Thrive on Stress

Pick your priorities.

->Remember your purpose - write down your goals and keep them visible.

->Set your schedule and allow some flexibility for the unexpected emergencies.

->Communicate your obligations and identify your resources.

->Ask for and acknowledge the responsibilities of others, then be prepared to support one another when appropriate.

->If there is a personality conflict, turn the focus to professional respect and responsibilities, or address the matter with appropriate professional communication when necessary.

->Identify the time of day and days of the week that you perform best under pressure, and be aware that everyone else may be different from your peak periods.

->Schedule your periods for managing the pressure and allow yourself periods for cooling down, being creative, or relaxing.

->When possible, do something physical before preparing to address a stressful situation, even if it is only a short walk.

->When necessary, take a short walk or a few moments to clear you mind after a stressful period so the intense concentration or emotions do not spill over into your other activities.

->Laugh, and most important, do not be so critical that you can not laugh at yourself.

Unhealthy Stress

Some of the leading causes of unhealthy stress are the result of individual personalities infecting an organization. This can be caused by an overbearing boss, a lack or respect or trust for certain members in management, or by unrealistic expectations. Even the best of intentions can create unhealthy stress if it is based on unrealistic expectations. Stress can be slowly introduced if management expects everyone to automatically share the same level of passion, enthusiasm and commitment without first creating bonds and buy in with the employees. Employees will not feel the same amount of passion if there is not a personal connection or a sense of purpose. It is reasonable to require performance, but management should not expect passion without first making an investment in the employee.

Individual employees can also create stress and distraction. Personality conflicts are depicted as difficult coworkers, and typically the perception is a shared one. Difficult coworkers may be described as overbearing, subversive, interfering, unproductive, or uncooperative. These are dangerous labels for one person to place on another. The labels are most often the result of specific actions or comments. It may not be reasonable to expect that every personality will get along, but it is reasonable to require professional respect and cooperation. The first step in correcting this type of unhealthy stress is not to change people's opinions, but rather to address the actions, responsibilities and expectations of the individuals involved. Keep the focus on the professional requirements and communicate precise expectations, then assess the actions.

Unhealthy stress in an organization can be caused when the atmosphere is continually threatening, overbearing and unrelenting. Stress with purpose is like an adrenaline rush during a short sprint to the finish line. Stress without purpose and without end is like running an engine at full speed and never stopping to refill the tank, you are bound to hit a brick wall or empty your tank eventually. It is far better to plan for the short sprints and the breaks to refill the tank than to find yourself stranded.

Healthy Stress

The objective of healthy stress is to have specific focused goals with measurable targets and schedules. Healthy stress should create an atmosphere of teamwork and cooperation to achieve specific goals. If it is an extended schedule, then there should also be milestones to identify progress along the way. If it is a short deadline then there should be clearly identified resources for support. At the end of the schedule there should be a recognized period to temporarily relax, recognize the accomplishment and recharge the batteries. After all, not everyone is addicted to stress, but nearly everyone can use the short bursts of adrenaline that come with intense concentration toward a common goal.

Healthy stress provides rich rewards as a result. The rewards may be a sense of personal achievement, a sense of camaraderie, or monetary compensation. The type of reward is not necessarily as important as the recognition of the reward. If there is no reward for the stress, or if the outcome is detrimental to an individual or group, then the stress is not healthy and needs to be addressed promptly. Nurture healthy stress with teamwork, clearly communicated schedules, and easily recognized rewards.

Stress Addiction

What do you know about stress addiction? You or your organization is addicted to stress? Let's be honest, some individuals and some organizations perform better under stressful conditions. Some organizations nurture a stressful culture as a means to continually pressure maximum performance with minimum manpower. Some other organizations leverage the energy associated with bursts of focused stress to overcome significant obstacles, and then minimize stress in between major hurdles to maintain a balanced workforce. How can you tell the difference?

Procrastination in dealing with important tasks is sometimes an indication of personal stress addiction. Some individuals acknowledge better performance under stressful situations. In some cases this helps to focus on a project. If this applies to you, then perhaps it is time to reevaluate your schedule, your personal goals, and your workload. By setting personal goals as commitments to complete projects or workload ahead of schedule, you can create your own deadlines and get ahead of the curve. Procrastination may be a sign that the workload is too light and you need to take on more responsibilities, or challenge yourself with more personal tasks. This will create an environment of balanced stress that you can manage by increasing or decreasing personal additional tasks to accommodate required or assigned workloads.

This does not mean that putting things off until the last minute is always a sign of stress addiction. If you continually put things off to the last minute, the result for your product or project will be in a bad quality. However if your projects or product are equivalent that would have been achieved earlier, then you are just being lazy and you need a stress inducing boss to get you moving. Last minute's work is a bad habit that will make you a clumsy person.

On the other hand, if items are continually addressed at the last minute simply because you have too many other priorities that take precedence and it is virtually impossible to catch up, then you have an unhealthy stressful environment and it is time to evaluate the conditions.

Have you ever experienced an organization that continually threatens potential layoffs, cancellation of contracts, or incessantly proclaims gloom and doom of current conditions? While organizations may perform better under short bursts of highly focused stressful conditions, it is not something that can be sustained effectively for long periods of time. Individuals within the organization will react differently to stressful conditions and will burn out at varying periods of time. After a period of high intensity it is necessary to allow a period for cooling down, refreshing and reenergizing the troops.

Manage your stress, manage your time

Works, relationships, deadlines, appointments, phone calls, etc. All of these are things many people must accomplish each day. Many times, family, friends and ourselves get put on a waiting list. Sometimes, we discover too late that those on the waiting list are, in fact, the most important, and unfortunately, we often don't realize it at all and find ourselves wondering why we are unhappy.

There are books,seminars and internet to help us find the best option for managing our time. Such sources intend to offer the best solutions.People know that time is more than gold. First of all, time means life, and more than that, it means our lives. That is why we must not to give up in stressful situations and must continue to fight for the joy of living. Remember that poor time management can cause major health problems physically and mentally. However,time can be tamed if we know how manage the it.

The first step in the process is to find out what makes your time are wasted. Usually , they are in one of two groups: " External factors (unexpected phone calls, long phone conversations, unplanned visits, traffic jammed, insufficiently trained personnel, constant meetings, interruptions by colleagues, friends and family). " Internal factors - related to ourselves (priorities and objectives that change, lack of a daily work plan, lack of self-imposed deadlines, tendency to do too many things at once, disorder, procrastination, inability to say no, poor decision-making, fatigue).

Now you already know about the external factors and internal factors, you can imagines similar situations that you have been through. Now, all you must do is find a way to get past them so you can be in charge of your time again. Here are three possible ways to do it:

" Write everything down. It is goo for your time management especially useful if you have a bad memory. Otherwise you might forget your work's dateline, to attend important meetings, to make important phone calls, etc. You can also write down inspirations that occur to you at unexpected moments.

" Make a list of priorities. It takes little time, and you can do it while you're having your breakfast. Write down what you need to do that day, in order of importance and urgency.

" Learn to say no. Sometimes you have to be strict. However, its a common mistake, many people make is to put other people's problem ahead of us. Nevertheless, by helping others in a difficult situation, we are easily stressed and we find ourselves unable to meet our previous responsibility.

The Power of Positive Thinking

Positive thinking can be defined as a mental attitude one has that admits into the minds thoughts, words or images that look at growth success, expansion and of course success. It is the mental attitude that looks towards good results. Someone that is positive anticipates joy, happiness, and a successful outcome in every situation and never looks towards bad things to happen.

However even though many wonderful things come from positive thinking, many people do not know how to use it to get effective results. People’s attitudes affect one another whether we try to or not. Because of this people try to be and stay around people that exhibit positive attitude while they tend to try and stay way from people that have a negative aura to them.

People also try to help out people that are negative compared to people that are negative. The reason being, negative thoughts, attitudes and words tend to bring up negative actions and moods which are not so pleasant. There is a type of chemistry that happens when we are negative and have negative thoughts; our body releases a type of poisonous toxin into the blood. This poisonous toxin causes more unhappiness and negativity.

Positive thinking generally leads to good things take for example an interview. If you go into an interview thinking you will not get it and look tense and nervous and have negative thoughts, the interviewer will probably see this will not see any confidence and will probably not give you the job.

