Soropa Blog

There is hundreds more to British music festivals this summer that The Longest Day and Night. From rock by the seaside at Liverpool to folk and acoustic sounds at Cambridge, UK’s festivals market place is in outstanding health. Tickets for old favourites like City Showcase and Maps Festival still continue to be snapped up like hot cakes, & with Madonna on Glastonbury Paul Weller at V Festival & Jay-Z at Glastonbury the British festivals are appealing to a broader demographic range than ever before.

What do people want from a music festival? Is it unbelievable dance music so festival hunters can have a laugh all night, ear banging metal for serious moshing or some terrific soft folk music while festival goers tan in the sunshine? What’s further fundamental really is the kind of ambiance that festival lovers are seeking for, the bands and the facilities, all of which at different festivals vary a lot. The foremost pop festivals gets into swing normally at the end of spring beginning of August the festival go on up and down the British countryside so there is always going to be a fierce festival that is close by to you. There are not really ever any complaints as people of course are bound to pick a stunning festival that suites one and what one is seeking for.

The 1st time you yourself attend a stunning festival from the very second one walk in the grounds to pitch your tent accommodation one might often feel this superb buzz. Rock Festivals repeatedly seem to get greater year after year. The only down fall that looks to get mentioned year after year is the massive cost and price of food and vodka nevertheless this cannot be helped. Festival lovers are no allowed to take any of your own chips or beer onto the festival grounds but festival hunters are allowed to carry it into your campsite so it makes sense to eat and drink all folk can before stepping into the ground this way festival lovers should be able to stop from spending tons of money What makes an excellent festival great is for obvious reasons the the gorgeous weather, the fantastic atmosphere the bands and the major memories that one are bound to make along the way. Buy Music Festivals tickets and see your favourite bands!

Once you start an online business the benefits are multiple. Imagine being able to work whenever you want; however you want, and with whomever you please. What if I tell you that you can be your own boss, you choose your own schedule and still make a lot of money?

For most people this is just a dream, but the truth is that it may be easier than you can imagine. Bellow I have enumerated and briefly explained the many benefits of starting your own online business. Also you will learn how to easily do this and start earning money from home.

1. You are your own boss.

One of the biggest benefits of starting your online business is that you are your own boss. No one tells you what to do or how to do it. No one asks you questions, complain about your work, questions you about why you are late, why didn’t you do this, why didn’t you do that, etc. This increases your self esteem a lot. You are not a slave of someone else anymore. In fact if your business grows, you will have people working for you and not the other way around.

2. You choose your own schedule.

One of the most liberating things ever is to work whenever you want, not when someone else wants you to work. Imagine being able to work when you feel on the mood and not because you have to. This will reduce your stress level to at least 50%.

3. You choose your own environment.

How many individuals complain that they hate their job environment? Are you tired and frustrated of that hostile environment that surrounds you at work? You are not alone. Most people complain about other people. Sometimes it is just not possible to make everyone happy, specially if you work on customer service. Sometimes other employees don’t want to cooperate.

It is just uncomfortable to work with other people that do not like you. You can put a stop to all of that and save the hassle by starting your own online business, because if you start an online business you can work surrounded by your family and friends or just alone in your room.

4. You make a lot of money.

You can make more money working for yourself than working for someone else. That’s a fact. Think about it, when you are an employee, you have to produce more than what the owner pays you, otherwise the company couldn’t make a profit from your efforts and they wouldn’t hire you in the first place. That’s one of the reasons that many employees feel exploited and frustrated. They feel the effect of earning less than they produce.

In the other hand, when you work for yourself on your online business, you ‘eat’ all the profits you produce. No one takes them away from you. You don’t have to leave your home, so you don’t have to spend money on gas, car maintenance, toll fees, cloth, etc., etc., etc.

You don’t have to spend time in nonsense activities either. It is all pure profit. Also, the Internet takes care of most of your business. So, you receive a lot of leverage, which multiplies your profits a lot. The income potential with an online business is amazing!

