to yourself for approx 5 minutes. Another quick example of a positive use of affirmations would be prior to attending an important business meeting that you would like to go well; this time you would begin affirming to yourself a few minutes beforehand with something like this “It’s going to be a great meeting, It’s going to be a great meeting.”

So Exactly What are You Doing When You do Affirmations?

When you use affirmations you are influencing, directly, the very thoughts that are occurring at any one specific time in your mind. As your mind can only hold one thought at a time, an affirmation works by cramming your mind and filling it with thoughts that support your goal. It’s quite clever really; in a simple way the words are suggesting to your mind what it should be thinking, so if you are affirming ” It’s going to be a great meeting ” then your mind naturally begins thinking related thoughts about it being a great meeting. It really is quite simple really, but the technique can be remarkably effective in helping you achieve the results you are looking for.

How do You Know if You are Doing it Right?

Well it’s all in the words you choose, they must be POSITIVE not negative, and, as gratitude forms part of the whole attraction process, you should include words that also convey this. For example, I use the following terminology to start all of my affirmations, taught by a great mentor of mine, Bob Proctor (from The Secret, Movie) no matter what I am affirming ” I am so Happy and Grateful now”. These words you will notice also use another important aspect of affirmations, they must always be in the present tense, as if you already have whatever it is happen. So if for example you have a money affirmation to bring more financial abundance into your life you could say ” I am so Happy and Grateful Now That Money is Attracted to me and I am attracted to money” or, for more opportunities to appear to you, you could say ” I am so Happy and Grateful Now That New Opportunities are Presented to me From Multiple Sources on a Continuous Basis”

You actually don’t even need to believe what you are affirming! This mistake can have a counter effect and nullify the effects. I know of many people who have used affirmations unsuccessfully mainly because they were trying to force themselves to believe. By the way, don’t get me wrong, if you DO believe what you are affirming, this will only serve to enhance, but if you don’t, then that’s OK too. You don’t have to force anything; by the process of repetition your mind will pick up the content of your affirmations and will therefore allow the correct thoughts into your consciousness.

You must also keep your affirmations reasonably short and to the point, easy to say and easy to repeat over and over again. I try to keep my affirmations to a maximum of 25 words, sometimes a lot less. Even 2 or 3 words can sometimes be an effective affirmation, short statements like ” I have tremendous success always” or ” I achieve record sales ” I have seen affirmations that were a full page long. There’s absolutely no chance that you can repeat an affirmation of that length in an effective manner, and I have found with people who have affirmations which are too long, soon tire of the repetition and the affirmation soon fizzles out. So the lesson here is, make it short and make it easy to say and repeat.

Also be very careful that you do not use your affirmations in a careless way that means they may work against you, for example statements like ” I’ll never get it done” I’ll never do it” I always lose” are all affirmations that you can easily find yourself repeating to yourself without even realizing it, so watch out for these.

So remember that anybody can create affirmations and use them effectively throughout the day to help accomplish the things that they want. They can be said anywhere, in the doctor’s waiting room, in a traffic jam, they don’t need to be believed, all you have to do is repeat them. I repeat my affirmations 5 times per day, however this is my personal preference which works well for me, but if I was to recommend a minimum I would say 3 times per day, first thing when you get out of bed in the morning – this sets the tone for the rest of the day – secondly, at lunch time – this helps to re-motivate you when typically you might be flagging – and thirdly just before you go to sleep – this is when your subconscious mind is in its most receptive state. Two or three minutes is all you need, start doing this now and commit to repeating every day and you will be amazed at how quickly you will begin to produce a noticeable affect.

August 13, 2012 By

Jon Leuty is a successful internet marketer who is dedicated to helping others succeed online. To find out more about Jon and to grab some awesome FREE training go to: http://whoisjonleuty.com

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Real Estate Commission – A Corrupting Influence

July 27, 2012 By

Real Estate Commission – A Corrupting Influence

Real estate commission is the way in which real estate agents are paid for the services they provide. They receive a percentage of the price received for the property. Effectively, the real estate agent requires the seller of a property (the vendor) to sign over to the real estate agent a part of the property being sold.

Another way of looking at it is to say that the real estate agent, through the wording of the listing contract, effectively has his name added to the title deed of the vendor’s property, so that the real estate agent becomes a part-owner of the property. When the property sells, the real estate agent receives a payment that represents his share in the vendor’s property.

Most readers will be aware of the arguments in favour of real estate sale commissions, so I won’t discuss those here. My focus is on the ways in which the sale process can be skewed against all parties involved, when the motivation to win a commission takes precedence over more important considerations.

Commission is a “winner-takes-all, loser gets nothing” situation. This increases the pressure on the real estate agent to secure a sale. Time is also a problem. If the real estate agent cannot secure a sale within a time acceptable to the vendor, the vendor may take the property off the market, or away from the real estate agent’s agency. This will result in a total loss for the real estate agent.

Finally, the vendor becomes an obstacle between the real estate agent and his commission goal. In order to receive payment for his share of the vendor’s property, the real estate agent must receive an offer to purchase within the available time, but the offer must be accepted by the vendor. If the vendor decides that the offer is not acceptable, then the real estate agent loses.

