Get Excited, Achieve Your Goals

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by Dale Stuemke

The fifth letter in the word change, G, presented a bit of a challenge. G for goal? That seemed a bit obvious, and this whole thing is about goals anyway. G for grow, for gravitate, for—for what?

Then I remembered what one of my business mentors used to say: "Nothing ever happens until somebody gets excited!" It's true, and it's the topic of this article looking at the word change.

Now you might be thinking "Get excited? Do you know how much work I have to do to accomplish this goal? Do you understand that I could be out playing golf, but instead I'm studying so that I'm ready to pursue the next step in my action plan? Get excited, right!"

Well, no, I don't know just what you're going through and how hard you're working to achieve your goal. And, I know that the actions you need to take to reach your goal aren't always fun. And, yes, you need to take time occasionally for some down-time, some recreation that will give you a break. But, yes, you should get excited!

Get excited about the fact that you are going to realize the changes in your life that will result from achieving this goal. You're not just trying to reach a goal because it's a goal; you've established that goal because it is going to bring about a change (there's that word again!) in your life that you sincerely want. The rest of your life will be better in a way that you can visualize and see yourself experiencing because you've put forth the effort to achieve the goal. That change, that result should be getting your blood pumping! Get excited about it because it is going to be real!

Get excited about how much you've learned and how much you've already accomplished on your journey to your goal. Stop for a moment and appreciate the fact that you have learned and accomplished things already because you committed yourself to a worthwhile goal. Think about how the achievements you've already accomplished make you feel. I'll bet you're more positive now than you were when you began the journey. I'll bet you're even sort of proud, in a positive way, of some of the things you've accomplished that you were a bit concerned about doing. I'll bet you believe more in yourself and your ability to achieve success than when you started. Stop for a moment and focus on those things. You'll get excited!

Finally, think about how you feel. If you're pursuing a goal that's truly important to you and you're starting to see some progress, you're certainly experiencing a happiness that you didn't have before. Think about it. You set a goal because there is a change you want in your life. You've probably wanted or thought about that change for a long time, maybe years, before you got serious and set a goal to go for it. Now you're doing it!

Someone said that success or happiness is the pursuit of a worthwhile goal. You are now in that pursuit. You're doing what successful people do; you are pursuing a worthwhile goal, and you're going to achieve it! I think that gives you every reason to Get Excited!

I'm a husband, father, and grandfather. I couldn't have dreamed of the life I've lived. I've learned that dreams and goals are achieved with a good plan, focused effort, good mentorship, and commitment. Humans are designed to be achievers. Visualizing the future and setting and achieving goals to make it a reality is uniquely human! I'm still dreaming my future into existence and setting goals to make it happen. Visit: Launch Your Goals Blog

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Beginners Chess – The Pieces

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by Laurie Heynes

Pawns

You start out with eight of these so it's worth knowing how they move! Pawns can only move forwards in a straight line. For each pawn's first move they can move two squares forwards (without jumping over anything) from then on they can only move one square at a time. Of course if you only want to move your pawn one square on its first move you can do that instead. Pawns take opponent's pieces by moving forwards diagonally one square to either left or right.

Pawn Promotion

Because pawns can only move forward they would be useless once they got to the other side. This is where pawn promotion comes in. As soon as your pawn reaches the other side of the board you must replace it with a new piece! You can choose any piece apart from a pawn or a king. Almost always people choose to promote to a queen.

Note: contrary to what some people think you can still promote to a queen even if you already have one queen on the board (giving you two queens).

Knights (horses)

Knights can be quite tricky to get to grips with being animals they are unpredictable and can be difficult to keep under control! Knights are the only piece which can jump over other pieces. Knights move in an L shape by moving two squares in any direction (other than diagonally) before stepping one square to the side.

Note: knights can cover a large area around them so it's best to avoid having them on the side of the board where only half of their potential is usable. Here instead of covering eight squares your knight only covers four.

Bishops

Bishops (sit between the knights and the king/queen) can move only diagonally. However they can move any number of squares and can be very mobile. One bishop starts on a black square and one on a white and due to the way they move they will stay on their own colour throughout the game.

It is normal for bishops to be placed somewhere where they cover one of the long diagonals across the middle of the board.

Rooks (castles)

Rooks are one of the simplest pieces to understand yet one of the most powerful. They can move any number of squares in either a horizontal or vertical direction.

Queens

The queen is the most powerful piece you have so make sure you look after it! If you do lose it make sure that you will take your opponent's queen as a result.

The queen combines the moves of the rook and bishop. I.e. moving any number of squares in either a diagonal, horizontal or vertical direction.

Kings

Yes the king is a liability! However in an end game the king becomes a very effective offensive piece. It is after all the only piece apart from the queen which can move in diagonal, horizontal and vertical directions. The difference is that it can only move one square at a time.

Laurie Heynes is a keen chess player and designer living in the UK. You can see Laurie's newest chess T-shirt designs in his online shop: www.cafepress.com/chessgifts If you're looking for chess humour...look no further!

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The Missing Link Between Dreaming And Experience

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By Nelson Tan

What did Napoleon Hill say? "Whatever the mind of Man can conceive and believe, it can achieve." A biblical verse inspires young men to dream dreams and old men to see visions for almost 2000 years. Even a Buddhist saying is quoted, "If you want to know your past life, look into your present condition; if you want to know your future life, look at your present actions."

So what happened to your dream lately? If it's STILL a dream, something is amiss, right?

The motivational gurus push you to slap high-fives and shout, "AWESOME!" and walk on broken glass and fire. You go back home on an emotional high and you still wouldn't care what they did to your 6-inches-between-the-ears as long as the 'drug' doesn't wear off.

You simply need a logical high to balance out. Specifically, you need an understanding of how taking little, insignificant-looking daily actions today can manifest your dream tomorrow. The honest folks caution you by saying Internet Marketing is just like any other business, and nothing is easy. We dare say it becomes much easier if you understand what this missing link is.

The truth is, your perception of Internet Marketing as a business can be broken down into bits and bytes from all that you see on your 15.4 or 17-inch screen. Do you know how easy it is for you to imitate Yahoo! as closely as possible if you so wishes? Why, Yahoo! has this section here and that section there, and an opt-in box here and an opt-in box there. Get your layout ready and fill the spaces with content, and keep on filling it and expand your web pages according to the size of your ambition.

You can never fall short when you feel you are doing your absolute professional best, but for lack of confidence in ideas or proven experience, there are many talented people out there who don't know how to start something right online. And even when they finally found all the pieces for a complete jigsaw puzzle (that means they acquired 'everything'), they still weren't sure because of this funny missing link.

"So Yahoo! has this box that somehow links to this section," you ponder. "But what is that huge infrastructure that makes it work?" But we thought there's nothing huge about Yahoo! except for its servers. The command link between 2 modules is only a few lines of programming code...or is it?

