Alter Your Attitude.

Stuck with backstabbing coworkers? It’s easy to let those kinds of situations generate negative emotions, which are bound to attract the negative energy that repels wealth creation. If you want to start manifesting abundance, you’ll need an attitude makeover.

Instead of focusing valuable time and energy on things you can’t control or change, simply accept the situation and shift your focus into positive actions. Forget those office evildoers and wow your boss with novel money-saving strategies. By shifting your energies you can start manifesting abundance and creating wealth.

Be A Visionary.

Regular visualization practice is a critical part of an effective creating abundance plan. Collegiate and pro athletes alike have used visualization to earn gold medals and win coveted championships. In fact, Olympic pairs champion Randy Gardner envisioned perfectly throwing his partner Tai Babilonia into the air as part of his training regimen.

Take just a few minutes every day to visualize yourself creating wealth. Maybe you envision being handed a million dollar check. Perhaps you visualize a 7-digit retirement account. Whatever your dream is, start manifesting abundance by visualizing it.

Give Of Yourself.

Generosity is a key element of smart wealth creation plans. It creates the positive emotions that start manifesting abundance and creating wealth. If your bank account is on the light side you can still give to your community. Mentor a child or perhaps a young entrepreneur. Volunteer a few hours at the local food bank. Whatever you choose to do, be sure to give with the kind of joyous and thankful heart that makes wealth creation forces naturally attracted to you.

Act Like You Got It.

If you know any truly wealthy people, you already know they tend to have a different way of thinking than those stuck in their own personal recession. Even during tough economic times, creating wealth continues to be a no-brainer for the rich. Rather than getting mired in a “woe is me” cycle, wealth creation experts look forward toward new opportunities for manifesting abundance.

One of the simplest ways to act like you’re rolling in dough is to be friendly. When you’re working with others, act as if you don’t have worry in the world. Smile when you meet new acquaintances, and keep conversations centered on the positive.

Manifesting abundance may just be one of the easiest things you can do for your family. With the right mindset you can soon be reaping all of the wealth creation gifts that life has to offer.

Dr. Rafael Cornelio is an expert at teaching people like you the secrets to attract wealth. For a FREE electrifying report called “Wealth Attraction Guide: 30-Day Money-Making Mind Set Program”, please visit: http://www.WealthAttractionGuide.com. 
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There is a difference between creation and transference, though. And simply “getting” money can be mistakenly called “making money.” Let’s look at the difference.

If you make a bet with a friend on a football game and win, no new value is created (except the minor pleasure of gambling). Money is simply moved from the hands of your friend to yours. The same is true on a larger scale when, for example, credit default swaps are used by financial institutions not as insurance, but merely as a bet. Using financial instruments like these, large banks and funds became gamblers in the years leading up to the real estate slump that started in 2006. Many of them were no longer creating any real value, instead just moving wealth around.

What Is Wealth Creation?

If you buy a couch there is real value created and exchanged. The manufacturer creates a comfortable piece of furniture that people want to sit or lay on. To do so they buy materials ranging from wood to cloth and nails. These things are real values created by others. Meanwhile you have to create and trade something of value (your labor and skills if you’re an employee) to get the money needed to buy the couch. There is wealth creation at every step of the process.

Even speculation can create value in the right context. For example, those who trade futures contracts create a way for farmers to guarantee a price for their crops months in advance so they don’t go bankrupt if the market price is down at harvest time. On the other end, a tortilla chip maker can know ahead of time what his corn will cost, and so plan effectively. Speculators take on the risk, creating a valuable system that allows more consistent planning and production.

In other words, honest wealth creation serves the needs of people. To trick a man out of money is to profit in a financial sense, but not to create. To make something of value and sell it is creation. This is not difficult to understand, but it is often forgotten.

For example, when most people think of how to make money they think of a job or business. But they think of it in a mechanical way, meaning they think of the steps to go through to have money handed over to them. Go to work, do as you’re told and collect a paycheck. Start a business, follow what others have done and make a profit.

There isn’t anything necessarily wrong with this, but it is a very uncreative and limited approach. Someone else has to create the job to be done or the business model to be followed. This also is not likely to lead to much wealth creation on the part of the person who thinks this way.

The alternative? Look at what value you actually can create and add to the world. Starting at the simplest level, forget about the paycheck for a moment and ask if you are providing much value to your employer, and what you could do to create even more. In business, consider what customers want and need and if there are better ways to provide that. See if there are other needs not being met.

The true wealth creators are not just following what others do. They are looking for new ways to create value. It is a much more satisfying way to make money than to simply look for the quickest way to move dollars from other pockets to yours. Of course you want to “get paid,” and there are always ways to do that. But wealth creation comes first. Only then is there something to pay the employee or business owner.