However if you go in there thinking positive not worried and are very confident and exhibit that type of behavior then chances are that you will have a better chance getting the job than if you went in there thinking negatively. Do remember that there is a difference between positive thinking and over confidence.

Cheapest way to be fit

I know most of the bodybuilder will spent their money in gym. Actually there are another way to bring the gym to you.

With challenging body-weight exercises, you can build lean muscle anywhere, anytime…..at home, on the road, or even in a public park.

Here's the way. Check it out!

Apply it:Raise your hands above your head so your arms are straight and in line with your body during a lunge, squat, crunch, or situp. If that's too hard, split the distance by placing your hands behind your head.

The farther you move, the more muscle you work.

In physics, "mechanical work" is equal to force (or weight) times distance. And since your muscles and bones function together as simple machines they form class 1, 2, and 3 levers the same formula applies to your body. It's the most basic of principles: Do more work, build more muscle. Of course, in a weight-free workout, you can't increase force (unless you gain weight). But you can boost your work output by moving a greater distance during each repetition.

Apply it: Each of the following three methods increases the distance your body has to travel from start to finish, increasing not only the total amount of work you do, but also the amount of work you do in the most challenging portion of the exercise.

Hard: Move the floor farther away. For many body-weight exercises lunges, pushups, situps your range of motion ends at the floor. The solution: Try placing your front or back foot on a step when doing lunges; position your hands on books or your feet on a chair when doing pushups; and place a rolled-up towel under the arch in your lower back when doing situps.

Harder: Add on a quarter. From the starting position of a pushup, squat, or lunge, lower yourself into the down position. But instead of pushing your body all the way up, raise it only a quarter of the way. Then lower yourself again before pushing your body all the way up. That counts as one repetition.

Hardest: Try mini-repetitions. Instead of pushing your body all the way up from the down position, do five smaller reps in which you raise and lower your body about an inch each time. After the fifth mini-repetition, push yourself up till your arms are straight. That counts as one repetition.

As elastic energy decreases, muscle involvement increases.

When you lower your body during any exercise, you build up "elastic energy" in your muscles. Just like in a coiled spring, that elasticity allows you to "bounce" back to the starting position, reducing the work your muscles have to do. Eliminate the bounce and you'll force your body to recruit more muscle fibers to get you moving again. How? Pause for 4 seconds in the down position of an exercise. That's the amount of time it takes to discharge all the elastic energy of a muscle.

Apply it: Use the 4-second pause in any exercise. And give yourself an extra challenge by adding an explosive component, forcefully pushing your body off the floor into the air as high as you can during a pushup, lunge, or squat. Because you're generating maximum force without any help from elastic energy, you'll activate the greatest number of muscle fibers possible.

Moving in two directions is better than moving in one.

Human movement occurs on three different geometric planes: the sagittal plane, for front-to-back and up-and-down movements, the frontal plane, for side-to-side movements, the transverse plane, for rotational movements.

Most weight-lifting movements the bench press, squat, curl, lunge, and chinup, to name a few are performed on the sagittal plane; the balance of exercises for instance, the lateral lunge and side bend occur almost entirely on the frontal plane. This means that most men rarely train their bodies on the transverse plane, despite using rotation constantly in everyday life, as well as in every sport. Case in point: walking. It's subtle, but your hips rotate with every step; in fact, watch a sprinter from behind and you'll see that his hips rotate almost 90 degrees. By adding a rotational component to any exercise, you'll automatically work more muscle since you'll fully engage your core, as well as the original target muscles and simultaneously build a better-performing body.

Apply it: Simply twist your torso to the right or left in exercises such as the lunge, situp, and pushup. You can also rotate your hips during movements such as the reverse crunch.

The less contact your body has with the floor, the more your muscles must compensate.

The smaller the percentage of an object's surface area that's touching a solid base, the less stable that object is. That's why SUVs are prone to rolling, and tall transmission towers need guy wires. Fortunately, humans have a built-in stabilization system: muscles. And by forcing that internal support system to kick in by making your body less stable you'll make any exercise harder, while activating dozens more muscles.

Apply it:Hold one foot in the air during virtually any exercise, including pushups, squats, and deadlifts. You can also do pushups on your fingertips or your fists.

If you still can't figure out or you want more information about fitness. Look for get fit link under "Recommended for your health"

Quit Smoking Tips

Whether you're 35, 50, or 70 years old, the time to stop smoking is now. People of all ages can improve their overall health and increase life expectancy. It doesn't matter how long you've been smoking. Whether 10 years, 20 years or more..you still can stop smoking.

You've probably heard negative comments from other smokers, like: "Why should I stop now? I've been smoking my entire life," or "My lungs are already damaged beyond repair. Stopping smoking now won't make any difference."

Those comments are myth. The fact is anyone can stop smoking.

Make a Commitment to Quit Smoking

In order to stop smoking, the first and most important step is to make a personal commitment to end your bad habit.

Although this may seem obvious, many smokers truly do not wish to quit smoking. While their spouse, children, or boss may constantly nag them to quit, stopping smoking is not one of their own top priorities. They may attempt to quit smoking on several occasions, but each attempt is usually short lived.

In Order to Quit Smoking, Examine Your Habits

Once you've made an honest commitment to stop smoking, next you need to review your personal situation.

Start by calculating the number of cigarettes you smoke per day. Do you smoke more during the week than on the weekend? If so, make a note of that and all your other smoking routines.

Create a Stop Smoking Checklist

Before making an attempt to quit smoking, you may wish to keep a record of your smoking for one week beforehand.

List each time of day you have a cigarette and tally your numbers at the end of each day. Look for certain patterns in your smoking. Do you smoke twice as much during the evening hours? Are you more likely to light up at social events than when at home alone?

Partner Up With a Friend to Quit Smoking

Some folks may be able to quit smoking cold turkey but they are in the minority. Pair up with a friend who is also trying to kick the habit or seek the encouragement of a former smoker.

While your spouse may offer kind words of support, it's very difficult for a non-smoker to grasp the willpower and strength needed to successfully quit smoking.

Tips to Curb Your Nicotine Craving:

1. Rid your home and office of all smoking related items. If your ashtray, matches, lighter, etc. aren't within reach, you're less likely to give in to the urge.

2. One of the most popular quit smoking tips is to replace cigarettes with another habit. This suggestion works well but make sure you're replacing your nicotine habit with a healthier alternative. Try exercising, reading a book, or munching on fresh fruit instead.

3. Make sure to get enough sleep while trying to stop smoking. Breaking any bad habit can be stressful. In order to increase your chances of success, your body needs to be well rested.

4. Accept setbacks. When attempting to quit smoking, most people have relapses. Don't let a small slip crush your plan to stop smoking altogether. Simply pick yourself up, forgive yourself for slipping, and start over again.

5. Most smokers do not realize the relationship between caffeine and nicotine. Smokers are often able to handle a higher concentration of caffeine in the body than non-smokers. The nicotine breaks down the caffeine at a faster rate. When attempting to quit smoking, if you experience an increase in stress and anxiety try cutting back on caffeine consumption as well.

6. Set small goals when trying to quit smoking and focus on stopping smoking on a weekly or daily basis. Instead of saying, "I must stop smoking for good", make it your goal to not smoke for the entire week. When you reach that milestone, set another goal. As your body becomes less dependent upon nicotine, stopping smoking will seem less overwhelming.

Prescription Medications To Help You Quit Smoking

Over the years, smokers have tried various prescriptions and over the counter remedies to cure their addition. From chewing gum, to patches, to popping pills, there seems to be an endless supply of stop smoking products available.

One could easily spend a fortune trying to quit smoking. It can also be very time-consuming to research products that have the best success rate and try to figure out which one will be the "magic bullet" for your habit.

In the past, most stop smoking aids contained nicotine. These products helped patients stop smoking by gradually decreasing the amount of nicotine released. They were designed to wean smokers gradually from their dependency instead of quitting smoking cold turkey and causing a shock to their system.

That was then, this is now.

New Quit Smoking Medications: Chantix and Zyban

Today there are effective and safe ways for patients to stop smoking. Medications like Chantix and Zyban help smokers break the habit without exposing them to more nicotine. And these stop smoking preparations help eliminate your nicotine craving without producing the withdrawal symptoms common to other types of stop smoking aids.