5. You are free.

Freedom is one of the most important things in life. I mean you could make a lot of money, but what would you do with it if you have to spend the rest of your life in jail. Is it worthy to be rich and be controlled by someone else all the time? Of course not!

Most people want to be rich so they can be free. Most people want to have money, so they can buy all they want without guilt feelings and without limitations. This is called financial freedom. One of the biggest benefits of starting your own online business is that it can set you financially free. Once you become free, you can start enjoying freedom in many other areas of your life.

6. You earn passive income.

With an Internet business you can earn passive income. This means that you can earn money even if you are not working. Let me explain this to you. Most people and business owners have to continually work in order to earn something. If they stop working, they stop earning. This is not good. You must find streams of income, which allow you to profit continually even if you stop working.

An online business is the perfect solution to that problem. The Internet allows you to set your businesses on autopilot. Once you set up everything, said businesses produce money by themselves, so you don’t have to be all day behind your computer screen. Then all you do is to check them often to make sure that everything is running smoothly.

7. You have multiple streams of income.

You have probably heard that you “should not put all your eggs in one basket.” Even if a business is generating a lot of money, you won’t feel safe by earning income from one source only. You will take it too seriously. You will feel nervous. You know that if that income stream dries up, it will cause a chaos on your financial life.

In the other hand if you have multiple sources of profits, you will feel comfortable. You will be relaxed. You will know that if one source stops producing profits you will have many others to back up that situation. An online business allows you to set up different income streams easily. This will contribute to your peace of mind and it will make you happy.

There are multiple benefits to starting an online business as you can see. “Time is money.” Are you investing it wisely? Maybe you have being wasting time and energy on activities and jobs that you don’t really care about. Take a smart decision today. Start your own Internet business!

Copyright © 2005 - EasyWebRiches.com

Simply the most important information!
Ignore this and all your efforts to make
money on the Internet will be futile!
Visit http://www.easywebriches.com for…

A video projector is a device that projects a video or computer image onto a screen. The commonly used inputs are video cassette players, CD and DVD players and PowerPoint presentations from computers. Some computers have CD as well as DVD drives which support these discs. Some projectors don’t have VGA connectors, which take inputs from a computer.

A video projector employs one of three technologies: CRT, LCD and DLP. CRT projectors are just like television, i.e. they employ cathode ray tubes. The limitations of CRT video projectors are the heavy size and the requirement of absolute darkness for clarity of the picture. LCD projectors employ a special chip so that the advantage is that the projector is very compact. Besides, it has excellent contrast and brightness. The LCD projector employs individual pixels, which produces high resolution. The limitation of a LCD is it produces a screen door effect. Also the repair of one would result in a dark spot on the screen.

DLP technology employs a Digital Micromirror Device, instead of a chip. DLP projectors are highly suitable for viewing movies and also other multimedia presentations. The advantages of DLP projector include color accuracy and no screen door effect.

LCD and DLP video projectors are the favorites and therefore most of the inventory of the rental companies are the above mentioned ones. The rates of these projectors start at $100 and are dependent upon factors such as the resolution and weight. The rental companies provide support throughout the whole day and night. This includes online or phone booking, shipment, installation, and operation support.

Hotels, resorts, convention centers and conference halls enter into contract with rental companies to provide these services. The rental companies have chains of shops across a particular region or nationwide networks. The directories of these service providers can be obtained online, which directs them to the individual websites.

Customer Acquisition is beyond doubt the number one priority for all serious business owners. Whether you’re a merchant or an associate/affiliate of a merchant, your goal is to grow sales. That is why the best in your industry are closely guarding their customer acquisition techniques. Regardless of what they’re telling you, they will not give up their competitive advantage and will hide their techniques and true motives behind “smoke and mirror” tactics.

Things aren’t always what they seem.

