Reading Self Improvement Articles – A Never Ending Journey Through Life

December 2, 2012 By

Reading Self Improvement Articles – A Never Ending Journey Through Life

How I Got on the Self Improvement Path

More than a decade ago, I got started on this journey of self improvement. The real catalyst that got me started was going through an experience of life that some people choose called “divorce”. But although the divorce was the great catalyst I needed to get off my behind and improve myself in every way possible, the beginnings of that journey would never have been possible without direction. The direction I very much needed at that very confusing and messed up time in my life came from reading a self improvement related book called “The Way of The Peaceful Warrior”. It changed my life to say the least. Ever since the day I picked up that book, life has never been the same. And it is for that reason that I now continue to write self improvement articles and am in the process of writing several self improvement books.

Keeping Your Energy and Dedication Up

Every once in a while I find myself slacking off on this path of improving myself. Every so often it begins to feel like too much work to constantly keep improving myself. Every once in a while I just want to sit back and see things happen my way for once, the way I like it. But then the beauty about life and this journey of self improvement is that “Life tends to not give us exactly what we want but instead it always gives us what we need”.

That’s why I have found it so imperative to do things to keep my energy and commitment level high in order to keep improving myself anytime there’s an opportunity. And the way I have found that works really well is to keep reading self improvement books and self improvement articles. Although I love pretty much any forms of self improvement articles and self improvement books, I find the ones that move me into action and raise my energy most are the ones that share a story, a personal journey or struggle of some sort.

I find that those types of self improvement articles and self improvement books help the most because the writer shares from a personal space and therefore most people can identify with what is written about. I know of no one and neither have I heard of anyone that has achieved great successes or done amazing things in life without first going through some massive struggle and challenge in their life. Often, the greatest achievements done and people are all people who have crashed so low and hit rock bottom before they made it.

The Value of Reading

So I ask the question, where would we be if we didn’t have people who share their personal stories through self improvement articles and self improvement books? Because at the very least, self improvement articles and self improvement books give us a feeling that we are not alone in our struggles. Most often they raise our energy, and level of belief and faith that we can do it, achieve it or overcome it too. And at best, self improvement articles and self improvement books give us a clear direction, a sense of purpose again and clear steps of how we can move forward in the direction that will fulfill us most.

So to me, there is no doubt that constantly reading self improvement articles and self improvement books can only help us in our journey forward, not just towards achieving things in life but most importantly towards helping us become the higher self that we are inside. And by becoming that higher self that we are and continually spiraling upward, we can serve and contribute in more positive ways towards others who are perhaps in struggles we were once in. Reading self improvement articles and books helps give us different perspective on life and it experiences.

Hence, it is my belief that continually reading self improvement articles and books and then perhaps even writing your own, can itself be so helpful to not only you, but others too. So I say keep on reading and writing.

Reading Self Improvement Articles – A Never Ending Journey Through Life

Reading Self Improvement Articles - A Never Ending Journey Through Life

Mahindra Raj is a mind, soul and body transformation coach. Being a certified Master Neuro Linguistic Programming Specialist, Life Coach, Yoga Instructor, and a practitioner of Spiritual Response Therapy and Spiritual Restructuring, he has spent the last spent the last 12 years helping people create the results, balance and serenity that they want in their life. Understanding the mind, soul and body connection that we all have, he integrates and mixes and matches a vast combination of powerful techniques to help people get results in little time.

Contents About : Reading Self Improvement Articles – A Never Ending Journey Through Life

Filed Under: Self Improvement Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Top Benefits of Going Through Product Reviews

November 23, 2012 By

Top Benefits of Going Through Product Reviews

Product reviews have come as a boon to consumers these days. They have really made the consumer the king. The advent of the internet has been perhaps the biggest advantage that consumers have got in recent times. Earlier, one had to go through different quotes or call up various companies or use referrals to get to know about a product or service. The advent of the internet has made the entire process very simple. Today you just need to go through the numerous product reviews that you can find over the internet and make the right choice.

