Say What? I Wanna Talk About Me!

January 21, 2012 by

Dog EarsHave you ever had the experience of realizing that the person you were speaking with was simply not listening? 

They might have looked like they were paying attention, but your words were simply going in one ear and out the other. Chances are this left you feeling frustrated and unappreciated, especially if what you were saying was very important.

Listening is a very important communication skill that not everyone has mastered.

Have you ever thought about how well you listen to other people? Perhaps you might be tuning out others without realizing it, causing them to feel like you don’t care what they are saying.

Whether it is in the workplace, with your friends, or in a relationship, being a good listener is a skill that will always be beneficial. It will help you avoid conflict and misunderstanding, resolve issues, and succeed in all aspects of your life.

Here are some helpful tips for becoming a better listener:

  • Don’t interrupt. Let the person finish what they have to say before jumping in to finish their sentences or object. Be patient.
  • Remove distractions. If you find that you are looking at your text messages or surfing the net on your laptop while someone is talking to you, then you are not giving them your full attention. Eliminate these distractions to show them respect.
  • Give eye contact to the person you are speaking with, and watch their face for important non-verbal clues to what they are meaning.
  • To let the person know that you are paying attention, give an occasional nod or say something like, “I see” or “that makes sense.”
  • If you don’t understand something, ask questions to clarify so that you don’t get lost as they assume you know what they mean and start to talk about the topic more.

Practice your listening skills and you will find that being a good listener will improve your personal and professional life in many ways.

Filed Under: Personal Development Tagged With: , , , ,

Home Decor Tips for Designing a Childs Bedroom

January 18, 2012 by

Designing a child’s bedroom can be one of the most exciting tasks of decorating your home. You can create a fun and flexible space that your children will love to spend time in and enjoy throughout their life.

Here are some tips for parents to help with the project of decorating a room for a young child:

Involve Your ChildBaby Nursery Decor

If your child is old enough to converse with you, have a talk with them to get their opinion on what their dream bedroom would look like. Ask them what they like about their current bedroom, and what they would change. You can also ask them about their favorite colors, animals, and storybooks to get an idea for a theme for the room.

Make a Plan

If you plan your design concept in advance, you will make the project a lot easier by having a clearer concept of what you will want the room to look like. Draw up a floor plan and identify which furnishings and decor you are going to look for. You can print off photos from the Internet and clip out pictures from magazines for inspiration.

Adapt for the Future

Remember that although your little princess is only eight now, in a few years she will be turning into a teenager and she will not want to have Disney characters plastered all over her walls and furniture. Bunk beds might seem like a great choice for your young boys but when they hit a teenage growth spurt they could be six feet tall, making these beds very impractical. Make sure that you choose furniture that will grow with your child and that the bedroom design that you decide on can be easily adapted when your child’s interests change.

Create Practical Storage Space

You can help your child keep their room tidy and reduce the number of times you have to nag them to clean up by creating lots of practical and easy to use storage space. Bookcases, drawers, desks, and closet organizers will give all toys and clothes a place to go rather than being thrown on the floor.

These are just a few tips to help you with decorating a stylish and functional bedroom for your child.

Filed Under: Home Decorating Tagged With: , , ,

In Remembrance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

January 16, 2012 by

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was an American minister and leader in the civil rights movement taking place most publicly in the 1960’sMartin Luther King Jr..  Mr. King was a great leader of people and became known as one of the greatest speakers in all of American history.

Dr. King was very bright as a child and skipped grades in elementary and high schools.  He entered college at Morehouse College at the age of 15 without ever graduating high school.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s most famous speech, commonly referred to as the “I Have A Dream” speech, took place on August 28, 1963 from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC.  Over 200,000 citizens gathered that day to hear many speakers. 

Dr. King’s speech was considered the highlight of the event and was later called the “top American public address in the 20th century” by a group of respected scholars.

Dr. King went on to speak prolifically about civil rights throughout the southern states.  He was awarded the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 for his continuous struggle for peace and equality through non-violent means. 

Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on April 4th, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee.

Once again, it is quite striking to see the impact that a single person can have on the entire course of human history when they are committed to their cause.  It is when men and women act boldly and with passion that they best serve humanity. 

We all can look forward to the ways that our own lives can be changed, in both large ways and small, by our willingness to put fear aside and stretch ourselves to become better people and invest ourselves in the betterment of the people who surround us.