When starting treatment with Chantix or Zyban, patients are allowed to continue smoking for the first week. This allows the medication time to take effect. By the second week, trying to stop smoking is much easier.

Quit Smoking Without Extra Nicotine

Although Chantix and Zyban do not contain nicotine, they do release dopamine into the brain. It is the dopamine that greatly reduces unpleasant withdrawal symptoms.

Prescription Zyban also contains bupropion, a drug commonly used to treat depression. Bupropion is believed to be a key factor in helping smokers deal with their addiction without the unbearable side effects and withdrawal symptoms.

Stop smoking

Whether you're 35, 50, or 70 years old, the time to stop smoking is now. People of all ages can improve their overall health and increase life expectancy. It doesn't matter how long you've been smoking. Whether 10 years, 20 years or more..you still can stop smoking.

You've probably heard negative comments from other smokers, like: "Why should I stop now? I've been smoking my entire life," or "My lungs are already damaged beyond repair. Stopping smoking now won't make any difference."

Fortunately, those beliefs are myths. With a little perseverance, will power, and maybe some outside help if needed, you can kick your smoking habit and reverse a good deal of the damage. Many smokers are surprised to learn that health improvements can occur within a matter of days.

Experience Immediate Results When You Stop Smoking

While most ex-smokers will tell you the first week is the hardest, they fail to mention the immediate health benefits from stopping smoking. Smokers are often so focused on their addiction and withdrawal symptoms that at first they might not realize the positive changes taking place in their bodies.

These are some common changes that occur within the first three days of stopping smoking:

1. Drop in pulse rate and blood pressure- Within days of stopping smoking, most people experience a drop in their overall blood pressure and heart rate.

2. Increase in energy- After breaking your smoking habit, you should notice an increase in energy and stamina.

3. Nicotine elimination- In a matter of days, nicotine is eliminated from the body. The result is a boost to your senses. Foods will seem tastier than before and you'll be more aware of both fragrant and foul smelling odors.

4. Breathing improvements- As changes occur in the bronchial tubes, breathing will become less of a chore. You'll find your breathing will get lighter and more relaxed.

5. Carbon monoxide reduced- Smokers have an unhealthy level of carbon monoxide in the blood. In less than a day after stopping smoking, carbon monoxide levels will start to decrease, resulting in an increase of oxygen in the blood.

6. Lung cleansing- After carbon monoxide is removed from the blood stream, the lungs begin a much needed cleansing process. The heavy tar buildup that has accumulated in the lungs slowly starts to clear.

7. Healthier skin- By stopping smoking, you can improve your skin tone and reduce and prevent wrinkles.

Long Term Health Benefits From Stopping Smoking

Since smoking takes a gradual toll on your body, it's unrealistic to expect all health improvements to occur overnight. Although you might not feel like a million dollars right away, rest assured that by stopping smoking now you'll eventually experience major health improvements.

Here are some of the long-term benefits of breaking your smoking habit:

1. Less coughing- If coughing and hacking are a part of your daily routine, over the next several months these problems should decrease or be eliminated as the oxygen level in the lungs increases.

2. Easier exercise- Forget about huffing and puffing just to get up the stairs. Stopping smoking will improve your circulation, thus making exercise and everyday chores much simpler.

3. Fewer heart problems- Did you know smokers are at a greater risk when it comes to heart attacks? Thankfully the chance of having a heart attack will slowly start to decrease upon stopping smoking. After about ten years off tobacco, most former smokers no longer have an inflated risk for a heart attack. Even smokers who have already suffered from heart problems can reduce their risk of an additional heart attack by stopping smoking.

4. Reduced risk of lung disease- Perhaps the most common reason for stopping smoking is the fear of lung cancer. It's true that the lungs take the most time to recover from cigarette smoking. But generally after a period of about ten years, most smokers will have reduced their chances of developing lung cancer by fifty percent.

Increase Your Life Expectancy... At Any Age

The key to success is to stop smoking before any serious health complications arise such as lung cancer or emphysema. However, if you have been diagnosed with either of these conditions or some other tobacco related illness, you can still boost your chances of recovery by stopping smoking immediately.

While receiving treatment for a serious illness, your body needs to be in the healthiest state possible. The sooner you stop smoking, the sooner your stress levels will decline, boosting your immune system to ward off life threatening diseases and conditions.

Hair Loss Causes Responsible for your Hair Fall

If you never wash your hair with shampoo...your hair will loss? Actually there are many causes of hair loss so let's discuss about some of the major causes of hair loss. Check it out!

Heredity

Heredity factors are the first among them. The most common type of hair loss is Androgenetic alopecia that refers to the predisposition of baldness. However, the role of heredity in hair loss is not simple. The genetic propensity along with the prevalence of androgen hormone and aging plays an important role in developing baldness.

Hormonal Dysfunction

Hormonal dysfunction may lead to premature hair loss. Many important hormones are secreted from thyroid gland. Individuals having hyperactive or less active thyroid gland may experience hair loss problems. Such type of hair loss problem can be solved with thyroid treatment. The imbalance occurred in sex hormones, androgens and estrogens, is also believed to be one of the major causes of hair loss. Many women experience hair loss problems during pregnancy as well as prior and post delivery stages. This all occurs due to hormonal imbalance within the body system.

Psychological Factors

Stress is an important factor responsible for hair loss. According to several studies, if someone is not experiencing any apparent factors that may contribute to hair loss, but is undergoing through stress, he or she may experience hair loss problems. Essentially, stress is related to two types of hair loss problems – Telogen effluvium and Alopecia areata. Apart from that, psychological dysfunction may contribute to hair loss such as trichotillomania.

Major Illness

Several times, some major illnesses such as typhoid, malaria also results in excessive hair loss. If someone undergoes through chemotherapy, it results in remarkable hair loss, and in most of the cases, it is incurable also. Apart from that, surgical intervention is also considered as one of the major causes of hair loss. A temporary condition for hair loss may be induced due to stressors experienced at the time of illness.

Medication

There are some particular medicines that promote hair loss. However, in most of the cases, this is temporary. When you stop taking that particular medicine promoting hair loss, the problem alleviates. Blood thinners or anticoagulants, gout medicines, chemotherapy, steroids, interferon, excessive amount of vitamin A, birth control pills and antidepressants are the medications that are considered as the causes of hair loss.

Fungal Infection

Different types of fungal infections may also be responsible for your hair loss. It is quite common in children to see hair loss problems due to fungal infection on the scalp area. However, such type of fungal infection can be treated using antifungal medications.

Improper Hair Care

Sometimes improper hair care can also contribute to hair loss, hence it can be considered as one of the main causes of hair loss. If you tie your wet hair or pull your hair with tight hair rollers, you may experience traction alopecia, a type of hair loss. Chemical treatment associated with permanents, also known as ‘perms’, may also cause hair loss to some people, leading to experience scarring and inflammation on the affected areas.

Internal Health Diseases

Certain diseases like lupus or diabetes may also cause hair loss problems. In these cases, hair loss is considered as one of the early warning signs of the diseases. So if you are loosing your hair without any apparent reason, it is always advisable that do not neglect the situation and immediately consult for guidance from expert health practitioners. Remember, always seek the insights of a qualified health professional before embarking on any health program.

Thats all for now. So, take care of your hair and live a stress free healthy life.

Stress Reduction - Which Techniques Can be Used to Reduce Stress

Stress is a big problem to us. If not to you, at least most of us maybe your parents, friends, husband, wife, children etc. The previous topic, I've post a the dangers of stress and how to reduce it. Don't underestimate the dangers of stress, that's why I add another ways to reduce your stress. Go on read, there are several ways to reduce your stress.

Dealing with Stress

There are essentially two ways to deal with stress. One is to eliminate stressors from the environment or at least minimize the stressors. The other one is increase the resistance power dealing with stress. Truly there are a great range of useful strategies to acquire these two attributes, but the key aspect of all variations comes to a single point, that is, relaxation.

There is no single stress reduction technique; rather it needs to be implemented in combination with change in lifestyle, diet, exercise and relaxation. These factors complement a better management of stress in terms of reduction or elimination to some extent. Relaxation technique sounds pretty simple and the central theme of most of the stress reduction methods, however it is not so simple to acquire it without the expert guidance.

The modern life demands experiencing stressful stimuli almost each moment, it is seen that relaxation technique has increasingly become the expert solution against stress.