Copyright Steve Gillman. Learn more about Wealth Creation, and get the free Money Matters Newsletter at: http://www.TheMeaningOfMoney.com

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For More Free Information Visit Top Self Help Books

Tom Miller
Lifestyle and Internet Marketing Conslutant
Tom Miller

Internet B2B Marketing
http://personaldevelopmentplanning.com
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You’ve probably heard this phrase (or any combination of it) from your parents. “Go to school, get a good education and get a good job.” In some ways it has become like a mantra to most people. It happened to me and actually to most people I know. I’m sure they mean well. They wanted us to have a better life. They wanted us to have more than they do. They wanted nothing but success. They figured higher education is the way to wealth creation, or is it?

How many people that you know went this route and today are doing well financially? How many still have a job? How many highly educated friends of yours are without a job? How many are worried about their job and their future?

The Department of Health Education and Welfare has mentioned that most people about 95% of them are dead, broke or still working at age 65? Not a good statistic at all.
Now why is that? This is America…

Cashflow Quadrant

Let me borrow some ideas from a bestselling author Robert Kiyosaki and his book, Cashflow Quadrant;
Mr. Kiyosaki said, “There are only 4 ways to wealth creation or to make money”.

Picture a pie divided into 4 quadrants; on the left side is your E (employee) side and right below it is the S (self-employed). Now to your right are the B (business) and I (investment) side right below it.

The left side of the quadrant is called the active side where a person trades time to make money. One must physically perform to get paid. Ninety-five percent of the people are on this side and controls 5% of the wealth.

The right side is the leverage side where a person’s wealth creation grows exponentially with or without actively trading time and/or money. Five percent of the population is on this side and controls the other 95% of the wealth.

So, most of us are trained to think and operate on the left side of the cashflow quadrant. We are taught and trained (in school) to become good employees and not businessmen. We are trained to participate sharing in the 5% instead of the 95% portion of the ‘wealth’ pie.

Old School Vs New School

I was with a group of successful people one evening and asked them about these. Most of them agreed on one thing. The mantra about good education they say is really old school. It may have worked during the industrial age but we are now on the internet age.

When America lost its manufacturing base to China a few decades ago things has changed big time. A lot of the industrial age thinking and rules are not effective as they were. Wealth creation’s got a new vehicle they say- it’s called the internet.

Not too long ago most parents work in one company with a solid retirement package. Mom’s stayed home because one income is enough to support most families.

In today’s world even dual income earners are challenged financially. Both parents working with two jobs each are common. Why? Inflation and taxes outpaces income and the cost of living continues to climb.
While all these are happening unemployment continues to climb. Good jobs were sent overseas without any chance of them getting replaced at all. High paying jobs reserved to well or even highly educated employees are not safe anymore.

Wanted More Millionaires

Now, America still provides the greatest opportunity on earth. Adapting to change has been one of this country’s strength. The internet is one bright spot where Americans can stake a claim on to move towards success.

And believe me, there are people from all walks of life that has found a home and fortune using the power of the internet.

Actually there’s been more self made millionaire’s in this country within the last 15 years than in its entire history combined. Most of which were done online or with the internet as a vehicle.
Coincidence or not, it’s about the same time when the internet brains figured out a way to become profitable. This was when internet commerce began to take off and never looked back.
One great example of wealth creation online comes in the name of Michael Dell. Yes, you’ve guessed it right – Dell computers.

Long story short, his parent’s learned that their son Michael is not attending class like he’s supposed to. He was told that if he doesn’t change course and go back to school, he’s going to be out of his dorm and be on his own. Little did mom and dad know that at that time their son Michael is already making thousands of money tweaking, building and selling computers on the internet. Talk about wealth creation in steroids.

Wealth Creation’s New Name

How about the young guns at amazon, eBay, Google, Facebook and other social media giants that became extremely wealthy at a very early age. Some of them weren’t old enough to have a business checking account when they started.

Look at where they are now. They have given wealth creation a new meaning.
Most of us know a lot of them were school dropouts, as well. We’re not trying to downplay schooling and glorify dropping out of school here. That’s not my intention at all.

In fact, I do believe that going to school and getting your diploma or masters or even a PhD are great. Education to me is still the foundation to great success.

My suggestion is, apply time tested skills learned in school or higher education and mix it up with new sets of tool, the internet being one of them, to propel you to success.

Yes, I will still encourage you to, “go to school, get good education…” and now, operate on the B side of the cashflow quadrant and use a new vehicle on wealth creation – the internet!