In order to win the gambling game that is real estate sales, the real estate agent may decide to tip the odds in his favour – and there are numerous ways in which this can be done.

At the listing stage the real estate agent may use improper means to win the listing contract. These include over-quoting on valuation, and offering dodgy sales figures.

During the sale process the real estate agent may be tempted to tell potential purchasers things that are untrue. I have seen many sale contracts with clauses designed to protect real estate agents against the consequences of false statements. Known as “porkies clauses”, they invariably state that the purchaser acknowledges that any information provided to the purchaser by the real estate agent is provided on the understanding that the purchaser will not be relying on it for any purpose.

When a purchaser has submitted an offer, and the purchaser cannot be convinced to increase her offer, the real estate agent may be tempted to pressure the vendor into accepting what would otherwise be unacceptable. Observations, such as “the market has softened” or “the market has spoken to us” are used by real estate agents to convince vendors that the real estate agent’s high estimation of value can no longer be relied upon, and that the vendor should now accept what the vendor believes is an unacceptably low offer.

For some years now, I have been arguing that real estate services should be provided on a fee-for-service basis.

I will explore the replacement of real estate sale commissions with a fee-for-service structure further in future articles.

Real Estate Commission – A Corrupting Influence

Real Estate Commission - A Corrupting Influence

Melbourne Lawyer Peter Mericka B.A., LL.B is a real estate lawyer and consumer advocate. He is a former police detective, with experience in areas of criminal investigation and police internal investigations. Peter is the Director of Lawyers Real Estate, a law firm that sells real estate and offers conveyancing services. He also instructs in real estate conveyancing at the Leo Cussen Institute, Melbourne, and edits the http://www.AustralianRealEstateBlog.com.au.

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Book Review of How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

July 19, 2012 By

Book Review of How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

This is a book review of Dale Carnegie’s all time international classic How to Win Friends and Influence People. It is a fairly large review with the occasional “diversion” from the topic because I feel it is appropriate for this classic book.

The original version of this book was written in 1937 with just 5,000 copies in print. It didn’t take long for the word to spread around the globe about the value contained within the book for millions of copies to be printed at later dates. The book has spread like wildfire since 1937 with over 16 million copies in print. Business owners, salespersons, and generally people who are interested in better relating to their fellow human being, have constantly referred to How to Win Friends and Influence People over the years as the best book you can read on the subject.

If you’re not really familiar with self-help classics, you may be wondering how the heck can books written in the early-to-mid 1900s be useful today? Surely humanity has made many more great discoveries that are far superior than this “old school” material?

I use to think the exact same thing prior to reading such books. However, there is something to do with learning about a subject from the core, the nectar, the heart of its original pioneers that makes the information so powerful. I have literally heard hundreds of people praise How to Win Friends and Influence People. Originally, I thought it was because the book was most people’s introduction to communication skills. I thought, “Sure, the book is great because it’s your first experience in learning the amazing effect of good communication.”

What I later found, which is what many people have experienced, is that by reading the book one time every year you experience a powerful new realization. Life-changing realizations are also frequently experienced by many people when reading Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich. The awareness and experience you have at the present time isn’t enough to completely grasp the principles in these classic books.

After reading the 2008 edition of this book, I’ve come to realize that the book’s four parts which deal with techniques to handle people, ways to make people like you, winning people to your way of thinking, and being a successful leader, are the fundamental skills of all human relations. I constantly teach these principles without realizing it because they are so fundamental to relationships. The very important point I’d like to distinguish here is that fundamentals are not necessarily basic skills. Fundamentals in any area form a solid framework for further skill development.

An athlete cannot become good in his or her sport by not having correct fundamentals. Sport coaches will tell you that an athlete who does not have the right fundamentals is tough to coach because every skill builds off the foundation laid by fundamental skills. Professional athletes constantly fine tune their fundamental skills because they know the profound affect such skills have on their professional abilities. Advanced techniques are only useful when the person knows the fundamentals. Also, having good fundamentals produces an exponential effect that puts you ahead of 95% of people, while advanced techniques in any area produces a slight improvement that gives you an edge of the 5% who also have sound fundamentals.

Tiger Woods can work on perfecting his 2 iron stinger where he hits the ball with a very low trajectory, while the average golfer is better off focusing on fundamentals like a better grip, stance, and pre-shot routines. However, Tiger still needs to monitor and work on these fundamentals as well. The skills taught in How to Win Friends and Influence People constantly need to be revisited and worked on regardless of how good you think you are at communicating.

At the start of each chapter, Carnegie discusses the chapter’s principle. He then provides an example of how someone, mostly students from his speaking course, have applied the principle in their business or family life. The stories themselves can be a revelation at times as you become aware of how and in what situations the principles can be applied.

The majority of the book discusses concepts instead of word-for-word techniques. One principle is making the other person feel important. Dale doesn’t tell you to say exactly this and that. He provides the “what,” which is the concept, with a little bit of the “how.”

