Meditation Helps Women with Breast Cancer

A meditation technique has been found to help relieve stress and improve mental health among women with breast cancer.

Researchers from St. Joseph Hospital in Chicago studied the use of a transcendental meditation technique among 130 women with breast cancer.

All participants were 55 years and older and were randomly assigned to either the transcendental meditation technique or to a usual care control group.

Patients were administered quality of life measures, including the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast (FACT-B), every six months for two years. The average intervention period was 18 months.

“It is wonderful that physicians now have a range of interventions to use, including transcendental meditation, to benefit their patients with cancer,” said Rhoda Pomerantz, M.D., study co-author and chief of gerontology, Saint Joseph Hospital.

“I believe this approach should be appreciated and utilized more widely.”

Stress contributes to the onset and progression of breast cancer

According to background information in the article, breast cancer is the most common cancer in women, striking about 13 percent. Women over the age of 50 have four times the incidence of breast cancer compared to women below 50. Breast cancer remains a leading cause of death among women, according to the National Cancer Institute.

“Emotional and psychosocial stress contribute to the onset and progression of breast cancer and cancer mortality,” said Sanford Nidich, lead author of the study and senior researcher at the Institute for Natural Medicine and Prevention at Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa.

“The transcendental meditation technique reduces stress and improves emotional well-being and mental health in older breast cancer patients. The women in the study found their meditation practice easy to do at home and reported significant benefits in their overall quality of life,” Dr. Nidich said.

“Decades of research have shown that stress contributes to the cause and complications of cancer,” said Robert Schneider, M.D., F.A.C.C., co-author and director of the Institute for Natural Medicine and Prevention at Maharishi University of Management.

“The data from this well-designed clinical trial and related studies suggest that effective stress reduction with the transcendental meditation program may be useful in the prevention and treatment of breast cancer and its deleterious consequences.”

The study is published in the current issue of the peer-reviewed journal Integrative Cancer Therapies.

By RICK NAUERT PHD

The Secrets to Self Improvement Or You Are What You Think

Why is it that so many people fail to meet their full potential? How much have the rest of us missed out on because someone with fantastic potential for say, writing or painting or science, was not encouraged, felt it was not "their place" to push themselves forward ,or just felt the pressure of everyday living must take precedence over natural talent.

The aim of this article is to start you thinking about, who you are and what you expect from life, how you can improve your personal situation and contribute to others. Each one of us without exception has skills and talents that when exploited will enrich your life and the lives of others.

Take action

Ask yourself what is it that is preventing you from achieving your dreams? One of the major factors for people not meeting their full potential is low self-esteem. In its simplest form low self-esteem is anything that makes you feel bad. Self doubt, rejection, unwarranted criticism.

Do not let events such as these eat away at you, focus on the great things about you and change what you don't like. It doesn't come cheap, you must be prepared to put in the effort, you must learn to accept and love the person you are but this must come from within yourself, you must create a strong foundation on which to build otherwise anything you do build will be susceptible to attack and weakening from external influences.

That said you must approach tasks with the attitude that you will succeed, have any other thoughts and you are going to fail because you will not give it 100% effort.

Consider Olympic athletes they have trained hard to reach the Olympic finals convinced that they are going to win if they had any other thoughts what would be the point of competing and all the blood, sweat and tears.

Building a bigger you.

Keeping an open positive mind is a major step toward your "new self" listen to what people have to say, have your own point of view and put it across, remember no one likes a "yes man or woman" not everyone will agree with you but that's ok it would be a boring world if we all thought the same way.

I am sure you have heard the saying "you are what you eat" this also works for thought, "you are what you think" if you think positively you will act positively you will achieve so much more, your life will be so much more rewarding, you will have high self-esteem you will be a happier person.

This process can be made much more difficult than it needs to be if you associate with negative people, you may be working hard to see the positive side of life but if you have negative comments and vibes coming from left and right this will chip away at your resolve and pull you down, do not let this happen.

Feeling good about yourself is a sure fire way to attract other positive people to you, this results in you feeding off each others positive energy eliminating any lasting internal negative energy you may have and making it harder for external negative energy to chink your amour. A quote I once heard puts it all in perspective unfortunately I don't know the author.

"You were not born a winner you were not born a loser you are what you make yourself be." There is no doubt that is a fact.

Stand up to your demons.

We all have issues that we are apprehensive or fearful of, work to defeat them do not just try to brush them under the carpet, all that will happen is that every so often out they will pop and will scratch away at your confidence don't let it happen, it may not be easy but when you have successfully crushed them, wow what a big hit you will get, your self-esteem will skyrocket and will be fit to burst.

Take a few minutes to sit somewhere quietly list the thing or things that are bothering you, these are obviously the negatives, on the other side of the page list the positives, list all the things you like about your self, that includes things like your sense of humour or your hair anything, you are forming a balanced view of your self.

Take a little time to form a strategy to work your way around problems. Don't suffer in silence if something is troubling you talk to someone about it, a fresh view is often all it takes.

If you find your strategy hasn't worked do not give up go back to your list and look at it again workout where you fell down and try again. Never, never give up.

Education.

Try to learn a new skill every day no matter how small there is nothing like the act of learning to improve your self-esteem, how about learning a language at your local tech, it is amazing how much you can discover about your own language by learning someone else's it could do wonders for your career and you can also show off on holiday.

