Dalunara

The gospel is the revelation of God, and his finished work on the earth. One of the greatest revelations in the gospel is that God is in love with us. I know Jesus says the greatest commandments are to love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength, and then love others as ourselves. But when he said this, the Bible tells us he was responding to a trick question from a lawyer about the law. The lawyer was not sincerely seeking truth.

If the lawyer had been seeking truth, Jesus would have told him real love is not about us loving God, but it’s about God loving us (I John 4:10, 19). God loves us as much as he does Jesus (John 17:23). The Bible says God is love — and he loves us because of Jesus, not because of what we do or don’t do. The way love is preached today, we’re told WE have to show we’re good Christians by being loving.

But if love isn’t received, and then shared by us, it isn’t the love of God. All that any of us have, that is worth anything at all, is God within us.

Ephesians says we are holy, blameless, and stand before God in love — that we are ‘rooted and grounded in God’s love.’ Ephesians 3:16, this takes place in our ‘inner man’ — our soul, not our spirit. It’s our feelings and emotions. Thus, we are meant to personally experience God’s love, not just accept it as a theory. It’s God’s love that impacts us to live a powerful life (II Cor 5:14).

Paul says faith works through love. But faith is more than just simply believing God loves us, and then trying to love other people. This is why we must know God’s love personally and intimately. When we know something, in an intimate sense, then we receive it as ours. It is RECEIVING God’s love fresh every day — and then sharing what we have received with others.

There is a big difference between trying to love God — and knowing that God is in love with YOU! If you are sitting at a banquet table full to overflowing, you want to share it with others. But if you only have a piece of bread to eat, your willingness to share is diminished. If we know we are loved, it is then easy to share the love we have.

Love becomes practical if we truly embrace the gospel, and come to know God’s love experientially– each and every day. His love is a gift of the cross of Christ — a gift that allows John to say, “As Jesus is, so are WE in this world” (I John 4:17). As you continue to read Gospel Snapshots, they will progressively reveal and impart the power of the love of God into your life.

Personally I belief that it is possible for anyone to live a life
of happiness,inner peace, and outward success, no matter what their
present or past circumstances.

There are very real methods anyone can use to achieve these things-if they are willing to make the necessary changes in how they see themselves and their relationship to the rest of the world, and take the necessary actions.

All traditions of meditation flow from one premise: that the entire universe is made of one all-encompassing energy, intelligent and aware, existing forever as the source of everything. Because there is nothing outside of it, say the mystics, because of its completeness, this energy has nothing to get or need, nothing to fear. Simply because it is its nature to do so, this one energy continually spins itself out as the entire, infinite universe. The very nature of this energy, it is said, is contentment, love, peace, happiness, and perfection.

The totality of this energy, say the mystics, is who you really are; your seeming separateness, an illusion. Saints and sages have for centuries attempted to describe to humankind a state of awareness where this feeling of oneness with everything in the universe is the predominant experience.

For thousands of years, curious seekers have responded to these explanations by asking, “If I am this one, infinite energy, the beginning less and endless totality of everything, if I really am Love itself, then why do I feel so bad? Why do I have so many problems? Why don’t I feel the peace and happiness you say is my true nature?”

And the mystic invariably would answer, “You do not experience your true nature because of your mind. Your mind keeps you from the experience of what truly is.”

These explanations state that the one energy of reality, at the moment of creation, polarized itself into a seeming duality-good and evil, male and female, up and down, here and there and all other pairs of seeming opposites.

This duality, however, is more apparent than real. In each pair of opposites, each part is dependent on the other for its existence, like two sides of the same coin. “Cold” is meaningless without “hot”; “good” makes no sense without “bad”.
According to the mystical philosophies of the East, it is the tension between these pairs of opposites, in your mind, that actually causes the universe to
manifest.

This tension between opposites is also reflected in the human brain. The brain, divided into two hemispheres, right and left, has the same dual structure-made more acute by the fact that in virtually all people the two hemispheres are unbalanced, a state called brain lateralization. Since the brain filters our reality in this split-brain way, we tend to see things in terms of duality rather than the oneness spoken of by mystics.

Of course, today we know that this is true-the mind does indeed act as a filter, coloring our view of reality just as colored glasses give an illusory tint to what we see. As we grow up, our brain is programmed that some things cause pain and should be avoided, while others bring pleasure and should be sought.

Our brain will always filter reality to confirm that its predominant beliefs and associations are the truth. No wonder we don’t see the universe of love and harmony described by saints and mystics!

