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Over 12 ks Free eBoo Inside

LIFESTYLES Ten Ways To Survive the Recession Best Turn the Volume Down How to Decant a Wine New Berlitz Cruise Guide

HEALTHY LIVING Why is Breakfast Important 5 Days to a Simpler Life What’s Behind My Hair Loss Kids Feel Stress Too

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ine AGAZINE rack ACTIVE SENIORS Cars of ’40 and ‘50 Time! There is never enough!

The Importance of Grieving Loss An Old Lady’s Poem

HOME & GARDEN Spring Cleaning!

Hot Ligh�ng, Cool Ligh�ng Making Small Spaces Look Big Design Kitchen Cabinet

BUSINESS DYNAMICS Do, Dump, Delegate, Defer Top 10 Ways to Coach Yourself to Success The Tale of Two Men How to Stop Marke�ng

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Main Street Kelowna Magazine is published monthly by Main Street Business Network and serves the residents and business community of Kelowna, British Columbia.

101 -1865 Dilworth Drive, Kelowna BC V1Y 9T1. Tel 888 412.1067 info@mainstreetkelowna.com www.mainstreetkelowna.com

Publication Manager Linda Ryan

linda@mainstreetkelowna.com

Business Development Luke Vorstermans

luke@mainstreetkelowna.com

Editorial Manager Augusto Meneses

augusto@mainstreetkelowna.com

Executive Assistant Ana Marie Banares

anamarie@mainstreetkelowna.com

Account Manager Gordon Houston

gordon@mainstreetkelowna.com

Account Manager Marcus Westwood

marcus@mainstreetkelowna.com

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R B F W S T B

avenstoke Alaska reast Cancer

amily Mealtimes hen We Eat Out

teps to Dealing with a Bully en Ways To Survive the Recession est Turn the Volume Down

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Breast Cancer

RISK FACTORS The following is a list of the most common risk factors. Note that some are not within your power to control.

Age. Most women diagnosed with breast cancer are over the Obesity. Obesity after menopause is also a risk factor. age of 50.

A history of breast cancer. A woman with cancer

in one breast has an increased chance of developing cancer in the other breast.

Radiation exposure to chest. Women who

developed Hodgkin’s Lymphoma at an early age may have been exposed to radiation for treatment.

A family history of breast cancer.

Inactivity. Women who exercise regularly are less likely to

If a woman’s mother, sister, or daughter had breast cancer (especially before the age of 40), her risk of developing breast cancer is increased.

Alcohol consumption. Some studies have shown

develop cancer.

Your menstrual history.

that the more a woman drinks, the greater her chances of developing breast cancer.

Early onset of your menstrual period (before age 12) or late onset of menopause (after age 55) also increases your chance of developing breast cancer.

Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT).

Childbirth history. Women who have no children or who have their first child after age 30 are at greater risk of developing breast cancer.

There is some evidence that taking HRT after menopause can increase your risk of developing breast cancer.

If you fear you may be at an increased risk of developing breast cancer, consult your physician for a proper course of action.

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By Peter Samuels

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LIFESTYLES

14

In Style

Bringing Back

Family

Mealtimes Today’s busy lifestyles make eating together as a family a challenge. Family mealtime used to be the foundation of the family’s day. Now however, only about 28 percent of families eat together seven days a week, and 24 percent eat together less than three times a week.

Studies show that families who eat together often choose more healthful foods. It is the perfect time to teach children about eating healthy. But children get more than nutritional education and family time when they eat with their family.

They are more self-confident and get better grades, and they are more active in school-based activities. They also are less likely to abuse drugs as a result of spending time with their family while they are young.

Here are some tips for putting tasty, healthful meals on the table easily:

• Take time to plan meals for the week.

Planning saves time, money and frustration.

Keep ingredients for recipes that your family likes on hand for when you need to make •

quick adjustments to meal plans, such as a change in schedule.

• Keep menus simple. They don’t have to be elaborate or difficult to prepare.

Set aside time to prepare portions of meals for the week. For example, cook and season •

ground beef for tacos, or cook and cube chicken breasts for chicken casserole. Then freeze the ground beef and chicken in freezer-safe containers. On the day you’re having tacos or chicken and rice casserole, pull out the ground beef or chicken and you’re ready to go.

• Set a food budget. Check grocery store flyers and incorporate sale items into the menus.

• Get your kids help prepare meals. The kitchen is a perfect learning environment while providing a bonding experience for you and your children.

Encourage your family to develop healthful eating habits. To help them do that, offer •

healthy and fun snacks, or try starting a traditional or container garden with your child to promote vegetable eating. Serve low-fat or fat-free milk with meals, and have water instead of sweetened beverages to quench thirst throughout the day.

Have whole fruit more often than fruit juice.

LIFESTYLES

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How to Thrive on Three Suggestions For Thriving On Change Maintain lots of “personal bandwidth.” That means taking superb care of yourself!

People who are happy, healthy and rested simply do better than people who are tired, hungry, stressed or worried. Practice extreme self-care. Maintain your personal bandwidth.

Constant change both thrills and threatens us.

We love the new opportunities, but sometimes we end up running as fast as we can just to stay even. New competitors, new tools and new skills challenge us every week. Change is the constant in our world.

Here’s the thing: We want to grow and have new things! We want new tools, new adventures and new resources. Most of the time, we welcome change with open arms. But, sometimes it’s just too much. Sometimes we get caught up in the excitement of new things just because they are new, whether they actually benefit us or not.

Sometimes the old is good enough. Sometimes the familiar is more comfortable and actually more effective. I have a friend who uses an old-fashioned slide-rule partly for the nostalgia, but also because it’s faster than doing calculations on his computer. Sometimes, the old is good.

Focus on the Big Picture. Stay current and be aware. But always evaluate change in the context of your values, your goals and your preferences.

Use change to create the life you truly want, rather than to merely “keep up.” Understand what’s happening, and leverage it to your advantage.

Invest in Tools. Knowledge and skills matter! The more you know about your

industry and what’s happening (and who’s leading), the more options you have. Remember, “leaders are readers.” As Buckminster Fuller said, “You cannot learn less.” Watch the news, read the newspaper, magazines and journals, and network with the smartest people you can find.

Our world is infatuated with anything new or improved and that’s not going to change. What you can control is your response to change. Master it! Learn to respond rather than merely reacting. Use change and growth to your advantage rather than merely trying to hang on and endure!

LIFESTYLES

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In Style We Eat More

When We Eat Out Could Ronald McDonald be getting a bum rap? A new study shows that meals eaten at sitdown restaurants typically have more calories than those offered by fast-food franchises.

Binkley attributes the fact fast-food meals have fewer calories on average to the fact they are usually ordered a la carte. Customers order precisely what they want and eat it.

In contrast, at most sit-down restaurants, typical meals “are accompanied by large side servings of lowcost, high-calorie foods such as rice and pasta,” he noted. “Studies have shown that consumers tend to passively eat the entire portion of servings of various sizes.”

But that doesn’t mean dieters should rush off to the golden arches. The research also finds that people who eat restaurant meals tend to consume less food for the rest of the day, partially negating their excess caloric intake. This is far less true of those who have eaten fast-food meals.

Due to this dynamic, “fast food may ultimately result in more calories,” concludes the study, published in the Review of Agricultural Economics.

As a result, larger meals are consumed at table-service than at fast-food restaurants, but less consumption at other times during the day narrows, and often reverses, the difference in total calorie intake for the day. In other words, fast-food consumers typically will consume fewer calories at a meal, but their satiation is shorter-lasting, meaning they are more likely to snack.

Researcher James Binkley, a professor in the department of agricultural economics at Purdue University, used data and compared meals prepared and consumed at home, at sit-down restaurants and at fast-food establishments.

Binkley concludes that nutritionists’ emphasis on fast food as a cause for our ever-expanding waistlines is somewhat misplaced. He reports that eating food away from home in any setting tends to increase caloric intake for the day and notes that the cumulative effect of these extra calories can be quite large.

He reports that home-cooked meals contain the fewest calories of the three categories — a finding that directly links increasing reliance on food eaten away from home to the everincreasing obesity rate.

“Avoiding fast-food when dining out,” he writes, “is no assurance of avoiding extra calories.”

LIFESTYLES

4 BULLY Steps to Dealing with a

Schoolyard bullying is, unfortunately, a rampant problem. There are some simple rules your child can apply at school to help deal with and stop this phenomenon from affecting him or her. #1. The child must limit their interaction with the bully. #2. He or she must repeat simple phrases, such as “leave me alone.� #3. After three repetitions of that simple phrase, the child must take action by getting a teacher, leaving the situation, or something else. #4. The child must use strong body language in the face of a bully.

In this helpful video from

you can help your child learn more about dealing with a bully.

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LIFESTYLES

20

Ten Ways To Survive the Recession There are things you can do to survive recession and save a little at the same time.

1 2

Only attempt to make money where you KNOW you can really make it. Don’t attempt to make money in new directions unless you can ‘test the water’ very cheaply and can afford to lose the time and money that you have invested.

Have a good long look at your expenses. Where can you obviously cut down? What can you do without?

3

Try to pay all your bills immediately. By doing this, you gain greater peace of mind because you can always delay paying if necessary. You may need a cushion to fall back on which you won’t have if you are already paying bills at the very last moment.

4

Keep track of your spending and try to spend less.

For example, when you go shopping and normally spend $20, take only $15. This will FORCE you to cut back. If you are in business, keep track of each

LIFESTYLES days expenses compared with each days takings. Never spend more than you take. Compete with yourself on the smallest week’s expenses and largest weeks takings.

5 6

Look, look, look all the time for LOWER prices on the items which you must buy. Check the quality first; it is amazing the savings that can be made.

If you have the time but little money, don’t spend that time brooding or getting depressed. Read books that will uplift you. Learn more on the subjects that could help you make more money and plan your way to more money.