What were you like at maths at school? I was hopeless how about a basic maths evening class you will be amazed at the mixed age range of students there.

Have the confidence to have a go if you don't try how will you ever know?

Be organised.

Write a list of the tasks you need to do each day, put them in a descending scale of importance. There are always exceptions but for the majority of us the morning tends to be our most productive time, for that reason your list should be drawn up the evening before. Ensure that the items on your daily list are achievable.

Do your upmost to complete your list, but don't become disheartened if you are unable to especially if doing so depends on the cooperation of other people whom may have other priorities.

Seeting goals

Setting goals is absolutely essential for the success of anything you do in life, self improvement is no exception; in fact self improvement is a goal in its own right.

Write your goals down don't have vague statements such as I want more money or I want a big house, most of us would like these things. Make a statement like by the 31st December 2009 I will have £100,000 a year clear income going in to my bank account. Describe the steps you are going to take to get to this point, such as creating a multi income stream internet business and so on.

If you are not specific about your goals and how you intend to achieve them how will you know when you have reached them? So you see "more money" how much is that?

Ensure your goals are realistic if you feel they are always going to be out of reach you will become frustrated and the chances are you will fail. Goals are intended as stepping stones not stumbling blocks, got to step one? Fantastic now strive to reach step two.

Your goals must excite and inspire you, make your statement personal write about yourself, how you are going to achieve your goals, what you are going to get from them. Make it a statement of success, start it "This is the day I changed my life and became the person I have always wanted to be."

Put your statement somewhere you can readily see it, not tucked away in a draw. Read it at the start and end of each and every day. Remember what you focus on expands.

Enjoy life

This is incredibly important.What is the point of working hard and not playing hard? To complete your transition to a fulfilled and contented person you have to enjoy all that you involve yourself in. Success is a wonderful stimulant, be good at what you do learn to accept compliments they work for both the receiver and giver.

Take time to laugh, surround yourself with fun people. Appreciate beauty, we become accustomed to seeing the same things each day and because of that we take the beauty before us for granted, take a little time out and just look around you the simple things in life are often the most precious.

My name is Simon Thomas, self-improvement comes in many guises and naturally includes weight loss. The usual route for people that want to lose weight is to embark on some diet plan or other. We know that is tackling the problem from the wrong end. When you are suffering from low self-esteem and low confidence which can happen if you are over weight, the last thing you need is to be weighed in front of other people and have to discuss your failings and then have the disappointment of putting any weight you may have lost back on once you have finished the plan. I know this is tackling the problem from the wrong end, I am able to show you the techniques and methods to safely control your cravings and other bad food habits and benefit from lasting weight loss. by Simon Noel Thomas

Is There a Place For Honor in the Twenty-First Century?

What images come to mind when you visualize Honor? Medieval knights jousting for the hand of a fair maiden? Sir Walter Raleigh laying his magnificent cape in the muddy street so his lady's feet don't get soiled? Soldiers riding off to war to defend the "honor" of their country?

A working definition of Honor is, "respect or esteem that has been earned." Contemplate that for a moment. It would be very special to earn the respect and esteem of our family, our friends, our co-workers, our community, wouldn't it? If anything, it is of even more moment to honor yourself. Those who are successful and happy earn their own self-respect and self-esteem.

There is much more to Honoring yourself than simply having self-respect and self-esteem. Yet because the concept of Honor is so uncommon today, in daily conversation, I often fall back upon the terms "self-respect" or "self-esteem" when I am briefly describing that special quality that defines the meaning of our lives.

In addition to respect, Honor also connotes a sense of nobility. If I Honor myself, certainly I respect myself and value my life, but there is more. When I Honor myself, I am confident of my being, and I am gentle with myself. I have nothing to prove to anyone else or to myself. My value is unquestioned.

Unfortunately, there is a risk of confusing Honor with self-importance - "pride" in it's biblical sense. Ego is the "shadow" - the dark side - of Self-Honor. There is probably no human virtue that does not have a shadow side. The shadow of generosity is meddling. The shadow of serenity is complacency. Never diminish the value of a quality or emotion based on the negative effects of carrying that virtue to excess.

If you doubt the virtue in self-honor, remember what the flight attendant says, "Put your own oxygen mask on first." You are of no use to anyone else if you have not taken care of your own needs first - this includes your own emotional, as well as physical, well-being. In addition, your greatest value to your children, your family, your friends, and your community is the example you set, leading a great life that inspires those around you to emulate your being.

The quality of Honoring yourself, respecting yourself, valuing your purpose, your life-work, your very being, is a prerequisite to living many other aspects of an inspired life. Before you can forgive others, you must be a person whose forgiveness matters. Before you can have gratitude for your life, you must believe that your life has value. Before your choices have value, you must feel that you yourself have value. Before you can dream a great dream for your future, you have to believe that your future matters. Before you can build positive habits of resolve and commitment, before you can begin to live the Japanese proverb, "Fall seven times, stand up eight," you must believe that your life matters. Before you can celebrate your life, you must Honor it. And, before you can feel unity with, and Honor toward, Spirit and all creation, you must Honor yourself to feel worthy of that unity.

It is wonderful to feel your purpose, your value, your confidence and self-respect - that is, your Self-Honor. But, how to achieve Self-Honor?

There are two parallel and simultaneous paths to Self-Honor, belief and action...