While these reviews were always available in the form of printed versions, online reviews do come with their own advantages. For example, you can always get to interact with a person who has written a review in the case of the internet and get quick responses. Similarly, you can also go through quite a few reviews before you make a choice. This will help you make the right choice, since you will be reading many reviews, so this rules out the chance of you buying a product on which there has been a biased review written on a site or two.

Product reviews also help you with price comparison, which is quite often the clinching factor in making a purchase decision. When you go through reviews, you can always find out the exact cost details apart from getting to know about places where you can find it for a discount. Similarly, there are many comparison websites where you can also do comparison shopping. These sites usually put products besides each other and list out their pros and cons. You can make the right purchase decision going through such product reviews. It is also recommended that you bookmark sites which you feel offer unbiased reviews, since you may have to refer to them, time and again, for future purchases.

Top Benefits of Going Through Product Reviews

Top Benefits of Going Through Product Reviews

With product reviews being made available through different sources like internet, magazines and other ways, people are more aware about how the product would work out. This is indeed a boon to the consumers. Get into my blog productreviews2010.info [http://www.productreviews2010.info/] to know more!

Contents About : Top Benefits of Going Through Product Reviews

Filed Under: Shopping and Product Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

Reduce Risk to Supercharge Your Investment Returns Through the Power of Compounding

October 28, 2012 By

Reduce Risk to Supercharge Your Investment Returns Through the Power of Compounding

Successful investing is all about the effective management of risk. Managing risk and avoiding large losses can have a tremendous impact on the growth rate of your investment portfolio over the long term.

Your financial advisor may be telling you that to be a “growth investor”, you need to increase your tolerance for risk and be willing to live with portfolio losses on the order of 30% or more when the market goes down.

But to really super-charge your long term investment returns, your tolerance for risk should probably be less than you think …

The point of this article is to understand how risk and losses affect the rate of growth in your portfolio… and what that means for the risk tolerance you should have. If you are a “growth investor”, then you need to understand this basic principal.

Doesn’t Growth Investing Mean Taking More Risk? Our ideas may conflict with what you think you already know about “growth” investing. You probably know that “growth” type investments are riskier, so how can you keep your risk tolerance at a low level and also invest in these riskier growth investments?

We are here to tell you that too much risk will hurt your long-term growth prospects. By using new, more advanced forms of active investment management based upon market timing, a growth investor can reap the benefits of investing in growth-type investments and also keep their risk tolerance at a low level.

This new approach allows you to harness the power of compounding, capture the superior gains of growth investments and multiply profits on top of profits – accelerating the growth of your nest egg with relative safety.

If you don’t think you could learn how to apply a more advanced approach to your investing, don’t worry. There are various investment newsletters and advisory services that will simply tell you what to do. Alternatively, there are money managers you can hire that use the new, advanced techniques.

Compounding Earnings Creates the Magic

You can read entire books on how to use the “magic of compounding” to get rich. You can become a millionaire by putting away a moderate amount of savings for 30, 40 or 50 years, investing the money at some moderate level of interest rate, and reinvesting the earnings in each period.

The books always point out that the key to the “magic” is reinvestment. Rather than spend the interest you earn, reinvest the earnings back into the same investment. In each period, your earning investment balance goes up by the amount of earnings in the previous period. Because the earning balance goes up each period, you earn more interest in each successive period.

• This power of multiplication will start to accelerate your portfolio growth from period to period and lead to a much larger investment balance than if you hadn’t been reinvesting.

To make the connection between your risk tolerance and the power of compounding, we need to look inside the mathematics of compounding just a bit. There we will find out what really makes compounding work and it will help us understand why managing risk is so important.

Losses Reduce the “Earning Balance”

What is the connection between losses and compounding? It’s simple really. When you lose money in your investment account, you reduce the earning balance.

• It’s the opposite of what happens when you reinvest your earnings.

The mathematical power behind compounding is … the steady growth of your earning balance. When you reinvest earnings, you provide a larger investment balance upon which to earn a return. And here is the key mathematically:

Your returns are more sensitive to the SIZE of your earning balance than the size of the investment return in any given year.