Keep active. You won’t get anywhere if you don’t.

7

If you don’t have time, it is still important to keep your spirits high. Record some lifting chapters or quotes from books and play them while you are working. Keep a note-pad handy and write down any ideas you have to improve your situation. Try to find fifteen minutes to half an hour each day to plan your work and make a plan for the future. This is vital as it will save you more than the half an hour spent.

8 9 10

Before borrowing to raise capital, look around your house and find unwanted things that are obviously saleable. You could raise quite a few hundred pounds this way if you are lucky.

Don’t go for big money fast. Only a very small minority EVER achieve it. Aim to cut costs a little each week and increase your income a little each week.

If you really need to borrow, always remember that you MUST pay it back PLUS interest. There is nothing wrong with borrowing if it is carefully

21

planned. Take into account your initial expenditure, advertising costs and the time it will take before you will get paid. NEVER borrow unless you have thoroughly tested as much as you possibly can first and even then, plan for things taking longer than you thought as well as being much harder than you first thought.

The good thing is that if you can survive during a recession, you’ll learn skills that will serve you well for the rest of your life.

22

LIFESTYLES

Best Turn the

Volume Down

LIFESTYLES

23

Personal stereo systems offer a convenient way to listen to music in public without disturbing others.

P

ersonal stereo systems combine headphones or earphones with portable music players. Although the players might be radios, or play compact discs or cassettes, the most common portable music players are now digital audio players (for example MP3s or iPod®). Digital audio players (DAPs) are easy to carry and can store a lot of music, so their rise in popularity adds new concerns about listening to high sound levels for long periods of time.

Protect Your Hearing

Personal stereo systems offer a convenient way to listen to music in public without disturbing others. However, there are growing concerns that these devices may cause temporary and permanent hearing loss if they are not used with some degree of caution.

• Use various system controls to increase enjoyment while decreasing your risks. For example, turn down the volume and increase the bass boost.

How Sound Levels and Listening Times are Linked to Hearing Loss Scientists measure the levels of different sounds with a unit called the A-weighted decibel (dBA). Sounds with levels below 70 dBA pose no known risk of hearing loss, no matter how long they last. A sound level of 70 dBA is about what you would experience while driving alone in a family car at highway speeds with the windows closed and the radio off.

If you listen to music at levels higher than 70 dBA, the amount of time you spend doing so becomes an important factor. For example, listening to music at 85 dBA for 45 minutes a day poses no known risk of hearing loss.

On the other hand, listening at that level (or higher) for 8 hours a day can pose a significant risk of hearing loss.

This threshold, exposure to 85 dBA for eight hours daily, has been adopted by nine Canadian provinces and one Territory as the limit for occupational noise.

Here are some tips to reduce the risk of noise-induced hearing loss from personal stereo systems: • Keep the sound at enjoyable, but safe levels. If someone a metre away must shout to be understood, the sound level of the music is probably higher than 85 dBA, and may be hazardous.

• Use a feature that is available on many MP3 players to reduce volume differences between songs such as “Replay Gain (RG)” or “Sound Check” on the iPOD® and “Volume-Leveling” on Microsoft® products.

• Limit the amount of time you spend listening to loud music.

• If possible, reduce background noise so you can use a lower volume level.

Other Safety Concerns There is more at stake than your hearing. Excessive sound levels can create dangerous situations. If your personal stereo system is so loud that you cannot hear sounds around you, such as traffic, your personal safety may be at risk.

Also, if you use noise-reducing headphones to reduce background noise, be aware that it is not safe to tune these sounds out when you are walking or cycling along a busy street, because you need to be aware of what is going on around you.

24

LIFESTYLES

Take proper caution when using personal stereo systems as they can cause damage to your hearing.

Health Canada’s Tests on Personal Stereo Systems Health Canada’s experts have conducted tests to assess their potential to cause hearing loss. These tests measured the sound levels generated at maximum volume settings using a variety of headphones/earphones, and CD players and y digital audio players (DAPs). The music selected for the tests included pop songs from the “top ten” charts, and heavy metal tracks.

Pop music sound levels ranged from 86 to 102 dBA when researchers used the headphones that came packaged with the CD player and 101 to 107 dBA for the DAPs. When researchers combined CD players or DAPs with headphones purchased separately, the sound levels could reach 125 dBA if music was played back through earphones that seemed to form the tightest seal.

If you played the pre-packaged systems at maximum volume, it would take from 10 minutes (at 102 dBA) to six hours (at 86 dBA) for the CD players studied to exceed the occupational noise limit noted above. For DAPs it would take from 3 minutes (at 107 dBA) to12 minutes (at 101 dBA).

Furthermore, you would exceed the limit in a few seconds if

you played heavy metal or pop music at full volume on the combination CD or DAP headphone systems that produced sound levels of 125 dBA. At this sound level, exposure for longer durations can pose a risk of immediate, serious and permanent hearing loss.

Another key finding was that sound levels from earbuds vary significantly from person to person, because the level depends on how well the “buds” fit into your ears. Tight-fitting earbuds tend to produce higher sound levels than other headphones.

A recent European report suggests that about 5-10% of listeners are at risk of hearing impairment because they listen to sound levels that are too high, for too long a time.

The studies were done primarily on users of CD players but more studies of MP3 player use are needed because of their potential for higher risk.

The bottom line is that personal stereo systems are capable of causing permanent hearing loss when used to play the kind of music that is most popular with teenagers and young adults. The risk should not be ignored, as so many young people use these devices.

Resource: h�p://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hl-vs/iyh-vsv/life-vie/stereo-baladeur-eng.php.

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LIFESTYLES

How to Decant a

WINE

Natalie MacLean Wine Column

Steps on how to Decant Wine • Pouring wine from its bottle into some other container: a carafe, a decanter, even a water jug.

• Make sure the decanter and the mouth of the bottle are clean.

• To decant a bottle with sediment, first leave it upright for about a day to settle the sediment at the bottom.

• For the actual pouring process, stand a flashlight on the table so that it shines upwards—it gives stronger light than the classic lit candle.

Place the decanter beside it and pour the wine so that the light shines through the neck of the bottle. This will allow you to see when the sediment is approaching, so that you can stop pouring then.

Decanting a wine means pouring it from its bottle into some other container.

• Discard the dregs left in the bottle.

• Leave younger wines in the decanter for about an hour or two, and older wines anywhere from fifteen minutes to a half an hour.

Taste the wine periodically to see how it’s opening up. If you decide that the wine has peaked, but the guests aren’t due for a while, drape a cloth over the top of the decanter to slow aeration.

LIFESTYLES

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Even decanting hardliners admit that some wines just aren’t made for airing out. pinot noir, aren’t usually decanted because their subtle aromas can quickly dissipate. The same goes for zesty whites, such as rieslings and sauvignon blanc: they can lose their crisp, refreshing edge. Others are borderline: fullbodied whites, such as oaky chardonnays and some sweet wines, may benefit from decanting, depending on the style you like.

Which Types of Decanters

Why Decant Wine?

are Best?

Wines are decanted to get rid of sediment, the organic matter that naturally precipitates from the wine as it matures. The wines that throw the most sediment are mature, full-bodied red wines and vintage port. The second reason to decant is to let the wine breathe so that it helps to warm up a wine that’s too cold, soften any harsh tannins and open up its aromatics. This is especially true of rough-and-not-ready reds, particularly young, full-bodied ones: cabernet sauvignon, zinfandel, brunello, barolo, bordeaux, rioja, shiraz, syrah and Northern Rhone wines.

You need a decanter large enough to hold the contents of a standard bottle, with some room at the top to allow the wine to breathe. Decanters that maximize the wine-toair surface ratio are best for young wines, while those with that narrow necks

Should Some Wines not be Decanted?

Even decanting hardliners admit that some wines just aren’t made for airing out. Delicate red wines, such as

Join th e conve rsation

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The

New Berlitz Cruise Guide A Wealth Of Information

Cruising and the cruise industry have undergone enormous changes in the past 25 years, and in the 2011 edi�on of the Berlitz Guide to Cruising and Cruise Ships, editor Douglas Ward quan�fies the growth.

become phenomenally successful. There are now more than 1,000 river cruise vessels to choose from, and some operate on such exo�c routes as the Orinoco, in South America, the Murray in Australia and the Yangtze in China.

When the guide’s first edi�on appeared 26 years ago, it listed 120 ships; the 2011 edi�on lists 280, closer to 350 if one counts the ships offering coastal cruises.

What sort of person chooses a river cruise over going to sea? Says Ward: “Anyone who survives well without formal dinners, bingo, casinos, discos or lavish entertainment and those who want a totally unstructured lifestyle.”

“Throughout that period the cruise industry has maintained a global growth rate of seven percent each year,” says Ward. And there has been a drama�c increase in the size of cruise ships. When Carnival introduced its first 100,000-ton plus ship, Carnival Des�ny, in 1996, the marketplace was mesmerized by this giant. But in 2011, says the guide, some 42 ships with a gross tonnage of 100,000 and more will be in service, including the two largest of all, the 5,400-guest Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas.

Big is not necessarily be�er, of course, but it’s no�ceable that even the small ship luxury lines like Seabourn and Silversea have introduced new ships that are much bigger than those with which they introduced the world to small ship luxury.

And some of the smallest of them all, the ships that ply the rivers of Europe, Russia, the Far East and elsewhere, have

Most of the book is taken up with detailed descrip�ons and opinions on virtually every ocean-going cruise ship in opera�on and there are many well illustrated ar�cles and charts on the cruising experience, choosing the right cruise and on such prac�cal ma�ers as budge�ng, �ps, shipboard spas, private islands and shore excursions.

There are separate chapters on cruising for families, seniors, roman�cs, solo guests, gays and special needs guests.

The guide helps steer poten�al cruises to the right cruise lines, the right ships and informs them in great detail about what to expect on their trip.