Two men are walking in a forest when they come across a deep hole in the ground. “Wow, that must be really deep”, says one man after throwing in a pebble and listening for the sound. “Lets throw in one of those large rocks and see how deep it goes.” The men throw in a football-sized boulder and wait anxiously for the sound… Nothing! “There is a railway sleeper over there in the bushes”, said the other man. “Help me throw it in, it’s definitely going to make a sound”. The two men heave the railway sleeper into the hole and watch it disappear in the darkness…again, Nothing! Suddenly a goat appears from the forest. It runs full speed between the men, leaps into the air and falls into the hole”. Just as the men exchange looks of utter bewilderment, a farmer comes running out from the trees yelling “Hey, have you guys seen a goat around here?” “Sure did”, replied the men. “It was the craziest thing. It ran right past us and leaped into that hole”. “Nah, can’t have been my goat”, said the farmer. “My goat was tied to a railway sleeper”.

The moral of the story is, “Don’t believe what you perceive”. Many successful businesses will guard their customer acquisition secrets by trying to convince you they’ve got to where they are by good honest hard work. Others will distract you by trying to sell you their unique system, packaged and guaranteed to generate you overnight success.

So what are your competitors really doing? Listen closely, I am about to reveal to you, the top 7 schemes they’re using to boost their sales and baffle their industry peers like yourself, making you wonder what the heck you’re doing wrong.

#1) Perception Management. Online businesses in particular are excellent perception managers. You’ve seen them before, professional looking web site with images of sexy sales people ready to take your order. Often however, they’re one-man operations run from the spare bedroom. No insurance, enforced customer privacy, or quality merchant processes. But on the surface, it’s intimidating to competitors and assuring to new customers.

#2) Strategic alliances. Most businesses do not make it on their own. Joint Ventures, and behind the scene business deals are often the true reason for rapid customer acquisition. Alliances are generally only revealed if customer acquisition can be further enhanced through brand alliance.

#3) Puppet Masters. Many businesses are in fact just small branches owned and controlled by a larger third party. They can afford to run without profit while lucratively appearing cost-effective. The business often exists not for profit, but as a strategic tactic to ensure the parent company has a finger in that market segment pie.

#4) Leveraging. Most of today’s technology would not be here without yesterday’s inventions. Imagine your home if plastic was not invented. Business is the same. Competitors will invest their time and money on safe, fast and cost-effective outcomes. Innovating new ways from scratch is risky. Leveraging existing customer acquisition services is favorable. For example, by creating incentives for your customers to recommend you to their network of contacts, is a viral marketing technique that leverages the customers you already have.

#5) Super-leveraging. You cannot use leveraging alone, as your competitor will have the same advantages you have. So unless you have the funds to buy out the customer acquisition service before your competitor discovers it, you need be creative and innovate smart methods before them. These are your intellectual property and competitive advantage, so guard them well. For example a merchant with an affiliate program would super-leverage it using a “customer acquisition exchange” service. This delivers a new sales channel (customer reciprocation) that can be competitively used in many creative ways to boost business.

#6) Intelligence and surveillance. Not only do successful business super-leverage known services for customer acquisition, they also super-leverage as a strategic intelligence move. For instance, online merchants will use Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising services like Google and Overture not to bring customers directly but to learn about their competitors and how much they pay for customer acquisition. Remember, they’re in the game to win and the more they know about their opponent the easier it is to manipulate them.

#7) Precision systems. A market leader will use targeted and measurable strategies. Every element is monitored and adjustable. Through trial and error, your competitor will tweak the customer experience for profit and growth. It is a systematic approach to customer acquisition that successful organizations like McDonalds use to thwart their competition.

So there you have it, just a few of the secret happenings that go on behind the scenes at your competitors business. Look out for more information about how to decipher your competitor’s business model to take the lead.

Michael Lever is a co-founder and CEO of SpinningTornado.com, an independent company offering unbiased tools and services to help affiliate and network marketers build profitable online businesses.
http://www.SpinningTornado.com
Partnering affiliates the world over.

If you’re serious about wanting to start a business, the first thing you want to do is take the time to understand what really makes you tick. Where do you get your drive? What gets you in a “zone?”

However, there’s a lot more to figuring out the BEST business idea that will make you more money and give you more freedom to enjoy more success in your life.

And success to you may be different than success to someone else. It may not be all about money at all. It may not be about finding something you are completely passionate about. It may not be about having a “cool” business — the latest fad or a unique niche.

