Article for sharing - HABIT! [Final]

A New Outlook Needed

Changing bad habits often demands living different patterns of life. It usually requires a totally different outlook on life, a sharp redefining of what is most important in life.

Breaking damaging habits means seriously asking, perhaps for the first time, "What is the true purpose of life?" You will need to understand what character really is and its importance in successful living.

Character is coming to know right from wrong, good from bad. It means admitting when you are wrong and turning from the wrong. It means determining, despite all difficult circumstances, to do the right instead of the wrong. That means a person must mobilize all available resources to conquer a bad habit. Overcoming bad habits is one of life's supreme challenges!

You have to ask yourself squarely, "Is being a slave to a bad habit--damaging my mental or physical health?"

Some might say, "But my bad habits are not my fault!" Perhaps that is true, particularly if patterns started in early years of life under wrong influences or from ignorance.

But the fact is, there was a time when habits were within our control, but we permitted them to reach a point where they became out of control. In other words, we caused them to develop; conversely we can cause them to disappear.

There are many kinds of annoying habits. Perhaps not all are necessarily great faults, but then again, maybe they could be. Such could be chewing food with one's mouth open or talking with food in one's mouth. Frequent body odor in social situations from not enough bathing reveals a lack of sense of decorum or lack of concern for oneself or others. Certain individuals develop the habit of lying, of exaggerating or cursing.

A mature person realizes humans are creatures of habits--good habits, bad habits. He never condones bad habits. He knows he cannot change anyone who does not want to change them. He will, however, try to set an example by overcoming bad habits in his own life. He will encourage others who are trying to change bad habits in their lives, realizing given similar circumstances or experiences he could have similar problems.

What kind of habits do you instill in your life???

Article for sharing - HABIT [Part 3]

Overcoming wrong Habits

Who hasn't been a slave to bad habits? Who hasn't carelessly allowed bad habits to take deeper and deeper root in his or her mind and emotions?

Improving your life--physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually--is largely a matter of changing or overcoming bad habits. It is a matter of developing new, better and more dominating habit patterns of thinking, acting and feeling.

There are absolutely fundamental requirements and essential steps that must be applied to replace a bad habit with a good one. Many lose sight of such essential steps because of heavy demands on their minds or time or because of discouragement from past failures to overcome some nagging habit or vice.

The first law of changing any wrong habit is:

1. ADMIT WHAT YOU ARE DOING, OR THINKING OR FEELING IS WRONG AND HARMFUL. It is impossible to change without taking this step. So many fail because they never, deep down in their minds, squarely determine or admit what they are doing or thinking is wrong. They will not admit to themselves that they eat too much, or drink too much or are addicted in a damaging way to some practice or thinking. They justify their present ways and refuse to see any damage they are causing to themselves or others--until serious consequences strike them.

You--not someone else--must be convinced you should change! You must want to change a bad habit!

After this critical step is taken, other essential steps are required. You must then:

2. POWERFULLY RESOLVE TO CHANGE AND QUIT THE WRONG HABIT IMMEDIATELY. Don't put off a decision. You cannot expect success with a halfhearted or weak effort. You must be strongly motivated to change. Grasp the consequences or potential consequences if you don't change.

3. DEVELOP A CHANGE-OF-BEHAVIOR PLAN. This means:
Understand the influences or situations that spark old habit patterns and avoid them whenever possible.

Develop right and positive habits or thought patterns to replace the old damaging patterns. Repeat right patterns as often as you can. These soon replace the wrong pattern of acting or feeling. You can do this if the new pattern has some great value or reward, or if failure to do so means an unwanted result.

Don't try to taper off from a bad habit. (Only a few situations might dictate differently. For instance, some physically addicting drugs could cause serious bodily harm or even death if suddenly quit. Some serious problems need the assistance and guidance of properly qualified and knowledgeable persons.) Occasionally, giving in increases rather than decreases the persistence of an old habit. Recognize and control self-defeating thought or reasoning patterns. Such thinking may be, "It'll be OK, just this once!" or, "He does it, why can't I?" or, "Why deprive myself when there are so few pleasures in life?" Resolve not to start a pattern of giving way to pressures from friends or others. This is one of the toughest challenges in habit breaking. Keep your eyes on your goal.

Don't give in to your old habit--even once. You'll refire the old habit and get hooked again. Permissive thoughts and actions do count; it is like rewelding and energizing the old cables of habit. Yet if you do slip, don't get discouraged. It is difficult to break habits, to give up entrenched sins. Most people slip from time to time in the process of struggling against a bad habit. Get started again. Failure is certain only if you give up.

4. SEEK PROFESSIONAL HELP IF NECESSARY TO OVERCOME PHYSICAL HABITS. It is not possible for this article to properly cover all the various kinds of damaging habits humans can fall prey to, and to cover the special considerations that may be necessary to deal with them. Sound health and financial, ministerial or other help may be needed. Various pamphlets or books dealing with specific kinds of physical problems are available and helpful.