You are a very young child observing from the top of the stairs a party put on by your parents for their friends. You are aware of all the events taking place in the party, but you have little means to understand them. You know a little bit of language, so you can understand snippets of conversation. You certainly understand facial expression, so you can recognize fragmentary aspects of the interpersonal interaction. But you know nothing of sexual flirtation, political contention, or the effects of alcohol, so most of what you see makes no sense whatever. After several hours of seeing this spectacle, you return to your room and try to explain to your twin sibling what happened. Would you not explain the party in the only terms you had a grip on: the facial expressions? Would you not fill in the logical gaps in your representation with the meager stock of human behaviors you understood? A sexual flirtation becomes "he likes her"; a political argument becomes "he doesn't like him", possibly because "he's been bad". Drunkenness is interpreted as dizziness or silliness.

For lack of adult experience, you are amused by what you just saw as the party plays out like a dream. But will your preoccupation with the party today determines the path you will take tomorrow? Quite likely, you look forward to playtime at school, and then by next week, you don't even remember there was a party.

Corey Rudl and Bill Gates, for all their experiences, cannot touch your dream. Your dream in online business is what people will remember and support you for as you try to complete it. Your preoccupation with this dream is the energy devoted NOW to bring about the harvest at the end of the day. Experience counts for nothing except as reference to past lessons. That implies that 'experience' is just a useful tool. You just cannot afford to wait for time to pass you by in order to gain experience...whatever that means, nor perfect timing. Your action starts now. When? NOW.

If there are any missing links that you don't understand for lack of experience, OBSERVE the TRUTH behind the chicken nature of these links, then imitate it.

Nelson Tan is the webmaster behind Internet Mastery Center. Download $347 worth of FREE Internet Marketing gifts at http://www.internetmasterycenter.com

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The Leaders Speech

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by Sheila Mulrennan

True leadership, is the ability to move people to change. The ability to lead comes from within and great leaders, those with whom people connect with on an emotional level and who can inspire change, emerge only after experiencing things as they are in the real world. That is why great world leaders, such as Martin Luther King, were able to inspire. The same applies in business. Those with the ability to relate to their audience, gain their commitment as followers. It's human nature to warm to somebody with whom we can relate, hence why reality television has become so successful-we can see ourselves in similar situations. A leader must convince their audience that they have, at some stage, experienced the same confusions and contradictions. This helps to earn trust.

A true leader must look within and become aware of what message they want to convey, then contemplate how they will communicate it to their audience. They must include a vision of the future based on knowledge and experience of the past.

It is important as a leader to know yourself and be able to identify your personal values that will benefit you in leading people in a certain direction. Knowing them helps you weave your convictions into what you are trying to say that let others know who you are and what you stand for. Self knowledge, as opposed to book-smarts, is paramount as it sets you apart from others and makes your views original.

The key to an effective leadership speech is structure. You must connect with your audience by telling them where you've been, where you are, and where you're going. Relating to them directly will give people a sense that things are moving forward and that they can contribute to the new future that you describe.

In the opening of your speech, you must prepare your audience to listen with open minds. You must introduce yourself as the speaker; acknowledge the audience and their possible oppositions to your views.

The closing of your speech is perhaps even more important than the opening, as you've been successful in offering your views and evoking interest within the audience. This is the point at which you are closest to your audience, and is the best opportunity to reinforce supporters and diffuse opponents.


In today's world pessimism and distrust are commonplace, and pure showmanship is easily detected. That is why true, value-based leadership is necessary nowadays more than ever. Those who can enthusiastically and confidently portray their vision and captivate audiences, will gain the respectful commitment of their followers and prove to be competent leaders in the fast paced business

Sheila Mulrennan from Professionaldevelopment.ie specialises in writing articles relating to Communication Skills, Presentation Skills and Public Speaking For Managers. Visit her website at www.Professionaldevelopment.ie for more.

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Stress Management in Business

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by Sridhar

One of the definitions of stress is, "the state of bodily or mental tension resulting from factors that tend to alter an existing equilibrium". Stress is an integral part of modern day business. Stress could have a negative impact on your physical and mental ability. The body has the ability to cope up with stress. When stress becomes prolonged and stress becomes psychological it becomes a problem.

Prolonged stress results in increased anxiety. It decreases your concentration. It would also make you prone to minor illnesses. Different people may react differently to stress. It may cause some people to eat more. It may also make people less communicative. Some others may lose their appetite due to stress. It may also cause irritability and poor judgment.

Stress may make some people aggressive. It may also make the person who is subject to stress to seek advice of others to get out of such a condition.

There are ways and means to reduce stress. Take a break even if it is for half an hour. Talk to people who are jovial and funny. If you can forget the cause of your worry and laugh for a few minutes it would be a great stress buster. Get some people to assist you, delegate responsibility.

Don't ever overwork. Learn to relax and take time off from work. If you have a huge work load, just looking at the work load may cause stress. Break into small pieces.

Socializing, just talking to friends and taking the family out, could be some of great stress busters. Exercise could also be an excellent stress reliever. Don't take drugs to reduce stress. These drugs could be addictive.

I have seen people think of the worst scenario situations. They think of the worst that can happen to them. They come to the conclusion that they can handle such a situation, the stress tends to dissipate.

It is extremely important in life to have the right kind of friends. Friends should be optimistic and who can make you confidant. There no better way to feel better than talking to a good friend for some time.

If you still feel that your job is still stressful, you should try to change your job.

The author has a master's degree in science. Blogs at http://wilybusiness.blogspot.com/ http://bnsridhar.blogspot.com/

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The Leaders Speech

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by Sheila Mulrennan

True leadership, is the ability to move people to change. The ability to lead comes from within and great leaders, those with whom people connect with on an emotional level and who can inspire change, emerge only after experiencing things as they are in the real world. That is why great world leaders, such as Martin Luther King, were able to inspire. The same applies in business. Those with the ability to relate to their audience, gain their commitment as followers. It's human nature to warm to somebody with whom we can relate, hence why reality television has become so successful-we can see ourselves in similar situations. A leader must convince their audience that they have, at some stage, experienced the same confusions and contradictions. This helps to earn trust.

A true leader must look within and become aware of what message they want to convey, then contemplate how they will communicate it to their audience. They must include a vision of the future based on knowledge and experience of the past.

It is important as a leader to know yourself and be able to identify your personal values that will benefit you in leading people in a certain direction. Knowing them helps you weave your convictions into what you are trying to say that let others know who you are and what you stand for. Self knowledge, as opposed to book-smarts, is paramount as it sets you apart from others and makes your views original.

The key to an effective leadership speech is structure. You must connect with your audience by telling them where you've been, where you are, and where you're going. Relating to them directly will give people a sense that things are moving forward and that they can contribute to the new future that you describe.

In the opening of your speech, you must prepare your audience to listen with open minds. You must introduce yourself as the speaker; acknowledge the audience and their possible oppositions to your views.

The closing of your speech is perhaps even more important than the opening, as you've been successful in offering your views and evoking interest within the audience. This is the point at which you are closest to your audience, and is the best opportunity to reinforce supporters and diffuse opponents.


In today's world pessimism and distrust are commonplace, and pure showmanship is easily detected. That is why true, value-based leadership is necessary nowadays more than ever. Those who can enthusiastically and confidently portray their vision and captivate audiences, will gain the respectful commitment of their followers and prove to be competent leaders in the fast paced business

Sheila Mulrennan from Professionaldevelopment.ie specialises in writing articles relating to Communication Skills, Presentation Skills and Public Speaking For Managers. Visit her website at www.Professionaldevelopment.ie for more.

