April 28th, 2008
How do you measure success? Do you think of physical, mental,
spiritual, influential, or monetary success? It is important to
be honest with yourself and know that you may be very successful
in one area, but not in another.
Therefore, look at your strengths and be honest with yourself
about what your goals really are. There have been many
successful Yogis, and some spiritual leaders, who had the
clothes on their backs as their only possessions. They did not
pursue material wealth, but instead, helped others until their
last day.
How can I say they were successful? They chose the path that
they wanted, and some have had tremendous influence without
material wealth. They were men and women of conscience who
humbled the powerful.
This is not to say that a Yoga teacher must live in poverty to
be influential. An oath of poverty to help humankind is noble,
but not for everyone. Personally, a balanced approach to
physical, mental, spiritual, influential, and monetary success
is easier for most of us to live with. Let’s take a look at the
five successes and see how you can build on them, help others,
and live the best life you can.
If you teach Hatha Yoga, Kundalini Yoga, or another physical
style of Yoga, your body will be in “good shape.” Many people
perceive good shape to mean muscles, but forget about the
benefits to the joints, bones, and internal organs. Yoga is good
for all of them and is a total health program.
Anyone who takes the time to meditate, and practice pranayama,
will have better mental health. As a serious Yoga practitioner,
or Yoga teacher, you should practice this daily, even if you do
not have Yoga classes today. All of the other forms of success
will yield mental health, as well.
Some styles of Yoga are more spiritual than others. In the west,
most practitioners only think of Hatha Yoga, but there are many
other spiritual Yoga styles. However, if spiritual Yoga does not
fit into your lifestyle, prayers will help. Spiritual health is
just as important as any other type of success.
The power of influence is a part of teaching Yoga. Therefore,
never misuse it and never take advantage of your Yoga students,
family, or friends. However, if you see an opportunity that will
help the common good, never avoid using the influence you have
acquired.
About money: Some people think, “Money is the root of evil.” I
totally disagree because money is only a commodity, such as
energy. If we misuse it, that is our loss, but if we help
others, that is rewarding to all of us. Much like when we use
energy, we are only temporary “keepers of money.”
Make use of money, and help those who you can. Strangely, more
money will come back to you, as a result of being charitable.
This is the cycle of karma, success, and life.
There is nothing wrong with success and self-improvement. When
you take each aspect of success, and develop them all in harmony
for the common good, that is also a form of Yoga. You might even
refer to this method as the “Union of Success,” which could be
named “Jayati Yoga.”
© Copyright 2005 - Paul Jerard / Aura Publications
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April 27th, 2008
For years now I’ve been looking to start my own business, but my highest priority has always been to spend less time working, and more time with my family, while still giving them everything they need (and most of what they want). It’s a common dream, right? No boss to answer to, less stress, more vacation, more quality family time… I wanted to get away from the 9 to 5 and the traffic. (I bet you do, too.)
So, I started to research various business opportunities. I looked into franchises of all sorts, but the money I had to invest upfront was way too much (thousands of dollars, at a minimum), which made the idea too risky - I couldn’t risk my family’s financial well-being on a dream of mine. I was even close to falling for various MLM schemes. Luckily I never made it that far. When the Internet became more and more prominent in, well, society in general, it just became something I couldn’t ignore anymore. So I did some more research, this time on creating a website. I began to like the idea, for many reasons:
1. I could start it with little $ invested (so, hardly any risk)
2. I could start it while I was still in my 9 to 5 job (again, no burden on my family financially)
3. I could choose the subject of the website (and focus on something that I enjoyed)
It was then that I decided to use choosing gifts (something I enjoy) as the basis for my site. But then I had to figure out exactly HOW to create it. There’s a lot involved (much that I didn’t know at the start): domain registration, hosting, page creation, search engine submission, keywords, titles, descriptions, site promotion… whew! At first it seemed like way too much to handle, and with the massive amounts of websites out there (60 million and counting) I feared my site would just get lost in the crowd (so what’s the point). I almost gave up the idea altogether.