Article for sharing - HABIT! [Part 2]

Unique in Habits

Our individual habit patterns show up not only in how we pronounce words, but in our general attitudes and demeanor in life. It shows up in how we cope with anxiety.

Some, as a result of learned habit, develop a perpetual frown, others exhibit a quick temper, others fearfulness, hostility or suspicion. Others are habitually more open, loving, friendly and exude confidence.

We develop differing, even unique, habits in our hand, body and posture movements. Different dietary and appetite habits are acquired. We develop differing feeling habits--what makes us feel good or bad, what produces fear and apprehension and how and to whom we respond sexually.

All of these are learned. We do not inherit these specific traits.

Even repeated successes or failures in life are often a matter of habit; they result from a repeated way of responding to problems and challenges in life.

Negative Side

Habits free us to learn new things. They also make it difficult for us to change established ways of doing things, or thinking or feeling. Habits lock us into certain response patterns, so we tend to resist any change in our accustomed routine, even if it is in our best interests to do so.

Too often humans are slaves to bad habits. It takes strong character to break bad habits!

Animals could never survive for long in nature if they developed many of the bad habits humans do. We may smoke, abuse alcohol, misuse sex, pop pills, overeat, under-exercise or develop emotionally destructive feelings and remain alive, though we are still slowly killing ourselves as individuals. By these bad habits we are limiting or crippling our human potential and development.

Bad habits reinforced by chemically addicting substances--nicotine and certain drugs for instance--are very hard to shake. But habits damaging human emotions and attitudes can also be very difficult, at times even more difficult, to change.

Tragically, whole nations can get locked into wrong habits of eating, acting, thinking and feeling.

"The second half of a man's life is made up of nothing but the habits he has acquired during the first half"

~ Feodor dostoevski ~

.....to be continued

Article for sharing - HABIT! [Part 1]

This simple five letter word "HABIT" have impacted each one's daily life, be it through our actions, behaviours, spoken words, our likes and dislikes. Habits can be either good or bad. Through our growing years we are always being taught to adopt good habits in life! Those who have bad habits in their life will normally have trouble of getting rid of them, says the phrase "bad habits die hard!"

Let me share with you all an interesting article related to HABIT in order to have a better understanding of it.

We're Creatures of Habit. WHY?

by Donald D. Schroeder

Without habits we could not function--perhaps even survive. That's the good side of habits. Habits allow us to perform an astronomical number of actions without significant conscious thought, effort, or undue attention--like tying our shoes, buttoning a shirt, riding a bike, walking, running, typing, remembering a telephone number, even responding to danger.

What a Habit is

A habit is a learned pattern of acting or thinking or feeling. It is not a pattern we are born with, as many lower creature responses are. Don't confuse these learned patterns with inborn or "wired-in" involuntary responses such as digesting, breathing, sweating or shivering at cold. Developing habits, particularly if they are good habits, allows us to conserve higher mental processes for more demanding tasks and challenges. By contrast, wrong habits waste human energy and limit human growth and development.

A habit starts to form when we respond to something--physically, mentally or emotionally--several times. How many responses are required to start a habit may vary from person to person or with different kinds of stimuli.

But as we respond, a pattern starts to occur, neural circuits and pathways in the marvelous human brain and nervous system are formed. Precisely what happens in the human mind and body is even now beyond the mind of man to fully understand.

Learning patterns, at first, go into the brain's short-term memory system. As they become more establised they move over into the brain's long-term storage center. This much is perceived by those scientists who have studied the subject of habits.

Then the brain activity at which humans excel--memory--goes to work so that a specific message or stimulus triggers an automatic response, thought or feeling. We call a lesson that the brain's cells have learned well enough to accomplish automatically, without thought, a habit.

Good habits and bad habits are formed essentially the same way. Therefore it is critically important for parents to see that children establish good habits particularly in early years of life. Habits are difficult to unlearn. The brain apparently never totally "forgets" bad habits, although they may drop out of dominance in one's life through lack of use, or if replaced by another, it is hoped, better habit.

What we call human personality, in its broadest sense, is to a large extent a composition of thousands of individual and specific habit traits. Humans are compounds of various habits. Thoughts a human thinks are not habitual, of course, but patterns of thought very much tend to become habitual. Some people develop sound thought patterns; others are habitually scatterbrained.

The capacity to form habits is possible with most higher living things. But the way the marvelous human mind was created with the spirit in man, humans, more than any other creatures and more than we care to admit, are creatures of habits--habits of thinking, habits of acting, habits of feeling.

"The chains of habit are generally too small to be felt until they are too strong to be broken"

~ Samuel Johnson ~

.......to be contined

Useful tips on Leadership for sharing

Old magazines, though it's normally seen as useless and is taking up the space of our shelf or cupboard cabinets can come handy at times. Recently, I've read an article regarding Leadership in an old magazine dated September 1984 by Ronald D. Kelly. As the contents of this article is in line with what I've written in my earlier Blog, I would like to extract some of these useful tips for purpose of sharing with all readers out there......