The guide is a superb work of reference and something that no regular cruiser should be without. If you have ques�ons about cruising, chances are you’ll find the answers here.

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S B B W 5

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Days to a Simpler Life

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1 2

Take three deep breaths slowly. It really works to relax the body and mind.

Relax the tongue.

Usually the tongue is held tightly against the teeth. Free it up in the mouth so it can just rest there without tension.

Ways to

RELAX

When You’re On the Go

3 4

Take one minute vacations. In your mind visit places where you find peace and stillness. Picture yourself there soaking up the beauty and solitude.

Relax your facial muscles. When we are tense we frown and squint which adds to the tension. Tell your facial muscles to relax and they will. Try to maintain this relaxed face throughout the day.

5 6

Move slowly. When you find yourself rushing for no reason, slow down.

Laugh more. Laughter cuts stress dramatically and promotes relaxation.

7 8 9

Listen to beautiful music. Mozart and many other classical composers, calms the restless spirit.

Watch and enjoy the sunrise or sunset.

Spending a few minutes engaged in this activity will change your day!

Visualize yourself as a balloon being inflated. As you breathe in, the balloon fills with your stress and tension. Then breathe out all the stress and tension leaving you limp and relaxed.

10

Enjoy the rhythm and beauty of nature for its lessons are patience and peace.

38

HEALTHY LIVING

Health Matters There are several ways to relieve back pain depending on the cause and how long the pain lasts.

If the pain is severe, first seek the help of a doctor to properly diagnose the cause.

Here are some quick ways to treat lower back pain.

Fast

BACK PAIN Relieve

Hot or cold patches – Hot and ice patches or pads can relieve back pain quickly. It’s best to alternate hot and cold to the affected area.

Rest – Rest in a comfortable position to relax the muscles. Release the tension in your back by placing pillows on your chair. A proper sleeping position with a pillow under the knees can also help fix backache.

Simple exercises – Simple exercises like walking, running or swimming will flex the muscles.

And release tension and stress in the back part of the body. Other exercises include the cat stretch, leg and back stretches and treadmill exercises.

HEALTHY LIVING

Massage – Massage relaxes the muscles and the spine. A massage therapist can be a great help. Rubbing creams like capsaicin, ginger and other mentholated topical creams can also be used to enhance the massaging.

Over the counter medicines

– There are many non-prescribed medicines

39

BLISTERS

Choosing the Right Shoes

that can help alleviate back pain temporarily.

Consult a pharmacist on how to use these medicines correctly.

Diet – Eating nutritious foods that will

strengthen the bones and will help build up muscles tissues. With proper nutrition, back pain can be relieved.

Acupuncture –

Acupuncture is a non surgical method used to treat the imbalanced energy flow in the body treating the aching back.

water, the toxins in your kidneys are flushed out and your muscles are hydrated as well.

You can also use water to massage your back by taking a shower or a hot bath.

Heat, friction and moisture are the cause for blisters on your feet.

A loose shoe creates friction when the foot moves around in it.

When shopping for shoes, wear or bring with you the type of sock that you are actually going to wear with your new shoes. The ideal time to shop for your shoes is in the afternoon when your feet are most swollen, this will ensure that your shoes are not too tight for your afternoon feet.

Spinal manipulation – A

When you are trying your new shoes, stand up and make sure that there is a thumb-width between your big toe and the end of your shoe.

Water therapy – By drinking lots of

chiropractor can manipulate your spine and help with restoring proper alignment. Pilates also helps manipulate your spine.

Surgery – When backache pain is acute or chronic and there are underlying conditions like tumors, surgery may be the alternative.

When you exercise, make sure that you are wearing the right socks to prevent blisters. A mixture of synthetic material and wool is ideal. The synthetic material will keep your feet dry by drawing the moisture out, and the wool will protect your feet from the shoe. You could also wear two pairs of socks. A thin synthetic material to wick moisture away from the feet and the outer pair should be thick to absorb friction.

40

HEALTHY LIVING

Health Matters After a night’s rest, your blood sugar – or glucose levels – are very low since you’ve been asleep without a meal for 6-10 hours. Your body is basically running on empty in the morning. Eating a good meal at breakfast time will ‘break the fast’ and replenish those glucose levels. Glucose is your body’s source of energy.

Your brain feeds on glucose, but does not store glucose.

You’ll be sharper and have better concentration when you’ve had a big breakfast. If you havet important work to do in the morning, be sure to eat well so your brain isn’t running on fumes.

Glucose also feeds your muscles, so you’ll feel less tired and have more energy overall by eating a big breakfast. Consuming donuts and sugary products will give you a quick spike in glu-

Why is BREAKFAST so IMPORTANT?

cose but that is followed by a large drop, leaving you hungry again. That’s why it’s important to eat a nutritious and healthy breakfast that is loaded with whole grains that digest evenly and keep you energetic throughout the day.

If you’re having trouble eating in the morning, start with something small and work your way up. You can try a piece of toast and peanut butter, and gradually work up to larger portions. You’ll quickly find that your other meals will be smaller since your glucose levels are more balanced throughout the day.

Studies have shown that people who skip breakfast are generally heavier than people who eat a nutritious breakfast. A good, hearty breakfast is the start of a healthy lifestyle.

42

HEALTHY LIVING

5 Days to a

Simpler Life

by Philip E. Humbert

In the next 5 days you can dramatically simplify your life without avoiding your responsibilities or reducing your output.

HEALTHY LIVING

O

f all the Attraction Principles, the most popular class I teach is “Simplify Your Life - Yes, You CAN!” Based on class attendance, articles in the press, and requests from clients, it’s clear that there is tremendous desire to live more simply, be more productive, and have greater peace of mind. While the details are different for each of us, the central theme is:”I want less stress, more time and more integrity, and I haven’t been able to get it!”

How to Simplify Your Life In fact, as you simplify, your life will improve and you’ll contribute more, not less, to your work and loved ones. In 5 days, I predict you can reduce your sense of “hassle” by at least 50 items, and add one new practice that will solidify your gains forever!

Monday: Clutter This Monday, take 10 minutes and clear out 10 items that bug you. That junk mail on your desk? In the wastebasket. Those old magazines on the coffee table? Trash them!

The plant that’s almost dead in your office? Water it or trash it. Don’t worry about it, don’t debate, just deal with these things! In a quick 10 minutes, sweep through your home or office and clean out, throw out, put away or fix 10 small annoyances and make your environment a cleaner, healthier place.

You deserve the best.

Don’t put up with clutter!

43

Combine errands, or delegate them to someone else.

Simplify your wardrobe, take a bag-lunch and avoid the rush to the cafeteria. Renting a video requires TWO TRIPS! Read a book or play with the kids instead. Hire a housekeeper. Most of these things are not “rocket science”; they are simple things we ignore because they are so small. But they catch up with us and destroy the quality of our lives. In 10 minutes, commit to eliminating 10 time wasters!

As you simplify, your life will improve and you’ll contribute more, not less, to your work and loved ones.

Tuesday: Tolerations Tolerations are slightly different than clutter, although they over-lap. Tolerations are things like putting up with a dirty carpet, a car that needs repairs, or a favorite shirt you can’t wear because it’s missing a button. Choose 10 items, list them, and make commitments to get them fixed or replaced. You may not resolve them on Tuesday, but in 10 minutes take steps so you never have to tolerate these 10 items again. Clutter and Tolerations undermine our enthusiasm, waste our time, they create doubt and they discourage us. Get rid of them!

Wednesday: Tasks and Errands

Thursday: Update Your Rolodex!

If your life is stressed and hectic, my bet is that you’re running errands and doing things you don’t need to do. Take 10 minutes and choose 10 tasks you will stop doing!

All of us have relationships and “friendships” that no longer serve us. And, on the other hand, if you don’t have a great doctor, a mechanic you trust, an insurance agent and

44

HEALTHY LIVING

other experts you can call when you need them, you are not prepared for the inevitable surprises of life. Take 10 minutes to run through your address book and remove obsolete or unneeded entries. Clean them out! Then, get the phone book and jot down the names and phone numbers of 10 experts for your “support staff”. If appropriate, schedule a meeting to get acquainted. Simplify your life - have your team in place before you need them!

Friday: Saying, “NO!” Most of the items this week are about getting rid of the self-talk that we “should keep that”, or “I should run that errand.” Most of the complications in life come from thinking we “should” do things that make no sense! If you don’t want to, or it seems stressful or unnecessary, just Say NO! Before you can say “YES!” to your own life, you have to say “NO!” to other people’s ideas of how you “should” live. If you want to say “YES!” to art, music, love, laughter, and joy, you must first say “NO!” to a thousand things someone, somewhere thinks

you “should” do. Make sure you say “NO!” at least 10 times today! It could change your life!

And A BONUS: Say YES! to peace and quiet. Whether you prefer to call it mediation, prayer, quiet time, or whatever, the principle is to nurture and renew yourself with 10 minutes of peace and quiet every day. Get up a few minutes early and walk slowly around the block. Read for 10 minutes after the kids are in bed. Write in a journal or sip a cup of tea. If you are serious about simplifying your life, slow down and be quiet for 10 minutes at least once a day. You deserve it!

Have a wonder-FILLED week! Slow down, watch a sunrise, do something nice for yourself and for someone else. Above all, be true to yourself!

Resource: ©2003 by Philip E. Humbert. http://www.philiphumbert.com.

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48

HEALTHY LIVING

What’s Behind My

Hair

LO S S? A

n average adult has about 80,000 to 100,000 head hairs. Blonds have the highest number while those that have brunette and black hair have the smaller. The number, curl or straightness, thickness, color, depends fundamentally on heredity.

Hair Growing At any given time, approximately 10% of the hair in the scalp is in a resting phrase. Two to three months later the resting hair will fall out and new hair will begin growing in its place. This growing phase can last between two to six years.