BTW do you dare to follow me on TWITTER? http://twitter.com/5kgeek

If you don’t see Dick Cortes running 5k’s and marathons you’ll find him on his desk manning his blog. Also, he’s trading his services on web designs and doing freelance gigs as a social media marketing consultant.
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But then there are the books that are meant to help you become a “better” person in general. These are the ones about self esteem, motivation, attitude and self image. Do these make your life better? Some are useful, but there is one glaring flaw in many of them.

The problem I am referring to is the excessive focus on the “ego” self, as though helping that grow stronger or “better” is somehow an improvement. Some books recommend affirmations, for example, which you use to convince yourself that you are strong, wealthy, or healthy, without reference to reality. But what a fragile sort of confidence you gain when it is based on this sort of posturing.

Wouldn’t it be better to have the capacity to be happy and at peace even if you are weak, poor, and ill? There is certainly nothing wrong with pursuing strength, wealth and health, but being attached to these outcomes as an important part of who you are creates a lot of unnecessary stress and suffering. Yet this is what many “self help books” encourage you to do.

Do we really want to encourage our ego self? This is the self that creates an image of who we “should” be, and reminds us (painfully) when we don’t live up to that image. This is the self which tells us we need to impress others, to be “great” and to rush to achieve as much as we can to prove how “important” we are. It is forever comparing us to an ideal it invents and then making us suffer for not living up to it.

Following the advice of this false self is a recipe for anxiety and mental pain. Why, then, would we want self help books which encourage us to build it up, and to embrace it even more strongly, when letting it go is what we really need? We don’t need such books.

This touches on areas that are commonly called spiritual, but the label isn’t necessary. Simple honest observation can show us that whatever our true self consists of, there are also parts of us that encourage chasing false values based on what this ego self insists is important. Peace of mind is certainly more valuable than any of the temporary emotional highs we can get through that sort of “self help.”

When choosing and using self help books then, avoid those which plainly encourage the ego self. These include any which suggest that success is about making lots of money, being better than others, impressing people, improving your “self image” through pretenses, or in any way building up a “self” that can be torn down. Look for those which help you let go of the nonsense associated with this “created” identity, and help you act from a deeper purpose and sense of who you are.

For More Free Information visit On Self Help Books

Tom Miller
Lifestyle and Internet Marketing Conslutant
Tom Miller

Internet B2B Marketing
http://personaldevelopmentplanning.com
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But then there are the books that are meant to help you become a “better” person in general. These are the ones about self esteem, motivation, attitude and self image. Do these make your life better? Some are useful, but there is one glaring flaw in many of them.

The problem I am referring to is the excessive focus on the “ego” self, as though helping that grow stronger or “better” is somehow an improvement. Some books recommend affirmations, for example, which you use to convince yourself that you are strong, wealthy, or healthy, without reference to reality. But what a fragile sort of confidence you gain when it is based on this sort of posturing.

Wouldn’t it be better to have the capacity to be happy and at peace even if you are weak, poor, and ill? There is certainly nothing wrong with pursuing strength, wealth and health, but being attached to these outcomes as an important part of who you are creates a lot of unnecessary stress and suffering. Yet this is what many “self help books” encourage you to do.

Do we really want to encourage our ego self? This is the self that creates an image of who we “should” be, and reminds us (painfully) when we don’t live up to that image. This is the self which tells us we need to impress others, to be “great” and to rush to achieve as much as we can to prove how “important” we are. It is forever comparing us to an ideal it invents and then making us suffer for not living up to it.

Following the advice of this false self is a recipe for anxiety and mental pain. Why, then, would we want self help books which encourage us to build it up, and to embrace it even more strongly, when letting it go is what we really need? We don’t need such books.

This touches on areas that are commonly called spiritual, but the label isn’t necessary. Simple honest observation can show us that whatever our true self consists of, there are also parts of us that encourage chasing false values based on what this ego self insists is important. Peace of mind is certainly more valuable than any of the temporary emotional highs we can get through that sort of “self help.”

When choosing and using self help books then, avoid those which plainly encourage the ego self. These include any which suggest that success is about making lots of money, being better than others, impressing people, improving your “self image” through pretenses, or in any way building up a “self” that can be torn down. Look for those which help you let go of the nonsense associated with this “created” identity, and help you act from a deeper purpose and sense of who you are.