Don't forget to download Indocquent's free social bookmark utility at http://www.indocquent.com/social_bookmark/social_bookmark_landingpage.html.

What Really Is Happiness?

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by Gary Evans

I recently read an article that stated happiness was to be taught in universities as an experimental class. At first I couldn't believe what I was reading... that we now had to be taught happiness!

Surely happiness comes from within oneself?

Teaching happiness is like saying that you have no happiness and therefore must be taught it.

Although I was shocked, this event has inspired me to write about it and share my views. I'm a firm believer that happiness can be found in the doing and not the receiving.

Happiness comes from within and cannot be found from external stimuli. This may sound a little weird, but think about this for a moment... you want more money because you believe it will make you happy. Look back at your life and see what you've achieved.
You've achieved many goals, both big and small, yet they do not fulfill you, you are already wanting more.

External objects and things cannot bring you happiness because of their impermanence. They are short lived and can only bring you short spurts of joy, but not true happiness and fulfillment.

The happiness and fulfillment can only ever be found from within yourself. The journey of working towards achieving something is where happiness can be found. It's the journey that is all you ever really seek, not the stuff.

If it was the stuff that gave you fulfillment then why aren't you happy and fulfilled already? I'm sure you've achieved many goals and dreams before but the experience is short-lived and did not bring you what you thought you would get.

Instead of worrying about getting to your desires, relax into them and experience the ride in its fullest. Feel the joy of working towards achieving whatever it is you're wanting.

You'll soon be filled up to the brim with happiness!

Manifesting Reality Isn't Hard Work After All.

Get your free report on manifesting miracles right now by visiting: http://www.ManifestMiracle.com/free/

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Action Achieves Goals

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by Dale Stuemke

The third part of our study of the word change takes us to A, for action. This is pretty obvious, isn't it? You've identified a goal. The way you've been living hasn't been taking you toward it. You're willing to change, to take action. What now?

Let's say I want to drive from Austin, Texas to Dallas to visit my son. I have a goal, to visit my son. Saturday morning comes, and I get the lawn mower out and mow the lawn. The shrubs need attention, so I spend an hour or two doing some pruning. I really need to sweep the patios; they're messy with leaves again. There's another hour. Now I spray some weeds, blow the lawn clippings off the driveway, check my email, and just generally stay busy all day long.

I hope my son wasn't fixing dinner for me. It's 5:30 in the afternoon, and I'm still in Austin! But, I've been busy taking actions all day long. Why haven't I reached my goal? It doesn't take all day to drive to Dallas!

Maybe I should amend the title of this article. Action achieves goals if it's the right action. You probably picked up on that half way through my Saturday's activities.

You are setting a course to achieve your goal. What is it going to take to get there? You need to have a course of action established that will succeed. If you want to drive to Dallas, you need to know what roads to take. You should fill the gasoline tank on the car. If your goal includes being in Dallas at a specific time, you need to leave early enough that you can meet that.

I don't know what your goal is, but I know the action plan you put in place must be consistent with your goal. Remember the article on getting help? We looked at how important it is to get help from someone who has already succeeded at achieving a goal like yours or can educate you on how to do it. This person will help you establish an action plan.

What should you include in your action plan? Here's a list of six things:

1. Clearly identify where you are right now.
2. Clearly identify what you need to accomplish to put yourself at your goal.
3. Establish action plans to move you toward your goal in a step-by-step manner.
4. Establish how you will track your accountability to your action plan. You must follow the plan closely or you won't know whether it's working.
5. Take measurements along the way. Measure how accurately you are following your plan; then measure the progress you are making toward your goal. If either of these is more important, it's the first part!
6. Based on these measurements, decide whether you need to adjust the plan. Adjust if you need to; otherwise, just continue on the established plan.

That is a simple way to establish your action plan. Now you can take actions, the correct actions, to achieve your goal. You'll be checking the sign posts and mileage markers along the way. You will make progress toward your goal!

I'm a husband, father, and grandfather. I couldn't have dreamed of the life I've lived. I've learned that dreams and goals are achieved with a good plan, focused effort, good mentorship, and commitment. Humans are designed to be achievers. Visualizing the future and setting and achieving goals to make it a reality is uniquely human! I'm still dreaming my future into existence and setting goals to make it happen. Visit: Launch Your Goals Blog

Don't forget to download Indocquent's free social bookmark utility at http://www.indocquent.com/social_bookmark/social_bookmark_landingpage.html.

Eleven Tips for Making a Great Decision

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by Lisa Sutton, M.A., CPC

Have you ever found yourself faced with a decision but feeling unable to make it?

Decision-making is about choosing among available options. It is a process of selecting or rejecting.

In his book The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less, author Barry Schwartz makes the argument that having more choices renders us less able to make a decision and, if and when we manage to make a decision, we feel less sure that we've made the right decision.

Take, for instance, buying a car. There are so many different options to consider. What variables are important to me? Will I base my decision on safety ratings, performance ratings, price, size, colour, my neighbour's opinion? Do I want keyless entry, heated seats, cruise control, a spoiler, a blue or purple paint job or aluminum-alloy wheels?

I don't even know what aluminum-alloy wheels are. How am I supposed to make an informed decision about them?

You can see where after a while your head might be spinning and you wish for a simpler time when your choices were limited to Model T and black.

Part of the reason for the difficulty in making a decision is that we feel that if we choose an option, we're rejecting all the other options.

Tips for Making a Good Decision

1. Get clear on the number of alternatives you have. Is this a yes/no decision or are there multiple outcomes (like buying a new car or choosing a place to live)?

2. How long will this decision affect your life? Buying a new car is a decision that you may need to live with for the next 10 years or so. You should take more time to make a good decision than you would if the decision won't affect you for as long. There is a stunning array of choices when renting a movie for the evening but the outcome only lasts as long as the show.

3. Narrow your options. In our area we have an ice cream store that boasts three display coolers full of ice cream from which to choose. There are over 100 different flavours. You could be there all day. One trick our family uses is to look at only one of the coolers and choose from that. It doesn't matter which cooler. We know we're going to get something good (it's ice cream, after all!) but we've narrowed our options by two-thirds. We still have 33 flavours from which to choose.

4. Gather information about each alternative. What do you need to know in order to make an informed decision? Narrow down the variables that are important to you and devote your decision-making time to those. In choosing a new car, price, service and safety features are my most important variables and those are the things I need to know the most about.

5. Know when to stop gathering information. No decision is ever the perfect one. Analysis paralysis is that phenomenon where there's a decision to be made or a project to be done but we get caught up in the process of meeting, discussing, brainstorming, and tweaking. There are always more studies to be conducted, more reports to be written and read and more statistics to be collected and reviewed. At some point you have to stop.

6. Make a list of pros and cons. What are the reasons for and against each alternative?

7. Assign a value to the pros and cons. Certain variables will be more important than others. Going back to the new car example, the pro of having rear side air bags as a safety feature has more value for me than the con of not being able to get the car in the colour I want.

