PRACTIPS

Transcendence - Healing and Transformation Through Transcendental Mediation - By Norman E Rosenthal

2016-01-31T19:49:00.001-08:00

If you have not heard of Transcendental Meditation (TM) you have been living in dark ages. Although I had heard of TM, it was just in a casual manner. This book opened my eyes to the potential of TM in improving your life and how it can heal you.

At present I reading this book and will be updating this post with my notes as I read.

1. TM is more popular than we can imagine. This meditation technique was taught by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and it is one of the most popular meditation techniques.

2. TM gained world wide attention when Beatles and the Beach Boys learnt it from Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in the late sixties and early seventies. This technique is practiced by millions of people worldwide and Maharishi himself as taught more than 40000 people himself.

3. Normal Rosenthal is clinical professor of psychiatry at Georgetown Medical school and has practice TM for decades. He has also seen the benefits of TM in his patients and also studied hundreds of people who practice TM. This book details the benefits of TM and the transformation it brings in people who practice TM.

Healing

Stress - Animals and Humans have been exposed to stress in form of some threat for millions of years. However we are more adapted to short term stress. However the stress we face now a days lasts long time and we are not used to face long term stress. TM helps in dealing with long term stress.

During stress several hormones are released which help us in dealing with the problem. However when these hormones are released for a long time it can also kill us. One of the most common health problems caused be stress hormones is Coronary Heart Disease (CHD).

Blood Pressure - TM helps in keeping the stress and the stress hormones in check. One of the examples mentioned is of 19 year old Nich whose blood pressure levels were elevated and doctors wanted to prescribe him drugs for the problem. He was persuaded to practice TM twice a day and within weeks his blood pressure levels were back to normal range. Moreover his SAT score improved over 300 points and he learnt how to cope with stressful events in a better manner.

Nick was part of group of 100 students who had elevated blood pressure. The study proved that TM was effective in reducing blood pressure.

Many controlled studies have proved that TM is effective is reducing both systolic and diastolic pressure effectively.

Apart from blood pressure reduction another research also noticed that thickness of inner lining of carotid artery decreased in the group who practiced TM over six to nine months. This means that the risk of stroke reduced. Carotid artery is on your back and feeds the heart and the neck. If the blood flow is smooth and the linings are clean that means chances are stroke are less.

Metabolic Syndrome - A 16 week study involving people who had suffered from heart disease and were asked to practice TM twice a day showed that they improved on two counts of the metabolic syndrome - increased insulin sensitivity and lowering of blood pressure.

So what explains the healings?

There are many reasons - meditators are able to deal with stressful and painful conditions in a better manner. They return to normal state faster than non meditators. Which means that less stress hormones are released which keeps the blood pressure normal. They are also able to tolerate pain both emotional and physical in a better manner.

59 Seconds: Think a Little, Change a Lot - By Richard Wiseman

2016-01-14T18:04:00.001-08:00

Be warned - this book is going to prove many of your preconceived notions and assumptions wrong. We all have so many beliefs about various subjects including productivity, happiness or how to bring up our children in the best possible manner possible. When you read this book many of your assumptions will turn out to be wrong. And all this is based on scientific research.

Key Points

"Yale Goal Study" is a myth. It never happened.

Happiness -

Happier you are, more successful you are likely to be. Usually we think it to be in reverse order. Happiness improves your confidence, immunity and ability to resolve conflict. It means you will have better relationship, better health and fulfilling career.

Most people think money will make them happier. It does. However the effect are not long lasting. If you win a lottery you will be happy but with time you will get adjusted to the fact you won the money.

Those is Forbes 100 Wealthiest list are only slightly happier than average american.

Once basic necessities of life are met more money does not increase the happiness proportionately.

For example buying a new car or house can make us happier for the moment, but then we get used to them in some time and the increased happiness is not longer there.

So how to have long term happiness?

Diary -

Write about your thinking and deep thoughts in a diary. This will help you to offload some of your trauma or negative thought and make you happier. Take 10 to 15 mins each day and write on of the following.

Attitude of Gratitude - Having a sense of gratitude increases the happiness many folds. Write about 5 things you are happy about in your diary. You can write about simple things you are thankful about. For example being able to witness the beautiful sunrise or sunset, having a healthy body or having a tasty dinner. This increases your happiness dramatically.

Describe the best future self. Spend each day imagining and writing about the ideal future you think about. This improves the happiness.

Affectionate Writing - Write a short letter to the person who is important in your life and and write to them how important to you and how much you care about them.

Persuasion -

How can we persuade others including our children to do some activity. Usually we think rewarding them is a good way. But research shows that offering them reward can have the opposite effect. It can make them think that they are being made to work on that activity which means they do not like that activity.

Recent studies show that small rewards are better at motivating people. The rewards should be a surprise and encouraging comments work better. Rewarding with more money makes the people think that they must not be liking the work hence they are being paid more.

Creativity -

Common belief is that group creativity is better than individual creativity. Similarly we also beleive that more can be achieved when a group works on a task as compared to same number of people acting alone. However research show that it is not necessary true. Individuals work harder that average effort of each individual in a group.

Attraction -

Relationships -

Stress -

Decision Making -

Parenting -

Richard Wiseman is a wise man indeed and his tips are easy to read, understand and practical. I would suggest this book for people who

Best Christmas Gift

2015-12-18T13:33:00.001-08:00

This is a great story by Nancy W. Gavin

It’s just a small, white envelope stuck among the branches of our Christmas tree. No name, no identification, no inscription. It has peeked through the branches of our tree for the past ten years or so.

It all began because my husband Mike hated Christmas–oh, not the true meaning of Christmas, but the commercial aspects of it–overspending… the frantic running around at the last minute to get a tie for Uncle Harry and the dusting powder for Grandma—the gifts given in desperation because you couldn’t think of anything else.

Knowing he felt this way, I decided one year to bypass the usual shirts, sweaters, ties and so forth. I reached for something special just for Mike. The inspiration came in an unusual way.

Our son Kevin, who was 12 that year, was wrestling at the junior level at the school he attended; and shortly before Christmas, there was a non-league match against a team sponsored by an inner-city church. These youngsters, dressed in sneakers so ragged that shoestrings seemed to be the only thing holding them together, presented a sharp contrast to our boys in their spiffy blue and gold uniforms and sparkling new wrestling shoes. As the match began, I was alarmed to see that the other team was wrestling without headgear, a kind of light helmet designed to protect a wrestler’s ears.

It was a luxury the ragtag team obviously could not afford. Well, we ended up walloping them. We took every weight class. And as each of their boys got up from the mat, he swaggered around in his tatters with false bravado, a kind of street pride that couldn’t acknowledge defeat.

Mike, seated beside me, shook his head sadly, “I wish just one of them could have won,” he said. “They have a lot of potential, but losing like this could take the heart right out of them.” Mike loved kids – all kids – and he knew them, having coached little league football, baseball and lacrosse. That’s when the idea for his present came. That afternoon, I went to a local sporting goods store and bought an assortment of wrestling headgear and shoes and sent them anonymously to the inner-city church.

On Christmas Eve, I placed the envelope on the tree, the note inside telling Mike what I had done and that this was his gift from me. His smile was the brightest thing about Christmas that year and in succeeding years.

For each Christmas, I followed the tradition–one year sending a group of mentally handicapped youngsters to a hockey game, another year a check to a pair of elderly brothers whose home had burned to the ground the week before Christmas, and on and on.

The envelope became the highlight of our Christmas. It was always the last thing opened on Christmas morning and our children, ignoring their new toys, would stand with wide-eyed anticipation as their dad lifted the envelope from the tree to reveal its contents.

As the children grew, the toys gave way to more practical presents, but the envelope never lost its allure. The story doesn’t end there.

