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Mysteries of self-confidence
Kid’s physical fitness Triple your personal productivity
August 2013
Creating Your Imagery Again
Insomnia solution
Boost your kid’s school performance
EQ versus IQ and more... Protect your home against flooding
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Content 6
Immigration is our mutual concern
8
4 Key things to do if your business life sucks
10 Triple your personal productivity 15 Protect your home against flooding 16 Mysteries of self-confidence 20 Top ten tips for lazy dieters 22 IQ vs EQ 24 Boost your kids school performance 26 Creating your imagery again 29 Cosmetic injectables vs cosmetic surgery 32 Insomnia solution 34 Achieving quality care 38 Kid’s physical fitness 40 What really is metal art? 42 A start-up guide to internet marketing from home 45 What type of car finance is for you? 49 Pet proofing your home
Published by: Master Printing Inc., 777 C The Queensway, Toronto, ON M8Z 1N4 www.masterprinting.ca Copyright@2013 Master Printing Inc. All rights reserved. PUBLISHED 6 TIMES/ YEAR February • April • June August • October • December Issue No. 3.
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upcoming
FESTIVALS
SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Weekend
August 30 - September 1 Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP), Bowmanville 905-983-9141 www.canadiantiremotorsportpark.com
Cabbagetown Festival of the Arts
September 7-8 Parliament Street, from Wellesley Street to Gerrard Street 416-921-0857
Niagara Wine Festival
September 14-29 Montebello Park and various locations in and around St.Catharines www.niagarawinefestival.com/page/ home
www.oldcabbagetown.com/ content/2013-cabbagetown-festival
Canada’s Walk Of Fame Festival
Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF)
The Beach Celtic Festival
September 5 - 15
September 7-8
Various Locations in Toronto
Various Locations in Toronto
Kew Gardens (Queen St East & Lee Avenue)
www.canadaswalkoffame.com/festival
416-599-TIFF www.tiff.net
September 19
416-686- 9231 www.thecelticfestival.com
Pan American Food Festival
September 20-22
Vegetarian Food Festival
Harbourfront Centre
September 6-8
Toronto Ukrainian Festival
Harbourfront Centre
September 13-15
416-973-4000 www.harbourfrontcentre.com
Bloor West Village, between Jane Street and Glendowynne Road 416-410-9965 www.ukrainianfestival.com
Taste of the Kingsway
www.harbourfrontcentre.com
Annual Pioneer Harvest Festival
September 21 Black Creek Pioneer Village
September 6-8
416-736-1733
Bloor St. West, from Prince Edward Drive to Montgomery Road
www.blackcreek.ca/v2/events/
416-239-8243 www.kingswaybia.ca
Toronto Beer Week
September 13-20 Various Locations in Toronto www.torontobeerweek.com
Southside Shuffle: Blues + Jazz Festival
Steam Whistle’s Oktoberfest
September 21
September 6-8
Roncesvalles Polish Festival
Memorial Park-Port Credit www.southsideshuffle.com
September 14-15
4 I SMART MAGAZINE I August 2013
pioneer-festival.dot
Roncesvalles Village http://polishfestival.ca
Steam Whistle Brewing www.steamwhistle.ca
Ĺťywiec Beer. Available at LCBO and The Beer Store.
Queen West Art Crawl
Scotiabank Nuit Blanche
September 21-22
Oct 5, 2013 - 6:51 pm to sunrise
Trinity Bellwoods Park 416-516-8301 www.queenwestartcrawl.com
Toronto Chocolate Festival
October 18-November 3 Various Locations in Toronto www.torontochocolatefestival.com
www.scotiabanknuitblanche.ca
International Festival of Authors Toronto Garlic Festival
September 22 Evergreen Brick Works (550 Bayview Avenue)
Toronto International Flamenco Festival
October 13-19
416-888-7829 www.torontogarlicfestival.ca
Downtown Toronto in various locations www.torontoflamencofestival.com
Word on the Street Festival
Toronto After Dark Film Festival
September 22 Queen’s Park (behind the Legislative Building) 416-503-1330 www.thewordonthestreet.ca/wots/ toronto
October 24-November 3 Harbourfront Centre, Toronto 416-973-4000 www.readings.org
Zombie Walk
October 26 Nathan Philips Square www.torontozombiewalk.ca
October 17-25 Scotiabank Theatre, 259 Richmond St. W. http://torontoafterdark.com/2013/
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Immigration Is Our Mutual Concern Although no one needs to be reminded that Canada is a country of immigrants, not everyone is familiar with basic information about existing immigration laws and the overall picture of immigration in Canada. One could even say that available information on the topic is rather scarce. The legal details and mandatory procedures are not what’s in question, but rather factual and fundamental knowledge. Since the future of how this country is shaped by us, Canada’s citizens and permanent residents, it is worthwhile to read this series of articles titled: Immigration is Our Mutual Concern. Let’s start with the numbers. Around 250 thousand individuals from all over the world are granted permanent resident status every year in Canada. This has been happening for over 20 years. Aside from that, year after year thousands of people come here on a work contract, and many of them become part of the total of new permanent residents. Canada’s immigration system is based on three major categories, with various immigration programs within them. The fourth category, which is often also re-
garded as an immigration program, is the protection granted to individuals who are persecuted in their country of origin due to political, religious, or cultural issues. These are referred to as asylum seekers or refugees. The yearly averages of these categories are described by the following percentages: over 55% are in the economic category, around 25% are in the family category, around 13% are refugees, and the rest, around 6-7% are others, including those in the humanitarian class. It is also interesting to look at the numbers regarding the origin of new permanent residents: 53% come from Asia, 20% from Africa and the Middle East, 19% from Europe (including UK), 6% from South and Central America, and 2% from USA. We see here a significant domination of people from the Asian continent. It is important to note that this is not the effect of some kind of privilege, which people from those countries receive. Canada’s immigration law is the same for everyone. There are also no considerations given to the size of any nation. A good example is that of Filipino and Polish people. According to Wikipedia, there are
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around 100 million Filipinos in the world, while there are around 60 million Poles (ca. 38 million in Poland, and nearly 22 million abroad). During the last few years, Canada has been granting permanent resident status to over 27 thousand Filipinos per year, and only to around 1 thousand Poles. This huge difference is mostly due to the efficient use of immigration law by the Filipinos and poor use of the immigration law by the Poles. What does all this mean? In my opinion, the cause for many nations immigrating to Canada is not necessarily poverty or their socio-economic status. But rather, immigrants are in search of a second place to live in this world, and Canada is the best option available. To conclude these observations on the topic of immigration, I wish to offer one more important reflection. We live in multicultural Canada, the mosaic of many nations. Canadian constitution guarantees all its citizens the same laws, including the cultivation of ethnic culture, traditions, customs, as well as the use of all resources and the possibility for development. If and how different ethnic groups will make use of this in order to strengthen themselves and their influence on Canadian economy and politics, is up to the community of those groups; their socio-political involvement, their social and religious organizations, the development of their businesses and their willingness to employ their fellow countrymen. In short, it is up to the actual active involvement of these groups to increase immigration to Canada. Marek Szajna marek@esteemimmigration.com
August 2013 I SMART MAGAZINE I
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4 Key Has
your get up and go got up and went? Do you absolutely dread Mondays? Feel burned out? Put off tasks any chance you can get? If so, you are likely suffering from a common condition called “Lack of Motivation”. By using the 4 suggestions below, you can jumpstart your enthusiasm and take back control of your happiness, productivity, and fun. Try these quirky motivation tips and see if you don’t feel better, work better, and have a better attitude about just about everything! 1) Trick Time By Making It
Work For You!
If you’re like most business owners, time feels like your biggest enemy. You’ve got deadlines to meet, stacks
8 I SMART MAGAZINE I August 2013
Things To Do
By Peter Williamson
of paper to go through, phone calls to return, meetings to attend, reports to product, and there sits time, the Cheshire Cat, grinning at you as it twitches its tail like the second hand of a clock. Tic toc. Tic toc.
2) To Reach Goals, Set Them.
* Before leaving the office, jot down 5 things you want to get done and the time you want to have them completed, so that right when you get into the office the next day, you have a goal, a mission, a plan…
A golfer will picture him or herself hitting the ball. A swimmer pictures him- or herself rounding the turn. An effective business person creates mini goals for each hour of the day. These generally become “incentive” goals, giving the person a sense of excitement about doing them and “getting” the reward at the end. Maybe your reward is a much needed break, lunch out, or enjoying a round of golf. Maybe you’ll leave a little early and go fishing, or shopping, or maybe you’ll actually curl up and read a book!
* Start an assessment or report that is due, but end it in mid sentence, or in the middle of a thought. Start there, the next day and complete the project.
By committing goals to print, you cement those thoughts and by offering incentives, you make the reaching of those goals so much more fun!
But there are ways to race against time.
If Your Business Life Sucks 3) Who Says Business Isn’t a
Game?