During this phase, each hair strand grows on average one centimeter per month.

So, how long does any individual scalp hair last? In general, it’s about four years. This translates into, based on having approx. 80,000 to 100,000 hairs, about 50-100 hairs are falling out daily and the same number is coming in. But naturally, we only notice those falling out but not those new hairs coming in this cycle. It is important to know that such a replacement exists, so we don’t worry when we see this natural rate of hair fall, which may vary. Some people however may lose hair at a higher than normal rate.

Causes of Hair Loss There are a number of factors that can cause excessive hair loss. Some people may suddenly lose considerable amounts

Some people may lose hair at a higher than normal rate and this can affect men, women and children at any stage in their life.

HEALTHY LIVING

49

Hair Loss as We Age As we age, it is common to begin to notice several changes that occur within our body. Hair loss is one of the changes that both males and females may experience.

If you notice that your hair is thinning gradually, you may attribute it to a natural condition that comes with aging.

Understanding why this occurs with age and how to prevent problems can help you fight hair loss as you grow older. This problem is especially prominent in aging men.

Hair is made up of a protein called keratin and grows through hair follicles. While follicles produce new hair cells, the old cells are being pushed out through the skin at rate of approximately six inches per year. The hair we see is in fact a string of dead keratin cells. Usually, one individual hair strand will last for four to five years then naturally fall out. It will be replaced with a new growth of hair. When you are younger, it is easier to produce more hair. However, if you are aging, there will be a difference in the amount of protein that you need to produce the hair.

We only notice those falling out but not those new hairs coming in this cycle. of their hair approximately three to four months following surgery. This is usually due to the stress of their illness and is usually only temporary.

Problems relating to hormones may also cause hair loss.

An overactive or under-active thyroid gland may cause hair to fall out. This can usually be controlled by treating the thyroid disease with medication.

It is quite common for hair to be lost approximately three months after a woman has had a baby. When a woman is pregnant, she produces high levels of hormones that enable her body to keep the hair that would normally fall out. Once the hormones have returned to the pre-pregnancy levels, the body will resume the normal cycles of hair growth and loss.

Another aspect of this hair loss is that many people will also begin to lose pigment from the hair that is already in place.

One may notice that as they age, that their hair may not only fall out and not be replaced, but may also result in hair strands being smaller and thinner.

Hair loss will affect men and women differently when it begins to happen. With women, hair loss will mean that the hair will simply become thinner as it is not producing as much pigmentation. In men this hair will be lost from the front of the scalp to the back. It is not only attributed with the changes in protein and pigment, but also to the hormone of testosterone.

How to Protect Your Hair Treatments that promise to restore hair to balding heads have been around for centuries; however most men and women with thinning hair can do little to reverse the process. You can add more protein to your diet in order to help with this.

For the sake of fashion and beauty, many people, put their hair under tremendous stress. The use of hair dryers, hot curlers, dyes, permanent waves, etc. will in due time lead to dry, broken and thinning hair. Instead of using a hot curler, you could use sponge rollers and let it air-dry whenever possible.

Resource: www.forhealthtips.com/Facts-about-Hair-and-HairLoss.html.

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When a family is experiencing a crisis, all its members are affected -- including the children.

Some�mes adults believe that kids do not really feel stress, but they do. Some signs that your child may be stressed are: • Your child is misbehaving more than usual.

• Your child is more quiet than usual.

• Your child develops some school problems, such as figh�ng at school or not paying a�en�on .

• Your child is having trouble sleeping.

• Your child o�en tells you he is worried and concerned about the family problem.

Children need help to deal with the stress they feel. Talk with your child about the family problem, in words she can understand.

Let your child know he does not need to worry about “adult problems,” such as money. Be clear that some problems are not his to worry about.

Teach your child to relax when she is feeling stressed. Have her listen to some music, breathe deeply, perhaps release her tensions physically through playing outside or just laughing with you.

Give words to your child’s feelings. Some�mes children do not know that they are stressed. “I heard you had another fight in school today. I am wondering if you are worried about my losing my job?”

Listen when your child talks about his concerns. Give him your full a�en�on and listen for what he is feeling as well as the actual problems he is talking about.

Spend some fun �me with your child. This will help reduce her stress as well as yours.

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W

Keep Us t e P hy

1. Daily exercise. Taking your dog for a daily walk means you get a daily walk, too. Walking not only helps to burn extra calories, it also keeps your joints limber.

2. Establish a schedule. Feed the cat. Walk

Y o un g

the dog. Clean the litter box. Pets require daily care and seniors who own pets develop a day-to-day routine to care for them.

3. Banish loneliness. You might be single, but

t r at Hea

7. Lower blood pressure. Therapy animals are

you’re never alone if you’re a pet owner. Just ask the cat lover who has to shoo Fluffy off the morning newspaper. Pets are constant companions.

used in hospital and nursing home to help lower blood pressure and stress. Owning a cat or a dog is like having your own personal therapy animal by your side 24/7.

4. Make new friends. When you love your pet,

8. Fight depression. It’s been proven that pet

you usually love talking about their quirks. Many a friendship has blossomed over casual chats about life with pets.

5. Be a hero. If you adopted your pet from an animal shelter, you rescued your friend from an almost certain death. You can take pride in being an animal rescuer.

6. Laughter. Ever watch your cat catch a fly or how your dog jumps up for a tennis ball only to flop on his belly? Pets are like furry comedians; they keep us laughing and bring joy to our lives.

owners had greater levels of overall happiness than non-pet owners.

9. You give me love, love, love. Pets give us unconditional love. Being loved, wanted, and needed not only feels great, it keeps us engaged in the present and looking forward to the future.

10. Take up a new hobby. Maybe your furry friend isn’t the next Best in Show, but you sure can have fun trying to win a blue ribbon. Owning a pet can lead to new interests and hobbies, furthering your engagement with life.

60

AS

ctive eniors

What Matters Most

GOOD NUTRITION is Essential as We Age

As we age, our nutritional needs also change. Several factors come into play that affects our nutritional intake. For example, a deficiency in proper nutrition can result from a decreased appetite resulting in smaller meals and less intake of essential vitamins and minerals. The lack of healthy teeth or proper dentures may affect the type of food we selected, so we avoid foods that require chewing, such as meats and vegetables. This can also lead to a deficiency in proteins, vitamins and minerals.

AS

ctive eniors

The amount of hydrochloric acid in our stomach which helps in the digestion of protein, and the enzymes of the pancreas decreased as we age. Therefore, the food may not be properly digested to make absorption possible.

Our body reacts to age by re-balancing different areas in our body. Being aware of what our body requires is important so it can perform its proper functions.

The most important factor is maintaining the proper dietary needs. As the body ages, it needs balanced and healthy meals to maintain a consistent level of nutrients. Without the proper nutrients available, problems can multiple at a faster rate. The degenerative diseases typical of older people can often be prevented by living a healthy lifestyle.

Some of the supplements that older people require are calcium, fiber, iron, vitamin A and C and folacin.

Knowing which supplements you need to balance your body will help you feel healthier and have more energy.

A good diet becomes even more important as our immune system tends to weaken naturally as we age.

The immune system defends the body against bacteria, viruses, infections and other invaders. Fruits and vegetables are among the best sources of nutrients needed for a strong immune system. If you eat right, your immunity stays strong regardless of your age.

Another thing to keep in mind is that your sense of smell and taste will begin to weaken. You can change and add flavors to foods that you eat in order to heighten its smell and taste. However a decrease in your sense of smell and taste should not get in the way of a normal and comfortable lifestyle.

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Ways To Lower Your Blood Pressures Eat lots of fruits, vegetables and whole grains Replace salt with different seasonings.

Reduce your fat intake Increase your calcium Eat less meat and dairy products Eat garlic Increase your intake of potassium. Bananas are an excellent source Increase your intake of fiber and magnesium Exercise regularly Quit smoking Lose weight. A small weight loss can make a big difference.

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What Matters Most Remembering the

Cars of ’40 and ‘50 They were regarded as old friends during the 1940s and 1950s. We coveted them. Sometimes we even owned one or two. They’re all gone now. How many can you remember?

Which auto models belong with what builders?

BUILDER

1. Ambassador

A. Cadillac

2. Biscayne

B. Chevrolet

3. Clipper

C. DeSoto

4. Commander

D. Ford

5. Fairlane

E. Hudson

6. Firedome

F. Lincoln

7. LaSalle

G. Nash

8. Pacemaker

H. Oldsmobile

9. Rocket 88

I. Packard

10. Zephyr

J. Studebaker

Answers: 1-G; 2-B; 3-I; 4-J; 5-D; 6-C; 7-A; 8-E; 9-H; 10-F

MODEL

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There’s never enough

TIME

Have you ever watched your grandchildren “scurry” around?

They seem to have so much less time than we did when our families were young.

I was thinking about that one weekend as I watched my son and his wife clean house, take care of the yard, be parents, be consumers and be husband and wife.

Nothing was really neglected but nothing was given a large block of time, including the children.

The next week I had the following in my email from a friend:

To realize the value of one year: Ask a student who failed a final exam.

To realize the value of one month: Ask a mother who has given birth to a premature baby.

To realize the value of one week: Ask an editor of a weekly newspaper.

To realize the value of one hour: Ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.

To realize the value of one minute: Ask the person who has missed the plane.

To realize the value of one second: Ask a person who has just avoided an accident.

To realize the value of one millisecond: Ask the person who has just won a silver medal in the Olympics.

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The Importance of

GRIEVING LOSS

by Katherine MacLeod

Learning how to grieve is an important step in one’s healing.

M

y grandpa, the only grandparent I ever knew, died when I was 13 years old. His death was the first experience I had with losing a loved one. Since that time, I have experienced significant loss in my life--not just from death. However, learning how to grieve was an important step in my healing. At the age of 13, I had no idea I was grieving or how to process my feelings. By the time I reached the age of 40, I certainly knew all about grief and I received significant help in processing my feelings.