You see, we lost Mike last year due to dreaded cancer. When Christmas rolled around, I was still so wrapped in grief that I barely got the tree up. But Christmas Eve found me placing an envelope on the tree, and in the morning, it was joined by three more.

Each of our children, unbeknownst to the others, had placed an envelope on the tree for their dad. The tradition has grown and someday will expand even further with our grandchildren standing to take down the envelope.

Mike’s spirit, like the Christmas spirit will always be with us.

This true story was originally published in the December 14, 1982 issue of Woman’s Day magazine. It was the first place winner out of thousands of entries in the magazine’s “My Most Moving Holiday Tradition” contest in which readers were asked to share their favorite holiday tradition and the story behind it. The story inspired a family from Atlanta, Georgia to start The White Envelope Project and Giving 101, a non profit organization dedicated to educating youth about the importance of giving.

Half Hike Is Not Good Enough

2014-03-21T07:30:00.002-07:00

A famous mountain climbing resort in the Swiss Alps caters to businesses that encourage their employees to hike up the mountain trails together. The goal is to build camaraderie and to teach teamwork. Although it is about an eight hour trek to the summit, anyone in reasonably good shape can ascend to the top. In the morning, the hikers gather at the base of the mountain for a pep talk before starting the climb. Usually the group is so excited, they can hardly wait to head up the slopes, have a group picture taken, and celebrate the excitement of the journey they are embarking upon.

They hike for several hours before taking a break. Approximately halfway up the mountain stands a quaint alpine restaurant. About noon, the weary hikers trudge into the restaurant, peel off their hiking gear, and plop down by the fireplace to have a cup of coffee or hot chocolate and eat their lunch. With the mountain as their backdrop, the hikers savor the warm, cozy, picturesque setting.

Interestingly, after they are full and comfortable, fewer than half the hikers choose to continue climbing to the top of the mountain. It isn’t because they aren’t able; it isn’t because the climb suddenly appears too difficult. Their reluctance to continue is simply because they are satisfied with where they are. They’ve lost their drive to excel, to explore a new horizon, and to experience vistas they’d never previously imagined possible. They have tasted a bit of success, and they think it is good enough.

Many times, we approach life a lot like those full and comfortable hikers sitting in the restaurant enjoying the view. We have a goal to break a bad habit, to lose some weight, or to pay off our credit cards. At first, we’re so excited. We’re fired up and we go after it! The first leg of the climb up the mountain is powered by enthusiasm for our new goal. But over time, we get lazy and complacent. Maybe we see a little improvement, but then we get comfortable right where we are. This might not be a bad place, but we know it’s not where we’re supposed to be.

Like those hikers sitting in that quaint restaurant, we are still perfectly capable of craning our necks and looking up the mountain. We’re not stretching our faith or our potential and we know it. Maybe you own a business, and you’ve experienced a bit of success. Lately, however, you’ve been coasting. Or maybe you set out to lose 20 pounds, you lose 10, and feel like all is good and you get complacent. Don’t stop halfway just because it’s easy! Instead, remember what it is that you really, really want. Put out the effort and go the whole way… to the top of the mountain.

Step out of your comfort zone today! Keep pursuing and keep believing. It doesn’t take any more effort to believe and stay filled with hope and faith than it does to develop a negative and defeated attitude. Get up every day and say, “This is going to be a great day! I believe my dreams are coming to pass. There are great things in store for me and everyone around me.” When you have that kind of attitude you are releasing God’s goodness. But it doesn’t come easily.

People who see their dreams come to pass are people who have resolve and backbone. They are the ones who refuse to settle for the little victories along the way and see themselves at the finish line, instead continuing on, pushing on toward the ultimate goal. No one wants to be mediocre. You are made for so much more.

Realize that what your mind focuses on, it can achieve. It is up to you. Pay attention only to those silent whispers within that say “You can do it!”

Linda McLean

Linda McLean is an internationally respected business and life coach. Her company: www.mcleaninternational.com helps businesses and individuals reach their next level using a customized solution-oriented approach to business and life planning.

Real Story Of My Small Adventure and Facing My Fear

2014-01-14T17:25:00.000-08:00

I am afraid of rides. I can feel panic setting inside me, just by thinking about some of the amusement park rides. Few years back, I had gone to Six Flags with some friends. I just took part in 2 rides. One of them was allowed for small kids, and I was terrified the whole time I was on the ride. I was waiting for the ride to be over. The other one was a boat ride. I badly wasted my money on that trip.

I am not sure why I am afraid of rides but this fear has been with me for a long time. I am more afraid of rides as compared to height. When I am on a ride the imagining how the ride would suddenly coming down puts fear in my heart and mind.

Last month I went to Florida with my family and one of the places on our travel map was Key West. Key West is the southern most island in the continental USA. It is famous for many adventure activities it offers. One of the activities is Para sailing in which you would be suspended in the air on a Parachute and connected to a boat below with a rope. At the peak a person hovers around 600 ft above the water.

My wife is much more courageous when it comes to rides and she wanted to go for Para sailing. I tried to convince her about going for "more fun activity" like glass bottom boat trip. I explain to her about the great ocean view she would have from the boat, but she wouldn't listen. I then asked if she would go sailing alone. She still wouldn't listen, I was required with her. I reluctantly agreed, while secretly praying for weather to turn bad which would cancel the Para sailing trip.

When we reached the ticketing area, I asked the clerk at the ticket counter whether Para sailing was safe.
"Absolutely" she responded. She still couldn't convince me.

At 5 pm our boat was ready to take us to the ocean for the trip. When the boat from the previous trip came back I asked another couple who went with us about how it felt.

"How did you feel? Was it scary?" I asked.
"Little scary, especially when you see your feet dangling." was the response. "Do not look down" was the last advice.

I boarded the boat reluctantly and my heart was pounding. I tried to act brave and tried to bring a smile on to my face. There were two other pairs on the boat.

As the boat raced to an open area in the ocean the crew got ready to send one pair to the sky. The crew puts one pair at a time on the Para sailing and once they come down they send the next pair. Thankfully we were the last pair.

As the first pair got ready one of the crew members took some pictures and they looked very happy. Then they were harnessed to the parachute and they were then released into the air as the boat picked up speed. Soon they were at the top. I tried to find out if they were afraid at the top, but their faces were not clear because of the distance.

Around 5 to 10 minutes later, they were slowly pulled back to the boat and the next pair went up. The pair which came back were very happy, but I was more worried about my condition while on the top. The crew asked us to put on the life jacket and pose for some pictures. I was very nervous so was my wife. I think she was little concerned if I would be able to handle it.

The second pair also came down. Now it was our turn.

The crew quickly harnessed us to the parachute and asked us to pose for one last picture before we went up. Gradually the rope was release and the boat picked up the speed. As we went up I realized I was not as afraid as I had imagined myself to be. Gradually the distance between us and the boat increased and then we were at the top and the boat looked very small.

The high wind was making continuously shaking us in the air. I could see the Atlantic ocean and it majestic blue water below us. I turned my head back and saw the sun going down. I was about the to see the sun set. I felt great and somehow the fear was gone. As we dangled in the air, pushed around by the wind, I was kept watching the surroundings and felt blessed. There was no fear, only joy.

My wife was more afraid than me and she held on to the harness too tightly and kept her eyes closed. I asked he to open the eyes and see the surrounding but she was too nervous to do that.

After some time the boat crew started to pull back the rope and we were lowered down. Just before landing on the boat they let out dangling feet touch the ocean water. Finally we were pulled back to the boat.

Although thousands of people participate in para sailing activity routinely, for me it was a life time experience and it taught me two things -

1. Things may not be as scary as they seem to be unless you try them. Who know what you can discover when you try out new adventure in life.