If the brain could somehow learn to operate in a more coherent, holistic manner, if the two sides of the brain could somehow balance, interact more, and function, as one, then possibly our experience of reality would be different. The more lateralization in the brain (in other words, the more tension between polar opposites) the more feelings of separation, fear, anxiety, and isolation.
In fact, as we shall see, only a lateralized brain can continue to entertain the types of beliefs that result in dysfunctional and addictive behaviors and the painful feelings that accompany them.

But our brain should not be considered like an organ what produces our consciousness, we should consider it instead like the product of our consciousness.
The connections between the cells in our brain become created following the necessities of our consciousness. In this way, our brain evolves and produces his self and our implicit consciousness. Therefore, must our mind be seen as a potentiality!

Modern brain research indicates that long-term meditation does in fact balance the brain, creating a synchrony between the two hemispheres. They discovered that electrical brain wave patterns of meditators changed, in periods of deep meditation, to a single, coherent pattern, indicating that both sides of the brain – ordinarily out of phase – were working together in a balanced, synchronous manner.

This and other research has demonstrated that this balancing, or synchronization, of the hemispheres of the brain happens in all forms of meditation. The degree of hemispheric synchronization can be very precisely determined by measuring the meditator’s brain wave patterns with an electroencephalograph (EEG) machine.

Any kind of focusing will bring about a degree of brain synchronization (i.e. meditation). The greater the focus, the greater the synchronization (and the deeper the meditative state).

The mystic, then, sitting to meditate, balances the brain through some form of focusing, whether by repeating a prayer or mantra, keeping the attention on the flow of the breath, staring at a candle flame, or by using one of many other techniques. Whatever the technique, the effect on the brain is substantially the same-brain synchronization, and after much practice, transcendental experience.

So just what is this transcendental awareness? Is it becoming some kind of a blob of undifferentiated guru that wants to sit and stare at its navel instead of going to work in the morning, or some kind of robed, smiling person handing out flowers in the airport?

Contrary to common Western mythology about such things, persons operating continually in this type of awareness (a kind of 24-hour-a-day state of meditative alertness sometimes referred to as “the awakened mind”) are more productive, happier, and capable of more intimacy, more creativity, and more wholeness. Since the filter through which they view reality does not split everything in to categories based on arbitrary early life programming, they see life more objectively, without fear and judgment, without a need
to manipulate others, without need for approval-in short, without the limitations of mental programming.

This is, in fact, a state of peak performance. And, when the brain is in this highly synchronous and coherent state, it produces large quantities of pleasure-causing petrochemicals called endorphins, making the whole experience very pleasurable!

In order to accelerate the personal growth process, can you take advantage from the results of modern brain research and use the combined method between meditation and brain wave stimulation with scientifically developed meditation music, what stimulates your brain in a more effective and faster way than traditional meditation. By doing that you’ll exclude any upcoming difficulties regarding focusing your mind and concentration.

Music is harmony; start practicing your meditation with harmoniously meditation music!
www.meditationsession.com

Werner Boersch
Studied Psychlogy in Germany
on the University of Dsseldorf,
practicing Yoga and Meditation
since several years
Owner & Webmaster
www.meditationsession.com
Discuss here your experiences
www.meditation-session.blogspot.com

A healthy diet is the most important for a happy life. Exercise and healthy diets are the two main factors for growth and maintenance of a healthy body. Being obese increases the risk of diabetes, heart attack, blood pressure, breathing problems, arthritis, osteoarthritis etc.

Excess weight is a major problem faced my millions of people in the United States. One fifth of the population of US adults is overweight. According to several medical journals, US has never had so much of obese population ever before. Taking right type of foods helps a lot in maintaining a good health.

Eating foods, which are high in fat and having lots of carbohydrates, is not good for health. Taking more aerated drinks is very bad for health. So try to avoid it. Drink lots of water, soymilk or low fat milk. Exercise daily or at least 5 days a week. Cycling, Jogging or any aerobic exercise for 30 minutes a day helps the body relieve stress and maintain a healthy body.

Most of the people try to take food even when their stomach is full. While watching TV, playing video games, they keep eating even when their stomach is full. Have lots of fruits and vegetables daily. Try to avoid prepackaged foods, like food stored in cans etc. Never skip you breakfast and chew food well so that you don’t have any stomach problems.

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You are welcome to republish the above article only if you add our hyperlinked URL.

As winter approaches, it’s the time of year when you don’t want to have your immune system caught with it’s pants down. So here’s 6 simple steps will show you how to build up some immune system protection.