But through perserverance and a little luck in finding the right tools to teach me what to do, and when to do it, I’ve been able to create a successful website. In 6 months my site’s traffic ranking is in the top 1% of all websites!
I’m thrilled about what the future might hold! Have I quit my day job? No, not yet… I want to pay off my debt first. You know… the “American Way” of falling into debt with credit cards and loans - even though I live in Canada.  My family and I will have our debt paid off by Christmas 2005 - then I can consider quitting the 9 to 5 routine.
If you are like me and you want to start a website… no,… start a business… and change your future, I encourage you to get out there and do it. You owe it to yourself to at least check it out.
For more information about The-Gift-Wizard.com and the tools I used to create it, feel free to visit: http://www.the-gift-wizard.com/website.html or contact me at http://www.the-gift-wizard.com/contact-the-gift-wizard.html. I’ll be glad to answer any questions you might have.
Best of luck!
A Heath is a gift researcher for http://www.the-gift-wizard.com
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April 26th, 2008
You can attract far more prospects to look at your offer by providing an education than you’ll ever get by simply offering your products or services. For example: Let’s say you sell telephone systems, like Company X. Before discovering this concept, Company X would call hundreds of companies per day and ask if they were interested in talking about a new telephone system (product offer). They had four salespeople making hundreds of calls per day. They would get about 3 appointments per week.
First of all, every company that has a phone system that is five years old or older can probably benefit from a new phone system in some way. More than 15 major providers of phone systems just ten years ago are now OUT of the phone system business. Yet the companies that have these systems, as long as they are working and they can still get used parts, might not think they need a phone system.
So here’s a company making hundreds of phone calls per day asking: “Would you like to talk about maybe getting a new phone system?” Anthing wrong with this process? No– but, that’s if you don’t want to increase your profits and sales in 12 months flat.
Here are the three steps Company X used to its double sales, once they discovered the consumer education sales concept:
Step 1. The first thing they did was target bigger companies. The bigger the company, the bigger the phone system.
Step 2. The salespeople called the 2000 largest companies in their market with two simple questions: “Hi, we’re doing our annual telephone system survey. I just need to know two things: What is the model of your phone system and how old is it?”
In two days, the salespeople had a list of 508 companies with old phone systems.
Step 3. The sales representatives called on these larger companies with one offer: “We have a new educational program entitled:The nine ways you’re wasting money on your voice and data spending.” They then continued with: “We’ve been in the telephone business for ten years now and we’ve found that every company wastes money on their voice and data spending in at least nine areas. So we put together this educational program as a way to teach companies how to stop wasting money and start saving their valuable dollars. We do this as a public relations effort. If you ever need any help at all with your voice, data or telephone system needs, we want you to know about us. So this is simply us putting our best foot forward.”
This approach increased their appointment setting ten fold, from three appointments per week to 30 appointments per week. This company did $3 million the year before using this approach and put $9 million in their pipeline for the coming year in just six months of using this strategy.
What kind of a free education could YOU offer that would make your prospects want to meet with you? Or respond to your ad? Or take an interest in your direct mail approach?
Important point: Sales is about building rapport, not breaking it. When you SELL, you’re breaking rapport. No one wants to be “sold.” When you EDUCATE, you are building rapport. In fact, studies show that your credibility increases significantly when you begin all meetings with data that is of value to the prospect- start all your meetings by teaching your prospect something, or by giving them data that proves that you’ve completed your homework.
A newspaper company had fallen 40% in gross revenues and lost all of their profits. They used to call up clients and say: “Hi, we’d love to come and talk to you about advertising in our newspaper.” They were quickly shut down and shut out.
They started providing a “community educational service to help local businesses succeed, which resulted in a significant increase not just in getting in through the door see prospects, but also in sales. This client went up $100 million in sales in a single year.
If your local newspaper called you up and offered to teach you the seven things that make all businesses succeed, you’d probably find that pretty hard to turn down. They’d still have to talk you into the meeting, but it would be an easier sell than talking you into an unwanted meeting to try and pitch advertising opportunities.