2. It reconfirmed that I am more afraid of rides rather than height. One of my lifetime wish is to to do para jumping. I still do not know if I can do that. But, I never know.

The Top 10 Ways to Get Free Traffic To Your Blog

2014-01-12T06:32:00.000-08:00

There are millions of blogs but most of them die due to lack of publicity. Here are my ideas to generate free publicity for your blog. Some of them may be commonly know but they are still useful. Implement 2 to 4 ideas everyday and see consistent growth in your website traffic.

1. Share on Google Plus - Google Plus is one of the largest online community. You can join a community related to the topic of your blog and share your blog posts with them.

2. Facebook - Facebook has millions of users. Users with interest in thousands of topics are present. If you share your article links in proper manner You can get free publicity.

3. Linkedin - Linkedin is a network of professionals and most people think of it as as professional networking media. You may be surprised to know that hobby groups also exist in Linkedin. You can share your post and engage in discussions there.

4. Social bookmark on Digg, Stumbleupon and Reddit - Digg, Stumbleupon and Reddit are great platforms to spread any idea or link if they are interesting or unique. Register on these sites and post links to your articles regularly.

5. Yahoo Answers - Most people use internet to find solutions to their problems. Yahoo answers is a forum to provide answers to problems faced by people who ask solutions to their problems. In the answers you can provide link to the relevant articles.

6. Pinterest - Pinterest is a relatively new tool, used by people to share pictures. If your article has interesting pictures, share it in Pinterest and many users may come to your blog by clicking on the pictures.

7. Twitter - Twitter can be used to tweet about your idea or article in 140 characters or less. All your tweets can be viewed by your followers who can re-tweet them or visit your article.

8. Local Listings - Many shops and public institutions have boards where you can put up a description and usefulness of your blog. (Note - create small tear-able areas on the paper containing the url. People can tear off these pieces and visit the blog at home).

9. Visiting Card - Create visiting cards and hand over to any new person you meet. While handing over the card you will also have the opportunity to speak about your blog. You can get cheap visiting cards at Vistaprint.com.

10. Guest Blogging - You can rapidly build traffic to your site with guest blogging. You can get guest blogging opportunities easily at myblogguest.com.

The Law of the Garbage Truck!

2013-10-26T18:04:00.002-07:00

How often do you let other people’s nonsense change your mood? Do you let a bad driver, rude waiter, curt boss, or an insensitive employee ruin your day? Unless you’re the Terminator, you’re probably set back on your heels. However, the mark of your success is how quickly you can refocus on what’s important in your life.

Sixteen years ago I learned this lesson. And I learned it in the back of a New York City taxi cab. Here’s what happened.

I hopped in a taxi, and we took off for Grand Central Station. We were driving in the right lane when all of a sudden, a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, the car skidded, the tires squealed, and at the very last moment our car stopped just one inch from the other car’s back-end.

I couldn’t believe it. But then I couldn’t believe what happened next. The driver of the other car, the guy who almost caused a big accident, whipped his head around and he started yelling bad words at us. How do I know? Ask any New Yorker, some words in New York come with a special face. And he even threw in a one finger salute! I couldn’t believe it!

But then here’s what really blew me away. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was friendly. So, I said, “Why did you just do that!? This guy could have killed us!” And this is when my taxi driver told me what I now call, “The Law of the Garbage Truck®.” He said:

“Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they look for a place to dump it. And if you let them, they’ll dump it on you. So when someone wants to dump on you, don’t take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Believe me. You’ll be happier.”

So I started thinking, how often do I let Garbage Trucks run right over me? And how often do I take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the street? It was then that I said, “I don’t want their garbage and I’m not going to spread it anymore.”

I began to see Garbage Trucks. Like in the movie “The Sixth Sense,” the little boy said, “I see Dead People.” Well now “I see Garbage Trucks.” I see the load they’re carrying. I see them coming to dump it. And like my taxi driver, I don’t take it personally; I just smile, wave, wish them well, and I move on.

One of my favorite football players of all time was Walter Payton. Every day on the football field, after being tackled, he would jump up as quickly as he hit the ground. He never dwelled on a hit. Payton was ready to make the next play his best. Over the years the best players from around the world in every sport have played this way: Muhammad Ali, Nadia Comaneci, Bjorn Borg, Chris Evert, Michael Jordan, Jackie Robinson, and Pele are just some of those players. And the most inspiring leaders have lived this way: Nelson Mandela, Mother Theresa, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King.

See, Roy Baumeister, a psychology researcher from Florida State University, found in his extensive research that you remember bad things more often than good things in your life. You store the bad memories more easily, and you recall them more frequently.

So the odds are against you when a Garbage Truck comes your way. But when you follow The Law of the Garbage Truck®, you take back control of your life. You make room for the good by letting go of the bad.

The best leaders know that they have to be ready for their next meeting. The best sales people know that they have to be ready for their next client. And the best parents know that they have to be ready to greet their children with hugs and kisses, no matter how many garbage trucks they might have faced that day. All of us know that we have to be fully present, and at our best for the people we care about.

The bottom line is that successful people do not let Garbage Trucks take over their lives.

What about you? What would happen in your life, starting today, if you let more garbage trucks pass you by?

Here’s my bet: You’ll be happier.

David J. Pollay

David J. Pollay is an acclaimed speaker and the creator and author of the international phenomenon, The Law of the Garbage Truck. You can find his best-selling book, The Law of the Garbage Truck: How to Stop People from Dumping On You by clicking here .

Power Of Encouragement

2013-08-30T05:49:00.004-07:00

Two frogs named Will and Fern fell into a deep pit together. At first, they thought it would be easy to jump out. But after lots of failed attempts they cried for help and a crowd of animals gathered around the pit.

Everyone agreed it was hopeless so they urged Will and Fern to accept their fate. The harder the trapped frogs jumped, the more the crowd yelled at them to give up. Finally, Will stopped trying. Fern refused to quit and with one mighty try she leaped out of the pit.

The crowd was amazed. Someone asked her why she kept trying when everyone told her she had no chance.

Fern was baffled. “What are you saying?” she asked. “I’m a bit deaf. I was sure you were all cheering me on. I couldn’t have done it without your encouragement.”

I learned of this story from a woman who was in a transitional housing program recovering from a long period of drug abuse, homelessness and hopelessness. She wanted everyone to understand how important positivism and encouragement can be to help people who seem down and out to get up and out. She said she got out of her own pit because caring people helped her believe in herself and gave her the confidence she needed to jump a little harder.

There will always be people in your life ready to tell you what you can’t do. Real friends root for you, support you and help you discover your inner talents and strengths.

I hope you will find and treasure those kinds of friends and be one yourself.

Remember, character counts.

Michael Josephson
www.whatwillmatter.com

A Change of Hearts

2013-08-30T05:48:00.004-07:00

This is a great story by Bob Perks.

Many years ago on a trip to Kentucky for a speaking engagement, I had one of those “meant to be moments” I treasure. The plane was delayed and I was nervous.

They finally announced boarding. Now, I don't believe for a moment that I'm the only person who goes through this. From the moment I enter the plane I start scanning ahead to see my seat.

"Who's sitting next to me on this flight?" I wonder.

"Is there anyone in my seat already?"

"Are there any screaming babies nearby?"

Flight time is precious time for me. I sleep, write or read. So screaming babies and frequent bathroom people become a problem.

Today I get to sit next to a beautiful young girl who appears to be about 12 years old. As I approach my seat she seems nervous, perhaps a little apprehensive and I must say very disappointed. You see walking in front of me was this handsome young male teenager. I could see that sparkle in her eye dim as he walked by and I sat down. I'll admit I was nervous and concerned. She was traveling alone and I was one of those strangers her parents told her not to talk to.

"Hi! My name is Bob,"I said.