Courage to Be a Leader

Leaders are not actors on a stage. An actor puts on, plays, a role. After the play, the actor goes home to his real everyday world. The leader is at all times living real situations.

Those who lead will always make some mistakes. With mistakes comes a spate of criticism. It takes courage to put up with the critics. But a real leader has to have the ability to put aside the mistakes, learn lessons and press forward.

I read a statement many years ago that has given me a great deal of hope through life's frequent trails--"He is a success who does the right thing 51 percent of the time."

Or as someone else said, "The only ones who never fail are the ones who never try."

Those of you who are parents might well reflect on teaching your children that admirable quality of courage. To be able to step out and do--and to take the correction that comes from making a mistake. Then get up and try again.

Perhaps the lessons of history will best bear this out. We have been living in civilized societies for nearly 6,000 years. In the course of human events, countless mistakes have been made. Thus, the study of the past, to learn lessons from history, is imperative for any leader.

It has often been said those who do not learn from mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat them.

Those who do learn those lessons can in confidence step out with courage, stand for right principle and lead humanity to greater heights. With this quality there is hope for leadership in the years to come.

Vision for the Future

Another of the important qualities a leader must possess is vision. One who leads must see beyond the mundane problems of here and now and be able to envision what tomorrow can be.

There will always be plenty of problems for today. The future may at times indeed look bleak. But vision of what ought to be, coupled with knowledge of how to bring it about, separates great leaders from common people.

With nearly every change of leadership comes hope. This is especially true in what are are called democratic societies where aspiring leaders promise, if elected, to bring about a much better world for the rest of us.

It is not at all uncommon to hear election rhetoric promising "a new brand of leadership." Many a persuasive politician has been elected to office based on promises of change.

But far too frequently, once elected, the hoped-for changes don't seem to appear. The promise to reduce the federal or national debt, to boost the economy, to relieve the public from burdensome taxes, to restore the pride of the nation abroad, all seem to fade so quickly.

So, in the next election year, nations go through it all again. The incumbents tells us if we just give them another term, the policies they have implemented will work. The opposition parties point out the failures of the present leadership and promise their "new leadership" will bring the desired results.

The true leader with vision knows the way is difficult--that the road to success is indeed narrow and rutty.

The leader with vision is one who not only can "hang in there" when the going is rough, but can see the light at the end of the tunnel. The truly great leader can stand fast, maintain his poise and leadership with confidence when no one else can see the possibility there even is an end to the dark tunnel, much less light at the end of it.

Such leaders of vision are indeed few and far between.

Consistency and Dependability

There are few things more disconcerting than a fickle leader. If those who follow cannot depend on consistency, there is confusion.

Yet, how many times have individuals risen to high positions and then wavered like reeds in the breeze on major issues.

Leaders need not only principles and values, but the character to stand by those principles. Thomas Jefferson once said, "In matters of principle, stand like a rock."

Political leaders must be extremely careful not to offend any group or segment of society. To do so well might be political suicide. So, in some democratic countries a bland society has developed.

In times of stress it is extremely important to have consistent and dependable leaders--ones who have stated their concepts and who can be depended upon to stand fast, in spite of whatever may come. If necessary a great leader even has to be willing to give his life for what he stands for.

We live in an age that cries out for strong leaders of principle. In the family, on the job, in business and, government, in one way or another each of us is a leader. Those of us who are parents are training tomorrow's leaders.

You can grow in courage, learning from each of your mistakes along the way. You can look into the future with vision for a better world. You certainly can become consistent and dependable.

To choose the path of leadership is not the easy way. It never has been. It never will be.

But the world needs it now. And is waiting on strong men and women of principle who will stand like a rock.

An Article for Sharing.......

Many a times we tend to overlook some good article in a newspaper or magazine - especially article from the children's column!

Recently as I was flipping through a few day's old Borneo Post an article suddenly caught me by surprised: "Your Guide To Good English" and here's to share.........

A Model essay......... Describe what you think the best age to be is?

The best age to be........

GENERALLY children wish they were grown up and old people wish they were young again. Each age has its own pleasures and pains. To my mind, the happiest person is the one who knows how to enjoy fully what his age has brought to him.

Childhood is the happiest time in one's life. If the children are brought up by good families they will be well-bred, loved and taken care of carefully. They will become useful citizens to society.

But childhood has its pains too. They are not allowed to do whatever they wish. If they do something wrong they will be punished. Therefore they are not quite happy.

When they grow up, they completely get rid of strict regulations and rules from their parents and schools but they have to work for their food, their clothes and their lodging. Now they must have responsibility towards their families and society.

The old age has been always considered as the worst age to be, but it is not necessary for the old to be unhappy.