Step 1 – There’s Some Foods You Need to Avoid:

Foods such as fried foods, preservatives, margarine, burned meat and most vegetable oils are high in free radicals – chemicals formed when this food is ingested and exposed to the oxygen we breathe. When this occurs there is an additional demand on our immune system to neutralize these free radicals, making us more susceptible to disease. Vegetable oils are also high in omega 6 fatty acids and these tend to ’switch off’ or immune system. Excess sugar and refined carbohydrates tend to suppress the immune system and should also be avoided. Excessive alcohol consumption and absolutely no smoking!

Step 2 – Healthy Diet:

Consume more green leafy vegetables and colourful fruit. These tend to have a higher level of natural antioxidants (Vitamin C, vitamin E and zinc) and phyto-nutriuents (carotenoids and bioflavenoids) that nourish the immune system and stimulate the production of immune system cells and enhance it’s protective capacity in defending against free radical pollutants. Drink plenty of water – this helps to detoxify the body allowing it to run more efficiently. An increased consumption of omega 3 fatty acids found in flax seed oil, tuna, salmon, ocean trout and mackerel boosts the immune system by stimulating production of certain hormones associated with the immune system.

Step 3 – Moderate Exercise:

The emphasis is on moderate exercise which stimulates the immune system, possibly by increasing the circulation of cells associated with the immune system functions. By contrast, overtraining can have the opposite effect and drag the immune system down. I’m sure we’ve all heard about athletes coming down with ‘mystery viruses’ and chronic fatigue.

Step 4 – A Good Night’s Sleep:
Improved sleep and sleep patterns have consistently proven be a factor in boosting and improving the immune system. If you work night shift, the best advice is to make some time to sleep or rest quietly during the day and avoid the foods we mentioned.

Step 5 – Immune System Supplements:

The most important supplements that boost the immune system are the minerals Selenium and zinc and vitamins A (as beta-carotene), C & E. Numerous studies on all of these nutrients conclusively show improved function of the immune system in terms of the production in the presence of these nutrients. A specific supplement should contain all of these nutrients and be especially high in Selenium.

Step 6 – Essential Oils:
Often overlooked because we don’t understand enough about them. Essential oils contain literally thousands of antiviral compounds that will kill and prevent the disease and also compounds that boost and stimulate the immune system. Best oils are Lavender, Eucalyptus radiata, Lemon and Helichrysum.

Summary
In this article we’ve outlined a common sense approach of how to build up immune system protection. The main factors are:

1. Healthy diet – avoiding alcohol, cigarettes, sugar, refined carbohydrates
   fried food and margarine and increasing your intake of fresh water, fruit, green leafy vegetables and essential fatty acids.
2. Healthy lifestyle – plenty of rest and moderate exercise.
3. Supplement with an immune boosting supplement containing Selenium, Zinc and vitamins A, C and E.

Paul Newland is a health writer, sports training consultant and martial arts instructor and runs the Global-Longevity.com website. He is the author of numerous health information books and guides, including the Wellness Report and the Bird Flu Report – available Free through Global-Longevity.com.

Mobile broadband has been announced as the trendiest development in the technological world which will be the secret to the development of high speed broadband. Only a few year ago, high speed connection has been available via a simple phone landline, ADSL connection, which links to a terminal using an ADSL modem or router. Wireless broadband will be very used, whereby the Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line modem is attached to the PC through a wireless network, and as a consequence many people are now getting rid of cables. But broadband on the go will take internet one step further and offering another important step in the technology of internet connectivity; a broadband line pretty much in any room without the use of a traditional landline cable.

The option of going online with a high speed connection speed at home is appealing for potential users, like those that more and more go online with their computers not from home. Business people for example who travel for business meetings are the target for mobile broad band because they will surely welcome the fact of not having to search for a working WI-FI public hotspot for a proper connection. Mobile high speed internet will go further than that, and since costs begin to decrease and internet lines are increased soon we will experience a great number of high speed connection customers subscribing for mobile fast speed connection.

Mobile broadband works by attaching a modem to any modern computer, also referred to as a ‘dongle’, from where your personal computer is able to work with whichever mobile broadband connection you have registered for. Many companies are marketing mobile ADSL packages and coverage of the networks, also known as three G networks, which is now reported to be as much as 90% of the UK.