"Hello!" she replied without giving her name.

Then we spent the next one hour and fifteen minutes not saying a word.

She was a typical kid. She never sat still for longer than five minutes. Often times she reached into her carry on and pulled out what appeared to be six brushes, four packs of gum and all the empty wrappers, a bag filled with jawbreakers, a tube of rainbow colored sugar crystals and a foot long licorice.

Oh, yes she also ate two bags of airplane peanuts. I gave her mine.

It wasn't until the last 15 minutes of the flight that I heard it. That sweet sounding Voice that said "Give her one of your books!"

Again and again I heard it repeat, "Give her one of your books!" And so I opened one up, signed it and said, "I am a professional speaker and author. I'd like to give you one of my books if you would permit me."

She giggled a bit and said “Yes” followed by "Oh, thanks!"

I then began to explain the story.

"It's a fictional story based on actual events. I changed the names but basically much of this is true. My oldest son, Keith had cancer and that's part of this book."

"Oh, I'm sorry",she said.

"No need to be. He's doing just fine, thank you. Where are you from?" I asked.

Then for the next ten minutes this young lady never stopped talking. In fact, as we were leaving the plane she talked and walked backwards down the aisle.

Much of what she said was all a blur for me after she said these words: "Wow, I just saw the Hershey Medical Center mentioned in there. Is that where your son went for his cancer treatments?" she asked.

"Yes."

"That's where I had my heart transplant," she said with a big bright smile.

Heart transplant. This child had a heart transplant. Then I took notice. Right at the top of her pink t-shirt, just below her collar bone, the beginnings of a scar peeked over her collar. This vibrant young, beautiful girl had the heart of a donor. Obviously a young donor who lived in a family who cared enough to save another child's life.

She continued to share the details of her stay at Hershey. I continued to listen in amazement. For the story she told was a familiar one. She was the girl down the hall we all prayed for. I never knew how things turned out for her until today.

They say some lives cross because they were meant to. This was more than a chance meeting. I discovered that this child leaving Pittsburgh to go home to Kentucky was a patient in the same hospital, on the same miraculous floor, at the same time my son was there. That little Voice inside of me kept telling me to give her a copy of my book. I argued. The Voice won...as always.

The last words she said to me was..."My Mom always told me that God was going to call me home but then He had a "Change of Heart!" Do you get it?"

Then she giggled and laughed as she walked through the last door into the arms of her loving family.

I got it.

Bob Perks is an inspirational author and speaker and a truly remarkable human being. The story you just read is an actual true story. You can receive his messages sent 2-3 times each week by visiting his website http://www.BobPerks.com I know you will be glad you visited his site.

Turning Dreams Into Reality: The 7 Lessons I’ve Learned

2013-08-30T05:45:00.001-07:00

Here is an inspiration story on having a dream...

In 1995, I was engaged to a guy who wasn’t very nice. I believe that every person comes into your life for a reason, though, and his reason had to do with introducing me to Laguna Beach. He brought me to the Surf & Sand Resort on New Year’s Eve 1995, and on New Year’s Day, I wrote a “resolution” that I would eventually move to Laguna Beach. Even in that short, overnight visit, I knew I’d come home.

The first action to take when you’ve pictured your dream: Record it in writing.

Five years later, a big company transferred me to San Diego to help them revamp a large website. It was a three-year contract, but eight months later, having completed the assignment, I turned in my resignation to skip back across the line to entrepreneurship. On my way from the office to my house, I called Bob Proctor to tell him the news. He asked my plans, and I said, “I’m not sure, but I’m not ready to move back to Denver yet.”

“Where do you want to live?” he asked

“Well, I’d LOVE to live in Laguna Beach, but it’s SO expensive.”

…Silence greeted me on the other side. I knew I had just said the worst possible thing to the man who preaches that nothing is impossible unless YOU make it so. Finally, he said, “Diane.”

I winced, waiting.

“I want you to drive to Laguna Beach right now. Find one of those places where you can rent a mailbox and start forwarding your mail. Today.”

So, I did.

The other thing I’ve learned about having a dream: ACT on the darn thing, even in just a small way, as if you EXPECT it to happen.

Two weeks later an email arrived in my “in” box from someone I had absolutely no connection to. Completely out of the blue. They were renting their cottage in Laguna Beach for the winter.

Three weeks later, I was a resident of Laguna Beach.

In the years that have followed, Laguna Beach has continually proven a magical “vortex” for me. When I needed to find a larger home for me and my beloved Merlin (a Great Pyrenees), the dream happened in the form of a tiny “For Rent” sign next to a mailbox.

(Next hint on fulfilling a dream: Actively look in all the usual places, but be open to it showing up in an unexpected way.)

When I decided it was time to move to the beach, I had my famous Bob Proctor Goal Card written out and was searching fruitlessly for months. One evening, a friend and I trotted down to my favorite beach for a picnic and, having no knowledge of my search for a beach condo, he looked up at the condo complex looming above us and said, “Wouldn’t it be awesome to live in THAT place?”

I couldn’t believe I had never noticed this place before. With the image of that condo complex in my head, I revised my Goal Card that night.

(Another lesson learned: Slight revisions to the dream are OK. Dropping the dream completely, not OK.)

The next morning, I called the management, asking if rentals were available. She assured me no new rentals had opened up there for years. Two DAYS later, I saw a new, tiny “For Rent” sign on the side of the highway and knew it would lead me to that very same complex. It did, and I was moving into this magnificent place weeks later.

The magic continued again when I decided it was time to move above into the penthouse.

The magic continued again when, in 2008, I decided to start writing a blog –

LagunaBeachBest.com – and, in mere months, I had collected thousands of subscribed readers. Two years later, having written hundreds of blog entries, I announced that I was going to create the first “travel guide” for Laguna Beach and call it Laguna Beach’s Best.

So, here’s one problem with having a dream: When you talk OUT LOUD about acting on your dream, eventually every friend who's heard you drone on and on about your PLAN to act on your dream begins to ask you for an ETA.

Initially, my announcement had been met with raucous approval from friends far and wide. After all, how hard could this be? Since 1989, I’ve been writing, editing and finishing books for budding authors and famous people. Since 1995 – eighteen years – I’ve had an agency of genius talents helping me do everything else for books, from cover design and layout to websites and marketing materials. Piece of cake.

For two years, I TALKED and PLANNED and TALKED some more … And, by Christmas last year, my raucous supporters were beginning to turn on me. The question, "When's the book going to be done?" began to pepper me like those "mine-mine-mine" seagulls in the movie, Finding Nemo.

In March this year, I reluctantly pulled up to the “Book Starting Line.” I rallied a single troop – Patti Knoles – the most patient, amazing book designer in the universe. She readily agreed and vroomed up next to me, tires smoking, engine gunning, grinning over at me. What could I do? I couldn't back down now. She was already asking for the back cover copy, for criminy's sake.

That's when the terrible realization about having a dream hit me …

Once you make your “Declaration of the Dream,” God/the angels/the Universe are going to be peeling rubber ahead of you, halfway to the first turn while you’re still idling at the START line. The Universe is like that - it's not much for excuses when it's time to lock and load a dream you keep blabbering on about.

Granted, you have every right to TRY to put a governor on that Universe. Over the last few months, I tried a few tactics (aka: excuses) of my own … I was too busy with my clients to work on my own stuff … travel guides require so much fact checking … I had to re-take larger photos of many of the entities … the print bids were ghastly sums.

At that last excuse, I sent an email to Patti. This was costing too much money, I didn't have it in the coffers, and we should just shelve the book until 2014.