Five Stages of Grief Elisabeth KĂźbler-Ross first suggested in 1969 that grief encompassed five stages. Her research began with cancer patients. The five stages outlined

by KĂźbler-Ross were shock/denial, bargaining, anger, depression, and acceptance. If you look at the times you have grieved loss in your lifetime, you should be able to recognize each of these stages throughout your grief process. Although you may have to contemplate the process for awhile, I think you will find that you went through at least two or more of these stages. One important thing to keep in mind is the stage of acceptance means you have truly accepted the loss, not merely resigned yourself to the fact. Resignation is often misconstrued as acceptance.

Often, the grief process begins prior to the loss. I have observed the grief process beginning with a cancer diagnosis. Even though the patient may survive the cancer,

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the stages of grief descend upon the patient and the caregiver(s).

When cancer does take a life, the survivor has probably already moved through at least one or two grief stages. However, when the loss occurs unexpectedly and suddenly, the grieving person may spend more time in denial, bargaining, and anger.

Another difficult loss thrusting a person into the grief process is Alzheimer’s (or dementia). As someone dealing with a mother who has advanced dementia, I can tell you I have oscillated among all the stages of the grief process.

The Grieving Process During your grieving process, please do not let anyone dictate how you “should” or “shouldn’t” be acting or feeling. Your feelings are your own.

If you feel sad, you have every right to feel sad. Do not fall for anyone telling you to “buck up” or “move on.” Grieving a significant loss can take from two to five years. People who are not grieving do not understand this and are often uncomfortable being around a grieving person.

Believe it or not, if your grieving process begins because of a cancer or Alzheimer’s diagnosis, you have been given a rare gift.

Although it may not appear to be a gift, you have been given the gift of time. No one likes to think they only have a few weeks or months or years with their loved one. However, if you take advantage of this knowledge, you have the ability to make the time with your loved one memorable and meaningful.

Examples of quality time could include:

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The stage of acceptance means you have truly accepted the loss, not merely resigned yourself to the fact.

Resignation is often misconstrued as acceptance.

• Reading together. A daughter decided to read the Bible to her father who had Alzheimer’s. He enjoyed the time with his daughter (even though he wasn’t sure who she was) and the daughter was comforted by the Scriptures. When my brother-in-law was fighting lymphoma, my sister read books to him. They read the Bible together and maintained their daily ritual of devotion time.

• Shared outings. If feasible, take walks together. Although my brother-in-law was in a wheelchair, my sister still took him for outings. They enjoyed the outdoors and it was a change of scenery from the confines of the “sick room.” My mother enjoys eating out at a restaurant, even if it’s only McDonald’s. She also enjoys just taking a ride in the car--anything that gets her out of the nursing home for a brief period of time.

• Loving touches. While my mother is cared for very well by the nursing home staff, I clip her fingernails for her. During that time, I hold her hand providing needed touch. My sister would massage her husband’s feet and legs with coconut oil to ease the drying of his skin. All of us need the touch of another human being. Occasionally, I will sit on my mother’s bed with her and gently rub her back. Touch does not require much effort, but touch is so important to healing the grieving heart.

The above simple gestures will greatly aid your healing process when your loved one dies. Knowing that you made a difference in their life, even with a simple touch, will bring you comfort in your grief.

The

An Old Lady’s Poem

ANONYMOUS When an old lady died in the geriatric ward of a small hospital near Dundee, Scotland, it was felt that she had nothing le� of any value. Later, when the nurses were going through her meager possessions, they found this poem. Its quality and content so impressed the staff that copies were made and distributed to every nurse in the hospital.

What do you see, nurses, what do you see?

What are you thinking when you’re looking at me?

A crabby old woman, not very wise, Uncertain of habit, with faraway eyes?

Who dribbles her food and makes no reply When you say in a loud voice, “I do wish you’d try!”

Who seems not to no�ce the things that you do, And forever is losing a stocking or shoe.....

Who, resis�ng or not, lets you do as you will, With bathing and feeding, the long day to fill....

Is that what you’re thinking? Is that what you see?

Then open your eyes, nurse; you’re not looking at me.

I’ll tell you who I am as I sit here so s�ll, As I do at your bidding, as I eat at your will.

I’m a small child of ten ...with a father and mother, Brothers and sisters, who love one another.

A young girl of sixteen, with wings on her feet, Dreaming that soon now a lover she’ll meet.

A bride soon at twenty -- my heart gives a leap, Remembering the vows that I promised to keep.

At twenty-five now, I have young of my own, Who need me to guide and a secure happy home.

A woman of thirty, my young now grown fast, Bound to each other with �es that should last.

At forty, my young sons have grown and are gone, But my man’s beside me to see I don’t mourn.

At fi�y once more, babies play round my knee, Again we know children, my loved one and me.

Dark days are upon me, my husband is dead;

I look at the future, I shudder with dread.

For my young are all rearing young of their own, And I think of the years and the love that I’ve known.

I’m now an old woman ...and nature is cruel; ‘Tis jest to make old age look like a fool.

The body, it crumbles, grace and vigor depart, There is now a stone where I once had a heart.

But inside this old carcass a young girl s�ll dwells, And now and again my ba�ered heart swells.

I remember the joys, I remember the pain, And I’m loving and living life over again.

I think of the years ....all too few, gone too fast, And accept the stark fact that nothing can last.

So open your eyes, nurses, open and see, Not a crabby old woman; look closer ...see ME!!

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HOME & GARDEN MAI

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S O F H U K S

tairs vs Escalators rganize a Closet

uture-Proof Your Home ow To Store the Vino?

sing a Bubble Graph

itchen Gadgets

pring Cleaning!

stairs vs escalators

We’re addicted to taking the escalators but what if we made stairs more fun?

The Home Improvement Triangle

By Peter Cooke

Your house is the most expensive and biggest physical asset you will ever own. It has many “moving parts” that must work together and something you will have a long-term relationship with.

But when you bought your house, did you get an owner’s manual? If you are like most of us, all you got (besides your mortgage) was a key and maybe some manuals for your appliances.

Inspirational Home Designing Ideas A wonderful book of contemporary interior designs from www. home-designing.com

User’s Guide to Fencing & Decking

By Nick Marshall, Dave Harkins and Rick Stanley

Fences and decks have more in common than you might think. Both can increase property values, both are made of similar materials, and both are projects that may be tackled over a weekend or two by the do-it-yourself type.

» Quiet - virtually elimiates outside noise » Healthier indoor air quality » Strong & safe » High fire resistance » Maintenance free

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Ideas to

Organize a

Closet

1. Clean Up...Clear Out Plan a closet makeover by measuring your current closet to determine hanging requirements and storage needs. The install a closet kit from a home center are easy to assemble.

2. Double Your Space Double closet rods -- one over the other -- are the best way to squeeze more storage space out of a closet. Be sure to measure the clothes you’ll be hanging there and allow another 6 inches of clearance above and below each rod.

3. Create Closet Cubbies Organize your closet with a combination of double hanging rods, drawers, and shelves. Drawers corral small items like socks while cubbies hold folded items. Upper shelves can store out-of-season shoes and clothing in clear bins with lids.

closet next to a fireplace was too narrow for hanging clothes, but is perfect for purses, tote bags, or even shoes.

6. Shelve It Design closet shelves to fit the various items you have to store.

7. Include a Mirror If your closet is also your dressing area, make it more functional by hanging a large mirror on a wall or door. Floorlength mirrors are preferable, especially for women.

8. Plan for Small Items Create storage for smaller items like jewelry, scarves, and socks. Narrow drawers should be further outfitted with divider trays to keep things orderly.

9. Use Every Corner 4. Do a “Temporary” Closet Can’t afford the space or money to build a closet?

Here’s one great solution using drapery panels and easyto-install hanging rods and wire basket storage systems.

5. Fill Narrow Spaces Look for any slices of space (in a closet or in your room), and use it to create more storage. This built-in

Go to the ceiling – even if it is a low dormer space.

10. Plan Dust-Free Storage Whenever possible, create at least a few storage options for dust-free storage. Cabinets with doors are terrific but are the most expensive solution. Clear or canvas hanging bags designed to hold multiple garments are a budgetfriendly alternative.

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Home & Garden

Around the Home

Future-Proof Your Home

and Stay Independent • How much energy is the house using right now?

Installing a home automation system and making your residence a ‘smart home’ can sound like superfluous spending in today’s economy. But for an aging population, it can be best decision you can make.

A smart home allows your home to automate daily repetitive tasks, provide security and also save money – making it essentially a greener home which reduces your carbon footprint. An automated home also allows you to access your home services over the internet, phone/cell phone, iPhone, iPod, iPad, control panel or touch screen.

• Why run your air-conditioner while you are away and waste electricity and money?

• Why let people know you are away – leaving all the house lights off in the evening?

• Did you forget to close the garage door?

• Did you leave a light on when you went to bed?

• Did you arm the security system when you left the house?

• The doorbell rang . . . Can you see who is at the front door even if you’re away?

• Did your mom or dad get out of bed this morning?

• Did your mom or dad use the refrigerator at all today?

• Did mom or dad take their medication?

• What was your parents’ last blood pressure? Are they gaining or losing weight?

• Is there excessive motion in the house at night when mom or dad should be asleep?

• Did the food delivery service or the visiting Nurse come today?

These are all questions that can be easily answered and monitored by you and/or your family through the installation of a home automation system.

There are many applications that can be used for a smart home other than what has been mentioned. Installation of home automation will future-proof your home to a great extent, and can allow a loved-one to stay in their home longer and remain independent while still maintaining security, safety, and family closeness.

Home & Garden

79

to e c a l P Need a ino?