Naturally, there’s more to this and the subtleties are where you succeed, but if you embrace the concept of “educational-based-marketing” you will out-market your competitors at every turn. Think about this; what makes this strategy so powerful is that it attracts buyers before they are even thinking about buying. Educational- based marketing casts a wider net, attracts more buyers at every turn and closes a higher percent of prospects if and only if the “education” you provide is of true value. This is the least expensive, most effective marketing concept you will ever use.
Chet Holmes is the CEO of Chet Holmes International, a training company that specializes in helping companies experience fast growth concepts. To learn more about the consumer education marketing strategy, including a 16 page detailed report on the concept, go to www.howtodoublesales.com
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April 26th, 2008
Fascinating from the start, The Sweet Shade of a Chinaberry Tree, by Janice Parrish, is certainly hard to classify. A creative fiction based on the author’s own experiences while growing up in Southern States in the tumultuous 1960’s - a time of great change for America - could also be classified as an inter-racial romance or possibly a drama.
The Sweet Shade of a Chinaberry Tree involves multicultural and social issues, true young love, the relationship between the main character and her parents and so much more. The setting is based in Alabama, USA during the summer of 1963.
The novel follows 19-year-old Gaynell McGowan from the moment she returns to her home town during a summer break from college where she had learned all kinds of novel ideas that would forever alter her view of the people she once believed in and knew so well. Failing to fully complete her college course, Gaynell is assigned a paper, which lead her into the most tender and truest of loves anyone could ever experience. Readers will thrive on the thrilling, secretive, inter-racial romance and the incredible sacrifice Parrish’s characters endure.
A town, stubborn in their ways, is afraid of racial change and this fear empowers a threat so great that it has begun to rip the town apart and shatter families. The small town is facing the challenge of having the first school in Alabama become integrated with black students. Under orders from the government, bigoted and heartless behavior toward a set of people who just happen to have a darker skin begins to tear the town apart. So-called “normal, god-fearing” individuals strengthen their resistance and suppression, while a few individuals turn to hateful, murderous, cross-burning tactics.
My respect for the author grew when I read her statement “In Gaynell McGowan, I have found the voice to express the inhumanity we Southerners covered with good manners and lace tablecloths.”
So many aspects of this time period and radical change are covered in her fantastic array of characters that I could not possibly do it justice in this book review. All that I can say is that this book has found a spot on my shelves indefinitely and the characters are locked in my mind forever. While I did not spend time in the Southern US, I did grow up around those that struggled with this issue and feel the way this author portrayed the people could not have been more realistic or more heart-felt.
The Sweet Shade of a Chinaberry Tree would be an excellent historical fiction movie not just because of the first hand experience, but also due to the excellent research the author put in to get the right feel for this dramatic period.
ISBN#: 0-7599-4807-0
Author: Janice Ward Parrish
Publisher: Hard Shell Word Factory
Published: 2006
~ Book Reviewer: Lillian Brummet - Co-author of the book Trash Talk, a guide for anyone concerned about his or her impact on the environment - Author of Towards Understanding, a collection of poetry. (www.sunshinecable.com/~drumit)
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April 26th, 2008
Earlier this summer my friend Dan and I were running in a local forest preserve. On a whim, we decided to cut through the woods on some single track trails. Next thing you know, we’re weaving through some great scenery, jumping over fallen trees and really enjoying the experience. Since that time I have turned to trail running whenever I need a change of pace. Here are 7 reasons to consider adding trail running to your weekly routine.
1. Break up the routine. Whenever the thought of going out for a run feels like a drag, I usually find myself going out for a trail run. Trail running requires more focus. The obstacles (roots, branches, rocks, etc.) require you to pay attention to the path. No time for mundane thoughts or boredom when you’re weaving through the woods.
2. Need a break from the summer sun? Go for a Trail Run. This past summer was extremely hot. The wooded trail setting provides protection from the summer heat.