8. Set deadlines. Assign a timeline to making the decision. This way you have a framework for the amount of time a decision should take and you reduce the chances that days, weeks and months will pass without some action.

9. What does your intuition say? Are you leaning towards or away from one option even though you can't quite put your finger on why? Pay attention to that feeling.

10. Discuss the decision with a neutral party. Someone who doesn't have a stake in the decision. Ask a friend, your neighbour or anyone who may have information about the decision that you might not have.

11. Make your decision and act on it.

Lisa Sutton, M.A., CPC is The De-Cluttering Diva. Lisa offers coaching, seminars and workshops to busy, stressed-out moms. She encourages and supports women to take care of themselves around issues such as assertiveness, time management, relationships, procrastination, anxiety, and creating work-life balance. Lisa offers a complimentary e-newsletter and a 45-minute coaching consultation. To receive yours visit www.declutterdiva.ca or call 204.231.4251.

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The Law of Attraction is up to You

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by Dick Ingersoll

It might surprise you to discover that you're a complete being, capable of possessing anything and everything that you desire in an instant! However it is the truth, and the Law of Attraction is the link to your divinity. We will not enter into how you have become apart from your birthright, but instead we will center on how to regain it.

Most importantly, we are all in a world of trouble. Whether your individual battle is financial, emotional, security, addiction, or whatever else, everyone is struggling with something. If you are not, then you're way in front of the pack! The trick to the Law of Attraction is that whatever you lend energy to through your thoughts and emotions becomes your reality in short time. Whatever battle you are focusing on, that same focus is what allows your problem to persist.

The Law of Attraction functions absolutely at all times, in all ways. You have created the situation you are in. Own it! Until you take full responsibility for your life and your circumstances, you have no power to alter anything. Now, begin spending more time focusing on things in your life that you value. Hold more focus on the things you already have that you enjoy, and give less focus and energy to the things in your life that are disagreeable. Just a tiny change in the balance, maintained each day, will rapidly begin to turn the tides in your favor.

The more lighthearted, content and stress-free you feel, the more will be granted to you. As you yield your tight grip on the things in your life that are untrue and transfer your focus more to the things in your life that are right, you will find that the "wrong" things begin to fade away and you will experience more of the things that you enjoy.

This subtle shift in outlook is perhaps the hardest thing for us to do, as it is smashing a mental habit we have kept for years and decades! But take note of when your life becomes even the least bit better. That is your true breakthrough moment. Imagine a boulder rolling along a road. It has momentum. If you begin pushing on the boulder from the other side, it does not instantly do what you want. However, if you can slow it down there will come a moment when it slowly creeps to a stop. Then it will begin to roll slowly in the other direction.

That is the moment when things begin to change. In actuality you have just established the momentum and direction that you require, although things still don't seem to be moving quickly. Just hang in there until the boulder starts building momentum! That breakthrough moment will lead to better and better times until one day you will realize that your life has taken on a completely different characteristic. One of prosperity, peace, happiness, love and joy. From out of such a state will come only better and better things. You can no longer lose!

When Jesus said "I tell you, to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away," this wasn't a cruel statement. To one who is proceeding in a positive direction, things will only accelerate more and more in the positive direction. To one proceeding in a negative direction, which a few of us are, things will only get worse. Set out to alter your habits of focusing on the negative and focus more on the positive; have gratitude and truly feel thankful for the things you do have, and more - much more - will be given to you!

Namaste!

You can find a bounty of research related to metaphysics, philosophy, and spirituality by visiting Dick Ingersoll's site at: Applying the Law of Attraction Library.

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Time Management: 10 Top Tips for Managing Your Time Effectively

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by Genevieve Dawid

Are you completely or partially organised, in all aspects of your life? Would being organised make your life easier? Here are a few questions to help you see how organised (or not!) you are.

- Is your life structured in any way?

- Have you stopped to think how you life has changed and evolved over the past few years?

- When was the last time you identified what needs to be organised in your life?

- What time do you allocate to planning and implementing disciplines, good habits and systems?

Naturally you have to start off by identifying the problem areas where you aren't organised. You do this by reviewing different sectors of your life. Once you have identified the problems it is a good idea to record this information on a Tracking Chart to help you implement the steps to reaching your goals.

Here are some ways to help you make better use of your invaluable time, and achieve more quickly and easily the things that you want to do, or have in your life.

1. Identify areas in your life that are not well organised

Physical well-being - Massage, chiropractor, dentist, doctor, exercise.

Clothes - Buying, laundering, dry cleaning, ironing, mending, storage - casual & work clothes.

Financial- paying bills on time, checking the efficiency of your expenditure.

Home - Keeping inside clean and tidy. Smoke alarm & fire extinguishers in working order. Maintaining roof, and outside of building.

Car - Regular maintenance and safety checks, MOT, car insurance & licence kept up-to-date.

Work - Organised filing system, portfolio, product samples, printed advertising material, business cards.

2. Look at what you procrastinate about doing -
To get started, I suggest making a list of all the things you have been avoiding or procrastinating over, that need to be done in your life.

3. Create lists of things to do -
Whenever you need to remember something you want to get or do, jot it down. This includes home, clothes, car, business, health and recreation.

4. Prioritise - decide what needs to be done first -
Prioritising is a problem for most people. List your responsibilities and commitments and review them. Then record the date and how you will implement the actions you need to take. Write down how and when each goal will be achieved.

5. Keep a Calendar & Day Planner -
Diaries, planners and calendars are great tools for keeping you organised. Discover which works best for you to help you keep track of important things from day to day.

6. Create an Organisation Tracking Chart -
Once you have identified problem areas that need organising you can set up an Organising Tracking Chart. You need to ensure that you have organised yourself and that you have a proper place for all your belongings and other pertinent information. Note the problem area, followed by what you will do to improve in that area.

7. Create a Division of Time Chart -
Good time management isn't just about arriving on time; it's how you divide your time. If you are always late, there is a reason for this. You consistently make decisions and re-adjustments on how much time is spent on each activity as you assess your daily priorities. Using a chart will greatly facilitate this.

8. Create a Responsibilities & Commitments Chart -
Use this to keep track of ongoing or new responsibilities.

9. Use visual reminders -
Write important things down - on coloured post it notes or similar - and place them where you will regularly see them.

10. Set up data bases -
Select either electronic or printed version for your needs. Take time to record everything of importance correctly, and update often.

Genevieve Dawid is a published author and highly successful consultant, mentor and lecturer for dyslexics, individuals and corporations. Her book "The Achievers Journey" is a partial biography and explains how she mastered her dyslexia and dyspraxia. For free templates of the charts, vist the website.

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Coaching Training - Make The Best Even Better

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by George Purdy..

Utilizing coaching management sales training offering allows a business owner to create their own corps of trainers. To be successful, a business must have employees with the skills they need and it is to your advantage to see that they are trained effectively. Sales personnel must be taught how to sell effectively, and by preparing managers to teach, you facilitate this.

Management training may need to precede coaching training focused on sales, especially for newer, less experienced managers. Management training provides more than just the basics of teaching how to sell and bolsters all management skills. For the convenience of being able to do all future training in house, the owner of a small business might want to attend a class or seminar on coaching in management training.