Success is how you define it.

Finding the right idea to bring you that success takes a willingness to be patient, good timing, and a lot of research.

And there’s nothing wrong with taking your time, being careful trying to figure out which small business ideas are best.

If you rush this process, you’re bound to come up with a business that doesn’t excite you at all.

You’ll be bored.

You won’t reach goals and it will become more like a job … maybe even harder!

You’ll feel like you would working for someone else. (You don’t want that again, do you?)

First, Figure Out What You Really Want

Starting off, you really have to force yourself to relax. I know what it’s like being very, very unhappy at a job. And I can tell you from first-hand experience that walking away from a well-paying job and jumping into your own business is stressful.

But if you carefully plan your “escape,” it will make it that much better!

Set Your Short-Term Goals

Maybe you want to make a ton of money and drive around in a BMW.

Or maybe you just want the freedom to enjoy your family or friends. Or perhaps it’s just a matter of being in control of your life — being able to do whatever you want, whenever you want.

Whatever your long-term goals are, first you have to concentrate on the shorter term goals before you can begin to see that “big picture.”

It’s up to you.

But understand that the type of business you start will play a roll in whether or not you meet your goals — both short and long-term.

If you’re trying to startup a part-time venture while working full-time for someone else, you’re going to have to set daily goals to try and squeeze in a few hours of work every day, often before and after work! (I used to get up at 4:30 in the morning, go to my full-time job at 8:30, come home at 5 or 6 and get right back to work on my new business … and I loved it!)

But if it’s a small business idea you came up with on the ride home and it doesn’t really “drive” you, it’ll make reaching your short term goals — often the hard part — a heck of a lot more difficult.

What are Your Long-Term Plans?

That big picture includes, more than anything, something you can see yourself doing every day. Something that — even on weekends — you love to do.

And even though it is something you love to do, make sure it will feed your long-term plan. And you won’t know that until you know what your long term plan actually is!

For instance, if your plan is indeed to make a lot of money and retire at a young age, you’ll obviously have to look at small business ideas that are highly profitable.

This would include mostly business-to-business models. There is typically more profit selling to businesses (a product or service) unless you make it big in the consumer market.

Why would the business-to-business market be more profitable? Because a business would be more willing to invest in a product or service (that may even be a write-off) versus the consumer market which is more “luxury” driven. Meaning, consumers base a lot of their buying decisions on want instead of needs.

It’s also a financial issue.

A larger business can pay a $300 invoice without thinking about it whereas a consumer getting a $300 bill may sweat a little more.

This is just an example of understanding your long-term goals so you can look closer at a finite number of business ideas to get you closer to where you want to be.

And if you go ahead and hang your “open for business” sign and then realize, “Oh, I can’t make that much money doing this!”, you’ll only be taking one step forward and two steps back.

Grab a Pad … Ideas Will Come and Go

Because — like all entrepreneurs — you’re a thinker, you’ve always got ideas popping into your head. Probably more than you can handle (the brain only has so much room, right?).

That’s why you should always keep a notebook by your side.

Sure, some of the best ideas get written on a cocktail napkin. But you’re better off trying to give these ideas more permanence. And having a notebook dedicated to your small business ideas will give you a growing and buildable “diary” to use when you’re good and ready to go for it!

And once you start putting your ideas in writing, you’ll find yourself getting into the habit of using your notebook more and more. It’s like anything else that takes practice.

The more you do it, the better you get at finding the best small business ideas. And each idea will help you grow more specific or “niche” ideas.

Become a Private Investigator!

What you want to do is really learn how to research. You’ve got to dig — and dig deep — to determine what business really could work best for your success.

Not only do you have to know who you are and what’s going to drive your personality the most, but you also need to think about what sells.

What type of business can be profitable?

Too many people make the mistake of looking at only one aspect of starting a small business. If you love parakeets and you’re passionate about them, it doesn’t mean you’ll be able to open up a store in your town without knowing if anyone else likes them!