After many years of hard work, when reaching their old age, the old man accumulated lots of experiences which will be valuable treasure for their future generations. They are now entitled to the pride in what they have bequeathed to their children. They can have the joy of seeing their children and grandchildren making progress in life or growing up around them. Moreover, if in their past lives they had great contributions to society, to their fatherland they would be remembered forever and ever by the generations to come.

Article for sharing - PROMISE YOURSELF!

It's always blessed to get to read some wise words and phrases on a beautiful cool morning just to boost our self esteem and to be...... "a day older, a day WISER!"

A meaningful POEM to share........

Can't help not sharing this meaningful poem by Kit McCallum with everyone out there....... it really reflects on our today's life!!! The author summarise it as "Sometimes the most difficult choices are the very ones that can bring us the greatest rewards."

The Road Less Traveled by Kit McCallum

How often we must bear the challenges of life;
The endless roller coaster between happiness and sorrow;
The constant ups and downs of daily strife.
And always the question remains....... why?

Life is not an easy road for most;
It twists and turns with many forks in the road,
Although always, and inevitably, we are given a choice.....

Do we turn to the right..... or the left?
Do we take the high road..... or the low road?
Do we take the easy path..... or the difficult one?

Decisions are not easy for those struggling for direction.....
And sometimes the many choices and signs become overwhelming.

While standing at a crossroads in life,
The urge is to take the most comfortable path;
The road with least resistance....
The shortest or most traveled route.

And yet, if we've been down that comfortable road before;
Have gleaned its lessons in life and learned from our experiences;

Do we yet again follow the known?
Or does our destiny lie in another direction?

The fear of the road less traveled is tangible and all too real;
It manifests itself in many ways,
And tends to cloud the issues that might otherwise be clear.

It is in these times of confusion,
That we must seek peace and solitude;

Time to contemplate on our life,
Our experiences and our choices past;
Time to look back, and reflect on what we have learned
Without fear or confusion.

For only each of us knows our own personal thoughts;
Our unique past and personal history,
The experiences that brought us to the crossroads we now face.

We can always learn a small degree from other experiences,
And yet.... no one person can walk in our shoes,
Others know not, the trials and tribulations faced in private....

For each is individual..... unique..... and personal.

And that is why..... while standing at a crossroads,
Only "we" can formulate the decision for ourselves;
The true direction that lies within;
The choices we must deliberate on with clarity and wisdom.

For it is only through personal reflection,
That we can now choose our destiny;
..... Our next adventure,
..... And the future we will embrace.

Article for sharing - Are you a good boss? [Final]

Good bosses.....
Balance long- and short-term views

Some issues seem to invoke a short-term response in many managers. But taking the easy way out because it appears to be a chore or a load can be inappropriate or damaging in the long run.

Instead, assess the short- and long-term views together so you don't miss out on possible opportunities.

For example, say you have to appraise all 12 of your team members in one week. With a budget deadline looming, you'd quite likely stress out at the sheer magnitude of work required, and you might choose to fill in the appraisal forms without thinking.

But if you take that extra time and effort to analyse the performance of each individual and discuss their goals, weaknesses and strengths with them, they will value your appraisal of them more. Because of better morale, you team's objectives are also more likely to be achieved in the long run, not to mention their respect you'd have earned.

Good bosses are.....
Not ostriches

Managers sometimes bury their heads in the sand when looking for a way out. But denying a sticky situation by not taking any concrete action often makes the problem worse. Patrick explains, "Often, if you leave a difficult problem alone, it becomes more difficult, not easier, to solve. Rarely, if ever, does it go away."

His advice is to think positive. Good bosses have the courage to fact adversity, unpleasantness and difficult situations head on, to lead their team through a rough patch by example.

So watch for opportunities and develop the habit of tackling any discomfort. Not only do you risk diluting your performance with every delayed, ignored or denied issue, you also risk diluting your professional image.

Article for sharing - Are you a good boss? [Part 2]

Good bosses are.....
Confident
Good bosses are usually confident of their own abilities and this security allows them to stand back and see the broader picture. It also lets them address each situation logically without allowing their emotions to take over.

Confidence can be cultivated and instilled as a habit. Nothing gives more satisfaction than success; if you do well and achieve your goals, then it's easier to continue and do more. Patrick suggests, "Stop feeling inadequate. Nothing boosts confidence more than practical measures such as acquiring the right knowledge, knowing you have an appropriate skill and being well prepared."

For instance, if you and your team have a presentation to make to an important client, you'd do well to prepare yourself and your team members on what the client expects and likes and dislikes. Share your game plan. Capitalise on the strengths of each team member by delegating the right job to the right person, with clear directives and deadlines. Practising your presentation several times over will give you the confidence to speak fluently, which is more likely to impress the client and win over the trust of your team-mates.

Good bosses.....
Accept change

Change is far more helpful to a team's productivity and development than a static environment that remains the same. Patrick advises, "We all like to live within our comfort zone. If someone comes up to us and says, 'we'll have to make some changes around here', we're more likely to get defensive and fight that change. But don't fight change purely for irrational, defensive or emotional reasons. These will only block your logical view which helps you work with change rather than against it."