Truly understanding the information taught is important for any subject, coaching training being no different. In order to teach the techniques of sales, or even to teach the teachers of sales techniques, one has to grasp the basic strategies that contribute to successful sales attempts as well as problems that hurt businesses. There is no substitute for studying and observing the market, especially your own business and products. Managers of your company can and should be more informed about your business type than an outsider coach.

Coaching is inextricably intertwined with an understanding of psychology. The coaching trainer must be inside the heads of his students so that he can best teach them, and the students need to learn lessons about the psychology of their sales personnel so that they can effectively manage and train them. Understanding the reasons behind sound business management is just as vital as only knowing what to do or what to avoid doing.

When you're researching coaching training and looking for the right trainer for your business, make sure to look into the credentials and experience of the trainer. Good, credible credentials that back up a solid coach are Associate Certified Coach (ACC), Professional Certified Coach (PCC), or Master Certified Coach (MCC). Those qualifications are distributed by the International Coach Federation, or ICF. Be aware of business publications and Better Business Bureau rankings for evaluations and reviews of a given coach or coaching institution.

The benefits to staffing sales personnel that are well-informed and trained, as well as being able to conduct in-house coaching training sessions, has a multitude of benefits to the small business owner. Any owner or manager who has received coaching training and becomes certified is now the possessor of a marketable skill. In addition to working with their business, they can contract out to other businesses in need of training. Not only do they network and improve relations within a business field, but can also earn extra income on the side.

Utilizing coaching management sales training offering allows a business owner to create their own corps of trainers. Some training may need to take place before starting sales specific coaching training. A person who is not yet a seasoned or effective manager needs more than just the means to explain the strategy and technique of selling. They would benefit from attending management training. A small business owner might well consider attending a program of coaching in management training so that this can all be done in house. Additional income may be generated by contracting out the skills to other businesses, and may also offer networking opportunities with these other businesses.

George Purdy is an acknowledged expert on coaching training. He wrote many articles on this subject and is a well-known public speaker on this matter. Look for more info on coaching training. You'll find here great resources on coaching training.

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Reach Out…To Relieve Yourself Of Stress

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by natishanel

Stress accompanies us in all walks of life, today. Life has become more dynamic and unpredictable in today's world as compared to the past. To cope up with the never ending changes is a big deal for many. Remember stress is a silent killer, the earlier you recognize it, the better.

However, on the positive side it is said that a certain level of stress can be helpful in pushing us into action. Different people feel stressed about different things, it's the way we perceive things and respond to, that makes all the difference. It is thus necessary to identify and control your responses to stress and develop adequate skills to deal with it. Identifiable stress symptoms can include physical, mental, and social expressions like depression, headaches, insomnia or oversleeping, loss or increased appetite, tiredness and exhaustion, taking recourse to compulsive behavior or escape routes like drugs, alcohol etc. You will also find some behavioral changes like indecisiveness, poor judgment, lack of concentration, irritability, or loss of sense of humor.

It is often difficult to handle stress on your own, it is always advisable to take a second help from someone who is eligible to handle your stress levels and help you to master techniques to resolve the situation. You need someone to talk to- a confidante.
Many organizations have made their presence online, so you can seek help by speaking to your online counselors about your stressful situation and they will discuss with you, in full confidence to allay your fears. Through these discussions they help people in distress to get their lives together, reduce stress and learn techniques to handle stress, so that they remain free of negative stress in future.

These online counselors give you a supportive and caring environment so that you feel at ease to discuss your problems, concerns and fears. You just need to talk and purge yourself of the pent up feelings. . These therapeutic talk sessions are only meant to provide you with "someone to listen." there is no medicine or medical prescription involved.

Reduce Stress - Someone To Listen lets you talk about things that are bothering you and discuss problems, fears, and concerns.

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Mastering Your Mind Power: A New Genesis

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by Former Retiree

Where do you start? Start from where you are. Start by stop taking the power of your mind for granted. Seek to understand to the best of your ability what the self image is, how it assumes control over what enters your unconscious mind, and what it prohibits from entering.

Begin by understanding that your unconscious mind is the power that brings everything you experience into your life, and it is the self image that filters and dictates how you view those experiences and how you react to them. I cannot over state how important this understanding was for me, and I believe it is equally important for you.

Here is a simple 30 day, two-part exercise I recommend for you. Part one requires you to observe for the next few days, which arm or leg you put your garment onto first as you get dressed. After you have identified which it is, you will see that a habit has been formed so firmly that you put your garment onto that limb without your attention. You are observing the power of habit.

In part two of the exercise, get yourself a rubber band, one that is large enough not to constrict your flesh and blood vessels but small enough that it will not easily slip off your wrist and hand. Put it on either wrist and keep in on for the full 30 days.

This is a tool (the rubber band) and technique that was so very helpful to me. It will allow you to be convinced that you can break this very powerful habit, and by inference, nearly any other habit you may choose.

If you have determined that you habitually put your garment onto you right arm (or leg), for example, consciously tell yourself that you are now going to put it onto your left arm (or leg) first for a period of 30 days. Remind yourself that you are breaking the old habit.

If during the 30 days you should forget and fall back into your old habit, whenever you become aware that have done so, pull the rubber band 4 or 5 inches from your wrist and let go. As you feel the sting from the snap of the rubber band, firmly remind yourself that you have decided that you will no longer habitually put your garment onto the right or left arm or leg (whichever is appropriate). You are forming a new habit and you will now put the garment onto the left or right arm or leg (again, whichever is appropriate) first.

After the first week or so you will begin to notice that any time you put on a garment, you will begin to consciously choose the reverse of the old habit as you gradually develop the new one.

This is something I know for sure. You can claim or re-claim control of your own mind power. You are the most miraculous of all living beings on earth. You are the owner of a mind that is so stupendous, that as you truly begin mastering your mind power and consciously using it, there is no dream that you can dream that you cannot achieve.

Harold L Lowe retired at age 62 when his six-figure income position was eliminated. He now wishes to share some of what he has learned since then and some of his experiences as well through articles. He is now studying The New Think And Grow Rich with the author, Ted Ciuba, a founding member of the World Internet Summit. You Must See the FREE Report - How To Access Your FREE MasterMind Training. Get Access Now at http://www.MasteringYourMindPower.com

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The Leaders Speech

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by Sheila Mulrennan

True leadership, is the ability to move people to change. The ability to lead comes from within and great leaders, those with whom people connect with on an emotional level and who can inspire change, emerge only after experiencing things as they are in the real world. That is why great world leaders, such as Martin Luther King, were able to inspire. The same applies in business. Those with the ability to relate to their audience, gain their commitment as followers. It's human nature to warm to somebody with whom we can relate, hence why reality television has become so successful-we can see ourselves in similar situations. A leader must convince their audience that they have, at some stage, experienced the same confusions and contradictions. This helps to earn trust.

A true leader must look within and become aware of what message they want to convey, then contemplate how they will communicate it to their audience. They must include a vision of the future based on knowledge and experience of the past.