Belief: Begin a daily practice of affirming the Honor of being yourself:

I Honor My True Self - I grant myself the Honor of being ME. I am unique in all time and space. I am beyond perceived scarcity, obligation, and the need for approval. I am Honored that Spirit has chosen to create ME.

Action: Even if you do not yet fully feel Self-Honor, live your life as if you did. This is somewhat like what Thich Nhat Hanh says about a smile, "Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy." LIVING life as one who possesses Self-Honor brings Self-Honor into being. Forgive as if you had the Self-Honor to forgive fully. Have gratitude for all of life as if Self-Honor had given meaning to your life. Design your life and persevere in bringing that design into being as if your Self-Honor had granted purpose to your life.

Self-Honor is the axle around which a great life revolves. It defines purpose and provides structure for the other pillars of a meaningful life.

** Today is your day to dance lightly with life. It really is. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie **

by Jonathan Huie

Quick - Who's Keeping You Accountable? Is it Still Mom?

Ever worked with a business or life coach? How did you measure success? As a professional coach for nearly 10 years, I've developed an easy test for success: I listen carefully to uncover values, priorities and opportunities for growth; they acknowledge their role to follow through on commitments to honor those values, priorities and opportunities. That's a true partnership - a win for me in the satisfaction of seeing their growth; a win for them in the results.

What's the pay off? It's in the expanded number of possibilities that become available to someone who previously believed they were stuck; who previously reached for their habitual responses and got the same old, less-than-satisfying results.

When we make decisions or choices based on our own thinking, we're often dependent on the past or our interpretation of the past: 'how did I handle this before? How did it work out?' When we engage a coach or reach out for help from others who don't think the same way we do, we're expanding the number of possible ways to find solutions or maximize opportunities.

However, the acknowledgment of that new insight is just the beginning, although very important, step. Unless that new view is put into action with new behaviors, attitudes and expectations, this process of internal change becomes an interesting, academic conversation and no more. The real opportunity to experience new possibilities is lost. Seeing the incorporation of new awareness into daily behavior and communication is the exciting reward.

Until that conversation leads to real change, coaching doesn't work. It's not about mind shifts alone; it's not just learning new sets of tools, establishment of boundaries, challenges, enhanced listening and communication. It's about taking the new understanding and making it work in daily living. Ultimately, a client's willingness to go beyond an investment of time and money and leap into new territories of relating and behavior is the sign of a successful coaching relationship.

So - who's keeping you accountable to your desire to grow? Who's helping you map out a plan consistent with your values and priorities? Who's helping you to evaluate that plan as you work through the pieces, step by step? And, if you've worked with a coach, how did you know it was working or time to move on? Here's a hint: the perspective with which you're evaluating the result is not the one with which you entered the relationship! And hey, mom's done plenty for you; time to move on to new resources...

Andrea Feinberg, M.B.A., Certified Professional Behavioral Analyst, EQ Mentor and Certified Strategic Business Leadership Coach is a small business marketing coach. Andrea helps small business owners make more money by day & sleep better at night by maximizing the untapped potential they have in their business right now. by Andrea Feinberg

New Relationship Advice - It's NOT About the Money!

Skip the fancy restaurant. Forget the opera tickets. In fact, leave the wad of bills at home. Any woman worth dating isn't going to be impressed simply because you spend a chunk of change on her. She wants to know if you can show romance from the heart. From a small gesture to a unique date, a woman likes to know that you put some thought into it.

Not so great in the creativity department? Here are some tips to get you started...

~ Write a poem. Never underestimate the power of "roses are red..." Make it short and sweet and about her. If you're feeling really ambitious, go to the library, locate a book of poems and pick out one you'll think she'd like. Then take your date to the library and "just happen" to discover the book. Whisper the poem into her ear. You get to be close to her and she gets goose bumps!

~ Draw a picture or paint. One of my most romantic dates was visiting a park and watching my guy paint a watercolor while we talked. Then wrote a sweet note on the back dedicating the day to me. I had a tangible recollection of the scenery, people and emotions of that first date.

~ Take a camera someplace fun or scenic. {A cell phone camera will do}. Ask someone to take your picture with the most beautiful girl in the world. Then, later, send it to her with a note.

~ Play an instrument? Serenade her with a love song. Not musically gifted? Download a song that reminds you of her into your iPod or burn a CD for her. If you're smart, it will be a song you can slow dance to!

~ Hike up a private trail, sprawl out together on a flat rock and watch for cloud images. Describe what you see.

~ Find out if she has a favorite charity. Surprise her with a date to volunteer together.

~ Go to a park and let loose your inner child. Swing, slide, play and laugh together. Share an ice cream cone afterward.

You don't have to spend like you're Donald Trump to impress a woman. Find something that you're good at and let loose on the creativity. Or surprise her with one of these out-of-the-ordinary outings. Women are sentimental creatures and cannot resist a gesture that's from the heart. Check out more tips in my
new relationship advice guide.

by Alexander Karpovich

Did Sloppy Self-Help Turn George Sodini Into a Cold-blooded Murderer?

"It's easy for me to hide from my emotions for one more day". This is how the YouTube video starts.

George was a very lonely guy. He decided that he needed help meeting women. In order to accomplish that he decided that the best way to do that was to enroll in a seduction seminar. I personally don't care if someone does that. Lots of people need help learning how to attract the opposite sex. I think this is true of both men and women. My problem is with these so-called seduction gurus offering self-help advice or therapeutic advice that they are absolutely not qualified to do.