Taking yourself or your work too seriously can end up eating away at you, your energy, and your psyche, and who has time or energy for that? Instead, make each day fun. Sure, business is work, but who says it has to be tedious, boring, overwhelming, or that everything has to be done by you? Delegate! Strengthen the areas of your work that need support, such as your vision, mission, and culture statements, and get everyone on the same page. Get help in the form of a business coach that can share essential systems with you, saving you hours of time and energy. Weed out those who aren’t team players and add value to the lives of the people you keep on your team. If business isn’t a game to you, maybe it’s time to make it one! 4) Avoid Burnout. What normally happens when business owners feel burned out is that they further isolate themselves by creating a cocoon that becomes almost impenetrable, closing themselves in. While some business owners kick and scream at this idea, the key is to get out and mix with positive, inspiring, openminded people and let some of that enthusiasm rub off on you! As you do this, you’ll become more inclined to be the inspiration for someone else. This kind of enthusiasm is contagious, so be careful. You might get happy!
It’s easy to get caught up in the “my life sucks” mentality, but channelling one’s energy into small, doable, reachable goals is key, whether that’s in one’s personal life or one’s business life. Once those goals start to fall into place, you can look at the bigger picture, and then things start to really get exciting. A friend told me about an interesting little story once. “A man with a broken clock came into the watch repair shop and asked the guy at the counter, ‘Do you repair clocks?’. The man assured him he did and pointed to a sign over his head. It read: “You only get two.” “Two what?” the man with the broken clock asked. “You can get cheap service, quality service, or fast service, but you only get two. Which two do you choose?”
Is that what you chose? My point is that what you focus on is what you attract, so be sure to keep your focus razor sharp. Quality service attracts quality customers. Confident, healthy business owners attract confident, healthy clients. As a business owner, you’re not broken. You don’t need to be fixed, but you do need effective tools, including systems and processes put into place that will help you in the areas of time, team, management, and marketing. That’s where a business coach can help. In the meantime, practice the four suggestions above and see if you don’t see an improvement in your attitude and in your business. And if you have other helpful ideas, share them and we’ll all help each other. www.articlecube.com
What would you chose? Cheap quality certainly sounds like an oxymoron as does fast quality. But cheap, fast anything rarely lasts long. My choice would be just one: quality service.
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9
Triple Your Personal Productivity
Steve Pavilna www.stevepavilna.com – Personal Development for Smart People
Have you ever had the experience of looking back on your week with the sinking feeling that you didn’t get as much done as you’d hoped? When building a successful career or a business of your own, your time is perhaps your most valuable asset, and your income is a direct result of how you spend your time. You cannot buy any more time than you’re given, and the clock is always ticking. A few years ago, I discovered a simple system that allowed me to nearly triple my productivity, and in this article I’ll share some very practical ideas you can apply right away to increase your effectiveness without working any harder than you do now.
Keep a detailed time log. The first step to better managing your time is to find out how you’re currently spending your time. Keeping a time log is a very effective way to do this, and after trying it for just one day, you’ll immediately
10 I SMART MAGAZINE I August 2013
gain tremendous insight into where your time is actually going. The very act of measuring is often enough to raise your unconscious habits into your consciousness, where you then have a chance to scrutinize and change them. Here’s how to keep a time log. Throughout your day record the time whenever you start or stop any activity. Consider using a stopwatch to just record time intervals for each activity. You can do this during only your working time or throughout your entire day. At the end of the day, sort all the time chunks into general categories, and find out what percentage of your time is being spent on each type of activity. If you want to be thorough, do this for a week, and calculate the percentage of your total time that you spent on each type of activity. Be as detailed as possible. Note how much time you spend on email, reading newsgroups, web surfing, phone calls, eating, going to the
bathroom, etc. If you get up out of your chair, it probably means you need to make an entry in your time log. I typically end up with 50-100 log entries per day. You may be surprised to discover you’re spending only a small fraction of your working time doing what you’d consider to be actual work. Studies have shown that the average office worker does only 1.5 hours of actual work per day. The rest of the time is spent socializing, taking coffee breaks, eating, engaging in non-business communication, shuffling papers, and doing lots of other non-work tasks. The average full-time office worker doesn’t even start doing real work until 11:00am and begins to wind down around 3:30pm.
Analyze your results. The first time I kept a time log, I only finished 15 hours worth of real work in a week where I spent about
60 hours in my office. Even though I was technically about twice as productive as the average office worker, I was still disturbed by the results. Where did those other 45 hours go? My time log laid it all out for me, showing me all the time drains I wasn’t consciously aware of -- checking email too often, excessive perfectionism doing tasks that didn’t need to be done, overreading the news, taking too much time for meals, succumbing to preventable interruptions, etc.
Calculate your personal efficiency ratio.
not on the total amount of time I spent at the office. So I decided to begin recording my daily efficiency ratio as the amount of time I spent on actual work divided by the total amount of time I spent in my office. While it certainly bothered me that I was only working 25% of the time initially, I also realized it would be extremely foolish to simply work longer hours.
you most likely failed. That was naturally the result I experienced when I tried to discipline myself to work harder. In fact, trying harder actually de-motivated me and drove my efficiency ratio even lower. So I reluctantly decided to try the opposite approach. The next day I would only allow myself to put in five hours total at the office, and the rest of the day I wouldn’t allow myself to work at all. Well, an interesting thing happened, as I’m sure you can imagine. My brain must have gotten the idea that working time was a
Efficiency Ratio = (Time Doing “Real Work”) / (Time Spent “At Work”)
When I realized that I spent 60 hours at the office but only completed 15 hours of actual work within that time, I started asking myself some interesting questions. My income and my sense of accomplishment depended only on those 15 hours,
Cut back on total hours to force an increase in efficiency. If you’ve ever tried to discipline yourself to do something you weren’t really motivated to do,
scarce commodity because I worked almost the entire five hours straight and got an efficiency ratio of over 90%. I continued this experiment for the rest of the week and ended up getting about 25 hours of work
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done with only 30 hours total spent in my office, for an efficiency ratio of over 80%. So I was able to reduce my weekly working time by 30 hours while also getting 10 more hours of real work done. If your time log shows your efficiency ratio to be on the low side, try severely limiting your total amount of working time for a day, and see what happens. Once your brain realizes that working time is scarce, you suddenly become a lot more efficient because you have to be. When you have tight time constraints, you will usually find a way to get your work done. But when you have all the time in the world, it’s too easy to be inefficient. Gradually increase total hours while maintaining peak efficiency. Over a period of a few weeks, I was able to keep my efficiency ratio above
80% while gradually increasing my total weekly office time. I’ve been able to maintain this for many years now, and I commonly get about 40 hours of real work done every week, while only spending about 45 total hours in my office. I’ve learned that this is ideal for me. If I try to put in more time at the office, then my productivity drops off rapidly. The interesting thing is that the system that allowed me to optimize my effectiveness at work also created a tremendous amount of balance in all other areas of my life. Even though I was able to use this approach to triple my business productivity, I still gained plenty of time to pursue personal interests. Time logging is the intelligent choice to ensure optimal productivity without increasing your hours. But time
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logging need only be done periodically to provide these benefits. I do it for one week every 3-6 months, and over the years it has made a huge difference for me, always providing me with new distinctions. If I go too many months without time logging, my productivity gradually drops as I fall back into unconscious timewasting habits. You’ll probably find as I do that your gut feelings about your productivity are closely related to how much real work you actually get done. When you feel your productivity is lower than you’d like, raise your awareness via time logging, measure your efficiency ratio, and then optimize your efficiency to boost your productivity back up where it belongs. Time logging is a high leverage activity that takes very little time and effort to implement, but the long-term payoff is tremendous.payoff is tremendous.
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Protect your home against flooding
(NC)—Many homeowners are surprised to hear that water damage is the most common insurance claim. Water damage—often in the form of a flooded basement—can come out of nowhere and cause extensive damage to the house. “Once homeowners understand the most common types of insurance claims, they can take steps to guard against them,” says John Jenner, vice-president of marketing and communications at Western Financial Group. “Measures might include making sure their home insurance policy covers sewer backup, installing a sump pump, having properly installed drainage systems, or making sure that downspouts are sending water away from their home.”
According to the Insurance Bureau of Canada, there are many circumstances that can cause a flooded basement, including tree roots growing through cracks in the waterline, overloaded stormwater and sanitary sewer infrastructure, frozen pipes, vandals blocking lines and more. To keep your home safe, practice the following guidelines: Have someone check on your house when you’re away When you leave home for more than three days, make sure you have someone come and check the premises. A flooded basement, leaky pipe, or a broken window can be devastating if it is not discovered immediately.
niture and making sure the drain is not sitting under a layer of dirt or debris. In older houses, drains may need to be snaked to ensure they can do their job properly. Install a sump pump and backflow valves This will greatly reduce the frequency and severity of basement flooding. Backflow valves or plugs can be installed on drains, toilets and other sewer connections to prevent water from entering the home. Move items that are in flooding prone areas
Keep drains clear
The 10 minutes spent on inspecting your home for items that are in flooding prone areas could save hours later. Make sure you store important documents and irreplaceable personal items where they will not be damaged.
It may seem simple, but many homeowners need to be reminded to keep their basement drains clear of obstructions. That means moving large objects such as fur-
“It is important for homeowners to go over their insurance policy yearly with a representative,” adds Jenner. “This will make sure you have the coverage you need.”