Therapeutic Measures

Therapeutic measures focusing on the mind-body connection assumes that emotions may play a significant role in physical system. These measures in particular help individuals to get a hold on daily stressors and to cope with them rather than trying to eliminate them from environmental stimuli. Individual counseling and meditation are two crucial factors of such therapies. These techniques are truly beneficial for lowering blood pressure and gastric problems.

Herbal therapies are found to be beneficial for stress management in terms of providing a special emphasis for inner balance. It stresses on the significance of natural substances in relation to the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual connectedness. Apart from that, there are other useful techniques that are effective in managing stress.

These are acupuncture, Alexander technique, aromatherapy, autogenic training therapy, behavioral therapy, reflexology, naturopathy, Rolfing, kinesiology, Tai Chi Chuan, sound therapy, Reiki, autosuggestion therapy, Ayurveda, Bach Flower therapy, bioenergetics, biofeedback, flotation therapy, Feldenkrais method, Shiatsu and many others.

The Dangers of Stress and How to Reduce it

Stress unfortunately has become a relatively normal staple in our modern-day lives. We live in such a busy society that finding people who are bogged down by stress is no harder than spotting an elephant in a bare field. The unfortunate thing though is that stress not only puts a damper on your mood, it is also extremely harmful to your health and well being. When stress is left unchecked, it can potentially cause damage to almost every important part of your body. – Especially your immune system and heart. So what can we do to help cut back on all the stress we experience?

First we need to understand stress. Stress is completely natural – when you become stressed, your brain releases hormones into your blood that cause your body to work overtime in case there is a dangerous situation that it needs to respond to. Unfortunately, we are supposed to remove ourselves from the stressful situation relatively soon. The problem is that sometimes we find ourselves continuing to live in stress, and our bodies are constantly pushing harder as a result, and suffer as a consequence.

A good way to protect yourself is to make sure that you get the occasional break, but the key to avoiding the dangers of stress comes from your ability to mentally leave behind a stressful situation once you no longer have control of it. Most of us face small situations of stress everyday, whether it be a traffic jam, a crying baby, or having to put up with an irritating history professor. These situations are unavoidable, and the only way to protect yourself is to not let them get to you. You need to take mental control of the situation. Remind yourself that this is only a minor problem, and that it isn’t serious. Think of other similar situations that actually ended up as a funny story. The bottom line is that the first step to preventing stress damage is to remain calm and relatively unaffected by the small quirks in life that we just don’t have any control of.

Unfortunately, we also have to deal with much larger issues in our lives. Sometimes we are relying on a promotion at work to pay our bills, or find ourselves working overtime at our studies and not making the grades we should be. Obviously these things need to be dealt with, but we also have to be able to walk away from them. The trick is to work hard at avoiding these problems, but once you pass that point where you can no longer do any more, you must be able to set it aside. Maybe you miss out on sleep because you are studying even when you already know the information, or maybe you are pushing your food around your plate in anxious thought about that promotion. These little things are keeping you stressed, and they aren’t helping you a bit. You need to be able to recognize when it’s time to shut the problem off, and let the card fall where they may. Ask yourself if there is anything else you can do to solve your problem. If the answer is no, rest knowing that you gave it your all.

Lastly, one great way to get rid of stress in your life is to keep yourself occupied with things that you enjoy. It can be difficult to shove aside your problems if you’re bored, but if you’re having fun, it isn’t that difficult now, is it? Identify the little things that bring pleasure into your life. Maybe it’s fishing, or building model cars, or playing sports, and helping your kids with their schoolwork. Whatever it is, try to schedule in more of it. Don’t forget to keep it simple as well – you don’t want to stress yourself out trying to plan for a time that will help you release your stress!

Stress is a natural phenomenon, but prolonged stress isn’t. It’s also not necessary. There’s no denying that many people have a lot on their plate, but there is also no reason not to cut out your stress whenever you can and enjoy your life. If you do, not only will your life be longer and happier, but you’ll find that you are able to handle your responsibilities more efficiently, cutting the stress caused by them and making your daily life much easier, more enjoyable, and more fulfilling

Where's Your Success?

Don’t you just get fed up hearing about all these successful people and how well they are doing? You don’t begrudge others their success, as you know they deserve to be successful and have probably worked really hard to get what they have. But you know you have been trying really hard to be successful too, and no matter how hard you try nothing seems to work. It’s just not fair is it? So what’s the difference? There must be something that they’re doing that you aren’t but what is it?

Maybe there are some underlying beliefs you have, that you are not even aware of that are stopping you from getting what you want. At some core level you are sabotaging yourself without even being conscious of what you are doing. Hard to believe isn’t it?

You were born to be successful, but from a very early age you start learning how to be unsuccessful. As a kid you believed you could do and be anything you wanted with no limitations. In the games you played you actually believed you were superman or bat woman with no limitations on what you could do. When you sung into your pretend microphone you just knew you were going to be the next big rock star. You were happy, carefree and afraid of nothing.

Then as you grew up you started listening to the adults around you, and as they are bigger than you, you started believing everything they said. I’m sure you have heard them before…"higher salary is better", "money doesn’t grow on trees", "money doesn't fall from the sky", “you can't have everything in life”, etc. etc. You started to believe what they said and all of a sudden your light is turned off and you stop wanting altogether. You start living life from a practical, logical perspective. “If I want to get anywhere in life I’ll have to work hard”. “It doesn’t matter what job I have as long as I can earn enough money to pay the bills”. Before you know it you have taken on layer after layer of all these beliefs and your whole life revolves around living your life within the boundaries of those beliefs.

Once you realize that this is what you’re doing, then you can start paying attention to what you’re thinking about on a daily basis. Just by recognizing what you’re thinking about will help you free up some of your attention around your old beliefs. You can begin to replace those old beliefs with some new ones that will start bringing you the things you want.

Once you recognize that a thought or belief is not serving you then you need to replace it with something that will move you in the direction of your dreams. Your ability to change the thoughts and ideas you have of yourself will determine your success.

In Sandy Forster’s book “How to be wildly Wealthy Fast” you will learn quick and easy success secrets that will help you achieve your dreams. And by following the simple strategies you’ll soon be on your way to creating the success you desire and deserve.

10 Weight Loss Tips for Permanent Weight Loss

1. Eat only when you are hungry.

This means stop eating the minute you are full. This means if you go out to dinner and eat all the bread in the breadbasket you don't eat your dinner. This means if it is lunch break at work and you aren't hungry don't eat. This means if you are in the middle of a sandwich and you are no longer hungry, you stop eating.

2. When you aren't hungry and eating for joy only, make sure you are eating something fantastic and tasting every bite.

There will be times when you want to eat just for the joy of it. I say if you only do this 10% of the time you can still lose weight. But the trick is to make sure you enjoy each bite, taste it fully and stop as soon as the joy of eating it fades. If you pay attention, you will be surprised how soon this might be.

3. Be curious about yourself-not judgmental.

When you do something that you think is "off" you plan of what you would like to be doing, be curious and try to find out why you do what you do. Explore the thoughts that lead to the action. Be kind and understanding with yourself. Give yourself the benefit of the doubt.

4. Believe it is possible to be thin without being mean to yourself.

You do not have to beat yourself into submission for thinness. In fact, I have found the opposite is true. Loving yourself and being kind to yourself is a much better path to permanent weight loss.

5. Feel your feelings.

Be anxious. (Don't eat.) Be sad. (Don't eat.) Be afraid. (Don't eat.) Be angry. (Don't eat.) If you use eating as an alternative to feeling you are most likely going to be overweight. The sooner you feel your feelings the sooner they will subside.

6. Stop expecting things "out there" to change so you can feel better.

Don't wait for a better job, a thinner body, a nicer lover or a better tasting diet in order to be happy. You can be the source of your own joy by finding out what you love to do and who you love to be. By living your own truth, you can be happy no matter what is going on "out there."

7. Even when you think you have "blown it" write down every piece of food that goes into your mouth and then read that list with fascination.

It may feel better to write in the food journal when you are eating fuel most of the time, but that is not when it is the most important. When you are fog eating and storm eating and binging and going crazy with food, you have the best opportunity to learn about yourself and why you do what you do. No matter how much you have eaten and no matter how big the binge was, write down every single thing that went into your mouth and look at it with kind curiosity.