Today, in remembrance of Dr. Martin Luther King’s accomplishments I’d like to share this video of his speech:

 

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Tips for Breaking the Junk Food Habit

January 14, 2012 by

Do you find yourself struggling to lose weight and constantly craving sweets, desserts and salty snacks?

Have you ever said to yourself, “After this last bucket of fried chicken I am going to eat healthy” only to order the same meal the very next week?

Studies are showing that junk food is so hard to give up because it actually becomes a Junk Foodpsychological and physiological addiction in the body. The cravings for these foods which are high in sugar, salt and fat become deeply ingrained and it is hard to break the habit.

Here are some tips for reducing the amount of junk food you eat and living a healthy life:

Know What You Are Eating

Most people who eat lots of fast food and junk food don’t even realize how bad it is for their bodies. Do some research about the nutritional content of these foods, read about their affect on health, and watch videos such as “Super Size Me” and “Food Inc”. Watching these programs will also put you off eating these foods.

Out of Sight, Out of Mind

If you are in the habit of eating junk food, even simply seeing one of your favorite unhealthy snacks will make you crave it. Stop stocking your cupboards with cookies, potato chips, chocolates, and other treats because they will be very tempting for you.

Plan Ahead

It’s easy to say that you will resist that bag of potato chips every time, but when you have finished work late and you arrive home absolutely starving you might just find you can’t help snacking before dinner. The trick is to plan your meals ahead so that you never find yourself getting very hungry without a healthy alternative to eat.

If you know that you sometimes arrive home late, try cooking up larger batches of healthy meals on the weekend which you can easily microwave for a fast but nutritious meal. You could also stock your fridge with healthy snacks such as fruit, vegetables and yogurt that you could snack on while waiting for dinner to cook.

The good news is, once you overcome the initial difficult period of withdrawal from these greasy, salty, and sweet snacks you will find that you don’t really miss them. Your body will crave them less and you will be on the path to leading a healthy life!

 

Filed Under: Health and Wellness Tagged With: , , ,

Productivity Tips for Working from Home

January 13, 2012 by

If you have your own business and you work from home, it can be challenging to form the right habits that you need to be productive.Working From Home

Working from home provides its own unique challenges, and it is very easy to get distracted by many things around you in the house.

You might start tidying your desk and then decide you should also do the laundry and end up several hours later with a perfectly clean house but no work done.

You can also lose hours of your time surfing the net, responding to emails, and reading clever and funny blogs before you realize how late it has become. When you work from home, you are also susceptible to being distracted by the dog, kids, your partner, and much more.

So how can you improve your productivity and learn to focus on your work when you are working from home? Here are some helpful tips:

  • Create a good working environment which makes it easy to focus. It should be far away from the television and other distractions, and in a quiet area of the house. If you have a room to yourself where you can close the door and tell everyone else not to disturb you, this is even better.
  • Don’t get too comfortable. One mistake you might be making when working from home is working while curled up in a comfortable chair with your pajamas and fuzzy slippers on. While you can wear whatever you like when you work from home, it’s easy to get slow and sleepy in this environment and you will be more efficient when you get dressed, and sit up on a chair at a desk in a well lit environment.
  • Keep a piece of paper next to you, and if you think of something that you should be doing such as putting the dishwasher on you can write it down so that you can push it out of your mind while you focus. When you finish your work, check your list and complete the tasks on it.
  • Give yourself short and frequent breaks. When we work for too many hours on the same thing, our brains can become burnt out. Concentrate on a small task and set yourself a goal of when you will complete it.
  • Reward yourself. When you finish each small goal, allow yourself to get a snack, a cup of coffee, or do something else for five or ten minutes. Set a timer for your break to remind yourself to get back to work.

These are just a few ways that you can fine tune your working habits to become the most productive you can be!

 

Filed Under: Productivity Tips Tagged With: , , , ,

How to Stay Happy When Stuck Indoors This Winter

January 11, 2012 by

For those of us living in colder climates, the winter season means shorter days, freezing weather, and being stuck inside the house for long cozy fireplaceperiods of time.

It is easy to get depressed with the lack of sunshine and time spent outdoors, especially if you are the type of person who loves the summer.

