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Ways To Change Your Thinking And Transform Your Situation

  • Posted on July 2, 2009 at 2:20 pm

Stuck in a rut?

Do you have any idea how many thoughts go through your mind everyday? Studies have shown that an average person will have over 60,000 thoughts per day running through their mind. How many of these do you think are positive? How many negative? Chances are if you’re reading this article a majority of your thoughts are negative.

Often if people start a diet, or weight loss plan, they start off on the right track, doing everything gradually. However the reason why people fail is because in the back of their head they are telling themselves “I will never lose the weight”, or “This is too hard – just give up now”. Then after sticking to their diets for two weeks, they are back in the same rut again. My own personal experience was trying to give up drinking soft drinks. I would get through 2 even three weeks, and something would happen and I would be right back at the start.

Think what you want to do, be or have. If you want to be out of your crummy job, just start thinking about a wonderful new job coming into your life with ease. You can even repeat to yourself “I find a wonderful new job, that pays really well, and makes me happy.”Seriously, it will happen for you when your belief is rock solid enough. Want to lose weight? Think yourself THIN. This truly works as I have tried it, and it has worked for me, and many of my friends and family.

The old saying ‘Thoughts become things’ is one of the most profound quotes I have ever come across. Once I realised the power of my thoughts, I realised that I could do anything. I harnessed the power of my thoughts, to create me dream lifestyle, and you can too.

Other ways of getting out of your rut, besides changing your thinking, is to be kind to yourself. Now you might be asking why I would say this. Well if you are stuck in a job you don’t like, don’t have enough money, etc, the first thing you can start doing is treating yourself well. This doesn’t mean for you to go and spend $1000 on clothes or makeup or a spa day. It could be something as simple as having a warm bath and a glass of wine at night, or getting up early and going for a walk to watch the sunrise. Why not try a boxing class, or something else you would really have fun with.

Activities like this will really make you feel good about yourself, and will raise your energy level. In this state you can start to attract good things, and wonderful experiences to you. Change your thinking and change your world.

Copyright (c) 2009 Victoria Higgins

Victoria Higgins is a Home Business Marketer based in the Gold Coast, Australia. Check out her website at: http://www.takingiteasy.com.au

Article Source: Ways To Change Your Thinking And Transform Your Situation

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How to Find a Good Daycare Provider

  • Posted on July 2, 2009 at 7:15 am

Everyone has heard the horror stories of child abuse at the hands of an au pair or other type daycare provider. You don’t want your children to become victims. You can take measures to ensure, to the best of your ability, that this doesn’t happen.

There are many, many considerations you will need to weigh heavily before you deposit your child in the hands of a stranger. Below are some issues you’ll want to deliberate on when selecting a daycare provider:

* Will you hire someone to come in and watch your children, or will you take your kids to a daycare provider? Regardless, you’ll need to make sure that the daycare provider is a U.S. citizen, or that the daycare provider has legal papers to work in the U.S.
* If taking your children to a daycare center or provider, do you want the location to be near where you live or where you work?
* Is it important to you to have your child around a lot of other children or just a few?
* Make a list of your preferences.
* Ask neighbors, friends and family members if they know of a good provider.
* Call Childcare Aware Hotline at (800) 424-2246 to find a local provider network near you. The local provider network will refer you to local registered or licensed daycare providers.
* Once you have decided where you want your daycare provider located (near home or work), decide on three providers to research. Prioritize your list from one to three based on the limited information you have about the providers.
* If considering an in-home daycare:
* How old is the daycare provider? Sometimes it works out better for you if the daycare provider is around your own age. You may have more in common and have a better rapport with someone who is closer to your own age.
* Check the ages of the children in the daycare. It is typically a more conducive environment for your child if there are other children your own child’s age.
* Talk to the daycare provider and obtain the following information:
* At least three references of parents who have used the daycare for over a year.
* Find out if you can you drop by unannounced at anytime. If not, ditch the daycare. If so, visit several times unannounced at different periods over several weeks’ time – e.g., during after snack time, during lunch, during naptime. Make sure one of your visits is when parents are dropping off their children, so you can talk to the parents. Ask them why they use the center and how satisfied they are with the care provided.
* Tour the daycare center. Is there a play area outside with play equipment? Is there also a designated play area inside? Is there a separate area for the babies as opposed to the older children? Several baby beds? Is there a separate quiet nap area for the older children? Mats for napping?
* Ask about learning activities for your child’s age. Request the weekly agenda of activities and menu for meals. Make sure you visit during one of these events and meals.
* Does your child have any special needs? If so, make sure the provider is able to accommodate them.
* Is the daycare provider licensed? If the state in which you live requires licensing, then do your homework and check with the state to see if the daycare provider is licensed. Also, ask if there are any noted problems with the daycare. There are typically some exceptions to the day care licensing laws – e.g., two or less children 20 hours or less a week, providing care for relatives.
* Is the daycare provider insured? You’ll want to ask for a copy of their insurance of certificate, and call their insurance provider to make sure it is currently in force.
* Also, do a search on the Internet for any positive or negative information on the daycare center and its director. It is possible you may find something.
* There are childcare associations that require accountability that you may want to inquire of like the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) or the National Association of Family Child Care (NAFCC). If your daycare provider is a member, you are fortunate.