Speed has been important with any broad-band connection and mobile broadband providers at the beginning had some problems to market users that mobile high speed internet could perform as fast as conventional, landline fast speed connection. Internet connections are changing, since Vodafone announcing mobile broad-band lines as fast as 7 mb, which is in line with some of the fastest landline internet connections. Many countries, including the United Kingdom, are laying plans to finance with capitals in fibre optic cable networks, in order increase high speed connection speeds to up to 100mb.

In New Zealand an important telecommunications company has announced that mobile broad band networks will soon improve rapidly over the coming years and they have announced that mobile high speed internet could push connections of up to 100mb by early 2011, the exact year the GB’s fibre optic network is due to be finished. This will create an important shift in industry thinking, with the creation of a super fast mobile high speed internet network with obvious advantages over the cabling of lots of Kilometers of fibre optic cables, without mentioning the practical point of view. Compare mobile broadband offers with Compare Broadband UK.

For many years as a sales manager, I would only hire the stereotypical sales representative. You know the typeon a human relations continuum or scale of zero to ten, with the ten representing a candidate who is totally gregarious and outgoing and the zero, someone who is introverted with few people skills, I’d always recruit the ten. As an advisor to businesses and professional service firms on how to build an effective sales team, I would also council my clients to hire “tens.” Big mistake!

Pareto’s principle (the 80/20 Rule) is vividly illustrated in most industries by the fact that 80 percent of the sales are closed by only 20 percent of the sales professionals. After 24 years of working with literally thousands of sales representatives and service industry professionals as an advisor, trainer and coach, I have learned an important truth–that the ten personality is rarely found in the ranks of the top 20 percent of the sales professionals who produce 80 percent of the sales. For this reason alone, I now hire candidates that fall about a six on the personality continuum and I council my clients to do the same.

Why hire a six? Because the six personality makes up the vast majority of today’s top sales producers. And they are successful at selling, simply because they have a six personality. They are a bit reserved and a lot less outgoing than the ten, but they still have the people skills to communicate well. They do less talking than a ten and they listen better, giving them a decided edge in communicating effectively. Although six personalities have less charisma than a ten, they have a much greater ability to deal with the details of the selling process. This helps them to consistently find new prospects and to organize their day to get more done than an eight ro ten personality. Their ability to produce leads, the effective use of time and their systematic approach to presentations, gives the six personality a selling edge. Most sales professionals with a ten personallity absolutly loath prospecting, paperwork and organizing themselves, so they simply rely on their personality and charm to achieve their sales objectives.

You have to hire smart to develop a sales team that are all “top producers.” You don’t have to live with an 80/20 rule sales team, if you truly understand the personality of the sales or service industry professionals who make up the 20 percent and then only hire candidates that fall into this demographic. However, there’s one problem with this suggestion. You rarely can find a candidate that is in the top 20 percent, who is actively looking for new employment. And, a company or firm would be crazy to let their top producers leave them. Most employers usually do everything in their power to retain their best performers. Your only recourse then is to hire someone from the 80 percent grouping with potential to be a top producer. And how to do this must be the topic for another article

Best wishes for continued sales success.

To Obtain a discount on 101 SALES MYTHS manual click on:

http://www.TheSellingEdge.com/myths1.htm

VIRDEN THORNTON is the founder and President of The $elling Edge®, Inc. a firm specializing in sales, customer relations, and management training and development. Clients have included Sears Optical, Eastman Kodak, IBM, Deloitte & Touch©, Bank One, Jefferson Pilot, and Wal-Mart to name a few. Virden is the author of Prospecting: The Key To Sales Success and the best selling Building & Closing the Sale, Fifty-Minute series books and Close That Sale, a video/audio tape series published by Crisp Publications, Inc. Menlo Park, California. He has also authored a Self-Directed Learning series of sales, coaching & team development, telemarketing, and personal productivity training guides.

Virden teaches for the Center For Professional Development, Texas Tech University at Lubbock, Texas and in the School Of Entrepreneurship, J. Willard And Alice S. Marriott School Of Management at Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah. You can contact Virden at: Virden@TheSellingEdge.com.

Everything comes to those who hustle while they wait -Thomas Edison

Thomas A. Edison was one of the most prolific inventors of all time. His inventions continue to shape our daily lives decades after his death in 1931. He fundamentally changed our lives by giving us indoor lighting, records, movies, batteries, and hundreds of other objects we have come to believe we can’t live without. He patented over 1,000 objects during his life. His advice to “hustle” while you wait gives us some insight into how he became a legend.