Size Matters: If you start with $100 and lose 10%, you are left with $90. If you earn 15% in the next year, you will make back $13.50 and have an ending balance of $103.50. Alternatively, if you started with $100 and lost 50% instead, you would have reduced your earning balance to only $50. If you then made the same 15% during the next year, you would make only $7.50, rather than $13.50 and end up with a balance of only $57.50.

Losses Destroy Principal Which Must Then Be Replaced. But here is the key “math” thing to understand: the reduced principal, or earning balance, makes it harder to earn the money back and replace what you lost.

You can look at the problem this way: If you lose 10%, it will take a gain of 11.1% to get back to “break-even”. However, if you lose 50%, it will take a gain of 100% to get back to even. It is much easier to earn an 11% return than 100%.

• When you lose a large percent of your portfolio … you have lost the power of compounding for multiple years and significantly reduced the long-term result you can achieve.

So the point of effective risk management is to avoid the big losses.

Increase Your Upside With a Lower Risk Tolerance

So what are these advanced investment methods that can allow you to invest in riskier “growth” type investments while avoiding very much risk to your portfolio?

They are active portfolio management strategies that use various market timing techniques to get you in and out of different investments. Many of these methods use computerized statistical models that identify longer-term market trends. They don’t try to “crystal gaze” the future. They simply statistically identify market trends and tell you when to get in or out.

By knowing when to get out before your investment gets slammed, the active portfolio management techniques significantly reduce risk.

In effect, they allow you to include riskier “growth” type investments without having to suffer the inevitable penalty of high volatility and steep losses during “bear markets”.

To learn more about our growth investment strategies for stock market and mutual fund investing subscribe to our free strategic investment newsletter [http://www.confidentstrategies.com/free_newsletter.htm] at http://www.confidentstrategies.com.

Reduce Risk to Supercharge Your Investment Returns Through the Power of Compounding

Reduce Risk to Supercharge Your Investment Returns Through the Power of Compounding

ConfidentStrategies.com founder Mark Kramer has over 24 years of experience in the Financial Services industry. He was most recently a licensed Registered Representative with a predecessor firm of JP Morgan Chase. Mark intends to share his investment knowledge and research to help investors make smarter investment choices in the stock market and mutual funds. If you would like to learn more about investing in the stock market and mutual funds visit http://www.confidentstrategies.com to sign up for our free investment newsletter.

Contents About : Reduce Risk to Supercharge Your Investment Returns Through the Power of Compounding

Filed Under: Investing Tagged With: , , , , , ,

3D Animation Design: Promote a Business Through 3D Animation Design

October 23, 2012 By

3D Animation Design: Promote a Business Through 3D Animation Design

There are plenty of opportunities and creativity found in the field of 3D animation. It is most challenging field for a creator. Today’s competitive environment forces us to use latest technology in the field and 3D animation is one of them.

Use of 3D animation design has several advantages. The first and foremost is the retention of your visitors. 3D animation holds the visitor for a long period on your website. Thus, it can be easily converted into the prospective customer. 3D animation leaves a long lasting impression over the minds of your website users. In compare to flat 2D images 3D images are more memorable. It is fact that you have an extra edge when you use cartoon animation or character animation in your advertising campaign.

3D rendering and animatronics technique is quite useful in so many areas and some of them are as follows.

• 3D Modeling Animation

• 3D Graphics Animation

• 3D Design Animation

• 3D Animation Rendering

• Architectural 3D Animation and Rendering Design

• 3D – Animation Movies

• 3D Animation Presentations

• 3D Animation Images

3D animated design is perfect presentation of your services or products. When you use 3D modeling or 3D animation design in your modeling of a car or a house it becomes the perfect presentation for your products or services. You can animate a product using 3D rotating or 3D walkthrough and you will have full control over the product display. You can show its all facets or aspects.

You can simplify any hard concept with the help of 3D animatronics or 3D modeling. You can easily do the things with 3D images which is quite difficult to do verbally. Architectural design in 3D or character animation is the intricate idea of simplifying the things using visual cues.

It is not easy thing to find a good 3D animator. You have to search it in outsourcing companies because they have such talent available for affordable rates. You can hunt especially for the companies that offer their services for hire an animator. These companies are working in competition so their rates are reasonable and they are reliable too. They use latest software for 3D animatronics design and 3D modeling. They have good infrastructural facilities including latest rendering instruments.