3. Conversely, if you need a break from the cold winter wind, trails provide protection from the wind chill.
4. The air is cleaner and more abundant on the trails thanks to photosynthesis and protection from the exhaust of the roads.
5. Draw energy from the surrounding beauty. I always get a charge out of running through the forest, over streams and rivers, etc. I never tire of seeing deer and other wildlife on the trail.
6. Get Stronger. Trails require runners to run, weave and sometimes jump over small obstacles. It’s a great workout and provides strengthening for ankles, quads and calves.
7. The softer surface of the trail provides much better shock absorption and lessens the chance for common running injuries like shin splints, etc.
Trail Runners need to be aware of potential hazards. It’s certainly possible to turn an ankle or fall. Exercise caution, and over time you will develop a sense for this type of running. Be familiar with the local wild life. If you live near dangerous wild animals (i.e. mountain Lions, etc.) it would be best to run with a buddy. Since trails can be secluded, women should never run alone.
Greg is running enthusiast. A former NCAA Division I Track athlete, Greg is now competing in Marathons and other races including off-road events. Greg lives in the Chicago suburbs with his wife Carole and four kids. He maintains a site dedicated to running in the Midwest: http://www.midwestrunner.com
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April 26th, 2008
Credit cards are a great way to help you to control your finances. It’s true that occasionally we may make poor decisions with our money, while other times the events in our life can take us beyond what we want and we are sadly left holding the bill. If you have found that to be the case for you, you may want to consider this great way to manage your credit card debt.
If you are faced with several large credit card bills, a UK secured loan is one choice for you to consider. Many people are selecting a UK secured loan to add to their financial portfolio and you might want to consider using one to deal with those credit card bills. Here’s how.
Gather together all of your credit card bills and add up the amount that you owe. Factor in the extra expenses you haven’t heard on your credit cards since you receive those bills. Add to that about ten or twenty per cent, which is the “whoops, I forgot about that” factor. Then, with that figure, start shopping around. There are many UK secured loan institutions that want to do business with you.
Get the loan and pay off your credit card bills. If you think that you may still use your credit cards or, you may want to hide them away so that you reduce the temptation to use them.
Now, instead of having several credit card bills at a high interest rate due by the end of the month, you now have one bill that is due once a month at a lower rate. This is called consolidation. At first glance it may not seem obvious why you’d want to do this but there are two reasons:
The first reason is that you will save a lot of money on interest rates. In fact, some UK secured loan interest rates might be as much as half of regular credit card interest rates.
The second reason is that you will get one bill with a fixed amount due every month rather than several bills with several amounts due throughout the month. This will help you budget.
Credit cards can be an excellent tool to help you manage your finances and by the things you want or need. But when things go a ride and your bills get out of hand, which happens to be even the best of us, choosing a UK secured loan as a way to consolidate those bills will help you reduce your interest rates and set up a fixed amount of payment. Reduced interest rates will ultimately increase the amount of money you keep and a fixed amount due every month will help you plan your budget.
Jeff Lakie is the owner of www.home-improvement-lender.co.uk providing Uk homeowners with a free loan quote service. Visit us today for a free no obligation quote.
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April 26th, 2008
Have you ever dreamed of having a personal assistant in your kitchen? Oh I have, many times! As I dreamed of things this personal assistant would do for me, I developed some time savings tips that will make your time in the kitchen less stressful.
One of the most efficient time savers is planning your meals by the week, for two weeks or even a month at a time. After you plan your meals, compile a grocery list. By each item on your grocery list, list the dish which you will be using that ingredient. This will help you once you return home from your grocery shopping. Do your grocery shopping on a day and time there are fewer people at the grocery store. This will allow less stress in fighting the crowds and will help you think clearly as you are making your food selections.
Once you get home, take time putting away your groceries. Clean and chop your vegetables such as herbs, onions, peppers, celery. Once cleaned and chopped, pre measure your vegetables, place in a storage bag labeled with the recipe it goes in. Keep one shelf in your refrigerator for ingredients for your meals. Let your family know about this shelf so they will not eat your ingredients.