YOUR HOME IS WORTH MORE THAN YOU THINK
Find Out What Your Home is Worth On-Line Visit: www.GTAHomePricing.com Beata Kosc, ABR, Sales Representative RE/MAX Ultimate Realty Inc, Brokerage 1739 Bayview Ave Toronto ON M4G3C1 Not Intended to Solicit Persons Under Contract August 2013 I SMART MAGAZINE I
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MYSTERIES OF SELF-CONFIDENCE By Christopher Dzikowski
Aggressive and passive people can-
CONTROLLING YOUR AGGRESSION AND PASSIVENESS
not handle the pressure and this makes them angry. Aggressive and passive behaviors give us the illusion of taking control of the situation. If we cannot take control, we simply will seek other opportunities to “get our own way�. When we are hurt we respond passively or aggressively.
Many people think that anger con-
stitutes their strength and power. This is simply not true. Aggression and passiveness are on the opposite sides, but they are both triggered in the exact same way. They only have different effects.
John
was a very aggressive and angry person. Mark was a very passive person. They were both working on a very important project. It took about 5 minutes, when the entire staff heard screams and cursing coming from the boardroom. It was an interesting development,
16 I SMART MAGAZINE I August 2013
because their team leader assumed that they would work well together and naturally John would take the lead. However both John and Mark lost control in one way or another. How was that possible?
1. Both of these behaviours will have a tremendous negative impact on our self-confidence. In order to control the level of our anger or passiveness, we must find a centered behavior; which is called “assertiveness”. The good news is that assertiveness like almost all self-confidence techniques can be learned. Are you angry, passive or centered? Consider these situations. Choose one option from each situation. Choose not what you feel is appropriate, but what is your strongest belief. You are a manager. In Canada, we have a strong equal opportunities policy. One of your staff has already been warned twice about racist jokes. You have received another complaint and you have to talk to this person again. What would you do?
You explain why such jokes are inappropriate and that in Canada such jokes and remarks are illegal in the workplace. You ask this person to share his/her thoughts about these policies and laws.
2. You tell this person: I know that you think that a joke like that is fun. Sometimes I like to tell similar jokes. If only it were up to me… But, you have to understand that this is a workplace and people have different views. Besides, if the boss heard we might both get fired. 3. You tell this person: You have been warned before about expressing racist views. If you do this again I will fire you. You are a manager. You have had re-
ceived numerous complaints about angry behaviour of one of your staff towards customers and co-workers. Before you even open the conversation he starts crying. He tells you: I know what this is about. I have to apologize for my short temper, but I am so worried about my wife. She was recently diagnosed with breast cancer.
How would you respond to that? 1.
I understand what you are saying, but our business is suffering because of your behaviour. When you enter your workplace, please leave your personal problems outside and do what we expect from you.
2. I`m sorry to hear that. I had no idea that she was ill. If there is anything we can help you with, just let me know. 3.
I thought that there was an explanation for your behaviour. I`m sorry to hear about your wife. However, we must expect high standards from our employees. People were complaining and these complaints have to be answered. August 2013 I SMART MAGAZINE I
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You are a manager. One of your em-
ployees has made a minor mistake in entering data into a database. Your boss is angry. Storms into your office and says to you: This is wrong! You`ve made a mistake! You are so careless. We cannot accept such low work standards. How can you call yourself a manager if you cannot manage your people?
How would you respond? 1. Yes. You are absolutely right.
I`m really sorry. I should have checked. It will never happen again. I will correct this immediately and have a talk with my people.
2. Why are you so angry? This is noth-
ing compared to the mistakes from the previous month. I will ignore your remarks because you obviously are not yourself today. Are we still for lunch later on?
3. I am sorry that we made this mistake.
However, you are wrong saying that I am careless and have low work standards. I have proven management skills. My standards and those of my team are high. Mistakes sometimes happen.
In the first situation, option 1 is cen-
tered. However the employee has been already warned twice. Therefore, we should go to a more aggressive option. Option 2 not only indicates that we are very passive, but also shows our poor
management skills. By choosing this option we are defending the offender and not ourselves and our company. Option 3 might be regarded as very aggressive. However in this particular situation it will be the most effective.
well measured, centered and most appropriate. You are showing your boss that you recognize a genuine mistake. You apologized for it, but at the same time you are not accepting his/hers personal remarks directed towards you and your team.
In the second situation, option 1 is not only aggressive, but also inhumane. It is amazing how often managers use this approach, which is not effective at all. By using this approach we can lose a valuable employee and convey a very bad image of ourselves. Option 2 is passive, but probably the most appropriate and effective in this situation. Option 3 is right in the middle. It is centered and assertive. However in this situation a more human like response is needed and further towards passiveness.
As we can see, in some situations
In the third situation option 1 is way too passive. People use this option because of fear or because they want to finish an unpleasant conversation as soon as possible. Practically, when you use this option you are asking for further attacks from your boss. Option 2 could be taken as rude and aggressive. Furthermore, it does not respond to the fact that you, not just your work performance, have been personally attacked. This will lower your selfconfidence very fast. Option 3 is
a centered approach is not located right in the middle between aggression and passiveness. It depends on the seriousness of the situation and it’s possible consequences. However, choosing the right level of response to these situations boosts our selfconfidence.
Choosing the right response, elimi-
nating anger and passiveness is not an easy task. We can learn these things by doing appropriate exercises. Before we can deal with our emotions we have to understand where we are right now.
Aggressive person There is something remarkable about an aggressive person. Aggression is used by such a person as an argument in every conversation and action. If aggression does not work, this person becomes simply more aggressive. If aggression achieves a very high level, no logical argument can be considered by such a person. One person’s aggression also affects MORTGAGE SPECIALIST
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other people. We feel what we call “bad energy” and we don`t want to be around and talk to an aggressive person.
We have to remember, that aggres-
sive people are not born aggressive. They simply are trying to compensate for the lack of self-confidence. They think that an aggressive posture will protect their self-esteem or help them gain momentarily compensation of pride. This is simply the cry for help.
Aggressive
people try to protect themselves despite the feelings of other people. They will often take an advantage of others. They will
be continuously betraying the trust of others. This is also a proof of low confidence. Since you are using people to gain what you want, it proves that you don`t have capacity to create that for yourself.
Aggressive people have no respect
for others. It means that they will be constantly probing other people’s views of the world. They will provoke your anger on purpose by testing boundaries and blowing things out of proportion. They will usually carry verbal attacks and use them to make other people feel inferior. An aggressive person constantly needs to seek approval of others by bragging about his/her real or imaginative achievements.
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Top Ten TIPS FOR LAZY DIETERS By Anu Priya
Tip no. 1:
Set SMART goals. Goals give dieters something to aim for and are a good source of inspiration. Fitness experts worldwide would agree that all goals you set should adhere to the following acronym:
I am going to lose 20lbs in 10 weeks? If you never put a limit on when you need to lose the weight by, you are never going to push yourself to shed those pounds.
S (simple): All goals should be easy to remember. Saying I want to lose 20lbs of fat, gain 10lbs of muscle, speed up my metabolism and lower my cholesterol in 6 weeks unless I get promoted in which case I want to lose 10lbs of body weight in 8 weeks may well be ambitious and time-considerate, but you are hardly going to remember it in 6 weeks when you need to figure out how much you have lost.
You Eat. Many people are overweight because they are heavy snackers and eat far too much than they realise. The simplest way to beat this is by writing down everything you eat. That way, when you eat something that you did not mean to eat, you will know about it.
M (Measurable): Your goals should almost always contain a number. Whether it is to drop 10kg or to fit into those 34 inch jeans, having numbers involved means that you can check your own progress. A (Achievable): Many people often ask me: Is it possible to lose all this weight in 3 weeks or I want to lose 50 kilos! Can I do it before Christmas? The answer to the latter question is usually a resounding no, and I often suggest that these people might want to set themselves a target that can actually be hit. Above all, it prevents disappointment and makes them less likely to fall off the rails halfway through a dieting program. R (Realistic): Your goals should reflect your lifestyle. It is a good idea to diet when you are likely to have little stress from outside influences (such as work) and you have plenty of time for the exercise you enjoy. T (Time-considerate): Which of the following sounds like a more positive statement: I am going to lose 20lbs, or
20 I SMART MAGAZINE I August 2013
Tip no. 2: Write Down Everything
Tip no. 3: Use Smaller Plates. As silly
as this may sound, a smaller plate will look fuller than a bigger plate with the same amount on it, so your mind will tell the rest of your body that it is getting more food. Besides, you can only fit so much on a small plate!
Tip no. 4: Proteins. Low fat protein rich food, such as egg whites and chicken breast, are fantastic for dieters that want larger portions, as they contain amino acids that build muscle fibres. Aim for 60g per day (I favour tofu or soya bean; its cheap, easy to fry -with fat-free Pam spray- and contains beaucoup protein). Tip no. 5: Low Carbs, Not NO Carbs!
Atkins enthusiasts rave about the benefits of carb-starving and that fats are not really that bad, but the simple fact is that your body needs carbs as a basic energy, so after starving yourself of them only to eat them again, your body stores that energy as, you guessed it; fat! Aim for around 240-260g of carbohydrates per day (look at potatoes, pasta, rice and wholemeal bread).