What really gets me is that most of these seduction gurus are so psychologically damaged themselves. Just read the book The Game by Neil Strauss. It gives you a peek inside of this fantasy world of very depressed and very damaged people that claim to teach seduction. Yet these same people think that they are qualified to tell someone methods of self-help.

I understand the desperation that some people feel when dealing with this area of their lives. It drives them to do stupid things that they would never do in any other area. If you went to your dentist and his teeth were rotting out of his head would you ask them for a advice on dental hygiene? Of course not. Would you ask your plumber how you should wire your house? Of course not. Would you ask for safe driving tips from someone whose car was dented on every corner? Of course not!

"Take a long drive in my car, listened to some music, daydream, or just do some mundane task around the house, that really doesn't need to be done and there you go one more day and one more day turns into one more year"

George would run away. He ran away for years. He would do anything to try to suppress the emotions that he was having. The problem with that is that those emotions are always still there. They just wait for the moment when your guard is down then they pop up all over again. In the beginning this is not a problem. If you're just trying to hold down one in emotion is very easy to suppress. As time goes on something else might crop up when you try to suppress that as well. Two emotions might be manageable to suppress. The problem with this strategy is that over a period of years you could end up trying to suppress hundreds of emotions and that is not possible. Sooner or later something is going to give.

"My objective is to be real and to learn to be emotional and to be able to emotionally connect with people because when I'm 10 or 20 years older than she is she has to feel good about this thing and perhaps stem exercises or forgiveness exercises".

Here we have the problem. After years of suppressing his emotions George wants to be able to be emotional and connect with people. It is a recipe for disaster. That disaster happened a few days ago when George went into a local gym and shot 15 women. Three of them died.

I don't know George's entire history. I don't know if he ever sought professional help of any type. I can only base my opinion on what I've seen so far in the words that came out of George's mouth. I'm not even sure what stem exercises or forgiveness exercises that he's talking about.

What I am sure of is the result. The result is that George received some really bad advice about how to handle his emotions. He was never able to truly connect emotionally with people. That allowed him to shoot 15 people with almost no emotion whatsoever. Then it allowed him to shoot himself.

Years and years of suppressing emotion made the act of going in to an aerobics class and shooting 15 women seem like an acceptable idea. It made the act of committing suicide seem like an acceptable idea. In another video George is seen sitting at a seminar where it gets drilled into his head from a seduction guru that "the nice guy must die". Could it have been this one piece of advice was what drove George over the edge. Without the moral obligation to be nice he no longer had any boundaries whatsoever. When you add his desperation, loneliness and frustration to the idea that he no longer had to be nice you have a recipe for the perfect sociopath. If you go on YouTube and search for his videos you will see a guy has almost no emotion left in him.

"I have slept alone for over 20 years. Last time I slept all night with a girl friend was 1982. Proof I am a total malfunction. Girls and women don't even give me a second look ANYWHERE. There is something BLATANTLY wrong with me that NO god damn person will tell me what it is."

That was a blog entry from July 20, 2009. The entries after this talk about his plan and how he going to practice his routine for murdering these women. Another entry talks about how he talks to his neighbor who was in a really good mood and how that was a mistake because you need to stay focused on what he wanted to do.

Over the past few days I've been trying to figure out why this event has been troubling me so much. Early in my career I did some guests presentations at some seduction seminars. What I was teaching was how to connect with women and all people. Every once in a while I would run into somebody and I could see that they have the same mindset as George. The fact that the marketing of many of these seduction gurus seems to tap into and take advantage of guys who are lonely and depressed is very troubling to me. The marketing suggests that if you get sex then you will be happy.

Anytime you depend upon any one other person or event to define your happiness you are setting yourself up for a fall. Guys like George think that if they only had a woman then they would finally find all the happiness that has been eluding them for so long. The reality is that it even if they found a woman that they would only be happy for a very short time. Then they would realize that a woman is not what's going to make them happy and that they have to work on themselves first or they run out and find another woman.

Even if some of these guys get into relationships they tend to be very short-lived because no one wants to be the one thing that makes somebody else happy. No one wants that kind of pressure. The truth is that if you are already happy you will be much more attractive to other people.

This is not what these seduction seminars promote. They actually promote the opposite. They make finding a woman and having sex but one thing that you need to be focused on 24 hours a day, seven days a week. I have seen e-mails from guys who go out every single night no matter what with this one goal. Their lives become so focused on this one thing that everything else in their lives falls completely apart.

Happiness starts with you.

Apparently George was never given this advice. If he was given this advice he ignored it. I have given this advice to many people and have had them ignore it so I know that it happens.

"There is something BLATANTLY wrong with me that NO god damn person will tell me what it is"

When I read this I imagine that if just one person would've sat down with George and explain to him what was wrong that I would not be writing this article today. Three women would be alive. George might actually be happy.

To be fair I'm not sure George ever actually asked anybody. It's hard for me to imagine that this plea for help was the very first time that he was asking for an explanation for why things weren't working out for him.

As I think about it I think that the thing that troubles me the most about George and what he did is that I know with the right advice he could have been helped. I know with the right advice and guidance there would be three women today who would be alive who are not.