3D Animation Design: Promote a Business Through 3D Animation Design

3D Animation Design: Promote a Business Through 3D Animation Design

He is specialist 3D animation designer at IndiaNIC, a leading website design & development organization having years of experience in the 3D animation design services. So hire 3D animation developer at cost effective rate. For any queries related to designing email us at enquiry@indianic.com.

Content About : 3D Animation Design: Promote a Business Through 3D Animation Design

Filed Under: Animation Tagged With: , , , ,

What is Mindfulness?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A beginning Mindful sequence may involve:

- Sitting in a quiet and comfortable location

October 6, 2012 By

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

- Closing your eyes

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

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

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

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

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

What are Affirmations?

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

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

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

What are Mindful Affirmations?

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

- Smile

- Breathe

- Arrive

- Attend

- Find the essence

- Slow down

- Listen

- See things with a new perspective

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

– Robert Collier

Repetition of words creates repetition of thoughts.

Repetition of thoughts creates reality.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here are the words to eliminate:

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

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

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

Supercharger #1

==>Always Affirm in the Present Tense

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

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

Supercharger #2

==> Always Affirm in the Positive

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

It simply does not work.

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

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

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

Supercharger #3

==> Feel as if it’s Already True

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

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

October 2, 2012 By

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

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

Learning Through Educational Board Games

September 30, 2012 By

Learning Through Educational Board Games

Learning does not need to be cumbersome. It only takes innovation and clever thinking to discover other ways to imbue knowledge on children and even on adults. To do this, one has to simply add two variables: fun plus learning. The result? Well, educational board games for one.

Board games entice people to join in. In more ways than one they have to utilize their minds to memorize facts or solve problems to win. This way, they are more likely to engage on learning as much as they engage on gaming. Learning and gaming go hand in hand in this case, which makes information stick longer and faster in their heads compared to traditional teaching methods.

Educational board games are also great as an after school activity for children. Learning doesn’t have to start and stop at school. Continuing their schooling in a subtler and fun manner-i.e. educational board games-can help them out. Games like these help them enhance the way they think things through, quicken how they process information, and liven them up and motivate them to learn more.

Of course, they simply think that they are having fun and playing games, which is the important factor with educational board games. Making them feel that what they are doing is learning will encumber them. On the other hand, making them feel that what they are doing is fun makes them doubly enthusiastic, and at the back of their heads they are already storing knowledge. Moreover, if children are home schooled, educational board games are a great way to teach them.

But not all board games are applicable for everyone. Each game will have to depend on age.

Ages Three and Up

Looking back, most baby toys are made especially to enhance the mental capabilities of the baby. Games like these, are Cariboo. This game enhances the child’s recognition of colors, shapes, letters, and numbers. Being able to discern these very simple things is extremely important in a child’s development.

Ages Six to Nine

At this stage, children need more slightly complex games. In fact, they can even start playing educational board games many adults still find enjoyable. This means that board games for this age bracket has to have more complex rules, and they have to strategize, or reason out, and as well as discern spatial and color perception. Games that can fall under this category can be Dominoes, Checkers or Chinese checkers, Uno, and even Monopoly.

Ages Nine to Twelve

For this crucial stage, physical and mental changes are happening in a young person. The games integrated in here have more complex rules. They have to utilize their thinking more. This keeps them on track and their brain on alert. They also need to learn about teamwork at this stage. Board games for this age bracket help youngsters interact with others and develop the need to win in games. Monopoly is still applicable at this stage, but games like Clue (a detective game), the Game of Life, and even chess can now be incorporated.

Thirteen and Beyond

By the time they are thirteen, they can begin enjoying most board games adults play. They need to utilize math skills, logic, and more complex strategizing for games at this level. Card games are great as well, though teaching them gambling isn’t a good thing to integrate to their education. Scrabble is a better way to incorporate vocabulary and math skills for this age. Chess, too, is even more applicable for them. Basically, any adult educational board games can apply.