As a side note, starting an internet business allows you a greater opportunity to build a business around something you’re passionate about. If it’s parakeets you love, you’ll find more people on the internet with your same passion than you would in your own backyard. For some great information about finding your passion on the internet, click here

You research should include looking at what other businesses are doing (successfully and not so successfully) in your city or town.

Look at small businesses and even what the “big guys” are doing.

Maybe you could create a smaller business with a personal touch that the “big guys” are typically missing out on (no matter how hard they try.)

Figure out more about what makes you tick …

What kind of hobbies do you have, if any?

What kind of magazines do you enjoy?

What do you like to do most in your “free” time?

What was the best job you ever held? Even if it’s one you had when you were a kid, you may find a business in something you know and love — but don’t even realize it yet!

Business Ideas Are Everywhere

Start to think about needs in your town or city. Is there something missing? Is there a need or a product or some type of service people would use that they “want?”

What is the majority age population in your city or town? Is it mostly seniors? (a huge market because they are more active and living longer than ever.) Or is your community made up of younger families?

Check out the local sections in your paper. Read the Lifestyle and Arts section. (I always find articles about local business people who have started businesses.)

Look at local and state businesses. Look at consumer trends and what people “want.”

Is there something other businesses in your area need? Don’t be afraid to go around and ask!

Think about concerns we all have in the world today.

There are so many opportunities out there, waiting for like you to step up and get started with a new business!

Don’t be afraid to ask!

This is where your friends, family and neighbors come in. Ask them to give you their number-one need. A product or service that’s “hard-to-find.” A complaint about what’s missing from their lives.

How many times have you looked for something — a product or service — and had to travel a long distance to get it?

Answering questions will give you plenty to think about and some good material for your notebook.

And if you’re interested in the business-to-business market, you could always put together a survey and mail it out to local businesses. Give them an incentive (a low-cost, high value gift) and find out what they really need to help them improve their business.

You may find that all of the local businesses in your area need someone to take care of local deliveries. Or someone to help them type or use their computer more effectively..

Just remember, starting a small business is a process and it takes time. The more planning and research you do up front, the better chance you’ll have to success and have a little bit of fun, too.

Greg Payette is the Founder of the Small Biz Shop and will help you start a small business with his ideas, tools and resources. Sign up for a FREE e-course, “7 Mistakes That Will Prevent You From Starting Your Business” by visiting the Small Biz Shop at http://www.SmallBizShop.com

Sorry for the silly alliteration, but I’m the author, so I get to choose the title.

Choices, it seems, make a big difference in whether we win or lose the Battle of the Bulge, too. We all know that trans fats should be avoided, but every once in a while it’s good to kick around the results of a nice double-blind study that quantifies just how bad they really are. Kylie Kavanagh and her colleagues at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, spent six years doing just that.

In case you haven’t heard, trans fats are “hydrogenated” oils that are modified at high-temperature so as to render them nearly indestructible. Trans fats are esteemed by food manufacturers because they extend the shelf life of food by about a factor of one-bahzillion. Purchase a new bag of cookies containing trans fats and you’ll be surprised (maybe) to learn that the product is “best if enjoyed” sometime between now and three years from now.

Just for fun, bake a batch of chocolate chip cookies and seal them up in an air-tight, zip-lock plastic bag and set them on a shelf for three years. On their third anniversary, open the bag and enjoy! What a treat! These rock-hard lumps of penicillin and other organic material will hardly resemble what you baked three years before. The cause of this metamorphosis from treat to trick is something known as “oxidation”. It’s the same process that turns fruit brown and an old car into a rust-bucket. It is entropy… It is one of the universal laws. So what happens when we break a universal law? We get fat.

Hydrogenating fat not only makes it last longer, it also makes it harder for the body to dispose of. It really makes sense, if you think about it. We don’t eat plastic because we were not designed to metabolize it. We weren’t designed to metabolize trans fat, either. Okay, so back to the study.

Ms. Kavanaugh and her team set out to study the effects of trans fat on the body. They did two things that I really applaud them for… First of all, they ran the study over a six-year period. This is a significant period of time, and one that we can relate to as we look back in time ourselves. We don’t gain weight or lose weight quickly. It happens over time. Secondly, she used quantities that make sense. So often, scientists will measure an effect of something by feeding lab animals the human equivalent of tons of the item being studied.