For More Free Inforamtion visit Books on Self Help

Tom Miller
Lifestyle and Internet Marketing Consultant
Tom Miller

Books on Self Help
http://personaldevelopmentplanning.com
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Traditional online marketing systems also require giveaways or free incentives in order to drive traffic to their web sites that are then selling some other product. The instant online wealth creation of the Infinity 800 system requires the new business owner to create none of these giveaways or free products. The system provides the basic product for you and gives you all the necessary marketing tools you need to start your own online wealth creation web site right from home. The system also provides a complete set of unique online wealth creation marketing education. People with no prior online knowledge or experience can find simple and immediate success with this system. At a mere $260 investment, the entire approach is easy to use, focused and affordable. Using the online wealth creation system in Infinity 800 you get to help your own customers sign up today and build wealth for all of you immediately. These characteristics are important in tough economic times when many people are in need of new ways of living and wealth creation.

The simple online wealth creation strategies and the basic business plan help the new business owner build their customer list quickly. They can start to build immediate wealth with the Infinity 800 system, generating cash payments quickly. Later, once the all important customer list is built by capturing both prospects as well as paid team members and the business owner wants to add more products or services (either their own or some other affiliate), they already have an abundant list of prospects and customers to continue their online wealth creation over and over again. These customers have already purchased from the business owner and will be likely to purchase again. The prospects might be interested in your product or could purchase the Infinity 800 system.  The online wealth creation continues to multiply and expand with both the Infinity 800 and other products and services. More success attracts more customers, partners and opportunities. Life gets easier and easier as the online wealth creation accelerates.

If you want to start your own online wealth creation system from home with the Infinity 800 tools and marketing strategies, visit Gregory Aggesen’s website at: http://www.earntoinfinity.net.  This easily to implement, low cost, home-based business will help you accelerate your own online wealth creation and lead you down the path to a better life.

Gregory Aggesen has sold commercial and residential real estate for over 12 years. He recently expanded his financial success by joining the Infinity 800 marketing system. He likes this new Infinity 800 system as it is much easier to sell than real estate, especially in today’s economy. For more information visit the website at http://www.earntoinfinity.net or email Gregory at jlhorne2@gmail.com.
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New research suggests it may do more harm than good to many people.

Canadian researcher, Dr. Joanne Wood at the University of Waterloo and her colleagues at the University of New Brunswick who have recently published their research in the Journal of Psychological Science, concluded “repeating positive self-statements may benefit certain people, such as individuals with high self-esteem, but backfire for the very people who need them the most.”

The researchers asked people with and low self-esteem to say “I am a lovable person.” They then measured the participants’ moods and their feelings about themselves. The low-esteem group felt worse afterwards compared with others who did not. However, people with high self-esteem felt better after repeating the positive affirmation–but only slightly. The psychologists then asked the participants to list negative and positive thoughts about themselves. They found, paradoxically, those with low self-esteem were in a better mood when they were allowed to have negative thoughts than when they were asked to focus exclusively on affirmative thoughts.

The researchers suggest that, like overly positive praise, unreasonably positive self-statements, such as “I accept myself completely” can provoke contradictory thoughts in individuals in individuals with low self-esteem. When positive self-statements strong conflict with self-perception, the researchers argue, there is not mere resistance but a reinforcing of self-perception. People who view themselves as unlovable, for example, find that saying that are so unbelievable that it strengthens their own negative view rather than reversing it.

These findings were supported by previous research published in 1994 in the Journal of Social Psychology, showing that when people get feedback that they believe is overly positive, they actually feel worse, not better.

Dr. Wood goes even further. In her Psychology Today blog, she says that most self-help books advocating positive affirmations may be based on good intentions or personal experience, but they are rarely based on even one iota of scientific evidence. She cites psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky’s The How of Happiness as an exception.

Does that mean positive affirmations are of absolutely no value. Not according to Dr. Wood and her co-researchers. They say they positive affirmations can help when they are part of a broader program of intervention. That intervention can take place in a number of forms such as cognitive psychotherapy or working with a coach who has expertise in the behavioral sciences.What kind of intervention is best to use to make positive affirmations most effective?

That’s where we encounter even more controversy.

Traditional cognitive psychotherapy may not be the best intervention according to Dr. Steven Hayes, a renowned psychotherapist, and author of Getting Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life. Hayes has been setting the world of psychotherapy on its ear by advocating a totally different approach.

In an article in Time magazine, John Cloud describes Hayes’ work. Hayes and researchers Marsha Linehan and Robert Kohlenberg at the University of Washington, and Zindel Segal at the University of Toronto, what we could call “Third Wave Psychologists” are focusing less on how to manipulate the content of our thoughts (a focus on cognitive psychotherapy) and more on how to change their context–to modify the way we see thoughts and feelings so they can’t control our behavior. Whereas cognitive therapists speak of “cognitive errors” and “distorted interpretation,” Hayes and his colleagues encourage mindfulness, the meditation-inspired practice of observing thoughts without getting entangled by them–imagine the thoughts being a leaf or canoe floating down the stream.