It is important as a leader to know yourself and be able to identify your personal values that will benefit you in leading people in a certain direction. Knowing them helps you weave your convictions into what you are trying to say that let others know who you are and what you stand for. Self knowledge, as opposed to book-smarts, is paramount as it sets you apart from others and makes your views original.

The key to an effective leadership speech is structure. You must connect with your audience by telling them where you've been, where you are, and where you're going. Relating to them directly will give people a sense that things are moving forward and that they can contribute to the new future that you describe.

In the opening of your speech, you must prepare your audience to listen with open minds. You must introduce yourself as the speaker; acknowledge the audience and their possible oppositions to your views.

The closing of your speech is perhaps even more important than the opening, as you've been successful in offering your views and evoking interest within the audience. This is the point at which you are closest to your audience, and is the best opportunity to reinforce supporters and diffuse opponents.


In today's world pessimism and distrust are commonplace, and pure showmanship is easily detected. That is why true, value-based leadership is necessary nowadays more than ever. Those who can enthusiastically and confidently portray their vision and captivate audiences, will gain the respectful commitment of their followers and prove to be competent leaders in the fast paced business

Sheila Mulrennan from Professionaldevelopment.ie specialises in writing articles relating to Communication Skills, Presentation Skills and Public Speaking For Managers. Visit her website at www.Professionaldevelopment.ie for more.

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The Leaders Speech

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by Sheila Mulrennan

True leadership, is the ability to move people to change. The ability to lead comes from within and great leaders, those with whom people connect with on an emotional level and who can inspire change, emerge only after experiencing things as they are in the real world. That is why great world leaders, such as Martin Luther King, were able to inspire. The same applies in business. Those with the ability to relate to their audience, gain their commitment as followers. It's human nature to warm to somebody with whom we can relate, hence why reality television has become so successful-we can see ourselves in similar situations. A leader must convince their audience that they have, at some stage, experienced the same confusions and contradictions. This helps to earn trust.

A true leader must look within and become aware of what message they want to convey, then contemplate how they will communicate it to their audience. They must include a vision of the future based on knowledge and experience of the past.

It is important as a leader to know yourself and be able to identify your personal values that will benefit you in leading people in a certain direction. Knowing them helps you weave your convictions into what you are trying to say that let others know who you are and what you stand for. Self knowledge, as opposed to book-smarts, is paramount as it sets you apart from others and makes your views original.

The key to an effective leadership speech is structure. You must connect with your audience by telling them where you've been, where you are, and where you're going. Relating to them directly will give people a sense that things are moving forward and that they can contribute to the new future that you describe.

In the opening of your speech, you must prepare your audience to listen with open minds. You must introduce yourself as the speaker; acknowledge the audience and their possible oppositions to your views.

The closing of your speech is perhaps even more important than the opening, as you've been successful in offering your views and evoking interest within the audience. This is the point at which you are closest to your audience, and is the best opportunity to reinforce supporters and diffuse opponents.


In today's world pessimism and distrust are commonplace, and pure showmanship is easily detected. That is why true, value-based leadership is necessary nowadays more than ever. Those who can enthusiastically and confidently portray their vision and captivate audiences, will gain the respectful commitment of their followers and prove to be competent leaders in the fast paced business

Sheila Mulrennan from Professionaldevelopment.ie specialises in writing articles relating to Communication Skills, Presentation Skills and Public Speaking For Managers. Visit her website at www.Professionaldevelopment.ie for more.

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Go Ahead, Be Thankful

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by Judy Ringer

"Go ahead. Play. Let me see you run!" Mimi cheered us on. I was seven or eight years old, playing with my cousins in the back yard of my grandmother's house in Oak Park, Illinois. Mimi (my Aunt Mary) was probably 30-something at the time and in her wheelchair, where she'd been since a spinal disease struck at age thirteen.

She loved to see us run and play. Occasionally, when she was out of her chair, we'd ask if we could sit in it and wheel ourselves around. She always said, "No, use your legs! Be happy you can walk and run. Go ahead, let me see you."

Her bright love, affection, humor, and hugeness of spirit were contagious. She knew we were blessed, and we learned from her to appreciate the gifts we took for granted. Mimi knew she was blessed, too - with love, with family, and in particular with a mother and father who made sure she was cared for and lived a full life, when her doctors said she would not. Mimi lived a spirit of gratitude and shared it.

The pastor of my church, Dawn, says that we teach gratitude by having gratitude; that it is a gift in itself to live with a grateful heart. I'm thankful to have had wonderful role models growing up, people like Mimi, who taught gratitude by being grateful.

Who are you thanking today? Who are you grateful to? For? How many blessings can you count before you fall asleep? What seven- or eight-year-old is watching you and learning how to feel grateful, happy, and blessed?

Don't wait for November. Go ahead. Be Thankful.

Judy Ringer is the author of Unlikely Teachers: Finding the Hidden Gifts in Daily Conflict and the award-winning e-zine, Ki Moments. Judy is a black belt in aikido and nationally known presenter, specializing in unique workshops on conflict, communication, and creating a positive work environment. She is the founder of Power & Presence Training and chief instructor of Portsmouth Aikido, Portsmouth, NH, USA. To sign up for more free tips and articles like these, visit http://www.JudyRinger.com

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Metaphors We Live By

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by Steve Gillman

What are the metaphors we live by? Is life a journey, a game, a dream, or a movie we are watching? How do these metaphorical perspectives affect our lives? Let's take a look at a few of them.

Life Is Purgatory

Some people see life as a sort of purgatory to be suffered through. In fact, many religions explicitly use this metaphor. Life is suffering, they claim, and by suffering virtuously, you get to go to some wonderful place afterwards. This idea shows up in other ways as well. Some people think it is normal to work at a job or jobs that they hate for most of their lives, in order to get the "reward" of retirement.

Life Is A Party

Now this is a more enjoyable metaphor. At least for a while. People who live by this metaphor, though, often end up bitter later in life. Partying to excess has its consequences, and a party has to be paid for by someone. Having no money for food and drink takes a lot of the fun out of a party.

Life Is A Movie

This is one of those metaphors we live by both consciously and unconsciously. People will sometimes say things like, "This is my big scene," or "Is this the part where..." followed by some movie reference. More often, people just unconsciously take the role of movie-goer in their own lives, feeling like they are watching a story directed by someone else.

In one sense, this perspective provides a more objective view that may keep a person from suffering too much. The next scene is on its way, after all, and there are always unexpected plot twists that can be good or bad. On the other hand, this perspective creates a sense of passivity. Maybe it would be a more useful metaphor for life if a person also saw himself as the writer, director and producer of the movie.

The Best Metaphors We Live By

What are the best metaphors for life? Many have their useful aspects. A "journey," "quest," or "path," would keep you looking for the better way in life, and perhaps motivate you to overcome any obstacles. A "story," might give your life meaning. The metaphor "adventure" could make you see life problems and challenges as interesting and exciting.

However, all metaphors are limiting too. For example, life may be more fun as a "game," but a game has winners and losers, and competition is the rule. This isn't always true in life, and a person would miss out on a lot if this was her ruling metaphor. Even "quests," or "journeys," have their problems. They don't allow much for the idea sitting still and enjoying just "being."