I also know that there are thousands of guys out there who participate in this "seduction community " who have the same potential to do what George did. I know that's going to upset a lot of people but at this point I just don't care.

Thousands of guys are being told that the most important thing in life is to get laid. Today even as you read this thousands of guys are being taught how to devalue women so that they will be able to talk to one. Even as you read this thousands of men are being taught how to turn women into objects instead of how to look at them as people.

In my opinion this was a time bomb that was going to go off sooner or later. I have been warning the seduction gurus about this for over 10 years. Not one of them ever believed me. I really wish I were wrong.

So why am I writing this? I guess I'm writing this to bring up something that no one is talking about. The old saying is that everyone is ignoring the elephant in the room. That elephant is that much of the "seduction community" is giving advice that is incredibly damaging. If you add that to somebody who is already in a fragile condition is not only damaging but it is irresponsible.

I want people to know that they need to work on themselves first. You need to straighten out your life so that happiness becomes a possibility that can naturally occur instead of having to wait for happiness until you find somebody else to give that responsibility to. I want people to know that there's nothing more attractive than someone who is happy with themselves.

People who feel good about themselves have no problem talking to the opposite sex. This applies to both men and women.

I don't care what method you use to start yourself down the path of feeling good about yourself. I can give you a couple of guidelines to help you make that decision.

Number one, don't use any method that artificially suppresses emotion.

Number two, don't use any method that artificially amplifies a good emotion in order to suppress a bad emotion.

Number three, find a method that fits your personality. Don't let somebody force something on you that does not feel natural.

Number four, insist on results. If you don't see results with what you're doing make sure that there is some place that you can ask questions and get answers.

Like I said, I don't care what method you use. You have to realize that change begins with you.

Making a woman, car, job, money or anything else your pathway to happiness is a huge mistake. If you belong to any list or had any product that leads you into thinking in this way at all SEND IT BACK. I don't care to get a refund. These guys were giving terrible advice need to get a message that is no longer acceptable to take advantage of those who are lonely and desperate by selling them the idea that banging women will make them happy.

Tom Vizzini Follow me!

by Tom Vizzini

The Unseen Police

Nothing polices someone better than a well guided and God fearing conscience. Come to think of it, if only we all could be a little bit conscience conscious in the things we do, this world would have been a big place filled with so much love and peace.

Do you think the NYPD or the FBI can police and arrest the evil deeds that live and later manifest in an individual, or is the UN (United Nations) a good enough police to monitor and follow the intentions in the hearts of world leaders?

The best and most effective police we all need in life is our conscience, that is the only police that arrest an intention before it matures into an act.

It arrests and detains a thought before it transforms to an action; it is the only police that have the power to change an evil plan to a good one.

Let the inner voice inside you and i, that disembodied voice , that voice that talks with such soothing tone, that voice that whispers into the heart and soul, the voice that says stop when you are about to start, the voice that says smile when all you want to do is frown, the voice that says give when you don't want to give.

The voice that tells you to do what seems like the opposite of what you really want to do.

What looks so right and good to you looks so wrong and bad to it.

A voice that if it had a weep or cane, then our body would be filled with marks and cuts, because you and me tend to do what it says we shouldn't do.

If only our leaders listen to their conscience and not to the selfish and wicked desires of their hearts, then this world would have been void of wars and poverty.

If a man who is about to pick up a gun and shoot someone who just wronged him, if only he could just sit for a split second and listen to that inner voice, maybe there won't be sorrow and pain on the streets .

If only that father would listen to that soft voice, the voice that says he should stay and not walk out on his family, maybe that girl that ended up with the wrong company would have been saved from a life of drug addiction.

The very thin line between acting and living bad and acting and living good is listening to our consciences, doing what that inner voice says and not doing what our head or body wants badly.

So many things that shouldn't have happened could have been stopped if only the conscience was good enough police to police you and i.

Is there any human being in life without a conscience and my answer is NO, we all have a conscience but some of us have had our conscience seared with hot iron by ignoring it for to long.

The soft voice has been killed , that is when you see no remorse in the world again, evil is done without an iota of regret, am sorry is a word so big to use, the feelings of compassion is waxing cold, brothers are no more brothers, friends turn against each other, in general love is lost.

I pray we don't get to that stage, cause that's a horrible reality

Let our conscience police us where ever we go. Never leave your conscience back at home. Always walk with it, because it pays to do so.

by Ola Femi

Relaxing Your Way Up the Ladder

Students nowadays have a tough time coping up with their studies as intense pressure and expectation is built up in them. Studies are considered one of the most important elements in shaping an individual and where knowledge is said to determine how successful an individual will become.

Either if you are a students from high school, college or university the pressure to produce results that would satisfy your parents expectation would certainly build up to an extent that you can't handle it.

Irregular sleeping times and meals, lack of relaxation may eventually cause an individual to get depressed and undergo stress which is very common among university students. In order to handle this situation, one should always have a rest period to help them recuperate and refocus.

There are many activities that can be filled up to occupy the time that you have set for leisure and relaxation such as sports, fishing, drawing or even just lying down on a field and looking at the sky. No matter what the activity is, as long as you are having fun and relaxing your mind it should be fine.

These activities would enable you to forget about the world and responsibilities around you, allowing you to spend time with yourself or even your family.