These Third Wave Psychologists would argue that trying to correct negative thoughts can paradoxically actually intensify them. As NLP trained coaches would say, telling someone to “not think about a blue tree,” actually focuses their mind on a blue tree. The Third Wave Psychologists methodology is called ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy), which says that we should acknowledge that negative thoughts recur throughout our life and instead of challenging or fighting with them, we should concentrate on identifying and committing to our values in life. Hayes would argue that once we are willing to feel our negative emotions, we’ll find it easier to commit ourselves to what we want in life.

This approach may come as a surprise to many, because the traditional cognitive model permeates our culture and the media as reflected in the Dr. Phil show. The essence of the conflict between traditional cognitive psychologists and psychotherapists is to engage in a process of analyzing your way out your problems, or the Third Wave approach which says, accept that you have negative beliefs, thinking and problems and focus on what you want. Third Wave psychologists acknowledge that we have pain, but rather than trying to push it away, they say trying to push it away or deny it just gives it more energy and strength.

Third Wave Psychologists focus on acceptance and commitment comes with a variety of strategies to help people including such things as writing your epitaph (what’s going to be your legacy), clarifying your values and committing your behavior to them.

It’s interesting that that The Third Wave Psychologists approach comes along at a time when more and more people are looking for answer outside of the traditional medical model (which psychiatry and traditional psychotherapy represent). Just look at a 2002 study in Prevention and Treatment, which found that 80% people tested who took the six most popular antidepressants of the 1990’s got the same results when they took a sugar pill placebo.

The Third Wave Psychologists approaches are very consistent with much of the training and approach that many life coaches receive, inclusive of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), and many spiritual approaches to behavioral changes reflected in ancient Buddhist teachings and the more modern version exemplified by Eckhart Tolle (The Power of Now). The focus of those approaches reinforces the concepts of acceptance of negative emotions and thoughts, and rather than giving them energy and fighting with them, focus on mindfulness, and a commitment to an alignment of values and behavior.

So what can we learn from all this? Two things–first, just engaging in positive affirmations by themselves, can do harm to people with low self-esteem, and provide only little benefit for those with high-esteem, if those affirmations are not part of a comprehensive program of self-growth, preferably with a knowledgeable professional; and second, the traditional cognitive psychotherapeutic approach at trying to change people’s negative thinking through logical processes may actually be counterproductive, compared to an approach that has people accept their thoughts, not resist them and give more energy to them by thinking about them, but rather engage in positive behaviors and thinking.

On the next post, I’ll be interviewing Stephanie Frank, President of Success IQ University, a Master NLP Coach and Certified Hypnotherapist, who has worked with hundreds of individuals practicing the concepts and ideas in this blog, and achieved huge success with her clients. She’ll tell us how.

For More Free Information visit On Self Help Books

Tom Miller
Lifestyle and Internet Marketing Consultant
Tom Miller

On Self Help Books
http://personaldevelopmentplanning.com
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SELF HELP GROUP AS AN EFFECTIVE STRATEGY AND DOABLE APPROACH TO EMPOWER WOMEN IN INDIA

Prof. D.Sambangi

Head, Department of Social Work, Kodaikanal Christian College, Tamil Nadu, India 

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THE WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

Empowerment is a process of awareness and capacity building leading to greater participation, to greater decision making power and control and transformative action. Empowerment of women signifies harnessing women power by conscientising their tremendous potential and encouraging them to work towards attaining a dignified and satisfying way of life through confidence and competence as person with self-respect, rights and responsibilities.  Empowerment as a concept was introduced at the International Women’s Conference at Nairobi in 1985. The conference defined empowerment as “A redistribution of social power and control of resources in favour of women. Empowerment is a multi-faceted process which encompasses many aspects i.e. enhancing awareness, increasing access to resources of economic, social and political etc.”31

In recent years women empowerment has become a subject of great concern for the nations all over the world especially in poor and developing countries. The impact of globalization is seen eventually on position of women in some form or other in most of the developing countries with the variation of degree. The United Nations has also strived hard in an incredible way to draw the due attention of the World Community on this issue in the past years.