When you are browning your ground beef, brown all the beef you are going to use the rest of the week. Put cooled browned beef in plastic bags or containers, and label them with the recipe name. This will cut down on your prep time for the rest of the week. There is no use in browning beef several times in a week.
When thinking about your personal assistant, think about your appliances that can help you. Your slow cooker will become your best friend. In the morning, you can assemble your vegetables and meat in your slow cooker in less than 10 minutes. Your meal will be done when you return home in the evening. A slow cooker is a wonderful investment!
Always keep pre packaged salad on hand to have a quick and easy side dish.
Betty Lynch, is the owner and chef of My Country Kitchen - a Menu Planning Service for the BUSY person! For more time saving tips and recipes, please visit My Country Kitchen, http://www.mycountrykitchen.com
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April 26th, 2008
The title of this article sounds simplistic but it is amazing how often people (including me) sit staring at a problem like mounting paperwork and become so depressed by the thought of all the work to be done that they do nothing and continue in a paralytic state for days and even months!
The article aims to cheer such people up by the fact that they are not the only ones to be paralyzed by their mounting tasks. It also offers one or two solutions to the problem.
We all have things we have failed to do. Frank Garon, internet guru and philosopher, writes:
“Last summer, I went to the gym 3-4 times a week and worked out like a fiend. I was in the best shape of my life, and I knew it. But then I got busy, and have only been one time in the past 7 months. Now, I could obsess about that, or I can just chill the freak out and go to the gym tomorrow and do something about it.
I have things I’ve needed to do for months still sitting on my desk. I can stop looking at this pile and DO something about it. I can pop in my Guy Finley and John Di Lemme CDs and give myself an instant boost. In short, I can either cry about something or I can fix it.”
Frank’s solutions are not to stress out about what he has not done; to play some music that he loves and to do something about whatever still needs doing. He wisely decides not to cry over spilt milk but to take action to put things right.
The Jewish Rabbis taught their students to deal with the problem of studying a huge syllabus (the Talmud) by telling the story of the heap of dust. Two men were asked to move a huge heap of dust. One man soon gave up saying: “We’ll never move this! It’s far too big.”
The other man kept plugging away day after day moving a little at a time. It seemed like he was achieving nothing but eventually the heap began to look a little smaller. Finally he cleared the whole lot away and received his reward.
To use another metaphor: Be content to chip away like a woodpecker at a problem bit by bit and eventually you will cut through the whole tree and your problem will disappear. Your problem could be debt; so chip away at your debt by plugging the little leaks in your finances which are draining your money away.
Perhaps, like me, you belong to several membership sites with monthly fees which you seldom if ever visit. It only takes a small effort to end your membership.
Perhaps people owe you money which they forget to pay you. Take the time and trouble to make a list of those who owe you money and ask for it. Debtors are usually honest people who really have forgotten to pay up and just need a reminder to refresh their memories.
Another solution to what you have not done, is to pay someone else to do it. Recently, I mowed my lawns myself but the time before that I paid some one else to do it and saved a lot of time and energy to work on other more important and urgent tasks.
You could argue, however, that mowing the lawn is great exercise so that you save money and benefit your health by doing the necessary physical work yourself.
Housework can take up a lot of time and demands some skill; so pay someone else who can do it more quickly and efficiently unless you are worried by having a stranger in the house. You could, of course, pay a relative to do the work!
The principle of leverage (i.e. getting some one else to do your work for you for money) applies in a big way on the internet. The whole affiliate system is based on rewarding others for doing your marketing for you. Network marketing is also based on leverage.
Occasionally, you might want to pay someone else to work for you but also to teach you how to do the skilled work that they know how to do. I pay my web designer to do work on my websites and to teach me how he does what he does.
This way I can gain a certain amount of independence so that I don’t have to keep ringing him up over minor changes and I can also save time by making the most of the skills of an expert web designer.
So stop feeling depressed about what you haven’t done. Either start fixing things bit by bit or pay someone else to do the job for you.