Tip no. 6: Buy a Bag of Nutrasweet. Any sweetener can be used as a sugar substitute and I believe they taste fairly similar. Plus, a tablespoonful contains
about 0.1 calories, compared to the 18 that you will often find in sugar.
Tip no. 7: Lift Weights. Lifting light weights can burn calories and tone up every muscle in your body. It is a common misconception that lifting weights will always build big muscles, which is something that many women are keen to avoid. However, this is only true if your body is of the correct somatotype (body shape) and if you really are overweight then believe me, its not. Tip no. 8:
Drink Green Tea. The benefits of green tea have long been discussed, the main one being that it contains the right chemicals to speed up your basal metabolism (which in turn burns fat faster). Two cups per day (without sugar!) is enough, while the only known side effects are that the caffeine in it can cause minor sleep deprivation, so drink it in the morning.
Tip no. 9: Get Busy! As I mentioned earlier, many overweight people are heavy snackers and these are usually people with two much time on their hands (that are often bored). The best way to combat this is to, quite simply, do something! Getting a new hobby, and therefore spending less time near the TV, are ways to keep you away from the fridge. Tip no. 10: Stop Talking About it!
Diet must be one of the most discussed topics in modern society, yet, the people who talk about it are often the ones who want to lose weight. Then, how to prevent obesity? The real secret is to get on with it. As of tomorrow, you are officially dieting, so scribble down five small meals and brew yourself a cup of green tea! www.articleworld.net
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Health is life. Without it we can't work, without it our emotions suffer. With it we can fulfil our dreams, destinies and relationships. Transform your health with this vital information: Why you feel tired and what to do about it The reasons you might be experiencing strange symptoms that no one can seem to find a cause or explanation for (and no – it’s not all in your head!) The myths of medicine that are keeping you from good health. What can give you migraines, flu symptoms, depression and pain How to make sense of supplements and take what really works! The invisible carcinogen that is as dangerous as DDT Why joint pain and memory loss is not always because of 'old age'. “Dr. Krop saved my life. I had been told repeatedly that my problems were caused by ‘old age’. I sought out Dr. Krop for a second opinion. Turns out the cause was mercury poisoning. I was just 63! ~ S. Coad August 2013 I SMART MAGAZINE I
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EQ versus IQ Dr Rajeev Gupta. Book on Business use of Emotional Intelligence
T
wrapped around by emotional faculties which go to the core of human mind. The emotional faculties like mindfulness, reflection, self-control, responsiveness, empathy and understanding needs of others etc form the emotional faculties which matter a lot for success in life.
he logical mind brings only half of the picture, so you will never understand the true nature of yourselves or your world if you do not put that partial picture together with the other pieces that exist within your emotional content. It is important to recognise that the logic of the mind will bring you conclusions, whereas the logic of the emotions will bring you Cognition.
EQ-IQ
interface is thus most powerful area of influencing the performance. It inter-relates the cognitive and emotional faculties and competencies for optimising the decision making process and operational performance of a person. It relates to The Law of Attraction, as it is referred to, which has become very popular lately as “The Secret,” points out very clearly how “attraction” draws toward us events and circumstances which match the essence of our “feelings” or emotion level, which is another way of saying our “emotional frequency” level.
IQ
versus EQ question has come to existence when Dan Goleman popularised emotional intelligence. Many psychologists will say that IQ by itself is useless unless a person has an equal EQ that allows them to interface with each other. EQ is emotional intelligence quotient and represents the idea of how well a person can perceive emotions, use emotions, understand emotions, and manage emotions in self and others. EQ is what adds a depth and understanding to the relationships. There is no fixed correlation between IQ and EQ (you can have it equal but it is possible to have a high EQ and low IQ and vice versa).
W
hile IQ can be the central controller, EQ can be imagined as an engineer who knows how to fix these cables when a cord breaks here or there. It adds to the flexibility and speed of recovery from attacks by outside force. This is why you have kind people who are more accepting and forgiving of their partners and have long lasting relationships. When you have 2 people with very high levels of EQ, they can prove to be more stable than others. Not only can they connect, but they under-
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O
stand how to better ensure that they are connected.
C
ognitive faculties like knowledge, intellect and understanding are fundamental for decision making and 80% of people depend on these for day to day life decisions. The higher you go on education, more the dependence on cognitive decisions. There comes some point where your decisions start going wrong because pure cognition is not what the life is about. The life is more holistic and cognitive faculties are
ur emotions are our life’s power and vitality, the “carrier wave” upon which our projected thoughts are sent to create or modify our reality. The more potent our “carrier wave” is, the more quickly and effectively it will affect and transform our reality. - The happier we are the more “attractive” power we have.
E
motional intelligence is considered to play a crucial role in the modern business life. Its principles help in evaluating and influencing business person’s behaviour, management styles, attitudes, interpersonal skills and potentials and is considered to have great relevance in areas like job profiling, plan-
ning, recruitment and selection. Successful business people or managers don’t waste time and energy worrying about being better than someone else, they focus on being the very best version of themselves. Another major advantage of emotional intelligence is that it empowers people and get over the fear and difficulties that they face and which restricts them from moving forward and asking for right kind of help. It also helps in understanding one’s own behaviour as well as relationship with others. Psychological studies have shown that understanding and controlling emotions play significant role in gratifying one’s life and work environment. In a group setting business people
with higher EI will be able to influence the emotions of others in such a manner that, they will be able to boost their own as well as their employee’s morale. They understand and believe in motivation and creation. They firmly believe in creating their own destiny, they know that. If they don’t, someone else will decide their future and destiny. They stay open to feelings, blend emotions with thinking, reflectively monitor emotions and use these to carve the path of success rather than a cause of discord. They generate new ideas, think in new ways, be creative, enhance “big-picture” thinking and have enhanced decision-making abilities. Life is not about learning how to weather the storm, it’s about learning how to dance in the rain.
People with high EI competencies
tend to be more successful professionally and more able to make positive changes at work as they have the ability to process emotional information creatively, particularly as it involves the perception, assimilation, understanding, and management of emotion. They know that the gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials. Skilful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests. www.edarticle.com
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August 2013 I SMART MAGAZINE I
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, Boost your kid s school performance You are more in control over your
kids grades than you think. The biggest obstacle to better grades are frequently not the kids themselves, but our lack of understanding how the brain reacts to certain foods. Despite growing general nutrition interest and information, there is still a lot to be said about foods that promote attention and focus and those that cause hyperactivity and absentmindedness.
F
or over a decade I have been working with parents and their apparently difficult to improve performance kids. I noticed that even small changes in nutrition can bring big changes in school. Observing the changes that take place at home and on the report card is rewarding. I would like to share my observations, and pass on an important rule I have told parents over the years:
24 I SMART MAGAZINE I August 2013
Forget about fruit juices! When you think about fruit juices you think vitamins. Many parents add fruit juices to the lunch boxes of their kids, thinking that they are improving their nutrition. However, most of us do not understand that fruit juices, although containing vitamins, are also quite high in sugars.
For example, a cup of unsweetened apple juice has over seven cubes of naturally occurring sugar. The same cup of unsweetened concord grape juice has nearly eight cubes of sugar, that’s even more than Pepsi, which has seven cubes of sugar per cup. So as far as sugar is concerned, Pepsi or fruit juice, it really makes no difference. Both will give a sugar surge that can first result in a bout of hyperactivity and later in excessive tiredness from sudden blood sugar drop. Your child’s grades very much reflect these states as steady
blood sugar will provide more focus and attention. Erratic blood sugar means more hyperactivity and more absentmindedness.
So, what about nutrients? Aren’t fruits good for us? We know Pepsi has no nutritional value, but what about natural unsweetened juice? Let’s see.
A
pples are considered a fairly good source of vitamin C and one medium apple contains approximately 8 mg of vitamin C. An orange, which is considered an excellent source of this vitamin, contains 70mg. So you may think that apple or orange juice should be packed with this vitamin. Is it?
Even if you squeeze four oranges, which will give you a tall glass of juice, you end only up with about 280mg of vitamin C, the equivalent
of one small vitamin C pill. Yet those four vitamin C packed oranges will also give you a sugar surge equivalent to two cups of Pepsi. Try to sweeten your tea with 15 cubes of sugar and then study. Good luck.
B
ut, do you really get 280mg of vitamin C in your orange juice? Vitamin C is easily destroyed by processing. Vitamin C is sensitive to heat, air and light. Fruit sterilization causes 50% of vitamin C loss. Most packed fruit juices are pasteurized to prevent spoilage, so this already cuts your vitamin C content in juice by half. An apple stored for six months loses 100% of its Vitamin C content. How old do you think your
fruit juice is before you actually drink it? With all processing, pasteurization and storage there is just a trace, if any, of vitamin C left.
S
o now that you are reconsidering whether fruit juice provides good nutrition, you may well come to the conclusion that you are actually better off by drinking Pepsi and taking a multivitamin. That’s probably not what you had in mind when you sent your son or daughter to school this morning.
nutrients not altered by processing or prolonged storage. They need to be chewed and broken down before being absorbed. That slows down the digestion and prevents study-unfriendly sugar surges and plunges. Fruits can satisfy a sweet tooth, so you may save on sugar monsters such as candies, pastries, and fake chocolate bars. Fruits are also portable and very few cause allergic reaction. So please next time you send your son, daughter, or yourself to school remember the rule: pack a fruit, not juice.