For example, you might decline to have lunch with new team members at first because you're more comfortable eating alone in your office. But accepting their invitation once or twice a week will make you appear more approachable. You'll also get to know your team better in a more relaxed environment, while they'll respect you for your open-mindedness. Besides, social interaction makes the food taste better!

Article for sharing - Are you a good boss? [Part 1]

Here's an article written by Noella Menon "Are you a good boss?" which I would like to share with everyone out there......... Hope you all enjoy it too!

Are you a good boss?

Learn these good work habits and you'll become a well-respected leader whom people will follow, not merely obey.

It's that old chestnut - good leaders are made, not born. But how exactly does one become a good boss in today's fast-paced workplace? The one key skill that managers often ignore is the ability to handle difficult situations - or what's known in management-speak as the discomfort zone.

To be a great boss in the discomfort zone, you need to look at how you can face these problems head on, take action and improve the result. "All you have to do is inculcate positive habits, "says Patrick Forsyth, a seasoned corporate consultant and bestselling British author of Managing in the Discomfort Zone.

Here are some of his tips to help make you a better manager.

Good bosses are.....
Tolerant

If you want to be a good boss, you need to develop a high tolerance for the realities of life. A good boss knows that if something has to go wrong, it will. So it's fruitless to resent reality, such as when a client is late on his payments or when your subordinate messes up her sales presentation.

"Watch out for perfectionist tendencies," says Patrick. "These can be irreplaceable when attending to detail, but can add on to your frustration when, realistically, nothing will ever be quite the way you want it."

Good bosses deal with difficult situations with a clear, calm mind and a constructive plan. Think through your goals carefully and set a measurable level of quality. For instance, aim to approve five financial reports instead of telling your secretary you'll sign off on everything once they're done.

"To lead people, walk beside them....
As for the best leaders, the people do not notice their existence.
The next best, the people honor and praise.
The next, the people fear;
and the next, the people hate....
When the best leader's work is done the people say,
"We did it ourselves!"

~ Lao-tsu ~

Article for sharing on "10 Sure-Fire Ways to be Happy"

"Old items are as good and precious as new!" This phrase is applicable to many things and situations in our lives. Flipping through some old magazine articles can be of great benefits but how many will do such a thing?? In true life situations, most people are looking forward in grabbing a copy of the latest month magazines or books rather than flipping through some old ones. Every time when I flip through an old magazine or book, I tend to find some interesting articles which is worth sharing. Hope you all love it too!

10 Sure-Fire Ways To Be Happy!

1. TREAT YOURSELF LIKE A CHILD The caring, the attention, the concern that you would give a small child, give that same attention to yourself.
2. CREATE MOMENTS OF HAPPINESS What gives you happiness depends on who you are. Do you enjoy a half hour of exercise? A few minutes of absolute quiet? An evening with a crowd of friends? Create those moments.
3. CLEAR OUT UNHAPPINESS What obstacles to happiness are there in your life? These can weigh you down. Avoid things that make you unhappy. See less of unpleasant people whenever possible.
4. KEEP A GRATITUDE JOURNAL Positive emotions create feelings of happiness. Optimism, hopefulness, curiosity and gratitude are part of the basket of emotions. Every day you can write down in your gratitude journal the things that you are grateful for.
5. SIMPLIFY! We are generally too busy, trying to squeeze in more and more activities into less and less time. Prioritise and simplify your life to make it stress-free.
6. BE SPONTANEOUS Take the opportunity to enjoy life as it happens. Be curious about life. Be inquisitive. Be amazed.
7. FIND WORK THAT YOU LOVE Find meaningful activities that give you a sense of accomplishment and enjoyment. Look in that direction for your career or your hobby.
8. PRACTISE BEING HAPPY Find activities that'll add a buzz of happiness to boost your mood throughout the week. Hang a funny cartoon on the door. Get a funny book to read. Play with your pet.
9. WHAT ARE YOUR APTITUDES? Examine your abilities and skills. Try out different activities. When your activities have meaning, you will find happiness. Concentrate deep in thought as you seek to understand that some things are, in itself, a pleasure.
10. HAVE A GOOD LAUGH! Going through the motions of a good rollicking laugh for no reason at all can easily chase stress and worries away.
    

Article for sharing on "Improving your memory" [Part 2]

Ways to improve your memory

• As your brain gets older so your ability to remember things that you have looked at briefly will get worse. When you were young you could probably look at a list of words and remember quite a lot of them. You can't do that as easily when you are older. You need to concentrate more. You will need to make a conscious effort to remember where you parked the car. Look at your car and its surroundings to imprint the view on your memory. Pretend that you are taking a photograph of it -- blink your eye lids as though your eyes were cameras -- and you'll remember it better.

• Normally we remember around 20 per cent of what we read. But if you really concentrate you can remember up to 70 per cent. After reading something that you want to remember, spend 60 seconds thinking about it. Make a mental comment to yourself about what you have read. Rephrase it in your mind. You will find that if you do this, your memory will improve considerably.