I pictured her sitting there at her computer, halfway through the design of the book with the biggest sections still looming. She could have said to herself, "Good. I'm tired of this book. Good decision."

waited on the other side, computer humming, watching my email, wondering how long it would be before she would respond. Three minutes later, she wrote, "I'm going to keep working on the book. It's a great book, Diane. It'll work out."

The most important fact I learned that very moment about dreams: When you see someone faltering on their dream, believe in it for them.

I remember years ago, when I had talked about reaching what appeared to be an unfathomable dream, Bob Proctor told me, "Diane, if you don't believe in this dream of yours, I'll believe in it for you."

For years, I've told client after client the same. They hit that Terror Barrier; they hit that fear, and they start to back away, scrabbling back to what they know, what's comfortable.

Who needs a dream anyway? And I tell them that I believe, that my team believes, and we always bring that person through to the other side.

One person believed in my dream more than I did at that moment. And at that very moment, everything changed.

Two questions I leave you with:

1. What are you doing to act on your dream?

2. Whose dream can you believe in today?

What you do – or don’t do – will change everything.

Diane Armitage

As an Internet strategist, writer and website creator for global entities and renowned motivational speakers, it wasn’t long before Diane Armitage had set up her own Internet blog to begin writing about everything she loved in Laguna Beach, too. Begun in 2008, the blog – www.LagunaBeachBest.com - continues to gain a large and loyal worldwide following of subscribers.

Better to Ask than Assume

2013-08-30T05:37:00.000-07:00

The late Bill Love used to tell the story of a psychiatrist, engineer, and doctor who got lost in the Canadian woods. Stumbling on a trapper's cabin but getting no response at the door, they went inside for shelter and waited for his return.

In the corner, on a crude platform at waist-high level, was a wood-burning stove. It quickly became not only the focus of interest for their half-frozen bodies but the center of their conversation as well.

The psychiatrist explained the stove's unusual position as evidence of psychological problems brought on by isolation. The engineer, on the other hand, saw it as an ingenious form of forced-air heating. The physician surmised the poor fellow had arthritis and found it too painful to bend over to fuel his stove.

When the trapper finally arrived, they could not resist asking about the stove whose warmth had saved them. "Simple," he said. "My stove pipe was too short."

I wasn't along for that hunting trip, but I've been where those guys were that day. I've tried to read someone's mind. I've seen motives that weren't there. I've walked into situations, caught a snippet of what was happening, and made a fool of myself by some badly chosen response. Or I've used a perfectly innocent slip of the tongue as my excuse to take offense. I can be a real jerk at times!

On occasion, the victim has been a stranger. At other times, it was a friend from church or colleague at work. Most often, it has been my wife or child.

Communication is a wonderful thing - when it happens. But there are so many barriers.

Each of us brings baggage to every situation. Words can be vague or carry very different nuances for people from different backgrounds. Then there are the prejudices and blind spots all of us have.

Lots of confusion could be eliminated and far more progress made this week by following this simple rule: When something isn't clear, ask. Don't assume. Don't guess. Don't mind-read. Try swallowing your pride and say, "I'm not sure I understand. Do you mind explaining that to me?"

This simple strategy could save you embarrassment, time, and money. More important still, it might save one of your life's most important relationships.

Rubel Shelly

Rubel Shelly is a Preacher and Professor of Religion and Philosophy located in Rochester Hills, Michigan. In addition to church and academic responsibilities, he has worked actively with such community projects as Habitat for Humanity, American Red Cross, From Nashville With Love, Metro (Nashville) Public Schools, Faith Family Medical Clinic, and Operation Andrew Ministries. To learn more about Rubel please go to: www.RubelShelly.com

Inspirational Leadership

2013-08-30T05:34:00.003-07:00

Listening to politicians’ nasty rhetoric, one might think that leadership has to be aggressive and confrontational, but consider this parable about leadership.

A student assigned to write an essay about an effective leader wrote this story:

“I’ve been taking a bus to school for years. Most passengers keep to themselves and no one ever talks to anyone else.

“About a year ago, an elderly man got on the bus and said loudly to the driver, ‘Good morning!’ Most people looked up, annoyed, and the bus driver just grunted. The next day the man got on at the same stop and again he said loudly, ‘Good morning!’ to the driver. Another grunt. By the fifth day, the driver relented and greeted the man with a semi-cheerful ‘Good morning!’ The man announced, ‘My name is Benny,’ and asked the driver, ‘What’s yours?’ The driver said his name was Ralph.

“That was the first time any of us heard the driver’s name and soon people began to talk to each other and say hello to Ralph and Benny. Soon Benny extended his cheerful ‘Good morning!’ to the whole bus. Within a few days his ‘Good morning!’ was returned by a whole bunch of ‘Good mornings’ and the entire bus seemed to be friendlier. People got to know each other.

“If a leader is someone who makes something happen, Benny was our leader in friendliness.

“A month ago, Benny didn’t get on the bus and we haven’t seen him since. Everyone began to ask about Benny and lots of people said he may have died. No one knew what to do and the bus got awful quiet again.

“So last week, I started to act like Benny and say, ‘Good morning!’ to everyone and they cheered up again. I guess I’m the leader now. I hope Benny comes back to see what he started.”

Remember, character counts.

Michael Josephson
www.whatwillmatter.com

How to Make a Airtight Packing at Home

2010-10-30T08:28:00.001-07:00

I got this in email few days back and I think it is a great idea. We can make a airtight pack at home very easily with material which are readily available. You just need an empty bottle of water and a plastic bag which needs to be made airtight.
Please see the images and you will realize how simple this is.

Advantage of keeping food airtight is it prevents moisture loss and keeps the food fresh. Sometime it is difficult to have too many containers and this idea can come handy.

What is Master Cleanse?

2010-08-28T10:38:00.001-07:00

There's a lot of buzz surrounding the Master Cleanse. Lately it seems like every Hollywood actress or actor who needs to get in shape is turning to this decades old health system that involves drinking a mixture of lemon juice, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper.

With all the diets out there to choose from why would anyone bother with the Master Cleanse?

There's two main reasons people like the Master Cleanse. The first (and most obvious) is that it works. The results people are getting with the Master Cleanse border on miraculous, and they are backed by thousands of devoted users who are living testimonials to the effectiveness of the Master Cleanse.

The second reason people choose the Master Cleanse over other diets and wellness programs is that it's fast. The typical person only spends 10 days on the Master Cleanse, compared to other diets that can last months or even years you can see why they choose the Master Cleanse.

Another interesting thing about the Master Cleanse lasting just 10 days is that you only need a short term burst of will power to get through it. Having to sacrifice for months is what makes other diets so hard to stay on, but most people can will their way through 10 days.

What can you expect from 10 days on the Master Cleanse?

Even though most people are going on the Master Cleanse to lose weight quickly, there's many other health benefits to be gained by doing the Master Cleanse. Flushing out your system is what the Master Cleanse is really designed to do. Even back 60 years ago when the Master Cleanse was first invented people had health problems as a result of waste building up inside of them. Today with processed foods, pollution, and all around poor diets our bodies desperately need to be flushed out every once in a while.

When you flush out your body with the Master Cleanse the waste you eliminate will be abnormal. The smell, color, and texture of the waste that comes out of your body shocks some people, so you should be prepared.

If you want to try the Master Cleanse there's more you need to know then just drinking the lemonade mixture for 10 days. In fact most people who try the Master Cleanse without knowing all the steps fail. If you think the Master Cleanse is something you would like to try there's a good book at what is Master Cleanse that you should read before starting the Master Cleanse because it covers the common problems people face, and how to avoid them.

Cultivate Active Hobby For Faster Growth

2010-05-13T19:58:00.000-07:00

Photo Credit : digicla, Flickr

One of my major hobbies since my childhood have been reading. I was mainly into classics and fictions. Then took on Sherlock homes and finished all the novels. Later on during last few years it has been self help books and literature. Currently it is more on Yoga, meditation and alternative healing and blogging on these.