Many people who dream of changing their lives are in a “waiting” time in their lives. For financial or personal reasons they are not yet able to leave their current jobs, move to their preferred geographical area, or start that business they dream of. During these waiting times you can do much to lay the foundation for your dreams. Here are some ideas that can get you started as you begin to move towards a life you compose rather than one you fell into:

*Research your dream job or business. Learn all that you can about it. You can easily become an expert about any topic in 3-6 months. Read, search the web, interview people who already work in the field, and do all that you can to learn about the history, trends and topics that are important in your field. When the time comes to move forward, you will have a solid knowledge base.

*Develop your network. Meet others who are in your chosen field. Nothing leads to success faster than having a solid support network in place. Don’t fear competition, just meet as many people as you can in that field. This networking will help you understand what it takes to succeed and give you the support you need to make those first steps. Nothing increases learning faster than having a mentor who can show you the way. You will increase your confidence and your learning pace, and you may even get “lucky” and find a job or your first client.

*Lay the groundwork. Write your business plan. Draft a press release. Outline your book. Learn how to design web pages. Any progress is movement forward and that momentum can help propel you towards the life of your dreams. As you develop skills and create the platform for your new life, new ideas and opportunities will come your way.

No matter where you are in developing the life of your dreams, you can “hustle” while you wait. Even if you have no idea what you want yet, you can create a foundation that will support your new life. No effort is wasted. The skills and knowledge you gain will fit into your new life in some way.

As I searched for my dream and mission I researched dozens of topics. I am consistently amazed at how many of those “dead ends” have helped me to develop my current business. Learning how to edit, write copy, design web pages, research, and even cook have all helped me to build a stronger foundation for my roles as a life coach and infertility coach. Don’t wait for the perfect time to arrive, begin today to move forward and the universe will meet you with more opportunities than you can now imagine.

Julie Renee Callaway is a life coach and motivational speaker specializing in helping professional women overcome obstacles in their lives to discover their divine mission and create lives of meaning, beauty and fulfillment. You can get a free report “Seven Ways to Tell You Are Climbing the Wrong Ladder” at http://www.composeyourlife.com

[Abounding Abundant Ample Ways To Boost Your Growth!]

This may come as a surprise but there are reliable,
effective and powerful ways to improve your ability to learn
new things.

If you will allow me to use leadership skills training as
our example, you will see how poor learning forces us to
suffer through any one or more of the following problems:

- leadership training programs usually cost serious money -
in fact, some programs are outrageously expensive

- leadership training programs last for a very short time -
quite a few of them run for only one or two days

- many leadership training programs fail to give students
ways to confidently resolve problem situations or meet and
overcome their daily challenges

- less than 1% of all leadership training programs combine
coaching and mentoring follow-ups with classroom lessons

- most leadership training programs like to do ‘raw data
dumps’- the vast majority of them do NOT give you chances to
‘blend’ your learning experiences with supervised support or
practical feedback

In this article you will discover how to find, use and take
advantage of every kind of performance improvement learning
opportunity you encounter.

You will be able to employ your new knowledge, skills and
competences in highly flexible, more creative and valuable
ways.

Power Strategy – 1 — Be sure you get clearly defined,
significant returns on your training investment!

When you spend your money on a training program, do you want
to be entertained, engaged or educated?

I don’t know about your priorities but I know that when I
hand over my hard-earned money, I demand a ton of convincing
that my investment is going to give me a big pay-off.

I expect and want so much more from training than I put into
it. Of course, your training program should and needs to
have some entertaining qualities and even engaging aspects
to it.

If you want the temporary benefits of watching an action
adventure movie or taking a walk in the park then go for it.

However, if you desire to see your career or business
blossom and grow stronger, your training investment must
deliver more than a mere 30% or 60% payback [I suggest you
look for programs that guarantee you returns of 100-300%].

Power Strategy – 2 — Spend your money to make more money!

In the First Strategy I recommended that you to seek
guaranteed returns on your investment. With that said, you
must of course realize, that you do need to actually invest
your money so that you can get a return on it!

What am I saying? I am not telling you to spend all of your
money for leadership, creativity or other skills training. I
am advising you to make wise investments of your money. So
what does that mean?

Wisdom says you need to look at every training program as a
continuing investment in both your current and future
performance. So doesn’t it make sense to you that you need
to pay for any training program that operates on a
continuing basis?

The price of your training program should mirror your 3
expectations for the returns you will receive through
investing in the program:

1) The price must be reasonable for the amount of learning
and growth in knowledge, know-how and competences you can
expect to achieve

2) The price should be based on your desire to pay for those
incremental benefits in terms of the performance
improvements and tangible results you are likely to receive
from your training program over that period of time

3) The price has to be a realistic, accurate and measurable
reflection of those resources which are actively committed
to the support of your progress.