The metaphors we live by, then, should probably change continually, to get the best out of each, without being limited by it. See your life as a movie, for example, when times are tough, and consider the later scenes in which your problems are resolved. Then see your life as a game to be played when you need to make strategic life decisions. When it is time to learn life lessons and develop your spirituality, let your life be an "awakening."

After working in a casino for years, I found myself using that as a metaphor for life. There were players who put the odds in their favor and so won, just as in life. Those who played when the odds were against them (most players) lost money, and their occasional "wins" were just bait to keep them losing. This seemed to parallel life in general too. Of course the "house" or casino owners always won. There were certainly lessons here, as there often are in the metaphors we live by.

Copyright Steve Gillman. Learn more about The Metaphors We Live by right now at: http://www.Metaphorology.com

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Metaphors We Live By

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by Steve Gillman

What are the metaphors we live by? Is life a journey, a game, a dream, or a movie we are watching? How do these metaphorical perspectives affect our lives? Let's take a look at a few of them.

Life Is Purgatory

Some people see life as a sort of purgatory to be suffered through. In fact, many religions explicitly use this metaphor. Life is suffering, they claim, and by suffering virtuously, you get to go to some wonderful place afterwards. This idea shows up in other ways as well. Some people think it is normal to work at a job or jobs that they hate for most of their lives, in order to get the "reward" of retirement.

Life Is A Party

Now this is a more enjoyable metaphor. At least for a while. People who live by this metaphor, though, often end up bitter later in life. Partying to excess has its consequences, and a party has to be paid for by someone. Having no money for food and drink takes a lot of the fun out of a party.

Life Is A Movie

This is one of those metaphors we live by both consciously and unconsciously. People will sometimes say things like, "This is my big scene," or "Is this the part where..." followed by some movie reference. More often, people just unconsciously take the role of movie-goer in their own lives, feeling like they are watching a story directed by someone else.

In one sense, this perspective provides a more objective view that may keep a person from suffering too much. The next scene is on its way, after all, and there are always unexpected plot twists that can be good or bad. On the other hand, this perspective creates a sense of passivity. Maybe it would be a more useful metaphor for life if a person also saw himself as the writer, director and producer of the movie.

The Best Metaphors We Live By

What are the best metaphors for life? Many have their useful aspects. A "journey," "quest," or "path," would keep you looking for the better way in life, and perhaps motivate you to overcome any obstacles. A "story," might give your life meaning. The metaphor "adventure" could make you see life problems and challenges as interesting and exciting.

However, all metaphors are limiting too. For example, life may be more fun as a "game," but a game has winners and losers, and competition is the rule. This isn't always true in life, and a person would miss out on a lot if this was her ruling metaphor. Even "quests," or "journeys," have their problems. They don't allow much for the idea sitting still and enjoying just "being."

The metaphors we live by, then, should probably change continually, to get the best out of each, without being limited by it. See your life as a movie, for example, when times are tough, and consider the later scenes in which your problems are resolved. Then see your life as a game to be played when you need to make strategic life decisions. When it is time to learn life lessons and develop your spirituality, let your life be an "awakening."

After working in a casino for years, I found myself using that as a metaphor for life. There were players who put the odds in their favor and so won, just as in life. Those who played when the odds were against them (most players) lost money, and their occasional "wins" were just bait to keep them losing. This seemed to parallel life in general too. Of course the "house" or casino owners always won. There were certainly lessons here, as there often are in the metaphors we live by.

Copyright Steve Gillman. Learn more about The Metaphors We Live by right now at: http://www.Metaphorology.com

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Are You Working With or Against the Current?

by Liz Cassidy

I took the opportunity to go with my family to Golden Beach on the Sunshine Coast at the weekend to enjoy time out doing absolutely nothing involving any mental activity, except to plough through a Dan Brown novel (or is that an oxymoron?)



Sunday morning was a perfect Queensland spring day, temperature in the high 20’s Celcius, low humidity, and deep blue skies with the occasional wispy cloud.

Checking out the flat calm, almost mill pond, blue water in PumiceStone Passage between Golden Beach and Bribie Island, we decided to hire a catamaran and a kayak and take to the water.



I took the kayak, and went straight out from the shore confident in my abilities on the flat water. I felt like I was paddling on a lake, it was so easy to make progress. I called to my husband on the catamaran, to let him know how easy kayaking is since I was just going with the current and not putting in much effort. It was so easy, so effortless. Oh, if I had just listened to what I was actually saying to myself!!



This is a good time to confess that I know precious little about tidal movements, currents and the like. I am a born land lubber. I had no idea that the incoming tide was creating a very fast current to the south between the island and the mainland, and what looked like flat calm to me, in the absence of white surf, was in fact hiding a very strong south bound tidal current.



After 5 or so minutes of peaceful drifting, wondering idly if the sun would join up the freckles on my arms, and other important questions on the meaning of life, I looked at the shore and realised I have indeed drifted easily with the current a long, long way from my starting point and from my family on their catamaran.



Not being in any way alarmed, and in total blissful ignorance of my real situation, I pointed the kayak north toward my family’s boat and paddled toward them for about 10 minutes. I was still enjoying the perfect Queensland Sunday. Looking towards land I realised with dawning horror that my efforts were in vain, I was not moving closer to my family. In fact, I was paddling hard against a current which seemed to be gaining strength,



Not one to be deterred, I increased my efforts. I concentrated on my paddling technique to improve efficiency of movement and effort and focussed on the goal of reaching my family in the catamaran, now some 150 metres distant. I started to make slight, very slight, headway. After 5 more minutes of hard paddling, I was feeling mildly panicked as I realised I was getting more and more tired and I was firmly caught in the current.



There was no way I was going to get to my family if I kept on doing what I was doing.!!



I was out of my depth with out a life vest on a kayak in deep water!



Thankfully I have good friends who are qualified Surf Life Savers. I remembered a conversation where they explained how many tourist visitors to Australia get caught in rip tides and drown. A rip tide is an invisible (to the untrained eye) trap offshore which unwary swimmers get caught up in and get dragged in the rip away from shore. The swimmers often battle the rip until exhaustion takes over and they drown. The trick my friend told me is to swim across the rip at 90 degrees to safety - never to swim against the rip.



Remembering this conversation, and hoping the current was indeed a channel, like a rip, I turned the kayak through 90 degrees and headed west across the current to shore. I changed my point of focus from reaching my family to getting myself to safety.



A few more minutes of effort took me out of the current channel into safe waters. After this slight detour I redirected the kayak north and paddled toward my family sailing in blissful unawareness on their catamaran.



I like to take the lessons from difficult situations and to see the life metaphors as well.



Sometimes in life we drift along easily and effortlessly riding the current of life to where it takes us, only to find we have drifted over the years to a long, long way from where we had planned to be.



Sometimes too, we struggle towards a goal which we have a strong emotional investment in, only to find that in the struggle we are making no progress and simply exhausting ourselves getting nowhere. The current we are struggling against is just too strong for us.



And sometimes too, when we take stock of our situation, we find that focussing on a different short term goal will get us much closer to our long term goal with a lot less effort and a lot less risk.