I am able to read pretty quickly in English, Hindi and Bengali languages and little bit of Gujarati language. When I was in college, I was a voracious reader and would read anything I found. I would even try to read a piece of newspaper which was wrapped around something I was carrying.

Gradually I realized that there are two types of activities or hobbies - Passive and Active. Reading is more of a passive hobby while hobbies which require physical activity can be called as active hobby.

I am practicing skating now a days. Learning skating is one of my 50 goals. Presently I am halfway through learning and able to take walk. I started off with just trying to stand still and gradually progressed to present stage.

At present I am for enjoying active hobbies. Active hobbies involve action. It can be anything you enjoy and helps you experience new things in life. This brings freshness in life and makes it more enjoyable.

Active hobby involves moving your body and coordination of mind with the body. If that involves your hobby it obviously means that you will enjoy the activity. The excitement which you will get from the activity is what will pull you towards the activity. That is why mountain climbers keep on climbing more and more challenging mountains although it is dangerous.

I recommend everyone around me to cultivate atleast one active hobby. Most people when you ask them will mention passive habits like reading, listening to songs, watching movies or cricket match. Reading something useful can still be a great thing to do while others are just good for entertaining yourself but they should not be your hobby. These activities will not contribute to your growth.

What if you do not know which hobby to pursue?
If you do not have any idea about which hobby to pursue, look around you and find any activity which excites you. It can be anything like biking long distances, hiking, trekking, rafting, skating, martial arts etc. Do something which will provide you a different kind of experience. Once you find that hobby give it sufficient time and you will find that your life has a new dimension. So go ahead and choose a new active hobby.

How to Sleep after waking up at Midnight

2010-05-02T21:08:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had to get up at 3pm since my father in law was arriving by train. We had to pick him up from the station and me and wife got ready quickly and went to the station. At the station there was some confusion due to which we spent around half an hour in finding him and then we got him home after that.

Once we got home I decided to go back to sleep as it was too early to start the day and usually when I am sleep deprived the day does not go of well with me. On getting to the bed initially I found that it is difficult to sleep back once you have to get up earlier. After few tossing and turning I suddenly found an effective way to get to sleep. Let me share that simple process below.

First of all lie down flat on your back with the hands to the side and relaxed. If you try to sleep sideways you would find it difficult to get back to sleep. I usually sleep sideways and find it easy to get to sleep in this position but when I have to wake up at night and again go to sleep sideways method is lesser effective for me. Close your eyes and move your eyeballs little upward. Try to relax the breathing and soon you should be able to see some random moving patterns in front of the eyes. Just observe them and soon you would be sleeping soundly.

I have found another technique to be useful also. In this technique I decide to meditate on the name of the deity I worship. For this I decide that I will slowly repeat the name of the deity around 100 times mentally and with each breath I meditate the name once. Once I start this usually I find myself in sleepy and eyelids become heavy very shortly and most of the times I am asleep before I reach the count of 100.

Important thing here is you should be relaxed and be pleasantly confident that you will be able to sleep with the technique. You can try this and see the results.

Fear of Falling

2010-04-28T06:40:00.000-07:00

Learning to skate is one of my 50 Goals for me. At the beginning of the year I included this as one of my goals for this year. I already had a pair of skates at my place and started practicing. I only put the skates on one leg and used the other leg to to push. I was afraid that I would fall down if I put on the skates on both the legs therefore I felt that it would be safer to put on the skate on only one leg. Another reason for practicing on one leg was I felt that it would give me the feel of skating without the risk and later I could move on to skating on both legs smoothly. How wrong was I.

However much ever I practiced on single leg, the feel is never the same as practicing with skates on both legs. Also it did not help me overcome the fear of falling down because I never fell down practicing on single leg. It happened for two weeks and then I lost interest. That was until last week.

Last week guests came over to our house to stay for couple of weeks. They also have small children and as is usual with most children they want to try out new things. They do not have the fear of failure or falling down as we elders have. Usually that fear is instilled by grown ups in the children. Some of the fears like teaching them to be safe from fire or electricity may be good for them but lot of others are not good for their growth.

Anyway to continue with the story, they started trying out the skates and on the second day I noticed that their nine year old daughter decided to try to skate on both legs. She took baby steps and was successful in covering a small distance without falling down. I was impressed with how quickly she was able to do that and main reason was she did not have the fear of falling. What I was reluctant to try even after two weeks, she decided to try on the second day itself. That is what innocence of a child can achieve.

This gave me hope and I immediately decided to give it a try. I put on the skates on both the legs and was able to cover a distance safely. I was thrilled. I tried again and decided to call my son to show this. My son came saw me trying to skate on both the legs. He was not impressed with the speed with which I was moving and gave me a good push on my back. I fell down on my back. Though it did not hurt much physically, my ego was hurt and got angry on him.

After I calmed down I realized that falling down was not that painful as I had assumed it to be. In fact it was good that I was pushed and I fell down. That incident removed my fear of falling. Now I am practicing skating and hope to gain sufficient skills in near future.

My Lessons
1. Likelihood of falling or failing is lesser that we assume.
2. Falling down is not as painful or disgraceful as we imagine it to be. Falling removes the fear and it is good for us in the learning process.

Go ahead and pursue your dreams. Falling down is part of the process to succeed after all stepping stone to success are the failures. Falling or failing helps us to lose our fears which stop us from growing.

Related Posts
How To Overcome Fear

How to make Yogurt or Curd like Indian Sweet Shops

2010-04-23T06:30:00.000-07:00

Unlike US or other European countries, Yogurt is not packaged and sold in India and many other Asian countries. You can get it fresh for the manufacturers, who are usually your neighborhood sweet shop owners.

Day before yesterday, I went to buy curd (yogurt) at a shop near my house. Somehow the yogurt at the shops is very well made and thickly set while when we make the curd at our home it is sour and more contains more fluid.

I asked the shopkeeper the secret to making great yogurt, and he gladly revealed the secret to me. I tried it at home and I was successful in making superb yogurt as you can see in the picture. It was firm and had creamy layer on the top. It tasted great and I made it again and again with the same process.

It is also lot cheaper than what you pay for while buying from the stores.

Here is the recipe.

1. Use a glass containers. Earthen containers are also excellent option however they are difficult to find everywhere.
2. Use a flat bottom container instead of deep bottomed container. Baking tray is a good option.
3. Pour the milk in the container. In the summers use lukewarm milk and in the winters use hot milk.
4. Add four to five drops of curd from existing collection Yogurt at home, in the milk. Usually we make the mistake of adding too much of curd which make it too sour.
5. Keep the container aside and do not disturb for 10 hours or so. If you disturb the container too much yogurt will not be solid in nature.

Usually start the process in the night and keep it in refrigerator in the morning till you consume this home made yogurt.

Try it and enjoy the fresh home made yogurt.

Idolizing Others Will Take You Nowhere

2010-03-11T01:58:00.000-08:00

Recently Sachin Tendulkar became the first batsman in the world to score 200 runs in a one day international match. Next day media went gaga over it. Most Indians are fans of Sachin Tendulkar and they were extremely happy. Lot of them must have spent hours reading and discussing the achievement though they might have see it live on TV earlier. What a waste of time and energy. Do not get me wrong. I am not against Sachin, I am against wasting time eulogizing our heroes. Wouldn't it be better to use that time to do something constructive?

It is good to appreciate an achiever but we should not be emotionally attached to the success or failure of that person. If that hero succeeds we are happy and if the hero is unsuccessful we are sad. For example some people will be happy if Sachin succeeds while India loses a match. Similarly most peoples' sentiments are attached to cricket team in India. If the Indian cricket team wins they are happy whereas if it loses they are sad and may skip their meals. At the same time very few people are upset that India is competing for the last position in the hockey world cup. The reason is they are not sentimentally attached to the Hockey Team.