The table of contents is below:

Fundamental Techniques in Handling People

1. ‘If You Want to Gather Honey, Don’t Kick Over the Beehive’

2. The Big Secret of Dealing with People

3. ‘He Who Can Do This Has the Whole World with Him. He Who Cannot Walks a Lonely Way’

Six Ways to Make People Like You

1. Do This and You’ll Be Welcome Anywhere

2. A Simple Way to Make a Good First Impression

3. If You Don’t Do This, You Are Headed for Trouble

4. An Easy Way to Become a Good Conversationalist

5. How to Interest People

6. How to Make People Like You Instantly

Win People to Your Way of Thinking

1. You Can’t Win an Argument

2. A Sure Way of Making Enemies – and How to Avoid It

3. If You’re Wrong, Admit It

4. A Drop of Honey

5. The Secret of Socrates

6. The Safety Valve in Handling Complaints

7. How to Get Cooperation

8. A Formula That Will Work Wonders for You

9. What Everybody Wants

10. An Appeal That Everybody Likes

11. The Movies Do It. TV Does It. Why Don’t You Do It?

12. When Nothing Else Works, Try This

Be a Leader: How to Change People Without Giving Offense or Arousing Resentment

1. If You Must Find Fault, This is the Way to Begin

2. How to Criticize – and Not Be Hated for It

3. Talk About Your Own Mistakes First

4. No One Likes to Take Orders

5. Let the Other Person Save Face

6. How to Spur People On to Success

7. Give a Dog a Good Name

8. Make the Fault Seem Easy to Correct

9. Making People Glad to Do What You Want

The principles of each part are nicely summarized at its end so you can easily review and memorize them. Overall, each principle may seem simple at times, but don’t let simple deceive you into its power. These are powerful principles that are still changing the lives of those who have read the book five or more times. If you don’t already have a copy of Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People, you need to go grab your copy now.

Book Review of How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

Book Review of How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

Joshua Uebergang aka “Tower of Power” is an Australian communication skills expert, and has more comprehensively reviewed Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People. You can get more relationship-enhancing, friendship-boosting, effective communication skills by visiting his site TowerOfPower.com.au and signing up to his free newsletter to get some of the Internet’s best articles on communication.

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The New Age Thinking regarding the use of affirmations can be somewhat frivolous. The idea that you can simply think about or affirm what you want and then get it is decidedly absurd. Yet, there is no doubt that thinking is a formative force in the materialization and fabrication of our world view and the conditioned circumstances in which we exist. How we view the world, and ourselves, as we are in and of the world, determines how we act which in turn results in effects. Our current situation–all the conditions of our present life and the various contexts in which we find ourselves, is a direct result of our past, specifically how we have used language in describing ourselves, our capacities, abilities and goals all of which is a precursor for behavior which, again, is causative meaning it brings about effects.

Language is not only our tool for communication. It is also our tool for thought. We think in words as well as mental pictures. But, language is a rather crude instrument. In English, with a mere 26 letters, we codify and represent all our experience…and communicate that experience, as best we can, with language. How can 26 letters encompass not just decades but ages upon ages of experience?

Language is tricky…it’s not always easy to understand the true meaning of a word or phrase. For example “love” has many different shades of meaning. When we say we love that new restaurant down the street, is that the same as when we say we love our mother? And when we are told that we should love ourselves, what kind of love do we apply? The kind of love we have towards our pet? Our sibling? One of the most common New Age Affirmations is something along the lines of “I love myself.” What does that mean? Really? Do we love ourselves the way we love our spouse? The way we love our neighbor? We don’t do those very well, so how could we possible love ourselves any better?

Because thought, which uses language, is a formative force. Affirmations are important. What we say to ourselves, and how we say it, does have an impact upon our mind, our body and our behavior…which, being causative, brings about effects. It behooves us to consider the positive and accurate use of affirmations as part of mental health hygiene. Just as you brush your teeth twice a day, so taking a few minutes to use language and thought in such a purposeful way that the mind is imprinted with positive impressions, is healthy. And, just as toothbrushes come in different styles and choosing one that works well is a consideration, so too designing an effective and accurate affirmation takes some meditation.

There are some basic guidelines to the proper use of affirmations: relatively short, first person singular, realistic, and yet not necessarily a present reality, vividness and kinaesthetic intensity, which is feeling. An affirmation is generally no longer than a few sentences and mostly just one simple sentence. The most common beginning of the sentence is “I am” and this is actually a very good affirmation to start with. After you brush your teeth, look in the mirror and say to yourself “I am.” After you’ve done that for a couple of months consistently, you can add on to it. For example, “I Am Healthy.” Of course, exactly what “healthy” consists of is not detailed, nor should it be. The word “healthy” is associated with dozens, if not hundreds, of other words, phrases, images and feelings. It’s those associations that gives that word its meanings. As you say “I am healthy” the subconscious mind automatically conjures images of what that means. As you repeat that affirmation as if it is a mantra, the images and feelings become intensified. But, you ask, what if I am not healthy, as many people in fact are not. You can still affirm this statement. It is not a hope or a want, it can be a statement of fact…even though it may currently be a lie.

