A small piece of carpet
A small piece of carpetAuthor:Charlie BadenhopDescription:Have you ever noticed how the way you feel about yourselfsometimes depends on whether or not you get confirmation ofyour value from others? When you enter into challengingsituations with a positive self identity you will discoverthat you are living your life with a greater sense ofenjoyment and fulfillment.A SMALL PIECE OF CARPETI have learned a lot about nurturing a positive identity oflove and appreciation from the man who taught me to traindogs. Dogs and humans both have a "self identity" thatdetermines perception of the world, behavior, and one'ssense of self worth. Let me explain how my teacher nurtureda positive self identity in the dogs he trained.Frank had a very fascinating way of helping the guard dogshe trained, to feel respected, protected and loved,regardless of the situation/context they were in. Here ishow he accomplished this. First of course, he started out bytreating his dogs with love and respect, and by showing theman infinite amount of patience as they were learning. Thisof course is crucial.Then, the next thing he did was a true stroke of genius. Hewould cut a small piece of carpet for each dog he trained.He would place the carpet in the dog's sleeping area, forhim to lay on each night. He would also take this carpetduring the day and set it down in various locations, and sitthe dog on the carpet, as he praised the dog for being good.Whenever he moved to a new location, he would have the dogstand up, and he would pick up the carpet and carry it tothe new location, set it down, sit the dog down, and again,praise the dog for being a "good boy." Soon the piece ofcarpet took on the distinct odor of the dog, and Frank saidthat this led the dog to feel "at home" when sitting on thecarpet.Next, Frank would teach the dog to pick up the piece ofcarpet himself, and carry it to wherever they were going.The dog would then set the piece of carpet down when theystopped, and sit on top of it, with Frank all of the timepraising him for being a good dog. Now Frank said, "The dogbegins to feel that he truly belongs in every place that hetravels to, and no matter where he goes, he receives my loveand appreciation. Soon the dog takes on this love andappreciation as the primary core of his identity."And I ask you now, if this strategy works so brilliantlywith dogs, would the same basic strategy not work just aswell with human beings? Ask youself, "What is the smallpiece of carpet you carry around with you wherever you go?""Would your life not be very different if you changed yourpiece of carpet to one of self love and appreciation?"................................................................About the author:Charlie Badenhop is the originator of Seishindo, an Aikidoinstructor, NLP trainer, and Ericksonian Hypnotherapist.Benefit from a new self-help Practice every two weeks, bysubscribing to his complimentary newsletter "Pure heart,simple mind" at http://www.seishindo.org .Contact Charlie at seishin@....
Sophistication Made Easy
Sophistication is not a nice word. It comes from the noun "sophism" meaning a false argument,intention to deceive. Nowadays,sophistication implies elagance and a manner of behaviour which sets the sophisticate at a revered distance from the rest of us. There's a thin line to tread between enigmatic and being an outcast;knowing how to tread that line is what constitutes sophistication.To do so,consider the following suggestions:
1.Live where the rich live. Even if its a cardboard box. And refer to it as your pied-a-terre.
2.Become a gourmet. Keep freshly ground coffee(Brazilian or French roast)on hand and dry white wine. French mustard,English horseradish and Italian olive oil are a musts.(The sophisticates are fussy about their food.)Get an electric squeezer and always make fresh orange juice. Use linen napkins-never paper.
3.Profess to a hatred of flying, but try to fly as often as possible.
4. Walk slowly,even if you're in a hurry.
5.Perfect the art of understatement.Example,"It's very fresh in here'", not "Christ, it's freezing."
6.Read tony magazines.Subscribe to Town&Country,Architectural Digest,Connoissuer and anything with a horse on a cover.
7. Be cynical about the trendy and excited about the obscure.
8.Exercise in private. Let others sweat publicly.
9.Write on the right stuff. Have your stationery embossed.
10. Dress rich. They love the "impractical" colors. So sport beige,camel,cream and white.Everything should look spotless and freshly pressed as if you had a personal maid in attendance.
11. Be open about "finds".Like..." I know this marvelous place where they sell suede suits wholesale" or " I found this divine little Greek place...just a luncheonette really but the moussaka is superb".
12. Be at ease with luxury and completely at home with palatial surroundings.Admire the view,the flower arrangements...anything but the furniture.Say "it's comfortable in here," not "How do you ever keep those huge white sofas clean?"
13. Pamper your hands,feet and hair.Impeccable grooming wins you points. Say"salon or spa," never "beauty shop".
!4.Exude confidence in restaurants.Be polite but not over friendly with the maitre d's and waiters. Order with authority. Learn enough French to sound knowledgeable and make sure your accent is perfect.
15. Gift friends with style. Whether you can shell out 100 dollars or ten,don't give useful presents like pot holders and coffee makers. Instead opt for a bottle of champagne,silver swizzle stick or coffeetable book on the vanishing tribes of Borneo.
16.Laugh,if you must,deep and throatily and hardly at all.
17. Use Bristishisms. Pepper your speech with awfully,frightfully,tremendously."I must say, it was an awfully good dinner party."
True sophistication gives the illusion of immunity to the commonplace,which in turn,entails a very subtle flaunting of confidence.
You Can Be More Productive by Prioritizing Your Goals
There is a famous story in business articles and productivity books. It's often attributed to different people and the exact dollar figure that the consultant was paid is always different.
But the story goes something like this: A man was concerned that he wasn't being very productive. So he asked a consultant for a suggestion. That consultant made a profound suggestion that worked! He told the man to do the following: before leaving work at the end of the day, list the top three things he wanted to accomplish the following day. Then, when he got into work the next day, he should tackle them in order, not starting one until the one before it was complete. He was to keep working until he finished all three. Then he could be done for the day.
This story has taken on a life of its own and it is retold in every productivity book, but it never grows old. That's because the truth of this tale, no matter how fictional the story itself is, is universal.
If you want to be successful in business - whether your business is online or offline - you need to know what you want to accomplish and prioritize it.
Now, the story itself was clearly written in an era when the owner of a business had a plush office and a company car and could come and go as he or she pleased. Nowadays, most online business owners work out of their homes (and sometimes have another job until their small business grows) so the story needs to be tweaked and updated for the modern entrepreneur.
The new moral of the story might be this: Prioritize everything! Rather than listing the top three items to be done, list everything and assign a number (from 1 to infinity... and for most entrepreneurs, the list seems that long!).
Then, get to work. Start at one and begin working down. Periodically you'll have to re-prioritize as changes occur in your business. Task management programs such as Microsoft Outlook can help with prioritization. Even just a Microsoft Word document with an auto-numbering feature is better than nothing.
If you start working on the first one and keep going until you cannot work any more on it, then move to the next point on your list, you'll see two things happen:
First, your productivity will increase dramatically because you'll have started to hone in on doing what needs to be done.
And, second, you will work far more efficiently because you know the most important thing to do and you're doing it first, before everything else.
about the author:
Indratno Widiarto write regularly for http://watchmykidsgrow.infopreneurworld.com, http://bisnis-internet.infopreneurworld.com, http://infopreneurworld.com/domainhosting/index.html and http://blogcharm.com/webstrategist/