V e h t e Stor

When you want to spend your cash on good wine instead of the rack that will hold it, just stack up a set of heavy cardboard mailing tubes. You can find these inexpensively at you’re an office supply or hardware store This project is dead simple and the tubes will fit into the bottom of a bookshelf . Optionally you can paint it to a color of your choice.

A cheap alternative to mailing tubes is to use PVC pipe that had been cut down and sanded.

Using a

Bubble Graph

to Design Your Garden A bubble diagram is a great way to generate ideas for your landscape or garden design.

Even though it’s simple and sketchy, this method helps you to “think out loud”. It can actually be used as well as if not better than most landscape design software programs for generating ideas.

This is a simple example of a bubble graph or diagram. This one was designed using Microsoft Paint which is usually on most computers using Windows. Pencil and paper or any drawing program you choose will work just as well.

Each bubble represents a specific part of your garden design. Also, make the bubbles or blocks different colors to

show their different characteristics – use blue for pool or pond, green for grass, etc.

It’s important to keep your graph as close to the actual scale of your yard as possible. This will make calculation of materials such as pavers and edging more accurate. It’s also okay to overlap areas as needed for realistic design.

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80

Around the Home Kitchen Gadgets That

Waste Your Money

What do iced-tea makers, shrimp de-veiners and pasta measurers all have in common? For most home cooks, they are a waste of money and kitchen cabinet space.

Although home cooks feel that having lots of single-use culinary tools will expand their repertoire and make cooking fun, professional cooks generally look for tools that multitask. Personal chef Anne Smith of hireachef.com, packs her travel bag with just a handful of tools, among them knives, a microplane, flexible cutting boards and a hand-held can opener. “You can prepare most anything with these tools,” she says.

Once you get into more esoteric or single-use items, there are two risks. One, that you won’t use the item frequently enough to warrant its purchase price. A $100 bread-maker used a few times adds dollars to your loaves of homemade bread. The second risk is that, for smaller gadgets, you’ll forget that you have them. Dig through your kitchen drawers and see what items you’ve bought along the way that are seldom (if ever) used. Did you find a dough crimper, a pasta measurer, a microwaveable case to make soft-boiled eggs, a cherry pitter, or a glass plate that placed in a pot of water alerts the cook when it boils?

Before you buy, ask yourself if you’ll use an item enough to warrant its price tag. Also make sure that there isn’t another way to make do with the items you already have. A lot of single-use tools don’t do as good a job as a regular appliance or pan, along with a little bit of your kitchen skill, might do.

In lieu of a garlic peeler, for example, you could simply whack the clove with the flat of a knife. And you don’t really need separate peelers for asparagus, carrots and potatoes.

Getting Ready For

Spring Cleaning!

I’m in the process of getting ready for spring cleaning! I have decided that if we haven’t used it much then it’s out of my house! It’s amazing how much we accumulated over the year!

On my list other then the basic spring cleaning is…

Get all my photos on a memory stick I have been saying this for years now and never did it, but today while cleaning I found a picture that my daughter had colored on and can’t be replaced.

Donate my old cell phones. We have so many cell’s laying around that we no longer use! So donate it to some worthy cause or re-cycling depot rather than it sitting around collecting dust.

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Hot Lighting, Cool Lighting

What’s The Difference?

It all depends of course on what you mean by hot and cool. If something is described as hot it might be because it’s the latest must-have trend or simply because it has a particularly high temperature. Likewise cool can indicate stylish, sophisticated, clever and so on, or it might just mean cool to the touch.

Donate clothes and shoes. There are many charities and homeless shelter that could use all those ‘almost brand new’ clothes that the kids have outgrown or have decided “it’s not in style or cool anymore.”

Replace my old orthopedic pillow and mattress covers!

Yes I admit it’s overdue!

Steam clean top to bottom! I have been lacking in this department which I used to do all the time but my steamer died and I haven’t been able to replace it!

Paint! Which I try to do yearly but always use the same color.

This year I am changing it up! I am in need of a new look!

Tackle the kitchen cabinets! I am sure we have stuff that’s expired (YUCK) Clean the patio and outdoor furniture. With a little effort this spring, outdoor areas will be ready to entertain throughout the summer New window treatments- getting your window treatments clean after a long winter can brighten an entire room.

So what’s on your spring cleaning list?

When it comes to lighting, and specifically kitchen lighting, then we’re really cooking (so to speak) because this is an environment where you can choose between hot lighting that looks seriously cool and cool lighting that looks red hot. And the difference between the two? Well that would be cost. Let’s explain…

While there is no question that recessed halogen lamps and artfully angled spotlights lend any kitchen a really contemporary look, they also cost a fortune to run for the simple reason that they waste so much of their input electricity as heat and need frequent replacement. And additional heat is also pretty much the last thing you want in a kitchen anyway.

So that’s physically hot lighting that looks cool – stylish but high maintenance – but what about the other way round? Well if, instead of using conventional halogen lamps for spotlighting, you install LED spot lights you can still make your kitchen look like the hottest place in town but without the added heat problem in tow.

Modern 5 to 6 watt LED spot lights are easily as powerful as regular 50 watt halogen lamps, but as you can deduce from the figures they consume barely ten percent of the electricity to produce the same amount of light. And the reason is very simple: whereas an ordinary incandescent light bulb converts only about ten percent of its input energy into light and the rest is lost as heat, an LED works the other way round and converts almost all its energy into light with very little ending up as heat.

So in summary, kitchen lights based on LED technology cost a fraction as much to run because they waste very little heat and thus run cool to the touch, yet still look hot (or cool if you prefer). Hopefully that’s cleared that up.

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Making Small Spaces

LOOK BIG Tips to Make a Small Space Look Larger

W

hen trying to make your room appear larger, the rule for choosing wall colors is simple. Choose light colors. White, yellow, and pastels of your favorite colors will be the best choice for your room. These lighter shades will reflect light and make the room appear to be larger.

• Keep the room monochromatic. For example if you chose a pale blue for your wall color, your carpet and window treatments should also be blue, although they can be a shade or two darker.

• Your upholstered furniture should also be a light blue color, or neutral with blue accents. For your smaller accents, you can use a darker blue color. You may also want to paint your ceiling blue

as well, using a color one or two shades lighter than your walls.

• Patterns in fabric, wallpaper, and upholstery help to keep the room more interesting. However, large-scale patterns can shrink the size

of the room. When choosing wallpaper or fabric, take a ruler with you. If the pattern repeat or pattern images are four or five inches in size, they will be too big for a small room. If the

Home & Garden image or pattern repeat is two inches or smaller, it will be a more subtle design and help the room to appear larger.

The major exception to this rule is stripes. You can use large stripe pattern (in monochromatic colors) vertically to make the room seem larger, or horizontally to make the ceiling appear higher.

• Mirrors and glass will also give the room more visual space. Glass dining and occasional tables allow you to see more floor space and not block your view of other furnishings. Mirrors on the wall will effectively double the visual space of the room.

• The size of the furniture will affect the perceived size of the room. Although

83

you will want the window treatments to match your wall color to keep with the monochromatic color scheme.

• Another thing you can do is to use the vertical space. Bookshelves should go all the way

up to the ceiling, and pictures and photos should be placed high on the walls. If you lack storage space for items like

A good space should look spacious and reflect your taste and personality.

an oversized armoire or overstuffed sofa can add a sense of luxury to the room, they can also make the room too crowded. It is fine to have one such piece in the room, but the other furnishings needs to be scaled down to allow freedom of movement.

• Furniture placement is also important. Pushing everything against the wall might help, but it will make the room uninteresting.

Instead, try putting furniture on an angle in the corners and using just one piece of furniture against the walls (like a banquette table).

• Multi functional furnishings are also very useful because they allow you to use less furniture in the room. A dining table can serve as a desk, a coffee table can serve as a dining table, futon can be a sofa and a bed, and a loft bed can have a desk underneath.

• You will want to choose window treatments that allow you to see outside the room. This invites the outside into the room. In addition,

bicycles and sports equipment, hang them on the wall to double as art.

• Finally, you should eliminate all clutter in the room. Use shelves, and drawers to hide and organize your small items. These items block sight lines in the room making it seem smaller.

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T

he appearance of your kitchen cabinets rests on the quality of your cabinets. You can completely change the look of your kitchen simply by changing the doors of your kitchen cabinets. Good kitchen cabinet design is important if you want to get the most use of your available storage space, and this should also be the goal in the design of any kitchen.

Kitchen cabinets can be made from dozens of woods including oak, maple, pine, cherry, hickory, Poplar, alder and birch. Hickory and oak are the hardest and the heaviest. Cherry, birch and maple are considered to be well suited to cabinetry. Less expensive woods such as alder and poplar work best with glazed finishes used in creating an ‘antique’ look. Pine is a soft wood that is more prone to dents and scratches.

Kitchen cabinets are generally constructed using a combination of these kinds of woods, as well as particleboard or plywood. Some cabinet doors are made of solid wood, which is generally more expensive. Although solid wood and plywood kitchen cabinet doors are regarded a stronger and thicker, particleboard is considered less likely to expand.

There are three types of cabinet door shapes, slab, recessed panel and raised panel and many design styles to choose from. Four of the more common design styles are: traditional, country, shaker and contemporary.

When selecting kitchen cabinets it is a good idea to start by defining your style. Will your kitchen design be a traditional look with raised panel doors and a lot of ornate molding? Or will it be more of a rustic look with knotty pine with simpler detailing?

Cabinet construction types include framed and frameless. Framed consists of a box with a frame that surrounds the front edges. Hinges are used to attach the door to the frame. Frameless type doors consist of a box with no face frame.

What You Shou

KITCHEN

Des

Good kitchen cabine if you want to get th available sto

Home & Garden

When selecting kitchen cabinets it is a good idea to start by deďŹ ning your style.

uld Know About

CABINET

sign

et design is important he most use of your orage space.