Many of the beliefs and world views we hold today were built up through repetitive use of affirmations…simple sentences…which were, at the time, untruths. But, having repeated them so often, in first person singular, with vividness and feeling, these simple statements which were not at the time realities, became so. For example, a child growing up and learning language might imitate their parent who might often say “I’m such a klutz.” The child begins to imitatively repeat this affirmation and, although not a reality at the time, can easily become one.

To affirm something in the present which is not currently a reality is not a lie. It is simply a conflict. The subjective reality of the affirmative statement, coupled with vividness and feeling, is in conflict with the objective reality of consensual agreement. As the new affirmative statements are repeated the conflict increases. During this period of conflict there may be very strong thoughts attempting to convince one that the objective consensual reality is “the truth.” By continuing on with daily affirmative statements the creative subconscious mind begins to work towards conflict resolution. One of the two “realities” must be dissolved. There is tremendous force and momentum behind the objective consensual reality. Yet with simple persistence, the new subjective affirmative reality which was in conflict with the objective consensual reality begins to take dominance. The objective consensual reality’s basis, which is nothing other than established internal, subjective, affirmative statements becomes less rigid…it begins to crack. It becomes subordinate, and diminishes, and eventually dissolves away. Objective indications of the new affirmative position begins to be noticed in the world of consensual agreement…a new personal reality begins to emerge which is also substantiated by growing objective consensual agreements.

So, you may currently be very unhealthy. That does not matter. You can still affirm “I Am Healthy.” Be warned however, that as the weeks and months pass, as the conflict between the objective consensual reality and the newly forming subjective affirmative statements increases, there may be tendencies to prove to yourself that you are unhealthy. These tendencies need not be acted upon and, like storm moving through the region, they too pass; and then you may find yourself engaging in behaviors which are more aligned with the newly forming subjective reality of being healthy. What these new behaviors are will vary from individual to individual. There is no prescription as to diet, exercise, etc. The behaviors arise from the subconscious mind which is now accepting the newly forming reality. Although some may argue that you must affirm specifics, this writer believes the more generic, the greater the chance of allowing the creative subconscious mind to organize and formulate the necessary components of that reality without undue influence from the conditioned conscious mind.

There are a number of simple, generic affirmations that can be practiced. For example, “I am competent,” “I am efficient,” I am relaxed,” are some very simple affirmative statements that if practiced regularly can impact the subconscious mind in such a way as to bring about behaviors that are in alignment with that affirmation. Here is a longer affirmation that can be useful to repeat upon awakening in the morning and upon retiring in the evening: “I am a unique person, wonderful in many ways. I am gifted with the freedom to make choices and the means to act. I live in a world of possibilities and respond with intelligence. I am alert to what is happening around me. I can communicate. I am able to reason and I can learn. I will often remember…I am a unique person, wonderful in many ways.”

Few would argue the formative power of thought. Every single tool in our culture, from a simple hammer to space shuttles was first a thought in the mind. And clearly language plays a critically important role in thinking. Sometimes crafting an appropriate and accurate affirmative statement requires some assistance by a psychological wordsmither. If you would like help in designing an individualized affirmation specific to your personal and private issues, you are welcome to contact me via my website at http://www.openmindcounseling.com . Also, at the bottom of the home page is an invitation to receive a free copy (.pdf file) of James Allen’s timeless self-improvement classic As A Man Thinketh.

June 21, 2012 By

Ken Fields is a nationally certified licensed mental health counselor. With over 25 years in the mental health field, he has worked as as an individual and family therapist throughout school districts and within communities, a crisis intervention counselor, a clinical supervisor and an administrator in a human service agency. He has taught classes in meditation, visualization, goal setting, self-image psychology, anger and stress management, negotiation, mediation and communication, crisis intervention, and parenting. Mr. Fields specializes in Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Family Systems Therapy and Communication Coaching. As a practicing counseling psychologist, Mr. Fields brings decades of specialized training and applied skills to his work. He now provides quality online counseling and can be found at http://www.openmindcounseling.com and http://www.kasamba.com/ken-fields

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Affirmation techniques are becoming much talked about as a route to success. However, for the mainstream of the population, affirmation techniques are still little understood. They are crying out for further investigation.

So, first off, who uses affirmation techniques? Well, successful people, basically.

The methods are not new. Affirmation techniques have been used at least for several hundreds of years, but more likely millennia, by individuals seeking success for themselves and the wider populace. Ironically, decent guides on affirmation techniques are not that easy to come by and some are better than others. In spite of all the hype surrounding affirmation actions, many of us still remain in the dark about the methods employed.

Moreover, it seems that the results of affirmation techniques are still disputed hotly. Some claim they can be empirically proven to work, others say they are complete bunkum. So, who is right? Is there room for dispute?

I, personally, have long been an advocate of affirmation techniques guides because they worked so well for me. I introduced the methods into my everyday life and conversations. I found that my life improved in terms of relationships, personal financial gain and advantages for other people in my personal and business life. So how could I ignore these ideas? I looked into the whole gamut of affirmation techniques in much more detail.

I went from farm hand to president and owner of a very successful private investigations business. And I can truly put it all down to following the right affirmation techniques.