(1. International Women’s Conference held at Nairobi in the year 1985)

SHG AS AN INEXORABLE WAY TO EMPOWER WOMEN-RATIONALE

One has to believe that the progress of any nation is inevitably linked with social and economical plight of women in that particular country. For concrete results, we have to assert and act with our full might and what is needed most. Empowerment by way of participation in SHG can bring enviable changes and enhancement in the living conditions of women in poor and developing nations.. Self Help Group (SHG) is a process by which a group of 10 – 20 women with common objectives are facilitated to come together voluntarily to participate in the development activities such as saving, credit and income generation thereby ensuring economic independence. The principles underlying the SHGs are financing the poorest of the poor, and achieving holistic empowerment. SHG phenomenon certainly brings group consciousness among women, sense of belonging, adequate self confidence. What she cannot achieve as an individual, can accomplish as a member of group with sufficient understanding about her own rights, privileges, roles and responsibilities as a dignified member of society in par with man. When she becomes a member of SHG, her sense of public participation, enlarged horizon of social activities, high self-esteem, self-respect and fulfillment in life expands and enhances the quality of status of women as participants, decision makers and beneficiaries in the democratic, economic social and cultural spheres of life. Thus undoubtedly SHG can be an effective instrument to empower women socially and economically by which the implication on the overall development of women is indisputably possible particularly for a country like India wherein still large segment of women population are underprivileged, illiterate, exploited and deprived of  basic rights of social and economic spectrum.

The experiences of SHGs in many countries have been proving great success as an effective strategy and approach in recent years. Group-oriented efforts in the form of Micro-credit groups in different countries of Latin America, Africa and Asia are examples of current self-help efforts. The grameen groups in Bangladesh ,Local self-help development efforts – harambee (Thomas, 1985) in Kenya , Tontines or Hui with 10 to15 members  involved in financial activities through cash or kind in Vietnam,self help efforts through credit unions, fishermen groups, village-based banks, irrigation groups etc (Gaonkar, 2004 ) in Indonesia , the self-help groups (SHGs) in countries like Thailand, Nepal, and Sri Lanka and India are successfully proving forms of micro-credit groups or  SHGs.

THE PROBLEMS OF WOMEN EMPOWERMENT IN INDIA

The Constitution of India guarantees equality, liberty and dignity to the women of India. The Fundamental Rights, The Directive principles of State Policy and Fundamental Duties etc virtually assure equal status to women and provide special protection. After independence, a gamut of laws have been passed and some have been altered so as to award equal share to women in property as well as to eradicate some of the injustices meted out to women. However there are many shortcomings and ambiguities in the enforcement of laws.  As a result of this, the evil of dowry continues in spite of the Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961. Sati Prevention Act was passed in 1987 but glorification of sati continues in the state of Rajasthan. Immoral Traffic Prevention Act was passed in 1956 but does not prohibit prostitution altogether. Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1975 has led to amniocentesis and female foeticide . It is  believed  that 78,000  female foeticide  are done every year in India.. Indecent Representation of women’s Protection  Act was passed in 1986  but the media still continues  to project  women as sex objects . Suitable changes in the Indian Penal code, Code of Criminal Procedures and the Indian Evidence Act have been made especially for the offence of rape, but judicial process and perception continue to be heavily weighed against victims of rape. Some of the labour laws are never enforced and some enforced in a mutilated form. In spite of the Equal Remuneration Act 1976, there is discrimination in promotion, training and transfer on the basis of sex.  By and large undoubtedly more than six decades of efforts since Independence  by the government and spell of fights and struggle  under the immense  pressure of women  lib activists  in the country  have indeed brought certain  changes  in social, psychological  and economic and political spheres of life. Consequently it becomes an imperative need to look into problems and issues and their implications upon underprivileged women thereby to explore appropriate strategies and approaches uplifting women in all spheres of life in India.

THE GENESIS AND GROWTH OF SHGS IN INDIA

The Self Help Group (SHG) in India has come a long way, since its inception in 1992.  The spread of SHGs in India has been phenomenal. It has made dramatic progress from 500 groups in 1992 (Titus 2002) to some 16, 18,456 groups that have taken loans from banks. About 24.25 million poor households have gained access to formal banking system through SHG-bank linkage programme and 90% of these groups are only women  groups (NABARD2005)2. The NABARD(2006)

67

homepage declares that more than 400 women join the SHG movement every hour and an NGO joins the Micro-Finance Programme every day. There are also agencies which provide bulk funds to the system through NGOs. Thus organizations engaged in micro finance activities in India may be categorized as Wholesalers, NGOs supporting, SHG Federations and NGOs directly retailing credit borrowers or groups of borrower. The spread of the SHGs is highly concentrated in the southern part of the country with very few in the north and the east. Over half a million SHGs have been linked to banks over the years but a handful of States, mostly in South India, account for almost 60% of this figure (Harper 2002b, NABARD 2005:41). Andhra Pradesh has over 42%, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh have 12% and 11% respectively, and Karnataka has about 9% of the total SHGs (Chakrabarti, 2004). Since the advent of   SHG in India, it’s growth rate has been very low in the states of Rajasthan, Bihar, Utter Pradesh , Madhya Pradesh , Orissa and union territory of Andaman Nicobar Islands where the status of women is still very backward and pathetic.