Studies can be stressful at times, but with the correct amount of work and also rest it may seem like a breeze. Forcing yourself to do something may never work and this applies directly to studies. In view of this, provide time for you to enjoy the world many splendours and pleasures.

by Ash Tan

Addressing Mental Fatigue and Exhaustion

I'd been caught out! Looking down at the grease-spattering effect on the lower front of my T-shirt having ventured "out" I realised to my annoyance that the barbeque I cooked the previous evening had left its mark. My immediate thought was to zip up my tracksuit top--hiding the stain away from prying eyes. And mental fatigue has the same affect for me. I shrink away from the public eye. How does it affect you?

Mental fatigue and exhaustion is a real problem in this day where people are increasingly drawing from themselves reserves they don't have. Capacities are exploited more and more and people often don't know how close they're skating to full-blown burnout.

I recall coming close to burnout in 2005. I was engaged in so much 'good work' on a number of fronts, due to some new-found energies, and the day I finally worked out what was happening to me, the most bizarre thing happened.

During a fun game of table tennis I literally couldn't hit the ball--my mind felt fried. I couldn't react. Even today I'm reminded of what I call 'mental fog' if I push things too far. From that day in April 2005 to the present day I've experienced it, and I'll probably experience it when I draw close to mental fatigue for the rest of my life.

It is therefore my experience that burnout, once approached, stays with us and is an ever-bearing threat.
We are very wise in this day to always seek balance in life no matter how much balance we think we have.

There are so many challenges and temptations around drivenness and the more we grow our capacities the more we push the dual-edged sword--capability we get, yes, but we also lend ourselves to faltering at some future stage; perhaps 12 or 18 months or a few years later--sooner or later it will bite us.

My fat-spattered shirt was a great metaphor for the mind that's exhausted. I instinctively hid the stains and was embarrassed by them. Likewise, when we can't think and people associate us that way, we want to shrink away and not be seen.

When we're normally gregarious and then suddenly we feature as shy and withdrawn it really stands out. We lose a part of ourselves--then fear begins to reign, and we do things we'd not ordinarily do.

Mental fatigue and exhaustion toward burnout is best not even approached and ultimately avoided.

Working within our limits is a good thing; if we push them for a day or a week we get away with it. But for months on end... then we start to invoke a curse on ourselves.

Steve Wickham is a Registered Safety Practitioner (BSc, MSIA, RSP) and a qualified, unordained Christian minister (GradDipBib&Min). by Steve Wickham

How Beliefs Are Created - Our Internal Bank of References

We have a mechanism inside of our brain that analyses every one of our experiences, determines what it means and then stores the results in our bank of references. The process started while we were very young and has been going on ever since.

That is the process that allows us to perform automatically most of what we do during the course of our life. That's the process that allows us to drive a car almost automatically, to use our keyboard without having to search for the letters etc. However, that process also does a lot more.

That is the process that formed most of the beliefs that we have. It's where most of our personal views on just about every subject under the sun were constructed. These beliefs and views are neatly tucked up in our bank of reference just waiting to spring forth when the need occurs.

The problem with that bank of references is that most of it was already formed before we were three years old. That is to say that some very important evaluations were done before we were mature enough to do it. Hard to believe but true.

By the age of three, we had definite notions about love, about relationships, about money, about people and about just every imaginable subject. At the time, they were very embryonic notions but they established the basis upon which our beliefs were eventually formed and accepted as gospel truth.

Today, years later, that bank of reference is still being used to define our reality. As we developed, learned and grew, some of those beliefs were altered to adapt to new information but the original evaluations still play an important role in our belief system.

Without that bank of references we simply could not function. It is where our automatic reflexes are stored; it is through that bank of references that we can have a normal conversation without having to analyze the course of that conversation. It's the guiding mechanism for most of our actions however it is also were our beliefs are held.

Our beliefs are extremely important because they define our reality. As such, some of those beliefs are empowering and some are not. Some beliefs contribute positively and some are major roadblocks. Some beliefs are sources of inspiration and growth while others only contribute to difficulties and hardships.

We are the steward of our own bank of references and the overseer of our beliefs. It is for us to determine what is good and what is not; what should be kept and what should be changed.

It is to be remembered that beliefs are not cast in stone. They are simply notions that we have adopted for reasons that, in some cases, may be questionable and sometimes adopted before we were mature enough to make judicial decisions.

Some people where influenced, by the time that they were three years old, to believe that they were worthless and that they could never achieve anything worthwhile in their life. Years and years later that belief still affect and run their life in spite of tons of evidences to the contrary. That's a real tragedy.

Beliefs are simply notions that we have accepted and notions that can be questioned and changed. Changes may not always be easy because our mind has a strong need for consistency. However, with some determination, a disempowering belief can always be replaced by a positive one. That's how we grow, mature and become wiser and more effective.

by Dr. Raymond Comeau

Stop Reading Self-Help Books!

I am forever being contacted by clients recommending a variety of self-help books. And, yet, a client recently mentioned to me that he had been on a workshop where another participant told him to "Stop reading the books - and start living it!" The truth is, that you will only find true wisdom within. You will only find your true potential within. You don't have to read others' experiences or exhortations - you have to, at some point, sooner or later, start walking the talk - you've got to do it for yourself.