Ok, no fruit juice. Is fruit ok then? www.drdnaturopath.com
Y
es, fruits are excellent. Fresh fruits contain a full spectrum of
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Creating Your Imagery Again By J.P. Holesworth
Having
a love-hate relationship with your TV? Tell me about it. Can’t live with it--can’t live without it, right? When my son was about age nine, he shared an experience he had while reading. He told me about reading something and, “... it was almost like being there”. He’s since become an avid reader which has helped him in all areas of study. A real parent’s dream. So what does this have to do with TV? I know, I know, this topic has been beaten to death; we watch too much television, it rules our lives and it’s overloaded with sex, violence and materialism. Everyone’s heard this all before; how the television replaced the family hearth, etc., etc. But my son’s reading experience continues to stick with me and make me look at what has happened to my own imagination... and why. You know, words like imagination and imagery come from the basic word “image”. I know that’s obvious, but I haven’t always perceived those words as being related. Ever wonder about what life was like before TV? Do you think that people were bored out of their skulls, sitting in their living rooms staring at the wall waiting for a solution to be invented? It couldn’t have been like that... people whittled and played checkers a lot, right? And since they didn’t have microwave ovens yet either, they spent lots of time cooking, right?
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It’s also a common cliché that people never like the movie as much as they liked the book they happened to read first. Why is that? And how can children spend hours playing “pretend”? The point I’m getting at here, is that our power of imagination is an enormous under-tapped potential. And to the degree that we don’t use it, we lose it. The difference between zoning out in front of the TV and reading, is that when reading, the mind is actively engaged in a game of interpreting the author, by generating its own imagery. So it could actually be said, that reading is the ultimate video game. Betcha never heard that before! On the other hand the television does the work for you, and if you settle for “whatever is on”, you also settle for second hand imagery. What you see is what you get. Many great engineers, scientists and inventors were inspired by science fiction authors. That meeting of the minds created imagery, resulting in further problem solving which resulted in innovations and progress. Again, what you see is what you get. But, seeing what’s possible is different than seeing “whatever’s on”, wouldn’t you say? The self-help and new age fields today talk a lot about creative visualization, positive affirmation, mind-set, manifesting, goal setting, quantum physics, meditation, etc. Some of these subjects and terms seem strange and weird to many people. Like a lot of mumbo-
jumbo. Religion and faith also enters into the mix--and people have so many religion-related issues, that it’s difficult to approach spirituality without stirring those things up. This applies of course to both the religious and non-religious. People have moved away from religion, largely because of the control it attempted to place upon them. Consider however that if you have issues about being controlled, how easy is it to ignore that box in the living room?
imagery of the news media and social drama on the screen. Perhaps with a stronger more facile imagination, one can more likely reach goals, realize dreams and snatch back time for their own creative endeavors. Even if your goal & dream is to own the biggest flat screen in your neighborhood, you must create the wherewithal to obtain it. Start somewhere and imagine it being done, then do it. “Has anyone seen the remote?” www.ArticleGeek.com
See, I just wanted to discuss ways to recover our power of imagination and creativity--and look where it leads. So listen, without getting into all that STUFF, why not try a little experiment. Start reading and getting outdoors a bit more. Instead of turning on the television, turn on some music instead. The cable and satellite TV providers are also including some great music channel packages these days. I realized that when the music is on, I can do other things and still enjoy the music, whereas, with TV, I have to watch it and therefore cannot engage in alternative activity as easily. Think about it. The thing that finally pushed me beyond, was watching people on HGTV and DIY creating and upgrading the quality of their lives. My wife and I were watching these programs, vicariously experiencing the activities we ourselves should be involved in. That’s when I decided to take CONTROL, instead of the REMOTE CONTROL of my life. But it really began from my child’s realization about reading.
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Cosmetic Injectables versus Plastic Surgery By Dr. Pejman Bahari
You are busy fulfilling your many roles as a provider, parent, spouse, adult child, you name it. And then one day someone tells you that you look tired. The first time, you ignore it. After hearing the same remark several times, you look in the mirror and realize that you don’t look quite as well as you used to; whether you’re actually tired, or not. In our culture, looking good, feeling well, being competitive at all times, and in all areas is a must, so you hesitantly start weighing your options. Is it a time for a plastic surgery? And that’s when you begin agonizing. A surgery has many risks. There is the prospect of a huge expense; general anesthesia; recovery which you’ll have to suffer through and hide. There is the feeling of excitement mixed with apprehension: will you emerge afterwards as a younger version of you, or will you stare at a stranger in the mirror for the rest of your life? There is the prospect of extended absence from work and the prospect of others scrutinizing the results. Will they know you’ve had plastic surgery, or will they politely pretend that they believe you’ve been on vacation? You know that you’ve arrived at a point when you have to do something, but the thought of plastic surgery is intimidating with many risks to consider and not just to your health. Don’t despair; there are options that address each of your concerns in a much gentler way. Aging is referred to as a process; rejuvenation can be a process as well. Let’s explore cosmetic injectables versus plastic surgery. Both can ef-
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August 2013 I SMART MAGAZINE I
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fectively address signs of aging. What specific issues can be remedied with cosmetic injectables? Well, for starters wrinkles, crow’s feet, undesirable skin depressions, laugh lines, the infamous nasolabial folds, and more. Botox is a great solution for fine lines and wrinkles, particularly frown lines, crow’s feet and forehead lines. It works by temporarily blocking “communication” between the nerves and muscles in the treated area. This prevents the muscle from contracting and therefore relaxes the skin which stops wrinkling. For continuing wrinkle management, Botox treatments need to be repeated every 3 to 6 months. Unlike Botox which is derived from a deadly toxin (Botulinum), collagen and Hyaluronic acid injectables are biocompatible which means that they are accepted by the human body as its own substances. (Treatments with Hyaluronic acid and collagen injectables need to be repeated because the patient’s body gradually absorbs these seminatural substances.) Collagen injectables provide another option for controlling wrinkles; they are also used for lip and cheek augmentation. (Collagen injectables are made of either human or bovine collagen. Both are tolerated by the patient’s body.) Collagen injectables are effective at filling up minor depressions in the skin.) The duration of positive effects achieved with collagen injectables varies from patient to patient; the results may last from three months to one year depending on the individual’s reaction. To maintain the results repeated treatments are recommended. Hyaluronic acid injectables are made of a synthetic version of Hyaluronic acid, a substance naturally occurring in our bodies: in skin tissue, cartilage, joint and eye
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fluid. With age the natural levels of Hyaluronic acid in a human body become depleted causing - among other things - dry, thin skin and the formation of wrinkles. Such well known brands as Restylane® and Juvederm® are some of the Hyaluronic acid based cosmetic fillers. (Juvederm® is commonly used to fill in the “parentheses” which run from the corners of the nose to the corners of the mouth.) Injecting Hyaluronic acid filler into facial wrinkles helps to minimize them. Another important effect Hyaluronic acid injectables create is the increase in skin’s volume which contributes to a younger appearance. The duration of results achieved with Hyaluronic acid dermal fillers varies from person to person; the average duration is set at 3 to 6 months, but in some individuals can be as short as one month. With that said many sources credit Hyaluronic acid injectables with stimulating the skin’s production of natural collagen which enhances and extends the cosmetic results. Once the aging process has led to the formation of deep laugh lines, furrows or skin folds, the facial injectables mentioned above may not be sufficient. Other - also injectable - fillers were developed specifically for a soft tissue augmentation and can help correct these issues. Such soft tissue fillers as ArteFill and Radiesse™ can fill in and augment larger skin depressions. It has to be mentioned that not every one is a good candidate for cosmetic injectables, it is recommended that you discuss your health issues and the medications you’re taking with your doctor before having the procedure. The benefits of cosmetic injectables are many. All of them are considered non-invasive and are per-
formed under a local - as opposed to general - anesthesia. In most cases, the time required for the procedure is from 15 minutes to one hour at a doctor’s office which makes it possible to drop by for a treatment during the lunch hour. The recovery is swift and won’t be noticed by your friends and co-workers. The outcome won’t surprise you, either: it will still be you but looking younger and well-rested. The cost is much lower than that of plastic surgery. True, to sustain the results regularly repeated treatments are needed, but all things considered, cosmetic injectables produce a great return on investment. Are cosmetic injectables a substitute for plastic surgery? No, there are some outcomes that only plastic surgery can produce, take for instance rhinoplasty (a nose job) or a breast augmentation (breast implants). Cosmetic injectables are however an excellent, non-invasive alternative to plastic surgery that produces impressive anti-aging and cosmetic improvements without many of the problems inherent to plastic surgery at a much lower risk and cost to the patient. Cosmetic Injectables versus Plastic Surgery? More and more consumers are discovering that Botox, Collagen and Hyaluronic acid injectables are an effective, safe and more affordable approach to aging. It comes as no surprise that in spite of the current state of economy the popularity of cosmetic injectables is skyrocketing while the number of plastic surgeries performed continues to decline. www.goarticles.com
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31
solution By Philip Jubb
An insomnia cure. Hmm... Before
we go for a cure it may be a good idea to try and know our enemy. What are our signs and symptons. What type of Insomnia do we have. Perhaps a working definition would be helpful. The experts seem to agree that something along these lines would suit. “Insomnia” is any episode of unrefreshing sleep, difficulty falling asleep, frequent awakenings, or waking up too early in the morning and not being able to drop back off. Women and the elderly seem to be the most frequent sufferers. We can divide these episodes into three collective groups and label them Shortterm Transient or Chronic. A quick explanation of these three would be as follows;
a learned article that says Chronic Insomnia is fairly rare. That may be so but if 10 percent of the US population suffers from it thats over 20 Million people leading a life of misery. While it would be nice to blame insomnia on things outside our control , many cases of insomnia are self inflicted by such things as caffeine, smoking, poor eating habits, alcohol and lack of exercise. Caffeine is one the most widely blamed causes of insomnia. An ingredient in coffee, tea, colas, chocolate, and some medications, caffeine is a stimulant. We insomniacs DO NOT NEED stimulants. Quite the reverse. Insomnia solution number one Cut out the caffine.