Affirmation techniques have effected enormous changes in many people’s lives which can’t be ignored. That said, a huge swathe of individuals who have used affirmation have found no positive benefit. We should be allowed to question why not. I know it works for me, so what have these people overlooked, or ineffectually implemented, when it comes to affirmation?

Are some people just getting the basics wrong? Is the information wrong? Are the situations we find ourselves in wrong? Or is there an overall view (paradigm) that encompasses the whole symbiosis of affirmation techniques for anyone who cares to buy into this system?

Continual and unabated testing of the various types of method is crucial. Anything short of tried and tested evaluation is spurious, in the least. For sure, benchmark tests may still be banned from the laboratory. Why, I don’t know, but that is our current day situation. Personally, I can only concentrate on anecdotal evidence.

Before I get there, perhaps we could explore what the aim of affirmation actually consists of. The whole picture of affirmation is an elusive one. Confounded, lambasted and derided by many, its true visage and power is yet to be fully appreciated.

To put it at its basic level, affirmation relates a conscious order directed to the subconscious. In the subconscious mind the veracity of conscious thoughts are accepted. Subconscious thoughts then become something natural and are put into effect without any conscious thoughts. In effect, you control the way you are automatically after the initial input via affirmation techniques.

Why is that important? Well, because to influence other people, you must be entirely natural. Otherwise they will pick up that something is wrong, that your behavior is forced. And that is the basis of affirmation techniques. They are positively conscious techniques which become natural and subconscious. However, anything you relate consciously to the subconscious must be regarded by the subconscious as acceptable and entirely believable. If you try and convince the subconscious that you are an operatic diva when in fact you sing like a crow, it just won’t be accepted.

But, and this is a big but, if you tell, or command, your subconscious that you will be a master tenor lead at the Sydney Opera House, you have every possibility of becoming so. For most of us, tension in the conscious mind is a barrier to becoming what we should be. Let us be honest; it really is the truth. We all sing better when alone, in the shower, or wherever. Put us in front of a crowd of spectators and we become tongue-tied and out of tune. But we know we can do it really.

So that’s what affirmation techniques are all about. They are simply a way of convincing ourselves that we are capable of what we could actually do in any case, if it weren’t for our self-consciousness. I know I haven’t ventured into any specific techniques, but let me assure you that they have worked for me. I was terribly self-conscious and self deprecating ten years ago, although I knew I had a good brain and personality. I was earning the minimum wage. Now I run a very successful private investigations bureau.

That is about the best I think I can achieve given my abilities. Other people who have followed affirmation techniques are, or have been, presidents, business magnates and some just much better moms and dads. Affirm, don’t decline.

May 29, 2012 By

Timothy Payn has helpful affirmation advice via his blog: http://alternativehealthguideadvice.blogspot.com/2008/03/affirmation-techniques-revealed.html

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Win Friends & Influence People Through Music — Is It Possible?

May 18, 2012 By

Win Friends & Influence People Through Music — Is It Possible?

The idea that studying music improves the social development of a child is not a new one, but at last there is incontrovertible evidence from a study conducted out of the University of Toronto.

The study, published in the August issue of Psychological Science was led by Dr. E. Glenn Schellenberg, and examined the effect of extra-curricular activities on the intellectual and social development of six-year-old children. A group of 144 children were recruited through an ad in a local newspaper and assigned randomly to one of four activities: piano lessons, voice lessons, drama lessons, or no lessons.

Two types of music lessons were offered in order to be able to generalize the results, while the groups receiving drama lessons or no lessons were considered control groups in order to test the effect of music lessons over other art lessons requiring similar skill sets and nothing at all. The activities were provided for one year.

The participating children were given IQ tests before and after the lessons. The results of this study revealed that increases in IQ from pre- to post-test were larger in the music groups than in the two others. Generally these increases occurred across IQ subtests, index scores, and academic achievement.

While music teachers across the country greeted the new research enthusiastically, in fact, many other studies have previously shown a correlation between music study and academic achievement.

In 1997, well known music researchers Frances Rauscher, Gordon Shaw and their team at the University of California (Irvine) reported that music training is far superior to computer instruction in dramatically enhancing children’s abstract reasoning skills, the skills necessary for learning math and science. A group led by the same two scientists had earlier showed that after eight months of piano lessons, preschoolers showed a 46 percent boost in their spatial reasoning IQ.

The March 1999 issue of Neurological Research published a report by another group of researchers, also at the University of California (Irvine), who found that second-grade students given four months of piano keyboard training, as well as time playing newly designed computer software, scored 27% higher on proportional math and fractions tests than other children.

Students with coursework and experience in music performance and music appreciation scored higher on the SAT, according to a Profile of Program Test Takers released by the Princeton, NJ, College Entrance Examination Board in 2001. This report stated that students in music performance scored 57 points higher on the verbal and 41 points higher on the math, and students in music appreciation scored 63 points higher on verbal and 44 points higher on the math, than did students with no arts participation.

Another part of this same study shows that longer music study means higher SAT scores. For example, students participating in the arts for two years averaged 29 points higher on the verbal portion and 18 points higher on the math portion of the SAT than students with no coursework or experience in the arts. Students with four or more years in the arts scored 57 points higher and 39 points higher on the verbal and math portions respectively than students with no arts coursework.