In this study performed on monkeys, Kavanaugh fed both groups a diet that consisted of just enough calories to sustain them, 35% of which came from fats. In the first group, the fats were 8% trans fats and the other 27% were from mono-unsaturated fats. The second group’s diet consisted of entirely mono-unsaturated fats (no trans fat at all.) The reason for the ratio was to mimic the amount of fat, and type of fat, that would be consumed by someone who ate a good deal of fried food.

The results were amazing, but not surprising. The trans fat group of monkeys had gained 7.2% of their body weight in six short years, while the non-trans fat group had gained only 1.8%. In addition, the trans fat group of monkeys had 30% more belly fat than the non-trans fat group, as shown by CT scan. Belly fat has been shown to be a strong indicator for diabetes and heart disease.

Studies like this will help those of us fighting the Battle of the Bulge to be better equiped to deal with our struggles. But not only that, they increase overall consumer awareness, which results in change. In January 2006, US foodmakers were told to begin to report all trans fat content on food labels. In an even bigger move, fast food chain Wendy’s announced that it will soon be removing all trans fats from their entire menu, at least in the US and Canada.

Here’s to the hope that this is a trend that will continue across the entire industry and around the world!

Most dogs enjoy listening and are proud of the knowledge and skills they acquire. Untrained dogs are seldom as happy as trained ones, and lead much less interesting lives. Many dogs also get a sense of security from obedience and discipline, especially the more intelligent ones.

Every observant dog owner can see for himself that his dog gets greater satisfaction from the praise rewarding a well- executed command or good behavior than he does from the momentary excitement of disobeying, which is usually followed by the evident guilt feelings, (ears back and avoiding eye contact), even when he has not been punished.

Owners vary in their training talents just as dogs vary in their train ability. Some people are born animal trainers and accomplish remarkable results with little effort. But even the best trainers are seldom equally successful with every breed of dog. The training procedures that are highly successful with one type of dog may be totally ineffective with another.

A basic mental affinity, even a certain type of personality seems to be necessary when training a dog. All good trainers possess authority, patience, and self-control. Brilliant ones possess an additional indefinable “x” quality that is probably a combination of love and respect.

Dog training techniques have been so well systematized in recent years that the least gifted owner can achieve reasonable good results with effort, persistence, patience, and understanding. Dogs have a much higher understanding intelligence than most people give them credit for. They can and do learn, but we have to give them our time and patience.

All pet dogs should be given basic obedience training as a matter of course, and not only when they develop bad behavior. Today s dogs live in a much faster paced world, just as we do. Even though we may be with them when they are out in public, they can still “stray” or disobey. While training cannot completely compensate for poor breeding, a bad environment, or poor upbringing, it can surely help. They world will teach them how to misbehave, but it’s up to us as pet parents to teach them how to behave.

Specialized training isn’t necessary unless the dog is to perform or be seen, such as the purebred show dogs. This level of training and behavior requires much more time and labor and usually requires a higher aptitude on the part of the dog, and much more skill and patience on the part of the trainer. Training of so called “champion” show dogs usually begins when they are puppies and continues through most of their lives.

Training your dog is the basics of behavior and communication with you can be very rewarding. What you may lack in experience, equipment, facilities, etc. is usually compensated for by your dogs desire to please the person he loves and lives with, which is his strongest motivation.

Randy Jones and his partner Brent Jones have been in the pet industry for a long time. Recently they formed Joncopets.com. On the site, customers can read articles about anything pets as well as shop for the latest trends in pet supplies, dog accessories , dog clothes, dog collars, dog beds and more for their best friend. Feel free to check out the site for more information and products.

Submitted with Article Distributor.

“To be nobody but myself, in a world which is doing its best night and day to make me everybody else, means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight and never stop fighting. - e.e. Cummings

I’ve written before about the “luxury” of self-care - shifting our mindset from self-care being something we HAVE to do, to something we GET to do, with the reward being more healthy and full lives.