Short-term insomnia is is less fun. It lastsfor about 2-3 weeks. Causes could be something like a new job, divorce, serious illness, financial problems, or a family berevement.
Alcohol is often reccomended as a nightcap. Forget it. Thats only beacuse your Doctor drinks it. Alcohol actually lightens and fragments sleep, causing you to wake up as your body metabolizes it. You may think you’re in a deep sleep, but your not getting the deep sleep that Insomniacs need for a cure. Insomnia solution number two - No Alcohol with a couple or four hours of bedtime.
Chronic as the name suggests is the real thing. Chronic insomnia is the rarest and most serious type, with Insomnia lasting longer than a few weeks. I’ve just been reading
Eating. Yes, I know I can’t ban you from eating but I can jump on the slimmers bandwaggon. Eat a light last meal a couple of hours before going to bed. Avoid spicy and fatty
Transient, a simple disturbance in sleeping patterns. A short illness, a sudden change in lifestyle, stress, isomething that leads to a short term change.
32 I SMART MAGAZINE I August 2013
foods that cause indigestion. Lets hear it for MILK. Milk has an amino acid that the body converts to a sleep-enhancing compound in the brain. Calcium is a natural relaxing agent along with several other vitamins such as the B vitamins and magnesium. Have a look at the bottom of the page for details on how to find others. If you get hungry at night, have a light snack before bedtime. Some foods are helpful and actually promote production of melatonin, a hormone associated sleep. Try cheese, soy nuts, chicken, pumpkinseeds, and turkey. Highcarbohydrate foods such as bread act upon another hormone, serotonin, which helps to reduce anxiety and contribute toan insomnia solution. Insomnia solution no three. Be careful what you eat. Nicotine products are universally bad for you. For the Insomniac nicotine has to go. It’s a stimulant that increases blood pressure, speeds up the heart rate, and stimulates brain activity. Insomniacs do not need increased blood pressure, a fast heart rate and a stimulant. Insomnia solution number four. No more ciggies! Regular exercise is good in fact its excellent, (here comes the but) but, not just before bed. If you work out too close to bedtime, the increase in your heart rate and metabolism will make your body too excitable to sleep. Exercise earlier in the day
and give the body a chance to produce that warm rosy glow and relax as the body reacts by producing melatonin to take your temperature down to normal. Exercise for an insomnia solution! Make your bed as comfortable as possible. Experiment with what works best for you. Choose a position conducive to sleep. If your partner is the source of your insomnia consider a change of rooms for a
while. Get rid of the alarm clock . It only acts as a stressful reminder that you aren’t sleeping. Control the amount of light in your bedroom. Excessive brightness not only affects your eyes, but it also influences the hormone production that helps to establish a healthy sleep cycle. Wear a sleep mask if necessary. Dark is usually good for an insomnia solution. When it comes to noise, many people find repetitive sounds easier to sleep through than intermittent and abrupt ones. Ear plugs or a continuous background sound such as a
fan can help mask disturbing noise (the next-door neighbors barking dog in my case). Consider is a white noise machine. C o nt r o l t he t hermostat. Temperature extremes, whether too hot or too cold, are no fun for the light sleeper. Cool is usually good for an insomnia solution. Hope some of these help. Drop us a line and let us know, Sleep well.
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Achieving Quality Care By Esther Goldstein, B.Sc., B.S.W., RSW
Relocating your loved one to a care
facility is a difficult, stressful and emotional process. Finding the ‘best place’ that can provide quality care for your loved one, takes time, tremendous effort and, even then, until they are settled in, worry prevails. Helping them adjust to their new ‘home’ and ensuring that the care they receive is good are the main issues of concern once the move has happened.
As a first step, you want to estab-
lish a primary person that can be your contact if a problem arises. If there are any concerns, discuss them promptly with facility staff. Be available as much as possible during the settling in phase. Keep in mind that change is scary – allow for an adjustment period for both of you. Don’t be afraid to give feedback to staff – but don’t forget that positive feedback is important as well. Often we get so caught up in conveying problems that we forget that everyone needs to hear when they are doing a good job as well. Take the time to ask questions – speak to the staff when you visit to find out how the person is adjusting and help the staff get to know your loved one. Share important things about them that will help in the adjustment process; what are their likes and dislikes, hobbies etc. If cognitive impairment is involved you may want to pass along some coping strategies that work for you. As there are likely several shifts of staff that each need to get to know the person, you may want to post some information on
34 I SMART MAGAZINE I August 2013
the wall/room bulletin board or on a side table that will help them work with your loved one.
In order to ensure that appropriate care is being provided, it is advisable to take the time during your early visits especially to observe interactions between staff and residents to ascertain if residents are treated in a respectful way and if needs are met promptly and with care and kindness. For example, check your loved one’s clothing when you visit – is it being washed properly? Is it their clothing as opposed to someone else’s? Are they in clean clothes when you visit? Speak to your loved one often to find out how things are going. Allow them to talk and listen carefully to what they are saying. In the early days it might be a bit difficult to determine which issues are related to simply adjusting to a new surrounding and to being in a care facility and which are due to relevant care issues. That being said, it’s important not to discount any concerns that are related to care and comfort. In order to determine how significant the concerns are, you may need to be present a bit more often and observe the situations where there are concerns or gently approach staff to discuss issues in a non-threatening way. If your loved one is cognitively impaired and not able to convey care issues, ensuring quality care will involve significant observation and discussions with staff.
It’s important to be aware of regu-
lations and residents’ rights in care facilities. If your loved one is in a retirement residence, you should become familiar with the Tenant Protection Act and the Retirement Homes Act and if they are in longterm care, learn about the LongTerm Care Homes Act.
The most important factor in determining quality of care in any residence or care situation is that of the staff. The quality of the staff is what separates a good home from a bad one. You can determine this easily if you take the time to watch and listen during your visits. Watch other residents when you visit; get to know them, their families/regular visitors and talk to them. Developing relationships with both staff and residents in the home is important and will ensure that if there are issues, you are notified of them. Focus on the food quality, cleanliness and staff attitude. Get to know the routine of the place. Visit at mealtimes and check the food and menus when possible. Join a Family Council if there is one or encourage your loved one to join a Resident’s Council if they are able to participate. If you have the time, participate in activities in the residence. This is a way to help your loved on adjust while creating opportunities for you to get to know the residents and staff by observing and interacting. Request monthly meetings with staff to review any issues – attend all meetings that are arranged and if possible ensure your loved one participates in these meetings if they are able.
As difficult as the process of reloca-
tion is for both the caregiver and the ‘new resident’, its important to keep in mind that you are still a caregiver even if you are not doing the ‘tasks’ you were required to do before. The way that you ‘give care’ has changed but your new role is equally important and necessary. Let your loved one know that you are always available for them and will do your best to ensure that they receive the best care possible in their new home.
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CUCUMBER SALAD WITH TAHINI DRESSING RECIPE Prep time: 20 minutes INGREDIENTS 1 1/2 pounds cucumbers 1 Tbsp salt 3 Tbsp sesame tahini 1 Tbsp lemon juice 2 Tbsp warm water (or more depending on how thick your tahini is) 1/2 clove garlic, minced (about 1/2 teaspoon) Zest of a lemon 1/3 cup chopped red onion 2 Tbsp chopped mint 2 Tbsp chopped basil 2 Tbsp chopped parsley Salt and black pepper to taste
METHOD 1. If the cucumber peels are thick or bitter, peel them. If not, leave them on. Slice the cucumbers lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds with a small spoon. Slice the cucumbers again lengthwise and then cut crosswise into 1/4-inch to 1/3-inch cuts. 2. Toss the seeded, diced cucumbers in a colander with the tablespoon of salt. Let drain in the sink while you chop everything else and make the dressing. 3. In a large bowl, mix the tahini, lemon juice and warm water until combined. Stir in the garlic, lemon zest and red onion. 4. Briefly rinse the cucumbers under cool water and pat them dry with paper towels in the colander. Add the cucumbers to the bowl with the dressing and gently toss to combine well. Add in the herbs. Add salt and black pepper to taste. Serve cool.