Power Strategy – 3 — Grasp a telescopic view of your
training needs!

We already looked at the continuing nature of training. Do
you believe that learning is a lifelong exercise?

If so, how do you expect to learn anything of lasting value
in just 1, 2 or 3 days [in most cases less than 6 hours a
day of actual training]?

For instance, many leadership training programs feature
short term exposures to the complex job of analyzing issues,
evaluating potential solutions and assessing the
effectiveness of your decisions.

I wonder how you are supposed to master the diverse arts,
concepts, practices, principles, laws and processes of
leadership in 18 or less hours?

In those kinds of workshops and seminars, you are told that
you will come away from the classroom with an in-depth
understanding of 15 or 20 topics – yeah, sure you will!

By now, it should be obvious to you that the most effective
leadership training requires LONG-TERM continuous, devoted
and caring support, frequent follow-ups and candid
assessments from your training provider.

Power Strategy – 4 — Get the most that you can out of every
training day!

I can hear you talking to yourself – you’re thinking that
you only need to get the most out of everyday you
participate in a training class, aren’t you?

Since you have spent your money on a training class, you
would be foolish not to get the most from that investment.

However, I would like you to consider the fact that everyday
that you’re alive is a day for learning, practicing, judging
and mastering new skills, knowledge and principles.

If you maintain a daily log book, a diary or journal, you
should strive to write down your learning-oriented
accomplishments.

You would use your journal to enter the principles, skills,
and new knowledge [the applicable, relevant and practical
information you discovered - not just mere facts and figures
but useful, valuable and profit-producing know-how].

That’s why police officers and crafts persons keep their
notebooks – it’s how you too could reinforce and strengthen
your confidence, and deepen as well as broaden all your
learning experiences.

Power Strategy – 5 — Be open to being helped!

Many times, people in leadership training hold the mistaken
belief that only their teachers know how to help them learn
leadership skills and principles.

If someone wants to weave you some holy tale of how only
other leaders can show you the ‘ropes’ or that only those
buttoned-down, up-and-coming junior executive-types can show
you how to charge into the fray and take no prisoners then
you’re in for a surprise.

Not everyone who has an elaborate title, holds some exalted
position or who have gone before you knows how to lead or
knows what they’re doing in this new age of knowledge – so
you can forget all the myths and nursery stories right now!

When you break free from assumptions like those mentioned
above, you will see how people operating in various walks of
life and those working in different professions or sectors
of the economy from yours can and will add rich, colorful
textures to your tapestry of leadership.

Helpers of all sorts can contribute to your understanding of
their cultures, operational paradigms and traditional
practices – these people can be found all around you.

How can your peers, subordinates and other so-called
ordinary people empower your leadership development?

It’s your task to question them, observe their behaviors,
listen to their experiences and after doing all those
things, to learn how.

Power Strategy – 6 — Reach out, grab a golden ring of
support!

In this crazy world of chaotic change, dizzying choices and
the sifting sands of normal operating conditions, we need to
reach for the certainty and assuring comfort of others.

The journey towards leadership maturity may begin with a
single step but you’ll need a thousand more things to carry
you along your way.

Your leadership adventure will have to be fueled by
sustenance of many kinds:

- A written record of your challenges and encounters will
help you stay focused and empowered

- Encouraging fellowship, engaging interactions and edifying
exchanges with your fellow travellers will maintain your
sanity and stability

- Confessional and consultative sessions with your trusted
advisers will strengthen your resolve and faith

- Daily inspirational readings and pep-talks will energize
you and feed your soul

- Meditations and prayers will uplift your spirit and enable
your inner being to soar with wings of eagles

Power Strategy – 7 — Take your acting cues from the
director!

In essence, a coach is like the director of a motion picture
- coaches prompt, instruct, direct and intensely encourage
us to move towards our goals.

You have a better chance of becoming the leader you were
destined to be with a coach, counselor or mentor keeping
watch over your advancement and working alongside of you.

Of course you still need a structured course of learning and
teachers who can help increase your knowledge and tutor you.

Coaches and mentors instill a sense of accountability in
you, they will keep the bar raised and stand beside you so
that you become accustomed to striving for the highest
possible performance.

In your development as a leader, coaches and mentors will be
instrumental in helping you examine yourself and assess your
performance candidly and rigorously.

After a time, you will come to see your counselor, mentor
and coach as the person who enabled you to see the true
meaning of reaching for the prize.