8. Realize that eating when you aren't hungry is not satisfying hunger or comforting you-it's just making you heavy.

Notice the terminology you use when discussing food. " I had my chocolate fix." " I needed comfort food." "I wanted to give myself a treat." Food is not a good source of emotional comfort and it cannot fix you.

9. Remember the past does not equal the future

We have all been on many many diets. Many of us have been heavy a long time. This does not mean that you can't lose weight. You have been doing the best you can. And when you know better- you do better- and you look better….

10. Never give up!

Enough said.

How To Exercise? Choosing The Right Type Of Exercise For You

So you have to start an exercise program. What are you going to do? How are you going to exercise?

Well the type of exercise you do largely depends on you. What do you like doing? What do you hate doing? Do you have to pay membership fees? Do you need a training partner? Do you need to buy equipment?

These are all questions you need to answer.

If you choose something that you don’t like doing, you’re not going to keep doing it for long. Think about it, if you don’t like jogging you’re hardly going to keep dragging yourself out of bed at 6am, especially when winter comes around! If you can’t find something you like, just choose the thing you hate the least. This is usually walking.

Walking is great because it suits all fitness levels. Anyone can start a walking program at any time, it’s just the intensity and duration that differs. Walking is also very social. It’s not hard to find a training partner to chat to while you exercise. This also makes the time go faster.

Whatever exercise you do, starting at a low intensity and building it up over a number of weeks is essential to the longevity of your exercise program. If you start too hard you could get an over-use injury such as shin-splints, and then you’ll have to take time off to get over it.

If you are really unfit, start by walking for 10 minutes each day. Increase it by 5 minutes every 2 weeks.

To make it more interesting try walking a different course every few days. You can also roster a different friend to walk with you each day of the week.

If walking is not for you then you may like to try a fitness centre. They have loads of variety and usually have trainers on hand to answer any queries you might have. When choosing a fitness centre, make sure they give good service. If they’re not willing to treat you well before you join, then they certainly aren’t afterwards! Also make sure that their equipment is well serviced. It’s easy to find out, just listen when the machines are being used. If they squeak a lot, or make a grinding noise, then there’s a fair chance that they’re not looked after.

If you’re still not sure what you should do, then why not consider futsal? Futsal is great for fitness and it’s a great social activity but it’s not for someone who is just starting out. If you haven’t exercised in a long time then you’re better off finding something a little easier.

Whatever you decide on, it must be something that you enjoy. Find that type of exercise and you’ll be well on the way to the new you!

How to lose your weight without starving?

If you need to lose weight, one great way to start melting pounds away is to increase your metabolism. By increasing your metabolism, you'll be able to process food faster and therefore will store less fat in the body. In fact, with a better metabolism, you're body will even begin burning away existing fat in order to get the energy it needs to support itself.

How Metabolism Works?

Your metabolism can either work for you or against you. The main way we all get energy is from glucose, commonly known as our blood sugar.

When our blood sugar runs low, our metabolism burns the fat in our bodies in order to make more energy. However, when our blood sugar runs high, our metabolism stores fat in our bodies to use later.

So now let's look at how you can get your metabolism to work for you.

Stop eating?

Many people believe that the key to losing weight is to stop eating. Well, that will actually have a negative effect on your metabolism. Eating less will cause your metabolism to slow down because it will sense that you don't have enough food.

So when you finally eat, your blood sugar will jump through the roof and your metabolism will store the extra glucose as fat.

Instead of starving yourself, eat many smaller, healthy meals that are low in calories and fat. Also, consume plenty of water, fruits, and vegetables.

By eating smaller portions you'll not only curb your appetite, but you'll also trick your body into thinking that it's getting plenty of food. Therefore, your metabolism will kick into a higher gear. Then when it doesn't get the glucose it needs for energy (because you're eating healthy) then it will begin to take that glucose from the stores of fat that are already in your body.

Get Yourself Moving?

Exercise is a guaranteed way to increase your metabolism. Always check with your doctor for what is the best exercise regime for you. Most of the time, walking as little as twenty minutes a day, will help increase your metabolism.

Exercise actually helps you lose weight in two ways:

First, exercise builds muscle and muscle burns calories on its own.

Secondly, when you exercise your body is forced to come up with enough energy to support your activity. So, it begins burning fat in order to give the energy you need.

Don't be put off when I say exercise - there is no need to be pounding away furiously on a treadmill for hours a day.

A simple yet effective mini routine is all that is needed to give your metabolism a boost.

Some Final Words about Losing Weight

If you need to lose weight, you're certainly not alone. Millions of people are in the same boat. However, most people don't realize what it takes to first lose the weight and then to keep the weight off.

If you increase your metabolism, you'll see that over time, your fat will melt off your body and your weight will gradually drop. The two best ways to increase your metabolism are to eat smaller meals more often and to exercise regularly.

Less Stress Leads To A Better Rest

In the modern world of today we are constantly being bombarded with high levels of stress and anxiety. These stresses can be physical, mental or environmental. They place an enormous strain on our physical and mental health.

Most of us are aware that excessive stress can affect our ability to think straight, our digestive system, adrenal glands and heart. Research has however shown that whenever a stressful situation arises, there is a knock on effect. Firstly stress limits the blood supply going to the stomach, this hampers the digestive system and a temporary shut down of our immune system may follow. If we are overwhelmed with stress for an extended period we are likely to experience fatigue and exhaustion.

Although it may not be possible to avoid these stress factors in our lives there is help available. There are many natural herbal supplements, known for they’re relaxing properties which assist in combating the harmful effects of anxiety and stress. Several herbs are usually incorporated together to make a powerful formula.

We will take a look at some of the individual herbs, which go to make up some of these potent anti- anxiety supplements: -

* Jujube Seeds: - hypnotic and anti-anxiety effect used for hysteria, fatigue, sleeplessness, debility and restlessness.

* Magnolia Bark: - has anti anxiety, anti stress properties, lowers the cortisol, promotes relaxation and improves the mood.

* Potassium: -sustains the fluid and electrolyte balance, discharges energy from carbohydrate, protein and fat, assists in conveying nerve impulses.

* Magnesium: -is a trace mineral and its chief role is manufacturing and transporting energy, relaxing and contracting the muscles, assisting some enzymes with their task in the body and mixing proteins.

* Valerian Root: - It supports a feeling of calmness, improves sleep, reduces anxiety levels and facilitates relaxation of the central nervous system. Valerian root is non addictive and does not cause morning tiredness. It also is useful in slowing the heart in those who have the condition known as tachycardia.

* Melatonin: -is one of the most dominant antioxidants in the brain. It restores metabolism, improves the quality of sleep and slows down degenerative diseases of the brain such as Parkinson’s. Melatonin can control extreme cortical production and is therefore effectual in reducing stress levels and regulating sleep cycles.

* Vitamin B complex contains Vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5,

B6 and B12 are all essential vitamins for the nervous system

Using Positive Affirmations to Achieve Success

Although people do not always realize it, they can often be limited in what they can achieve by mental boundaries. These mental boundaries can in turn be overcome by positive affirmations and affirmation enhancement. When a person is mentally limited, they may find that they are unable to complete a task or goal that they are aiming for. Whether this is career progression, overcoming money problems or even passing a driving test; being able to understand and achieve your full potential can be difficult.

Very few people manage to achieve exactly what they want to in life. Those that manage to achieve everything that they want to tend to be good at entering into a dialogue with their sub-conscious and they also tend to be open-minded as far as their perception of the potential for human-achievement goes. Positive affirmations help people achieve what they want to, and live a more fulfilling life; those that are able to free their mind to the potential for physiological modeling often manage to achieve much more than those who are skeptical from the outset.

While some people may decide that they wish to achieve financial success, others may wish to find love, or re-unite with their family for example. The truth is that everyone has the power within, and the ability to absorb enough power, to achieve their absolute full potential – through using the process of affirmation enhancement coupled with daily affirmation you can achieve exactly what you have set as your goals. While goal setting is important, you should not lose sight of how you enjoy yourself on a daily basis. That is why, with experience, you may start to use your daily affirmations as a means of ensuring that you are able to enjoy yourself on a day-to-day basis, as well as achieving strategic happiness.