Another study also found support for a relationship between math achievement and participation in instrumental music instruction. The researchers found that students who participated in instrumental music instruction in high school took on the average 2.9 more advanced math courses then did students who did not participate.

In fact, various studies over the last 10 years suggest teaching kids music can heighten their aptitude for math, reading, and engineering. (One explanation for improved ability in mathematics is that music theory is based on mathematical truths. Rhythms are divided into fractions – half notes, quarter notes and eighth notes. Scales have eight tones, and the steps between them follow an equation.)

A McGill University study in 1998 found that pattern recognition and mental representation scores improved significantly for students given piano instruction over a three-year period. The researchers also found that self-esteem and musical skills measures improved for the students given piano instruction.

And data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 revealed music participants received more academic honors and awards than non-music students, and that the percentage of music participants receiving As, As/Bs, and Bs was higher than the percentage of non- participants receiving those grades.

In 1994, a report entitled “The Case For Music Study In Schools” was printed in Phi Delta Kappan, the professional print journal for education. It included details of research conducted by physician and biologist Lewis Thomas, who studied the undergraduate majors of medical school applicants. Thomas found that 66 percent of music majors who applied to medical school were admitted, the highest percentage of any group.

The same report asserted that the very best engineers and technical designers in the Silicon Valley industry were, almost without exception, practicing musicians.

The world’s top academic countries also place a high value on music education. In a study of the ability of fourteen year-old science students in seventeen countries, the top three countries were Hungary, the Netherlands, and Japan. All three include music throughout the curriculum from kindergarten through high school.

St. Augustine Bronx elementary school, about to fail in 1984, implemented an intensive music program, and today 90 percent of the school’s students are reading at or above grade level. And a ten-year study at UCLA tracked more than 25,000 students, and showed that music making improves test scores. Regardless of socio-economic background, music-making students get higher marks in standardized tests than those who had no music involvement. The test scores studied were not only standardized tests, such as the SAT, but also in reading proficiency exams.

Music training helps under-achievers as well, according to research published in Nature magazine in May 1996. In Rhode Island, researchers studied eight public school first grade classes. Half of the classes became “test arts” groups, receiving ongoing music and visual arts training. In kindergarten, this group had lagged behind in scholastic performance. After seven months, the students were given a standardized test. The “test arts” group had caught up to their fellow students in reading and surpassed their classmates in math by 22 percent. In the second year of the project, the arts students widened this margin even further. Students were also evaluated on attitude and behavior. Classroom teachers noted improvement in these areas also.

In 2005, it appears the pace of scientific research into music making has never been greater. The most recent evidence from the University of Toronto confirms what many other researchers have already detected – that music boosts brainpower, academic achievement,socialization skills, and emotional health.

It’s logical, when you think about it. People who learn to play an instruments are in groups — bands, choirs, orchestras, combos, worship teams, etc. And working and making music with others is bound to help relateabilty with people and foster close bonds with fellow musicians.

So it appears that learning to play music, whether guitar, piano, or some other instrument, actually does contribute to your ability to “win friends and influence people.”

Win Friends & Influence People Through Music — Is It Possible?

Win Friends & Influence People Through Music -- Is It Possible?

Duane Shinn is the author of over 500 music books and products such as DVD’s, CD’s, musical games for kids, chord charts, musical software, and piano lesson instructional courses for adults. He holds an advanced degree from Southern Oregon University and was the founder of Piano University in Southern Oregon. He can be reached at http://www.pianolessonsbyvideo.com He is the author of the popular free 101-week e-mail newsletter titled “Amazing Secrets Of Piano Chords & Sizzling Chord Progressions” with over 55,000 current subscribers. Those interested may obtain a free two-year subscription by going to http://www.playpiano.com/

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Affirmation is a very powerful tool that can be used to change the mindset of a person. It can transform negative and destructive thoughts to positive and beneficial ones. But in order to affect the subconscious, affirmations should follow this guideline.

Present form

The first thing to remember is that the positive affirmation must be in the present form. As long as man desires a particular action and achieve a particular goal, then there will always be a need to influence the subconscious mind. And if you want to make your affirmation effective, there is no better time to start than “now”.

Belief that the desire is already a reality

Another tip to developing good affirmation is a belief that what you aim for and what you wish to do is something that has already been accomplished. Experts believe that people saying “I am becoming happy” is more effective as this conveys the message that you are already seeing the positive results of your affirmations.

Positive

The affirmation must be positive and veers away from any negative note. Creating an affirmation with the words “I am safe” is believed to be more effective than saying the words “I am not scared”. The presence of the negative word “not” may affect your attitude and behavior negatively. Thus, experts suggest that there is no better way to use a positive affirmation by staying positive all the time. It is also believed that the word “scared” may grab your attention more and make you think about the negative thought of not being safe often

Everyday language

It is best to come up with an affirmation that fits your language style. It means that you must draft one that uses common words or terms characteristic of the language that you normally use. One important element of positive affirmation is repetition. One cannot repeat a statement which is not common or easy to utter. Instead of including difficult words, it is best for you to keep your affirmation simple and brief so that it is easily absorbed by the subconscious. Difficult words may be pleasant and attractive to hear but the very purpose of a good affirmation is not to impress anyone but rather to help you easily utter it, remember it, and practice it everyday. An action is expected to be the end-point of an affirmation. A simple understanding and verbalization of the affirmation would lead to the desired action.