But what if, deep down, you don’t think you DESERVE a healthy and full life?

What if, deep down, you’re punishing yourself with unhealthy habits because you think you deserve the side effects that result from them?

In my own journey towards self-care, I’ve found that there are three steps to self-acceptance. And I’ve noticed that, for me, they need to occur in this order:

First, I need to accept myself right now, who I am in this moment. I know I have more growing to do, and see the improvements I’ve already made.

Accepting myself as perfect doesn’t mean that I can’t make mistakes or have room to improve. It means that I accept the perfection of the version of myself I am today, knowing that I have the power to learn, grow and change. I’ve found that until I accept myself as I am now, I can’t begin to change.

The woods would be very silent if no birds sang except the best. Yiddish Proverb quoted in Finding Joy by Dannel I. Schwartz and Mark Hass

Second, I need to learn how to BE myself (most of the time). That means saying “no” when that’s my choice, not automatically doing what everyone else is doing just so I won’t look different. It also means challenging my lifetime of learned behaviours in favour of something healthier.

This is a very important practice. Live your daily life in a way that you never lose yourself. When you are carried away with your worries, fears, cravings, anger, and desire, you run away from yourself and you lose yourself. The practice is always to go back to oneself. Thich Nhat Hanh in Going Home

And finally, I need to learn more about myself and discover who I am truly am, at my core. I do this by observing myself, objectively and from a place of self-acceptance. Good things to notice? Things that make me sparkle and feel more alive; those will be closely linked to my “heart’s desires”, my “life purpose”, and my core values and beliefs.

Also good to notice are the things that get my blood boiling, that I can’t tolerate - if it’s in someone else, it’s usually a reflection of something I wish was different about myself. Or it’s the OPPOSITE of one of my heart’s desires.

From there I start the process all over again, of accepting this new version of myself that I’m continually defining, redefining and evolving.

TAKING IT TO YOUR SELF-CARE PLAN

Smile at yourself in mirror three times every day. I’ve read that just the act of smiling (and for triple the impact, laugh out loud!) shifts us into a more positive mood. Share those positive feelings with the person in the mirror.

Send yourself a THANK YOU card for something you did for yourself. When you do practice self-care, make a healthy choice or stop a negative thought in it’s tracks, reinforce that behaviour, help yourself feel good about it, and you’ll keep doing it.

At the end of the day, write down something that you wished you’d done differently and then forgive yourself for it (this would be a great addition to your gratitude journal).

If you’re not sure how to forgive yourself, imagine that your best friend was telling you about something they wish they’d done differently. What might you say to make them feel better? You could also spend some time writing about how you could choose to do it differently next time.

So many people have “blind spots”; behaviours or personality traits that are having harmful effects that they don’t even realize. If you’re aware of something that isn’t how you want it to be, that’s truly something to be glad about, because now you can move on and choose something different.

(c) Copyright Linda Dessau, 2005.

Linda Dessau, the Self-Care Coach, is the author of “The Everyday Self-Care Workbook”. To find out more about the book, or to receive her free monthly newsletter, “Genuine Self-Care”, visit http://www.genuinecoaching.com/resources.html

With a divorce rate in this country that approaches
50%, and a fairly sizable percentage of marriages that
aren’t particularly blissful, it’s difficult to avoid
searching for the answer to the battle of the sexes.

Would you like to stop searching?

We’ve moved through the old paradigm of getting
your needs met in relationships, and it has proven
itself to be a miserable failure.

Why?

Attempting to get your needs met in your relationship
causes some troublesome things to happen. First, it
causes you to focus mainly on your needs and not
on the desires of your partner. Secondly, it sets you
up for disaster, because it has you believing you
deserve something that may well not be delivered.

All across this great country of ours, battles are
raging between men and women: she needs to talk and
connect, and he needs his space and independence.

Who wins here?

The answer, of course, is that both lose because of a
flawed view of what a successful relationship is all
about. What also happens is that both people start to
blame the other for not meeting their needs.