As people realize, our goals can often change. One day we may wish that we were able to play an instrument for example, and then as we start to learn how to play it, the fun associated with it can often disappear. This is an example of a gateway to happiness, rather than happiness itself. For example, you may wish to learn to drive; however you only want to be able to drive so that you can work in your dream job that deems that you need a driver’s license. The driver’s license is a gateway, and in fact so is the job – everyone makes goals which they set as a means of achieving happiness. Which begs the question: can you merely affirm towards happiness, rather than the means of getting you there?

The answer is no. Through merely aiming towards your end goal of happiness, rather than the strategy to get you there, you will lose focus on what you enjoy, as well as the trial and tribulation involved in finding true happiness. While happiness is subjective, using affirmations as a means to get there can be the best solution for those with an open mind.

How to develop into a better tomorrow?

Personal development AKA personal growth comprises the development of the self. Learn how to identify the deferent areas of personal growth and how to use personal development techniques to improve your personal and professional life.

Personal development, also known as personal growth, comprises the development of the self. There are many types of personal development such as inner self, mental growth, physical growth, metaphysical, and spiritual growth to name a few. It also covers many different areas of your life such as personal self, relationships, health, careers, family, financial, and your social circle. Personal development can mean many things to many people that’s why there are thousands of different programs available. It is up to you to find the right one that’s a fit for you and your personal needs.

There are important areas of life that are considered in personal development and growth. Personal development involves growth in all these areas. Intellectual knowledge and learning something knew each day of your life is imperative. Development and growth in this area will stimulate your mind, stretching your thoughts to remain open to new experiences and skills. Develop your true self, your character, spirituality and emotions and you will become able to control your feelings, how you view others and your perceptions of the world around you. Learn to make friends with your self, and your higher power. If a person has no joy in his heart, he will not find joy in his life. This will also enable you to have more desire to improve your physical health. Exercise will not only improve your body’s health, and physical appearance you’ll also feel so much more motivated and mentally relaxed.

You’ll find yourself enjoying, experiencing, and exploring more of your life and engaging yourself into more activities, fun and adventures. Learning to feel better about yourself will also make your family life so much better. Make your life more interesting by doing things you didn’t normally do but have always enjoyed. You will have more energy and motivation to do daily task such as cooking, cleaning, washing, and one of the most important is quality family time. No longer distancing yourself from your family, your family will enjoy the change and will grow closer as well as become proud of your accomplishments. Becoming more in-touch with your personal and intimate relationships you’ll develop and grow more aware of your sensitive side as well as your partners, enabling you to listen more to your partners needs. Your relationship will be so much more enjoyable and fulfilling creating a better social life, friends and develop more long lasting relationships with them. You will learn how to approach people you don’t know. And convey the message you want to send. Your working environment will improve and you will gain more wealth working less. Learn to be more aware of your finances and money management. Financial management is one I think we all are working on.

When ever life acts we respond to it. If something great happens in your life you may be very happy. But on the other hand if something really horrible happens you may be angry , upset or even sad. What ever the reaction is it all depends on you and your attitude. We all chose our feelings and control our attitude fortunately. So that gives us the ability to control our reactions to situations as they arrive. What ever you think about you bring about. If you don’t want negative things in your life change your attitude, change how you think.

Think of and only allow positive thoughts and beliefs into your mind. You will have positive results in your life. Your subconscious mind is being fed with information every second of the day, and you are not even aware of it. You need to change your negative habits to positive habits and learn to take charge of your thoughts, your feelings and emotions. Think positive, peaceful and prosperity thoughts. And your life will grow so wonderfully and you will regain true happiness and prosperity in your life. Personal development is a daily personal growth exercise that allows you to enjoy life. I hope you enjoy yours, as I enjoy mine. I used to be extremely depressed and my life was miserable. I began an incredible personal development program, now my life is incredible, my family life, personal life, spiritually, physically, emotional, financial, it’s all great; I have grown in so many ways. I now do the things I used to love but had lost all interest in. I have bigger and better goals and dreams, I get to travel and just enjoy my life without limitation. My personal development is better than what I thought possible. I have learned how to enjoy my life to the fullest and I’m so much happier. You have the opportunity to find out whats possible for you.

How to communicate clearly?

Do you ever wonder "what to say" when you head off to a networking event or a client meeting? Do you think it's easier to write an email rather than pick up the phone and have a real conversation? Well you're not alone. When we're busy working at our computers all day, generally alone, it's easy to lose the knack of easy conversation. Let's face it, the cat really isn't that interested in what you have to say. Take a few moments to read a few tips to get talking again…

Effective communication is important when building relationships with clients, customers and the media. A stimulating conversation or well-told story may be the most interesting part of a meeting, presentation or media interview. Even witty small talk with a potential client can evolve into a new business deal or project. Here is a few conversation pointers to keep in mind when meeting or networking.

1. A good business introduction includes your first and last name and the name of your company.

2. Always introduce yourself to those sitting next to you at a business dinner. If possible, meet everyone at your table before you sit down. Sit next to someone you don't know rather than someone you do know.

3. When introducing your guest or another person at a function, mention both first and last names and perhaps an interesting item of information about that person.

4. Before going to an event, business or social, be prepared to discuss items of current interest including books, films, television shows, or current events.

5. You can find your next conversation starter by reading at least one daily newspaper, weekly news magazine, or watching a morning news show.

6. Take the time to get to know others first. People don't care about you and what you do until they know you care about them. Build relationships and trust first.

7. Beware of being a pushy promoter. We're often so passionate and excited about our business or latest project that we talk too much and over sell ourselves.

8. Listen closely and think before you speak. Don't interrupt, let the other person finish their thought before you give your opinion. Learn to do 80 percent of the listening and just 20 percent of the talking.

9. Listen attentively, smile and make good eye contact.

10. Practice the five words that help create and maintain small talk conversation Who, What, When, Where and Why to form open-ended questions.

How to stop the inner critic

Let's face it, from time to time, most of us suffer from critical inner voices. The fact is we often use self talk throughout the day so wouldn't it be great if we could learn a way to transform the annoying internal voices into something more effective.

One of the first useful things to keep in mind is that even if the voice has bad tonality and says caustic things to you, at some level it has something of value for you in mind.

The way you speak to yourself has been rehearsed and then become an automatic habit. This is good news because it suggests you can re-learn and create a more beneficial habit. I'm guessing you've probably tried changing one of those voices by trying to talk to it. Maybe asking it to be a bit more patient or sternly telling it to shut the hell up! This can work but there is a more elegant way that gets better results more often.

If you were to think of one of your annoying internal voices now, just become aware of where it is located in space. You know, is it behind your head, to the left or to the right? And just become aware of how it speaks to you. How does it sound? What are the qualities of the voice? Is it fast speech or slow? Is it a deep voice? How loud is it? By becoming aware of these qualities you discover the structure. This is what holds the thought pattern together; the glue. The fun part comes next when we interupt the pattern and sabotage it! Melting the glue in essence. Have a go with the following quick little technique that utilises the Half Second Rule in order to get the change to stick.

Voice Recorder Rewind Button

1. Select one of those annoying internal voices one last time.

2. Now hear it play backwards like the rewind on a cassette.

3. Try it fast and try it slow. And then hear it backwards, really fast, in less than 1/2 a second. Do it three times.

4. Now replace that backwards voice with a new positive message with a nice, sexy, 'bed room voice' tonality.

Thought processes such as internal voices can be changed easily and quickly when we know how. By interrupting the pattern and changing the structure, our mind becomes able to access more resources, thereby making us feel better, allowing more behavioural choice.

Why We Need Communication Skills?

Here is the easy way to learn about Communication skills without going through a 300+ pages book which, one can forget about before he finishes it.

Always start with an Intention:

Anything we start, including communication skills, usually has reason and a starting point. While we become conscious about this fact for the obvious things like brushing our teeth to avoid tooth decay, we forget to give the same importance to our communication. We start talking, go through all the niceties and then some how stumble upon the reason for conversation or make it up by that time.

The problem with this approach is that the message looses its power. If you keep doing this often, you loose the power to bring it to work when needed. As a soldier polishes and keeps his guns fit even during peacetime, we have to keep our arsenal of communication skills handy to use, when required.

Develop flexibility in language and in approach:

Most people will think being flexible means using all the words in the Dictionary. Having a good vocabulary does not mean that people have to run for a dictionary every time you speak. Instead, a good vocabulary means that you have created enough choices and variety in your language to suit the listening or reading requirements of many people.