However, people still need to remember that at this stage, children are still easily influenced. Bad education is even worse than ignorance, so be careful what trait is being imbued on a young, susceptible person’s mind.

Learning Through Educational Board Games

Learning Through Educational Board Games

Visit Board Games Store A Place Where You Can Find Huge Selection Of Educational Board Games And Find Info On The World’s Most Popular Board Games

Content About : Learning Through Educational Board Games Article

Filed Under: Board Games Tagged With: , , , ,

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: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Strategy Fulfillment Through Human Development

September 26, 2012 By

Strategy Fulfillment Through Human Development

When we examine current organizational approaches to training we discover that it is haphazard, wholesale, and frequently unplanned. Some HR practitioners’ attitude towards training has been that it’s a necessary evil, and training budgets must be spent somehow.

researchers found that only 17 percent of leaders indicate their workforce strategy is aligned with their business strategy consistently across the organization. This means that strategic plans are moving in one direction and Human Capital strategies are moving in another. The gap between organizational needs and available skill sets is widening. More and more organizations are failing to carry-out strategies, achieve objectives, and to deliver stakeholders’ expectations.

The Missing Link!

Organizations have to quickly adapt and fulfill ever changing customer and stakeholders’ needs and demands.

Strategic Planning and Human Development are operating on different fields. Leaders are developing their 3 to 5 years strategic plans in seclusion and behind closed doors while HR practitioners are developing their short-term training plans; one is focused in the future, while the other is concerned with “now”.

Technological advancements have made it easier for organizations to improve and change. New IT systems, machines, and software are being developed in high speed. Nevertheless, people in the organization are lagging behind; they are not being developed at the same rate. As time goes by the gap between available skill sets and needed skill sets widens.

Best Case Scenario

In the governmental sector citizens are becoming fed-up with bureaucracy, and in the for-profit sector market and consumer demands are getting more complex. From personalized services to technological advancements in Information Technologies, medicine, and Information Communication Technologies the playing field is becoming more complicated day by day.

Organizations are forced to adjust and reexamine their strategic thinking in order to keep-up with consumer and stakeholders’ demands, and increasingly aggressive competition. Meanwhile, in the governmental sector, organizations are forced to rethink their approach to dealing with citizens.

In order to satisfy stakeholders’ demands, new strategies and objectives are being formulated and new technologies and systems are being introduced in an attempt to catch-up with an ever-changing landscape. As a result, Organizational Knowledge Needs have been growing faster than employees’ knowledge, skills, and competencies. Training and development activities are lagging behind, and this is resulting in Organizational Knowledge Starvation.

The knowledge gap is widening day by day, and organizations are unable to catch-up because of flaws in their approach to Human Development. The result is unhappy customers, unhappy employees, and a slow creep toward disaster.

Human Focused Strategic Planning

Government and private organizations must realize that strategic planning can not succeed without a human focus. We can acquire the latest IT systems, the fastest machines, and optimize management systems, but without putting people first, strategic planning will not succeed.

Human Focused Strategic Planning (HFSP) insures proper integration of employees in the strategic planning process. This approach will help organizations re-align their Strategic Planning process with current and future human capital. The approach includes three main stages.

Stage I: Human Data Collection

In order for HFSP to succeed employees must be actively involved early in the Strategic Planning process and in every step until the completion of the plan. As a matter of fact, in many cases in the Middle East this might require an organizational shift toward “Human” focused culture. Organizations should start building an Organizational Knowledge Capital Database. The DB will contain detailed employee data, information, and knowledge, and it will serve as an organizational knowledge depository.

The human data collection stage is comprised of the following three steps:

Assess your “human” related methodologies, approaches, and implementations. Build your Organizational Knowledge Capital Database through identification, collection, and inputting your people’s: Competencies, skills, knowledge, etc. Psychological Profile Motivational Profile Learning aptitude Performance details SWOT your Human Capital Strengths: identify what are major HC strengths that your organization could count on. Weaknesses: identify what are your HC weaknesses and areas for improvement. Opportunities: indentify your hidden HC potentials, and external recruitment opportunities. Threats: identify your internal and external HC threats.