• As we get older, we all do things without really thinking about them. We put ourselves onto 'automatic pilot' and fall into a routine. Concentrate really hard and spot the things you do without thinking. And then ask yourself whether or not you could do things better if you thought about them more.

• Try to understand things that you have to remember. You will find things easier to remember if you understand them. And try to remember key facts and words which will help bring into your mind whole sequences of thoughts and facts.

• Clear your brain of trivial information. Use notebooks and diaries to record these. Albert Einstein once said: "Why should I waste brain space remembering my own telephone number? I can look it up if I want to know what it is."

• When you are talking about something you know that you will want to remember, try to concentrate hard on everything around you. Concentrate on the people you are with and the place you are at onto your mental blackboard. When you want to recall the name, simply recreate your blackboard.

• When you are trying to remember something, do your best to recreate the conditions under which you learnt it. Football teams do best when playing at home (even if there isn't a crowd of home supporters) because they find it easier to remember what they've learned while training. Students do better in examinations if they take their tests in the room where they did their learning. So, if you are trying to remember the name of someone you met at a party, then try to remember where you were, what you were doing, what you were wearing, what other people were wearing and what you said to the people you met. Things that you learn are bound together in your mind in time and place. If you can recreate the conditions in which you learned something, then your ability to recall the facts will increase dramatically.

• If you are struggling to remember something, work your way through the alphabet. The first letter of a name or place can often 'trigger' a lost memory.

• If you want to remember something that you have seen or read, try closing your eyes immediately afterwards. This keeps the 'image' on your retina for a little longer, and will make the image easier to recall in the future.

• To make it easier to remember names, try to make up pictures in your mind. For example, to remember the name 'Coleman' think of a main carrying a bag of coal. If you are trying to remember a name like 'Vernon' which doesn't lend itself to a picture, then visualize an imaginary blackboard and then write them in. Try to be aware of smells, sights and sounds. The more information you record, the easier you will find it to remember the event.
  

Article for sharing on "Improving your memory" [Part 1]

How many among friends have talk about the topic on "memory" either when meeting each other or even over the phone???

To be frank, I have had many discussions on this topic with my friends, especially those who are almost the same age or older. It is indeed a scary thing, but it is wise to put the topic into discussion as it gives us more confidence and won't panic off. Through sharing we are likely to understand the situation better and there might be some useful tips along the way. So, don't keep this scary problem to yourself, share it with people around us, talk about it and don't shy away cos' this problem not only happen to you alone but to everyone, except that some deteriorate faster than the others.

Here's an article which I've read recently and would like to share it with everyone, hoping that it will be of great value to all..................so, happy reading!!!

Improving your memory

It is a fact that your memory gets rusty as you get older. But don't panic because there are ways to stop it from deteriorating.

Did you know that the parts of your brain which are responsible for remembering things like dates, recipes, names and addresses, telephone numbers and directions lose up to 100,000 nerve cells a day? Which is why if you're older than 25, then your medium-term memory is slowly getting worse and worse. Teenagers are better able to absorb and remember pages of information than adults. So, unless you're a teenager, your brain is slowly rotting. That's the bad news.

The good news is that just as your medium-term memory is deteriorating so your mental ability to use information is increasing. Your memory may be failing as you age but you are becoming wiser. People under 25 may be able to remember lists of equations and irregular verbs. But the best thinking in any society is done by the over 25s.

Still, there is no doubt that it is inconvenient to have a deteriorating memory. So here are a few ways in which you can improve your memory and disguise the fact that you are getting older.

.......... to be continued

A Hassle-Free Day?

How we wish each day can be 'A Hassle-Free Day!' From the moment we wake up in the early morning till the end of another day, things run smoothly; there will be no troubles as we get on along the way; we will meet and get along well with people around us; everything turns out well as expected and many others.........

Instead, many things turn out to be not what we expect! There are times when things start to go wrong early in the morning, such as 'your toast gets burnt' or 'your children forget their school books and you need to turn back'. I believe that many have experienced such a situation before.

I've come across this interesting '10 Tips to a Hassle-Free Day' and would like to share with everyone out there, especially working mothers. I sincerely hope that some of the tips might be of help.

Are your days rife with problems? Do you dread going to work? Well, it is time to take control. Don't be defeated before you leave your house. Start making preparations for a successful day from the moment you are awake. Be organised and stay on top of things.

1. Psyching yourself up positively can work wonders for you. When you wake up in the morning, tell yourself that you are going to have a fantastic day.
2. Make it a point to have a good healthy breakfast. While you are eating, think about the plans for the evening so that you know how your day will end.
3. Dress for success. Have you noticed that what you have on can actually affect your mood? When you pay attention to your clothes and know you look your best, you are boosting your self-confidence several notches up. Look good and feel good.
   