If you are in a position where you find yourself a long way from where you wanted to be, or if you take stock and find that you are putting in a lot of work and effort not getting anywhere then I suggest you take timeout to look at what current you are drifting in or fighting against.



Coaching is a simple way to review where you are and to assist you to refocus on the goal which is most likely to get you to where you really want to be. Coaching helps you put to your energies into heading in the direction which will take you to your long term goal with the least effort.



Liz Cassidy, founder of Third Sigma International is an author, Speaker, Trainer and Executive and Performance Coach dedicated to facilitating results in the businesses, professional and personal lives of her clients. For more information http://www.thirdsigma.com.au/

Let’s Get Creative

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by Joann Snell

Why is it that some people seem to have a flow of creative genius and others are lacking? Well, in reality we all have the ability to be creative. It's just some people don't realize that they can acquire it just like any other skill. Hopefully through this article I can give you some insight to get your creative genius going.

So how can you get your creative juices flowing? First of all, read everything you can get your hands on. You want to take in as much knowledge and learning as you can. Throughout this process be sure to keep an open mind. You may find a few new facts you didn't know about that will interest you.

Next, try to draw something every day. It doesn't have to be anything fancy, just start out doodling. Yes this will seem like it's too much effort at first. But think of it this way, every time you try something new it is an effort. Yes it will seem impossible at times. But the longer you keep at it the easier it will become. Just like every thing new you try in your life.

Speaking of new things, when was the last time you were out of your comport zone? Going to different Places often help broaden perspectives. Try going to a new neighborhood or even going to a museum for the first time. But don't stop with these examples. Keep trying new things, think outside the box. Staying inside the box only limits the creative process.

Another creative thing you can try is photography. Get your camera out and start shooting. These don't need to be anything spectacular. Don't worry about capturing an award winning photo, yet. Just experiment and see what you can come up with. Start out small and work your way up.

Finally, just try to open up and talk to people you meet at the store or some other event. You can learn all kinds of interesting things by talking to people. Keep a journal of what you learn from each person. They may have an interesting story to tell. Then with all your journal entries, who knows, you could write your first book! Get Creative!

Joann Snell is a freelance Graphic Designer. She specializes in print, corporate id, branding, and other marketing tools for small-medium sized businesses. Article by Joann Snell ©2007, Oct 1 Jo's Graphic Designs http://www.josgraphicdesigns.com

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How to Deal With Difficult People

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by Sheila Mulrennan

In business, like the rest of life we will often encounter people who are just that little more difficult to get along with. Some use the term 'personality conflict' to describe the situation, yet this suggests that there is some sort of unbreakable barrier and that the problem is somewhat unfixable, since it is highly unlikely somebody is going to change their entire personality for the sake of better work relations! A far more rational solution is to change specific behaviours, rather than personality traits.

Situations with difficult employees tend to occur over time; after all it is not very common to hire someone and find them impossible to deal with after the first week. Usually it is small irritating personal habits that progress over time into larger annoying behaviours after being left unattended. In any relationship, both people influence the other's behaviour. In almost every conflict situation, both parties bear some responsibility for the way things end up.

Focusing on blame will produce no results and only irritate you further. The most proactive thing you can do in these situations is focus on what YOU can do to make things better. It doesn't matter who is at fault, if your primary concern is to rectify the situation. Try to consider your contribution in this unpleasant situation; perhaps you have just written them off as a lost cause, their own worst enemy? Now try to consider ways in which you can change this; maybe by getting more involved with them personally, making an effort to become friends.

A good idea is to approach the situation in a non- accusatory tone, preferably when you are both calm and in a private situation. Address the problems you are experiencing, once you have finished let them have their say and be sure to listen intently so they know you are truly concerned and interested. When possible find things to agree on, and offer something in return.

If you are clearly frustrated it will show. It is important that you deal with things firmly, but nicely and without dramatics. To remain the bigger person you should retain quiet dignity, even if the other person becomes rude or nasty. No-one is suggesting you smile and turn the other cheek in the face of abuse, but if you counter-attack or react in kind, you will almost always make the situation worse.

Avoid gossip of any kind as you will start to involve other members of staff. As well as being disruptive to the organization, it will make it more difficult to fix the situation. Gossip only focuses on the worst part of a person and paints them in a very negative light. Along with being unfair, it affects your thinking and actually shortens your patience, especially when you get covert support from others.

Like every situation, prevention is better than cure, by using a combination of politeness and limit setting these situations can be completely avoided. However, sometimes the conflict becomes so polarized that you will have to go to outside sources to seek help. If the person in question is a fellow staff member, one possibility is to approach your team leader and explain the situation. Do your best not to convince your boss how 'bad' the other person is, it will just make you look like the problem.

At the end of the day there is generally a solution to every problem. If the situation persists and you and the person in question continue not to see eye to eye, then perhaps mediation or some other form of intervention may be necessary. In any case you must remember that there are two sides to every story, maybe you aren't being as reasonable as you originally thought? Be open to others suggestions and opinions, and be aware of your rights and responsibilities in a conflict situation, as well as theirs.

Sheila Mulrennan from Professionaldevelopment.ie specialises in writing articles relating to Communication Skills, Presentation Skills and Personal Development Training. Visit her website at www.Professionaldevelopment.ie for more.

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Finding Your Intuitive Self

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by Beth McCain

How do you know the difference between your logical voice and your voice of intuition? Both are important while living on this Earth but the voice that gives the most nudges toward our desires is the intuitive voice. The intuitive voice is that little persistent voice that seems to speak very quiet and calmly, over and over again. But as we all know, sometimes it gives us one little nudge versus many. That is when to be aware of that calm serene voice inside.

So why is it so hard to hear sometimes? In this busy world where mind chatter can rule the day, the mind almost gives up on hearing the little voice that matters so much in your life.

We all can relate to the logical voice. This voice warns us of danger. The logical voice sometimes even creates things to worry about that haven't happened...just in case they do. Retraining your mental thoughts is the key. If you don't have all that you desire right now, part of the reason is because you have a mental thought pattern that has been continually running a recording loop in your life. Change the mental pattern of thought and change your life. It's funny how so many people who scoff at the LOA say how easy it is to just think that you can have it all with just your thoughts. Little do they know it takes quite a bit of retraining of your mind to focus on what you want and then continue to focus without thinking of your "don't wants.

This is when the intuitive voice comes in to play. It's always there. By connecting to this voice you will be open to many opportunities and Law of Attraction knowledge that has always been there but you just didn't hear. By finding and using your intuitive voice, you can see and hear everything you want to know to help you on your journey towards attaining all of your life's desires. Tap into your intuitive mind and your path will be much easier within the Law of Attraction.

The intuitive mind is always right there waiting to help you out. Listen to it. Learn the difference between the voice of impending danger and the voice within. By finding a balance, you will be able to apply the Law of Attraction more effectively. These two voices can work together to build the life you desire through the Law of Attraction.

Beth and Lee McCain are instructors and lecturers in applying the Law of Attraction to your life to attain whatever you desire. They have a great radio show on Youtube that is both entertaining as well as informative on the subject of the Law of Attraction. For more information about Beth and Lee products and services, please visit: Beth and Lee McCain Law of Attraction Web Site

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