Here is quick exercise to learn how to modulate your voice. Practice speaking a Para in a British accent. Do your best to be British. If you find it hard watch BBC and imitate them. Next, try sounding American and then French or Chinese (speaking in English).

Once you have done at least 4 accents, switch between them as often as possible, in practice. After you do this for a while, notice how you naturally are modulating your voice and how you find it easy to choose from different tones and tonality. More about this, on my website.

One Caution: Please do not measure any new skill by the initial response you get because, all new skills need to be naturalized before it becomes effective. As you develop flexibility, you will find yourself more comfortable to live with and then others will also find you comfortable to be with.

Forget techniques and learn the principles:

A lot of managers are fond of using something called a Sandwich technique. It is situation where you slip in a negative comment or feedback layered in between two positive comments. It is a good technique no doubt. But if you repeat it to the same old staff for 2 years, it means you are not capable of innovating. People get conditioned to any one particular behavior over time and so the technique looses its impact.

We all have a favorite way of reacting to situations. We gather these techniques by experience and by learning from others. What we eventually forget is that they are just techniques, and are replaceable. Something like software programs which almost always gets replaced by a better version. But since it works so well to us, we get possessive about it and find our selves bound by it. It becomes difficult to break that mould. A person in a mould is like a frog in the well. He has limited reach and limited awareness.

Using techniques is like giving a fish to the hungry man while understanding the principles is like teaching him fishing. So, instead of getting all cluttered up with techniques understand the principles driving them.

So to be the survivor of the fittest in the field of communication skills, always start with an intention in your mind. Once you master this, your level of influence will increase rapidly. Take away your focus on techniques and learn the principles. This way you tap the source of power itself rather than a branch. The last and most importantly, develop flexibility in your language and approach. It will maximize your capacity to reach your audience and thus your power.

Focus to be the best

Unfortunately the majority of people on our lavish little green planet are not happy with their 'lot' in life. They are living lives of quiet desperation, unsatisfied with their relationships, careers or finances.

What is the main reason for this dissatisfaction? The main reason I believe this is so is due to a lack of understanding about the nature of our universe which can be directly linked to our belief conditioning from childhood.

As a child we begin to replicate the conditioning of our parents. A person's beliefs and values are often passed from generation to generation until someone down the generations either has a life-changing experience or consciously reorganises or changes their belief system.

Your beliefs and values determine your focus and a key point I make in all my writings on personal development is the simple truth that "your focus determines your reality". Focus sets in motion the Law of Attraction. (See Wealth Beyond Reason for instructions on using the law of attraction.)

The internal dialogue and imaginings of your mind are guided by your focus and your focus is reflected in your thinking. Your thinking becomes automatic and therefore this becomes your automatic creation system.

If you are not currently living a life that is in correspondence with your desires it is due to your internal automatic creation system being out of alignment with your goals. Simply put this means: Your focus is on what you do not want instead of what you want!

Let's say you have bills piling up everywhere and no way of paying them. When you receive post through the mail what is your first thought? I bet it goes something like this, "oh no not more bills". Where is your focus directed?

Why do the rich get richer and the poor get poorer? Well a rich man has money and he knows it. He sees wealth all around him. The poor person sees lack and concentrates on it. Can you see the difference in focus?

Now there are there are two basic ways to redirect your focus. The first is to change your beliefs so that your focus becomes more automatic in the direction that you wish it to go. The second way is to consciously redirect your attention to situations, people or events that correspond to a new belief.

This, however, is often easier said than done. For example examine the beliefs of a racist who thinks that he is superior to another person due to his heritage, skin colour, or ethnic origins. Now any right thinking person knows that these beliefs have no foundation in reality (subjective or otherwise). So in order to change these beliefs, at a core level, the racist would need to have some contact with other racial groups that have equal or better results in areas of their lives than he does. If he believes he is more intelligent then he would need to see that there are highly intelligent people of all races. If he believes that he is more prone to being successful because of his genetics then he would need to see that there are people of all races who achieve success with ease. If he believes that he is more equipped to overcome obstacles than members of another race then he would need to know that people from all walks of life and different cultures have achieved against seemingly insurmountable odds at great hardship to themselves and so on!

The problem with this is FOCUS! In most cases the racist does not want to see these things. He focuses on the situations, people and events that correspond and reinforce his beliefs! In extreme circumstances such a person will not even be in the company, correspond with, or listen about members of the group he is racist against.

You and I do exactly the same thing everyday. If your life is similar today to yesterday, last week or last year it is primarily because your focus has remained the same. Your thoughts yesterday where the same as last week and if your thoughts and focus are the same today then you can expect tomorrow to bring the same results!

If your beliefs are challenged by what you see, hear or experience many times you simply disregard the information and continue 'blindly' believing what you chose to believe. We filter our reality so that is reinforces our beliefs. We need to break free from this self-imposed brain-washing and redirect our focus on the things that will reinforce a new belief until we actually come to belief it.

For example take a couple in a 'bad' relationship. They come home from work and just know that they are going to have an argument with their spouse. Sure enough they arrive home and argue about who is taking the dog for a walk, what to watch on TV or why they argue so much! Where is the focus in this relationship?

Let's say they decide to try an experiment in beliefs and focus. They look at what IS working in the relationship. They recall the reasons why they first became a couple and begin to reinforce the things they have in common. Their focus is beginning to shift. Although they will probably fall back into some old routines of arguing again if they keep their focus on their shared interests and the things in their relationship that are working what do you think the effect will be?

Try this little experiment yourself. Choose a person who annoys you in some way and that you can't avoid but would if the choice where yours. A work colleague is a good example. Can you think of one? OK, what are you focusing on about that person? I bet it is all the things they do that annoy you. Try to think of something they do that you admire of that you like. This can be sometimes difficult but remember that every person has good and bad qualities so try not to become too polarised about people thinking them either good or bad - they are just human beings.

Now for a few days try your best to focus on the things you like or admire about them and watch what happens.

After you have tried this little experiment try other small ones in other areas of your life that you wish to improve.

Memorized With Mnemonics

Forgot something lately? You probably want to rev up on your memorization approach. There are a lot of memorization methods available today and all you have to do is just choose what you think suits you best. Consider trying more than one memorization technique on your pursuit to improving and enhancing your memorization skill and you’ll surely feel a lot better after putting the technique to practice.

Mnemonics is a memorization tool which teaches you how to keep up with the important things that you need to remember or the errands that you need to do. You’ll notice that learning memorization technique such as peg method, loci or journey system and even the linkword technique; just a few to mention the different classifications of mnemonics, could noticeably change the way you’re able to retain information.

But even then, there is no perfect way to maximum memorization skills. It takes a lot of time, effort, motivation and interest for a person to be able to achieve something. And with memorization, the mentioned four are all important. This doesn’t even include yet the special skills like creativity and imagination. If you try to think about it, all of the factors mentioned here, especially the memorization skills are all part of the big picture – enhancing memorization.

Even experts suggests that in order for a person to remember better is for him to take initiative in reading, reflecting about what he has read, reciting it out loud and reviewing it afterwards to complete the process of remembering efficiently. Prior to that, a general view of what you need to memorize (e.i a law book) then backing it up with questions you could possibly ask along the way helps establish an even concrete studying goal.

After this stage, you can then choose a mnemonic technique you desire to help you create a connection of what you have just absorbed according to your own familiarities. You may perceive this to be a lot of work but with constant practice, you’d be picking out important names, words and dates out of your head in no time.

Eliminate your Stress now!

How can we eliminate stress? That is one of the most common questions asked in the twenty first century with one of the most elusive answers!

Well, in order to eliminate stress we should first realise what it is and where it comes from.

A typical dictionary definition explains stress as: "a force exerted when one body or body part presses on, pulls on, pushes against, or tends to compress or twist another body or body part."

Well when we experience stress in our lives it often feels as though an external (or sometimes internal) force is pressing against our lives. This causes a great deal of anguish and frustration to the person suffering which mainly comes from unwanted harassing thoughts and negative emotions. These thoughts and emotions cause imbalance, to a greater or lesser degree, within the mind, which if persisted in will eventually cause an imbalance in the body!