4. Before you leave for the office, look through your planner or organiser. What are your appointments for the day? Do you have to take anything to the office? What is happening in the evening?
5. At the office, put on a smile. A smile costs you nothing but can get you plenty. Wish your colleagues a cherry "Good Morning!" This should not be difficult once you are determined to have a good day.
6. The first thing you should do is make a list - People to call (write phone numbers next to each name); Paperwork to clear & Appointments to make. Then, as you act on each item on the list, tick it off or make notes next to it if necessary.
7. Grab a sandwich and fruits for lunch. Drink plenty of water during the day. Make a personal call. Read that magazine or book that you haven't found time to. Do a crossword puzzle to improve your vocabulary.
8. If you had to go out of the office during the day, freshen up when you get in. This will perk you up for the rest of the day.
9. Before quitting time, plan for the next day. Work from the list you drew up in the morning. What could not be completed or dealt with should be put aside for the next day.
10. When you leave the office, leave an organised desk and your work problems behind.
    

Article for sharing on "Chronic Fatigue" [Part 5]

Strategies For Becoming A High-Energy Person

• If you are taking pills and stimulants to cope with your problem, you have got to stop. Of course you should reduce prescribed medication only under your doctor's direction. On your own, however, you can cut back on your coffee, cola, and tea intake. Only by cutting back on your consumption of stimulants, especially caffeine, will you re-establish your natural attunement and discover your full measure of natural inner energy. You should also cut back on sleeping medications in order to allow your body to re-establish a natural sleep cycle. To achieve positive wellness, your goals should be to cut out all sleeping medication and to limit your daily stimulant intake to one cup of coffee.

• Get off the excitement treadmill. Don't let advertising slogans and cultural expectations rule your life. The human nervous system is not designed for a constant diet of pressure, tension, speed, and excitement; it must have adequate rest to permit natural regeneration and recuperation. You won't be missing out on life by slowing down periodically to get adequate rest. In fact, the opposite will be true. You will expand your capacity to enjoy and will discover quiet pleasures that you have probably long overlooked. In addition to your daily experience of the healing silence, we suggest that you take one morning each week just for yourself -- to be alone, to read, to go for a long walk, or to enjoy whatever quiet pleasures you find nourishing to body, mind, and spirit. Once you start taking these few hours for yourself each week, you will never give them up.

• A camping trip in the woods for a weekend or a week can be very effective in re-establishing your natural attunement. The fresh air and contact with nature will help wash away fatigue. You will also find yourself rising early and going to bed with the sun. Camping is really a marvellous way to say goodbye to chronic fatigue.

• Take long walks, at least an hour a day, or start running regularly. Ironically exercise is necessary to overcome chronic fatigue. Whether the cause of your fatigue is stress or inertia, walking or running is helpful. It clears your mind and lifts your spirits. A half hour of any vigorous sport you enjoy will do.

• If social isolation is part of your problem, you need to get out and meet people. The best way to do this is to join an organisation that you might find interesting and enjoyable. You can join a health club or take an art or dance class. Outdoor groups provide wonderful opportunities for enjoying (and conserving through political work) the wilderness. If you feel you are shy, don't worry about it. Just join an organisation that interests you and become active in it. You'll be amazed at how your energy level increases and the many wonderful people you meet.
  

Article for sharing on "Chronic Fatigue" [Part 4]

Get In Tune With Your Emotions

If you don't have an ample supply of energy, you are temporarily out of tune with the natural rhythms of your body and emotions. Regaining natural attunement is frequently difficult because cultural factors reinforce your lack of inner harmony.

One of the greatest cultural reinforcers of chronic fatigue is pressure toward excessive excitement. In fact, your problem may be that you are caught on what we call the excitement treadmill, and your body is now telling you to stop the punishment.

Excitement is essential to the full enjoyment of living. A sports event, a love affair, a good book, or a great idea all generate high excitement. But excitement makes intense demands on your physical, emotional, and spiritual resources. And these demands mean stress, which depletes your energy reserves.

The pressure toward excitement in our culture had become so intense that the need for recuperation between periods of excitement has been forgotten.

Many people go from a frenzied work environment to a hectic rush hour, only to arrive home and turn on an exciting TV program. Weekends are a time for sports, parties, movies and TV.

The result is a gradual erosion of bodily resources, a process which in turn increases your need for excitement to avoid feeling let down and exhausted.

To keep yourself feeling "up", you've got to stay on the excitement treadmill. Eventually your system says "Enough," and you hit a period of chronic fatigue. If you then follow the cultural input that says "it's OK to take pills to cope," you may be in real trouble. To solve your energy problem and live a long, healthy life, you must learn to turn off this cultural bombardment and become attuned to your own needs and rhythms.

Another major cultural factor behind chronic fatigue is boring work and frustrating work environments. Boring, distasteful work causes psychological inertia, which blocks your natural flow of energy. It takes courage to change a job, and if your work has brought on chronic fatigue, courage is usually in short supply.

If the cause of your fatigue problem has a major social component, solving it won't be easy. However, it can be done.