———————————————————–

Most successful people agree that these kinds of approaches
to personal and professional development work precisely
because they themselves became world-class leaders through
using techniques, tools and resources like the ones you just
read about.

Change management expert, Holger Nauheimer, explains how our
dynamically-charged, ever-shifting, global-landscape, calls
for a new spirit of development, “in which individuals, the
members of organizations, experience self-determination and
personal growth – and participate in creating a world around
them to which they want to belong.”

Recently reported results in the Wharton School’s Leadership
Digest, of a comprehensive study of leadership failures, the
following recommendations were given to help promising
leaders avoid potential pitfalls: their findings suggest
three primary things learners and their trainers should do -
they should,

- “Create development plans and opportunities for promising
internal candidates;

- Reflect carefully on their own experiences and, throughout
the course of their careers, seek out opportunities to
develop their context skills;

- Determine the level of support they’ll need from their
predecessor, and perform an intense self-assessment to
determine what other organizational support they will need”

Experienced firefighter, Lynn Biddison, says the number one
priority for new leaders is: “Establish a rigorous training
plan for [yourself and] your people”

The last but most important “Power Strategy” I wish to share
with you is this -

Be sure to energetically increase the richness, texture,
luster, power and scope, depth, capacity, value-added,
quality and competences of your skills and knowledge
developmental experiences on a daily basis!

Seek out and find only those training programs that will
help you achieve the goals of these 7 Power Strategies and
you will make abounding, abundant and amply laudable
contributions to your own success, your community,
organizations and our world.

Mustard Seed Investments Inc. Copyright © 2004, All rights
reserved

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Bill Thomas is author of “Your Leadership UltraNet!” – a
LIFE-LONG, Affordable, Performance Enhancement Program,
featuring web-based ULTRA-Comprehensive training, coaching
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Despite their importance to a wide range of athletic and sporting activities, the hip flexors are the most neglected major muscle group in strength training. It is very rare to find training programs that include hip flexor exercises. By contrast there is usually a great deal of emphasis on exercises for the leg extensors.

There are some obvious reasons for this comparative neglect. The principal muscles involved in hip flexion are the psoas and the iliacus, collectively known as the iliopsoas. Because they are relatively deep-seated rather than surface muscles they may have been overlooked by bodybuilders who have traditionally been the major innovators in strength training. Secondly, there are no obvious ways to adequately exercise them with free weights. Finally, these muscles do not have the obvious functional importance of their extensor counterparts. Yet, as antagonists, both hip and knee flexors perform a vital role in controlling the rate of descent and ascent in leg extension exercises such as the squat.

There is no corresponding problem of underdevelopment with the muscles responsible for knee joint flexion, the hamstring group. Because they cross two joints they are active in both leg extension and leg flexion. They act to flex the knee joint and also to extend the hip joint. Therefore they tend to be strengthened by complex leg extension exercises. Also hamstrings can be developed and strengthened through the use of the leg curl apparatus.

Strong hip flexors provide an advantage in a wide range of sports and athletic activities. In sprinting high knee lift is associated with increased stride length and therefore considerable attention is given to exercising the hip flexors. However, they are usually not exercised against resistance and consequently there is unlikely to be any appreciable strength increase.

Hip flexor strength is directly relevant to a range of activities in football. Kicking a ball is a complex coordinated action involving simultaneous knee extension and hip flexion, so developing a more powerful kick requires exercises applicable to these muscle groups. Strong hip flexors can also be very advantageous in the tackle situation in American football and both rugby union and rugby league where a player is attempting to take further steps forward with an opposing player clinging to his legs.

In addition those players in American football and rugby who have massively developed quadriceps and gluteus muscles are often unable to generate rapid knee lift and hence tend to shuffle around the field. Having stronger flexors would significantly improve their mobility.

It is commonly asserted that marked strength disparity between hip extensors and hip flexors may be a contributing factor in hamstring injuries in footballers. It is interesting to speculate on whether hip extensor/flexor imbalance might also be associated with the relatively high incidence of groin injuries.

Other sports where increased iliopsoas strength would appear to offer benefits include cycling, rowing and mountain climbing, in particular when scaling rock faces.

The problem in developing hip flexor strength has been the lack of appropriate exercises. Two that have traditionally been used for this muscle group are incline sit-ups and hanging leg raises, but in both cases the resistance is basically provided by the exerciser’s own body weight. As a consequence these exercises can make only a very limited contribution to actually strengthening the flexors.