Another example is obsession with film stars. Fans of a film star may become violent if you criticize their hero. Some fans have committed suicide on the death of their hero. Such a waste of life.

It is better to focus on your strength and work on it. No one deserves that kind of adulation and idolizing. If you admire the qualities then learn from them and use them for your betterment. For example we should learn from the power of concentration and amount of hard work Sachin puts in to produce the great performances instead of just watching him on TV and celebrating his success as if they are your own. It would be greater tribute to your hero if you put your efforts in developing yourself using the qualities which you may admire in him.

So go for some workout today or a yoga session or take some decision to invest wisely. Let us produce more great people and leaders instead of bunch of emotional fools.

Stop being a Doormat

2010-03-03T05:27:00.000-08:00

Do you feel that no one listens to you? Do you feel that people take you for granted by your friends and relatives? Do you feel that you are exploited at the work? Are you tired of people treating as their doormat?
There are people out there who mistake your sincerity and decency to meekness and try to take advantage. If you give in to them they become bolder and next time they are back to exploit you. These people are present everywhere as colleagues, bosses, relatives. Standing upto these situations is very important because, you can lose your self esteem very fast with these kind of people. There is no point in sulking privately. Stand up and face them. You are responsible for your situation and if you allow them to dictate you are giving the control of your destiny in the hands of others.

Here are few suggestions to follow if you want to come out of that situation.

Start Saying No
Learn to say no to the task which you feel is not justified. Even if you are afraid, still say no. No one should be allowed to take you for granted. The people who are unreasonable while dealing with you are also aware of that, only thing is they are confident that they can bully you into doing it since you always allow that. Once you start saying No, and then say than whenever there is some unreasonable demand gradually you will earn respect and able to bring the situation into your favor.

Do Not Be Afraid of Loosing
Many times we are afraid that if we say no, we will lose these friends or relatives and therefore cannot say no or continue to tolerate their nonsense. Remember that true friends or well wishing relatives will not like to hurt you. If they do that then tell them so and in case there is no improvement, it is better to separate with them. Life is too precious and short to tolerate wrong kind of people in your life.

Improve your Self Esteem
Usually people who are treated as doormat are those who lack self esteem and it gets eroded further whenever bad things happen again and again. Start saying no which is mentioned in the point number 1. That is the first step. There are other steps which can be useful and mainly they are related so removing the fears related to social interactions. You can take baby steps to success. Here is an article on removing your fears.

It is your life and do not allow anyone to treat you shabbily. Once you take the first brave step, you will find that people will treat you more respectfully. Continue to take braver steps and you will find that other aspects of your life also starts improving magically and no one will treat you as a doormat again.

Seek out Negative Response to Become Braver

2010-03-01T07:29:00.000-08:00

There are various techniques to become brave. One of them is to seek out negative results. When you expect negative response in advance you loose the fear of rejection. When you loose the fear of rejection you start approaching a challenge in a braver manner without nervousness and as a paradox your chances of success increases.

When you start this, treat this as an experiment and try to observe the outcome instead of attaching yourself to the result. Detaching yourself from the results is what will increase the courage. Try out the following three experiments.

Ask for Lift
Ask for lift from 10 motorists. If they stop then it is great but do not go with them. Tell them a destination 500 km away so that you can avoid them. Your aim is not to go but ask for lift. Keep asking for the lift from at least 10 persons.

Give Interviews
Make a aim and attempt to give 10 interviews. Again your aim should not be selection rather the interaction with the interviewer. This will help you to face rejection and will be very helpful when you are really looking for a job.

Try selling to 10 People
Get a new T-Shirt which should be nicely packed and approach 10 people in a crowded place and ask if they would buy the T-Shirt.

You can similarly think of other things to try out and then go out and do those. You will end up more courageous and enriched with newer experiences.

Related Posts
How to Overcome Fear

How to Strategize for Success

2010-01-22T21:44:00.000-08:00

In my last post I mentioned the importance for strategising for success. In this post focuses on how to strategize. As mentioned earlier, purpose of strategeizing is two fold. First it helps us to solve a problem and more importantly it helps us to get to the solution in a cheapest manner compared to the resources we use. When strategizing we aim to be effective instead of striving for perfection. We are then ready to compromise with achieving around 80% of the expected full value with the least investment.

Doing this in the long run, helps us have enough free time for fun while achieving more than average success rate in all the spheres where we work.

3 Good Ways to Strategize

Decide How much is important
It is easier to focus on less. Do not commit the mistake of trying 100 percent of the area. Then you would not able to strategize. For these you need to take the following approach.
First identify which part is absolutely essential to the task and without which essence of the task will be lost. Do not let it be more than 60% of the total task. Make sure that this portion is done perfectly. Then identify the tasks which are not as important as the first part but can give boost to the output with least amount of efforts. Do not let these to be more than 20% of the total task. Concentrate on this 80% of the task and finish it as fast as possible without losing focus.

Look For Help
If you are going to start a task on which you have little knowledge, identifying the important portions mentioned in the point 1 may also be difficult. Also you may know what you need to do but do not know how to do that. For this best is to look for a person who has knowledge on the subject or google it. This will help you to eliminate the mistakes and wastage of time by avoiding the wrong paths. While you do that be aware that it is not guaranteed that the path suggested may be the best path. Think over the solution before you start. It is possible that once you have the insight you may be able to come up with a better solution.

Start working on the Work
Once you cross the first two steps start to work on the work as soon as possible. You determination and energy is at their peak at the beginning and you should use that energy to quickly get over large portion of the task. This will give a boost to your chances of finishing the task. Most of the tasks which we do not ever start working on is due to the delay in starting it. If you eliminate this obstacle then chances of succeeding increases many folds.

Related Posts
Optimum Path Strategy For Success

Optimum Path Strategy For Success

2010-01-22T04:46:00.000-08:00

One of the key difference which sets the successful people apart from the others is once they decide to achieve a particular challenging goal is that they strategize and maximize their chances of success with minimum efforts. They strategize on how to attack the problem or grab the opportunity and then go for it with all their energy. They choose a optimum path to achieve a goal.

An example could be that if a giant corporation is launching a product they can spend millions of dollars in marketing and launch to ensure success. The resources which the giant corporations have are not available to every individual. Now if an individual wants to launch a product he would need to strategize so that using his limited resources optimally chances of success are improved significantly. By resource I mean money, individuals at disposal, raw material or time. “Resource” here is basically any thing which can be used for productivity.

Another example is, if your exams are coming nearby or you are about to face an interview then you tend to put your full energy into the relevant studies. I have talked to many students and lots of them say that they study the most during the last two days of the exams. What they do is grab the question papers of last few years, mark out the sections from which questions are most likely to be asked and then prepare those sections. Most of them are successful in doing this and get good grades. Though I am not in favor of this approach because for me knowledge more important, but in the current education system this somehow fits nicely. The point I want to make here is that when these students put whole hearted efforts for only a few days the results are good. So they have strategized on how to use their time effectively by intelligent guessing and decreasing the preparation time.

These students do not plan to get 100% marks but use the time in other activities. Therefore they are sacrificing some marks but then their goal is not full marks but to get “Good” enough marks without spending too much time.

Other examples of Using Optimum path strategy

Similarly for success in other fields, for example a small business which you want to start this approach will serve you quite well. This strategy can also be used to test market your ideas before you go full fledged with more money and resources.

Optimizing Test Marketing For Success

Let us say you want to start a business of supplying handicraft articles which are quite beautiful and unique. Now you want to start mass production but you are unsure of the market. You can use this approach only for finding out the market demand and to decide the pricing before you start the business to maximize your chances of success with least investment.