About the author
John Watson is an award winning teacher and martial arts instructor. He has recently written two books about achieving your goals and dreams.
They can both be found on his website www.motivationtoday.com along with a daily motivational message.
The title of the first book is “36 Laws To Ignite Your Inner Power And Realize Your Dreams Now! - Acronyms, Stories, And Pictures…Easy To Remember And Use Everyday To Grab Your Life And Soar With The Eagles”
The book can be found at this URL
www.motivationtoday.com/36_laws.php
The book uses acronyms, stories, pictures and quotes to help readers remember 36 laws that can gradually transform your life if you apply them.
Ezine editors / Site owners. Feel free to reprint this article in its entirety in your ezine or on your site as long as you leave all links in place, do not modify the content and include my resource box as listed above.
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April 23rd, 2008
I know that you, along with the rest of Western Civilization, are marveling at the Islamic world’s reaction to a Danish cartoon which featured Islam’s holiest of figures decked out in bomb headgear. I actually understand the issue of not presenting their holy figure as a “graven image” much less wearing a bomb-covered hat. I know some Christians who will not wear crosses or have pictures depicting Christ. I get that.
However, a striking testimony to one of the multitude of differences between Christianity and Islam is that Christ would have us “turn the other cheek” and not seek violent vengeance for someone creating an idolatrous image of He whom we worship as Lord. Muslims have a different view. Disagree with it but this is what they believe:
“In mosques throughout Palestinian cities, clerics condemned the cartoons. An imam at the Omari Mosque in Gaza City told 9,000 worshippers that those behind the drawings should have their heads cut off.”
An interesting twist to this is how most of the West’s newspapers are refusing to air or print the cartoon out of “respect” for Islam. I mean, is that not a reasonable and kind thing? If Muslims are offended by not just a graven image of their prophet but one wearing a bomb for a hat then why add fuel to the fire! Shouldn’t you show some respect?
The New York Times seemingly is taking that position. Here is what the newspaper said on February 7:
“(We) and much of the rest of the nation’s media have reported on the cartoons but refrained from showing them. That seems a reasonable choice for news organizations that usually refrain from gratuitous assaults on religious symbols.”
By golly, this almost restores a little of my long-lost faith in The New York Times. This is something to behold that they, usually touted as the “liberal rag” of the Left, would be so charitable.
However, by February 8, they showed “a picture of the dung-covered Mary accompanying an article entitled “A Startling New Lesson in the Power of Imagery.”
Is this a bit confusing? What happened to, “That seems a reasonable choice for news organizations that usually refrain from gratuitous assaults on religious symbols.”? Where did The Time’s charity for religion go? Is showing the mother of Christ covered in dung NOT a “gratuitous assault on a religious symbol”? How is the Islamic affair a gratuitous assault and covering Mary the Mother of Jesus not?
Do you get that? Showing Mohammed wearing a bomb-studded turban equals a “gratuitous assaults on religious symbols”; showing a feces-covered Virgin Mary equals a “A Startling New Lesson in the Power of Imagery.”
But we turn the other cheek.
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April 23rd, 2008
It has now become all the more necessary to obtain formal academic training to take up paralegal practice. There are about 600 paralegal education programs in the United States, but the content of these training programs varies widely from school to school. Degrees in paralegal studies are offered by a variety of both public and private learning institutions so you have to choose wisely.
Associate degrees in paralegal studies offered by colleges, universities and business schools can be obtainable when a student has successfully passed 60 to 70 semester units. This consists of general education and allied courses along with paralegal courses in equal proportion.
Other students choose to opt for baccalaureate degree programs. Paralegal programs exist in many accredited four-year universities and colleges, with choices to major, minor, or major with emphasis on paralegal studies.
Paralegal certificate programs are another available option. These can vary greatly from only 18 semester units up to what is more closely similar to an associates with as many as 60 semester units.
The final option available at some colleges and universities is to enroll into a master’s degree program. Advanced degrees in paralegal studies are becoming available at some to students with undergraduate paralegal degree programs.
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