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August 2013 I SMART MAGAZINE I
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Kids physical fitness - top 10 tips SELECT THE RIGHT EQUIPMENT, SIGN THEM UP FOR SWIMMING CLASS, AND FIT WITH THEM.
By David Leonhardt
D) Make fitness a family affair. You
Like most parents, you are prob-
ably worried about the poor state of your kids’ fitness...or their total lack of fitness altogether. Very few children get the exercise they need these days, with the lure of so many screens with so many functions, coming in almost as many sizes. The result is a legacy of youth obesity in kids as young as six years old and well into their teens.
To help you cope with your kids’
missing fitness, we offer ten tips you can apply in your kid’s life before it is too late:
A) Kick them out. It is a proven fact
that kids who are throwing balls, skipping rope, chasing each other and climbing on structures are more fit than kids who sit around the house. Just one detail...don’t kick their cell phones and their iPods and their other anti-fitness equipment out with them.
B) Try more physical playing with
your children. Chase your kids around. Bonus, you get exercise too.
C) Make Christmas a celebration of fitness. No, don’t chase your kids up the tree...just give them some fitness toys instead of toys they would play sitting down.
38 I SMART MAGAZINE I August 2013
have probably already noticed how hard it is to find time to do things together as a family. This is your golden opportunity. The element of peer pressure (the whole family is going, so you can’t skip out) will help the kids keep on track. And let’s face the facts - it’s not easy to keep fit when you are a parent. So why not find a family fitness center near you?
Hydraulic your kids
fitness equipment for
E) Choose hydraulic fitness equip-
ment for your kids. You will normally find these only at fitness centers (another reason to make fitness a family affair) What makes hydraulics special, is that they don’t need to be adjusted for each child. The resistance depends on the force exerted. So your 6 year old, who pushes with less intensity, will face less resistance than your 12 year old, who will face more. This is far superior to weights, where you have to keep adjusting the amount of weight until you get it right.
F) Try circuit training. This is also best done at a fitness center, because circuit training involves a variety of machines, all set up in a circuit. Kids accustomed to computer games, are less likely to be bored by
circuit training, because they are constantly on the move from one machine to the other.
G) Sign them up for an organized
physical activity, one where they will develop a sense of accomplishment . That sense of accomplishment is the motivation that keeps them going. It does not need to be competitive, but it does need to provide them with goals to work for. For example, sign them up for a dance class where there is a show to practice for at the end of the year. Or a swimming class where they can achieve various levels right up to certified life guard.
H)
Don’t just sign your kids up for a physical activity. Have them practice it at home...only, don’t call it practice. That sounds too much like homework. Ask them instead to show you how good they are. That sounds a lot more like showing off and getting quality attention. (The ask them to show Aunt Penelope and cousin Bart and the next door neighbor and...)
I) Unplug the TV. If you can’t limit their watching to an hour a day, limit the days on which you plug it in. Ditto for the computer and any other addictive screen-based electronic gadget. J) Your kids won’t like me for this one, but give your kids more house-
hold chores...specifically those that involve physical activity like mowing, raking and vacuuming. Caveat: this means that you will have to find new forms of exercise (but I think we covered that in the chasing your kids around and taking them to a family fitness center.
K) Walk more in real life. Do you take the stairs or the escalators? Well, so do your kids. Take them on the healthy route. Do you park near to a store (where your car will get dinged by other car doors) and deprive your kids and yourself from your rightful walking? Or do you park far away from the store where your car is safe from dents and where your kids and you are safe from inertia.
Oops. That’s eleven. Oh well, you get a bonus tip.
So
just what is a parent to do? Chase your kids right onto hydraulic fitness equipment at the nearest circuit-training workout gym, give them more fitness-oriented equipment for Christmas (instead of the latest screen-based do-hicky) and have your children get involved in more of the household chores. ABOUT THE WRITER:
Learn more about kids and youth
fitness equipment, or about other hydraulic fitness equipment for circuit training. The writer is David Leonhardt , a professional freelance SEO writer from Montreal-Ottawa in Canada. www.seo-writer.ca
August 2013 I SMART MAGAZINE I
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What Really Is Metal Art? By John A Younger
When people talk of metal art they
wrongly assume that it simply consists of artifacts made from wrought iron. They are way off the mark.
Metal
art is a very broad term and encompasses a wide variety of items, ranging from jewelry, furniture, metal sculptures and of course wall hangings of every conceivable shape and size. Why even a specially designed car can be called a piece of metal art.
Metal art has been refined with the
use of modern technology and better and more precise machines, but it would not be wrong to say that the primitive men, who designed tools for hunting and chopping wood, were the first metal craftsmen. The only difference between them and the modern era craftsmen is that their products were more inclined towards functionality and practicality whilst the current generation of artists pays greater emphasis on appearance and aesthetics.
Metal
art may be functional or simply created for the purpose of dĂŠcor - art that falls in the former category includes clocks, mirrors, shelves and picture frames, whilst the latter is composed of pieces made entirely with the intention of decorating up a space.
40 I SMART MAGAZINE I August 2013
The
main metal that is used in the making of these products is wrought iron, though with the increasing popularity and demand for these products steel and aluminum is also being used - these metals being lighter in weight, make the items more affordable and easier to handle.
Wrought iron is more expensive
because the decorative shapes are worked by hand, making each piece unique and distinctive. Since each is handcrafted it takes longer to produce and all this adds to the overall cost. On the other hand cast iron and steel are conducive to manufacturing on machines and also can be made to look like the real thing.
Metal wall dĂŠcor is exceptionally
beautiful and the stunning shapes are made by various processes that include cutting, molding, hammering and joining with other metals. The technique of casting of molten metal, results in stunning forms and sizes that leave the viewer gaping with awe and amazement.
Unlike music and painting where
the individual is the sole creator, metal art also involves the process of manufacturing, which brings to life the creativity and design of the metal artists. Moreover, the painter only needs color, a palette and a canvas to give wings to his vision, whereas a metal artist has to invest
considerably in equipment that can be bulky and expensive. He will also need to invest in a bigger space to work and store his equipment.
If looked after and maintained with
diligence and care, metal art pieces will last for generations - all that is required is that dust, grime, stains and dirt should be regularly dusted from the metal’s surface. Excavations from archeological sites have dug out metal artifacts dating back to 7000 BC that are still in good condition. John Younger - Sales Coordinator in nextinnovations.net. Next Innovations provides you wide selection of Metal Wall Art designed by experienced professionals, so buy metal wall arts at affordable price for all your indoor and outdoor decoration. For more information online shopping for metal wall art visit at: http://www.nextinnovations.net www.EzineArticles.com
August 2013 I SMART MAGAZINE I
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A Start-Up Guide To Internet Marketing From Home By Robert Allan
In this article I want to set out the
help you begin your internet marketing career, I have listed the ‘Must Haves’ you will need, and to know about if you are to stand any chance of success.
uct to sell. You could search the internet to see what other people are selling to get some ideas. Or maybe you can sell a product as an affiliate or another affiliate’s product. Remember try to be original. If you are an imaginative person you could find a product someone else is selling and make it a little better, or different, and cheaper. If you choose to sell digital products you will find many extra benefits such as: no shipping or handling fee, low start up costs, and your profit margin will be close to 100 percent and your customer will get the product right away.
Find a Market - Find a market be-
Get a Domain Name – You will
basics of starting your very own business on the internet working from home, even if you don’t know the first thing about Internet Marketing. This article can be used as a check list and will help you stay focused and make it easier to set up and improve your very own business from the comfort of your own home.
To
fore you decide on a product. Also try to find an area that you are personally interested in. If you do find something, it will be easier to stay motivated. Use Google to search different keywords. Try researching with Yahoo to see what else is selling. Check eBay and Amazon for all their different categories. And use the big Internet Networks to look for interesting markets. After your first project is up and running, then you can start looking for your next one. Remember it is very easy to jump from one project to the next before the first one is finished. So try to find a project that you like and stay with it until its making you an income.
Find a Product - After finding a
market you will need to find a prod-
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may find some free hosting companies, but you really do get what you pay for. It is much better if you use a paid hosting company.
Personal Website – If you do not
have one already, create a personal website so your customers can buy your products 24/7. You will be competing with lots of other website’s so try to make yours stand out. If your site takes a long time to download your potential customers will go somewhere else. Remember its words that sell products not graphics. To get ideas for your website search the web and look for sites that you like.
P
want to have your own domain name. Try to think of a few different names because your first choices may not be available. Choose a short name and it will be easier for people to remember. If possible get domain names ending with .com or .co or .org or .net or .info etc you should also try to get a name to match your product. And use keywords in your domain name to get a better listing on search engines.
ayment Processing - To collect money for your products you will need a payment processor. Make sure that you can accept all payment methods. You may also want to use PayPal. The more ways you can collect money the more sales you will make. And if you are selling a digital product you may want to use one of the big internet network companies.
Hosting - The purpose of a host-
uto Responders - If you want to make your internet business easier, then you will want to automate as much as possible by using auto responders. You can automate a lot of your every day business tasks leaving you to concentrate on more important things. Here are a few examples: send out email ads to everyone on your list at regular inter-
ing company is to keep your website running properly. They will make sure everything is working properly so your customers can navigate through it and buy your product or service. This is a very important. If your website is not working properly then you are losing money. You
A
vals. Send out emails automatically whenever someone buys one of your products. Have all of your digital products sent out automatically. And with auto responders you can collect names and email addresses and add them to your list of customers.