Many - or most - of the self-help books available on the market talk about our inner power, our innate ability to unleash the "giant within". However, continually reading books will not do it for you - books contain other people's wisdom, other people's experience, other people's journeys. You've got to take your own journey. And that journey starts in this very moment - it doesn't start with a New Year's Resolution, with some future commitment. In this very moment, you have, entirely within your own power, the ability to start truly living - way beyond what so-called "normal" people take for living.

You see, "normal" people don't live - they exist in a pseudo-world of automatic reactive behaviour, based on what they internalised when they were young and impressionable. In our formative years, we "learned" how the world works, what was possible and impossible, who we are and what our place is in this world of ours. Research indicates that little (or nothing) of what we learned approximates to the truth of what you and I can really achieve. Research indicates that we were socialised or normalised, that we live to a set of norms that confine us into an existence which sells us far short of all that we could actually and otherwise be.

The same research indicates that those who follow the norms are predisposed to being negative, believing the negative and mindlessly accepting that life is the way the vast majority of people believe it to be - a struggle, where you have to work hard to be a success, where nothing comes easily, where you live and die on the same set of rails that have been previously travelled by all the other normal people. Of course, if you buy into that nonsense, that is how your life will turn out - because we all create, through our subconscious beliefs, our very own self-fulfilling prophecies.

Time to wake up from the nightmare! Time to realise that you have, within your very own self, the innate ability to be all that you can be. Time to realise that you can create the life that you really, really want because, in the day to day of your current everyday life, you are already creating the life that you expect - it's just that normal people live down to their expectations. Decades of research prove conclusively that we experience what we expect to experience, that we perceive what we expect to perceive, that we live the lives we expect to live.

Unfortunately, we are surrounded by normality and find it hard to break free. Sure, we might like to read about it, might like to dream about it, but most people will die without having realized their wildest dreams, without having realized what normal people perceive as unrealistic ambitions. These dreams are only wild or unrealistic because they don't conform to the norms expected of normal people. These dreams and ambitions are yours for the living if you start using your mind abnormally - the way extraordinarily successful people use their minds. The only difference between you and people like Bill Gates, Muhammad Ali, Donald Trump, Mahatma Gandhi and all the rest is that those guys refused to accept the norm.

You can turn your back on the drudgery of normal too by changing your state of mind. Normal people's minds are in an awful state - one bombarded by 50,000 random thoughts each day, one where their subconscious constantly focused on what was learned during their formative years - a past long gone.

As I said earlier, now is the moment in which you can change everything. Now is the moment in which you can start living exceptionally. There's no time like the present. Indeed, now is the only time and place you or I have - doesn't it make sense that we make the very most we can of the here and now.

This is done by turning your mind's attention away from the nonsense that is pulling the normal world over your eyes. This is done by developing - or re-developing, because we could all do it as children, before we became normal adults - your innate, natural ability to invest your precious energy in the present moment. If you invest your energy in now, you will be more present than the normal person. You will have what normal people call "presence" - the kind of presence and influence that the people I mentioned earlier on have exercised in their lives.

You invest your energy in the present by paying more attention to the here and now. You are blessed in that you have, at your disposal, five senses with which you can actively engage to experience the wonder of what is going on now - not what normal people think is going on - but what is actually happening. You might just find that, in doing so, you'll find that all the opportunities you need to achieve effortless success are before your very eyes. Open them.

by Willie Horton

Personal Vision

Your company has a vision. It has a mission statement of a mindset that defines what the purpose and goals are. Each day when your company does business, the person deal that is being made is in line with the vision. If it is not in line, problems occur and the company suffers consequences. Maybe these consequences are major and come in the form of legal action or negative media coverage. Maybe the consequences are minor and only involve some internal conversations to resolve the issues. No matter how it plays out, when a company does things that go against the vision, there are negative consequences.

Each individual person should have a vision too. When you get up in the morning, you know what you have to do and where you have to go. The one thing that many of us don't think about is the why. Why are we going to the job that we are going to? Why are we even getting up today? There is a whole series of questions that we can ask ourselves to find this personal vision. If we don't find it, how do we know what is important? The level of importance that we assign a task is not in our control if we don't match it to our own personal vision. The importance will be determined by someone else.

Instead, why don't we think about what is important to us and then start planning our agenda? I understand that paying the bills, putting a roof over our heads and having food on the table are all very important. I work to do those things every day too. But what I don't understand is how we can spend an entire day, career or even lifetime devoted to things that hold no connection with our personal vision. This topic comes up when I talk with coaching clients about what they want to do. Initially I hear, "I want to lose weight" or "I want to quit smoking". Occasionally, I even hear "I just want to feel better." That statement, while still very general, is getting us closer to understanding a personal vision.

I'm not suggesting that we all quit our jobs and start an all-consuming self discovery mission. What I am suggesting is that we start a short list of the things that are important to us. Start by making a list of two or three things that you hold to be most important in your life. Once you have your list, think about how much time and effort you put into those things. If you are devoting the most time and energy to the things that you hold to be the most important, you are in line with your personal vision.

Some people like to take it a step further. Many people can identify with the corporate concept of a vision and mission statement. Try to write a brief statement that embodies your values and explains what is most important to you. Once you can do that, you can do much more. You can now measure the things you are doing against this statement. Now you have a gauge for every task you complete. Is this important to me? More importantly, why is it important and how important is it to me?