The SHGs have taken the form of a movement for women’s social development in India. In fact as a strategy for women’s development, they have arisen out of the perceived problem of women’s lack of access to resources at both the household and the village level. Women’s development has gone  beyond the economic dimension and place emphasis on issues relating to equality, autonomy and self reliance at the individual level and on solidarity of the community (of women) at the group level (Hardiman & Midgley 1982, Dube 1988, Pieterse 2001). As a group-oriented model, SHGs in India is a mechanism for women’s development to bring in individual and collective empowerment through improvement in both ‘condition’ and ‘position’ of women. Women are organized as collectives towards the overall goal of achieving gender equality as well as sustainable,Comprehensive community development (Purushothaman1998:80). Unlike the self-help projects in Kenya, the SHGs in India are primarily micro-credit groups and the direct objective of micro-credit is to improve the ‘condition’ of women. Women in India are mobilized to protest against domestic violence, legal discrimination, rising prices, dowry,Prohibition of liquor, rape, child marriage, female infanticide, sexual abuse, domestic violence, male alcoholism and so on. In dealing with women’s strategic interests, women participate in collective activities through SHGs to address these strategic needs. In the process, it aims to empower women with several forms of power. Hence a study on Empowerment of rural women through SHG in Vellore District, Tamil Nadu, South India

A STUDY ON EMPOWERMENT OF RURAL WOMEN THROUGH SHG IN VELLORE DISTRICT, TAMIL NADU, SOUTH INDIA

The objectives of the study: The main objectives are a) to understand and analyze  psychological, social and economical benefits accrued by women participating in SHGs and b) to explore the merits of SHGs as strategy and approach to empower women in India.

Nature of the study: The study is a descriptive in nature as it has attempted to describe the psychological, social and economic benefits enjoyed by the members by participating in self help groups. T

Data Base: The information collected directly by the researcher from 100 respondents’ form as primary data and other details collected from text books, reports, websites etc form as secondary data.

Sampling and Tools: This micro –level study was conducted among women of 20 Self-Help Groups which have completed 5 years.   A total of 100 women (members of SHGs)

were selected comprising four persons randomly from every group and  one animator from each group purposively. Interview schedule was utilized as a tool of data collection as most of the respondents were semi –literate.

Place of study: This study was conducted in three villages i.e. Ariyur Village, Ariyur Colony , Chitheri  and Avarampalayam Village  of  Vellore Panchayat Union , Vellore District , Tamil Nadu,South India.

THE MAIN FINDINGS OF THE STUDY

Psychological Empowerment : The participation of women in SHGs enables them to acquire inimitable psychological benefits to rise up psychologically powerful which is an  essence for women empowerment in any socio-cultural and economic environment and situations. The respondents of the present study have accrued various psychological benefits including self awareness, high self esteem, self confidence and courage , understanding about own rights, privileges, roles  and responsibilities, power of self determination , Positive attitude , Risk taking ability , Power to face challenges of daily life, gaining knowledge and new ideas and skills, great relief from mental stress and anxiety, leading a happy and satisfied  life and so on. Out of 100 respondents 75 percent had got self awareness gaining adequate understanding about strength and weakness of self to reasonable extent. About 82 percent had developed a high level of self –Esteem. 69 percent of the respondents had obtained enough Self – Confidence and Courage. SHGs had given enough exposure for about 89 percent of the respondents to understand about their own rights, previleges, roles and responsibilities. The power of self-determination had tremendously improved among 70 percent of respondents. The positive attitude about life and society had come to more than 65 percent of the respondents. The risk taking ability had developed among 55 percent of respondents. The SHGs had enhanced the power to face challenges of daily life for 63 percent of the respondents. Through participation in SHGs 67 percent had got General Knowledge, New ideas and communication skills. The four fifth of the respondents i.e. 80 percent had great relief from mental stress and anxiety due to group moral support and comfort. The majority of the respondents (73 percent) were able to lead happy and satisfied life  due to participation in SHGs