Avoid using too many words

The affirmation must consist of simple words and it must be phrased simply. A complicated phrasing would make it difficult for you to utter the affirmation repetitively. The principle of affirmation lies on the basic tenet that the subconscious mind must be exposed to the repeated affirmation so that this portion of the mind will be a venue from which the desire will come from.

Your affirmation must be specific and shows the exact action or reaction you are aiming to achieve. It may convey a particular feeling that you want to feel like a longing to feel happy, or to feel energetic, active, or feel in love. It may also be in the form of a specific action like your desire to pass an examination, find the right person, or it can even be as simple as reaching a certain destination safely.

May 17, 2012 By

You can take the power of affirmations to the highest level with a simple software tool to easily and automatically send positive subliminal messages to your subconscious. Click this Subliminal Message Software for more information.

Find out how you can use affirmations to achieve anything your heart desires, whether its health, relationship, wealth, better sex, weight loss, or more. Go get this FREE Daily Positive Affirmation Newsletter.

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How Teachers Influence The Performance Of Biology In High Schools

January 17, 2012 By

How Teachers Influence The Performance Of Biology In High Schools

Biology plays a key role in industrialization and other sectors of the economy. Biology is a practical subject, which equips students with concepts and skills that are useful in solving the day-today problems of life. The study of biology aims at providing the learner with the necessary knowledge with which to control or change the environment for the benefit of an individual, family or community.

In general, the importance of biology to humanity can be outlined as follows:

(i) The learning of biology helps us to know how to use natural resources more efficiently in industry e.g. in bio-technology, food production, building and textile and paper industries.

(ii) The learning of biology helps us to understand changes in the environment and the factors affecting these changes, in order to know how human needs are influenced.

(iii) The learning of biology is important in helping mankind to find effective ways of preventing, treating and curing diseases and home management techniques e.g. better methods of food preservation, efficient food preparation and care of the family

(iv) The learning of biology is important in helping the improvement of agricultural yields through scientific research.

There has been public outcry and concern by parents, teachers, educationists in Kenya about poor performance in science subjects and mathematics in national examinations.

But do you know the biology teacher has a role to play in this poor performance?

Biology as a science subject requires an integration of both theoretical and practical work to make it easily understood by the students. The largest proportion of teachers still use the conventional lecture method while teaching biology.

Teacher expectations have a bearing on the attitude and science anxiety levels of the learners particularly when the learners are aware of the level of expectation the teacher has of them.

In relation to the teaching and learning of biology, attitudes begin to develop on the first encounter between the teacher and the learner, once formed they play a key role in determining students’ learning and performance in biology.

Authoritarian and impersonal teacher- student interaction in class could be the major factor that contributes to negative attitude of the students towards learning biology. On the other hand, democratic and personal teacher-student interaction in class elicits positive attitude towards learning biology

The teaching approach, methodology and how the professional skills and practices of the teacher are displayed may be dependent on the level of science anxiety the biology teacher has.

A teacher who suffers from career dissatisfaction is likely to contribute negatively in terms of performance of the learners in biology; this is because the teacher will have lower self-efficacy and high levels of anxiety. This kind of teacher is likely to develop negative attitude towards the students and his/her interaction with the students will be negative and this may contribute to a negative attitude of the students towards biology with the likelihood of the students developing high levels of anxiety towards the subject.

Therefore, teacher perceptions, teaching methods applied, the type of teacher -pupil classroom interactions, teacher expectations of students in terms of performance and science anxiety levels of the teachers- partly contributed by lack of job dissatisfaction or satisfaction are the key factors that influence performance in biology in Kenyan secondary schools.

How Teachers Influence The Performance Of Biology In High Schools

How Teachers Influence The Performance Of Biology In High Schools

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Recently I responded to an email that posed the question, “How well do these affirmations really work?” Below is the response that I sent the person who asked the question. There are a number of important points that will be helpful to others, so I’m reprinting the information. Here it is…

The answer is that it depends on you and how well you apply them. One person can take a single principle outlined in the affirmations and become so inspired that they make millions. Others can listen to all of the affirmations a couple of times and do nothing with them. Sorry I can’t be more definite than that, but that’s the truth.

I think that the better question to ask “are the Power Affirmations are based on sound principles that can lead to success?” The answer is absolutely. Here are some of the primary principles that they are based on:

1. The Power Affirmations are stated in the positive. We become what we think about most of the time–our dominating thoughts.

2. The power of repetition of positive thought and suggestion. Repetition mixed combined with belief and a positive enthusiasm is the fastest way to condition your subconscious mind. The whole adverstising industry is based upon repetition of suggestive thought aimed at getting people to buy their products. Does it work? Just take a look at the trillions of dollars American’s spend each year largely as the result of billions of dollars spent on advertising. Successful business people are not stupid. They spend a lot of money on advertising because they know repetition of thought leads to people taking action to buy their products.