Too often we end up sacrificing what is important to us. Why do we do this? I think it's because we don't take time to define our own importance. Not just the things we think are important; my concern is that we don't define our importance in general. The importance of what you want to do and how you want to feel are being defined by other people in many of our lives. It's time we took a few minutes to arrange you own list to make sure that your actions today are in line with your personal vision. If they are not, we know that there are consequences.

Business Health Expert Joe Byrd uses his passion and expertise to bring business and health together. He integrates health education in lifestyle topics such as Stress Management, Weight Management, and Smoking Cessation into businesses in order to accomplish the following: Improving Employee Health Decreasing Health Care Spending Increasing Your Employee Productivity Improving Employee Satisfaction and Retention Joe applies his craft in the business world by making health part of business strategy. As he helps companies invest in their employees, together they create healthy and successful cultures. by Joseph R. Byrd

Controlling What You Dream

There are numerous individuals who think that dreams are more than merely a way for us to let go of the things that have been stressing us out. They are likewise a method to tell us our future and what we can expect in our life. Dreaming is something that everyone does - but only a couple of us have what is called as lucid dreaming.

This is one of the most ordinary kinds of dreaming and is also well known as conscious dreaming. During this form of dreaming the person is aware that they are dreaming and can remember many of the details concerning it. For some people they will be dreaming for a long time before they recognize that they are in fact awake even if you do not have the ability to determine what you are dreaming.

In some cases this type of dreaming has been induced by something that is indicating to the individual that what they are going through during that time is a dream instead of reality. Yet, these prompts are not always required. Numerous people naturally know that it is just a dream and have learned to tell the difference.

It is potential for many people to be able to moderate their dreams during this state. This does take practice though and for numerous people they are not able to do it. Whether or not the individual is able to moderate their dreams is dependent on how mindful they are when it is happening.

There are unique levels of consciousness in people who are lucid dreaming. People who have a high awareness can control even the smallest points of the dream and will know almost at once that it is merely a dream. Those who hardly acknowledge that it is a dream will have hardly any control for it

by Naome West

Life Freedom

Just what can you accomplish when you have true Life Freedom? Well, for starters, you can do those things that most people just think or dream about. Wouldn't it be great to get out of the rat race mentality and the limiting mindset that totally inhibits what you truly want to accomplish? Life Freedom is a lifestyle of abundance and prosperity. It's a life of great Financial rewards and most importantly Financial Independence.

With Life Freedom, you get to live a life that is coveted by many, but at the same time, you get to help those same people live a life they can only imagine. It is a lifestyle that allows you to travel like no one else. You can be in Namale, Fiji one morning and on the beach in Maui a day later. This is how many people would picture their ideal life is that they simply just become aware of the power of their mind and follow through.

What is the best way to achieve Life Freedom? In my lifetime, studying many resources that I have absorbed through education, I feel that the best way to achieve Life Freedom is through personal development, continuous improvement and taking Action to achieve your goals. There is no clear-cut way to achieve this level of freedom, so if you are looking for a magic pill to make you massively successful, you won't find it.

In studying the many successful people that have achieved monumental success, there is a common denominator among all. They are usually in a niche and are able to exploit it fully. They are usually also the best at what they do or surround themselves with that level of knowledge. They are constantly improving themselves through leverage or reinvesting into their own lives. I would implore that you study the biographies of those that have the level of freedom that you want and simply model their behavior. It really is just that simple.

by Dwight Anthony

Useful Tips For Overseas Workers and Migrants

Overseas Workers and migrants need to set goals when they leave for work abroad. Usually, their main goal is to provide a comfortable life for their family back home but preparing for it is not easy. It takes a lot of sacrifices to be able to achieve them. The guide below will help overseas workers and migrants to realize their goals and their dreams.

1. Save and invest your hard earned money. It is also good to save some money for your family's travel to your country of work. Part of your mission is to be able to keep your family intact. This is one way of sustaining the bond of your family. This will certainly lessen your loneliness and adjustment period. Airlines today frequently offer promos for international travel. Keep yourself updated on these promos to give you an idea on how much you will need to save up for their travel and read up on them. Use the internet as your source of free resource.

2. Insure your Health. Purchase a health insurance to safeguard your families future. This will help protect you from high or unexpected healthcare expenses. Today, most comprehensive private health insurance programs cover the cost of routine, preventive and emergency health care procedures and doctor's bills. Thus, you are assured that money is available to pay for those health care expenses and you can have some peace of mind knowing that your family is insured.

3. Be an Entrepreneur. Explore the possibility of starting your own business. Study entrepreneurship and find expos, trade fairs and seminars that will provide free information about news, trends and practical tips on starting your own business.

4. Put your money in a higher interest bearing investment instruments like treasury bills, bonds and other government securities. A higher interest bearing investment can prove to be a flexible concept capable of working as an investment vehicle for your future. It can earn more interest compared to a regular savings account. This is available in most banks. These banks recognize the growing importance to serve the needs and wants of overseas workers and migrants .

5. Continue to learn about your job. Enroll for skill-enhancement courses and programs applicable to your line of work. There is a need for Overseas Filipino Workers to find a way to improve skills through continuous learning and development. This is would help ensure your job security, increase your value to the company, and earnings.

6. Use the internet to save money on expensive phone calls to your loved ones. You can save a lot of money by using different online applications available today. Don't forget to plan for your future and invest your hard earned money so that you can live the life that you want for and make your dreams come true.

by Jan Book