You can’t cover all the bases. You can, however, do your due diligence to find the most qualified daycare provider possible for your child. Once you’ve done your part, decide on the daycare provider that meets most, if not all, of your expectations.

It doesn’t end there. Remember to drop in unannounced occasionally throughout the timeframe your child is being cared for in the daycare. If you find consistent care, this will ensure your confidence that the daycare provider you chose is the right one.

Insidedallasrealestate is a site devoted to the Dallas real estate market. It has a search of the Dallas MLS along with updated market stats on their real estate blog.

Article Source: How to Find a Good Daycare Provider

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Your Personal Identity: How Do You Define Yourself?

  • Posted on July 1, 2009 at 9:04 pm

In 2004, I lost my $3 million business in a vindictive lawsuit that also led to me losing my marriage and all of my savings. While I could easily give up and crawl into a corner somewhere, how I choose to frame these events is entirely up to me. While I can’t control what other people do, I can control how I choose to frame or view what is happening.

People marveled at my positive attitude in losing everything. My response is, “What’s the alternative?” The way I choose to frame these events is that losing everything is a fascinating process. I’m not trying to say I didn’t have stress. No way. Pepto Bismol was always within arms reach. But I found it amazing how people respond when you go from being the top guy to having all of your resources taken from you. In the majority of the cases, the friends and family members who I would have bet money would try to help out completely abandoned me while people I hardly knew stepped up big time.

Let me tell you. Having to empty your savings, your children’s college funds and going from debt free to $750,000 in debt in three years is a very painful experience. However, I refuse to allow those events to define me anymore than I would allow my successes to define me. All that matters is how I respond to these events. All I can control is my patterns of thought and behavior.

The first 20-years of my training, the martial arts defined who I was. I used the martial arts to transform myself from chubby teenager to athletic “karate jock.” Martial arts was virtually all I talked about. All my friends were martial artists. Even if I went to a volleyball tournament, it was usually with a bunch of black belts. It wasn’t until I launched the National Association of Professional Martial Artists (NAPMA) in 1993 that I began to realize that, while martial arts helped me to reinvent myself identity, the job was only half-done. I had to reintegrate my martial arts with my inner self so that martial arts became a facet of who I was, not the entire definition.

When good or bad things happen to you it’s important that you not let them define you. Being a champion black belt on TV was my identity for years. If you are allowing your success to be your identity, then your hiding your real self. Think about film stars who choose not to live in Hollywood. They view their stardom as an extension of who they are instead of the definition of their identity. Sandra Bullock lives in Texas and it’s pretty clear when you see her in interviews that she views acting as a high paying job she enjoys but also that there is much more to her than just acting. In contrast, Jack Nicholson is iconic in his identity as film star. Being a movie star is his identity.

By the same token when something bad happens to you or you do something you wish you hadn’t, be careful not to let it define you as well. This is not always easy, but it’s critically important. Often when something bad happens or someone does something bad to you, it creates a prison that confines your self-image and potential for growth. When the action against you is really horrendous, such as molestation or abuse, the prison so tightly confines you that your self-image is built around this event.

Here’s the reality. You did nothing to deserve what happened to you and while you are obsessing with the negatives associated with the event, and they are horrible, the person who committed the act is doing laundry. You are not on their mind, they are on your mind for as long as you allow them to be.

If I allowed myself, it would be easy to be mired in the mud of self-pity and absorb myself in negative thoughts and behaviors about the man who sues me for fun. What I’ve realized is that like all of us including anyone who has wronged you, he is a product of his own programming. Once I understood that, it was easy to forgive him. Forgiving him does not condone what he did nor does it make it right. I think what he did is sick. But, I refuse to allow what he did to me to keep me in a prison of a negative mind. What is the alternative? I obsess with his attacks on me while he goes and plays a round of golf. If I hold onto the negative effects of his attacks I give him permission to compound the effects into all areas of my life. Well, permission is not granted.

What has happened to you good and bad is not you. What matters is how you deal with it.

John Graden is the author of The Impostor Syndrome. The Impostor Syndrome is the feeling you’re not as smart, talented, or skilled as others think you are. It’s the feeling you’ve been faking it and are about to be found out. Learn more about the book at:

http://www.theimpostorsyndrome.com

http://www.johngraden.com

Article Source: Your Personal Identity: How Do You Define Yourself?

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