So when connected to people we can give a clearer definition of 'Stress' as "a state of heightened emotional and mental imbalance caused by internal or external forces in one's life".

So what internal or external forces can cause this emotional and mental imbalance in one's life?

At first this appears to be an almost impossible question to answer. There can be numerous causes of stress. They range from the more trivial - having a bad day at work - to the more serious - dreading an impending catastrophic event. However, if we look at all the apparent causes of stress closely we can see the root cause, which is always the same! What is it? Well it's very simple.

Stress is caused when we want things, situations or people to be different from they are! Basically, it's when we want things to be the way we want them to be but they just don't change. Remember the dictionary definition of stress - "a force exerted when one body or body part presses on, pulls on, pushes against, or tends to compress or twist another body or body part." We are desiring things to be different and when they stay the same (regardless of our actions) we experience stress. Our force of 'will' i.e. our 'wanting' the situation to change is exerting force on the situation. However, the situation remains the same and you know what happens when two forces in opposite directions collide - the stronger force wins! In such situations it is our desire that becomes compressed or twisted.

Ok, now we know that stress has its roots in 'desire' it becomes much easier to find a way to eliminate it.

Many mystical and religious traditions have told us that in order to achieve enlightenment or attain our fondest dreams we need merely achieve a desire-less state! Unfortunately not many tell us how to do this! Many tell us that in order to have something we must first stop wanting it!

This seems a strange concept but it does have solid foundations. If we desire something to the point of stressing ourselves about it, then our behaviour becomes grasping and we have little or no chance of gaining that which we desire.

Fortunately though, there is a simple effective way of eliminating such grasping desires from your life called 'releasing'. This technique is not new but it is highly effective and little known in the western world.

Let us look again at our new definition of stress and how we can use it to eliminate stress on the spot in any situation. Our definition states that stress is "a state of heightened emotional and mental imbalance caused by internal or external forces in one's life". So how do we use this? Well firstly, the next time you experience a feeling of stress (try to pick a time when you are only slightly uptight until you get the hang of this), stop what you are doing for a moment and ask yourself "what do I want to be different in this situation/person/event?" - you are identifying your thoughts behind the stress.

Then, once you have identified these thoughts, ask yourself "how does that make me feel?" - you are identifying the emotions behind the thoughts.

Let's take an example. You are at work and the boss wants you to get all your work finished by 5 o' clock but you know that this is impossible but feel a mounting pressure to succeed at the task. You find yourself rushing around doing ten things at once all the time feeling more and more stressful. So, you ask the first question - "what do I want to be different in this situation/person/event?" The answer may be, "I want my boss to stop putting me under pressure". - You have identified some the thoughts behind the stress.

Next you ask "how does that make me feel?" The answer to this may be "I feel unappreciated!" - You have identified one of the feelings behind your thoughts.

Now for one moment stop trying to suppress that emotion and fully feel it. Allow yourself to delve into that feeling and experience it and then 'let it go'. Imagine it is a spent force escaping through your stomach. Do this several times, as it takes seconds to perform. Within a few repetitions you will start to feel your stress ease away effortlessly. Keep asking the questions as there may be several reasons behind your stress or you may need to 'release' a particularly deep-seated emotion a few times before it is gone. Try it, you may just be surprised at the results!

Must dare to FAIL!

"I'm a failure" "I'll never make it." That's the kind of affirmation we hear people say. To overcome this feeling of worthlessness you need to make 3 little steps that will help you discover the genius within you.

1. You need to motivate yourself.

First of all, remember that great people learned a basic and essential quality you need to acquire: persistence. Very successful people failed many times, like most of us. But they get up right away and they begin again and again until they eventually succeed.

We can motivate ourselves by seeing the result in our mind as if it has already occurred. Feel what you would feel if you have better grades. Name this feeling. Amplify this feeling until it becomes very pleasant. Now, you are going to add some new feelings upon this first feeling. Do you remember a time when you were really excited about something? When you have this excitemant in you, add it to the first very pleasant feeling as if you put a coat of excitement over the coat of 'very pleasant state'. Let this feeling of excitement diffuse in you and notice how you feel.

Notice how feel very motivated, calm and confident. And for a moment, you know that you will succeed in school. But something holds you back. You need to make this second step....

2. You need to get rid of the beliefs that hold you back

Consider the law of belief: whatever you believe becomes your reality. Once you understand and appropriate this belief in yourself, you discover that you can do many things and especially have better grades.

Throughout your life you learn. It's a never-ending process. School is just the beginning of this process with its special rules and rewards, which can sometimes seem unfair.

You begin to change by being aware that you are a potential genius and that you CAN do better and you WILL. What do you learn from having bad grades? Consider that it is an opportunity to learn. And most important, it's a chance to learn that you're not the problem; it's only your strategies. That's why you need to take the last lesson... You need to learn how to learn

3. You need new strategies.

If something doesn't work, do something else. First, be aware of your learning style. Are you visual, auditory, kinesthetic? Remember that you have multiple intelligences and when you use them as much as possible you increase your chances of having better results.

Have the end in mind. Act as if you already had the solution. Now you only need to fill in the blanks. If you already know where to go, your brain will help you find the solutions. Use mind maps, movement and imagination. Learning how to learn is a necessity for children and adults to perform better in life.

These three steps are important to succeed in school. One step takes care of your beliefs, another of your emotions and the other one of your strategies to have better grades and to perform better in life.

Increase Creativity and Reduce Stess Using Alpha Meditation

In order to understand how alpha meditation can help improve your creativity, it is important to start by understanding what binaural beats and brainwave entrainment are.

Brainwave entrainment is the use of some external stimulus, usually different sounds that a person will hear with stereo headphones, to induce a certain level of brain wave activity. When a person's brainwave activity is artificially altered by these means, it will subtly shift their awareness and perception.

Using binaural beats is a common and effective method of brainwave entrainment. In order for the binaural beats to be effective, a person must be using stereo headphones so that they can hear a different sound in each ear.

Most of the time, the binaural beats will be embedded underneath the layers of tracks on a song, usually soothing ambient music or soundscapes, so that the person listening can focus on the music and not on the frequencies they are hearing. If you either find or create effective binaural beat audios to listen to in stereo heaphones, the frequencies should blend perfectly into the background, and you should not be able to consciously notice them unless you really try to isolate them.

Binaural beats are the most effective this way, when they are loud enough to still have an effect on your brainwave activity but quiet enough that you do not notice them. Depending on the difference between the two frequencies you decide to use, you can entrain any desired brainwave state and state of mind.

The ideal brainwave frequency for alpha meditation is about 9-10hz, so if we wanted to create a set of binaural beats that could be used to artificially induce this specific frequency, we could play 110hz in the left ear and 120hz in the right ear.

To any person who is hearing these different frequencies in each ear, their brain will act like a tuning fork and it will lock on to the difference between the two frequencies, which in this case would be 10hz.

'Alpha' is the name that we use for the range of brainwave frequencies from around 8hz-13hz. We go through the alpha brainwave state many times during a 24-hour period, and it is usually we are in a light sleep and are dreaming. You can also reach this state by listening to soothing soundscapes or chill-out music, preferably music with alpha binaural beat already embedded in the layers, and simply lying down and resting. When a person reaches this alpha state while they are still conscious, their imagination will be highly active and they can see very vivid imagery, like an intense dream.

After practicing this daily for a short while, even just a week or two, a person's intuitive creativity will naturally be higher and coming up with new ideas will seem easier.

Remaining in the intuitive alpha state for extended periods is the key to increasing your creativity, because this frequency stimulates the right-side creative portion of the human brain. After doing daily alpha meditation and staying in the alpha state for 30 minutes or more per day, your creative visualization capabilities will markedly increase, and it is this creative visualization that can help you achieve any outcome you desire.

If you are interested in pursuing alpha meditation, you can do a number of things. While it does not require music with alpha binaural beats, this is highly recommended because your brain will automatically lock on to the alpha frequency.

You can go to your local music store and look for CDs on 'alpha mediation' or 'alpha relaxation,' or you can also look online at places like iTunes. Or if you would like to have full control over your alpha meditation experience, you can embed any song of your choosing with binaural beats using special audio software.

Creating your own binaural beat audios will give you full control over your meditation experience, and you can experiment with different frequencies around the 7-10 hz area to see which ones give you the biggest boost in intuition and creativity.