Social Empowerment: The women who participate in SHGs garner a lot of social benefits including awareness about society and existing social problems, good recognition and image in the family and community, role in family decision making on important matters, plan and promote better education for their children, Able to take care of health for children and aged. participation in public and political life, chance to serve the community including fighting for the basic amenities and welfare needs of village community such as safe drinking water, street light, public sanitation etc, chance to help weaker section like aged and differently abled,  able to resist social evils like dowry, violence against women, gender discrimination and other social injustice in the family as well community , sense of responsibility for collective action and solidarity etc. Out of 100 respondents 83 percent got awareness about their own community and society in general. About 79 percent enjoyed considerable recognition and good image in the family and community after joining SHGs. Nearly 65 percent had the privilege to participate in family decision making process on important matters. 57 percent of the respondents were able to contribute for the education of their children. More than 60 percent of the respondents were able to take care of health of the children and aged in the family. For half of the respondents SHGs provided opportunities to participate in public and political life.  75 percent of the women had the chance to serve their own community including fighting for the basic amenities and welfare needs of village community such as safe drinking water, street light, public sanitation etc. One fourth of the women ( 25 percent ) got chance to help aged and disabled in the community. More than two third ( 72 percent) able to resist social evils like dowry, violence against women, gender discrimination and other social injustice in the family as well community. About 60 percent of the respondents felt that they had sense of responsibility for solidarity and collective action.

Economic Empowerment : The members of SHGs are really privileged to enjoy many economic benefits including saving, liberation from debt trap, economic independence , economic skills for income generation, able to contribute for education of children , able to meet the healthcare needs, accumulate economic assets including house, land , jewels other valuable things, economically strong to meet unexpected financial challenges and so on. All the respondents were able to save reasonable amount for safety and security. For more than 60 percent of the respondents were able to liberate their families from the debt trap. About 71 percent of them attained  economic independence to greater extent and able to contribute towards prosperity of the family, More than half of the respondents (58 percent) had acquired some economic skills or other with help of SHGs  for income generation or additional income, 69 percent of the respondents were in a position to contribute for education of children and healthcare needs of the family with help of saving, 38 percent had accumulated economic assets including house, land, jewels other valuable things. Majority of the respondents (78 percent) felt economically strong enough to meet unexpected financial challenges being as members of SHGs with help of saving.

THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE STUDY

The outcome of the study clearly indicates that the majority of women who constituted as respondents for the present study, being members of SHGs have benefitted considerably in terms of psychological, social and economic development. Women participation in SHG have obviously created tremendous impact upon the life pattern and style of poor women especially in rural areas and empowered them at various level not only as individual also as member of family, member of community and society as whole. It can be concluded that the SHG strategy is undoubtedly a convivial experiment for women empowerment in India as it opens up flood gates of opportunities to enhance capacities and capabilities in their development and growth in total perspective. It is evident from the study undertaken by the researcher that women particularly in rural, tribal and slum areas can be empowered psychologically, socially and economically with the concerted application of SHG as an effective strategy and doable approach. It is also understood from the study that Indian women have adequate potential sparks which can be well fanned into flames with necessary guidance and training through SHGs thereby bringing them to live in par with men in all spheres of human life in our society. Therefore as a group-oriented model, SHGs in India can be evolved as mechanism or movement for women’s development to bring in individual and collective empowerment through improvement in both ‘condition’ and ‘position’ of women in India or else where the plight of women is miserable and pitiable.s

Suggestions and Recommendations

The following suggestions and recommendations have been made based on the findings of the study and also in the interest of welfare women of India in general

The Concerted efforts should be made to form SHGs for women as much as possible in rural and tribal villages and slums to uplift womenfolk particularly in very backward states and Union territories by government agencies, Educational Institutions, NGOs and other service organizations of civil societies.

Government both state and Central should work hand- in -hand to promote the concept  of SHG without political biasness and  selfish motives taking into account the welfare of the womenfolk in general by incorporating as an important strategy for women empowerment in the national policy and  allocating more grant in the budget and developing effective implementing machinery.

NGOs, Educational Institutions and Social Service organizations etc engaged in the works of promotion and development of SHGs should be encouraged at all levels with sufficient financial grants and appreciation and awards

Conducive atmosphere and harmonious network should be established among Government Agencies, Banks, Ngos , Other service organizations for effective functioning of SHGs to avoid overlapping  and duplications.

Banks and other financial institutions should work with open-mind and service motives to promote SHG among women particularly downtrodden communities like scheduled caste and scheduled tribes, marginalized groups in order bring them into main stream of development and growth of India

SHGs should be strictly encouraged to undertake economic activities /income generating activities for sustainable income to the group.

SHG can be encouraged to form cooperative societies to promote Village, Cottage and Other industries for which raw materials and resources available abundantly in and around rural and tribal areas

SHG may be encouraged to involve in manufacturing products such as electronic and electrical goods, readymade garments , handicrafts  to  fetch market in Third –World countries ,European countries, USA and Latin American countries

In order to promote SHGs for women empowerment Mass media such New papers, TV , radio etc can play a significant role by creating awareness in the public and also among women about the merits of SHGs by publishing success stories of SHGs ,case studies, achievment of NGOs and Governemtn efforts etc

References

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