There are three main types of kitchen cabinets. These include in-stock kitchen cabinets, semi-stock kitchen cabinets, and custom kitchen cabinets. While custom cabinet are more expensive than the do-it-yourself variety, the advantage is that you are able to get exactly what you want and tailor the cabinets to the exact specifications and needs of your kitchen.

There are also several styles of cabinet doors that can be complement the overall design. Doors for a custom kitchen cabinet can be flat or frameless, raised, curved, simple, or carved.

Most styles of doors require decorative pulls or knobs which protect the wood and finish of the cabinets. The knobs provide a beautiful finish for your cabinets and they are available to many shapes, sizes, and styles including brushed chrome, plastic, ceramic, glass and iron.

Source: James Mahoney Kitchen Designers Ideas.com

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Over the years, we've built a solid reputation backed by happy clients and a long list of solid references that we will confidently provide to you. In fact, our clients are so happy with our work they want their testimonials on our website.

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The

Memories of a

Porch

Swing

A porch swing has a charm like nothing else in or around a home, providing a relaxing, down-home, country atmosphere no ma�er where one happens to live.

Some of my fondest memories revolve around the old, worn porch swing that used to adorn my childhood home.

I remember my mom si�ng in that old porch swing at twilight, carefully watching over us as we scampered around the yard chasing fireflies and listening to our own squeals of delight four or five �mes as they echoed back and forth between the hills and down the “holler”.

With eight kids to feed, she would usually be breaking beans, shelling peas, shucking corn, or preparing some other vegetables that she had picked from the garden earlier that day. And of course she would be humming an old hymn.

I also remember my dad si�ng in that same old porch swing on a lazy Sunday a�ernoon, guitar in hand, enjoying the breeze while singing a country or Gospel tune. He could play with the best of them, but only for his and our personal enjoyment, not money, even though he easily could have.

Even a�er all these years I can s�ll recall si�ng in that swing myself, just listening to the soothing sounds of the bullfrogs from the nearby creek in an evening chorus with the crickets and whippoorwills.

And who could forget those hot muggy summer nights when it was simply too hot to stay inside?

Mom’s love, a cold slice of watermelon, and that old porch swing were the founda�on upon which my favorite memories were built and remain strong.

I’ve heard it said that the best part of life s�ll lies ahead, and I believe that to be true. But the memories of my boyhood and the way it revolved around that old porch swing will remain with me always.

Source: www.rlrouse.com

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Clayton Bzdel CA MBA Reach me direct at (250) 503-0208 Email: claytonbzdel@actioncoach.com Website: actioncoach.com/claytonbzdel

Ways to Stay Motivated in Sales Get Inspired Everyday

Inspiration is one of the best motivators, and it can be found everywhere. Sources of inspiration can include: sales blogs, sales articles, peers, friends, sales books, and motivational quotes.

Hire A Sales Coach

Working one on one with a sales coach has proven to be one of the most effective methods to truly achieve breakthrough sales results.

I CAN DO IT!

Have Compelling Reasons For Your Actions Write them down and know your reasons for wanting to achieve your goals and stay motivated. It will help increase your motivation and keep you on track.

Be Ready For Negative Self Talk

Become very aware of that inner voice that says you should just quit and give up. Simply raise your awareness and recognize when it is happening.

Get Back On The Horse If You Fall Off

Don’t beat yourself up if you slip up one day, but make it a rule to get back into your routine the next day.

Visualize Your Sales Goals

Visualize the successful outcome of staying motivated in great detail a few times each day. Think about exactly how your successful outcome in sales will feel.

Create A Journal For Your Sales Goals

You should focus on writing about what you got done that day and how you felt about the things you did or did not do.

Get Competitive

Many sales people are driven by competition. Take advantage of this natural drive by using it to fuel your sales goals. Aim to be #1, or stay on top.

Make A Public Statement

Make a statement on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, or announce to your friends and family that you are going to achieve a certain sales goal by a certain date.

Think Positive

Monitor your thoughts and become more aware of your self-talk. If you hear negative thoughts, notice them, and then choose to replace them with a positive mind-set.

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Business Briefs Do, Dump, Delegate, Defer

Avoid These

in Your Ad

Quality

Heavily overused and what exactly does it mean? It’s subjective to the situation.

Service

There is a very simple formula to help you prevent work overload and be more productive every day of your life.

Each time you are faced with a new task to perform – an email request, new project at work, phone calls, etc – apply the 4 D’s as listed below. You’ll find that your workload reduced and your productivity go up as you apply this screening and decision-making tool to each task.

Do you know of any company that is claiming lousy service?

Value

This is another overused word, and value is subjective to the purchaser.

Decide on the most appropriate choice and take action.

1 Do It Now - take immediate action, do the task right away, don’t procrastinate.

2 Dump It - make a quick decision and dump the task.

3 Delegate It - give the task to someone else. This is a very critical aspect of time management. Your time is valuable; make it a habit to work on tasks that you do best and delegate the tasks that can be performed by someone else.

4 Defer the Task - make an immediate decision to postpone the task to a later time. Make sure to schedule a time to complete it.

Caring

Caring is obvious – otherwise the company wouldn’t be in business.

Integrity

Most people already give the company the benefit of the doubt that they have integrity.

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e Five Words

dvertising

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Ten Proven Words That Pull In Readers Every marketer has their idea of what words are more impactful. These words seem to have received general agreement of their power: Thank you - Giving sincere appreciation, and campaigns that use these words, and offer something to loyal customers, do well.

Free - The old standby still works. Use it carefully, though, so you don’t sound like a scam.

Immediate - We want it now, don’t we?

Bonus - Yes! Yes! A bonus!

New - An old standby that still works, especially when it’s new and improved.

Money - How to get it or save it always appeals.

Here are five of the most overused, clichéd and meaningless words used in advertising.

Results - I want something that provides results, especially if it’s new!

Trust - The customer wants to trust the product.

Help - The customer can always use some help.

Know - When the reader feels like they’re learning something not everybody knows, you have impact.

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Business Briefs Why Not Just

Stop DOING It?

Often, we are so caught up in busy-ness, that we fail to see the “next big thing.” We have no time or interest, no energy or capital to engage in research, learn new skills or to welcome opportunity when it knocks.

A solution is to maintain a healthy “margin” of time and energy that are available for innovation, and part of that is to intentionally phase out old programs, old products or old ways of doing things.

General Electric earns half its income from products and services that are less than five years old, and they achieved this with a two-pronged approach: 1. Intense commitment to R&D so they always had new revenue sources coming on-line.

2. A plan to phase out and close out obsolescent business components.

What should you phase out? How much time and energy will you need to seize the opportunities that come your way? The cost of working too hard, of spending all your time making money is extremely high. Leave plenty of time around the “margins” for creativity, and never hesitate to stop doing whatever isn’t working anymore.

There are two essential business strategies that go hand in hand.

The first is “opportunity cost” and the second is “planned obsolescence”.

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It’s What You Won’t Do That Will

Kill Your Business

As a business coach, I get to talk to lots of business owners about the nitty-gritty of their business success. Lately I’ve been observing the ‘I won’t’ phenomenon killing off many small businesses.

What happens is that the business owner is too tired and worn out, too bored or too scared to take the next set of steps that will really move the business forward. In some cases, they have made so many decisions and put so many limitations on how the business runs that there is no room for creativity, innovation or taking any of the risks.

Take a pen and paper and write down the one thing you would most like to achieve in your business over the next three months. Now write a list of everything that is stopping you from achieving this. When you look at that list of limitations, how many of them are self-imposed? How many of them could be solved by talking to a coach or getting some additional expertise or by taking a different point of view?

Take steps to reduce or dissolve every possible limitation on your list. When we overcome our limitations, we can expand our businesses in ways which were unimaginable.

Wherever you are unwilling to do or change something, you have set (sometimes unconscious) limitations upon yourself and your business. I recently undertook this exercise and it opened up a whole new perspective on my business. What can it do for yours? The more willing you are to perceive a new perspective, the more successful your business will be!

Resource: www.revivecoaching.com.au

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Top 10 Ways to

Coach Yourself to

SUCCESS

by Philip E. Humbert

Coaching is about being your best. It’s about performance, about “staying the course” and creating and living the life you really want.

C

oaching is about being your best. It’s about performance, about “staying the course” and creating and living the life you really want.

Many people use coaches to make more money, win the gold prize or do something dramatic. That’s fun, and when it’s right, it’s wonderful! But most importantly, coaching is about living up to your own standards. It is, in Henry Thoreau’s famous words, about “marching to the beat of your own drum, no matter how faint or far away.” So, do I recommend you have a personal coach? Well, duh! But if you can’t afford one, or aren’t ready for one, why not be your own coach? Here are a few suggestions: 1. Write down your goals. Review and re-write them once a week. This is old advice, but there is power and magic in writing your goals on paper! Write them down, then review them, think about them and up-date them every week. It may only take 20 minutes, but it will double your rate of success, I guarantee it!

2. Show up! Many of life’s most important achievements simply require that we show up, pay attention, tell the truth, work hard, go the extra mile, and do our best! Superior performance is not about the future, or the past. It’s about doing a superior job right now, on the work that lies right in front of you.

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3. Eliminate Distractions. Keep your eye on the ball. Life is full of frustrations and distractions. Successful people do NOT tolerate the things that drive them crazy – they take the time to stop, solve the problem and eliminate the distraction once and for all. Stay focused!

4. Manage your environment. Top performers know that space management is more important than time management, and they have neat offices, clean cars, orderly appointment books, and they keep an extra suit at the office, just in case. Make your office (and your home) a space where you can do your very best work.

5. Read every day. Read something useful, challenging or fun every day. If you only spend 20 minutes with a book that motivates, excites and educates you, it will make a world of difference. I promise! Aim to read at least one book every month!

6. Attend a “University on Wheels”. Listen to educational, motivational and fun tapes while you drive. At least listen to soothing, appropriate music, rather than the “terror of the day” on talk radio! Fill your mind with the BEST information you can find!