If you live in a chilly climate and can’t afford to spend six months in the Bahamas instead, here are a few tips that will help you enjoy the winter season:

  • Open the window for five minutes. Although it is freezing inside, if you keep the house sealed up the air inside will become stale and stuffy which will make you feel tired and low in energy. Let a bit of fresh air in to reinvigorate yourself and breathe easier.
  • Consider bringing some flowers, plants or herbs into your household. When it’s a barren winter wasteland outside we tend to miss all of the living things around us, so having plants inside the house can add fresh air and lovely scents to your life.
  • Having a pet such as a dog, cat, goldfish or bird to spend time with will also help to brighten up the short winter days when you are stuck inside.
  • Let the light in. Even in the depths of winter there are still around 8 hours of natural sunlight, so open up the curtains!
  • Wintertime is a great opportunity to catch up on your “me-time”, so treat yourself to that book that you have been meaning to read or take up a hobby like painting or knitting. In the summertime we sometimes neglect these activities because we spend so much time outside.
  • Get cozy. Pulling yourself out of bed on a dark winter morning is much easier when you don’t have to face the chilling prospect of bare feet on a cold floor. Treat yourself to some fuzzy slippers and warm pajamas to make you more comfortable in the snowy weather.
  • If you can’t afford a trip to Italy, Spain, Mexico or the Caribbean this winter, bring the hot climates to you by learning how to cook a new recipe from these cultures! You could even invite your friends over for spicy tacos and margaritas!
  • Get outside! If the sun comes out, take advantage of this opportunity and go for a walk. It might be cold, but the snowy scenery can be absolutely beautiful. You can also warm yourself up with a hot chocolate when you return!

Have a wonderful and happy winter!

Filed Under: Personal Development Tagged With: , , , ,

How to Follow Up After a Job Interview

January 9, 2012 by

Do you ever wonder what the best way is to follow up after a job interview?  Is email to impersonal?  Is snail-mail too slow?  Will the Job Interviewinterviewer even notice or care?

Well, one thing is for certain.  If you don’t follow up at all, you’re quite sure that they won’t notice at all.   In fact, so few people follow up in any way you might just set yourself apart and make the difference in being considered for the position.

By reinforcing your interest in the position with a friendly follow up you will push your name to the forefront of the hiring manager’s mind. This little touch might just be the extra that makes you stand out from the others.

If you have just been to an interview for your dream job and all has gone well, you might want to consider following up with the employer in one or more of these ways:

Sending an email thank you note

This is one of the easiest and quickest ways to follow up on an interview. Write a short and friendly email to the employer thanking them for taking the time to meet with you. You also have the opportunity to touch on anything you talked about in the interview and reiterate your desire for the position. Make it short and sweet however, as the employer will not want to read several pages about how much you dream of working for them.

Mail a Thank you Card

Taking the time to use snail mail rather than email will certainly make you stand out from the rest of the applicants! By actually mailing a card, you will be creating a memorable impression in the employer’s mind which will help them associate your name with someone who goes the extra mile.

Use Social Media

Use a social networking website such as Twitter or Linked In to send a quick thank you to the employer. Again, the message doesn’t need to be long but can be a simple “thanks for your time” or a “nice to meet you”.

The advantage of this is that it connects the employer to your online profile, and if you are using social media well this should lead them to a website or an online portfolio which further showcases your brilliance.

Taking the time to follow up after an interview is the special touch that will make your application stand out and it just might help you achieve that dream job!

Filed Under: Personal Development Tagged With: , , ,

How to Make Cleaning the House More Fun

January 6, 2012 by

The dust bunnies in the corners are starting to stare back at you, and you need to take a running jump onto your bed to make it over the mountain of dirty clothes.

You forget what color the floor in the kitchen was originally under all of the dirt, and you have gottenHouse Cleaning Made Fun into the habit of eating dinner straight out of the pan because all of the plates have caked on grime.

You know that you need to clean the house, but you never get to the task because cleaning is so boring!

Cleaning the house is certainly not as exciting as horseback riding down the beach, skydiving, or going to a music festival, but it doesn’t have to be the most un-enjoyable thing in the world either.

If you can make cleaning a bit more fun and entertaining, perhaps you won’t put it off for so long?

Also, if you are having fun when cleaning you will work quicker and be less distracted, so that your house will be sparkling clean sooner and you can get on with the more exciting things in life.