Building an Organizational Knowledge Capital Database is a fundamental step towards an effective HC management. The DB will not only be an integral part of effective strategic planning, but also it will serve as an effective tool for employee motivation, career development, and performance management. It is a tool which will prepare employees to cope with the complexities and accelerated speed of an increasingly demanding organization.

Stage II: Analyze and Build

At this stage we assume that the organization has followed the correct steps in strategic plan formulation.

Analyze data collected during previous stage

Incorporate employees’ career paths and succession plans

Build knowledge capital model

Determine skills, competencies, and knowledge needed to execute strategic plans

Prepare Strategic Planning knowledge matrix

Stage III: Align your Strategic Plans and Human Development Plans

Here we integrate human development and strategic planning. The purpose of this stage is to define organizational knowledge capital, knowledge needs based on Strategic Planning, and draw a picture of our current position, our destination, and define our roadmap. Success in this stage is dependent on accurate and complete execution of previous stages.

This process is comprised of the following approaches:

Compare Strategic Planning knowledge requirements and knowledge capital model, and identify short-term and long-term gaps

Devise organization knowledge development roadmap based on gaps

Identify most effective human development methodologies

Implement human development roadmap

Plan and recruit talent not available in-house (based on roadmap)

Incorporate new talent skills, competencies, and knowledge into Organizational Knowledge Capital Database

Continuously measure skills, competencies, and knowledge

Assess and continuously improve your development plans and roadmap

Aligning Strategic Planning with Human Development Plans is the final and most important stage of strategy fulfillment through human development. This stage requires great commitment and effort by all levels of the organization.

Conclusions

Human development should be the core of any strategic management methodology. During the current talent “drought” it is important for private and governmental organizations to move away from traditional strategic management, and move toward building human centered strategies. This will eliminate many Strategic Planning challenges, and solve many organizational human capital problems.

As in any change initiative, organizational leadership has a central role to play in this process. This role requires their full support and commitment to their people in order for this methodology to work. They must believe that talent acquisition and development is one of their greatest challenges. Additionally, they should realize that the business landscape in rapidly changing and becoming more complex, and the survival and success of their organizations depends on a qualified and motivated workforce.

Human centered organizations have greater chances to survive during the current economical downturn. Employees who know that their organization cares about their developmental needs are usually more motivated and productive. Happy employees will deliver services, and make products that make customers happy. This in addition to human focused strategic planning and development will insure financial success.

* Copy Rights: Fahmi Abdein, and Empower for Organizational and Human Development, 2010

Strategy Fulfillment Through Human Development

Strategy Fulfillment Through Human Development

About the Author:
Fahmi Abdein has 22 years of successful leadership and management experiences in the US, Jordan, and The Gulf. He worked with some of the top organizations in the US such as HON Industries, Aerotech, Rite Way Services, and others.

Fahmi specializes in Human and Organizational Excellence. He is results driven Management and Human Resources Consultant and Change Agent with successful experiences in Organizational Development, Change Management, and Human Capital Management. A specialist in building, restructuring, and deploying HR systems, procedures, processes, and policies. He is a Senior Assessor for various regional business and government Excellence Awards.

Fahmi is a thought leader, and an accomplished speaker and writer. He is an innovator, creative thinker, and a problem solver. He is the creator of the M-Power Human Capital Management Model.

email: managebest@yahoo.com

Content About : Strategy Fulfillment Through Human Development Article

Filed Under: Humanities Tagged With: , , , ,

Build Brand Identity Through Product Branding

September 23, 2012 By

Build Brand Identity Through Product Branding

Building a product into a brand leader is not easy, but I truly believe that you can improve your branding impression if you follow these 2 rules; Passion & Consistency as well as the 4P’s of Branding that I have developed, PRODUCT – PLACEMENT – PROMOTION – PEOPLE. These 4 P’s will enable you to check the way your brand is interpreted. Each of these very distinct headings has an impact on your brand, and the brand in turn will affect each of these areas. For those of you who have gone through Marketing 101, you will see that the only difference between the 4P’s of Marketing and my 4P’s of Branding, are People, and people affect the brand more than any other area.