First you will need some samples. That will help you to find out how much cost will be incurred in the production process. The cost may reduce when the articles are manufactured in mass.

Now you decide to approach 5 retailers every day for next 30 days come what may. If you feel afraid in approaching the retailers think his way “At present I do not have this retailer as my customer so I have nothing to lose. Best possible outcome will be that I will be able to add him as my customer and worst thing is the status will remain as it is so I am not going to lose anything from here.” You can refer to “How to increase your comfort zone” which will help you to increase the comfort levels.

Above approach will solve two positive purposes. Either you will have a new retailer in you bag to whom you may supply your goods and if the retailer refuses to become your customer then ask his honest opinion on why. You will gain good insight on the market and any existing competition if any. Another benefit will be that if so are able to create a good rapport with the retailer you may approach him in the future also with any new products which you may come out with during that time. To make this approach even better ask him if he can refer someone who can be

With the above strategy you will be able to talk to around 150 prospective customers. The chances are very high that you will be able to get some customer if you approach right type of retailers. If you are not able to sell the idea to these retailers then it should give you an idea that that product which you want to come out may not have much demand.

On the other hand if you still have strong conviction in your product then you may want to approach a different market like trying to sell on the ebay on the internet. This way you will save a lot of money and increase the chances of your success.

Similarly you can strategize the way you will try to crack a problem. For example if you face a technically challenging task during your work, your approach may involve looking for the probable causes of the problem, talking to colleagues or searching the internet for probable solution and then picking the solution which best fits the current environment. Usually talking to you colleagues who have faced a similar problem in the past if the fastest way to solve any problem so you strategy should be to go for that option first.

Strategizing and finding a optimum path helps you to achieve success faster and at a lesser cost of time and money. Initially this may be difficult to do when you are not habituated to this. But when you keep on applying this approach repeatedly you will be able to innovate and strategize more easily which will take you to your designated goals sooner than ever before.

Related Posts
How to Strategize for Success

How to Relax and Rejuvenate Yourself

2010-01-17T08:16:00.000-08:00

Every once in a while I go and get some myself face and head massage. It is rejuvenating and I feel nice and energetic after that. I usually do it on Sundays and really feel good about it. I frequently look forward to it. Indulging ourselves heals the body and the mind alike. Relaxation is an important component in anybody's life,

Most of us worry too much about the future too much and it forget to take care of ourselves today. When our today is full of worry and anxiety there is no point in trying to make the future bright. Even if there are lot of problems and difficulties, point is you should still be able to steal good moments for yourself.

Things You Can Do to Relax
Basically any actions which makes you feel better is usually relaxing. Breaking the routine taking breaks is a nice way to feel relaxed. Each one of us have different ways to relax. Some of us want to laze around while some others want to get away to some distant place away from the familiar environment.

What better way to feel good than pampering self with some good massage. It is important that we learn to relax ourselves to avoid stress and burnout.

Spending time on yourself is a good way to heal yourself both physically and emotionally. That gives you time to introspect and is a wonderful way to grow. Pampering also helps you in rejuvenating and getting back renewed energy and enthusiasm and ready to face the day to day challenges.

Vacations are great stress busters. Make sure that from time to time you go for major pampering like holidays and more frequently you should go for minor pampering.

Here are few ways to relax yourself

Get a Ayurvedic Herbal Massage for the entire body. This will rejuvenate your entire body and helps remove stress and detoxifies you.

Go for a holiday to a hill station or to a sea side and become unreachable to your work location. Make sure you do not travel too much and enjoy that place. Take walks in the evenings or morning and enjoy.

Do some light exercises or practice yoga.

Practice Meditation and Pranayama

Watch a comedy show on TV.

Go for a light movie.

Take a candle light dinner with your partner.

Take a facial and head massage massage. Makes your face shining and you feel good.

Buy some new clothes or shoes.

Eat something you enjoy even if not too much. For example chocolate.

Talk about your problems to someone close

Participate or arrange for a potluck with friends

How to Expand Your Comfort Zone for Success

2010-01-14T23:37:00.000-08:00

Comfort zone can be defined as the situations or the actions in which you can work without any inhibitions or most confidently. You are not conscious of your surroundings and even if you know that people disapprove your action are not as much bothered as to stop the activity. Your productivity in any work is related to the comfort zone in which you are present. Your productivity can be at its maximum when when you are in your comfort zone and decreases substantially when you are outside your comfort zone. It is a sort of psychological safety zone in which you can work with minimum stress. Basically any environment in which we feel physically and emotionally safe can be described as out comfort zone.

Here are few examples.
When you join a new organization your comfort level is quite less and as the days and weeks pass you grow used to the new environment and start performing better. Usually companies provide some buffer time to anybody who are new joiners so that they can develop their comfort zones. Similarly if your boss is very short tempered you will feel threatened all the time and not be comfortable. This can also affect the performance.

Another example can be any newly married lady who moves to the in laws place. For initial few months she may not be comfortable as she does not knows anyone in the new house. Gradually as she become comfortable with the new new home and the family her comfort zone increases and she can stay and behave more confidently.

These were examples of social comfort zone. There can be skill related comfort zones like learning a new Software or operating a new gadget. In my opinion social comfort zones are more important as most of the time we deal with people.

Comfort Zone and its Role in Your Success
More comfortable you are in difficult situations, more successful you are in doing them confidently. People who can do tasks which most others cannot are the ones who are the highest paid and the most rewarded persons. If your comfort zone is much bigger than others than it you will be able to take actions more easily where people with smaller comfort zones may not be able take actions and that will keep you ahead of others and make you look stand out.

People who take risks are able to take those because there have face many uncomfortable situations and expanded their area of security so much that they will that they can handle new uncomfortable situations also although they may also be unfamiliar and uncomfortable in the new tasks.

Basic principle is to do small acts of bravery which can instill more confidence and make you familiar to the experience so much that you are able to develop the comfort zone in that situation. Once you reach that level then you can increase your comfort zone by selecting some tasks which are difficult. This way you can increase the volume of your comfort zone till it becomes a big dome.

Here are few tasks which will increase your comfort zone

I am mentioning all the tasks which will increase the comfort zone at social level since most of us face challenge more at the social level compared to any other situation.

Look into the eyes of 3 people
Try to look into the eyes of 3 people each day till they back out. This will be quite uncomfortable for both of you but you aim is to increase your comfort level. In case some one takes offense then tell them that he/she reminds you of some old friend. If you do this regularly will end up more comfortable with people.

Talk to Strangers
While in a mall or on a traffic signal ask what time it is or ask how to reach a particular place. You may also ask silly question like what time it is, or when will the sun set today and say that it is really important for you to know that it can be a life saving decision. Just make up any story and talk to someone.

Sing in the public place
Try singing in a public place like road or mall. Do it when you have quite a few people in the audible distance. If you have really bad voice that should be more the reason to do this :) Initially you can hum loudly till you gather enough courage though.

Change your hair style or facial hair
Take a completely different hair cut compared to your usual style. If you are male then try our different things with your facial hair like beard and moustache. I used to be real conscious of this and for year stuck to one hair style. First time I shaved my moustache I was ashamed to go to office and kept on think what the people will think. Now I am more adventurous and keep on changing style every few months. Now I look forward to people's comments and if they are negative I brush them aside.

Wear clothes the wrong way
Wear two socks of two colors or wear the dress inside out. Make sure that people notice that and then observe their comments. Say that you were in a hurry so did that and refuse to make it correct the entire day.

If you feel afraid to try these then there is even more reason to go for these as these actions will definitely increase you comfort zone. One thing is for sure, at the end of these exercise you will have some interesting stories to tell. So try these and see how interesting your life becomes.