3. These power affirmations are foundational. As you listen to the power affirmations, you will find that there is a natural progression to the thoughts within the sections or (“discs”) and the sections themselves. This is not by accident. I initially created the program for myself with no intention of selling it or even sharing it with others. I went through the books that had the greatest impact on my life and extracted the primary points that I wanted to condition in my mind and translated them into Power Affirmations.

4. The power of multisensory learning. What do I mean by this? We have 5 senses–sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste. The more of the senses you can involve in learning, mixed with repetition and emotion, the faster you will learn. With the Power Affirmation recordings, you have an easy way to involve the senses of sound, sight, and touch (or feeling). Sound is obvious. You can involve the sense of sight by using the power affirmation posters or screen savers. Or just by looking at the list of affirmations in the eBook. Even more powerfully, using your creative vision and imagination. Feeling is involved when you add “physiology”–such moving your body with a feeling of certainty as you listen to or repeat the Power Affirmations. Tony Robins talks a lot about that concept in his books and seminars.

5. These affirmations are general. While there are specific concepts, there is no mention of specific goals or amounts of money, etc. Again this is by design so that anyone can use them. As you get better with using affirmations and more familiar with the language patterns, you will want to create specific Power Affirmations for your own situation–especially setting your Definite Major Purpose or Mission in life. For example, one of my personal power affirmations is related to reaching over 1,000,000 people with my free affirmations eBook and website by March 31, 2008. Or someone may want to target a specific weight amount if they over weight. But you have to learn to walk before you can run–and that’s where these affirmation recordings excel. You have to condition your mind so that your predominating thoughts are of success, health, happiness, prosperity, etc. in order for more specific affirmations to be effective. Then add power affirmations based on specific goals.

6. It’s best to use the affirmations in conjunction with a goal planning system. This is why I include an explanation of my RAP planning system in my eBook. It’s simple, but effective. That’s because you are organizing your plans on a daily basis around specific goals and measuring your progress daily. Even though the explanation of the system is only a few pages, this alone could be worth hundreds or even thousands of dollars to you. Why do I say that? I personally spent years of study and trial and error and thousands of dollars trying to find a way to plan and manage my life and my time. This is the ONLY system I have been able to consistently use (for several years now) to consistently achieve my goals. The key here is that the daily plans are ORGANIZED. While using a “to do” list is better than nothing, it’s generally ineffective and worse leads to stress and overwhelm. If you have any ambition (and obviously you do), if you create a random list of things you have to do and want to do, it will quickly become overwhelming if you don’t find a way to organize it. By the way, the idea for RAP came to me in a flash of inspiration while I was listening to my Power Affirmations.

7. The power of concentration and focus. When you read or listen to an audio recording, most of the information goes by so quickly that you don’t really have an opportunity to savor and meditate on a specific point in order to extract the full value. The recordings help you to focus your thoughts around the key points so that you are able to firmly plant it into your mind to give it the best opportunity to attract similar thoughts. This allows you to take advantage of the law of sowing and reaping–multiplication. This is a law of nature that you can easily see all around you.

For example, if you plant a single seed of corn, nurture it and care for it, eventually, it will bring forth a plant that has multiple ears of corn on it. And each ear of corn has multiple seeds. In fact, from that one seed of corn, not only are you able to grow enough to eat a portion of it, there is also more than enough to plant more seeds next season. Over a number of seasons of seedtime and harvest, that single seed of corn can lead to a whole field of corn (this is why I say super abundance is a law of nature–the multiplicative process of seedtime and harvest). Think of each thought as a seed. As it grows into maturity, it attracts a number of thoughts of a similar nature. Before long, the mind is saturated with these dominating thoughts. This is why it is so important to protect your mind from any kind of negative influence or thought suggestion. The best way to protect yourself is by continuously planting positive thoughts and nurturing them. And learning to recognize negative thoughts and avoiding them.

With agriculture, there is a definite season for seed time and harvest that operates like clockwork. You can’t plant a seed of corn and come back the next day to reap the harvest. The great thing about sowing positive seeds of thought is that there is no set time for the harvest to come. While time is a factor, there are other steps you can take to accelerate your progress–such as concentration.

Well, that’s all that I have time for for now. I’m sure if I thought about it, there’s a lot more I could say. But that’s because this has been my area of focus for a long time–really ever since I first read Think and Grow Rich back in the late 70′s. What is really important is that you get started immediately. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking you have to know everything about affirmations before you will start to receive the benefits. Start with just listening daily and going through the RAP process. RAP will help you measure your personal progress. Be patient. Allow yourself to grow. Remember, seedtime and harvest. The harvest will come soon enough, but only if you sow the seeds and nurture them. It can come faster than you may currently think is possible–it’s all up to you.

January 8, 2012 By

Copyright (c) 2005 Bill Marshall – All rights reserved. Feel free to republish this article with copyright and link information included.

For practical self-improvement tips, visit http://www.poweraffirmations.com. Get my new free e-book, “Power Affirmations: Power Positive Conditioning for Your Subconscious Mind”

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