Product

Imagine this scenario, it’s lunchtime, you have decided, after working in your office all morning, that you would like to have an orange for dessert. You drive to the local supermarket, go to the fruit department, and find that there are only 2 oranges left, they both look the same until you pick them up. That’s when you notice that one of them has Sunkist stamped on it. Which one will you buy? Well if you are like 99.999% of the country, you will by the Sunkist orange. Why? Because over the years, Sunkist has promised you an orange that not only looks good, tastes good, but is also good value for money. Now comes the kicker, you see, there is very good chance that you would probably still buy the Sunkist brand, even if you had to pay a penny or so more for it. That is what building a brand leader is all about. At the moment of truth, if all things are equal then there is a good chance that the “brand” will be the purchase choice, and even command a premium price for the product.

Placement

Next is Placement. In my brand concept overview I have listed Distribution, Location, Stores, Transportation and Plant. Now these are generic headings, and you may well be able to add more that are pertinent to your specific industry. I want you to imagine that all of these areas are like a full-page advertisement for your company. They should all have the communications message that is consistent with the rest of the campaign approach you are now working on. I know that this is somewhat unusual, but every single piece of communication affects the end user or consumer in some way shape or form. You see it really is the logo on the truck, but it’s also the logo on the driver’s shirt, the cleanliness of the truck and the way in which the delivery person interacts with the customer. They should act the way you want them to, the way you want your brand to be enacted. This should all be scripted, leaving nothing to chance or choice! They are your brand image.

Promotion

Promotion is the area that we think of most when discussing brand and brand impression. Promotion covers the vast area of communication. From the very essence of the brand to it’s image, Advertising, Sales Promotion, Direct Mail, Internet advertising, Public Relations, Marketing, Sales Force, and Point of Sale. There are so many different elements, that it would take a whole series of articles to even get started. However, I would strongly recommend that you remember what I said at the beginning, “Consistency” should be pervasive throughout all of the components. Sometimes you don’t have to have a great design as long as you are consistent with the creative and the message.

People

As I mentioned earlier, People are the one area that makes my 4P’s of Branding different from the 4P’s of Marketing. People are involved in every step of the production of your product or service, and people are the Brand. Your employees, Dealers or Distributors, End Users, Vendors, Friends and honestly the Rest of the World. Every employee represents the brand, the people in the Accounting Department, Shipping, Research, Legal, Shop Floor, Marketing, and on throughout the company. It’s not just the Sales Department! Think about this – your accounting department calls someone in your clients accounting department on a regular basis. Maybe it’s to chase money, to clear up a billed consignment that perhaps got lost. But this is also a chance for your accounting person to get a little closer and find out how your company is doing with them, the customer. This is a great opportunity to get inside information.

How are we doing? Why do you think our competition is getting the lion share of the business? How can we do a better job for your company? And many other questions that you would like answered, I would go so far as to try to get these two people together, give them the opportunity to get closer, go out to lunch on you. It will pay back dividends in the long run.

There are many more opportunities to make your brand grow, make sure you follow the golden rules, passion, consistency of message and multiple quality impressions, and your brand will be on it’s way to becoming a brand leader.

Build Brand Identity Through Product Branding

Build Brand Identity Through Product Branding

Scott White is President of Brand Identity Guru a leading Corporate Branding and Branding Research firm in Boston, MA.

Brand Identity Guru specializes in creating corporate and product brands that increase sales, market share, customer loyalty, and brand valuation.

This Article may be freely copied as long as it is not modified and this resource box accompanies the article, together with working hyperlinks.

Over the course of his 15-year branding career, Scott White has worked in a wide variety of industries: high-tech, manufacturing, computer hardware and software, telecommunications, banking, restaurants, fashion, healthcare, Internet, retail, and service businesses, as well as numerous non-profit organizations.

Brand Identity Guru clients include: Sun Life Financial, Coca Cola, HP, Sun, Nordstrom, American Federal Mortgage, Franklin Sports and many others, including numerous emerging growth companies.

Content About : Build Brand Identity Through Product Branding Article

Filed Under: Branding Tagged With: , , , , ,
« Older Posts