7. Use a Master-Mind group. The term refers to a group of people who are committed to helping you be successful. Often, they meet once a week. Think of them as your “Advisory Committee”. Bounce ideas off them, ask them for advice, let them coach you!

8. Focus on values. Take time every week to review your values, the things that cost you nothing, but make life worth living. Write them down, share them with a friend, and remind yourself of what’s most important to you. Remembering your values will get you back on course!

9. Play more! Play a game of tennis, wrestle with the dog, shoot hoops with the kid next door. Laugh, get sweaty, have fun. It doesn’t cost; it pays!

10. Practice Gratitude! Periodically, ask yourself how many “good” days you’ve had this week. Notice what made the good ones good, and do more of the good stuff! And, be grateful. “I was angry that I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet.”

Even the most sophisticated modern cruise ships must

If you can’t afford a personal coach, or aren’t ready for one, why not be your own coach? constantly monitor their course. On our last cruise, Mary and I took a tour of the bridge, and were told the ship had no less than 5 automatic navigation computers, and that at least 2 officers were on duty at all times. Why the redundancy? Because having a cruise ship get lost, even briefly, is a very bad thing!

How many navigation systems do you use to guide your path? Having a handful of books, journals, friends and daily routines to “coach” you is not expensive; it’s the best investment you’ll ever make! Set up routines and use the best resources you can find to stay on course. Coach yourself to the top!

Here’s to your success!

Resource: Copyright 2003 by Philip E. Humbert. Dr. Philip E. Humbert is a writer, speaker and success coach and has over 300 free articles, tools and resources for your success, available on his website at: h�p://www.philiphumbert.com.

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magine two musicians… one who plays a $3.5 million dollar violin and can sell out an entire auditorium at $100 a seat… and one who plays for people’s spare change in a train station.

What’s the difference between the two musicians? Well, in at least one case… there is almost no difference at all.

This is a true story that’s fascinated me since I heard it a couple of years ago…

Joshua Bell, an internationally acclaimed virtuoso violinist tried a bit of an experiment. He took his Stradivarius (worth $3.5 million) down to a Washington Metro train station and played for tips for about 45 minutes.

Joshua Bell’s Experiment It’s important to note that Joshua Bell is a true star in the classical music world – just three days before this experiment he sold out the Symphony Hall in Boston, where the decent seats were priced at $100 and the best seats sold for a lot more. The same musician, very different surroundings.

In the 45 minutes that Bell played in the train station, there were 1,097 people that walked by and heard him playing.

Only 27 of those people left a tip in his open violin case. Only seven of them actually stopped to listen. Bell made a total of $32 in tips.

THE TALE OF

What is Positioning?

Now, of course, there were several things at play here… for one, most of those people who rushed past were on their way to work, and undoubtedly distracted. And although Joshua clearly knows how to perform to a sold-out auditorium, he probably doesn’t know much about being a successful street performer… that’s a different skill set.

But there was another HUGE factor at play here – and that’s what we call “positioning”…Positioning is creating an image or an identity in the minds of the people in your target market.

It’s how you are viewed by your market.

When Joshua Bell performs in a sold out auditorium, he is positioned as the star of the show. He’s dressed like the star, and people know that they should expect a star performance.

They have an idea what a star performance sounds like. And they likely know much of the music that the star is going to perform. They expect a lot from the star, and they’re usually rooting for the star to come through with a big performance.

Success needs talent a Positioning is creating a the minds of the people It’s how you are view When Joshua plays at a concert, he’s got star positioning and people expect him to be a star. When he plays in a train station, he definitely doesn’t have star positioning. That’s the big difference between $100 seats and $32 in tips.

Of course, you need the talent to get the $100 seats… all

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The first thing you need to understand is that expert status is not something that anyone GIVES you.

Getting Expert Positioning I think for most online businesses, getting expert positioning is one of the most critical things you need to do.

F TWO MEN

by Jeff Walker

and expert positioning. an image or an identity in e in your target market. wed by your market. the positioning in the world won’t get you in front of a sold our Symphony Hall if you don’t have the talent. But just having talent alone won’t get you there either… there are thousands of incredibly talented people walking around who are completely under-appreciated – and that’s a true waste.

It’s part science and part art. But the first thing you need to understand is that expert status is not something that anyone GIVES you. You don’t sit around and wait for someone to magically declare that you’re an expert in your field.

What you have to do is go out and GET that expert positioning… and the good news is that it’s all very doable and repeatable.

IMPORTANT: Shifting your brain from thinking that someone else is going to GIVE you expert status to realizing that expert status is something that you actually CREATE is the first critical step in your evolution.

I’m telling you this from personal experience… I’ve personally achieved “expert” status in multiple markets with multiple businesses… when I had no “official” background in those fields.

And the benefits of expert or “guru” positioning are huge…

First, you make a lot more money – it’s easier to sell stuff, and it’s easier to charge higher prices. And you can make a much bigger impact on people and the world.

The bottom line is this: if you want greater success in your business… go get that expert positioning. It makes everything a whole lot easier.

Resource: http://jeffwalker.com/tale-of-two-men. (You can read the original Washington Post article about Joshua Bell’s experiment here.)

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Above the Herd Can Business Blogging

Boost

Your Business?

1994

was a great year. The Dallas Cowboys won the Super Bowl. Joe Paterno and the Nittany Lions went undefeated in college football. And... the first online shopping sales transactions occurred - forever changing the opportunity to do business over the internet.

In the late 90s and early 2000s, many on-the-ball companies secured a web domain.

Designers were hired to build cool websites, employees received email addresses, and then... things carried on with business as usual. (Except everyone got new business cards with the company website on them) For the most part, the existence of a company website didn’t really change the way business was done for many service businesses.

Fast forward to today, 2011. Everyone and their brother has a website. If your mindset is that your website is simply one more place where someone can go to find out information about your company, you are missing a big opportunity to allow your website to help you grow sales. That’s right - service businesses and companies that do not conduct online transactions can still use their websites to drive business. How’s that going for you?

What is your relationship with your website? Do you even have a relationship with your website?

Ask yourself, which of these options best describes your relationship with your website: • I do not have a company website and barely know how to use email.

• I have a company website and email because I know I should, but that’s about it.

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• I attempt to keep my website current with news and events, but sometimes weeks go by without my website changing.

• I have a dynamic website that I update at least weekly with new information.

Gone are the days where a static website (a website that has never-changing content) will actually impress anyone.

As you seek to develop relationships with your prospects and customers, giving them reasons to return consistently to your website can strengthen their bond with you. One of the ways to do this is through a business blog.

“A blog?” you might think. “When on earth will I find time to blog?” Before you dismiss the idea, consider the following reasons why a business blog may be a crucial missing piece to your internet strategy.

1. A business blog allows you the opportunity to demonstrate your expertise. Often, a sales cycle will stall on account of lack of trust. Before people decide to spend money with you, they want to know that you know what you are talking about. If you blog regularly - sharing insight into the way you approach business - readers will get a taste of the way you think. They will get to know how you approach common problems in your industry and will begin to visualize you helping them solve their problems. You can make substantial headway when it comes to their trusting that you know your stuff.

2. New content gives people a reason to revisit your website. A business blog should have a new post at least twice a week. The content you build should be content that is relevant to the target audience you are trying to reach. It should also be written in a language that your target market would understand. In other words, make it personable to your reader. If you are a financial advisor and your target audience are single parents, what you write should be relevant for them.

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“A blog?” you might think. “When on earth will I find time to blog?”

3. Websites with frequently added content do better in Google and Yahoo searches. Make sure that you add an RSS feed and the ability for your target audience to subscribe to your blog via email. Websites that are visited more frequently have improved search engine results.

Link your blog to your Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media locations. More traffic = improved search results. Better search results means that people have a greater chance of finding you on the internet.

Take time this week to examine your relationship with your website. It is true that many business blogs go nowhere and help no one. Poor strategy and not understanding the audience are key factors when a blog fails. However, using the internet to build sales is not just for Amazon and eBay take advantage of the opportunity to demonstrate expertise, keep ‘em returning, and boost your ratings and you’ll have champion results.

Kimberly Parker is an author and partner in Red Giraffe, a Kelowna-based sales and marketing company. Her new eBook is called Understanding Business Blogging.

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The

How to Stop

Back when I was coaching my clients, I had one request that seemed to come up over and over again.

Marketing

(And What to Do Instead)

“I don’t want to do any marke�ng or selling,” the client would say. “I just really hate all that stuff. It makes me feel sleazy and gross and I don’t want my name associated with it and I don’t want to have anything to do with it.

“But, um, I don’t want the business to die.

“Is it hopeless? Is there anything you can do for me?”

You might think I laughed at this person and told him to enjoy being broke. But no.

“Actually, I can help you with that,” I said. “No problem, we won’t do any marke�ng. Here’s what we’re going to do instead.”

“Instead of marke�ng, we’re just going to communicate.

We’re going to talk to your customers and explain who you are, how your thing will make their life be�er, and then we’ll spell out exactly what they should do next. Would that work for you?”

Instantly I could hear the stress melt out of their voice. “Oh my god, that would be amazing. Can you really do that? Thank you!”

This, ladies and gentlemen, is why packaging is so important.

Don’t overcomplicate it If Don Draper had this client, he would have called him an idiot. But he s�ll would have signed him for a fat account, and done some stellar work on it. Then he would have slept with his wife.

Don Draper was in adver�sing before people got confused.

He knew that persuasion always boils down to shockingly simple principles.

If marke�ng makes you throw up in your mouth a li�le, quit doing it.

Instead, just let your poten�al customers know who you are.

Let them know how your thing will make their lives be�er.

And tell them, very clearly and specifically, what to do next.

No marke�ng required.

Source: Sonia Simone is founder of Remarkable Communica�ons

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