For those who are really serious about success in
their relationships, it’s important to understand how
blaming your partner is an enormous problem itself. It
creates a bigger problem, and has you convinced that
you’re not part of the problem.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Blaming has never worked and never will. It may have
you feeling justified in your position, but it will
always hurt your relationship.

It’s particularly important to develop the realization
that your feelings can deceive you in your
relationship with your partner. This can be difficult
for people raised during the “honor your feelings” era
of relationships. Your feelings tell you things like,
“I can’t believe she could do something like that to
me,” or, “How could she treat me so badly?” These
feelings are the result of your own low self-esteem
and your own personal history of victimization.

While it’s true that your partner may treat you in a
way you don’t like sometimes, it’s not true that you
need to react to it with strong negative feelings.
These strong negative feelings are a reflection of
your own esteem issues.

These feelings also have a way of keeping your partner
engaged in the struggle with you so that you can
continue to blame each other. When you’re both engaged
in the struggle, you’ll believe that she needs to be
fixed. She’ll think the same of you. Nobody wins and
everybody loses.

This isn’t very smart or effective.

What would happen for people in their important
relationships if they gave up defending themselves and
believing their needs needed to be met? What would
happen if they worked at being kind and caring with
their partners?

I’ll tell you what would happen. They’d have great
relationships! After all, the only thing that you can
do to improve a relationship is to improve you.

So stop looking over at your partner and seeing all of
the flaws. Stop blaming them. They have issues just
like we all do. But if you see that person as a
collection of flaws, you’ll have no chance at a
successful relationship.

And it’s successful relationships in life that make us
truly happy.

Mark Brandenburg MA, CPCC, coaches men by phone to
create balance in their lives and improve their family
relationships. He wrote “Men: Save your Marriage in 30
Days or Less”
http://www.markbrandenburg.com/saveyourmarriage.htm
Sign up for his free newsletter, “Dads Don’t Fix Your
Kids,” at http://www.markbrandenburg.com.
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You may think that it’s ok just to invite someone in to your home to fix your PC, without really checking them out. After all, it’s not gas we’re talking about is it? Well, there are several important things to consider which you might not have thought about.

The majority of viruses on a PC arise due to the user and if your engineer isn’t qualified they could end up doing more harm than good. Even more worrying is that someone with the right equipment could download some of your most personal information in a few seconds, for their own use, and you would never know.

CompTIA, the UK’s best known computer engineer training organisation, provide the training necessary to ensure that all engineers who possess the A+ qualification are bound by the Data Protection Act and, of course, have the technical skills to do the job correctly. In addition to qualifications, you need to be aware of insurance, of which there are two types: public liability and professional indemnity.

Public liability insures against any damage to you or your property caused by the engineer. Some engineers may not be covered at all or only be insured for domestic premises and not business premises, which carries a higher risk and cost.
Professional indemnity is there to insure against negligence on the part of the engineer, obviously important when someone is working on your PC, especially if you are a business customer and your company relies on the use of the PC and associated data! This insurance is quite expensive and so some engineers may not be covered for this either.

PC PAL only use fully qualified and fully insured engineers with the experience and knowledge to solve all your PC problems, giving you peace of mind.
We all know about pirate software, and this is rife amongst the industry. If your engineer is telling you they can provide you with an up-to-date installation at a very cheap price, be sure to check and ask for the product registration key, as well as the original software discs, to be provided to you.

A recommendation is obviously the best way to find a new engineer so ask for testimonials or references from previously satisfied customers. A professional website is also useful to find out more. So, the next time you reach for the telephone, make sure you ask plenty of questions of the engineer before they arrive on your doorstep!
If you would like any help with your PC, contact PC PAL on our 7-day helpline on: 0121 705 0010 or see our website at http://www.pcpal.co.uk for full details of services and to view our customer testimonials.

Jat Mann is the owner of PC PAL, the PC repair specialists. PC PAL currently operate in the Solihull area, offering customers a fully qualified, experienced and insured engineer to fix their computer in their own home or office. More information, tips and resources, as well as information about our services, can be found at http://www.pcpal.co.uk