Until now the only weighted resistance equipment employed for this purpose has been the multi-hip type machine. When using this multi-function apparatus for hip flexion the exerciser pushes with the lower thigh against a padded roller which swings in an arc. One difficulty with this apparatus is that the position of the hip joint is not fixed and thus it is difficult to maintain correct form when using heavy weights or lifting the thigh above the horizontal.

With the release of the MyoQuip HipneeFlex there is now a machine specifically designed to develop and strengthen the leg flexors. It exercises both hip and knee flexors simultaneously from full extension to full flexion. Because the biomechanical efficiency of these joints decreases in moving from extension to flexion, the mechanism is configured to provide decreasing resistance throughout the exercise movement and thus appropriate loading to both sets of flexors.

The absence until now of effective techniques for developing the hip flexors means that we do not really know what benefits would flow from their full development. However, given that in elite sport comparatively minor performance improvements can translate into contest supremacy, it is an area that offers great potential.

Bruce Ross is CEO of MyoQuip, manufacturers of variable-resistance strength machines including the HipneeFlex which exercises the hip and knee flexors simultaneously.
MyoQuip – strength-increasing equipment
MyoQuip Blog – strength equipment, rugby football

Many people are stuck in dead end jobs, resentful that they are passed over for promotion. They know they are capable of more but something is holding them back.

You want to succeed – What should you do?

The first thing to understand is that if you do nothing differently then nothing will change. In order for anything to be possible you have to take action.

Secondly you have to start by looking at yourself rather than blaming your position on others. Be honest with yourself. Close your eyes, see yourself at work as others see you.

Over the next few days at work listen to yourself and consider how you act.
Do you behave like promotion material?

Sit down quietly and write your own reference based on how you actually perform now.

Include a comment on your work habits, time keeping, reliability, ability to get the job done, attention to detail, accuracy, how you manage under pressure.

Think about your ability to work as part of a team, how you get on with colleagues and customers or clients, your communication skills.

Are you a problem finder or a solution provider? Do you moan about things or deal with them in a constructive and helpful way. Do you do just enough to get by or take a pride in a job well done? Are you enthusiastic, loyal and committed?

What skills have you to offer?

The third step is to think about the job you would like to do. What sort of person does it need? Think about the personal skills and characteristics you would look for if you were on the appointment panel. Make a list under the following headings:
Personal Characteristics, skills, knowledge and experience.

Compare your reference with the job specification you have created. Think carefully, would you honestly recommend yourself without reservation for promotion?
Are there any areas you need to improve or develop? Have you got enough experience? Where are the gaps? What do you need to do to ensure you have what it takes?

Fourthly, identify your goals and when you want to achieve them by. Make your goals realistic but challenging. Work out a daily programme to achieve your goals. Talk about them to others, make them real and make them happen. Remember to celebrate your achievements. If things go wrong remember that it happens to successful people too. They don’t give up but use each failure as an opportunity to learn and develop.

Make sure you model promotion worthy behaviours. It may help you if you think about those people you know who are good role models, or about what makes the ideal boss? Think about what makes them good. Make a list of their attributes

In house promotion or a job elsewhere either way you will need a reference so the opinion of those you currently work for will count.

The fifth step is to make an appointment to see your boss. Make it at a time convenient to them, when they can concentrate on your agenda. Prepare what you want to say.
“I am really keen to develop my career. What do you think I need to do to be ready for promotion?

Listen to the feedback with an open mind. Ask for support and training in the areas where development is needed. Show them your action plan and involve them in the process.

Be honest in your dealings with yourself and others. Know your strengths and face your weaknesses. Believe in yourself and others will believe in you. Take charge of your own destiny and the possibilities are endless.

Independent Consultant, writer and life-coach Gina Gardiner loves working with others supporting them to make the best of their potential.

Described by Ofsted as an “inspirational leader” and by Investors in People as an “impressive coach and exceptional mentor who has developed an innovative and exemplary training scheme” for the development of emergent, middle and senior managers.

Gina has a huge interest in leadership, she has led a wide range of training and facilitation activities with individuals, schools and other organisations, In her work as coach/mentor she supports people at individual or organisational level to develop confidence, leadership and people skills and effective delegation; empowering them to see themselves as part of the solution. If you would like to know more email: gina.gardiner@ntlworld.com or look on www.firststeptothefuture.com

Gina Gardiner is also the author of “Live Well Eat Well With Celiac Disease” in this book she writes from first hand experience of being a celiac. For more information or to sign up to our free monthly ezine go to www.celiacliving.com