Here are some tips for spicing up your cleaning routine:

  • Set up an open garbage can or recycling bin across the room as a basketball hoop, and see how many scraps of junk mail, food wrappers, and other junk you can toss into can without missing. Try to break your own record!
  • Break the task into small jobs and reward yourself after you finish each one. For example, if you wash all of the dishes on the kitchen counter you can enjoy a chocolate, or if you organize your entire closet you can go out to a movie.
  • Try to beat the clock! Give yourself a deadline for finishing each task and try to get through it as efficiently as you can. The faster and more focused you are, the sooner you are finished and the more free time you have.
  • Try a new cleaning product. For example, did you know that there are cleaning slippers with scrubbers on the bottom for washing the floor with your feet? These sorts of unusual and quirky cleaning implements will turn your household chores into a fun game.
  • Crank up your favorite tunes and do a little dance as you clean. It will put you in a happy and productive mood.

Make cleaning more fun, and before you know it your home will look fantastic!

That wasn’t so bad, was it?

Filed Under: Home Care Tips Tagged With: , , ,

Fear of Failure? Tips for Keeping Your New Years Resolutions

January 4, 2012 by

Have you made yourself a New Year’s resolution?Goal Setting

The turning over of the calendar usually inspires us to resolve to make positive changes in our lives, but more often than not we fail to follow through on our promises to ourselves.

If you struggle to keep your New Year’s resolutions, perhaps these tips will help you stay on track:

Be more realistic.

If you set goals for yourself that are completely unattainable, you will become discouraged and give up quickly.  For example, if you want to start losing weight and gaining muscle, don’t expect to look like a body builder two weeks into the New Year. 

Make a goal to visit the gym every second day instead, and if you stick to this reasonable goal you will eventually start to see results.

Make a plan. 

If your New Year’s resolution is to pay off your credit card debt, you won’t get far if you keep on spending in the same way. You need to make a plan to do things differently to get different results.

Your plan could include creating a budget to see where you can save money, and then paying off a set amount per month until the debt is gone.

Talk about it.

If you keep your resolution a secret, there is no one to keep you to your word if you decide to give up. If you tell your friends about your goals they can encourage you and motivate you.

Break the goal into small manageable chunks.

Losing 30 pounds seems overwhelming, but losing five pounds is not so daunting.

However, if you focus on these small goals and lose five pounds six times throughout the year, you will be down to your goal weight of 30 pounds less!

These are just a few tips to help you achieve your New Year’s resolutions.

Experts say that it takes approximately three weeks for a new habit to form. If you can stick to your resolution for this long, your positive habits will soon become second nature. 

Filed Under: Personal Development Tagged With: , , ,

The Most Popular New Years Resolutions in North America

January 2, 2012 by

What are the most common things that North Americans make goals to accomplish in the coming year when New Year’s comes around? HereHappy New Year are some of the most common New Year’s resolutions, and tips for making them happen.

Spending More Time with Family and Friends

The polls have suggested that more than half of Americans vowed to spend more time with their loved ones in the New Year. As the years pass by we realized that one of most important things about life is who we spend our time with, and the urge is there to reconnect and enjoy quality moments with people we care about.

Why not set up a weekly date with a friend or a family member to enjoy a favorite activity together?

Lose Weight and Become Healthier

One of the most common New Year’s resolutions year after year is a goal to shed pounds, build muscle and eat better. January is a bumper month for gym memberships, personal trainers, and weight loss programs. It’s great to have a goal to lead a healthier lifestyle, as obesity is becoming a serious health threat to our nation.

However, creating and maintaining a healthy physique requires a long term change in habits and not just a short lived fad diet so make sure that the changes you are making are sustainable.

Quit Smoking

Many people make the vow on January 1st to put down the cigarettes forever, saving themselves from a higher risk of lung cancer and a host of other respiratory ailments. They are rewarded with better health and a sense of accomplishment if they are successful in kicking the habit, but it’s not easy.

Cigarettes are so addictive, and the statistics say that %99 of people who try to quit will fail the first time. However, don’t give up if you have tried to quit and failed. Get your friends to help you commit to kicking the habit, and promise yourself a reward every time you get through another week smoke free.

Get Out of Debt                               

Many Americans have a nasty debt hanging over their heads, whether it is a credit card, student loan, car loan, or something else. One of the most popular resolutions for the year for many people will be to eliminate that debt and get finances their back in the black again.

If you want to be successful in eliminating your debts, make a budget and a financial plan where you reduce your expenses and put a chunk of money every month towards paying off your loans. Stick to the plan and you will be debt free by the end of the year!

These are a few of the most common New Year’s resolutions in North America. What is your resolution for the year ahead?

Filed Under: Personal Finance Tagged With: , , , ,