Free
Advertising - This may be a good place to start if your funds are limited. But this will be slower than paid advertising and will take a lot more time. If you are spending a lot of time with free advertising and not getting the results you like, then you may want to try something else. Keep in mind when using free advertising someone else may place their ad with yours and this is not very professional. Also when you join these free advertising sites it usually means everyone on that site can send free advertising to you. So you will receive lot of unwanted emails.
Paid Advertising – With paid ad-
vertising you should get better results. At first you may think posting your ad(s) to as many people as possible will make you the most money. But this is not a good idea for a couple of reasons. A lot of people will not have an interest in your product so they will probably not even read your ad. And you may be accused of spamming which is something you never want to do. So always try to place your ad(s) with specific targeted group(s).
Compile a List - This gets a big
thumbs up. Start collecting a list of names and email addresses as soon as possible, add to your list often because it will make you money over and over again. Whenever you need extra money you can send an email promoting a product to your list. So you will want to collect names and emails addresses by offering free
stuff and by having them join your newsletter and of course whenever they buy your product.
I
mention a Newsletter above because it is a good idea to publish one to keep potential customers upto-date with the product(s) you are selling or promoting.
I
’ts important to promote yourself whenever and wherever you can. Invest part of your profits for good information that will help expand your business, and take the time to take that information on board and use it effectively. Feel free to visit the web pages in my Resource/Bio to get some links to products that are marketed online and maybe one or two of them may help you to get started as an affiliate. www.articlebiz.com
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What Type of Car Finance Is for You? By Tom Skilling PERSONAL LOAN
Personal loan is perceived to be the most popular way to finance a car according to many surveys.
, garlic, tarragon, juniper berries, lovage (leaves and
Borrowing
money from a bank, building society or other lender gives you instant ownership of the car. Comparison websites such as money supermarket will show you which lenders offer the best deals.
The annual percentage rate (APR)
is the easiest way to compare loans, and essential in working out how much a loan will cost you over the repayment period chosen. If the APR isn’t mentioned then ask the question, the headline rate is not always what you get it depends on your individual credit rating.
It’s a temptation to take a longer repayment period which makes the monthly repayment smaller but you will pay more interest. Keep the loan period as short as possible. The downside to a personal loan unsecured is that in the event of default any of your assets could be seized. With dealer finance only the car is at risk in the event of payment default. Go for a personal loan if you say YES to any of the following.
• You don’t have any deposit • You want to own the car outright • You plan to keep it for a while • You don’t want annual mileage restrictions
HIRE PURCHASE
After a bank loan hire purchase (HP) is the easiest way to buy a car. Under HP agreements there’s usu-
ally a deposit to pay, typically 10% followed by fixed monthly payments. The car is owned by the HP funder until it’s paid for including any option to purchase fee. At that point the customer has the right to sell the vehicle.
dealer finance in that the car can only be seized in the event of default. If you need to sell the car before the end of your agreement you will have to settle the outstanding monies first and early settlement fees may apply.
However
Go for HP if you say YES to 1 of the
some customers do sell their cars before the final payment and the good news is for buyers of non-paid up cars is that the law protects private purchasers who buy without knowing the car is not fully owned and no matter what the police or anyone else tells you will get good title if you buy a car on HP in these circumstances. The finance company can ultimately take action against the seller but that’s not your problem.
The credit on an HP agreement is
secured against the car, so it’s like
following
• Ultimate ownership is important to you • Your budget and circumstances suit fixed monthly repayments • Your disposable income may decrease over the agreement term (eg if you’re planning a family) • You like credit secured against the car only
• You don’t mind not owning the car until the debt is fully paid. August 2013 I SMART MAGAZINE I
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Personal Contract Purchase (PCP)
This product is probably the most popular product of all.
It’s a bit like HP in that you pay a deposit, a fixed rate if interest and monthly repayments usually over 12 to 48 months.
Where PCP differs from HP is at the end of the agreement you have 3 choices. 1. Return the car to the supplier 2. Keep the car 3. Trade the car in against a replacement
The first option returning the car costs
nothing, unless you’ve gone over an agreed mileage or returned the car in poor condition. In either case there will be an excess to pay.
Keeping the car means making a final
“balloon” payment. This amount is the cars guaranteed future value, or GFV, which is set at the start of the agreement.
The GFV is based on various factors, including the length of the loan and the anticipated mileage as well as the cars projected retail value. If you exercise this final buying option, you can continue to run the car, or you can sell it and pocket any equity above the GFV that you have paid back to the finance company. If
you’re trading in your car, any GFV equity can be used as deposit towards its replacement.
If your car has gone into negative equity which can happen you will have to make up the difference. Shorter agreements are more likely to accurately project the GFV.
Go for PCP if you can say YES to 1 of the following
• You want lower monthly payments • You like the flexibility of options at the end of the agreement • Trade the car in against a replacement
Personal contract hire (PCH) This product is basically renting your car for typically 2 or 3 years with an agreed mileage limit. There is no option to buy the car at the end of the contract you just hand the car and the keys back to the finance company. Your payments are covering the cars depreciation.
While you’re running it, you’re re-
sponsible for its upkeep. On the plus side, the deposit is low as are the fixed repayments and you can negate the impact of repair bills by including a maintenance element into the agreement.
Cars that hold their value well are a good PCH option because the difference in their new and three year old values will be smaller so you will repay a lower amount whilst cars that plummet in value will see you pay more.
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Go for PCH if you can say YES to 1 of the following • You don’t want to own the car or suffer its depreciation • You like being able to change cars often • You like the idea of driving better cars than you could normally afford • You don’t mind looking after cars
Dealer Finance
Research is a must here as motor
dealers love lazy buyers who haven’t done their research. There is no point in haggling on vehicle price if you waste it all on a poor finance deal.
Check
out detail on current and forthcoming manufacturer finance deals. These might include interest free or low APR rates or deposit contributions.
Don’t fix on the rate or monthly payment though look at the total repayable to understand the total cost and compare with what you can find in the open market. Also don’t assume that a dealers finance rate is set in stone, everything is negotiable. Take time to go through things you are not sure about and get the final offer in writing.
The only thing at risk if you don’t keep up dealer finance repayments is the car. Bear in mind that even with sweeteners thrown in the dealer will still make money somewhere in the deal and you are paying for it. Go for dealer finance if you can say YES to 1 of the following
• You like the convenience of “pack age” deals • You’re happy to do some comparison research
• You don’t want to do the research but you don’t mind paying extra
Self - finance
If you want to own your car using your own money by buying outright it does make some sense when savings rates are so low. Buying a car outright is also a sensible alternative to leasing if your mileage is high or unpredictable because of excess mileage charges.
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Pet proofing your home using indoor dog gates Most people know that when you have a toddler running thru your home you are going to need a baby gate to keep them safe. Well the same hold true for your furry friend, using indoor dog gates will keep them confined so your pet will be safe. When you bring a new pet into your home it can be overwhelming to figure out how to take care of them and give them just what they need. That is why I recommend that you do what new parents have to do with their homes, and I call it pet proofing, much like baby proofing, it is something you must do to keep your pet safe and secure. Pet proofing can be a bit easier since most dogs are pretty smart and can be trained in a quick amount of time. Consistency and praise are the most important two things, when it comes to training a dog. I have four dogs, and this seems to be the best way in my opinion to get them trained with out your dog thinking you are being mean. Just like with children love goes along way when you are training your pet and this will make them try harder because that is a dogs nature, to make you pleased with them.
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One other tool I have found to be most useful is indoor dog gates. They can be placed anywhere with ease and can help you to keep your sanity while keeping your pet safe and sound. I have seen some pet owners that decided to not use pet gates and found that their dogs will tear up their home, furniture or shoes. The pet gets into trouble for it and this is turn will make both the dog and the master feel bad. If you set boundaries for your dog at a young age they
will respect you, and your home more. This will make for a happy and healthy relationship with your dog, which is a real rewarding experience. I have also found that I can clean up my house or have a dinner party a lot easier with the use of indoor dog gates, which I know some of my guest appreciate since I am well aware that not everyone is going to be a dog person. Dog gates can make a better experience for your dog, and your guest so that you can avoid any awkward situations. I do have a fenced in yard I can put them in when I have guests. But when it is raining or really cold outside I do not feel right about putting my furry friends out there to suffer since my pets are used to being indoors. In contrast I do not want to lose my friends just because they are not comfortable around a dog. With the proper love and encouragement your pet can be a really well behaved member of your family. Just remember that a lot of love and praise, and setting boundaries will make your dog respect you more and give them a feeling of trust that will make them a better pet for you. And safety first when it comes to dog gates, just check out http://indoor-doggates. com for more about indoor dog gates and what types you may find the most useful for your home. Wilma Barrier I am an avid dog lover and trainer. I have 4 dogs that presently live with me and I have trained them all by myself. Check out my website about indoor dog gates for further information www.indoor-doggates.com August 2013 I SMART MAGAZINE I
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