Article for sharing on "Chronic Fatigue" [Part 3]

The Causes Of Low Energy

Non-illness related chronic fatigue can have a wide range of causes, among them:

• excessive pressure at work or at home, especially time pressure
• stimulus overload -- too many simultaneous responsibilities, demands, expectations, and activities
• insufficient sleep
• worry about family, especially medical and interpersonal problems
• inattention to daily rest-activity cycle -- too much activity, and disregard of the body's natural rhythms
• too little physical activity, a sedentary life-style
• preconscious psychological conflicts, especially fear of failure
• monotonous, boring work
• chronic frustration at work, dissatisfaction with superiors, co-workers, and opportunities for advancement
• inadequate stimulation, especially lack of friends and social isolation
• emotional loss, especially of a love one
• failure at work, in a marriage, of an investment, or at anything important to you.

Article for sharing on "Chronic Fatigue" [Part 2]

The Signs Of Chronic Fatigue

Fatigue has a wide range of mental and emotional effects. It is a generalised condition that can affect almost everything you do. Different people show fatigue in different ways, but the most common symptoms of chronic fatigue are:

• mental dullness, cloudiness, lack of alertness
• pouches or dark circles under eyes
• pasty complexion
• poor muscle tone
• lack of spontaneity in gesture or speech
• increased fears, tensions, anxieties
• decreased ability to accept constructive criticism
• increased irritability, frequent temper outbursts
• impaired recent memory, lowered attention span
• decreased libido
• insomnia
• vague bodily aches and pains
• high caffeine (or other stimulant) consumption
  

If you are able to manage your life effectively but have been troubled by several of these symptoms over the last several months (or longer), you may well be suffering from chronic fatigue. Of course you can't be sure until your doctor has ruled out the possibility of some underlying illness.

One of the hallmarks of chronic fatigue is pill popping (stimulants, tranquilisers, and/or barbiturates) and high coffee, cola, and tea consumption.

How many cups of coffee do you need to get through the day? If you need any at all, you are probably suffering from fatigue. A daily intake of five or more cups means your fatigue is probably deep and chronic. This does not mean you are functioning ineffectively; coffee may allow you to get through your day and maintain a reasonably high level of performance. But don't fool yourself into believing you are functioning at your peak.

When chronic fatigue becomes extreme, pill popping is often the end stage before serious illness strikes.

Chronic fatigue can so disorient your system that you need stimulants to get going in the morning and barbiturates to sleep at night. In between, a mild tranquiliser may be necessary to take the edge off your tension. If you are using pills in this way, you are flirting with disaster. Unless you do something about your fatigue, serious illness will strike sooner or later.

Article for sharing on "Chronic Fatigue" [Part 1]

Flipping through some old magazines can be interesting at times, especially when coming across some useful articles which we might have read some years back. I've got here a valuable article which must be shared with all online buddies. With today's sophisticated world I believe that many are face with the problem of 'Chronic Fatigue'.

So, lets sit down and relax while I present this interesting and useful article for the benefits of all..........

If you frequently find yourself short on energy or troubled by vague aches and pains, your problem could be chronic fatigue. Fatigue, especially when chronic, can be a frustrating condition. You lack energy to fulfill not just your responsibilities, but your aspirations as well. Your mind tends to become cloudy, your emotions raw, and your muscles tense and knotted. Your doctor may tell you that "there's nothing really wrong; just take it easy" and may recommend a tranquiliser, a mood elevator, or a stimulant. But you soon discover that these platitudes and prescriptions don't work.

Fatigue is one of the chief complaints of the 70 to 80 percent of people seeing their family doctors. In four out of five cases where fatigue is the overriding problem, the doctor can find no underlying illness.

The result is frustration for patient and doctor. We are not implying that your doctor is incompetent or that you should not see him or her if you feel immobilising fatigue. This symptom can be the chief sign of many serious illness such as infectious mononucleosis, an anaemia, a kidney infection, or a variety of hormonal or chemical imbalances.

Your doctor is adept at determining whether any of these disorders are present, and they must be ruled out before you attempt any other treatment for your problem. We are simply pointing out that conventional medicine is often unsuccessful in treating fatigue that does not stem from a diagnosable illness.

Try A New Approach

Holistic medicine begins with the assumption that you should feel great. If you don't then you have a real health problem. If you complain of fatigue, a holistically oriented physician assumes that you have some kind of imbalance in your total physical-emotional-spiritual functions that can be successfully treated.

Conventional medicine has identified a variety of non-illness related factors in chronic fatigue, but these have not been incorporated in a coherent system of treatment. One reason for this shortcoming may be the tendency of conventional medical practitioners to disregard symptoms that do not have a clear organic origin.

Despite this bias, the syndrome of chronic fatigue is so widespread that modern medicine has accumulated substantial though fragmented insights about it. The holistic approach has prompted the integration of these insights into an understanding of the signs, causes, and treatment of this major health problem.